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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75231 ***
+
+Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
+
+[Illustration: Gentian.
+ _A Girl and Her Ways_ _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+                          A GIRL AND HER
+                               WAYS
+
+                                BY
+                          AMY LE FEUVRE
+
+
+
+                   WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED
+                      LONDON AND MELBOURNE
+
+
+
+                        MADE IN ENGLAND
+ Printed In Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London
+
+
+
+                            CONTENTS
+
+CHAP.
+
+    I AN INVASION
+
+   II THE YOUNG GUEST
+
+  III THE HOUSE THAT WAS WAITING
+
+   IV JIM PAGET
+
+    V AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE
+
+   VI A FRESH PROPOSITION
+
+  VII A PRIVATE CHAUFFEUR
+
+ VIII THE DAY IN THE NEW FOREST
+
+   IX DARK CLOUDS
+
+    X LEFT ALONE
+
+   XI A VISIT TO CORNWALL
+
+  XII THOROLD'S SECRET
+
+ XIII A NEW FRIEND
+
+  XIV "I WANT YOU"
+
+   XV THEIR GOLDEN TIME
+
+
+
+                       A GIRL AND HER WAYS
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+AN INVASION
+
+HE sat back in his easy chair, pipe in mouth, and newspaper on his
+knee. The lashing wind and rain outside added to his sense of comfort.
+He was unassailable, he knew, from all unpleasant elements. A bright
+wood fire burned on the open hearth. His room was lined with books,
+for he was a book lover. Everything around him was for use and not for
+ornament. Some oil portraits hung on the walls, members of the Holt
+family; but there was no china, no flowers, and no signs of a woman's
+hand and taste in his room.
+
+Thorold Holt was now nearer forty than thirty. He had a lean, sinewy
+frame, his close-cropped dark head was already streaked with grey, and
+at times there was a weary look about his grey eyes which belied his
+habitual cheeriness. People who knew him best said that his sense of
+humour was natural, but his cheeriness a manufactured article. He had
+had a hard life, and found it difficult to believe that at last his
+hard times were over.
+
+An interruption came now to his solitude.
+
+The door opened, and his one manservant appeared.
+
+"Two ladies to see you, sir. I have shown them into the drawing-room."
+
+"Oh these females!" muttered Thorold with real annoyance. "Even rain
+doesn't keep them indoors. A begging appeal, I suppose."
+
+He knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and rose discontentedly from
+his seat. He went out into a square hall, tiled in black and white
+stone underfoot, and crossed it, entering into a very stiff and
+stately-looking drawing-room, with early Victorian relics, besides some
+really good bits of antique furniture. Two women sat awaiting him. One
+he recognized as his rector's wife. He wondered she had not given her
+name, but he had only met her once before. She addressed him promptly.
+
+"I must apologize for troubling you, but I think you will have to see
+this good woman, Miss Ward by name. She arrived yesterday evening from
+London, and as she came to the Rectory for advice, we gave her a bed,
+and after hearing her story and sifting it well, my husband and I think
+it only right to bring her straight to you."
+
+Thorold stared at the two women in complete bewilderment.
+
+"But who in the world is it?" he asked. "It isn't a long lost wife, for
+I have never married, and I am morally certain that I have never set
+eyes on Miss Ward before!"
+
+"Miss Ward was not aware of your late cousin's death, or that you were
+in possession of his property," said Mrs. Gould, the rector's wife.
+
+"Oh, then her business was with him?" queried Thorold.
+
+Miss Ward for the first time looked up and spoke. She was a
+plain-featured woman dressed in black, and spoke with a slight American
+accent.
+
+"The death of Mr. Charles Holt has floored me," she said; "I was
+counting on his help. God knows, it's badly needed."
+
+"Well, if it is his private affair, I would rather discuss it with you
+privately. Come this way. Thank you, Mrs. Gould, for bringing her up.
+We will not keep you."
+
+He knew he was treating his rector's wife badly; but he had already
+suffered from her insatiable thirst for managing every person she came
+across. And he did not intend that she should point out to him now
+wherein his duty lay.
+
+Mrs. Gould rose from her seat with great annoyance.
+
+"I shall be glad to know in good time if you are going to put her up
+here to-night; and perhaps you will be able to send down to the Rectory
+for her luggage. We only took her in out of kindness last night. The
+village inn is not a desirable place for a single woman."
+
+"It is all such a mystery to me that I can make no promises or plans at
+present," said Thorold.
+
+And then he marched the stranger into his comfortable smoking-room, and
+drew up a chair to the fire for her.
+
+"Now," he said, "tell me in as few words as you can, who you are, and
+what your business is."
+
+"I was a maid of Mrs. Brendon's about eleven years ago, and then I
+became her companion and nursed her when she died, and I loved her.
+She was my best friend on earth, and I promised her to stick to her
+child, and so I have, but all along since I came across the letter, Mr.
+Charles Holt has been my goal and mainstay. And it has fairly knocked
+me over to know he is dead and buried!"
+
+"Will you tell me, please, who Mrs. Brendon was and what connection she
+was of my cousin?"
+
+"I reckon she was a cousin like yourself; and a little more too,
+judging from this letter, which I'd best show you."
+
+She produced a letter from her pocket which she handed to Thorold, and
+he stood leaning his back against the mantelpiece, whilst he read it.
+
+   "MY DEAR LENA,—
+
+   "I have heard that you and your little one have made your home in
+Capri. Well, I am glad to think of you in that sweet setting and
+perhaps after the stormy turbulence of your young life, you may find
+your widowhood a period of peace and rest. I should not think you were
+troubled with superfluous cash, so will you let me defray the cost of
+my god-daughter's education? I should like to see her one day. I am a
+lonely man with few kith or kin, as you know, and I want to make her
+acquaintance. Send her over to me if you ever want to get rid of her.
+If she is anything like the wild slip of girl her mother was, she will
+enliven my solitude, and at my death she will benefit.
+
+   "Your never-forgetting cousin,
+
+                        "CHARLES HOLT."
+
+Thorold read this through more than once. Then he looked up.
+
+"Did Mrs. Brendon answer this letter?"
+
+"No, she told me she was not going to part with her child; and if she
+responded to Mr. Holt's advances, he would expect her to marry him, and
+that she could never do."
+
+"Then, having made her choice, and keeping her child, why do you come
+to me and produce this letter? Mr. Holt left his money elsewhere. The
+child has lost her chance."
+
+The woman looked at him miserably.
+
+"What can I do?" she asked. "I haven't the money to keep her. She's
+too young to keep herself. She's just a child. And I came to see Mr.
+Charles Holt. I did not know he was dead."
+
+"Surely Mrs. Brendon left some money?"
+
+"She had a pension only, which stopped at her death. Colonel Brendon
+saved nothing. Mrs. Brendon and I used to help out with fine sewing.
+The nuns at the convent used to give us some to do."
+
+Thorold shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I am not a rich man. I can't spare a separate income for this young
+girl. Why should I? She is no relation of mine."
+
+"A cousin's cousin," the stranger murmured. "If she had come over in
+Mr. Holt's lifetime, she would have been his heiress."
+
+"Where is she now?" asked Thorold abruptly.
+
+"Goodness only knows," was the unexpected answer. "Most likely rowing
+down the Thames, or going over to Paris in an airship, or wandering
+round Stonehenge in the dark—anywhere but where I left her, and where
+she ought to be—in quiet lodgings in the Euston Road. She's out to see
+England, she says, and she means to do it, though she's penniless."
+
+"Then the sooner you get back to her the better. Don't look so
+desperate. I'll think things over, and run up to town in a few days,
+and see you. Give me your address. If the girl is old enough to earn
+her own living, we may perhaps find a job for her. Girls find it easier
+to work now, than in the old days."
+
+"Thank you. If you don't help us, I don't know who will. I think I'll
+be getting back to the Rectory, and leave by the first train in the
+morning."
+
+He let her go, but his peace of mind was gone. He paced his room
+restlessly, and sleep forsook him that night. The next morning he rode
+over to a country house about ten miles away, and walked in unannounced.
+
+But two ladies had seen his approach from a window, and discussed him
+pretty freely before he arrived.
+
+"Who is this riding up the drive, Lallie?"
+
+"I don't know. Yes I do! It is Thorold Holt. What on earth does he
+want so early in the morning! You remember the Holts? Charles died six
+months ago. We were boys and girls together. Thorold was a great chum
+of mine when I was small. He used to stay over at the Manor a good
+deal. His father was a judge and widower. He married again, and was
+killed with his second wife in a railway smash in Italy. She was an
+extravagant girl, and left three small boys. There were so many debts
+that the children were in a bad way.
+
+"Thorold was a trump. He took charge of his small stepbrothers from
+the time he left school. Gave up the Army as a calling on which he
+had set his heart, and got a post in the city in some business firm
+where he toiled early and late to make money for the boys' schooling.
+They were young scamps, and the scrapes he pulled them out of, would
+make your hair stand on end! He put one in the Navy, the other in the
+Army, and the third went out to a tea plantation in India. He only got
+the last of them off his hands a year ago, and they cost him a pretty
+penny between them I can tell you! Couldn't marry because of them—so he
+always says, and now he's given up the idea. I believe he was smitten
+once by a girl who waited two years and then married some one else.
+Thorold has never had a life of his own. He was three years at the
+War and got badly wounded, but is nearly well now. He's a cheerful
+philosopher, and does me good when I'm in the blues. Don't go. I want
+you to know him."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe, the mistress of the house, a bright, smiling young
+woman, turned to greet Thorold as he entered the room.
+
+"Vera, this is Mr. Thorold Holt. He's at the Manor now, over at
+Crowhurst. You haven't met Vera before, Thorold. She's an old school
+friend of mine, and is taking pity on my loneliness while Frank is
+away."
+
+Thorold made his greetings, then took up his position on the hearthrug,
+and looked at Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a whimsical smile.
+
+"Whenever disaster comes my way I always say to myself, 'It is not good
+that man should be alone,' and haste away to you."
+
+"What is it now? One of those boys again?"
+
+Vera Harrington had discreetly slipped out of the room.
+
+"A strange female was brought to me yesterday afternoon by Mrs. Gould.
+She's got a child—a girl who's a connection of Charles. You remember
+Lena Foster? a cousin on his mother's side whom he was wildly in love
+with all his life. It's her daughter. Lena is dead, and this good woman
+considers the girl should be enjoying the Manor, with its income,
+instead of me."
+
+"How preposterous and absurd! Lena treated Charles shamefully. She
+spoilt his life. And I was glad when her husband treated her as she had
+treated others."
+
+"Oh, how hard you women are!"
+
+He proceeded to give her further details. Told her of the contents of
+the letter, and then with raised eyebrows, said:
+
+"And now having fitted out three young men for life, am I to begin over
+again, and take in hand a young woman?"
+
+"It's ridiculous! She has no possible claim upon you, of course."
+
+"Not legally."
+
+"But morally, I suppose you are going to say! Thorold, I should like
+to shake you. Your conscience is swelled out like a big balloon! It's
+too big for your body altogether. Why will you take such delight in
+sacrificing yourself! Wasn't it last week you were telling me you
+hardly know how to live at the Manor? You've put down half the staff
+and economized in every way. How can you afford to adopt a penniless
+girl? Besides it wouldn't be proper. What's her age?"
+
+"Haven't an idea—something between fifteen and twenty, I suppose. She
+would have to go to school."
+
+"Not if she's over twenty. What a Don Quixote you are! Hadn't her
+father any relations?"
+
+"This female says she's penniless and friendless."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at him perplexedly and he laughed.
+
+"We are sent into the world to help each other, aren't we?" he said.
+"I'm going to inspect her to-morrow. Shall run up to town for a couple
+of days. But I'm scared of young women. Wouldn't you like to come with
+me?"
+
+"Now, Thorold, what on earth can you do with her? You go straight home
+and smoke your pipe. I will go up, and inspect her and report to you."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"Can't trust you. I assure you I won't fall in love with her, or marry
+her."
+
+"But don't you see that you can't provide for her? That sort of thing
+isn't done. She's either a designing minx or an innocent babe. Either
+way, she's dangerous to a simple—"
+
+"Fool," put in Thorold.
+
+"Well, I think you are a bit of one sometimes."
+
+"We'll go up together by the ten express," said Thorold firmly, "and if
+she's old enough and strong enough to earn her own living, we'll find
+something for her."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe laughed at him.
+
+"You sound so wise; but it's not so easy, my dear Thorold, to find work
+for young women nowadays. Remember the thousands of unemployed men. And
+I hold with giving them the first chance."
+
+"Will you meet me at the station to-morrow?"
+
+"I suppose I shall. You mustn't go up to town alone."
+
+
+And so it came to pass that the following day found them both in the
+Paddington express. They reached the dingy lodging-house in the Euston
+Road, and were told by a good-natured, stout landlady, that Miss Ward
+was out, and the young lady in.
+
+They were shown upstairs into a shabby sitting-room with folding doors.
+Nobody was there, but upon the round table was an exquisite bunch of
+white narcissus and pink hyacinths, the fragrance of which scented the
+room. A moment later, and the folding doors opened.
+
+A young girl stood gravely regarding them, one hand resting on the door
+handle, the other half extended to greet them. Mrs. Wharnecliffe caught
+her breath as she looked at her. She understood at once Miss Ward's
+anxiety concerning her. A slender slip of a girl she was, dressed
+in a rich blue woollen gown, which matched her eyes in intensity of
+colour. A string of turquoise beads hung round her neck nearly reaching
+her waist. She had a pale oval face with rather a pointed chin, and
+delicate features. Soft, reddish-brown hair fell softly over her broad
+low brow, and was gathered in a loose knot behind. Her blue eyes were
+fringed with very dark curling lashes, her mouth had sad curves at
+the corners. She was a picture of pathetic appealing youth, and Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe whispered under her breath:
+
+"What a darling child!"
+
+For an instant no one spoke, then the girl broke the silence.
+
+"How kind of you to come. I guess you are relations of Mr. Holt's. Miss
+Ward has told me of her fruitless journey to his house. Please sit
+down."
+
+Nothing could have exceeded the gravity of her manner. She seated
+herself lightly on the arm of an old horsehair couch opposite them, and
+slightly swung one slender foot to and fro. Mrs. Wharnecliffe began to
+feel less at ease than the girl herself.
+
+"I have come up to talk things over with you," said Thorold, clearing
+his throat.
+
+"What kind of things?" asked the girl softly.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked sharply across at her.
+
+The grave intense blue eyes were now quivering with mirth. The woman of
+the world intervened quickly. She was not going to sit silent, and see
+her quixotic friend baited for a girl's amusement.
+
+"Mr. Holt has very kindly come up to see if he can help you in any way
+to make plans for the future. We hear you are very badly off, and your
+friend was bitterly disappointed to find that the one she relied upon
+to help you is dead. Both Mr. Holt and I knew your mother long ago, and
+we want to befriend her daughter."
+
+A faint rose colour came to the pale cheeks of the girl. She drew up
+her small head in a very haughty fashion, and all mirth died away.
+
+"Miss Ward brought the disappointment upon herself alone. It was
+against my wish she went to beg. I am making my own plans for the
+future and require no help from strangers, however kind."
+
+Thorold was about to speak, when Mrs. Wharnecliffe forestalled him.
+
+"That is good from your point of view. I wonder what you intend to do?"
+
+The girl did not appear to resent this question; she stopped swinging
+her foot, and clasping her hands lightly in front of her looked
+dreamily out of the window opposite her, across the chimney tops into
+the grey murky sky.
+
+"It is a choice between two investments," she said in her still
+grave tone. "I should prefer to live my life above the world. But an
+aeroplane might not be so paying as a car. And I know less about it. I
+have driven a car in Italy. Yesterday I had a lesson in driving through
+the city, but my instructor practically told me that I had little to
+learn. You see, my nerves are strong and steady, and I have no fear in
+me. I never had. I should think a livelihood could be got easily in any
+big town by motoring passengers to and from stations, and taking them
+on any tour round. Miss Ward does not want me to sink all the capital I
+have in a venture. But I am perfectly certain in my own mind as to the
+success of it."
+
+"It's a ridiculous, preposterous idea!" spluttered out Thorold
+impulsively. "No wonder Miss Ward does not approve of it."
+
+The sparkle came back to the girl's eyes, and her lips smiled.
+
+"I was told I would find English men and women working shoulder to
+shoulder and doing the same jobs everywhere. Is it not so? Are there
+still some of the old-fashioned sort left? Are you one of them? Why is
+it so preposterous and ridiculous?"
+
+And then Thorold gave one of his hearty laughs, and for an instant the
+girl looked at him with quickened interest.
+
+"Because you know nothing of life, my dear child, and very little of
+men and women, I should say. How old are you? You do not look more than
+sixteen."
+
+"I am two-and-twenty, and Italy is not a cannibal island. I have met
+English people out there by scores, as well as Americans and every
+nationality under the sun. I left school nearly five years ago. In five
+years one grows fast and learns much."
+
+"Have you any friends in England?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+"Ask Miss Ward. Here she is to speak for herself."
+
+The door opened and Miss Ward appeared.
+
+Thorold rose to his feet and introduced her to Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who
+said at once:
+
+"We came up to town to see if we could befriend Miss Brendon; but she
+will have none of us!"
+
+"Oh Gentian!"
+
+"Oh Waddy!" mimicked the girl pulling down her lips, and bringing a
+piteous look into her blue eyes. "Now sit down and declare on whose
+side you are! Mine, or theirs."
+
+Miss Ward seated herself irresolutely upon the edge of the old couch.
+
+"I am afraid we have come on a fruitless errand," said Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe. "It seems that your young charge here has mapped out her
+future to her own satisfaction, and wants no interference."
+
+"Her future!" exclaimed Miss Ward miserably. "It will be the workhouse."
+
+"Oh no," retorted Gentian quickly; "there is unemployment pay, you
+know; but that will be unnecessary as long as my hands and feet and
+nerve are sound."
+
+"Oh, I beseech you," said Miss Ward, turning suddenly to Thorold, who
+was sitting back looking on with amused eyes, "don't forsake us. If you
+will be a friend to us, I will be everlastingly grateful."
+
+"Well, how can I serve you best?" he asked gravely and earnestly.
+
+"By having a long talk with me," she said promptly.
+
+And then Gentian rose to her feet, and put one slim hand on Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe's arm.
+
+"Let us leave them," she said; "will you come this way?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE YOUNG GUEST
+
+SHE led her into the back room which, to Mrs. Wharnecliffe's surprise,
+was as dainty and pretty a room as the other was dingy. The bed in
+the corner was covered with a striped silk rug, and great blue satin
+cushions were piled upon it. A piano was in a corner of the room, and
+open music was on it. Pretty watercolour sketches were pinned upon the
+walls, a Persian rug was underfoot, and flowers seemed to be everywhere.
+
+"Yes, this is my room, where I live," said Gentian.
+
+Her tones were soft now; she placed Mrs. Wharnecliffe in an easy chair;
+then took a stool near her, and looked up at her with a pathetic smile.
+
+"Now I can talk. That grim-faced man with his critical eyes is away.
+You are a stranger, but you have a heart. I see it in your eyes. What
+is it you want me to do? I cannot and will not accept charity from
+strangers. Anything but that I will do my best to comply with. You see,
+do you not, that I must earn money, and earn it quickly before we come
+to starvation?"
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe's eyes strayed to the piano.
+
+"You love music?" she asked.
+
+Gentian's blue eyes almost flashed fire.
+
+"I adore it! I have wept cauldrons because I cannot sing; but at the
+convent school I played the big organ in the chapel, and was at peace."
+
+"And what else can you do?"
+
+"Drive cars."
+
+Mischief lurked in the blue eyes again.
+
+"Yes, dear, but that would be a perilous and uncertain occupation,
+whereas music has many delightful possibilities. Will you play to me?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know that I'm in the mood for music now."
+
+But she moved across to the piano, for a moment gazing into space, then
+dropping her fingers upon the keys, began playing. Her music was so
+soft, so weird, so unutterably sad, that after listening for nearly ten
+minutes, Mrs. Wharnecliffe begged her to stop.
+
+"You will make me so depressed that you will soon reduce me to tears.
+What a strange child you are."
+
+Gentian twisted herself round on the music-stool, and faced her visitor
+with grave, earnest eyes.
+
+"Well, I ought to be sad," she said; "I am alone in a strange country
+without a relation in the world—and my only friend goes to beg from
+strangers for me, and they come to try to darken the only gleam of
+light in my horizon. Not a cheerful outlook is it?"
+
+"But what is your gleam of light?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe, puzzled at
+this girl's quick change of mood.
+
+"Raking in pound notes by the score from driving my taxi!" replied
+Gentian with a laugh so sunny and infectious that Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+smiled.
+
+"You have a wonderful gift for music," she said; "you show it in your
+touch."
+
+"But music is too sacred a subject with me to be bartered for sordid
+money," said Gentian growing grave once more. "Oh, I know I must have
+money to live. Waddy has saved, and can keep herself. I must learn
+to do the same. There was £500 in the bank after mother left me—her
+savings—the only thing she could leave me. I am getting through the
+first hundred now. You see, it is necessary for me to start working at
+once."
+
+"And where do you mean to live?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe, humouring her.
+
+"Not in London; I want to live away from houses and people—and yet I
+must be in touch with them. And I want to see and know England from end
+to end, as I know Italy."
+
+"Will you come and stay with me till your plans are settled? I live
+in the country—in such a pretty part, and we are only an hour from
+town—very little more."
+
+Gentian did not answer for a moment, then she said, "Do you live with
+Mr. Holt? Are you a relation of his?"
+
+"Oh dear no, we are like brother and sister, we have known each other
+all our lives; but I live with my husband, who is a busy Member of
+Parliament. And we are hardly ever in town; we both prefer the country."
+
+"Thank you very much. I will talk to Waddy about it. I think I should
+like to stay with you, if you will promise not to try to manage me—I
+think we had better go back to the others. I do not know what plots
+they may be hatching."
+
+She stepped lightly across the room and opened the door. Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe followed her, wondering at the impulse that had made her
+offer this strange girl a temporary home.
+
+Miss Ward and Thorold were still talking. The latter got up from his
+chair with rather a satisfied smile upon his face. Mrs. Wharnecliffe at
+once repeated her invitation, including Miss Ward, but that good lady
+shook her head.
+
+"I should like to see a married sister of mine in Wiltshire. If you
+could have Gentian for a week or so, I should be very glad."
+
+Gentian laughed gleefully, and her laughter was that of a happy
+irresponsible child.
+
+"And that means, Waddy, that you hope a week or so in a grave,
+well-ordered, conventional English house, with some kind and sound
+common-sense drilled into me every day, will send me back to you in
+an amenable frame of mind. But you are very rash in resigning your
+precious charge into the hands of utter strangers. Why do you believe
+in them more than you believe in me?"
+
+"I suppose," said Thorold dryly, "it is our grey hairs. I have a good
+many. It's an extraordinary thing, but when you get a few years older,
+you will actually place more reliance in the wisdom of the experienced
+than in the very young."
+
+Gentian looked at him for the first time with interest.
+
+"I should like to have a talk with you," she said; "I have had one with
+your friend, and Waddy has had her innings with you. It is my turn now."
+
+Thorold turned to Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+"Don't you think we might go out to lunch somewhere? then we could
+become further acquainted with Miss Brendon."
+
+There was some discussion. Finally Miss Ward elected to remain at home
+and Gentian accompanied her new friends to a quiet and comfortable
+little restaurant not very far away. She slipped into a fur coat, with
+a smart little blue velvet toque, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe again assured
+herself that she was dangerously attractive.
+
+"I am a kind of cousin," said Thorold as he walked by her side. "I
+think it would be better and easier for us all if you were to consider
+me as such."
+
+"And what do cousins do?" she asked mischievously. "I suppose they call
+each other by their Christian names. You can call me Gentian, what
+shall I call you?"
+
+"Cousin Thorold," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe quietly.
+
+Gentian's blue eyes turned to her.
+
+"You are afraid that Thorold will be too familiar? I must put the
+cousin before it to show my respect and veneration."
+
+"Oh, that is all immaterial," said Thorold, a slight impatience in his
+tone. "But being cousins, I am a relation, and so bound to look after
+you a little. And as I understand from Miss Ward the peculiarity of
+your circumstances, I shall do as she wants me to do, and regard you as
+a trust handed on by your godfather with all his other earthly goods
+and chattels."
+
+Gentian's blue eyes opened their widest.
+
+"So I'm a chattel, like his tables and chairs and books? Oh, thank you
+so very much. I should like to know what you intend to do with me."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe left Gentian's other side, to administer a quiet
+pinch to Thorold. As they were crossing a wide thoroughfare it was not
+noticed, though Thorold rubbed his arm a little ruefully. He understood
+the signal, and knew he was not to proceed quite so quickly.
+
+"Oh," he responded carelessly, "I mean to take a fatherly interest in
+you. I can spread out certain plans for your future, for your refusal
+or acceptance. And you can use me as a buffer when occasion requires. A
+cousin in the background of a certain standing and respectability, is
+an important asset sometimes."
+
+Gentian was silent, then as they came to the restaurant, and Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe led the way, she turned back towards Thorold.
+
+"I might use you," she said slowly and thoughtfully, "till Mr.
+Paget—comes to England."
+
+"And who is he?"
+
+"The man who wants to marry me."
+
+Then she followed Mrs. Wharnecliffe in without another word.
+
+And Thorold did not know whether he felt relieved by her announcement
+or not. Relieved, he decided after a few minutes' reflection, for his
+guardianship might prove to be of very short duration.
+
+Gentian now turned her attention to other things. She was full of
+interest in her surroundings; commented on the people around her,
+and asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe a hundred questions about London and its
+pleasures.
+
+"I am tired of people and cities myself," she said; "but if you have to
+earn your livelihood as I mean to earn mine, you are dependent on them
+to support you. If I come to stay with you for a week or two, may I
+bring my car down? Have you one of your own?"
+
+"We have, but you do not mean to say that you have bought one already?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I did it yesterday. At least I made up my mind which one I would have,
+and I am taking a few trial trips with it. They send an experienced man
+with you, so there is no fear. It is not a Ford, but one of these new
+American ones. The Americans are more up-to-date and less expensive
+than the British. I want Waddy to come with me to-morrow. I am going to
+run down to Richmond and back. I have never seen Richmond Park."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at Thorold in a helpless fashion.
+
+"Has Miss Ward seen this purchase of yours?" he asked.
+
+"No. She's not much good in choosing cars."
+
+"And may we ask the cost of it?" Mrs. Wharnecliffe asked.
+
+"It will clear me out," she replied frankly; "but then, you see, it's
+like purchasing a business. I shall make the price of it over and over
+again. It's an investment. I know a lot about investments. I have heard
+men talk and I've made them explain it to me. I reckon this will return
+me 10 per cent. for my money. That's all right, isn't it?"
+
+She looked so childish as she talked, that Mrs. Wharnecliffe could only
+smile at her. But Thorold seemed bent on asserting his authority.
+
+"I should like to have a look at it," he said. "I know something about
+cars. Shall we go and see it now after lunch? We shall have time."
+
+For a moment a frown settled over Gentian's bright face. Then she said
+with dignity:
+
+"You may come and see it, if you say nothing. I don't want you to be
+countermanding my order, but you would not be so discourteous as that."
+
+So after lunch, they took a taxi to the city, and when Thorold saw the
+contemplated purchase, he found to his surprise that he could find no
+fault with it. He had a talk with the head of the firm, and then they
+all returned to the Gower Street lodgings. But on the way there, he
+said gravely to Gentian:
+
+"This is a very risky venture of yours. We don't want to throw water
+on your hopes, or prevent you from earning your livelihood, but will
+you let the final decision about it be postponed for a month from
+this date? Come down into the country and see what English country is
+like—Mrs. Wharnecliffe has invited you to be her guest."
+
+"If my car doesn't come with me, I don't come," said Gentian with great
+determination.
+
+"Then have it on trial. It may not prove a good one."
+
+"I might do that."
+
+And so a compromise was made, and an hour later Mrs. Wharnecliffe and
+Thorold were in the train for home, almost too bewildered by Gentian's
+personality to discuss her.
+
+They felt that they and any others would be only ciphers in her life.
+
+And Thorold said with a little laugh when he parted from Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe:
+
+"She seems to have come into our life like a whirlwind and taken root
+at once. You know that neither of us need have anything to do with her."
+
+"I foresee trouble ahead for you," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a smile
+and a little sigh; "because you will make other people's business your
+own. You always have."
+
+"The prospective husband will come along."
+
+"Oh, I don't believe in him—Miss Ward would have mentioned him had
+there been anything in it."
+
+"Miss Ward is kept in the dark a good deal."
+
+"Yes—well—the girl is coming to me next week, and I'll see what I can
+do with her. I'm really enjoying the prospect. She's so ridiculously
+young and fresh, and so world-old in her own opinion."
+
+Gentian arrived at Oakberry Hall towards the end of a bright April
+afternoon. The gardens in front of the house were a blaze of colour.
+Daffodils, hyacinths, narcissus, and tulips were all in their prime.
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe had had a wire in the middle of the day to say that
+Gentian was coming down by road. And about five o'clock, a light,
+fawn-coloured car rolled up the drive. Gentian was driving it, and
+was absolutely alone. Two neat suitcases and a hat-box were in the
+tonneau behind. She wore a close-fitting little brown-leather cap,
+and a leather coat, which she shed in the hall, and she stepped into
+the drawing-room looking as fresh and dainty as if she had only just
+dressed for her journey.
+
+"She's a little beauty. We've had no hitch, and I only went a couple of
+miles out of my way. You've very good roads from town. I've christened
+her 'Mousie.' I chose that colour because she doesn't show the dust.
+Have you a chauffeur? Will he look after her?"
+
+"Yes, he will do all that's necessary. Come and have some tea. I'm
+alone to-day. My husband will be very late home from town. So we'll
+have a tête-à-tête dinner."
+
+"And Cousin Thorold—I don't forget the 'cousin' you see—will not be
+here. I'm so glad. He's a little too interfering—means well, I dare
+say. I passed Winderball coming here, your nearest town, isn't it?
+I liked the look of it. It's quite big. I wonder if I could find an
+opening there. I should not mind settling near you, if you would leave
+me alone—I like you—no one could help liking you—you're so—so motherly."
+
+She was sitting on a low chair close to Mrs. Wharnecliffe, and just for
+a moment she laid a slender hand on that lady's arm.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe's eyes grew misty. She thought of two small graves
+in the country churchyard close by. She had only had five years of
+motherliness, and then boy and girl had both left her in a virulent
+attack of scarlet fever.
+
+Gentian went on talking:
+
+"Waddy has gone off to her sister. Isn't it strange how perfectly
+she trusts you? Before we came home, I had five or six different
+invitations in Italy, and she would let me accept none of them. There
+was the old Contessa De Nienti, she wanted me to stay with her, but
+Waddy said her only friends were men of doubtful reputation, and her
+house was not a fit one for a young girl. And one or two of my men
+friends wanted me to go and stay with their people, and there was a
+Mother Superior in the convent near. She wanted me as a guest, but
+Waddy would have none of them. I suppose it is because you're so
+English, and your home is an English one, like the story-books! Oh, it
+is sweet to-day! I think I shall be very happy here."
+
+She paused, then added with twinkling eyes:
+
+"I and Mousie—we shall enjoy ourselves. But you will not spoil me. I
+mean to be a working woman, a hard-working woman, and I must train
+for it. Out in all weathers—they say you have torrents of rain
+perpetually—and up early and many hours without food. I have thought it
+all out."
+
+"You are not fit to rough it," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, glancing at
+the slim, delicate-looking girl with perplexed eyes. "If you had an
+accident to your car, on a lonely road, what could you do?"
+
+"A good deal. If it was a burst tyre, I could replace it; if the engine
+was too hot, I would cool it. If there were any strain or breakage of
+any part of the engine or valves, I would make for the nearest garage.
+I understand the making of the car. And I'm wiry and strong as iron—ask
+Waddy. I love machinery. If I had been a boy, I should have been a
+civil engineer."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe let her talk on all about herself. She wanted to get
+at the girl's mind. Every now and then she astonished her.
+
+After tea she went out to the garage to speak to the chauffeur about
+her car, then she was taken to her room by her hostess, and she stayed
+there enjoying the dainty comfort of her surroundings till the dinner
+gong sounded.
+
+There was no lack of conversation during the meal. Gentian talked
+amusingly about her first arrival in England and Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+proved herself a sympathetic listener. When it was over they went back
+to the drawing-room and at her hostess' request the girl went to the
+piano and began playing so softly and sweetly in the dusky twilight,
+that Mrs. Wharnecliffe was charmed.
+
+"Oh," she said, "you ought to do something with your music. I should
+like you to come over one day to a blind friend of mine. He is a great
+musician and has an organ in his hall which he plays himself. I should
+like you to know him. Anyone can drive a car, but it is not every one
+who can play as you do."
+
+"The Mother Superior wanted me to be their organist. They had such a
+lovely organ in their chapel, but though I went to a convent school, I
+never became a Roman Catholic. It does not appeal to me. Waddy says I
+have too modern a mind. I don't like anybody between me and God."
+
+She spoke in a hushed voice.
+
+"My little mother was not religious," she went on in that low voice;
+"not till she grew ill, and then she became frightened, and thought she
+had better turn, and have a priest. But I said 'No,' there was comfort
+and direction to be got out of the Bible, Waddy had always told me
+so, so I got it, and hunted about, and found out the most beautiful
+passages! They made me long to be on my sick-bed getting near the Gates
+of Paradise. And I read and read, and then I went to church to pray
+for her, and then I came back and found I could pray in her room, and
+we read and prayed, and prayed and read, till she was quite happy. She
+asked me to put over her grave:
+
+   "'Unto Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His Own Blood.'
+
+"That was how she went to Paradise with those words upon her lips. I
+think no Roman Catholic could have died more happily."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at her with soft sympathetic eyes.
+
+"You'll be a happy girl, if you have a happy religion. I believe
+Christianity is meant to be so."
+
+Then Gentian gave her soft little laugh.
+
+"Waddy says it is not good to be always happy; there is a side of us
+which remains uncultivated—a waste bit of ground, but when one loses
+one's mother, one goes through enough anguish to last a lifetime. I
+think if I may, I will go to bed now. I am rather tired."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe accompanied her upstairs, saw that she had every
+comfort for the night, then came down and sat in deep thought before
+the blazing fire awaiting her husband's return.
+
+He rallied her a little upon her extreme quietness.
+
+"Your new charge's responsibility has a depressing effect perhaps?" he
+queried after he had come in and told her all his news.
+
+"No—not depressing," was the quick reply; "but I'm wondering if trouble
+has been to my advantage or otherwise. I've lived very carelessly,
+Frank. Gentian has a deeper nature than I imagined. I'm intensely
+interested in her."
+
+Then she relapsed into her usual gay tone, and did not mention Gentian
+again that night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE HOUSE THAT WAS WAITING
+
+GENTIAN came to the breakfast table the next morning looking the
+embodiment of spring. She showed her enjoyment of her surroundings in a
+very fresh and unconventional fashion.
