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diff --git a/old/2004-02-brock10.txt b/old/2004-02-brock10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2edcd7e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2004-02-brock10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15091 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beechcroft at Rockstone, by Charlotte M. Yonge +(#29 in our series by Charlotte M. Yonge) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Beechcroft at Rockstone + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5156] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 18, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, BEECHCROFT AT ROCKSTONE *** + + + + +This Project Gutenberg Etext of Beechcroft at Rockstone by Charlotte M +Yonge was prepared by Sandra Laythorpe, laythorpe@tiscali.co.uk. A +web page for Charlotte M Yonge will be found at +www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm. + + + + + +BEECHCROFT AT ROCKSTONE + +by + +Charlotte M Yonge + + + + +CHAPTER I. A DISPERSION + + + +'A telegram! Make haste and open it, Jane; they always make me so +nervous! I believe that is the reason Reginald always _will_ +telegraph when he is coming,' said Miss Adeline Mohun, a very pretty, +well preserved, though delicate-looking lady of some age about forty, +as her elder sister, brisk and lively and some years older, came into +the room. + +'No, it is not Reggie. It is from Lily. Poor Lily! Jasper--- +accident---Come.' + +'Poor dear Lily! Is it young Jasper or old Jasper, I wonder?' + +'If it were young Jasper she would have put Japs. I am afraid it is +her husband. If so, she will be going off to him. I must catch the +11.20 train. Will you come, Ada?' + +'Oh no; I should be knocked up, and on your hands. The suspense is +bad enough at home.' + +'If it is old Jasper, we shall see in the paper to-day. I will send +it down to you from the station. Supposing it is Sir Jasper, and she +wants to go out to him, we must take in some of the children.' + +'Oh! Dear little Primrose would be nice enough, but what should we +do with that Halfpenny woman? If we had the other girls, I suppose +they would be at school all day; but surely some might go to +Beechcroft. And mind, Jane, I will not have you overtasking +yourself! Do not take any of them without having Gillian to help +you. That I stipulate.' + +Jane Mohun seemed as if she did not hear as these sentences were +uttered at intervals, while she stood dashing off postcards at her +davenport. Then she said, on her way to the door--- + +'Don't expect me to-night. I will send Fanny to ask one of the +Wellands to come in to you, and telegraph if I bring any one home +with me.' + +'But, Jane dear--' + +However, the door was shut, and by the time Miss Adeline had reached +her sister's room, the ever-ready bag was nearly packed. + +'I only wanted to say, dear Jane, that you must give my love to dear +Lily. I am grieved---grieved for her; but indeed you must not +undertake anything rash.' (A shake of the head, as the shoes went +into their neat bag.) 'Do not let her persuade you to stay at +Silverfold in her absence. You cannot give up everything here' + +'Yes, yes, Ada, I know it does not suit you. Never fear.' + +'It is not that, but you are much too useful here to drop everything, +especially now every one is away. I would willingly sacrifice +myself, but--' + +'Yes, I know, Ada dear. Now, good-bye, and take care of yourself, +and don't be nervous. It may mean only that young Japs has twisted +his little finger.' + +And with a kiss, Miss Mohun ran downstairs as fast and lightly as if +her years had been half their amount, and accomplished her orders to +Fanny---otherwise Mrs. Mount---a Beechcroft native, who, on being left +a widow, had returned to her former mistresses, bringing with her a +daughter, who had grown up into an efficient housemaid. After a few +words with her, Miss Mohun sped on, finding time at the station to +purchase a morning paper just come down, and to read among the +telegrams--- + + + 'COLOMBO, Sept. 3rd. +'Lieutenant-General Sir Jasper Merrifield, G.C.B., has been thrown +from his horse, and received severe injuries.' + + +She despatched this paper to her sister by a special messenger, whom +she had captured by the way, and was soon after in the train, +knitting and pondering. + +At Silverton station she saw the pony carriage, and in it her niece +Gillian, a girl not quite seventeen, with brown eyes showing traces +of tears. + +'Mamma knew you would come,' she said. + +'You have heard direct, of course.' + +'Yes; Claude telegraphed. The horse fell over a precipice. Papa's +leg and three ribs are broken. Not dangerous. That is all it says; +and mamma is going out to him directly.' + +'I was quite sure she would. Well, Gillian, we must do the best we +can. Has she any plans?' + +'I think she waited for you to settle them. Hal is come; he wanted +to go with her, but she says it will cost too much, and besides, +there is his Ordination in Advent.' + +'Has she telegraphed to your uncles?' + +'To Beechcroft and to Stokesley; but we don't quite know where Uncle +Reginald is. Perhaps he will see the paper.' + +Gillian's tears were flowing again, and her aunt said--- + +'Come, my dear, you must not give way; you must do all you can to +make it better for your mother.' + +'I know,' she answered. 'Indeed, I didn't cry till I sat waiting, +and it all came over me. Poor papa! and what a journey mamma will +have, and how dreadful it will be without her! But I know that it is +horrid of me, when papa and my sisters must want her so much more.' + +'That's right---quite right to keep up before her. It does not sound +to me so bad, after all; perhaps they will telegraph again to stop +her. Did Claude ask her to come out?' + +'Oh no! There were only those few words.' + +No more could be learnt till the pony stopped at the door, and Hal +ran out to hand out his aunt, and beg her privately to persuade his +mother to take him, or, if she would not consent to that, at least to +have Macrae, the old soldier-servant, with her---it was not fit for +her to travel alone. + +Lady Merrifield looked very pale, and squeezed her sister close in +her arms as she said--- + +'You are my great help, Jenny.' + +'And must you go?' + +'Yes, certainly.' + +'Without waiting to hear more?' + +'There is no use in losing time. I cannot cross from Folkestone till +the day after to-morrow, at night. I must go to London to-morrow, +and sleep at Mrs. Merrifield's.' + +'But this does not seem to me so very bad.' + +'Oh, no, no! but when I get there in three weeks' time, it will be +just when I shall be most wanted. The nursing will have told on the +girls, and Jasper will be feeling weary of being laid up, and wanting +to take liberties.' + +'And what will you be after such a journey?' + +'Just up to keeping him in order. Come, you have too much sense to +expostulate, Jenny.' + +'No; you would wear yourself to fiddle-strings if you stayed at home. +I only want you to take Hal, or Macrae.' + +'Hal is out of the question, I would not interfere with his +preparation on any account. Macrae would be a very costly article; +and, moreover, I want him to act major-domo here, unless you would, +and that I don't dare to hope for.' + +'No, you must not, Lily; Ada never feels well here, nor always at +Brighton, and Emily would be too nervous to have her without me. +But we will take as many children as you please, or we have room +for.' + +'That is like you, Jenny. I know William will offer to take them in +at home, but I cannot send them without Miss Vincent; and she cannot +leave her mother, who has had a sort of stroke. Otherwise I should +try leaving them here while I am away, but the poor old lady is in no +state for it---in fact, I doubt her living long.' + +'I know; you have been governess by yourself these last weeks; it +will be well to relieve her. The best way will be for us to take +Mysie and Valetta, and let them go to the High School; and there is a +capital day-school for little boys, close to St. Andrew's, for +Fergus, and Gillian can go there too, or join classes in whatever she +pleases.' + +'My Brownie! Have you really room for all those?' + +'Oh yes! The three girls in the spare room and dressing-room, and +Fergus in the little room over the porch. I will write to Fanny; I +gave her a hint.' + +'And I have no doubt that Primrose will be a delight to her aunt +Alethea, poor little dear! Yes, that makes it all easy, for in the +holidays I know the boys are sure of a welcome at the dear old home, +or Hal might have one or two of them at his Curacy.' + +The gong sounded for the melancholy dinner that had to go on all the +same, and in the midst all were startled by the arrival of a +telegram, which Macrae, looking awestruck, actually delivered to +Harry instead of to his mistress; but it was not from Ceylon. It was +from Colonel Mohun, from Beechcroft: 'Coming 6.30. Going with you. +Send children here.' + +Never were twenty words, including addresses, more satisfactory. The +tears came, for the first time, to Lady Merrifield's eyes at the +kindness of her brothers, and Harry was quite satisfied that his +uncle would be a far better escort than himself or Macrae. Aunt Jane +went off to send her telegram home and write some needful letters, +and Lady Merrifield announced her arrangements to those whom they +concerned. + +'Oh! mamma, don't,' exclaimed Valetta; 'all the guinea-pigs will +die.' + +'I thought,' said Gillian, 'that we might stay here with Miss Vincent +to look after us.' + +'That will not do in her mother's state. Mrs. Vincent cannot be +moved up here, and I could not lay such a burthen on them.' + +'We would be very good,' said Val. + +'That, I hope, you will be any way; but I think it will be easier at +Rockstone, and I am quite sure that papa and I shall be better +satisfied about you.' + +'Mayn't we take Quiz!' asked Fergus. + +'And Rigdum Funnidos?' cried Valetta. + +'And Ruff and Ring?' chimed in Mysie. + +'My dear children, I don't see how Aunt Jane can be troubled with any +more animals than your four selves. You must ask her, only do not be +surprised or put out if she refuses, for I don't believe you can keep +anything there.' + +Off the three younger ones went, Gillian observing, 'I don't see how +they can, unless it was Quiz; but, mamma, don't you think I might go +to Beechcroft with Primrose? I should be so much quieter working for +the examination there, and I could send my exercises to Miss Vincent; +and then I should keep up Prim's lessons.' + +'Your aunt Alethea will, I know, like doing that, my dear; and I am +afraid to turn those creatures loose on the aunts without some one to +look after them and their clothes. Fanny will be very helpful; but +it will not do to throw too much on her.' + +'Oh! I thought they would have Lois---' + +'There would not be room for her; besides that, I don't think it +would suit your aunts. You and Mysie ought to do all the mending for +yourselves and Fergus, and what Valetta cannot manage. I know you +would rather be at Beechcroft, my dear; but in this distress and +difficulty, some individual likings must be given up.' + +'Yes, mamma.' + +Lady Merrifield looked rather dubiously at her daughter. She had +very little time, and did not want to have an argument, nor to elicit +murmurs, yet it might be better to see what was in Gillian's mind +before it was too late. Mothers, very fond of their own sisters, +cannot always understand why it is not the same with their daughters, +who inherit another element of inherited character, and of another +generation, and who have not been welded together with the aunts in +childhood. 'My dear,' she said, 'you know I am quite ready to hear +if you have any real reasonable objection to this arrangement.' + +'No, mamma, I don't think I have,' said Gillian thoughtfully. 'The +not liking always meeting a lot of strangers, nor the general bustle, +is all nonsense, I know quite well. I see it is best for the +children, but I should like to know exactly who is to be in authority +over them.' + +'Certainly Aunt Jane,' replied Lady Merrifield. 'She must be the +ultimate authority. Of course you will check the younger ones in +anything going wrong, as you would here, and very likely there will +be more restrictions. Aunt Ada has to be considered, and it will be +a town life; but remember that your aunt is mistress of the house, +and that even if you do think her arrangements uncalled for, it is +your duty to help the others to submit cheerfully. Say anything you +please fully and freely in your letters to me, but don't let there be +any collisions of authority. Jane will listen kindly, I know, in +private to any representation you may like to make, but to say before +the children, "Mamma always lets them," would be most mischievous.' + +'I see,' said Gillian. 'Indeed, I will do my best, mamma, and it +will not be for very long.' + +'I hope and trust not, my dear child. Perhaps we shall all meet by +Easter---papa, and all; but you must not make too sure. There may be +delays. Now I must see Halfpenny. I cannot talk to you any more, my +Gillyflower, though I am leaving volumes unsaid. + +Gillian found Aunt Jane emerging from her room, and beset by her +three future guests. + +'Aunt Jane, may we bring Quiz?' + +'And Rigdum Funnidos and Lady Rigdum?' + +'And Ruff and Ring? They are the sweetest doves in the world.' + +'Doves! Oh, Mysie, they would drive your aunt Ada distracted, with +coo-roo-roo at four o'clock in the morning, just as she goes off to +sleep.' + +'The Rigdums make no noise but a dear little chirp,' triumphantly +exclaimed Valetta. + +'Do you mean the kittens? We have a vacancy for one cat, you know.' + +Oh yes, we want you to choose between Artaxerxes and the Sofy. But +the Rigdums are the eldest pair of guinea-pigs. They are so fond of +me, that I know poor old Funnidos will die of grief if I go away and +leave him.' + +'I sincerely hope not, Valetta, for, indeed, there is no place to put +him in.' + +'I don't think he would mind living in the cellar if he only saw me +once a day,' piteously pleaded Valetta. + +'Indeed, Val, the dark and damp would surely kill the poor thing, in +spite of your attentions. You must make up your mind to separation +from your pets, excepting the kitten.' + +Valetta burst out crying at this last drop that made the bucket +overflow, but Fergus exclaimed: 'Quiz! Aunt Jane! He always goes +about with us, and always behaves like a gentleman, don't you, +Quizzy?' and the little Maltese, who perfectly well understood that +there was trouble in the air, sat straight up, crossed his paws, and +looked touchingly wistful. + +'Poor dear little fellow!' said Aunt Jane; 'yes, I knew he would be +good, but Kunz would be horribly, jealous, you see; he is an only +dog, and can't bear to have his premises invaded.' + +'He ought to be taught better,' said Fergus gravely. + +'So he ought,' Aunt Jane confessed; 'but he is too old to begin +learning, and Aunt Ada and Mrs. Mount would never bear to see him +disturbed. Besides, I really do not think Quiz would be half so well +off there as among his own friends and places here, with Macrae to +take care of him.' Then as Fergus began to pucker his face, she +added, 'I am really very sorry to be so disagreeable.' + +'The children must not be unreasonable,' said Gillian sagely, as she +came up. + +'And I am to choose between Xerxes and Artaxerxes, is it?' said Aunt +Jane. + +'No, the Sofy,' said Mysie. 'A Sofy is a Persian philosopher, and +this kitten has got the wisest face.' + +'Run and fetch them,' suggested her aunt, 'and then we can choose. +Oh,' she added, with some relief at the thought, 'if it is an object +to dispose of Cockie, we could manage him.' + +The two younger ones were gratified, but Gillian and Mysie both +exclaimed that Cockie's exclusive affections were devoted to Macrae, +and that they could not answer for his temper under the separation. +To break up such a household was decidedly the Goose, Fox, and +Cabbage problem. As Mysie observed, in the course of the search for +the kittens, in the make-the-best-of-it tone, 'It was not so bad as +the former moves, when they were leaving a place for good and all.' + +'Ah, but no place was ever so good as this,' said poor Valetta. + +'Don't be such a little donkey,' said Fergus consequentially. 'Don't +you know we are going to school, and I am three years younger than +Wilfred was?' + +'It is only a petticoat school,' said Val, 'kept by ladies.' + +'It isn't.' + +'It is; I heard Harry say so.' + +'And yours is all butchers and bakers and candlestick makers.' + +On which they fell on each other, each with a howl of defiance. +Fergus grabbed at Val's pigtail, and she was buffeting him vehemently +when Harry came out, held them apart, and demanded if this were the +way to make their mother easy in leaving them. + +'She said it was a pet-pet-petticoat school,' sobbed Fergus. + +'And so it ought to be, for boys that fight with girls.' + +'And he said mine was all butchers and bakers and candlestick +makers,' whined Valetta. + +'Then you'd better learn manners, or they'll take you for a tramp,' +observed Harry; but at that moment Mysie broke in with a shout at +having discovered the kittens making a plaything of the best library +pen-wiper, their mother, the sleek Begum, abetting them, and they +were borne off to display the coming glories of their deep fur to +Aunt Jane. + +Her choice fell upon the Sofy, as much because of the convenience of +the name as because of the preternatural wisdom of expression +imparted by the sweep of the black lines on the gray visage. Mr. +Pollock's landlady was to be the happy possessor of Artaxerxes, and +the turbulent portion of the Household was disposed of to bear him +thither, and to beg Miss Hacket to give Buff and Ring the run of her +cage, whence they had originally come, also to deliver various +messages and notes. + +By the time they returned, Colonel Mohun was met in the hall by his +sister. 'Oh, Reggie, it is too good in you!' were the words that +came with her fervent kiss. 'Remember how many years I have been +seasoned to being "cockit up on a baggage waggon." Ought not such an +old soldier as I to be able to take care of myself?' + +'And what would your husband say to you when you got there? And +should not I catch it from William? Well, are you packing up the +youthful family for Beechcroft, except that at Rotherwood they are +shrieking for Mysie?' + +'I know how good William and Alethea would be. This child,' pointing +to Primrose, who had been hanging on her all day in silence, 'is to +go to them; but as I can't send Miss Vincent, educational advantages, +as the advertisements say, lie on the side of Rockstone; so Jenny +here undertakes to be troubled with the rabble.' + +'But Mysie? Rotherwood met me at the station and begged me to obtain +her from you. They really wish it.' + +'He does, I have no doubt.' + +'So does Madame la Marquise. They have been anxious about little +Phyllis all the summer. She was languid and off her feed in London, +and did not pick up at home as they expected. My belief is that it +is too much governess and too little play, and that a fortnight here +would set her up again. Rotherwood himself thinks so, and Victoria +has some such inkling. At any rate, they are urgent to have Mysie +with the child, as the next best thing.' + +'Poor dear little Fly!' ejaculated Lady Merrifield; 'but I am afraid +Mysie was not very happy there last year.' + +'And what would be the effect of all the overdoing?' said Miss Mohun. + +'Mysie is tougher than that sprite, and I suppose there is some +relaxation,' said Lady Merrifield. + +'Yes; the doctors have frightened them sufficiently for the present. + +'I suppose Mysie is a prescription, poor child,' said her aunt, in a +tone that evoked from her brother--- + +'Jealous, Jenny?' + +'Well, Jane,' said Lady Merrifield, 'you know how thankful I am to +you and Ada, but I am inclined to let it depend on the letters I get +to-morrow, and the way Victoria takes it. If it is really an earnest +wish on that dear little Fly's account, I could not withstand old +Rotherwood, and though Mysie might be less happy than she would be +with you, I do not think any harm will be done. Everything there is +sound and conscientious, and if she picks up a little polish, it +won't hurt her.' + +'Shall you give her the choice?' + +'I see no good in rending the poor child's mind between two +affections, especially as there will be a very short time to decide +in, for I shall certainly not send her if Victoria's is a mere duty +letter.' + +'You are quite right there, Lily,' said the Colonel. 'The less +choice the greater comfort.' + +'Well done, sir soldier,' said his sister Jane. 'I say quite right +too; only, for my own sake, I wish it had been Valetta.' + +'So no doubt does she,' said the mother; 'but unluckily it isn't. +And, indeed, I don't think I wish it. Val is safer with you. As +Gillian expressed it the other day, "Val does right when she likes +it; Mysie does right when she knows it."' + +'You have the compliment after all, Jane,' said the Colonel. 'Lily +trusts you with the child she doesn't trust!' + +There was no doubt the next morning, for Lady Rotherwood wrote an +earnest, affectionate letter, begging for Mysie, who, she said, had +won such golden opinions in her former visit that it would be a real +benefit to Phyllis, as much morally as physically, to have her +companionship. It was the tenderest letter that either of the +sisters had ever seen from the judicious and excellent Marchioness, +full of warm sympathy for Lady Merrifield's anxiety for her husband, +and betraying much solicitude for her little girl. + +'It has done her good,' said Jane Mohun. 'I did not think she had +such a soft spot.' + +'Poor Victoria,' said Lady Merrifield, 'that is a shame. You know +she is an excellent mother.' + +'Too excellent, that's the very thing,' muttered Aunt Jane. 'Well, +Mysie's fate is settled, and I dare say it will turn out for the +best.' + +So Mysie was to go with Mrs. Halfpenny and Primrose to Beechcroft, +whence the Rotherwoods would fetch her. If the lady's letter had +been much less urgent, who could have withstood her lord's +postscript: 'If you could see the little pale face light up at the +bare notion of seeing Mysie, you would know how grateful we shall be +for her.' + +Mysie herself heard her destiny without much elation, though she was +very fond of Lady Phyllis, and the tears came into her eyes at the +thought of her being unwell and wanting her. + +'Mamma said we must not grumble,' she said to Gillian; 'but I shall +feel so lost without you and Val. It is so unhomish, and there's +that dreadful German Fraulein, who was not at home last time.' + +'If you told mamma, perhaps she would let you stay,' returned +Gillian. 'I know I should hate it, worse than I do going to +Rockstone and without you.' + +'That would be unkind to poor Fly,' said Mysie. 'Besides, mamma said +she could not have settling and unsettling for ever. And I shall see +Primrose sometimes; besides, I do love Fly. It's marching orders, +you know.' + +It was Valetta who made the most objection. She declared that it was +not fair that Mysie, who had been to the ball at Rotherwood, should +go again to live with lords and ladies, while she went to a nasty +day-school with butchers' and bakers' daughters. She hoped she +should grow horridly vulgar, and if mamma did not like it, it would +be her own fault! + +Mrs. Halfpenny, who did not like to have to separate Mysie's clothes +from the rest after they were packed, rather favoured this +naughtiness by observing: 'The old blue merino might stay at home. +Miss Mysie would be too set up to wear that among her fine folk. Set +her up, that she should have all the treats, while her own Miss +Gillian was turned over to the auld aunties!' + +'Nonsense, nurse,' said Gillian. 'I'm much better pleased to go and +be of some use! Val, you naughty child, how dare you make such a +fuss?' for Valetta was crying again. + +'I hate school, and I hate Rockstone, and I don't see why Mysie +should always go everywhere, and wear new frocks, and I go to the +butchers and bakers and wear horrid old ones.' + +'I wish you could come too,' said Mysie; 'but indeed old frocks are +the nicest, because one is not bothered to take so much care of them; +and lords and ladies aren't a bit better to play with than, other +people. In fact, Ivy is what Japs calls a muff and a stick.' + +Valetta, however, cried on, and Mysie went the length of repairing to +her mother, in the midst of her last notes and packings, to entreat +to change with Val, who followed on tip-toe. + +'Certainly not,' was the answer from Lady Merrifield, who was being +worried on all sides, 'Valetta is not asked, and she is not behaving +so that I could accept for her if she were.' + +And Val had to turn away in floods of tears, which redoubled on being +told by the united voices of her brothers and sisters that they were +ashamed of her for being so selfish as to cry for herself when all +were in so much trouble about papa. + +Lady Merrifield caught some of the last words. 'No, my dear,' she +said. 'That is not quite just or kind. It is being unhappy that +makes poor Val so ready to cry about her own grievances. Only, Val, +come here, and remember that fretting is not the way to meet such +things. There is a better way, my child, and I think you know what I +mean. Now, to help you through the time in an outer way, suppose you +each set yourself some one thing to improve in while I am away. +Don't tell me what it is, but let me find out when I come home.' +With that she obeyed an urgent summons to speak to the gardener. + +'I shall! I shall,' cried little Primrose, 'write a whole copy-book +in single lines! And won't mamma be pleased? What shall you do, +Fergus? and Val? and Mysie?' + +'I shall get to spin my peg-top so as it will never tumble down, and +will turn an engine for drawing water,' was the prompt answer of +Fergus. + +'What nonsense!' said Val; 'you'd better settle to get your long +division sums right.' + +'That s girls' stuff,' replied Fergus; 'you'd better settle to leave +off crying for nothing.' + +'That you had!' said several voices, and Val very nearly cried again +as she exclaimed: 'Don't be all so tiresome. I shall make mamma a +beautiful crewel cushion, with all the battles in history on it. And +won't she be surprised!' + +'I think mamma meant more than that,' said Mysie. + +'Oh, Mysie, what shall you do?' asked Primrose. + +'I did think of getting to translate one of mamma's favourite German +stories quite through to her without wanting the dictionary or +stumbling one bit,' said Mysie; 'but I am sure she meant something +better and better, and I'm thinking what it is---Perhaps it is making +all little Flossie Maddin's clothes, a whole suit all oneself---Or +perhaps it is manners. What do you think, Gill?' + +'I should say most likely it was manners for you,' volunteered Harry, +'and the extra you are most likely to acquire at Rotherwood.' + +'I'm so glad,' said Mysie. + +'And you, Gill,' inquired Primrose, 'what will you do? Mine is a +copy-book, and Fergus's is the spinning-top-engines, and rule of +three; and Val's is a crewel battle cushion and not crying; and +Mysie's is German stories and manners; and what's yours, Gill?' + +'Gill is so grown up, she is too good to want an inside thing' +announced Primrose. + +'Oh, Prim, you dear little thing,' cried both elder brother and +sister, as they thought with a sort of pang of the child's opinion of +grown-up impeccability. + +'Harry is grown up more,' put in Fergus; 'why don't you ask him?' + +'Because I know,' said Primrose, with a pretty shyness, and as they +pressed her, she whispered, 'He is going to be a clergyman.' + +There was a call for Mysie and Val from upstairs, and as the younger +population scampered off, Gillian said to her brother--- + +'Is not it like "occupy till I come"?' + +'So I was thinking,' said Harry gravely. 'But one must be as young +as Mysie to throw one's "inside things" into the general stock of +resolutions.' + +'Yes,' said Gillian, with uplifted eyes. 'I do---I do hope to do +something.' + +Some great thing was her unspoken thought---some great and excellent +achievement to be laid before her mother on her return. There was a +tale begun in imitation of Bessie Merrifield, called "Hilda's +Experiences". Suppose that was finished, printed, published, +splendidly reviewed. Would not that be a great thing? But alas, she +was under a tacit engagement never to touch it in the hours of study. + + + + +CHAPTER II. ROCKQUAY + + + +The actual moment of a parting is often softened by the confusion of +departure. That of the Merrifield family took place at the junction, +where Lady Merrifield with her brother remained in the train, to be +carried on to London. + +Gillian, Valetta, and Fergus, with their aunt, changed into a train +for Rockstone, and Harry was to return to his theological college, +after seeing Mysie and Primrose off with nurse on their way to the +ancestral Beechcroft, whence Mysie was to be fetched to Rotherwood. +The last thing that met Lady Merrifield's eyes was Mrs. Halfpenny +gesticulating wildly, under the impression that Mysie's box was going +off to London. + +And Gillian's tears were choked in the scurry to avoid a smoking- +carriage, while Harry could not help thinking---half blaming himself +for so doing---that Mysie expended more feeling in parting with Sofy, +the kitten, than with her sisters, not perceiving that pussy was the +safety-valve for the poor child's demonstrations of all the sorrow +that was oppressing her. + +Gillian, in the corner of a Rockstone carriage, had time for the full +heart-sickness and tumult of fear that causes such acute suffering to +young hearts. It is quite a mistake to say that youth suffers less +from apprehension than does age; indeed, the very inexperience and +novelty add to the alarms, where there is no background of anxieties +that have ended happily, only a crowd of examples of other people's +misfortunes. The difference is in the greater elasticity and power +of being distracted by outward circumstances; and thus lookers-on +never guess at the terrific possibilities that have scared the +imagination, and the secret ejaculations that have met them. How +many times on that brief journey had not Gillian seen her father +dying, her sisters in despair, her mother crushed in the train, +wrecked in the steamer, perishing of the climate, or arriving to find +all over and dying of the shock; yet all was varied by speculations +on the great thing that was to offer itself to be done, and the +delight it would give, and when the train slackened, anxieties were +merged in the care for bags, baskets, and umbrellas. + +Rockstone and Rockquay had once been separate places---a little +village perched on a cliff of a promontory, and a small fishing +hamlet within the bay, but these had become merged in one, since +fashion had chosen them as a winter resort. Speculators blasted away +such of the rocks as they had not covered with lodging-houses and +desirable residences. The inhabitants of the two places had their +separate churches, and knew their own bounds perfectly well; but to +the casual observer, the chief distinction between them was that +Rockstone was the more fashionable, Rockquay the more commercial, +although the one had its shops, the other its handsome crescents and +villas. The station was at Rockquay, and there was an uphill drive +to reach Rockstone, where the two Miss Mohuns had been early +inhabitants---had named their cottage Beechcroft after their native +home, and, to justify the title, had flanked the gate with two copper +beeches, which had attained a fair growth, in spite of sea winds, +perhaps because sheltered by the house on the other side. + +The garden reached out to the verge of the cliff, or rather to a low +wall, with iron rails and spikes at the top, and a narrow, rather +giddy path beyond. There was a gate in the wall, the key of which +Aunt Jane kept in her own pocket, as it gave near access to certain +rocky steps, about one hundred and thirty in number, by which, when +in haste, the inhabitants of Rockstone could descend to the lower +regions of the Quay. + +There was a most beautiful sea-view from the house, which compensated +for difficulties in gardening in such a situation, though a very +slight slope inwards from the verge of the cliff gave some protection +to the flower-beds; and there was not only a little conservatory +attached to the drawing-room at the end, but the verandah had glass +shutters, which served the purpose of protecting tender plants, and +also the windows, from the full blast of the winter storms. Miss +Mohun was very proud of these shutters, which made a winter garden of +the verandah for Miss Adeline to take exercise in. The house was +their own, and, though it aimed at no particular beauty, had grown +pleasant and pretty looking by force of being lived in and made +comfortable. + +It was a contrast to its neighbours on either side of its pink and +gray limestone wall. On one side began the grounds of the Great +Rockstone Hotel; on the other was Cliff House, the big and seldom- +inhabited house of one of the chief partners in the marble works, +which went on on the other side of the promontory, and some people +said would one day consume Rockstone altogether. It was a very fine +house, and the gardens were reported to be beautifully kept up, but +the owner was almost always in Italy, and had so seldom been at +Rockstone that it was understood that all this was the ostentation of +a man who did not know what to do with his money. + +Aunt Adeline met the travellers at the door with her charming +welcome. Kunz, all snowy white, wagged his tight-curled tail amid +his barks, at sight of Aunt Jane, but capered wildly about the Sofy's +basket, much to Valetta's agony; while growls, as thunderous as a +small kitten could produce, proceeded therefrom. + +'Kunz, be quiet,' said Aunt Jane, in a solemn, to-be-minded voice, +and he crouched, blinking up with his dark eye. + +'Give me the basket. Now, Kunz, this is our cat. Do you hear? You +are not to meddle with her.' + +Did Kunz really wink assent---a very unwilling assent? + +'Oh, Aunt Jane!' from Val, as her aunt's fingers undid the cover of +the basket. + +'Once for all!' said Aunt Jane. + +'M-m-m-m-ps-pss-psss!' from the Sofy, two screams from Val and +Fergus, a buffeting of paws, a couple of wild bounds, first on a +chair-back, then on the mantelpiece, where, between the bronze +candlestick and the vase, the Persian philosopher stood hissing and +swearing, while Kunz danced about and barked. + +'Take her down, Gillian,' said Aunt Jane; and Gillian, who had some +presence of mind, accomplished it with soothing words, and, thanks to +her gloves, only one scratch. + +Meantime Miss Mohun caught up Kunz, held up her finger to him, +stopped his barks; and then, in spite of the 'Oh, don'ts,' and even +the tears of Valetta, the two were held up---black nose to pink nose, +with a resolute 'Now, you are to behave well to each other, from Aunt +Jane. + +Kunz sniffed, the Sofy hissed; but her claws were captive. The dog +was the elder and more rational, and when set down again took no more +notice of his enemy, whom Valetta was advised to carry into Mrs. +Mount's quarters to be comforted and made at home there; the united +voice of the household declaring that the honour of the Spitz was as +spotless as his coat! + +Such was the first arrival at Rockstone, preceding even Aunt +Adeline's inquiries after Mysie, and the full explanation of the +particulars of the family dispersion. Aunt Ada's welcome was not at +all like that of Kunz. She was very tender and caressing, and +rejoiced that her sister could trust her children to her. They +should all get on most happily together, she had no doubt. + +True-hearted as Gillian was, there was something hopeful and +refreshing in the sight of that fair, smiling face, and the touch of +the soft hand, in the room that was by no means unfamiliar, though +she had never slept in the house before. It was growing dark, and +the little fire lighted it up in a friendly manner. Wherever Aunt +Jane was, everything was neat; wherever Aunt Adeline was, everything +was graceful. Gillian was old enough to like the general prettiness; +but it somewhat awed Val and Fergus, who stood straight and shy till +they were taken upstairs. The two girls had a very pretty room and +dressing-room---the guest chamber, in fact; and Fergus was not far +off, in a small apartment which, as Val said, 'stood on legs,' and +formed the shelter of the porch. + +'But, oh dear! oh dear!' sighed Val, as Gillian unpacked their +evening garments, 'Isn't there any nice place at all where one can +make a mess?' + +'I don't know whether the aunts will ever let us make a mess,' said +Gillian; 'they don't look like it.' + +At which Valetta's face puckered up in the way only too familiar to +her friends. + +'Come, don't be silly, Val. You won't have much time, you know; you +will go to school, and get some friends to play with, and not want to +make messes here.' + +'I hate friends!' + +'Oh, Val!' + +'All but Fly, and Mysie is gone to her. I want Mysie.' + +So in truth did Gillian, almost as much as her mother. Her heart +sank as she thought of having Val and Fergus to save from scrapes +without Mysie's readiness and good humour. If Mysie were but there +she should be free for her 'great thing.' And oh! above all, Val's +hair---the brown bush that Val had a delusion that she 'did' herself, +but which her 'doing' left looking rather worse than it did before, +and which was not permitted in public to be in the convenient tail. +Gillian advanced on her with the brush, but she tossed it and +declared it all right! + +However, at that moment there was a knock. Mrs. Mount's kindly face +and stout form appeared. She had dressed Miss Ada and came to see +what she could do for the young people, being of that delightful +class of old servants who are charmed to have anything young in the +house, especially a boy. She took Valetta's refractory mane in hand, +tied her sash, inspected Fergus's hands, which had succeeded in +getting dirty in their inevitable fashion, and undertook all the +unpacking and arranging. To Val's inquiry whether there was any +place for making 'a dear delightful mess' she replied with a curious +little friendly smile, and wonder that a young lady should want such +a thing. + +'I'm afraid we are all rather strange specimens of young ladies,' +replied Gillian; 'very untidy, I mean.' + +'And I'm sure I don't know what Miss Mohun and Miss Ada will say' +said good Mrs. Mount. + +'What's that? What am I to say?' asked Aunt Jane, coming into the +room. + +But, after all, Aunt Jane proved to have more sympathy with 'messes' +than any of the others. She knew very well that the children would +be far less troublesome if they had a place to themselves, and she +said, 'Well, Val, you shall have the boxroom in the attics. And +mind, you must keep all your goods there, both of you. If I find +them about the house, I shall---' + +'Oh, what, Aunt Jane?' + +'Confiscate them,' was the reply, in a very awful voice, which +impressed Fergus the more because he did not understand the word. + +'You need not look so much alarmed, Fergus,' said Gillian; 'you are +not at all the likely one to transgress.' + +'No,' said Valetta gravely. 'Fergus is what Lois calls a regular old +battledore.' + +'I won't be called names,' exclaimed Fergus. + +'Well, Lois said so---when you were so cross because the poker had got +on the same side as the tongs! She said she never saw such an old +battledore, and you know how all the others took it up.' + +'Shuttlecock yourself then!' angrily responded Fergus, while both +aunt and sister were laughing too much to interfere. + +'I shall call you a little Uncle Maurice instead,' said Aunt Jane. +'How things come round! Perhaps you would not believe, Gill, that +Aunt Ada was once in a scrape, when she was our Mrs. Malaprop, for +applying that same epithet on hearsay to Maurice.' + +This laugh made Gillian feel more at home with her aunt, and they +went up happily together for the introduction to the lumber-room, not +a very spacious place, and with a window leading out to the leads. +Aunt Jane proceeded to put the children on their word of honour not +to attempt to make an exit thereby, which Gillian thought +unnecessary, since this pair were not enterprising. + +The evening went off happily. Aunt Jane produced one of the old +games which had been played at the elder Beechcroft, and had a +certain historic character in the eyes of the young people. It was +one of those variations of the Game of the Goose that were once held +to be improving, and their mother had often told them how the family +had agreed to prove whether honesty is really the best policy, and +how it had been agreed that all should cheat as desperately as +possible, except 'honest Phyl,' who _couldn't_; and how, by some +extraordinary combination, good for their morals, she actually was +the winner. It was immensely interesting to see the identical much- +worn sheet of dilapidated pictures with the padlock, almost close to +the goal, sending the counter back almost to the beginning in search +of the key. Still more interesting was the imitation, "in very +wonderful drawing, devised by mamma, of the career of a true knight--- +from pagedom upwards---in pale watery Prussian-blue armour, a crimson +scarf, vermilion plume, gamboge spurs, and very peculiar arms and +legs. But, as Valetta observed, it must have been much more +interesting to draw such things as that than stupid freehand lines +and twists with no sense at all in them. + +Aunt Ada, being subject to asthmatic nights, never came down to +breakfast, and, indeed, it was at an hour that Gillian thought +fearfully early; but her Aunt Jane was used to making every hour of +the day available, and later rising would have prevented the two +children from being in time for the schools, to which they were to go +on the Monday. Some of Aunt Jane's many occupations on Saturday +consisted in arranging with the two heads of their respective +schools, and likewise for the mathematical class Gillian was to join +at the High School two mornings in the week, and for her lessons on +the organ, which were to be at St. Andrew's Church. Somehow Gillian +felt as if she were as entirely in her aunt's hands as Kunz and the +Sofy had been! + +After the early dinner, which suited the invalid's health, Aunt Jane +said she would take Valetta and Fergus to go down to the beach with +the little Varleys, while she went to her district, leaving Gillian +to read to Aunt Ada for half an hour, and then to walk with her for a +quiet turn on the beach. + +It was an amusing article in a review that Gillian was set to read, +and she did it so pleasantly that her aunt declared that she looked +forward to many such afternoon pastimes, and then, by an easier way +than the hundred and a half steps, they proceeded down the hill, the +aunt explaining a great deal to the niece in a manner very gratifying +to a girl beginning to be admitted to an equality with grown-up +people. + +'There is our old church,' said Aunt Ada, as they had a glimpse of a +gray tower with a curious dumpy steeple. + +'Do you go to church there!' + +'I do---always. I could not undertake the hill on Sundays; but Jane +takes the school-children to the St. Andrew's service in the +afternoon.' + +'But which is the parish church?' + +'In point of fact, my dear; it is all one parish. Good morning, Mr. +Hablot. My niece, Miss Gillian Merrifield. Yes, my sister is come +home. I think she will be at the High School. He is the vicar of +St. Andrew's,' as the clergyman went off in the direction of the +steps. + +'I thought you said it was all one parish.' + +'St. Andrew's is only a district. Ah, it was all before your time, +my dear.' + +'I know dear Uncle Claude was the clergyman here, and got St. +Andrew's built.' + +'Yes, my dear. It was the great work and thought with him and Lord +Rotherwood in those days that look so bright now,' said Aunt Ada. +'Yes, and with us all.' + +'Do tell me all about it,' entreated Gillian; and her aunt, nothing +loth, went on. + +'Dear Claude was only five-and-twenty when he had the living. Nobody +would take it, it was such a neglected place. All Rockquay down +there had grown up with only the old church, and nobody going to it. +It was a great deal through Rotherwood. Some property here came to +him, and he was shocked at the state of things. Then we all thought +the climate might be good for dear Claude, and Jane came to live with +him and help him, and look after him. You see there were a great +many of us, and Jane---well, she didn't quite get on with Alethea, and +Claude thought she wanted a sphere of her own, and that is the way +she comes to have more influence than any one else here. And as I am +always better in this air than anywhere else, I came soon after---even +before my dear fathers death. And oh! what an eager, hopeful time it +was, setting everything going, and making St. Andrew's all we could +wish! We were obliged to be cautious at the old church, you know, +because of not alarming the old-fashioned people. And so we are +still---' + +'Is that St. Andrew's? Oh, it is beautiful. May I look in?' + +'Not now, my dear. You will see it another time.' + +'I wish it were our church.' + +'You will find the convenience of having one so near. And our +services are very nice with our present rector, Mr. Ellesmere, an +excellent active man, but his wife is such an invalid that all the +work falls on Jane. I am so glad you are here to help her a little. +St. Andrew's has a separate district, and Mr. Hablot is the vicar; +but as it is very poor, we keep the charities all in one. Rotherwood +built splendid schools, so we only have an infant school for the +Rockstone children. On Sunday, Jane assembles the older children +there and takes them to church; but in the afternoon they all go to +the National Schools, and then to a children's service at St. +Andrew's. She gets on so well with Mr. Hablot---he was dear Claude's +curate, you see, and little Mrs. Hablot was quite a pupil of ours. +What do you think little Gerald Hablot said---he is only five---"Isn't +Miss Mohun the most consultedest woman in Rockquay?"' + +'I suppose it is true,' said Gillian, laughing, but rather awestruck. + +'I declare it makes me quite giddy to count up all she has on her +hands. Nobody can do anything without her. There are so few +permanent inhabitants, and when people begin good works, they go +away, or marry, or grow tired, and then we can't let them drop!' + +'Oh! what's that pretty spire, on the rise of the other hill?' + +'My dear, that was the Kennel Mission Chapel, a horrid little hideous +iron thing, but Lady Flight mistook and called it St. Kenelm's, and +St. Kenelm's it will be to the end of the chapter.' And as she +exchanged bows with a personage in a carriage, 'There she is, my +dear.' + +'Who? Did she build that church?' + +'It is not consecrated. It really is only a mission chapel, and he +is nothing but a curate of Mr. Hablot's,' said Aunt Ada, Gillian +thought a little venomously. + +She asked, 'Who?' + +'The Reverend Augustine Flight, my dear. I ought not to say anything +against them, I am sure, for they mean to be very good; but she is +some City man's widow, and he is an only son, and they have more +money than their brains can carry. They have made that little place +very beautiful, quite oppressed with ornament---City taste, you know, +and they have all manner of odd doings there, which Mr. Hablot +allows, because he says he does not like to crush zeal, and he thinks +interference would do more harm than good. Jane thinks he ought not +to stand so much, but---' + +Gillian somehow felt a certain amusement and satisfaction in finding +that Aunt Jane had one disobedient subject, but they were interrupted +by two ladies eagerly asking where to find Miss Mohun, and a few +steps farther on a young clergyman accosted them, and begged that +Miss Mohun might be told the hour of some meeting. Also that 'the +Bellevue Church people would not co-operate in the coal club.' + +Then it was explained that Bellevue Church was within the bounds of +another parish, and had been built by, and for, people who did not +like the doctrine at the services of St. Andrew's. + +By this time aunt and niece had descended to the Marine esplanade, a +broad road, on one side of which there was a low sea wall, and then +the sands and rocks stretched out to the sea, on the other a broad +space of short grass, where there was a cricket ground, and a lawn- +tennis ground, and the volunteers could exercise, and the band played +twice a week round a Russian gun that stood by the flagstaff. + +The band was playing now, and the notes seemed to work on Gillian's +feet, and yet to bring her heart into her throat, for the last time +she had heard that march was from the band of her father's old +regiment, when they were all together! + +Her aunt was very kind, and talked to her affectionately and +encouragingly of the hopes that her mother would find her father +recovering, and that it would turn out after all quite an expedition +of pleasure and refreshment. Then she said how much she rejoiced to +have Gillian with her, as a companion to herself, while her sister +was so busy, and she was necessarily so much left alone. + +'We will read together, and draw, and play duets, and have quite a +good account of our employment to give,' she said, smiling. + +'I shall like it very much,' said Gillian heartily. + +'Dear child, the only difficulty will be that you will spoil me, and +I shall never be able to part with you. Besides, you will be such a +help to my dear Jane. She never spares herself, you know, and no one +ever spares her, and I can do so little to help her, except with my +head.' + +'Surely here are plenty of people,' said Gillian, for they were in +the midst of well-dressed folks, and Aunt Ada had more than once +exchanged nods and greetings. + +'Quite true, my dear; but when there is anything to be done, then +there is a sifting! But now we have you, with all our own Lily's +spirit, I shall be happy about Jane for this winter at least. + +They were again interrupted by meeting a gentleman and lady, to whom +Gillian was introduced, and who walked on with her aunt conversing. +They had been often in India, and made so light of the journey that +Gillian was much cheered. Moreover, she presently came in sight of +Val and Fergus supremely happy over a castle on the beach, and +evidently indoctrinating the two little Varleys with some of the +dramatic sports of Silverfold. + +Aunt Ada found another acquaintance, a white moustached old +gentleman, who rose from a green bench in a sunny corner, saying, +'Ah, Miss Mohun, I have been guarding your seat for you.' + +'Thank you, Major Dennis. My niece, Miss Merrifield.' + +He seemed to be a very courteous old gentleman, for he bowed, and +made some polite speech about Sir Jasper, and, as he was military, +Gillian hoped to have heard some more about the journey when they sat +down, and room was made for her; but instead of that he and her aunt +began a discussion of the comings and goings of people she had never +heard of, and the letting or not letting of half the villas in +Rockstone; and she found it so dull that she had a great mind to go +and join the siege of Sandcastle. Only her shoes and her dress were +fitter for the esplanade than the shore with the tide coming in; and +when one has just begun to buy one's own clothes, that is a +consideration. + +At last she saw Aunt Jane's trim little figure come out on the sands +and make as straight for the children as she could, amid greetings +and consultations, so with an exclamation, she jumped up and went +over the shingle to meet them, finding an endeavour going on to make +them tolerably respectable for the walk home, by shaking off the +sand, and advising Val to give up her intention of dragging home a +broad brown ribbon of weed with a frilled edge, all polished and +shiny with wet. She was not likely to regard it as such a curiosity +after a few days' experience of Rockquay, as her new friends told +her. + +Kitty Varley went to the High School, which greatly modified +Valetta's disgust to it, for the little girls had already vowed to be +the greatest chums in the world, and would have gone home with arms +entwined, if Aunt Jane had not declared that such things could not be +done in the street, and Clem Varley, with still more effect, +threatened that if they were such a pair of ninnies, he should squirt +at them with the dirtiest water he could find. + +Valetta had declared that she infinitely preferred Kitty to Fly, and +Kitty was so flattered at being adopted by the second cousin of a +Lady Phyllis, and the daughter of a knight, that she exalted Val +above all the Popsys and Mopsys of her present acquaintance, and at +parting bestowed on her a chocolate cream, which tasted about equally +of salt water and hot hand---at least if one did not feel it a +testimonial of ardent friendship. + +Fergus and Clement had, on the contrary, been so much inclined to +punch and buffet one another, that Miss Mohun had to make them walk +before her to keep the peace, and was by no means sorry when the gate +of 'The Tamarisks' was reached, and the Varleys could be disposed of. + +However, the battery must have been amicable, for Fergus was crazy to +go in and see Clement's little pump, which he declared 'would do it'- +--an enigmatical phrase supposed to refer to the great peg-top- +perpetual-motion invention. He was dragged away with difficulty on +the plea of its being too late by Aunt Jane, who could not quite turn +two unexpected children in on Mrs. Varley, and had to effect a cruel +severance of Val and Kitty in the midst of their kisses. + +'Sudden friendships,' said Gillian, from the superiority of her age. + +'I do not think you are given that way,' said Aunt Jane. + +'Does the large family suffice for all of you? People are so +different,' added Aunt Ada. + +'Yes,' said Gillian. 'We have never been in the way of caring for +any outsider. I don't reckon Bessie Merrifield so---nor Fly Devereux, +nor Dolores, because they are cousins.' + +'Cousins may be everything or nothing,' asserted Miss Mohun. 'You +have been about so much that you have hardly had time to form +intimacies. But had you no friends in the officers' families?' + +'People always retired before their children grew up to be +companionable, said Gillian. 'There was nobody except the Whites. +And that wasn't exactly friendship.' + +'Who were they?' said Aunt Jane, who always liked to know all about +everybody. + +'He rose from the ranks,' said Gillian. 'He was very much respected, +and nobody would have known that he was not a gentleman to begin +with. But his wife was half a Greek. Papa said she had been very +pretty; but, oh! she had grown so awfully fat. We used to call her +the Queen of the White Ants. Then Kally---her name was really +Kalliope---was very nice, and mamma got them to send her to a good +day-school at Dublin, and Alethea and Phyllis used to have her in to +try to make a lady of her. There used to be a great deal of fun +about their Muse, I remember; Claude thought her very pretty, and +always stood up for her, and Alethea was very fond of her. But soon +after we went to Belfast, Mr. White was made to retire with the rank +of captain. I think papa tried to get something for him to do; but I +am not sure whether he succeeded, and I don't know any more about +them.' + +'Not exactly friendship, certainly,' said Aunt Jane, smiling. 'After +all, Gillian, in your short life, you have had wider experiences than +have befallen your old aunts!' + +'Wider, perhaps, not deeper, Jane,' suggested Miss Adeline. + +And Gillian thought---though she felt it would be too sentimental to +say---that in her life, persons and scenes outside her own family had +seemed to 'come like shadows and so depart'; and there was a general +sense of depression at the partings, the anxiety, and the being +unsettled again when she was just beginning to have a home. + + + + +CHAPTER III. PERPETUAL MOTION + + + +If Fergus had not yet discovered the secret of perpetual motion, +Gillian felt as if Aunt Jane had done so, and moreover that the +greater proportion of parish matters were one vast machine, of which +she was the moving power. + +As she was a small spare woman, able to do with a very moderate +amount of sleep, her day lasted from 6 A.M. to some unnamed time +after midnight; and as she was also very methodical, she got through +an appalling amount of business, and with such regularity that those +who knew her habits could tell with tolerable certainty, within +reasonable limits, where she would be found and what she would be +doing at any hour of the seven days of the week. Everything she +influenced seemed to recur as regularly as the motions of the great +ruthless-looking engines that Gillian had seen at work at Belfast; +the only loose cog being apparently her sister Adeline, who quietly +took her own way, seldom came downstairs before eleven o'clock, went +out and came in, made visits or received them, wrote letters, read +and worked at her own sweet will. Only two undertakings seemed to +belong to her---a mission working party, and an Italian class of young +ladies; and even the presidency of these often lapsed upon her +sister, when she had had one of those 'bad nights' of asthma, which +were equally sleepless to both sisters. She was principally useful +by her exquisite needlework, both in church embroidery and for sales; +and likewise as the recipient of all the messages left for Miss +Mohun, which she never forgot, besides that, having a clear sensible +head, she was useful in consultation. + +She was thoroughly interested in all her sister's doings, and always +spoke of herself as the invalid, precluded from all service except +that of being a pivot for Jane, the stationary leg of the compasses, +as she sometimes called herself. This repose, together with her +prettiness and sweetness of manner, was very attractive; especially +to Gillian, who had begun to feel herself in the grip of the great +engine which bore her along without power of independent volition, +and with very little time for 'Hilda's Experiences'. + +At home she had gone on harmoniously in full acquiescence with +household arrangements; but before the end of the week the very same +sensations came over her which had impelled her and Jasper into +rebellion and disgrace, during the brief reign of a very strict daily +governess, long ago at Dublin. Her reason and sense approved of all +that was set before her, and much of it was pleasant and amusing; but +this was the more provoking by depriving her of the chance of +resistance or the solace of complaint. Moreover, with all her time +at Aunt Jane's disposal, how was she to do her great thing? +Valetta's crewel battle cushion had been reduced to a delicious +design of the battle of the frogs and mice, drawn by Aunt Ada, and +which she delighted in calling at full length 'the Batrachyomachia,' +sparing none of the syllables which she was to work below. And it +was to be worked at regularly for half an hour before bed-time. +Trust Aunt Jane for seeing that any one under her dominion did what +had been undertaken! Only thus the spontaneity seemed to have +departed, and the work became a task. Fergus meanwhile had set his +affections on a big Japanese top he had seen in a window, and was +eagerly awaiting his weekly threepence, to be able to complete the +purchase, though no one but Valetta was supposed to understand what +it had to do with his 'great thing.' + +It was quite pleasant to Gillian to have a legitimate cause of +opposition when Miss Mohun made known that she intended Gillian to +take a class at the afternoon Sunday-school, while the two children +went to Mrs. Hablot's drawing-room class at St. Andrew's Vicarage, +all meeting afterwards at church. + +'Did mamma wish it?' asked Gillian. + +'There was no time to mention it, but I knew she would.' + +'I don't think so,' said Gillian. 'We don't teach on Sundays, unless +some regular person fails. Mamma likes to have us all at home to do +our Sunday work with her.' + +'Alas, I am not mamma! Nor could I give you the time.' + +'I have brought the books to go on with Val and Ferg. I always do +some of their work with them, and I am sure mamma would not wish them +to be turned over to a stranger.' + +'The fact is, that young ladies have got beyond Sunday-schools!' + +'No, no, Jane,' said her sister; 'Gillian is quite willing to help +you; but it is very nice in her to wish to take charge of the +children.' + +'They would be much better with Mrs. Hablot than dawdling about here +and amusing themselves in the new Sunday fashion. Mind, I am not +going to have them racketing about the house and garden, disturbing +you, and worrying the maids.' + +'Aunt Jane!' cried Gillian indignantly, 'you don't think that is the +way mamma brought us up to spend Sunday?' + +'We shall see,' said Aunt Jane; then more kindly, 'My dear, you are +right to use your best judgment, and you are welcome to do so, as +long as the children are orderly and learn what they ought.' + +It was more of a concession than Gillian expected, though she little +knew the effort it cost, since Miss Mohun had been at much pains to +set Mrs. Hablot's class on foot, and felt it a slight and a bad +example that her niece and nephew should be defaulters. The motive +might have worked on Gillian, but it was a lower one, therefore +mentioned. + +She had seen Mrs. Hablot at the Italian class, and thought her a mere +girl, and an absolute subject of Aunt Jane's stumbling pitifully, +moreover, in a speech of Adelchi's; therefore evidently not at all +likely to teach Sunday subjects half so well as herself! + +Nor was there anything amiss on that first Sunday. The lessons were +as well and quietly gone through as if with mamma, and there was a +pleasant little walk on the esplanade before the children's service +at St. Andrew's; after which there was a delightful introduction to +some of the old books mamma had told them of. + +They were all rather subdued by the strangeness and newness of their +surroundings, as well as by anxiety. If the younger ones were less +anxious about their parents than was their sister, each had a plunge +to make on the morrow into a very new world, and the Varleys' +information had not been altogether reassuring. Valetta had learnt +how many marks might be lost by whispering or bad spelling, and how +ferociously cross Fraulein Adler looked at a mistake in a German +verb; while Fergus had heard a dreadful account of the ordeals to +which Burfield and Stebbing made new boys submit, and which would be +all the worse for him, because he had a 'rum' Christian name, and his +father was a swell. + +Gillian had some experience through her elder brothers, and suspected +Master Varley of being guilty of heightening the horrors; so she +assured Fergus that most boys had the same sort of Christian names, +but were afraid to confess them to one another, and so called each +other Bill and Jack. She advised him to call himself by his surname, +not to mention his father's title if he could help it, and, above +all, not to seem to mind anything. + +Her own spirits were much exhilarated the next morning by a note from +Harry, the recipient of all telegrams, with tidings that the doctors +were quite satisfied with Sir Jasper, and that Lady Merrifield had +reached Brindisi. + +There was great excitement at sight of a wet morning, for it appeared +that an omnibus came round on such occasions to pick up the scholars; +and Valetta thought this so delightful that she danced about +exclaiming, 'What fun!' and only wishing for Mysie to share it. She +would have rushed down to the gate umbrellaless if Aunt Jane had not +caught and conducted her, while Gillian followed with Fergus. Aunt +Jane looked down the vista of young faces---five girls and three boys- +--nodding to them, and saying to the senior, a tall damsel of fifteen, + +'Here are my children, Emma. You will take care of them, please. +You are keeping order here, I suppose?' + +There was a smile and bow in answer as the door closed, and the +omnibus jerked away its ponderous length. + +'I'm sorry to see that Stebbing there,' observed the aunt, as she +went back; 'but Emma Norton ought to be able to keep him in order. +It is well you have no lessons out of the house to-day, Gillian.' + +'Are you going out then?' + +'Oh yes!' said Miss Mohun, running upstairs, and presently coming +back with a school-bag and a crackling waterproof cloak, but pausing +as she saw Gillian at the window, nursing the Sofy, and gazing at the +gray cloud over the gray sea. 'You are not at a loss for something +to do,' she said, 'you said you meant to write to your mother.' + +'Oh yes!' said Gillian, suddenly fretted, and with a sense of being +hunted, 'I have plenty to do.' + +'I see,' said Miss Mohun, turning over the books that lay on the +little table that had been appropriated to her niece, in a way that, +unreasonably or not, unspeakably worried the girl, 'Brachet's French +Grammar---that's right. Colenso's Algebra---I don't think they use +that at the High School. Julius Caesar---you should read that up in +Merivale.' + +'I did,' said Gillian, in a voice that very nearly said, 'Do let them +alone.' + +'Well, you have materials for a very useful, sensible morning's work, +and when Ada comes down, very likely she will like to be read to.' + +Off went the aunt, leaving the niece stirred into an absolute desire, +instead of spending the sensible morning, to take up 'Near +Neighbours', and throw herself into an easy-chair; and when she had +conscientiously resisted that temptation, her pen would hover over +'Hilda's Experiences', even when she had actually written 'Dearest +Mamma.' She found she was in no frame to write such a letter as +would be a comfort to her mother, so she gave that up, and made her +sole assertion of liberty the working out of a tough double equation +in Colenso, which actually came right, and put her in such good +humour that she was no longer afraid of drumming the poor piano to +death and Aunt Ada upstairs to distraction, but ventured on learning +one of the Lieder ohne Worte; and when her Aunt Ada came down and +complimented her on the sounds that had ascended, she was complacent +enough to write a very cheerful letter, whilst her aunt was busied +with her own. She described the Sunday-school question that had +arisen, and felt sure that her father would pronounce his Gill to be +a sensible young woman. Afterwards Miss Adeline betook herself to a +beautiful lily of church embroidery, observing, as Gillian sat down +to read to her Alphonse Karr's Voyage autour de mon Jardin, that it +was a real pleasure to listen to such prettily-pronounced French. +Kunz lay at her feet, the Sofy nestled in Gillian's lap, and there +was a general sense of being rubbed down the right way. + +By and by there loomed through the rain two dripping shiny forms +under umbrellas strongly inclined to fly away from them---Miss Mohun +and Mr. Grant, the junior curate, whom she had brought home to +luncheon. Both were full of the irregularities of the two churches +of Bellevue and St. Kenelm's on the recent harvest-thanksgiving +Sunday. It was hard to tell which was most reprobated, what St. +Kenelm's did or what Bellevue did not do. If the one blew trumpets +in procession, the other collected the offertory in a warming-pan. +Gillian had already begun to find that these misdoings supplied much +conversation at Beechcroft Cottage, and began to get half weary, half +curious to judge for herself of all these enormities; nor did she +feel more interested in the discussion of who had missed church or +school, and who needed tickets for meat, or to be stirred up to pay +for their coal club. + +At last she heard, 'Well, I think you might read to her, Gillian! +Oh! were not you listening? A very nice girl near here, a pupil +teacher, who has developed a hip complaint, poor child. She will +enjoy having visits from you, a young thing like herself.' + +Gillian did not like it at all, but she knew that it would be wrong +to refuse, and answered, 'Very well,' with no alacrity---hoping that +it was not an immediate matter, and that something might happen to +prevent it. But at that moment the sun came out, the rain had +ceased, and there were glistening drops all over the garden; the +weather quarter was clear, and after half an hours rest after dinner +Aunt Jane jumped up, decreeing that it was time to go out, and that +she would introduce Gillian to Lilian Giles before going on to the +rest of her district. + +She gathered a few delicate flowers in the little conservatory, and +put them in a basket with a peach from the dessert, then took down a +couple of books from the shelf. Gillian could not but acquiesce, +though she was surprised to find that the one given to her was a +translation of Undine. + +'The child is not badly off,' explained Miss Mohun. 'Her father is a +superior workman. She does not exactly want comforts, but she is +sadly depressed and disappointed at not being able to go on with her +work, and the great need is to keep her from fretting over her +troubles, and interested in something.' + +Gillian began to think of one of the graceful hectic invalids of whom +she had read, and to grow more interested as she followed Aunt Jane +past the old church with the stout square steeple, constructed to +hold, on a small side turret window, a light for the benefit of ships +at sea. Then the street descended towards the marble works. There +was a great quarry, all red and raw with recent blasting, and above, +below, and around, rows of new little stuccoed, slated houses, for +the work-people, and a large range of workshops and offices fronting +the sea. This was Miss Mohun's district, and at a better-looking +house she stopped and used the knocker. + +That was no distinction; all had doors with knockers and sash +windows, but this was a little larger, and the tiny strip of garden +was well kept, while a beautiful myrtle and pelargonium peeped over +the muslin blind; and it was a very nice-looking woman who opened the +door, though she might have been the better for a cap. Aunt Jane +shook hands with her, rather to Gillian's surprise, and heard that +Lily was much the same. + +'It is her spirits are so bad, you see, Miss Mohun,' she added, as +she ushered them into a somewhat stuffy little parlour, carpeted and +bedecked with all manner of knick-knacks, photographs, and framed +certificates of various societies of temperance and providence on the +gaily-papered walls. The girl lay on a couch near the fire, a sallow +creature, with a big overhanging brow, made heavier by a dark fringe, +and an expression that Gillian not unjustly decided was fretful, +though she smiled, and lighted up a little when she saw Miss Mohun. + +There was a good deal said about her bad nights, and her appetite, +and how the doctor wanted her to take as much as she could, and how +everything went against her---even lardy cake and roly-poly pudding +with bacon in it! + +Miss Mohun put the flowers on the little table near the girl, who +smiled a little, and thanked her in a languid dreary manner. Finding +that she had freshly been visited by the rector, Miss Mohun would not +stop for any serious reading, but would leave Miss Merrifield to read +a story to her. + +'And you ought to get on together,' she said, smiling. 'You are just +about the same age, and your names rhyme--Gillian and Lilian. And +Gillians mother is a Lily too.' + +This the young lady lid not like, for she was already feeling it a +sort of presumption in the girl to bear a name so nearly resembling +her mother's. She had seen a little cottage poverty, and had had a +class of little maidservants; but this level of life which is in no +want, keeps a best parlour, and does not say ma'am, was quite new to +her, and she did not fancy it. When the girls were left together, +while Mrs. Giles returned to her ironing, Gillian was the shyer of +the two, and began rather awkwardly and reluctantly--- + +'Miss Mohun thought you would like to hear this. It is a sort of +German fairy tale.' + +Lilian said, 'Yes, Miss Merrifield' in a short dry tone, completing +Gillian's distaste, and she began to read, not quite at her best, and +was heartily glad when at the end of half an hour Mrs. Giles was +heard in parley with another visitor, so that she had an excuse for +going away without attempting conversation. She was overtaken by the +children on their way home from their schools, where they had dined. +They rushed upon her, together with the two Varleys, who wanted to +take them home to tea; and Gillian giving her ready consent, Fergus +dashed home to fetch his beloved humming-top, which was to be +introduced to Clement Varley's pump, and in a few minutes they were +off, hardly vouchsafing an answer to such comparatively trifling +inquiries as how they were placed at their schools. + +Gillian found, however, that neither of her aunts was pleased at her +having consented to the children's going out without reference to +their authority. How did she suppose they were to come home? + +'I did not think, can't they be fetched?' said Gillian, startled. + +'It is not far,' said Adeline, pitying her. 'One of the maids---' + +'My dear Ada!' exclaimed Aunt Jane. 'You know that Fanny cannot go +out at night with her throat, and I never will send out those young +girls on any account.' + +'Can't I go?' said Gillian desperately. + +'Are not you a young girl? I must go myself.' + +And go she did at a quarter to eight, and brought home the children, +looking much injured. Gillian went upstairs with them, and there was +an outburst. + +'It was horrid to be fetched home so soon, just as there was a chance +of something nice; when all the tiresome big ones had gone to dress, +and we could have had some real fun,' said Valetta. + +'Real fun! Real sense!' said Fergus. + +'But what had you been about all this time?' + +'Why, their sisters and a man that was there _would_ come and drink +tea in the nursery, where nobody wanted them, and make us play their +play. + +'Wasn't that nice? You are always crying out for Harry and me to +come and play with you.' + +'Oh, it wasn't like that,' said Val, 'you play with us, and they only +pretended, and played with each other. It wasn't nice.' + +'Clem said it was---forking,' said Fergus. + +'No, spooning,' said Val. 'The dish ran after the spoon, you know.' + +'Well, but you haven't told me about the schools,' said Gillian, in +elder sisterly propriety, thinking the subject had better be +abandoned. + +'Jolly, jolly, scrumptious!' cried Fergus. + +'Oh! Fergus, mamma doesn't like slang words. Jasper doesn't say +them.' + +'Not at home, but men say what they like at school, and the 'bus was +scrumptious and splendiferous!' + +'I'm sure it wasn't,' said Valetta; 'I can't bear being boxed up with +horrid rude boys.' + +'Because you are only a girl!' + +'Now, Gill, they shot with---' + +'Val, if you tell---' + +'Telling Gill isn't telling. Is it, Gill?' + +She assented. + +'They did, Gill. They shot at us with pea-shooters,' sighed the +girl. + +'Oh! it was jolly, jolly, jolly!' cried the boy. 'Stebbing hit the +girl who made the sour face on her cheeks, and they all squealed, and +the cad looked in and tried to jaw us.' + +'But that dreadful boy shot right into his mouth,' said Val, while +Fergus went into an ecstasy of laughter. 'Wasn't it a shame, Gill?' + +'Indeed it was' said Gillian. 'Such ungentlemanly boys ought not to +be allowed in the omnibus.' + +'Girls shouldn't be allowed in the 'bus, they are so stupid,' said +Fergus. 'That one---as cross as old Halfpenny---who was she, Val?' + +'Emma Norton! Up in the highest form!' + +'Well, she is a prig, and a tell-tale-tit besides; only Stebbing said +if she did, her junior would catch it.' + +'What a dreadful bully he must be!' exclaimed Gillian. + +I'll tell you what,' said Fergus, in a tone of profound admiration, +'no one can hold a candle to him at batting! He snowballed all the +Kennel choir into fits, and he can brosier old Tilly's stall, and go +on just the same.' + +'What a greedy boy!' exclaimed Val. + +'Disgusting,' added Gillian. + +'You're girls,' responded Fergus, lengthening the syllable with +infinite contempt; but Valetta had spirit enough to reply, 'Much +better be a girl than rude and greedy.' + +'Exactly,' said Gillian; 'it is only little silly boys who think such +things fine. Claude doesn't, nor Harry, nor Japs.' + +'You know nothing about it,' said Fergus. + +'Well, but you've never told me about school---how you are placed, and +whom you are under.' + +'Oh! I'm in middle form, under Miss Edgar. Disgusting! It's only +the third form that go up to Smiler. She knows it is no use to try +to take Stebbing and Burfield.' + +'And, Gill,' added Val, 'I'm in second class too, and I took three +places for knowing where Teheran was, and got above Kitty Varley and +a girl there two years older than I am, and her name is Maura.' + +'Maura, how very odd! I never heard of any one called Maura but one +of the Whites,' said Gillian. 'What was her surname?' + +This Valetta could not tell, and at the moment Mrs. Mount came up +with intent to brush Miss Valetta's hair, and to expedite the going +to bed. + +Gillian, not very happy about the revelations she had heard, went +downstairs, and found her younger aunt alone, Miss Mohun having been +summoned to a conference with one of her clients in the parish room. +In her absence Gillian always felt more free and communicative, and +she had soon told whatever she did not feel as a sort of confidence, +including Valetta's derivation of spooning, and when Miss Mohun +returned it was repeated to her. + +'Yes,' was her comment, 'children's play is a convenient cover to the +present form of flirtation. No doubt Bee Varley and Mr. Marlowe +believe themselves to have been most good-natured.' + +'Who is he, and will it come to anything?' asked Aunt Ada, taking her +sister's information for granted. + +'Oh no, it is nothing. A civil service man, second cousin's brother- +in-law's stepson. That's quite enough in these days to justify +fraternal romping.' + +'I thought Beatrice Varley a nice girl.' + +'So she is, my dear. It is only the spirit of the age, and, after +all, this deponent saith not which was the dish and which was the +spoon. Have the children made any other acquaintances, I wonder? +And how did George Stebbing comport himself in the omnibus? I was +sorry to see him there; I don't trust that boy.' + +'I wonder they didn't send him in solitary grandeur in the brougham,' +said Miss Ada. + +Gillian held the history of the pea-shooting as a confidence, even +though Aunt Jane seemed to have been able to see through the omnibus, +so she contented herself with asking who George Stebbing was. + +'The son of the manager of the marble works; partner, I believe.' + +'Yes,' said Aunt Ada. 'the Co. means Stebbing primarily.' + +'Is he a gentleman?' + +'Well, as much as old Mr. White himself, I suppose. He is come up +here---more's the pity---to the aristocratic quarter, if you please,' +said Aunt Jane, smiling, 'and if garden parties are not over, Mr. +Stebbing may show you what they can be.' + +'That boy ought to be at a public school,' said her sister. 'I hope +he doesn't bully poor little Fergus.' + +'I don't think he does,' said Gillian. 'Fergus seemed rather to +admire him.' + +'I had rather hear of bullying than patronage in that quarter,' said +Miss Mohun. 'But, Gillian, we must impress on the children that they +are to go to no one's house without express leave. That will avoid +offence, and I should prefer their enjoying the society of even the +Varleys in this house.' + +Did Aunt Jane repent of her decision on the Thursday half-holiday +granted to Mrs. Edgar's pupils, when, in the midst of the working +party round the dining-room table, in a pause of the reading, some +one said, 'What's that!'---and a humming, accompanied by a drip, drop, +drip, drop, became audible? + +Up jumped Miss Mohun, and so did Gillian, half in consternation, half +to shield the boy from her wrath. In a few moments they beheld a +puddle on the mat at the bottom of the oak stairs, while a stream was +descending somewhat as the water comes down at Lodore, while Fergus's +voice could be heard above--- + +'Don't, Varley! You see how it will act. The string of the humming- +top moves the pump handle, and that spins. Oh!' + +'Master Fergus! Oh---h, you bad boy!' + +The shriek was caused by the avenging furies who had rushed up the +back stairs just as Miss Mohun had darted up the front, so as to +behold, on the landing between the two, the boys, one spinning the +top, the other working the pump which stood in its own trough of +water, receiving a reckless supply from the tap in the passage. The +maid's scream of 'What will your aunt say?' was answered by her +appearance, and rush to turn the cock. + +'Don't, don't, Aunt Jane,' shouted Fergus; 'I've almost done it! +Perpetual motion.' He seemed quite unconscious that the motion was +kept up by his own hands, and even dismay could not turn him from +being triumphant. + +'Oh! Miss Jane,' cried Mrs. Mount, 'if I had thought what they boys +was after.' + +'Mop it up, Alice,' said Aunt Jane to the younger girl. 'No don't +come up, Ada; it is too wet for you. It is only a misdirected +experiment in hydraulics.' + +'I told him not,' said Clement Varley, thinking affairs serious. + +'Fergus, I am shocked at you,' said Gillian sternly. 'You are +frightfully wet. You must be sent to bed.' + +'You must go and change,' said Aunt Jane, preventing the howl about +to break forth. 'My dear boy, that tap must be let alone. We can't +have cataracts on the stairs.' + +'I didn't mean it, Aunt Jane; I thought it was an invention,' said +Fergus. + +'I know; but another time come and ask me where to try your +experiments. Go and take off those clothes; and you, Clement, you +are soaking too. Run home at once.' + +Gillian, much scandalised, broke out--- + +'It is very naughty. At home, he would be sent to bed at once.' + +'I am not Mrs. Halfpenny, Gillian,' said Aunt Jane coldly. + +'Jane has a soft spot for inventions, for Maurice's sake,' said her +sister. + +'I can't confound ingenuity and enterprise with wanton mischief, or +crush it out for want of sympathy,' said Miss Mohun. 'Come, we must +return to our needles.' + +If Aunt Jane had gone into the state of wrath to be naturally +expected, Gillian would have risen in arms on her brother's behalf, +and that would have been much pleasanter than the leniency which made +her views of justice appear like unkindness. + +This did not dispose her to be the better pleased at an entreaty from +the two children to be allowed to join Mrs. Hablot's class on Sunday. +It appeared that they had asked Aunt Jane, and she had told them that +their sister knew what their mother would like. + +'But I am sure she would not mind,' said Valetta. 'Only think, she +has got a portfolio with pictures of everything all through the +Bible!' + +'Yes,' added Fergus, 'Clem told me. There are the dogs eating +Jezebel, and such a jolly picture of the lion killing the prophet. +I do want to see them! Varley told me!' + +'And Kitty told me,' added Valetta. 'She is reading such a book to +them. It is called The Beautiful Face, and is all about two children +in a wood, and a horrid old grandmother and a dear old hermit, and a +wicked baron in a castle! Do let us go, Gillyflower. + +'Yes,' said Fergus; 'it would be ever so much better fun than poking +here' + +'You don't want fun on Sunday.' + +'Not fun exactly, but it is nicer.' + +'To leave me, the last bit of home, and mamma's own lessons.' + +'They ain't mamma's,' protested Fergus; but Valetta was touched by +the tears in Gillian's eyes, kissed her, and declared, 'Not that.' + +Whether it were on purpose or not, the next Sunday was eminently +unsuccessful; the Collects were imperfect, the answers in the +Catechism recurred to disused babyish blunders; Fergus twisted +himself into preternatural attitudes, and Valetta teased the Sofy to +scratching point, they yawned ferociously at The Birthday, and would +not be interested even in the pony's death. Then when they went out +walking, they would not hear of the sober Rockstone lane, but +insisted on the esplanade, where they fell in with the redoubtable +Stebbing, who chose to patronise instead of bullying 'little Merry'--- +and took him off to the tide mark---to the agony of his sisters, when +they heard the St. Andrew's bell. + +At last, when the tempter had gone off to higher game, Fergus's +Sunday boots and stockings were such a mass of black mud that Gillian +had to drag him home in disgrace, sending Valetta into church alone. +She would have put him to bed on her own responsibility, but she +could not master him; he tumbled about the room, declaring Aunt Jane +would do no such thing, rolled up his stockings in a ball, and threw +them in his sister's face. + +Gillian retired in tears, which she let no one see, not even Aunt +Ada, and proceeded to record in her letter to India that those +dreadful boys were quite ruining Fergus, and Aunt Jane was spoiling +him. + +However, Aunt Jane, having heard what had become of the youth, met +him in no spoiling mood; and though she never knew of his tussle with +Gillian, she spoke to him very seriously, shut him into his own room, +to learn thoroughly what he had neglected in the morning, and allowed +him no jam at tea. She said nothing to Gillian, but there were +inferences. + +The lessons went no better on the following Sunday; Gillian could +neither enforce her authority nor interest the children. She avoided +the esplanade, thinking she had found a nice country walk to the +common beyond the marble works; but, behold, there was an outbreak of +drums and trumpets and wild singing. The Salvation Army was marching +that way, and, what was worse, yells and cat-calls behind showed that +the Skeleton Army was on its way to meet them. Gillian, frightened +almost out of her wits, managed to fly over an impracticable-looking +gate into a field with her children, but Fergus wanted to follow the +drum. After that she gave in. The children went to Mrs. Hablot, and +Gillian thought she saw 'I told you so' in the corners of Aunt Jane's +eyes. + +It was a further offence that her aunt strongly recommended her going +regularly to the High School instead of only attending certain +classes. It would give her far more chance of success at the +examination to work with others and her presence would be good for +Valetta. But to reduce her to a schoolgirl was to be resented on +Miss Vincent's account as well as her own. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE QUEEN OF THE WHITE ANTS + + + +The High School was very large. It stood at present at the end of a +budding branch of Rockquay, where the managers, assisted by the funds +advanced by Lord Rotherwood and that great invisible potentate, the +head of the marble works, had secured and adapted a suitable house, +and a space round it well walled in. + +The various classes of students did not see much of each other, +except those who were day boarders and spent the midday recreation +time together. Even those in the same form were only together in +school, as the dressing-room of those who dined there was separate +from that of the others, and they did not come in and out at the same +time. Valetta had thus only really made friends with two or three +more Rockstone girls of about her own age besides Kitty Yarley, with +whom she went backwards and forwards every day, under the escort +provided in turn by the families of the young ladies. + +Gillian's studies were for three hours in the week at the High +School, and on two afternoons she learnt from the old organist at +Rockstone Church. She went and came alone, except when Miss Mohun +happened to join her, and that was not often, 'For,' said that lady +to her sister, 'Gillian always looks as if she thought I was acting +spy upon her. I wish I could get on with that girl; I begin to feel +almost as poor Lily did with Dolores.' + +'She is a very good girl,' said Miss Adeline. + +'So she is; and that makes it all the more trying to be treated like +the Grand Inquisitor.' + +'Shall I speak to her? She is always as pleasant as possible with +me.' + +'Oh no, don't. It would only make it worse, and prevent you from +having her confidence.' + +'Ah, Jane, I have often thought your one want was gentleness,' said +Miss Ada, with the gesture of her childhood---her head a little on one +side. 'And, besides, don't you know what Reggie used to call your +ferret look? Well, I suppose you can't help it, but when you want to +know a thing and are refraining from asking questions, you always +have it more or less.' + +'Thank you, Ada. There's nothing like brothers and sisters for +telling one home-truths. I suppose it is the penalty of having been +a regular Paul Pry in my childhood, in spite of poor Eleanor making +me learn "Meddlesome Matty" as soon as I could speak. I always _do_ +and always _shall_ have ringing in my ears--- + + + '"Oh! what a pretty box is this, + I'll open it," said little Miss.' + + +'Well, you know you always do know or find out everything about +everybody, and it is very useful.' + +'Useful as a bloodhound is, eh?' + +'Oh no, not that, Jenny.' + +'As a ferret, or a terrier, perhaps. I suppose I cannot help that, +though,' she added, rather sadly. 'I have tried hard to cure the +slander and gossip that goes with curiosity. I am sorry it results +in repulsion with that girl; but I suppose I can only go on and let +her find out that my bark, or my eye, is worse than my bite.' + +'You are so good, so everything, Jenny,' said Adeline, 'that I am +sure you will have her confidence in time, if only you won't poke +after it.' + +Which made Miss Mohun laugh, though her heart was heavy, for she had +looked forward to having a friend and companion in the young +generation. + +Gillian meantime went her way. + +One morning, after her mathematical class was over, she was delayed +for about ten minutes by the head mistress, to whom she had brought a +message from her aunt, and thus did not come out at noon at the same +time as the day scholars. On issuing into the street, where as yet +there was hardly any traffic, except what was connected with the two +schools, she perceived that a party of boys were besetting a little +girl who was trying to turn down the cross road to Bellevue, barring +her way, and executing a derisive war-dance around her, and when she, +almost crying, made an attempt to dash by, pulling at her plaited +tail, with derisive shouts, even Gillian's call, 'Boys, boys, how can +you be so disgraceful!' did not check them. One made a face and put +his tongue out, while the biggest called out, 'Thank you, teacher,' +and Gillian perceived to her horror, that they were no street boys, +but Mrs. Edgar's, and that Fergus was one of them. That he cried in +dismay, 'Don't, Stebbing! It's my sister,' was no consolation, as +she charged in among them, catching hold of her brother, as she said, + +'I could not believe that you could behave in such a disgraceful +manner!' + +All the other tormentors rushed away headlong, except Stebbing, who, +in some compunction, said--- + +'I beg your pardon, Miss Merrifield, I had no notion it was you.' + +'You are making it no better,' said Gillian. 'The gentlemen I am +used to know how to behave properly to any woman or girl. My father +would be very sorry that my brother has been thrown into such +company.' + +And she walked away with her head extremely high, having certainly +given Master Stebbing a good lesson. Fergus ran after her. 'Gill, +Gill, you won't tell.' + +'I don't think I ever was more shocked in my life,' returned Gillian. + +'But, Gill, she's a nasty, stuck-up, conceited little ape, that Maura +White, or whatever her ridiculous name is. They pretend her father +was an officer, but he was really a bad cousin of old Mr. White's +that ran away; and her mother is not a lady---a great fat disgusting +woman, half a nigger; and Mr. White let her brother and sister be in +the marble works out of charity, because they have no father, and she +hasn't any business to be at the High School.' + +'White, did you say? Maura White!' exclaimed Gillian. 'Captain +White dead! Oh, Fergus! it must be Captain White. He was in the +dear old Royal Wardours, and papa thought so much of him! To think +of your going and treating his daughter in that shocking way!' + +'It was what Stebbing said,' gruffly answered Fergus. + +'If you let yourself be led by these horrid cads---' + +'He is no such thing! He is the crack bat of Edgar's---' + +'A boy is a cad who can't behave himself to a girl because she is +poor. I really think the apology to me was the worst part or the +matter. He only treats people well when he sees they can take care +of themselves.' + +'I'll tell him about Captain White,' said Fergus, a little abashed. + +'Yes. And I will get the aunts to call on Mrs. White, and that may +help them to a better level among these vulgar folk.' + +'But you won't---' said Fergus, with an expressive pause. + +'I won't get you into trouble, for I think you are sorry you treated +one of our own in such a manner.' + +'I wouldn't, indeed, if I had known.' + +'I shall only explain that I have found out whom Maura belongs to. +I should go and see them at once, only I must make Val find out where +she lives.' + +So Gillian returned home, communicating the intelligence with some +excitement that she had discovered that Valetta's schoolmate, Maura +White, was none other than the daughter of her father's old fellow- +soldier, whose death shocked her greatly, and she requested to go and +call on Mrs. White as soon as she could learn her abode. + +However, it seemed to be impossible that any one should live in +Rockstone unknown to Aunt Jane. + +'White?' she said. 'It can't be the Whites down by Cliffside. No; +there's a father there, though he generally only comes down for +Sunday.' + +'I am sure there are some Whites on the Library list,' said Miss Ada. + +'Oh yes; but she washes! I know who they must be. I know in +Bellevue there are some; but they go to the Kennel Church. Didn't +you come home, Ada, from that function you went to with Florence, +raving about the handsome youth in the choir?' + +'Oh yes, we thought it such an uncommon, foreign face, and he looked +quite inspired when he was singing his solo.' + +'Yes; I found out that his name was White, a clerk or something in +the marble works, and that he had a mother and sister living at +Bellevue. I did see the sister when I went to get the marble girls +into the G.F.S., but she said something foolish about her mother not +liking it.' + +'Yes; nobody under the St. Kenelm influence ever will come into the +G.F.S.' + +'But what is she doing?' asked Gillian. 'Do you mean Kalliope?' + +'I suppose I do. I saw a rather nice-looking young woman in the +department where they make Florentine mosaic, and I believe they said +she was Miss White, but she cut me off very short with her mother, so +I had no more to do with her.' + +'I am sure mamma would wish me to call on Mrs. White,' said Gillian. + +'There's no reason against it,' said Aunt Jane. 'I will go with you +the first day I can.' + +When would that be, wondered Gillian. She told Valetta to talk to +Maura and learn the name of the house; and this was ascertained to be +3 Ivinghoe Terrace, Bellevue Road, but Val had very little +opportunity of cultivating the acquaintance of town girls, who did +not stay to dinner, as she had to go home immediately after school, +under Emma Norton's escort, and perhaps she was not very ardent in +the cause, for Kitty Varley and her other friends did not like the +child, and she was more swayed by them than perhaps she liked to +confess to her sister. + +Each morning at breakfast Gillian hoped that Aunt Jane would lay out +her day so as to call on Mrs. White; but first there was the working +party, then came the mothers' meeting, followed by afternoon tea at +Mrs. Hablot's for some parish council. On the third day, which might +have been clear, 'a miserable creature,' as Gillian mentally called +her, wrote to beg the Misses Mohun to bring themselves and her niece +to make up a lawn-tennis set, since some one had failed. Gillian +vainly protested that she did not care about lawn tennis, and could +not play unless Jasper was her partner; and Aunt Jane so far sided +with her as to say it was very inconvenient, and on such short notice +they ought not to be expected. But Aunt Ada clearly wanted to go; and +so they went. It was a beautiful place, but Gillian could not enjoy +herself, partly because she knew so few of the people, but more +because she was vexed and displeased about the Whites. She played +very badly; but Aunt Jane, when pressed into the service, skipped +about with her little light figure and proved herself such a splendid +player, doing it so entirely con amore, that Gillian could not but +say to herself, 'She was bent on going; it was all humbug her +pretending to want to refuse.' + +That afternoon's dissipation had made it needful to do double work +the next day, and Gillian was again disappointed. Then came +Saturday, when Miss Mohun was never available, nor was she on Monday; +and when it appeared that she had to go to a meeting at the Cathedral +town on Tuesday, Gillian grew desperate, and at her tete-a-tete meal +with Aunt Ada, related the whole history of the Whites, and her great +desire to show kindness to her father's old brother-officer's family, +and how much she was disappointed. + +Miss Adeline was touched, and indeed, fond as she was of her sister, +she could not help being flattered by Gillian's preference and +confidence. + +'Well, my deal, this is a nice day, not too hot or too cold; I do not +see why I should not walk down with you and call. If I find it too +far, we can take a cab to go back.' + +'Oh, thank you, Aunt Ada; it is very very kind of you, and there is +no knowing when Aunt Jane may be able to go. I don't like to close +up my Indian letter till I can say I have seen them.' + +Gillian fidgeted a good deal lest, before her aunt's postprandial +repose was over, visitors should come and put a stop to everything, +and she looked ready to cut the throat of a poor lady in a mushroom +hat, who came up to leave a message for Miss Mohun about a possible +situation for one of her class of boys. + +However, at last they started, Kunz and all, Miss Adeline quite +infected by Gillian's excitement. + +'So your father and mother were very fond of them.' + +'Papa thought very highly of him, and was very sorry he had to +return,' said Gillian. + +'And she was a beautiful Greek.' + +Gillian began to be quite afraid of what she might have said. + +'I don't think she is more than half Greek,' she said. 'I believe +her mother was a Gorfiote, but her father was English or Irish. I +believe he kept a shop in Malta.' + +'Quite a mixture of nationalities then, and no wonder she is +beautiful. That youth had a very striking profile; it quite reminded +me of a gem as I saw it against the dark pillar.' + +'I did not say she was very beautiful now,' said Gillian, feeling a +qualm as she recollected the Queen of the White Ants, and rather +oddly divided between truthfulness, fear of alarming her aunt into +turning back, and desire of giving her a little preparation. + +'Ah! those southern beauties soon go on. Some one told me that Lord +Byron's "Maid of Athens," whose portrait I used to think the +loveliest thing in the world, became a great stout woman, but was +quite a mother to all the young Englishmen about. I remember I used +to try to hold my head and keep my eyelids down like the engraving in +an old book that had been my mother's.' + +'Oh! I think I have seen it at Beechcroft,' said Gillian, very much +amused, for she now perceived whence arose Aunt Ada's peculiar turn +of the head and droop of the eyelashes, and how the conscious +affectation of childhood had become unconsciously crystallised. + +She grew more and more anxious as they found some difficulty in +making out Ivinghoe Terrace, and found it at last to be a row of +rather dilapidated little houses, apparently built of lath and +stucco, and of that peculiar meanness only attained by the modern +suburb. Aunt Ada evidently did not like it at all, and owned herself +almost ready to turn back, being sure that Valetta must have made +some mistake. Gillian repeated that she had always said the Whites +were very poor, but she began to feel that her impatience had misled +her, and that she would have been better off with the aunt who was +used to such places, and whose trim browns and crimsons were always +appropriate everywhere, rather than this dainty figure in delicate +hues that looked only fit for the Esplanade or the kettledrum, and +who was becoming seriously uneasy, as Kunz, in his fresh snowiness, +was disposed to make researches among vulgar remains of crabs and +hakes, and was with difficulty restrained from disputing them with a +very ignoble and spiteful yellow cur of low degree. + +No. 3, with its blistered wall and rusty rail, was attained, Kunz was +brought within the enclosure, and Gillian knocked as sharply and fast +as she could, in the fear that her aunt might yet turn about and +escape. + +The door was opened with a rapidity that gave the impression that +they had been watched, but it was by a very untidy-looking small +maid, and the parlour into which they were turned had most manifestly +been lately used as the family dining-room, and was redolent of a +mixture of onion, cabbage, and other indescribable odours. + +Nobody was there, except a black and white cat, who showed symptoms +of flying at Kunz, but thought better of it, and escaped by the +window, which fortunately was open, though the little maid would have +shut it, but for Miss Adeline's gasping and peremptory entreaty to +the contrary. She sat on the faded sofa, looking as if she just +existed by the help of her fan and scent-bottle, and when Gillian +directed her attention to the case of clasps and medals and the +photograph of the fine-looking officer, she could only sigh out, +'Oh, my dear!' + +There was a certain air of taste in the arrangement of the few +chimney-piece ornaments, and Gillian was pleased to see the two large +photographs of her father and mother which Captain White had so much +valued as parting gifts. A few drawings reminded her of the School +of Art at Belfast, and there was a vase of wild flowers and ferns +prettily arranged, but otherwise everything was wretchedly faded and +dreary. + +Then came the opening of the door, and into the room rolled, rather +than advanced, something of stupendous breadth, which almost took +Gillian's breath away, as she durst not look to see the effect on her +aunt. If the Queen of the White Ants had been stout before, what was +she now? Whatever her appearance had been in the days of comparative +prosperity, with a husband to keep her up to the mark, and a desire +to rank with the officers' wives, she had let everything go in +widowhood, poverty, and neglect; and as she stood panting in her old +shiny black alpaca, the only thing Gillian recalled about her like +old times was the black lace veil thrown mantilla fashion over her +head; but now it was over a widow's cap, and a great deal rustier +than of old. Of the lovely foreigner nothing else remained except +the dark eyes, and that sort of pasty sallow whiteness that looks at +if for generations past cold water and fresh air had been unknown. +There was no accent more interesting in her voice than a soupcon of +her Irish father as she began, 'I am sorry to have kept the lady so +long waiting. Was it about the girl's character that you came?' + +'Oh no, Mrs. White, interrupted Gillian, her shyness overpowered by +the necessity of throwing herself into the breach. 'Don't you +remember me? I am Gillian Merrifield, and this is my aunt, Miss +Adeline Mohun.' + +The puffy features lighted up into warmth. 'Little Miss Gillian! +And I am proud to see you! My little Maura did tell me that Miss +Valetta was in her class at the High School; but I thought there was +no one now who would come near the poor widow. And is your dear +mamma here, Miss Gillian, and are she and your papa quite well?' + +Gillian could hardly believe in such dense remoteness that her +father's accident should be unknown, but she explained all, and met +with abundant sympathy, the dark eyes filled with tears, and the +voice broke into sobs, as Mrs. White declared that Sir Jasper and +Lady Merrifield had been the best friends she ever had in her life. + +But oh! that the handkerchief had been less grimy with which she +mopped her eyes, as she spoke of the happy days that were gone! +Gillian saw that poor Aunt Ada was in an agony to get away, and +hurried out her questions for fear of being stopped. 'How was +Kalliope---was she at home?' + +'Oh no, poor Kally, she is the best girl in the world. I always say +that, with all my sorrows, no one ever was more blest in their +children than poor little me. Richard, my eldest, is in a lawyer's +office at Leeds. Kally is employed in the art department, just as a +compliment to her relation, Mr. White. Quite genteel, superior work, +though I must say he does not do as much for us as he might. Such a +youth as my Alexis now was surely worthy of the position of a +gentleman.' + +The good lady was quite disposed to talk; but there was no making +out, through her cloud of confused complaints, what her son and +daughter were actually doing; and Aunt Ada, while preserving her +courtesy, was very anxious to be gone, and rose to take leave at the +first moment possible, though after she was on her feet Mrs. White +detained her for some time with apologies about not returning her +visit. She was in such weak health, so unequal to walking up the +cliff, that she was sure Miss Mohun would excuse her, though Alexis +and Kally would be perfectly delighted to hear of Miss Gillian's +kindness. + +Gillian had not made out half what she wanted to know, nor effected +any arrangement for seeing Kalliope, when she found herself out in +the street, and her aunt panting with relief. 'My dear, that woman! +You don't mean that your mother was fond of her.' + +'I never said mamma was fond of her.' + +'My dear, excuse me. It was the only reason for letting you drag me +here. I was almost stifled. What a night I shall have!' + +'I am very sorry, Aunt Ada, but, indeed, I never said that mamma was +fond of her, only that papa thought very highly of her husband, and +wished us to be kind to her.' + +'Well, you gave me that impression, whether you wished it or not! +Such a hole; and I'm sure she drinks gin!' + +'Oh no, aunt!' + +'I can't be mistaken! I really was afraid she was going to kiss +you!' + +'I do wish I could have made out about Alexis and Kalliope.' + +'Oh, my dear, just working like all the lot, though she shuffled +about it. I see what they are like, and the less you see of them the +better. I declare I am more tired than if I had walked a mile. How +am I ever to get up the hill again?' + +'I am sorry, aunt,' said Gillian. 'Will you take my arm? Perhaps we +may meet Kalliope, if the marble people come out at four or five. +What's that bell?' as a little tinkle was heard. + +'That's St. Kenelm's! Oh! you would like to go there, and it would +rest me; only there's Kunz.' + +'I should like to see it very much,' said Gillian. + +'Well,' said Aunt Ada, who certainly seemed to have something of the +'cat's away' feeling about her, and, moreover, trusted to avoid +meeting Kalliope. 'Just round the corner here is Mrs. Webb's, who +used to live with us before she married, Kunz will be happy with her. +Won't he, my doggie, like to go and see his old Jessie?' + +So Kunz was disposed of with a very pleasant, neat-looking woman, who +begged Miss Adeline to come and have some tea after the service. + +It was really a beautiful little church--'a little gem' was exactly +the term that suggested itself---very ornate, and the chief lack being +of repose, for there seemed not an inch devoid of colour or carving. +There was a choir of boys in short surplices and blue cassocks, and a +very musical service, in the course of which it was discovered to be +the Feast of St. Remigius, for after the Lesson a short discourse was +given on the Conversion of Clovis, not forgetting the sacred ampulla. + +There were about five ladies present and six old women, belonging to +a home maintained by Lady Flight. The young priest, her son, had a +beautiful voice, and Gillian enjoyed all very much, and thought the +St. Andrew's people very hard and unjust; but all this went out of +her head in the porch, for while Lady Flight was greeting Miss Mohun +with empressement, and inviting her to come in to tea, Gillian had +seen a young woman who had come in late and had been kneeling behind +them. + +Turning back and holding out her hands, she exclaimed--- + +'Kalliope! I so wanted to see you.' + +'Miss Gillian Merrifield,' was the response. 'Maura told me you were +here, but I hardly hoped to see you.' + +'How can I see you? Where are you? Busy?' + +'I am at the marble works all day---in the mosaic department. Oh, +Miss Gillian, I owe it all to Miss Merrifield's encouraging me to go +to the School of Art. How is she? And I hope you have good accounts +of Sir Jasper?' + +'He is better, and I hope my mother is just arriving. That's why we +are here; and Alethea and Phyllis are out there. They will want to +know all about you.' + +At that moment Aunt Adeline looked round, having succeeded in +persuading Lady Flight that she had another engagement. She saw a +young woman in a shabby black dress, with a bag in her hand, and a +dark fringe over a complexion of clear brown, straight features, to +whom Gillian was eagerly talking. + +'Ah!' she said, as Mr. Flight now came up from the vestry; 'do you +know anything of that girl?' + +'Second-rate people, somewhere in Bellevue,' said the lady. + +'The brother is my best tenor,' said Mr. Flight. 'She is very often +at St. Kenelm's, but I do not know any more of her. The mother +either goes to Bellevue or nowhere. They are in Bellevue Parish.' + +This was quite sufficient answer, for any interference with parochial +visiting in the Bellevue district was forbidden. + +Aunt Ada called to Gillian, and when she eagerly said, 'This is +Kalliope, aunt,' only responded with a stiff bow. + +'I do not know what these people might have been, Gillian,' she said, +as they pursued their way to Mrs. Webb's; 'but--they must have sunk +so low that I do not think your mother can wish you to have anything +to do with them. + +'Oh, Aunt Ada! Kalliope was always such a good girl!' + +'She has a fringe. And she would not belong to the G.F.S.,' said +Aunt Ada. 'No, my dear, I see exactly the sort of people they are. +Your aunt Jane might be useful to them, if they would let her, but +they are not at all fit for you to associate with.' + +Gillian chafed inwardly, but she was beginning to learn that Aunt Ada +was more impenetrable than Aunt Jane, and, what was worse, Aunt Jane +always stood by her sister's decision, whether she would have herself +originated it or not. + +When the elder aunt came home, and heard the history of their day, +and Gillian tried to put in a word, she said--- + +'My dear, we all know that rising from the ranks puts a man's family +in a false position, and they generally fall back again. All this is +unlucky, for they do not seem to be people it is possible to get at, +and now you have paid your kind act of attention, there is no more to +be done till you can hear from Ceylon about them.' + +Gillian was silenced by the united forces of the aunts. + +'It really was a horrid place,' said Aunt Ada, when alone with her +sister; 'and such a porpoise of a woman! Gillian should not have +represented her as a favourite.' + +'I do not remember that she did so,' returned Aunt Jane. 'I wish she +had waited for me. I have seen more of the kind of thing than you +have, Ada.' + +'I am sure I wish she had. I don't know when I shall get over the +stifling of that den; but it was just as if they were her dearest +friends.' + +'Girls will be silly! And there's a feeling about the old regiment +too. I can excuse her, though I wish she had not been so impatient. +I fancy that eldest daughter is really a good girl and the mainstay +of the family.' + +'But she would have nothing to do with you or the G.F.S.' + +'If I had known that her father had been an officer, I might have +approached her differently. However, I will ask Lily about their +antecedents, and in six weeks we shall know what is to be done about +them.' + + + + +CHAPTER V. MARBLES + + + +Six weeks seem a great deal longer to sixteen than to six-and-forty, +and Gillian groaned and sighed to herself as she wrote her letters, +and assured herself that so far from her having done enough in the +way of attention to the old soldier's family, she had simply done +enough to mark her neglect and disdain. + +'Grizzling' (to use an effective family phrase) under opposition is a +grand magnifier; and it was not difficult to erect poor Captain White +into a hero, his wife into a patient sufferer, and Alethea's kindness +to his daughter into a bosom friendship; while the aunts seemed to be +absurdly fastidious and prejudiced. 'I don't wonder at Aunt Ada,' +she said to herself; 'I know she has always been kept under a glass +case; but I thought better things of Aunt Jane. It is all because +Kalliope goes to St. Kenelm's, and won't be in the G.F.S.' + +And all the time Gillian was perfectly unaware of her own family +likeness to Dolores. Other matters conduced to a certain spirit of +opposition to Aunt Jane. That the children should have to use the +back instead of the front stair when coming in with dusty or muddy +shoes, and that their possessions should be confiscated for the rest +of the day when left about in the sitting-rooms and hall, were +contingencies she could accept as natural, though they irritated her; +but she agreed with Valetta that it was hard to insist on half an +hour's regular work at the cushion, which was not a lesson, but play. +She was angered when Aunt Jane put a stop to some sportive passes and +chatter on the stairs between Valetta and Alice Mount, and still more +so when her aunt took away Adam Bede from the former, as not +desirable reading at eleven years old. + +It was only the remembrance of her mother's positive orders that +withheld Gillian from the declaration that mamma always let them read +George Eliot; and in a cooler moment of reflection she was glad she +had abstained, for she recollected that _always_ was limited to +mamma's having read most of Romola aloud to her and Mysie, and to her +having had Silas Marner to read when she was unwell in lodgings, and +there was a scarcity of books. + +Such miffs about her little sister were in the natural order of +things, and really it was the 'all pervadingness,' as she called it +in her own mind, of Aunt Jane that chiefly worried her, the way that +the little lady knew everything that was done, and everything that +was touched in the house; but as long as Valetta took refuge with +herself, and grumbled to her, it was bearable. + +It was different with Fergus. There had been offences certainly; +Aunt Jane had routed him out of preparing his lessons in Mrs. Mount's +room, where he diversified them with teaching the Sofy to beg, and +inventing new modes of tying down jam pots. Moreover, she had +declared that Gillian's exemplary patience was wasted and harmful +when she found that they had taken three-quarters of an hour over +three tenses of a Greek verb, and that he said it worse on the +seventh repetition than on the first. After an evening, when Gillian +had gone to a musical party with Aunt Ada, and Fergus did his lessons +under Aunt Jane's superintendence, he utterly cast off his sister's +aid. There was something in Miss Mohun's briskness that he found +inspiring, and she put in apt words or illustrations, instead of only +rousing herself from a book to listen, prompt, and sigh. He found +that he did his tasks more thoroughly in half the time, and rose in +his class; and busy as his aunt was, she made the time not only for +this, but for looking over with him those plates of mechanics in the +Encyclopaedia, which were a mere maze to Gillian, but of which she +knew every detail, from ancient studies with her brother Maurice. As +Fergus wrote to his mother, 'Aunt Jane is the only woman who has any +natural _scence_.' + +Gillian could not but see this as she prepared the letters for the +post, and whatever the ambiguous word might be meant for, she had +rather not have seen it, for she really was ashamed of her secret +annoyance at Fergus's devotion to Aunt Jane, knowing how well it was +that Stebbing should have a rival in his affections. Yet she could +not help being provoked when the boy followed his aunt to the doors +of her cottages like a little dog, and waited outside whenever she +would let him, for the sake of holding forth to her about something +which wheels and plugs and screws were to do. Was it possible that +Miss Mohun followed it all? His great desire was to go over the +marble works, and she had promised to take him when it could be done; +but, unfortunately, his half-holiday was on Saturday, when the +workmen struck off early, and when also Aunt Jane always had the +pupil-teachers for something between instruction and amusement. + +Gillian felt lonely, for though she got on better with her younger +than her elder aunt, and had plenty of surface intercourse of a +pleasant kind with both, it was a very poor substitute for her +mother, or her elder sisters, and Valetta was very far from being a +Mysie. + +The worst time was Sunday, when the children had deserted her for +Mrs. Hablot, and Aunt Ada was always lying down in her own room to +rest after morning service. She might have been at the Sunday- +school, but she did not love teaching, nor do it well, and she did +not fancy the town children, or else there was something of +opposition to Aunt Jane. + +It was a beautiful afternoon, of the first Sunday in October, and she +betook herself to the garden with the 'Lyra Innocentium' in her hand, +meaning to learn the poem for the day. She wandered up to the rail +above the cliff, looking out to the sea. Here, beyond the belt of +tamarisks and other hardy low-growing shrubs which gave a little +protection from the winds, the wall dividing the garden of Beechcroft +Cottage from that of Cliff House became low, with only the iron- +spiked railing on the top, as perhaps there was a desire not to +overload the cliff. The sea was of a lovely colour that day, soft +blue, and with exquisite purple shadows of clouds, with ripples of +golden sparkles here and there near the sun, and Gillian stood +leaning against the rail, gazing out on it, with a longing, yearning +feeling towards the dear ones who had gone out upon it, when she +became conscious that some one was in the other garden, which she had +hitherto thought quite deserted, and looking round, she saw a figure +in black near the rail. Their eyes met, and both together exclaimed--- + +'Kalliope!'---'Miss Gillian! Oh, I beg your pardon!' + +'How did you come here? I thought nobody did!' + +'Mr. White's gardener lets us walk here. It is so nice and quiet. +Alexis has taken the younger ones for a walk, but I was too much +tired. But I will not disturb you---' + +'Oh! don't go away. Nobody will disturb us, and I do so want to know +about you all. I had no notion, nor mamma either, that you were +living here, or---' + +'Or of my dear father's death!' said Kalliope, as Gillian stopped +short, confused. 'I did write to Miss Merrifield, but the letter was +returned.' + +'But where did you write?' + +'To Swanage, where she had written to me last.' + +'Oh! we were only there for six weeks, while we were looking for +houses; I suppose it was just as the Wardours were gone to Natal +too?' + +'Yes, we knew they were out of reach.' + +'But do tell me about it, if you do not mind. My father will want to +hear.' + +Kalliope told all in a calm, matter-of-fact way, but with a strain of +deep suppressed feeling. She was about twenty-three, a girl with a +fine outline of features, beautiful dark eyes, and a clear brown +skin, who would have been very handsome if she had looked better fed +and less hardworked. Her Sunday dress showed wear and adaptation, +but she was altogether ladylike, and even the fringe that had +startled Aunt Ada only consisted of little wavy curls on the temples, +increasing her classical look. + +'It was fever---at Leeds. My father was just going into a situation +in the police that we had been waiting for ever so long, and there +were good schools, and Richard had got into a lawyer's office, when +there began a terrible fever in our street---the drains were to blame, +they said---and every one of us had it, except mother and Richard, who +did not sleep at home. We lost poor little Mary first, and then papa +seemed to be getting better; but he was anxious about expense, and +there was no persuading him to take nourishment enough. I do believe +it was that. And he had a relapse---and---' + +'Oh, poor Kalliope! And we never heard of it!' + +'I did feel broken down when the letter to Miss Merrifield came +back,' said Kalliope. 'But my father had made me write to Mr. James +White---not that we had any idea that he had grown so rich. He and my +father were first cousins, sons of two brothers who were builders; +but there was some dispute, and it ended by my father going away and +enlisting. There was nobody nearer to him, and he never heard any +more of his home; but when he was so ill, he thought he would like to +be reconciled to "Jem," as he said, so he made me write from his +dictation. Such a beautiful letter it was, and he added a line at +the end himself. Then at last, when it was almost too late, Mr. +White answered. I believe it was a mere chance---or rather +Providence---that he ever knew it was meant for him, but there were +kind words enough to cheer up my father at the last. I believe then +the clergyman wrote to him.' + +'Did not he come near you?' + +'No, I have never seen him; but there was a correspondence between +him and Mr. Moore, the clergyman, and Richard, and he said he was +willing to put us in the way of working for ourselves, if---if---we +were not too proud.' + +'Then he did it in an unkind way,' said Gillian. + +'I try to think he did not mean to be otherwise than good to us. I +told Mr. Moore that I was not fit to be a governess, and I did not +think they could get on without me at home, but that I could draw +better than I would do anything else, and perhaps I might get +Christmas cards to do, or something like that. Mr. Moore sent a card +or two of my designing, and then Mr. White said he could find work +for me in the mosaic department here; and something for my brothers, +if we did not give ourselves airs. So we came.' + +'Not Richard?' said Gillian, who remembered dimly that Richard had +not been held in great esteem by her own brothers. + +'No; Richard is in a good situation, so it was settled that he should +stay on there.' + +'And you---' + +'I am in the mosaic department. Oh, Miss Gillian, I am so grateful +to Miss Merrifield. Don't you remember her looking at my little +attempts, and persuading Lady Merrifield to get mother to let me go +to the School of Art? I began only as the girls do who are mere +hands, and now I have to prepare all the designs for them, and have a +nice little office of my own for it. Sometimes I get one of my own +designs taken, and then I am paid extra.' + +'Then do you maintain them all?' + +'Oh no; we have lodgers, the organist and his wife,' said Kalliope, +laughing, 'and Alexis is in the telegraph office, at the works; +besides, it turned out that this house and two more belong to us, and +we do very well when the tenants pay their rents.' + +'But Maura is not the youngest of you,' said Gillian, who was rather +hazy about the family. + +'No, there are the two little boys. We let them go to the National +School for the present. It is a great trial to my poor mother, but +they do learn well there, and we may be able to do something better +for them by the time they are old enough for further education.' + +Just then the sound of a bell coming up from the town below was a +warning to both that the conversation must be broken off. A few +words---'I am so glad to have seen you,' and 'It has been such a +pleasure'---passed, and then each hastened down her separate garden +path. + +'Must I tell of this meeting?' Gillian asked herself. 'I shall +write it all to mamma and Alethea, of course. How delightful that +those lessons that Kalliope had have come to be of so much use! How +pleased Alethea will be! Poor dear thing! How much she has gone +through! But can there be any need to tell the aunts? Would it not +just make Aunt Ada nervous about any one looking through her sweet +and lovely wall? And as to Aunt Jane, I really don't see that I am +bound to gratify her passion for knowing everything. I am not +accountable to her, but to my own mother. My people know all about +Kalliope, and she is prejudiced. Why should I be unkind and +neglectful of an old fellow-soldier's family, because she cannot or +will not understand what they really are? It would not be the +slightest use to tell her the real story. Mrs. White is fat, and +Kalliope has a fringe, goes to St. Kenelm's, and won't be in the +G.F.S., and that's enough to make her say she does not believe a word +of it, or else to make it a fresh ground for poking and prying, in +the way that drives one distracted! It really is quite a satis- +faction to have something that she can't find out, and it is not +underhand while I write every word of it to mamma.' + +So Gillian made her conscience easy, and she did write a long and +full account of the Whites and their troubles, and of her +conversation with Kalliope. + +In the course of that week Fergus had a holiday, asked for by some +good-natured visitor of Mrs. Edgar's. He rushed home on the previous +day with the news, to claim Aunt Jane's promise; and she undertook so +to arrange matters as to be ready to go with him to the marble works +at three o'clock. Valetta could not go, as she had her music lesson +at that time, and she did not regret it, for she had an idea that +blasting with powder or dynamite was always going on there. Gillian +was not quite happy about the dynamite, but she did not like to +forego the chance of seeing what the work of Kalliope and Alexis +really was, so she expressed her willingness to join the party, and +in the meantime did her best to prevent Aunt Ada from being driven +distracted by Fergus's impatience, which began at half-past two. + +Miss Mohun had darted out as soon as dinner was over, and he was +quite certain some horrible cad would detain her till four o'clock, +and then going would be of no use. Nevertheless he was miserable +till Gillian had put on her hat, and then she could do nothing that +would content him and keep him out of Aunt Ada's way, but walk him up +and down in the little front court with the copper beeches, while she +thought they must present to the neighbours a lively tableau of a +couple of leopards in a cage. + +However, precisely as the clock struck three, Aunt Jane walked up to +the iron gate. She had secured an order from Mr. Stebbing, the +managing partner, without which they would not have penetrated beyond +the gate where 'No admittance except on business' was painted. + +Mr. Stebbing himself, a man with what Valetta was wont to call a +grisly beard, met them a little within the gate, and did the honours +of the place with great politeness. He answered all the boy's +questions, and seemed much pleased with his intelligence and +interest, letting him see what he wished, and even having the +machinery slacked to enable him to perceive how it acted, and most +delightful of all, in the eyes of Fergus, letting him behold some +dynamite, and explaining its downward explosion. He evidently had a +great respect for Miss Mohun, because she entered into it all, put +pertinent questions, and helped her nephew if he did not understand. + +It was all dull work to Gillian, all that blasting and hewing and +polishing, which made the place as busy as a hive. She only wished +she could have seen the cove as once it was, with the weather-beaten +rocks descending to the sea, overhung with wild thrift and bramble, +and with the shore, the peaceful haunts of the white sea-birds; +whereas now the fresh-cut rock looked red and wounded, and all below +was full of ugly slated or iron-roofed sheds, rough workmen, and +gratings and screeches of machinery. + +It was the Whites whom she wanted to see, and she never came upon the +brother at all, nor on the sister, till Mr. Stebbing, perhaps +observing her listless looks, said that they were coming to what +would be more interesting to Miss Merrifield, and took them into the +workrooms, where a number of young women were busy over the very +beautiful work by which flowers and other devices were represented by +inlaying different coloured marbles and semi-precious stones in black +and white, so as to make tables, slabs, and letter-weights, and +brooches for those who could not aspire to the most splendid and +costly productions. + +Miss Mohun shook hands with 'the young ladies' within the magic +circle of the G.F.S., and showed herself on friendly terms of +interest with all. From a little inner office Miss White was +summoned, came out, and met an eager greeting from Gillian, but +blushed a little, and perhaps had rather not have had her unusual +Christian name proclaimed by the explanation--- + +'This is Kalliope White, Aunt Jane.' + +Miss Mohun shook hands with her, and said her niece had been much +pleased at the meeting, and her sister would be glad to hear of her, +explaining to Mr. Stebbing that Captain White had been a brother- +officer of Sir Jasper Merrifield. + +Kalliope had a very prettily-shaped head, with short hair in little +curls and rings all over it. Her whole manner was very quiet and +unassuming, as she explained and showed whatever Mr. Stebbing wished. +It was her business to make the working drawings for the others, and +to select the stones used, and there could be no doubt that she was a +capable and valuable worker. + +Gillian asked her to show something designed by herself, and she +produced an exquisite table-weight, bearing a spray of sweet peas. +Gillian longed to secure it for her mother, but it was very +expensive, owing to the uncommon stones used in giving the tints, and +Mr. Stebbing evidently did not regard it with so much favour as the +jessamines and snowdrops, which, being of commoner marbles, could be +sold at a rate fitter for the popular purse. Several beautiful +drawings in her office had been laid aside as impracticable, 'unless +we had a carte blanche wedding order,' he said, with what Gillian +thought a sneer. + +She would gladly have lingered longer, but this was a very dull room +in Fergus's estimation, and perhaps Aunt Jane did not desire a long +continuance of the conversation under Mr. Stebbing's eyes, so Gillian +found herself hurried on. + +Mr. Stebbing begged Miss Mohun to come in to his wife, who would have +tea ready, and this could not be avoided without manifest incivility. +Fergus hoped to have been introduced to the haunts of his hero, but +Master George was gone off in attendance on his brother, who was +fishing, and there was nothing to relieve the polite circle of the +drawing-room---a place most aesthetically correct, from cornice to the +little rugs on the slippery floor. The little teacups and the low +Turkish table were a perfect study to those who did not---like Fergus- +--think more of the dainty doll's muffins on the stand, or the long- +backed Dachshund who looked for them beseechingly. + +Mrs. Stebbing was quite in accordance with the rest, with a little +row of curls over her forehead, a terra-cotta dress, and a chain of +watch cocks, altogether rather youthful for the mother of a grown-up +son, engaged in his father's business. + +She was extremely civil and polite, and everything went well except +for a certain stiffness. By and by the subject of the Whites came +up, and Mr. Stebbing observed that Miss Merrifield seemed to know +Miss White. + +'Oh yes,' said Gillian eagerly; 'her father was in my father's +regiment, the Royal Wardours.' + +'A non-commissioned officer, I suppose,' said Mrs. Stebbing. + +'Not for a good many years,' said Gillian. 'He was lieutenant for +six years, and retired with the rank of captain.' + +'I know they said he was a captain,' said Mrs. Stebbing; 'but it is +very easy to be called so.' + +'Captain White was a real one,' said Gillian, with a tone of offence. +'Every one in the Royal Wardours thought very highly of him.' + +'I am sure no one would have supposed it from his family,' said Mrs. +Stebbing. 'You are aware, Miss Mohun, that it was under disgraceful +circumstances that he ran away and enlisted.' + +'Many a youth who gets into a scrape becomes an excellent soldier, +even an officer,' said Miss Mohun. + +'Exactly so,' said Mr. Stebbing. 'Those high-spirited lads are the +better for discipline, and often turn out well under it. But their +promotion is an awkward thing for their families, who have not been +educated up to the mark.' + +'It is an anomalous position, and I have a great pity for them,' said +Miss Mohun. 'Miss White must be a very clever girl.' + +'Talented, yes,' said Mr. Stebbing. 'She is useful in her +department. + +'That may be,' said Mrs. Stebbing; 'but it won't do to encourage her. +She is an artful, designing girl, I know very well---' + +'Do you know anything against her?' asked Miss Mohun, looking volumes +of repression at Gillian, whose brown eyes showed symptoms of glaring +like a cat's, under her hat. + +'I do not speak without warrant, Miss Mohun. She is one of those +demure, proper-behaved sort that are really the worst flirts of all, +if you'll excuse me.' + +Most thankful was Miss Mohun that the door opened at that moment to +admit some more visitors, for she saw that Gillian might at any +moment explode. + +'Aunt Jane,' she exclaimed, as soon as they had accomplished their +departure, 'you don't believe it?' + +'I do not think Miss White looks like it,' said Miss Mohun. 'She +seemed a quiet, simple girl.' + +'And you don't believe all that about poor Captain White?' + +'Not the more for Mrs. Stebbing's saying so.' + +'But you will find out and refute her. There must be people who +know.' + +'My dear, you had better not try to rake up such things. You know +that the man bore an excellent character for many years in the army, +and you had better be satisfied with that,' said Miss Jane for once +in her life, as if to provoke Gillian, not on the side of curiosity. + +'Then you do believe it!' went on Gillian, feeling much injured for +her hero's sake, and wearing what looked like a pertinacious pout. + +'Truth compels me to say, Gillian, that the sons of men, even in a +small way of business, are not apt to run away and enlist without +some reason.' + +'And I am quite sure it was all that horrid old White's fault.' + +'You had better content yourself with that belief.' + +Gillian felt greatly affronted, but Fergus, who thought all this very +tiresome, broke in, after a third attempt--- + +'Aunt Jane, if the pulley of that crane---' + +And all the way home they discussed machinery, and Gillian's heart +swelled. + +'I am afraid Gillian was greatly displeased with me,' said Miss Mohun +that evening, talking it over with her sister. 'But her captain +might have a fall if she went poking into all the gossip of the place +about him.' + +'Most likely whatever he did would be greatly exaggerated,' said +Adeline. + +'No doubt of it! Besides, those young men who are meant by nature +for heroes are apt to show some Beserkerwuth in their youth, like +Hereward le Wake.' + +'But what did you think of the girl?' + +'I liked her looks very much. I have seen her singing in the +choruses at the choral society concert, and thought how nice her +manner was. She does justice to her classical extraction, and is +modest and ladylike besides. Mrs. Stebbing is spiteful! I wonder +whether it is jealousy. She calls her artful and designing, which +sounds to me very much as if Master Frank might admire the damsel. +I have a great mind to have the two girls to tea, and see what they +are made of.' + +'We had much better wait till we hear from Lily. We cannot in the +least tell whether she would wish the acquaintance to be kept up. +And if there is anything going on with young Stebbing, nothing could +be more unadvisable than for Gillian to be mixed up in any nonsense +of that sort.' + + + + +CHAPTER VI. SINGLE MISFORTUNES NEVER COME ALONE + + + +On Sunday, Gillian's feet found their way to the top of the garden, +where she paced meditatively up and down, hoping to see Kalliope; and +just as she was giving up the expectation, the slender black figure +appeared on the other side of the railings. + +'Oh, Miss Gillian, how kind!' + +'Kally, I am glad!' + +Wherewith they got into talk at once, for Lady Merrifield's safe +arrival and Sir Jasper's improvement had just been telegraphed, and +there was much rejoicing over the good news. Gillian had nearly made +up her mind to confute the enemy by asking why Captain White had left +Rockquay; but somehow when it came to the point, she durst not make +the venture, and they skimmed upon more surface subjects. + +The one point of union between the parishes of Rockstone and Rockquay +was a choral society, whereof Mr. Flight of St. Kenelm's was a +distinguished light, and which gave periodical concerts in the +Masonic Hall. It being musical, Miss Mohun had nothing to do with it +except the feeling it needful to give her presence to the +performances. One of these was to take place in the course of the +week, and there were programmes in all the shops, 'Mr. Alexis White' +being set down for more than one solo, and as a voice in the glees. + +'Shall not you sing?' asked Gillian, remembering that her sisters had +thought Kalliope had a good ear and a pretty voice. + +'I? Oh, no!' + +'I thought you used to sing.' + +'Yes; but I have no time to keep it up.' + +'Not even in the choruses?' + +'No, I cannot manage it'---and there was a little glow in the clear +brown cheek. + +'Does your designing take up so much time?' + +'It is not that, but there is a great deal to do at home in after +hours. My mother is not strong, and we cannot keep a really +efficient servant.' + +'Oh! but you must be terribly hard-worked to have no time for +relaxation.' + +'Not quite that, but---it seems to me,' burst out poor Kalliope, 'that +relaxation does nothing but bring a girl into difficulties---an +unprotected girl, I mean.' + +'What do you mean?' cried Gillian, quite excited; but Kalliope had +caught herself up. + +'Never mind, Miss Gillian; you have nothing to do with that kind of +thing.' + +'But do tell me, Kally; I do want to be your friend,' said Gillian, +trying to put her hand through. + +'There's nothing to tell,' said Kalliope, smiling and evidently +touched, but still somewhat red, 'only you know when a girl has +nobody to look after her, she has to look after herself.' + +'Doesn't Alexis look after you?' said Gillian, not at all satisfied +to be put off with this truism. + +'Poor Alex! He is younger, you know, and he has quite enough to do. +Oh, Miss Gillian, he is such a very dear, good boy.' + +'He has a most beautiful voice, Aunt Ada said.' + +'Yes, poor fellow, though he almost wishes he had not. Oh dear I +there's the little bell! Good-bye, Miss Merrifield, I must run, or +Mrs. Smithson will be gone to church, and I shall be locked in.' + +So Gillian was left to the enigma why Alexis should regret the beauty +of his own voice, and what Kalliope could mean by the scrapes of +unprotected girls. It did not occur to her that Miss White was her +elder by six or seven years, and possibly might not rely on her +judgment and discretion as much as she might have done on those of +Alethea. + +Meantime the concert was coming on. It was not an amusement that +Aunt Ada could attempt, but Miss Mohun took both her nieces, to the +extreme pride and delight of Valetta, who had never been, as she +said, 'to any evening thing but just stupid childish things, only +trees and magic-lanterns'; and would not quite believe Gillian, who +assured her in a sage tone that she would find this far less +entertaining than either, judging by the manner in which she was wont +to vituperate her music lesson. + +'Oh! but that's only scales, and everybody hates them! And I do love +a German band.' + +'Especially in the middle of lesson-time,' said Gillian. + +However, Fergus was to spend the evening with Clement Varley; and +Kitty was to go with her mother and sister, the latter of whom was to +be one of the performers; but it was decreed by the cruel authorities +that the two bosom friends would have their tongues in better order +if they were some chairs apart; and therefore, though the members of +the two families at Beechcroft and the Tamarisks were consecutive, +Valetta was quartered between her aunt and Gillian, with Mrs. Varley +on the other side of Miss Mohun, and Major Dennis flanking Miss +Merrifield. When he had duly inquired after Sir Jasper, and heard of +Lady Merrifield's arrival, he had no more conversation for the young +lady; and Valetta, having perceived by force of example that in this +waiting-time it was not like being in church, poured out her +observations and inquiries on her sister. + +'What a funny room! And oh! do look at the pictures! Why has that +man got on a blue apron? Freemasons! What are Freemasons? Do they +work in embroidered blue satin aprons because they are gentlemen? +I'll tell Fergus that is what he ought to be; he is so fond of making +things---only I am sure he would spoil his apron. What's that curtain +for? Will they sing up there? Oh, there's Emma Norton just come in! +That must be her father. That's Alice Gidding, she comes to our +Sunday class, and do you know, she thought it was Joseph who was put +into the den of lions. Has not her mother got a funny head?' + +'Hush now, Val. Here they come,' as the whole chorus trooped in and +began the 'Men of Harlech.' + +Val was reduced to silence, but there was a long instrumental +performance afterwards, during which bad examples of chattering +emboldened her to whisper--- + +'Did you see Beatrice Varley? And Miss Berry, our singing-mistress--- +and Alexis White? Maura says---' + +Aunt Jane gave a touch and a frown which reduced Valetta to silence +at this critical moment; and she sat still through a good deal, only +giving a little jump when Alexis White, with various others, came to +sing a glee. + +Gillian could study the youth, who certainly was, as Aunt Ada said, +remarkable for the cameo-like cutting of his profile, though perhaps +no one without an eye for art would have remarked it, as he had the +callow unformed air of a lad of seventeen or eighteen, and looked shy +and grave; but his voice was a fine one, and was heard to more +advantage in the solos to a hunting song which shortly followed. + +Valetta had been rather alarmed at the applause at first, but she +soon found out what an opportunity it gave for conversation, and +after a good deal of popping her head about, she took advantage of +the encores to excuse herself by saying, 'I wanted to see if Maura +White was there. She was to go if Mrs. Lee---that's the lodger---would +take her. She says Kally won't go, or sing, or anything, because---' + +How tantalising! the singers reappeared, and Valetta was reduced to +silence. Nor could the subject be renewed in the interval between +the parts, for Major Dennis came and stood in front, and talked to +Miss Mohun; and after that Valetta grew sleepy, and nothing was to be +got out of her till all was over, when she awoke into extra +animation, and chattered so vehemently all the way home that her aunt +advised Gillian to get her to bed as quietly as possible, or she +would not sleep all night, and would be good for nothing the next +day. + +Gillian, however, being given to think for herself in all cases of +counsel from Aunt Jane, thought it could do no harm to beguile the +brushing of the child's hair by asking why Kalliope would not come to +the concert. + +'Oh, it's a great secret, but Maura told me in the cloakroom. It is +because Mr. Frank wants to be her---to be her---her admirer,' said +Valetta, cocking her head on one side, and adding to the already +crimson colour of her cheeks. + +'Nonsense, Val, what do you and Maura know of such things?' + +'We aren't babies, Gill, and it is very unkind of you, when you told +me I was to make friends with Maura White; and Kitty Varley is quite +cross with me about it.' + +'I told you to be kind to Maura, but not to talk about such foolish +things.' + +'I don't see why they should be foolish. It is what we all must come +to. Grown-up people do, as Lois says. I heard Aunt Ada going on +ever so long about Beatrice Varley and that gentleman.' + +'It is just the disadvantage of that kind of school that girls talk +that sort of undesirable stuff. Gillian said to herself; but +curiosity, or interest in the Whites, prompted her to add, 'What did +she tell you?' + +'If you are so cross, I shan't tell you. You hurt my head, I say.' + +'Come, Val, I ought to know.' + +'It's a secret.' + +'Then you should not have told me so much.' + +Val laughed triumphantly, and called her sister Mrs. Curiosity, and +at that moment Aunt Jane knocked at the door, and said Val was not to +talk. + +Val made an impatient face and began to whisper, but Gillian had too +much proper feeling to allow this flat disobedience, and would not +listen, much as she longed to do so. She heard her little sister +rolling and tossing about a good deal, but made herself hard-hearted +on principle, and acted sleep. On her own judgment, she would not +waken the child in the morning, and Aunt Jane said she was quite +right, it would be better to let Val have her sleep out, than send +her to school fretful and half alive. 'But you ought not to have let +her talk last night.' + +As usual, reproof was unpleasing, and silenced Gillian. She hoped to +extract the rest of the story in the course of the day. But before +breakfast was over Valetta rushed in with her hat on, having +scrambled into her clothes in a hurry, and consuming her breakfast in +great haste, for she had no notion either of losing her place in the +class, or of missing the discussion of the entertainment with Kitty, +from whom she had been so cruelly parted. + +Tete-a-tetes were not so easy as might have been expected between two +sisters occupying the same room, for Valetta went to bed and to sleep +long before Gillian, and the morning toilette was a hurry; besides, +Gillian had scruples, partly out of pride and partly out of +conscientiousness, about encouraging Valetta in gossip or showing her +curiosity about it. Could she make anything out from Kalliope +herself? However, fortune favoured her, for she came out of her +class only a few steps behind little Maura; and as some of Mr. +Edgar's boys were about, the child naturally regarded her as a +protector. + +Maura was quite as pretty as her elders, and had more of a southern +look. Perhaps she was proportionably precocious, for she returned +Gillian's greeting without embarrassment, and was quite ready to +enter into conversation and show her gratification at compliments +upon her brother's voice. + +'And does not Kalliope sing? I think she used to sing very nicely in +the old times.' + +'Oh yes,' said Maura; 'but she doesn't now.' + +'Why not? Has not she time?' + +'That's not all' said Maura, looking significant, and an interro- +gative sound sufficed to bring out---'It is because of Mr. Frank.' + +'Mr. Frank Stebbing?' + +'Yes. He was always after her, and would walk home with her after +the practices, though Alexis was always there. I know that was the +reason for I heard la mamma mia trying to persuade her to go on with +the society, and she was determined, and would not. Alex said she +was quite right, and it is very tiresome of him, for now she never +walks with us on Sunday, and he used to come and give us bonbons and +crackers.' + +'Then she does not like him?' + +'She says it is not right or fitting, because Mr. and Mrs. Stebbing +would be against it; but mamma said he would get over them, if she +would not be so stupid, and he could make her quite a lady, like an +officer's daughter, as we are. Is it not a pity she won't, Miss +Gillian?' + +'I do not know. I think she is very good,' said Gillian. + +'Oh! but if she would, we might all be well off again,' said little +worldly-minded Maura; 'and I should not have to help her make the +beds, and darn, and iron, and all sorts of horrid things, but we +could live properly, like ladies.' + +'I think it is more ladylike to act uprightly,' said Gillian. + +Wherewith, having made the discovery, and escorted Maura beyond the +reach of her enemies, she parted with the child, and turned +homewards. Gillian was at the stage in which sensible maidens have a +certain repugnance and contempt for the idea of love and lovers as an +interruption to the higher aims of life and destruction to family +joys. Romance in her eyes was the exaltation of woman out of reach, +and Maura's communications inclined her to glorify Kalliope as a +heroine, molested by a very inconvenient person, 'Spighted by a fool, +spighted and angered both,' as she quoted Imogen to herself. + +It would be a grand history to tell Alethea of her friend, when she +should have learnt a little more about it, as she intended to do on +Sunday from Kalliope herself, who surely would be grateful for some +sympathy and friendship. Withal she recollected that it was Indian- +mail day, and hurried home to see whether the midday post had brought +any letters. Her two aunts were talking eagerly, but suddenly broke +off as she opened the door. + +'Well, Gillian---' began Aunt Ada. + +'No, no, let her see for herself,' said Aunt Jane. + +'Oh! I hope nothing is the matter?' she exclaimed, seeing a letter +to herself on the table. + +'No; rather the reverse.' + +A horrible suspicion, as she afterwards called it, came over Gillian +as she tore open the letter. There were two small notes. The first +was--- + + +'DEAR LITTLE GILL---I am going to give you a new brother. Mother will +tell you all.---Your loving sister, + 'P. E. M.' + + +She gasped, and looked at the other. + + +'DEAREST GILLIAN---After all you have heard about Frank, perhaps you +will know that I am very happy. You cannot guess how happy, and it +is so delightful that mamma is charmed with him. He has got two +medals and three clasps. There are so many to write to, I can only +give my poor darling this little word. She will find it is only +having another to be as fond of her as her old Alley.' + + +Gillian looked up in a bewildered state, and gasped 'Both!' + +Aunt Jane could not help smiling a little, and saying, 'Yes, both at +one fell swoop.' + +'It's dreadful,' said Gillian. + +'My dear, if you want to keep your sisters to yourself, you should +not let them go to India, said Aunt Ada. + +'They said they wouldn't! They were quite angry at the notion of +being so commonplace,' said Gillian. + +'Oh, no one knows till her time comes!' said Aunt Jane. + +Gillian now applied herself to her mother's letter, which was also +short. + + +'MY DEAREST GILLYFLOWER---I know this will be a great blow to you, as +indeed it was to me; but we must not be selfish, and must remember +that the sisters' happiness and welfare is the great point. I wish I +could write to you more at length; but time will not let me, +scattered as are all my poor flock at home. So I must leave you to +learn the bare public facts from Aunt Jane, and only say my especial +private words to you. You are used to being brevet eldest daughter +to me, now you will have to be so to papa, who is mending fast, but, +I think, will come home with me. Isn't that news? + 'Your loving mother.' + + +'They have told you all about it, Aunt Jane!' said Gillian. + +'Yes; they have been so cruel as not even to tell you the names of +these robbers? Well, I dare say you had rather read my letter than +hear it.' + +'Thank you very much, Aunt Jane! May I take it upstairs with me?' + +Consent was readily given, and Gillian had just time for her first +cursory reading before luncheon. + + +'DEAREST JENNY---Fancy what burst upon me only the day after my +coming---though really we ought to be very thankful. You might +perhaps have divined what was brewing from the letters. Jasper knew +of one and suspected the other before the accident, and he says it +prevented him from telegraphing to stop me, for he was sure one or +both the girls would want their mother. Phyllis began it. Hers is a +young merchant just taken into the great Underwood firm. Bernard +Underwood, a very nice fellow, brother to the husband of one of Harry +May's sisters---very much liked and respected, and, by the way, an +uncommonly handsome man. That was imminent before Jasper's accident, +and the letter to prepare me must be reposing in Harry's care. Mr. +Underwood came down with Claude to meet me when I landed, and I +scented danger in his eye. But it is all right---only his income is +entirely professional, and they will have to live out here for some +time to come. + +'The other only spoke yesterday, having abstained from worrying his +General. He is Lord Francis Somerville, son to Lord Liddesdale, and +a captain in the Glen Lorn Highlanders, who have not above a couple +of years to stay in these parts. He was with the riding party when +Jasper fell, and was the first to lift him; indeed, he held him all +the time of waiting, for poor Claude trembled too much. He was an +immense help through the nursing, and they came to know and depend on +him as nothing else would have made them do; and they proved how +sincerely right-minded and good he is. There is some connection with +the Underwoods, though I have not quite fathomed it. There is no +fear about home consent, for it seems that he is given to outpourings +to his mother, and had heard that if he thought of Sir Jasper +Merrifield's daughter his parents would welcome her, knowing what Sir +J. is. There's for you! considering that we have next to nothing to +give the child, and Frank has not much fortune, but Alethea is +trained to the soldierly life, and they will be better off than +Jasper and I were. + +'The worst of it is leaving them behind; and as neither of the +gentlemen can afford a journey home, we mean to have the double +wedding before Lent. As to outfit, the native tailors must be +chiefly trusted to, or the stores at Calcutta, and I must send out +the rest when I come home. Only please send by post my wedding veil +(Gillian knows where it is), together with another as like it as may +be. Any slight lace decorations to make us respectable which suggest +themselves to you and her might come; I can't recollect or mention +them now. I wish Reginald could come and tell you all, but the poor +fellow has to go home full pelt about those Irish. Jasper is writing +to William, and you must get business particulars from him, and let +Gillian and the little ones hear, for there is hardly any time to +write. Phyllis, being used to the idea, is very quiet and matter-of- +fact about it. She hoped, indeed, that I guessed nothing till I was +satisfied about papa, and had had time to rest. Alethea is in a much +more April condition, and I am glad Frank waited till I was here on +her account and on her father's. He is going on well, but must keep +still. He declares that being nursed by two pair of lovers is highly +amusing. However, such homes being found for two of the tribe is a +great relief to his mind. I suppose it is to one's rational mind, +though it is a terrible tug at one's heart-strings. You shall hear +again by the next mail. A brown creature waits to take this to be +posted.--- + Your loving sister, + L. M.' + + +Gillian came down to dinner quite pale, and to Aunt Ada's kind 'Well, +Gillian?' she could only repeat, 'It is horrid.' + +'It is hard to lose all the pretty double wedding,' said Aunt Ada. + +'Gillian does not mean that,' hastily put in Miss Mohun. + +'Oh no,' said Gillian; 'that would be worse than anything.' + +'So you think,' said Aunt Jane; 'but believe those who have gone +through it all, my dear, when the wrench is over, one feels the +benefit.' + +Gillian shook her head, and drank water. Her aunts went on talking, +for they thought it better that she should get accustomed to the +prospect; and, moreover, they were so much excited that they could +hardly have spoken of anything else. Aunt Jane wondered if Phyllis's +betrothed were a brother of Mr. Underwood of St. Matthew's, +Whittingtown, with whom she had corresponded about the consumptive +home; and Aunt Ada regretted the not having called on Lady Liddesdale +when she had spent some weeks at Rockstone, and consoled herself by +recollecting that Lord Rotherwood would know all about the family. +She had already looked it out in the Peerage, and discovered that +Lord Francis Cunningham Somerville was the only younger son, that his +age was twenty-nine, and that he had three sisters, all married, as +well as his elder brother, who had children enough to make it +improbable that Alethea would ever be Lady Liddesdale. She would +have shown Gillian the record, but received the ungracious answer, +'I hate swells.' + +'Let her alone, Ada,' said Aunt Jane; 'it is a very sore business. +She will be better by and by.' + +There ensued a little discussion how the veil at Silverfold was to be +hunted up, or if Gillian and her aunt must go to do so. + +'Can you direct Miss Vincent?' asked Miss Mohun. + +'No, I don't think I could; besides, I don't like to set any one to +poke and meddle in mamma's drawers.' + +'And she could hardly judge what could be available,' added Miss Ada. + +'Gillian must go to find it,' said Aunt Jane; 'and let me see, when +have I a day? Saturday is never free, and Monday--I could ask Mrs. +Hablot to take the cutting out, and then I could look up Lily's +Brussels---' + +There she caught a sight of Gillian's face. Perhaps one cause of the +alienation the girl felt for her aunt was, that there was a certain +kindred likeness between them which enabled each to divine the +other's inquiring disposition, though it had different effects on the +elder and younger character. Jane Mohun suspected that she had on +her ferret look, and guessed that Gillian's disgusted air meant that +the idea of her turning over Lady Merrifield's drawers was almost as +distasteful as that of the governess's doing it. + +'Suppose Gillian goes down on Monday with Fanny,' she said. 'She +could manage very well, I am sure.' + +Gillian cleared up a little. There is much consolation in being of a +little importance, and she liked the notion of a day at home, a quiet +day, as she hoped in her present mood, of speaking to nobody. Her +aunt let her have her own way, and only sent a card to Macrae to +provide for meeting and for food, not even letting Miss Vincent know +that she was coming. That feeling of not being able to talk about it +or be congratulated would wear off, Aunt Jane said, if she was not +worried or argued with, in which case it might become perverse +affectation. + +It certainly was not shared by the children. Sisters unseen for +three years could hardly be very prominent in their minds. Fergus +hoped that they would ride to the wedding upon elephants, and Valetta +thought it very hard to miss the being a bridesmaid, when Kitty +Varley had already enjoyed the honour. However, she soon began to +glorify herself on the beauty of Alethea's future title. + +'What will Kitty Varley and all say?' was her cry. + +'Nothing, unless they are snobs, as girls always are,' said Fergus. + +'It is not a nice word,' said Miss Adeline. + +'But there's nothing else that expresses it, Aunt Ada,' returned +Gillian. + +'I agree to a certain degree,' said Miss Mohun; 'but still I am not +sure what it does express.' + +'Just what girls of that sort are,' said Gillian. 'Mere worshippers +of any sort of handle to one's name.' + +'Gillian, Gillian, you are not going in for levelling,' cried Aunt +Adeline. + +'No,' said Gillian; 'but I call it snobbish to make more fuss about +Alethea's concern than Phyllis's---just because he calls himself +Lord--' + +'That is to a certain degree true,' said Miss Mohun. 'The worth of +the individual man stands first of all, and nothing can be sillier or +in worse taste than to parade one's grand relations.' + +'To parade, yes,' said Aunt Adeline; 'but there is no doubt that good +connections are a great advantage.' + +'Assuredly,' said Miss Mohun. 'Good birth and an ancestry above +shame are really a blessing, though it has come to be the fashion to +sneer at them. I do not mean merely in the eyes of the world, though +it is something to have a name that answers for your relations being +respectable. But there are such things as hereditary qualities, and +thus testimony to the existence of a distinguished forefather is +worth having.' + +'Lily's dear old Sir Maurice de Mohun to wit,' said Miss Adeline. +'You know she used to tease Florence by saying the Barons of +Beechcroft had a better pedigree than the Devereuxes.' + +'I'd rather belong to the man who made himself,' said Gillian. + +'Well done, Gill! But though your father won his own spurs, you +can't get rid of his respectable Merrifield ancestry wherewith he +started in life.' + +'I don't want to. I had rather have them than horrid robber +Borderers, such as no doubt these Liddesdale people were.' + +There was a little laughing at this; but Gillian was saying in her +own mind that it was a fine thing to be one's own Rodolf of Hapsburg, +and in that light she held Captain White, who, in her present state +of mind, she held to have been a superior being to all the +Somervilles---perhaps to all the Devereuxes who ever existed. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. AN EMPTY NEST + + + +There had been no injunctions of secrecy, and though neither Miss +Mohun nor Gillian had publicly mentioned the subject, all Rockquay +who cared for the news knew by Sunday morning that Lady Merrifield's +two elder daughters were engaged. + +Gillian, in the course of writing her letters, had become somewhat +familiarised with the idea, and really looked forward to talking it +over with Kalliope. Though that young person could hardly be termed +Alethea's best friend, it was certain that Alethea stood foremost +with her, and that her interest in the matter would be very loving. + +Accordingly, Kalliope was at the place of meeting even before +Gillian, and anxiously she looked as she said--- + +'May I venture---may I ask if it is true?' + +'True? Oh yes, Kally, I knew you would care.' + +'Indeed, I well may. There is no expressing how much I owe to dear +Miss Alethea and Lady Merrifield, and it is such a delight to hear of +them.' + +Accordingly, Gillian communicated the facts as she knew them, and +offered to give any message. + +'Only my dear love and congratulations,' said Kalliope, with a little +sigh. 'I should like to have written, but---' + +'But why don't you, then?' + +'Oh no; she would be too much engaged to think of us, and it would +only worry her to be asked for her advice.' + +'I think I know what it is about,' said Gillian. + +'How? Oh, how do you know? Did Mr. Flight say anything?' + +'Mr. Flight?' exclaimed Gillian. 'What has he to do with it?' + +'It was foolish, perhaps; but I did hope he might have helped Alexis, +and now he seems only to care for his music.' + +'Helped him! How?" + +'Perhaps it was unreasonable, but Alexis has always been to good +schools. He was getting on beautifully at Leeds, and we thought he +would have gained a scholarship and gone on to be a clergyman. That +was what his mind has always been fixed upon. You cannot think how +good and devoted he is,' said Kalliope with a low trembling voice; +'and my father wished it very much too. But when the break-up came, +Mr. White made our not being too fine, as he said, to work, a sort of +condition of doing anything for us. Mr. Moore did tell him what +Alexis is, but I believe he thought it all nonsense, and there was +nothing to be done. Alexis--dear fellow---took it so nicely, said he +was thankful to be able to help mother, and if it was his duty and +God's will, it was sure to come right; and he has been plodding away +at the marble works ever since, quite patiently and resolutely, but +trying to keep up his studies in the evening, only now he has worked +through all his old school-books.' + +'And does not Mr. Flight know that I will help him?' + +'Well, Mr. Flight means to be kind, and sometimes seems to think much +of him; but it is all for his music, I am afraid. He is always +wanting new things to be learnt and practised, and those take up so +much time; and though he does lend us books, they are of no use for +study, though they only make the dear boy long and long the more to +get on.' + +'Does not Mr. Flight know?' + +'I am not sure. I think he does; but in his ardour for music he +seems to forget all about it. It does seem such a pity that all +Alexis's time should be wasted in this drudgery. If I could only be +sure of more extra work for my designs, I could set him free; and if +Sir Jasper were only at home, I am sure he would put the boy in the +way of earning his education. If it were only as a pupil teacher, he +would be glad, but then he says he ought not to throw all on me.' + +'Oh, he must be very good!' exclaimed Gillian. 'I am sure papa will +help him! I wish I could. Oh!'---with a sudden recollection---'I +wonder what books he wants most. I am going to Silverfold to-morrow, +and there are lots of old school-books there of the boys', doing +nothing, that I know he might have.' + +'Oh, Miss Gillian, how good of you! How delighted he would be!' + +'Do you know what he wants most?' + +'A Greek grammar and lexicon most of all,' was the ready answer. 'He +has been trying to find them at the second-hand shop ever so long, +but I am afraid there is no hope of a lexicon. They are so large and +expensive.' + +'I think there is an old one of Jasper's, if he would not mind its +back being off, and lots of blots.' + +'He would mind nothing. Oh, Miss Gillian, you can't think how happy +he will be. + +'If there is anything else he wants very much, how could he let me +know?' mused Gillian. 'Oh, I see! What time are you at the works?' + +'Alex is there at seven; I don't go till nine.' + +'I am to be at the station at 8.40. Could you or Maura meet me there +and tell me?' + +To this Kalliope agreed, for she said she could be sure of getting to +her post in time afterwards, and she seemed quite overjoyed. No one +could look at her without perceiving that Alexis was the prime +thought of her heart, and Gillian delighted her by repeating Aunt +Adeline's admiration of his profile, and the general opinion of his +singing. + +'I am so sorry you have had to give it up,' she added. + +'It can't be helped,' Kalliope said; 'and I really have no time.' + +'But that's not all,' said Gillian, beginning to blush herself. + +'0h! I hope there's no gossip or nonsense about _that_,' cried +Kalliope, her cheeks flaming. + +'Only---' + +'Not Maura? Naughty little girl, I did not think she knew anything. +Not that there is anything to tell,' said Kalliope, much distressed; +'but it is dreadful that there should be such talk.' + +'I thought it was _that_ you meant when you said you wanted advice.' + +'No one could advise me, I am afraid,' said the girl. 'If we could +only go away from this place! But that's impossible, and I dare say +the fancy will soon go off!' + +'Then you don't care for him?' + +'My dear Miss Gillian, when I have seen _gentlemen_!' said Kalliope, +in a tone that might have cured her admirer. + +They had, however, talked longer than usual, and the notes of the +warning bell came up, just when Gillian had many more questions to +ask, and she had to run down the garden all in a glow with eagerness +and excitement, so that Aunt Ada asked if she had been standing in +the sea wind. Her affirmative was true enough, and yet she was +almost ashamed of it, as not the whole truth, and there was a +consciousness about her all the afternoon which made her soon regret +that conversation was chiefly absorbed by the younger one's +lamentations that they were not to accompany her to Silverfold, and +by their commissions. Fergus wanted a formidable amount of precious +tools, and inchoate machines, which Mrs. Halfpenny had regarded as +'mess,' and utterly refused to let his aunts be 'fashed' with; while +Valetta's orders were chiefly for the visiting all the creatures, so +as to bring an exact account of the health and spirits of Rigdum +Funnidos, etc., also for some favourite story-books which she wished +to lend to Kitty Varley and Maura White. + +'For do you know, Gill, Maura has never had a new story-book since +mamma gave her Little Alice and her Sister, when she was seven years +old! Do bring her Stories They Tell Me, and On Angel's Wings.' + +'But is not that Mysie's?' + +'Oh yes, but I know Mysie would let her have it. Mysie always let +Maura have everything of hers, because the boys teased her.' + +'I will bring it; but I think Mysie ought to be written to before it +is lent.' + +'That is right, Gillian,' said Miss Mohun; 'it is always wiser to be +above-board when dealing with other people's things, even in +trifles.' + +Why did this sound like a reproach, and as if it implied suspicion +that Gillian was not acting on that principle? She resented the +feeling. She knew she might do as she liked with the boys' old +books, for which they certainly had no affection, and which indeed +her mother had talked of offering to some of those charities which +have a miscellaneous appetite, and wonderful power of adaptation of +the disused. Besides, though no one could have the least objection +to their being bestowed on the Whites, the very fact of this being +her third secret meeting with Kalliope was beginning to occasion an +awkwardness in accounting for her knowledge of their needs. It was +obvious to ask why she had not mentioned the first meeting, and this +her pride would not endure. She had told her parents by letter. +What more could be desired? + +Again, when she would not promise to see either Miss Vincent or the +Miss Hackets, because 'she did not want to have a fuss,' Aunt Jane +said she thought it a pity, with regard at least to the governess, +who might feel herself hurt at the neglect, 'and needless secrets are +always unadvisable.' + +Gillian could hardly repress a wriggle, but her Aunt Ada laughed, +saying, 'Especially with you about, Jenny, for you always find them +out.' + +At present, however, Miss Mohun certainly had no suspicion. Gillian +was very much afraid she would think proper to come to the station in +the morning; but she was far too busy, and Gillian started off in the +omnibus alone with Mrs. Mount in handsome black silk trim, to be +presented to Mr. Macrae, and much enjoying the trip, having been well +instructed by Fergus and Valetta in air that she was to see. + +Kalliope was descried as the omnibus stopped, and in a few seconds +Gillian had shaken hands with her, received the note, and heard the +ardent thanks sent from Alexis, and which the tattered books---even if +they proved to be right---would scarcely deserve. He would come with +his sister to receive the parcel at the station on Gillian's return--- +at 5.29, an offer which obviated any further difficulties as to +conveyance. + +Mrs. Mount was intent upon the right moment to run the gauntlet for +the tickets; and had it been otherwise, would have seen nothing +remarkable in her charge being accosted by a nice-looking ladylike +girl. So on they rushed upon their way, Gillian's spirits rising in +a curious sense of liberty and holiday-making. + +In due time they arrived, and were received by Macrae with the pony +carriage, while the trees of Silverfold looked exquisite in their +autumn red, gold, and brown. + +But the dreariness of the deserted house, with no one on the steps +but Quiz, and all the furniture muffled in sheets, struck Gillian +more than she had expected, though the schoolroom had been wakened up +for her, a bright fire on the hearth, and the cockatoo highly +conversational, the cats so affectionate that it was difficult to +take a step without stumbling over one of them. + +When the business had all been despatched, the wedding veil +disinterred, and the best Brussels and Honiton safely disposed in a +box, when an extremely dilapidated and much-inked collection of +school-books had been routed out of the backstairs cupboard (commonly +called Erebus) and duly packed, when a selection of lighter +literature had been made with a view both to Valetta and Lilian; when +Gillian had shown all she could to Mrs. Mount, visited all the +animals, gone round the garden, and made two beautiful posies of +autumn flowers, one for her little sister and the other for Kalliope, +discovered that Fergus's precious machine had been ruthlessly made +away with, but secured his tools,---she found eating partridge in +solitary grandeur rather dreary work, though she had all the bread- +sauce to herself, and cream to her apple tart, to say nothing of +Macrae, waiting upon her as if she had been a duchess, and conversing +in high exultation upon the marriages, only regretting that one +gentleman should be a civilian; he had always augured that all his +young ladies would be in the Service, and begging that he might be +made aware of the wedding-day, so as to have the bells rung. + +To express her own feelings to the butler was not possible, and his +glee almost infected her. She was quite sorry when, having placed a +choice of pears and October peaches before her, he went off to +entertain Mrs. Mount; and after packing a substratum of the fruit in +the basket for the Whites, she began almost to repent of having +insisted on not returning to Rockstone till the four o'clock train, +feeling her solitary liberty oppressive; and finally she found +herself walking down the drive in search of Miss Vincent. + +She had to confess to herself that her aunt was quite right, and that +the omission would have been a real unkindness, when she saw how worn +and tired the governess looked, and the brightness that flashed over +the pale face at sight of her. Mrs. Vincent had been much worse, and +though slightly better for the present was evidently in a critical +state, very exhausting to her daughter. + +Good Miss Hacket at that moment came in to sit with her, and send the +daughter out for some air; and it was well that Gillian had had some +practice in telling her story not too disconsolately, for it was +received with all the delight that the mere notion of a marriage +seems to inspire, though Phyllis and Alethea had scarcely been seen +at Silverfold before they had gone to India with their father. + +Miss Hacket had to be content with the names before she hastened up +to the patient; but Miss Vincent walked back through the paddock with +Gillian, talking over what was more personally interesting to the +governess, the success of her own pupils, scattered as they were, and +comparing notes upon Mysie's letters. One of these Miss Vincent had +just received by the second post, having been written to announce the +great news, and it continued in true Mysie fashion:--- + + +'Cousin Rotherwood knows all about them, and says they will have a +famous set of belongings. He will take me to see some of them if we +go to London before mamma comes home. Bernard Underwood's sister is +married to Mr. Grinstead, the sculptor who did the statue of Mercy at +the Gate that Harry gave a photograph of to mamma, and she paints +pictures herself. I want to see them; but I do not know whether we +shall stay in London, for they do not think it agrees with Fly. I do +more lessons than she does now, and I have read through all Autour de +mon Jardin. I have a letter from Dolores too, and she thinks that +Aunt Phyllis and all are coming home to make a visit in England for +Uncle Harry to see his father, and she wishes very much that they +would bring her; but it is not to be talked about for fear they +should be hindered, and old Dr. May hear of it and be disappointed; +but you won't see any one to tell.' + + +'There, what have I done?' exclaimed Miss Vincent in dismay. 'But I +had only just got the letter, and had barely glanced through it.' + +'Besides, who would have thought of Mysie having any secrets?' said +Gillian. + +'After all, I suppose no harm is done; for you can't have any other +connection with these Mays.' + +'Oh yes, there will be; for I believe a brother of this man of +Phyllis's married one of the Miss Mays, and I suppose we shall have +to get mixed up with the whole lot. How I do hate strangers! But +I'll take care, Miss Vincent, indeed I will. One is not bound to +tell one's aunts everything like one's mother.' + +'No,' said Miss Vincent decidedly, 'especially when it is another +person's secret betrayed through inadvertence.' Perhaps she thought +Gillian looked dangerously gratified, for she added: 'However, you +know poor Dolores did not find secrecy answer.' + +'Oh, there are secrets and secrets, and aunts and aunts!' said +Gillian. 'Dolores had no mother.' + +'It makes a difference,' said Miss Vincent. 'I should never ask you +to conceal anything from Lady Merrifield. Besides, this is not a +matter of conduct, only a report.' + +Gillian would not pursue the subject. Perhaps she was a little +disingenuous with her conscience, for she wanted to carry off the +impression that Miss Vincent had pronounced concealment from her +aunts to be justifiable; and she knew at the bottom of her heart that +her governess would condemn a habit of secret intimacy with any one +being carried on without the knowledge of her hostess and guardian +for the time being,---above all when it was only a matter, of waiting. + +It is a fine thing for self-satisfaction to get an opinion without +telling the whole of the facts of the case, and Gillian went home in +high spirits, considerably encumbered with parcels, and surprising +Mrs. Mount by insisting that two separate packages should be made of +the books. + +Kalliope and Alexis were both awaiting her at the station, their +gratitude unbounded, and finding useful vent by the latter fetching a +cab and handing in the goods. + +It was worth something to see how happy the brother and sister +looked, as they went off in the gaslight, the one with the big brown +paper parcel, the other with the basket of fruit and flowers; and +Gillian's explanation to Mrs. Mount that they were old friends of her +soldiering days was quite satisfactory. + +There was a grand unpacking. Aunt Ada was pleased with the late +roses, and Aunt Jane that there had been a recollection of Lilian +Giles, to whom she had thought her niece far too indifferent. +Valetta fondled the flowers, and was gratified to hear of the ardent +affection of the Begum and the health of Rigdum, though Gillian was +forced to confess that she had not transferred to him the kiss that +she had been commissioned to convey. Nobody was disappointed except +Fergus, who could not but vituperate the housemaids for the +destruction of his new patent guillotine for mice, which was to have +been introduced to Clement Varley. To be sure it would hardly ever +act, and had never cut off the head of anything save a dandelion, but +that was a trifling consideration. + +A letter from Mysie was awaiting Gillian, not lengthy, for there was +a long interval between Mysie's brains and her pen, and saying +nothing about the New Zealand report. The selection of lace was much +approved, and the next day there was to be an expedition to endeavour +to get the veil matched as nearly as possible. The only dangerous +moment was at breakfast the next day, when Miss Mohun said--- + +'Fanny was delighted with Silverfold. Macrae seems to have been the +pink of politeness to her.' + +'She must come when the house is alive again,' said Gillian. 'What +would she think of it then!' + +'Oh, that would be perfectly delicious,' cried Valetta. 'She would +see Begum and Rigdum---' + +'And I could show her how to work the lawn cutter,' added Fergus. + +'By the bye,' said Aunt Jane, 'whom have you been lending books to?' + +'Oh, to the Whites,' said Gillian, colouring, as she felt more than +she could wish. 'There were some old school-books that I thought +would be useful to them, and I was sure mamma would like them to have +some flowers and fruit.' + +She felt herself very candid, but why would Aunt Jane look at those +tell-tale cheeks. + +Sunday was wet, or rather 'misty moisty,' with a raw sea-fog +overhanging everything---not bad enough, however, to keep any one +except Aunt Ada from church or school, though she decidedly +remonstrated against Gillian's going out for her wandering in the +garden in such weather; and, if she had been like the other aunt, +might almost have been convinced that such determination must be for +an object. However, Gillian encountered the fog in vain, though she +walked up and down the path till her clothes were quite limp and +flabby with damp. All the view that rewarded her was the outline of +the shrubs looming through the mist like distant forests as +mountains. Moreover, she got a scolding from Aunt Ada, who met her +coming in, and was horrified at the misty atmosphere which she was +said to have brought in, and insisted on her going at once to change +her dress, and staying by the fireside all the rest of the afternoon. + +'I cannot think what makes her so eager about going out in the +afternoon,' said the younger aunt to the elder. 'It is impossible +that she can have any reason for it.' + +'Only Sunday restlessness,' said Miss Mohun, 'added to the reckless +folly of the "Bachfisch" about health.' + +'That's true,' said Adeline, 'girls must be either so delicate that +they are quite helpless, or so strong as to be absolutely weather- +proof.' + +Fortune, however, favoured Gillian when next she went to Lily Giles. +She had never succeeded in taking real interest in the girl, who +seemed to her to be so silly and sentimental that an impulse to +answer drily instantly closed up all inclination to effusions of +confidence. Gillian had not yet learnt breadth of charity enough to +understand that everybody does not feel, or express feeling, after +the same pattern; that gush is not always either folly or +insincerity; and that girls of Lily's class are about at the same +stage of culture as the young ladies of whom her namesake in the +Inheritance is the type. When Lily showed her in some little +magazine the weakest of poetry, and called it so sweet, just like +'dear Mr. Grant's lovely sermon, the last she had heard. Did he not +look so like a saint in his surplice and white stole, with his holy +face and beautiful blue eyes; it was enough to make any one feel good +to look at him,' Gillian simply replied, 'Oh, _I_ never think of the +clergyman's looks,' and hurried to her book, feeling infinitely +disgusted and contemptuous, never guessing that these poor verses, +and the curate's sermons and devotional appearance were, to the young +girl's heart, the symbols of all that was sacred, and all that was +refined, and that the thought of them was the solace of her lonely +and suffering hours. Tolerant sympathy is one of the latest lessons +of life, and perhaps it is well that only + + + 'The calm temper of our age should be + Like the high leaves upon the holly-tree,' + + +for the character in course of formation needs to be guarded by +prickles. + +However, on this day Undine was to be finished, for Gillian was in +haste to begin Katharine Ashton, which would, she thought, be much +more wholesome reality, so she went on later than usual, and came +away at last, leaving her auditor dissolved in tears over poor +Undine's act of justice. + +As Mrs. Giles, full of thanks, opened the little garden-gate just as +twilight was falling, Gillian beheld Kalliope and Alexis White coming +up together from the works, and eagerly met and shook hands with +them. The dark days were making them close earlier, they explained, +and as Kalliope happened to have nothing to finish or purchase, she +was able to come home with her brother. + +Therewith Alexis began to express, with the diffidence of extreme +gratitude, his warm thanks for the benefaction of books, which were +exactly what he had wanted and longed for. His foreign birth enabled +him to do this much more prettily and less clumsily than an English +boy, and Gillian was pleased, though she told him that her brother's +old ill-used books were far from worthy of such thanks. + +'Ah, you cannot guess how precious they are to me!' said Alexis. +'They are the restoration of hope.' + +'And can you get on by yourself?' asked Gillian. 'Is it not very +difficult without any teacher?' + +'People have taught themselves before,' returned the youth, 'so I +hope to do so myself; but of course there are many questions I long +to ask.' + +'Perhaps I could answer some,' said Gillian; 'I have done some +classics with a tutor.' + +'Oh, thank you, Miss Merrifield,' he said eagerly. 'If you could +make me understand the force of the aorist. + +It so happened that Gillian had the explanation at her tongue's end, +and it was followed by another, and another, till one occurred which +could hardly be comprehended without reference to the passage, upon +which Alexis pulled a Greek Testament out of his pocket, and his +sister could not help exclaiming--- + +'Oh, Alexis, you can't ask Miss Merrifield to do Greek with you out +in the street.' + +Certainly it was awkward, the more so as Mrs. Stebbing just then +drove by in her carriage. + +'What a pity!' exclaimed Gillian. 'But if you would set down any +difficulties, you could send them to me by Kalliope on Sunday.' + +'Oh, Miss Merrifield, how very good of you!' exclaimed Alexis, his +face lighting up with joy. + +But Kalliope looked doubtful, and began a hesitating 'But---' + +'I'll tell you of a better way!' exclaimed Gillian. 'I always go +once a week to read to this Lilian Giles, and if I come down +afterwards to Kalliope's office after you have struck work, I could +see to anything you wanted to ask.' + +Alexis broke out into the most eager thanks. Kalliope said hardly +anything, and as they had reached the place where the roads diverged, +they bade one another good-evening. + +Gillian looked after the brother and sister just as the gas was being +lighted, and could almost guess what Alexis was saying, by his +gestures of delight. She did not hear, and did not guess how +Kalliope answered, 'Don't set your heart on it too much, dear fellow, +for I should greatly doubt whether Miss Gillian's aunts will consent. +Oh yes, of course, if they permit her, it will be all right. + +So Gillian went her way feeling that she had found her 'great thing.' +Training a minister for the Church! Was not that a 'great thing'? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. GILLIAN'S PUPIL + + + +Gillian was not yet seventeen, and had lived a home life totally +removed from gossip, so that she had no notion that she was doing a +more awkward or remarkable thing than if she had been teaching a +drummer-boy. She even deliberated whether she should mention her +undertaking to her mother, or produce the grand achievement of Alexis +White, prepared for college, on the return from India; but a sense +that she had promised to tell everything, and that, while she did so, +she could defy any other interference, led her to write the design in +a letter to Ceylon, and then she felt ready to defy any censure or +obstructions from other Quarters. + +Mystery has a certain charm. Infinite knowledge of human nature was +shown in the text, 'Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in +secret is pleasant'; and it would be hard to define how much +Gillian's satisfaction was owing to the sense of benevolence, or to +the pleasure of eluding Aunt Jane, when, after going through her +chapter of Katharine Ashton, in a somewhat perfunctory manner, she +hastened away to Miss White's office. This, being connected with the +showroom, could be entered without passing through the gate with the +inscription---'No admittance except on business.' Indeed, the office +had a private door, which, at Gillian's signal, was always opened to +her. There, on the drawing-desk, lay a Greek exercise and a +translation, with queries upon the difficulties for Gillian to +correct, or answer in writing. Kalliope had managed to make that +little room a pleasant place, bare as it was, by pinning a few of her +designs on the walls, and always keeping a terracotta vase of flowers +or coloured leaves upon the table. The lower part of the window she +had blocked with transparencies delicately cut and tinted in +cardboard---done, as she told Gillian, by her little brother Theodore, +who learnt to draw at the National School, and had the same turn for +art as herself. Altogether, the perfect neatness and simplicity of +the little room gave it an air of refinement, which rendered it by no +means an unfit setting for the grave beauty of Kalliope's countenance +and figure. + +The enjoyment of the meeting was great on both sides, partly from the +savour of old times, and partly because there was really much that +was uncommon and remarkable about Kalliope herself. Her father's +promotion had come exactly when she and her next brother were at the +time of life when the changes it brought would tell most on their +minds and manners. They had both been sent to schools where they had +associated with young people of gentle breeding, which perhaps their +partly foreign extraction, and southern birth and childhood, made it +easier for them to assimilate. Their beauty and brightness had led +to a good deal of kindly notice from the officers and ladies of the +regiment, and they had thus acquired the habits and ways of the class +to which they had been raised. Their father, likewise, had been a +man of a chivalrous nature, whose youthful mistakes had been the +outcome of high spirit and romance, and who, under discipline, +danger, suffering, and responsibility, had become earnestly +religious. There had besides been his Colonel's influence on him, +and on his children that of Lady Merrifield and Alethea. + +It had then been a piteous change and darkening of life when, after +the crushing grief of his death, the young people found themselves in +such an entirely different stratum of society. They were ready to +work, but they could not help feeling the mortification of being +relegated below the mysterious line of gentry, as they found +themselves at Rockquay, and viewed as on a level with the clerks and +shop-girls of the place. Still more, as time went on, did they miss +the companionship and intercourse to which they had been used. Mr. +Flight, the only person in a higher rank who took notice of them, and +perceived that there was more in them than was usual, was after all +only a patron---not a friend, and perhaps was not essentially enough +of a gentleman to be free from all airs of condescension even with +Alexis, while he might be wise in not making too much of an approach +to so beautiful a girl as Kalliope. Besides, after a fit of +eagerness, and something very like promises, he had apparently let +Alexis drop, only using him for his musical services, and not doing +anything to promote the studies for which the young man thirsted, nor +proposing anything for the younger boys, who would soon outgrow the +National School. + +Alexis had made a few semi-friends among the musical youth of the +place; but there was no one to sympathise with him in his studious +tastes, and there was much in his appearance and manners to cause the +accusation of being 'stuck-up'---music being really the only point of +contact with most of his fellows of the lower professional class. + +Kalliope had less time, but she had, on principle, cultivated kindly +terms with the young women employed under her. Her severe style of +beauty removed her from any jealousy of her as a rival, and she was +admired---almost worshipped---by them as the glory of the workshop. +They felt her superiority, and owned her ability; but nobody there +was capable of being a companion to her. Thus the sister and brother +had almost wholly depended upon one another; and it was like a breath +from what now seemed the golden age of their lives when Gillian +Merrifield walked into the office, treating Kalliope with all the +freedom of an equal and the affection of an old friend. There was +not very much time to spare after Gillian had looked at the +exercises, noted and corrected the errors, and explained the +difficulties or mistakes in the translation from Testament and +Delectus, feeling all the time how much more mastery of the subject +her pupil had than Mr. Pollock's at home had ever attained to. + +However, Kalliope always walked home with her as far as the opening +of Church Cliff Road, and they talked of the cleverness and goodness +of the brothers, except Richard at Leeds, who never seemed to be +mentioned; how Theodore kept at the head of the school, and had hopes +of the drawing prize, and how little Petros devoured tales of +battles, and would hear of nothing but being a soldier. Now and +then, too, there was a castle in the air of a home for little Maura +at Alexis's future curacy. Kalliope seemed to look to working for +life for poor mother, while Theodore should cultivate his art. +Oftener the two recalled old adventures and scenes of their +regimental days, and discussed the weddings of the two Indian +sisters. + +Once, however, Kalliope was obliged to suggest, with a blushing +apology, that she feared Gillian must go home alone, she was not +ready. + +'Can't I help you? what have you to do?' + +Kalliope attempted some excuse of putting away designs, but presently +peeped from the window, and Gillian, with excited curiosity, imitated +her, and beheld, lingering about, a young man in the pink of fashion, +with a tea-rose in his buttonhole and a cane in his hand. + +'Oh, Kally,' she cried, 'does he often hang about like this waiting +for you?' + +'Not often, happily. There! old Mr. Stebbing has come out, and they +are walking away together. We can go now.' + +'So he besets you, and you have to keep out of his way,' exclaimed +Gillian, much excited. 'Is that the reason you come to the garden +all alone on Sunday?' + +'Yes, though I little guessed what awaited me there,' returned +Kalliope; 'but we had better make haste, for it is late for you to be +returning.' + +It was disappointing that Kalliope would not discuss such an +interesting affair; but Gillian was sensible of the danger of being +so late as to cause questions, and she allowed herself to be hurried +on too fast for conversation, and passing the two Stebbings, who, no +doubt, took her for a 'hand.' + +'Does this often happen?' asked Gillian. + +'No; Alec walks home with me, and the boys often come and meet me. +Oh, did I tell you that the master wants Theodore to be a pupil- +teacher? I wish I knew what was best for him.' + +'Could not he be an artist?' + +'I should like some one to tell me whether he really has talent worth +cultivating, dear boy, or if he would be safer and better in an +honourable occupation like a school-master.' + +'Do you call it honourable?' + +'Oh yes, to be sure. I put it next to a clergyman's or a doctor's +life.' + +'Not a soldier's?' + +'That depends,' said Kalliope. + +'On the service he is sent upon, you mean? But that is his +sovereign's look-out. He "only has to obey, to do or die."' + +'Yes, it is the putting away of self, and possible peril of life, +that makes all those grandest,' said Kalliope, 'and I think the +schoolmaster is next in opportunities of doing good.' + +Gillian could not help thinking that none of all these could put away +self more entirely than the girl beside her, toiling away her beauty +and her youth in this dull round of toil, not able to exercise the +instincts of her art to the utmost, and with no change from the +monotonous round of mosaics, which were forced to be second rate, to +the commonest household works, and the company of the Queen of the +White Ants. + +Gillian perceived enough of the nobleness of such a life to fill her +with a certain enthusiasm, and make her feel a day blank and +uninteresting if she could not make her way to the little office. + +One evening, towards the end of the first fortnight, Alexis himself +came in with a passage that he wanted to have explained. His sister +looked uneasy all the time, and hurried to put on her hat, and stand +demonstratively waiting, telling Gillian that they must go, the +moment the lesson began to tend to discursive talk, and making a most +decided sign of prohibition to her brother when he showed a +disposition to accompany them. + +'I think you are frightfully particular, Kally,' said Gillian, when +they were on their way up the hill. 'Such an old friend, and you +there, too.' + +'It would never do here! It would be wrong,' answered Kalliope, with +the authority of an older woman. 'He must not come to the office.' + +'Oh, but how could I ever explain to him? One can't do everything in +writing. I might as well give up the lessons as never speak to him +about them.' + +There was truth in this, and perhaps Alexis used some such arguments +on his side, for at about every third visit of Gillian's he dropped +in with some important inquiry necessary to his progress, which was +rapid enough to compel Gillian to devote some time to preparation, in +order to keep ahead of him. + +Kalliope kept diligent guard, and watched against lengthening the +lessons into gossip, and they were always after hours when the hands +had gone away. The fear of being detected kept Gillian ready to +shorten the time. + +'How late you are!' were the first words she heard one October +evening on entering Beechcroft Cottage; but they were followed by +'Here's a pleasure for you!' + +'It's from papa himself! Open it! Open it quick,' cried Valetta, +dancing round her in full appreciation of the honour and delight. + +Sir Jasper said that his daughter must put up with him for a +correspondent, since two brides at once were as much as any mother +could be supposed to undertake. Indeed, as mamma would not leave +him, Phyllis was actually going to Calcutta, chaperoned by one of the +matrons of the station, to make purchases for both outfits, since +Alethea would not stir from under the maternal wing sooner than she +could help. + +At the end came, 'We are much shocked at poor White's death. He was +an excellent officer, and a good and sensible man, though much +hampered with his family. I am afraid his wife must be a very +helpless being. He used to talk about the good promise of one of his +sons---the second, I think. We will see whether anything can be done +for the children when we come home. I say we, for I find I shall +have to be invalided before I can be entirely patched up, so that +mamma and I shall have a sort of postponed silver wedding tour, a new +variety for the old folks "from home."' + +'Oh, is papa coming home?' cried Valetta. + +'For good! Oh, I hope it will be for good,' added Gillian. + +'Then we shall live at dear Silverfold all the days of our life,' +added Fergus. + +'And I shall get back to Rigdum.' + +'And I shall make a telephone down to the stables,' were the cries of +the children. + +The transcendent news quite swallowed up everything else for some +time; but at last Gillian recurred to her father's testimony as to +the White family. + +'Is the second son the musical one?' she was asked, and on her +affirmative, Aunt Jane remarked, 'Well, though the Rev. Augustine +Flight is not on a pinnacle of human wisdom, his choir practices, +etc., will keep the lad well out of harm's way till your father can +see about him.' + +This would have been an opportunity of explaining the youth's aims +and hopes, and her own share in forwarding them; but it had become +difficult to avow the extent of her intercourse with the brother and +sister, so entirely without the knowledge of her aunts. Even Miss +Mohun, acute as she was, had no suspicions, and only thought with +much satisfaction that her niece was growing more attentive to poor +Lilian Giles, even to the point of lingering. + +'I really think, she said, in consultation with Miss Adeline, 'that +we might gratify that damsel by having the White girls to drink tea.' + +'Well, we can add them to your winter party of young ladies in +business.' + +'Hardly. These stand on different ground, and I don't want to hurt +their feelings or Gillian's by mixing them up with the shopocracy.' + +'Have you seen the Queen of the White Ants?' + +'Not yet; but I mean to reconnoitre, and if I see no cause to the +contrary, I shall invite them for next Tuesday.' + +'The mother? You might as well ask her namesake.' + +'Probably; but I shall be better able to judge when I have seen her.' + +So Miss Mohun trotted off, made her visit, and thus reported, 'Poor +woman! she certainly is not lovely now, whatever she may have been; +but I should think there was no harm in her, and she is effusive in +her gratitude to all the Merrifield family. It is plain that the +absent eldest son is the favourite, far more so than the two useful +children at the marble works; and Mr. White is spoken of as a sort of +tyrant, whereas I should think they owed a good deal to his kindness +in giving them employment.' + +'I always thought he was an old hunks.' + +'The town thinks so because he does not come and spend freely here; +but I have my doubts whether they are right. He is always ready to +do his part in subscriptions; and the employing these young people as +he does is true kindness.' + +'Unappreciated.' + +'Yes, by the mother who would expect to be kept like a lady in +idleness, but perhaps not so by her daughter. From all I can pick +up, I think she must be a very worthy person, so I have asked her and +the little schoolgirl for Tuesday evening, and I hope it will not be +a great nuisance to you, Ada.' + +'Oh no,' said Miss Adeline, good humouredly, 'it will please Gillian, +and I shall be interested in seeing the species, or rather the +variety.' + +'Var Musa Groeca Hibernica Militaris,' laughed Aunt Jane. + +'By the bye, I further found out what made the Captain enlist.' + +'Trust you for doing that!' laughed her sister. + +'Really it was not on purpose, but old Zack Skilly was indulging me +with some of his ancient smuggling experiences, in what he evidently +views as the heroic age of Rockquay. "Men was men, then," he says. +"Now they be good for nought, but to row out the gentlefolks when the +water is as smooth as glass." You should hear the contempt in his +voice. Well, a promising young hero of his was Dick White, what used +to work for his uncle, but liked a bit of a lark, and at last hit one +of the coastguard men in a fight, and ran away, and folks said he had +gone for a soldier. Skilly had heard he was dead, and his wife had +come to live in these parts, but there was no knowing what was true +and what wasn't. Folks would talk! Dick was a likely chap, with +more life about him than his cousin Jem, as was a great man now, and +owned all the marble works, and a goodish bit of the town. There was +a talk as how the two lads had both been a courting of the same maid, +that was Betsy Polwhele, and had fallen out about her, but how that +might be he could not tell. Anyhow, she was not wed to one nor +t'other of them, but went into a waste and died.' + +'I wonder if it was for Dick's sake. So Jem was not constant +either.' + +'Except to his second love. That was a piteous little story too.' + +'You mean his young wife's health failing as soon as he brought her +to that house which he was building for her, and then his taking her +to Italy, and never enduring to come back here again after she and +her child died. But he made a good thing of it with his quarries in +the mountains.' + +'You sordid person, do you think that was all he cared for!' + +'Well, I always thought of him as a great, stout, monied man, quite +incapable of romance and sensitiveness.' + +'If so, don't you think he would have let that house instead of +keeping it up in empty state! There is a good deal of character in +those Whites.' + +'The Captain is certainly the most marked man, except Jasper, in that +group of officers in Gillian's photograph-book.' + +'Partly from the fact that a herd of young officers always look so +exactly alike---at least in the eyes of elderly spinsters.' + +'Jane!' + +'Let us hope so, now that it is all over. This same Dick must have +had something remarkable about him, to judge by the impression he +seems to have left on all who came in his way, and I shall like to +see his children.' + +'You always do like queer people.' + +'It is plain that we ought to take notice of them,' said Miss Mohun, +'and it is not wholesome for Gillian to think us backward in kindness +to friends about whom she plainly has a little romance.' + +She refrained from uttering a suspicion inspired by her visit that +there had been more 'kindnesses' on her niece's part than she could +quite account for. Yet she believed that she knew how all the girl's +days were spent; was certain that the Sunday wanderings never went +beyond the garden, and, moreover, she implicitly trusted Lily's +daughter. + +Gillian did not manifest as much delight and gratitude at the +invitation as her aunts expected. In point of fact, she resented +Aunt Jane's making a visit of investigation without telling her, and +she was uneasy lest there should have been or yet should be a dis- +closure that should make her proceedings appear clandestine. 'And +they are not!' said she to herself with vehemence. 'Do I not write +them all to my own mother? And did not Miss Vincent allow that one +is not bound to treat aunts like parents?' + +Even the discovery of Captain White's antecedents was almost an +offence, for if her aunt would not let her inquire, why should she do +so herself, save to preserve the choice morceau for her own superior +intelligence? Thus all the reply that Gillian deigned was, 'Of +course I knew that Captain White could never have done anything to be +ashamed of.' + +The weather was too wet for any previous meetings, and it was on a +wild stormy evening that the two sisters appeared at seven o'clock at +Beechcroft Cottage. While hats and waterproofs were being taken off +upstairs, Gillian found opportunity to give a warning against +mentioning the Greek lessons. It was received with consternation. + +'Oh, Miss Merrifield, do not your aunts know?' + +'No. Why should they? Mamma does.' + +'Not yet. And she is so far off! I wish Miss Mohun knew! I made +sure that she did,' said Kalliope, much distressed. + +'But why? It would only make a fuss.' + +'I should be much happier about it.' + +'And perhaps have it all upset.' + +'That is the point. I felt that it must be all right as long as Miss +Mohun sanctioned it; but I could not bear that we should be the means +of bringing you into a scrape, by doing what she might disapprove +while you are under her care.' + +'Don't you think you can trust me to know my own relations?' said +Gillian somewhat haughtily. + +'Indeed, I did not mean that we are not infinitely obliged to you,' +said Kalliope. 'It has made Alexis another creature to have some +hope, and feel himself making progress.' + +'Then why do you want to have a fuss, and a bother, and a chatter? +If my father and mother don't approve, they can telegraph.' + +With which argument she appeased or rather silenced Kalliope, who +could not but feel the task of objecting alike ungracious and +ungrateful towards the instructor, and absolutely cruel and unkind +towards her brother, and who spoke only from a sense of the treachery +of allowing a younger girl to transgress in ignorance. Still she was +conscious of not understanding on what terms the niece and aunts +might be, and the St. Kenelm's estimate of the Beechcroft ladies was +naturally somewhat different from that of the St. Andrew's +congregation. Miss Mohun was popularly regarded in those quarters as +an intolerable busybody, and Miss Adeline as a hypochondriacal fine +lady, so that Gillian might perhaps reasonably object to put herself +into absolute subjection; so, though Kalliope might have a +presentiment of breakers ahead, she could say no more, and Gillian, +feeling that she had been cross, changed the subject by admiring the +pretty short curly hair that was being tied back at the glass. + +'I wish it would grow long,' said Kalliope. 'But it always was rather +short and troublesome, and ever since it was cut short in the fever, +I have been obliged to keep it like this.' + +'But it suits you,' said Gillian. 'And it is exactly the thing now.' + +'That is the worst of it. It looks as if I wore it so on purpose. +However, all our hands know that I cannot help it, and so does Lady +Flight.' + +The girl looked exceedingly well, though little Alice, the maid, +would not have gone out to tea in such an ancient black dress, with +no relief save a rim of white at neck and hands, and a tiny silver +Maltese cross at the throat. Maura had a comparatively new gray +dress, picked out with black. She was a pretty creature, the Irish +beauty predominating over the Greek, in her great long-lashed brown +eyes, which looked radiant with shy happiness. Miss Adeline was +perfectly taken by surprise at the entrance of two such uncommon +forms and faces, and the quiet dignity of the elder made her for a +moment suppose that her sister must have invited some additional +guest of undoubted station. + +Valetta, who had grown fond of Maura in their school life, and who +dearly loved patronising, pounced upon her guest to show her all +manner of treasures and curiosities, at which she looked in great +delight; and Fergus was so well satisfied with her comprehension of +the principles of the letter balance, that he would have taken her +upstairs to be introduced to all his mechanical inventions, if the +total darkness and cold of his den had not been prohibitory. + +Kalliope looked to perfection, but was more silent than her sister, +though, as Miss Mohun's keen eye noted, it was not the shyness of a +conscious inferior in an unaccustomed world, but rather that of a +grave, reserved nature, not chattering for the sake of mere talk. + +Gillian's photograph-book was well looked over, with all the brothers +and sisters at different stages, and the group of officers. Miss +Mohun noted the talk that passed over these, as they were identified +one by one, sometimes with little reminiscences, childishly full on +Gillian's part, betraying on Kalliope's side friendly acquaintance, +but all in as entirely ladylike terms as would have befitted Phyllis +or Alethea. She could well believe in the words with which Miss +White rather hastened the turning of the page, 'Those were happy +days---I dare not dwell on them too much!' + +'Oh, I like to do so!' cried Gillian. 'I don't want the little ones +ever to forget them.' + +'Yes---you! But with you it would not be repining.' + +This was for Gillian's ear alone, as at that moment both the aunts +were, at the children's solicitation, engaged on the exhibition of a +wonderful musical-box---Aunt Adeline's share of her mother's wedding +presents---containing a bird that hovered and sung, the mechanical +contrivance of which was the chief merit in Fergus's eyes, and which +had fascinated generations of young people for the last sixty years. +Aunt Jane, however, could hear through anything---even through the +winding-up of what the family called 'Aunt Ada's Jackdaw,' and she +drew her conclusions, with increasing respect and pity for the young +girl over whose life such a change had come. + +But it was not this, but what she called common humanity, which +prompted her, on hearing a heavy gust of rain against the windows, to +go into the lower regions in quest of a messenger boy to order a +brougham to take the guests home at the end of the evening. + +The meal went off pleasantly on the whole, though there loomed a +storm as to the ritual of St. Kenelm's; but this chiefly was owing to +the younger division of the company, when Valetta broke into an +unnecessary inquiry why they did not have as many lights on the altar +at St. Andrew's as at St. Kenelm's, and Fergus put her down with +unceremoniously declaring that Stebbing said Flight was a donkey. + +Gillian came down with what she meant for a crushing rebuke, and the +indignant colour rose in the cheeks of the guests; but Fergus +persisted, 'But he makes a guy of himself and a mountebank.' + +Aunt Jane thought it time to interfere. 'Fergus,' she said, 'you had +better not repeat improper sayings, especially about a clergyman.' + +Fergus wriggled. + +'And,' added Aunt Ada, with equal severity, 'you know Mr. Flight is a +very kind friend to little Maura and her sister.' + +'Indeed he is,' said Kalliope earnestly; and Maura, feeling herself +addressed, added, 'Nobody but he ever called on poor mamma, till Miss +Mohun did; no, not Lady Flight.' + +'We are very grateful for his kindness,' put in Kalliope, in a +repressive tone. + +'But,' said Gillian, 'I thought you said he had seemed to care less +of late.' + +'I do not know,' said Miss White, blushing; 'music seems to be his +chief interest, and there has not been anything fresh to get up since +the concert.' + +'I suppose there will be for the winter,' said Miss Mohun, and +therewith the conversation was safely conducted away to musical +subjects, in which some of the sisters' pride and affection for their +brothers peeped out; but Gillian was conscious all the time that +Kalliope was speaking with some constraint when she mentioned Alexis, +and that she was glad rather to dwell on little Theodore, who had +good hopes of the drawing prize, and she seriously consulted Miss +Mohun on the pupil-teachership for him, as after he had passed the +seventh standard he could not otherwise go on with his education, +though she did not think he had much time for teaching. + +'Would not Mr. White help him further?' asked Miss Mohun. + +'I do not know. I had much rather not ask,' said Kalliope. 'We are +too many to throw ourselves on a person who is no near relation, and +he has not seemed greatly disposed to help.' + +'Your elder brother?' + +'Oh, poor Richard, he is not earning anything yet. I can't ask him. +If I only knew of some school I could be sure was safe and good and +not too costly, Alexis and I would try to manage for Theodore after +the examination in the spring.' + +The Woodward schools were a new light to her, and she was eagerly +interested in Miss Mohun's explanations and in the scale of terms. + +Meantime Miss Adeline got on excellently with the younger ones, and +when the others were free, proposed for their benefit a spelling +game. All sat round the table, made words, and abstracted one +another's with increasing animation, scarcely heeding the roaring of +the wind outside, till there was a ring at the bell. + +'My brother has come for us,' said Kalliope. + +'Oh, but it is not fit for you to walk home,' said Miss Mohun. 'The +brougham is coming by and by; ask Mr. White to come in,' she added, +as the maid appeared with the message that he was come for his +sisters. + +There was a confusion of acknowledgments and disclaimers, and word +was brought back that Mr. White was too wet to come in. Miss Mohun, +who was not playing, but prompting Fergus, jumped up and went out to +investigate, when she found a form in an ancient military cloak, +trying to keep himself from dripping where wet could do mischief. +She had to explain her regret at his having had such a walk in vain; +but she had taken alarm on finding that rain was setting in for the +night, and had sent word by the muffin-boy that the brougham would be +wanted, contriving to convey that it was not to be paid for. + +Nothing remained to be said except thanks, and Alexis emerged from +the cloak, which looked as if it had gone through all his father's +campaigns, took off his gaiters, did his best for his boots, and, +though not in evening costume, looked very gentleman-like and +remarkably handsome in the drawing-room, with no token of awkward +embarrassment save a becoming blush. + +Gillian began to tremble inwardly again, but the game had just ended +in her favour, owing to Fergus having lost all his advantages in Aunt +Jane's absence, besides signalising himself by capturing Maura's +'bury,' under the impression that an additional R would combine that +and straw into a fruit. + +So the coast being cleared, Miss Adeline greatly relieved her niece's +mind by begging, as a personal favour, to hear the song whose renown +at the concert had reached her; and thus the time was safely spent in +singing till the carriage was announced, and good-nights exchanged. + +Maura's eyes grew round with delight, and she jumped for joy at the +preferment. + +'Oh!' she said, as she fervently kissed Valetta, 'it is the most +delightful evening I ever spent in the whole course of my life, +except at Lady Merrifield's Christmas-tree! And now to go home in a +carriage! I never went in one since I can remember!' + +And Kalliope's 'Thank you, we have enjoyed ourselves very much,' was +very fervent. + +'Those young people are very superior to what I expected,' said Aunt +Adeline. 'What fine creatures, all so handsome; and that little +Maura is a perfect darling.' + +'The Muse herself is very superior,' said Miss Mohun. 'One of those +home heroines who do the work of Atlas without knowing it. I do not +wonder that the marble girls speak of her so enthusiastically.' + +How Gillian might have enjoyed all this, and yet she could not, +except so far that she told herself that thus there could be no +reasonable objection made by her aunts to intercourse with those whom +they so much admired. + +Yet perhaps even then she would have told all, but that, after having +bound over Kalliope to secrecy, it would be awkward to confess that +she had told all. It would be like owning herself in the wrong, and +for that she was not prepared. Besides, where would be the secrecy +of her 'great thing'? + + + + +CHAPTER IX. GAUGING AJEE + + + +Without exactly practising to deceive, Gillian began to find that +concealment involved her in a tangled web; all the more since Aunt +Jane had become thoroughly interested in the Whites, and was +inquiring right and left about schools and scholarships for the +little boys. + +She asked their master about them, and heard that they were among his +best scholars, and that their home lessons had always been carefully +attended to by their elder brother and sister. In fact, he was most +anxious to retain Theodore, to be trained for a pupil-teacher, the +best testimony to his value! Aunt Jane came home full of the +subject, relating what the master said of Alexis White, and that he +had begun by working with him at Latin and mathematics; but that they +had not had time to go on with what needed so much study and +preparation. + +'In fact, said Miss Mohun, 'I have a suspicion that if a certificated +schoolmaster could own any such thing, the pupil knew more than the +teacher. When your father comes home, I hope he will find some way +of helping that lad.' + +Gillian began to crimson, but bethought herself of the grandeur of +its being found that she was the youth's helper. 'I am glad you have +been lending him books,' added Aunt Jane. + +What business had she to know what had not been told her? The sense +of offence drove back any disposition to consult her. Yet to teach +Alexis was no slight task, for, though he had not gone far in Greek, +his inquiries were searching, and explaining to him was a different +thing from satisfying even Mr. Pollock. Besides, Gillian had her own +studies on hand. The Cambridge examinations were beginning to assume +larger proportions in the Rockquay mind, and 'the General Screw +Company,' as Mr. Grant observed, was prevailing. + +Gillian's knowledge was rather discursive, and the concentration +required by an examination was hard work to her, and the time for it +was shortened by the necessity of doing all Alexis's Greek exercises +and translations beforehand, and of being able to satisfy him why an +error was not right, for, in all politeness, he always would know why +it did not look right. And there was Valetta, twisting and groaning. +The screw was on her form, who, unless especially exempted, were to +compete for a prize for language examination. + +Valetta had begun by despising Kitty Varley for being excepted by her +mother's desire and for not learning Latin; but now she envied any +one who had not to work double tides at the book of Caesar that was +to be taken up, and Vercingetorix and his Arverni got vituperated in +a way that would have made the hair of her hero-worshipping mother +fairly stand on end. + +But then Lilias Mohun had studied him for love of himself, not for +dread of failure. + +Gillian had been displeased when Fergus deserted her for Aunt Jane as +an assistant, but she would not have been sorry if Valetta had been +off her hands, when she was interrupted in researches after an idiom +in St. John's Gospel by the sigh that this abominable dictionary had +no verb oblo, or in the intricacies of a double equation by despair +at this horrid Caesar always hiding away his nominatives out of +spite. + +Valetta, like the American child, evidently regarded the Great Julius +in no other light than as writer of a book for beginners in Latin, +and, moreover, a very unkind one; and she fully reciprocated the +sentiment that it was no wonder that the Romans conquered the world, +since they knew the Latin grammar by nature. + +Nor was Gillian's hasty and sometimes petulant assistance very +satisfactory to the poor child, since it often involved hearing 'Wait +a minute,' and a very long one, 'How can you be so stupid?' 'I told +you so long ago'; and sometimes consisted of a gabbling translation, +with rapidly pointed finger, very hard to follow, and not quite so +painstaking as when Alexis deferentially and politely pointed out the +difficulties, with a strong sense of the favour that she was doing +him. + +Not that these personal lessons often took place. Kalliope never +permitted them without dire necessity, and besides, there was always +an uncertainty when Gillian might come down, or when Alexis might be +able to come in. + +One day when Aunt Jane had come home with a story of how one of her +'business girls' had confessed to Miss White's counsel having only +just saved her from an act of folly, it occurred to Aunt Adeline to +say--- + +'It is a great pity you have not her help in the G.F.S.' + +'I did not understand enough about her before, and mixed her up with +the ordinary class of business girls. I had rather have her a member +for the sake of example; but if not, she would be a valuable +associate. Could not you explain this to her without hurting her +feelings, as I am afraid I did, Gill? I did not understand enough +about her when I spoke to her before.' + +Gillian started. The conversation that should have been so pleasant +to her was making her strangely uncomfortable. + +'I do not see how Gill is to get at her,' objected the other aunt. +'It would be of no great use to call on her in the nest of the Queen +of the White Ants. I can't help recollecting the name, it was so +descriptive.' + +'Yes; it was on her mother's account that she refused, and of course +her office must not be invaded in business hours.' + +'I might call on her there before she goes home,' suggested Gillian, +seeing daylight. + +'You cannot be walking down there at dusk, just as the workmen come +away' exclaimed Aunt Ada, making the colour so rush into Gillian's +cheeks that she was glad to catch up a screen. + +'No,' said Miss Mohun emphatically; 'but I could leave her there at +five o'clock, and go to Tideshole to take old Jemmy Burnet his +jersey, and call for her on the way back.' + +'Or she could walk home with me,' murmured the voice behind the +screen. + +Gillian felt with dismay that all these precautions as to her escort +would render her friend more scrupulous than ever as to her visits. +To have said, 'I have several times been at the office,' would have +been a happy clearance of the ground, but her pride would not bend to +possible blame, nor would she run the risk of a prohibition. 'It +would be the ruin of hope to Alexis, and mamma knows all,' said she +to herself. + +It was decided that she should trust to Kalliope to go back with her, +for when once Aunt Jane get into the very fishy hamlet of Tideshole, +which lay beyond the quarries, there was no knowing when she might +get away, since + + + 'Alike to her were time and tide, + November's snow or July's pride.' + + +So after a few days, too wet and tempestuous for any expedition, they +set forth accompanied by Fergus, who rushed in from school in time to +treat his aunt as a peripatetic 'Joyce's scientific dialogues.' +Valetta had not arrived, and Gillian was in haste to elude her, +knowing that her aunt would certainly not take her on to Tideshole, +and that there would be no comfort in talking before her; but it was +a new thing to have to regard her little sister in the light of a +spy, and again she had to reason down a sense of guiltiness. +However, her aunt wanted Valetta as little as she did; and she had +never so rejoiced in Fergus's monologue, 'Then this small fly-wheel +catches into the Targe one, and so--- Don't you see?' ---only pausing +for a sound of assent. + +Unacquainted with the private door, Miss Mohun entered the office +through the showroom, exchanging greetings with the young saleswomen, +and finding Miss White putting away her materials. + +Shaking hands, Miss Mohun said--- + +'I have brought your friend to make a visit to you while I go on to +Tideshole. She tells me that you will be kind enough to see her on +her way home, if you are going back at the same time.' + +'I shall be delighted,' said Kalliope, with eyes as well as tongue, +and no sooner were she and Gillian alone together than she joyfully +exclaimed--- + +'Then Miss Mohun knows! You have told her. + +'No---' + +'Oh!' and there were volumes in the intonation. 'I was alarmed when +she came in, and then so glad if it was all over. Dear Miss +Merrifield---' + +'Call me Gillian; I have told you to do so before! Phyllis is Miss +Merrifield, and I won't be so before my time,' said Gillian, +interrupting in a tone more cross than affectionate. + +'I was going to say,' pursued Kalliope, 'that the shock her entrance +gave to me proved all the more that we cannot be treating her +properly. + +'Never mind that! I did not come about that. She is quite taken +with you, Kally, and wants you more than ever to be a Friendly Girl, +because she thinks it would be so good for the others who are under +you.' + +'They have told me something about it,' said Kalliope thoughtfully. + +'She fancied' added Gillian, 'that perhaps she did not make you +understand the rights of it, not knowing that you were different from +the others.' + +'Oh no, it was not that,' said Kalliope. 'Indeed, I hope there is no +such nonsense in me. It was what my dear father always warned us +against; only poor mamma always gets vexed if she does not think we +are keeping ourselves up, and she had just been annoyed at--- +something, and we did not know then that it was Lady Merrifield's +sister.' + +This was contradictory, but it was evident that, while Kalliope +disowned conceit of station for herself, she could not always cross +her mother's wishes. It was further elicited that if Lady Flight had +taken up the matter there would have been no difficulty. Half a year +ago the Flights had seemed to the young Whites angelic and +infallible, and perhaps expectations had been founded on their +patronage; but there had since been a shadow of disappointment, and +altogether Kalliope was less disposed to believe that my Lady was +correct in pronouncing Miss Mohun's cherished society as +'dissentish,' and only calculated for low servant girls and ladies +who wished to meddle in families. + +Clanship made Gillian's indignation almost bring down the office, and +her eloquence was scarcely needed, since Kalliope had seen the value +to some of her 'hands' from the class, the library, the recreation- +room, and the influence of the ladies, above all, the showing them +that it was possible to have variety and amusement free from vulgar +and perilous dissipation; but still she hesitated. She had no time, +she said; she could not attend classes, and she was absolutely +necessary at home in the evenings; but Gillian assured her that +nothing was expected from her but a certain influence in the right +direction, and the showing the younger and giddier that she did not +think the Society beneath her. + +'I see all that,' said Kalliope; 'I wish I had not been mistaken at +first; but, Miss Mer---Gillian, I do not see how I can join it now.' + +'Why not? What do you mean?' + +Kalliope was very unwilling to speak, but at last it came. + +'How can I do this to please your aunt, who thinks better of me than +I deserve, when---Oh! excuse me---I know it is all your kindness---but +when I am allowing you to deceive her---almost, I mean---' + +'Deceive! I never spoke an untrue word to my aunt in my life,' said +Gillian, in proud anger; 'but if you think so, Miss White, I had +better have no more to do with it.' + +'I feel,' said Kalliope, with tears in her eyes, 'as if it might be +better so, unless Miss Mohun knew all about it.' + +'Well, if you think so, and like to upset all your brother's hopes---' + +'It would be a terrible grief to him, I know, and I don't undervalue +your kindness, indeed I don't; but I cannot be happy about it while +Miss Mohun does not know. I don't understand why you do not tell +her.' + +'Because I know there would be a worry and a fuss. Either she would +say we must wait for letters from mamma, or else that Alexis must +come to Beechcroft, and all the comfort would be over, and it would +be gossiped about all over the place. Can't you trust me, when I +tell you I have written it all to my own father and mother, and +surely I know my own family best?' + +Kalliope looked half convinced, but she persisted--- + +'I suppose you do; only please, till there is a letter from Lady +Merrifield, I had rather not go into this Society.' + +'But, Kally, you don't consider. What am I to say to my aunt? What +will she think of you?' + +'I can't help that! I cannot do this while she could feel I was +conniving at what she might not like. Indeed, I cannot. I beg your +pardon, but it goes against me. When shall you be able to hear from +Lady Merrifield?' + +'I wrote three weeks ago. I suppose I shall hear about half-way +through December, and you know they could telegraph if they wanted to +stop it, so I think you might be satisfied.' + +Still Kalliope could not be persuaded, and finally, as a sort of +compromise, Gillian decided on saying that she would think about it +and give her answer at Christmas; to which she gave a reluctant +assent, with one more protest that if there were no objection to the +lessons, she could not see why Miss Mohun should not know of them. + +Peace was barely restored before voices were heard, and in came +Fergus, bringing Alexis with him. They had met on the beach road in +front of the works, and Fergus, being as usual full of questions +about a crane that was swinging blocks of stone into a vessel close +to the little pier, his aunt had allowed him to stay to see the work +finished, after which Alexis would take him to join his sister. + +So it came about that they all walked home together very cheerfully, +though Gillian was still much vexed under the surface at Kalliope's +old-maidish particularity. + +However, the aunts were not as annoyed at the delay as she expected. +Miss Mohun said she would look out some papers that would be +convincing and persuasive, and that it might be as well not to enrol +Miss White too immediately before the Christmas festivities, but to +wait till the books were begun next year. Plans began to prevail for +the Christmas diversions and entertainments, but the young +Merrifields expected to have nothing to do with these, as they were +to meet the rest of the family at their eldest uncle's house at +Beechcroft; all except Harry, who was to be ordained in the Advent +Ember week, and at once begin work with his cousin David Merrifield +in the Black Country. Their aunts would not go with them, as +Beechcroft breezes, though her native air, were too cold for Adeline +in the winter, and Jane could leave neither her, nor her various +occupations, and the festivities of all Rockstone. + +It is not easy to say which Gillian most looked forward to: Mysie's +presence, or the absence of the supervision which she imagined +herself to suffer from, because she had set herself to shirk it. She +knew she should feel more free. But behold! a sudden change, +produced by one morning's letters. + +'It is a beastly shame!' + +'Oh, Fergus! That's not a thing to say,' cried Valetta. + +'I don't care! It is a beastly shame not to go to Beechcroft, and be +poked up here all the holidays.' + +'But you can't when Primrose has got the whooping-cough.' + +'Bother the whooping-cough.' + +'And welcome; but you would find it bother you, I believe.' + +'I shouldn't catch it. I want Wilfred, and to ride the pony, and see +the sluice that Uncle Maurice made.' + +'You couldn't if you had the cough.' + +'Then I should stay there instead of coming back to school! I say it +is horrid, and beastly, and abominable, and---' + +'Come, come, Fergus,' here put in Gillian, 'that is very wrong.' + +'You don't hear Gill and me fly out in that way,' added Valetta, +'though we are so sorry about Mysie and Fly.' + +'Oh, you are girls, and don't know what is worth doing. I _will_ say +it is beast---' + +'Now don't, Fergus; it is very rude and ungrateful to the aunts. +None of us like having to stay here and lose our holiday; but it is +very improper to say so in their own house, and I thought you were so +fond of Aunt Jane.' + +'Aunt Jane knows a thing or two, but she isn't Wilfred.' + +'And Wilfred is always teasing you.' + +'Fergus is quite right,' said Miss Mohun, who had been taking off her +galoshes in the vestibule while this colloquy was ending in the +dining-room; 'it is much better to be bullied by a brother than made +much of by an aunt, and you know I am very sorry for you all under +the infliction.' + +'Oh, Aunt Jane, we know you are very kind, and---' began Gillian. + +'Never mind, my dear; I know you are making the best of us, and I am +very much obliged to you for standing up for us. It is a great +disappointment, but I was going to give Fergus a note that I think +will console him.' + +And out of an envelope which she had just taken from the letter-box +she handed him a note, which he pulled open and then burst out, +'Cousin David! Hurrah! Scrumptious!' commencing a war-dance at the +same moment. + +'What is it? Has David asked you?' demanded both his sisters at the +same moment. + +'Hurrah! Yes, it is from him. "My dear Fergus, I hope"---hurrah--- +"Harry, mm---mm---mm---brothers, 20th mm---mm. Your affectionate cousin, +David Merrifield."' + +'Let me read it to you,' volunteered Gillian. + +'Wouldn't you like it?' + +'How can you be so silly, Ferg? You can't read it yourself. You +don't know whether he really asks you.' + +Fergus made a face, and bolted upstairs to gloat, and perhaps peruse +the letter, while Valetta rushed after him, whether to be teased or +permitted to assist might be doubtful. + +'He really does ask him,' said Aunt Jane. 'Your cousin David, I +mean. He says that he and Harry can put up all the three boys +between them, and that they will be very useful in the Christmas +festivities of Coalham.' + +'It is very kind of him,' said Gillian in a depressed tone. + +'Fergus will be very happy.' + +'I only hope he will not be bent on finding a coal mine in the garden +when he comes back,' said Aunt Jane, smiling; 'but it is rather +dreary for you, my dear. I had been hoping to have Jasper here for +at least a few days. Could he not come and fetch Fergus?' + +Gillian's eyes sparkled at the notion; but they fell at once, for +Jasper would be detained by examinations until so late that he would +only just be able to reach Coalham before Christmas Day. Harry was +to be ordained in a fortnight's time to work under his cousin, Mr. +David Merrifield, and his young brothers were to meet him immediately +after. + +'I wish I could go too,' sighed Gillian, as a hungry yearning for +Jasper or for Mysie took possession of her. + +'I wish you could,' said Miss Mohun sympathetically; 'but I am afraid +you must resign yourself to helping us instead.' + +'Oh, Aunt Jane, I did not mean to grumble. It can't be helped, and +you are very kind.' + +'Oh, dear!' said poor Miss Jane afterwards in private to her sister, +'how I hate being told I am very kind! It just means, "You are a not +quite intolerable jailor and despot," with fairly good intentions.' + +'I am sure you are kindness itself, dear Jenny,' responded Miss +Adeline. 'I am glad they own it! But it is very inconvenient and +unlucky that that unjustifiable mother should have sent her child to +the party to carry the whooping-cough to poor little Primrose, and +Mysie, and Phyllis.' + +'All at one fell swoop! As for Primrose, the worthy Halfpenny is +quite enough for her, and Lily is well out of it; but Fly is a little +shrimp, overdone all round, and I don't like the notion of it for +her.' + +'And Rotherwood is so wrapped up in her. Poor dear fellow, I hope +all will go well with her.' + +'There is no reason it should not. Delicate children often have it +the most lightly. But I am sorry for Gillian, though, if she would +let us, I think we could make her happy.' + +Gillian meantime, after her first fit of sick longing for her brother +and sister, and sense of disappointment, was finding some consolation +in the reflection that had Jasper discovered her instructions to +Alexis White, he would certainly have 'made no end of a row about +it,' and have laughed to scorn the bare notion of her teaching Greek +to a counting-house clerk! But then Jasper was wont to grumble and +chafe at all employments---especially beneficent ones---that interfered +with devotion to his lordly self, and on the whole, perhaps he was +safer out of the way, as he might have set on the aunts to put a stop +to her proceedings. Of Mysie's sympathy she was sure, yet she would +have her scruples about the aunts, and she was a sturdy person, hard +to answer---poor Mysie, whooping away helplessly in the schoolroom at +Rotherwood! Gillian felt herself heroically good-humoured and +resigned. Moreover, here was the Indian letter so long looked for, +likely by its date to be an answer to the information as to Alexis +White's studies. Behold, it did not appear to touch on the subject +at all! It was all about preparations for the double wedding, +written in scraps by different hands, at different times, evidently +snatched from many avocations and much interruption. Of mamma there +was really least of all; but squeezed into a corner, scarcely +legible, Gillian read, 'As to lessons, if At. J. approves.' It was +evidently an afterthought; and Gillian _could_, and chose to refer it +to a certain inquiry about learning the violin, which had never been +answered---for the confusion that reigned at Columbo was plainly +unfavourable to attending to minute details in home letters. + +The longest portions of the despatch were papa's, since he was still +unable to move about. He wrote:---'Our two "young men" think it +probable you will have invitations from their kith and kin. If this +comes to pass, you had better accept them, though you will not like +to break up the Christmas party at Beechcroft Court.' + +There being no Christmas party at Beechcroft Court, Gillian, in spite +of her distaste to new people, was not altogether sorry to receive a +couple of notes by the same post, the first enclosed in the second, +both forwarded from thence. + + + 'VALE LESTON PRIORY, + '9th December. + +'MY DEAR MISS MERRIFIELD---We are very anxious to make acquaintance +with my brother Bernard's new belongings, since we cannot greet our +new sister Phyllis ourselves. We always have a family gathering at +Christmas between this house and the Vicarage, and we much hope that +you and your brother will join it. Could you not meet my sister, +Mrs. Grinstead, in London, and travel down with her on the 23rd? I +am sending this note to her, as I think she has some such proposal to +make.---Yours very sincerely, + 'WILMET U. HAREWOOD.' + + +The other letter was thus--- + + + 'BROMPTON, 10th December. + +'MY DEAR GILLIAN---It is more natural to call you thus, as you are +becoming a sort of relation---very unwillingly, I dare say---for "in +this storm I too have lost a brother." However, we will make the +best of it, and please don't hate us more than you can help. Since +your own home is dispersed for the present, it seems less outrageous +to ask you to spend a Christmas Day among new people, and I hope we +may make you feel at home with us, and that you will enjoy our +beautiful church at Vale Leston. We are so many that we may be less +alarming if you take us by driblets, so perhaps it will be the best +way if you will come up to us on the 18th or 19th, and go down with +us on the 23rd. You will find no one with us but my nephew---almost +son---Gerald Underwood, and my niece, Anna Vanderkist, who will be +delighted to make friends with your brother Jasper, who might perhaps +meet you here. You must tell me all about Phyllis, and what she +would like best for her Cingalese home.---Yours affectionately, + + GERALDINE GRINSTEAD. + + +Thus then affairs shaped themselves. Gillian was to take Fergus to +London, where Jasper would meet them at the station, and put the +little boy into the train for Coalham, whither his brother Wilfred +had preceded him by a day or two. + +Jasper and Gillian would then repair to Brompton for two or three +days before going down with Mr. and Mrs. Grinstead to Vale Leston, +and they were to take care to pay their respects to old Mrs. +Merrifield, who had become too infirm to spend Christmas at +Stokesley. + +What was to happen later was uncertain, whether they were to go to +Stokesley, or whether Jasper would join his brothers at Coalham, or +come down to Rockstone with his sister for the rest of the holidays. +Valetta must remain there, and it did not seem greatly to distress +her; and whereas nothing had been said about children, she was better +satisfied to stay within reach of Kitty and mamma, and the Christmas- +trees that began to dawn on the horizon, than to be carried into an +unknown region of 'grown-ups.' + +While Gillian was not only delighted at the prospect of meeting +Jasper, her own especial brother, but was heartily glad to make a +change, and defer the entire question of lessons, confessions, and +G.F.S. for six whole weeks. She might get a more definite answer +from her parents, or something might happen to make explanation to +her aunt either unnecessary or much more easy---and she was safe from +discovery. But examinations had yet to be passed. + + + + +CHAPTER X. AUT CAESAR AUT NIHIL + + + +Examinations were the great autumn excitement. Gillian was going up +for the higher Cambridge, and Valetta's form was under preparation +for competition for a prize in languages. The great Mr. White, on +being asked to patronise the High School at its first start, four +years ago, had endowed it with prizes for each of the four forms for +the most proficient in two tongues. + +As the preparation became more absorbing, brows were puckered and +looks were anxious, and the aunts were doubtful as to the effect upon +the girls' minds or bodies. It was too late, however, to withdraw +them, and Miss Mohun could only insist on air and exercise, and +permit no work after the seven-o'clock tea. + +She was endeavouring to chase cobwebs from the brains of the students +by the humours of Mrs. Nickleby, when a message was brought that Miss +Leverett, the head-mistress of the High School, wished to speak to +her in the dining-room. This was no unusual occurrence, as Miss +Mohun was secretary to the managing committee of the High School. +But on the announcement Valetta began to fidget, and presently said +that she was tired and would go to bed. The most ordinary effect of +fatigue upon this young lady was to make her resemble the hero of the +nursery poem--- + + + 'I do not want to go to bed, + Sleepy little Harry said.' + + +Nevertheless, this willingness excited no suspicion, till Miss Mohun +came to the door to summon Valetta. + +'Is there anything wrong!' exclaimed sister and niece together. + +'Gone to bed! Oh! I'll tell you presently. Don't you come, +Gillian.' + +She vanished again, leaving Gillian in no small alarm and vexation. + +'I wonder what it can be,' mused Aunt Ada. + +'I shall go and find out!' said Gillian, jumping up, as she heard a +door shut upstairs. + +'No, don't,' said Aunt Ada, 'you had much better not interfere.' + +'It is my business to see after my own sister,' returned Gillian +haughtily. + +'I see what you mean, my dear,' said her aunt, stretching out her +hand, kindly; 'but I do not think you can do any good. If she is in +a scrape, you have nothing to do with the High School management, and +for you to burst in would only annoy Miss Leverett and confuse the +affair. Oh, I know your impulse of defence, dear Gillian; but the +time has not come yet, and you can't have any reasonable doubt that +Jane will be just, nor that your mother would wish that you should be +quiet about it.' + +'But suppose there is some horrid accusation against her!' said +Gillian hotly. + +'But, dear child, if you don't know anything about it, how can you +defend her?' + +'I ought to know!' + +'So you will in time; but the more people there are present, the more +confusion there is, and the greater difficulty in getting at the +rights of anything.'' + +More by her caressing tone of sympathy than by actual arguments, +Adeline did succeed in keeping Gillian in the drawing-room, though +not in pacifying her, till doors were heard again, and something so +like Valetta crying as she went upstairs, that Gillian was neither to +have nor to hold, and made a dash out of the room, only to find her +aunt and the head-mistress exchanging last words in the hall, and as +she was going to brush past them, Aunt Jane caught her hand, and +said--- + +'Wait a moment, Gillian; I want to speak to you.' + +There was no getting away, but she was very indignant. She tugged at +her aunt's hand more than perhaps she knew, and there was something +of a flouncing as she flung into the drawing-room and demanded--- + +'Well, what have you been doing to poor little Val?' + +'We have done nothing,' said Miss Mohun quietly. 'Miss Leverett +wanted to ask her some questions. Sit down, Gillian. You had +better hear what I have to say before going to her. Well, it appears +that there has been some amount of cribbing in the third form.' + +'I'm sure Val never would,' broke out Gillian. And her aunt +answered--- + +'So was I; but---' + +'Oh---' + +'My dear, do hush,' pleaded Adeline. 'You must let yourself listen.' + +Gillian gave a desperate twist, but let her aunt smooth her hand. + +'All the class---almost---seem to have done it in some telegraphic way, +hard to understand,' proceeded Aunt Jane. 'There must have been some +stupidity on the part of the class-mistress, Miss Mellon, or it could +not have gone on; but there has of late been a strong suspicion of +cribbing in Caesar in Valetta's class. They had got rather +behindhand, and have been working up somewhat too hard and fast to +get through the portion for examination. Some of them translated too +well--used terms for the idioms that were neither literal, nor could +have been forged by their small brains; so there was an examination, +and Georgie Purvis was detected reading off from the marks on the +margin of her notebook.' + +'But what has that to do with Val?' + +'Georgie, being had up to Miss Leverett, made the sort of confession +that implicates everybody.' + +'Then why believe her?' muttered Gillian. But her aunt went on--- + +'She said that four or five of them did it, from the notes that +Valetta Merrifield brought to school.' + +'Never!' interjected Gillian. + +'She said,' continued Miss Mohun, 'it was first that they saw her +helping Maura White, and they thought that was not fair, and insisted +on her doing the same for them.' + +'It can't be true! Oh, don't believe it!' cried the sister. + +'I grieve to remind you that I showed you in the drawer in the +dining-room chiffonier a translation of that very book of Caesar that +your mother and I made years ago, when she was crazy upon +Vercingetorix.' + +'But was that reason enough for laying it upon poor Val?' + +'She owned it.' + +There was a silence, and then Gillian said--- + +'She must have been frightened, and not known what she was saying.' + +'She was frightened, but she was very straightforward, and told +without any shuffling. She saw the old copy-books when I was showing +you those other remnants of our old times, and one day it seems she +was in a great puzzle over her lessons, and could get no help or +advice, because none of us had come in. I suppose you were with +Lilian, and she thought she might just look at the passage. She +found Maura in the same difficulty, and helped her; and then Georgie +Purvis and Nelly Black found them out, and threatened to tell unless +she showed them her notes; but the copying whole phrases was only +done quite of late in the general over-hurry.' + +'She must have been bullied into it,' cried Gillian. 'I shall go and +see about her.' + +Aunt Ada made a gesture as of deprecation; but Aunt Jane let her go +without remonstrance, merely saying as the door closed--- + +'Poor child! Esprit de famille!' + +'Will it not be very bad for Valetta to be petted and pitied?' + +'I don't know. At any rate, we cannot separate them at night, so it +is only beginning it a little sooner; and whatever I say only +exasperates Gillian the more. Poor little Val, she had not a formed +character enough to be turned loose into a High School without Mysie +to keep her in order.' + +'Or Gillian.' + +'I am not so sure of Gillian. There's something amiss, though I +can't make out whether it is merely that I rub her down the wrong +way. I wonder whether this holiday time will do us good or harm! +At any rate, I know how Lily felt about Dolores.' + +'It must have been that class-mistress's fault.' + +'To a great degree; but Miss Leverett has just discovered that her +cleverness does not compensate for a general lack of sense and +discipline. Poor little Val---perhaps it is her turning-point!' + +Gillian, rushing up in a boiling state of indignation against +everybody, felt the family shame most acutely of all; and though, as +a Merrifield, she defended her sister below stairs, on the other hand +she was much more personally shocked and angered at the disgrace than +were her aunts, and far less willing to perceive any excuse for the +culprit. + +There was certainly no petting or pitying in her tone as she stood +over the little iron bed, where the victim was hiding her head on her +pillow. + +'Oh, Valetta, how could you do such a thing? The Merrifields have +never been so disgraced before!' + +'Oh, don't, Gill! Aunt Jane and Miss Leverett were---not so angry--- +when I said---I was sorry.' + +'But what will papa and mamma say?' + +'Must they---must they hear?' + +'You would not think of deceiving them, I hope.' + +'Not deceiving, only not telling.' + +'That comes to much the same.' + +'You can't say anything, Gill, for you are always down at Kal's +office, and nobody knows.' + +This gave Gillian a great shock, but she rallied, and said with +dignity, 'Do you think I do not write to mamma everything I do?' + +It sufficed for the immediate purpose of annihilating Valetta, who +had just been begging off from letting mamma hear of her proceedings; +but it left Gillian very uneasy as to how much the child might know +or tell, and this made her proceed less violently, and more +persuasively, 'Whatever I do, I write to mamma; and besides, it is +different with a little thing like you, and your school work. Come, +tell me how you got into this scrape.' + +'Oh, Gill, it was so hard! All about those tiresome Gauls, and there +were bits when the nominative case would go and hide itself, and +those nasty tenses one doesn't know how to look out, and I knew I was +making nonsense, and you were out of the way, and there was nobody to +help; and I knew mamma's own book was there---the very part too--- +because Aunt Jane had shown it to us, so I did not think there was +any harm in letting her help me out of the muddle.' + +'Ah! that was the beginning.' + +'If you had been in, I would not have done it. You know Aunt Jane +said there was no harm in giving a clue, and this was mamma.' + +'But that was not all.' + +'Well, then, there was Maura first, as much puzzled, and her brother +is so busy he hasn't as much time for her as he used to have, and it +does signify to her, for perhaps if she does not pass, Mr. White may +not let her go on at the High School, and that would be too dreadful, +for you know you said I was to do all I could for Maura. So I marked +down things for her and she copied them off, and then Georgie and +Nelly found it out, and, oh! they were dreadful! I never knew it was +wrong till they went at me. And they were horrid to Maura, and said +she was a Greek and I a Maltese, and so we were both false, and +cheaty, and sly, and they should tell Miss Leverett unless I would +help them.' + +'Oh! Valetta, why didn't you tell me?' + +'I never get to speak to you, said Val. 'I did think I would that +first time, and ask you what to do, but then you came in late, and +when I began something, you said you had your Greek to do, and told +me to hold my tongue.' + +'I am very sorry,' said Gillian, feeling convicted of having +neglected her little sister in the stress of her own work and of the +preparation for that of her pupil, who was treading on her heels; +'but indeed, Val, if you had told me it was important, I should have +listened.' + +'Ah I but when one is half-frightened, and you are always in a +hurry,' sighed the child. And, indeed, I did do my best over my own +work before ever I looked; only those two are so lazy and stupid, +they would have ever so much more help than Maura or I ever wanted; +and at last I was so worried and hurried with my French and all the +rest, that I did scramble a whole lot down, and that was the way it +was found out. And I am glad now it is over, whatever happens.' + +'Yes, that is right,' said Gillian, 'and I am glad you told no +stories; but I wonder Emma Norton did not see what was going on.' + +'Oh, she is frightfully busy about her own.' + +'And Kitty Varley?' + +'Kitty is only going up for French and German. Miss Leverett is so +angry. What do you think she will do to me, Gill? Expel me?' + +'I don't know---I can't guess. I don't know High School ways.' + +It would be so dreadful for papa and mamma and the boys to know,' +sobbed Valetta. 'And Mysie! oh, if Mysie was but here!' + +'Mysie would have been a better sister to her,' said Gillian's +conscience, and her voice said, 'You would never have done it if +Mysie had been here.' + +'And Mysie would be nice,' said the poor child, who longed after her +companion sister as much for comfort as for conscience. 