+
+"English people are so sociable," she said; "my mother often told me
+so. They do not eat their breakfast alone in their rooms, and think
+over their mistakes, and sins of yesterday, but they come together and
+plan their day out as we are doing now. Oh, it is all delicious. This
+is how I should like to live, but it takes money to do it, does it not?
+These lovely flowers and the garden of flowers up to the windows, and
+the glass and the silver, and the well-laid table. Waddy and I could
+never have this, never, never!"
+
+"I thought you were going to make your fortune," said Mr. Wharnecliffe
+with a good-natured smile.
+
+"Yes, I hope I am. Will you let me drive you to the station this
+morning in my car? You will see then that I am an experienced driver.
+And I want you to test my car, and tell me if you think it is a
+comfortable one."
+
+For an instant husband's and wife's eyes met across the table, then
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe said:
+
+"Let her do it, Frank. We'll tell Munn he will not be needed."
+
+Gentian was delighted. She drove her host to the station an hour later,
+and he found no fault with her driving, or with her car. Yet he, as
+well as his wife, expressed disapproval of her taking it up as a
+profession.
+
+"I would not let a daughter of my own do it on any consideration," he
+told her.
+
+"But if you and your wife were taken to the other world, and your
+daughter left alone with no money and no home, would not that alter the
+case?"
+
+"No, I should never rest in my grave if I knew that a young girl was
+being exposed to such a difficult and dangerous life."
+
+Gentian was silent. She did not come straight home after she had left
+the station. She picked up two old women trudging along the dusty
+road with heavy baskets of eggs which they were carrying to market in
+Winderball, and she drove them to their destination; then she explored
+the country on the farther side of the town, and coming back, bought a
+motor map of the county.
+
+When she arrived at the Hall, she found Mrs. Wharnecliffe in the garden
+giving directions to her gardener. They walked through the garden
+together, Gentian giving an account of her drive.
+
+"I am going to take you to have tea with Thorold this afternoon," said
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe presently. "He has invited us."
+
+Gentian looked at her with laughing eyes but with screwed-up lips.
+
+"He must leave me alone whilst I am your guest," she said; "I feel he
+will try to manage me, if I get to know him well. I suppose men can't
+help that assertive manner in dealing with women."
+
+"Thorold is a dear," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe quickly; "you must not
+abuse him to me. He is one of the most unselfish men on the face of the
+earth, and it is only lately that he has had any leisure or comfort. He
+has toiled early and late to support three young stepbrothers, and he
+was very badly off before his cousin died."
+
+"Then if he has known poverty, he ought to sympathize with me."
+
+"Does he not?"
+
+Gentian turned aside to pick up a fallen rose, for Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+was gathering some roses as she talked.
+
+"He looks a good man," the girl said after a short silence. "I won't
+discuss him any more."
+
+She was full of interest when they motored over to Crowhurst Manor,
+comparing the English country with Italy and telling Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+many of her experiences there.
+
+When they drove up the chestnut avenue that led to the Manor, and
+stopped before the old grey house with its ancient tiled roof and
+mullioned windows, Gentian expressed her admiration. She looked
+curiously about her as they entered the old square hall, and were
+ushered into the smoking-room and library where Thorold usually sat.
+Tea was spread on an oval table by the fire, which was an open one, and
+the blazing logs shed a bright glow on the silver tea service. Thorold
+came forward to greet them.
+
+"And this was my cousin's home," were Gentian's first words. Her face
+was grave as she spoke. Thorold looked at her.
+
+"Are you sorry you did not come here in his life time?" he asked her.
+
+"Certainly not. He was a stranger to me. Why should I leave my mother
+to go to a stranger?"
+
+"Now, Gentian," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe lightly: "we are here to enjoy
+ourselves, so we won't rake up the past. Shall I pour out tea for you,
+Thorold? I generally do, don't I?"
+
+She sat down to the table and made light conversation; for she did not
+want any sparring matches just now. Gentian relapsed into rather a
+pensive mood, but after tea she wandered up to the bookshelves.
+
+"Would you like to borrow a book?" asked Thorold. "I have all sorts and
+conditions as you see. Some of them are the best friends I have."
+
+Gentian's eyes glistened as she took one and another out of their
+shelves to look at. With a little nod of approval she said:
+
+"Ah yes, when I am very miserable, very lonely; when I have made Waddy
+weep, and feel it's an empty world I live in, I creep inside a book,
+and stay there till I'm happy again. I would like this life of a hunter
+in the Himalayas; may I take it?"
+
+"Yes, do, only don't wait till you are miserable to read it. And now
+I want to show you my garden, and then I'm going to take you into the
+small church close by. It's a little gem of the fifteenth century and
+has a most wonderful screen."
+
+They wandered out into an old-fashioned sunk garden laid out in rather
+the Dutch style. Gentian did not like it, and frankly said so.
+
+"Poor little bulbs, what freedom and individuality have they? All in
+rows and circles, the red together and then the yellows and then the
+blues! How sick they must get of each other! How they must long to get
+away alone and grow their own lives as they like. When I get rich—and
+I mean to one day—I shall have a garden where each flower will feel
+it is an individual personality. I won't have masses of the same sort
+all together—so monotonous and tame it must be for them! Ah! This is
+better."
+
+She was standing in the rock garden, and in every cleft of the rocks
+different plants were blooming.
+
+"You're a rebel by nature," said Thorold pleasantly; "that's the way
+with a good many nowadays. Every one wants to grow as he likes."
+
+"No, no. But we can have a corner to ourselves and not have every idea
+quenched."
+
+They walked across the old lawn under some ancient cedars, and then
+went down a path in a shrubbery until they reached the road by a
+private gate. Only a few steps down the road brought them to the little
+church. It lay in the midst of trees, the churchyard was beautifully
+kept and borders of spring flowers were on each side of the path, which
+led up to the church door. The door was not locked, and they went in
+quietly.
+
+Gentian caught her breath as she looked about her, and Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe saw her blue eyes get soft and dreamy. All her quick
+independent bearing seemed to forsake her; and she listened to
+Thorold's account of the old carved screen, and the beautiful mellow
+coloured windows, with quiet, pensive face.
+
+"Would you like to try the organ?" he asked her. "I will blow for you."
+
+For a moment she hesitated.
+
+"It's a very beautiful one, though small," he said; "your cousin
+Charles had a great affection for this little church; he spent a good
+bit of money on it. Everything is of the best in it, as you see."
+
+She moved towards the organ without another word. Mrs. Wharnecliffe sat
+down just inside the porch and waited. She knew she was going to have
+a treat, and when once Gentian's hands were upon the keys, she was not
+in a hurry to take them off. Her music absorbed her; she played without
+notes, and Thorold heard in wonder; he did not know she was such a
+musician. She played from memory; a medley; bits of Mozart, Chopin, and
+Bach. Then very softly and sweetly she began to improvise, and time and
+surroundings faded right away from her. She started when at last Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe touched her elbow.
+
+"Your blower will be getting tired. You have been playing for over half
+an hour."
+
+"Oh, it has been heavenly."
+
+Her cheeks were flushed and eyes bright, but she slipped off the organ
+stool at once, and thanked Thorold very prettily when he joined them
+again.
+
+"It's a good instrument," he said.
+
+"Yes, almost as good as the convent one."
+
+"And now I want you to come along the road a little farther," Thorold
+said.
+
+He and Mrs. Wharnecliffe walked out of the church together, but Gentian
+lingered behind, and when he turned he saw her kneeling in the aisle,
+her head buried in her hands.
+
+She caught them up a few minutes later. Her face was perfectly radiant.
+
+"I like your organ and your church better than your house and your
+books," she said.
+
+He smiled at her.
+
+"It's safer," he said.
+
+She hardly heard him.
+
+"What a darling sweet little house," she said, stopping suddenly before
+a small green wooden gate, and looking up a tiled path edged by box
+borders, to a quaint low grey stone house with broad windows, red
+japonica and yellow jasmine climbing up its walls.
+
+"This used to be the Vicarage," he said, "and was in your cousin's
+gift; but since his death, Crowhurst has been joined to the next parish
+where our rector lives, and I let this furnished. We lost our tenants a
+couple of months ago. Would you like to come inside? I have the key."
+
+"I think it's one of the cosiest houses I've ever seen," said Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe enthusiastically; "and it has an oak staircase nearly two
+hundred years old, Gentian. Come along in. I always envy the inmates of
+this house."
+
+They walked up the path, and Gentian was like a child in her ecstatic
+admiration over the low, quaint, old-fashioned room, with roomy
+cupboards in the thick walls, and oak beams across the ceilings. There
+were two sitting-rooms and a large kitchen downstairs and four sunny
+bedrooms above with a long attic in the roof.
+
+The furniture was in keeping with the house, the walls were all
+coloured a pale apple green, the doors and wainscotting dark oak.
+
+Gentian stood at one window overlooking a small garden and an apple
+orchard at the back.
+
+"There are English cottages and houses left like one reads of in
+books," she said; "how pretty I could make this!"
+
+"Would you like to try?" Thorold asked. He was sitting on the edge of
+an oak table, and looking at Mrs. Wharnecliffe, and not at Gentian as
+he spoke.
+
+"What do you mean?" the girl asked quickly.
+
+"Well, it seems waiting for some one, and Miss Ward thought it might
+suit you and her for a short time, until your plans were settled, or
+for longer if it suited you!"
+
+"And what may be the rent?" demanded Gentian, looking at him with
+surprise, pleasure, but also with a little defiance in her gaze.
+
+"We are in need of an organist," Thorold said slowly; "the present
+one has to ride over here every Sunday from the next parish, and he's
+an old man and he wants to give it up. If we could get hold of an
+organist, who would take the house in lieu of a salary, it would suit
+us down to the ground."
+
+"I hope you'll get one," was Gentian's cheerful response; "Waddy and I
+would not care to take a house and make it pretty, only to be turned
+out for some one else shortly."
+
+"But why shouldn't you be the organist?" said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who
+had been keeping silent with some difficulty up to now.
+
+Gentian turned to her with laughing eyes.
+
+"And this is the plot which Cousin Thorold began to hatch with Waddy in
+London, and which put her in such a good temper. Do tell me the whole
+of it. Of course I was brought to see my gilded cage to-day. It really
+is a darling little cage, but I'm afraid it's too out of the way for my
+car. And it's—it's too near my thoughtful cousin."
+
+"Oh, don't think about me," said Thorold dryly, "I like to live my
+life alone I should not expect you to be running in and out. You might
+borrow a book occasionally, perhaps."
+
+"How kind!" said Gentian. "But you see I must earn money to buy clothes
+and food. This house won't provide that—and who would want to employ
+my car out here? I might drive into Winderball every day, certainly. I
+must think about it and let you know."
+
+A shadow of sadness came into her eyes.
+
+"It's strange how kindness brings one a sense of loneliness. I have to
+settle my life apart from you two, for your one idea is to give, and I
+am a bad taker; Waddy tells me I am. I will not take from you, Cousin
+Thorold."
+
+"But this is not a gift. It is an exchange for your services. And
+remember it belonged to your cousin Charles, and do you know I am a
+little afraid of ghosts?"
+
+"Are you? How interesting! I think I'm rather fond of them. At least I
+should be if I saw any. It would be so uplifting and mystical. Whose
+ghost do you fear?"
+
+"Your cousin Charles. He might be very angry if I did not act towards
+you as he would have done."
+
+"Oh, he's an unknown person to me."
+
+Gentian was standing in the doorway as she talked.
+
+"Hush!" she said suddenly, putting her finger on her lip.
+
+A pert little robin hopping about the tiled path flew past her into the
+house. He perched himself on an oak chest in the tiny hall and lifting
+up his voice burst into ecstatic song.
+
+Gentian's pathetic face was instantly illumined with sunshine.
+
+"The darling! That settles it. I'll be your organist, Cousin Thorold,
+and come here to-morrow, if you like. Waddy will have to find the money
+to live here. I shan't want much in the way of food if I have music and
+robins and flowers to feed me, and I shall try to earn money at once. I
+shall have my car, and I'll take it to the station at Winderball every
+morning on the chance of picking up passengers."
+
+"That's settled then. St. Anselm's Vicarage is to be your new home."
+
+There was relief in Thorold's tone, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe smiled.
+
+"You will be near enough, dear, for me to see you very often," she said
+affectionately.
+
+"And I shall be still nearer Cousin Thorold," said Gentian with a
+doubtful look at him, "but he has assured me he never wants to see me."
+
+"I shall be close at hand if you get into difficulties," said Thorold
+quickly.
+
+They were out in the garden now. Gentian was on her knees in a moment,
+picking some daffodils from a bed under the window, and sticking them
+in her belt.
+
+"It's a darling little sunny home," she said.
+
+And then she relapsed into silence until they had walked up the road
+and reached the Manor. Here Mrs. Wharnecliffe's car was waiting for
+them.
+
+"Well," said Thorold, smiling at Gentian, "you must write to Miss Ward
+and tell her that you like the idea of living in the Vicarage. And you
+can settle in as soon as you like."
+
+"Yes," said Gentian, putting a hand on his coat sleeve and speaking
+very earnestly, "Waddy and I will be very happy here, if you will
+promise to leave us alone. It sounds rude, but I dread being managed by
+a man, and being pestered by his ideas of propriety and convention. I
+must live my life apart from your protection and care. I thank you with
+all my heart for giving Waddy and me this home. But your kindness and
+generosity must stop here. Let me feel that I am free in that house. Do
+not make it into a cage. Good-bye."
+
+She stepped lightly into the car with a wave of the hand. Thorold went
+into his house shaking his head.
+
+"All very well, my young lady. But you have dropped into my life like
+a thunderbolt, and I believe you have come to stay. Boys are a serious
+charge, but a girl is a stupendous one!"
+
+Driving home, Gentian chattered away to Mrs. Wharnecliffe as gaily as a
+bird.
+
+"I like the little house, and the organ almost next door will make life
+a perfect joy. But I shall have to earn my living, and the question
+is, will this county produce enough customers—fares—for me? I imagine
+most people who have big houses like you, have their own cars, and
+the country people in their sweet little cottages have no money to
+hire cars—they walk along the roads carrying their baskets like those
+dear old dames I took up in my car the other day. The class I want are
+city men going to town, and sightseers—Americans, who want to see the
+English country. I have a thought! Thomas Cook, who runs cars in town
+himself, might help me. I will tell him I am only forty minutes from
+town, and will take parties to do the English country."
+
+"My dear child," interrupted Mrs. Wharnecliffe, "you are not running a
+char-à-banc! Your car only holds four besides the driver."
+
+"Five. No, I will only take private parties."
+
+She relapsed into silence, looking very pensive, for a few minutes,
+then her face cleared, and seemed flooded with sunshine.
+
+"I will just live day by day, and I am going to fill myself with joy
+and peace, getting into that anchorage of bliss, that darling nest of a
+vicarage. May I give it another name, do you think?"
+
+"No, I should not alter it, for the country round know it by that name.
+St. Anselm's Vicarage, Crowhurst, is a pretty address, I think."
+
+
+When they arrived home, Gentian found a packet of letters awaiting her.
+She went off to her room with them, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe did not see
+her till dinner time.
+
+She was rather silent through the meal. Afterwards, when Mr.
+Wharnecliffe had retired to his smoking-room for a perusal of
+the evening papers, she said to her hostess as they sat over the
+drawing-room fire:
+
+"I heard from Mr. Paget to-day."
+
+"Is he your English friend?"
+
+"Yes, the only Englishman I have ever liked. Many of them came out to
+Italy with arrogant voices, and found fault with everything, and others
+seemed to be always busy making or losing money at the Casino. Jim
+Paget loved Italy, he does not like his country. He is in London now."
+
+"But you are not really engaged to him, Gentian, are you?"
+
+She gazed into the fire dreamily without speaking for a few minutes;
+then her blue eyes looked at Mrs. Wharnecliffe very quietly and
+directly.
+
+"I am still thinking about it."
+
+"Tell me a little more about him, dear. Describe him to me."
+
+"He is tall and fair, but his eyes are quick and restless, not like
+Cousin Thorold's. His are still and steadfast, but they break up
+sometimes into pools of laughter. I like him then, even when I know he
+is quietly laughing at me—Jim would never laugh at me, never! But he
+is magnetic and he pulls me after him sometimes against my will. He
+is very quick and enthusiastic, and lives his life breathlessly, and
+he would drag me after him anywhere and everywhere if I married him;
+and mind and body are so strong, I cannot keep pace with him! I should
+never have repose, and though I love doing and seeing everything, I
+like when I have done it all to sit down and rest and think about it.
+Jim never rests; he can think as he's rushing on. But oh, he is so full
+of life, that he keeps me full too!"
+
+"Has he any parents living?"
+
+"Yes, in Northumberland. That is the far north of England, is it not?"
+
+A grave look came into her eyes, then she shook her head in a pretty
+careless way.
+
+"We have discussed him enough. He is in England, so you may meet him
+and see what he is like. Now tell me, shall we go over to-morrow to the
+Vicarage and open its cupboards, and get out all the curtains, and see
+how pretty we can make it?"
+
+"Yes, I think we can; we will go in the morning. In the afternoon I
+want to take you to see my blind friend, Sir Gilbert Winnington."
+
+"I am going to have a charming time here," said Gentian, smiling up at
+her hostess like a pleased child. "I feel it was a happy day when we
+made each other's acquaintance."
+
+"Indeed it was," responded Mrs. Wharnecliffe warmly.
+
+And when Gentian had gone to bed, she said to her husband: "I feel
+increasing responsibility over this child. She is the last sort of girl
+to be out in the world alone, and I don't think Miss Ward is strong
+enough in character to deal with her. I wish she would give up this
+motor business."
+
+"Perhaps it will give her up," responded her husband cheerfully.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe shook her head doubtfully.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+JIM PAGET
+
+THE next morning Mrs. Wharnecliffe took Gentian over to St. Anselm's
+Vicarage. Thorold's old housekeeper was already there. They spent a
+very happy two hours in the house, for Mrs. Wharnecliffe was never
+happier than when arranging and beautifying rooms; and Gentian was like
+a joyous child, dancing in and out, and singing gay little Italian
+songs under her breath.
+
+By the time they were obliged to return home, chintz curtains were
+hanging in the windows, pretty rugs were underfoot upon the stained
+floors, and the whole house wore a habitable aspect.
+
+As they were walking away from the door, Thorold passed down the road.
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe called to him.
+
+"I hope everything is all right?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," responded Gentian, turning towards him her glowing radiant face.
+"It's the dearest little house in the world, and I've discovered that
+there are swallows building under the eaves. Does not that bring us
+luck? I am longing for Waddy to see it."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe turned to speak to her chauffeur, and Gentian's eyes
+suddenly became soft and grave.
+
+"I want to speak to you alone," she said to Thorold.
+
+"We will walk down the road," he said. "I hope you have no fresh
+difficulties about the house?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No, no. It is this. I have taken advantage of your kindness. I have
+claimed cousinship with you in a letter to a friend, and I thought I
+had better tell you."
+
+"That is what I hoped you would do," said Thorold.
+
+She clasped and reclasped her hands rather nervously. "It is Mr. Paget
+who has made it necessary. He is too rapid, too dictatorial, he sweeps
+me off my feet, and he wrote to me as if I were quite alone and forlorn
+in the world, and he said he wanted me to meet his parents, that they
+were very anxious to make my acquaintance, that they were staying in
+London and he was much disappointed that I had left town so soon. He
+expected me to come up at once and see him—to-morrow—and then he hoped
+I would come and stay with them in the North, but though he did not say
+it, I felt his parents would not invite me on a visit, unless they saw
+me and liked me; and I am not accustomed to that sort of thing. It is
+not for me to go to them for inspection, I prefer they come to me, and
+I do not want to be bothered with his parents at present. I am very
+happy here, and I shall be too busy earning my living soon to be paying
+visits in the North. So I wrote and said I might not be visiting London
+again for a long while; that I had a cousin down here, and that I was
+making my home here for the time. Do you mind? I hope not. I shall be
+using you as a buffer when occasion requires."
+
+Thorold smiled.
+
+"Ah, yes! I told you that, did I not? Very wise of you. I think I had
+better make acquaintance with this young fellow, and let him see that
+you must be treated with respect."
+
+"Oh," said Gentian airily; "that is not necessary. I can keep him in
+his place. I would be friends with no one who did not show me respect."
+
+Her little head rose a good inch higher as she spoke.
+
+"Mrs. Wharnecliffe must invite him down," Thorold said in his quiet
+determined manner. "I forget whether you are formally engaged to him or
+not?"
+
+"You cannot forget, for you have never been told," flashed forth
+Gentian; and then she made him a little graceful foreign bow, and
+turned back to the car.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe saw from Thorold's amused eyes and the girl's
+heightened colour, that there had been a few words between them, and
+Gentian soon enlightened her.
+
+"My cousin Thorold is a little too inquisitive," she said presently.
+"He thinks he has a right to know all my friends. And I see no reason
+for it. But I would like you to know Jim Paget, he is an Englishman and
+has a home I think something like yours. And he wants to see me, but it
+is not comme il faut for me to fly to him. He must fly to me. Would it
+be presuming on your kindness to ask you to receive him one day? And I
+could fetch him from the station in my car."
+
+"No, I would not like that. Certainly, dear, we will ask him down, but
+I will send our car for him. I was going to suggest having him here if
+you want to see him."
+
+"Thank you very much. I will write to him at once."
+
+
+In the afternoon Mrs. Wharnecliffe drove her over to see her old blind
+friend, Sir Gilbert Winnington.
+
+Gentian looked with interest at the old Tudor house as they approached
+it. The green leaves and shrubberies surrounding it with the spring
+flowers again evoked her admiration.
+
+"You have not the colour we have in Italy, but you are cool and green
+and shady and your trees are so big and old, that they look as if
+they've been here for hundreds of years."
+
+"And so they have," replied Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "And this house is five
+hundred years old."
+
+"Has your friend always been blind?"
+
+"No, only about seven years. He lives quite alone with a secretary who
+is devoted to him. But he often has nieces staying with him, and he is
+the most cheery contented being in the world."
+
+They were shown into a long low room which struck Gentian as one of the
+most comfortable she had seen in England. Books and pictures abounded;
+the easy chairs and couches were, all covered with soft blue leather,
+blue velvet curtains hung from the tall narrow windows, and thick
+Persian rugs were under foot.
+
+At a table near an open window sat Sir Gilbert and his young secretary.
+Gentian was introduced to them both, and then Mr. George Damers slipped
+away, and Sir Gilbert made his visitors comfortable beside him.
+
+"I am so glad you have brought your young friend to see me," Sir
+Gilbert said in a cheerful tone; "I always do like to have young people
+round me."
+
+"How do you know I am young?" asked Gentian.
+
+"By your voice," was the quick reply. "And you are quicksilvery by
+nature, and a little impatient."
+
+"You are a wizard! Waddy is always telling me the same."
+
+Then Gentian criticized her host. He was a tall, good-looking man,
+with a short grey beard, and rather delicately cut features. But there
+was a wonderfully peaceful look upon his face; he reminded Gentian
+of some of the saints in the pictures she had seen abroad. He and
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe talked together for some time and then he turned to
+Gentian.
+
+"I hear you play the organ. Come and see mine. It is in the hall."
+
+He led the way without a falter in his step, and it was not difficult
+to persuade him to play. Gentian sat back in an old carved chair in a
+dark corner of the hall, and as she listened, her whole soul was moved
+within her.
+
+Sir Gilbert played as she had heard few play before. The sweetness of
+the notes thrilled her through and through. Mrs. Wharnecliffe listened
+for some time, and then slipped away. She wanted to speak to Mr.
+Damers, and also wanted to leave Gentian alone with Sir Gilbert.
+
+When he at last ceased playing Gentian was at his elbow, and tears were
+in her voice.
+
+"Oh, it is beautiful! How can you play so! You touch my heart. It is
+like the angels must play in Paradise. Some people move to laughter and
+gaiety with their music, and some awe one, and some move to tears, but
+you draw one up and away to God himself. How do you do it?"
+
+He turned round on the organ stool and smiled at her.
+
+"Ah!" he said. "You respond to music, you love it. And do you love God,
+little one?"
+
+"When I am in church I do, and when I listen to music; and sometimes
+when I make it myself."
+
+"And never when you are quiet and still? Or do you never give yourself
+time to be quiet?"
+
+"Oh, I am quiet when I see a beautiful sky, or the moonlight over a
+lake, or the afterglow of the sunset on the snow mountains."
+
+He placed his hand on her shoulder.
+
+"Thank God every day of your life that you can see these things. He has
+given you much. What have you given Him? When we love we give."
+
+Gentian looked up at him with a wistful gleam in her blue eyes.
+
+"Oh, I don't love like that. I give a little money in church sometimes."
+
+Sir Gilbert smiled.
+
+"It isn't your pocket God wants, but your soul, the little soul that is
+still fresh and young and full of life and energy."
+
+Gentian was silent. She laid her hand on his sleeve and after a minute
+she said:
+
+"I like people to talk to me like that. No one ever has. And I want to
+get near Heaven. How can I give God my soul when I am alive? I hope He
+will take it when I die. When I think of Our Lord on the Cross I love
+Him, but I do not think often enough. I forget! There is so very much
+to interest me in the world. I want to see all I can, and know all I
+can, and do all I can. It does not give me time for thinking much."
+
+"Will you spare half an hour every evening before you go to sleep, to
+think about these things?"
+
+"I will try," was Gentian's sober reply.
+
+"If you live your life in touch with God, you will make a success of
+it. If not, you are one of this world's failures."
+
+"I do not like being a failure, but I love to be happy. I could not go
+into a convent and stay there as so many good women do."
+
+"God forbid. He wants you to enjoy life abundantly, but to enjoy it
+with Him, and in His service."
+
+"Play again to me, it helps me to think."
+
+So the blind man turned to his organ, and soon Handel's beautiful
+"Comfort ye my people" was pealing through the silent hall.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe slipped back to listen to it.
+
+When it was over Gentian's eyes were full of tears. But when they moved
+into another room to have tea, she exerted herself to talk. George
+Damers came back; he was a tall grave-looking youth, with something of
+Sir Gilbert's sweet expression about his face. He was very attentive to
+Sir Gilbert's wants, but when the meal was over Sir Gilbert asked him
+to show Gentian the conservatory. The brilliancy and variety of flowers
+there delighted her.
+
+"What a pity Sir Gilbert can't see his flowers. Why does he have them?"
+
+"He can smell them. He loves flowers. His life has not narrowed since
+he became blind. I think, on the contrary, it has widened."
+
+"You are very fond of him, are you not?"
+
+"He is a man in a thousand," was the quick reply. "I have reason to
+be grateful to him, for I was at my wits' end—I was one of those
+discharged soldiers after the war—incapable of continuing in the army,
+and I could do nothing else. He heard of me by chance, and took me in
+straight away. And every day the post is the medium of bringing relief
+to hundreds of others like myself, and every one he helps, he takes
+into his life. His purpose in it all is a great one, but he never talks
+about it."
+
+"I think," said Gentian slowly, "that he makes every one he knows
+better, doesn't he? He makes them good, like himself."
+
+"He tries to, at all events," the young secretary said.
+
+Gentian rejoined Sir Gilbert in a thoughtful frame of mind. He talked
+with her about her music, made her a present of a volume of short organ
+voluntaries, and wanted her to try his organ, but this she declined to
+do.
+
+"I could not play this afternoon," she said. "I have been listening to
+you, and your music and your talk is filling all my thoughts."
+
+On their way home she told Mrs. Wharnecliffe that she was sure that Sir
+Gilbert would not live very long.
+
+"He is too good to live," she asserted. "I have seen women who are
+good, but not men. Men leave religion to women—unless they are monks or
+clergymen. Sir Gilbert spends his days in pleasing God. People in the
+world don't do that unless they are going to die."
+
+"Oh, my dear child," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, smiling; "sometimes I
+wonder if you are six or sixty. Sir Gilbert is a very ordinary English
+gentleman. People call him a philanthropist, for he is very interested
+in all things that help and benefit young people. And he has a
+wonderful personal influence over them. There are many good men in the
+world, I'm glad to say, though you may not have met them. Goodness is
+not confined to dying men."
+
+Gentian was silent. She was very quiet for the rest of that day, but
+the next morning seemed quite to have recovered her usual high spirits.
+
+
+Two days afterwards, Jim arrived. Mrs. Wharnecliffe liked the look of
+him. She was amused at the determination on his part to be a big unit
+in Gentian's life, and at her proud aloofness and determination that he
+should keep his distance, and only have what she chose to give him.
+
+He swept away at once all idea of Gentian assuming the profession of
+chauffeur.
+
+"It is ridiculous, and impossible, and out of the question. You must
+come and stay with us, and my mother will show you why it is the last
+calling in the world for you."
+
+"But I do not know your mother," said Gentian slowly, "and her views
+and mine might be very far apart."
+
+Jim was a tall, muscular young fellow. Be towered over Gentian now,
+like some great Saxon giant.
+
+"You alone in a car driving strange men about! Do you think your
+mother would have allowed it! I've seen three women chauffeurs. Thank
+goodness, they're of a different sort and make to you! And if you get
+hung up, with a burst tyre or a puncture or get run into by one of
+these char-à-bancs, where are you then? It's preposterous, absurd, not
+to be thought of! If you have a craze for motoring, you must come to
+us, and I'll tour you round for a bit. We'll take a run over the border
+into Scotland. You want to see everything and you must see that. When
+will you come? My people will be in town for the next fortnight, but
+they'll be home the end of the month. Can you come to us the first week
+in June?"
+
+"I think not," said Gentian. "I am going to move into my new house with
+Waddy that week. I am very much occupied just now. In England we do not
+live the life of Italy. There the sun and the flowers help to keep you
+lazy. It is just a life of pleasure, of taking your ease. Here every
+one who is not rich works, do they not, Mrs. Wharnecliffe? Girls as
+well as men. We have to earn our daily bread. My car and my music and
+my house will take up all my time. My cousin has placed this house at
+my disposal, he lives near—"
+
+"But do you mean that you will not pay us a visit?" Jim Paget's face
+showed great discomposure. "Your cousin, you say—you did not know
+he existed a few months ago. What has he to say to it? We are old
+friends—we are more than old friends—we—"
+
+He glanced at Mrs. Wharnecliffe impatiently, wishing her out of the
+room, but she did not take the hint.
+
+Gentian was perfectly serene and composed.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Jim. We are old friends, as you say, and
+perhaps some time later in the summer I may like to come and see your
+mother. But not just now. Have you a rock garden in your home? Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe has a beautiful one; would you like to come and see it?"
+
+Jim Paget got up with a sigh of relief, and Wharnecliffe wisely let the
+two young people wander out into the garden by themselves. They were
+there a long time. Sitting in her drawing-room by the open window, Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe was at last aware by the sound of their voices that they
+were returning to the house.
+
+Jim's voice was raised in indignant protest. "Are you going to keep me
+hanging about till you see some one you may like better?"
+
+"No, dear Jim. I will not do that, take your dismissal at once. I mean
+it. I will not be bullied. Every one thinks he can browbeat and manage
+a girl that is alone. And I have a soul and mind as well as my body,
+and it is my soul you do not understand. It will not lie down to be
+trampled upon. If I married you, it would not be my own at all; you
+would have it in your hands, refusing to let it breathe and slowly
+squeezing it to death."
+
+"Oh, Gentian, don't be so ridiculous!"
+
+Jim's face was hot, and his tone not too gentle.
+
+And then Gentian came with flying steps into the drawing-room through
+the open French windows. She stopped short for an instant when she saw
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe, then she slipped into an easy chair with a little
+sigh.
+
+"It is very warm in the garden. We have seen your rock garden, Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe, and I believe Jim has gone to his room to pack up his
+things."
+
+"But he is staying with us another night, is he not?"
+
+"I don't think he will. Urgent business will summon him to town."
+
+There was a hint of laughter in Gentian's wonderful blue eyes. Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe wondered if she were heartless.
+
+But Jim was not easily crushed. He came down to dinner that night and
+talked politics hard with Mr. Wharnecliffe, showing himself a keen
+student of his country's constitution. He almost ignored Gentian,
+who was very quiet and pensive, and after dinner went off to the
+smoking-room with his host.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe did not press for Gentian's confidence and the girl
+retired early to bed. Jim said nothing about leaving, but came into the
+drawing-room just as Mrs. Wharnecliffe was about to leave it.
+
+"May I speak to you?" he said very earnestly.
+
+"Come along and sit down," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe cheerfully; "Gentian
+has gone to bed. She was tired."
+
+"Oh, I would not have troubled her with my company to-night," he said a
+little bitterly.
+
+"I am afraid you young people have been rubbing each other up," said
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "Can I help towards smoothing matters out? First of
+all, I should like to know how things are between you."
+
+"We are virtually engaged," said Jim quickly. "At least, I thought we
+were. Gentian has never been practical about it, she always says we
+don't know each other well enough to be sure whether we shall suit each
+other. And I—I'm desperately in love with her. I've been so for five
+years. You don't know her as I do. She's the sweetest-natured girl in
+the world, but elusive, and she lives in a dream world of her own,
+and thinks every one a saint, and her moods are as many as the stars
+in the heavens. She's angry with me now, but in the morning she'll be
+sorry—she always is. I cannot stand her taking up this car business. Is
+she fit for it? Do you consider she is?"
+
+"Most certainly not, but though I don't know her as well as you, I know
+she must be persuaded and not driven, and I am going slowly. I don't
+think it will come to anything."
+
+"Oh, I don't know. She has such a daring adventurous streak in her. I
+want you to be my friend, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I can afford to marry.
+I am in business in the city, and it's doing well. I can give her a
+comfortable home, and at my father's death, I come into the family
+property. I'm the only son. Gentian has no need to earn her living. I
+am ready and waiting to give her a happy home. Do talk to her, and let
+something definite come of this visit of mine. I'm so glad to find her
+amongst people of her own. You're a kind of cousin, aren't you? Do, for
+her sake, if not mine, persuade her to be properly engaged to me, and
+then we'll get married as soon as possible."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe was touched by the young man's impetuosity.
+
+"Do you think you would be really able to make her happy?" she said
+slowly. "You see, I place Gentian first. She is almost like a daughter
+to me already, and I am certain that if Gentian married where she did
+not really love, a very unhappy future would be in store for herself
+and her husband. She is a very wilful little person. I think you are
+the same. Would you expect her to give way to you always?"
+
+Jim looked slightly uncomfortable.
+
+"Oh, if she belonged to me, I would make her happy," he said; "it's the
+uncertainty that irritates me at times."
+
+"Do you want me to talk to Gentian and plead your cause?"
+
+"If you will. She's missed her mother so, and old Waddy is no good at
+all. You're a woman of the world, and you can make her see that we
+can't go on in this indefinite way any longer. It's good for neither of
+us."
+
+"And you'll take your dismissal courageously and quietly, if she wishes
+it?"
+
+Jim's face fell.
+
+"Oh, she can't dismiss me after all these years. I won't think it
+possible."