'Is Aunt +Jane very very angry?' she went on; 'do you think I shall be +punished?' + +'I can't tell. If it were I, I should think you were punished enough +by having disgraced the name of Merrifield by such a dishonourable +action.' + +'I---I didn't know it was dishonourable.' + +'Well,' said Gillian, perhaps a little tired of the scene, or mayhap +dreading another push into her own quarters, 'I have been saying what +I could for you, and I should think they would feel that no one but +our father and mother had a real right to punish you, but I can't +tell what the School may do. Now, hush, it is of no use to talk any +more. Good-night; I hope I shall find you asleep when I come to +bed.' + +Valetta would have detained her, but off she went, with a +consciousness that she had been poor comfort to her little sister, +and had not helped her to the right kind of repentance. But then +that highest ground---the strict rule of perfect conscientious +uprightness---was just what she shrank from bringing home to herself, +in spite of those privileges of seniority by which she had impressed +poor Valetta. + +The worst thing further that was said that night, when she had +reported as much of Valetta's confidence as she thought might soften +displeasure, was Aunt Ada's observation: 'Maura! That's the White +child, is it not? No doubt it was the Greek blood.' + +'The English girls were much worse,' hastily said Gillian, with a +flush of alarm, as she thought of her own friends being suspected. + +'Yes; but it began with the little Greek,' said Aunt Ada. 'What a +pity, for she is such an engaging child! I would take the child away +from the High School, except that it would have the appearance of her +being dismissed. + +'We must consider of that,' said Aunt Jane. 'There will hardly be +time to hear from Lilias before the next term begins. Indeed, it +will not be so very long to wait before the happy return, I hope.' + +'Only two months,' said Gillian; 'but it would be happier but for +this.' + +'No,' said Aunt Jane. 'If we made poor little Val write her +confession, and I do the same for not having looked after her better, +it will be off our minds, and need not cloud the meeting.' + +'The disgrace!' sighed Gillian; 'the public disgrace!' + +'My dear, I don't want to make you think lightly of such a thing. It +was very wrong in a child brought up as you have all been, with a +sense of honour and uprightness; but where there has been no such +training, the attempt to copy is common enough, for it is not to be +looked on as an extraordinary and indelible disgrace. Do you +remember Primrose saying she had broken mamma's heart when she had +knocked down a china vase? You need not be in that state of mind +over what was a childish fault, made worse by those bullying girls. +It is of no use to exaggerate. The sin is the thing---not the outward +shame.' + +'And Valetta told at once when asked,' added Aunt Ada. + +'That makes a great difference.' + +'In fact, she was relieved to have it out,' said Miss Mohun. 'It is +not at all as if she were in the habit of doing things underhand.' + +Everything struck on Gillian like a covert reproach. It was pain and +shame to her that a Merrifield should have lowered herself to the +common herd so as to need these excuses of her aunts, and then in the +midst of that indignation came that throb of self-conviction which +she was always confuting with the recollection of her letter to her +mother. + +She was glad to bid good-night and rest her head. + +The aunts ended by agreeing that it was needful to withdraw Valetta +from the competition. It would seem like punishment to her, but it +would remove her from the strain that certainly was not good for her. +Indeed, they had serious thoughts of taking her from the school +altogether, but the holidays would not long be ended before her +parents' return. + +'I am sorry we ever let her try for the prize,' said Ada. + +'Yes,' said Aunt Jane, 'I suppose it was weakness; but having opposed +the acceptance of the system of prizes by competition at first, I +thought it would look sullen if I refused to let Valetta try. +Stimulus is all very well, but competition leads to emulation, wrath, +strife, and a good deal besides.' + +'Valetta wished it too, and she knew so much Latin to begin with that +I thought she would easily get it, and certainly she ought not to get +into difficulties.' + +'After the silken rein and easy amble of Silverfold, the spur and the +race have come severely.' + +'It is, I suppose, the same with Gillian, though there it is not +competition. Do you expect her to succeed?' + +'No. She has plenty of intelligence, and a certain sort of +diligence, but does not work to a point. She wants a real hand over +her! She will fail, and it will be very good for her.' + +'I should say the work was overmuch for her, and had led her to +neglect Valetta.' + +'Work becomes overmuch when people don't know how to set about it, +and resent being told--- No, not in words, but by looks and shoulders. +Besides, I am not sure that it is her proper work that oppresses her. +I think she has some other undertaking in hand, probably for +Christmas, or for her mother's return; but as secrecy is the very +soul of such things, I shut my eyes.' + +'Somehow, Jane, I think you have become so much afraid of giving way +to curiosity that you sometimes shut your eyes rather too much.' + +'Well, perhaps in one's old age one suffers from the reaction of +one's bad qualities. I will think about it, Ada. I certainly never +before realised how very different school supervision of young folks +is from looking after them all round. Moreover, Gillian has been +much more attentive to poor Lily Giles of late, in spite of her +avocations.' + +Valetta was not at first heartbroken on hearing that she was not to +go in for the language examination. It was such a relief from the +oppression of the task, and she had so long given up hopes of having +the prize to show to her mother, that she was scarcely grieved, +though Aunt Jane was very grave while walking down to school with her +in the morning to see Miss Leverett, and explain the withdrawal. + +That lady came to her private room as soon as she had opened the +school. From one point of view, she said, she agreed with Miss Mohun +that it would be better that her niece should not go up for the +examination. + +'But,' she said, 'it may be considered as a stigma upon her, since +none of the others are to give up.' + +'Indeed! I had almost thought it a matter of course.' + +'On the contrary, two of the mothers seem to think nothing at all of +the matter. Mrs. Black---' + +'The Surveyor's wife, isn't she?' + +'Yes, she writes a note saying that all children copy, if they can, +and she wonders that I should be so severe upon such a frequent +occurrence, which reflects more discredit on the governesses than the +scholars.' + +'Polite that! And Mrs. Purvis? At least, she is a lady!' + +'She is more polite, but evidently has no desire to be troubled. She +hopes that if her daughter has committed a breach of school +discipline, I will act as I think best.' + +'No feeling of the real evil in either! How about Maura White?' + +'That is very different. It is her sister who writes, and so nicely +that I must show it to you.' + + +'MY DEAR MADAM---I am exceedingly grieved that Maura should have acted +in a dishonourable manner, though she was not fully aware how wrongly +she was behaving. We have been talking to her, and we think she is +so truly sorry as not to be likely to fall into the same temptation +again. As far as we can make out, she has generally taken pains with +her tasks, and only obtained assistance in unusually difficult +passages, so that we think that she is really not ill-prepared. If +it is thought right that all the pupils concerned should abstain from +the competition, we would of course readily acquiesce in the justice +of the sentence; but to miss it this year might make so serious a +difference to her prospects, that I hope it will not be thought a +necessary act of discipline, though we know that we have no right to +plead for any exemption for her. With many thanks for the +consideration you have shown for her, I remain, faithfully yours, + + K. WHITE.' + + +'A very different tone indeed, and it quite agrees with Valetta's +account,' said Miss Mohun. + +'Yes, the other two girls were by far the most guilty.' + +'And morally, perhaps, Maura the least; but I retain my view that, +irrespective of the others, Valetta's parents had rather she missed +this examination, considering all things.' + +Valetta came home much more grieved when she had found she was the +only one left out, and declared it was unjust. + +No,' said Gillian, 'for you began it all. None of the others would +have got into the scrape but for you.' + +'It was all your fault for not minding me!' + +'As if I made you do sly things.' + +'You made me. You were so cross if I only asked a question,' and Val +prepared to cry. + +'I thought people had to do their own work and not other folks'! +Don't be so foolish.' + +'Oh dear! oh dear! how unkind you are! I wish---I wish Mysie was +here; every one is grown cross! Oh, if mamma would but come home!' + +'Now, Val, don't be such a baby! Stop that!' + +And Valetta went into one of her old agonies of crying and sobbing, +which brought Aunt Jane in to see what was the matter. She instantly +stopped the scolding with which Gillian was trying to check the +outburst, and which only added to its violence. + +'It is the only thing to stop those fits,' said Gillian. 'She can if +she will! It is all temper.' + +'Leave her to me!' commanded Aunt Jane. 'Go!' + +Gillian went away, muttering that it was not the way mamma or Nurse +Halfpenny treated Val, and quite amazed that Aunt Jane, of all +people, should have the naughty child on her lap and in her arms, +soothing her tenderly. + +The cries died away, and the long heaving sobs began to subside, and +at last a broken voice said, on Aunt Jane's shoulder, 'It's---a--- +little bit---like mamma.' + +For Aunt Jane's voice had a ring in it like mamma's, and this little +bit of tenderness was inexpressibly comforting. + +'My poor dear child,' she said, 'mamma will soon come home, and then +you will be all right.' + +'I shouldn't have done it if mamma had been there!' + +'No, and now you are sorry.' + +'Will mamma be very angry?' + +'She will be grieved that you could not hold out when you were +tempted; but I am sure she will forgive you if you write it all to +her. And, Val, you know you can have God's forgiveness at once if +you tell Him.' + +'Yes,' said Valetta gravely; then, 'I did not before, because I +thought every one made so much of it, and were so cross. And Georgie +and Nellie don't care at all.' + +'Nor Maura?' + +'Oh, Maura does, because of Kalliope.' + +'How do you mean?' + +Valetta sat up on her aunt's lap, and told. + +'Maura told me! She said Kally and Alec both were at her, but her +mamma was vexed with them, and said she would not have her scolded at +home as well as at school about nothing; and she told Theodore to go +and buy her a tart to make up to her, but Theodore wouldn't, for he +said he was ashamed of her. So she sent the maid. But when Maura +had gone to bed and to sleep, she woke up, and there was Kally crying +over her prayers, and whispering half aloud, "Is she going too? My +poor child! Oh, save her! Give her the Spirit of truth--"' + +'Poor Kalliope! She is a good sister.' + +'Yes; Maura says Kally is awfully afraid of their telling stories +because of Richard---the eldest, you know. He does it dreadfully. I +remember nurse used to tell us not to fib like Dick White. Maura +said he used to tell his father stories about being late and getting +money, and their mother never let him be punished. He was her pet. +And Maura remembers being carried in to see poor Captain White just +before he died, when she was getting better, but could not stand, and +he said, "Truth before all, children. Be true to God and man." +Captain White did care so much, but Mrs. White doesn't. Isn't that +very odd, for she isn't a Roman Catholic?' ended Valetta, obviously +believing that falsehood was inherent in Romanists, and pouring out +all this as soon as her tears were assuaged, as if, having heard it, +she must tell. + +'Mrs. White is half a Greek, you know,' said Aunt Jane, 'and the +Greeks are said not to think enough about truth.' + +'Epaminondas did,' said Valetta, who had picked up a good deal from +the home atmosphere, 'but Ulysses didn't.' + +'No; and the Greeks have been enslaved and oppressed for a great many +years, and that is apt to make people get cowardly and false. But +that is not our concern, Val, and I think with such a recollection of +her good father, and such a sister to help her, Maura will not fall +into the fault again. And, my dear, I quite see that neither you nor +she entirely realised that what you did was deception, though you +never spoke a word of untruth.' + +'No, we did not,' said Valetta. + +'And so, my dear child, I do forgive you, quite and entirely, as we +used to say, though I have settled with Miss Leverett that you had +better not go up for the examination, since you cannot be properly up +to it. And you must write the whole history to your mother. Yes; I +know it will be very sad work, but it will be much better to have it +out and done with, instead of having it on your mind when she comes +home.' + +'Shall you tell her!' + +'Yes, certainly,' said the aunt, well knowing that this would clench +the matter. 'But I shall tell her how sorry you are, and that I +really think you did not quite understand what you were about at +first. And I shall write to Miss White, and try to comfort her about +her sister.' + +'You won't say I told!' + +'Oh no; but I shall have quite reason enough for writing in telling +her that I am sorry my little niece led her sister into crooked +paths.' + +Gillian knew that this letter was written and sent, and it did not +make her more eager for a meeting with Kalliope. So that she was not +sorry that the weather was a valid hindrance, though a few weeks ago +she would have disregarded such considerations. Besides, there was +her own examination, which for two days was like a fever, and kept +her at her little table, thinking of nothing but those questions, and +dreaming and waking over them at night. + +It was over; and she was counselled on all sides to think no more +about it till she should hear of success or failure. But this was +easier said than done, and she was left in her tired state with a +general sense of being on a wrong tack, and of going on amiss, +whether due to her aunt's want of assimilation to herself, or to her +mother's absence, she did not know, and with the further sense that +she had not been the motherly sister she had figured to herself, but +that both the children should show a greater trust and reliance on +Aunt Jane than on herself grieved her, not exactly with jealousy, but +with sense of failure and dissatisfaction with herself. She had a +universal distaste to her surroundings, and something very like dread +of the Whites, and she rejoiced in the prospect of quitting Rockstone +for the present. + +She felt bound to run down to the office to wish Kalliope good-bye. +There she found an accumulation of exercises and translations waiting +for her. + +'Oh, what a quantity! It shows how long it is since I have been +here.' + +'And indeed,' began Kalliope, 'since your aunt has been so very kind +about poor little Maura---' + +'Oh, please don't talk to me! There's such a lot to do, and I have +no time. Wait till I have done.' + +And she nervously began reading out the Greek exercise, so as +effectually to stop Kalliope's mouth. Moreover, either her own +uneasy mind, or the difficulty of the Greek, brought her into a +dilemma. She saw that Alexis's phrase was wrong, but she did not +clearly perceive what the sentence ought to be, and she perplexed +herself over it till he came in, whether to her satisfaction or not +she could not have told, for she had not wanted to see him on the one +hand, though, on the other, it silenced Kalliope. + +She tried to clear her perceptions by explanations to him, but he did +not seem to give his mind to the grammar half as much as to the +cessation of the lessons and her absence. + +'You must do the best you can,' she said, 'and I shall find you gone +quite beyond me.' + +'I shall never do that, Miss Merrifield.' + +'Nonsense!' she said, laughing uncomfortably 'a pretty clergyman you +would be if you could not pass a girl. There! good-bye. Make a list +of your puzzles and I will do my best with them when I come back.' + +'Thank you,' and he wrung her hand with an earnestness that gave her +a sense of uneasiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. LADY MERRIFIELD'S CHRISTMAS LETTER-BAG + + + + (PRIMROSE.) + +'MY DEAR MAMMA---I wish you a merry Christmas, and papa and sisters +and Claude too. I only hooped once to-day, and Nurse says I may go +out when it gets fine. Fly is better. She sent me her dolls' house +in a big box in a cart, and Mysie sent a new frock of her own making +for Liliana, and Uncle William gave me a lovely doll, with waxen arms +and legs, that shuts her eyes and squeals, and says Mamma; but I do +not want anything but my own dear mamma, and all the rest. I am +mamma's own little PRIMROSE.' + + + (FERGUS.) + + 'COALHAM. +'MY DEAR MAMMA---I wish you and papa, and all, a happy Crismas, and I +send a plan of the great coal mine for a card. It is much jollier +here than at Rockquay, for it is all black with cinders, and there +are little fires all night, and there are lots of oars and oxhide and +fossils and ferns and real curiozitys, and nobody minds noises nor +muddy boots, and they aren't at one to wash your hands, for they +can't be clean ever; and there was a real row in the street last +night just outside. We are to go down a mine some day when Cousin +David has time. I mean to be a great jeologist and get lots of +specimens, and please bring me home all the minerals in Ceylon. +Harry gave me a hammer.---I am, your affectionate son, + FERGUS MERRIFIELD.' + + + (VALETTA.) + +'MY DEAREST MAMMA---I hope you will like my card. Aunt Ada did none +of it, only showed me how, and Aunt Jane says I may tell you I am +really trying to be good. I am helping her gild fir-cones for a +Christmas-tree for the quire, and they will sing carols. Macrae +brought some for us the day before yesterday, and a famous lot of +holly and ivy and mistletoe and flowers, and three turkeys and some +hams and pheasants and partridges. Aunt Jane sent the biggest turkey +and ham in a basket covered up with holly to Mrs. White, and another +to Mrs. Hablot, and they are doing the church with the holly and ivy. +We are to eat the other the day after to-morrow, and Mr. Grant and +Miss Burne, who teaches the youngest form, are coming. It was only +cold beef to-day, to let Mrs. Mount go to church; but we had mince +pies, and I am going to Kitty's Christmas party to-morrow, and we +shall dance---so Aunt Ada has given me a new white frock and a lovely +Roman sash of her own. Poor old Mrs. Vincent is dead, and Fergus's +great black rabbit, and poor little Mary Brown with dip---(blot). I +can't spell it, and nobody is here to tell me how, but the thing in +people's throats, and poor Anne has got it, and Dr. Ellis says it was +a mercy we were all away from home, for we should have had it too, +and that would have been ever so much worse than the whooping-cough. + +'I have lots of cards, but my presents are waiting for my birthday, +when Maura is to come to tea. It is much nicer than I thought the +holidays would be. Maura White has got the prize for French and +Latin. It is a lovely Shakespeare. I wish I had been good, for I +think I should have got it. Only she does want more help than I do--- +so perhaps it is lucky I did not. No, I don't mean lucky either.--- +Your affectionate little daughter, VAL.' + + + (WILFRED.) + +'DEAR MOTHER---Fergus is such a little ape that he will send you that +disgusting coal mine on his card, as if you would care for it. I +know you will like mine much better---that old buffer skating into a +hole in the ice. I don't mind being here, for though Harry and Davy +get up frightfully early to go to church, they don't want us down +till they come back, and we can have fun all day, except when Harry +screws me down to my holiday task, which is a disgusting one, about +the Wars of the Roses. Harry does look so rum now that he is got up +for a parson that we did not know him when he met us at the station. +There was an awful row outside here last night between two sets of +Waits. David went out and parted them, and I thought he would have +got a black eye. All the choir had supper here, for there was a +service in the middle of the night; but they did not want us at it, +and on Tuesday we are to have a Christmas ship, and a magic-lantern, +and Rollo and Mr. Bowater are coming to help---he is the clergyman at +the next place---and no end of fun, and the biggest dog you ever saw. +Fergus has got one of his crazes worse than ever about old stones, +and is always in the coal hole, poking after ferns and things. +Wishing you a merry Christmas.---Your affectionate son, + 'WILFRED MERRIFIELD.' + + + (MYSIE.) + + 'ROTHERWOOD, Christmas Day. + +'MY OWN DEAREST MAMMA---A very happy Christmas to you, and papa and +Claude and my sisters, and here are the cards, which Miss Elbury +helped me about so kindly that I think they are better than usual: I +mean that she advised me, for no one touched them but myself. You +will like your text, I hope, I chose it because it is so nice to +think we are all one, though we are in so many different places. I +did one with the same for poor Dolores in New Zealand. Uncle William +was here yesterday, and he said dear little Primrose is almost quite +well. Fly is much better to-day; her eyes look quite bright, and she +is to sit up a little while in the afternoon, but I may not talk to +her for fear of making her cough; but she slept all night without one +whoop, and will soon be well now. Cousin Rotherwood was so glad that +he was quite funny this morning, and he gave me the loveliest +writing-case you ever saw, with a good lock and gold key, and gold +tops to everything, and my three M's engraved on them all. I have so +many presents and cards that I will write out a list when I have +finished my letter. I shall have plenty of time, for everybody is +gone to church except Cousin Florence, who went early. + +'I am to dine at the late dinner, which will be early, because of the +church singers, and Cousin Rotherwood says he and I will do +snapdragon, if I will promise not to whoop. + +'4.30.---I had to stop again because of the doctor. He says he does +not want to have any more to do with me, and that I may go out the +first fine day, and that Fly is much better. And only think! He +says Rockquay is the very place for Fly, and as soon as we are not +catching, we are all to go there. Cousin Rotherwood told me so for a +great secret, but he said I might tell you, and that he would ask +Aunt Alethea to let Primrose come too. It does warm one up to think +of it, and it is much easier to feel thankful and glad about all the +rest of the right sort of Christmas happiness, now I am so near +having Gill and Val again.---Your very loving child, + M. M. MERRIFIELD.' + + + (JASPER.) + + 'VALE LESTON PRIORY, + '25th December. +'DEAREST MOTHER---Here are my Christmas wishes that we may all be +right again at home this year, and that you could see the brace of +pheasants I killed. However, Gill and I are in uncommonly nice +quarters. I shall let her tell the long story about who is who, for +there is such a swarm of cousins, and uncles, and aunts, and when you +think you have hold of the right one, it turns out to be the other +lot. There are three houses choke full of them, and more floating +about, and all running in and out, till it gets like the little pig +that could not be counted, it ran about so fast. They are all +Underwood or Harewood, more or less, except the Vanderkists, who are +all girls except a little fellow in knickerbockers. Poor little +chap, his father was a great man on the turf, and ruined him horse +and foot before he was born, and then died of D. T., and his mother +is a great invalid, and very badly off, with no end of daughters---the +most stunning girls you ever saw---real beauties, and no mistake, +especially Emily, who is great fun besides. She is to be Helena when +we act Midsummer Night's Dream on Twelfth Night for all the natives, +and I am Demetrius, dirty cad that he is! She lives with the +Grinsteads, and Anna with the Travis Underwoods, Phyllis's young +man's bosses. If he makes as good a thing of it as they have done, +she will be no end of a swell. Mr. Travis Underwood has brought down +his hunters and gives me a mount. Claude would go stark staring mad +to see his Campeador. + +'They are awfully musical here, and are always at carols or +something, and that's the only thing against them. As to Gill, she +is in clover, in raptures with every one, especially Mrs. Grinstead, +and I think it is doing her good.---Your affectionate son, + J. R. M.' + + + (GILLIAN.) + +'DEAREST MAMMA---All Christmas love, and a message to Phyllis that I +almost forgive her desertion for the sake of the set of connections +she has brought us, like the nearest and dearest relations or more, +but Geraldine---for so she told me to call her---is still the choicest +of all. It is so pretty to see her husband---the great sculptor---wait +on her, as if she was a queen and he her knight! Anna told me that +he had been in love with her ever so long, and she refused him once; +but after the eldest brother died, and she was living at St. +Wulstan's, he tried again, and she could not hold out. I told you of +her charming house, so full of lovely things, and about Gerald, all +cleverness and spirit, but too delicate for a public school. He is +such a contrast to Edward Harewood, a great sturdy, red-haired +fellow, who is always about with Jasper, except when he---Japs, I +mean---is with Emily Vanderkist. She is the prettiest of the +Vanderkists. There are eight of them besides little Sir Adrian. +Mary always stays to look after her mother, who is in very bad +health, and has weak eyes. They call Mary invaluable and so very +good, but she is like a homely little Dutchwoman, and nobody would +think she was only twenty. Sophy, the next to her, calls herself +pupil-teacher to Mrs. William Harewood, and together they manage the +schoolroom for all the younger sisters the two little girls at the +Vicarage, and Wilmet, the only girl here at the Priory; but, of +course, no lessons are going on now, only learning and rehearsing the +parts, and making the dresses, painting the scenes, and learning +songs. They all do care so much about music here that I find I +really know hardly anything about it, and Jasper says it is their +only failing. + +'They say Mr. Lancelot Underwood sings and plays better than any of +them; but he is at Stoneborough. However, he is coming over with all +the Mays for our play, old Dr. May and all. I was very much +surprised to find he was an organist and a bookseller, but Geraldine +told me about it, and how it was for the sake of the eldest brother--- +"my brother," they all say; and somehow it seems as if the house was +still his, though it is so many years since he died. And yet they +are all such happy, merry people. I wish I could let you know how +delightful it all is. Sometimes I feel as if I did not deserve to +have such a pleasant time. I can't quite explain, but to be with +Geraldine Grinstead makes one feel one's self to be of a ruder, more +selfish mould, and I know I have not been all I ought to be at +Rockstone; but I don't mind telling you, now you are so soon to be at +home, Aunt Jane seems to worry me---I can't tell how, exactly---while +there is something about Geraldine that soothes and brightens, and +all the time makes one long to be better. + +'I never heard such sermons as Mr. Harewood's either; it seems as if +I had never listened before, but these go right down into one. I +cannot leave off thinking about the one last Sunday, about "making +manifest the counsels of all hearts." I see now that I was not as +much justified in not consulting Aunt Jane about Kalliope and Alexis +as I thought I was, and that the concealment was wrong. It came over +me before the beautiful early Celebration this morning, and I could +not feel as if I ought to be there till I had made a resolution to +tell her all about it, though I should like it not to be till you are +come home, and can tell her that I am not really like Dolores, as she +will be sure to think me, for I really did it, not out of silliness +and opposition, but because I knew how good they were, and I did tell +you. Honestly, perhaps there was some opposition in the spirit of +it; but I mean to make a fresh start when I come back, and you will +be near at hand then, and that will help me. + +'26th.---The afternoon service of song began and I was called off. I +never heard anything so lovely, and we had a delightful evening. I +can't tell you about it now, for I am snatching a moment when I am +not rehearsing, as this must go to-day. Dr. and Miss May, and the +Lances, as they call them, are just come. The Doctor is a beautiful +old man. All the children were round him directly, and he kissed me, +and said that he was proud to meet the daughter of such a +distinguished man. + +'This must go.---Your loving daughter, 'JULIANA MERRIFIELD.' + + + (HARRY.) + + 'COALHAM, Christmas Day. +'It is nearly St. Stephen's Day, for, dear mother, I have not had a +minute before to send you or my father my Christmas greeting. We +have had most joyous services, unusually well attended, David tells +me, and that makes up for the demonstration we had outside the door +last night. David is the right fellow for this place, though we are +disapproved of as south country folk. The boys are well and amused, +Wilfred much more comfortable for being treated more as a man, and +Fergus greatly come on, and never any trouble, being always dead-set +on some pursuit. It is geology, or rather mineralogy, at present, +and if he carries home all the stones he has accumulated in the back +yard, he will have a tolerable charge for extra luggage. David says +there is the making of a great man in him, I think it is of an Uncle +Maurice. Macrae writes to me in a state of despair about the drains +at Silverfold; scarlet fever and diphtheria abound at the town, so +that he says you cannot come back there till something has been done, +and he wants me to come and look at them; but I do not see how I can +leave David at present, as we are in the thick of classes for Baptism +and Confirmation in Lent, and I suspect Aunt Jane knows more about +the matter than I do. + +'Gillian and Jasper seem to be in a state of great felicity at Vale +Leston---and Mysie getting better, but poor little Phyllis Devereux +has been seriously ill.---Your affectionate son, H. MERRIFIELD.' + + + (AUNT JANE AND AUNT ADELINE.) + + '11.30, Christmas Eve. +'MY DEAREST LILY---This will be a joint letter, for Ada will finish it +to-morrow, and I must make the most of my time while waiting for the +Waits to dwell on unsavoury business. Macrae came over here with a +convoy of all sorts of "delicacies of the season," for which thank +you heartily in the name of Whites, Hablots, and others who partook +thereof, according, no doubt, to your kind intention. He was greatly +perturbed, poor man, for your cook has been very ill with diphtheria, +and the scarlet fever is severe all round; there have been some +deaths, and the gardener's child was in great danger. The doctor has +analysed the water, and finds it in a very bad state, so that your +absence this autumn is providential. If you are in haste, telegraph +to me, and I will meet your landlord there, and the sanitary +inspector, and see what can be done, without waiting for Jasper. +At any rate, you cannot go back there at once. Shall I secure a +furnished house for you here? The Rotherwoods are coming to the +hotel next door to us, as soon as Phyllis is fit to move and +infection over. Victoria will stay there with the children, and he +go back and forwards. If Harry and Phyllis May should come home, I +suppose their headquarters will be at Stoneborough; but still this +would be the best place for a family gathering. Moreover, Fergus +gets on very nicely at Mrs. Edgar's, and it would be a pity to +disturb him. On the other hand, I am not sure of the influences of +the place upon the--- + +'Christmas Day, 3 P.M.---There came the Waits I suppose, and Jane had +to stop and leave me to take up the thread. Poor dear Jenny, the +festival days are no days of rest to her, but I am not sure that she +would enjoy repose, or that it would not be the worse possible +penance to her. She is gone down now to the workhouse with Valetta +to take cards and tea and tobacco to the old people, not sending +them, because she says a few personal wishes and the sight of a +bright child will be worth something to the old bodies. Then comes +tea for the choir-boys, before Evensong and carols, and after that my +turn may come for what remains of the evening. I must say the church +is lovely, thanks to your arums and camellias, which Macrae brought +us just in time. It is very unfortunate that Silverfold should be in +such a state, but delightful for us if it sends you here; and this +brings me to Jenny's broken thread, which I must spin on, though I +tell her to take warning by you, when you so repented having brought +Maurice home by premature wails about Dolores. Perhaps impatience is +a danger to all of us, and I believe there is such a thing as over- +candour. + +'What Jane was going to say was that she did not think the place had +been good for either of the girls; but all that would be obviated by +your presence. If poor Miss Vincent joins you, now that she is free, +you would have your own schoolroom again, and the locality would not +make much difference. Indeed, if the Rotherwood party come by the +end of the holidays, I have very little doubt that Victoria will +allow Valetta to join Phyllis and Mysie in the schoolroom, and that +would prevent any talk about her removal from the High School. The +poor little thing has behaved as well as possible ever since, and is +an excellent companion; Jane is sure that it has been a lesson that +will last her for life, and I am convinced that she was under an +influence that you can put an end to---I mean that White family. Jane +thinks well of the eldest daughter, in spite of her fringe and of her +refusal to enter the G.F.S.; but I have good reason for knowing that +she holds assignations in Mr. White's garden on Sunday afternoons +with young Stebbing, whose mother knows her to be a most artful and +dangerous girl, though she is so clever at the mosaic work that there +is no getting her discharged. Mrs. Stebbing called to warn us +against her, and, as I was the only person at home, told me how she +had learnt from Mr. White's housekeeper that this girl comes every +Sunday alone to walk in the gardens---she was sure it must be to meet +somebody, and they are quite accessible to an active young man on the +side towards the sea. He is going in a few days to join the other +partner at the Italian quarries, greatly in order that the connection +may be broken off. It is very odd that Jane, generally so acute, +should be so blind here. All she said was, "That's just the time +Gillian is so bent on mooning in the garden." It is a mere +absurdity; Gillian always goes to the children's service, and +besides, she was absent last Sunday, when Miss White was certainly +there. But Gillian lends the girl books, and altogether patronises +her in a manner which is somewhat perplexing to us; though, as it +cannot last long, Jane thinks it better not to interfere before your +return to judge for yourself. These young people are members of the +Kennel Church congregation, and I had an opportunity of talking to +Mr. Flight about them. He says he had a high opinion of the brother, +and hoped to help him to some higher education, with a view perhaps +to Holy Orders; but that it was so clearly the youth's duty to +support his mother, and it was so impossible for her to get on +without his earnings, that he (Mr. Flight, I mean) had decided to let +him alone that his stability might be proved, or till some opening +offered; and of late there had been reason for disappointment, tokens +of being unsettled, and reports of meetings with some young woman at +his sister's office. It is always the way when one tries to be +interested in those half-and-half people,---the essential vulgarity is +sure to break out, generally in the spirit of flirtation conducted in +an underhand manner. And oh! that mother! I write all this because +you had better be aware of the state of things before your return. I +am afraid, however, that between us we have not written you a very +cheering Christmas letter. + +'There is a great question about a supply of water to the town. Much +excitement is caused by the expectation of Rotherwood's visit, and it +is even said that he is to be met here by the great White himself, +whom I have always regarded as a sort of mythical personage, not to +say a harpy, always snatching away every promising family of Jane's +to the Italian quarries. + +'You will have parted with the dear girls by this time, and be +feeling very sad and solitary; but it is altogether a good +connection, and a great advantage. I have just addressed to Gillian, +at Vale Leston, a coroneted envelope, which must be an invitation +from Lady Liddesdale. I am very glad of it. Nothing is so likely as +such society to raise her above the tone of these Whites.---Your +loving A. M.' + + +'10.30 P.M.--These Whites! Really I don't think it as bad as Ada +supposes, so don't be uneasy, though it is a pity she has told you so +much of the gossip respecting them. I do not believe any harm of +that girl Kalliope; she has such an honest, modest pair of eyes. I +dare say she is persecuted by that young Stebbing, for she is very +handsome, and he is an odious puppy. But as to her assignations in +the garden, if they are with any one, it is with Gillian, and I see +no harm in them, except that we might have been told---only that would +have robbed the entire story of its flavour, I suppose. Besides, I +greatly disbelieve the entire story, so don't be worried about it! +There---as if we had not been doing our best to worry you! But come +home, dearest old Lily. Gather your chicks under your wing, and when +you cluck them together again, all will be well. I don't think you +will find Valetta disimproved by her crisis. It is curious to hear +how she and Gillian both declare that Mysie would have prevented it, +as if naughtiness or deceit shrank from that child's very face. + +'It has been a very happy, successful Christmas Day, full of +rejoicing. May you be feeling the same; that joy has made us one in +many a time of separation.---Your faithful old Brownie, + J. MOHUN.' + + + (GILLIAN AGAIN.) + + 'ROWTHORPE, 20th January. + +'DEAREST MAMMA---This is a Sunday letter. I am writing it in a +beautiful place, more like a drawing-room than a bed-room, and it is +all very grand; such long galleries, such quantities of servants, so +many people staying in the house, that I should feel quite lost but +for Geraldine. We came so late last night that there was only just +time to dress for dinner at eight o'clock. I never dined with so +many people before, and they are all staying in the house. I have +not learnt half of them yet, though Lady Liddesdale, who is a nice, +merry old lady, with gray hair, called her eldest granddaughter, +Kitty Somerville, and told her to take care of me, and tell me who +they all were. One of them is that Lord Ormersfield, whom Mysie ran +against at Rotherwood, and, do you know, I very nearly did the same; +for there is early Celebration at the little church just across the +garden. Kitty talked of calling for me, but I did not make sure, +because I heard some one say she was not to go if she had a cold; +and, when I heard the bell, I grew anxious and started off, and I +lost my way, and thought I should never get to the stairs; but just +as I was turning back, out came Lord and Lady Ormersfield. He looks +quite young, though he is rather lame---I shall like all lame people, +for the sake of Geraldine---and Lady Ormersfield has such a motherly +face. He laughed, and said I was not the first person who had lost +my way in the labyrinths of passages, so I went on with them, and +after all Kitty was hunting for me! I sat next him at breakfast, +and, do you know, he asked me whether I was the sister of a little +downright damsel he met at Rotherwood two years ago, and said he had +used her truthfulness about the umbrella for a favourite example to +his small youngest! + +'When I hear of truthfulness I feel a sort of shock. "Oh, if you +knew!" I am ready to say, and I grow quite hot. That is what I am +really writing about to-day. I never had time after that Christmas +Day at Vale Leston to do more than keep you up to all the doings; but +I did think: and there were Mr. Harewood's sermons, which had a real +sting in them, and a great sweetness besides. I have tried to set +some down for you, and that is one reason I did not say more. But +to-day, after luncheon, it is very quiet, for Kitty and Constance are +gone to their Sunday classes, and the gentlemen and boys are out +walking, except Lord Somerville, who has a men's class of his own, +and all the old ladies are either in their rooms, or talking in +pairs. So I can tell you that I see now that I did not go on in a +right spirit with Aunt Jane, and that I did poor Val harm by my +example, and went very near deception, for I did not choose to +believe that when you said "If Aunt J. approves," you meant about +Alexis White's lessons; so I never told her or Kalliope, and I +perceive now that it was not right towards either; for Kally was very +unhappy about her not knowing. I am very sorry; I see that I was +wrong all round, and that I should have understood it before, if I +had examined myself in the way Mr. Harewood dwelt upon in his last +Sunday in Advent sermon, and never gone on in such a way. + +'I am not going to wait for you now, but shall confess it all to Aunt +Jane as soon as I go home, and try to take it as my punishment if she +asks a terrible number of questions. Perhaps I shall write it, but +it would take such a quantity of explanation, and I don't want Aunt +Ada to open the letter, as she does any that come while Aunt Jane is +out. + +'Please kiss my words and forgive me, as you read this, dear mamma; I +never guessed I was going to be so like Dolores. + +'Kitty has come to my door to ask if I should like to come and read +something nice and Sundayish with them in her grandmamma's dressing- +room.---So no more from your loving GILL.' + + + + +CHAPTER XII. TRANSFORMATION + + + +'Well, now for the second stage of our guardianship!' said Aunt Ada, +as the two sisters sat over the fire after Valetta had gone to bed. +'Fergus comes back to-morrow, and Gillian---when?' + +'She does not seem quite certain, for there is to be a day or two at +Brompton with this delightful Geraldine, so that she may see her +grandmother---also Mr. Clement Underwood's church, and the Merchant of +Venice---an odd mixture of ecclesiastics and dissipations.' + +'I wonder whether she will be set up by it.' + +'So do I! They are all remarkably good people; but then good people +do sometimes spoil the most of all, for they are too unselfish to +snub. And on the other hand, seeing the world sometimes has the +wholesome effect of making one feel small---' + +'My dear Jenny!' + +'Oh! I did not mean you, who are never easily effaced; but I was +thinking of youthful bumptiousness, fostered by country life and +elder sistership.' + +'Certainly, though Valetta is really much improved, Gillian has not +been as pleasant as I expected, especially during the latter part of +the time.' + +'Query, was it her fault or mine, or the worry of the examination, or +all three?' + +'Perhaps you did superintend a little too much at first. More than +modern independence was prepared for, though I should not have +expected recalcitration in a young Lily; but I think there was more +ruffling of temper and more reserve than I can quite understand.' + +'It has not been a success. As dear old Lily would have said, "My +dream has vanished," of a friend in the younger generation, and now +it remains to do the best I can for her in the few weeks that are +left, before we have her dear mother again.' + +'At any rate, you have no cause to be troubled about the other two. +Valetta is really the better for her experience, and you have always +got on well with the boy.' + +Fergus was the first of the travellers to appear at Rockstone. Miss +Mohun, who went to meet him at the station, beheld a small figure +lustily pulling at a great canvas bag, which came bumping down the +step, assisted by a shove from the other passengers, and threatening +for a moment to drag him down between platform and carriages. + +'Fergus, Fergus, what have you got there? Give it to me. How +heavy!' + +'It's a few of my mineralogical specimens,' replied Fergus. 'Harry +wouldn't let me put any more into my portmanteau---but the peacock and +the dendrum are there.' + +Already, without special regard to peacock or dendrum, whatever that +article might be, Miss Mohun was claiming the little old military +portmanteau, with a great M and 110th painted on it, that held +Fergus's garments. + +He would scarcely endure to deposit the precious bag in the omnibus, +and as he walked home his talk was all of tertiary formations, and +coal measures, and limestones, as he extracted a hammer from his +pocket, and looked perilously disposed to use it on the vein of +crystals in a great pink stone in a garden wall. His aunt was +obliged to begin by insisting that the walls should be safe from +geological investigations. + +'But it is such waste, Aunt Jane. Only think of building up such +beautiful specimens in a stupid old wall.' + +Aunt Jane did not debate the question of waste, but assured him that +equally precious specimens could be honestly come by; while she felt +renewed amusement and pleasure at anything so like the brother +Maurice of thirty odd years ago being beside her. + +It made her endure the contents of the bag being turned out like a +miniature rockery for her inspection on the floor of the glazed +verandah outside the drawing-room, and also try to pacify Mrs. +Mount's indignation at finding the more valuable specimens, or, as +she called them, 'nasty stones' and bits of dirty coal, within his +socks. + +Much more information as to mines, coal, or copper, was to be gained +from him than as to Cousin David, or Harry, or Jasper, who had spent +the last ten days of his holidays at Coalham, which had procured for +Fergus the felicity of a second underground expedition. It was left +to his maturer judgment and the next move to decide how many of his +specimens were absolutely worthless; it was only stipulated that he +and Valetta should carry them, all and sundry, up to the lumber-room, +and there arrange them as he chose;---Aunt Jane routing out for him a +very dull little manual of mineralogy, and likewise a book of Maria +Hack's, long since out of print, but wherein 'Harry Beaufoy' is +instructed in the chief outlines of geology in a manner only perhaps +inferior to that of "Madame How and Lady Why," which she reserved for +a birthday present. Meantime Rockstone and its quarries were almost +as excellent a field of research as the mines of Coalham, and in a +different line. + +'How much nicer it is to be a boy than a girl!' sighed Valetta, as +she beheld her junior marching off with all the dignity of hammer and +knapsack to look up Alexis White and obtain access to the heaps of +rubbish, which in his eyes held as infinite possibilities as the +diamond fields of Kimberley. And Alexis was only delighted to bestow +on him any space of daylight when both were free from school or from +work, and kept a look-out for the treasures he desired. Of course, +out of gratitude to his parents---or was it out of gratitude to his +sister? Perhaps Fergus could have told, if he had paid the slightest +attention to such a trifle, how anxiously Alexis inquired when Miss +Gillian was expected to return. Moreover, he might have told that +his other model, Stebbing, pronounced old Dick White a beast and a +screw, with whom his brother Frank was not going to stop. + +Gillian came back a fortnight later, having been kept at Rowthorpe, +together with Mrs. Grinstead, for a family festival over the double +marriage in Ceylon, after which she spent a few days in London, so as +to see her grandmother, Mrs. Merrifield, who was too infirm for an +actual visit to be welcome, since her attendant grandchild, Bessie +Merrifield, was so entirely occupied with her as to have no time to +bestow upon a guest of more than an hour or two. Gillian was met at +the station by her aunt, and when all her belongings had been duly +extracted, proving a good deal larger in bulk than when she had left +Rockstone, and both were seated in the fly to drive home through a +dismal February Fill-dyke day, the first words that were spoken were, + +'Aunt Jane, I ought to tell you something.' + +Hastily revolving conjectures as to the subject of the coming +confession, Miss Mohun put herself at her niece's service. + +'Aunt Jane, I know I ought to have told you how much I was seeing of +the Whites last autumn.' + +'Indeed, I know you wished to do what you could for them.' + +'Yes,' said Gillian, finding it easier than she expected. 'You know +Alexis wants very much to be prepared for Holy Orders, and he could +not get on by himself, so I have been running down to Kalliope's +office after reading to Lily Giles, to look over his Greek +exercises.' + +'Meeting him?' + +'Only sometimes. But Kally did not like it. She said you ought to +know, and that was the reason she would not come into the G.F.S. She +is so good and honourable, Aunt Jane.' + +'I am sure she is a very excellent girl,' said Aunt Jane warmly. +'But certainly it would have been better to have these lessons in our +house. Does your mother know?' + +'Yes,' said Gillian, 'I wrote to her all I was doing, and how I have +been talking to Kally on Sunday afternoons through the rails of Mr. +White's garden. I thought she could telegraph if she did not +approve, but she does not seem to have noticed it in my letters, only +saying something I could not make out--about "if you approved."' + +'And is that the reason you have told me?' + +'Partly, but I got the letter before the holidays. I think it has +worked itself up, Aunt Jane, into a sense that it was not the thing. +There was Kally, and there was poor Valetta's mess, and her +justifying herself by saying I did more for the Whites than you knew, +and altogether, I grew sorry I had begun it, for I was sure it was +not acting honestly towards you, Aunt Jane, and I hope you will +forgive me.' + +Miss Mohun put her arm round the girl and kissed her heartily. + +'My dear Gill, I am glad you have told me! I dare say I seemed to +worry you, and that you felt as if you were watched; I will do my +very best to help you, if you have got into a scrape. I only want to +ask you not to do anything more till I can see Kally, and settle with +her the most suitable way of helping the youth.' + +But do you think there is a scrape, aunt? I never thought of that, +if you forgave me.' + +'My dear, I see you did not; and that you told me because you are my +Lily's daughter, and have her honest heart. I do not know that there +is anything amiss, but I am afraid young ladies can't do---well, +impulsive things without a few vexations in consequence. Don't be so +dismayed, I don't know of anything, and I cannot tell you how glad I +am of your having spoken out in this way.' + +'I feel as if a load were off my back!' said Gillian. + +And a bar between her and her aunt seemed to have vanished, as they +drove up the now familiar slope, and under the leafless copper +beeches. Blood is thinker than water, and what five months ago had +seemed to be exile, had become the first step towards home, if not +home itself, for now, like Valetta, she welcomed the sound of her +mother's voice in her aunt's. And there were Valetta and Fergus +rushing out, almost under the wheels to fly at her, and Aunt Ada's +soft embraces in the hall. + +The first voice that came out of the melee was Valetta's. 'Gill is +grown quite a lady!' + +'How much improved!' exclaimed Aunt Ada. + +'The Bachfisch has swum into the river,' was Aunt Jane's comment. + +'She'll never be good for anything jolly---no scrambling!' grumbled +Fergus. + +'Now Fergus! didn't Kitty Somerville and I scramble when we found the +gate locked, and thought we saw the spiteful stag, and that he was +going to run at us?' + +'I'm afraid that was rather on compulsion, Gill.' + +'It wasn't the spiteful stag after all, but we had such a long way to +come home, and got over the park wall at last by the help of the limb +of a tree. We had been taking a bit of wedding-cake to Frank +Somerville's old nurse, and Kitty told her I was her maiden aunt, and +we had such fun---her uncle's wife's sister, you know.' + +'We sent a great piece of our wedding-cake to the Whites,' put in +Valetta. 'Fergus and I took it on Saturday afternoon, but nobody was +at home but Mrs. White, and she is fatter than ever.' + +'I say, Gill, which is the best formation, Vale Leston or Rowthorpe?' + +'Oh, nobody is equal to Geraldine; but Kitty is a dear thing.' + +'I didn't mean that stuff, but which had the best strata and +specimens ?' + +'Geological, he means---not of society,' interposed Aunt Jane. + +'Oh yes! Harry said he had gone geology mad, and I really did get +you a bit of something at Vale Leston, Fergus, that Mr. Harewood said +was worth having. Was it an encrinite? I know it was a stone-lily.' + +'An encrinite! Oh, scrumptious!' + +Then ensued such an unpacking as only falls to the lot of home-comers +from London, within the later precincts of Christmas, gifts of +marvellous contrivance and novelty, as well as cheapness, for all and +sundry, those reserved for others almost as charming to the beholders +as those which fell to their own lot. The box, divided into +compartments, transported Fergus as much as the encrinite; Valetta +had a photograph-book, and, more diffidently, Gillian presented Aunt +Ada with a graceful little statuette in Parian, and Aunt Jane with +the last novelty in baskets. There were appropriate keepsakes for +the maids, and likewise for Kalliope and Maura. Aunt Jane was glad +to see that discretion had prevailed so as to confine these gifts to +the female part of the White family. There were other precious +articles in reserve for the absent; and the display of Gillian's own +garments was not without interest, as she had been to her first ball, +under the chaperonage of Lady Somerville, and Mrs. Grinstead had made +her white tarletan available by painting it and its ribbons with +exquisite blue nemophilas, too lovely for anything so fleeting. + +Mrs. Grinstead and her maid had taken charge of the damsel's toilette +at Rowthorpe, had perhaps touched up her dresses, and had certainly +taught her how to put them on, and how to manage her hair, so that +though it had not broken out into fringes or tousles, as if it were +desirable to imitate savages 'with foreheads marvellous low,' the +effect was greatly improved. The young brown-skinned, dark-eyed +face, and rather tall figure were the same, even the clothes the very +same chosen under her aunt Ada's superintendence, but there was an +indescribable change, not so much that of fashion as of distinction, +and something of the same inward growth might be gathered from her +conversation. + +All the evening there was a delightful outpouring. Gillian had been +extremely happy, and considerably reconciled to her sisters' +marriages; but she had been away from home and kin long enough to +make her feel her nearness to her aunts, and to appreciate the +pleasure of describing her enjoyment without restraint, and of being +with those whose personal family interests were her own, not only +sympathetic, like her dear Geraldine's. They were ready for any +amount of description, though, on the whole, Miss Mohun preferred to +hear of the Vale Leston charities and church details, and Miss +Adeline of the Rowthorpe grandees and gaieties, after the children +had supped full of the diversions of their own kind at both places, +and the deeply interesting political scraps and descriptions of great +men had been given. + +It had been, said Aunt Jane, a bit of education. Gillian had indeed +spent her life with thoughtful, cultivated, and superior people; but +the circumstances of her family had confined her to a schoolroom sort +of existence ever since she had reached appreciative years, +retarding, though not perhaps injuring, her development; nor did +Rockquay society afford much that was elevating, beyond the Bureau de +Charite that Beechcroft Cottage had become. Details were so much in +hand that breadth of principle might be obscured. + +At Vale Leston, however, there was a strong ecclesiastical +atmosphere; but while practical parish detail was thoroughly kept up, +there was a wider outlook, and constant conversation and discussion +among superior men, such as the Harewood brothers, Lancelot +Underwood, Mr. Grinstead, and Dr. May, on the great principles and +issues of Church and State matters, religion, and morals, together +with matters of art, music, and literature, opening new vistas to +her, and which she could afterwards go over with Mrs. Grinstead and +Emily and Anna Vanderkist with enthusiasm and comprehension. It was +something different from grumbling over the number of candles at St. +Kenelm's, or the defective washing of the St. Andrew's surplices. + +At Rowthorpe she had seen and heard people with great historic names, +champions in the actual battle. There had been a constant coming and +going of guests during her three weeks' visit, political meetings, +entertainments to high and low, the opening of a public institute in +the next town, the exhibition of tableaux in which she had an +important share, parties in the evenings, and her first ball. The +length of her visit and her connection with the family had made her +share the part of hostess with Lady Constance and Lady Katharine +Somerville, and she had been closely associated with their intimates, +the daughters of these men of great names. Of course there had been +plenty of girlish chatter and merry trifling, perhaps some sharp +satirical criticism, and the revelations she had heard had been a +good deal of the domestic comedy of political and aristocratic life; +but throughout there had been a view of conscientious goodness, for +the young girls who gave a tone to the rest had been carefully +brought up, and were earnest and right-minded, accepting +representation, gaiety, and hospitality as part of the duty of their +position, often involving self-denial, though there was likewise +plenty of enjoyment. + +Such glimpses of life had taught Gillian more than she yet realised. +As has been seen, the atmosphere of Vale Leston had deepened her +spiritual life, and the sermons had touched her heart to the quick, +and caused self-examination, which had revealed to her the secret of +her dissatisfaction with herself, and her perception was the clearer +through her intercourse on entirely equal terms with persons of a +high tone of refinement. + +The immediate fret of sense of supervision and opposition being +removed, she had seen things more justly, and a distaste had grown on +her for stolen expeditions to the office, and for the corrections of +her pupil's exercises. She recoiled from the idea that this was the +consequence either of having swell friends, or of getting out of her +depth in her instructions; but reluctance recurred, while advance in +knowledge of the world made her aware that Alexis White, after hours, +in his sister's office, might justly be regarded by her mother and +aunts as an undesirable scholar for her, and that his sister's +remonstrances ought not to have been scouted. She had done the thing +in her simplicity, but it was through her own wilful secretiveness +that her ignorance had not been guarded. + +Thus she had, as a matter of truth, conscience, and repentance, made +the confession which had been so kindly received as to warm her heart +with gratitude to her aunt, and she awoke the next morning to feel +freer, happier, and more at home than she had ever yet done at +Rockstone. + +When the morning letters were opened, they contained the startling +news that Mysie might be expected that very evening, with Fly, the +governess, and Lady Rotherwood,---at least that was the order of +precedence in which the party represented itself to the minds of the +young Merrifields. Primrose had caught a fresh cold, and her uncle +and aunt would not part with her till her mother's return, but the +infection was over with the other two, and sea air was recommended as +soon as possible for Lady Phyllis; so, as the wing of the hotel, +which was almost a mansion in itself, had been already engaged, the +journey was to be made at once, and the arrival would take place in +the afternoon. The tidings were most rapturously received; Valetta +jumped on and off all the chairs in the room unchidden, while Fergus +shouted, 'Hurrah for Mysie and Fly!' and Gillian's heart felt free to +leap. + +This made it a very busy day, since Lady Rotherwood had begged to +have some commissions executed for her beforehand, small in +themselves, but, with a scrupulously thorough person, occupying all +the time left from other needful engagements; so that there was no +chance of the promised conversation with Kalliope, nor did Gillian +trouble herself much about it in her eagerness, and hardly heard +Fergus announce that Frank Stebbing had come home, and the old boss +was coming, 'bad luck to him.' + +All the three young people were greatly disappointed that their aunts +would not consent to their being on the platform nor in front of the +hotel, nor even in what its mistress termed the reception-room, to +meet the travellers. + +'There was nothing Lady Rotherwood would dislike more than a rush of +you all,' said Aunt Adeline, and they had to submit, though Valetta +nearly cried when she was dragged in from demonstratively watching at +the gate in a Scotch mist. + +However, in about a quarter of an hour there was a ring at the door, +and in another moment Mysie and Gillian were hugging one smother, +Valetta hanging round Mysie's neck, Fergus pulling down her arm. The +four creatures seemed all wreathed into one like fabulous snakes for +some seconds, and when they unfolded enough for Mysie to recollect +and kiss her aunts, there certainly was a taller, better-equipped +figure, but just the same round, good-humoured countenance, and the +first thing, beyond happy ejaculations, that she was heard in a +dutiful voice to say was, 'Miss Elbury brought me to the door. I may +stay as long as my aunts like to have me this evening, if you will be +so kind as to send some one to see me back.' + +Great was the jubilation, and many the inquiries after Primrose, who +had once been nearly well, but had fallen back again, and Fly, who, +Mysie said, was quite well and as comical as ever when she was well, +but quickly tired. She had set out in high spirits, but had been +dreadfully weary all the latter part of the journey, and was to go to +bed at once. She still coughed, but Mysie was bent on disproving +Nurse Halfpenny's assurance that the recovery would not be complete +till May, nor was there any doubt of her own air of perfect health. + +It was an evening of felicitous chatter, of showing off Christmas +cards, of exchanging of news, of building of schemes, the most +prominent being that Valetta should be in the constant companionship +of Mysie and Fly until her own schoolroom should be re-established. +This had been proposed by Lord Rotherwood, and was what the aunts +would have found convenient; but apparently this had been settled by +Lord Rotherwood and the two little girls, but Lady Rotherwood had not +said anything about it, and quoth Mysie, 'Somehow things don't happen +till Lady Rotherwood settles them, and then they always do.' + +'And shall I like Miss Elbury?' asked Valetta. + +'Yes, if---if you take pains,' said Mysie; 'but you mustn't bother her +with questions in the middle of a lesson, or she tells you not to +chatter. She likes to have them all kept for the end; and then, if +they aren't foolish, she will take lots of trouble.' + +'Oh, I hate that!' said Valetta. 'I shouldn't remember them, and I +like to have done with it. Then she is not like Miss Vincent?' + +'Oh no! She couldn't be dear Miss Vincent; but, indeed, she is very +kind and nice.' + +'How did you get on altogether, Mysie! Wasn't it horrid?' asked +Gillian. + +'I was afraid it was going to be horrid,' said Mysie. 'You see, it +wasn't like going in holiday time as it was before. We had to be +almost always in the schoolroom; and there were lots of lessons---more +for me than Fly.' + +'Just like a horrid old governess to slake her thirst on you,' put in +Fergus; and though his aunts shook their heads at him, they did not +correct him. + +'And one had to sit bolt upright all the time, and never twist one's +ankles,' continued Mysie; 'and not speak except French and German--- +good, mind! It wouldn't do to say, "La jambe du table est sur mon +exercise?"' + + +'Oh, oh! No wonder Fly got ill!' + +'Fly didn't mind one bit. French and German come as naturally to her +as the days of the week, and they really begin to come to me in the +morning now when I see Miss Elbury.' + +'But have you to go on all day?' asked Valetta disconsolately. + +'Oh no! Not after one o'clock.' + +'And you didn't say that mamma thinks it only leads to slovenly bad +grammar!' said Gillian. + +'That would have been impertinent,' said Mysie; 'and no one would +have minded either.' + +'Did you never play?' + +'We might play after our walk---and after tea; but it had to be quiet +play, not real good games, even before Fly was ill---at least we did +have some real games when Primrose came over, or when Cousin +Rotherwood had us down in his study or in the hall; but Fly got +tired, and knocked up very soon even then. Miss Elbury wanted us +always to play battledore and shuttlecock, or Les Graces, if we +couldn't go out.' + +'Horrid woman!' said Valetta. + +'No, she isn't horrid,' said Mysie stoutly; 'I only fancied her so +when she used to say, "Vos coudes, mademoiselle," or "Redresses- +vous," and when she would not let us whisper; but really and truly +she was very, very kind, and I came to like her very much and see she +was not cross---only thought it right.' + +'And redressez-vous has been useful, Mysie,' said Aunt Ada; 'you are +as much improved as Gillian.' + +'I thought it would be dreadful,' continued Mysie, 'when the grown- +ups went out on a round of visits, and we had no drawing-room, and no +Cousin Rotherwood; but Cousin Florence came every day, and once she +had us to dinner, and that was nice; and once she took us to +Beechcroft to see Primrose, and if it was not fine enough for Fly to +go out, she came for me, and I went to her cottages with her. Oh, I +did like that! And when the whooping-cough came, you can't think how +very kind she was, and Miss Elbury too. They both seemed only to +think how to make me happy, though I didn't feel ill a bit, except +when I whooped, but they seemed so sorry for me, and so pleased that +I didn't make more fuss. I couldn't, you know, when poor Fly was so +ill. And when she grew better, we were all so glad that somehow it +made us all like a sort of a kind of a home together, though it could +not be that.' + +Mysie's English had scarcely improved, whatever her French had done; +but Gillian gathered that she had had far more grievances to +overcome, and had met them in a very different spirit from herself. + +As to the schoolroom arrangements, which would have been so +convenient to the aunts, it was evident that the matter had not yet +been decisively settled, though the children took it for granted. +It was pretty to see how Mysie was almost devoured by Fergus and +Valetta, hanging on either side of her as she sat, and Gillian, as +near as they would allow, while the four tongues went on unceasingly. + +It was only horrid, Valetta said, that Mysie should sleep in a +different house; but almost as much of her company was vouchsafed on +the ensuing day, Sunday, for Miss Elbury had relations at Rockquay, +and was released for the entire day; and Fly was still so tired in +the morning that she was not allowed to get up early in the day. + +Her mother, however, came in to go to church with Adeline Mohun, and +Gillian, who had heard so much of the great Marchioness, was +surprised to see a small slight woman, not handsome, and worn-looking +about the eyes. At the first glance, she was plainly dressed; but +the eye of a connoisseur like Aunt Ada could detect the exquisiteness +of the material and the taste, and the slow soft tone of her voice; +and every gesture and phrase showed that she had all her life been in +the habit of condescending---in fact, thought Gillian, revolving her +recent experience, though Lady Liddesdale and all her set are taller, +finer-looking people, they are not one bit so grand---no, not that--- +but so unapproachable, as I am sure she is. She is gracious, while +they are just good-natured! + +Aunt Ada was evidently pleased with the graciousness, and highly +delighted to have to take this distinguished personage to church. +Mysie was with her sisters, Valetta was extremely anxious to take her +to the Sunday drawing-room class---whether for the sake of showing her +to Mrs. Hablot, or Mrs. Hablot to her, did not appear. + +Gillian was glad to be asked to sit with Fly in the meantime. It was +a sufficient reason for not repairing to the garden, and she hoped +that Kalliope was unaware of her return, little knowing of the +replies by which Fergus repaid Alexis for his assistance in mineral +hunting. She had no desire to transgress Miss Mohun's desire that no +further intercourse should take place till she herself had spoken +with Kalliope. + +She found little Phyllis Devereux a great deal taller and thinner +than the droll childish being who had been so amusing two years +before at Silverfold, but eagerly throwing herself into her arms with +the same affectionate delight. All the table was spread with pretty +books and outlined illuminations waiting to be painted, and some +really beautiful illustrated Sunday books; but as Gillian touched the +first, Fly cried out, 'Oh, don't! I am so tired of all those things! +And this is such a stupid window. I thought at least I should see +the people going to church, and this looks at nothing but the old sea +and a tiresome garden.' + +'That is thought a special advantage,' said Gillian, smiling. + +'Then I wish some one had it who liked it!' + +'You would not be so near us.' + +'No, and that is nice, and very nice for Mysie. How are all the dear +beasts at Silverfold---Begum, and all?' + +'I am afraid I do not know more about them than Mysie does. Aunt +Jane heard this morning that she must go down there to-morrow to meet +the health-man and see what he says; but she won't take any of us +because of the diphtheria and the scarlet fever being about.' + +'Oh dear, how horrid those catching things are! I've not seen +Ivinghoe all this winter! Ah! but they are good sometimes! If it +had not been for the measles, I should never have had that most +delicious time at Silverfold, nor known Mysie. Now, please tell me +all about where you have been, and what you have been doing.' + +Fly knew some of the younger party that Gillian had met at Rowthorpe; +but she was more interested in the revels at Vale Leston, and +required a precise description of the theatricals, or still better, +of the rehearsals. Never was there a more appreciative audience, of +how it all began from Kit Harewood, the young sailor, having sent +home a lion's skin from Africa, which had already served for tableaux +of Androcles and of Una---how the boy element had insisted on fun, and +the child element on fairies, and how Mrs. William Harewood had +suggested Midsummer Night's Dream as the only combination of the +three essentials, lion, fun, and fairy, and pronounced that education +had progressed far enough for the representation to be 'understanded +of the people,' at least by the 6th and 7th standards. On the whole, +however, comprehension seemed to have been bounded by intense +admiration of the little girl fairies, whom the old women appeared to +have taken for angels, for one had declared that to hear little Miss +Cherry and Miss Katie singing their hymns like the angels they was, +was just like Heaven. She must have had an odd notion of 'Spotted +snakes with double tongues.' Moreover, effect was added to the said +hymns by Uncle Lance behind the scenes. + +Then there was the account of how it had been at first intended that +Oberon should be represented by little Sir Adrian, with his Bexley +cousin, Pearl Underwood, for his Titania; but though she was fairy +enough for anything, he turned out so stolid, and uttered 'Well met +by moonlight, proud Titania,' the only lines he ever learnt, exactly +like a lesson, besides crying whenever asked to study his part, that +the attempt had to be given up, and the fairy sovereigns had to be of +large size, Mr. Grinstead pronouncing that probably this was intended +by Shakespeare, as Titania was a name of Diana, and he combined +Grecian nymphs with English fairies. So Gerald Underwood had to +combine the part of Peter Quince (including Thisbe) with that of +Oberon, and the queen was offered to Gillian. + +'But I had learnt Hermia,' she said, 'and I saw it was politeness, so +I wouldn't, and Anna Vanderkist is ever so much prettier, besides +being used to acting with Gerald. She did look perfectly lovely, +asleep on the moss in the scene Mrs. Grinstead painted and devised +for her! There was---' + +'Oh! not only the prettiness, I don't care for that. One gets enough +of the artistic, but the fun---the dear fun.' + +'There was fun enough, I am sure,' said Gillian. 'Puck was Felix--- +Pearl's brother, you know---eleven years old, so clever, and an awful +imp---and he was Moon besides; but the worst of it was that his dog--- +it was a funny rough terrier at the Vicarage---was so furious at the +lion, when Adrian was roaring under the skin, that nobody could hear, +and Adrian got frightened, as well he might, and crept out from under +it, screaming, and there fell the lion, collapsing flat in the middle +of the place. Even Theseus---Major Harewood, you know, who had tried +to be as grave as a judge, and so polite to the actors---could not +stand that interpolation, as he called it, of "the man in the moon--- +not to say the dog," came down too soon---Why, Fly---' + +For Fly was in such a paroxysm of laughter as to end in a violent fit +of coughing, and to bring Lady Rotherwood in, vexed and anxious. + +'Oh, mother! it was only---it was only the lion's skin---' and off went +Fly, laughing and coughing again. + +'I was telling her about the acting or Midsummer Night's Dream at +Vale Leston,' explained Gillian. + +'I should not have thought that a suitable subject for the day,' said +the Marchioness gravely, and Fly's endeavour to say it was her fault +for asking about it was silenced by choking; and Gillian found +herself courteously dismissed in polite disgrace, and, as she felt, +not entirely without justice. + +It was a great disappointment that Aunt Jane did not think it well to +take any of the young people to their home with her. As she said, +she did not believe that they would catch anything; but it was better +to be on the safe side, and she fully expected that they would spend +most of the day with Mysie and Fly. + +'I wish I could go and talk to Kalliope, my dear,' she said to +Gillian; 'but I am afraid it must wait another day.' + +'Oh, never mind,' said Gillian, as they bade each other good-night at +their doors; 'they don't know that I am come home, so they will not +expect me.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. ST. VALENTINE'S DAY + + + +Miss Mohun came back in the dark after a long day, for once in her +life quite jaded, and explaining that the health-officer and the +landlord had been by no means agreed, and that nothing could be done +till Sir Jasper came home and decided whether to retain the house or +not. + +All that she was clear about, and which she had telegraphed to Aden, +was, that there must be no going back to Silverfold for the present, +and she was prepared to begin lodging-hunting as soon as she received +an answer. + +'And how have you got on?' she asked, thinking all looked rather +blank. + +'We haven't been to see Fly,' broke out Valetta, 'though she went out +on the beach, and Mysie must not stay out after dark, for fear she +should cough.' + +'Mysie says they are afraid of excitement,' said Gillian gloomily. + +'Then you have seen nothing of the others?' + +'Yes, I have seen Victoria, said Aunt Adeline, with a meaning smile. + +Miss Mohun went up to take off her things, and Gillian followed her, +shutting the door with ominous carefulness, and colouring all over. + +'Aunt Jane, I ought to tell you. A dreadful thing has happened!' + +'Indeed, my dear! What?' + +'I have had a valentine.' + +'Oh!' repressing a certain inclination to laugh at the bathos from +the look of horror and shame in the girl's eyes. + +'It is from that miserable Alexis! Oh, I know I brought it on +myself, and I have been so wretched and so ashamed all day.' + +'Was it so very shocking! Let me see---' + +'Oh! I sent it back at once by the post, in an envelope, saying, +"Sent by mistake."' + +'But what was it like? Surely it was not one of the common shop +things?' + +'Oh no; there was rather a pretty outline of a nymph or muse, or +something of that sort, at the top---drawn, I mean---and verses written +below, something about my showing a lodestar of hope, but I barely +glanced at it. I hated it too much.' + +'I am sorry you were in such a hurry,' said Aunt Jane. 'No doubt it +was a shock; but I am afraid you have given more pain than it quite +deserved.' + +'It was so impertinent!' cried Gillian, in astonished, shame-stricken +indignation. + +'So it seems to you,' said her aunt, 'and it was very bad taste; but +you should remember that this poor lad has grown up in a stratum of +society where he may have come to regard this as a suitable +opportunity of evincing his gratitude, and perhaps it may be very +hard upon him to have this work of his treated as an insult.' + +'But you would not have had me keep it and tolerate it?' exclaimed +Gillian. + +'I can hardly tell without having seen it; but you might have done +the thing more civilly, through his sister, or have let me give it +back to him. However, it is too late now; I will make a point of +seeing Kalliope to-morrow, but in the meantime you really need not be +so horribly disgusted and ashamed.' + +'I thought he was quite a different sort!' + +'Perhaps, after all, your thoughts were not wrong; and he only +fancied, poor boy, that he had found a pretty way of thanking you.' + +This did not greatly comfort Gillian, who might prefer feeling that +she was insulted rather than that she had been cruelly unkind, and +might like to blame Alexis rather than herself. And, indeed, in any +case, she had sense enough to perceive that this very unacceptable +compliment was the consequence of her own act of independence of more +experienced heads. + +The next person Miss Mohun met was Fergus, lugging upstairs, step by +step, a monstrous lump of stone, into which he required her to look +and behold a fascinating crevice full of glittering spar. + +'Where did you get that, Fergus?' + +'Up off the cliff over the quarry.' + +'Are you sure that you may have it?' + +'Oh yes; White said I might. It's so jolly, auntie! Frank Stebbing +is gone away to the other shop in the Apennines, where the old boss +lives. What splendiferous specimens he must have the run of! Our +Stebbing says 'tis because Kally White makes eyes at him; but any +way, White has got to do his work while he's away, and go all the +rounds to see that things are right, so I go after him, and he lets +me have just what I like---such jolly crystals.' + +'I am sure I hope it is all right.' + +'Oh yes, I always ask him, as you told me; but he is awfully slow and +mopy and down in the mouth to-day. Stebbing says he is sweet upon +Gill; but I told him that couldn't be, White knew better. A +general's daughter, indeed! and Will remembers his father a +sergeant.' + +'It is very foolish, Fergus. Say no more about it, for it is not +nice talk about your sister.' + +'I'll lick any one who does,' said Fergus, bumping his stone up +another step. + +Poor Aunt Jane! There was more to fall on her as soon as the door +was finally shut on the two rooms communicating with one another, +which the sisters called their own. Mrs. Mount's manipulations of +Miss Adeline's rich brown hair were endured with some impatience, +while Miss Mohun leant back in her chair in her shawl-patterned +dressing-gown, watching, with a sort of curious wonder and +foreboding, the restlessness that proved that something was in store, +and meantime somewhat lazily brushing out her own thinner darker +locks. + +'You are tired, Miss Jane,' said the old servant, using the pet name +in private moments. 'You had better let me do your hair.' + +'No, thank you, Fanny; I have very nearly done,' she said, marking +the signs of eagerness on her sister's part. 'Oh, by the bye, did +that hot bottle go down to Lilian Giles?' + +'Yes, ma'am; Mrs. Giles came up for it.' + +'Did she say whether Lily was well enough to see Miss Gillian?' + +Mrs. Mount coughed a peculiar cough that her mistresses well knew to +signify that she could tell them something they would not like to +hear, if they chose to ask her, and it was the younger who put the +question--- + +'Fanny, did she say anything?' + +'Well, Miss Ada, I told her she must be mistaken, but she stuck to +it, though she said she never would have breathed a word if Miss +Gillian had not come back again, but she thought you should know it.' + +'Know what?' demanded Jane. + +'Well, Miss Jane, she should say 'tis the talk that Miss Gillian, +when you have thought her reading to the poor girl, has been running +down to the works---and 'tis only the ignorance of them that will +talk, but they say it is to meet a young man. She says, Mrs. Giles +do, that she never would have noticed such talk, but that the young +lady did always seem in a hurry, only just reading a chapter, and +never stopping to talk to poor Lily after it; and she has seen her +herself going down towards the works, instead of towards home, ma'am. +And she said she could not bear that reading to her girl should be +made a colour for such doings.' + +'Certainly not, if it were as she supposes,' said Miss Mohun, sitting +very upright, and beating her own head vigorously with a very prickly +brush; 'but you may tell her, Fanny, that I know all about it, and +that her friend is Miss White, who you remember spent an evening +here.' + +Fanny's good-humoured face cleared up. 'Yes, ma'am, I told her that +I was quite sure that Miss Gillian would not go for to do anything +wrong, and that it could be easy explained; but people has tongues, +you see.' + +'You were quite right to tell us, Fanny. Good-night.' + +'People has tongues!' repeated Adeline, when that excellent person +had disappeared. 'Yes, indeed, they have. But, Jenny, do you really +mean to say that you know all about this?' + +'Yes, I believe so.' + +'Oh, I wish you had been at home to-day when Victoria came in. It +really is a serious business.' + +'Victoria! What has she to do with it? I should have thought her +Marchioness-ship quite out of the region of gossip, though, for that +matter, grandees like it quite as much as other people.' + +'Don't, Jane , you know it does concern her through companionship for +Phyllis, and she was very kind.' + +'Oh yes, I can see her sailing in, magnificently kind from her +elevation. But how in the world did she manage to pick up all this +in the time?' said poor Jane, tired and pestered into the sharpness +of her early youth. + +'Dear Jenny, I wish I had said nothing to-night. Do wait till you +are rested.' + +'I am not in the least tired, and if I were, do you think I could +sleep with this half told?' + +'You said you knew.' + +'Then it is only about Gillian being so silly as to go down to Miss +White's office at the works to look over the boy's Greek exercises.' + +'You don't mean that you allowed it!' + +'No, Gillian's impulsiveness, just like her mother's, began it, as a +little assertion of modern independence; but while she was away that +little step from brook to river brought her to the sense that she had +been a goose, and had used me rather unfairly, and so she came and +confessed it all to me on the way home from the station the first +morning after her return. She says she had written it all to her +mother from the first.' + +'I wonder Lily did not telegraph to put a stop to it.' + +'Do you suppose any mother, our poor old Lily especially, can marry a +couple of daughters without being slightly frantic! Ten to one she +never realised that this precious pupil was bigger than Fergus. But +do tell me what my Lady had heard, and how she heard it.' + +'You remember that her governess, Miss Elbury, has connections in the +place.' + +'"The most excellent creature in the world." Oh yes, and she spent +Sunday with them. So that was the conductor.' + +'I can hardly say that Miss Elbury was to be blamed, considering that +she had heard the proposal about Valetta! It seems that that High +School class-mistress, Miss Mellon, who had the poor child under her, +is her cousin.' + +'Oh dear!' + +'It is exactly what I was afraid of when we decided on keeping +Valetta at home. Miss Mellon told all the Caesar story in plainly +the worst light for poor Val, and naturally deduced from her removal +that she was the most to blame.' + +'Whereas it was Miss Mellon herself! But nobody could expect +Victoria to see that, and no doubt she is quite justified in not +wishing for the child in her schoolroom! But, after all, Valetta is +only a child; it won't hurt her to have this natural recoil of +consequences, and her mother will be at home in three weeks' time. +It signifies much more about Gillian. Did I understand you that the +gossip about her had reached those august ears?' + +'Oh yes, Jane, and it is ever so much worse. That horrid Miss Mellon +seems to have told Miss Elbury that Gillian has a passion for low +company, that she is always running after the Whites at the works, +and has secret meetings with the young man in the garden on Sunday, +while his sister carries on her underhand flirtation with another +youth, Frank Stebbing, I suppose. It really was too preposterous, +and Victoria said she had no doubt from the first that there was +exaggeration, and had told Miss Elbury so; but still she thought +Gillian must have been to blame. She was very nice about it, and +listened to all my explanation most kindly, as to Gillian's interest +in the Whites, and its having been only the sister that she met, but +plainly she is not half convinced. I heard something about a letter +being left for Gillian, and really, I don't know whether there may +not be more discoveries to come. I never felt before the force of +our dear father's saying, apropos of Rotherwood himself, that no one +knows what it is to lose a father except those who have the care of +his children.' + +'Whatever Gillian did was innocent and ladylike, and nothing to be +ashamed of,' said Aunt Jane stoutly; 'of that I am sure. But I +should like to be equally sure that she has not turned the head of +that poor foolish young man, without in the least knowing what she +was about. You should have seen her state of mind at his sending her +a valentine, which she returned to him, perfectly ferociously, at +once, and that was all the correspondence somebody seems to have +smelt out.' + +'A valentine! Gillian must have behaved very ill to have brought +that upon herself! Oh dear! I wish she had never come here; I wish +Lily could have stayed at home, instead of scattering her children +about the world. The Rotherwoods will never get over it.' + +'That's the least part of the grievance, in my eyes,' said her +sister. 'It won't make a fraction of difference to the dear old +cousin Rotherwood; and as to my Lady, it is always a liking from the +teeth outwards.' + +'How can you say so! I am sure she has always been most cordial.' + +'Most correct, if you please. Oh, did she say anything about Mysie?' + +'She said nothing but good of Mysie; called her delightful, and +perfectly good and trustworthy, said they could never have got so +well through Phyllis's illness without her, and that they only wished +to keep her altogether.' + +'I dare say, to be humble companion to my little lady, out of the way +of her wicked sisters.' + +'Jane!' + +'My dear, I don't think I can stand any more defence of her just now! +No, she is an admirable woman, I know. That's enough. I really must +go to bed, and consider which is to be faced first, she or Kalliope.' + +It was lucky that Miss Mohun could exist without much sleep, for she +was far too much worried for any length of slumber to visit her that +night, though she was afoot as early as usual. She thought it best +to tell Gillian that Lady Rotherwood had heard some foolish reports, +and that she was going to try to clear them up, and she extracted an +explicit account as to what the extent of her intercourse with the +Whites had been, which was given willingly, Gillian being in a very +humble frame, and convinced that she had acted foolishly. It +surprised her likewise that Aunt Adeline, whom she had liked the +best, and thought the most good-natured, was so much more angry with +her than Aunt Jane, who, as she felt, forgave her thoroughly, and was +only anxious to help her out of the scrape she had made for herself. + +Miss Mohun thought her best time for seeing Kalliope would be in the +dinner-hour, and started accordingly in the direction of the marble +works. Not far from them she met that young person walking quickly +with one of her little brothers. + +'I was coming to see you,' Miss Mohun said. 'I did not know that you +went home in the middle of the day.' + +'My mother has been so unwell of late that I do not like to be +entirely out of reach all day,' returned Kalliope, who certainly +looked worn and sorrowful; 'so I manage to run home, though it is but +for a quarter of an hour.' + +'I will not delay you, I will walk with you,' and when Petros had +been dismissed, 'I am afraid my niece has not been quite the friend +to you that she intended.' + +'Oh, Miss Mohun, do you know all about it? It is such a relief! I +have felt so guilty towards you, and yet I did not know what to do.' + +'I have never thought that the concealment was your fault,' said +Jane. + +'I did think at first that you knew,' said Kalliope, 'and when I +found that was not the case, I suppose I should have insisted on your +being told; but I could not bear to seem ungrateful, and my brother +took such extreme delight in his lessons and Miss Merrifield's +kindness, that---that I could not bear to do what might prevent them. +And now, poor fellow, it shows how wrong it was, since he has +ventured on that unfortunate act of presumption, which has so +offended her. Oh, Miss Mohun, he is quite broken-hearted.' + +'I am afraid Gillian was very discourteous. I was out, or it should +not have been done so unkindly. Indeed, in the shock, Gillian did +not recollect that she might be giving pain.' + +'Yes, yes! Poor Alexis! He has not had any opportunity of +understanding how different things are in your class of life, and he +thought it would show his gratitude and---and---Oh, he is so +miserable!' and she was forced to stop to wipe away her tears. + +'Poor fellow! But it was one of those young men's mistakes that are +got over and outgrown, so you need not grieve over it so much, my +dear. My brother-in-law is on his way home, and I know he means to +see what can be done for Alexis, for your father's sake.' + +'Oh, Miss Mohun, how good you are! I thought you could never forgive +us. And people do say such shocking things.' + +'I know they do, and therefore I am going to ask you to tell me +exactly what intercourse there has been with Gillian.' + +Kalliope did so, and Miss Mohun was struck with the complete +accordance of the two accounts, and likewise by the total absence of +all attempt at self-justification on Miss White's part. If she had +in any way been weak, it had been against her will, and her position +had been an exceedingly difficult one. She spoke in as guarded a +manner as possible; but to such acute and experienced ears as those +of her auditor, it was impossible not to perceive that, while Gillian +had been absolutely simple, and unconscious of all but a kind act of +patronage, the youth's imagination had taken fire, and he had become +her ardent worshipper; with calf-love, no doubt, but with a distant, +humble adoration, which had, whether fortunately or unfortunately, +for once found expression in the valentine so summarily rejected. +The drawing and the composition had been the work of many days, and +so much against his sister's protest that it had been sent without +her knowledge, after she had thought it given up. She had only +extracted the confession through his uncontrollable despair, which +made him almost unfit to attend to his increased work, perhaps by his +southern nature exaggerated. + +'The stronger at first, the sooner over,' thought Miss Mohun; but she +knew that consolation betraying her comprehension would not be safe. + +One further discovery she made, namely, that on Sunday, Alexis, +foolish lad, had been so wildly impatient at their having had no +notice from Gillian since her return, that he had gone to the garden +to explain, as he said, his sister's non-appearance there, since she +was detained by her mother's illness. It was the only time he had +ever been there, and he had met no one; but Miss Mohun felt a sinking +of heart at the foreboding that the mauvaises langues would get hold +of it. + +The only thing to be decided on was that there must be a suspension +of intercourse, at any rate, till Lady Merrifield's arrival; not in +unkindness, but as best for all. And, indeed, Kalliope had no time +to spare from her mother, whose bloated appearance, poor woman, was +the effect of long-standing disease. + +The daughter's heart was very full of her, and evidently it would +have been a comfort to discuss her condition with this kind friend; +but no more delay was possible; and Miss Mohun had to speed home, in +a quandary how much or how little about Alexis's hopeless passion +should be communicated to its object, and finally deciding that +Gillian had better only be informed that he had been greatly +mortified by the rude manner of rejection, but that the act itself +proved that she must abstain from all renewal of the intercourse till +her parents should return. + +But that was not all the worry of the day. Miss Mohun had still to +confront Lady Rotherwood, and, going as soon as the early dinner was +over, found the Marchioness resting after an inspection of houses in +Rockquay. She did not like hotels, she said, and she thought the top +of the cliff too bleak for Phyllis, so that they must move nearer the +sea if the place agreed with her at all, which was doubtful. Miss +Mohun was pretty well convinced that the true objection was the +neighbourhood of Beechcroft Cottage. She said she had come to give +some explanation of what had been said to her sister yesterday. + +'Oh, my dear Jane, Adeline told me all about it yesterday. I am very +sorry for you to have had such a charge, but what could you expect of +girls cast about as they have been, always with a marching regiment?' + +'I do not think Mysie has given you any reason to think her ill +brought up.' + +'A little uncouth at first, but that was all. Oh, no! Mysie is a +dear little girl. I should be very glad to have her with Phyllis +altogether, and so would Rotherwood. But she was very young when Sir +Jasper retired.' + +'And Valetta was younger. Poor little girl! She was naughty, but I +do not think she understood the harm of what she was doing.' + +Lady Rotherwood smiled. + +'Perhaps not; but she must have been deeply involved, since she was +the one amongst all the guilty to be expelled.' + +'Oh, Victoria! Was that what you heard?' + +'Miss Elbury heard it from the governess she was under. Surely she +was the only one not permitted to go up for the examination and +removed.' + +'True, but that was our doing---no decree of the High School. Her own +governess is free now, and her mother on her way, and we thought she +had better not begin another term. Yes, Victoria, I quite see that +you might doubt her fitness to be much with Phyllis. I am not asking +for that---I shall try to get her own governess to come at once; but +for the child's sake and her mother's I should like to get this +cleared up. May I see Miss Elbury?' + +'Certainly; but I do not think you will find that she has +exaggerated, though of course her informant may have done so. + +Miss Elbury was of the older generation of governesses, motherly, +kind, but rather prim and precise, the accomplished element being +supplied with diplomaed foreigners, who, since Lady Phyllis's failure +in health, had been dispensed with. She was a good and sensible +woman, as Jane could see, in spite of the annoyance her report had +occasioned, and it was impossible not to assent when she said she had +felt obliged, under the circumstances, to mention to Lady Rotherwood +what her cousin had told her. + +'About both my nieces,' said Jane. 'Yes, I quite understand. But, +though of course the little one's affair is the least important, we +had better get to the bottom of that first, and I should like to tell +you what really happened.' + +She told her story, and how Valetta had been tempted and then bullied +into going beyond the first peeps, and finding she did not produce +the impression she wished, she begged Miss Elbury to talk it over +with the head-mistress. It was all in the telling. Miss Elbury's +young cousin, Miss Mellon, had been brought under rebuke, and into +great danger of dismissal, through Valetta Merrifield's lapse; and it +was no wonder that she had warned her kinswoman against 'the horrid +little deceitful thing,' who had done so much harm to the whole +class. 'Miss Mohun was running about over the whole place, but not +knowing what went on in her own house!' And as to Miss White, Miss +Elbury mentioned at last, though with some reluctance, that it was +believed that she had been on the point of a private marriage, and of +going to Italy with young Stebbing, when her machinations were +detected, and he was forced to set off without her. + +With this in her mind, the governess could not be expected to accept +as satisfactory what was not entire confutation or contradiction, and +Miss Mohun saw that, politely as she was listened to, it was all only +treated as excuse; since there could be no denial of Gillian's folly, +and it was only a question of degree. + +And, provoking as it was, the disappointment might work well for +Valetta. The allegations against Gillian were a far more serious +affair, but much more of these could be absolutely disproved and +contradicted; in fact, all that Miss Mohun herself thought very +serious, i.e. the flirtation element, was shown to be absolutely +false, both as regarded Gillian and Kalliope; but it was quite +another thing to convince people who knew none of the parties, when +there was the residuum of truth undeniable, that there had been +secret meetings not only with the girl, but the youth. To acquit +Gillian of all but modern independence and imprudent philanthropy was +not easy to any one who did not understand her character, and though +Lady Rotherwood said nothing more in the form of censure, it was +evident that she was unconvinced that Gillian was not a fast and +flighty girl, and that she did not desire more contact than was +necessary. + +No doubt she wished herself farther off! Lord Rotherwood, she said, +was coming down in a day or two, when he could get away, and then +they should decide whether to take a house or to go abroad, which, +after all, might be the best thing for Phyllis. + +'He will make all the difference,' said Miss Adeline, when the +unsatisfactory conversation was reported to her. + +'I don't know! But even if he did, and I don't think he will, I +won't have Valetta waiting for his decision and admitted on +sufferance.' + +'Shall you send her back to school?' + +'No. Poor Miss Vincent is free, and quite ready to come here. +Fergus shall go and sleep among his fossils in the lumber-room, and I +will write to her at once. She will be much better here than waiting +at Silverton, though the Hacketts are very kind to her.' + +'Yes, it will be better to be independent. But all this is very +unfortunate. However, Victoria will see for herself what the +children are. She has asked me to take a drive with her to-morrow if +it is not too cold.' + +'Oh yes, she is not going to make an estrangement. You need not fear +that, Ada. She does not think it your fault.' + +Aunt Jane pondered a little as to what to say to the two girls, and +finally resolved that Valetta had better be told that she was not to +do lessons with Fly, as her behaviour had made Lady Rotherwood doubt +whether she was a good companion. Valetta stamped and cried, and +said it was very hard and cross when she had been so sorry and every +one had forgiven her; but Gillian joined heartily with Aunt Jane in +trying to make the child understand that consequences often come in +spite of pardon and repentance. To Gillian herself, Aunt Jane said +as little as possible, not liking even to give the veriest hint of +the foolish gossip, or of the extent of poor Alexis White's +admiration; for it was enough for the girl to know that concealment +had brought her under a cloud, and she was chiefly concerned as to +how her mother would look on it. She had something of Aunt Jane's +impatience of patronage, and perhaps thought it snobbish to seem +concerned at the great lady's displeasure. + +Mysie was free to run in and out to her sisters, but was still to do +her lessons with Miss Elbury, and Fly took up more of her time than +the sisters liked. Neither she nor Fly were formally told why their +castles vanished into empty air, but there certainly was a continual +disappointment and fret on both sides, which Fly could not bear as +well as when she was in high health, and poor Mysie's loving heart +often found it hard to decide between her urgent claims and those of +Valetta! + +But was not mamma coming? and papa? Would not all be well then? +Yes, hearts might bound at the thought. But where was Gillian's +great thing?' + +Miss Vincent's coming was really like a beginning of home, in spite +of her mourning and depressed look. It was a great consolation to +the lonely woman to find how all her pupils flew at her, with +infinite delight. She had taken pains to bring a report of all the +animals for Valetta, and she duly admired all Fergus's geological +specimens, and even undertook to print labels for them. + +Mysie would have liked to begin lessons again with her; but this +would have been hard on Fly, and besides, her mother had committed +her to the Rotherwoods, and it was better still to leave her with +them. + +The aunts were ready with any amount of kindness and sympathy for the +governess's bereavement, and her presence was a considerable relief +in the various perplexities. + +Even Lady Rotherwood and Miss Elbury had been convinced, and by no +means unwillingly, that Gillian had been less indiscreet than had +been their first impression; but she had been a young lady of the +period in her independence, and was therefore to be dreaded. No more +garden trystes would have been possible under any circumstances, for +the house and garden were in full preparation for the master, who was +to meet Lord Rotherwood to consult about the proposed water-works and +other designs for the benefit of the town where they were the chief +landowners. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE PARTNER + + + +The expected telegram arrived two days later, requesting Miss Mohun +to find a lodging at Rockstone sufficient to contain Sir Jasper and +Lady Merrifield, and a certain amount of sons and daughters, while +they considered what was to be done about Silverfold. + +'So you and I will go out house-hunting, Gillian?' said Aunt Jane, +when she had opened it, and the exclamations were over. + +'I am afraid there is no house large enough up here,' said her +sister. + +'No, it is an unlucky time, in the thick of the season.' + +'Victoria said she had been looking at some houses in Bellevue.' + +'I am afraid she will have raised the prices of them.' + +'But, oh, Aunt Jane, we couldn't go to Bellevue Church!' cried +Gillian. + +'Your mother would like to be so near the daily services at the +Kennel,' said Miss Mohun. 'Yes, we must begin with those houses. +There's nothing up here but Sorrento, and I have heard enough of its +deficiencies!' + +At that moment in came a basket of game, grapes, and flowers, with +Lady Rotherwood's compliments. + +'Solid pudding,' muttered Miss Mohun. 'In this case, I should almost +prefer empty praise. Look here, Ada, what a hamper they must have +had from home! I think I shall, as I am going that way, take a +pheasant and some grapes to the poor Queen of the White Ants; I +believe she is really ill, and it will show that we do not want to +neglect them.' + +'Oh, thank you, Aunt Jane!' cried Gillian, the colour rising in her +face, and she was the willing bearer of the basket as she walked down +the steps with her aunt, and along the esplanade, only pausing to +review the notices of palatial, rural, and desirable villas in the +house-agent's window, and to consider in what proportion their claims +to perfection might be reduced. + +As they turned down Ivinghoe Terrace, and were approaching the rusty +garden-gate, they overtook Mrs. Lee, the wife of the organist of St. +Kenelm's, who lodged at Mrs. White's. In former times, before her +marriage, Mrs. Lee had been a Sunday-school teacher at St. Andrew's, +and though party spirit considered her to have gone over to the +enemy, there were old habits of friendly confidence between her and +Miss Mohun, and there was an exchange of friendly greetings and +inquiries. When she understood their errand she rejoiced in it, +saying that poor Mrs. White was very poorly, and rather fractious, +and that this supply would be most welcome both to her and her +daughter. + +'Ah, I am afraid that poor girl goes through a great deal!' + +'Indeed she does, Miss Mohun; and a better girl never lived. I +cannot think how she can bear up as she does; there she is at the +office all day with her work, except when she runs home in the middle +of the day---all that distance to dish up something her mother can +taste, for there's no dependence on the girl, nor on little Maura +neither. Then she is slaving early and late to keep the house in +order as well as she can, when her mother is fretting for her +attention; and I believe she loses more than half her night's rest +over the old lady. How she bears up, I cannot guess; and never a +cross word to her mother, who is such a trial, nor to the boys, but +looking after their clothes and their lessons, and keeping them as +good and nice as can be. I often say to my husband, I am sure it is +a lesson to live in the house with her.' + +'I am sure she is an excellent girl,' said Miss Mohun. 'I wish we +could do anything to help her.' + +'I know you are a real friend, Miss Mohun, and never was there any +young person who was in greater need of kindness; though it is none +of her fault. She can't help her face, poor dear; and she has never +given any occasion, I am sure, but has been as guarded and correct as +possible.' + +'Oh, I was in hopes that annoyance was suspended at least for a +time!' + +'You are aware of it then, Miss Mohun? Yes, the young gentleman is +come back, not a bit daunted. Yesterday evening what does he do but +drive up in a cab with a great bouquet, and a basketful of grapes, +and what not! Poor Kally, she ran in to me, and begged me as a +favour to come downstairs with her, and I could do no less. And I +assure you, Miss Mohun, no queen could be more dignified, nor more +modest than she was in rejecting his gifts, and keeping him in check. +Poor dear, when he was gone she burst out crying---a thing I never +knew of her before; not that she cared for him, but she felt it a +cruel wrong to her poor mother to send away the grapes she longed +after; and so she will feel these just a providence.' + +'Then is Mrs. White confined to her room?' + +'For more than a fortnight. For that matter the thing was easier, +for she had encouraged the young man as far as in her lay, poor +thing, though my husband and young Alexis both told her what they +knew of him, and that it would not be for Kally's happiness, let +alone the offence to his father.' + +'Then it really went as far as that?' + +'Miss Mohun, I would be silent as the grave if I did not know that +the old lady went talking here and there, never thinking of the harm +she was doing. She was so carried away by the idea of making a lady +of Kally. She says she was a beauty herself, though you would not +think it now, and she is perfectly puffed up about Kally. So she +actually lent an ear when the young man came persuading Kally to get +married and go off to Italy with him, where he made sure he could +come over Mr. White with her beauty and relationship and all---among +the myrtle groves---that was his expression--where she would have an +association worthy of her. I don't quite know how he meant it to be +brought about, but he is one who would stick at nothing, and of +course Kally would not hear of it, and answered him so as one would +think he would never have had the face to address her again, but poor +Mrs. White has done nothing but fret over it, and blame her daughter +for undutifulness, and missing the chance of making all their +fortunes---breaking her heart and her health, and I don't know what +besides. She is half a foreigner, you see, and does not understand, +and she is worse than no one to that poor girl.' + +'And you say he is come back as bad as ever.' + +'Or worse, you may say, Miss Mohun; absence seems only to have set +him the more upon her, and I am afraid that Mrs. White's talk, though +it may not have been to many, has been enough to set it about the +place; and in cases like that, it is always the poor young woman as +gets the blame---especially with the gentleman's own people.' + +'I am afraid so.' + +'And you see she is in a manner at his mercy, being son to one of the +heads of the firm, and in a situation of authority.' + +'What can she do all day at the office?' + +'She keeps one or two of the other young ladies working with her,' +said Mrs. Lee; 'but if any change could be made, it would be very +happy for her; though, after all, I do not see how she could leave +this place, the house being family property, and Mr. White their +relation, besides that Mrs. White is in no state to move; but, on the +other hand, Mr. and Mrs. Stebbing know their son is after her, and +the lady would not stick at believing or saying anything against her, +though I will always bear witness, and so will Mr. Lee, that never +was there a more good, right-minded young woman, or more prudent and +guarded.' + +'So would Mr. Flight and his mother, I have no doubt.' + +'Mr. Flight would, Miss Mohun, but'---with an odd look---'I fancy my +lady thinks poor Kally too handsome for it to be good for a young +clergyman to have much to say to her. They have not been so cordial +to them of late, but that is partly owing to poor Mrs. White's +foolish talk, and in part to young Alexis having been desultory and +mopy of late---not taking the interest in his music he did. Mr. Lee +says he is sure some young woman is at the bottom of it.' + +Miss Mohun saw her niece's ears crimson under her hat, and was afraid +Mrs. Lee would likewise see them. They had reached the front of the +house, and she made haste to take out a visiting-card and to beg Mrs. +Lee kindly to give it with the basket, saying that she would not give +trouble by coming to the door. + +And then she turned back with Gillian, who was in a strange tumult of +shame and consternation, yet withal, feeling that first strange +thrill of young womanhood at finding itself capable of stirring +emotion, and too much overcome by these strange sensations---above all +by the shock of shame---to be able to utter a word. + +I must make light of it, but not too light, thought Miss Mohun, and +she broke the ice by saying, 'Poor foolish boy----' + +'Oh, Aunt Jane, what shall I do?' + +'Let it alone, my dear.' + +'But that I should have done so much harm and upset him so'---in a +voice betraying a certain sense of being flattered. 'Can't I do +anything to undo it?' + +'Certainly not. To be perfectly quiet and do nothing is all you can +do. My dear, boys and young men have such foolish fits---more in that +station than in ours, because they have none of the public school and +college life which keeps people out of it. You were the first lady +this poor fellow was brought into contact with, and---well, you were +rather a goose, and he has been a greater one; but if he is let +alone, he will recover and come to his senses. I could tell you of +men who have had dozens of such fits. I am much more interested +about his sister. What a noble girl she is!' + +'Oh, isn't she, Aunt Jane. Quite a real heroine! And now mamma is +coming, she will know what to do for her!' + +'I hope she will, but it is a most perplexing case altogether.' + +'And that horrid young Stebbing is come back too. I am glad she has +that nice Mrs. Lee to help her.' + +'And to defend her,' added Miss Mohun. 'Her testimony is worth a +great deal, and I am glad to know where to lay my hand upon it. And +here is our first house, "Les Rochers." For Madame de Sevigne's +sake, I hope it will do!' + +But it didn't! Miss Mohun got no farther than the hall before she +detected a scent of gas; and they had to betake themselves to the +next vacant abode. The investigating nature had full scope in the +various researches that she made into parlour, kitchen, and hall, +desperately wearisome to Gillian, whose powers were limited to +considering how the family could sit at ease in the downstairs rooms, +how they could be stowed away in the bedrooms, and where there were +the prettiest views of the bay. Aunt Jane, becoming afraid that +while she was literally 'ferreting' in the offices Gillian might be +meditating on her conquest, picked up the first cheap book that +looked innocently sensational, and left her to study it on various +sofas. And when daylight failed for inspections, Gillian still had +reason to rejoice in the pastime devised for her, since there was an +endless discussion at the agent's, over the only two abodes that +could be made available, as to prices, repairs, time, and terms. +They did not get away till it was quite dark and the gas lighted, and +Miss Mohun did not think the ascent of the steps desirable, so that +they went round by the street. + +'I declare,' exclaimed Miss Mohun, 'there's Mr. White's house lighted +up. He must be come!' + +'I wonder whether he will do anything for Kalliope,' sighed Gillian. + +'Oh, Jenny,' exclaimed Miss Adeline, as the two entered the drawing- +room. 'You have had such a loss; Rotherwood has been here waiting to +see you for an hour, and such an agreeable man he brought with him!' + +'Who could it have been?' + +'I didn't catch his name---Rotherwood was mumbling in his quick way--- +indeed, I am not sure he did not think I knew him. A distinguished- +looking man, like a picture, with a fine white beard, and he was +fresh from Italy; told me all about the Carnival and the curious +ceremonies in the country villages.' + +'From Italy? It can't have been Mr. White.' + +'Mr. White! My dear Jane! this was a gentleman---quite a grand- +looking man. He might have been an Italian nobleman, only he spoke +English too well for that, though I believe those diplomates can +speak all languages. However, you will see, for we are to go and +dine with them at eight o'clock---you, and I, and Gillian.' + +'You, Ada!' + +'Oh! I have ordered the chair round; it won't hurt me with the +glasses up. Gillian, my dear, you must put on the white dress that +Mrs. Grinstead's maid did up for you---it is quite simple, and I +should like you to look nice! Well---oh, how tired you both look! +Ring for some fresh tea, Gillian. Have you found a house?' + +So excited and occupied was Adeline that the house-hunting seemed to +have assumed quite a subordinate place in her mind. It really was an +extraordinary thing for her to dine out, though this was only a +family party next door; and she soon sailed away to hold counsel with +Mrs. Mount on dresses and wraps, and to get her very beautiful hair +dressed. She made by far the most imposing appearance of the three +when they shook themselves out in the ante-room at the hotel, in her +softly-tinted sheeny pale-gray dress, with pearls in her hair, and +two beautiful blush roses in her bosom; while her sister, in black +satin and coral, somehow seemed smaller than ever, probably from +being tired, and from the same cause Gillian had dark marks under her +brown eyes, and a much more limp and languid look than was her wont. + +Fly was seated on her father's knee, looking many degrees better and +brighter, as if his presence were an elixir of life, and when he put +her down to greet the arrivals, both she and Mysie sprang to Gillian +to ask the result of the quest of houses. The distinguished friend +was there, and was talking to Lady Rotherwood about Italian progress, +and there was only time for an inquiry and reply as to the success of +the search for a house before dinner was announced---the little girls +disappeared, and the Marquess gave his arm to his eldest cousin. + +'Grand specimen of marble, isn't he!' he muttered. + +'Ada hasn't the least idea who he is. She thinks him a great +diplomate,' communicated Jane in return, and her arm received an +ecstatic squeeze. + +It was amusing to Jane Mohun to see how much like a dinner at +Rotherwood this contrived to be, with my lady's own footman, and my +lord's valet waiting in state. She agreed mentally with her sister +that the other guest was a very fine-looking man, with a picturesque +head, and he did not seem at all out of place or ill-at-ease in the +company in which he found himself. Lord Rotherwood, with a view, +perhaps, to prolonging Adeline's mystification, turned the +conversation to Italian politics, and the present condition and the +industries of the people, on all of which subjects much ready +information was given in fluent, good English, with perhaps rather +unnecessarily fine words. It was only towards the end of the dinner +that a personal experience was mentioned about the impossibility of +getting work done on great feast days, or of knowing which were the +greater---and the great dislike of the peasant mind to new methods. + +When it came to 'At first, I had to superintend every blasting with +gelatine,' the initiated were amused at the expression of Adeline's +countenance, and the suppressed start of frightful conviction that +quivered on her eyelids and the corners of her mouth, though kept in +check by good breeding, and then smoothed out into a resolute +complacency, which convinced her sister that having inadvertently +exalted the individual into the category of the distinguished, she +meant to abide staunchly by her first impression. + +Lady Rotherwood, like most great ladies in public life, was perfectly +well accustomed to have all sorts of people brought home to dinner, +and would have been far less astonished than her cousins at sitting +down with her grocer; but she gave the signal rather early, and on +reaching the sitting-room, where Miss Elworthy was awaiting them, +said--- + +'We will leave them to discuss their water-works at their ease. +Certainly residence abroad is an excellent education.' + +'A very superior man,' said Adeline. + +'Those self-made men always are.' + +'In the nature of things, added Miss Mohun, 'or they would not have +mounted.' + +'It is the appendages that are distressing,' said Lady Rotherwood, +'and they seldom come in one's way. Has this man left any in Italy?' + +'Oh no, none alive. He took his wife there for her health, and that +was the way he came to set up his Italian quarries; but she and his +child both died there long ago, and he has never come back to this +place since,' explained Ada. + +'But he has relations here,' said Jane. 'His cousin was an officer +in Jasper Merrifield's regiment.' + +She hoped to have been saying a word in the cause of the young +people, but she regretted her attempt, for Lady Rotherwood replied--- + +'I have heard of them. A very undeserving family, are they not?' + +Gillian, whom Miss Elworthy was trying to entertain, heard, and could +not help colouring all over, face, neck, and ears, all the more for +so much hating the flush and feeling it observed. + +Miss Mohun's was a very decided, 'I should have said quite the +reverse.' + +'Indeed! Well, I heard the connection lamented, for his sake, by--- +what was her name? Mrs. Stirling---or---' + +'Mrs. Stebbing,' said Adeline. 'You don't mean that she has actually +called on you?' + +'Is there any objection to her?' asked Lady Rotherwood, with a glance +to see whether the girl was listening. + +'Oh no, no! only he is a mere mason---or quarryman, who has grown +rich,' said Adeline. + +The hostess gave a little dry laugh. + +'Is that all? I thought you had some reason for disapproving of her. +I thought her rather sensible and pleasing' + +Cringing and flattering, thought Jane; and that is just what these +magnificent ladies like in the wide field of inferiors. But aloud +she could not help saying, 'My principal objection to Mrs. Stebbing +is that I have always thought her rather a gossip---on the scandalous +side.' Then, bethinking herself that it would not be well to pursue +the subject in Gillian's presence, she explained where the Stebbings +lived, and asked how long Lord Rotherwood could stay. + +'Only over Sunday. He is going to look over the place to-morrow, and +next day there is to be a public meeting about it. I am not sure +that we shall not go with him. I do not think the place agrees with +Phyllis.' + +The last words were spoken just as the two gentlemen had come in from +the dining-room, rather sooner than was expected, and they were taken +up. + +'Agrees with Phyllis! She looks pounds---nay, hundred-weights better +than when we left home. I mean to have her down to-morrow on the +beach for a lark---castle-building, paddling---with Mysie and Val, and +Fergus and all. That's what would set her up best, wouldn't it, +Jane?' + +Jane gave a laughing assent, wondering how much of this would indeed +prove castle-building, though adding that Fergus was at school, and +that it was not exactly the time of year for paddling. + +'Oh, ah, eh! Well, perhaps not---forestalling sweet St. Valentine--- +stepping into their nests they paddled. Though St. Valentine is +past, and I thought our fortunes had been made, Mr. White, by calling +this the English Naples, and what not.' + +'Those are the puffs, my lord. There is a good deal of difference +even between this and Rocca Marina, which is some way up the +mountain.' + +'It must be very beautiful,' said Miss Ada. + +'Well, Miss Mohun, people do say it is striking.' And he was drawn +into describing the old Italian mansion, purchased on the extinction +of an ancient family of nobles, perched up on the side of a mountain, +whose feet the sea laved, with a terrace whence there was a splendid +view of the Gulf of Genoa, and fine slopes above and below of +chestnut-trees and vineyards; and therewith he gave a hearty +invitation to the company present to visit him there if ever they +went to Italy, when he would have great pleasure in showing them many +bits of scenery, and curious remains that did not fall in the way of +ordinary tourists. + +Lady Rotherwood gratefully said she should remember the invitation if +they went to the south, as perhaps they should do that very spring. + +'And,' said Ada, 'you are not to be expected to remain long in this +climate when you have a home like that awaiting you.' + +'Don't call it home, Miss Mohun,' he said. 'I have not had that +these many years; but I declare, the first sound of our county +dialect, when I got out at the station, made my heart leap into my +mouth. I could have shaken hands with the fellow.' + +'Then I hope you will remain here for some time. There is much +wanting to be set going,' said Jane. + +'So I thought of doing, and I had out a young fellow, who I thought +might take my place---my partner's son, young Stebbing. They wrote +that he had been learning Italian, with a view to being useful to me, +and so on; but when he came out, what was he but a fine gentleman--- +never had put his hand to a pick, nor a blasting-iron; and as to his +Italian, he told me it was the Italian of Alfieri and Leopardi. +Leopardi's Italian it might be, for it was a very mottled or motley +tongue, but he might as well have talked English or Double-Dutch to +our hands, or better, for they had picked up the meaning of some +orders from me before I got used to their lingo. And then he says +'tis office work and superintendence he understands. How can you +superintend, I told him, what you don't know yourself? No, no; go +home and bring a pair of hands fit for a quarryman, before I make you +overlooker.' + +This was rather delightful, and it further appeared that he could +answer all Jane's inquiries after her beloved promising lads whom he +had deported to the Rocca Marina quarries. + +They were evidently kindly looked after, and she began to perceive +that it was not such a bad place after all for them, more especially +as he was in the act of building them a chapel, and one of his +objects in coming to England was to find a chaplain; and as Lord +Rotherwood said, he had come to the right shop, since Rockquay in the +spring was likely to afford a choice of clergy with weak chests, or +better still, with weak-chested wives, to whom light work in a genial +climate would be the greatest possible boon. + +Altogether the evening was very pleasant, only too short. It was a +curious study for Jane Mohun how far Lady Rotherwood would give way +to her husband. She always seemed to give way, but generally +accomplished her own will in the end, and it was little likely that +she would allow the establishment to await the influx of Merrifields, +though certainly Gillian had done nothing displeasing all that +evening except that terrible blushing, for which piece of +ingenuousness her aunt loved her all the better. + +At half-past ten next morning, however, Lord Rotherwood burst in to +borrow Valetta for a donkey-ride, for which his lady had compounded +instead of the paddling and castle-building, and certainly poor Val +could not do much to corrupt Fly on donkey back, and in his presence. +He further routed out Gillian, nothing loth, from her algebra, +bidding her put on her seven-leagued boots, and not get bent double--- +and he would fain have seized on his cousin Jane, but she was already +gone off for an interview with the landlord of the most eligible of +the two houses. + +Gillian and Valetta came back very rosy, and in fits of merriment. +Lord Rotherwood had paid the donkey-boys to stay at home, and let him +and Gillian take their place. They had gone out on the common above +the town, with most amusing rivalries as to which drove the beast +worst, making Mysie umpire. Then having attained a delightfully +lonely place, Fly had begged for a race with Valetta, which failed, +partly because Val's donkey would not stir, and partly because Fly +could not bear the shaking; and then Lord Rotherwood himself insisted +on riding the donkey that wouldn't go, and racing Gillian on the +donkey that would---and he made his go so effectually that it ran away +with him, and he pulled it up at last only just in time to save +himself from being ignominiously stopped by an old fishwoman! + +He had, as Aunt Jane said, regularly dipped Gill back into childhood, +and she looked, spoke, and moved all the better for it. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. THE ROCKS OF ROCKSTONE + + + +Lord Rotherwood came in to try to wile his cousin to share in the +survey of the country; but she declared it to be impossible, as all +her avocations had fallen into arrear, and she had to find a couple +of servants as well as a house for the Merrifields. This took her in +the direction of the works, and Gillian proposed to go with her as +far as the Giles's, there to sit a little while with Lilian, for whom +she had a new book. + +'My dear, surely you must be tired out!' exclaimed the stay-at-home +aunt. + +'Oh no, Aunt Ada! Quite freshened by that blow on the common.' + +And Miss Mohun was not sorry, thinking that to leave Gillian free to +come home by herself would be the best refutation of Mrs. Mount's +doubts of her. + +They had not, however, gone far on their way---on the walk rather +unfrequented at this time of day---before Gillian exclaimed, 'Is that +Kally? Oh! and who is that with her?' For there certainly was a +figure in somewhat close proximity, the ulster and pork-pie hat being +such as to make the gender doubtful. + +'How late she is! I am afraid her mother is worse,' said Miss Mohun, +quickening her steps a little, and, at the angle of the road, the +pair in front perceived them. Kalliope turned towards them; the +companion---about whom there was no doubt by that time---gave a +petulant motion and hastened out of sight. + +In another moment they were beside Kalliope, who looked shaken and +trembling, with tears in her eyes, which sprang forth at the warm +pressure of her hand. + +'I am afraid Mrs. White is not so well,' said Miss Mohun kindly. + +'She is no worse, I think, thank you, but I was delayed. Are you +going this way? May I walk with you?' + +'I will come with you to the office,' said Miss Mohun, perceiving +that she was in great need of an escort and protector. + +'Oh, thank you, thank you, if it is not too much out of your way.' + +A few more words passed about Mrs. White's illness and what advice +she was having. Miss Mohun could not help thinking that the daughter +did not quite realise the extent of the illness, for she added--- + +'It was a good deal on the nerves and mind. She was so anxious about +Mr. James White's arrival.' + +'Have you not seen him?' + +'Oh no! Not yet.' + +'I think you will be agreeably surprised,' said Gillian. And here +they left her at Mrs. Giles's door. + +'Yes,' added Miss Mohun, 'he gave me the idea of a kind, just man.' + +'Miss Mohun,' said the poor girl, as soon as they were tete-a-tete, +'I know you are very good. Will you tell me what I ought to do? You +saw just now---' + +'I did; and I have heard.' + +Her face was all in a flame and her voice choked. 'He says---Mr. +Frank does---that his mother has found out, and that she will tell her +own story to Mr. White; and---and we shall all get the sack, as he +calls it; and it will be utter misery, and he will not stir a finger +to vindicate me; but if I will listen to him, he will speak to Mr. +White, and bear me through; but I can't---I can't. I know he is a bad +man; I know how he treated poor Edith Vane. I never can; and how +shall I keep out of his way?' + +'My poor child,' said Miss Mohun, 'it is a terrible position for you; +but you are doing quite right. I do not believe Mr. White would go +much by what that young man says, for I know he does not think highly +of him.' + +'But he does go altogether by Mr. Stebbing---altogether, and I know +he---Mr. Stebbing, I mean---can't bear us, and would not keep us on if +he could help it. He has been writing for another designer---an +artist---instead of me.' + +'Still, you would be glad to have the connection severed?' + +'Oh yes, I should be glad enough to be away; but what would become of +my mother and the children?' + +'Remember your oldest friends are on their way home; and I will try +to speak to Mr. White myself.' + +They had reached the little door of Kalliope's office, which she +could open with a latch-key, and Miss Mohun was just about to say +some parting words, when there was a sudden frightful rumbling sound, +something between a clap of thunder and the carting of stones, and +the ground shook under their feet, while a cry went up---loud, horror- +struck men and women's voices raised in dismay. + +Jane had heard that sound once before. It was the fall of part of +the precipitous cliff, much of which had been quarried away. But in +spite of all precautions, frost and rain were in danger of loosening +the remainder, and wire fences were continually needing to be placed +to prevent the walking above on edges that might be perilous. + +Where was it? What had it done? was the instant thought. Kalliope +turned as pale as death; the girls came screaming and thronging out +of their workshop, the men from their sheds, the women from the +cottages, as all thronged to the more open space beyond the buildings +where they could see, while Miss Mohun found herself clasped by her +trembling niece. + +Others were rushing up from the wharf. One moment's glance showed +all familiar with the place that a projecting point, forming a sort +of cusp in the curve of the bay, had gone, and it lay, a great +shattered mass, fragments spreading far and wide, having crashed +through the roof of a stable that stood below. + +There was a general crowding forward to the spot, and crying and +exclamation, and a shouting of 'All right' from above and below. Had +any one come down with it? A double horror seized Miss Mohun as she +remembered that her cousin was to inspect those parts that very +afternoon. + +She caught at the arm of a man and demanded, 'Was any one up there?' + +'Master's there, and some gentlemen; but they hain't brought down +with it,' said the man. 'Don't be afraid, miss. Thank the Lord, no +one was under the rock---horses even out at work.' + +'Thank God, indeed!' exclaimed Miss Mohun, daring now to look up, and +seeing, not very distinctly, some figures of men, who, however, were +too high up and keeping too far from the dangerous broken edge for +recognition. + +Room was made for the two ladies, by the men who knew Miss Mohun, to +push forward, so as to have a clearer view of the broken wall and +roof of the stable, and the great ruddy blue and white veined mass of +limestone rock, turf, and bush adhering to what had been the top. + +There was a moment's silence through the crowd, a kind of awe at the +spectacle and the possibilities that had been mercifully averted. + +Then one of the men said--- + +'That was how it was. I saw one of them above---not Stebbing---No--- +coming out to the brow; and after this last frost, not a doubt but +that must have been enough to bring it down.' + +'Not railed off, eh?' said the voice of young Stebbing from among the +crowd. + +'Well, it were marked with big stones where the rail should go,' said +another. 'I know, for I laid 'em myself; but there weren't no orders +given.' + +'There weren't no stones either. Some one been and took 'em away,' +added the first speaker. + +'I see how it is,' Frank Stebbing's metallic voice could plainly be +heard, flavoured with an oath. 'This is your neglect, White, +droning, stuck-up sneak as you always were and will be! I shall +report this. Damage to property, and maybe life, all along of your +confounded idleness.' + +And there were worse imprecations, which made Miss Mohun break out in +a tone of shocked reproof--- + +'Mr. Stebbing!' + +'I beg your pardon, Miss Mohun; I was not aware of your presence---' + +'Nor of a Higher One,' she could not help interposing, while he went +on justifying himself. + +'It is the only way to speak to these fellows; and it is enough to +drive one mad to see what comes of the neglect of a conceited young +ass above his business. Life and property---' + +'But life is safe, is it not?' she interrupted with a shudder. + +'Ay, ay, ma'am,' said the voice of the workman, 'or we should know it +by this time.' + +But at that moment a faint, gasping cry caught Jane's ear. + +Others heard it too. It was a child's voice, and grew stronger after +a moment. It came from the corner of the shed outside the stable. + +'Oh, oh!' cried the women, pressing forward, 'the poor little +Fields!' + +Then it was recollected that Mrs. Field---one of those impracticable +women on whom the shafts of school officers were lost, and who was +always wandering in the town---had been seen going out, leaving two +small children playing about, the younger under the charge of the +elder. The father was a carter, and had been sent on some errand +with the horses. + +This passed while anxious hands were struggling with stones and +earth, foremost among them Alexis White. The utmost care was needful +to prevent the superincumbent weight from falling in and crushing the +life there certainly was beneath, happily not the rock from above, +but some of the debris of the stable. Frank Stebbing and the foreman +had to drive back anxious crowds, and keep a clear space. + +Then came running, shrieking, pushing her way through the men, the +poor mother, who had to be forcibly withheld by Miss Mohun and one of +the men from precipitating herself on the pile of rubbish where her +children were buried, and so shaking it as to make their destruction +certain. + +Those were terrible moments; but when the mother's voice penetrated +to the children, a voice answered--- + +'Mammy, mammy get us out, there's a stone on Tommy,'--at least so the +poor woman understood the lispings, almost stifled; and she shrieked +again, 'Mammy's coming, darlings!' + +The time seemed endless, though it was probably only a few minutes +before it was found that the children were against the angle of the +shed, where the wall and a beam had protected the younger, a little +girl of five, who seemed to be unhurt. But, alas! though the boy's +limbs were not crushed, a heavy stone had fallen on his temple. + +The poor woman would not believe that life was gone. She disregarded +the little one, who screamed for mammy and clutched her skirts, in +spite of the attempts of the women to lift her up and comfort her; +and gathering the poor lifeless boy in her arms, she alternately +screamed for the doctor and uttered coaxing, caressing calls to the +child. + +She neither heard nor heeded Miss Mohun, with whom, indeed, her +relations had not been agreeable; and as a young surgeon, sniffing +the accident from afar, had appeared on the scene, and had, at the +first glance, made an all too significant gesture, Jane thought it +safe to leave the field to him and a kind, motherly, good neighbour, +who promised her to send up to Beechcroft Cottage in case there was +anything to be done for the unhappy woman or the poor father. Mr. +Hablot, who now found his way to the spot, promised to walk on and +prepare him: he was gone with a marble cross to a churchyard some +five miles off. + +Gillian had not spoken a word all this time. She felt perfectly +stunned and bewildered, as if it was a dream, and she could not +understand it. Only for a moment did she see the bleeding face and +prone limbs of the poor boy, and that sent a shuddering horror over +her, so that she felt like fainting; but she had so much recollection +and self-consciousness, that horror of causing a sensation and giving +trouble sent the blood back to her heart, and she kept her feet by +holding hard to her aunt's arm and presently Miss Mohun felt how +tight and trembling was the grasp, and then saw how white she was. + +'My dear, we must get home directly,' she said kindly. 'Lean on me--- +there.' + +There was leisure now, as they turned away, for others to see the +young lady's deadly paleness, and there were invitations to houses +and offers of all succours at hand, but the dread of 'a fuss' further +revived Gillian, and all that was accepted was a seat for a few +moments and a glass of water, which Aunt Jane needed almost as much +as she did. + +Though the girl's colour was coming back, and she said she could walk +quite well, both had such aching knees and such shaken limbs that +they were glad to hold by each other as they mounted the sloping +road, and half-way up Gillian came to a sudden stop. + +'Aunt Jane,' she said, panting and turning pale again, 'you heard +that dreadful man. Oh! do you think it was true? Fergus's bit of +spar---Alexis not minding. Oh! then it is all our doing!' + +'I can't tell. Don't you think about it now,' said Aunt Jane, +feeling as if the girl were going to swoon on the spot in the shock. +'Consequences are not in our hands. Whatever it came from, and very +sad it was, there was great mercy, and we have only to thank God it +was no worse.' + +When at last aunt and niece reached home, they had no sooner opened +the front door than Adeline came almost rushing out of the drawing- +room. + +'Oh! my dearest Jane,' she cried, clasping and kissing her sister, +'wasn't it dreadful? Where were you? Mr. White knows no one was +hurt below, but I could not be easy till you came in.' + +'Mr. White!' + +'Yes; Mr. White was so kind as to come and tell me---and about +Rotherwood.' + +'What about Rotherwood?' exclaimed Miss Mohun, advancing into the +drawing-room, where Mr. White had risen from his seat. + +'Nothing to be alarmed about. Indeed, I assure you, his +extraordinary presence of mind and agility---' + +'What was it?' as she and Gillian each sank into a chair, the one +breathless, the other with the faintness renewed by the fresh shock, +but able to listen as Mr. White told first briefly, then with more +detail, how---as the surveying party proceeded along the path at the +top of the cliffs, he and Lord Rotherwood comparing recollections of +the former outline, now much changed by quarrying---the Marquis had +stepped out to a slightly projecting point; Mr. Stebbing had uttered +a note of warning, knowing how liable these promontories were to +break away in the end of winter, and happily Lord Rotherwood had +turned and made a step or two back, when the rock began to give way +under his feet, so that, being a slight and active man, a spring and +bound forward had actually carried him safely to the firm ground, and +the others, who had started back in self-preservation, then in +horror, fully believing him borne down to destruction, saw him the +next instant lying on his face on the path before them. When on his +feet, he had declared himself unhurt, and solely anxious as to what +the fall of rock might have done beneath; but he was reassured by +those cries of 'All right' which were uttered before the poor little +Fields were discovered; and then, when the party were going to make +their way down to inspect the effects of the catastrophe, he had +found that he had not escaped entirely unhurt. Of course he had been +forced to leap with utter want of heed, only as far and wide as he +could, and thus, though he had lighted on his feet, he had fallen +against a stone, and pain and stiffness of shoulder made themselves +apparent; though he would accept no help in walking back to the +hotel, and was only anxious not to frighten his wife and daughter, +and desired Mr. White, who had volunteered to go, to tell the ladies +next door that he was convinced it was nothing, or, if anything, only +a trifle of a collar-bone. Mr. White had, since the arrival of the +surgeon, made an expedition of inquiry, and heard this verdict +confirmed, with the further assurance that there was no cause for +anxiety. The account of the damage and disaster below was new to +him, as his partner had declared the stables to be certain to be +empty, and moreover in need of being rebuilt; and he departed to find +Mr. Stebbing and make inquiries. + +Miss Mohun, going to the hotel, saw the governess, and heard that all +was going on well, and that Lord Rotherwood insisted that nothing was +the matter, and would not hear of going to bed, but was lying on the +sofa in the sitting-room. Her ladyship presently came out, and +confirmed the account; but Jane agreed with her that, if possible, +the knowledge of the poor child's death should be kept from him that +night, lest the shock should make him feverish. However, in that +very moment when she was off guard, the communication had been made +by his valet, only too proud to have something to tell, and with the +pleasing addition that Miss Mohun had had a narrow escape. Whereupon +ensued an urgent message to Miss Mohun to come and tell him all about +it. + +Wife and cousin exchanged glances of consternation, and perhaps each +knew she might be thankful that he did not come himself instead of +sending, and yet feared that the abstinence was a proof more of +incapacity than of submission. + +Lying there in a dressing-gown over a strapped shoulder, he showed +his agitation by being more than usually unable to finish a sentence. + +'Jenny, Jenny---you are---are you all safe? not frightened?' + +'Oh no, no, I was a great way off; I only heard the noise, and I did +not know you were there.' + +'Ah! there must be---something must be meant for me to do. Heaven +must mean---thank Him! But is it true---a poor child? Can't one ever +be foolish without hurting more than one's self?' + +Jane told him the truth calmly and quietly, explaining that the +survivor was entirely unhurt, and the poor little victim could not +have suffered; adding with all her heart, 'The whole thing was full +of mercy, and I do not think you need blame yourself for +heedlessness, for it was an accident that the place was not marked.' + +'Shameful neglect' said Lady Rotherwood. + +'The partner---what's-his-name---Stebbing---said something about his son +being away. An untrustworthy substitute, wasn't there?' said Lord +Rotherwood. + +'The son was the proficient in Leopardine Italian we heard of last +night,' said Jane. 'I don't know what he may be as an overlooker +here. He certainly fell furiously on the substitute, a poor cousin +of Mr. White's own, but I am much afraid the origin of the mischief +was nearer home---Master Fergus's geological researches.' + +'Fergus! Why, he is a mite.' + +'Yes, but Maurice encore. However, I must find out from him whether +this is only a foreboding of my prophetic soul!' + +'Curious cattle,' observed Lord Rotherwood. + +'Well,' put in his wife, 'I do not think Ivinghoe has ever given us +cause for anxiety.' + +'Exactly the reason that I am always expecting him to break out in +some unexpected place! No, Victoria,' he added, seeing that she did +not like this, 'I am quite ready to allow that we have a model son, +and I only pity him for not having a model father.' + +'Well, I am not going to stay and incite you to talk nonsense,' said +Jane, rising to depart; 'I will let you know my discoveries.' + +She found Fergus watching for her at the gate, with the appeal, 'Aunt +Jane, there's been a great downfall of cliff, and I want to see what +formations it has brought to light, but they won't let me through to +look at it, though I told them White always did.' + +'I do not suppose that they will allow any one to meddle with it at +present,' said Aunt Jane; then, as Fergus made an impatient +exclamation, she added, 'Do you know that a poor little boy was +killed, and Cousin Rotherwood a good deal hurt?' + +'Yes,' said Fergus, 'Big Blake said so.' + +'And now, Fergus, I want to know where you took that large stone from +that you showed me with the crack of spar.' + +'With the micaceous crystals,' corrected Fergus. 'It was off the top +of that very cliff that fell down, so I am sure there must be more in +it; and some one else will get them if they won't let me go and see +for them.' + +'And Alexis White gave you leave to take it?' + +'Oh yes, I always ask him.' + +'Were you at the place when you asked him, Fergus?' + +'At the place on the cliff? No. For I couldn't find him for a long +time, and I carried it all the way down the steps.' + +'And you did not tell him where it came from?' + +'He didn't ask. Indeed, Aunt Jane, I always did show him what I +took, and he would have let me in now, only he was not at the office; +and the man at the gate, Big Blake, was as savage as a bear, and +slammed the door on me, and said they wouldn't have no idle boys +loafing about there. And when I said I wasn't an idle boy but a +scientific mineralogist, and that Mr. Alexis White always let me in, +he laughed in my face, and said Mr. Alexis had better look out for +himself. I shall tell Stebbing how cheeky he was.' + +'My dear Fergus, there was good reason for keeping you out. You did +not know it, nor Alexis; but those stones were put to show that the +cliff was getting dangerous, and to mark where to put an iron fence; +and it was the greatest of mercies that Rotherwood's life was saved.' + +The boy looked a little sobered, but his aunt had rather that his +next question had not been: 'Do you think they will let me go there +again!' + +However, she knew very well that conviction must slowly soak in, and +that nothing would be gained by frightening him, so that all she did +that night was to send a note by Mysie to her cousin, explaining her +discovery; and she made up her mind to take Fergus to the inquest the +next day, since his evidence would exonerate Alexis from the most +culpable form of carelessness. + +Only, however, in the morning, when she had ascertained the hour of +the inquest, did she write a note to Mrs. Edgar to explain Fergus's +absence from school, or inform the boy of what she intended. On the +whole he was rather elated at being so important as to be able to +defend Alexis White, and he was quite above believing that scientific +research could be reckoned by any one as mischief. + +Just as Miss Mohun had gone up to get ready, Mysie ran in to say that +Cousin Rotherwood would be at the door in a moment to take Fergus +down. + +'Lady Rotherwood can't bear his going,' said Mysie, 'and Mr. White +and Mr. Stebbing say that he need not; but he is quite determined, +though he has got his arm in a sling, for he says it was all his +fault for going where he ought not. And he won't have the carriage, +for he says it would shake his bones ever so much more than Shank's +mare.' + +'Just like him,' said Aunt Jane. 'Has Dr. Dagger given him leave?' + +'Yes; he said it wouldn't hurt him; but Lady Rotherwood told Miss +Elbury she was sure he persuaded him.' + +Mysie's confused pronouns were cut short by Lord Rotherwood's own +appearance. + +'You need not go, Jane,' he said. 'I can take care of this little +chap. They'll not chop off his head in the presence of one of the +Legislature.' + +'Nice care to begin by chaffing him out of his wits,' she retorted. +'The question is, whether you ought to go.' + +'Yes, Jenny, I must go. It can't damage me; and besides, to tell the +truth, it strikes me that things will go hard with that unlucky young +fellow if some one is not there to stand up for him and elicit +Fergus's evidence.' + +'Alexis White!' + +'White---ay, a cousin or something of the exemplary boss. He's been +dining with his partners---the old White, I mean---and they've been +cramming him---I imagine with a view to scapegoat treatment---jealousy, +and all the rest of it. If there is not a dismissal, there's a +hovering on the verge.' + +'Exactly what I was afraid of,' said Jane. 'Oh, Rotherwood, I could +tell you volumes. But may I not come down with you? Could not I do +something?' + +'Well, on the whole, you are better away, Jenny. Consider William's +feelings. Womankind, even Brownies, are better out of it. Prejudice +against proteges, whether of petticoats or cassocks---begging your +pardon. I can fight battles better as an unsophisticated stranger +coming down fresh, though I don't expect any one from the barony of +Beechcroft to believe it, and maybe the less I know of your volumes +the better till after--- + +'Oh, Rotherwood, as if I wasn't too thankful to have you to send for +me!' + +'There! I've kept the firm out there waiting an unconscionable time. +They'll think you are poisoning my mind. Come along, you imp of +science. Trust me, I'll not bully him, though it's highly tempting +to make the chien chasser de race.' + +'Oh, Aunt Jane, won't you go?' exclaimed Gillian in despair, as her +cousin waved a farewell at the gate. + +'No, my dear; it is not for want of wishing, but he is quite right. +He can do much better than I could.' + +'But is he in earnest, aunt?' + +'Oh yes, most entirely, and I quite see that he is right---indeed I +do, Gillian. People pretend to defer to a lady, but they really +don't like her poking her nose in, and, after all, I could have no +right to say anything. My only excuse for going was to take care of +Fergus.' + +A further token of Lord Rotherwood's earnestness in the cause was the +arrival of his servant, who was to bring down the large stone which +Master Merrifield had moved, and who conveyed it in a cab, being much +too grand to carry it through the streets. + +Gillian was very unhappy and restless, unable to settle to anything, +and linking cause and effect together disconsolately in a manner +Mysie, whom she admitted to her confidence, failed to understand. + +'It was a great pity Fergus did not show Alexis where the stone came +from, but I don't see what your not giving him his lessons had to do +with it. Made him unhappy? Oh! Gilly dear, you don't mean any one +would be too unhappy to mind his business for such nonsense as that! +I am sure none of us would be so stupid if Mr. Pollock forgot our +Greek lessons.' + +'Certainly not,' said Gillian, almost laughing; 'but you don't +understand, Mysie. It was the taking him up and letting him down, +and I could not explain it, and it looked so nasty and capricious.' + +'Well, I suppose you ought to have asked Aunt Jane's leave; but I do +think he must be a ridiculous young man if he could not attend to his +proper work because you did not go after him when you were only just +come home.' + +'Ah, Mysie, you don't understand!' + +Mysie opened a round pair of brown eyes, and said, 'Oh! I did think +people were never so silly out of poetry. There was Wilfrid in +Hokeby, to be sure. He was stupid enough about Matilda; but do you +mean that he is like that!' + +'Don't, don't, you dreadful child; I wish I had never spoken to you,' +cried Gillian, overwhelmed with confusion. 'You must never say a +word to any living creature.' + +'I am sure I shan't,' said Mysie composedly; 'for, as far as I can +see, it is all stuff. This Alexis never found out what Fergus was +about with the stone, and so the mark was gone, and Cousin Rotherwood +trod on it, and the poor little boy was killed; but as to the rest, +Nurse Halfpenny would say it was all conceited maggots; and how you +can make so much more fuss about that than about the poor child being +crushed, I can't make out.' + +'But if I think it all my fault?' + +'That's maggots,' returned Mysie with uncompromising common-sense. +'You aren't old enough, nor pretty enough, for any of that kind of +stuff, Gill!' + +And Gillian found that either she must go without comprehension, or +have a great deal more implied, if she turned for sympathy to any one +save Aunt Jane, who seemed to know exactly how the land lay. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. VANISHED + + + +It seemed to be a very long time before the inquest was over, and +Aunt Jane had almost yielded to her niece's impatience and her own, +and consented to walk down to meet the intelligence, when Fergus came +tearing in, 'I've seen the rock, and there is a flaw of crystal- +lisation in it! And the coroner-man called me an incipient +geologist.' + +'But the verdict?' + +'They said it was accidental death, and something about more care +being taken and valuable lives endangered.' + +'And Alexis White---' + +'Oh! there was a great bother about his not being there. They said +it looked very bad; but they could not find him.' + +'Not find him! Oh! Where is Cousin Rotherwood?' + +'He is coming home, and he said I might run on, and tell you that if +you had time to come in to the hotel he would tell you about it.' + +With which invitation Miss Mohun hastened to comply; Gillian was +ardent to come too, and it seemed cruel to prevent her; but, besides +that Jane thought that her cousin might be tired enough to make his +wife wish him to see as few people as possible, she was not sure that +Gillian might not show suspicious agitation, and speech and action +would not be free in her presence. So the poor girl was left to +extract what she could from her little brother, which did not amount +to much. + +It was a propitious moment, for Jane met Lord Rotherwood at the door +of the hotel, parting with Mr. White; she entered with him, and his +wife, after satisfying herself that he was not the worse for his +exertions, was not sorry that he should have his cousin to keep him +quiet in his easy-chair while she went off to answer a pile of +letters which had just been forwarded from home. + +'Well, Jenny,' he said, 'I am afraid your protege does not come out +of it very well; that is, if he is your protege. He must be an +uncommonly foolish young man.' + +'I reserve myself on that point. But is it true that he never +appeared?' + +'Quite true.' + +'Didn't they send for him?' + +'Yes; but he could not be found, either at the works or at home. +However, the first might be so far accounted for, since he met at his +desk a notice of dismissal from White and Stebbing.' + +'No! Really. Concocted at that unlucky dinner yesterday! But, of +course, it was not immediate.' + +'Of course not, and perhaps something might have been done for him; +but a man who disappears condemns himself.' + +'But what for? I hope Fergus explained that the stone was not near +the spot when he showed it.' + +'Yes; Fergus spoke up like a little man, and got more credit than he +deserved. If they had known that of all varieties of boys the +scientific is the worst imp of mischief! It all went in order due--- +surgeon explained injuries to poor little being---men how the stone +came down and they dug him out---poor little baby-sister made out her +sad little story. That was the worst part of all. Something must be +done for that child---orphanage or something---only unluckily there's +the father and mother. Poor father! he is the one to be pitied. I +mean to get at him without the woman. Well, then came my turn, and +how I am afflicted with the habit of going where I ought not, and, +only by a wonderful mercy, was saved from being part of the general +average below. Then we got to the inquiry, Were not dangerous places +railed off? Yes, Stebbing explained that it was the rule of the firm +to have the rocks regularly inspected once a month, and once a +fortnight in winter and spring, when the danger is greater. If they +were ticklish, the place was marked at the moment with big stones, +reported, and railed off. An old foreman-sort of fellow swore to +having detected the danger, and put stones. He had reported it. To +whom? To Mr. Frank. Yes, he thought it was Mr. Frank, just before +he went away. It was this fellow's business to report it and send +the order, it seems, and in his absence Alexander White, or whatever +they call him, took his work. Well, the old man doesn't seem to know +whether he mentioned the thing to young White or not, which made his +absence more unlucky; but, anyway, the presence of the stones was +supposed to be a sufficient indication of the need of the rail, or to +any passenger to avoid the place. In fact, if Master White had been +energetic, he would have seen to the thing. I fancy that is the long +and short of it. But when the question came how the stones came to +be removed, I put Fergus forward. The foreman luckily could identify +his stone by the precious crack of spar; and the boy explained how he +had lugged it down, and showed it to his friend far away from its +place---had, in fact, turned over and displaced all the lot.' + +'Depend upon it, Alexis has gone out of the way to avoid accusing +Fergus!' + +'Don't make me start, it hurts; but do you really believe that, Jane- +--you, the common-sense female of the family?' + +'Indeed I do, he is a romantic, sensitive sort of fellow, who would +not defend himself at the boy's expense.' + +'Whew! He might have stood still and let Fergus defend him, then, +instead of giving up his own cause.' + +'And how did it end?' + +'Accidental death, of course; couldn't be otherwise; but censure on +the delay and neglect of precaution, which the common opinion of the +Court naturally concentrated on the absent; though, no doubt, the +first omission was young Stebbing's; but owing to the hurry of his +start for Italy, that was easily excused. And even granting that +Fergus did the last bit of mischief, your friend may be romantically +generous, if you please; but he must have been very slack in his +work.' + +'Poor fellow---yes. Now before I tell you what I know about him, I +should like to hear how Mr. Stebbing represents him. You know his +father was a lieutenant in the Royal Wardours.' + +'Risen from the ranks, a runaway cousin of White's. Yes, and there's +a son in a lawyer's office always writing to White for money.' + +'Oh! I never had much notion of that eldest---' + +'They have no particular claim on White; but when the father died he +wrote to Stebbing to give those that were old enough occupation at +the works, and see that the young ones got educated.' + +'So he lets the little boys go to the National School, though there's +no great harm in that as yet.' + +'He meant to come and see after them himself, and find out what they +are made of. But meantime this youth, who did well at first, is +always running after music and nonsense of all kinds, thinking +himself above his business, neglecting right and left; while as to +the sister, she is said to be very clever at designing---both ways in +fact---so determined to draw young Stebbing in, that, having got proof +of it at last, they have dismissed her too. And, Jane, I hardly like +to tell you, but somehow they mix Gillian up in the business. They +ate it up again when I cut them short by saying she was my cousin, +her mother and you like my sisters. I am certain it is all nonsense, +but had you any notion of any such thing? It is insulting you, +though, to suppose you had not,' he added, as he saw her air of +acquiescence; 'so, of course, it is all right.' + +'It is not all right, but not so wrong as all that. Oh no! and I +know all about it from poor Gill herself and the girl. Happily they +are both too good girls to need prying. Well, the case is this. +There was a quarrel about a love story between the two original +Whites, who must both have had a good deal of stuff in them. Dick +ran away, enlisted, rose, and was respected by Jasper, etc., but was +married to a Greco-Hibernian wife, traditionally very beautiful, poor +woman, though rather the reverse at present. Lily and her girls did +their best for the young people with good effect on the eldest girl, +who really in looks and ways is worthy of her Muse's name, Kalliope. +Father had to retire with rank of captain, and died shortly after. +Letters failed to reach the Merrifields, who were on the move. This +Quarry cousin was written to, and gave the help he described to you. +Perhaps it was just, but it disappointed them, and while the father +lived, Alexis had been encouraged to look to getting to the +University and Holy Orders. He has a good voice, and the young +curate at the Kennel patronised him, perhaps a little capriciously, +but I am not quite sure. All this was unknown to me till the +Merrifield children came, and Gillian, discovering these Whites, flew +upon them in the true enthusiastic Lily-fashion, added to the +independence of the modern maiden mistrustful of old cats of aunts. +Like a little goose, she held trystes with Kalliope, through the +rails at the top of the garden on Sunday afternoons.' + +'Only Kalliope!' + +'Cela va sans dire. The brother was walking the young ones on the +cliffs whence she had been driven by the attentions of Master Frank +Stebbing. Poor thing, she is really beautiful enough to be a +misfortune to her, and so is the youth---Maid of Athens, Irish eyes, +plus intellect. Gill lent books, and by and by volunteered to help +the lad with his Greek.' + +'Whew---' + +'Just as she would teach a night-school class. She used to give him +lessons at his sister's office. I find that as soon as Kalliope +found it was unknown to me she protested, and did all in her power to +prevent it, but Gillian had written all to her mother, and thought +that sufficient.' + +'And Lily---? Victoria would have gone crazy---supposing such a thing +possible,' he added, sotto voce. + +'Lily was probably crazy already between her sick husband and her +bridal daughters, for she answered nothing intelligible. However, +absence gave time for reflection, and Gillian came home after her +visits convinced by her own good sense and principle that she had not +acted fairly towards us, so that, of her own accord, the first thing +she did was to tell me the whole, and how much the sister had always +objected. She was quite willing that I should talk it over with +Kalliope before she went near them again, but I have never been able +really to do so.' + +'Then it was all Greek and---"Lilyism!" Lily's grammar over again, +eh!' + +'On her side, purely so---but I am afraid she did upset the boy's +mind. He seems to have been bitterly disappointed at what must have +appeared like neglect and offence---and oh! you know how silly youths +can be---and he had Southern blood too, poor fellow, and he went +mooning and moping about, I am afraid really not attending to his +business; and instead of taking advantage of the opening young +Stebbing's absence gave him of showing his abilities, absolutely gave +them the advantage against him, by letting them show him up as an +idle fellow.' + +'Or worse. Stebbing talked of examining the accounts, to see if +there were any deficiency.' + +'That can be only for the sake of prejudicing Mr. White---they cannot +really suspect him.' + +'If not, it was very good acting, and Stebbing appears to me just the +man to suspect a parson's pet, and a lady's---as he called this +unlucky fellow.' + +'Ask any of the workmen---ask Mr. Flight.' + +'Well, I wish he had come to the front. It looks bad for him, and +your plea, Jenny, is more like Lily than yourself.' + +'Thank you; I had rather be like Lily than myself.' + +'And you are equally sure that the sister is maligned?' + +'Quite sure---on good evidence---the thing is how to lay it all before +Mr. White, for you see these Stebbings evidently want to prevent him +from taking to his own kindred---you must help me, Rotherwood.' + +'When I am convinced,' he said. 'My dear Jenny, I beg your pardon---I +have an infinite respect for your sagacity, but allow me to observe, +though your theory holds together, still it has rather an ancient and +fish-like smell.' + +'I only ask you to investigate, and make him do so. Listen to any +one who knows, to any one but the Stebbings, and you will find what +an admirable girl the sister is, and that the poor boy is perfectly +blameless of anything but being forced into a position for which he +was never intended, and of all his instincts rebelling.' + +They were interrupted by the arrival of the doctor, whom Lady +Rotherwood had bound over to come and see whether her husband was the +worse for his exertions. He came in apologising most unnecessarily +for his tardiness. And in the midst of Miss Mohun's mingled greeting +and farewell, she stood still to hear him say that he had been +delayed by being called in to that poor woman, Mrs. White, who had +had a fit on hearing the policeman inquiring for that young scamp, +her son. + +'The policeman!' ejaculated Jane in consternation. + +'It was only to summon him to attend the inquest,' explained Dr. +Dagger, 'but there was no one in the house with her but a little +maid, and the shock was dreadful. If he has really absconded, it +looks exceedingly ill for him.' + +'I believe he has only been inattentive,' said Jane firmly, knowing +that she ought to go, and yet feeling constrained to wait long enough +to ask what was the state of the poor mother, and if her daughter +were with her. + +'The daughter was sent for, and seems to be an effective person--- +uncommonly handsome, by the bye. The attack was hysteria, but there +is evidently serious disease about her, which may be accelerated.' + +'I thought so. I am afraid she has had no advice.' + +'No; I promised the daughter to come and examine her to-morrow when +she is calmer, and if that son is good for anything, he may have +returned.' + +And therewith Jane was forced to go away, to carry this wretched news +to poor Gillian. + +Aunt and niece went as soon as the mid-day meal was over to inquire +for poor Mrs. White, and see what could be done. She was sleeping +under an opiate, and Kalliope came down, pale as marble, but +tearless. She knew nothing of her brother since she had given him +his breakfast that morning. He had looked white and haggard, and had +not slept, neither did he eat. She caught at the theory that had +occurred to Miss Mohun, that he did not like to accuse Fergus, for +even to her he had not mentioned who had removed the stone. In that +case he might return at night. Yet it was possible that he did not +know even now whence the stone had come, and it was certain that he +had been at his office that morning, and opened the letter announcing +his dismissal. Kalliope, going later, had found the like notice, but +had had little time to dwell on it before she had been summoned home +to her mother. Poor Mrs. White had been much shaken by the first +reports of yesterday's accident, which had been so told to her as to +alarm her for both her children; and when her little maid rushed in +to say that 'the pelis was come after Mr. Alec,' it was no wonder +that her terror threw her into a most alarming state, which made good +Mrs. Lee despatch her husband to bring home Kalliope; and as the +attack would not yield to the soothing of the women or to their +domestic remedies, but became more and more delirious and convulsive, +the nearest doctor was sent for, and Dr. Dagger, otherwise a higher +flight than would have been attempted, was caught on his way and +brought in to discover how serious her condition already was. + +This Kalliope told them with the desperate quietness of one who could +not afford to give way. Her own affairs were entirely swallowed up +in this far greater trouble, and for the present there were no means +of helping her. Mr. and Mrs. Lee were thoroughly kind, and ready to +give her efficient aid in her home cares and her nursing; and it +could only be hoped that Alexis might come back in the evening, and +set the poor patient's mind at rest. + +'We will try to make Mr. White come to a better understanding,' said +Miss Mohun kindly. + +'Thank you' said Kalliope, pushing back her hair with a half- +bewildered look. 