+
+They talked together for some little time, and finally Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe promised to speak to Gentian the next morning.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE
+
+THE young people met at breakfast as if nothing had happened between
+them. Gentian was her bright happy self again; she wanted to drive Jim
+to the town in her car, but he made the excuse that he was going to
+write business letters in the library and would prefer not to go out
+till the afternoon.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe was just going to speak to Gentian when Thorold
+arrived over. He had come to ask Gentian if she could possibly take the
+organ the following Sunday.
+
+"Could I do it?" she questioned half-diffidently, half-eagerly.
+
+"If you come to the practice to-night at six o'clock, our organist
+would be there, and would put you in the way of it; but he has to
+go away to see a sick relation to-morrow, and will not be back till
+Monday."
+
+"I'll come. Mr. Paget is here; would you like to see him?"
+
+"I shall be very glad to make his acquaintance. Does he know of the
+buffer's existence?"
+
+"I've dragged you into every other sentence. I think he thinks you and
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe are brother and sister, and you mustn't undeceive
+him."
+
+Then she looked at him sternly.
+
+"I remember now, you told me you wished to see my friend, and the organ
+is just an excuse. You came on purpose to see him."
+
+"Perhaps I did," said Thorold dryly.
+
+"He is in the library, writing letters. I don't think he wishes to be
+disturbed."
+
+"Oh, I will fetch him," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who had no qualms about
+interrupting her visitor's occupation.
+
+She was not surprised to find him smoking a cigarette and moodily
+sitting by the window doing nothing.
+
+"I want you to make acquaintance with Gentian's cousin, Mr. Holt," she
+said cheerfully. "May I bring him in here?"
+
+"This is your house," the young fellow said, rising hastily from his
+seat in some confusion; "of course I shall be very glad to see him."
+
+So Thorold was brought in and introduced; and then Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+went back to Gentian, who did not look very pleased. "Cousin Thorold is
+very obstinate in doing his own will," she said; "why does he come over
+to see Jim Paget? Does he want to see if he is a fit friend for me?
+If he was a gorilla, I should stick up for him if I wanted to. Cousin
+Thorold couldn't well prevent me."
+
+"Now, Gentian, my dear child, I want you to be frank with me. This
+Mr. Paget considers you are virtually engaged to him. Is this so? He
+evidently wants matters to be settled. Is it that you cannot make up
+your mind? Do you really like him? I want to help you if I can. He
+says he has known and loved you for five years. You cannot keep a man
+waiting too long, though I own you are full young yet to marry. He
+seems to me a nice straightforward man with means of his own and he is
+very fond of you."
+
+"He has been getting hold of you. I told you the other day what I feel
+about him. He is too strong-willed for me. I don't know which is worst,
+he or Cousin Thorold. Of course Cousin Thorold is more reliable, and a
+little kinder. I saw him pick up a village child and kiss it the other
+day when it had fallen and hurt itself. Jim would never do that, he
+would push it out of his way. Jim is going through the world elbowing
+people right and left—clearing his way, and knocking down everybody
+and everything that stops his progress. Cousin Thorold looks out for
+those he can help, but he likes to manage those he helps, and that's
+where they are alike. Jim likes to manage too. No, it's no good, Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe, if Jim wants his answer now, I'll give it to him, but
+I shall be awfully sorry if he goes away in a huff and never sees me
+again; because I shall have no friend left then; and he has always been
+as good as a brother to me."
+
+"It is only fair to him that it should be one thing or the other," said
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe; "if you don't want to marry him, you must not keep
+him hanging round you."
+
+Gentian was silent. Then she said in an animated tone: "Now I wonder
+what those two are talking about? May I go and see?"
+
+"I think you had better wait. They will come to us when they want us."
+
+And in a very few minutes Thorold came in. He addressed himself to
+Gentian.
+
+"The interview has been very satisfactory. I like your friend."
+
+"How kind of you!"
+
+Gentian's tone was non-committal. It might have been sarcasm, or an
+expression of pleasure.
+
+"But I have told him that you are settling down here for the present,
+and he must not worry you to go away, if you want to stay here."
+
+"No one will worry me to do anything that I do not want to do," said
+Gentian calmly.
+
+"Then why the little creases on your brow at present?"
+
+Gentian looked up at him and laughed.
+
+"You make the creases; I always feel my bristles rising when you come
+near. You think you've got to take care of me and guide my steps, and
+you want to lock me up in a glass case and keep me there."
+
+"As a precious ornament," said Thorold; "you ought to be flattered. It
+is only treasures that require guarding."
+
+Then he altered his tone.
+
+"I don't want to make any more creases. They do not suit you, so I'll
+leave you. If Mr. Paget would like to see the Vicarage this afternoon,
+my housekeeper will have the keys. I shall be out."
+
+"Thank you. I daresay we may stroll down there."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe walked down the drive with Thorold.
+
+"I really don't understand her one bit," she confided to him; "I am
+pretty certain she is not in love with this boy, but what she intends
+to do is past my comprehension. He wants to be definitely engaged to
+her. I have told her it must be one thing or the other. They have been
+going on like this for nearly five years. It's my belief she clings to
+him as to an old friend, and does not want to lose his friendship. She
+said as much to me."
+
+"He means to settle it to-day," said Thorold. "If she sends him away,
+we shall have the responsibility of her altogether. I was wishing
+the other day that she were my daughter. Now I don't know. Girls are
+difficult to manage."
+
+"Miss Ward will have the charge of her very soon," said Thorold easily;
+"and I dare say she and this young fellow will settle it up together.
+He's very fond of her."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe gave a little sigh.
+
+After lunch Jim Paget and Gentian set off for the Vicarage. They were
+gone nearly three hours, and then Jim returned alone with a very rueful
+face.
+
+"Where is Gentian?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe when she saw him.
+
+"Oh, she's staying on for the organ practice. Mr. Holt's housekeeper is
+giving her tea. I've been dismissed for good and all, and I think I'll
+go back to town to-night, if you'll excuse my doing so. There's the
+7.30 express."
+
+"I am sorry," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, and her heart ached for the young
+fellow, whose face looked haggard and drawn.
+
+"I didn't look for it, and that's a fact!" he said. "After all these
+years too! I don't believe she knows what she's doing. She's enamoured
+with her new surroundings here. I wish—if I may say so—that you had
+never discovered her. If she and Waddy had been alone in London
+lodgings, she would have turned to me with joy. But she's crazed about
+this car of hers, and the little house and the organ. She'll find me
+wanting soon. I shan't give up hope. I shall be utterly silent to her,
+and perhaps after a time, she'll want to hear of me. I never shall
+marry anyone else, I know that."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe tried to comfort him. She ordered the car to take him
+to the station, and felt a little vexed with Gentian; but at the same
+time her instinct told her that the girl was right, for her heart was
+not Jim's. It still remained untouched.
+
+When Gentian came in, it was to find that Jim had gone. She looked
+rather blank when Mrs. Wharnecliffe gave her the news.
+
+"What an awful hurry he was in! I quite meant to wish him good-bye
+properly and to part friends. But perhaps it is best as it is."
+
+"How did the practice go off?"
+
+"Oh, it was lovely! The organ is a gem, and I found it quite easy to
+play, and the small boys were such dears, and there's quite an old man
+who comes with them and sings the deepest bass, and keeps saying: 'We
+b'aint in 'armony!'"
+
+She gave an animated account of her doings, and seemed to forget
+Jim. But she was very quiet and pensive at dinner, and went to the
+piano afterwards, and played such dreary dirges, that at last Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe begged her to stop.
+
+"It's to mark the burial of my friendship with Jim, and all his hopes
+and mine. I really feel as if he has died. It is like it to me. He says
+he will never see me again unless I send for him, and I shall never do
+that."
+
+"I hope you do not regret having sent him away."
+
+"Of course I do!" she said passionately. "You can't give up a friend
+without feeling it. You have made me do it. You and he together. I
+could not marry him, but lots of girls have men friends, and I call him
+selfish to leave me for ever like this."
+
+"I think you are selfish to accept his love and attentions when you
+know you do not mean to make him happy."
+
+"I am very, very selfish," said Gentian in a humble tone; "I always
+have been. But if he was unselfish, he would not wish to force me
+against my liking to marry him. Shut up with Jim all my life! Oh, I
+couldn't live! I should die. It would be dreadful!"
+
+Then she slipped her arm through Mrs. Wharnecliffe's with a wistful
+smile up at her.
+
+"Oh, do love me and be kind to me I have forsaken Jim, for you and
+Cousin Thorold. Perhaps you would rather I had married him, so as to
+get rid of me. I feel sure that Cousin Thorold wanted me to do it. But
+I won't burden you with the care of me. When I get Waddy again, I shall
+be quite independent, and so busy that I shall have no time to come and
+see you."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe kissed her.
+
+"My dear Gentian," she said, "I am very glad we are not going to
+lose you. And I mean to see a great deal of you in the future. I am
+old-fashioned enough to believe in love matches, and if you don't love
+a man, don't marry him. That is my advice. I have seen disaster again
+and again come upon young people, because they married in haste for
+expediency."
+
+So Jim Paget departed out of Gentian's life, and at the end of a few
+days, she seemed as if she had forgotten all about him. She was getting
+quite absorbed in her small house, and when the day came for her to
+move into it, and Miss Ward was expected to arrive, she was as excited
+as a child.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe felt a blank in the house when she left her. Gentian
+made her presence and personality felt wherever she went.
+
+
+About a week after she moved in, Thorold, taking a morning walk past
+the house, was confronted by a large white notice board in its front
+garden facing the road.
+
+"Car for hire. Apply within."
+
+He was standing looking up at it with disapproval stamped upon his
+face, when Gentian's voice over the hedge surprised him.
+
+"Well, and what do you think of it? I am afraid we are too out of the
+way for people to see it."
+
+"I don't like it at all," said Thorold gravely.
+
+"What a pity! I am proud of it. I have had two fares already. Every
+morning I drive into Winderball and go slowly up and down the high
+street with my notice 'for hire' staring every one in the face. They
+won't let me stand in the station yard, so that is all I can do, but I
+took a gentleman to the station yesterday, and the day before I drove
+a young couple to see an empty house about eight miles out. That was a
+good stroke of business. I shall get on in spite of your disapproval.
+I could not stay here if I did not. Don't you want to go and see Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe and ask her opinion about my notice board? I will run you
+out this afternoon if you like. The journey there and back will be
+twenty-two shillings. I cannot take tips, as it is my own car."
+
+"I am afraid you do not tempt me," said Thorold, smiling in spite of
+himself. "Having a motor-bike and a horse, I am independent of cars."
+
+"Oh, of course, you are what they call complete in yourself. Now, dear
+Cousin Thorold—"
+
+She changed her tone and began to coax:
+
+"Don't fight me about this board. It means a livelihood for me, and I
+do not like cross faces and expostulations. All yesterday Miss Ward was
+telling me you would not like it. And I said to her:
+
+"'Cousin Thorold is a sensible broad-minded man, and very kind at
+heart!'
+
+"Are you not? We'll say no more about it. Now can you tell me if this
+is the time to plant roses? I want some badly, and there is a woman
+called Mrs. Guddings in the village who has a moss rose, and tells me
+she will give me a root of it."
+
+Thorold succumbed, and the talk veered to roses. The board remained up,
+and only two days afterwards it brought Gentian business.
+
+She was gardening very busily, and Miss Ward was having her afternoon
+siesta, when a middle-aged lady appeared at her gate. She seemed in
+some haste and agitation.
+
+"We've had a breakdown at the bottom of the road, and I want to get to
+town urgently to see a sister who is ill. We heard from a cottage that
+there was a car for hire here. Can you lend it to us? I conclude there
+is a driver."
+
+"I drive my car myself," Gentian said with her greatest dignity. "I
+will come with you at once."
+
+The lady looked at her in a surprised fashion.
+
+"Can you take a small amount of luggage? I have a niece with me, but we
+shall be obliged to send our chauffeur back to the town with the car.
+You look very young. I know girls do drive cars in these days, but have
+you had much experience?"
+
+"I have done the journey from town here with perfect ease, and know the
+road well. Would you like to see the car?"
+
+Without waiting for an answer, Gentian led the way to her garage.
+
+The lady looked at the car critically, but appeared satisfied. She
+asked if Gentian could start at once.
+
+"In five minutes," said Gentian.
+
+"Then I will go back and relieve my niece's mind. It is her mother who
+is ill, and we have missed the train to town."
+
+Gentian slipped quietly up to her room and got into her motor kit,
+being careful not to disturb Miss Ward, for she was doubtful as to what
+that lady would say to this expedition, as it was already late in the
+afternoon. She left a message with the servant for her, and then drove
+her car rapidly down the road.
+
+She found the two ladies anxiously awaiting her. Their car was in the
+ditch, and their chauffeur hard at work trying to get it back into the
+road.
+
+It was only the work of a few minutes to get her passengers and luggage
+arranged for the journey, and then Gentian with glowing eyes and
+cheeks, and a proud consciousness of her own powers, drove steadily
+along the London road.
+
+The run was made very successfully. Gentian was offered some
+refreshment at the London house, but she declined, as she was anxious
+to get back. It was a very sultry evening, and there was every
+appearance of a storm brewing. She had got well out of London, and
+was in a very lonely part of the country when the storm burst full
+upon her. Vivid lightning and peals of thunder rather shook her nerve.
+It was with a sense of relief that she came to a wayside inn which
+possessed a garage, and very soon she and her car were taking advantage
+of the shelter.
+
+The storm was a heavy one, and lasted nearly an hour. Gentian had a
+dish of eggs and bacon and a cup of tea in the inn parlour, but there
+were some rough-looking farmers who tramped in and out, and she felt
+uncomfortable when they persisted in talking to her. One of them asked
+her to give him a lift. She refused, as she saw he had been drinking
+freely, and she was very glad when she was able to start again, and get
+away from them all.
+
+It seemed as if misfortune dogged her steps. She had got a little more
+than half-way, when suddenly one of her tyres burst. It was now just
+dark. She was on a road bordered by thick pine woods on each side, and
+there was not a house within sight. She got out and with the light of
+her lamp commenced to remedy matters. She had a spare tyre and had
+been taught how to put one on, but a man had helped her, and she did
+not seem to have the strength to screw the jack up, to get the tyre
+off the ground. She exerted all her strength, but the wheel refused to
+lift. Time went by. She was perilously near tears, and the feeling of
+helplessness and inability to remedy matters, made her furious with
+herself.
+
+At last she determined that she must leave her car where it was, and
+walk on till she could get help from some one. It was at this juncture
+that she saw a light approaching her. The noise told her that it was a
+motor-cycle, and she plucked up courage to shout for help. Her surprise
+was intense to find, the next moment, that the cycle rider was Thorold.
+
+"Oh," she cried. "I am glad to see you!"
+
+He got off his cycle at once, asked what was the matter, and very soon
+had the burst tyre removed and the new one in its place.
+
+"I thought something must have happened, as you did not turn up, so I
+came to meet you," he said simply.
+
+There was no word of reproach or "I told you so," and Gentian felt
+subdued and very grateful. She started her car again, and he drove by
+her side, till she reached the Vicarage, then he helped her to put her
+car by, wished her good night, and disappeared, but Gentian felt that
+she had not heard the last of this late run to town.
+
+Miss Ward with an anxious troubled face met her at the door. Her
+reproaches and remonstrances continued during Gentian's late supper.
+She got impatient at last.
+
+"I am tired, Waddy. You should never kick a person when she's down.
+Good night."
+
+And abruptly she left her and went to bed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A FRESH PROPOSITION
+
+IT was a very quiet Gentian who came into the small drawing-room the
+next afternoon, when she was told by Miss Ward that Thorold had called
+and wished to see her. She shook hands with him in silence, and seated
+herself on the low cushioned window seat.
+
+"I really meant to have asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe to speak to you about
+this," said Thorold coming to the point at once; "but I rather believe
+in doing disagreeable things oneself. I suppose you see for yourself
+how impossible it is for you to be a public chauffeur."
+
+"I am sure," said Gentian pathetically, "I have had enough
+expostulation and scolding and threatening from Miss Ward, but I am
+ready to have it over again. Please get it over as quickly as you can."
+
+"Supposing I had not been able to meet you, what would you have done?"
+asked Thorold rather brusquely.
+
+"I should have waited till some one came by."
+
+"And who would that have been? Just after we started do you remember a
+cart of drunken men who almost overtook us?"
+
+"Yes," said Gentian unguardedly; "I had already seen them at the inn."
+
+"Would you have liked their help?"
+
+"I should not have asked for it."
+
+"But they would have offered it, of course."
+
+"Well, I can look after myself. Girls have to do so nowadays."
+
+"They never will if I have anything to do with them." Thorold spoke
+sharply, and very determinedly. "Yesterday you were mercifully
+kept from harm, but did not your experience show you that you were
+absolutely unfitted to run a car as a man could?"
+
+"No," flashed forth Gentian; "it didn't. Difficulties make me long to
+overcome them. I won't be crushed by them. I think the jack must have
+been rusty. I shall practice using it till I can do it quite easily."
+
+"It must be stopped, Gentian. We will find something else for you to
+do. You cannot run a car for the benefit of the public."
+
+Gentian looked out of the window. When she turned round tears were
+trembling on the tips of her eyelashes.
+
+"You have no right to dictate to me," she said, trying to maintain her
+dignity.
+
+"Cheer up," Thorold said. "I don't want to take your car from you. But
+you must promise me that you'll never take any long journey so late in
+the day. And I'll see if we can't find something better for you to do."
+
+"If your car is for hire, you can't dictate to people the time you go."
+
+"Well, we'll trust you won't be asked to go off to London so late in
+the day again. And if it did happen that you were asked to take a night
+journey, you must absolutely refuse."
+
+Gentian said nothing.
+
+"I'm in dead earnest," Thorold said, looking at her.
+
+"Oh," said Gentian passionately, "I haven't a friend in the world
+except Waddy. Jim has left me, and you're determined to refuse me my
+liberty and shut me up here, and take away from me the only hope of
+earning my living and being independent."
+
+"Oh no. I will help you to be independent if I can. We won't quarrel.
+It's only because I want you to be shielded from unpleasantness and
+harm that I object to this car business. Forgive me, and let us part
+friends."
+
+He smiled upon her, and when Thorold smiled he was irresistible.
+
+Gentian put her hand into his.
+
+"Interfering with the object of doing others good, is your besetting
+sin, I think, Cousin Thorold. Good-bye. I was very glad to see you last
+night. Those woods on each side of me frightened me. I promise you I
+won't do night journeys again. I don't like them."
+
+She had recovered her spirits, but the next morning when she found that
+Thorold had quietly removed her notice board she was ruffled again.
+
+"Was there ever a more arbitrary, meddlesome, managing man than Cousin
+Thorold!" she said to Miss Ward.
+
+"I think he is one of the kindest, truest friends that any girl could
+wish to have," was Miss Ward's fervent response.
+
+And Gentian, seeing she would get no sympathy from her, said no more.
+
+She took her car into Winderball nearly every day, and it was
+astonishing how many fares she got.
+
+About a week later, she went out as usual one morning and did not
+return till six o'clock.
+
+Miss Ward asked her where she had been.
+
+"Out into the country a long way, and they made me take them a long
+round. They were looking at houses. Most of my good fares are people
+house-hunting."
+
+"Did you have any lunch?"
+
+"Yes, we stopped at an inn."
+
+She said no more, but all the evening was strangely silent and
+preoccupied. The next morning she did not take her car out, but told
+Miss Ward she was going to practise in the church. She had found a lame
+boy who was always ready to blow for her, when her usual blower was at
+school.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe appeared about twelve o'clock, and hearing the sound
+of the organ as she passed the church, stopped her car and went in.
+
+She could tell at once from Gentian's playing that all was not well
+with her. But she did not interrupt her, she took a back seat in the
+little church and waited.
+
+The music ceased at last. Gentian dismissed the lame boy; she had no
+idea that anyone was in the church but herself, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+felt a little uncomfortable when she saw her leave her organ stool and,
+slipping into one of the front seats, kneel down and bury her face in
+her hands.
+
+When Gentian rose at last, the church was empty; but she found Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe walking up and down the churchyard.
+
+They greeted each other affectionately; then Gentian turned rather
+eagerly to her.
+
+"Dear Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I think I'm going to make you happy. Certainly
+Cousin Thorold will be, but my future is very dark. I'm giving up my
+car. I shall never use it for the public, and I shan't be able to
+afford the oil for it, so I suppose I shall have to sell it."
+
+"Since when have you decided this, dear?" Mrs. Wharnecliffe asked
+gently.
+
+"Oh, I've lost all zest for it, for some days. And yesterday I said
+to myself 'never again.' I was driving four very common men about the
+country. And I didn't like them at all. And it isn't pleasant to be a
+girl sometimes, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. And I'd rather be a road-mender on
+the road, than everybody's and anybody's chauffeur."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe was much astonished, but could not hide her approval,
+and Gentian's eyes were keen and far-seeing.
+
+"Ah!" she said, throwing out her hands in her foreign gesture of
+despair. "I shall have no sympathy from anyone. I must learn to go my
+way through life without it. You are pleased when I am sad—you are sad
+when I am pleased."
+
+"My dear child, I cannot help feeling pleased when you show such
+wisdom. I wish you would tell me a little more. I am afraid you have
+experienced some unpleasantness. It was what we feared would happen.
+But I am sorry, very sorry for you."
+
+"It is past."
+
+Gentian drew herself up to her full height. There was pride and a
+little aloofness in her voice.
+
+"I will not talk about it, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. But I am hardly happy
+to-day. I cannot be—I wish—"
+
+Here her tone became impassioned and vicious.
+
+"I wish I was an old hag with a bald head and hairs about my chin, and
+a nutcracker mouth, and a hump on my back, and then I would drive my
+car anywhere, everywhere, by day, and by night, and enjoy myself!"
+
+"Oh Gentian, what a child you are!"
+
+Gentian joined Mrs. Wharnecliffe in her laughter.
+
+"I feel better now. Come and see Waddy. I have been as cross as two
+sticks to her all the morning. And I'll leave you to tell her of my
+decision, and she and you will sing a song of thanksgiving together,
+while I go for a solitary walk."
+
+"No, no, wait! I think I have some good news for you. I came along to
+tell it to you. It has come at the right time."
+
+Gentian smiled.
+
+"I'm sure it's another job you have found me. Let me guess. Is it to
+teach in the infants' school?"
+
+"No. Yesterday I was visiting some old friends of mine who live about
+five miles away. They are sisters, two elderly women. One is very
+strong—has never been ill in her life she says, and she still rides and
+hunts. The other is delicate, and lives too much indoors. Her doctor
+wants her to have air, and has suggested her having some motor-drives.
+She used to have a carriage, but was upset one day by a drunken
+coachman, and has never taken a drive since. She sold the carriage and
+horses and dismissed her coachman. I got her to drive with me the other
+day in my car, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. I suggested your taking
+her for regular drives every day, and she is delighted at the thought
+of it. She may eventually buy a car of her own, but at present she
+would like to consider yours at her disposal whenever she wants it. And
+she will give you anything you like to ask. She understands that if you
+keep your car for her, you will be unable to use it for anyone else."
+
+Gentian's face was a study. The brilliant colour came back to her
+cheeks and the light to her eyes. She seemed as if she could not speak
+for a few minutes; then her eyes grew misty and tears trembled on the
+edges of her eyelashes.
+
+"And so while I was praying," she said in a whisper, "the answer was
+coming along the road to meet me. Mrs. Wharnecliffe, if only you
+weren't an English woman I would throw my arms round your neck and
+hug you! Do consider it done, will you. How lucky I am to have such a
+friend! Am I to start to-morrow? Will she want me in the morning or the
+afternoon, or both?"
+
+"Not quite so fast. They would like to see you and talk it over. So I
+said I would bring you to-morrow, or rather that you would bring me in
+your car, so that they could see it."
+
+"Oh, do go and tell Waddy. She will be so glad!"
+
+But Gentian did not go in with Mrs. Wharnecliffe. She sped up the road
+to a certain small pine wood which she had discovered, and which served
+her as a delightful retreat when she wanted to be alone and think.
+
+She did not come away from it for a full hour. And then on the way home
+she met Thorold.
+
+"Well," he said; "have you had a good day at your trade?"
+
+"Have you not met Mrs. Wharnecliffe?"
+
+"No, I have been over the hill to one of my tenant farmers. Has she
+been in these parts to-day?"
+
+"Oh yes, indeed she has."
+
+Gentian leant against a gate in the hedge, and looked up at Thorold
+with a reflective light in her blue eyes.
+
+"I'm considering," she said, with a mischievous curl to her lips,
+"whether I shall keep back part of the truth from you. I think I will.
+You are not my Father Confessor. I am thinking of being a kind of
+private chauffeur to an invalid lady, a friend of Mrs. Wharnecliffe."
+
+"Capital!"
+
+"If she makes it worth my while, it will be less fatiguing than
+ordinary hire work."
+
+Thorold's face, like Mrs. Wharnecliffe's, showed relief and
+satisfaction.
+
+Gentian frowned.
+
+"So now when you pass me in the road, you needn't screw up your eyes
+to see whom I'm driving, and you needn't have your motor-cycle at hand
+ready to dash out and meet me if I am rather late in getting home. In
+fact you will be able to dismiss me entirely from your thoughts and
+observation. And forget that I exist."
+
+"I wonder if I shall," said Thorold in rather a drawling voice.
+
+"I shall be too busy to give you a thought," said Gentian with a little
+snap in her tone.
+
+And then Thorold laughed.
+
+"I was just going to ask you to come to a tea-party at my house the day
+after to-morrow. I have some farmers' wives coming—six of them—we're
+going to talk over the dairy stall at the flower-show in Winderball
+next month, and I want some one to pour out tea for them. I thought
+perhaps Miss Ward would come too—"
+
+In a moment Gentian's face cleared.
+
+"I shall love to come," she said enthusiastically; "I adore pouring out
+tea! And farmers' wives are great fun, I'm sure!"
+
+"They will be very serious, for it's a committee meeting, and if you've
+had no experience of them, you will be astonished at the gravity of the
+situation."
+
+"Oh, I won't let them be grave. I can always make people laugh if I
+want to. It's a pity you're so grave, Cousin Thorold. Perhaps when
+you realize that the burden and cares of my livelihood are no more
+necessary, you will take a brighter view of things."
+
+"It's a wonderful thing—the different point of view that people take.
+Now Mrs. Wharnecliffe always complains that I am frivolous!"
+
+"Oh, I know what she means. You never seem in earnest, or care about
+anything very much. That's why you annoy me so. You always seem
+laughing at me up your sleeve!"
+
+"Then I do know how to laugh sometimes?"
+
+Gentian made an impatient movement, as if she were about to walk on,
+then she turned towards him again.
+
+"You're a solid bit of rock, and I'm just a bubble! That's what I feel
+when I talk to you. And I feel more bubbly than ever now that I have a
+fresh start in front of me. Ah! I forgot! I can make no engagement for
+the day after to-morrow. My old lady may want me—"
+
+"She'll be enjoying tea under her mulberry tree at the time I want you—"
+
+"Well, don't be surprised if I fail to turn up. She may be going to
+a tea-party. Perhaps she may come to yours. But she isn't a farmer's
+wife."
+
+"I have one lady coming to me. She is a Miss Horatia Buchan."
+
+"Then she can pour out tea if I don't turn up. Good-bye."
+
+She nodded to him and walked on.
+
+Thorold went on his way, but he muttered to himself:
+
+"Now I wonder what has upset the child and caused this revolution. Wild
+horses would not have dragged her to this old lady a week ago!"
+
+Gentian went straight to her garage and pulled out her car. For half an
+hour she cleaned and oiled it, then she walked into the house and had
+her lunch.
+
+Miss Ward was of course beaming.
+
+"It seems the very thing for you, dear. How kind Mrs. Wharnecliffe is!
+I feel I shall not be anxious now about you, for I shall know that you
+are in good company."
+
+"I'm going to run over and see Sir Gilbert after lunch," said Gentian;
+"would you like to come? It's a pretty drive—"
+
+"No thank you. I'm not fond of motoring, as you know."
+
+
+It was not the first time Gentian had been to see the blind man. She
+and he had struck up a great friendship. And he was pretty certain to
+see her if she was in any difficulty or trouble. But to-day she arrived
+over in the best of spirits. It was a very warm afternoon and she found
+him on the lawn under an old cedar.
+
+His secretary was reading to him, but he closed the book when he saw
+Gentian and slipped away, for he knew the two liked to be together for
+a tête-à-tête talk.
+
+"Sir Gilbert, it is true, quite true what you told me the other day.
+I put it to the test. You said if we took a right step, we should
+not suffer for it, that God always gave better than we could give
+ourselves. I decided this morning early that I would be a public
+chauffeur no longer. I think I have been driven to it. But it cost me
+a lot to give it up, only I knew it was the right step, and I was in
+such trouble about it that I went into church to comfort myself with
+the organ. And you know, for you play yourself, how the organ makes you
+think of Paradise, and of God, so I left the organ and got down on my
+knees and prayed that God would give me something better than what I
+was giving up. And the answer came directly. Mrs. Wharnecliffe came up
+and told me an old lady wanted the monopoly of my car, and I was to be
+her chauffeur. Isn't it splendid! I'm going to see her to-morrow."
+
+Sir Gilbert smiled.
+
+"It's good news for all your friends," he said; "none of us have liked
+your occupation."
+
+"No—and it shows how wicked I am at heart, for the thought of Cousin
+Thorold's satisfaction, and of Mrs. Wharnecliffe's relief, and Waddy's
+thankfulness, makes me just long to go back to it. They've all proved
+so annoyingly right in their fears and surmises."
+
+"You feel that the young ought to prove more wise in their judgments
+than the old? Well, we all have done that in our time, and as we grow
+older our heads are bowed lower down. Age teaches humility."
+
+"I feel humbled to the dust, but I'm very grateful for my answered
+prayer. And it makes me want more than ever to be good, really good
+like you. Do you think I shall ever be so? Don't say you aren't good."
+
+"None of us are really good, my child. But you will learn to love more,
+and then your service will be easier."
+
+Gentian's face was very sweet and grave. She clasped her hands round
+her old friend's arm and looked up into his face very earnestly.
+
+"I have felt uncomfortable for weeks. I knew that I was doing every day
+what you all disapproved of! Now to-morrow I am making a fresh start.
+And I will learn to love more, and trust more. Now will you play to me?"
+
+Sir Gilbert gladly acquiesced; he went to his organ and Gentian settled
+herself in a comfortable chair to listen.
+
+Sir Gilbert had said to Mrs. Wharnecliffe:
+
+"Your little friend has a dual nature: she is by turns a wayward, gay
+little soul, and a very sweet and earnest aspirant after holy things."
+
+And certainly now, Gentian, with her wistful eyes and rapt grave face,
+was very different from the mischievous laughing girl which most
+outsiders knew and admired.
+
+When the music ceased Gentian rose to go.
+
+"One day I shall compose," she said slowly and thoughtfully; "and my
+first composition will be a soul's flight to Paradise. We often get to
+the gates before we die. We go up like the skylark and then we drop as
+swiftly as he does to earth again. I get so close to the gates when you
+play to me! And when you stop, I drop like a stone to the ground."
+
+"Then my music is of no use to you," Sir Gilbert said a little sadly.
+
+"But yes, it is," she said, seizing his hand and keeping it between
+both of hers. "We can't live above the earth always; but it makes me
+long and long for the Unseen Land. And I am praying and trying to live
+as I should, till I reach it."
+
+"May God bless you, my child," was the blind man's quick response.
+
+And then Gentian bent her head and pressed her lips to his wrinkled
+hand.
+
+"I have come to you in my bad moments," she said; "and to-day I thought
+I must give you my good news. Au revoir."
+
+She left him and arrived home with a happy, smiling face.
+
+"Waddy, you did a good thing when you came down here on my account. I
+think we're going to have a rattling good time, don't you?"
+
+Miss Ward smiled.
+
+"Well, yes, my dear, we have certainly fallen on our feet. There are
+very few men so generous and kind as your cousin has been to us."
+
+"Oh, Cousin Thorold. I wasn't thinking of him. He's a very good buffer,
+as he said, and he's useful at times, but there are other friends round
+about us, and I hope I shall make fresh friends to-morrow. I'm longing
+to see my new employer."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A PRIVATE CHAUFFEUR
+
+"MRS. WHARNECLIFFE and Miss Brendon," announced an elderly maidservant,
+opening the door of the big drawing-room at the Mount.
+
+The two occupants of the room looked at Gentian rather critically as
+she approached them. She wore her close-fitting motor-cap, and a long
+white linen coat fell down to her slim ankles. She might have been a
+stripling of a boy, so neat, and taut, and severe was her attire.
+
+The eldest Miss Buchan spoke to her first, and Gentian's expressive
+face kindled under her friendly look. Miss Anne Buchan was a handsome
+old woman with dark eyes and white hair, and an extreme air of
+fragility. She looked like some hothouse flower that had never been
+exposed to any fresh breezes or pure air. She was slight in build and
+rather tall, and stooped as she walked. Miss Horatia was younger, with
+a rugged tanned face and big blue eyes, and a humorous mouth. She was
+standing in the window mending a hunting crop and whistling as she did
+so. Whilst Miss Anne was clothed in rich satin gown with priceless
+lace about her neck, Miss Horatia was in a white shirt and rough tweed
+skirt, with two big pockets, which held contents that schoolboys would
+have envied.
+
+"And so this is my lady chauffeur," said Miss Anne pleasantly, as she
+shook hands with Gentian. "You seem very young for the post, but youth
+is to the fore now. It is we old people who are needed no longer."
+
+"Not to give us advice, and remind us of the good old days which have
+gone for ever?" said Gentian with her mischievous smile.
+
+"Ah, I wonder if you will take advice from anyone!" Miss Anne responded.
+
+Miss Horatia looked sharply up from her employment.
+
+"How d'ye do?" she said brusquely. "What's your name?"
+
+"Gentian Brendon."
+
+"Oh, these new-fangled names; who chose that for you?"
+
+"Do you mean Gentian? My mother. When I was a baby. I had eyes that
+reminded her of the flower."
+
+"And they're the same now," said gentle Miss Anne. "Sit down, child.
+Now, Lallie, how are you?"
+
+For the next few minutes Gentian sat and listened to the conversation
+which followed, and in which she felt she had no part. Miss Horatia
+said very little; occasionally she put in a word. Presently she turned
+to Gentian and said suddenly:
+
+"Do you realize that you and I are representatives of two centuries?"
+
+"But you are not very old?"
+
+"I am old in my habits, in my love for God's creatures instead of
+men's. Don't expect me to set foot in your snorting bit of machinery.
+When my horse and I part company, my life will be done. And when I'm
+too old to sit in a saddle, I shall go straight to bed and stop there—"
+
+"I should like to ride," said Gentian a little wistfully; "but cars are
+cheaper than horses, and swifter."
+
+Miss Horatia said no more. Mrs. Wharnecliffe did not make a long stay.
+Miss Anne discussed everything with Gentian. She told her she would
+like her to come every afternoon and take her out, Sundays excepted,
+and the salary she mentioned more than satisfied Gentian. She came away
+in the highest spirits and thanked Mrs. Wharnecliffe very warmly for
+having obtained the post for her.
+
+"I shall be enjoying myself hugely every afternoon, and earning my
+living, and be doing quite the proper thing. Nobody, not even Cousin
+Thorold, can say it is not nice for me to be driving an old lady out
+every day! Why!—Now I come to think of it, Cousin Thorold said he
+expected a Miss Horatia Buchan to a tea-party at his house to-morrow.
+Can it be the same? She's very sporting looking; not at all his style."
+
+"Horatia and Thorold have been friends for a long time," said Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe. "Once upon a time I hoped they would marry."
+
+"Oh, but they'd never suit each other," said Gentian in a startled
+tone. "They're both so managing and masterful, and she must be years
+older than he is."
+
+"They're just the same age, I believe—"
+
+"Miss Horatia looks as if she could be a great-grandmother—"
+
+"When you come to her age, you won't feel so ancient as that."
+
+Gentian laughed, and said no more.
+
+She drove Miss Anne out the next afternoon from two to four, but came
+home to Miss Ward with a very doleful face.
+
+"She won't let me go faster than a horse. Says she likes quiet motion,
+so that she can enjoy the air without being blown about. Isn't it a
+humiliation and degradation for my dear Mousie! We got no distance, and
+when I left her, I scorched along the road for all I was worth. Mousie
+and I were panting to do it. It's too horrible for words! I shall never
+have the patience to keep the job. Aren't you sorry for me, Waddy? Say
+you are!"
+
+"No, I won't, but you can put on speed now, and change your dress,
+for we are going to Mr. Holt's to tea. I can't think why the present
+generation want such rapid motion. It's very bad for their brains!"
+
+
+Thorold's tea-party and meeting were a great success. Miss Horatia was
+there, and looked on at Gentian tea-making with an amused eye.
+
+"What do you think of that child?" she asked Thorold bluntly. "Does she
+think our old world, revolves on its axis entirely and wholly for her?"
+
+"She's very young," said Thorold apologetically. "But life will teach
+her what it has taught us."
+
+"We don't all learn the same lessons. Some can't be taught, and some
+won't be. I don't think I'm at all an apt learner. But when I was her
+age, I was more malleable, I fancy—"
+
+Thorold shook his head at her.
+
+"Never!" he said, and then he went off to talk to some one else.
+
+Gentian chattered away to all the farmers' wives as if she had known
+them all her life. When the meeting was over, and they were dispersing,
+one of them, a Mrs. Homer, said to Gentian pleasantly:
+
+"Come along one afternoon, miss, and have a cup of tea with me. I've
+always held up for you, though there be many which say you be too
+light-fingered on the organ for 'em on Sundays. There be almost a
+merriment in your pieces afore and after church; they say it be not
+seemly in church—"
+
+"Don't you feel happy on Sundays? I always do," returned Gentian. "Why
+shouldn't we be bright and cheerful in church?"
+
+"Mrs. Crake—but I'll allow she's had a chapel bringin' up—she's only
+conformed to church of late—she said las' Sunday her girl Ada passed
+the remark that 'twould be easy to dance to your pieces."
+
+"What a dreadful thing to say!" said Gentian with sparkling eyes. "I'll
+give you the creeps next Sunday if I can—a proper solemn dirge. Thank
+you for asking me to tea. I shall love to come."
+
+Miss Horatia, was the last one to leave, and then Thorold walked home
+with Miss Ward and Gentian.
+
+"I haven't had time to hear how you like this last venture of yours,"
+he said.
+
+Gentian laughed.
+
+"Oh, I shan't give myself away. I have only had one day. It is
+oppressively slow, but when I think of how many people I have pleased
+by taking the job, I feel I shan't live in vain! Miss Anne is an old
+dear. I love old ladies. I am so tired—so disgusted—so out of friends
+with men."
+
+"Are we such a bad lot?" asked Thorold quietly.
+
+Gentian looked at him with a pretty shake of her head.
+
+"I don't know about you. I'm in and out of friends with you so often!
+Waddy is always singing your praises, so of course I do the opposite.
+If you took me more seriously, I would like you better. Sir Gilbert is
+the only man about here who speaks naturally and earnestly to me—"
+
+"My dear Gentian, your tongue runs away with you—" Miss Ward's tone was
+shocked.
+
+"Oh Waddy, I never choose my words with Cousin Thorold. And I'm only
+speaking the truth."
+
+They had reached the Cottage. Miss Ward went indoors, but Gentian
+lingered at the gate with Thorold.
+
+"I'm sorry I don't take you seriously," Thorold said; "we'll have some
+grave talks whenever you like."
+
+"Then we'll have one now," said Gentian impetuously; "come to the
+bottom of the garden and sit on the seat with me, where I watch the sun
+setting."
+
+Thorold followed her without a word. He sat down on one end of the
+seat, she took the other.
+
+She was looking distractingly pretty, in a white embroidered linen
+gown, and a shady white hat with a wreath of periwinkles round it which
+matched the colour of her eyes. Now she leant forward, elbow on knees,
+and her chin in the palm of her hand.
+
+"I want to do something with my life," she said with earnest solemnity.
+"I am doing absolutely nothing now. I have been stuck down in this
+dear little corner of England, and all of you are drawing fences round
+me to keep me in. They are getting nearer and nearer, and my space is
+getting smaller and smaller. Waddy and you and Mrs. Wharnecliffe think
+I ought to be quite happy in my little cottage, watering the garden,
+and helping Waddy to housekeep and then driving out an old lady at a
+snail's pace every day. You say,—
+
+"'Now she's protected—now she's safe!'
+
+"And then you ask me out to tea to keep me from feeling dull, and Waddy
+says what a pleasant thing it is to have my organ and choir practice
+as a recreation. And you quite expect me to go on living like this for
+years! It's just stagnation of soul and body, that's what it is. And
+God in heaven looks down, and wonders when I'm going to begin to live!"
+
+Thorold was not shocked at this outburst. He was surprised, but he
+concealed that, and said in his slow voice:
+
+"And what is your idea of life? You have mentioned God Almighty's name,
+and I know you have not used it in mockery. Is it your idea to carry
+out His will or your own?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know, but He has made me, I do believe, for something
+better than this. What a big world it is! And how much there is to
+do. Sir Gilbert talks to me about Heaven's purposes, and the earth's
+failures. I have brains, and strength, and leisure, and I can't sit
+about in armchairs and just be comfortable—I'm too young for it. And I
+have an uncomfortable feeling that I'm living on Waddy's savings. She
+always tells me there's plenty of money for our needs. But where does
+it come from? I don't earn enough to keep the house going. Miss Anne is
+very generous, and I shall be able to support myself on what she gives
+me, but I shan't be able to save much. And my life is too easy, and
+empty, and narrow. There now! That's the gist of the matter! I shall
+break away soon—I must. It's the Bubble's efforts to soar, before it
+bursts!"
+
+"But you have had one effort to break away, haven't you? And it wasn't
+altogether a success."
+
+"I knew that would come. I have failed. I own it. It is your nasty
+English people that have made me fail. But there are other vocations
+besides driving motors."
+
+"I fear you are tired of it by now."
+
+Laughter came into her eyes.
+
+"Oh, I'm an awful creature, I know I am. Two days ago I was enchanted
+with this fresh job. I am cross to-day because I must make my car's
+speed match a horse's. But, all the same, deep down, I know my soul is
+meant to do something bigger. And I want to find out the biggest and
+best thing to do, and then DO it!"
+
+"There are different estimates of size, I fancy," said Thorold. "We
+are like the children who think an orange in their hand much bigger
+than the brightest planet in the heavens. Our big things are so
+infinitesimal in God's eyes, and His big things are paltry and small in
+our estimation."
+
+"That doesn't comfort or guide me in the least," said Gentian, looking
+at him thoughtfully.
+
+"If you want to fulfil God's purpose for you, it will be shown you.
+Pray, and the answer will come."
+
+Gentian drew in a long breath.
+
+"I never thought that you were quite so good, Cousin Thorold," she
+said in a light and airy voice. "Thank you so much for having taken me
+seriously for once. I've had enough—"
+
+He smiled at her.
+
+"I'll say no more then—"
+
+He got up from the seat. Gentian accompanied him as far as the gate.
+
+"I have one of my young brothers coming home on leave," Thorold said
+as he wished her good-bye. "He's in the navy; he comes to me next
+Thursday. I think you'll like him. Godwin is a sunny-hearted youngster."
+
+Gentian rounded her lips into a small ball.
+
+"Boys are so boring," she said; "they always think such a lot of
+themselves."
+
+"I have known girls who do the same," said Thorold, and with this
+parting shot, he left her.
+
+Gentian went indoors to Miss Ward.
+
+"Do you know I was within an ace of liking Cousin Thorold," she said;
+"and then he lapsed into his annoying way of talking, and I feel as if
+I never want to see him again!"
+
+"My dear Gentian, you are never of the same mind about anything or
+anybody for two minutes together. I often wonder why you put up with me
+as you do."
+
+"Waddy dear, you knew and loved my little mother. I have no one in the
+wide world left to love me but you, and I think you do just a little—"
+
+Miss Ward looked at her affectionately, but she was not a demonstrative
+woman, and it wasn't till Gentian stole up softly to her and put her
+arms round her neck, looking into her eyes with such wistful longing,
+that she gave her the warm kiss she was expecting.
+
+"Plenty of people will come along and love you, child, if you let them.
+I am getting an old woman, and my life will soon be over, but yours is
+all in front of you—and you'll never have to complain of being unloved,
+I am sure!"
+
+"Do I think a lot of myself, Waddy?"
+
+"Yes, I think you do."
+
+Gentian hugged her.
+
+"You are a dear old truth-teller. You see, I really have no one to
+think about but myself. And it is astonishing how fond all people are
+of themselves. I believe you are, but you don't show it. Of course I
+have to think about myself, because my future is in my own hands, I
+suppose. I can make or mar it, can't I? And I want to get the best out
+of life. I must—I will. And it's my will that must be kept up to the
+mark—
+
+  "'The souls of women are so small
+    That some believe they've none at all.
+    Or if they have, like cripples still,
+    They've but one faculty, the WILL!'
+
+"Some nasty man wrote that. Oh, Waddy dear, you're quite right. I'm one
+thing one day, and another the next. My small soul is like a bag of
+scraps, crammed full of rubbish, bits of good material mixed with the
+bad, and never properly sorted out. Now I'm going to water the garden.
+Good-bye."
+
+She flashed out of the room and into the garden.
+
+Miss Ward heard her breaking into song as she wielded her watering-pot,
+and she sighed heavily.
+
+"I wish I did not love her so much," she murmured; "she needs a firmer
+hand, and some one to teach her discipline and self-control."
+
+
+It was not very long before Gentian met young Godwin Holt. He arrived
+like a fresh sea-breeze, and made friends at once with Miss Ward and
+Gentian. He was a fair, curly-haired young lieutenant, with fresh
+complexion and mischievous blue eyes. He was very susceptible to all
+women's influences, and fell headlong in love with Gentian at first
+sight.
+
+She treated him as if he were a schoolboy on holiday. Thorold watched
+their intimacy with quiet amusement.
+
+One morning Godwin arrived at the Cottage at breakfast time.
+
+"Look here," he said breathlessly; "can you 'phone to your old lady,
+Miss Brendon, to spare you to-day? We'll take a car—not yours—because
+it's my affair, and go down to the New Forest. You've never been there?
+Thought not. We'll lunch at one of the inns in the Forest. I'm going to
+drag Thor away from his books and writing. Miss Ward, you'll come too.
+Must have an even number. It's a shame to let this topping weather go
+by without doing something. I see so little green at sea that I revel
+in forests. And you ought to know what England produces in that way!"
+
+"I can't spring it on Miss Buchan so late in the day," said Gentian,
+her eyes sparkling at the thought of such an outing. "Won't to-morrow
+do? I'm rather afraid she won't like it."
+
+"You can easily get a substitute to take your place. I'll find one for
+you in an hour—"
+
+"I'll try," said Gentian, "but we've no 'phone—"
+
+"Thor has. Come on over."
+
+He dragged her off with him.
+
+
+The 'phone was in Thorold's study.
+
+Gentian looked at him pleadingly.
+
+"Don't tell me I'm a shirker. I've driven her for ten days now at a
+snail's pace. And she might give me one day off."
+
+"You'd better ask for Miss Horatia. The old lady will never use the
+'phone."
+
+So Miss Horatia was called up.
+
+She received Gentian's suggestion with great coldness.
+
+"My sister does not like to be deprived of her afternoon drive, and
+I know she won't hear of a substitute. That is out of the question.
+She is far too nervous of cars at present to have a strange driver.
+Besides, she has arranged to go and see an old friend of hers this
+afternoon."
+
+"Could I have to-morrow off then?"
+
+"I will see—"
+
+"Oh, chuck them," cried Godwin. "You aren't a slavey."
+
+"I'm earning my daily bread," said Gentian in a dignified tone; "and
+I'm in her employ."
+
+They waited rather impatiently. Miss Horatia returned in about ten
+minutes' time.
+
+"My sister has agreed to forgo her drive to-morrow."
+
+"A thousand thanks. I will be round at the usual time this afternoon."
+
+"Won't to-morrow do as well?" asked Thorold, looking at his young
+brother's disappointed face.
+
+"Oh, I hate to-morrows—always have—"
+
+"So have I," said Gentian, "but we'll make the best of it. I shall love
+to see the New Forest. But do let us take my car, and let me drive.
+That will be half the fun."
+
+"Do you want me to hire you?" asked Godwin. "For I mean to stand the
+treat."
+
+"You can pay for the oil we use, if you like, nothing more."
+
+Godwin frowned.
+
+"I hate the independence of girls nowadays. You ought not to know how
+to drive!"
+
+Gentian laughed.
+
+"That is the style of the old-fashioned English gentlemen. Of course
+you take after your brother!"
+
+"No man, if he's a decent sort, likes to see girls roughing it."
+
+"You would like me in a white muslin gown lying back amongst the
+cushions of the car sighing plaintively: 'Please not quite so fast,
+driver, the wind is too strong upon my face, the motion shakes me—'
+That's what my old lady says to me, and I long to scorch for all I'm
+worth."
+
+"What time shall we start?" said Godwin, wisely turning the subject. "I
+vote for eight o'clock. It will be a long run."
+
+"I think," said Thorold slowly, looking at Gentian as he spoke, "that
+we'll have our own car, Godwin. It will give Gentian a rest. She shall
+lie back on comfortable cushions for once in her life, and then we
+shan't see those tired lines about her eyes that so often come there."
+
+"You are very rude, Cousin Thorold."
+
+"Miss Brendon couldn't look fitter than she does, but all the same,
+I'm with you, Thor. It will be my treat and my car, and I'll choose a
+capable driver."
+
+Gentian laughed. Her laughter had such an infectious and delightful
+ripple in it, that both brothers smiled at her.
+
+"As I'm to be your guest," she said, "I have nothing to say but a
+very grateful 'thank you.' And, if we rumbled along in a donkey-cart,
+I should enjoy myself. I love a jaunt of any sort, it reminds me of
+Italy. Waddy and I are too poor to take many in England."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE DAY IN THE NEW FOREST
+
+THE day for the New Forest dawned very brightly. Gentian was radiantly
+happy, and she and Godwin were like two children in their whole-hearted
+enjoyment of every hour. There was no lack of conversation during the
+run. She and Godwin chattered away together, Thorold occasionally
+joining in. Miss Ward for the most part took her pleasure in silence.
+
+It was a perfect day for seeing the Forest. A gentle breeze kept the
+air cool. The green glades under the magnificent old oaks and beeches
+seemed like an enchanted country to Gentian. They had lunch at a
+picturesque old inn, and then she and Godwin wandered off to find the
+tree under which William Rufus was killed.
+
+"I wish I was a gipsy," sighed Gentian; "I am sure a nomad wandering
+life would suit me. Women ought not to have such a dull time as they
+do. Look at you, now! You go over the seas and round the world and see
+a little of everything; and I am told I ought to be content to stay in
+my small corner for life."
+
+"You'd long to find a corner to stick in if you were a sailor. I'm
+looking forward to a snug little home of my own one day."
+
+"With a wife shut up in it all the year round," said Gentian, mischief
+in her eyes. "I know what a sailor's wife is. I knew two in Italy. One
+had come out there by doctor's orders. She said the loneliness of her
+home when her husband was at sea was more than she could stand."
+
+"Oh," said Godwin, "I would have my wife meet me at different ports.
+I'd keep her lively. You bet I would. Don't disparage sailors, Miss
+Brendon. You'll send me into the blues if you do—"
+
+They were sitting down in the bracken at the foot of an old oak.
+Gentian leant her back against the gnarled trunk and looked up dreamily
+into the green foliage above.
+
+"A bird must be so happy," she observed. "It has command of the earth
+and air, and no one can prevent it soaring away from disagreeables when
+it chooses."
+
+"You ought to have no disagreeables in your life," said Godwin. "You
+want a husband to shoulder all difficulties, and keep you safe and
+happy."
+
+"I don't think men are fond of shouldering women's burdens," said
+Gentian reflectively; "when I go about in the village, and see how all
+the strain and work falls on the poor wife, who is on her feet from
+early morning to late at night, mending and making and cooking for her
+lord and master, as well as her children, it makes me feel that the
+man's lot in life is the comfortable one."
+
+"Yes, but in our class things are slightly different. Do you think I
+would let my wife slave for me? Never—"
+
+Then he put his hand softly over hers.
+
+"I would always joyfully shoulder your burdens for you. Don't you know
+that?"
+
+"But I haven't any," said Gentian, laughing as she quietly slipped
+her hand away. "Oh, look, isn't that a squirrel above us? The little
+darling! He has an acorn, I believe, in his paws."
+
+"I expect he has a nest up there. I'll just see."
+
+The squirrel had disappeared under a big branch. Godwin felt that the
+moment had not come for him, so he was willing to change the subject.
+In an instant he had thrown off his coat and sprung up on a low-lying
+branch. The old tree would have been easy for a child to climb, but he
+was quite unprepared to have Gentian following him. She was as agile as
+he, and when they failed to trace the squirrel's home, they sat astride
+a big branch and laughed at each other.
+
+"I haven't climbed trees for years," she said; "what fun it is. And how
+shocked Waddy would be if she were to see me!"
+
+"She's deep in 'The Times.' Thor has ungallantly left her—he's mooning
+round on his own—collecting beetles, I expect. He was always great on
+natural history."
+
+"Isn't it delicious to be off the ground? It's the nearest approach to
+a bird, sitting up here out of sight."
+
+A sudden gale of wind sprang up. Gentian's hat was off her head. In
+reaching out to catch it, she overbalanced herself and fell with a
+heavy thud upon the grass below. Godwin was down from the tree in a
+moment.
+
+"Are you hurt? Darling Gentian, speak!"
+
+"You needn't call me darling," murmured Gentian; "I am not dead yet."
+
+She sat up. No bones were broken, but she had a cut one side of her
+forehead, against a projecting bit of root in the ground, and it was
+bleeding profusely. Godwin was in an awful state of mind. He took out
+his handkerchief, and was in the act of binding it up when Thorold
+suddenly appeared.
+
+"I heard a crash," he said; "and thought there must be an accident."
+
+Gentian turned impatiently from Godwin towards him.
+
+"You do it," she said, "I would rather you did."
+
+Godwin looked hurt, but taking a flask out of his pocket, Thorold bade
+him fetch some water from a stream near. In a few minutes the bleeding
+was staunched, and her head neatly bound up, but Gentian felt dizzy and
+faint. She persisted in walking back to the car, and Thorold's arm was
+taken, not Godwin's. Miss Ward, who was sitting in it under the shade
+of a chestnut tree, made her comfortable at once, and then they decided
+to go to the nearest town, and get a doctor to look at it.
+
+"It shan't spoil our day," said Gentian. "I'm feeling all right again."
+
+"What were you doing, dear?"
+
+"Trying to imagine myself a bird, Waddy. Pride must have a fall."
+
+"You might have been killed," said Godwin.
+
+He looked white and shaken. His brother glanced at him curiously, but
+made no remark.
+
+At the very entrance to the next village they were fortunate enough to
+come to a doctor's house. The brass plate on the gate told its tale.
+They were still more fortunate to find the doctor at home, and he very
+soon plastered up the cut, and reassured Miss Ward about it.
+
+"It's only a surface wound," he said; "and her head is a little
+bruised. She is lucky to have escaped so easily."
+
+"My accident mustn't shorten our day out," said Gentian, when they were
+in the car again. "I'm quite well. Do please let us do more of the
+Forest."
+
+So they turned once again into the Forest, and drove through it to the
+place they had arranged to have tea. But Godwin's spirits had visibly
+declined; his eyes never left Gentian's face, and she noticed and
+resented the change in him.
+
+"Why do you make such big eyes at me!" she exclaimed at last. "You
+needn't be glum and cross, because I made a fool of myself."
+
+They had just left the car when she made this remark. Thorold and Miss
+Ward had gone into the hotel to order tea.
+
+"Oh," he cried, "you don't realize what it meant to me—seeing you fall
+like that—you might have been killed on the spot! And I'm afraid even
+now that you are more hurt than you make out. You must be! I expect
+you'll feel it to-morrow."
+
+"Thank you for your cheerful comfort! You sound like an old lady
+talking!"
+
+A red flush mounted in Godwin's fair cheeks.
+
+"No man would dare to say that to me," he said quickly.
+
+Gentian gave one of her rippling laughs.
+
+"That's how I like to see you. I wanted to get a rise out of you. It's
+very nice of you to be so interested in me, but I'd much rather you
+forgot all about me and told me some more of your sea yarns."
+
+"Interested in you!" Godwin exclaimed. "I—I love you, Gentian—I
+wouldn't have any hurt happen to your little finger if I could help it.
+I feel I could die for you, and yet you wouldn't let me touch you when
+you were so hurt! You turned to Thor instead!"
+
+They were standing on a balcony outside the hotel. In the distance
+the golden sun slanted across the old forest trees. It was only five
+o'clock, but there seemed already that preliminary hush before evening,
+when the active birds retire, wearied, to their beds, in the thick
+leafy trees, and the butterflies and bees creep to their respective
+lairs, giving place to the countless midges and mosquitos which haunt
+the evening air.
+
+"I always turn to Cousin Thorold when I'm in trouble," Gentian said in
+a quiet dignified tone. The pink colour was coming into her cheeks.
+
+Godwin pressed closer to her, and took possession of her hands.
+
+"I don't want you to turn to any one except me when I am by your side,"
+he said in a low passionate tone. "Gentian, tell me you care for me a
+little. I can't expect you to love ice as I love you. There's nothing
+in me to attract you, I daresay. You're an enchanting, adorable angel.
+But I've an honest heart to offer you. And your happiness will be
+always my first thought."
+
+"Oh, please stop—"
+
+Gentian's voice was troubled now.
+
+"I like you very much as a friend, but nothing more. No, you could
+never be anything more. You're too young. I feel I know as much as
+you do. I've lived as long as you have, you know. We're just about
+the same age, aren't we? We won't talk any more about it. And if you
+only knew the real me, you'd find me a restless, discontented, selfish
+creature. And Waddy says I'm hopeless about housekeeping. I burnt a
+cake yesterday which she had made. I shouldn't be an enchanting wife.
+Anybody who married me would be bitterly, bitterly disappointed in me.
+Don't look so miserable."
+
+Poor Godwin tried to smile. The softness of Gentian's voice, the
+kindness in her eyes, and the pretty little shake of her head as
+she mentioned her disabilities as a wife, only aggravated his
+disappointment. She had hurt him in his tenderest part, when she had
+alluded to his youth. But he choked back his feelings and tried to
+speak manfully. In his effort, he adopted rather a truculent tone.
+
+"As far as my youth goes, that will mend itself. I will wait. I will
+come back from my next voyage, and then you may listen to me more
+patiently. A man who has seen the world as I have, and who has seen
+women and beautiful women, too, of all nationalities, is not to be
+easily moved, when once he has made his choice. You won't prevent my
+continuing to love you. And sometimes pertinacity conquers! Oh, blow
+them! Why can't they keep away!"
+
+This last spluttering ejaculation was made as Thorold and Miss Ward
+appeared. And then Gentian added insult to injury by laughing outright.
+She checked herself at once and turned to Miss Ward.
+
+"Is tea ready? We've been admiring the view—at least, I have. How many
+trees do you think are in the Forest? A million?"
+
+She was the one who talked now. Through tea her tongue never faltered.
+
+Thorold laughed and teased her as was his wont; Godwin was the only one
+who sat silent.
+
+The drive home was not quite such a success. Gentian was rather
+relieved than otherwise when the Cottage was reached.
+
+She slipped her hand into Godwin's with a little comforting pressure.
+
+"Cheer up," she whispered to him. "I really am not worth what you think
+I am, and it is ungrateful of me to have spoiled the delicious day you
+have given us. I shall dream of those old Forest glades. Ever so many
+thanks."
+
+"I am going to cheer up," said Godwin, setting his lips determinedly.
+"You are too young to know your own mind. You are still a child—"
+
+This was a Roland for her Oliver.
+
+Gentian looked at him with laughing tender eyes.
+
+"I'm going to keep you as a friend," she said; and then she turned to
+Thorold. "Be very nice to your brother to-night, because we've had a
+difference of opinion."
+
+Then she followed Miss Ward into the Cottage, and her smile disappeared.
+
+"Oh, Waddy dear, I feel as if I've been beaten all over, and my head
+aches so I'll go straight to bed. I don't want any supper."
+
+Miss Ward was full of anxiety and tenderness at once. She hovered over
+her till she was safely in bed. As she stooped over to give her a good
+night kiss, Gentian put her arms round her neck and hugged her.
+
+"You're the only real friend I have, Waddy! The others are only friends
+for a time. Directly I won't marry them, they cut up rusty."
+
+And though Miss Ward was told no more, she knew that Godwin had
+received his congé. She sighed as she stroked the curly head on the
+pillow.
+
+"I hope the right man will come one day, dear. Now go to sleep, and
+that poor head of yours will be better in the morning."
+
+
+Meanwhile Thorold and his young brother reached home, Godwin being
+unusually silent and subdued.
+
+Later on, when they sat over the smoking-room fire, and smoked their
+pipes, Godwin gave his brother his confidence.
+
+"I did think she might listen to me; she almost laughed it off. And
+having such a short time here is awfully rotten! But I'm in downright
+earnest and she'll find it out. I wish you'd sound her a bit, Thor—she
+might listen to you. She dismissed me too lightly. I don't believe she
+knows her own mind. I've never seen any one like her. It isn't mere
+beauty—it's the light and sparkling fire which seem to be covered over
+and hidden most of the time. Oh, she's adorable—bewitching—don't laugh
+at me—Don't you think she may relent? I'd give my life for her!"
+
+Thorold did not smile. There was a tender, almost pitying look in his
+eyes, as he looked at the earnest boy beside him.
+
+"I have known others, Godwin, who were going to make you desperate by
+not listening to you."
+
+"Oh, calf love!" said Godwin hastily. "Don't remind me of those
+schoolgirls."
+
+"One was a young widow—"
+
+"You're very unpleasant!"
+
+"Forgive me, my boy—I'm only wondering if Gentian Brendon would hold
+your heart for a lifetime. You sailors come and go, and you're apt to
+be extra susceptible on shore. She's a girl, I fancy, who will demand
+a good deal. You're as restless and emotional as she is. Will you
+suit each other? I'm only looking the thing fair and square in the
+face. I could wish for a different type of wife for your happiness.
+Two impatient, aspiring, eager young souls do not always go happily
+together in harness!"
+
+"That's just clap-trap! I don't put her in the scales and weigh every
+mood and attribute that she possesses—I'm in love with her. I'll never
+marry anyone else! Never!"
+
+A silence fell between them, which Thorold broke.
+
+"She is not unaccustomed to having young fellows in love with her. I
+gather from Miss Ward that she has had several proposals already, and I
+interviewed one lover who was badly hit. I am only telling you this to
+prepare you for the worst. She's a very determined young lady, and will
+not easily change her mind."
+
+"She's a child—a baby—she has no mind to change."
+
+But Godwin's heart sank within him. He said no more, and retired early
+to bed, though not to sleep.
+
+
+Thorold, looking across the breakfast table at him the next morning,
+felt very sympathetic towards him.
+
+"I'll have a talk with Gentian, my boy—and tell you the result."
+
+"If she won't have anything to do with me, I'll go up to town. I can't
+stay on here. The Cliffords want me to stay with them."
+
+Godwin spoke quietly, but he looked quite miserable.
+
+
+About twelve o'clock, Thorold went off down the road. He heard the
+sound of the organ in the little church, and slipped inside to listen.
+He was very fond of music, and Gentian was playing so exquisitely that
+he sat down just inside the door and lost himself in a dream. When she
+had finished, he waited for her in the churchyard. She came down the
+path talking to an old man who had been blowing for her. When she saw
+Thorold, she smiled and waved her hand to him.
+
+"Have you come to make tender inquiries after my poor head?"
+
+"I hope you are none the worse for the accident?" Thorold said gravely.
+
+"Just a little," replied Gentian. "I'm in a nervy, irritable state of
+mind to-day. Waddy annoyed me at breakfast and I was rude to her, so I
+came into church to get good again."
+
+"I want to have a little talk with you," said Thorold.
+
+"Waddy has gone into the town to shop. Come along in."
+
+She led the way to the Vicarage. The little room was full of fragrant
+roses in china bowls. The low windows were wide open, and the scent of
+mignonette and heliotrope came in from the beds outside.
+
+Gentian took up her position with her back to the fireplace. She
+motioned to Thorold to take a seat, but he declined.
+
+"Not while you stand."
+
+"Oh, how old-fashioned you are! I never get a chance of looking down
+upon you. If I did, it would help me enormously."
+
+She sat down on the couch, and Thorold took a seat opposite her. Then
+he cleared his throat and began:
+
+"It's a rather delicate subject, but I have really come to you on
+Godwin's behalf. He is very unhappy, and is buoyed up with the hope
+that possibly you will reconsider your decision."
+
+Gentian's blue eyes began to sparkle.
+
+"Well now, honestly, Cousin Thorold, do you advise me to marry such a
+boy?"
+
+There was a little silence.
+
+"Godwin is a frank, straightforward, good-living lad," said Thorold
+slowly and a little heavily. "I don't think he is from a worldly point
+of view a good match. But he'll have some money at my death, and—"
+
+A low ripple of laughter came from Gentian's lips.
+
+"Please excuse me," she said checking herself. "Do you think my
+marriage with your brother will relieve you of a rather tiresome
+neighbour? It might for a time, but if you are really interested
+in your brother, I wouldn't advise you to urge it. I am positively
+certain I should run away from him before I had been married to him a
+twelvemonth. And I'm sure you wouldn't like that. It would worry you a
+lot."
+
+"Do not think for a moment that I want to get rid of you."
+
+Thorold's tone was earnest.
+
+"Frankly, I have told Godwin that I consider you both too young for
+marriage. Not in years, perhaps, but in temperament. Still, I promised
+to speak to you. He is under the impression that you may alter your
+mind."
+
+"Now, Cousin Thorold, look me straight in the face and tell me if you
+really and truly from the bottom of your heart think that I should make
+your brother a good wife? You know I shouldn't. Waddy says I think a
+lot of myself. But I know my limitations. It would take much more of
+a man than Godwin to have the patience necessary to bear with me. I
+think I'm only half-fledged. I'm not sufficiently developed to be a
+satisfactory wife for any one. And he hasn't the character to attract
+or inspire me. You've done your best, but you're too truthful by nature
+to be a good advocate in this case. Tell him you found me a veritable
+block of marble, and that nothing in this world would make me ever
+think of him in the light of a husband. I'm awfully sorry for you both.
+I don't think I'm a marrying sort. I'm sure I shall go on living here
+and get old and grey. You won't get rid of me in a hurry."
+
+Then a dawning look came into her eyes. She clasped her hands round her
+knees and gazed out of the window.
+
+"If I were to marry, the man must be like a rock for steadiness and
+reliability; he must never fail me, never deceive me, never disappoint
+me. And his soul must be the strongest part of him just as it is the
+weakest part of me. It would be rather a one-sided bargain, wouldn't
+it?"
+
+She jumped up from her seat suddenly.
+
+"And now we have done with the subject, haven't we? Do come out and eat
+a few strawberries with me. We have such stunning ones just now."
+
+But Thorold shook his head, and went thoughtfully back to his young
+brother.
+
+Why was he so devoutly thankful that Gentian did not want to be his
+sister-in-law?
+
+Godwin listened to his brother's account of the interview with a moody
+face.
+
+"I still believe she doesn't know her own mind, but I'm not one to be
+begging for snubs on my knees. I'll go up to town to-morrow and—and
+forget her if I can."
+
+"I think that's the best thing you can do," said Thorold gravely.
+
+So Godwin disappeared, and Gentian seemed perfectly indifferent as to
+his existence. She never asked for him, or mentioned his visit.
+
+And Miss Ward wisely respected her silence, and kept clear of any
+reference to that day in the New Forest.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+DARK CLOUDS
+
+GENTIAN did not see Thorold for some time after this. He went away into
+Cornwall to visit an old friend, and though he only meant his visit to
+last a week or ten days, it prolonged itself into a month. She missed
+him more than she had thought it possible she could. Miss Ward looked
+at her in an amused fashion when one day she said rather impatiently
+that he ought to be back.
+
+"Surely you like to be free from any kind of surveillance or influence,
+my dear? You are always telling me that Mr. Holt presumes upon his
+assumed cousinship."
+
+"So he does, Waddy, but I do enjoy a scrap sometimes. It's so dull when
+no one opposes me. You are much too gentle, you know. It isn't much fun
+to fight a feather!"
+
+"Is that what I am?"
+
+"Oh, don't look hurt! You're an angel."
+
+"I don't fancy," Miss Ward said slowly, "that Mr. Holt will always stay
+here. He has said several times to me lately that he is feeling lazy
+and self-indulgent, and that he is not old enough to live the life he
+is doing."
+
+"Why, what other life could he live?" Gentian looked startled. "He's on
+ever so many philanthropic councils and committees, and always busy.
+How could he go away from his house? It's his own, and every one says
+he deserves the rest he is having. He has earned it they say."
+
+"I suppose he does seem old to you—but he doesn't to me. I rather agree
+with him. He is a man of exceptional ability, and there is very little
+real work to occupy him here."
+
+"Oh, Waddy, what stuff you are talking! People don't want work when
+they have money."
+
+"You are very young, my child. Money supplies the needs of the body,
+not of the mind and soul."
+
+"I'm not going to argue the point," said Gentian laughing; "you do
+love to put me in my place, Waddy, just under your feet, where if I do
+attempt a rise, you give me a firm pat down again. I know this much,
+that you and I could do with more money. My mind needs books, and
+intellectual entertainment, and a more crowded atmosphere to make it
+work properly. I think Cousin Thorold is the only one who stimulates
+me to think, and if he went away, I believe I should march after him!