'I remember my poor mother was very anxious about +that. But it seems a little thing now.' + +'May God bless and help you, my dear,' said Miss Mohun, with a +parting kiss. + +Gillian had not spoken all the time; but outside she said--'Oh, aunt! +is this my doing?' + +'Not quite,' said Aunt Jane kindly. 'There were other causes.' + +'Oh, if I could do anything!' + +'Alas! it is easier to do than to undo.' + +Aunt Jane was really kind, and Gillian was grateful, but oh, how she +longed for her mother! + +There was no better news the next morning. Nothing had been heard of +Alexis, and nothing would persuade his mother in her half-delirious +and wholly unreasonable state that he had not been sent to prison, +and that they were not keeping it from her. She was exceedingly ill, +and Kalliope had been up all night with her. + +Such was the report in a note sent up by Mrs. Lee by one of the +little boys early in the morning, and, as soon as she could +reasonably do so, Miss Mohun carried the report to Lord Rotherwood, +whom she found much better, and anxious to renew the tour of +inspection which had been interrupted. + +Before long, Mr. White was shown in, intending to resume the business +discussion, and Miss Mohun was about to retreat with Lady Rotherwood, +when her cousin, taking pity on her anxiety, said--- + +'If you will excuse me for speaking about your family matters, Mr. +White, my cousin knows these young people well, and I should like you +to hear what she has been telling me.' + +'A gentleman has just been calling on me about them,' said Mr. White, +not over-graciously. + +'Mr. Flight?' asked Jane anxiously. + +'Yes; a young clergyman, just what we used to call Puseyite when I +left England; but that name seems to be gone out now.' + +'Anyway,' said Jane, 'I am sure he had nothing but good to say of +Miss White, or indeed of her brother; and I am afraid the poor mother +is very ill.' + +'That's true, Miss Mohun; but you see there may be one side to a lady +or a parson, and another to a practical man like my partner. Not but +that I should be willing enough to do anything in reason for poor +Dick's widow and children, but not to keep them in idleness, or +letting them think themselves too good to work.' + +'That I am sure these two do not. Their earnings quite keep the +family. I know no one who works harder than Miss White, between her +business, her lodgers, the children, and her helpless mother.' + +'I saw her mosaics---very fair, very clever, some of them; but I'm +afraid she is a sad little flirt, Miss Mohun.' + +'Mr. White,' said Lord Rotherwood, 'did ever you hear of a poor girl +beset by an importunate youth, but his family thought it was all her +fault?' + +'If Mr. White would see her,' said Jane, 'he would understand at a +glance that the attraction is perfectly involuntary; and I know from +other sources how persistently she has avoided young Stebbing; giving +up Sunday walks to prevent meeting him, accepting nothing from him, +always avoiding tete-a-tetes.' + +'Hum! But tell me this, madam,' said Mr. White eagerly, 'how is it +that, if these young folks are so steady and diligent as you would +make out, that eldest brother writes to me every few months for help +to support them?' + +'Oh!' Jane breathed out, then, rallying, 'I know nothing about that +eldest. Yes, I do though! His sister told my niece that all the +rents of the three houses went to enable Richard to appear as he +ought at the solicitor's office at Leeds.' + +'There's a screw loose somewhere plainly,' said Lord Rotherwood. + +'The question is, where it is,' said Mr. White. + +'And all I hope, said Jane, 'is that Mr. White will judge for himself +when he has seen Kalliope and made inquiries all round. I do not say +anything for the mother, poor thing, except that she is exceedingly +ill just now, but I do thoroughly believe in the daughter.' + +'And this runaway scamp, Miss Mohun?' + +'I am afraid he is a runaway; but I am quite sure he is no scamp,' +said Jane. + +'Only so clever as to be foolish, eh?' said the Marquis, rather +provokingly. + +'Exactly so,' she answered; 'and I am certain that if Mr. White will +trust to his own eyes and his own inquiries, he will find that I am +right.' + +She knew she ought to go, and Lord Rotherwood told her afterwards, +'That was not an ill-aimed shaft, Jane. Stebbing got more than one +snub over the survey. I see that White is getting the notion that +there's a system of hoodwinking going on, and of not letting him +alone, and he is not the man to stand that.' + +'If he only would call on Kalliope!' + +'I suspect he is afraid of being beguiled by such a fascinating young +woman.' + +It was a grievous feature in the case to Gillian that she could +really do nothing. Mrs. White was so ill that going to see Kalliope +was of no use, and Maura was of an age to be made useful at home; and +there were features in the affair that rendered it inexpedient for +Gillian to speak of it except in the strictest confidence to Aunt +Jane or Mysie. It was as if she had touched a great engine, and it +was grinding and clashing away above her while she could do nothing +to stay its course. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. 'THEY COME, THEY COME' + + + +Dr. Dagger examined Mrs. White and pronounced that there had been +mortal disease of long standing, and that she had nearly, if not +quite, reached the last stage. While people had thought her selfish, +weak, and exacting, she must really have concealed severe suffering, +foolishly perhaps, but with great fortitude. + +And from hearing this sentence, Kalliope had turned to find at last +tidings of her brother in a letter written from Avoncester, the +nearest garrison town. He told his sister that, heart-broken already +at the result of what he knew to be his own presumption, and +horrified at the fatal consequences of his unhappy neglect, he felt +incapable of facing any of those whom he had once called his friends, +and the letter of dismissal had removed all scruples. Had it not +been for his faith and fear, he would have put an end to his life, +but she need have no alarms on that score. He had rushed away, +scarce knowing what he was doing, till he had found himself on the +road to Avoncester and then had walked on thither and enlisted in the +regiment quartered there, where he hoped to do his duty, having no +other hope left in life! + +Part of this letter Kalliope read to Miss Mohun, who had come down to +hear the doctor's verdict. It was no time to smile at the heart +being broken by the return of a valentine, or all hope in life being +over before twenty. Kalliope, who knew what the life of a private +was, felt wretched over it, and her poor mother was in despair; but +Miss Mohun tried to persuade her that it was by no means an +unfortunate thing, since Alexis would be thus detained safely and +within reach till Sir Jasper arrived to take up the matter, and Mr. +White had been able to understand it. + +'Yes; but he cannot come to my poor mother. And Richard will be so +angry---think it such a degradation.' + +'He ought not. Your father---' + +'Oh! but he will. And I must write to him. Mother has been asking +for him.' + +'Tell me, my dear, has Richard ever helped you?' + +'Oh no, poor fellow, he could not. He wants all we can send him, or +we would have put the little boys to a better school.' + +'I would not write before it is absolutely necessary,' said Miss +Mohun. 'A young man hanging about with nothing to do, even under +these circumstances, might make things harder.' + +'Yes, I know,' said Kalliope, with a trembling lip. 'And if it was +urgent, even Alexis might come. Indeed, I ought to be thankful that +he is safe, after all my dreadful fears, and not far off.' + +Miss Mohun refrained from grieving the poor girl by blaming Alexis +for the impetuous selfish folly that had so greatly added to the +general distress of his family, and rendered it so much more +difficult to plead his cause. In fact, she felt bound to stand up as +his champion against all his enemies, though he was less easy of +defence than his sister; and Mr. Flight, the first person she met +afterwards, was excessively angry and disappointed, speaking of such +a step as utter ruin. + +'The lad was capable of so much better things,' said he. 'I had +hoped so much of him, and had so many plans for him, that it is a +grievous pity; but he had no patience, and now he has thrown himself +away. I told him it was his first duty to maintain his mother, and +if he had stuck to that, I would have done more for him as soon as he +was old enough, and I could see what was to be done for the rest of +them; but he grew unsettled and impatient, and this is the end of +it!' + +'Not the end, I hope,' said Miss Mohun. 'It is not exactly slavery +without redemption.' + +'He does not deserve it.' + +'Who does? Besides, remember what his father was.' + +'His father must have been of the high-spirited, dare-devil sort. +This lad was made for a scholar---for the priesthood, in fact, and the +army will be more uncongenial than these marble works! Foolish +fellow, he will soon have had enough of it, with his refinement, +among such associates.' + +Jane wondered that the young clergyman did not regret that he had +sufficiently tried the youth's patience to give the sense of neglect +and oblivion. There had been many factors in the catastrophe, and +this had certainly been one, since the loan of a few books, and an +hour a week of direction of study, would have kept Alexis contented, +and have obviated all the perilous intercourse with Gillian; but she +scarcely did the Rev. Augustine Flight injustice in thinking that in +the aesthetic and the emotional side of religion he somewhat lost +sight of the daily drudgery that works on character chiefly as a +preventive. 'He was at the bottom of it, little as he knows it,' she +said to herself as she walked up the hill. 'How much harm is done by +good beginnings of a skein left to tangle.' + +Lady Flight provided a trained nurse to help Kalliope, and sent hosts +of delicacies; and plenty of abuse was bestowed on Mr. James White +for his neglect. Meanwhile Mrs. White, though manifestly in a +hopeless state, seemed likely to linger on for some weeks longer. + +In the meantime, Miss Mohun at last found an available house, and was +gratified by the young people's murmur that 'Il Lido' was too far off +from Beechcroft. But then their mother would be glad to be so near +St. Andrew's, for she belonged to the generation that loved and +valued daily services. + +Lord Rotherwood, perhaps owing to his exertions, felt the accident +more than he had done at first, and had to be kept very quiet, which +he averred to be best accomplished by having the children in to play +with him; and as he always insisted on sending for Valetta to make up +the party, the edict of separation fell to the ground, when Lady +Rotherwood, having written his letters for him, went out for a drive, +taking sometimes Miss Elbury, but more often Adeline Mohun, who +flattered herself that her representations had done much to subdue +prejudice and smooth matters. + +'Which always were smooth,' said Jane; 'smooth and polished as a +mahogany table, and as easy to get into.' + +However, she was quite content that Ada should be the preferred one, +and perhaps no one less acute than herself would have felt that the +treatment as intimates and as part of the family was part of the duty +of a model wife. Both sisters were in request to enliven the +captive, and Jane forebore to worry him with her own anxieties about +the present disgrace of the Whites. Nothing could be done for +Kalliope in her mother's present state, Alexis must drink of his own +brewst, and Sir Jasper and Lady Merrifield were past Brindisi! As to +Mr. White, he seemed to be immersed in business, and made no sign of +relenting; Jane had made one or two attempts to see him, but had not +succeeded. Only one of her G.F.S. maidens, who was an enthusiastic +admirer of Kalliope, and in perfect despair at her absence, mentioned +that Mr. White had looked over all their work and had been immensely +struck with Miss White's designs, and especially with the table +inlaid with autumn leaves, which had been set aside as expensive, +unprofitable, and not according to the public taste, and not shown to +him on his first visit to the works with Mr. Stebbing. There were +rumours in the air that he was not contented with the state of +things, and might remain for some time to set them on a different +footing. + +Miss Adeline had been driving with Lady Rotherwood, and on coming in +with her for the afternoon cup of tea, found Mr. White conversing +with Lord Rotherwood, evidently just finishing the subject---a +reading-room or institute of some sort for the men at the works. + +'All these things are since my time,' said Mr. White. 'We were left +pretty much to ourselves in those days.' + +'And what do you think? Should you have been much the better for +them?' asked the Marquis. + +'Some of us would,' was the answer. + +'You would not have thought them a bore!' + +'There were some who would, as plenty will now; but we were a rough +set---we had not so much to start with as the lads, willy nilly, have +now. But I should have been glad of books, and diversion free from +lawlessness might have prevented poor Dick's scrapes. By the bye, +that daughter of his can do good work.' + +'Poor thing,' said Miss Adeline, 'she is a very good girl, and in +great trouble. I was much pleased with her, and I think, she has +behaved remarkably well under very trying circumstances.' + +'I observed that the young women in the mosaic department seemed to +be much attached to her,' said Mr. White. + +'My sister thinks she has been an excellent influence there.' + +'She was not there,' said Mr. White. + +'No; her mother is too ill to be left---dying, I should think, from +what I hear.' + +'From the shock of that foolish lad's evasion?' asked Lord +Rotherwood. + +'She was very ill before, I believe, though that brought it to a +crisis. No one would believe how much that poor girl has had +depending on her. I wish she had been at the works---I am sure you +would have been struck with her.' + +'Have you any reason to think they are in any distress, Miss Mohun?' + +'Not actually at present; but I do not know what they are to do in +future, with the loss of the salaries those two have had,' said +Adeline, exceedingly anxious to say neither too much nor too little. + +'There is the elder brother.' + +'Oh! he is no help, only an expense.' + +'Miss Mohun, may I ask, are you sure of that?' + +'As sure as I can be of anything. I have always heard that the rents +of their two or three small houses went to support Richard, and that +they entirely live on the earnings of the brother and sister, except +that you are so good as to educate the younger girl. It has come out +casually---they never ask for anything.' + +Mr. White looked very thoughtful. Adeline considered whether +importunity would do most harm or good; but thought her words might +work. When she rose to take leave, Mr. White did the same, +'evidently,' thought she, 'for the sake of escorting her home,' and +she might perhaps say another word in confidence for the poor young +people. She had much reliance, and not unjustly, on her powers of +persuasion, and she would make the most of those few steps to her own +door. + +'Indeed, Mr. White,' she began, 'excuse me, but I cannot help being +very much interested in those young people we were speaking of.' + +'That is your goodness, Miss Mohun. I have no doubt they are +attractive---there's no end to the attractiveness of those Southern +folk they belong to---on one side of the house at least, but +unfortunately you never know where to have them---there's no truth in +them; and though I don't want to speak of anything I may have done +for them, I can't get over their professing never to have had +anything from me.' + +'May I ask whether you sent it through that eldest brother?' + +'Certainly; he always wrote to me.' + +'Then, Mr. White, I cannot help believing that the family here never +heard of it. Do you know anything of that young man?' + +'No; I will write to his firm and inquire. Thank you for the hint, +Miss Mohun.' + +They were at Beechcroft Cottage gate, and he seemed about to see her +even to the door. At that instant a little girlish figure advanced +and was about to draw back on perceiving that Miss Adeline was not +alone, when she exclaimed, 'Maura, is it you, out so late! How is +your mother?' + +'Much the same, thank you, Miss Adeline!' + +'Here is one of the very young folks we were mentioning,' said Ada, +seeing her opportunity and glad that there was light enough to show +the lady-like little figure. 'This is Maura, Mr. White, whom you are +kindly educating.' + +Mr. White took the hand, which was given with a pretty respectful +gesture, and said something kind about her mother's illness, while +Adeline took the girl into the house and asked if she had come on any +message. + +'Yes, if you please,' said Maura, blushing; 'Miss Mohun was so kind +as to offer to lend us an air-cushion, and poor mamma is so restless +and uncomfortable that Kally thought it might ease her a little.' + +'By all means, my dear. Come in, and I will have it brought,' said +Adeline, whose property the cushion was, and who was well pleased +that Mr. White came in likewise, and thus had a full view of Maura's +great wistful, long-lashed eyes, and delicate refined features, under +a little old brown velvet cap, and the slight figure in a gray +ulster. He did not speak while Maura answered Miss Adeline's +inquiries, but when the cushion had been brought down, and she had +taken it under her arm, he exclaimed--- + +'Is she going back alone?' + +'Oh yes,' said Maura cheerfully; 'it is not really dark out of doors +yet.' + +'I suppose it could not be helped,' said Miss Adeline. + +'No; Theodore is at the school. They keep him late to get things +ready for the inspection, and Petros had to go to the doctor's to +fetch something; but he will meet me if he is not kept waiting.' + +'It is not fit for a child like that to go alone so late,' said Mr. +White, who perhaps had imbibed Italian notions of the respectability +of an escort. 'I will walk down with her.' + +Maura looked as if darkness were highly preferable to such a +cavalier; but Miss Adeline was charmed to see them walk off together, +and when her sister presently came in with Gillian and Fergus, she +could not but plume herself a little on her achievement. + +'Then it was those two!' exclaimed Jane. 'I thought so from the +other side of the street, but it was too dark to be certain; and +besides, there was no believing it.' + +'Did not they acknowledge you?' + +'Oh no; they were much too busy.' + +'Talking. Oh, what fun!' Adeline could not help observing in such +glee that she looked more like 'our youngest girl' than the handsome +middle-aged aunt. + +'But,' suggested Fergus, somewhat astonished, 'Stebbing says he is no +end of a horrid brute of a screw.' + +'Indeed. What has he been doing?' + +'He only tipped him a coach wheel.' + +'Well, to tip over as a coach wheel is the last thing I should have +expected of Mr. White,' said Aunt Jane, misunderstanding on purpose. + +'A crown piece then,' growled Fergus; 'and of course he thought it +would be a sovereign, and so he can't pay me my two ten--shillings, I +mean, that I lent him, and so I can't get the lovely ammonite I saw +at Nott's.' + +'How could you be so silly as to lend him any money?' + +'I didn't want to; but he said he would treat us all round if I +wouldn't be mean, and after all I only got half a goody, with all the +liqueur out of it.' + +'It served you right,' said Gillian. 'I doubt whether you would see +the two shillings again, even if he had the sovereign.' + +'He faithfully promised I should,' said Fergus, whose allegiance was +only half broken. 'And old White is a beast, and no mistake. He was +perfectly savage to Stebbing's major, and he said he wouldn't be +under him, at no price.' + +'Perhaps Mr. White might say the same,' put in Aunt Ada. + +'He is a downright old screw and a bear, I tell you,' persisted +Fergus. 'He jawed Frank Stebbing like a pickpocket for just having a +cigar in the quarry.' + +'Close to the blasting powder, eh?' said Miss Mohun. + +'And he is boring and worrying them all out of their lives over the +books,' added Fergus. 'Poking his nose into everything, so that +Stebbing says his governor vows he can't stand it, and shall cut the +concern it the old brute does not take himself off to Italy before +long.' + +'What a good thing!' thought both sisters, looking into each other's +eyes and auguring well for the future. + +All were anxious to hear the result of Maura's walk, and Gillian set +out in the morning on a voyage of discovery with a glass of jelly for +Mrs. White; but all she could learn was that the great man had been +very kind to Maura, though he had not come in, at which Gillian was +indignant. + +'Men are often shy of going near sickness and sorrow,' said her aunt +Ada. 'You did not hear what they talked about?' + +'No; Maura was at school, and Kally is a bad person to pump.' + +'I should like to pump Mr. White,' was Aunt Jane's comment. + +'If I could meet him again,' said Aunt Ada, 'I feel sure he would +tell me.' + +Her sister laughed a little, so well did she know that little half- +conscious, half-gratified tone of assumption of power over the other +sex; but Miss Adeline proved to be right. Nay, Mr. White actually +called in the raw cold afternoon, which kept her in when every one +else was out. He came for the sake of telling her that he was much +pleased with the little girl---a pretty creature, and simple and true, +he really believed. Quite artlessly, in answer to his inquiries, she +had betrayed that her eldest brother never helped them. 'Oh no! +Mamma was always getting all the money she could to send to him, +because he must keep up appearances at his office at Leeds, and live +like a gentleman, and it did not signify about Kalliope and Alexis +doing common work.' + +'That's one matter cleared up,' rejoiced Jane. 'It won't be brought +up against them now.' + +'And then it seems he asked the child about her sister's lovers.' + +'Oh!' + +'It was for a purpose. Don't be old maidish, Jenny!' + +'Well, he isn't a gentleman.' + +'Now, Jane, I'm sure---' + +'Never mind. I want to hear; only I should have thought you would +have been the first to cry out.' + +'Little Maura seems to have risen to the occasion, and made a full +explanation as far as she knew---and that was more than the child +ought to have known, by the bye---of how Mr. Frank was always after +Kally, and how she could not bear him, and gave up the Sunday walk to +avoid him, and how he had tried to get her to marry him, and go to +Italy with him; but she would not hear of it.' + +'Just the thing the little chatterbox would be proud of, but it is no +harm that "Mon oncle des iles Philippines" should know.' + +'"I see his little game" was what Mr. White said,' repeated Adeline. +'"The young dog expected to come over me with this pretty young wife- +--my relation, too; but he would have found himself out in his +reckoning."' + +'So far so good; but it is not fair.' + +'However, the ice is broken. What's that? Is the house coming +down?' + +No; but Gillian and Valetta came rushing in, almost tumbling over one +another, and each waving a sheet of a letter. Papa and mamma would +land in three days' time if all went well; but the pity was that they +must go to London before coming to Rockquay, since Sir Jasper must +present himself to the military and medical authorities, and likewise +see his mother, who was in a very failing state. + +The children looked and felt as if the meeting were deferred for +years; but Miss Mohun, remembering the condition of 'Il Lido,' alike +as to the presence of workmen and absence of servants, felt relieved +at the respite, proceeded to send a telegram to Macrae, and became +busier than ever before in her life. + +The Rotherwoods were just going to London. The Marquis was wanted +for a division, and though both he and Dr. Dagger declared his +collar-bone quite repaired, his wife could not be satisfied without +hearing for herself a verdict to the same effect from the higher +authorities, being pretty sure that whatever their report might be, +his abstract would be 'All right. Never mind.' + +Fly had gained so much in flesh and strength, and was so much more +like her real self, that she was to remain at the hotel with Miss +Elbury, the rooms being kept for her parents till Easter. Mysie was, +however, to go with them to satisfy her mother, 'with a first +mouthful of children,' said Lord Rotherwood. 'Gillian had better +come too; and we will write to the Merrifields to come to us, unless +they are bound to the old lady.' + +This, however, was unlikely, as she was very infirm, and her small +house was pretty well filled by her attendants. Lady Rotherwood +seconded the invitation like a good wife, and Gillian was grateful. +Such a forestalling was well worth even the being the Marchioness's +guest, and being treated with careful politeness and supervision as a +girl of the period, always ready to break out. However, she would +have Mysie, and she tried to believe Aunt Jane, who told her that she +had conjured up a spectre of the awful dame. There was a melancholy +parting on the side of poor little Lady Phyllis. 'What shall I do +without you, Mysie dear?' + +'It is only for a few days.' + +'Yes; but then you will be in a different house, all down in the +town---it will be only visiting---not like sisters.' + +'Sisters are quite a different thing,' said Mysie stoutly; 'but we +can be the next thing to it in our hearts.' + +'It is not equal,' said Fly. 'You don't make a sister of me, and I +do of you.' + +'Because you know no better! Poor Fly, I do wish I could give you a +sister of your own.' + +'Do you know, Mysie, I think---I'm quite sure, that daddy is going to +ask your father and mother to give you to us, out and out.' + +'Oh! I'm sure they won't do that,' cried Mysie in consternation. +'Mamma never would!' + +'And wouldn't you? Don't you like me as well as Gill and Val?' + +'I _like_ you better. Stop, don't, Fly; you are what people call +more of a companion to me---my friend; but friends aren't the same as +sisters, are they? They may be more, or they may be less, but it is +not the same kind. And then it is not only you, there are papa and +mamma and all my brothers.' + +'But you _do_ love daddy, and you have not seen yours for four years, +and Aunt Florence and all the cousins at Beechcroft say they were +quite afraid of him.' + +'Because he is so--- Oh! I don't know how to say it, but he is just +like Epaminondas, or King Arthur, or Robert Bruce, or---' + +'Well, that's enough' said Fly; 'I am sure my daddy would laugh if +you said he was like all those.' + +'To be sure he would!' said Mysie. 'And do you think I would give +mine for him, though yours is so kind and good and such fun?' + +'And I'm sure I'd rather have him than yours,' said Fly. + +'Well, that's right. It would be wicked not to like one's own father +and mother best.' + +'But if they thought it would be good for you to have all my +governesses and advantages, and they took pity on my loneliness. +What then?' + +'Then? Oh! I'd try to bear it,' said unworldly and uncomplimentary +Mysie. 'And you need not be lonely now. There's Val!' + +The two governesses had made friends, and the embargo on intercourse +with Valetta had been allowed to drop; but Fly only shook her head, +and allowed that Val was better than nothing.' + +Mysie had a certain confidence that mamma would not give her away if +all the lords and ladies in the world wanted her; and Gillian +confirmed her in that belief, so that no misgiving interfered with +her joy at finding herself in the train, where Lord Rotherwood +declared that the two pair of eyes shone enough to light a candle by. + +'I feel,' said Mysie, jumping up and down in her seat, 'like the man +who said he had a bird in his bosom.' + +'Or a bee in his bonnet, eh?' said Lord Rotherwood, while Mysie +obeyed a sign from my lady to moderate the restlessness of her +ecstasies. + +'It really was a bird in his bosom,' said Gillian gravely, 'only he +said so when he was dying in battle, and he meant his faith to his +king.' + +'And little Mysie has kept her faith to her mother,' said their +cousin, putting out his hand to turn the happy face towards him. +'So the bird may well sing to her.' + +'In spite of parting with Phyllis?' asked Lady Rotherwood. + +'I can't help it, _indeed_,' said Mysie, divided between her +politeness and her dread of being given away; 'it has been very nice, +but one's own, own papa and mamma must be more than any one.' + +'So they ought,' said Lord Rotherwood, and there it ended, chatter in +the train not being considered desirable. + +Gillian longed to show Mysie and Geraldine Grinstead to each other, +and the first rub with her hostess occurred when the next morning she +proposed to take a cab and go to Brompton. + +'Is not your first visit due to your grandmother?' said Lady +Rotherwood. 'You might walk there, and I will send some one to show +you the way.' + +'We must not go there till after luncheon,' said Gillian. 'She is +not ready to see any one, and Bessie Merrifield cannot be spared; but +I know Mrs. Grinstead will like to see us, and I do so want Mysie to +see the studio.' + +'My dear' (it was not a favourable my dear), 'I had rather you did +not visit any one I do not know while you are under my charge.' + +'She is Phyllis's husband's sister,' pleaded Gillian. + +Lady Rotherwood made a little bend of acquiescence, but said no more, +and departed, while Gillian inly raged. A few months ago she would +have acted on her own responsibility (if Mysie would not have been +too much shocked), but she had learnt the wisdom of submission in +fact, if not in word, for she growled about great ladies and +exclusiveness, so that Mysie looked mystified. + +It was certainly rather dull in the only half-revivified London +house, and Belgrave Square in Lent did not present a lively scene +from the windows. The Liddesdales had a house there, but they were +not to come up till the season began; and Gillian was turning with a +sigh to ask if there might not be some books in Fly's schoolroom, +when Mysie caught the sound of a bell, and ventured on an expedition +to find her ladyship and ask leave to go to church. + +There, to their unexpected delight, they beheld not only Bessie, but +a clerical-looking back, which, after some watching, they so +identified that they looked at one another with responsive eyes, and +Gillian doubted whether this were recompense for submission, or +reproof for discontent. + +Very joyful was the meeting on the steps of St. Paul's, +Knightsbridge, and an exchange of 'Oh! how did you come here? Where +are you?' + +Harry had come up the day before, and was to go and meet the +travellers at Southampton with his uncle, Admiral Merrifield, who had +brought his eldest daughter Susan to relieve her sister or assist +her. Great was the joy and eager the talk, as first Bessie was +escorted by the whole party back to grandmamma's house, and then +Harry accompanied his sisters to Belgrave Square, where he was kept +to luncheon, and Lady Rotherwood was as glad to resign his sisters to +his charge as he could be to receive them. + +He had numerous commissions to execute for his vicar, and Gillian had +to assist the masculine brains in the department of Church +needlework, actually venturing to undertake some herself, trusting to +the tuition of Aunt Ada, a proficient in the same; while Mysie +reverently begged at least to hem the borders. + +Then they revelled in the little paradises of books and pictures in +Northumberland Avenue and Westminster Sanctuary, and went to Evensong +at the Abbey, Mysie's first sight thereof, and nearly the like to +Gillian, since she only remembered before a longing not to waste time +in a dull place instead of being in the delightful streets. + +'It is a thing never to forget,' she said under her breath, as they +lingered in the nave. + +'I never guessed anything could make one feel so,' added Mysie, with +a little sigh of rapture. + +'That strange unexpected sense of delight always seems to me to +explain, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered +into the heart of man to conceive,"' said Harry. + +Mysie whispered--- + + + 'Beneath thy contemplation + Sink heart and voice opprest!' + + +'Oh, Harry, can't we stay and see Henry VII.'s Chapel, and Poets' +Corner, and Edward I.'s monument?' pleaded the sister. + +'I am afraid we must not, Gill. I have to see after some vases, and +to get a lot of things at the Stores, and it will soon be dark. If I +don't go to Southampton to-morrow, I will take you then. Now then, +feet or cab?' + +'Oh, let us walk! It is ten times the fun.' + +'Then mind you don't jerk me back at the crossings.' + +There are few pleasures greater of their kind than that of the +youthful country cousin under the safe escort of a brother or father +in London streets. The sisters looked in at windows, wondered and +enjoyed, till they had to own their feet worn out, and submit to a +four-wheeler. + +'An hour of London is more than a month of Rockquay, or a year of +Silverfold,' cried Gillian. + +'Dear old Silverfold,' said Mysie; 'when shall we go back?' + +'By the bye,' said Harry, 'how about the great things that were to be +done for mother?' + +'Primrose is all right,' said Mysie. 'The dear little thing has +written a nice copybook, and hemmed a whole set of handkerchiefs for +papa. She is so happy with them.' + +'And you, little Mouse?' + +'I have done my translation---not quite well, I am afraid, and made +the little girl's clothes. I wonder if I may go and take them to +her.' + +'And Val has finished her crewel cushion, thanks to the aunts,' said +Gillian. + +'Fergus's machine, how about that? Perpetual motion, wasn't it?' + +'That has turned into mineralogy, worse luck,' said Gillian. + +'Gill has done a beautiful sketch of Rockquay,' added Mysie. + +'Oh! don't talk of me,' said Gillian. 'I have only made a most +unmitigated mess of everything.' + +But here attention was diverted by Harry's exclaiming--- + +'Hullo! was that Henderson?' + +'Nonsense; the Wardours are at Cork.' + +'He may be on leave.' + +'Or retired. He is capable of it.' + +'I believe it was old Fangs.' + +The discussion lasted to Belgrave Square. + +And then Sunday was spent upon memorable churches and services under +the charge of Harry, who was making the most of his holiday. The +trio went to Evensong at St. Wulstan's, and a grand idea occurred to +Gillian---could not Theodore White become one of those young +choristers, who had their home in the Clergy House. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. FATHER AND MOTHER + + + +The telegram came early on Monday morning. Admiral Merrifield and +Harry started by the earliest train, deciding not to take the girls; +whereupon their kind host, to mitigate the suspense, placed himself +at the young ladies' disposal for anything in the world that they +might wish to see. It was too good an opportunity of seeing the +Houses of Parliament to be lost, and the spell of Westminster Abbey +was upon Mysie. + +Cousin Rotherwood was a perfect escort, and declared that he had not +gone through such a course of English history since he had taken his +cousin Lilias and his sister Florence the same round more years ago +than it was civil to recollect. He gave a sigh to the great men he +had then let them see and hear, and regretted the less that there was +no possibility of regaling the present pair with a debate. It was +all like a dream to the two girls. They saw, but suspense was +throbbing in their hearts all the time, and qualms were crossing +Gillian as she recollected that in some aspects her father could be +rather a terrible personage when one was wilfully careless, saucy to +authorities, or unable to see or confess wrong-doing; and the element +of dread began to predominate in her state of expectation. The bird +in the bosom fluttered very hard as the possible periods after the +arrivals of trains came round; and it was not till nearly eight +o'clock that the decisive halt of wheels was heard, and in a few +moments Mysie was in the dearest arms in the world, and Gillian +feeling the moustached kiss she had not known for nearly four long +years, and which was half-strange, half-familiar. + +In drawing-room light, there was the mother looking none the worse +for her journey, her clear brown skin neither sallow nor lined, and +the soft brown eyes as bright and sweet as ever; but the father must +be learnt over again, and there was awe enough as well as +enthusiastic love to make her quail at the thought of her record of +self-will. + +There was, however, no disappointment in the sight of the fine, tall +soldierly figure, broad shouldered, but without an ounce of +superfluous flesh, and only altered by his hair having become thinner +and whiter, thus adding to the height of his forehead, and making his +very dark eyebrows and eyes have a different effect, especially as he +was still pallid beneath the browning of many years, though he +declared himself so well as to be ashamed of being invalided. + +Time was short. Harry and the Admiral, who were coming to dinner, +had rushed home to dress and to fetch Susan; and Lady Merrifield was +conducted in haste to her bedroom, and left to the almost too excited +ministrations of her daughters. + +It was well that attentive servants had unfastened the straps, for +when Gillian had claimed the keys of the dear old familiar box, her +hand shook so much that they jingled; the key would not go into the +hole, and she had to resign them to sober Mysie, who had been untying +the bonnet, with a kiss, and answering for the health of Primrose, +whom Uncle William was to bring to London in two days' time. + +'My dear silly child,' said her mother, surprised at Gillian's +emotion. + +And the reply was a burst of tears. 'Oh, so silly! so wrong! I have +so wanted you.' + +'I know all about it. You told us all, like an honest child.' + +'Oh, such dreadful things---the rock---the poor child killed---Cousin +Rotherwood hurt.' + +'Yes, yes, I heard! We can't have it out now. Here's papa! she is +upset about these misadventures,' added Lady Merrifield, looking up +to her husband, who stood amazed at the sobs that greeted him. + +'You must control yourself, Gillian,' he said gravely. 'Stop that! +Your mother is tired, and has to dress! Don't worry her. Go, if you +cannot leave off.' + +The bracing tone made Gillian swallow her tears, the more easily +because of the familiarity of home atmosphere, confidence, and +protection; and a mute caress from her mother was a promise of +sympathy. + +The sense of that presence was the chief pleasure of the short +evening, for there were too many claimants for the travellers' +attention to enable them to do more than feast their eyes on their +son and daughters, while they had to talk of other things, the +weddings, the two families, the home news, all deeply interesting in +their degree, though not touching Gillian quite so deeply as the +tangle she had left at Rockstone, and mamma's view of her behaviour; +even though it was pleasant to hear of Phyllis's beautiful home in +Ceylon, and Alethea's bungalow, and how poor Claude had to go off +alone to Rawul Pindee. She felt sure that her mother was far more +acceptable to her hostess than either of the aunts, and that, indeed, +she might well be so! + +Gillian's first feeling was like Mysie's in the morning, that nothing +could go wrong with her again, but she must perforce have patience +before she could be heard. Harry could not be spared for another day +from his curacy, and to him was due the first tete-a-tete with his +mother, after that most important change his life had yet known, and +in which she rejoiced so deeply. 'The dream of her heart,' she said, +'had always been that one of her sons should be dedicated;' and now +that the fulfilment had come in her absence, it was precious to her +to hear all those feelings and hopes and trials that the young man +could have uttered to no other ears. + +Sir Jasper, meantime, had gone out on business, and was to meet the +rest at luncheon at his mother's house, go with them to call on the +Grinsteads, and then do some further commissions, Lady Rotherwood +placing the carriage at their disposal. As to 'real talk,' that +seemed impossible for the girls, they could only, as Mysie expressed +it, 'bask in the light of mamma's eyes' and after Harry was gone on +an errand for his vicar, there were no private interviews for her. + +Indeed, the mother did not know how much Gillian had on her mind, and +thought all she wanted was discussion, and forgiveness for the +follies explained in the letter, the last received. Of any +connection between that folly and the accident to Lord Rotherwood of +course she was not aware, and in fact she had more on her hands than +she could well do in the time allotted, and more people to see. +Gillian had to find that things could not be quite the same as when +she had been chief companion in the seclusion of Silverfold. + +And just as she was going out the following letter was put into her +hands, come by one of the many posts from Rockstone:--- + + +'MY DEAR GILLIAN---I write to you because you can explain matters, and +I want your father's advice, or Cousin Rotherwood's. As I was on the +way to Il Lido just now I met Mr. Flight, looking much troubled and +distressed. He caught at me, and begged me to go with him to tell +poor Kalliope that her brother Alexis is in Avoncester Jail. He knew +it from having come down in the train with Mr. Stebbing. The charge +is for having carried away with him L15 in notes, the payment for a +marble cross for a grave at Barnscombe. You remember that on the day +of the accident poor Field was taking it in the waggon, when he came +home to hear of his child's death. + +'The receipt for the price was inquired for yesterday, and it +appeared that the notes had been given to Field in an envelope. In +his trouble, the poor man forgot to deliver this till the morning; +when on his way to the office he met young White and gave it to him. +Finding it had not been paid in, nor entered in the books, and +knowing the poor boy to have absconded, off went Mr. Stebbing, got a +summons, and demanded to have him committed for trial. + +'Alexis owned to having forgotten the letter in the shock of the +dismissal, and to having carried it away with him, but said that as +soon as he had discovered it he had forwarded it to his sister, and +had desired her to send it to the office. He did not send it direct, +because he could only, at the moment, get one postage-stamp. On this +he was remanded till Saturday, when his sisters' evidence can be +taken at the magistrates meeting. This was the news that Mr. Flight +and I had to take to that poor girl, who could hardly be spared from +her mother to speak to us, and how she is to go to Avoncester it is +hard to say; but she has no fear of not being able to clear her +brother, for she says she put the dirty and ragged envelope that no +doubt contained the notes into another, with a brief explanation, +addressed it to Mr. Stebbing, and sent it by Petros, who told her +that he had delivered it. + +'I thought nothing could be clearer, and so did Mr. Flight, but +unluckily Kalliope had destroyed her brother's letter, and had not +read me this part of it, so that she can bring no actual tangible +proof, and it is a much more serious matter than it appeared when we +were talking to her. Mr. White has just been here, whether to +condole or to triumph I don't exactly know. He has written to Leeds, +and heard a very unsatisfactory account of that eldest brother, who +certainly has deceived him shamefully, and this naturally adds to the +prejudice against the rest of the family. We argued about Kalliope's +high character, and he waved his hand and said, "My dear ladies, you +don't understand those Southern women---the more pious, devoted doves +they are, the blacker they will swear themselves to get off their +scamps of men." To represent that Kalliope is only one quarter Greek +was useless, especially as he has been diligently imbued by Mrs. +Stebbing with all last autumn's gossip, and, as he confided to Aunt +Ada, thinks "that they take advantage of his kindness!" + +'Of course Mr. Flight, and all who really know Alexis and Kalliope, +feel the accusation absurd; but it is only too possible that the +Avoncester magistrates may not see the evidence in the same light, as +its weight depends upon character, and the money is really missing, +so that I much fear their committing him for trial at the Quarter +Sessions. It will probably be the best way to employ a solicitor to +watch the case at once, and I shall speak to Mr. Norton tomorrow, +unless your father can send me any better advice by post. I hope it +is not wicked to believe that the very fact of Mr. Norton's being +concerned might lead to the notes finding themselves. + +'Meantime, I am of course doing what I can. Kally is very brave in +her innocence and her brother's, but, shut up in her mother's +sickroom, she little guesses how bad things are made to look, or how +Greek and false are treated as synonymous. + +'Much love to your mother. I am afraid this is a damper on your +happiness, but I am sure that your father would wish to know. Aunt +Ada tackles Mr. White better than I do, and means if possible to make +him go to Avoncester himself when the case comes on, so that he +should at least see and hear for himself.---Your affectionate aunt, + J. M.' + + +What a letter for poor Gillian! She had to pocket it at first, and +only opened it while taking off her hat at grandmamma's house, and +there was only time for a blank feeling of uncomprehending +consternation before she had to go down to luncheon, and hear her +father and uncle go on with talk about India and Stokesley, to which +she could not attend. + +Afterwards, Lady Merrifield was taken to visit grandmamma, and Bessie +gratified the girls with a sight of her special den, where she wrote +her stories, showing them the queer and flattering gifts that had +come to her in consequence of her authorship, which was becoming less +anonymous, since her family were growing hardened to it, and +grandmamma was past hearing of it or being distressed. It was in +Bessie's room that Gillian gathered the meaning of her aunt's letter, +and was filled with horror and dismay. She broke out with a little +scream, which brought both Mysie and Bessie to her side; but what +could they do? Mysie was shocked and sympathising enough, and Bessie +was trying to understand the complicated story, when the summons came +for the sisters. There were hopes of communicating the catastrophe +in the carriage; but no, the first exclamation of 'Oh, mamma!' was +lost. + +Sir Jasper had something so important to tell his wife about his +interviews at the Horse Guards, that the attempt to interrupt was +silenced by a look and sign. It was a happy thing to have a father +at home, but it was different from being mamma's chief companion and +confidante, and poor Gillian sat boiling over with something very +like indignation at not being allowed even to allow that she had +something to tell at least as important as anything papa could be +relating. + +She hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that the Grinsteads +proved to be out of town; but at any rate she might be grateful to +Lady Rotherwood for preventing a vain expedition---a call on another +old friend, Mrs. Crayon, the Marianne Weston of early youth, and now +a widow, as she too was out. Then followed some shopping that the +parents wanted to do together, but at the door of the stores Lady +Merrifield said--- + +'I have a host of things to get here for the two brides. Suppose, +papa, that you walk home with Gillian across the Park. It will suit +you better than this fearful list.' + +Lady Merrifield only thought of letting father and daughter renew +their acquaintance, and though she saw that Gillian was in an agony +to speak about something, did not guess what an ordeal the girl felt +it to have to begin with the father, unseen for four years, and whose +searching eyes and grave politeness gave a sense of austerity, so +that trepidation was spoiling all the elation at having a father, and +such a father, to walk with. + +'Well, Gillian,' he said, 'we have a great deal of lee way to make +up. I want to hear of poor White's children. I am glad you have had +the opportunity of showing them some kindness.' + +'Oh, papa! it is so dreadful! If you would read this letter.' + +'I cannot do so here,' said Sir Jasper, who could not well make trial +of his new spectacles in Great George Street. What is dreadful?' + +'This accusation. Poor Alexis! Oh! you don't know. The accident +and all---our fault---mine really,' gasped Gillian. + +'I am not likely to know at this rate,' said Sir Jasper. 'I hope you +have not caught the infection of incoherency from Lord Rotherwood. +Do you mean his accident?' + +'Yes; they have turned them both off, and now they have gone and put +Alexis in prison.' + +'For the accident? I thought it was a fall of rock.' + +'Oh no---I mean yes---it wasn't for that; but it came of that, and +Fergus and I were at the bottom of it,' said Gillian, in such +confusion that her words seemed to tumble out without her own +control. + +'How did you escape with your lives?' + +Was he misunderstanding her on purpose, or giving a lesson on +slipslop at such a provoking moment? Perhaps he was really only +patient with the daughter who must have seemed to him half-foolish, +but she was forced to collect her senses and say--- + +'I only meant that we were the real cause. Fergus is wild about +geology, and took away a stone that was put to show where the cliff +was unsafe. He showed the stone to Alexis White, who did not know +where it came from and let him have it, and that was the way Cousin +Rotherwood came to tread on the edge of the precipice.' + +'What had you to do with it?' + +'I---oh! I had disappointed Alexis about the lessons,' said Gillian, +blushing a little;' and he was out of spirits, and did not mind what +he was about.' + +'H'm! But you cannot mean that this youth can have been imprisoned +for such a cause.' + +'No; that was about the money, but of course he sent it back. He ran +away when he was dismissed, because he was quite in despair, and did +not know what he was about.' + +'I think not, indeed!' + +'Papa,' said Gillian, steadying her voice, 'you must not, please, +blame him so much, for it was really very much my fault, and that is +what makes me doubly unhappy. Did you read my last letter to mamma?' + +'Yes. I understood that you thought you had not treated your aunts +rightly by not consulting them about your intercourse with the +Whites, and that you had very properly resolved to tell them all. +I hope you did so.' + +'Indeed I did, and Aunt Jane was very kind, or else I should have had +no comfort at all. Was mamma very much shocked at my teaching +Alexis?' + +'I do not remember. We concluded that whatever you did had your +aunts' sanction.' + +'Ah! that was the point.' + +'Did these young people persuade you to secrecy?' + +'Oh no, no; Kalliope protested, and I overpowered her, because--- +because I was foolish, and I thought Aunt Jane interfering.' + +'I see,' said Sir Jasper, with perhaps more comprehension of the +antagonism than sisterly habit and affection would have allowed to +his wife. 'I am glad you saw your error, and tried to repair it; but +what could you have done to affect this boy so much. How old is he? +We thought of him as twelve or fourteen, but one forgets how time +goes on, and you speak of him as in a kind of superintendent's +position.' + +'He is nineteen.' + +Sir Jasper twirled his moustache. + +'I begin to perceive,' he said, 'you rushed into an undertaking that +became awkward, and when you had to draw off, the young fellow was +upset and did not mind his business. So far I understand, but you +said something about prison.' + +The worst part of the personal confession was over now, and Gillian +could go on to tell the rest of the Stebbing enmity, of Mr. White's +arrival, and of the desire to keep his relations aloof from him. + +'This is guess work,' said Sir Jasper. + +'I think Cousin Rotherwood would say the same' rejoined Gillian, and +then she explained the dismissal, the flight, and the unfortunate +consequences, and that Aunt Jane hoped for advice by the morning's +post. + +'I am afraid it is too late for that,' said Sir Jasper, looking at +his watch. 'I must read her letter and consider.' + +Gillian gave a desperate sigh, and felt more desperate when at that +moment the very man they had had a glimpse of on Saturday met them, +exclaiming in a highly delighted tone--- + +'Sir Jasper Merrifield!' + +Any Royal Wardour ought to have been welcome to the Merrifields, but +this individual had not been a particular favourite with the young +people. They knew he was the son of a popular dentist, who had made +his fortune, and had put his son into the army to make a gentleman of +him, and prevent him from becoming an artist. In the first object +there had been very fair success; but the taste for art was +unquenchable, and it had been the fashion of the elder half of the +Merrifield family to make a joke, and profess to be extremely bored, +when 'Fangs,' as they naughtily called him among themselves, used to +arrive from leave, armed with catalogues, or come in with his +drawings to find sympathy in his colonel's wife. Gillian had caught +enough from her four elders to share in an unreasoning way their +prejudice, and she felt doubly savage and contemptuous when she +heard--- + +'Yes, I retired.' + +'And what are you doing now?' + +'My mother required me as long as she lived' (then Gillian noticed +that he was in mourning). 'I think I shall go abroad, and take +lessons at Florence or Rome, though it is too late to do anything +seriously---and there are affairs to be settled first.' + +Then came a whole shoal of other inquiries, and even though they +actually included 'poor White' and his family, Gillian was angered +and dismayed at the wretch being actually asked by her father to come +in with them and see Lady Merrifield, who would be delighted to see +him. + +'What would Lady Rotherwood think of the liberty?' the displeased +mood whispered to Gillian. + +But Lady Rotherwood, presiding over her pretty Worcester tea-set, was +quite ready to welcome any of the Merrifield friends. There were +various people in the room besides Lady Merrifield and Mysie, who had +just come in. There was the Admiral talking politics with Lord +Rotherwood, and there was Clement Underwood, who had come with Harry +from the city, and Bessie discussing with them boys' guilds and their +amusements. + +Gillian felt frantic. Would no one cast a thought on Alexis in +prison? If he had been to be hanged the next day, her secret +annoyance at their indifference to his fate could not have been +worse. + +And yet at the first opportunity Harry brought Mr. Underwood to talk +to her about his choir-boys, and to listen to her account of the 7th +Standard boy, a member of the most musical choir in Rockquay, and the +highest of the high. + +'I hope not cockiest of the cocky,' said Mr. Underwood, smiling. +'Our experience is that superlatives may often be so translated.' + +'I don't think poor Theodore is cocky,' said Gillian; 'the Whites +have always been so bullied and sat upon.' + +'Is his name Theodore?' asked Mr. Underwood, as if he liked the name, +which Gillian remembered to have seen on a cross at Vale Leston. + +'Being sat upon is hardly the best lesson in humility,' said Harry. + +'There's apt to be a reaction,' said Mr. Underwood; 'but the crack +voice of a country choir is not often in that condition, as I know +too well. I was the veriest young prig myself under those +circumstances!' + +'Don't be too hard on cockiness,' said Lord Rotherwood, who had come +up to them, 'there must be consciousness of powers. How are you to +fly, if you mustn't flap your wings and crow a little?' + +'On a les defauts de ses qualites,' put in Lady Merrifield. + +'Yes,' added Mr. Underwood. 'It is quite true that needful self- +assertion and originality, and sense of the evils around---' + +'Which the old folk have outgrown and got used to,' said Lord +Rotherwood. + +'May be condemned as conceit,' concluded Mr. Underwood. + +'Ay, exactly as Eliab knew David's pride and the naughtiness of his +heart,' said Lord Rotherwood. 'If you won't fight your giant +yourself, you've no business to condemn those who feel it in them to +go at him.' + +'Ah! we have got to the condemnation of others, instead of the +exaltation of self,' said Lady Merrifield. + +'It is better to cultivate humility in one's self than other people, +eh?' said the Marquis, and his cousin thought, though she did not +say, that he was really the most humble and unself-conscious man she +had ever known. What she did say was, 'It is a plant that grows best +uncultivated.' + +'And if you have it not by happy nature, what then?' said Clement +Underwood. + +'Then I suppose you must plant it, and there will be plenty of tears +of repentance to water it,' returned she. + +'Thank you,' said Clement. 'That is an idea to work upon.' + +'All very fine!' sighed Gillian to Mysie, 'but oh, how about Alexis +in prison! There's papa, now he has got rid of Fangs, actually going +to walk off with Uncle Sam, and mamma has let Lady Rotherwood get +hold of her. Will no-body care for anybody?' + +'I think I would trust papa,' said Mysie. + +He was not long gone, and when he came back he said, 'You may give me +that letter, Gillian. I posted a card to tell your aunt she should +hear to-morrow.' + +All that Gillian could say to her mother in private that evening +consisted of, 'Oh, mamma, mamma,' but the answer was, 'I have heard +about it from papa, my dear; I am glad you told him. He is thinking +what to do. Be patient.' + +Externally, awe and good manners forced Gillian to behave herself; +but internally she was so far from patient, and had so many bitter +feelings of indignation, that she felt deeply rebuked when she came +down next morning to find her father hurrying through his breakfast, +with a cab ordered to convey him to the station, on his way to see +what could be done for Alexis White. + +That day Gillian had her confidential talk with her mother---a talk +that she never forgot, trying to dig to the roots of her failures in +a manner that only the true mother-confessor of her own child can +perhaps have patience and skill for, and that only when she has +studied the creature from babyhood. The concatenation, ending (if it +was so to end) in the committal to Avoncester Jail, and beginning +with the interview over the rails, had to be traced link by link, and +was almost as long as 'the house that Jack built.' + +'And now I see,' said Gillian, 'that it all came of a nasty sort of +antagonism to Aunt Jane. I never guessed how like I was to Dolores, +and I thought her so bad. But if I had only trusted Aunt Jane, and +had no secrets, she would have helped me in it all, I know now, and +never have brought the Whites into trouble.' + +'Yes,' said Lady Merrifield; 'perhaps I should have warned you a +little more, but I went off in such a hurry that I had no time to +think. You children are all very loyal to us ourselves; but I +suppose you are all rather infected by the modern spirit, that +criticises when it ought to submit to authorities.' + +'But how can one help seeing what is amiss? As some review says, how +respect what does not make itself respectable? You know I don't mean +that for my aunts. I have learnt now what Aunt Jane really is---how +very kind and wise and clever and forgiving---but I was naughty enough +to think her at first---' + +'Well, what? Don't be afraid.' + +'Then I did think she was fidgety and worrying---always at one, and +wanting to poke her nose into everything.' + +'Poor Aunt Jane! Those are the faults of her girlhood, which she has +been struggling against all her life!' + +'But in your time, mamma, would such difficulties really not have +been seen---I mean, if she had been actually what I thought her?' + +'I think the difference was that no faults of the elders were dwelt +upon by a loyal temper. To find fault was thought so wrong that the +defects were scarcely seen, and were concealed from ourselves as well +as others. It would scarcely, I suppose, be possible to go back to +that unquestioning state, now the temper of the times is changed; but +I belong enough to the older days to believe that the true safety is +in submission in the spirit as well as the letter.' + +'I am sure I should have found it so,' said Gillian. 'And oh! I +hope, now that papa is come, the Whites may be spared any more of the +troubles I have brought on them.' + +'We will pray that it may be so.' said her mother. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE KNIGHT AND THE DRAGON + + + +A telegram had been received in the morning, which kept Valetta and +Fergus on the qui vive all day. Valetta was an unspeakable worry to +the patient Miss Vincent, and Fergus arranged his fossils and +minerals. + +Both children flew out to meet their father at the gate, but words +failed them as he came into the house, greeted the aunts, and sat +down with Fergus on his knee, and Valetta encircled by his arm. + +'Yes, Lilias is quite well, very busy and happy---with her first +instalment of children.' + +'I am so thankful that you are come,' said Adeline. 'Jane ventured +to augur that you would, but I thought it too much to hope for.' + +'There was no alternative,' said Sir Jasper. + +'I infer that you halted at Avoncester.' + +'I did so; I saw the poor boy.' + +'What a comfort for his sister!' + +'Poor fellow! Mine was the first friendly face he had seen, and he +was almost overcome by it'---and the strong face quivered with emotion +at the recollection of the boy's gratitude. + +'He is a nice fellow,' said Jane. 'I am glad you have seen him, for +neither Mr. White nor Rotherwood can believe that he is not utterly +foolish, if not worse.' + +'A boy may do foolish things without being a fool,' said Sir Jasper. +'Not that this one is such another as his father. I wish he were.' + +'I suppose he has more of the student scholarly nature.' + +'Yes. The enlistment, which was the making of his father, was a sort +of moral suicide in him. I got him to tell me all about it, and I +find that the idea of the inquest, and of having to mention you, you +monkey, drove him frantic, and the dismissal completed the business.' + +'I told them about it,' said Fergus. + +'Quite right, my boy; the pity was that he did not trust to your +honour, but he seems to have worked himself into the state of mind +when young men run amuck. I saw his colonel, Lydiard, and the +captain and sergeant of his company, who had from the first seen that +he was a man of a higher class under a cloud, and had expected +further inquiry, though, even from the little that had been seen of +him, there was a readiness to take his word. As the sergeant said, +he was not the common sort of runaway clerk, and it was a thousand +pities that he must go to the civil power---in which I am disposed to +agree. What sort of man is the cousin at the marble works?' + +'A regular beast,' murmured Fergus. + +'I think,' said Jane, 'that he means to be good and upright.' + +'More than means,' said Ada, 'but he is cautious, and says he has +been so often deceived.' + +'As far as I can understand,' said Jane, 'there was originally +desperate enmity between him and his cousin.' + +'He forgave entirely,' said Ada; 'and he really has done a great deal +for the family, who own that they have no claim upon him.' + +'Yes,' said Jane, 'but from a distance, with no personal knowledge, +and a contempt for the foreign mother, and the pretensions to +gentility. He would have been far kinder if his cousin had remained +a sergeant.' + +'He only wished to try them,' said Adeline, 'and he always meant to +come and see about them; besides, that eldest son has been begging of +him on false pretences all along.' + +'That I can believe,' said Sir Jasper. 'I remember his father's +distress at his untruth in the regimental school, and his foolish +mother shielding him. No doubt he might do enough to cause distrust +of his family; but has Mr. White actually never gone near them, as +Gillian told me?' + +'Excepting once walking Maura home,' said Jane, 'no; but I ascribe +all that to the partner, Mr. Stebbing, who has had it all his own way +here, and seems to me to have systematically kept Alexis down to +unnecessarily distasteful drudgery. Kalliope's talent gave her a +place; but young Stebbing's pursuit of her, though entirely +unrequited, has roused his mother's bitter enmity, and there are all +manner of stories afloat. I believe I could disprove every one of +them; but together they have set Mr. White against her, and he cannot +see her in her office, as her mother is too ill to be left. I do +believe that if the case against Alexis is discharged, they will +think she has the money.' + +'Stebbing said Maura changed a five-pound note,' put in Fergus; 'and +when I told him to shut up, for it was all bosh, he punched me.' + +I hope Richard sent it' said Ada, 'but you see the sort of report +that is continually before Mr. White---not that I think he believes +half, or is satisfied--with the Stebbings.' + +'I am sure he is not with Frank Stebbing,' said Jane. 'I do think +and hope that he is only holding off in order to judge; and I think +your coming may have a great effect upon him, Jasper.' + +The Rotherwoods had requested Sir Jasper to use their apartments at +the hotel, and he went thither to dress, being received, as he said, +by little Lady Phyllis with much grace and simplicity. + +The evening passed brightly, and when the children were gone to bed, +their father said rather anxiously that he feared the aunts had had a +troublesome charge hastily thrust on them. + +'We enjoyed it very much,' said Adeline politely. + +'We were thankful to have a chance of knowing the young people,' +added Jane. 'I am only glad you did not come home at Christmas, when +I was not happy about the two girls.' + +'Yes, Valetta got into trouble and wrote a piteous little letter of +confession about copying.' + +'Yes, but you need not be uneasy about that; it was one of those +lapses that teach women without any serious loss. She did not know +what she was about, and she told no falsehoods; indeed, each one of +your children has been perfectly truthful throughout.' + +'That is the great point, after all. Lilias could hardly fail to +make her children true.' + +'Fergus is really an excellent little boy, and Gillian---poor Gillian- +--I think she really did want more experience, and was only too +innocent.' + +'That is what you really think,' said the father anxiously. + +'Yes, I do,' said Jane. 'If she had been a fast girl, she would have +been on her guard against the awkward situation, and have kept out of +this mess; but very likely would have run into a worse one.' + +'I do not think that her elder sisters would have done like her.' + +'Perhaps not; but they were living in your regimental world at the +age when her schoolroom life was going on. I think you have every +reason to be satisfied with her tone of mind. As you said of the +boy, a person may commit an imprudence without being imprudent.' + +'I quite agree to that,' he said, 'and, indeed, I see that you have +managed her most wisely, and obtained her affection and gratitude, as +indeed you have mine!' he added, with a tone in his voice that +touched Jane to the core of her heart. + +'I never heard anything like it before,' she said to her sister over +their fire at night, with a dew of pleasure in her eyes. + +'I never liked Jasper so well before. He is infinitely pleasanter +and more amiable. Do you remember our first visit? No, it was not +you who went with me, it was Emily. I am sure he felt bound to be on +guard all the time against any young officer's attentions to his poor +little sister-in-law,' said Ada, with her Maid-of-Athens look. 'The +smallest approach brought those hawk's eyes of his like a dart right +through one's backbone. It all came back to me to-night, and the way +he used to set poor Lily to scold me.' + +'So that you rejoiced to be grown old. I beg your pardon, but I did. +My experience was when I went to help Lily pack for foreign service, +when I suppose my ferret look irritated him, for he snubbed me +extensively, and I am sure he rejoiced to carry his wife out of reach +of all the tribe. I dare say I richly deserved it, but I hope we are +all "mellered down," as Wat Greenwood used to say of his brewery for +the pigs.' + +'My dear, what a comparison!' + +'Redolent of the Old Court, and of Lily, waiting for her swan's nest +among the reeds, till her stately warrior came, and made her day +dreams earnest in a way that falls to the lot of few. I don't think +his severity ever dismayed her for a moment, there was always such +sweetness in it. + +'True knight and lady! Yes. He is grown handsomer than ever, too!' + +'I hope he will get those poor children out of their hobble! It is +chivalrous enough of him to come down about it, in the midst of all +his business in London.' + +Sir Jasper started the next morning with Fergus on his way to school, +getting on the road a good deal of information, mingled together +about forms and strata, cricket and geology. Leaving his little son +at Mrs. Edgar's door, he proceeded to Ivinghoe Terrace, where he +waited long at the blistered door of the dilapidated house before the +little maid informed him that Mr. Richard was gone out, and missus +was so ill that she didn't know as Miss White could see nobody; but +she took his card and invited him to walk into the parlour, where the +breakfast things were just left. + +Down came Kalliope, with a wan face and eyes worn with sleeplessness, +but a light of hope and gratitude flashing over her features as she +met the kind eyes, and felt the firm hand of her father's colonel, a +sort of king in the eyes of all Royal Wardours. + +'My poor child,' he said gently, 'I am come to see if I can help +you.' + +'Oh! so good of you,' and she squeezed his hand tightly, in the +effort perhaps not to give way. + +'I fear your mother is very ill.' + +'Very ill,' said Kalliope. 'Richard came last night, and he let her +know what we had kept from her; but she is calmer now.' + +'Then your brother Richard is here.' + +'Yes; he is gone up to Mr. White's.' + +'He is in a solicitor's office, I think. Will he be able to +undertake the case?' + +'Oh no, no'---the white cheek flushed, and the hand trembled. 'There +is a Leeds family here, and he is afraid of their finding out that he +has any connection with this matter. He says it would be ruin to his +prospects.' + +'Then we must do our best without him,' Sir Jasper said in a fatherly +voice, inexpressively comforting to the desolate wounded spirit. 'I +will not keep you long from your mother, but will you answer me a few +questions? Your brother tells me---' + +She looked up almost radiantly, 'You have seen him?' + +'Yes. I saw him yesterday,' and as she gazed as if the news were +water to a thirsty soul---'he sent his love, and begged his mother and +you to forgive the distress his precipitancy has caused. I did not +think him looking ill; indeed, I think the quiet of his cell is +almost a rest to him, as he makes sure that he can clear himself.' + +'Oh, Sir Jasper! how can we ever be grateful enough!' + +'Never mind that now, only tell me what is needful, for time is +short. Your brother sent these notes in their own envelope, he +says.' + +'Yes, a very dirty one. I did not open it or see them, but enclosed +it in one of my own, and sent it by my youngest brother, Petros.' + +'How was yours addressed?' + +'Francis Stebbing, Esq., Marble Works; and I put in a note in +explanation.' + +'Is the son's name likewise Francis?' + +'Francis James.' + +'Petros delivered it?' + +'Yes, certainly.' + +Here they were interrupted by Maura's stealing timidly in with the +message that poor mamma had heard that Sir Jasper was here, and would +he be so very good as to come up for one minute and speak to her. + +'It is asking a great deal,' said Kalliope, 'but it would be very +kind, and it might ease her mind.' + +He was taken to the poor little bedroom full of oppressive +atmosphere, though the window was open to relieve the labouring +breath. It seemed absolutely filled with the enormous figure of the +poor dropsical woman with white ghastly face, sitting pillowed up, +incapable of lying down. + +'Oh, so good! so angelic!' she gasped. + +'I am sorry to see you so ill, Mrs. White.' + +'Ah! 'tis dying I am, Colonel Merrifield---begging your pardon, but +the sight of you brings back the times when my poor captain was +living, and I was the happy woman. 'Tis the thought of my poor +orphans that is vexing me, leaving them as I am in a strange land +where their own flesh and blood is unnatural to them,' she cried, +trying to clasp her swollen hands, in the excitement that brought out +the Irish substructure of her nature. 'Ah, Colonel dear, you'll bear +in mind their father that would have died for you, and be good to +them.' + +'Indeed, I hope to do what I can for them.' + +'They are good children, Sir Jasper, all of them, even the poor boy +that is in trouble out of the very warmth of his heart; but 'tis +Richard who would be the credit to you, if you would lend him the +helping hand. Where is the boy, Kally?' + +'He is gone to call on Mr. White.' + +'Ah! and you'll say a good word for him with his cousin,' she +pleaded, 'and say how 'tis no discredit to him if things are laid on +his poor brother that he never did.' + +The poor woman was evidently more anxious to bespeak patronage for +her first-born, the pride and darling of her heart, than for those +who might be thought to need it more, but she became confused and +agitated when she thought of Alexis, declaring that the poor boy +might have been hasty, and have disgraced himself, but it was hard, +very hard, if they swore away his liberty, and she never saw him +more, and she broke into distressing sobs. Sir Jasper, in a decided +voice, assured her that he expected with confidence that her son +would be freed the next day, and able to come to see her. + +'It's the blessing of a dying mother will be on you, Colonel dear! +Oh! bring him back, that his mother's eyes may rest on the boy that +has always been dutiful. No---no, Dick, I tell you 'tis no disgrace +to wear the coat his father wore.' Wandering was beginning, and she +was in no condition for Kalliope to leave her. The communicative +Maura, who went downstairs with him, said that Richard was so angry +about Alexis that it had upset poor mamma sadly. And could Alexis +come?' she asked, 'even when he is cleared?' + +'I will ask for furlough for him.' + +'Oh! thank you---that would do mamma more good than anything. She is +so fond of Richard, he is her favourite, but Alexis is the real help +and comfort.' + +'I can quite believe so. And now will you tell me where I shall find +your brother who took the letter, Peter or Petros?' + +'Petros is his name, but the boys call him Peter. He is at school--- +the Bellevue National School---up that street.' + +Repairing to that imposing building, Sir Jasper knocked at the door, +and sent in his card by an astonished pupil-teacher with a request to +the master that he might speak to Petros White, waiting in the porch +till a handsome little fellow appeared, stouter, rosier, and more +English looking than the others of his family, but very dusty, and +rather scared. + +'You don't remember me,' said Sir Jasper, 'but I was your father's +colonel, and I want to find some way of helping your brother. Your +sister tells me she gave you a letter to carry to Mr. Stebbing.' + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Where did you take it?' + +'To his house, Carrara.' + +'Was it not directed to the Marble Works?' + +'Yes, but---' + +'But what? Speak out, my man.' + +'At the gate Blake, the porter, was very savage, and would not let us +in. He said he would have no boys loafing about, we had done harm +enough for one while, and he would set his dog at us.' + +'Then you did not give him the letter?' + +'No. I wouldn't after the way he pitched into me. I didn't know if +he would give it. And he wouldn't hear a word, so we went up to +Rockstone to the house.' + +'Whom did you give it to there?' + +'I dropped it into the slit in the door.' + +'You only told your sister that you delivered it.' + +'Yes, sir. Theodore said I must not tell sister; it would only vex +her more to hear how every one pitches into us, right and left,' he +said, with trembling lip. + +'Is Theodore your next brother?' + +'Yes sir.' + +'Was he with you?' + +'No; it was Sydney Grove.' + +'Is he here? Or---Did any one else see you leave the letter?' + +'Mr. Stebbing's son---the young one, George, was in the drive and +slanged us for not going to the back door.' + +'That is important. Thank you, my boy. Give my---my compliments to +your master, and ask him to be kind enough to spare this Sydney Grove +to me for a few moments.' + +This proved to be an amphibious-looking boy, older and rougher than +Petros, and evidently his friend and champion. He was much less shy, +and spoke out boldly, saying how he had gone with little Peter, and +the porter had rowed them downright shameful, but it was nothing to +that there young Stebbing ordering them out of the grounds for a +couple of beastly cads, after no good. He (Grove) had a good mind to +ha' give 'un a good warming, only 'twas school time, and they was +late as it was. Everybody was down upon the Whites, and it was a +shame when they hadn't done nothing, and he didn't see as they was +stuck up, not he. + +Sir Jasper made a note of Master Grove's residence, and requested an +interview with the master, from whom he obtained an excellent +character of both the Whites, especially Theodore. The master +lamented that this affair of their brother should have given a handle +against them, for he wanted the services of the elder one as a +monitor, eventually as a pupil-teacher, but did not know whether the +choice would be advisable under the present circumstances. The boys' +superiority made them unpopular, and excited jealousy among a certain +set, though they were perfectly inoffensive, and they had much to go +through in consequence of the suspicion that had fallen on their +brother. Petros and Sydney should have leave from school whenever +their testimony was wanted. + +As Sir Jasper walked down the street, his elder sister-in-law emerged +from a tamarisk-flanked gateway. 'This is our new abode, Jasper,' +she said. 'Come in and see what you think of it! Well, have you had +any success?' + +He explained how the letter could be traced to Mr. Stebbing's house, +and then consulted her whether to let all come out at the examination +before the magistrates, or to induce the Stebbings to drop the +prosecution. + +'It would serve them right if it all came out in public,' she said. + +'But would it be well?' + +'One must not be vindictive! And to drag poor Kalliope to Avoncester +would be a dreadful business in her mother's state. Besides, Frank +Stebbing is young, and it may be fair to give them a chance of +hushing it up. I ought to be satisfied with clearing Alexis.' + +'Then I will go to the house. When shall I be likely to find Mr. +Stebbing!' + +'Just after luncheon, I should say.' + +'And shall I take the lawyer?' + +'I should say not. If they hope to keep the thing secret, they will +be the more amenable, but you should have the two boys within reach. +Let us ask for them to come up after their dinner to Beechcroft. No, +it must not be to dinner. Petros must not be sent to the kitchen, +and Ada would expire if the other came to us! Now, do you like to +see your house? Here is Macrae dying to see you.' + +The old soldier had changed his quarters too often to be keenly +interested in any temporary abode, provided it would hold the +requisite amount of children, and had a pleasant sitting-room for his +Lily, but he inspected politely and gratefully, and had a warmly +affectionate interview with Macrae, who had just arrived with a great +convoy of needfuls from Silverfold, and who undertook to bring up and +guard the two boys from any further impertinences that might excite +Master Grove's pugnacity. + +It was a beautiful day, of the lamb-like entrance weather of March, +and on the way home Miss Adeline was met taking advantage of the +noontide sunshine to exchange her book at the library, 'where,' she +said, 'I found Mr. White reading the papers, so I asked him to meet +Jasper at luncheon, thinking that may be useful.' + +If Sir Jasper would rather have managed matters by himself, he +forebore to say so, and he got on very well with Mr. White on +subjects of interest, but, to the ladies' vexation, he waited to be +alone before he began, 'I have come down to see what can be done for +this poor young man, Mr. White, a connection of yours, I believe. + +'A bad business, Sir Jasper, a bad business.' + +'I am sorry to hear you say so. I have seen a great deal of service +with his father, and esteemed him very highly---' + +'Ay, ay, very likely. I had a young man's differences with my +cousin, as lads will fall out, but there was the making of a fine +fellow in him. But it was the wife, bringing in that Greek taint, +worse even than the Italian, so that there's no believing a word out +of any of their mouths.' + +'Well, the schoolmaster has just given me a high character of the +younger one, for truthfulness especially.' + +'All art, Sir Jasper, all art. They are deeper than your common +English sort, and act it out better. I'll just give you an instance +or two. That eldest son has been with me just now, a smart young +chap, who swears he has been keeping his mother all this time---he has +written to me often enough for help to do so. On the other hand, the +little sister tells me, "Mamma always wants money to send to poor +Richard." Then again, Miss Mohun assures me that the elder one vows +that she never encouraged Frank Stebbing for a moment, and to his +mother's certain knowledge she is keeping up the correspondence.' + +'Indeed,' said Sir Jasper. 'And may I ask what is your opinion as to +this charge? I never knew a young man enlist with fifteen pounds in +his pocket.' + +'Spent it by the way, sir. Ran through it at billiards. Nothing +more probable; it is the way with those sober-looking lads when +something upsets them. Then when luck went against him, enlisted out +of despair. Sister, like all women, ready to lie through thick and +thin to save him, most likely even on oath.' + +'However,' said Sir Jasper, 'I can produce independent witness that +the youngest boy set off with the letter for the office, and the +porter not admitting him, carried it to the house.' + +'What became of it then?' + +'Mr. Stebbing will have to answer that. I propose to lay the +evidence before him in his own house, so that he may make inquiry, +and perhaps find it, and drop the prosecution. Will you come with +me?' + +'Certainly, Sir Jasper. I should be very glad to think as you do. I +came prepared to act kindly by these children, the only relations I +have in the world; but I confess that what I have seen and heard has +made me fear that they, at least the elder ones, are intriguing and +undeserving. I should be glad of any proof to the contrary.' + +Carrara was not far off, and they were just in time to catch Mr. +Stebbing in his arm-chair, looking over his newspaper, before +repairing to his office. Mrs. Stebbing stood up, half-flattered, +half-fluttered, at the call of this stately gentleman, and was +scarcely prepared to hear him say--- + +'I have come down about this affair of young White's. His father was +my friend and brother-officer, and I am very anxious about him.' + +'I have been greatly disappointed in those young people, Sir Jasper,' +said Mr. Stebbing uneasily. + +'I understand that you are intending to prosecute Alexis White for +the disappearance of the fifteen pounds he received on behalf of the +firm.' + +'Exactly so, Sir Jasper. There's no doubt that the carter, Field, +handed it to him; he acknowledges as much, but he would have us +believe that after running away with it, he returned it to his sister +to send to me. Where is it? I ask.' + +'Yes,' put in Mrs. Stebbing, 'and the girl, the little one, changed a +five-pound note at Glover's.' + +'I can account for that,' said Mr. White, with somewhat of an effort. +'I gave her one for her sister, and charged them not to mention it.' + +He certainly seemed ashamed to mention it before those who accounted +it a weakness; and Sir Jasper broke the silence by proposing to +produce his witnesses. + +'Really, Sir Jasper, this should be left for the court,' said Mr. +Stebbing. + +'It might be well to settle the matter in private, without dragging +Miss White into Avoncester away from her dying mother.' + +'Those things are so exaggerated,' said the lady. + +'I have seen her,' said Sir Jasper gravely. + +'May I ask who these witnesses are?' demanded Mr. Stebbing. + +'Two are waiting here---the messenger and his companion. Another is +your porter at the marble works, and the fourth is your youngest +son.' + +This caused a sensation, and Mrs. Stebbing began--- + +'I am sure I can't tell what you mean, Sir Jasper.' + +'Is he in the house?' + +'Yes; he has a bad cold.' + +Mrs. Stebbing opened the door and called 'George,' and on the boy's +appearance, Sir Jasper asked him--- + +'Do you remember the morning of the 17th of last month---three days +after the accident? I want to know whether you saw any one in the +approach to the house.' + +'I don't know what day it was,' said the boy, somewhat sulkily. + +'You did see some one, and warned them off!' + +'I saw two little ca---two boys out of the town on the front door +steps.' + +'Did you know them?' + +'No---that is to say, one was a fisherman's boy.' + +'And the other?' + +'I thought he belonged to the lot of Whites.' + +'Should you know them again?' + +'I suppose so.' + +'Will you excuse me, and I will call them into the hall?' said Sir +Jasper. + +This was effected, and Master George had to identify the boys, after +which Sir Jasper elicited that Petros had seen the dirty envelope +come out of his brother's letter, and that his sister had put it into +another, which she addressed as he described, and gave into his +charge to deliver. Then came the account of the way he had been +refused admittance by the porter. + +'Why didn't you give him the letter?' demanded Mr. Stebbing. + +'Catch us,' responded Sydney Grove, rejoiced at the opportunity, +'when what we got was, "Get out, you young rascals!"' + +Petros more discreetly added--- + +'My sister wanted it to be given to Mr. Stebbing, so we went up to +the house to wait for him, but it got late for school, and I saw the +postman drop the letters into the slit in the door, so I thought that +would be all right.' + +'Did you see him do so?' asked Sir Jasper of the independent witness. + +'Yes, sir, and he there'---pointing to George---'saw it too, and---' + +'Did you?' + +'Ay, and thought it like their impudence.' + +'That will do, my boys,' said Sir Jasper. 