+Don't look so horrified! I disliked him intensely when we first came
+here, but he has a way of impressing himself—his individuality you
+would say—upon you, which makes his absence quite a blank. Don't let us
+talk any more about him. I'm pretty certain he doesn't want to uproot
+himself from here—"
+
+Gentian had perplexed and puzzled Miss Ward all her life, but perhaps
+never more than now. She seemed to have fits of preoccupation and
+moodiness, alternated with reckless gaiety and irresponsibility.
+
+
+Miss Ward was more relieved than otherwise when Gentian came home one
+day and announced with glee that she was going to take the Miss Buchans
+up to Scotland in the car.
+
+"We shall be gone three weeks or a month; they'll pay all my expenses.
+Isn't it too enchanting! We've been looking out a tour—up the
+Caledonian Canal. I've seen pictures of it—a perfect dream, through
+Braemar, and we shall end in the Trossachs—taking Edinburgh and Perth
+by the way. Oh, Waddy, if ever I shall have a good time, it will be
+now!"
+
+"I wonder they trust themselves to you—I hope you'll do it by easy
+stages. It will be too much for you otherwise. I don't know that I
+altogether approve. But I suppose they will look after you."
+
+Gentian laughed and scoffed at this last idea.
+
+"I am going to look after them. It is a triumph for me. Miss Horatia
+said when I first went to them that she would never go in a car as long
+as she had a horse, but she's actually coming with us. Can't trust me
+with Miss Anne; she pretends she's making herself into a martyr, but
+I believe she'll enjoy it as much as I shall. The Scotch all seem to
+think their country is the most wonderful in the world, and they want
+to go and see the part to which they belong. Miss Anne is quite keen
+to go. She's always talking about the Scotch air in the Highlands. I
+laugh when I think that Miss Anne was so nervous when I began, that
+she wouldn't let me drive through the high street on market day! How
+delighted you will be to get rid of me, Waddy! It will be a peaceful
+holiday for you."
+
+Miss Ward shook her head.
+
+"I shall be anxious till I get you back again under my wing. I never
+have confidence in these cars." But she made no more objection, saw
+that Gentian had plenty of warm clothes for the tour, and packed all
+her belongings with her own hands.
+
+
+The house was certainly very quiet when she had gone. Her letters were
+Miss Ward's greatest comfort. She wrote in the highest spirits, and
+beyond one or two slight mishaps, the tour seemed a great success.
+
+Thorold was back before Gentian was, but he seemed strangely absorbed
+when Miss Ward met him, and did not come to the house as often as was
+his custom.
+
+The days were closing in before Gentian returned. She sent a wire the
+day she expected to arrive, and turned up at the Cottage about seven
+o'clock one evening. Miss Ward was relieved to see her looking fit
+and well, though she thought her thinner—and Gentian took it as a
+compliment when she said so.
+
+"I do dislike to be plump," she said; "and I can assure you I've kept
+them on the go the whole time. But they've thoroughly enjoyed it, and
+so have I. Only they say they've had enough of the car for the present,
+and have given me a fortnight's holiday. What shall we do, Waddy? Is
+Cousin Thor home? Wasn't it queer? We ran up against a daughter of
+the man he is staying with! She had just arrived in Edinburgh when we
+were leaving. Her father is a rector down in Cornwall. Such a handsome
+girl! But we didn't cotton to each other. She talked of Cousin Thor in
+a patronizing, appropriative kind of way. Said he was a thorough good
+sort, and that she and he had a lot in common, and it was nice to think
+of having him as a possible neighbour soon. Now what did she mean by
+that? I didn't let her see I was curious, but I am most dreadfully and
+painfully so. Are you in his confidence? Before I went away you spoke
+as if he might be leaving us."
+
+"It was only conjecture, my dear. I know nothing, and have hardly seen
+him to speak to since he came back."
+
+"Oh, well, I'll ask him straight out. He'll tell me. Men can never keep
+a secret."
+
+And the very next afternoon Thorold appeared and found Gentian
+comfortably settled by the fire with a book. Miss Ward was out in the
+village doing a little shopping at the general shop there.
+
+"Well," he said; "you're back again. Had a good time?"
+
+"A heavenly one! And you?"
+
+Thorold drew up a chair to the fire, and rubbed his hands together,
+looking reflectively into the glowing coals.
+
+"I'm very glad I went down, very. I've come to rather a momentous
+decision. We've sometimes had talks together about work in life,
+haven't we? You rubbed it in one day when you talked of wanting to do
+something with your life."
+
+"Yes," said Gentian, twinkling her eyes as she looked at him, "but you
+discouraged me. I must always be content to stay where I am and do what
+I'm bid—I am too young to strike out a new line for myself."
+
+He smiled. "I think you are at present. But it's a different case
+with me. Dick Muir, my friend in Cornwall, opened a door to me. You
+know I'm a bit of a Socialist. I believe in sharing good things with
+those who are without them, and the people all round him are in an
+awfully bad way. No work—no money—no hope for better times. As their
+parson, he feels it—and he can do so little to help. The long and
+short is—I'm going to open up a mine there to provide work. I have the
+money to do it, for an investment I made some time ago has proved very
+remunerative. What's the good of living in idleness and luxury when
+others are starving? It isn't the life anyone but the helpless and aged
+ought to live. And I've strength and brain for a long time yet, I'm
+hoping."
+
+Gentian's blue eyes were big with interest and concern.
+
+"I don't know anything about mines," she said, "except that they're
+down in the earth. Will you be a miner? You don't live in idleness,
+Cousin Thorold. Mr. Wharnecliffe says you're taking the first rest
+you've had in your life!"
+
+"Oh, I've had my rest right enough. The mines have been closed down—the
+owners found them a losing concern, but they got into difficulties
+through want of capital."
+
+"Then you may lose, too, if you put your money in it, and then what
+would you do?"
+
+"It wouldn't hurt me if I did. I have no one dependent on me now. But
+I don't think I shall lose. Anyway, I'm going to take the risk. I've
+been talking to an expert down there. The mines were not developed far
+enough. They stopped short when they ought to have gone on. It would
+give work to hundreds. That's worth thinking about in these days."
+
+"Well, they'll only want your money, not yourself," said Gentian
+serenely. "You'll go on living here, won't you?"
+
+Thorold shook his head.
+
+"No, I want to be part and parcel of the concern; my own manager by and
+by. I shall sell up here and live in quite a small way down there at
+first. But I want to start it personally and get in touch with those I
+employ."
+
+Gentian was silent.
+
+Thorold looked at her with his kind, thoughtful eyes.
+
+"It won't make any difference to you and Miss Ward," he said; "you'll
+go on living here just the same. I shan't sell the Vicarage. And you
+will be freed from my unwarranted interference in your doings!"
+
+He smiled as he spoke, but Gentian did not smile.
+
+"You've made such a substantial background to our life here, that I
+don't know what we shall feel like without you."
+
+"A background can very easily be dispensed with," he said lightly.
+
+"I am afraid I am very rude to call you a background," said Gentian,
+looking at him contritely. "And I don't think it quite describes you.
+You are too aggressive for that!"
+
+"I'm generally considered a very mild-mannered man."
+
+Gentian laughed, and her face cleared.
+
+"I like you better than I did," she said; "and if I get very dull here
+having no one to contradict me, I shall drag Waddy off to Cornwall
+and take some lodgings just over your mines, and watch you trying to
+turn yourself into a miner or mine-owner. Do you know I have been to
+Scotland; and in Edinburgh I met a Miss Frances Muir, a great friend of
+yours?"
+
+"Did you meet her? How strange! She's a nice girl. I'm her godfather."
+
+Miss Ward came back at this moment, and she had to be told the news.
+She took it quietly, but she had a strange sinking of heart when she
+realized that she would no longer be able to appeal to Thorold for
+advice. She had certainly leant upon him more than she had ever done
+upon anyone before.
+
+Thorold's news soon spread. Mrs. Wharnecliffe had known all about it
+from the beginning, and she highly disapproved of the step.
+
+"He will lose his money, and his health, and die in the workhouse," she
+told her husband. "Why is it that some people will never take their
+rest in this world? I almost wish he had not come into money. I might
+have known it would never do him any lasting good!"
+
+"I think it's a fine thing of him to do," said her husband. "I wish a
+few more moneyed folk would open up some Cornish mines. I've been told
+the land is rich with untold wealth below the surface, and anyone who
+gives employment, to our honest poor in these days is a benefactor."
+
+
+Before the winter came, Thorold's house was for sale, and he was saying
+good-bye to his friends.
+
+"You can't have got your mines ready yet to work," said Gentian, when
+he paid his farewell visit to her.
+
+"No, but I want to know my manager and the people round, and every
+detail of the work if I can."
+
+"You'll work yourself to death." She looked up at him with troubled
+eyes.
+
+Thorold would not meet those blue eyes. He seemed nervous and ill at
+ease.
+
+"If anything goes wrong here," he said, suddenly turning to Miss Ward,
+"be sure to let me know."
+
+"What could go wrong?" said Gentian, giving a funny little laugh. "I
+shall only drive my car, and play my organ, and worry Waddy to death!
+Life is very monotonous. I shall try hard and make it hum if I can, but
+I'm getting rather tired of this part of the world. If only I could
+make a little more money, we might go back to Italy."
+
+"That is out of the question," Miss Ward said sharply.
+
+"We won't consider this a long farewell," said Thorold in a cheerful
+tone.
+
+He took Gentian's hand in his.
+
+She gave him a quick little grip, then pulled her hand away and whisked
+round to the window.
+
+"It's raining," she said. "Even the sky is weeping at the thought of
+losing you."
+
+But when Thorold went out at the hall door, there was a moist drop on
+his hand which had not fallen from the skies. And his lips compressed
+themselves together as he strode out into the wet.
+
+"She hasn't had her chance yet. I'm an old fool—much, much too dull
+and old, to think of such a thing. But I'm glad the child likes me a
+little. I never thought she would."
+
+He had not been in Cornwall many days before he got a letter from
+Gentian.
+
+   "My DEAR COUSIN THOROLD,—
+
+   "Cousins can write to each other, can't they? And I want some safety
+valve—else I shall have spontaneous combustion. You told us to let
+you know if anything is wrong, and something is very wrong with me. I
+really don't think I can go on living here. Mrs. Wharnecliffe has shut
+up her house and gone to London. Sir Gilbert has gone off to Cannes.
+Miss Horatia is hunting and thinks and talks of nothing else. I wander
+up and down the road and look at your empty house. We hear some one has
+bought it—a single woman, they say, but she hasn't yet appeared. Your
+English winters are loathsome. Rain and mud, mud and rain—black skies,
+dead trees and hedges, and cold as the North Pole. How can you expect
+us to thrive without any sun? Miss Anne is in for the winter—at least,
+she is in unless we get a mild, sunny day. Instead of driving her out,
+I go over and read to her. That's the only nice time in my day. She
+gets books down from Mudie's and I live in them from three to four
+every afternoon. Do write and say what you're doing and where you are
+living, and if Miss Frances Muir has taken possession of you. And do,
+do find out a big piece of work—real work for me to do, with a very
+big W.
+
+   "Women can do anything nowadays—but there seems nothing that just suits
+me. I'm getting almost tired of my car, and I want to do something
+big—and worth living for. I'm praying for something to be sent to me. I
+know you believe in prayer. I wish I could lead a Crusade, or something
+of that sort. I want to do something that will call out all my powers
+of soul as well as of my body. You see how the poor Bubble wants to
+soar! And Waddy is trying to fasten me down with string to the earth.
+String composed of Convention and Caution and Contentment, three C's
+that I snap and break in fury.
+
+   "Write me a long letter and cheer me up.
+
+                "YOUR POOR DISTRACTED BUBBLE."
+
+But before Thorold could reply to this, Gentian's prayers were answered
+in a way that she little expected.
+
+It was a cold grey afternoon in December. Gentian was returning in her
+car from the Mount where she had been reading to Miss Anne. As she
+neared the Vicarage she saw a car with lights standing outside the gate.
+
+Jumping out of her own car, she met the doctor who lived near coming
+down the path.
+
+"Dr. Wild, what is the matter?" she cried out.
+
+He looked at her gravely as he pulled on his gloves.
+
+"It's your friend—Miss Ward. I fortunately happened to be passing when
+your small maid called me in. I'll come back into the house with you. I
+think you'll have to have a nurse."
+
+"Oh," cried Gentian, "tell me quickly. Is it an accident?"
+
+"No—it's a seizure, and a bad one. Your maid found her unconscious, and
+she's unconscious still. Was she quite well when you saw her last?"
+
+But Gentian had dashed upstairs. She could hardly believe it to be
+true, and flung herself on the bed by Miss Ward's unconscious figure.
+
+"Waddy, dearest Waddy, speak to me, speak! Oh, what can have happened
+to you!"
+
+She was so unused to illness, and the shock was so sudden, that she was
+almost beside herself.
+
+Dr. Wild got her out of the room and talked to her quietly downstairs,
+and in a short time she had regained her self-control.
+
+"She was quite well when I left her this afternoon. She had been
+complaining of her head these last few days, but I thought it was only
+one of her ordinary headaches. We can't afford a nurse. I'll nurse her
+myself. She's all the world to me!"
+
+So Gentian talked, but the doctor meant to have his way about a nurse.
+
+"Have her for a week, and we shall then see how things are going. Has
+she ever had an attack like this before?"
+
+"Never, that I know of. It's awful! What shall we do?"
+
+"You'll get through all right," he said reassuringly. "I must go now
+as I've other patients to see, but I'll look in again this evening and
+bring back a nurse with me."
+
+It seemed like some black dream to poor Gentian. She had never realized
+how dependent she was on Miss Ward till now, nor how deep was her
+affection for her.
+
+Dr. Wild was able to bring back a nice capable nurse, and Gentian was
+persuaded to go to bed leaving her in charge. But she did not sleep.
+
+Life, which had seemed so easy before, now presented horrible
+possibilities. She felt her own inexperience and irresponsibility.
+What would she do without her faithful friend beside her? She had no
+experience of housekeeping or money matters. Miss Ward had kept the
+house going economically, but comfortably. She would appear the first
+thing every morning at Gentian's bedside with a cup of tea and some
+daintily cut bread and butter. She tidied her room and drawers, she
+cooked, or supervised their village maid, she dusted the rooms and kept
+flowers fresh and clean, and mended Gentian's clothes; even darned her
+stockings.
+
+All this the girl had taken as a matter of course. It had been done
+during her mother's lifetime. Miss Ward had been nurse, and maid, and
+companion, and friend, and chaperon, in turn to her. Now she was lying
+unconscious, stricken down in one moment, and the doctor seemed to
+think seriously of the case.
+
+   "O God," Gentian prayed, "have pity on me. I can't live without her!
+Make her well again, I beseech Thee to do it. I am quite helpless
+without her. I have been a selfish pig. I promise Thee I'll try to do
+better, and think more of her and less of myself if Thou sparest her!"
+
+She tossed to and fro on her bed, and rose the next morning unrefreshed
+by her night's rest. Kate, the little maid, brought her a cup of tea
+with scared eyes.
+
+"She ain't no better, miss. I've seen nurse. She be just the same,
+breathing so loud and hard, it fair frightens me!"
+
+"Send nurse to me—"
+
+And so the nurse came, but could give her little comfort. Gentian
+dressed and came downstairs, then set to work to keep things going as
+usual in the small household. She sent a note to Miss Buchan telling
+her what had happened. And then she waited patiently for the doctor's
+visit, hoping vainly that he would give her better news.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+LEFT ALONE
+
+IT was a sunny morning towards the end of February. The garden was gay
+with spring bulbs, and Gentian stood looking out of the window upon the
+bright scene in front of her with wistful lips and sad eyes. Her bright
+colour had faded, her face was white and rather strained. She seemed
+to be years older, and yet it was barely two months since Miss Ward
+had been first taken ill. For those two months Gentian and a nurse had
+hardly left the invalid's room.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe had been in and out, and wanted Gentian to come and
+stay with her for a little rest, but she firmly refused to leave the
+house even for one evening, and every one was surprised to see the
+merry, volatile girl, turn into the thoughtful, patient nurse. Gentian
+made many mistakes at first, and was rather rebellious and impatient
+when she found her earnest prayers for her dear Waddy were not going to
+be answered in the way she wished.
+
+For a few weeks it seemed that Miss Ward would recover; then she had
+another seizure, and gradually became unconscious again.
+
+It was a terrible time for poor Gentian when she was told by the
+doctor that there was no longer any hope of recovery. But she remained
+steadfastly at her post, tried not to think of the future, and gave up
+her whole heart and strength to minister to her friend's needs.
+
+Just before Miss Ward passed away, she seemed to have a phase of
+consciousness. Gentian bent over her lovingly.
+
+"Waddy, darling, I'm here."
+
+The sick woman smiled, pointed upwards, and said, with a little effort,
+"Home!" Then her eyes closed, and a few moments after, her spirit had
+left her tired body and had reached its "Home."
+
+Gentian was at first like one stunned. Mrs. Wharnecliffe swept down
+upon her again, but she would not leave the little house till her
+friend was laid to rest in the peaceful churchyard close by, and she
+insisted upon presiding at the organ and playing the "Dead March" when
+all was over.
+
+Then Mrs. Wharnecliffe was allowed to have her way, and Gentian
+accompanied her home and stayed there for a few days. But she seemed as
+if she could not rest.
+
+"I would rather go home," she told her hostess; "there is a good deal I
+must do."
+
+"My dear child, you cannot continue to live there alone. I wish Thorold
+was here; it is most unfortunate that he should be abroad. I have
+written to him, and I know he will come as soon as his young brother is
+quite convalescent. He always has been the slave of those boys."
+
+"Godwin has been very ill," said Gentian rebukingly; "when his ship
+left him at the hospital in Gibraltar, they did not think he would
+live."
+
+"You know all about it," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a smile.
+
+"Of course I do. Cousin Thor and I write to each other continually."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at the girl, but said nothing. She was puzzled
+herself as to what had better be done with Gentian, now that her
+natural protector had left her.
+
+"If you really want to live on in your present home," she said
+presently, "it will be quite easy to find you some nice person as
+companion—or somebody of that class to live with you."
+
+"Thank you," said Gentian, with a little fire in her eye—"I shall not
+need anyone to supplant dear Waddy."
+
+She had refused to discuss the subject further. She seemed to Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe to have suddenly developed into a very remote and
+self-reliant young woman. But then Mrs. Wharnecliffe had not seen her
+last letter to Thorold, a letter that was causing him to wrinkle his
+brows with much perplexity of soul.
+
+   "Oh, Cousin Thor, do you know what has happened? The skies have fallen
+on me, my world has gone to pieces, and I am crushed to atoms. My
+darling Waddy has left me. I hoped, as you know, that she was going to
+get well. But she had another seizure, and she left me without a word,
+excepting that she pointed upwards and murmured 'Home.' What does a
+girl do when her comforter, and mentor, and prop, and refuge is taken
+from her? Waddy filled my mother's place, she was my safety valve, she
+circled me with attentions and ministrations and love. I thought I was
+independent and self-reliant. Just as much as a limpet is independent
+of its rock! And I am rebellious, and desolate, and absolutely at the
+end of everything. What am I to do? How am I to live? I don't promise
+to do a single thing you say, but you must write to me at once—sheets,
+please! And inspire me with a desire to live, and imbue me with some
+fraction of courage—and tell me what I ought to be thinking, and
+saying, and doing. I am so frightfully unprepared for this awful blow.
+You are never unprepared for anything. But all the same I don't believe
+you can say anything that will bring me the least ray of light or
+comfort.
+
+   "I'm trying to be self-controlled. I say to myself—'I'll eat my
+breakfast, I'll take a walk—I'll order dinner and eat it. I'll darn my
+stockings and mend the household linen, and do all the things I most
+dislike, until tea comes, and then I'll take another walk, and then
+I'll eat my supper; and then I'll go to bed, and I'll go round and
+round this treadmill till I die, but never shall I feel happy and gay
+and young again.'
+
+   "There's one thing I can't do. I can't go into church and play my
+beloved organ. I did it for her funeral, but I shudder at the thought
+of touching it again. And I think my nerves have gone to pieces. I feel
+if I took 'Mousie' out, I would drive myself into eternity. I daren't
+trust myself at her wheel. I daren't go over to the Miss Buchans yet. I
+daren't start driving Miss Anne out. So all my favourite pursuits are
+gone.
+
+   "This is all about myself, but now I have nobody in the world to love,
+or who loves me, so that I shall grow more selfish and egotistical than
+ever. Who wouldn't? I'm glad your brother is on the way to recovery.
+
+   "I may say that my religion has all gone to pieces as well as
+everything else. God seems nowhere. He hasn't listened to me. I feel He
+hasn't cared. He wanted Waddy and He took her, and He doesn't take the
+slightest notice of me, or cares for me at all—I have agonized my soul
+in prayer to no purpose at all. This is all I have to say.
+
+   "The Bubble at last has burst—
+
+               "YOUR POOR BURST BUBBLE.
+
+   "Are you going to turn me out of the little Vicarage now that Waddy
+has gone?"
+
+It was rather a relief than otherwise to Mrs. Wharnecliffe when
+Gentian had left her and returned to the Vicarage. She was concerned
+about the girl, but could not comfort her. She marvelled at her still
+icy composure, but she was a woman of experience and guessed that
+underneath was a depth of grief which she could hardly fathom.
+
+She had been touched by the faithful love and adoration shown by Miss
+Ward to her charge, but she had not realized how much it was returned
+by the merry light-hearted girl.
+
+And now Gentian was home again in the empty house, and was gazing out
+upon her flower-beds, wishing that winter would return and be more in
+unison with her feelings.
+
+Kate the little maid had gone to the village on an errand. When the
+latch of the gate was lifted, Gentian thought it might be her returning.
+
+Then a short quick rap on the door made her start, and flush with
+sudden excitement. Surely no one but Thorold Holt knocked like that!
+
+In a moment she was out in the hall and at the door.
+
+"Oh, Cousin Thor!" was her only exclamation, but seizing him by both
+hands she dragged him into the sitting-room.
+
+He smiled at her as he relieved himself of his light overcoat, then he
+seated himself in the big arm-chair by the fire.
+
+"I wonder if I can do you any good by coming," he said. "I am on my way
+back to Cornwall. I arrived last night. The Wharnecliffes are putting
+me up."
+
+Gentian was struggling now for self-control. To her horror, tears were
+rising to her eyes.
+
+In her impulsive fashion she exclaimed:
+
+"If I cry, take no notice—I feel I would like to lie down on the
+hearthrug and sob myself to death."
+
+Then she drew her hand lightly across her eyes.
+
+"It is only the sight of you, just the same as ever, sitting there
+looking at me—that breaks me down. There! I'm better. It's waste of
+time crying whilst you're here. I suppose you have a flying half-hour
+to spend with me?"
+
+"No—I am in no hurry. Can you give me lunch?"
+
+Gentian flew out of the room. She returned after a short consultation
+with Kate in the kitchen. A ray of brightness was in her face.
+
+Then she sobered down. For some minutes she talked of Miss Ward's last
+hours.
+
+"I wrote to you, but there's nothing like talking," she said, with a
+long-drawn breath, when she had told him all.
+
+"That's what I thought," said Thorold dryly. "I resolved to answer your
+letter in person. Shall I begin?"
+
+"Oh, do—what am I to do? Is there any hope? It all seems so dark."
+
+"It is a pity you did not live in the Early Christian times," said
+Thorold slowly. "What is such a misery to you was such a joy to them!
+Have you never, in your life abroad, visited the Catacombs in Rome?"
+
+"Yes, I did once, but I thought it gruesome."
+
+"Did you not notice the triumphant joy that was the keynote to all the
+inscriptions there?"
+
+"I noticed nothing. I came out of it as soon as I could. What have the
+Catacombs to do with me?"
+
+"Only that those early Christians took the right course as regards
+death. It was a joyful event to all of them, and so ought it to be to
+us, and if we love persons very much, we should rejoice in their joy
+and not think about ourselves."
+
+"Ah, now you're coming down from heaven to earth. I knew you would call
+me selfish, my letter was a wail of self-misery, but it's just how I
+felt! Of course, I hope darling Waddy is happy, but that doesn't alter
+my misery—I thought I could live alone, but I find I can't."
+
+"I quite agree with you."
+
+"Oh, don't be fixing up some starched old woman to live with me who
+will look upon me as an unpleasant duty. After darling Waddy, who
+really loved me, anyone, however suitable in your sight, would be a
+torture to me."
+
+There was silence. Then Gentian said appealingly:
+
+"I know I'm pig-headed and unreasonable. Forgive me, I don't know what
+I'm saying, or what I want. I really would like—"
+
+She paused, and a little bright mischief came into her eye.
+
+"I would like to come down to Cornwall and keep house for you. You've
+made yourself into a kind of guardian of mine. Can't a ward live
+with her guardian? That reminds me, I am exceedingly annoyed about
+something and I had better have it out with you at once. I have been
+looking into our business affairs—my business affairs, I shall have to
+say now, and I find that in the banking account which is held jointly
+in Waddy's name and mine, there is a certain big quarterly sum which
+seems to come from you. What is the meaning of it? I just left all
+money matters to Waddy and the dear thing has left a written paper in
+which she bequeaths all her hard-earned savings to me. Have you been
+supplementing our income ever since we came to live here?"
+
+"It was an arrangement I made with Miss Ward," said Thorold, fidgeting
+in his seat, and looking rather uncomfortable, "we talked it over. I
+considered that some of your cousin's money rightfully belonged to you,
+and I hope you will let the arrangement stand as it is."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the sort. I am not going to receive charity from
+you."
+
+Gentian's eyes flashed as she spoke. She looked really angry, then with
+her quick silvery moods, she dissolved into a tearful smile.
+
+"Oh, forgive me! It's more than generous and good of you, but don't
+you see my pride or self-respect won't let me take it from you?
+Unless—unless—you would let me be your housekeeper in a business
+capacity and give me a salary. I really have become quite good at
+cooking and keeping house."
+
+"My dear child," said Thorold hastily, "I don't yet possess a house
+in Cornwall. I am living at the Rectory, and I have no housekeeper at
+present."
+
+"But you won't be always at the Rectory?
+
+"No. I am thinking of taking a small house a couple of miles out of the
+village, but I may not do that. It is all uncertain. I am waiting to
+see how the mine develops."
+
+"Well, what is to become of me?" said Gentian, the gloom returning
+to her face again. "I think I shall go back to Italy and try to earn
+a living there. Nobody wants me, or cares for me in this grey old
+England, and I have sunshine in Italy. I expect you'll say I must leave
+this little Vicarage, where I have been so happy. I shall have to earn
+my living in some way."
+
+"Have you seen or heard anything of the Miss Buchans?"
+
+"They wrote their sympathy and asked me to come over and see them. Miss
+Horatia called one day, but I was crying my eyes out and I wouldn't
+see her. I'm not ready to see people yet. I'm not controlled enough;
+at least, it's a strain to be so. I was at Mrs. Wharnecliffe's for a
+few days, and was quite glad to get back here again, where I can cry in
+peace, and go without my meals if I choose!"
+
+"Well, I must tell you that Miss Anne Buchan told Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+yesterday that she would very much like you to go to her altogether as
+a companion as well as a chauffeur. She is one person who is fond of
+you. You like her, do you not? You would have a comfortable home with
+them."
+
+Gentian looked at him with grave eyes.
+
+"So dull, so commonplace," she murmured. "I know you will fix up some
+dreary groove for me. And I warn you I shall not stay in it—I suppose I
+ought not to care. I ought to be grateful for a roof over my head, and
+food to eat, and fires to warm me. I know what your winters are like,
+and of course it is good to be sheltered; I suppose it won't matter
+where I am or what I do, for I shall be too miserable to care. And I've
+lost my faith in God, that's the worst of all."
+
+"That would be the worst fate of all, if you had," said Thorold
+gravely. "But you're in a fog at present and don't realize that the sun
+is the other side and will soon shine through."
+
+"Now, let us leave my fate, and future alone for a bit, and you talk
+to me about my soul," said Gentian, crossing her hands in her lap like
+a little child, and looking up at him with wistful expectancy. "I know
+you're a good man from things you've said to me, but you bottle it all
+up inside and won't let yourself go. Be like Sir Gilbert. He talks to
+me like an angel. He is not like a stiff, reserved Englishman."
+
+"Is that what you find me?"
+
+"No, not when you find fault with me, you're quick enough and sharp
+enough then, but you don't let me know what you feel about Paradise,
+and God, and the Heavenly Things."
+
+There was a little silence, then Thorold said suddenly:
+
+"When I went down to Cornwall I got a new waterproof coat. I was not
+sure whether it was as genuine as the shopkeeper stated, I wanted a
+storm-proof garment, not a shower-proof one, and I told him so. There
+are wild storms round the Cornish coast, and I was soon out in one.
+My coat kept me dry, but it needed the storm for me to test it. It
+wouldn't have been any good to me if it had only kept the showers off."
+
+"Now, what on earth are you driving at?"
+
+"Don't you see that the storms in life ought not to shake our faith in
+God? They are test times and sent to us for the purpose. Your religion
+is a very flimsy fabric if it will not stand you when trouble comes.
+A man learns to know the value of his fireproof safe if a fire takes
+place, in a way that he would never know otherwise. What do you think
+has happened to your Heavenly Father? Is not He above, ordering all
+things still? If He thinks fit to send you trouble and loneliness and
+the loss of your friend, ought you not to accept it at His hand? Think
+of Job in the first overwhelming moments of his trouble:
+
+   "'What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not
+receive evil?'
+
+"Surely your faith is robust enough, and your love sincere enough,
+to trust in the One Who has you in His keeping! I heard some one say
+once—'A knife does not only cut to wound but to beautify.' He was
+speaking of the gardener's ruthless pruning at times, but go into any
+Cathedral and see the effect of the knife and the chisel on the walls
+and roofs, making it a building of delight and joy to all who are in
+it. You have been touched by the knife now. Is it not going to beautify
+your character? Teach you patience and submission, and courage to
+endure?"
+
+"Oh, you are severe! You make me feel so wicked! But I do believe I am,
+and it is myself that is all wrong, and God Who is all right!"
+
+Gentian gazed before her with dreamy thoughtful eyes. Then she got up
+from her seat.
+
+"I don't like long sermons, though I asked you to give me one, but I've
+had more than enough. Enough to think over and act up to, and perhaps
+one day thank you for! Isn't it like you, not to give me one little
+word of pity or of kindness, only stringent, pungent words bracing me
+to endure?"
+
+Thorold had risen from his seat at the same time she had, now he turned
+abruptly to the window. His heart was hammering against his side,
+his whole soul was longing to take the girl into his arms and keep
+her there. He did not know when or how she had stolen her way to his
+heart, but she was enshrined there now, and he, in his old-fashioned,
+self-sacrificing way was daily trying to persuade himself that he was
+too old and dull a personage to mate with such a fresh young flower of
+youth.
+
+When he could gain command of his feelings, he turned back and faced
+Gentian, who was regarding him with wistful, puzzled eyes.
+
+"I do feel for you very much," he said, but his words fell coldly on
+the ears of the warmhearted girl. "I hurried off to you as soon as I
+could leave my young brother. I am only so sorry that I could not have
+been with you sooner."
+
+"Are you going back to him?"
+
+"No; he is coming down to me, as soon as he leaves hospital."
+
+"To the Rectory?"
+
+"No, I have taken rooms near. He asked to be remembered to you."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"I was to tell you how he sympathizes with you, and that his mind and
+heart is as it was. He has not changed."
+
+Gentian smiled, then impulsively she laid her hand on Thorold's coat
+sleeve.
+
+"Do be nice and ask me down to Cornwall before he comes. I want to
+see your mine, and the Rectory, and—and Miss Frances Muir, your
+goddaughter, and the house you think of living in."
+
+"I should like you to see it all," said Thorold heartily; "and as Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe wants to do so too, I'll ask her to bring you with her. If
+I take the house, I want her advice about the interior decorations. It
+has been owned by an old man who let it go to pieces, and it needs a
+lot of repairs."
+
+Kate, the little maid, here interrupted them by saying that lunch was
+ready, and Gentian was soon presiding over some mutton chops and apple
+tart. She could eat little herself, but she seemed brighter and more
+like her old self, and Thorold tried to interest her in Gibraltar, and
+told her about the friends Godwin had there. He did not stay long. When
+the meal was over, he got up to go and asked her as he was leaving if
+she would not go to the Miss Buchans for a time.
+
+"It is not only for your benefit, but for theirs; you could make Miss
+Anne's life much happier and brighter by being with her. There is
+nothing like interest in others for easing heart-ache."
+
+"Oh, I'll go. I suppose I must. And is this dear little house to be
+empty again?"
+
+"Shut it up! Consider it still yours, and leave all your belongings in
+it. Come to it when you want to rummage about."
+
+"Thank you for that small mercy. And the quarterly cheque to the bank
+must stop. I only go to Miss Anne on that condition."
+
+"Very well."
+
+Then, as he held out his hand to her in farewell greeting, he said:
+
+"Do you remember saying to me in a letter that you wanted to do
+something that would call out all the powers of your soul as well as of
+your body? Don't you think the illness and loss of your friend has done
+this?"
+
+"Ah no, indeed! It hasn't. I have failed, entirely failed."
+
+Tears came to her eyes with a rush. She let them brim over.
+
+"But I'll try. I'll remember all you've said. The Catacombs, and
+the knife, and the waterproof. I'll go over and over them till I've
+impressed my subconscious self with them, and they remain with me for
+ever. Good-bye, Cousin Thor, and I'm coming down to Cornwall very
+soon. Tell Mrs. Wharnecliffe to let me know when she goes. And think
+of me sorting out Miss Anne's wools, and getting her footstools and
+reading out very goody and improving books; and in the evening, playing
+backgammon and card games, and hiding my yawns and my weariness behind
+a very smiling countenance."
+
+"I shall think of you at the piano transporting a weary woman to
+the realms of light and beauty—and driving her out, with the spring
+awaking all around you. There is much happiness still in store for
+you—good-bye."
+
+He was gone, and Gentian turned back into the empty house with a
+feeling of warmth and comfort in her heart that she had not experienced
+since Miss Ward had left her.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A VISIT TO CORNWALL
+
+LIFE at the moment with the Miss Buchans was at first rather irksome,
+but Gentian's nature had its compensation. If she suffered intensely,
+she enjoyed intensely, and the little things of life laid hold of her
+with an absorbing interest. Miss Horatia's horses and a couple of young
+terriers were a perpetual joy to her. One morning Miss Horatia saw
+Gentian mounted on one of her hunters which the groom was exercising.
+The audacity of it amused her, but when she came to breakfast she took
+the girl to task for her rashness.
+
+"If you want to learn to ride, practise on old Sophy, the grey mare. I
+don't want you to break your neck. Rufus is not fit for a novice."
+
+"I only walked him up and down the avenue. I was out playing with the
+dogs, and I couldn't resist mounting when he came by with an empty
+saddle on him. Green says I've a born seat on horseback. Do you mind? I
+ought to have asked your permission."
+
+"I won't have you ride my hunters," said Miss Horatia good-naturedly;
+"but you can ride out on Sophy if you like."
+
+Gentian flushed with pleasure. Every morning before breakfast she
+accompanied the groom when he exercised the horses. There was a burst
+of warm weather, and the hunting had stopped. After breakfast she went
+up to Miss Anne's room and read and worked with her, writing some of
+her letters, and occasionally going to the town to pay her bills, or to
+shop for her. In the afternoon the car was taken out.
+
+And after tea Gentian was allowed a couple of hours to herself. They
+dined at half-past seven, and music and games were the order of most
+evenings. Gentian would fly over and pay Mrs. Wharnecliffe a visit
+sometimes, and when Sir Gilbert was home again, she went over to him.
+Once a week she had her organ practices, for she resumed her organist's
+duties on Sundays at the little church, and always put fresh flowers on
+the new grave in the little churchyard.
+
+Very slowly peace was returning to her heart. A long talk with Sir
+Gilbert had completed what Thorold had commenced. Gentian could look
+up now and take courage. A sharp attack of gout, which laid Mr.
+Wharnecliffe up, prevented his wife from going to Cornwall as soon
+as she had intended. Gentian was disappointed, but she had learnt to
+control her feelings.
+
+The Miss Buchans were kind, and treated her quite as one of the family,
+but their surprised faces when Gentian at first burst into one of her
+tirades, showed her that she must put a curb upon her tongue. It was
+discipline to which she was not accustomed. She relieved her feelings
+by writing long letters to Thorold.
+
+   "I don't care whether you answer me or not, and I give you leave to
+tear my letters up directly you have read them, but I have no Waddy
+now, and I simply must pour out my heart to some one. You would not
+know me. So meek, so quiet, so gentle of tongue am I, so serene and
+unaware of all vexations and annoyances! That is the outside me. But
+the inside! Ah! It is a boiling cauldron, and a mass of contradictions,
+whims and whamsies.
+
+   "I am learning to ride; it is kind of Miss Horatia to let me. I work
+off a good many tempers and moods when I am jogging along the roads
+with Green, the groom. But when we get to a bit of grass we have a good
+canter, and away fly all my black shadows and rebellious feelings! I
+come back to the house ready for anything!"
+
+And then one morning Mrs. Wharnecliffe arrived at the Mount asking the
+Miss Buchans if they would allow Gentian to come with her the next day
+to Cornwall.
+
+"We shall only be away the week-end. I am going to put up at the small
+inn at Perrancombe. And I shall go down in the car; the trains are so
+tedious."
+
+Miss Anne said she would be willing to spare Gentian, and so it was
+settled and the girl went about the house with such a radiant face that
+Miss Horatia chaffed her about it.
+
+"I thought you and Thorold Holt were always sparring with one another.
+You have told me that you did not like his interference. Is it a case
+of 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?"
+
+"It isn't altogether him," said Gentian confusedly; "it's the sea, and
+the mines, and the Cornish people I want to see. Besides, it's a trip
+to an unknown place, and I always love that!"
+
+Then she added with her natural truthfulness:
+
+"I feel differently about Cousin Thor now; he's a link with the
+past—the only link I have; every one has been swept away from me. He's
+always a kind of buffer to me, and I miss him. And he has been very
+kind to me, hasn't he? I came to England a stranger. Now dear Waddy has
+gone, I feel stranger than ever. There isn't a person in the whole wide
+world who really belongs to me. How would you feel if you were I?"
+
+"You'll be able to remedy that one day," said Miss Horatia.
+
+Miss Anne looked horrified at the insinuation, and Gentian laughed her
+merry laugh.
+
+"I'm not in a hurry to belong to a stranger," she said.
+
+
+The next day came, and proved ideal for motoring. A bright blue sky,
+and very little wind. Mrs. Wharnecliffe called for Gentian at ten
+o'clock. They sped swiftly along and were both rather silent at first.
+Then Gentian began to talk.
+
+"Do you think it would be impossible for me to live with Cousin Thor
+and keep his house for him? He would look after me so very well. You
+don't seem to like the idea of my living alone, and I do want a home.
+I've always had one. It's all very well being with the Miss Buchans for
+a time, but I shan't be able to keep on doing it for ever. I cry over
+it when I'm in bed at night. I never felt lonely when Waddy was alive.
+I knew she would never leave me, but I'm desperately lonely now."
+
+"My poor child!" said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, laying her hand softly on the
+girl's arm. "I was hoping you were settling down happily. You have your
+riding to interest you, and it is a busy, useful life for you."
+
+"Tell me, if Cousin Thor takes this house, couldn't I live with him in
+it? I should love to look after him; he never looks after himself."
+
+"No; I don't think that plan would work at all," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+decidedly. "He has never expressed a wish to have you, has he?"
+
+"Oh, no. I would go like a shot if he did."
+
+Gentian gave a sigh, then brightened up.
+
+"Shall I sound him on the subject, or will you?"
+
+"Thorold has been too long a bachelor to like a woman in his house. She
+would embarrass him and be in his way. I tried for a long time to get
+him a lady housekeeper, but he would not have it."
+
+"I dare say," said Gentian gloomily, "that this Miss Muir will marry
+him. I don't think he is a bit too old to be married. And a wife would
+soon get him out of his old-fashioned bachelor ways."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe could not help laughing. Gentian still talked at
+times like a child. She turned the conversation to other subjects, and
+Thorold was not mentioned again.
+
+They arrived at Launceston about two o'clock, and had lunch at an
+hotel there. It was between four and five when they reached their
+destination. Gentian was charmed with the village in a wooded valley
+that ran down to the sea. They heard the thunder and roar of the surf
+breaking over the rocks before they came in sight of it. The church
+was perched on a hill, and they turned, up a steep lane to get to the
+Rectory which was close to it. Just as they came up to a big iron gate
+set in the middle of two granite walls, Thorold himself appeared.
+
+"I've been looking for you for the last hour," he said: "have you had
+lunch?"
+
+"Yes, at Launceston. We've seen no sign of the inn, so came on to ask
+you where it was."
+
+"It isn't in the village, which is good, for you will be quieter away
+from the fisher-folk. It is five minutes' drive from here on the high
+road which leads across the moor."
+
+"Come in, and we'll drive on together."
+
+Thorold slipped into the front seat by the chauffeur, then he looked
+back at Gentian and smiled at her.
+
+"How do you like Cornwall?"
+
+"It's rather bare and wind-swept," said Gentian, "but the sun on the
+sea reminds me of Italy."
+
+"If we follow this line along, we shall come to the house I want you to
+look at, but we'll find the inn first."
+
+It was a very small place when they reached it—but it looked clean,
+and there were flowers in the small garden behind it, which delighted
+Gentian's heart.
+
+They put up the car, then sat down and had tea together. Thorold
+told them that his friend the Rector had hoped to give them tea—but
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe was tired and wanted a rest. Motoring was not the
+exhilarating experience to her that it was to Gentian.
+
+But in an hour's time she declared she was ready for a walk, and they
+sauntered through a sheltered lane which twisted and turned continually
+till Gentian said it made her quite giddy. Thorold was able to give
+them a good deal of information about his mine. Work was beginning, and
+he was very hopeful of the result.
+
+"Is it tin or copper?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+"Tin," said Thorold.
+
+"No radium about it?"
+
+He laughed.
+
+"No, that is only obtainable in the china clay. I am not going to make
+my fortune over this, Lallie."
+
+"If you did, you would only give it away twenty-four hours after you
+had got it," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+Gentian was rather silent, listening to the talk but not joining in it.
+Presently they came in sight of a clump of pines, then a white gate was
+seen, and Thorold told them that this was the little house he wished
+them to see. They glided down a drive bordered by high tamarisk hedges,
+then came to a fair-sized shrubbery of rhododendrons and azaleas, with
+a background of trees, and then swept round to the front of the house.
+
+"What a little darling!" exclaimed Gentian.
+
+It was a solid granite house with a slate roof, but it was covered from
+end to end with creepers. Jasmine and rose, and the sweet-smelling
+stentonia, and a big magnolia hid the grey walls from view. There was a
+neglected lawn in front of it, with an old sundial in the middle, but
+when Gentian jumped out of the car and stood on the doorstep, she gave
+an exclamation of surprise and delight.
+
+The lawn sloped down to green cornfields, and at the bottom of them
+lay the blue, shining sea. No trees hid the ocean from their eyes. The
+Cornish coast-line stretched away on the right. To the left against the
+sky-line was Rame Head, and nearer Tregantle Fort could be dimly seen.
+
+The house was small and very old. There were casement windows, and the
+square stone hall was dark. An old staircase, with solid oak stairs,
+went up in the middle of it.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked about her, then opened a door at the back of
+the hall and found it led out into a square paved court.
+
+"Oh," she said, "you must have glass panels in this door to let the
+light in, Thorold, and turn this little courtyard into a conservatory.
+What is the aspect?"
+
+"East," said Thorold. "Frances Muir suggested a Dutch garden here."
+
+"Oh," said Gentian quickly; "then she's been over the house with you?"
+
+"She's known this house all her life," Thorold responded.
+
+Gentian said no more, but her quick eyes were taking everything in. She
+liked the old-fashioned kitchen and dairies; there were two rooms on
+each side of the front door, and a third sitting-room in a side wing.
+Upstairs there were five good-sized bedrooms and some attics. Gentian
+danced in and out of the empty rooms in her light-hearted fashion;
+she loved the oak panelling in the dining-room, and the deep window
+recesses. Mrs. Wharnecliffe signified her approval of the house as a
+whole.
+
+"A man won't find it lonely," she said, "but if you were bringing a
+wife here, I shouldn't be so content, for I think she would get the
+blues. Have you no neighbours?"
+
+"Oh yes, within driving distance. Do you think it gloomy?"
+
+He turned to Gentian.
+
+"Now it is empty it is, but it won't be when it is furnished," said
+Gentian, looking about her with dreamy eyes. "I can see it with wood
+fires and thick curtains, and music, and books, and flowers."
+
+Then she laughed.
+
+"And you in it, Cousin Thor, moving about in your serene, cheerful way,
+never ruffled if the soot fell down the chimney and the water-pipes
+leaked and the fires smoked. Are you going to keep a car?"
+
+"No, I'm thinking of a horse."
+
+"And a man and his wife to look after you," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+"Thorold, I am afraid you will be buried alive here."
+
+He smiled and shook his head.
+
+"I have too many people to consider and to help."
+
+"Now let us come to your repairs," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "Of course,
+you must cut down your creepers, and one or two trees that are too
+close to the house, and the shrubberies want cutting back. I should
+put a south window in the biggest sitting-room which faces west, then
+you'll get plenty of sunshine."
+
+She went through the rooms again, discussing many possible
+improvements. Gentian left them and wandered round the neglected
+garden. She followed a little path through the shrubbery which led her
+to a rising knoll on which was a seat looking seawards. She sat down
+and lapsed into day dreams.
+
+"I must be getting very old," she mused; "I feel as if I want to settle
+down somewhere and stay there. I don't want to career about the world
+any more. How peaceful it is here!"
+
+A thrush was singing in the bushes close to her; there was a sweet
+scent of syringa which was not far away; and as she raised her head she
+heard a lark singing in the cornfields. A moment after steps approached
+her. It was Thorold.
+
+"I have tracked you at last," he said. "Mrs. Wharnecliffe is on her way
+back to the inn; I told her we would follow. What do you think of the
+view from here?"
+
+"I think it is heavenly."
+
+He sat down on the seat beside her.
+
+"To-morrow you must come and see the mine. I am in two minds about
+taking this house. Dick Muir and his daughter advised me against it.
+They want me to remain on with them indefinitely, or else build on a
+site which Dick can let me have, but I don't care about doing that. I
+would rather take rooms in the village where Godwin was. I don't feel
+like starting another house just yet. The mine is a speculation. I may
+lose all my money over it."
+
+"And then you would be a pauper like me," said Gentian cheerfully; "I
+wonder how you would like that."
+
+"I have gone through poverty, child."
+
+"Yes, I forgot. Forgive me. And I hope with all my heart that your mine
+will succeed. I think I would take the house, Cousin Thor, and then you
+could invite Mrs. Wharnecliffe and me down to visit you. I would like
+to come alone best, but Mrs. Wharnecliffe won't let me hint at such a
+thing! I can't fancy you in lodgings; you've always had a nice home. I
+only wish I could get the chance of having one."
+
+Then she stole a look at him through her long eyelashes.
+
+"I heard from Jim Paget the other day. He's been over the Rocky
+Mountains and now is on his way home. He would give me a home, any day.
+I might do worse than have him, but I'm afraid we should fight like
+cat and dog. Still, I would have a house of my own, and I should love
+furnishing it and arranging rooms."
+
+"Don't marry for a home," said Thorold gravely. "The man must come
+first. You would have a miserable life if you did not care for your
+husband."
+
+"Do you think so? It's a funny world. Things happen so contrary. He
+likes me, and I don't like him, and yet I may meet somebody else whom
+I shall like and he won't like me. I somehow feel as if I shall never
+have just what I want. And I think I'm getting dull and old, and I
+shan't be at all likeable when my teeth and hair fall out."
+
+Thorold threw his head back with his quick laugh, as he did when she
+amused him.
+
+"Cheer up, you are not so very ancient yet."
+
+"Tell me truthfully, do you think I shall make any man a bad wife?"
+
+Thorold turned to her. Something in his eyes made Gentian catch her
+breath. He was about to speak, when round the corner of the shrubbery
+path appeared Miss Frances Muir.
+
+She greeted them delightedly.
+
+"Here you are! I've been scouring the village for you, for I heard Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe, your friend, had returned to the inn. How do you do, Miss
+Brendon? We met in Edinburgh, didn't we? How are your old ladies? I
+thought them so quaint, especially the horsey one."
+
+"They are quite well, thank you."
+
+Gentian's tone was stiff; she resented the Miss Buchans being
+criticized.
+
+"Now, Mr. Holt, you must come home at once. Your manager is at our
+house waiting to see you. It's something about the mine, some of the
+machinery has gone wrong."
+
+"Ah!" said Thorold, with a concerned face. "Then my fears are realized.
+Gentian, I'm afraid I must leave you. Explain it to Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+I hope to take you over the mine to-morrow, but I must go off with
+Dormer at once."
+
+"I'll take Miss Brendon to the church," said Frances Muir, "that is,
+if she is not in a hurry to return to her friend. What do you think of
+this little house?"
+
+"I like it," said Gentian. "I'm in no hurry at all, and should like to
+see the church. Has it a nice organ?"
+
+Thorold smiled.
+
+"It has a wheezy old harmonium, that is all," he said.
+
+"It is awful, isn't it?" said Miss Muir. "But I'm not musical, I don't
+know one note from another. Our little schoolmistress plays it."
+
+They were walking along the lane at a good brisk pace, then Thorold
+turned up one road and they took another. Gentian was quiet and grave,
+as she usually was when she did not feel sure of a person.
+
+Miss Muir did most of the talking.
+
+"Dad is so delighted to have Mr. Holt down here. It's making him quite
+young again, but we don't approve of that house for him. It's too
+desolate and lonely. I'm not going to let him take it if I can help it.
+And he would be better the other side of the village near his mine."
+
+"If I had a mine, I wouldn't want it just outside my windows," said
+Gentian, "and Cousin Thor is accustomed to a nice house and has always
+lived alone. There aren't any other empty houses about are there?"
+
+"Oh, he could build. I love planning houses; I always think I should
+have made a good architect. He and I spend our evenings in drawing out
+plans. I have a lovely one just completed, that would suit all his
+requirements."
+
+"I hate new houses," said Gentian shortly, "they have no tradition or
+atmosphere."
+
+"But you won't be asked to live in it," said Miss Muir laughing.
+
+Gentian spoke with real temper now:
+
+"Can't one like or dislike things for one's friends without being
+involved in them personally? I don't think I'll go to the church now,
+thank you. I'll wait till Cousin Thor can take me. Here's the inn,
+good-bye."
+
+She flashed away from Miss Muir like a bright meteor, and burst in upon
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe in impetuous fashion.
+
+"I dislike Miss Muir very much; I think I hate her," she announced,
+flinging her gloves down on the table, and facing her friend with hard,
+defiant eyes.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a smile.
+
+"Oh, she's what people call 'catty.' She gives herself airs, and thinks
+she's going to frame Cousin Thor to her liking."
+
+"Perhaps she will," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe slowly; "perhaps Thorold has
+met his fate in this little Cornish village."
+
+"I wish him a better fate than that conceited girl," snapped out
+Gentian. "I don't believe he likes her a bit. I shall ask him. Fancy!
+She doesn't know one note of music from another and doesn't care!
+Boasts of it! A person without any love for music is a person without a
+soul!"
+
+"My dear Gentian, don't get so hot over her."
+
+"But, Mrs. Wharnecliffe, why should she take possession of him as she's
+doing? He never knew her before he came here, she's not going to let
+him take that house, she says. She wants to build him one of her own
+planning."
+
+"Thorold is not a weak boy, my dear Gentian. He will please himself.
+He is a man who has decided opinions of his own, and is not easily
+influenced by others, as I have found to my cost."
+
+"No," said Gentian, suddenly becoming quiet and rather despondent,
+"he's like a granite wall, and if you beat your head against him,
+you'll only break it, and not hurt him. Sometimes I think Cousin Thor
+has no feeling at all! Just once—now and then—very seldom, his eyes
+betray him!"
+
+She stopped herself and relapsed into silence. What did that look
+of his mean? And what was he going to say when Miss Muir had so
+inopportunely interrupted them?
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe glanced at her anxiously. She never could understand
+the girl, but she was fond of her. Her contradictions moods and
+irrelevant talk bewildered her. What a creature of impulse she was!
+Even her late sorrow had not steadied her, and yet how nobly she had
+stood by her sick friend in her last illness! How wonderfully patient
+and capable she had become!
+
+"I think, my dear, you had better go and change your dress. Dinner is
+at the early hour of seven here. Thorold was to dine with us. Where has
+he gone?"
+
+"Off to his old mine. There's something gone wrong."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe sighed. "I always feel he will ruin himself over this
+project. It is such a risk!"
+
+Gentian left the room, murmuring to herself: "If she hadn't interrupted
+us! Oh, if she only hadn't!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THOROLD'S SECRET
+
+THOROLD appeared just in time for dinner, which was served in a quaint
+coffee-room overlooking the garden.
+
+Gentian, in a filmy black gown which accentuated the fairness of her
+neck and arms, began the meal in a quiet, pensive mood. She let Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe and Thorold do most of the conversation, and listened to
+Thorold's account of some of the difficulties which now beset him.
+
+"I think we shall get over the present difficulty," he said. "We have
+been trying to adapt some of the old machinery; it means a good bit of
+extra expense to have new, but we must do so. I have been wondering
+whether I have brought you down on a fool's errand, for I doubt if it
+will be wise for me at present to take that house. I must go slowly."
+
+"You must live somewhere," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+"A single man doesn't need so much accommodation."
+
+"Miss Muir doesn't want you to go there," struck in Gentian with rather
+a sharp tone in her voice; "she wants you to build one close to the
+Rectory and the mine."
+
+"Yes," said Thorold, with a smile; "Frances thinks I should be too far
+away from my work."
+
+"As if you're going to work in the mine!" said Gentian a little
+scornfully. Then the dimples came into her cheeks and she gave a little
+laugh.
+
+"You are becoming like me, Cousin Thor. You're a wobbler. You actually
+can't make up your mind. I never knew you had it in you to hesitate or
+to change."
+
+"Oh, I hesitate about lots of things," Thorold replied promptly; "it's
+only when we're very young that we're very sure."
+
+"Well, that isn't a hit at me, for I'm never sure of anything, except
+what I want to do at the moment. But I'd like to know what kind of
+things you wobble about."
+
+Thorold looked at her with his whimsical smile.
+
+"I have considerable hesitation about you and your welfare very often,"
+he said.
+
+Gentian looked dumbfounded.
+
+"Do you think about me very much, Cousin Thor?" she asked demurely.
+
+"Really, Gentian," expostulated Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "We've wandered away
+from our subject of the house. Suppose we get back to that. Where do
+you propose living, Thorold? I hope you won't build."
+
+"No, a new house is perfectly hateful," said Gentian; "I told Miss Muir
+so. I should be sorry to live in a house of her planning. She has no
+sense of beauty."
+
+"She's a very clever girl," said Thorold. "Aren't you judging her
+rather hastily? About the house: I have the first refusal of it, and I
+think in two or three months' time, I shall know how the mine is going
+and be better able to judge what I can afford. I shall take rooms in
+the village."
+
+"Yes," said Gentian quickly; "if you stay on at the Rectory you'll
+lose all independence. Miss Muir will manage you and all your affairs
+completely."
+
+Thorold shook his head.
+
+"A good many people have tried to manage me in my life. We'll except
+the present company! But it is an experience to which I am well
+accustomed, and it doesn't trouble me in the least."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe laughed.
+
+"We need not have an uneasy thought about him, Gentian. As I told you
+he is well able to look after himself. Now don't you think we could
+have a walk as it is such a lovely evening? Is the tide in or out? Let
+us go down to the sea."
+
+"It is out, I think," said Thorold.
+
+"Run and put a warm wrap on, Gentian," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "I have
+a much thicker gown than you. We will wait for you in the verandah."
+
+As the girl disappeared, Mrs. Wharnecliffe took hold of Thorold by the
+arm.
+
+"Now come along, I want to talk to you. I am anxious about this child.
+Your Rector wants the little Vicarage house for a new-married curate
+who is going to be in charge of the church. I haven't told Gentian, for
+I know the outcry she will make. She cannot live there alone, and you
+must let the Rector have it. It will be a way out of the difficulty.
+I have some empty attics where she can store her boxes and things. It
+is very difficult to know what to do with her. I don't believe she'll
+go on living with the Miss Buchans year in and year out, she'll be too
+dull there. And she's not the sort of girl to be knocking about the
+world on her own."
+
+"It will be a blow to her," said Thorold, looking grave. "She tells me
+that young fellow Jim Paget is on her track again. Coming back, isn't
+he? He may induce her to listen to him this time."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe shook her head.
+
+"I wish I could think so, but I'm sure she won't have him. She ought to
+marry. I think she might develop into a good little wife."
+
+There was silence between them for a moment or two. Then Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe said slowly:
+
+"Thorold, have you ever thought that she may be caring for you?"
+
+Thorold was just lighting his pipe. He let it slip through his fingers,
+and fall with a clatter on the ground.
+
+"Caring for me," he said, stooping down to pick up his pipe; "what
+nonsense! I think she may like me better than she did, but she looks
+upon me as her elderly guardian—offered to come and keep house for me!"
+
+His face was a dull red as he raised himself, but Mrs. Wharnecliffe's
+quick eyes noted his confusion.
+
+"There's not much disparity in your ages. You are not elderly, Thorold.
+You are in the prime of life. I may be wrong. She is childishly jealous
+of Frances Muir, but, of course, that may be because she likes to come
+first with you."
+
+"It would be wicked," muttered Thorold, "to tie her up to an old fogy
+like me."
+
+"Gentian would not do anything she did not want to do."
+
+"But she's in a dangerous state now. She wants a home. She might do
+anything to get one. I would not take advantage of a child like that
+for all the world."
+
+"Thorold!"
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe pressed his arm. "You love her!"
+
+"I adore her!" he said, with a quick-caught breath, and then he tried
+to relight his pipe with nervous, trembling fingers.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe drew a long sigh.
+
+"Well, it has come to you at last," she said; "now don't spoil your
+life and hers by stupid bashfulness and false modesty. You have a great
+deal to offer her. A clear, upright, honourable record, a comfortable
+home, and a love—well, I won't say more on that point, but any girl
+would be lucky with you for a husband, Thorold. I don't say she is good
+enough for you, but she's a fascinating little soul, and where she
+loves, she'll love to distraction. You won't have a dull moment with
+her, I know that, and I believe she'll develop into something grand and
+good, by and by."
+
+"You've forced my confidence," Thorold said; "respect it and say no
+more. I'm not in a position to offer anyone a home until I see how the
+mine is going. And I can't believe, and I don't believe, that she would
+listen to me for a moment."
+
+"Who won't listen to you?" asked a gay voice behind them.
+
+It was Gentian, of course. She did not wait for an answer but slipped
+her arm into Mrs. Wharnecliffe's.
+
+"Now let us sally forth," she said, "to see the wonders of the ocean
+shore."
+
+There was no lack of conversation between the three of them, though
+Thorold was the one who spoke least. Mrs. Wharnecliffe talked eagerly,
+almost feverishly, and Gentian was her own gay chattering little self.
+It was a good walk from the inn to the fishing village, which was most
+picturesque. Like many of the Cornish fishing villages, the houses were
+placed at all angles, one above the other, with quaint cobbled paths
+twisting and turning in every direction, and rough stone steps up and
+down to the beach and cliffs. They came down to a stone bridge across
+the river, and here in the middle they turned their backs to the sea
+and looked along the wooded valley with the shining river winding its
+way at the bottom.
+
+The sun was getting low, and sending its golden rays across the water.
+Gentian leant her arms on the stone wall and gazed dreamily in front of
+her.
+
+"This is sweet," she murmured. "I don't think England's beauty spots
+are distributed fairly. River and woods are enough without the sea."
+
+They turned round and walked on, past a row of old-fashioned shops
+facing the river, and then eventually found themselves on the sea
+front. Fishermen lounged about smoking their pipes, or tinkering at
+their boats. The tide was out. Across the short strip of sand in front
+of them and the grey rocks that stretched away to the cliff the golden
+sunshine was sending its long slanting rays. Away on the horizon were
+the fishing smacks starting for their night's fishing. Gentian looked
+at it all with interest and delight.
+
+Then she slipped her hand into Thorold's arm.
+
+"Let's walk down to the sea," she said, "it's too far off from us here."
+
+"I think I shall sit down here," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, sinking on
+one of the wooden seats near her; "don't be too long, for when the sun
+sets, it will be chilly."
+
+Thorold and Gentian walked across the sand until they came to the
+ocean. Only rippling waves disturbed the silence.
+
+"I like this," Gentian said contentedly. "I should like to live by the
+sea. It always brings peace to me. It reminds me of the sea in Italy.
+How far is the mine from here?"
+
+"Quite five miles. It is inland. The Rectory is a good mile and a half
+from us here."
+
+"And do your miners live in these dear little houses?"
+
+"Oh, no. This is entirely a fisher population. There is a small hamlet
+near the mine where they will congregate; but a good many come by the
+train along the light railway from other villages. Every day I have
+applicants from all parts. It's extraordinary how news flies. I hope I
+shall be able to give them all work."
+
+"I wish you could give me work," said Gentian, turning a face that
+was a mixture of wistfulness and mischief up to his. "I shall soon
+be unemployed again, I feel it in my bones. And I am not a very
+satisfactory companion to an indoors lady. Fancy! The other day I was
+saying how much I should love to hunt next winter, and Miss Horatia
+laughed and didn't seem against the idea, when Miss Anne drew herself
+up as if I had quite shocked her,—
+
+"'That is hardly one of the duties of a lady's companion,' she said.
+
+"So I was angry, of course, and I said quickly: 'I am only a temporary
+companion. I may end it any day,'
+
+"And then Miss Anne said very sweetly: 'I think it would be your loss,
+if you did so.'
+
+"Now do you think that quite nice of her? She tries to keep me in my
+place; but somehow bubble up away from it—and any day may bring a
+crisis."
+
+"I agree with Miss Anne," said Thorold gravely; "that it will be your
+loss if you lose such a comfortable home."
+
+"Now, Cousin Thor, do you think it is a home to me? How can it be? I
+have lost my home, and I have lost the love and care that went with
+it. I am hedged about with convention and duties and restrictions. I
+must be punctual and tidy and meek, and always must be at the beck
+and call of a very kind mistress certainly, but a very old-fashioned,
+punctilious lady."
+
+"Do you want to go through life only pleasing yourself, and satisfying
+your own desires?"
+
+"Now you're getting into the stern old martinet you were when I first
+knew you! You have been much kinder lately. I don't always want to
+please myself. There are some people that I would like to do anything
+for—I think I might be willing to die for them!"
+
+Thorold's eyes twinkled as he looked at her.
+
+"We'll hope that won't be necessary at your time of life," he said.
+
+She was standing very close to him as she spoke; now she moved away
+with a dignified air.
+
+"You like to laugh at me," she said. "You never take me in earnest, you
+treat me like a child, and now Waddy has left me I feel a hundred years
+old, as if my whole future life is my own responsibility, and I get
+frightened. I have no money at my back, and very few friends. I don't
+think you or Mrs. Wharnecliffe would let me starve, but then if I went
+away from you, you might not know. I sometimes wonder if I could earn
+my living in London by my music. I'll talk to Jim Paget about it when
+he comes over. He knows a lot of people in London."
+
+Thorold's brows grew rather threatening.
+
+"No," he said quickly; "don't do that. When you feel you must have a
+change of employment, tell me. I promise I will help you."
+
+"I don't feel very sure of you down here," said Gentian, looking at
+him with earnest eyes. "I'm so afraid you will marry Miss Frances
+Muir! There! I know I ought not to say so, but somehow with you I
+must unburden myself. And if you marry her, you won't care about me
+any more. You'll forget all about me—and she—Miss Muir—will keep you
+from having anything to do with me—I know her kind. I don't like
+her and she doesn't like me. We are natural—what is the word? Not
+enemies—antagonists. Why are you laughing?"
+
+"I can't help being amused at your matchmaking propensities. Am I so
+very susceptible to female charm? Haven't you always considered me a
+thorough old bachelor? We are talking nonsense, let us come back to
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe."
+
+He turned; then, as Gentian seemed reduced to silence, he put his hand
+on her shoulder.
+
+"Your future is not in your hands, child. A loving God is caring for
+you. Leave it to Him, He makes no mistakes. That is one of the facts
+that strengthen with years."
+
+She did not speak. Her eyes filled with tears. She was very silent for
+the rest of the evening. Thorold left them as soon as he had taken them
+back to the hotel, promising to be with them again at ten o'clock the
+next morning, when Mrs. Wharnecliffe's car would take them to the mine.
+
+
+And the next day dawned brilliantly. Blue sky, and no wind, the sea lay
+calm and still as a mill pond. They caught the glimpses of it as they
+sped up and down hill through the Cornish lanes.
+
+Gentian was her bright self again, and keenly interested in all the
+working of the mine. She was very disappointed that she was not allowed
+to go down into it. She talked to the manager, and to every miner that
+she came across, and bewildered them by her questions and inquiries.
+
+Later on, Thorold took them to see a row of cottages which were just
+being built. Gentian did not think much of the hamlet, but loved its
+quaint name, which was Menabockle. She spoke to a woman who stood at a
+cottage door.
+
+"Aren't you very happy to have the mine working again?"
+
+"'Twill give work to many," said the woman with a smile.
+
+"Yes, and you're lucky to have Mr. Holt owning it. If you're in
+trouble, he'll get you out of it by hook or crook. He was born to do
+that, I believe."
+
+She nodded and smiled and passed on. Only the woman caught her
+words. Thorold was busy talking to Mrs. Wharnecliffe. He was bent on
+reassuring her about his venture.
+
+"It is a risk, of course, but all here know that tin is to be found;
+and the mine stopped working through want of capital to carry it on. Be
+patient, and you'll see that I have not wasted my money."
+
+"Why need you be on the spot always?" asked Gentian. "When it's once
+started, can't your manager carry it on?"
+
+"If the owners had lived on the spot before, it would have been better
+for their mines. Managers are not infallible. Besides, I want to know
+the people. I am going to start a small institute or club for the young
+men and boys. I am full of ideas from which I want practical results."
+
+"And what about the house?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+"Just for the present, we'll leave it. As I said before, I have the
+first refusal of it. But I'm thankful for your suggestions and advice."
+
+He returned to the inn with them and they had lunch together. They had
+hardly finished the meal before Thorold's friend, the Rector of the
+parish, and his daughter appeared.
+
+Mr. Muir was a tall, stalwart man, with a cheerful face and breezy
+manner. He was very disappointed to hear that Mrs. Wharnecliffe was
+returning home immediately.
+
+"We quite hoped you would dine with us to-night, or at least, come up
+and have a 'dish o' tay,' as our Cornish folk say. Do you approve of
+this Cornish benefactor?" He laid his hand on Thorold's shoulder as he
+spoke.
+
+"It's a doubtful experiment," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe gravely; "but
+Thorold knows his own business best, and if his heart is in it, I
+can but wish him good luck. I hope he will succeed where others have
+failed."
+
+"It's going to be a huge success," said Frances enthusiastically. "Mr.
+Holt always succeeds in everything he puts his hand to, now does he
+not?"
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe smiled.
+
+"He gets his own way with people as a rule."
+
+Thorold looked across at Gentian with his humorous smile.
+
+"Do you endorse that?" he asked.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Yes, because you are so doggedly determined and persevering," she said.
+
+"Well," said Frances, "we all want him to have his own way down here.
+There's no opposition from anyone. How could there be? We are most
+keenly interested in what he is doing. And as for the people round,
+they're wild with delight that the mines are going to be restarted."
+
+"The only thing that I don't like about them," said Gentian, "is the
+mess they make of the country. They spoil the landscape, and foul the
+air with blacks and dust."
+
+Frances' smile had a twinge of pity in it.
+
+"That is rather a narrow outlook," she said; "when you put against a
+few acres of waste ground the employment and prosperity of hundreds of
+living souls."
+
+Gentian was silent. She was glad when the car was announced, but vexed
+that she and Mrs. Wharnecliffe should drive off leaving Thorold by the
+side of the girl to whom she had taken such a hearty dislike.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A NEW FRIEND
+
+IT was not long after Gentian's return to the Miss Buchans that the
+blow fell upon her about St. Anselm's Vicarage. Thorold wrote to her
+himself about it, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe had her over for the day to
+discuss plans. To her astonishment, Gentian took it very quietly.
+
+"I am not surprised. I have no right to a house. I have no money to
+live there. I am alone in this grey old England. Cousin Thor gave it
+more to Waddy than to me, and now she is gone I have no right to expect
+that Cousin Thor should provide me with a house to keep my possessions
+in. He did tell me that I could have it for a time, but now this curate
+with his family wants it, and they will take possession of the darling
+organ. It has all gone from me. I shall only have memories of it now."
+
+"You must look upon my house as your pied-à-terre, I won't say home,
+for you have become such an independent young lady that you resent the
+thought of any one taking care of you. But you know, dear, that you
+will be always welcome, and that I am ready to help you in every way
+possible."
+
+"You are very kind," said Gentian, looking at her with a deep gravity
+in her blue starry eyes; "but I am learning to stand alone. I shall
+have to do it, and the sooner I begin the better. I shall be very
+grateful if you will store a few boxes for me. I haven't very many
+worldly goods, have I? Only just some mementoes from my darling Italy,
+and a few of my mother's treasures. I will write this evening and tell
+Cousin Thor that I will clear out my things to-morrow."