'Now run away.' + +Mr. White put something into each paw as the door was opened and the +pair made their exit. + +If Sir Jasper acted as advocate, Mr. White seemed to take the +position of judge. + +'There can be no doubt,' he said, 'that the letter containing the +notes reached this house.' + +'No,' said Mr. Stebbing hotly. 'Why was I not told? Who cleared the +letter-box?' + +It was the page's business, but to remember any particular letter on +any particular day was quite beyond him, and he only stared wildly +and said, 'Dun no,' on which he was dismissed to the lower regions. + +'The address was "Francis Stebbing, Esq.,"' said Sir Jasper +meditatively, perhaps like a spider pulling his cord. 'Francis---your +son's name. Can he---' + +'Mr. White, I'll thank you to take care what you say of my son!' +exclaimed Mrs. Stebbing; but there was a blank look of alarm on the +father's face. + +'Where is he?' asked Mr. White. + +'He may be able to explain'---courtesy and pity made the General add. + +'No, no,' burst out the mother. 'He knows nothing of it. Mr. +Stebbing, can't you stand up for your own son?' + +'Perhaps,' began the poor man, his tone faltering with a terrible +anxiety, but his wife exclaimed hastily--- + +'He never saw nor heard of it. I put it in the fire.' + +There was a general hush, broken by Mr. Stebbing saying slowly--- + +'You---put---it---in---the---fire.' + +'Yes; I saw those disreputable-looking boys put it into the box. I +wasn't going to have that bold girl sending billy-doos on the sly to +my son.' + +'Under these circumstances,' drily said Sir Jasper, 'I presume that +you will think it expedient to withdraw the prosecution.' + +'Certainly, certainly,' said Mr. Stebbing, in the tone of one +delivered from great alarm. 'I will write at once to my solicitor at +Avoncester.' Then turning on his wife, 'How was it that I never +heard this before, and you let me go and make a fool of myself?' + +'How was I to know, Mr. Stebbing? You started off without a word to +me, and all you told me when you came back was that the young man +said he had posted the letter to his sister. I should like to know +why he could not send it himself to the proper place!' + +'Well, Mrs. Stebbing,' said her husband, 'I hope it will be a lesson +to you against making free with other people's letters.' + +She tossed her head, and was about to retire, when Sir Jasper said--- + +'Before leaving us, madam, in justice to my old friend's daughter, I +should be much obliged if you would let me know your grounds for +believing the letter to be what you say.' + +'Why---why, Sir Jasper, it has been going on this year or more! She +has perfectly infatuated the poor boy.' + +'I am not asking about your son's sentiments but can you adduce any +proof of their being encouraged!' + +'Sir Jasper! a young man doesn't go on in that way without +encouragement.' + +'What encouragement can you prove?' + +'Didn't I surprise a letter from her---?' + +'Well'---checked the tone of triumphant conviction. + +'A refusal, yes, but we all know what that means, and that there must +have been something to lead to it'---and as there was an unconvinced +silence---'Besides---oh, why, every one knew of her arts. You did, Mr. +Stebbing, and of poor Frank's infatuation. It was the reason of her +dismissal.' + +'I knew what you told me, Mrs. Stebbing,' he answered grimly, not at +all inclined to support her at this moment of anger. 'I am sure I +wish I had never listened to you. I never saw anything amiss in the +girl's behaviour, and they are all at sixes and sevens without her at +the mosaic work---though she is only absent from her mother's illness +at present.' + +'You! of course she would not show her goings on before you, said the +lady. + +'Is Master Frank in the house?' put in Mr. White; 'I should like to +put the question before him.' + +'You can't expect a young man to make mortifying admissions,' +exclaimed the mother, and as she saw smiles in answer she added, 'Of +course, the girl has played the modest and proper throughout! That +was her art, to draw him on, till he did not know what he was about.' + +'Setting aside the supposed purpose,' said Sir Jasper, 'you admit, +Mrs. Stebbing, that of your own knowledge, Miss White has never +encouraged your son's attentions.' + +'N---no; but we all know what those girls are.' + +'Fatherless and unprotected,' said Sir Jasper, 'dependent on their +own character and exertion, and therefore in especial need of kind +construction. Good morning, Mrs. Stebbing; I have learnt all that I +wish to know.' + +Overpowered, but not convinced, Mrs. Stebbing saw her visitors +depart. + +'And I hope her husband will give it to her well,' said Mr. White, as +they left the house. + +They looked in at Beechcroft Cottage with the tidings. + +'All safe, I see!' cried Miss Jane. 'Is the money found?' + +'No; Mrs. Stebbing burnt it, under the impression that it was a love- +letter,' drily said Sir Jasper. + +Miss Mohun led the way in the hearty fit of laughter, to which the +gentlemen gave way the more heartily for recent suppression; and Mr. +White added--- + +'I assure you, it was as good as a play to hear Sir Jasper worm it +out. One would think he had been bred a lawyer.' + +'And now,' said the General, 'I must go and relieve that poor girl's +suspense.' + +'I will come with you,' volunteered Mr. White. 'I fully believe that +she is a good girl, though this business and Master Richard's +applications staggered me; and this soldier fellow must be an ass if +he is not a scamp.' + +'Scarcely that, I think,' said Miss Adelaide, with her pleading +smile. + +'Well, discipline will be as good for him as for his father,' said +Mr. White. 'He has done for himself, but that was a nice little lad +that you had up---too good for a common national school.' + +Wherewith they departed, and found that Kalliope must have been on +the watch, for she ran down to open the door to them, and the +gladness which irradiated her face as Sir Jasper's first 'All right,' +lighted up her features, which were so unlike the shop-girl +prettiness that Mr. White expected as quite to startle him. + +Richard was in the parlour in a cloud of smoke, and began to do the +honours. + +'Our acknowledgments are truly due to Sir Jasper. Mr. White, we are +much honoured. Pray be seated, please to excuse---' + +They paid little attention to him, while Sir Jasper told as much to +his sister as could well be explained as to the fate of her envelope, +and added--- + +'You will not be wanted at Avoncester, as the case will not come on. +I shall go and see all safe, then on to town, but I mean to see your +brother's commanding officer, and you may tell your mother that I +have no doubt that he will be allowed a furlough.' + +'But, Sir Jasper' broke in Richard, 'I beg your pardon; but there is +a family from Leeds at Bellevue, the Nortons, and imagine what it +would be if they reported me as connected with a common private +soldier, just out of prison too!' + +'Let him come to me then,' exclaimed Mr. White. + +In spite of appearances of disgust, Richard took the invitation to +himself, and looked amiable and gratified. + +'Thank you, Mr. White, that will obviate the difficulty. When shall +I move up?' + +'You, sir? Did you think I meant you?' said Mr. White contemptuously. +'No; I prefer a fool to a knave!' + +'Mr. White,' interposed Sir Jasper, 'whatever you may have to say to +Richard White, consider his sister. Or had you not better report our +success to your mother, my dear?' + +'One moment,' said Mr. White. 'Tell me, young lady, if you do not +object, what assistance have you ever received from me.' + +'You have most kindly employed us, and paid for Maura's education,' +said Kalliope. + +'Is that all? Has nothing been transmitted through this brother?' + +'I do not understand,' said Kalliope, trembling, as Richard scowled +at her. + +'Sir,' said he, 'I always intended, but unforeseen circumstances---' + +'That's enough for the present, sir,' said Mr. White. 'I have heard +all I wish, and more too.' + +'Sir,' said Kalliope, still trembling, 'indeed, Richard is a kind son +and brother. My mother is much attached to him. I am generally out +all day, and it is quite possible that she did not tell me all that +passed between them, as she knew that I did not like you to be +applied to.' + +'That will do, my dear,' said Mr. White. 'I don't want to say any +more about it. You shall have your brother to-morrow, if Sir Jasper +can manage it. I will bring him back to Rockstone as my guest, so +that his brother need not be molested with his company.' + + + + +CHAPTER XX. IVINGHOE TERRACE + + + +On an east-windy Friday afternoon Valetta and Fergus were in a +crowning state of ecstasy. Rigdum Funnidos was in a hutch in the +small garden under the cliff, Begum and two small gray kittens were +in a basket under the kitchen stairs, Aga was purring under +everybody's feet, Cocky was turning out the guard upon his perch---in +short, Il Lido was made as like Silverfold as circumstances would +permit. Aunt Ada with Miss Vincent was sitting on the sofa in the +drawing-room, with a newly-worked cosy, like a giant's fez, over the +teapot, and Valetta's crewel cushion fully displayed. She was +patiently enduring a rush in and out of the room of both children and +Quiz once every minute, and had only requested that it should not be +more than once, and that the door should neither be slammed nor left +open. + +Macrae and the Silverfold carriage were actually gone to the station, +and, oh! oh! oh! here it really was with papa on the box, and heaps +of luggage, and here were Primrose and Gillian and mamma and Mrs. +Halfpenny, all emerging one after another, and Primrose, looking---oh +dear! more like a schoolroom than a nursery girl---such a great piece +of black leg below the little crimson skirt; but the dear little face +as plump as ever. + +That was the first apparent fact after the disengaging from the +general embrace, when all had subsided into different seats, and Aunt +Jane, who had appeared from somewhere in her little round sealskin +hat, had begun to pour out the tea. The first sentence that emerged +from the melee of greetings and intelligence was--- + +'Fly met her mother at the station; how well she looks!' + +'Then Victoria came down with you?' + +'Yes; I am glad we went to her. I really do like her very much.' + +Then Primrose and Valetta varied the scene by each laying a kitten in +their mother's lap; and Begum, jumping after her progeny, brushed +Lady Merrifield's face with her bushy tail, interrupting the +information about names. + +'Come, children,' said Sir Jasper, 'that's enough; take away the +cats.' It was kindly said, but it was plain that liberties with +mamma would not continue before him. + +'The Whites?' was Gillian's question, as she pressed up to Aunt Jane. + +'Poor Mrs. White died the night before last,' was the return. 'I +have just come from Kally. She is in a stunned state now---actually +too busy to think and feel, for the funeral must be to-morrow.' + +Sir Jasper heard, and came to ask further questions. + +'She saw Alexis,' went on Miss Mohun. 'They dressed him in his own +clothes, and she seemed greatly satisfied when he came to sit by her, +and had forgotten all that went before. However, the end came very +suddenly at last, and all those poor children show their southern +nature in tremendous outbursts of grief---all except Kalliope, who +seems not to venture on giving way, will not talk, or be comforted, +and is, as it were, dried up for the present. The big brothers give +way quite as much as the children, in gusts, that is to say. Poor +Alexis reproaches himself with having hastened it, and I am afraid +his brother does not spare him. But Mr. White has bought his +discharge.' + +'You don't mean it.' + +'Yes; whether it was the contrast between Alexis's air of refinement +and his private soldier's turn-out, or the poor fellow's patience and +submission, or the brother's horrid behaviour to him, Mr. White has +taken him up, and bought him out.' + +'All because of Richard's brutal speech. That is good! Though I +confess I should have let the lad have at least a year's discipline +for his own good, since he had put himself into it; but I can't be +sorry. There is something engaging about the boy.' + +'And Mr. White is the right man to dispose of them.' + +No more passed, for here were the children eager and important, doing +the honours of the new house, and intensely happy at the sense of +home, which with them depended more on persons than on place. + +One schoolroom again,' said Mysie. 'One again with Val and Prim and +Miss Vincent. Oh, it is happiness!' + +Even Mrs. Halfpenny was a delightful sight, perhaps the more so that +her rightful dominion was over; the nursery was no more, and she was +only to preside in the workroom, be generally useful, wait on my +lady, and look after Primrose as far as was needful. + +The bustle and excitement of settling in prevented much thought of +the Whites, even from Gillian, during that evening and the next +morning; and she was ashamed of her own oblivion of her friend in the +new current of ideas, when she found that her father meant to attend +the funeral out of respect to his old fellow-soldier. + +Rockquay had outgrown its churchyard, and had a cemetery half a mile +off, so that people had to go in carriages. Mr. White had made +himself responsible for expenses, and thus things were not so utterly +dreary as poverty might have made them. It was a dreary, gusty March +day, with driving rushes of rain, which had played wildly with +Gillian's waterproof while she was getting such blossoms and +evergreen leaves as her aunt's garden afforded, not out of love for +the poor Queen of the White Ants herself, but thinking the attention +might gratify the daughters; and her elders moralised a little on the +use and abuse of wreaths, and how the manifestation of tender +affection and respect had in many cases been imitated in empty and +expensive compliment. + +'The world spoils everything with its coarse finger,' said Lady +Merrifield. + +'I hope the custom will not be exaggerated altogether out of +fashion,' said Jane. 'It is a real comfort to poor little children +at funerals to have one to carry, and it is as Mrs. Gaskell's +Margaret said of mourning, something to prevent settling to doing +nothing but crying; besides that afterwards there is a wholesome +sweetness in thus keeping up the memory.' + +Sir Jasper shared a carriage with Mr. White, and returned somewhat +wet and very cold, and saying that it had been sadly bleak and +wretched for the poor young people, who stood trembling, so far as he +could see; and he was anxious to know how the poor girls were after +it. It had seemed to him as if Kalliope could scarcely stand. He +proved to be right. Kalliope had said nothing, not wept +demonstratively, perhaps not at all; but when the carriage stopped at +the door, she proved to be sunk back in her corner in a dead faint. +She was very long in reviving, and no sooner tried to move than she +swooned again, and this time it lasted so long that the doctor was +sent for. Miss Mohun arrived just as he had partially restored her, +and they had a conversation. + +'They must get that poor girl to bed as soon as it is possible to +undress her,' he said. 'I have seen that she must break down sooner +or later, and I'm afraid she is in for a serious illness; but as yet +there is no knowing.' + +Nursing was not among Jane's accomplishments, except of her sister +Ada's chronic, though not severe ailments; but she fetched Mrs. +Halfpenny as the most effective person within reach, trusting to that +good woman's Scotch height, strong arms, great decision, and the +tenderness which real illness always elicited. + +Nor was she wrong. Not only did Mrs. Halfpenny get the half- +unconscious girl into bed, but she stayed till evening, and then came +back to snatch a meal and say--- + +'My leddy, if you have no objection, I will sit up with that puir +lassie the night. They are all men-folk or bairns there, except the +lodger-lady, who is worn out with helping the mother, and they want +some one with a head on her shoulders.' + +Lady Merrifield consented with all her heart; but the Sunday +morning's report was no better, when Mrs. Halfpenny came home to +dress Primrose, and see her lady. + +'That eldest brother, set him up, the idle loon, was off by the mail +train that night, and naething wad serve him but to come in and bid +good-bye to his sister just as I had gotten her off into something +more like a sleep. It startled her up, and she went off her head +again, poor dearie, and began to talk about prison and disgrace, and +what not, till she fainted again; and when she came to, I was fain to +call the other lad to pacify her, for I could see the trouble in her +puir een, though she could scarce win breath to speak.' + +'Is Alexis there?' + +'Surely he is, my leddy; he's no the lad to leave his sister in sic a +strait. It was all I could do to gar him lie down when she dozed off +again, but there's sair stress setting in for all of them, puir +things. I have sent the little laddie off to beg the doctor to look +in as soon as he can, for I am much mistaken if there be not fever +coming on.' + +'Indeed! And what can those poor children do?' + +'That's what I'm thinking, my leddy. And since 'tis your pleasure +that the nursery be done awa' wi', and I have not ta'en any fresh +work, I should like weel to see the puir lassie through wi' it. +Ye'll no mind that Captain White and my puir Halfpenny listed the +same time, and always forgathered as became douce lads. The twa of +them got their stripes thegither, and when Halfpenny got his +sunstroke in that weary march, 'twas White who gave him his last sup +of water, and brought me his bit Bible. So I'd be fain to tend his +daughter in her sickness, if you could spare me, my leddy, and I'd +aye rin home to dress Missie Primrose and pit her to bed, and see to +matters here.' + +'There's no better nurse in the world, dear old Halfpenny,' said Lady +Merrifield, with tears in her eyes. 'I do feel most thankful to you +for proposing it. Never mind about Primrose, only you must have your +meals and a good rest here, and not knock yourself up.' + +Mrs. Halfpenny smiled grimly at the notion of her being sooner +knocked up than a steam-engine. Dr. Dagger entirely confirmed her +opinion that poor Kalliope was likely to have a serious illness, low +nervous fever, and failing action of the heart, no doubt from the +severe strain that she had undergone, more or less, for many months, +and latterly fearfully enhanced by her mother's illness, and the +shock and suspense about Alexis, all borne under the necessity of +external composure and calmness, so that even Mrs. Lee had never +entirely understood how much it cost her. The doctor did not +apprehend extreme danger to one young and healthy, but he thought +much would depend on good nursing, and on absolute protection from +any sort of excitement, so that such care as Mrs. Halfpenny's was +invaluable, since she was well known to be a dove to a patient, but a +dragon to all outsiders. + +Every one around grieved at having done so little to lighten these +burthens, and having even increased them, her brother Alexis above +all; but on the other hand, he was the only person who was of any use +to her, or was suffered to approach her, since his touch and voice +calmed the recurring distress, lest he were still in prison and +danger. + +Alexis went back dutifully on the Monday morning to his post at the +works. The young man was much changed by his fortnight's +experiences, or rather he had been cured of a temporary fit of +distraction, and returned to his better self. How many discussions +his friends held about him cannot be recorded, but after a +conversation with Mr. Flight, with whom he was really more unreserved +than any other being except Kalliope, this was the understanding at +which Miss Mohun and Lady Merrifield arrived as to his nature and +character. + +Refined, studious, and sensitive, thoroughly religious-minded, and of +a high tone of thought, his aspirations had been blighted by his +father's death, his brother's selfishness, and his mother's +favouritism. In a brave spirit of self-abnegation, he had turned to +the uncongenial employment set before him for the sake of his family, +and which was rendered specially trying by the dislike of his fellows +to 'the gentleman cove,' and the jealousy of the Stebbings. Alike +for his religious and his refined habits he had suffered patiently, +as Mr. Flight had always known more or less, and now bore testimony. +The curate, who had opened to him the first door of hope and comfort, +had in these weeks begun to see that the apparent fitfulness of his +kindness had been unsettling. + +Then came the brief dream of felicity excited by Gillian and the +darkness of its extinction, just as Frank Stebbing's failure and the +near approach of Mr. White had made the malice of his immediate +superiors render his situation more intolerable than ever. There was +the added sting of self-reproach for his presumption towards Gillian, +and the neglect caused by his fit of low spirits. Such a sensitive +being, in early youth, wearied and goaded on all sides, might +probably have persevered through the darkness till daylight came; but +the catastrophe, the dismissal, and the perception that he could only +defend himself at the expense of his idol's little brother, all +exaggerated by youthful imagination, were too much for his balance of +judgment, and he fled without giving himself time to realise how much +worse he made it for those he left behind him. + +Of course he perceived it all now, and the more bitterly from his +sister's wanderings, but the morbid exaggeration was gone. The +actual taste of a recruit's life had shown him that there were worse +things than employment at the quarries with his home awaiting him, +and his cell had been a place of thought and recovery of his senses. +He had never seriously expected conviction, and Sir Jasper's visit +had given him a spring of hopeful resignation, in which thoughts +stirred of doing his duty, and winning his way after his father's +example, and taking the trials of his military life as the just cross +of his wrong-doing in entering it. + +His liberation and Mr. White's kindness had not altered this frame. +He was too unhappy to feel his residence in the great house anything +but a restraint; he could not help believing that he had hastened his +mother's death, and could only bow his head meekly under his +brother's reproaches, alike for that and for his folly and imprudence +and the disgrace he had brought on the family. + +'And now you'll, be currying favour and cutting out every one else,' +had been a sting which added fresh force to Alexis's desire to escape +from his kinsman's house to sleep at home as soon as his brother had +gone; and Richard had seen enough of Sir Jasper and of Mr. White to +be anxious to return to his office at Leeds as soon as possible, and +to regulate his affairs beyond their reach. + +Alexis knew that he had avoided a duty in not working out his three +months' term, and likewise that his earnings were necessary to the +family all the more for his sister being laid aside. He knew that he +hardly deserved to resume his post, and he merely asked permission so +to do, and it was granted at once, but curtly and coldly. + +Mr. Flight had asked if he had not found the going among the other +clerks very trying. + +'I had other things to think of,' said Alexis sadly, then recalling +himself. 'Yes; Jones did sneer a little, but the others stopped +that. They knew I was down, you see.' + +'And you mean to go on?' + +'If I may. That, and for my sister to get better, is all I can dare +to hope. My madness and selfishness have shown me unworthy of all +that I once dreamt of.' + +In that resolution it was assuredly best to leave him, only giving +him such encouragement and sympathy as might prevent that more +dangerous reaction of giving up all better things; and Sir Jasper +impressed on Mr. Flight, the only friend who could have aided him in +fulfilling his former aspirations, that Mr. White had in a manner +purchased the youth by buying his discharge, and that interference +would not only be inexpedient, but unjust. The young clergyman +chafed a little over not being allowed to atone for his neglect; but +Sir Jasper was not a person to be easily gainsayed. Nor could there +be any doubt that Mr. White was a good man, though in general so much +inclined to reserve his hand that his actions were apt to take people +by surprise at last, as they had never guessed his intentions, and he +had a way of sucking people's brains without in the least letting +them know what use he meant to make of their information. The +measures he was taking for the temporal, intellectual, and spiritual +welfare of the people at the works would hardly have been known +except for the murmurs of Mrs. Stebbing, although, without their +knowing what he was about with them, Mr. Stebbing himself, Mr. +Hablot, Miss Mohun, to say nothing of Alexis, the foremen and the men +and their wives, had given him the groundwork of his reforms. +Meantime, he came daily to inquire for Kalliope, and lavished on her +all that could be an alleviation, greatly offending Mrs. Halfpenny by +continually proffering the services of a hospital nurse. + +'A silly tawpie that would be mair trouble than half a dozen sick,' +as she chose to declare. + +She was a born autocrat, and ruled as absolutely in No. l as in her +nursery, ordering off the three young ones to their schools, in spite +of Maura's remonstrances and appeals to Lady Merrifield, who agreed +with nurse that the girl was much better away and occupied than where +she could be of very little use. + +Indeed, Mrs. Halfpenny banished every one from the room except Mrs. +Lee and Alexis, whom she would allow to take her place, while she +stalked to Il Lido for her meals, and the duties she would not drop. +As to rest, she always, in times of sickness, seemed to be made of +cast iron, and if she ever slept at all, it was in a chair, while +Alexis sat by his sister in the evening. + +The fever never ran very high, but constant vigilance was wanted from +the extreme exhaustion and faintness. There was no violent delirium, +but more of delusion and distress; nor was it easy to tell when she +was conscious or otherwise, for she hardly spoke, and as yet the +doctor forbade any attempt to rouse her more than was absolutely +needful. They were only to give nourishment, watch her, and be +patient. + +A few months ago Gillian would have fussed herself into a frantic +state of anxiety and self-reproach, but her parents, when her mother +had once heard as much outpouring as she thought expedient, would not +permit what Sir Jasper called 'perpetual harping.' + +'You have to do your duties all the same, and not worry your mother +and all the family with your feelings,' he said. She thought it very +unkind, and went away crying. + +'Nobody could hinder her from thinking about Kalliope,' she said to +herself, and think she did at her prayers, and when the bulletins +came in, but the embargo on discussion prevented her from being so +absolutely engrossed, as in weaker hands she might have been, and +there was a great deal going on to claim her attention. For one +thing, the results of the Cambridge Examination showed that while +Emma Norton and a few others had passed triumphantly, she had failed, +and conscience carried her back to last autumn's disinclination to do +just what Aunt Jane especially recommended. + +She cried bitterly over the failure, for she had a feeling that +success there would redeem her somewhat in her parents' eyes; but +here again she experienced the healing kindness of her father. He +would not say that he should not have been much pleased by her +success, but he said failure that taught her to do her best without +perverseness was really a benefit; and as arithmetic and mathematics +had been her weakest points, he would work at them with her and Mysie +for an hour every morning. + +It was somewhat formidable, but the girls soon found that what their +father demanded was application, and that inattention displeased him +much more than stupidity. His smile, though rare, was one of the +sweetest things in the world, and his approbation was delightful, and +gave a stimulus to the entire day's doings. Mysie was more than ever +in dread of being handed over to the Rotherwoods, though her love for +poor Fly and pity for her solitude were so strong. She would have +been much relieved if she had known what had passed; when the offer +was seriously made, Lord Rotherwood insisted that his wife should do +it. + +'Then they will believe in it,' he said. + +'I do not know why you should say that,' she returned, always +dutifully blinding herself to that which all their intimates knew +perfectly well. However, perhaps from having a station and dignity +of her own, together with great simplicity, Lady Merrifield had from +her first arrival got on so well with her hostess as not quite to +enter into Jane's sarcastic descriptions of her efforts at +cordiality; and it was with real warmth that Lady Rotherwood begged +for Mysie as a permanent companion and adopted sister to Phyllis, who +was to be taken back to London after Easter, and in the meantime +spent every possible moment with her cousins. + +Tears at the unkindness to lonely Fly came into Lady Merrifield's +eyes as she said--- + +'I cannot do it, Victoria; I do not think I ought to give away my +child, even if I could.' + +'It is not only our feelings,' added Sir Jasper, 'but it is our duty +to bring up our own child in her natural station; and though we know +she would learn nothing but good in your family, I cannot think it +well that a girl should acquire habits, and be used to society ways +and of life beyond those which she can expect to continue.' + +They both cried out at this, Lord Rotherwood with a halting +declaration of perfect equality, which his lady seconded, with a +dexterous reference to connections. + +'We will not put it on rank then,' said Sir Jasper, 'but on wealth. +With you, Maria must become accustomed to much that she could not +continue, and had better not become natural to her. I know there are +great advantages to manners and general cultivation in being with +you, and we shall be most thankful to let her pay long visits, and be +as much with Phyllis as is consistent with feeling her home with us, +but I cannot think it right to do more.' + +'But with introductions,' pleaded Lady Rotherwood, 'she might marry +well. With her family and connections, she would be a match for any +one.' + +'I hope so,' said Sir Jasper; 'but at the same time it would not be +well for her to look on such a marriage as the means of continuing +the habits that would have become second nature.' + +'Poor Mysie,' exclaimed Lord Rotherwood, bursting out laughing at the +idea, and at Lady Merrifield's look as she murmured, 'My Mysie!' + +'You misunderstand me,' said the Marchioness composedly. 'I was as +far as possible from proposing marriage as a speculation for her.' + +'I know you were,' said Sir Jasper. 'I know you would deal by Maria +as by your own daughter, and I am very grateful to you, Lady +Rotherwood, but I can only come back to my old decision, that as +Providence did not place her in your rank of life, she had better not +become so accustomed to it as to render her own distasteful to her.' + +'Exactly what I expected,' said Lord Rotherwood. + +'Yes,' returned his wife, with an effort of generosity; 'and I +believe you are right, Jasper, though I am sorry for my little +solitary girl, and I never saw a friend so perfectly suitable for her +as your Mysie.' + +'They may be friends still,' said Lord Rotherwood, 'and we will be +grateful to you whenever you can spare her to us.' + +'Perhaps,' added Sir Jasper, 'all the more helpful friends for seeing +different phases of life.' + +'And, said his wife, with one of her warm impulses, 'I do thank you, +Victoria, for so loving my Mysie.' + +'As if any one could help it, after last winter,' said that lady, and +an impromptu kiss passed between the two mothers, much to the +astonishment of the Marquis, who had never seen his lady so moved +towards any one. + +The Merrifields were somewhat on the world, for Sir Jasper, on going +to Silverfold and corresponding with the trustees of the landlord, +had found that the place could not be put in a state either of repair +or sanitation, such as he approved, without more expense than either +he or the trustees thought advisable, and he decided on giving it up, +and remaining at Il Lido till he could find something more suitable. + +The children, who had been there during the special homemaking age, +bewailed the decision, and were likely always to look back on +Silverfold as a sort of Paradise; but the elder ones had been used to +changes from infancy, and had never settled down, and their mother +said that place was little to her as long as she had her Jasper by +her side, and as to the abstract idea of home as a locality, that +would always be to her under the tulip-tree and by the pond at the +Old Court at Beechcroft, just as her abstract idea of church was in +the old family pew, with the carved oak panels, before the +restoration, in which she had been the most eager of all. + +Thus a fortnight passed, and then the fever was decidedly wearing +off, but returning at night. Kalliope still lay weak, languid, +silent, fainting at any attempt to move her, not apparently able to +think enough to ask how time passed, or to be uneasy about anything, +simply accepting the cares given to her, and lying still. One +morning, however, Alexis arrived in great distress to speak to Sir +Jasper, not that his sister was worse, as he explained, but Richard +had been selling the house. The younger ones at home had never +troubled themselves as to whose property the three houses in Ivinghoe +Terrace were. Perhaps Kalliope knew, but she could not be asked; but +the fact was that Captain White had been so lost sight of, that he +had not known that this inheritance had fallen to him under the will +of his grandfather, who was imbecile at the time of his flight. On +his deathbed, the Captain had left the little he owned to his wife, +and she had died intestate, as Richard had ascertained before leaving +home, so that he, as eldest son, was heir to the ground. He had +written to Kalliope, a letter which Alexis had opened, informing her +that he had arranged to sell the houses to a Mr. Gudgeon, letting to +him their own till the completion of the legal business necessary, +and therefore desiring his brothers and sisters to move out with +their lodgers, if not by Lady Day itself, thus giving only a week's +spare notice, at latest by Old Lady Day. + +'Is he not aware of your sister's state?' + +'I do not imagine that he has read the letter that I wrote to him. +He was very much displeased with me, and somewhat disposed to be +angry at my sister's fainting, and to think that we were all trying +to work on his feelings. He used to be rather fond of Maura, so I +told her to write to him, but he has taken no notice, and he can have +no conception of Kalliope's condition, or he would not have addressed +his letter to her. I came to ask if you would kindly write to him +how impossible it is to move her.' + +'You had better get a certificate from Dr. Dagger. Either I or Lady +Merrifield will meet him, and see to that. That will serve both to +stay him and the purchaser.' + +'That is another misfortune. This Gudgeon is the chief officer, or +whatever they call it, of the Salvation Army. I knew they had been +looking out for a place for a barracks, and could not get one because +almost everything belongs to Lord Rotherwood or to Mr. White.' + +Sir Jasper could only reply that he would see what could be done in +the matter, and that, at any rate, Kalliope should not be disturbed. + +Accordingly Lady Merrifield repaired to Ivinghoe Terrace for the +doctor's visit, and obtained from him the requisite certificate that +the patient could not be removed at present. He gave it, saying, +however, to Lady Merrifield's surprise, that though he did not think +it would be possible to remove her in a week's time, yet after that +he fully believed that she would have more chance of recovering +favourably if she could be taken out of the small room and the warm +atmosphere beneath the cliffs---though of course all must depend on +her state at the time. + +Meantime there was a council of the gentlemen about outbidding the +Salvation Army. Lord Rotherwood was spending already as much as he +could afford, in the days of agricultural depression, on the +improvements planned with Mr. White. That individual was too good a +man of business to fall, as he said, into the trap, and make a +present to that scamp Richard of more than the worth of the houses, +and only Mr. Flight was ready to go to any cost to keep off the +Salvation Army; but the answer was curt. Richard knew he had no +chance with Mr. White, and did not care to keep terms with him. + +'Mr. Richard White begs to acknowledge the obliging offer of the Rev. +Augustine Flight, and regrets that arrangements have so far +progressed with Mr. Gudgeon that he cannot avail himself of it.' + +Was this really regret or was the measure out of spite? Only the +widest charity could accept the former suggestion, and even Sir +Jasper Merrifield's brief and severe letter and Dr. Dagger's +certificate did not prevent a letter to Alexis, warning him not to +make their sister's illness a pretext for unreasonable delay. + +What was to be done? Kalliope was still unfit to be consulted or +even informed, and she had been hitherto so entirely the real head +and manager of the family that Alexis did not like to make any +decision without her; and even the acceptance of the St. Wulstan's +choristership for Theodore had been put off for her to make it, look +to his outfit, and all that only the woman of the family could do for +them. + +And here they were at a loss for a roof over their heads, and nowhere +to bestow the battered old furniture, of which Richard magnanimously +renounced his sixth share; while she who had hitherto toiled, +thought, managed, and contrived for all the other four, without care +of their own, still lay on her bed, sensible indeed and no longer +feverish, but with the perilous failure of heart, renewed by any kind +of exertion or excitement, a sudden movement, or a startling sound in +the street; and Mrs. Halfpenny, guarding her as ferociously as ever, +and looking capable of murdering any one of her substitutes if they +durst hint a word of their perplexities. Happily she asked no +questions; she was content when allowed to be kissed by the others, +and to see they were well. Nature was enforcing repose, and so far +"her senses was all as in a dream bound up." Alexis remembered that +it had been somewhat thus at Leeds, when, after nursing all the rest, +she had succumbed to the epidemic; but then the mother had been able +to watch over her, and had been a more effective parent to the rest +than she had since become. + +The first practical proposal was Mrs. Lee's. They thought of +reversing the present position, and taking a small house where their +present hosts might become their lodgers. Moreover, Miss Mohun +clenched the affair about Theodore, and overcame Alexis's scruples, +while Lady Merrifield, having once or twice looked in, and been +smiled at and thanked by Kalliope, undertook to prepare her for his +farewell. + +Alexis and Maura both declared that she would instantly jump up, and +want to begin looking over his socks; but she got no further than--- + +'Dear boy! It is the sort of thing I always wished for him. People +are very good! But his things---' + +'Oh yes, dearie, ye need not fash yourself. I've mended them as I +sat by you, and packed them all. Lie still. They are all right.' + +There was an atmosphere of the Royal Wardours about Mrs. Halfpenny, +which was at once congenial and commanding; and Kalliope's mind at +once relinquished the burthen of socks, shirts, and even the elbows +of the outgrown jacket, nor did any of the family ever know how the +deficiencies had been supplied. + +And when Theodore, well admonished, came softly and timidly for the +parting kiss, his face quivering all over with the effort at self- +control, she lay and smiled; but with a great crystal tear on each +dark eyelash, and her thin transparent fingers softly stroked his +cheeks, as the low weak voice said--- + +'Be a good boy, dear---speak truth. Praise God well. Write; I'll +write when I am better.' + +It was the first time she had spoken of being better, and they told +Theodore to take comfort from it when all the other three walked him +up to the station. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST + + + +In the search for a new abode Mrs. Lee was in much difficulty, for it +was needful to be near St. Kenelm's, and the only vacant houses +within her means were not desirable for the reception of a feeble +convalescent; moreover, Mr. Gudgeon grumbled and inquired, and was +only withheld by warnings enhanced by the police from carrying the +whole charivari of the Salvation Army along Ivinghoe Terrace on +Sunday afternoon. + +Perhaps it was this, perhaps it was the fact of having discussed the +situation with the two Miss Mohuns, that made Mr. White say to +Alexis, 'There are two rooms ready for your sister, as soon as Dagger +says she can be moved safely. The person who nurses her had better +come with her, and you may as well come back to your old quarters.' + +Alexis could hardly believe his ears, but Mr. White waved off all +thanks. The Mohun sisters were delighted and triumphant, and Jane +came down to talk it over with her elder sister, auguring great +things from that man who loved to deal in surprises. + +'That is true,' said Sir Jasper. + +'What does that mean, Jasper?' said his wife. 'It sounds +significant.' + +'I certainly should not be amazed if he did further surprise us all. +Has it never struck you how that noontide turn of Adeline's +corresponds with his walk home from the reading-room?' + +Lady Merrifield looked rather startled, but Jane only laughed, and +said, 'My dear Jasper, if you only knew Ada as well as I do! Yes, I +have seen far too many of those little affairs to be taken in by +them. Poor Ada! I know exactly how she looks, but she is only +flattered, like a pussy-cat waggling the end of its tail---it means +nothing, and never comes to anything. The thing that is likely and +hopeful is, that he may adopt those young people as nephews and +nieces.' + +'Might it not spoil them?' said Lady Merrifield. + +'Oh! I did not mean that. They might work with him still. However, +there is no use in settling about that. The only thing to be +expected of him is the unexpected!' + +'And the thing to be done,' added her sister, 'is to see how and when +that poor girl can be got up to Cliff House.' + +To the general surprise, Dr. Dagger wished the transit to take place +without loss of time. A certain look of resigned consternation +crossed Kalliope's face on being informed of her destiny, but she +justified Mrs. Halfpenny's commendation of her as the maist douce and +conformable patient in the world, for she had not energy enough even +to plead against anything so formidable, and she had not yet been +told that Ivinghoe Terrace was her home no longer. + +The next day she was wrapped in cloaks and carried downstairs between +her brother and Mrs. Halfpenny, laid on a mattress in the Merrifield +waggonette, which went up the hill at a foot's pace, and by the same +hands, with her old friend the caretaker's wife going before, was +taken upstairs to a beautiful large room, with a window looking out +on vernal sky and sea. She was too much exhausted on her arrival to +know anything but the repose on the fresh comfortable bed, whose +whiteness was almost rivalled by her cheek, and Mrs. Halfpenny +ordered off Alexis, who was watching her in great anxiety. However, +when he came back after his afternoon's work, it was to find that she +had eaten and slept, and now lay, with her eyes open, in quiet +interested admiration of a spacious and pleasant bedroom, such as to +be a great novelty to one whose life had been spent in cheap lodging +houses. The rooms had been furnished twenty years before as a +surprise intended for the wife who never returned to occupy them, and +though there was nothing extraordinary in them, there was much to +content the eyes accustomed to something very like squalidness, for +had not Kalliope's lot always been the least desirable chamber in the +family quarters? + +At any rate, from that moment she began to recover, ate with +appetite, slept and woke to be interested, and to enjoy Theodore's +letter of description of St. Wulstan's, and even to ask questions. +Alexis was ready to dance for joy when she first began really to talk +to him; and could not forbear imparting his gladness to the Miss +Mohuns that very evening, as well as to Mr. White, and running down +after dinner with the good news to Maura, Mrs. Lee, and Lady +Merrifield. Dinners with Mr. White had, on his first sojourn in that +house, been a great penance, though there were no supercilious +servants, for all the waiting was by the familiar housekeeper, Mrs. +Osborne, who had merely added an underling to her establishment on +her master's return; but Alexis then had been utterly miserable, +feeling guilty and ashamed, as one only endured on sufferance out of +compassion, because his brother cast him out, and fresh from the +sight of his mother's dying bed; a terrible experience altogether, +which had entirely burnt out and effaced his foolish fit of romantic +calf-love, and rendered him much more of a man. Now, though not a +month had passed, he seemed to be on a different footing. He was +doing his work steadily, and the hope of his sister's recovery had +brightened him. Mr. White had begun to talk to him, to ask him +questions about the doings of the day, and to tell him in return some +of his own experiences in Italy, and in the earlier days of the town. +Maura came up to see her sister every day, and tranquillised her mind +when the move was explained, and anxiety as to the transport of all +their worldly goods began to set in. Mrs. Lee had found a house +where she could place two bedrooms and a sitting-room at the disposal +of the Whites if things were to continue as before, and no hint had +been given of any change, or of what was to happen when the three +months' notice given to Kalliope and Alexis should have expired. + +By the Easter holidays Mrs. Halfpenny began to get rather restless as +to the overlooking of the boys' wardrobes; and, indeed, she thought +so well of her patient's progress as to suggest to Mr. White that the +lassie would do very well if she had her sister to be with her in the +holidays, and she herself would come up every day to help at the +getting up, for Kalliope was now able to be dressed and to lie on a +couch in the dressing-room, where she could look out over the bay, +and she had even asked for some knitting. + +'And really, Miss Gillian, you could not do her much harm if you came +up to see her,' said the despot. 'So you may come this very +afternoon, if ye'll be douce, and not fash her with any of your +cantrips.' + +Gillian did not feel at all in a mood for cantrips as she slowly +walked up the broad staircase, and was ushered into the dressing- +room, cheerful with bright fire and April sunshine, and with a large +comfortable sofa covered with a bright rug, where Kalliope could +enjoy both window and fire without glare. The beauty of her face so +much depended on form and expression that her illness had not +lessened it. Gillian had scarcely seen her since the autumn, and the +first feeling was what an air of rest and peace had succeeded the +worn, harassed look then almost perpetual. There was a calmness now +that far better suited the noble forehead, dark pencilled eyebrows, +and classical features in their clear paleness; and with a sort of +reverence Gillian bent over her, to kiss her and give her a bunch of +violets. Then, when the thanks had passed, Gillian relieved her own +shyness by exclaiming with admiration at a beautiful water-coloured +copy of an early Italian fresco, combining the Nativity and Adoration +of the Magi, that hung over the mantelpiece. + +'Is it not exquisite?' returned Kalliope. 'I do so much enjoy making +out each head and dwelling on them! Look at that old shepherd's +simple wonder and reverence, and the little child with the lamb, and +the contrast with the Wise Man from the East, whose eyes look as if +he saw so much by faith.' + +'Can you see it from there?' asked Gillian, who had got up to look at +these and further details dwelt on by Kalliope. + +'Yes. Not at first; but they come out on me by degrees. It is such +a pleasure, and so kind of Mr. White to have put it there. He had it +hung there, Mrs. Halfpenny told me, instead of his own picture just +before I came in here.' + +'Well, he is not a bad-looking man, but it is no harm to him or his +portrait to say that this is better to look at!' + +'It quite does me good! And see,' pointing to a photograph of the +Arch of Titus hung on the screen that shielded her from the door, 'he +sends in a fresh one by Alexis every other day. + +'How very nice! He really seems to be a dear old man. Don't you +think so?' + +'I am sure he is wonderfully kind, but I have only seen him that once +when he came with Sir Jasper, and then I knew nothing but that when +Sir Jasper was come things must go right.' + +'Of course; but has he never been to see you now that you are up and +dressed?' + +'No, he lavishes anything on me that I can possibly want, but I have +only seen him once---never here.' + +'It is like Beauty and the Beast!' + +'Oh no, no ; don't say that!' + +'Well, George Stebbing really taught Fergus to call him a beast, and +you---Kally---I won't tease you with saying what you are.' + +'I wish I wasn't, it would be all so much easier.' + +'Never mind! I do believe the Stebbings are going away! Does Maura +never see him?' + +'She has met him on the stairs and in the garden, but she has her +meals here. I trust by the time her Easter holidays are over I may +be fit to go back with her. But I do hope I may be able to copy a +bit of that picture first, though, any way, I can never forget it.' + +'To go on as before?' exclaimed Gillian, with an interrogative sigh +of wonder. + +'If that notice of dismissal can be revoked,' said Kalliope. + +But would you like it---must you?' + +'I _should_ like to go back to my girls,' said Kalliope; 'and things +come into my head, now I am doing nothing, that I want to work out, +if I might. So, you see, it is not at all a pity that I _must_.' + +And why is it must?' said Gillian wistfully. 'You have to get well +first.' + +Yes, I know that; but, you see, there are Maura and Petros. They +must not be thrown on Alexis, poor dear fellow! And if he could only +be set free, he might go on with what he once hoped for, though he +thinks it is his duty to give all that entirely up now and work +obediently on. But I know the longing will revive, and if I only +could improve myself, and be worth more, it might still be possible.' + +'Only you must not begin too soon and work yourself to death.' + +'Hardly after such a rest,' said Kalliope. 'It is not work I mind, +but worry'---and then a sadder look crossed her for a moment, and she +added, 'I am so thankful.' + +'Thankful?' echoed Gillian. + +'Yes, indeed! For Sir Jasper's coming and saving us at that dreadful +moment, and my being able to keep up as long as dear mamma wanted me, +and then Mrs. Halfpenny being spared by dear Lady Merrifield to give +me such wonderful care and kindness, and little Theodore being so +happily placed, and this rest---such a strange quiet rest as I never +knew before. Oh! it is all so thankworthy'---and the great tears came +to dim her eyes. 'It seems sent to help me to take strength and +courage for the future. "He hath helped me hitherto."' + +'And you are better?' + +'Yes, much better. Quite comfortable as long as I am quite still.' + +'And content to be still?' + +'Yes, I'm very lazy.' + +It was a tired voice, and Gillian feared her half-hour was nearly +over, but she could not help saying--- + +'Do you know, I think it will be all nicer now. Mr. White is doing +so much, and Mr. Stebbing hates it so, that Mrs. Stebbing says he is +going to dissolve the partnership and go away.' + +'Then it would all be easier. It seems too good to be true.' + +'And that man Mr. White. He must do something for you! He ought.' + +'Oh no! He has done a great deal already, and has not been well +used. Don't talk of that.' + +'I believe he is awfully rich. You know he is building an Institute +for the workmen, and a whole row of model cottages.' + +'Yes, Alexis told me. What a difference it will make! I hope he +will build a room where the girls can dine and rest and read, or have +a piano; it would be so good for them.' + +'You had better talk to him about it.' + +'I never see him, and I should not dare.' + +'I'll tell my aunts. He always does what Aunt Ada tells him. Is +that really all you wish?' + +'Oh! I don't wish for anything much---I don't seem able to care now +dear mamma is where they cease from troubling, and I have Alec +again.' + +'Well, I can't help having great hopes. I can't see why that man +should not make a daughter of you! Then you would travel and see +mountains and pictures and everything. Oh, should you not like +that?' + +'Like? Oh, one does not think about liking things impossible! And +for the rest, it is nonsense. I should not like to be dependent, and +I ought not.' + +'You don't think what is to come next?' + +'No, it would be taking thought for the morrow, would it not? I +don't want to, while I can't do anything, it would only make me fret, +and I am glad I am too stupid still to begin vexing myself over it. +I suppose energy and power of considering will come when my heart +does not flutter so. In the meantime, I only want to keep quiet, and +I hope that's not all laziness, but some trust in Him who has helped +me all this time.' + +'Miss Gillian, you've clavered as long as is good for Miss White, and +here are the whole clanjamfrie waiting in the road for you. Now be +douce, my bairn, and mind you are not in the woods at home, and don't +let the laddies play their tricks with Miss Primrose.' + +'I must go,' said Gillian, hastily kissing Kalliope. 'The others +were going to call for me. When Lady Phyllis was riding with her +father she spied a wonderful field of daffodils and a valley full of +moss at a place called Clipston, two miles off, and we are all going +to get some for the decorations. I'll send you some. Good-bye.' + +The clanjamfrie, as Mrs. Halfpenny called it, mustered strong, and +Gillian's heart leapt at the resumption of the tumultuous family +life, as she beheld the collection of girls, boys, dogs, and donkeys +awaiting her in the approach; and, in spite of the two governesses' +presence, her mind misgave her as to the likelihood of regard to the +hint that her mother had given that she hoped the elder ones would +try to be sober in their ways, and not quite forget what week it was. +It was in their favour that Jasper, now in his last term at school, +was much more of a man and less of a boy than hitherto, and was +likely to be on the side of discretion, so that he might keep in +order that always difficult element, Wilfred, whose two years of +preparatory school as yet made him only more ingenious in the arts of +teasing, and more determined to show his superiority to petticoat +government. He had driven Fergus nearly distracted by threatening to +use all his mineralogical specimens to make ducks and drakes, and +actually confusing them together, so that Fergus repented of having +exhibited them, and rejoiced that Aunt Jane had let them continue in +her lumber-room till they could find a permanent home. + +Wilfred had a shot for Mrs. Halfpenny, when she came down with +Gillian and looked for Primrose to secure that there were no +interstices between the silk handkerchief and fur collar. + +'Ha, ha, old Small Change, don't you wish you may get it?'---as +Primrose proved to be outside the drive on one of the donkeys. +'You've got nothing to do but gnaw your fists at us like old Giant +Pope.' + +'For shame, Wilfred!' said Jasper. 'My mother did Primrose's throat, +nurse, so she is all right.' + +'Bad form,' observed Lord Ivinghoe, shaking his head. + +'I'm not going to Eton,' replied Wilfred audaciously. + +'I should hope not!'---in a tone of ineffable contempt, not for +Wilfred's person, but his manners, and therewith his Lordship +exclaimed, 'Who's that?' as Maura came flying down with Gillian's +forgotten basket. + +'Oh, that's Maura White!' said Valetta. + +'I say, isn't she going with us?' + +'Oh no, she has to look after her sister!' + +'Don't you think we might take her, Gill?' said Fly. 'She never gets +any fun.' + +'I don't think she ought to leave Kalliope to-day, Fly, for nurse is +going down to Il Lido; and besides, Aunt Jane said we must not take +_all_ Rockquay with us.' + +'No, they would not let us ask Kitty and Clement Varley, said Fergus +disconsolately. + +'I am sure she is five times as pretty as your Kitty!' returned +Ivinghoe. 'She is a regular stunner.' Whereby it may be perceived +that a year at Eton had considerably modified his Lordship's +correctness of speech, if not of demeanour. Be it further observed +that, in spite of the escort of the governesses, the young people +were as free as if those ladies had been absent, for, as Jasper +observed, the donkeys neutralised them. Miss Elbury, being a bad +walker, rode one, and Miss Vincent felt bound to keep close to +Primrose upon the other; and as neither animal could be prevailed on +to moderate its pace, they kept far ahead of all except Valetta, who +was mounted on the pony intended for Lady Phyllis, but disdained by +her until she should be tired. Lord Ivinghoe's admiration of Maura +was received contemptuously by Wilfred, who was half a year younger +than his cousin, and being already, in his own estimation, a +Wykehamist, had endless rivalries with him. + +'She! She's nothing but a cad! Her sister is a shop-girl, and her +brother is a quarryman.' + +'She does not look like it,' observed Ivinghoe, while Mysie and Fly, +with one voice, exclaimed that her father was an officer in the Royal +Wardours. + +'A private first,' said Wilfred, with boyhood's reiteration. 'Cads +and quarrymen all of them---the whole boiling, old White and all, +though he has got such a stuck-up house!' + +'Nonsense, Will,' said Fly. 'Why, Mr. White has dined with us.' + +'A patent of nobility, said Jasper, smiling. + +'I don't care,' said Wilfred; 'if other people choose to chum with +old stonemasons and convicts, I don't.' + +'Wilfred, that is too bad,' said Gillian. 'It is very wrong to talk +in that way.' + +'Oh!' said the audacious Wilfred, 'we all know who is Gill's Jack!' + +'Shut up, Will!' cried Fergus, flying at him. 'I told you not to--' + +But Wilfred bounded up a steep bank, and from that place of vantage +went on--- + +'Didn't she teach him Greek, and wasn't he spoony; and didn't she +send back his valentine, so that---' + +Fergus was scrambling up the bank after him, enraged at the betrayal +of his confidence, and shouting inarticulately, while poor Gillian +moved on, overwhelmed with confusion, and Fly uttered the cutting +words, 'Perfectly disgusting!' + +'Ay, so it was!' cried the unabashed Wilfred, keeping on at the top +of the bank, and shaking the bushes at every pause. 'So he broke +down the rocks, and ran away with the tin, and enlisted, and went to +prison. Such a sweet young man for Gill!' + +Poor Gillian! was her punishment never to end? That scrape of hers, +hitherto so tenderly and delicately hinted at, and which she would +have given worlds to have kept from her brothers, now shouted all +over the country! Sympathy, however, she had, if that would do her +any good. Mysie and Fly came on each side of Ivinghoe, assuring him, +in low eager voices, of the utter nonsense of the charge, and +explaining ardently; and Jasper, with one bound, laid hold of the +tormentor, dragged him down, and, holding his stick over him, said--- + +'Now, Wilfred, if you don't hold your tongue, and not behave like a +brute, I shall send you straight home.' + +'It's quite true,' growled Wilfred. 'Ask her.' + +'What does that signify? I'm ashamed of you! I've a great mind to +thrash you this instant. If you speak another word of that sort, I +shall. Now then, there are the governesses trying to stop to see +what's the row. I shall give you up to Miss Vincent, if you choose +to behave so like a spiteful girl.' + +A sixth-form youth was far too great a man to be withstood by one who +was not yet a public schoolboy at all; and Wilfred actually obeyed, +while Jasper added to Fergus--- + +'How could you be such a little ass as to go and tell him all that +rot?' + +'It was true,' grumbled Fergus. + +'The more reason not to go cackling about it like an old hen, or a +girl! Your own sister! I'm ashamed of you both. Mind, I shall +thrash you if you mention it again.' + +Poor Fergus felt the accusation of cackling unjust, since he had only +told Wilfred in confidence, and that had been betrayed, but he had +got his lesson on family honour, and he subsided into his wonted +look-out for curious stones, while Gillian was overtaken by Jasper--- +whether willingly or not, she hardly knew---but his first word was, +'Little beast!' + +'You didn't hurt him, I hope,' said Gill, accepting the invitation to +take his arm. + +'Oh no! I only threatened to make him walk with the governesses and +the donkeys.' + +'Asses and savants to the centre,' said Gillian; 'like the orders to +the French army in Egypt.' + +'But what's all this about? You wanted me to look after you! Is it +that Alexis?' + +'Oh, Japs! Mamma knows all about it and papa. It was only that he +was ridiculous because I was so silly as to think I could help him +with his Greek.' + +'You! With his Greek! I pity him!' + +'Yes. I found he soon knew too much for me,' said Gillian meekly; +'but, indeed, Japs, it wasn't very bad! He only sent me a valentine, +and Aunt Jane says I need not have been so angry.' + +'A cat may look at a king,' said Jasper loftily. 'It is a horrid bad +thing for a girl to be left to herself without a brother worth +having.' + +So Gillian got off pretty easily, and after all the walk was not +greatly spoilt. They coalesced again with the other three, who were +tolerably discreet, and found the debate on the White gentility had +been resumed. Ivinghoe was philosophically declaring 'that in these +days one must take up with everybody, so it did not matter if one was +a little more of a cad than another; he himself was fag at Eton to a +fellow whose father was an oilman, and who wasn't half a bad lot.' + +'An oilman, Ivy,' said his sister; 'I thought he imported petroleum.' + +'Well, it's all the same. I believe he began as an oilman.' + +'We shall have Fergus reporting that he's a petroleuse,' put in +Jasper. + +'No, a petroleuse is a woman.' + +'I like Mr. White,' said Fly; 'but, Gillian, you don't think it is +true that he is going to marry your Aunt Jane?' + +There was a great groan, and Japs observed--- + +'Some one told us Rockquay was a hotbed of gossip, and we seem to +have got it strong.' + +'Where did this choice specimen come from, Fly!' demanded Ivinghoe, +in his manner most like his mother. + +Fly nodded her head towards her governess in the advanced guard. + +'She had a cousin to tea with her, and they thought I didn't know +whom they meant, and they said that he was always up at Rockstone.' + +'Well, he is; and Aunt Jane always stands up for him,' said Gillian; +'but that was because he is so good to the workpeople, and Aunt Ada +took him for some grand political friend of Cousin Rotherwood's.' + +'Aunt Jane!' said Jasper. 'Why, she is the very essence and epitome +of old maids.' + +'Yes,' said Gillian. 'If it came to that, she would quite as soon +marry the postman.' + +'That's lucky' said Ivinghoe. 'One can swallow a good deal, but not +quite one's own connections.' + +'In fact,' said Jasper, 'you had rather be an oilman's fag than a +quarryman's---what is it?---first cousin once removed in law?' + +'It is much more likely,' said Gillian, as they laughed over this, +'that Kalliope and Maura will be his adopted daughters, only he never +comes near them.' + +Wherewith there was a halt. Miss Elbury insisted that Phyllis should +ride, the banks began to show promise of flowers, and, in the search +for violets, dangerous topics were forgotten, and Wilfred was +forgiven. They reached the spot marked by Fly, a field with a border +of sloping broken ground and brushwood, which certainly fulfilled all +their desires, steeply descending to a stream full of rocks, the +ground white with wood anemones, long evergreen trails of periwinkles +and blue flowers between, primroses clustering under the roots of the +trees, daffodils gilding the grass above, and the banks verdant with +exquisite feather-moss. Such a springtide wood was joy to all, +especially as the first cuckoo of the season came to add to their +delights and set them counting for the augury of happy years, which +proved so many that Mysie said they would not know what to do with +them. + +'I should,' said Ivinghoe. 'I should like to live to be a great old +statesman, as Lord Palmerston did, and have it all my own way. +Wouldn't I bring things round again!' + +'Perhaps they would have gone too far,' suggested Jasper, 'and then +you would have to gnaw your hand like Giant Pope, as Wilfred says.' + +'Catch me, while I could do something better.' + +'If one only lived long enough,' speculated Fergus, 'one might find +out what everything was made of, and how to do everything.' + +'I wonder if the people did before the Flood, when they lived eight +or nine hundred years,' said Fly. + +'Perhaps that is the reason there is nothing new under the sun,' +suggested Valetta, as many a child has before suggested. + +'But then,' said Mysie, they got wicked.' + +'And then after the Flood it had all to be begun over again,' said +Ivinghoe. 'Let me see, Methuselah lived about as long as from +William the Conqueror till now. I think he might have got to steam +and electricity.' + +'And dynamite,' said Gillian. 'Oh, I don't wonder they had to be +swept away, if they were clever and wicked both!' + +'And I suppose they were,' said Jasper. 'At least the giants, and +that they handed on some of their ability through Ham, to the +Egyptians, and all those queer primeval coons, whose works we are +digging up.' + +'From the Conquest till now,' repeated Gillian. 'I'm glad we don't +live so long now. It tires one to think of it.' + +'But we shall,' said Fly. + +'Yes,' said Mysie, 'but then we shall be rid of this nasty old self +that is always getting wrong.' + +'That little lady's nasty old self does so as little as any one's,' +Jasper could not help remarking to his sister; and Fly, pouncing on +the first purple orchis spike amid its black-spotted leaves, cried--- + +'At any rate, these dear things go on the same, without any tiresome +inventing.' + +'Except God's just at first,' whispered Mysie. + +'And the gardeners do invent new ones,' said Valetta. + +'Invent! No; they only fuss them and spoil them, and make ridiculous +names for them,' said Fly. These darling creatures are ever so much +better. Look at Primrose there.' + +'Yes,' said Gillian, as she saw her little sister in quiet ecstasy +over the sparkling bells of the daffodils; 'one would not like to +live eight hundred years away from that experience.' + +'But mamma cares just as much still as Primrose does,' said Mysie. +'We must get some for her own self as well as for the church.' + +'Mine are all for mamma,' proclaimed Primrose; and just then there +was a shout that a bird's nest had been found---a ring-ousel's nest on +the banks. Fly and her brother shared a collection of birds' eggs, +and were so excited about robbing the ousels of a single egg, that +Gillian hoped that Fergus would not catch the infection and abandon +minerals for eggs, which would be ever so much worse---only a degree +better than butterflies, towards which Wilfred showed a certain +proclivity. + +'I shall be thirteen before next holidays,' he observed, after making +a vain dash with his hat at a sulphur butterfly, looking like a +primrose flying away. + +'Mamma won't allow any "killing collection" before thirteen years +old,' explained Mysie. + +'She says,' explained Gillian, 'by that time one ought to be old +enough to discriminate between the lawfulness of killing the +creatures for the sake of studying their beauty and learning them, +and the mere wanton amusement of hunting them down under the excuse +of collecting.' + +'I say,' exclaimed Valetta, who had been exploring above, 'here is +such a funny old house.' + +There was a rush in that direction, and at the other end of the wide +home-field was perceived a picturesque gray stone house, with large +mullioned windows, a dilapidated low stone wall, with what had once +been a handsome gateway, overgrown with ivy, and within big double +daffodils and white narcissus growing wild. + +'It's like the halls of Ivor,' said Mysie, awestruck by the +loneliness; 'no dog, nor horse, nor cow, not even a goose,' + +'And what a place to sketch!' cried Miss Vincent. 'Oh, Gillian, we +must come here another day.' + +'Oh, may we gather the flowers?' exclaimed the insatiable Primrose. + +'Those poetic narcissuses would be delicious for the choir screen,' +added Gillian. + +'Poetic narcissus---poetic grandmother,' said Wilfred. 'It's old +butter and eggs.' + +'I say!' cried Mysie. 'Look, Ivy---I know that pair of fighting +lions---ain't these some of your arms over the door?' + +'By which you mean a quartering of our shield,' said Ivinghoe. 'Of +course it is the Clipp bearing. Or, two lions azure, regardant +combatant, their tails couped.' + +'Two blue Kilkenny cats, who have begun with each other's tails,' +commented Jasper. + +'Ivinghoe glared a little, but respected the sixth form, and Gillian +added--- + +'They clipped them! Then did this place belong to our ancestors?' + +'Poetic grandmother, really!' said Mysie. + +'Great grandmother,' corrected Ivinghoe. 'To be sure. It was from +the Clipps that we got all this Rockstone estate!' + +'And I suppose this was their house? What a shame to have deserted +it!' + +'Oh, it has been a farmhouse,' said Fly. 'I heard something about +farms that wouldn't let.' + +'Then is it yours?' cried Valetta, 'and may we gather the flowers?' + +'And mayn't we explore?' asked Mysie. 'Oh, what fun!' + +'Holloa!' exclaimed Wilfred, transfixed, as if he had seen the ghosts +of all the Clipps. For just as Valetta and Mysie threw themselves on +the big bunches of hepatica and the white narcissus, a roar, worthy +of the clip-tailed lions, proceeded from the window, and the demand, +'Who is picking my roses?' + +Primrose in terror threw herself on Gillian with a little scream. +Wilfred crept behind the walls, but after the general start there was +an equally universal laugh, for between the stout mullions of the +oriel window Lord Rotherwood's face was seen, and Sir Jasper's behind +him. + +Great was the jubilation, and there was a rush to the tall door, up +the dilapidated steps, where curls of fern were peeping out; but the +gentlemen called out that only the back-door could be opened, and the +intention of a 'real grand exploration' was cut short by Miss +Elbury's declaring that she was bound not to let Phyllis stay out +till six o'clock. + +Fly, in her usual good-humoured way, suppressed her sighs and begged +the others to explore without her, but the general vote declared this +to be out of the question. Fly had too short a time to remain with +her cousins to be forsaken even for the charms of 'the halls of +Ivor,' or the rival Beast's Castle, as Gillian called it, which, +after all, would not run away. + +'But it might be let,' said Mysie. + +'Yes, I've got a tenant in agitation,' said Lord Rotherwood +mischievously. 'Never mind, I dare say he won't inquire what you +have done with his butter and eggs.' + +So with a parting salute to the ancestral halls, the cavalry was set +in order, big panniers full of moss and flowers disposed on the +donkeys, Fly placed on her pony, and every maiden taking her basket +of flowers, Jasper and Ivinghoe alone being amiable, or perhaps +trustworthy enough to assist in carrying. Fly's pony demurred to the +extra burthen, so Jasper took hers; and when Gillian declared herself +too fond of her flowers to part with them, Ivinghoe astonished Miss +Vincent, on whom some stones of Fergus's, as well as her own share of +flowers, had been bestowed, by taking one handle of her most cumbrous +basket. + +Sir Jasper and Lord Rotherwood rode together through the happy young +troop on the homeward way. Perhaps Ivinghoe was conscious of a +special nod of approval from his father. + +On passing Rock House, the youthful public was rather amused at his +pausing, and saying--- + +'Aren't you going to leave some flowers there?' + +'Oh yes!' said Gillian. 'I have a basket on purpose.' + +'And I have some for Maura,' said Valetta. + +Valetta's was an untidy bunch; Gillian's a dainty basket, where white +violets reposed on moss within a circle of larger blossoms. + +'That's something like!' quoth Ivinghoe. + +He lingered with them as if he wanted to see that vision again, but +only the caretaker appeared, and promised to take the flowers +upstairs. + +Maura afterwards told how they were enjoyed, and they knew of +Kalliope's calm restfulness in Holy Week thoughts and Paschal Joys. + +It was on Easter Tuesday that Mr. White first sent a message asking +to see his guest, now of nearly three weeks. + +He came in very quietly and gently---perhaps the sight of the room he +had prepared for his young wife was in itself a shock to him, and he +had lived so long without womankind that he had all a lonely man's +awe of an invalid. He took with a certain respect the hand that +Kalliope held out, as she said, with a faint flush in her cheeks--- + +'I am glad to thank you, sir. You have been very good to me.' + +'I am glad to see you better,' he said, with a little embarrassment. + +'I ought to be, in this beautiful air, and with these lovely things +to look at,' and she pointed to the reigning photograph on the stand- +--the facade of St. Mark's. + +'You should see it as I did.' And he began to describe it to her, +she putting in a question or two here and there, which showed her +appreciation. + +'You know something about it already,' he said. + +'Yes; when I was quite a little girl one of the officers in the Royal +Wardours brought some photographs to Malta, and told me about them.' + +'But,' he said, recalling himself, that is not my object now. Your +brother says he does not feel competent to decide without you.' And +he laid before her two or three prospectuses of grammar schools. 'It +is time to apply,' he added, 'if that little fellow---Peter, you call +him, don't you?---is to begin next term.' + +'Petros! Oh, sir, this is kindness!' + +'I desired that the children's education should be attended to,' said +Mr. White. 'I did not intend their being sent to an ordinary +National school.' + +'Indeed,' said Kalliope; 'I do not think much time has been lost, for +they have learnt a good deal there; but I am particularly glad that +Petros should go to a superior school just now that he has been left +alone, for he is more lively and sociable than Theodore, and it might +be less easy for him to keep from bad companions.' + +The pros and cons of the several schools were discussed, and +Hurstpierpoint finally fixed on. + +'Never mind about his outfit,' added Mr. White. 'I'll give that +fellow down in Bellevue an order to rig him out. He is a sharp +little sturdy fellow, who will make his way in the world.' + +'Indeed, I trust so, now that his education is secured. It is +another load off my mind,' said Kalliope, with a smile of exceeding +sweetness and gratitude, her hands clasped, and her eyes raised for a +moment in higher thankfulness,---a look that so enhanced her beauty +that Mr. White gazed for a moment in wonder. The next moment, +however, the dark eyes turned on him with a little anxiety, and she +said--- + +'One thing more, sir. Perhaps you will be so kind as to relieve my +mind again. That notice of dismissal at the quarter's end. Was it +not in some degree from a mistake?' + +'An utter mistake, my dear,' he said hastily. 'Never trouble your +head about it.' + +'Then it does not hold?' + +'Certainly not.' + +'And I may go back to my office as soon as I am well enough?' + +'Is that your wish?' + +'Yes, sir. I love my work and my assistants, and I think I could do +better if a little more scope could be allowed me.' + +'Very well, we will see about that---you have to get well first of +all.' + +'I am so much better that I ought to go home. Mr. Lee is quite ready +for me.' + +Nonsense! You must be much stronger before Dagger would hear of your +going.' + +After this Mr. White came to sit with Kalliope for a time in the +course of each day, bringing with him something that would interest +her, and seeming gratified by her responsiveness, quiet as it was, +for she was still very feeble, and exertion caused a failure of +breath and fluttering of heart that were so distressing that ten days +more passed before she was brought downstairs and drawn out in the +garden in a chair, where she could sit on the sheltered terrace +enjoying the delicious spring air and soft sea-breezes, sometimes +alone, sometimes with the company of one friend or another. Gillian +and Aunt Jane had, with the full connivance of Mr. White, arranged a +temporary entrance from one garden to the other for the convenience +of attending to Kalliope, and here one afternoon Miss Mohun was +coming in when she heard through the laurels two voices speaking to +the girl. As she moved forward she saw they were the elder and +younger Stebbings, and that Kalliope had risen to her feet, and was +leaning on the back of her chair. While she was considering whether +to advance Kalliope heard her, and called in a breathless voice, +'Miss Mohun! oh, Miss Mohun, come!' + +'Miss Mohun! You will do us the justice---' began Mr. Stebbing, +speaking more to her indignant face and gesture than to any words. + +'Miss White is not well,' she said. 'You had better leave her to +me.' + +And as they withdrew through the house, Kalliope sank back in her +chair in one of those alarming attacks of deadly faintness that had +been averted for many days past. Happily an electric bell was always +at hand, and the housekeeper knew what remedies to bring. Kalliope +did not attempt a word for many long minutes, though the colour came +back gradually to her lips. Her first words were, + +'Thank you! Oh, I did hope that persecution was over!' + +'My poor child! Don't tell me unless you like! Only---it wasn't +about your work?' + +'Oh no, the old story! But he brought his father---to say he +consented---and wished it---now.' + +There was no letting her say any more at that time, but it was all +plain enough. This had been one more attempt of the Stebbing family +to recover their former power; Kalliope was assumed to be Mr. White's +favoured niece; Frank could make capital of having loved her when +poor and neglected, and his parents were ready to back his suit. The +father and son had used their familiarity with the house to obtain +admittance to the garden without announcement or preparation, and had +pressed the siege, with a confidence that could only be inspired by +their own self-opinion. Kalliope had been kept up by her native +dignity and resolution, and had at first gently, then firmly, +declined the arguments, persuasions, promises, and final reproaches +with which they beset her--even threatening to disclose what they +called encouragement, and assuring her that she need not reckon on +Mr. White, for the general voice declared him likely to marry again, +and then where would she be?' + +'I don't know what would have become of me, if you had not come,' she +said. + +And when she had rested long enough, and crept into the house, and +Alexis had come home to carry her upstairs, it was plain that she had +been seriously thrown back, and she was not able to leave her room +for two or three days. + +Mr. White was necessarily told what had been the cause of the +mischief. He smiled grimly. 'Ay! ay! Master Frank thought he would +come round the old man, did he? He will find himself out. Ha, ha! a +girl like that in the house is like a honey-pot near a wasps' nest, +and the little sister will be as bad. Didn't I see the young lord, +smart little prig as he looks, holding an umbrella over her with a +smile on his face, as much as to say, "I know who is a pretty girl! +No one to look after them either!" But maybe they will all find +themselves mistaken,' and his grim smile relaxed into a highly +amiable one. + +Miss Mohun was not at all uneasy as to the young lord. An Eton boy's +admiration of a pretty face did not amount to much, even if Ivinghoe +had not understood 'Noblesse oblige' too well to leave a young girl +unsheltered. Besides, he and all the rest were going away the next +day. But what did that final hint mean? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN + + + +One secret was soon out, even before the cruel parting of Fly and +Mysie, which it greatly mitigated. + +Clipston was to be repaired and put in order, to be rented by the +Merrifields. It was really a fine old substantial squire's house, +though neglected and consigned to farmers for four generations. It +had great capabilities---a hall up to the roof, wainscoted rooms---at +present happy hunting-grounds to boys and terriers---a choked +fountain, numerous windows, walled up in the days of the 'tax on +light,' and never reopened, and, moreover, a big stone barn, with a +cross on the gable, and evident traces of having once been a chapel. + +The place was actually in Rockstone Parish, and had a hamlet of six +or seven houses, for which cottage services were held once a week, +but the restoration of the chapel would provide a place for these, +and it would become a province for Lady Merrifield's care, while Sir +Jasper was absolutely entreated, both by Lord Rotherwood and the +rector of Rockstone, to become the valuable layman of the parish, nor +was he at all unwilling thus to bestow his enforced leisure. + +It was a beautiful place. The valley of daffodils already visited +narrowed into a ravine, where the rivulet rushed down from moorlands, +through a ravine charmingly wooded, and interspersed with rock. It +would give country delights to the children, and remove them from the +gossip of the watering-place society, and yet not be too far off for +those reading-room opportunities beloved of gentlemen. + +The young people were in ecstasies, only mourning that they could not +live there during the repairs, and that those experienced in the +nature of workmen hesitated to promise that Clipston would be +habitable by the summer vacation. In the meantime, most of the +movables from Silverfold were transported thither, and there was a +great deal of walking and driving to and fro, planning for the +future, and revelling in the spring outburst of flowers. + +Schoolroom work had begun again, and Lady Merrifield was hearing +Mysie read the Geruasalemme Liberata, while Miss Vincent +superintended Primrose's copies, and Gillian's chalks were striving +to portray a bust of Sophocles, when the distant sounds of the piano +in the drawing-room stopped, and Valetta came in with words always +ominous--- + +'Aunt Jane wants to speak to you, mamma.' + +Lady Merrifield gathered up her work and departed, while Valetta, +addressing the public, said, 'Something's up.' + +'Oh!' cried Primrose, 'Sofi hasn't run away again?' + +'I hope Kalliope isn't worse,' said Mysie anxiously. + +'I guess,' said Valetta, 'somebody said something the other day!' + +'Something proving us the hotbeds of gossip,' muttered Gillian. + +'You had better get your German exercise, Valetta,' said Miss +Vincent. 'Mysie, you have not finished your sums.' + +And a sigh went round; but Valetta added one after-clap. + +'Aunt Jane looked---I don't know how!' + +Whereat Gillian nodded her head, and looked up at Miss Vincent, who +was as curious as the rest, but restrained the manifestation +manfully. + +Meantime Lady Merrifield found her sister standing at the window, +and, without turning round, the words were uttered--- + +'Jasper was right, Lily.' + +'You don't mean it?' + +'Yes; he is after her!'---with a long breath. + +'Mr. White!' + +'Yes'---then sitting down. 'I did not think much of it before. They +always are after Ada more or less---and she likes it; but it never has +come to anything.' + +'Why should it now?' + +'It has! At least, it has gone further than ever anything did +before, except Charlie Scott, that ridiculous boy at Beechcroft that +William was so angry with, and who married somebody else.' + +'You don't say that he has proposed to her?' + +'Yes, he has---the man! By a letter this morning, and I could see she +expected it---not that that's any wonder!' + +'But, my dear, she can't possibly be thinking of it.' + +'Well, I should have said it was impossible; but I see she has not +made up her mind. Poor dear Ada! It is too bad to laugh; but she +does like the having a real offer at last, and a great Italian castle +laid at her feet.' + +'But he isn't a gentleman! I don't mean only his birth---and I know +he is a good man really---but Jasper said he could feel he was not a +gentleman by the way he fell on Richard White before his sister.' + +'I know! I know! I wonder if it would be for her happiness?' + +'Then she has not answered him?' + +'No; or, rather, I left her going to write. She won't accept him +certainly now; but I believe she is telling him that she must have +time to consider and consult her family.' + +'She must know pretty well what her family will say. Fancy William! +Fancy Emily! Fancy Reginald!' + +'Yes, oh yes! But Ada---I must say it---she does like to prolong the +situation.' + +'It is not fair on the poor man.' + +'Well, she will act as she chooses; but I think she really does want +to see what amount of opposition--- No, not that, but of estrangement +it would cause.' + +'Did you see the letter?' + +'Yes; no doubt you will too. I told her I should come to you, and +she did not object. I think she was glad to be saved broaching the +subject, for she is half ashamed.' + +'I should have thought she would have been as deeply offended at the +presumption as poor Gillian was with the valentine.' + +'Lily, my dear, forty-two is not all one with seventeen, especially +when there's an estate with an Italian countship attached to it! +Though I'm sure I'd rather marry Alexis than this man. _He_ is a +gentleman in grain!' + +'Oh, Jenny, you are very severe!' + +'I'm afraid it is bitterness, Lily; so I rushed down to have it all +out with you, and make up my mind what part to take.' + +'It is very hard on you, my dear, after you have nursed and waited on +her all these years.' + +'It is the little titillation of vanity---exactly like the Ada of +sixteen, nay, of six, that worries me, and makes me naughty,' said +Jane, dashing off a tear. 'Oh, Lily! how could I have borne it if +you had not come home!' + +'But what do you mean about the part to take?' + +'Well, you see, Lily, I really do not know what I ought to do. I +want to clear my mind by talking to you.' + +'I am afraid it would make a great difference to you in the matter of +means.' + +'I don't mean about that; but I am not sure whether I ought to stand +up for her. You see the man is really good at heart, and religious, +and he is taking out this chaplain. The climate, mountains, and sea +might really suit her health, and she could have all kinds of +comforts and luxuries; and if she can get over his birth, and the +want of fine edge of his manners, I don't know that we have any right +to set ourselves against it.' + +'I should have thought those objections would have weighed most of +all with her.' + +'And I do believe that if the whole family are unanimous in scouting +the very idea, she will give it up. She _is_ proud of Mohun blood, +and the Rotherwood connection and all, and if there were a desperate +opposition---well, she would be rather flattered, and give in; but I +am not sure that she would not always regret it, and pine after what +she might have had.' + +'Rotherwood likes the man.' + +'Like---but that's not liking him to marry his cousin.' + +'Rotherwood will not be the person most shocked.' + +'No. We shall have a terrible time, however it ends. Oh. I wish it +was all over!' + +'Do you think she really cares for the man---loves him, in fact?' + +'My dear Lily, if Ada ever was in love with anybody, it was with +Harry May, and that was all pure mistake. I never told anybody, but +I believe it was that which upset her health. But they are both too +old to concern themselves about such trifles. He does not expect +it!' + +'I have seen good strong love in a woman over forty.' + +'Yes; but this is quite another thing. A lady of the house wanted! +That's the motive. I should not wonder if he came home as much to +look for a lady-wife as to set the Stebbings to rights; or, if not, +he is driven to it by having the Whites on his hands.' + +'I don't quite see that. I was going to ask you how it would affect +them.' + +'Well, you see, though she is perfectly willing and anxious to begin +again, poor dear Kally really can't. She did try to arrange a design +that had been running in her head for a long time, and she was so bad +after it that Dr. Dagger said she must not attempt it. Then, though +she is discreet enough for anything, Mr. White is not really her +uncle, and could not take her about with him alone or even with +Maura; so I gather from some expressions in his letter that he would +like to take her out with them, spend the summer at Rocca Marina, and +let her have a winter's study at Florence. Then, I suppose she might +come back and superintend on quite a different footing. + +'So he wants Ada as a chaperon for Kalliope?' + +'That is an element in the affair, and not a bad one, and I don't +think Ada will object. She won't be left entirely to his +companionship.' + +'My dear Jane! Then I'm sure she ought not to marry him!' cried Lady +Merrifield indignantly. 'Here comes Jasper. May I tell him?' + +'You will, whether you may or not.' + +And what Sir Jasper said was--- + + + '"Who married the maiden all forlorn---"' + + +At which both sisters, though rather angry, could not help laughing, +and Lady Merrifield explained that they had always said the events +had gone on in a concatenation, like the house that Jack built, from +Gillian's peep through the rails. However, he was of opinion that it +was better not to make a strenuous opposition. + +'Adeline is quite old enough to judge for herself whether the +incongruities will interfere with her happiness,' he said; 'and this +is really a worthy man who ought not to be contemned. Violent +contradiction might leave memories that would make it difficult to be +on affectionate terms afterwards.' + +'Yes,' said Jane; 'that is what I feel. Thank you, Jasper. Now I +must go to my district. Happily those things run on all the same for +the present.' + +But when she was gone Sir Jasper told his wife that he thought it +ought to be seriously put before Adeline that Jane ought to be +considered. She had devoted herself to the care of her sister for +many years, and the division of their means would tell seriously upon +her comfort. + +'If it were a matter of affection, there would be nothing to say,' he +observed; 'but nobody pretends that it is so, and surely Jane +deserves consideration. + +'I should think her a much more comfortable companion than Mr. +White,' said Lady Merrifield. 'I can't believe it will come to +anything. Whatever the riches or the castle at Rocca Marina may be, +Ada would, in a worldly point of view, give up a position of some +consideration here, and I think that will weigh with her.' + +As soon as possible, Lady Merrifield went up to see her sister, and +found her writing letters in a great flutter of importance. It was +quite plain that the affair was not to be quashed at once, and that, +whether the suit were granted or not, all the family were to be aware +that Adeline had had her choice. Warned by her husband, Lady +Merrifield guarded the form of her remonstrances. + +'Oh yes, dear Lily, I know! It is a sacrifice in many points of +view, but think what a field is open to me! There are all those +English workmen and their wives and families living out there, and +Mr. White does so need a lady to influence them.' + +'You have not done much work of that kind. Besides, I thought this +chaplain was married.' + +'Yes, but the moral support of a lady at the head must be needful,' +said Ada. 'It is quite a work.' + +'Perhaps so,' said her sister, who had scarcely been in the habit of +looking on Ada as a great moral influence. 'But have you thought +what this will be to Jane?' + +'Really, Lily, it is a good deal for Jane's sake. She will be so +much more free without being bound to poor me!'---and Ada's head went +on one side. 'You know she would never have lived here but for me; +and now she will be able to do what she pleases.' + +'Not pecuniarily.' + +'Oh, it will be quite possible to see to all that! Besides, think of +the advantage to her schemes. Oh yes, dear Jenny, it will be a +wrench to her, of course, and she will miss me; but, when that is +once got over, she will feel that I have acted for the best. Nor +will it be such a separation; he means always to spend the summer +here, and the winter and spring at Florence or Rocca Marina.' It was +grand to hear the Italian syllables roll from Adeline's tongue. 'You +know he could take the title if he pleased.' + +'I am sure I hope he will not do anything so ridiculous!' + +'Oh no, of course not!' But it was plain that the secret +consciousness of being Countess of Rocca Marina was an offset against +being plain Mrs. White, and Adeline continued: 'There is another +thing---I do not quite see how it can be managed about Kalliope +otherwise, poor girl!' + +It was quite true that the care of Kalliope would be greatly +facilitated by Mr. White's marriage; but what was absurd was to +suppose that Ada would have made any sacrifice for her sake, or any +one else's, and there was something comical as well as provoking in +this pose of devotion to the public good. + +'You are decided, then?' + +'Oh no! I am only showing you what inducements there are to give up +so much as I should do here---if I make up my mind to it.' + +'There's only one inducement, I should think, valid for a moment.' + +'Yes'---bridling a little. 'But, Lily, you always had your romance. +We don't all meet with a Jasper at the right moment, and---and'---the +Maid of Athens drooped her eyelids, and ingenuously curved her lips. +'I do think the poor man has it very much at heart.' + +'Then you ought not to keep him in suspense.' + +'And you---you really are not against it, Lily?' (rather in a +disappointed tone), as if she expected to have her own value +enhanced. + +'I think you ought to do whatever is most right and just by him, and +everybody else. If you really care for the man enough to overlook +his origin, and his occasional betrayals of it, and think he will +make you better and happier, take him at once; but don't pretend to +call it a sacrifice, or for anybody's sake but for your own; and, any +way, don't trifle with him and his suspense.' + +Lady Merrifield spoke with unwonted severity, for she was really +provoked. + +'But, Lily, I must see what the others say---William and Emily. I +told him that William was the head of our family.' + +'If you mean to be guided by them, well and good; if not, I see no +sense in asking them.' + +After all, the family commotion fell short of what was expected by +either of the sisters. The eldest brother, Mr. Mohun, of Beechcroft +Court, wrote to the lady herself that she was quite old enough to +know what was for her own happiness, and he had no desire to +interfere with her choice if she preferred wealth to station. To +Lady Merrifield his letter began: 'It is very well it is no worse, +and as Jasper vouches for this being a worthy man, and of substantial +means, there is no valid objection. I shall take care to overhaul +the settlements, and, if possible, I must make up poor Jane's +income.' + +The sister, Lady Henry Grey, in her dowager seclusion at Brighton, +contented herself with a general moan on the decadence of society, +and the levelling up that made such an affair possible. She had been +meditating a visit to Rockquay, to see her dear Lilias (who, by the +bye, had run down to her at Brighton for a day out of the stay in +London), but now she would defer it till this matter was over. It +would be too trying to have to accept this stonemason as one of the +family. + +As to Colonel Mohun, being one of the younger division of the family, +there was no idea of consulting him, and he wrote a fairly civil +little note to Adeline, hoping that she had decided for the best, and +would be happy; while to the elder of the pair of sisters he said: +'So Ada has found her crooked stick at last. I always thought it +inevitable. Keep up heart, old Jenny, and hold on till Her Majesty +turns me off, and then we will see what is to be done.' + +Perhaps this cool acquiescence was less pleasing to Adeline Mohun +than a contest that would have proved her value and importance, and +her brother William's observation that she was old enough to know her +own mind was the cruellest cut of all. On the other hand, there was +no doubt of her swain's devotion. If he had been influenced in his +decision by convenience or calculation, he was certainly by this time +heartily in love. Not only was Adeline a handsome, graceful woman, +whose airs and affectations seemed far more absurd to those who had +made merry over them from childhood than to a stranger of an inferior +grade; but there was a great charm to a man, able to appreciate +refinement, in his first familiar intercourse with thorough ladies. +Jane began to be touched by the sight of his devotion, and convinced +of his attachment, and sometimes wondered with Lady Merrifield +whether Adeline would rise to her opportunities and responsibilities, +or be satisfied to be a petted idol. + +One difficulty in this time of suspense was, that the sisters had no +right to take into their confidence the young folks, who were quite +sharp-eyed enough to know that something was going on, and, not being +put on honour, were not withheld from communicating their discoveries +to one another in no measured words, though fortunately they had +sense enough, especially under the awe of their father, not to let +them go any further than Mysie, who was entertaining because she was +shocked at their audacious jokes and speculations, all at first on +the false scent of their elder aunt, who certainly was in a state of +excitement and uncertainty enough to throw her off the even tenor of +her way and excite some suspicion. When she actually brought down a +number of the Contemporary Review instead of Friendly Work for the +edification of her G.F.S., Gillian tried not to look too conscious +when some of the girls actually tittered in the rear; and she +absolutely blushed when Aunt Jane deliberately stated that Ascension +Day would fall on a Tuesday. So Gillian averred as she walked up the +hill with Jasper and Mysie. It seemed a climax to the diversion she +and Jasper had extracted from it in private, both wearing Punch's +spectacles for the nonce, and holding such aberrations as proof +positive. Mysie, on the other hand, was much exercised. + +'Do you think she is in love, then?' + +'Oh yes! People always do those things in love. Besides, the Sofi +hasn't got a single white hair in her, and you know what that always +means!' + +'I can't make it out! I can't think how Aunt Jane can be in love +with a great man like that. His voice isn't nice, you know---' + +'Not even as sweet as Bully Bottom's,' suggested Gillian. + +'You're a chit,' said Jasper, 'or you'd be superior to the notion of +love being indispensable.' + +'When people are so _very_ old,' said Mysie in a meditative voice, +'perhaps they can't; but Aunt Jane is very good---and I thought it was +only horrid worldly people that married without love.' + +'Trust your good woman for looking to the main chance,' said Jasper, +who was better read in Trollope and Mrs. Oliphant than his sisters. + +''Tis not main chance,' said Gillian. 'Think of the lots of good she +would do! What a recreation room for the girls, and what schools she +would set up at Rocca Marina! Depend upon it, it's for that!' + +'I suppose it is right if Aunt Jane does it,' said Mysie. + +'Well done, Mysie! So, Aunt Jane is your Pope!' + +'No; she's the King that can do no wrong,' said Gillian, laughing. + +'Wrong---I didn't say wrong---but things aren't always real wrong that +aren't somehow quite right, said Mysie, with the bewildered reasoning +of perceptions that outran her powers of expression. + +'Mysie's speeches, for instance,' said Jasper. + +'Oh, Japs, what did I say wrong?' + +'Don't tease her, Japs. He didn't mean morally, but correctly.' + +The three were on their way up the hill when they met Primrose, who +had accompanied Mrs. Halfpenny to see Kalliope, and who was evidently +in a state of such great discomposure that they all stood round to +ask what was the matter; but she hung down her head and would not +say. + +'Hoots! toots! I tell her she need not make such a work about it,' +said Mrs. Halfpenny. 'The honest man did but kiss her, and no harm +for her uncle that is to be.' + +'He's a nasty man! And he snatched me up! And he is all scrubby and +tobacco-ey, and I won't have him for an uncle,' cried Primrose. + +'I hope he is not going to proceed in that way,' said Gillian sotto +voce to Mysie. + +'People always do snatch up primroses,' said Jasper. + +'Don't, Japs! I don't like marble men. I wish they would stay +marble.' + +'You don't approve of the transformation?' + +'Oh, Japs, is it true? Mysie, you know the statue at Rotherwood, +where Pig-my-lion made a stone figure and it turned into a woman.' + +'Yes; but it was a woman and this is a man.' + +Mysie began an exposition of classic fable to her little sister, +while Mrs. Halfpenny explained that this came of Christian folk +setting up heathen idols in their houses as 'twas a shame for decent +folk to look at, let alone puir bairnies; while Jasper and Gillian +gasped in convulsions of laughter, and bandied queries whether their +aunt were the statue 'Pig-my-lion' had animated, as nothing could be +less statuesque than she, whether the reverse had taken place, as +Primrose observed, and she had been the Pygmalion to awaken the soul +in the man of marble. Here, however, Mrs. Halfpenny became +scandalised at such laughter in the open street; and, perceiving some +one in the distance, she carried off Primrose, and enjoined the +others to walk on doucely and wiselike. + +Gillian was on her way to visit Kalliope and make an appointment for +her mother to take her out for a drive; but as they passed the gate +at Beechcroft out burst Valetta and Fergus, quite breathless. + +'Oh, Gill, Gill! Mr. White is in the drawing-room, and he has +brought Aunt Ada the most beautiful box you ever saw, with all the +stoppers made of gold !' + +'And he says I may get all the specimens I like at Rocca Marina,' +shouted Fergus. + +'Ivory brushes, and such a ring---sparkling up to the ceiling!' added +Valetta. + +'But, Val, Ferg, whom did you say?' demanded the elders, coming +within the shadow of the copper beeches. + +'Aunt Ada,' said Valetta; 'there's a great A engraved on all those +dear, lovely bottles, and---oh, they smell!' + +'Aunt Ada! Oh, I thought----' + +'What did you think, Gill?' said Aunt Jane, coming from the grass- +plat suddenly on them. + +'Oh, Aunt Jane, I am so glad!' cried Gillian. 'I thought'---and she +blushed furiously. + +'They made asses of themselves,' said Jasper. + +'They said it was you,' added Mysie. 'Miss Mellon told Miss Elbury,' +she added in excuse. + +'Me? No, I thank you! So you are glad, Gillian?' + +'Oh yes, aunt! I couldn't have borne for you to do anything---queer'- +--and there was a look in Gillian's face that went to Jane's heart, +and under other circumstances would have produced a kiss, but she +rallied to her line of defence. + +'My dear, you must not call this queer. Mr. White is very much +attached to your aunt Ada, and I think he will make her very happy, +and give her great opportunities of doing good.' + +'That's just what Gillian said when she was afraid it was you,' said +Mysie. 'I suppose that's it? And that makes it real right.' + +'And the golden stoppers!' said Valetta innocently, but almost +choking Jasper with laughter, which must be suppressed before his +aunt. + +'May one know it now?' asked Gillian, sensible of the perilous +ground. + +'Yes, my dears; you must have been on tenter-hooks all this time, +for, of course, you saw there was a crisis, and you behaved much +better than I should have done at your age; but it was only a fait +accompli this very day, and we couldn't tell you before.' + +'When he brought down the golden stoppers,' Jasper could not help +saying. + +'No, no, you naughty boy! He would not have dared to bring it in +before; he came before luncheon---all that came after. Oh, my dear, +that dressing-case is perfectly awful! I wouldn't have such a +burthen on my mind---for---for all the orphans in London! I hope there +are no banditti at Rocca Marina.' + +'Only accepted to-day! How did he get all his great A's engraved?' +said Jasper practically. + +'He could not have had many doubts,' said Gillian. 'Does Kalliope +know?' + +'I cannot tell; I think he has probably told her.' + +'He must have met Primrose there,' said Jasper. 'Poor Prim!' And +the offence and the Pig-my-lion story were duly related, much to Aunt +Jane's amusement. + +'But,' she said, 'I think that the soul in the marble man is very +real, and very warm; and, dear children, don't get into the habit of +contemning him. Laugh, I suppose you must; I am afraid it must look +ridiculous at our age; but please don't despise. I am going down to +your mother. + +'May I come with you! said Gillian. 'I don't think I can go to Kally +till I have digested this a little; and, if you are going to mamma, +she won't drive her out.' + +Jane was much gratified by this volunteer, though Jasper did suggest +that Gill was afraid of Primrose's treatment. He went on with the +other three to Clipston, while Gillian exclaimed--- + +'Oh, Aunt Jane, shall not you be very lonely?' + +'Not nearly so much so as if you were not all here,' said her aunt +cheerfully. 'When you bemoaned your sisters last year we did not +think the same thing was coming on me.' + +'Phyllis and Alethea! It was a very different thing,' said Gillian. +'Besides, though I hated it so much, I had got used to being without +them.' + +'And to tell you the truth, Gill, nothing in that way ever was so bad +to me as your own mother going and marrying; and now, you see, I have +got her back again---and more too.' + +Aunt Jane's smile and softened eyes told that the young niece was +included in the 'more too'; and Gillian felt a thrill of pleasure and +affection in this proof that after all she was something to the aunt, +towards whom her feelings had so entirely changed. She proceeded, +however, to ask with considerable anxiety what would be done about +the Whites, Kalliope especially; and in return she was told about the +present plan of Kalliope's being taken to Italy to recover first, and +then to pursue her studies at Florence, so as to return to her work +more capable, and in a higher position. + +'Oh, how exquisite!' cried Gillian. 'But how about all the others?' + +'The very thing I want to see about, and talk over with your mother. +I am sure she ought to go; and it will not even be wasting time, for +she cannot earn anything.' + +Talking over things with Lady Merrifield was, however, impeded, for, +behold, there was a visitor in the drawing-room. Aunt and niece +exchanged glances of consternation as they detected a stranger's +voice through the open window, and Gillian uttered a vituperative +whisper. + +'I do believe it is that dreadful Fangs;' then, hoping her aunt had +not heard---'Captain Henderson, I mean. He threatened to come down +after us, and now he will always be in and out; and we shall have no +peace. He has got nothing on earth to do ' + +Gillian's guess was right. The neat, trim, soldierly figure, with a +long fair moustache and pleasant gray eyes, was introduced to Miss +Mohun as 'Captain Henderson, one of my brother officers,' by Sir +Jasper, who stood on the rug talking to him. Looks and signs among +the ladies were token enough that the crisis had come; and Lady +Merrifield soon secured freedom of speech by proposing to drive her +sister to Clipston, while Sir Jasper asked his visitor to walk with +him. + +'You will be in haste to sketch the place,' he said, 'before the +workmen have done their best to demolish its beauty.' + +As for Gillian, she saw her aunt hesitating on account of a parochial +engagement for that afternoon; and, as it was happily not beyond her +powers, she offered herself as a substitute, and was thankfully +accepted. She felt quite glad to do anything obliging towards her +aunt Jane, and in a mood very unlike last year's grudging service; it +was only reading to the 'mothers' meeting,' since among the good +ladies there prevailed such a strange incapacity of reading aloud, +that this part of the business was left to so few that for one to +fail, either in presence or in voice, was very inconvenient. All +were settled down to their needlework, with their babies disposed of +as best they might be. Mr. Hablot had finished his little lecture, +and the one lady with a voice had nearly exhausted it, and there was +a slight sensation at the absence of the unfailing Miss Mohun, when +Gillian came in with the apologies about going to drive with her +mother. + +'And,' as she described it afterwards 'didn't those wretched beings +all grin and titter, even the ladies, who ought to have had more +manners, and that old Miss Mellon, who is a real growth of the hotbed +of gossip, simpered and supposed we must look for such things now; +and, though I pretended not to hear, my cheeks would go and flame up +as red as---that tasconia, just with longing to tell them Aunt Jane +was not so ridiculous; and so I took hold of For Half a Crown, and +began to read it as if I could bite them all!' + +She read herself into a state of pacification, but did not attempt to +see Kalliope that day, being rather shy of all that might be +encountered in that house, especially after working hours. The next +day, however, Lady Merrifield's services were required to chaperon +the coy betrothed in an inspection of Cliff House and furniture, +which was to be renovated according to her taste, and Gillian was to +take that time for a visit to Kalliope, whom she expected to find in +the garden. The usual corner was, however, vacant; and Mr. White was +heard making a growl of 'Foolish girl! Doesn't know which way her +bread is buttered.' + +Maura, however, came running up, and said to Gillian, 'Please come +this way. She is here.' + +'What has she hidden herself for?' demanded Mr. White. 'I thought +she might have been here to welcome this---Miss Adeline.' + +'She is not very well to-day,' faltered Maura. + +'Oh! ay, fretting. Well, I thought she had more sense.' + +Gillian followed Maura, who was no sooner out of hearing than she +began: 'It is too bad of him to be so cross. Kally really is so +upset! She did not sleep all night, and I thought she would have +fainted quite away this morning!' + +'Oh dear! has he been worrying her?' + +'She is very glad and happy, of course, about Miss Ada! and he won't +believe it, because he wants her to go out to Italy with them for all +next winter.' + +'And won't she? Oh, what a pity!' + +'She said she really could not because of us; she could not leave us, +Petros and all, without a home. She thought it her duty to stay and +look after us. And then he got cross, and said that she was +presuming on the hope of living in idleness here, and making him keep +us all, but she would find herself mistaken, and went off very +angry.' + +'Oh, horrid! how could he?' + +'I believe, if Kally could have walked so far, she would have gone +down straight to Mr. Lee's. She wanted to, but she was all in a +tremble, and I persuaded her not, though she did send me down to ask +Mrs. Lee when she can be ready. Then when Alexis came home, Mr. +White told him that he didn't in the least mean all that, and would +not hear of her going away, though he was angry at her being so +foolish, but he would give her another chance of not throwing away +such advantages. And Alexis says she ought not. He wants her to go, +and declares that he and I can very well manage with Mrs. Lee, and +look after Petros, and that she must not think of rushing off in a +huff for a few words said in a passion. So, between the two, she was +quite upset and couldn't sleep, and, oh, if she were to be ill +again!' + +By this time they were in sight of Kalliope lying back in a basket- +chair, shaded by the fence of the kitchen-garden, and her weary face +and trembling hand showed how much this had shaken her in her +weakness. She sent Maura away, and spoke out her troubles freely to +Gillian. 'I thought at first my duty was quite clear, and that I +ought not to go away and enjoy myself and leave the others to get on +without me. Alec would find it so dreary; and though Mr. and Mrs. +Lee are very good and kind, they are not quite companions to him. +Then Maura has come to think so much about people being ladies that I +don't feel sure that she would attend to Mrs. Lee; and the same with +Petros in the holidays. If I can't work at first, still I can make a +home and look after them.' + +'But it is only one winter, and Alexis thinks you ought; and, oh, +what it would be, and how you would get on!' + +'That is what puzzles me. Alexis thinks Mr. White has a right to +expect me to improve myself, and not go on for ever making white +jessamines with malachite leaves, and that he can look after Maura +and Petros. I see, too, that I ought to try to recover, or I might +be a burthen on Alexis for ever, and hinder all his better hopes. +Then, there's the not liking to accept a favour after Mr. White said +such things, though I ought not to think about it since he made that +apology; but it is a horrid feeling that I ought not to affront him +for the sake of the others. Altogether I do feel so tossed. I can't +get back the feeling I had when I was ill that I need not worry, for +that God will decide.' + +And there were tears in her eyes. + +'Can't you ask some one's advice?' said Gillian. + +'If I were sure they quite understood! My head is quite tired with +thinking about it.' + +Not many moments had passed before there were steps that made +Kalliope start painfully, and Maura appeared, piloting another +visitor. It was Miss Mohun, who had escaped from the survey of the +rooms,---so far uneasy at what she had gathered from Mr. White, that +she was the more anxious to make the offer previously agreed to. + +'My dear,' she said, 'I am afraid you look tired.' + +'They have worried her and knocked her up,' said Gillian indignantly. + +'I see! Kally, my dear, we are connections now, you know, and I have +heard of Mr. White's plan. It made me think whether you would find +the matter easier if you let me have Maura while you are away to +cheer my solitude. Then I could see that she did her lessons, and, +between all Gillian's brothers, we could see that Petros was happy in +the holidays.' + +'Oh, Miss Mohun! how can I be grateful enough? There is an end of +all difficulties.' + +And when the inspecting party came round, and Adeline bent to kiss +the white, weary, but no longer distressed face, and kindly said, 'We +shall see a great deal of each other, I hope,' she replied, with an +earnest 'thank you,' and added to Mr. White, 'Miss Mohun has made it +all easy to me, sir, and I am very grateful!' + +'Ay, ay! You're a good girl at the bottom, and have some sense!' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. FANGS + + + +Events came on rapidly that spring. Mr. White was anxious that his +marriage should take place quickly---afraid, perhaps, that his prize +would escape him, and be daunted by the passive disapproval of her +family, though this was only manifested to him in a want of +cordiality. This, being sincere people, they could not help; and +that outbreak to Kalliope had made the sisters so uneasy, that they +would have willingly endured the ridicule of a broken engagement to +secure Adeline from the risks of a rough temper where gentlemanly +instincts were not inbred. + +Adeline, however, knew she had gone too far to recede, though she +would willingly have delayed, in enjoyment of the present homage and +shrinking from the future plunge away from all her protectors. +Though the strong, manly will overpowered hers, and made her submit +to the necessities of the case and fix a day early in July, she clung +the more closely to her sisters, and insisted on being accompanied by +Jane on going to London to purchase the outfit that she had often +seen in visions before. So Miss Mohun's affairs were put in +commission, Gillian taking care of them, and the two sisters were to +go to Mrs. Craydon, once, as Marianne Weston, their first friend out +of their own family, and now a widow with a house in London, well +pleased at any recall of old times, though inclined, like all the +rest, to speak of 'poor Ada.' + +Lord Rotherwood was, as his cousins had predicted, less disgusted +than the rest, as in matters of business he had been able to test the +true worth that lay beneath the blemishes of tone and of temper; and +his wife thought the Italian residence and foreign tincture made the +affair much more endurable than could have been expected. She chose +an exquisite tea-service for their joint wedding present; but she +would not consent to let Lady Phyllis be a bridesmaid; though the +Marquis, discovering that her eldest brother hated the idea of giving +her away to the stonemason, offered 'not to put too fine a point on +it, but to act the part of Cousin Phoenix.' + +Bridesmaids would have been rather a difficulty; but then the deep +mourning of Kalliope and Maura made a decided reason for excluding +them; and Miss Adeline, who knew that a quiet wedding would be in +much the best taste, resolved to content herself with two tiny +maidens, Primrose and the contemporary Hablot, her own goddaughter, +who, being commonly known as Belle, made a reason for equipping each +in the colour and with the flowers of her name, and the idea was +carried out with great taste. + +Valetta thought it hard that an outsider should be chosen. The young +Merrifields had the failing of large families in clannish +exclusiveness up to the point of hating and despising more or less +all who interfered with their enjoyment of one another, and of their +own ways. The absence of society at Silverfold had intensified this +farouche tone, and the dispersion, instead of curing it, had rendered +them more bent on being alone together. Worst of all was Wilfred, +who had been kept at home very inconveniently by some recurring +delicacy of brain and eyes, and who, at twelve years old, was enough +of an imp to be no small torment to his sisters. Valetta was +unmercifully teased about her affection for Kitty Varley and Maura +White, and, whenever he durst, there were attempts at stings about +Alexis, until new game offered itself on whom no one had any mercy. + +Captain Henderson was as much in the way as a man could be who knew +but one family in the place, and had no resource but sketching. His +yellow moustache was to be seen at all manner of unexpected and +unwelcome times. If that great honour, a walk with papa, was +granted, out he popped from Marine Hotel, or a seat in the public +gardens, evidently lying in ambush to spoil their walk. Or he was +found tete-a-tete with mamma before the five-o'clock tea, talking, no +doubt, 'Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff,' as in the Royal Wardour +days. Even at Clipston, or in the coves on the beach, he was only +too apt to start up from some convenient post for sketching. He +really did draw beautifully, and Mysie would have been thankful for +his counsels if public opinion had not been so strong. + +Moreover, Kitty Varley conveyed to Valetta the speculations of +Rockstone whether Gillian was the attraction. + +'Now, Val,' said Mysie, 'how can you listen to such nonsense!' + +'You said so before, and it wasn't nonsense.' + +'It wasn't Aunt Jane.' + +'No, but it was somebody.' + +'Everybody does marry somebody; but it is no use for us to think +about it, for it always turns out just the contrary to all the books +one ever read; so there's no going by anything, and I don't believe +it right to talk about it.' + +'Why not? Every one does.' + +'All the good teachings say one should not talk of what one does not +want one's grown-ups to hear.' + +'Oh, but then one would never talk of anything!' + +'Oh, Val! I won't be sure, but I don't believe I should mind mamma's +hearing all I say.' + +'Yes; but you've never been to school, and I heard Bee Varley say she +never saw anybody so childishly simple for her age.' + +This brought the colour into Mysie's face, but she said--- + +'I'd rather be simple than talk as mamma does not like; and, Val, do +on no account tell Gillian.' + +'I haven't.' + +'And don't; don't tell Wilfred, or you know how horrid he would be.' + +There was a tell-tale colour in Valetta's cheeks, by which Mysie +might have discerned that Valetta had not resisted the charm of +declaring 'that she knew something,' even though this was sure to +lead to tortures of various kinds from Wilfred until it was +extracted. Still the youth as yet was afraid to do much worse than +look preternaturally knowing at his sister and give hints about +Fangs' holding fast and the like, but quite enough to startle her +into something between being flattered and indignant. She was +scarcely civil to the Captain, and felt bound to express her dislike +on every possible occasion, though only to provoke a grin from +Wilfred and a giggle from Valetta. + +Lady Merrifield's basket-carriage and little rough pony had been +brought from Silverfold, and she took Kalliope out for quiet drives +whenever it was possible; but a day of showers having prevented this, +she was concerned to find herself hindered on a second afternoon. +Gillian offered to be her substitute. + +'You know I always drive you, mamma.' + +'These are worse hills than at Silverfold, and I don't want you to +come down by the sea-wall.' + +'I am sure I would not go there for something, among all the stupid +people.' + +'If you keep to the turnpike you can't come to much harm with Bruno.' + +'That is awfully---I mean horribly dusty! There's the cliff road +towards Arnscombe.' + +'That is safe enough. I don't think you could come to much real +damage; but remember that for Kally a start or an alarm would be +really as hurtful as an accident to a person in health.' + +'Poor old Bruno could hardly frighten a mouse,' said Gillian. + +'Only take care, and don't be enterprising.' + +Gillian drove up to the door of Cliff House, and Kalliope took her +seat. It was an enjoyable afternoon, with the fresh clearness of +June sunshine after showers, great purple shadows of clouds flitting +over the sea, dimpled by white crests of wave that broke the golden +path of sunshine into sparkling ripples, while on the other side of +the cliff road lay the open moorland, full of furze, stunted in +growth, but brilliant in colour, and relieved by the purple browns of +blossoming grasses and the white stars of stitchwort. + +'This is delicious!' murmured Kalliope, with a gesture of enjoyment. + +'Much nicer than down below!' + +'Oh yes; it seems to stretch one's very soul!' + +'And the place is so big and wide that no one can worry with +sketching.' + +'Yes, it defies that!' said Kalliope, laughing. + +'So, Fa---Captain Henderson won't crop up as he does at every +sketchable place. Didn't you know he was here?' + +'Yes, Alexis told me he had seen him.' + +'Everybody has seen him, I should think; he is always about with +nothing to do but that everlasting sketching.' + +'He must have been very sorry to be obliged to retire.' + +'Horrid! It was weak, and he might have been in Egypt, well out of +the way. No, I didn't mean that'---as Kalliope looked shocked---'but +he might have been getting distinction and promotion.' + +'He used to be very kind,' said Kalliope, in a tone of regretful +remonstrance. 'It was he who taught me first to draw.' + +'He! What, Fa---Captain Henderson?' + +'Yes; when I was quite a little girl, and he had only just joined. +He found me out before our quarters at Gibraltar trying to draw an +old Spaniard selling oranges, and he helped me, and showed me how to +hold my pencil. I have got it still---the sketch. Then he used to +lend me things to copy, and give me hints till---oh, till my father +said I was too old for that sort of thing! Then, you know, my father +got his commission, and I went to school at Belfast.' + +'And you have never seen him since?' + +'Scarcely. Sometimes he was on leave in my holidays, and you know we +were at the depot afterwards, but I shall always feel that all that I +have been able to do since has been owing to him.' + +'And how you will enjoy studying at Florence!' + +'Oh, think what it would be if I could ever do a reredos for a +church! I keep on dreaming and fancying them, and now there really +seems a hope. Is that Arnscombe Church?' + +'Yes, you know it has been nicely restored.' + +'We had the columns to do. The reredos is alabaster, I believe, and +we had nobody fit to undertake that. I so longed for the power! I +almost saw it.' + +'Have you seen what it is?' + +'No; I never had time.' + +'I suppose it would be too tiring for you now; but we could see the +outside.' + +Gillian forgot that Arnscombe, whose blunt gray spire protruded +through the young green elms, lay in a little valley through which a +stream rushed to the sea. The lane was not very steep, but there +were loose stones. Bruno stumbled, he was down; the carriage stood +still, and the two girls were out on opposite sides in a moment, +Gillian crying out--- + +'Don't be frightened---no harm done!'---as she ran to the pony's head. +He lay quite still with heaving sides, and she felt utterly alone and +helpless in the solitary road with an invalid companion whom she did +not like to leave. + +'I am afraid I cannot run for help,' said Kalliope quietly, though +breathlessly; 'but I could sit by the horse and hold his head while +you go for help.' + +'I don't like. Oh, here's some one coming!' + +'Can I be of any use?' + +Most welcome sound!---though it was actually Captain Henderson the +ubiquitous wheeling his bicycle up the hill, knapsack of sketching +materials on his back. + +'Miss Merrifield! Miss White! I trust no one is hurt!' + +'Oh no, thank you, unless it is the poor pony! Kally, sit down on +the bank, I insist! Oh, I am so glad you are come!' + +'Can you sit on his head while I cut the traces?' + +Gillian did that comfortable thing till released, when the pony +scrambled up again, but with bleeding knees, hip, and side, though +the Captain did not think any serious harm was done; but it was even +more awkward at the moment that both the shafts were broken! + +'What is to be done?' sighed Gillian. 'Miss White can't walk. Can I +run down to the village to get something to take her home?' + +'The place did not look likely to supply any conveyance better than a +rough cart,' said their friend. + +'It is quite impossible to put the poor pony in anyhow! I don't mind +walking in the least; but you know how ill she has been.' + +'I see. Only one thing to be done,' said the Captain, who had +already turned the carriage round by the stumps of the shafts; 'you +must accept me in lieu of your pony.' + +'Oh yes, thank you!' cried Gillian eagerly. 'I can lead poor Bruno, +and take care of your bicycle. Jump in, Kally!' + +Kalliope, who had wisely abstained from adding a useless voice to the +discussion, here demurred. She could not think of such a thing; they +could very well wait in the carriage while Captain Henderson went on +to the town on his bicycle and sent out a midge. + +But there were showers about, and a damp feeling in the lane. Both +the others thought this perilous; besides that, there might be rude +passengers to laugh at their predicament; and Captain Henderson +protested that the weight was nothing. He prevailed at last; and she +allowed him to hand her into the basket, when she could hardly stand, +and wrap the dust-cloth about her. Thus the procession set forth, +Gillian with poor drooping Bruno's rein in one hand and the other on +the bicycle, and the Captain gallantly drawing the carriage with +Kalliope seated in the midst. He tramped on so vigorously as quite +to justify his declaration that it was no burthen to him. It was not +a frequented road, and they met no one in the least available to do +more than stare or ask a question or two, until, as they approached +the town and Rockstone Church was full in view, who should appear +before their eyes but Sir Jasper, Wilfred carrying on his back a huge +kite that had been for many evenings in course of construction, and +Fergus acting as trainbearer. + +Thus came on the first moment of Gillian's explanation, as Sir Jasper +took the poor pony from her and held counsel over the damage, with +many hearty thanks to Captain Henderson. + +'I am sure, sir, no one could have shown greater presence of mind +than the young ladies,' said that gentleman; and her father's 'I am +glad to hear it!' would have gratified Gillian the more, but for the +impish grimace with which Wilfred favoured her behind Kalliope's +impassive back. + +The kite-fliers turned, not without an entreaty from the boys that +they might go on alone and fly their kite. + +'No, no, boys,' said their father---'not here; we shall have the kite +pulling you into the sea over the cliffs. I must take the pony home; +but I will come if possible to-morrow.' + +Much disappointed, they went dolefully in the rear, grumbling sotto +voce their conviction that there would be no wind to-morrow, and that +it was all 'Fangs's' fault in some incomprehensible manner. + +At Cliff House Kalliope was carefully handed out by Sir Jasper, +trying, but with failing voice, to thank Captain Henderson, and +declaring herself not the worse, though her hand shook so much that +the General was not content without giving her his arm up the stairs, +and telling Maura that he should send Mrs. Halfpenny up to see after +her. The maimed carriage was left in the yard, and Captain Henderson +then took charge of his iron horse, and the whole male party +proceeded to the livery stables; so that Gillian was able to be +alone, when she humbly repeated to her mother the tale parents have +so often to hear of semi-disobedience leading to disaster, but with +the self-reproach and sorrow that drew the sting of displeasure. +Pity for Bruno, grief for her mother's deprivation, and anxiety for +Kalliope might be penance and rebuke sufficient for a bit of +thoughtlessness. Lady Merrifield made no remark; but there was an +odd expression in her face when she heard who had come so opportunely +to the rescue. + +Sir Jasper brought a reassuring account of the poor little steed, +which would be usable again after a short rest, and the blemish was +the less important as there was no intention of selling him. Mrs. +Halfpenny, too, reported that her patient was as quiet as a lamb. +'She wasn't one to fash herself for nothing and go into screaming +cries, but kenned better what was fitting for one born under Her +Majesty's colours.' + +So there was nothing to hinder amusement when at dinner Sir Jasper +comically described the procession as he met it. Kalliope White, +looking only too like Minerva, or some of those Greek goddess statues +they used to draw about, sitting straight and upright in her +triumphal car, drawn by her votary; while poor Gillian came behind +with the pony on one side and the bicycle on the other, very much as +if she were conducting the wheel on which she was to be broken, as an +offering to the idol. + +'I think,' said Mysie, 'Captain Henderson was like the two happy sons +in Solon's story, who dragged their mother to the temple.' + +'Only they died of it,' said Gillian. + +'And nobody asked how the poor mother felt afterwards,' added Lady +Merrifield. + +'I thought they all had an apotheosis together,' said Sir Jasper. +'Let us hope that devotion may have its reward.' + +There was a little lawn outside the drawing-room windows at Il Lido. +Lady Merrifield was sitting just within, and her husband had just +brought her a letter to read, when they heard Wilfred's impish voice. + +'Jack---no, not Jack---Fangs!' + +'But Fangs's name is Jack, so it will do as well,' said Valetta's +voice. + +'Hurrah---so it is! Jack---' + +'Hush, Wilfred---this is too foolish!' came Gillian's tones in +remonstrance. + + + 'Jack and Jill went up the hill + To draw---' + + +'To draw! Oh, that's lovely!' interrupted Valetta. + +'He is always drawing,' said Gillian, with an odd laugh. + +'He was brought up to it. First teeth, and then "picturs," and then-- +-oh, my---ladies home from the wash!' went on Wilfred. + +'But go on, Will!' entreated Valetta. + + + 'Jack and Jill went up the hill + To draw a piece of water---' + + +'No, no,' put in Wilfred---'that's wrong! + + + 'To draw the sergeant's daughter; + Fangs dragged down unto the town, + And Jill came moaning after!' + + +'I didn't moan---' + +'Oh, you don't know how disconsolate you looked! Moaning, you know, +because her Fangs had to draw the other young woman---eh, Gill? Fangs +always leave an aching void, you know.' + +'You ridiculous boy! I'm sure I wish Fangs would leave a void. It +wouldn't ache!' + +The two parents had been exchanging glances of something very like +consternation, and of the mute inquiry on one side, 'Were you aware +of this sort of thing? and an emphatic shake of the head on the +other. Then Sir Jasper's voice exclaimed aloud--- + +'Children, we hear every word you say, and are shocked at your +impertinence and bad taste!' + +There was a scatter. Wilfred and Valetta, who had been pinioning +Gillian on either side by her dress, released her, and fled into the +laurels that veiled the guinea-pigs; but their father's long strides +pursued them, and he gravely said--- + +'I am very sorry to find this is your style of so-called wit!' + +'It was only chaff,' said Valetta, the boldest in right of her +girlhood. + +'Very improper chaff! I am the last person to object to harmless +merriment; but you are both old enough to know that on these subjects +such merriment is not harmless.' + +'Everybody does it,' whined Valetta, beginning one of her crying +fits. + +'I am sorry you have been among people who have led you to think so. +No nicely-minded girl will do so, nor any brother who wishes to see +his sisters refined, right-feeling women. Go in, Valetta---I can't +suffer this howling! Go, I say! Your mother will talk to you. Now, +Wilfred, do you wish to see your sisters like your mother?' + +'They'll never be that, if they live to a hundred!' + +'Do not you hinder it, then; and never let that insulting nickname +pass your lips again.' + +Wilfred's defence as to universal use in the family was inaudible, +and he was allowed to slouch away. + +Gillian had fled to her mother, entreating her to explain to her +father that such jests were abhorrent to her. + +'But you know, mamma, if I was cross and dignified, Wilfred would +enjoy it all the more, and be ten times worse.' + +'Quite true, my dear. Papa will understand; but we are sorry to hear +that nickname. + +'It was an old Royal Wardour name, mamma. Harry and Claude both used +it, and---oh, lots of the young officers!' + +'That does not make it more becoming in you.' + +'N---no. But oh, mamma, he was very kind to-day! But I do wish it +had been anybody else!' + +And her colour rose so as to startle her mother. + +'Why, my dear, I thought you would have been glad that a stranger did +not find you in that plight!' + +'But it makes it all the worse. He does beset us, mamma; and it is +hard on me, after all the other nonsense!' + +Lady Merrifield burst out laughing. + +'My dear child, he thinks as much of you as of old Halfpenny!' + +'Oh, mamma, are you sure?' said Gillian, still hiding her face. 'It +was not silliness of my own; but Kitty Varley told Val that everybody +said it---her sister, and Miss Mohun, and all. Why can't he go away, +and not be always bothering about this horrid place with nothing to +do?' + +'How thankful I shall be to have you all safe at Clipston!' + +'But, mamma, can't you keep him off us?' + +Valetta's sobbing entrance here prevented more; but while explaining +to her the causes of her father's displeasure, her mother extracted a +good deal more of the gossip, to which she finally returned answer--- + +'There is no telling the harm that is done by chattering gossip in +this way. You might have learnt by what happened before what +mistakes are made. What am I to do, Valetta? I don't want to hinder +you from having friends and companions; but if you bring home such +mischievous stories, I shall have to keep you entirely among +ourselves till you are older and wiser.' + +'I never---never will believe---anybody who says anybody is going to +marry anybody!' sobbed Valetta desperately and incoherently. + +'Certainly no one who knows nothing about the matter. There is +nothing papa and I dislike much more than such foolish talk; and to +tease your sister about it is even worse; but I will say no more +about that, as I believe it was chiefly Wilfred's doing.' + +'I---told---Will,' murmured Valetta. 'Mysie begged me not, but I had +done it.' + +'How much you would have saved yourself and everybody else if you had +let the foolish word die with you! Now, good-night, my dear. Bathe +your eyes well, or they will be very uncomfortable to-morrow; and do +try to cure yourself of roaring when you cry. It vexes papa so much +more.' + +Another small scene had to follow with the boy, who was quite willing +to go off to bed, having no desire to face his father again, though +his mother had her fears that he was not particularly penitent for +'what fellows always did when people were spooning.' He could only +be assured that he would experience unpleasant consequences if he +recurred to the practice; but Wilfred had always been the problem in +the family. + +The summer twilight was just darkening completely, and Lady +Merrifield had returned to the drawing-room, and was about to ring +for lights, when Sir Jasper came in through the window, saying--- + +'No question now about renewal. Angelic features, more than angelic +calmness and dignity. Ha! you there, young ladies!' he added in some +dismay as two white dresses struck his eye. + +'There's no harm done,' said Lady Merrifield, laughing. 'I was +thinking whether to relieve Gillian's mind by telling her the state +of the case, and Mysie is to be trusted.' + +'Oh, mamma, then it is Kalliope!' exclaimed Gillian, already +relieved, for even love could not have perceived calmness and dignity +in her sitting upon Bruno's head. + +'Has she ever talked about him?' asked Lady Merrifield. + +'No; except to-day, when I said I hoped she was safe from him on that +road. She said he had always been very kind to her, and taught her +to draw when she was quite a little girl.' + +'Just so,' said Lady Merrifield. 'Well, when she was a little older, +poor Mr. White, who was one of the most honourable and scrupulous of +men, took alarm, and saw that it would never do to have the young +officers running after her.' + +'It was an uncommonly awkward position,' added Sir Jasper, 'with such +a remarkable-looking girl, and a foolish unmanageable mother. It +made poor White's retirement the more reasonable when the girl was +growing too old to be kept at school any longer.' + +'And has he been constant to her all these years? How nice!' cried +Mysie. + +'After a fashion,' said Lady Merrifield. 'He made me the receptacle +of a good deal of youthful despair.' + +'All the lads did,' said her husband. + +'But he got over it, and it seemed to have passed out of his life. +However, he asked after the Whites as soon as we met him in London; +and now he tells me that he never forgot Kalliope---her face always +came between him and any one whom his mother threw in his way; and he +came down here, knowing her history, and with the object of seeing +her again.' + +'And he has not, till now?' + +'No. Besides the absolute need of keeping her quiet, it would not +exactly do for him to visit her while she is alone with Maura at +Cliff House, and I wished him first to see her casually amongst us, +for I dreaded her not fulfilling his ideal.' + +'Oh!' + +'When I think of her at fourteen or fifteen, with that exquisite +bloom and the floating wavy hair, I see a very different creature +from what she is now.' + +'Peach or ivory carving,' said Sir Jasper. + +'Yes; she is nobler, finer altogether, and has gained in countenance +greatly; but he may not think so, and I should like her to be looking +a little less ill.' + +'Well, I can't help hoping he will be disappointed, and be too stupid +to care for her!' exclaimed Gillian. + +'Indeed?' said her father in a tone of displeased surprise. + +'He is so insignificant; he does not seem to suit with her,' said +Gillian in a tone of defence;' and there does not seem to be anything +in him.' + +'That only shows the effect of nursing prejudice by using foolish +opprobrious nicknames. Henderson was a good officer, he has shown +himself an excellent son, always sacrificing his own predilections +for the sake of duty. He is a right-minded, religious, sensible man, +his own master, and with no connections to take umbrage at Miss +White's position. It is no commonplace man who knows how to honour +her for it. Nothing could be a happier fate for her; and you will be +no friend to her if you use any foolish terms of disparagement of him +because he does not happen to please your fancy.' + +'I am sure Gillian will do no such thing, now that she understands +the case' said her mother. + +'Oh no, indeed! said Gillian. 'It was only a first feeling.' + +'And you will allow for a little annoyance, papa,' added Lady +Merrifield. 'We really have had a great deal of him, and he does +spoil the children's walks with you.' + +Sir Jasper laughed. + +'I agree that the sooner this is over the better. You need have no +doubts as to the first view, now that Gillian has effected the +introduction. No words can do justice to her beauty, though, by the +bye, he must have contemplated her through the back of his head!' + +'Well, won't that do! Can't he be sent off for the present, for as +to love-making now, with all the doubts and scruples in the way, it +would be the way to kill her outright.' + +'You must take that in hand, my lady---it is past me! Come, girls, +give us some music!' + +The two girls went up at bed-time to their room, Mysie capering and +declaring that here was real, true, nice love, like people in +stories, and Gillian still bemoaning a little that, whatever papa +might say, Fa---Captain Henderson would always be too poor a creature +for Kalliope. + +'If I was quite sure it was not only her beauty,' added Gillian +philosophically. + +Lady Merrifield went up to Cliff House as early as she could the next +day. She found her patient there very white and shaken, but not so +much by the adventure of yesterday as by a beautiful bouquet of the +choicest roses which lay on the table before her sofa, left by +Captain Henderson when he had called to inquire after her. + +'What ought I to do, dear Lady Merrifield?' she asked. 'They came +while I was dressing, and I did not know.' + +'You mean about a message of thanks?' + +'Yes; my dear father was so terribly displeased when I wore a rose +that he gave me before the great review at Belfast that I feel as if +I ought not to touch these; and yet it is so kind, and after all his +wonderful kindness yesterday.' + +The hand on the side and the trembling lip showed the painful +fluttering of heart, and the voice died away. + +'My dear, things are very different now. Take my word for it, your +father could not be displeased for a moment at any kindness between +you and Captain Henderson. Ten years ago he was a very young man, +and his parents were living, and your father was bound in honour, and +for your sake too, to prevent attentions from the young officers.' + +'Oh yes, I know it would have been shocking to have got into that +sort of thing!' + +'But now he is entirely at his own disposal, and a man of four or +five-and-thirty, who has gone through a great deal, and I do not +think that to send him a friendly message of thanks for a bunch of +flowers to his old fellow-soldier's daughter would be anything but +what Captain White would think his due.' + +'Oh,'---a sigh of relief,---'please tell him, dear Lady Merrifield!' +And she stretched out her hand for the flowers, and lovingly cooled +her cheek with their petals, and tenderly admired them singly, +venturing now to enjoy them and even caress them. + +Lady Merrifield ventured on no more; but she carried off ultimately +hopeful auguries for the gentleman who had been watching for her, +very anxious to hear her report. She was, however, determined on +persuading him to patience, reinforcing her assurances with Dr. +Dagger's opinion, that though Kalliope's constitution needed only +quiet and rest entirely to shake off the effects of the overstrain of +that terrible half-year, yet that renewed agitation would probably +entail chronic heart-complaint; and she insisted that without making +any sign the lover should go out of reach for several months, making, +for instance, the expedition to Norway of which he had been talking. +He could not understand at first that what he meant to propose would +not be the best means of setting that anxious heart at rest; and Lady +Merrifield had to dwell on the swarm of conscientious scruples and +questions that would arise about saddling him with such a family, and +should not be put to rest as easily as he imagined. At last, by the +further representation that she would regard her mother's death as +far too recent for such matters to occupy her, and by the assertion +of the now fixed conviction that attentions from him at present could +only agitate and distress her harmfully, and bring on her malicious +remarks, the Captain was induced to believe that Rocca Marina or +Florence would be a far better scene for his courtship, and to defer +it till he could find her there in better health. + +He was brought at last to promise to leave Rockquay at once, and +dispose of himself in Norway, if only Lady Merrifield would procure +him one meeting with Kalliope, in which he solemnly promised to do +nothing that could startle her or betray his intentions. + +Lady Merrifield managed it cunningly. It had been already fixed that +Kalliope should come down to a brief twelve-o'clock service held at +St. Kenelm's for invalids, there to return thanks for her recovery, +in what she felt as her own church; and she was to come to Il Lido +and rest there afterwards. Resolving to have no spectators, Lady +Merrifield sent off the entire family for a picnic at Clipston, +promising them with some confidence that they would not be haunted by +Captain Henderson, and that she would come in the waggonette, +bringing Fergus as soon as he was out of school, drink tea, and fetch +home the tired. + +Sir Jasper went too, telling her, with a smile, that he was far too +shy to assist her in acting chaperon. + +'Dragon, you had better say---I mean to put on all my teeth and +claws.' + +These were not, however, very visible at the church door when she met +Kalliope, who had come down in a bath-chair, but was able afterwards +to walk slowly to Il Lido. Perhaps Captain Henderson was, however, +aware of them; for Kalliope had no knowledge of his presence in the +church or in the street, somewhat in the rear, nor did he venture to +present himself till there had been time for luncheon and for rest, +and till Kalliope had been settled in the cool eastern window under +the verandah, with an Indian cushion behind her that threw out her +profile like a cameo. + +Then, as if to call on Lady Merrifield, Captain Henderson appeared +armed, according to a wise suggestion, with his portfolio; and there +was a very quiet and natural overlooking of his drawings, which +evidently gave Kalliope immense pleasure, quite unsuspiciously. +Precautions had been taken against other visitors, and all went off +so well and happily that Lady Merrifield felt quite triumphant when +the waggonette came round, and, after picking up Fergus, she set +Kalliope down at her own door, with something like a colour in her +cheeks and lips, and thanks for a happy afternoon, and the great +pleasure in seeing one of the dear old Royal Wardours again. + +But, oh mamma,' said Gillian, feeling as if the thorn in her thoughts +must be extracted, 'are you sure it is not all her beauty?' + +'Her beauty, no doubt, began it, and gratifies the artist eye; but I +am sure his perseverance is due to appreciation of her noble +character,' said Lady Merrifield. + +'Oh, mamma, would he if she had been ever so good, and no prettier +than other people?' + +'Don't pick motives so, my child; her beauty helps to make up the sum +and substance of his adoration, and she would not have the +countenance she has without the goodness. Let that satisfy you.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. CONCLUSION + + + +The wedding was imminent by this time. The sisters returned from +London, the younger looking brilliant and in unusual health, and the +elder fagged and weary. Shopping, or rather looking on at shopping, +had been a far more wearying occupation than all the schools and +districts in Rockquay afforded. + +And besides the being left alone, there was the need of considering +her future. The family had certainly expected that a rich and open- +handed man like Mr. White would bethink him that half what was +sufficient for two was not enough for one to live in the same style, +and would have resigned his bride's fortune to her sister, but, as a +rule, he never did what was expected of him, and he had, perhaps, +been somewhat annoyed by Mr. Mohun's pertinacity about settlements, +showing a certain distrust of commercial wealth. At any rate, all he +did was to insist on paying handsomely for Maura's board; but still +Miss Mohun believed she should have to give up the pretty house built +by themselves, and go into smaller quarters, more especially as it +was universally agreed that Adeline must have Mrs. Mount with her, +and Mrs. Mount would certainly be miserable in 'foreign parts' unless +her daughter went with her. It was demonstrated that the remaining +means would just suffice to keep up Beechcroft; but Jane knew that it +could be only done at the cost of her subscriptions and charities, +and she merely undertook to take no measures till winter---the +Rockquay season. + +Sir Jasper, who thought she behaved exceedingly well about it, +authorised an earnest invitation to make her home at Clipston; but +though she was much gratified, she knew she should be in his way, +and, perhaps, in that of the boys, and it was too far from the work +to which she meant to devote herself even more completely, when it +would be no longer needful to be companionable to a semi-invalid fond +of society. + +However, just then her brother, the Colonel, came at last for his +long leave. He knew that his retirement was only a matter of months, +and declared his intention of joining forces with her, if she would +have him, and, in the meantime, he was desirous of contributing his +full share in keeping up the home. Nor did Jane feel it selfish to +accept his offer, for she knew that Clipston would give him congenial +society and shooting, and that there was plenty of useful layman work +for him in the town; and that 'old Reggie' should wish to set up his +staff with her raised her spirits, so that cheerfulness was no longer +an effort. + +The wedding was to be very quiet. Only just after the day was +finally fixed, Mrs. Merrifield's long decay ended unexpectedly, and +Sir Jasper had to hasten to London, and thence to the funeral at +Stokesley. She was a second wife, and he her only son, so that he +inherited from her means that set him much more at his ease with +regard to his large family than he had ever been before. The +intention that Lady Merrifield should act mistress of the house at +the wedding breakfast had, of course, to be given up, and only +Primrose's extreme youth made it possible to let her still be a +bridesmaid. + +So the whole party, together with the Whites, were only spectators in +the background, and the procession into church consisted of just the +absolutely needful persons---the bride in a delicate nondescript +coloured dress, such as none but a French dressmaker could describe, +and covered with transparent lace, like, as Mysie averred, a +hedgeback full of pig-nut flowers, the justice of the comparison +being lost in the ugliness of the name; and as all Rockquay tried to +squeeze into the church to see and admire, the beauty was not thrown +away. + +No tears were shed there; but afterwards, in her own familiar room, +between her two sisters, Adeline White shed floods of tears, and, +clinging to Jane's neck, asked how she could ever have consented to +leave her, extracting a promise of coming to her in case of illness. +Nothing but a knock at the door by Valetta, with a peremptory message +that Mr. White said they should be late for the train, induced her to +dry her tears and tear herself away. + +Kalliope and Maura remained with Miss Mohun during the bridal journey +to Scotland, and by the time it was ended the former had shaken off +the invalid habits, and could hardly accept the doctor's assurance +that she ought not to resume her work, though she was grateful for +the delights before her, and the opportunities of improvement that +she was promised at Florence. Her health had certainly been improved +by Frank Stebbing's departure for America. Something oozed out that +made Miss Mohun suspect that he had been tampering with the accounts, +and then it proved that there had been a crisis and discovery, which +Mr. White had consented to hush up for his partner's sake. Alexis +had necessarily known of the investigation and disclosure, but had +kept absolute silence until it had been brought to light in other +ways, and the culprit was beyond seas. Mr. Stebbing was about to +retire from the business, but for many reasons the dissolution of the +partnership was deferred. + +Alexis was now in a post of trust, with a larger salary. He lodged +at Mrs. Lee's, and was, in a manner, free of Miss Mohun's house; but +he spent much of his leisure time in study, being now able to pay +regularly for instruction from the tutor who taught at Mrs. Edgar's +school. + +Maura asked him rather pertly what was the use of troubling himself +about Latin and Greek, if he held himself bound to the marble works. + +'It is not trouble---it is rest,' he said; and at her gasp, 'Besides, +marble works or no, one ought to make the best of one's self.' + +By the time Mr. and Mrs. White came back from Scotland, the repairs +at Clipston had been accomplished, and the Merrifields had taken +possession. It all was most pleasant in that summer weather going +backwards and forwards between the houses; the Sunday coming into +church and lunching at Aunt Jane's, where Valetta and Primrose stayed +for Mrs. Hablot's class, and were escorted home by Macrae in time for +evening service at Clipston, where their mother, Gillian, and Mysie +reigned over their little school. There was a kind of homely ease +and family life, such that Adeline once betrayed that she sometimes +felt as if she was going into banishment. However, there was no +doubt that she enjoyed her husband's pride in and devotion to her, as +well as all the command of money and choice of pretty things that she +had obtained, and she looked well, handsome, and dignified. + +Still it was evident that she was very glad of Kalliope's +companionship, and that the pair were not on those exclusively +intimate terms that would make a third person de trop. + +By Sir Jasper's advice, Lady Merrifield did not mention the +possibility of a visit from Captain Henderson, who would come upon +Mr. White far better on his own merits, and had better not be +expected either by Adeline or Kalliope. + +Enthusiastic letters from both ladies described the delights of the +journey, which was taken in a leisurely sight-seeing manner; and as +to Rocca Marina, it seemed to be an absolute paradise. Mr. White had +taken care to send out an English upholsterer, so that insular ideas +of comfort might be fulfilled within. Without, the combination of +mountain and sea, the vine-clad terraces, the chestnut slopes, the +magical colours of the barer rocks, the coast-line trending far away, +the azure Mediterranean, with the white-sailed feluccas skimming +across it, filled Kalliope with the more transport because it +satisfied the eyes that had unconsciously missed such colouring +scenes ever since her early childhood. + +The English workmen and their families hailed with delight an English +lady. The chaplain and his wife were already at work among them, and +their little church only waiting for the bride to lay the first +stone. + +The accounts of Kalliope's walks as Mrs. White's deputy among these +people, of her scrambles and her sketching made her recovery evident. +Adeline had just been writing that the girl was too valuable to both +herself and Mr. White ever to be parted with, when Captain Henderson +came back from Norway, and had free permission from Lady Merrifield +to put his fate to the touch. + +English tourists who know how to behave themselves were always +welcome to enliven the seclusion of Rocca Marina, and admire all, of +which Adeline was as proud as Mr. White himself. Recommendations to +its hospitality did not fail, and the first of Adeline's long letters +showed warm appreciation of this pleasant guest, who seemed enchanted +with the spot. + +Next, Mrs. White's sagacity began to suspect his object, and there +ensued Kalliope's letter, full of doubts and scruples, unable to help +being happy, but deferring her reply till she should hear from Lady +Merrifield, whether it could be right to burthen any man with such a +family as hers. + +The old allegiance to her father's commanding officer, as well as the +kindness she had received, seemed to make her turn to ask their +approval as if they were her parents; and of course it was heartily +given, Sir Jasper himself writing to set before her that John +Henderson was no suddenly captivated youth unable to calculate +consequences, but a man of long-tried affection and constancy, free +from personal ties, and knowing all her concerns. The younger ones +all gave promise of making their own way, and a wise elder brother +was the best thing she could give them. Even Richard might be the +better for the connection, and Sir Jasper had taken care that there +should be some knowledge of what he was. + +There was reason to think that all hesitation had been overcome even +before the letters arrived. For it appeared that Captain Henderson +had fraternised greatly with Mr. White, and that having much wished +for an occupation, he had decided to become a partner in the marble +works, bringing the art-knowledge and taste that had been desirable, +and Kalliope hoped still to superintend the mosaic workers. It was +agreed that the marriage had far better take place away from +Rockquay, and it was resolved that it should be at Florence, and that +the couple should remain there for the winter, studying art, and +especially Florentine mosaic, and return in the spring, when the +Stebbings would have concluded their arrangements and vacated their +house. + +Mr. White, in great delight, franked out Alexis and Maura to be +present at the wedding, and a longing wish of Kalliope's that Mr. +Flight would officiate was so far expressed that Lady Merrifield +mentioned it to him. He was very much moved, for he had been feeling +that his relations with the Whites had been chiefly harmful, though, +as Alexis now assured him, his notice had been their first ray of +comfort in their changed life at Rockquay. The experience had +certainly made him older and wiser. Mrs. White---or, as her nieces +could not help calling her among themselves, the Contessa di Rocca +Marina---urged that her sister Jane should join the company, and bring +Gillian to act as the other bridesmaid. This, after a little +deliberation, was accepted, and the journey was the greatest treat to +all concerned. Mr. Flight, the only one of the party who had +travelled before in the sense of being a tourist, was amused by the +keen and intense delight of Miss Mohun as well as the younger ones in +all they beheld, and he steered them with full experience of hotels +and of what ought to be visited, so as to be an excellent courier. + +As to Rocca Marina, where they spent a few days, no words would +describe their admiration, though they brought home a whole book of +sketches to back their descriptions. They did not, however, bring +back Maura. Mrs. White had declared that she must remain to supply +the place of her sister. She was nearly fifteen years old, and +already pretty well advanced in her studies, she would pick up +foreign languages, the chaplain would teach her when at Rocca Marina, +and music and drawing would be attainable in the spring at Florence. +Moreover, Mr. White promised to regard her as a daughter. + +Another point was settled. Alexis had worked in earnest for eight +months, and had convinced himself that the marble works were not his +vocation, though he had acquitted himself well enough to induce Mr. +White to offer him a share in the business, and he would have +accepted it if needful. He had, however, made up his mind to +endeavour to obtain a scholarship at Oxford, and Captain Henderson +promised that whether successful in this or not, he should be enabled +to keep his terms there. Mr. White could not understand how a man +could prefer being a poor curate to being a rich quarrymaster, but +his wife and the two sisters had influence enough to prevent him from +being offended, and this was the easier, because Theodore had tastes +and abilities that made it likely that he would be thoroughly +available at the works. + +What shall be said of the return to Rockstone? Mr. Flight came home +first, then, after many happy days of appreciative sightseeing, Aunt +Jane and Gillian. They had not been ashamed of being British +spinsters with guide-books in their hands; nor, on the other hand, +had they been obliged to see what they did not care about, and Mr. +White had put them in the way of the best mode of seeing what they +cared about; and above all, the vicissitudes of travel, even in easy- +going modern fashion, had made them one with each other according to +Jane's best hopes. It was declared that the aunt looked five years +younger for such recreation as she had never known before, and she +set to work with double energy. + +When, in May, Captain and Mrs. Henderson took possession of the +pretty house that had been fitted up for them, though Miss Mellon +might whisper to a few that she had only been one of the mosaic +hands, there was not much inclination to attend to the story among +the society to which Lady Merrifield introduced her. These +acquaintances would gladly have seen more of her than she had time to +give them, between family claims and home cares, her attention to the +artistic side of the business, for which she had not studied in vain, +and her personal and individual care for the young women concerned +therein. For years to come, even, it was likely that visitors to +Rockstone would ask one another if they had seen that remarkably +beautiful Mrs. Henderson. + +Mrs. White, reigning there in the summer, in her fine house and +gardens, though handsome as ever, had the good sense to resign the +palm of beauty, and be gratified with the admiration for one whom she +accepted as a protegee and appendage, whose praise reflected upon +herself. And Cliff House under the new regime was a power in +Rockstone, with its garden-parties, drawing-room meetings on behalf +of everything good and desirable, its general superintendence and +promotion of all that could aid in the welfare of the place. There +was general rejoicing when it was occupied. + +Adeline, in better health than she had enjoyed since her early +girlhood, and feeling her consequence both in Italy and at Rockstone, +was often radiant, always kind and friendly and ready with patronage +and assistance. Her sisters wondered at times how absolute her +happiness was; they sometimes thought she said too much about it, and +about her dear husband's indulgence, in her letters, to be quite +satisfactory; and when she came to Rockstone there was an +effusiveness of affection towards her family, an unwillingness to +spare her sisters or nieces from her side, an earnest desire to take +one back to Italy with her, that betrayed something lacking in +companionship. Jane detected likewise such as the idolising husband +felt this attachment a little over much. + +It was not quite possible to feel him one with her family, or make +him feel himself one. He would always be 'company' with them. He +had indeed been invited to Beechcroft Court, but it was plain that +the visit had been stiff and wearisome to both parties, even more so +than that to Rotherwood, where there was no reason to look for much +familiarity. + +In the same way, to Reginald Mohun, who had been obliged to retire as +full Colonel, Mr. White was so absolutely distasteful that it was his +sister's continual fear that he would encourage the young people's +surreptitious jokes about their marble uncle. Sir Jasper, always +feeling accountable for having given the first sanction, did his best +for the brother-in-law; but in spite of regard, there was no getting +over the uncongeniality that would always be the drop in Adeline's +cup. The perfect ease and confidence of family intercourse would +alter on his entrance! + +Nobody got on with him so well as Captain Harry May. For I do not +speak to that dull elf who cannot figure to himself the great family +meeting that came to pass when the colonists came home---how sweet and +matronly 'Aunt Phyllis' looked, how fresh and bright her daughters +were, and how surprised Valetta was to find them as well instructed +and civilised as herself, though she did not like Primrose, expect to +see them tattooed. One of the party was no other than Dolores Mohun. +She had been very happy with her father for three years. They had +been at Kotorua at the time of the earthquake, and Dolores had +acquired much credit for her reasonableness and self-possession, but +there had been also a young lady, not much above her own age, who had +needed protection and comfort, and the acquaintance there begun had +ended in her father deciding on a marriage with a pretty gentle +creature as unlike the wife of his youth as could be imagined. + +Dolores had behaved very well, as her Aunt Phyllis warmly testified, +but it was a relief to all parties when the proposal was made that, +immediately after the wedding, she should go home under her aunt's +escort to finish her education. She had learnt to love and trust +Aunt Phyllis; but to be once more with Aunt Lily and Mysie was the +greatest peace and bliss she could conceive. And she was a very +different being from the angular defiant girl of those days which +seemed so long ago. + +There is no need to say more at present of these old friends. There +is no material for narrative in describing how the 'calm decay' of +Dr. May in old age was cheered by the presence of his sailor son, nor +in the scenes where the brothers, sisters, and friends exchanged +happy recollections, brightened each other's lives with affection and +stimulated one another in serving God in their generation. + + + +THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, BEECHCROFT AT ROCKSTONE *** + +This file should be named brock10.txt or brock10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, brock11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, brock10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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