+
+Thorold got her letter, and for some hours after receiving it, felt
+distracted and disturbed.
+
+   "DEAR CORNISH BENEFACTOR,—
+
+   "You have broken your news very softly. But I am ready to quit, as
+the Americans would say, and shall march out with my head up, and my
+tears locked down into a pool at the bottom of my heart. You have a
+right to let your own house to anyone. I was only a charity pauper
+whilst there. This isn't bitterness but fact, and never was a poor
+orphan more kindly housed than I was. I knew when I turned the key in
+the door and went off to the Miss Buchans that I should never go back
+again. I felt it in my bones. Mrs. Wharnecliffe impressed upon me that
+I could not live there alone. I knew that I had not enough money of my
+own to feed myself and a chaperone, to say nothing of paying her to
+dance attendance on me. So there we are. I feel I am growing wise and
+old. That sunny chapter of my life is over. The clouds began to appear
+when you took your departure, and when Waddy left me for good, the sun
+disappeared altogether.
+
+   "But, and this is a big But. I will print it in large letters, BUT,
+I have I believe got my storm-proof and mackintosh on, and I'm assuring
+myself over and over, that this fresh storm may beat about my feelings
+and passions and hopes and desires, but can't reach my soul. I don't
+forget your little sermon, you see. I've discovered one of the Bible's
+secrets, that blessedness—that's happiness, is it not?—comes to those
+who believe when they can't see. And then after I have thought over
+that a good while, I give myself a pat on the shoulder and say, 'Your
+future is not in your hands, child.' Only I can't give it quite the
+nice kind of pat that you did.
+
+   "Anyhow, I want you to be assured that I accept my fate with placidity,
+and am still pursuing my daily rounds of duty combined with some small
+bits of pleasure. I am getting quite a good rider. Now I know and share
+Miss Horatia's feelings about cars. They're good to get to places, but
+for enjoying the country they're not in it with a horse. She has taken
+me for several long rides through lanes and woods where cars cannot go,
+and if ever I become a rich woman, I will buy a horse and keep it till
+I die.
+
+   "I suppose Jim Paget would give me a horse if I married him. He has
+written to-day to say he wants to see me, but I've put him off. I can't
+see him here. It would be awkward, and Miss Anne told me to-day that
+she's expecting a nephew of theirs from abroad to come and stay with
+them. He is arriving to-morrow. Do you know him? His name is Vernon
+Buchan. He is a great violinist and gives recitals in London. I am
+anxious and excited to meet him. I do love anyone who loves music, don
+t you? Miss Horatia rather sniffs when his name is mentioned. I don't
+think she approves of him. She said straight out yesterday when Miss
+Anne said how long it was since they had seen him:
+
+   "'He is in want of something, my dear Anne, or he would not ask us to
+have him.'
+
+   "Miss Anne shook her head and looked at me. I pretended, of course, to
+be engrossed in Miss Anne's knitting.
+
+   "This evening Miss Anne asked me if I would like a few days' holiday.
+I don't think she wants me to meet her nephew. Why? I have seen too many
+men and musicians abroad to be unduly impressed by them. But of course
+I said I could go to Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I think she will have me. I did
+not know about it this afternoon when I was over there. And I can't
+go to her to-morrow, so I shall have a glimpse of the nephew before I
+disappear.
+
+   "Oh, Cousin Thor, I am scribbling away like this to take my thoughts
+off my unfortunate existence. Does anyone in the whole wide world
+really want me, I wonder? I don't mean foolish creatures like Jim and
+your Godwin who like the outside of me, and have no more ideas of my
+real self than a cat has of a polar bear. Miss Anne, you see, can
+dispense with my services very easily when she likes.
+
+   "How is that darling little fishing village? I should like to own a
+boat and turn myself into a fisher girl and sail away into the sunset
+sky every evening, drawing my fishing net through the rippling water,
+and watch the stars come out one by one and twinkle in a thousand
+lights on the moonlit waves! I would be quite happy in one of those
+queer little whitewashed houses with my chimney touching my neighbour's
+doorstep above.
+
+   "Good-bye, Guardian, Mentor, and Granite Tor.
+
+       "Your lonely, bewildered, but not utterly beaten—
+
+                                                  "BUBBLE."
+
+The Miss Buchans were at tea in the big drawing-room when their nephew
+arrived.
+
+Gentian was with them. She wore a simple white gown. The only colour
+about her was that of the arresting blue of her eyes. But as Vernon
+Buchan came swiftly forward to greet his aunts, his eyes only took in
+one picture, that of the slim white girlish figure with the piquant
+oval face, the sunny cloud of hair and the wonderful eyes.
+
+She was introduced to him, and for a moment he wondered how she came
+there. Miss Anne quietly enlightened him.
+
+"Miss Brendon looks after me, and drives me out in the afternoon. In
+these days we have lady chauffeurs. It was some time before I became
+accustomed to the idea."
+
+Gentian said to herself with mutinous lips: "And now I am put in my
+place and must stay there."
+
+But Vernon was so talkative, and his conversation was so interesting,
+that she could not stay mute for long, and when she heard that he had
+only just arrived from Italy and had been to Capri three days before
+leaving, she clasped her hands in eager delight.
+
+"Oh, tell me! It was my home for so many years. Tell me how it looks.
+Where did you stay? I know every one. And is Luigi still the first to
+come and offer to take you and your luggage to the Engleesh-speaking
+hotel?"
+
+He laughed gaily. Miss Anne could as soon stop the current of a river
+towards the sea as the animated talk which followed between the two
+young people.
+
+Before dinner time came, Vernon was well acquainted with Gentian's
+history, but he did not devote himself entirely to her; he only took
+good care to include her in conversation with his two aunts.
+
+It was a lovely summer evening. In the big drawing-room later on,
+Gentian went to the piano. It was her custom to play to Miss Anne for
+half an hour every night. Vernon sat by the open window, and listened
+with his heart in his eyes.
+
+"But your music is divine!" he exclaimed. "You have the soul of a true
+artist. I have my violin. I never go anywhere without it. Will you
+accompany me?"
+
+"I don't know that I can," said Gentian simply, "but I will try."
+
+Horatia smiled grimly when she saw them settle themselves at the piano
+for the rest of the evening.
+
+Gentian was quick at reading at sight. Her touch and her execution
+entranced Vernon.
+
+At last Miss Anne intervened.
+
+"Please let us enjoy your society, Vernon. I think you had better
+practise in the mornings. Too much music makes my head ache. Oh, don't
+apologize, but it is nearly ten o'clock and I want to hear a great deal
+from you. How is your sister, and where is she?"
+
+"Oh, she has a flat in town."
+
+Vernon put by his violin with reluctance.
+
+"I'm staying with her. I had to hurry back, for I have one or two
+recitals coming off before the season closes."
+
+"Is her husband with her?"
+
+"My dear aunt, is he ever with her? He's hunting big game in Ceylon
+at present. Emmie and I are always happy together. But just now I'm a
+harassed wretch. I felt I must have a couple of nights with you, and
+I've really come down here to look up a certain Miss Lascelles who is
+in your neighbourhood. My accompanist is ill, he's had to go off to
+Davos—lung trouble—and Miss Lascelles took his place once before. She
+lives in Winderball. Isn't that your nearest town?"
+
+"Yes," said Miss Horatia. "I know whom you mean. Miss Lascelles is the
+daughter of a doctor there. She makes a living by her music, does she
+not, but some one told me only last week that she had gone abroad—to
+Austria, I think. She has obtained some musical post over there."
+
+Vernon ran his hand nervously up and down through his hair.
+
+"Disaster stares me in the face! I shall have to pelt back to town
+to-morrow to arrange something."
+
+But when the next day came he did not go. Instead, he kept Gentian at
+the piano every moment of her spare time, and at five o'clock tea he
+sprang his bomb.
+
+"I have been directed down here," he said solemnly; "by my good fairy.
+I have found my accompanist. Aunt Anne, will you spare Miss Brendon for
+a week or two? Emmie will gladly put her up. With her, my success in
+town will be assured. She's a born accompanist."
+
+Miss Anne was simply speechless. Nothing more had been said about
+Gentian's proposed holiday. Miss Horatia had told her sister gruffly
+that it was too late in the day to save the situation.
+
+"He is bowled over, as I knew he would be, by her pretty grace and her
+music. But it will be one of his passing emotions. Vernon is too fond
+of his own ease and comfort to mean anything serious."
+
+Now Miss Horatia, if feeling startled, did not show it. She smiled at
+her nephew a little provokingly.
+
+"Anything more?" she asked. "Would you like our good cook, and my
+hunter? Not that I class Miss Brendon with them, but she is here for a
+purpose and cannot be spared."
+
+He waved his hand airily.
+
+"She must be spared. You have got on without her for a good many years,
+and a month at the outside will see me through my recitals. Town will
+be getting empty very soon. This is my chance, and I am not going to
+lose it. It would be a sin and shame to keep her down here, whilst I am
+rushing all over the country and tearing my hair to find somebody who
+will do for me."
+
+"There are hundreds of people in town who will jump at the job," said
+Miss Horatia, "and any Concert Directoire would find one for you."
+
+Vernon got up from his seat.
+
+"I mean to have Miss Brendon," he said emphatically. "I shall run away
+with her, abduct her. It's so easy in these days with a car. She may be
+going on an errand to the village, a car slows down, a shawl is flung
+over her head, and it's done. She's dropped in the bottom of the car a
+helpless heap, and away we go—in London before she is even missed!"
+
+"Don't be so ridiculous, Vernon!"
+
+"And improper," murmured Miss Anne.
+
+Gentian began to laugh. Her happy infectious laugh made every one join
+in it.
+
+"I am the person to be consulted," she said, "and I could not possibly
+leave my present situation, sir." Here she gave a little bow to Vernon.
+
+"Oh, indeed you can. Aunt Anne and Aunt Horatia can come up to town
+with you if they like, if they won't trust Emmie to look after you. I
+mean you to come—and I'm a bit of a hypnotist; you'll find yourself
+doing it before you can say 'Jack Robinson.'"
+
+"I am going upstairs to have a rest in my room before dinner,"
+announced Miss Anne quietly. "Gentian, come with me, please."
+
+Gentian offered her her arm at once and they left the room together.
+
+Vernon settled down in his chair again. He meant to have it out with
+his Aunt Horatia.
+
+A determined man can get the better of two women if they happen to
+be fond of him. Miss Anne and Miss Horatia did not approve of their
+nephew's ways. He was too Bohemian, too unconventional, and too
+improvident to please them. But they loved him, and had given him a
+home when his parents were abroad and he was a small schoolboy.
+
+Before another day had elapsed, Gentian found herself ready to agree to
+his proposal. Secretly she was elated at the thought of it. She went
+over to Mrs. Wharnecliffe and coaxed her round to give her permission,
+but to Thorold she did not write till everything was settled and she
+was in the train with Vernon for Town.
+
+
+The ensuing weeks seemed unreal to her. She was by turn delighted and
+wearied with the wild rush of life that was now her lot. Mrs. St.
+Lucas, Vernon's sister, was a bright happy-go-lucky little lady, who
+was as eager in her protestations of friendship for Gentian, as she was
+in getting rid of all responsibility concerning her.
+
+The practices for the Recitals kept Gentian busy, but she was not at
+the piano the whole day, and Vernon was only too ready to take her out
+to lunch and dinner and then to the theatre afterwards. Mrs. St. Lucas
+was generally with them, but not always—and as time went on, Vernon
+began to assume airs of proprietorship which Gentian opposed with quiet
+dignity. She would laugh and talk with him about a hundred different
+things, but let personality be brought into prominence, then she
+stiffened immediately.
+
+The first Recital was a great success—Gentian wrote a full account of
+it to Thorold.
+
+   "You see," she concluded, "that I am now being shown that the talent
+which has been given to me must be used. You have no idea of the
+flattering things that have been said to me. The Managing Director told
+me that if I stayed in London, he could give me continual work, and the
+pay he would offer me staggers me. It would be foolish, dear Cousin
+Thor, would it not, to go back to the Miss Buchans and wind wool and
+read magazine articles and drive a car when I could earn double here,
+and have such a lovely time? It is so exquisite, feeling I have a right
+and a duty to spend hours at the piano. I have always dreamt of playing
+to an audience, and they seem to think that I could manage a solo or
+two of my own later on. Mr. Buchan amuses me so much—he thinks he has a
+right to choose the dress I am to wear when I play for him. I have to
+buy new gowns up here. Mrs. St. Lucas has taken me to her dressmaker,
+and it seems to me that my first earnings will be swallowed up with
+frocks. He insisted upon my wearing a kind of moonlight blue when I
+made my first appearance in public. And then he wanted me to be in
+white and gold. But I stuck at that. It was not retiring enough for an
+accompanist.
+
+   "Oh, Cousin Thor, how he plays! He pours his whole soul out! I think
+his violin comes first in the world with him. He makes me thrill and
+quiver when he plays, and I could weep from sheer ecstasy.
+
+   "I must tell you, that the other day I met Jim in Bond Street.
+Mr. Buchan and I were going to the Academy. It was a surprise. Jim came
+with us, but it was uncomfortable being three, and they glared at each
+other like angry dogs over a bone. I needn't tell you I was the bone.
+And the poor bone wished herself miles away from them both.
+
+   "Then Jim came to see me yesterday, and Mrs. St. Lucas welcomed him
+sweetly, but when we were alone, he trotted out the old story, and
+I thought hard, of the home he would give me, and the fun, and the
+affection. And the managing. But he told me in the midst of it all,
+that the musical world was a rotten environment for any girl, and that
+he would never let any one he knew play in public! I thanked him and
+dismissed him, and cried when he had gone.
+
+   "Why do you all try to manage me? Mr. Buchan does—but I am in his
+pay, so he is my master. I think you are better than you used to be.
+Perhaps it is that you are rather tired of me and do not feel it worth
+while. I thought you might be angry when you heard I was here, but your
+letters say so little. They're as mild as toast and water. I don't want
+you to object to what I am doing, for I mean to go on doing it, and
+I am writing to the Miss Buchans to-day to break with them. Mrs. St.
+Lucas wants me to go to Vienna with her next month. What do you think
+of that! I mean to study music there, and next autumn I am assured of
+plenty of work.
+
+   "Sometimes I shut my eyes and see the little valley running down to the
+sea. Tell me how the mine is going, and if Miss Muir is still planning
+a house for you. And are you living in lodgings or still at the Rectory?
+
+   "This is from the Bubble who is beginning to soar once more."
+
+
+Thorold's answer was as follows:
+
+   "MY DEAR LITTLE FLEDGED MUSICIAN,—
+
+   "Why should I try to cut your wings? And stamp upon your talent which
+is now seeing the light of London Town? I don't like the life for you,
+and rather agree with poor unfortunate Jim. It is too hard work for one
+of your calibre. The late hours, the strain, and rush, and artificial
+atmosphere will all tell on your nervous system, but this, I am sure,
+you will have to find out for yourself. The week or two you are
+experiencing now will be very different from the perpetual grind of a
+professional accompanist. And if you should develop into a professional
+soloist, it will be harder work still.
+
+   "I have nothing to say, except that if you get tired or disillusioned,
+send for me. I am at the end of a wire. And we'll fix up something
+else. Never be afraid of owning up to mistakes. Such a lot of trouble
+comes from false pride. What can I tell you about myself? I am in
+diggings at a farm near the mine, and I eat a lot of Cornish cream,
+and enjoy Cornish pasties and Saffron buns. We're very pleased with
+the mine—we've opened up a vein of tin, and now the work is going
+fast! I feel sorry that your time at the Mount is over. What will Miss
+Anne do without you? Vienna is not an attractive town to me. I knew
+it in my young days before my father died. To spend one of summer's
+best months there is pitiful. But the music, of course, is enchanting.
+Only—only—child—don't let the musical world swamp and drown your soul.
+
+                 "Yours when you want me,
+
+                                 "THOROLD."
+
+Gentian tucked this letter inside her frock after kissing the signature.
+
+"Yours when you want me," she murmured to herself; "how I wish I could
+make that into a proposal! Oh, Cousin Thor, I'll send for you, I know I
+shall, but not yet! Things are going too well, and I'm enjoying myself.
+And my musical soul is being fed and satisfied."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"I WANT YOU"
+
+TO say that both Mrs. Wharnecliffe and Thorold were very uneasy about
+their young protégé would be to state it very mildly.
+
+If Mrs. Wharnecliffe had not had her husband in bed with one of his
+bad attacks of gout, she would have gone up to town herself and taken
+Gentian under her motherly wing. She knew Mrs. St. Lucas, and was well
+aware of her happy-go-lucky Bohemian propensities.
+
+As to Thorold, he thought about Gentian night and day; he longed to
+cast prudence and diffidence to the winds, and go up to London and
+fetch her down to Cornwall, where she could once more be under his
+protecting care. But when he had written to her, he waited patiently,
+dreading, yet sometimes almost longing, to receive a summons from her.
+
+And then about the middle of July it came.
+
+A telegram was handed to him as he was starting to meet his manager at
+the mine, one morning about ten o'clock.
+
+It was very brief.
+
+   "I want you—Gentian."
+
+He flung a few things into his suit-case, borrowed Mr. Muir's car and
+caught the morning express from Liskeard to town. She had wired to him
+from a country inn just outside Maidenhead. He did not get there till
+about six o'clock. The landlady came to the door at once.
+
+"You'll be the young lady's cousin or guardian, so she tells me. She
+ought to be in bed, but she's on the couch in the best parlour. Come
+this way, please."
+
+"Is she ill—an accident—what is the matter?
+
+"The doctor says 'tis a marvel: she's escaped with bruises and a
+sprained wrist. She was pitched right out of the car, and found
+underneath it."
+
+"Who was with her?"
+
+"Nobody, she drove herself down from town, and turning a corner ran
+into some felled trees. I always do say that for a reckless driver,
+give me a young lady!"
+
+Thorold said nothing. He followed her to a small dingy parlour at the
+back of the house, and there, covered with an old plaid shawl, upon a
+horsehair couch, lay Gentian. An ugly bruise and plastered cut on her
+forehead and a bandaged wrist were the only evidences of her accident,
+but she looked white and shaken, and could only faintly smile as she
+looked up at him.
+
+"I knew you would come. I told the landlady so."
+
+He stood looking down upon her with his kind eyes.
+
+"Do your friends know where you are?"
+
+"No. I have run away from them."
+
+It was so like Gentian, that Thorold could have smiled, had he been
+less concerned about her.
+
+And then she held out her unhurt hand to him, and when she had got hold
+of his hand, clutched it as if she could never let it go, and burst
+into a flood of tears.
+
+He stood silent beside her, for he knew that her tears would relieve
+her, and then he said gently:
+
+"Don't bother to talk. I'll wait to be told things till you're feeling
+better, but I must let Mrs. St. Lucas know where you are, and I would
+like to see the doctor."
+
+"Don't tell Mrs. St. Lucas, don't! He will come down and make a fuss.
+We were going up to Chester and York—a kind of tour—and I won't go, and
+he'll be angry."
+
+She was struggling to get the better of her tears.
+
+"I must wire to relieve their anxiety, but I won't say where you are.
+I will say you are returning home with me. I will write later when you
+can give me details."
+
+He left the room. He was always prompt and practical. When he returned,
+he had seen the doctor, wired to Mrs. St. Lucas, and ordered a nice
+little dinner to be sent into the parlour for himself and Gentian. He
+had also got a room for himself at an hotel in Maidenhead.
+
+He found Gentian looking much better and brighter.
+
+"It's all right now you are here," she said, "I'm ready to explain all."
+
+"Not yet. We will have some food first. What a fortunate thing you were
+so near this inn!"
+
+"Yes; one of the ostlers heard the crash and ran out. It was only just
+round the corner. Such a corner! They ought to have put up warning
+lights, but I suppose I was reckless—I felt so."
+
+She could not eat much, she said her head was bad, but she drank a cup
+of tea, and she looked up at him pathetically when he helped her back
+to the couch.
+
+"If only I was feeling well, how much we could enjoy ourselves!" she
+said.
+
+A little later the meal was carried away, and then he drew up a chair
+to her side, and with her hand lightly clasping his she told her story.
+
+"Do you know Mr. Buchan? He is very amusing, and alive to his
+finger-tips, and he's a passionate, magnificent violinist. He loves
+his violin like nothing in the world, and he amuses himself with
+everybody else. He liked me, and he was awfully nice, and respectful
+and courteous, and all he ought to be, until we had finished our London
+recitals. Then he was tired and his nerves were on edge, and he would
+take me about to places I did not like, and he began to take liberties,
+called me by my Christian name, and was always taking hold of me, and
+talking in a silly inane fashion. He thought I liked it, until one day
+I made myself very angry and showed him that I did not intend to be
+treated so. Then he did it to tease me.
+
+"The night before last, Mrs. St. Lucas had a dinner engagement
+somewhere, and I was feeling tired. I had not been in bed before two
+or three in the morning for a whole week. He came in about dinner time
+and wanted me to go to the Ritz with him. I refused, and then he said
+he should stay at home with me. I am quite sure he took too much whisky
+at dinner, for when he came into the drawing-room afterwards, he reeked
+of it, and he began to be most objectionable, calling me his 'darling
+girl' and trying to kiss me. I walked straight away from him and locked
+myself up in my bedroom.
+
+"Mrs. St. Lucas came home very late, so I determined to tell her about
+it in the morning. I did not know quite what to do, for she had made
+all arrangements to go to Vienna, and of course Mr. Buchan was going
+too, and I suddenly felt sick and disgusted with it all. I hardly
+slept—worrying through things and not seeing how I could back out of
+it, or get away from them. Then in the morning I heard from Mrs. St.
+Lucas' maid when she called me that Mrs. St. Lucas had gone down to
+Richmond with a party of friends for the day. It was just like her. She
+left a message saying she would be back early in the evening. I asked
+the maid if Mr. Buchan were out or in, and she gave me a note from him."
+
+Gentian paused, then with her head held very proudly, she went on:
+
+"If he had apologized for his behaviour, I would very likely have
+forgiven him on condition he never offended in that way again, but his
+note was sentimental drivel, just flattering me, and saying that the
+earth could do better without the sun than he could without me, and he
+ended by saying he wanted to take me down the river for the day. Would
+I be kind and come? I sent a message by the maid to say that I was not
+well and was going to have a quiet day in my room. And then after I had
+heard him leave the flat, and angrily tell the maid he would not be in
+till late, it suddenly struck me what I could do!
+
+"In a few minutes I was out of bed and dressed, and had got to the
+nearest garage. I hired a car without thinking of where I was going.
+I only knew I must get away from it all. I remembered as I was going
+through the streets, that Waddy had a married sister in Wiltshire. She
+came to her funeral, and I thought for the sake of Waddy that she might
+take me in. And then, just as I came here, I ran into some trees half
+across the road. I'm not smashed up myself, perhaps it would be better
+for you and others if I were, but the car is an utter wreck, and I
+shall have to pay an awful sum at the garage, I suppose. I didn't know
+what to do, and then I thought of you. And if you can square it up with
+them now, I'll pay you back by instalments. If it takes a lifetime to
+do it, I will!"
+
+She glanced up at him feverishly.
+
+Thorold responded at once.
+
+"I'll write to them to-night, they must know, of course. Now what do
+you want to do?"
+
+There was silence. Gentian leant back against a very hard cushion and
+looked up at him gravely.
+
+"What do you advise me to do?" she said.
+
+"I think the best thing for you to do is to go to bed and have a good
+night's rest. You look as if you badly need it. I'll come round after
+breakfast, and if you feel fit, I'll take you to Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who
+is really anxious about you. She told me you had left off writing to
+her."
+
+"Oh, I haven't written to anyone—except perhaps you—and you haven't
+heard very often, have you?"
+
+"We'll talk over things to-morrow. I do not know whether you want to
+break entirely with these new friends of yours. But don't worry your
+head over them. Now I am going. Good night. The landlady says she has a
+comfortable bedroom for you."
+
+"Oh, what does it matter where I sleep! I'm only a plague and bother
+to all my friends. Good night. You're like one of your Cornish Tors—I
+wish—I wish I could be so immovably serene!"
+
+Thorold left her—and acting upon his advice, Gentian went up to her
+bedroom and got into an old-fashioned fourpost bed with a feather
+mattress. As she put down her head upon her pillow, she said to herself
+determinedly:
+
+"I shan't think of Vernon or his sister. I shall wipe them off my mind.
+I shall only dream and think of that peaceful Cornish valley by the
+sea, and of Cousin Thor moving about in it trying to shoulder all the
+people's burdens. He is shouldering mine, and I will leave him to do
+it. He never fails me."
+
+Sleep came to her very soon in spite of aching wrist and limbs. She met
+Thorold at the breakfast table the next morning looking much more like
+herself. And she had recovered her spirits. Meeting his intent gaze she
+asked him lightly:
+
+"Am I looking an awful guy? I feel as if I have been in a football
+scrimmage."
+
+"You are very thin," said Thorold gravely. "I suppose it is the result
+of the life you have been leading—late hours and excitement."
+
+"I have only had six weeks of it, barely that."
+
+"It's long enough to have brought lines to your face which were not
+there before."
+
+"You're not complimentary. You never are to me. But I have got nervy
+and cross in London. I always hated towns. I told you so when you came
+and took Waddy and me away from it. The air is used up, and people get
+in one's way, and are nasty, and then that rouses nastiness in me."
+
+"Well, now we must talk matters over. You have been too hasty and
+impetuous in running away like this! Do you want to end all this
+musical life? Will you be content to settle down quietly away from it
+all?"
+
+"I never want to get away from music. I could not be happy without a
+piano or organ, but I never want to see Mr. Buchan again, never. He
+thinks of nobody but himself, and thinks he can treat me anyhow!"
+
+Gentian's cheeks grew hot and red as she thought of her last interview
+with Vernon, and of his letter following it.
+
+"I don't know where I am to live," she went on with a plaintive tone in
+her voice. "I could never go back to the Miss Buchans. Now I see that I
+treated them badly, for they have been very kind to me. But Mr. Buchan
+made me write to them and definitely refuse to go back to them. And I
+can't stay very long with Mrs. Wharnecliffe."
+
+"We'll talk over plans with her," said Thorold hastily. "I think you
+had better write yourself to both Mr. Buchan and his sister. They have
+been kind to you. Don't shirk it. You are not a child, and must be able
+to have the courage of your convictions."
+
+Gentian looked at him with laughter in her eyes.
+
+"You are just the same as ever. Very kind when I am in trouble, but so
+quick to dictate to me and correct my faults. When I sweep people out
+of my life, I do it with one good swish of the broom, and never give my
+reasons. Why should I?"
+
+"I think it would be more courteous and more straightforward if you
+were to do so."
+
+"What! To tell Mrs. St. Lucas that her brother is detestable to me!"
+
+"No, that is not necessary."
+
+Gentian jumped up from the breakfast table. "I'll write with the
+greatest pleasure. No one can say that I am afraid of them."
+
+She seized hold of her writing-case, sat down and scribbled off two
+hasty notes which she handed to Thorold to read before she placed them
+in their envelopes.
+
+   "DEAR MRS. ST. LUCAS,—
+
+   "I hope you were not anxious about me. I would have explained had you
+been home. I have had enough of town life. Your brother and I have had
+words—I don't feel I care about being with him any more. I have played
+for him at his two big Recitals, and that is all I came up for. I shall
+never change my mind, but I thank you for your kind hospitality and
+hope you will enjoy Vienna. Please send my luggage to Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+and forgive my hasty departure.
+
+             "Yours gratefully,
+
+                 "GENTIAN BRENDON."
+
+
+   "DEAR MR. BUCHAN,—
+
+   "I feel you will have given your sister an explanation of my
+disappearance. Please do not think that all girls are alike, and that I
+understand such talk and behaviour as yours. Your letter is offensive
+to me. What have I done to make you write in such a style? I hope we
+shall never meet again. I should have been happier if I had never known
+you.
+
+   "I can't describe myself anything but a disgusted and disillusioned
+acquaintance,
+
+                       "GENTIAN BRENDON."
+
+Thorold handed them back to her with a very grave face.
+
+"Well, you don't approve of them?"
+
+"I think you might write to him differently. With a little more
+dignity. After all, he may have only expressed what he felt for you—you
+are too severe."
+
+"Oh, men always side with men."
+
+"I am trying to be just and fair," said Thorold. "Give his note back to
+me."
+
+Gentian tore it to pieces, then dashed off another epistle.
+
+   "DEAR MR. BUCHAN,—
+
+   "I am sorry that I felt obliged to come away from town. Your attitude
+lately has stopped our friendly intercourse, and I think it wiser to
+end my visit to your sister.
+
+   "Thanking you for all your past kindness,
+
+              "Yours sincerely,
+
+                      "GENTIAN BRENDON."
+
+"That is better," was Thorold's comment. "Now we'll post these at once,
+and get them off our mind. There's a train we can catch in an hour's
+time. The doctor wants to see you once more. I see him coming along the
+road now."
+
+"Oh, I don't want doctors," said Gentian impatiently.
+
+But she was persuaded to see him, and he was able to bandage her wrist
+afresh.
+
+"You want a good rest. Your nerves are overstrained," he told her. "Why
+will you young people burn the candle at both ends! Then if illness or
+accident comes, you have no resisting force to overcome them."
+
+"I consider I've weathered through my accident in splendid fashion,"
+she said.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"Your pulse does not tell me so. Take it quietly. You will feel your
+bruises for some days, but you have had a wonderful escape."
+
+In an hour's time Gentian was sitting opposite Thorold in a railway
+carriage.
+
+He talked to her a great deal about Cornwall; of its traditions and
+folklore and history. He persistently refused to discuss any future
+plans with her and she was content, for the time being, to live in the
+present.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe received Gentian with her usual warmth of welcome.
+
+"The very bad penny has returned to you," said Gentian softly and
+contritely.
+
+"I almost felt it would be so," was Mrs. Wharnecliffe's response. "Your
+heart was so set on going, that I felt it would be wise to let you go;
+but I had a presentiment that it would be a failure."
+
+They had had luncheon in the train. Sitting out under the big acacia
+tree on the lawn, Gentian poured out her story. Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+smiled at times at her childishness, yet was surprised with her quick
+comprehension and discernment. She saw that Vernon Buchan had wearied
+her long before the actual break with him, and she was thankful for it.
+
+Thorold left them alone for a considerable time; then, when he joined
+them, Mrs. Wharnecliffe said she must finish writing some letters.
+
+"We will have tea out here," she said. "I shall not be long."
+
+Thorold took a garden chair and pulled out his pipe, but he did not
+light it. He looked at Gentian in a funny, diffident kind of way.
+
+"Now shall we talk plans?" he said.
+
+"Yes," said Gentian with a sigh; "but you'll be very clever if you can
+find a home for me anywhere, I must work; but what to do, and how to
+earn money, I do not know. I suppose I must try and give music lessons,
+but I am not very patient."
+
+Thorold cleared his throat.
+
+"I should like to offer you a home," he said; "but I doubt if you
+would—"
+
+"Oh, where? Not in Cornwall with you? As your housekeeper?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"Oh, no."
+
+Gentian's face fell.
+
+Then he put his pipe in his pocket, and took her slim little hand in
+his.
+
+"Am I too old and stodgy for you, Gentian? Too dull and commonplace to
+make you happy? Would you care to come down to Cornwall and make me one
+of the happiest men there?"
+
+"Are you asking me to marry you?" whispered Gentian, her blue eyes
+glowing as she looked up into his rather agitated face.
+
+"I am asking you to be my wife," he said very solemnly.
+
+Her face broke up into ripples of laughter. Then a tender softness came
+over it.
+
+"Cousin Thor, you're a darling! Do you really mean it?"
+
+"Would I joke on such a subject?"
+
+"I never, never thought you'd care enough for me. Why, I like you
+better than anyone else in the world! You're not asking me out of pity?"
+
+Thorold had drawn her into his arms.
+
+"There's no pity in my heart," he said softly, "only immense love. And
+it has been there for a long, long time, only I thought I was too old
+for you."
+
+"You're not a bit old, you're everything that I want. Did you know how
+I felt about you?"
+
+"Tell me."
+
+But Gentian had suddenly become shy. "I will one day, but not yet."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe, looking out of her morning-room, suddenly rang her
+bell, and gave orders that tea was to be delayed half an hour. At the
+end of that time, she walked out to the acacia tree, and received the
+news with great equanimity.
+
+"And now do you think all your troubles are at an end, Gentian?" she
+asked, smiling.
+
+"Troubles?" repeated the girl with shining eyes. "Oh, indeed they are!
+The whole world is changed to me. Now, Mrs. Wharnecliffe, I shall have
+a right to go off to Cornwall as often as I like, and a right to have
+my say in his house, and everything that concerns him. I have a right
+to look after him in every way. How I've longed to do it! I can hardly
+believe it is true! Just think. An hour ago I had no hope—no certainty
+or knowledge of what was to become of me—I was lonely and miserable. I
+had made a mess of my affairs in town—I had offended the Misses Buchan,
+I felt you and Cousin Thor did not know what to do with me, and looked
+upon me as an incubus—an obstacle to your peace of mind! I felt he was
+going back to his mine, and Miss Muir meant to marry him. And here in
+this peaceful garden I was at the end of everything. When Cousin Thor
+said he wanted to talk plans, I thought I should be placed in some
+awful family, or have a stiff, starched chaperon. I haven't had time to
+think things out yet. I hardly know if I stand on my head or my heels.
+Do you think he really and truly means what he says? He's the sort that
+might sacrifice his whole life from compassion or pity on somebody. And
+that somebody would be me! You know him very well."
+
+But Thorold interrupted:
+
+"Do you doubt my word?" he asked her softly.
+
+And Gentian gazed at him with tender smiling eyes.
+
+"No, you couldn't tell a lie. You've done for yourself, Cousin Thor,
+for good or evil you have got me now. Mrs. Wharnecliffe, are you in
+your heart of hearts the least bit sorry for him?"
+
+"I should be, if I did not know you both very intimately. I know he
+will satisfy all your requirements, Gentian, and it is in your power to
+satisfy his."
+
+"Here we are, taking all the romance and beauty out of it, and
+deliberately discussing it in cold blood," said Gentian. "I shall be
+as bold as brass, and say it out loud: I love him, Mrs. Wharnecliffe,
+and he loves me. Nothing else matters, nothing. If his mine burst up
+to-morrow, and we had to live in two rooms on bread and cheese, I would
+be singing for joy in my heart."
+
+"And now we will have tea," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, laughing, "and for
+the present, Gentian, bread and cheese is not your portion. May I say
+this, that you are a very fortunate girl. I don't think you know what I
+think of your Cousin Thorold."
+
+"Yes I do—he's a tower of strength. I told him once my ideal of a
+husband, and he's the only man that has fulfilled it. I want some
+one like a rock for steadiness and reliability, he must never fail
+me, never deceive me, never disappoint me. And his soul must be the
+strongest part of him; for mine is the weakest. And you know his side
+of the bargain. A scatter-brained, changeable, impetuous, well-meaning,
+but altogether selfish bubble—just a frothy bubble. But—" here sudden
+fire leaped to her eyes—"I'll do better, and I'll spend my life in
+making him happy. He never thinks of himself, he has always thought
+first of others. I will think first of him."
+
+"You embarrass me," said Thorold.
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe gave a turn to the conversation.
+
+"Personalities will now be avoided," she said playfully. "What is more
+to the purpose is—how long will you be able to stay here, Thorold?"
+
+"I must get back to-morrow night."
+
+They began to discuss plans. But Gentian's glowing animation died down.
+She sat with clasped hands round her knees, gazing dreamily across the
+sunny lawn.
+
+She felt that this was the golden hour in her life, and as her eyes
+wandered up to the deep blue sky above her, she wondered if her
+faithful friend would be allowed to know the great happiness that had
+come to her.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THEIR GOLDEN TIME
+
+THOROLD did not leave till late the next afternoon. He took Gentian off
+for a walk in the morning. And they found a lot to say to each other,
+though perhaps he was the more silent of the two.
+
+She was rather shy at times.
+
+"You see," she explained to him, "I am not yet accustomed to my new
+position. And if it seems to turn my head at first, you must make
+allowances. It's rather a case of King Cophetua and the beggar-maid.
+Yes, I'm next door to a beggar-maid, and to know that for the rest of
+my life I shall have no money anxieties is entrancing. Do you think now
+if the mine goes on well, that you and I could get a couple of good
+horses and ride about together in Cornwall? You see, I'm at my old
+trade, begging from the king already!"
+
+Her laughter rang out so merrily that Thorold could not help joining
+her.
+
+"Yes, we will ride together," he said. "I would rather ride any day
+than use a car."
+
+"And you'll take that little grey stone house, and let me make it cosy
+and pretty? What a lot of things there are to be done! Oh, I wonder if
+I shall make you a good wife? You like the old-fashioned sort, don't
+you? A wife who'll always stay at home, and take care of the house, and
+welcome her husband back with smiles of peace and looks of love. I'm
+afraid I shall find it very difficult, but I mean to do everything you
+want. Oh, Cousin Thor, you don't know how I worship you!"
+
+"We'll drop the 'cousin,' shall we?"
+
+"Yes, of course. But I've a lot of secret pet names for you. Would you
+like to hear them? Thorold is so grave and stiff. I called you the
+Buffer first, because you always came between me and difficulties, and
+then I thought of you as 'Mr. Ready to help,' and then the 'Limpet's
+Rock'—I was the limpet, of course—and you were also 'the Universal
+Improver.'"
+
+"Oh, spare me," said Thorold with a little laugh; "I know I have been
+very down on you for many things, but you have taken my scoldings like
+an angel, and I don't feel like scolding any more."
+
+Then in a graver tone, he began to talk to her about the life they
+would have together, of the responsibilities that would come to them,
+and of the opportunities they would have of helping those around them.
+
+Gentian listened with eager delight.
+
+"I shall, of course, do all I can. I do think seriously, you know, and
+I'm full now of noble resolves and desires. You will have to lift me up
+away from earth when you are soaring heavenwards yourself. And when I
+drop down with a thud into the mire, you will have to pick me up again,
+and start me afresh."
+
+Their talk veered from grave to gay, but when they returned to the
+house, Mrs. Wharnecliffe asked them if they had settled the day for
+their marriage.
+
+"You have nothing to wait for," she said; "I am sure you know each
+other through and through. I mean to keep Gentian with me until her
+trousseau will be ready, and you will have to get your house in order,
+Thorold. Don't think I want to hurry you, but I'm going to take Phil to
+the Riviera in November, and should love to see you settled comfortably
+for the winter, before we go."
+
+"I have touched upon that crucial point," said Thorold.
+
+"Yes," said Gentian, a little shyly; "and I'm going to leave it to
+him—I want just a little time to take it all in, and to think over it,
+but when he wants me, I'll be ready."
+
+"Then why not fix a day towards the end of October? That will leave a
+good three months," suggested Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+And both Thorold and Gentian signified their assent.
+
+The hours of that day passed too quickly for Gentian. She clung to
+Thorold when his time of departure came.
+
+"You are quite sure you haven't made a mistake?" she said, laying her
+head on his shoulder with a little happy sigh; "you won't let Miss Muir
+make you think I am too young and giddy to make you a good wife? I
+shall do awful things sometimes, I always do, but I shan't do them on
+purpose. And I have some pride, and I'll show Miss Muir that I can keep
+house, and dispense hospitality, and be as good a hostess as she is
+herself."
+
+"I am not afraid that my future wife will lack either dignity or
+grace," said Thorold. "My darling, I have made many mistakes in my
+life, but I am quite certain that I am not making one now."
+
+"And we'll write and write and write to each other, till we meet
+again," said Gentian; "and if you're very long away, I shall get into
+my car and come tearing down to see you—I can always do that."
+
+She parted from him with smiles and misty eyes, and when he had gone,
+came to Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+
+"Oh, I'm the happiest girl in the world! Did you know he liked me? Did
+you know I liked him? I'm thanking God with all my heart for bringing
+such joy into my life. I shall love Him so much more, and shall
+serve Him so much better now. I always think that Cousin Thor is an
+uncalendared saint; and living with him will, of course, make me a much
+better character. We won't keep our engagement a secret. There's one
+person I should like to tell soon, and that is Sir Gilbert. He is one
+of my greatest friends next to you."
+
+"We'll drive over and see him to-morrow," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "I
+have had a pretty good idea, for some time past, that your feelings
+towards Thorold were undergoing a change. You did not care for him at
+first, did you?"
+
+"Well, no," admitted Gentian; "for he was too masterful. Isn't it
+funny? I don't mind that a bit now. I like it in him—I don't want my
+own way, I want his."
+
+"Ah," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, "that is the right kind of love, that
+gives more than it takes. I hope you'll always feel like that, my dear
+child."
+
+"I have really grown older," said Gentian thoughtfully, "in many ways.
+Dear Waddy's illness taught me a good deal. I remember I felt when she
+left me, that I would never smile again, my heart was quite cold and
+dead. Cousin Thor did me good, when he came over to see me. And I see
+now how right he was. Trouble does work for good if we take it in the
+right way. I was very rebellious and impatient at first, and I have
+been most awfully depressed lately—not seeing my future one little bit.
+Somehow I never dreamt that Cousin Thor would or could care for me. I
+felt very inclined to marry Jim, or anyone, and make the best of a bad
+job. Fancy if I had! It doesn't bear thinking about."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe let her talk on. She was a very sympathetic listener,
+and was too pleased with the match to be over-critical; otherwise she
+might have checked the girl's egotistical talk.
+
+In a few days the news became known.
+
+Sir Gilbert received it with his serene smile.
+
+"I think," he said, "I must congratulate you most. There are few men
+nowadays so quietly helpful and so selfless as Thorold Holt."
+
+"Yes," said Gentian; "everybody loves him. I suppose you think I am not
+half good enough for him. He ought to have a sweet, dignified, queenly
+woman, serene and calm, and instead, he has me."
+
+"He has a little person who is learning fast to control her likes and
+dislikes, to think nothing of herself, and everything of those she
+loves."
+
+"I am trying to arrive at that, but am not there yet," said Gentian
+humbly.
+
+Miss Horatia arrived over one afternoon to offer her congratulations.
+
+"I felt you would not come and see us," she said in her blunt downright
+fashion; "so I came to see you. We are not annoyed with you, though I
+am sure you think we are. Anne and I know our nephew's way so well.
+That was why we did not want you to meet him. He takes violent fancies
+to girls, and then slips away from them, before he definitely commits
+himself."
+
+"He didn't treat me like that," said Gentian, with great dignity. "It
+was I who ran away from him. But I was too hasty and impulsive, Miss
+Horatia. I was beside myself with excitement in London, and when I was
+told I could make quite a nice sum by accompanying people, I thought I
+should like to take it up as a profession."
+
+"And then what happened?" inquired Miss Horatia.
+
+"Well," said Gentian hesitating, "Mr. Vernon would not leave me alone.
+He wearied me. I had to do everything with him, and go everywhere with
+him, and I got sick of it, and of the people I had to meet. I am not
+made for towns. I always think some of us are made for the country and
+some for towns, don't you think so? And then I simply fled, and I never
+want to see London again. It all tired me to death, and made my nerves
+all come to the top of my skin. Do you know the feeling?"
+
+"I could have told you what it would be like, but you would not have
+believed me."
+
+"I am ashamed of myself. How is Miss Anne? Would she see me if I came
+over and asked her forgiveness for leaving her so suddenly, after all
+her kindness to me?"
+
+"She'll like to see you any day. And so you're really engaged to
+Thorold Holt? I thought you considered him an antiquated prig and
+meddler."
+
+"I thought he was everything that was horrid when I first knew him,"
+said Gentian laughing; "but everybody who really gets to know him, and
+watches his life, must adore him, Miss Horatia!"
+
+Miss Horatia laughed.
+
+"Then that is your role now! Well—you can pin your faith and love on
+Thorold and never be disillusioned. I'll say that, and I've known him
+for a good many years. You're a lucky young woman, and I congratulate
+you with all my heart."
+
+"Thank you. Every one tells me that. And they nearly say 'you're not
+half enough good for him,' their eyes and corners of their mouths say
+it, if their tongues don't! But it's quite true. I'm not good enough,
+or clever enough, or steady enough. But somebody said once that people
+who live together get like each other, so I'm hoping to get like him in
+time."
+
+"You would do well to be shaken into a bag together," said Miss
+Horatia. "I dare say you'll tone down, and he'll brisk up. Now what I
+want to ask you is this: Are you going to get a chance of continuing
+your riding after you're married?"
+
+"Oh, I hope so. Cousin Thor says he will have horses. How is my dear
+Sophy?"
+
+"She's eating her head off in the stable. Are you staying here? If so,
+come over and exercise her. I think I may give my old hunter to you as
+a wedding present."
+
+"Oh, Miss Horatia! After the way I have behaved! Why, you're a perfect
+angel!"
+
+Impulsive Gentian seized hold of Miss Horatia's hands, and in her
+pretty foreign fashion which had not altogether left her, lifted them
+to her lips and kissed them.
+
+Miss Horatia drew her hands away with a little laugh.
+
+"You didn't offend me. Young people must go their own way nowadays.
+I couldn't, when I was a girl—more's the pity. And you have gone up
+several pegs in my estimation by your appreciation of Thorold."
+
+"Appreciation!" gasped Gentian. "Why I would die for him! Nobody
+realizes what I feel for him!"
+
+
+The next day she went over to see Miss Anne, who received her kindly,
+but a little stiffly.
+
+But when Gentian told her contritely how sorry and ashamed she was for
+having left them in such haste, she was graciously forgiven.
+
+"My sister and I have talked it over. We knew you were under our
+nephew's influence, for he wrote to us about you and told us plainly
+that he would not let you come back to us. You made a great mistake
+in going up to town in the first instance, but that you would do.
+However, all's well that ends well, and I think that Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+and anyone who cares about you, must feel very thankful for your
+engagement."
+
+"Yes," murmured Gentian; "I'm sure you think it is more than I deserve.
+But it means a fresh start, and a new life, and a glorious future for
+me. And I'm going to try and turn into a dowdy, virtuous, old-fashioned
+wife, so that every one will say: 'How her marriage has improved her!
+I never should have dreamt that that undisciplined, wilful, giddy girl
+could have altered so!' I hope you'll say so, dear Miss Anne—oh, do
+give me your blessing."
+
+Miss Anne could no more resist Gentian when she adopted her winning,
+persuasive tone than anyone else. She promised she would come to her
+wedding if she were able, and would be glad to see her at any time.
+
+
+And then for the next month Mrs. Wharnecliffe kept her very busy over
+her trousseau. She wanted to take Gentian for a few weeks to town to
+shop there, but the girl shrank from it, and said she would much rather
+get her clothes made locally.
+
+"You don't like a place that has made you unhappy. London was not a
+friend to me. I think she is one of the cities in the world which is
+pleasant for the workers and business people and the gay idlers, but
+I'm a betwixt and a between, I'm not exactly a drone, and I'm not a
+busy bee. I'm just a lover of sunshine and peace and quiet country.
+Don't smile like that, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I'm altering a lot as I grow
+older. I shall love the quietness of that grey Cornish house, and you
+can't say I don't love the country here. And I'm not going to be a
+smart, fashionable woman. Thorold loves me in blue, he says he wants me
+to dress in nothing else, so that's easy. And we're not going to have a
+smart wedding."
+
+"But I shall insist upon a white wedding dress," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+firmly, "and you must have one or two nice evening frocks and some of
+them not blue."
+
+Gentian was smiling happily, with her thoughts far away. Thorold had
+told her that the picture of her standing in the doorway of that dingy
+lodging-house in London had never left his memory.
+
+"You were dressed in a rich blue gown with turquoise beads, and somehow
+you reminded me with your sad, sweet little face and big blue eyes of a
+young madonna. You might have stepped out of some old Italian picture."
+
+"And then you discovered I was only an imp," Gentian had said to him.
+
+She was thinking of this now and of how Thorold had drawn her into his
+arms and murmured:
+
+"My little blue Gentian—I want you always dressed in blue."
+
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe smiled as she noted her abstraction of mind. She
+remembered her own courting days, and made due allowance for Gentian's
+moods.
+
+
+Time slipped along rapidly; and then they went for another day or two
+down to Cornwall.
+
+This time Frances Muir was away, and Gentian was relieved to hear it.
+
+The house was in the decorators' hands, and work being pushed along as
+rapidly as it could be in one of the leisurable counties of England.
+
+Thorold and Gentian wandered over the house by themselves.
+
+"How I longed to furnish it when I was here before. And now we are
+doing it," laughed Gentian. "Now you must promise not to laugh at me if
+I ask you for one thing. There is a little empty room at the end of the
+passage. It looks out west. I want a bit of the house all to myself,
+and I want this room. I shall watch the sunsets from it, and in the
+winter I shall see the daylight die away later than in any other room."
+
+"You shall have the room most certainly. It can be your boudoir."
+
+"No, no, it is going to be my Sanctuary. When I was in Italy, I knew
+somebody—she was only a girl—one of my own friends—but she had in her
+beautiful home one little room where she used to go to tell her beads
+and pray before a silver crucifix. I am not a Roman Catholic. I don't
+want a crucifix or beads, but I shall have a prie-dieu chair just
+before the window, and I shall have my Bible on a blue cushion upon
+the wide window-ledge, and when I'm in one of my passions—or when I
+feel worried or depressed—I shall run away there and be quiet, and then
+shall come out with peace in my heart. Sir Gilbert and you have taught
+me to take all my troubles to God. I do it as a habit now. But I love
+to have a little quiet closet as the Bible says, and be shut in there
+alone."
+
+"My darling," said Thorold, bending over her and kissing rather a
+wistful little face, "you shall indeed have your Sanctuary. I only wish
+it were big enough for a small organ, for I think you would like one
+there. But I must tell you, I am going to present the little church
+here with one. I don't think you and I could stand that harmonium every
+Sunday. I have talked with Dick about it, and he is very pleased. You
+will be able to run into church whenever you like, and if you would
+sometimes play for the Sunday services, I expect everyone would be
+delighted."
+
+Gentian's face became radiant.
+
+"An organ! Oh, how lovely. It is the one thing I have felt unhappy
+about, leaving dear St. Anselm's and my dear, dear organ! Why, Thorold,
+there's everything we want now in this little village."
+
+And Thorold made response in his dry and whimsical way:
+
+"I am easily contented. Organs and rooms, and all such common things
+only form a background to my centre. And my centre is to be kept well
+and happy, so I am now going to lock this house up before she gets
+overtired and take her off to the Rectory to lunch."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Many people gathered together to see Gentian married in St. Anselm's
+Church. And yet it was a very quiet wedding. Neither of Thorold's young
+brothers was present. Gentian was much relieved to hear of Godwin's
+engagement to his Admiral's daughter, before her own engagement to his
+brother was broken to him.
+
+It was a bright, frosty October morning. Sir Gilbert gave the bride
+away, and afterwards played the wedding march himself as she and her
+bridegroom came down the aisle. Through the whole of the service
+Gentian seemed very composed and quiet, but her head drooped and she
+never raised her eyes.
+
+Thorold had felt her hand tremble as he put the ring upon her finger.
+
+She never once looked at him till they were in the car driving from the
+church to Oakberry Hall, and then when Thorold put his arm round her,
+she glanced up at him through a mist of tears.
+
+"It's just joy," she whispered to him, "and relief that I did not take
+Jim in a hurry and lose you! And it's a little bit frightening, isn't
+it, getting married? We've neither of us done it before, and if you
+ever were to be disgusted and ashamed of me, what should I do? Now,
+don't stop me! I feel that everybody thinks me too young and foolish to
+be your wife, but time will put that right, won't it?"
+
+Thorold's protests made her smile.
+
+"And now," she said, "just call me Mrs. Holt, so that I may hear how it
+sounds."
+
+
+Afterwards, at Mrs. Wharnecliffe's reception, her quiet grace and
+dignity were noted by all.
+
+The rector's wife was much impressed by it.
+
+"She has improved," she said to her husband; "since Miss Ward's death
+she has been much steadier. I could have wished that Mr. Holt had
+done better, but of course, in the circumstances, one does not wonder
+that he has married her. He considered that he had cut her out of her
+relation's money."
+
+But it was not pity that shone in Thorold's grey eyes. He had had a
+grey life, and the golden sunshine that now flooded his heart almost
+dazed him. Gentian had long ago stolen into his heart; he knew that she
+would be enshrined there for the rest of his life. They went off to
+Italy for a fortnight and then came straight home to Cornwall.
+
+It had been an ideal honeymoon. Thorold looked years younger, and
+Gentian had developed in many ways. She was changing from a pretty girl
+into a beautiful woman. Sometimes her grave dignity with strangers made
+her husband wonder. Her explanation was very simple:
+
+"I am not going to be that contemptible thing, a child-wife! People
+shan't curl their lips, and go away and pity you. When we're quite
+alone, I'll have my fun, but not in public!"
+
+They came to their grey manor house as dusk was falling, but there
+were lights and fire to welcome them, and Frances Muir had found them
+a delightful Cornish couple of the name of Tiddy. Mr. Tiddy opened
+the door and made smart salute. He had been a sailor, and thought the
+British Navy the most important creation on the face of the earth.
+Mrs. Tiddy was clean and rosy and very small, but she moved about at
+lightning pace and never wasted time in talk. Her spouse was the one
+with the tongue, as she told Gentian when talking about him.
+
+"I knew afore us were wedded what a clacker 'e be, an' sez I, two
+tongues wull soon raise the wind, one agen t'uther, zo zilent be I from
+this time forth, an' so I be. But I'll say this for Jerry, 'e du wark
+so well as talk."
+
+Most of Thorold's furniture had been brought to the house. The square
+hall, with its thick rugs underfoot, and thick curtains to the doors
+and windows, and blazing log fire, looked a very different place from
+when Gentian had first seen it. Whilst Thorold was giving directions
+about their luggage, she ran upstairs, peeped into her big, bright
+bedroom, where flowered chintzes and another bright fire awaited her,
+and then down the passage she went to her Sanctuary. There was no fire
+here, but she turned on the electric light, which had been installed
+all over the house, and looked around her, well pleased with the result
+of her furnishing.
+
+The walls were white, the woodwork dark oak. A rich blue carpet was
+on the floor, and blue velvet curtains were drawn across the windows.
+The prie-dieu chair, with its blue cushion, was before the window;
+there were a writing-table, an easy chair and a small book-case filled
+with devotional books. Two pictures only were hung upon the walls. One
+depicted Christ walking with his two disciples to Emmaus, the other
+Daniel kneeling before his open window.
+
+Gentian drew aside the curtains. In the distance she saw a line of
+silver sea. A young moon was already shining in the sky. She gazed for
+a moment up into the infinite blue above her, then turned and, kneeling
+upon her chair, bowed her head.
+
+   "O God," she murmured, "I thank Thee for my husband and home. Bless us
+in it. Make me a good wife, and help me to be a better Christian, for
+Jesus Christ's sake—Amen."
+
+
+A moment later and she was hanging upon her husband's arm, listening
+with laughing eyes to Tiddy's talk.
+
+"Missus an' me will do 'ee praper, esfay us will. A've bin to sea wi'
+the highest in the land, an' they be most alway single gents, and
+vrom puttin' in they dashed little studs in dinner starched shirts to
+cleanin' patent boots wi' a shine on they vit to see wan's face tu,
+a've waited on 'em, an' got nought but praise. An' missus an' me can
+well attend tu the wants of a couple like 'ee, for a du lay that man
+an' maid, be they king or tinker folk, when they virst be wed, be so
+ower taken up wi' each on 'em, that they be main easy to be pleased."
+
+Thorold laughed and drew Gentian into the smoking-room.
+
+"He won't find us such fools as he hopes. We dream our dreams, but I
+for one can be very practical, and I think my wife can be so too."
+
+"I want to be everything that I ought to be," said Gentian earnestly,
+then she laughingly laid her head on her husband's shoulder.
+
+"But there is one thing I can't and won't be, and that is a long-faced,
+melancholy Christian. They ought to be exterminated, for they make
+others hate religion."
+
+"I hope I'm not one of that sort," said Thorold smiling.
+
+"You? Never. You're grave sometimes, but the twinkle in your eyes
+always saves you. Oh, Thorold, do you think we shall always be as happy
+as we are now?"
+
+And Thorold, looking at the radiant young face turned towards him,
+had no misgivings that life should rob her of her joyousness. He only
+softly repeated some lines which he had read:
+
+   "The heart that trusts for ever sings,
+    And feels as light as it had wings;
+    A well of peace within it springs,
+      Come good or ill,
+    Whate'er to-day, to-morrow brings.
+      It is His Will."
+
+
+
+                            FINIS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75231 ***
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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75231 ***</div>
+
+<p>Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image001" style="max-width: 33.8125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image001.jpg" alt="image001">
+</figure>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image002" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image002.jpg" alt="image002">
+</figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>Gentian.</b><br>
+<b><em>A Girl and Her Ways</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>Frontispiece</em></b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h1>A GIRL AND HER<br>
+WAYS</h1>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+BY<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t1">
+AMY LE FEUVRE<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+WARD, LOCK &amp; CO., LIMITED<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+LONDON AND MELBOURNE<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+MADE IN ENGLAND<br>
+<br>
+Printed In Great Britain by Butler &amp; Tanner Ltd., Frome and London<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+CONTENTS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>CHAP.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_1">I AN INVASION</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_2">II THE YOUNG GUEST</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_3">III THE HOUSE THAT WAS WAITING</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_4">IV JIM PAGET</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_5">V AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_6">VI A FRESH PROPOSITION</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_7">VII A PRIVATE CHAUFFEUR</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_8">VIII THE DAY IN THE NEW FOREST</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_9">IX DARK CLOUDS</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_10">X LEFT ALONE</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_11">XI A VISIT TO CORNWALL</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_12">XII THOROLD'S SECRET</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_13">XIII A NEW FRIEND</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_14">XIV "I WANT YOU"</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_15">XV THEIR GOLDEN TIME</a></p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t2">
+<b>A GIRL AND HER WAYS</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_1">CHAPTER I</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>AN INVASION</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>HE sat back in his easy chair, pipe in mouth, and newspaper on his
+knee. The lashing wind and rain outside added to his sense of comfort.
+He was unassailable, he knew, from all unpleasant elements. A bright
+wood fire burned on the open hearth. His room was lined with books,
+for he was a book lover. Everything around him was for use and not for
+ornament. Some oil portraits hung on the walls, members of the Holt
+family; but there was no china, no flowers, and no signs of a woman's
+hand and taste in his room.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold Holt was now nearer forty than thirty. He had a lean, sinewy
+frame, his close-cropped dark head was already streaked with grey, and
+at times there was a weary look about his grey eyes which belied his
+habitual cheeriness. People who knew him best said that his sense of
+humour was natural, but his cheeriness a manufactured article. He had
+had a hard life, and found it difficult to believe that at last his
+hard times were over.</p>
+
+<p>An interruption came now to his solitude.</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and his one manservant appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Two ladies to see you, sir. I have shown them into the drawing-room."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh these females!" muttered Thorold with real annoyance. "Even rain
+doesn't keep them indoors. A begging appeal, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>He knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and rose discontentedly from
+his seat. He went out into a square hall, tiled in black and white
+stone underfoot, and crossed it, entering into a very stiff and
+stately-looking drawing-room, with early Victorian relics, besides some
+really good bits of antique furniture. Two women sat awaiting him. One
+he recognized as his rector's wife. He wondered she had not given her
+name, but he had only met her once before. She addressed him promptly.</p>
+
+<p>"I must apologize for troubling you, but I think you will have to see
+this good woman, Miss Ward by name. She arrived yesterday evening from
+London, and as she came to the Rectory for advice, we gave her a bed,
+and after hearing her story and sifting it well, my husband and I think
+it only right to bring her straight to you."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold stared at the two women in complete bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>"But who in the world is it?" he asked. "It isn't a long lost wife, for
+I have never married, and I am morally certain that I have never set
+eyes on Miss Ward before!"</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Ward was not aware of your late cousin's death, or that you were
+in possession of his property," said Mrs. Gould, the rector's wife.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, then her business was with him?" queried Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward for the first time looked up and spoke. She was a
+plain-featured woman dressed in black, and spoke with a slight American
+accent.</p>
+
+<p>"The death of Mr. Charles Holt has floored me," she said; "I was
+counting on his help. God knows, it's badly needed."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if it is his private affair, I would rather discuss it with you
+privately. Come this way. Thank you, Mrs. Gould, for bringing her up.
+We will not keep you."</p>
+
+<p>He knew he was treating his rector's wife badly; but he had already
+suffered from her insatiable thirst for managing every person she came
+across. And he did not intend that she should point out to him now
+wherein his duty lay.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Gould rose from her seat with great annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be glad to know in good time if you are going to put her up
+here to-night; and perhaps you will be able to send down to the Rectory
+for her luggage. We only took her in out of kindness last night. The
+village inn is not a desirable place for a single woman."</p>
+
+<p>"It is all such a mystery to me that I can make no promises or plans at
+present," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>And then he marched the stranger into his comfortable smoking-room, and
+drew up a chair to the fire for her.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "tell me in as few words as you can, who you are, and
+what your business is."</p>
+
+<p>"I was a maid of Mrs. Brendon's about eleven years ago, and then I
+became her companion and nursed her when she died, and I loved her.
+She was my best friend on earth, and I promised her to stick to her
+child, and so I have, but all along since I came across the letter, Mr.
+Charles Holt has been my goal and mainstay. And it has fairly knocked
+me over to know he is dead and buried!"</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell me, please, who Mrs. Brendon was and what connection she
+was of my cousin?"</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon she was a cousin like yourself; and a little more too,
+judging from this letter, which I'd best show you."</p>
+
+<p>She produced a letter from her pocket which she handed to Thorold, and
+he stood leaning his back against the mantelpiece, whilst he read it.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"MY DEAR LENA,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I have heard that you and your little one have made your home in
+Capri. Well, I am glad to think of you in that sweet setting and
+perhaps after the stormy turbulence of your young life, you may find
+your widowhood a period of peace and rest. I should not think you were
+troubled with superfluous cash, so will you let me defray the cost of
+my god-daughter's education? I should like to see her one day. I am a
+lonely man with few kith or kin, as you know, and I want to make her
+acquaintance. Send her over to me if you ever want to get rid of her.
+If she is anything like the wild slip of girl her mother was, she will
+enliven my solitude, and at my death she will benefit.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Your never-forgetting cousin,<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">"CHARLES HOLT."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Thorold read this through more than once. Then he looked up.</p>
+
+<p>"Did Mrs. Brendon answer this letter?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, she told me she was not going to part with her child; and if she
+responded to Mr. Holt's advances, he would expect her to marry him, and
+that she could never do."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, having made her choice, and keeping her child, why do you come
+to me and produce this letter? Mr. Holt left his money elsewhere. The
+child has lost her chance."</p>
+
+<p>The woman looked at him miserably.</p>
+
+<p>"What can I do?" she asked. "I haven't the money to keep her. She's
+too young to keep herself. She's just a child. And I came to see Mr.
+Charles Holt. I did not know he was dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely Mrs. Brendon left some money?"</p>
+
+<p>"She had a pension only, which stopped at her death. Colonel Brendon
+saved nothing. Mrs. Brendon and I used to help out with fine sewing.
+The nuns at the convent used to give us some to do."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not a rich man. I can't spare a separate income for this young
+girl. Why should I? She is no relation of mine."</p>
+
+<p>"A cousin's cousin," the stranger murmured. "If she had come over in
+Mr. Holt's lifetime, she would have been his heiress."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is she now?" asked Thorold abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Goodness only knows," was the unexpected answer. "Most likely rowing
+down the Thames, or going over to Paris in an airship, or wandering
+round Stonehenge in the dark—anywhere but where I left her, and where
+she ought to be—in quiet lodgings in the Euston Road. She's out to see
+England, she says, and she means to do it, though she's penniless."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the sooner you get back to her the better. Don't look so
+desperate. I'll think things over, and run up to town in a few days,
+and see you. Give me your address. If the girl is old enough to earn
+her own living, we may perhaps find a job for her. Girls find it easier
+to work now, than in the old days."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. If you don't help us, I don't know who will. I think I'll
+be getting back to the Rectory, and leave by the first train in the
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>He let her go, but his peace of mind was gone. He paced his room
+restlessly, and sleep forsook him that night. The next morning he rode
+over to a country house about ten miles away, and walked in unannounced.</p>
+
+<p>But two ladies had seen his approach from a window, and discussed him
+pretty freely before he arrived.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this riding up the drive, Lallie?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. Yes I do! It is Thorold Holt. What on earth does he
+want so early in the morning! You remember the Holts? Charles died six
+months ago. We were boys and girls together. Thorold was a great chum
+of mine when I was small. He used to stay over at the Manor a good
+deal. His father was a judge and widower. He married again, and was
+killed with his second wife in a railway smash in Italy. She was an
+extravagant girl, and left three small boys. There were so many debts
+that the children were in a bad way.</p>
+
+<p>"Thorold was a trump. He took charge of his small stepbrothers from
+the time he left school. Gave up the Army as a calling on which he
+had set his heart, and got a post in the city in some business firm
+where he toiled early and late to make money for the boys' schooling.
+They were young scamps, and the scrapes he pulled them out of, would
+make your hair stand on end! He put one in the Navy, the other in the
+Army, and the third went out to a tea plantation in India. He only got
+the last of them off his hands a year ago, and they cost him a pretty
+penny between them I can tell you! Couldn't marry because of them—so he
+always says, and now he's given up the idea. I believe he was smitten
+once by a girl who waited two years and then married some one else.
+Thorold has never had a life of his own. He was three years at the
+War and got badly wounded, but is nearly well now. He's a cheerful
+philosopher, and does me good when I'm in the blues. Don't go. I want
+you to know him."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe, the mistress of the house, a bright, smiling young
+woman, turned to greet Thorold as he entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Vera, this is Mr. Thorold Holt. He's at the Manor now, over at
+Crowhurst. You haven't met Vera before, Thorold. She's an old school
+friend of mine, and is taking pity on my loneliness while Frank is
+away."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold made his greetings, then took up his position on the hearthrug,
+and looked at Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a whimsical smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Whenever disaster comes my way I always say to myself, 'It is not good
+that man should be alone,' and haste away to you."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it now? One of those boys again?"</p>
+
+<p>Vera Harrington had discreetly slipped out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"A strange female was brought to me yesterday afternoon by Mrs. Gould.
+She's got a child—a girl who's a connection of Charles. You remember
+Lena Foster? a cousin on his mother's side whom he was wildly in love
+with all his life. It's her daughter. Lena is dead, and this good woman
+considers the girl should be enjoying the Manor, with its income,
+instead of me."</p>
+
+<p>"How preposterous and absurd! Lena treated Charles shamefully. She
+spoilt his life. And I was glad when her husband treated her as she had
+treated others."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how hard you women are!"</p>
+
+<p>He proceeded to give her further details. Told her of the contents of
+the letter, and then with raised eyebrows, said:</p>
+
+<p>"And now having fitted out three young men for life, am I to begin over
+again, and take in hand a young woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's ridiculous! She has no possible claim upon you, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Not legally."</p>
+
+<p>"But morally, I suppose you are going to say! Thorold, I should like
+to shake you. Your conscience is swelled out like a big balloon! It's
+too big for your body altogether. Why will you take such delight in
+sacrificing yourself! Wasn't it last week you were telling me you
+hardly know how to live at the Manor? You've put down half the staff
+and economized in every way. How can you afford to adopt a penniless
+girl? Besides it wouldn't be proper. What's her age?"</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't an idea—something between fifteen and twenty, I suppose. She
+would have to go to school."</p>
+
+<p>"Not if she's over twenty. What a Don Quixote you are! Hadn't her
+father any relations?"</p>
+
+<p>"This female says she's penniless and friendless."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at him perplexedly and he laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"We are sent into the world to help each other, aren't we?" he said.
+"I'm going to inspect her to-morrow. Shall run up to town for a couple
+of days. But I'm scared of young women. Wouldn't you like to come with
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Thorold, what on earth can you do with her? You go straight home
+and smoke your pipe. I will go up, and inspect her and report to you."</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't trust you. I assure you I won't fall in love with her, or marry
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"But don't you see that you can't provide for her? That sort of thing
+isn't done. She's either a designing minx or an innocent babe. Either
+way, she's dangerous to a simple—"</p>
+
+<p>"Fool," put in Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I think you are a bit of one sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll go up together by the ten express," said Thorold firmly, "and if
+she's old enough and strong enough to earn her own living, we'll find
+something for her."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe laughed at him.</p>
+
+<p>"You sound so wise; but it's not so easy, my dear Thorold, to find work
+for young women nowadays. Remember the thousands of unemployed men. And
+I hold with giving them the first chance."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you meet me at the station to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I shall. You mustn't go up to town alone."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>And so it came to pass that the following day found them both in the
+Paddington express. They reached the dingy lodging-house in the Euston
+Road, and were told by a good-natured, stout landlady, that Miss Ward
+was out, and the young lady in.</p>
+
+<p>They were shown upstairs into a shabby sitting-room with folding doors.
+Nobody was there, but upon the round table was an exquisite bunch of
+white narcissus and pink hyacinths, the fragrance of which scented the
+room. A moment later, and the folding doors opened.</p>
+
+<p>A young girl stood gravely regarding them, one hand resting on the door
+handle, the other half extended to greet them. Mrs. Wharnecliffe caught
+her breath as she looked at her. She understood at once Miss Ward's
+anxiety concerning her. A slender slip of a girl she was, dressed
+in a rich blue woollen gown, which matched her eyes in intensity of
+colour. A string of turquoise beads hung round her neck nearly reaching
+her waist. She had a pale oval face with rather a pointed chin, and
+delicate features. Soft, reddish-brown hair fell softly over her broad
+low brow, and was gathered in a loose knot behind. Her blue eyes were
+fringed with very dark curling lashes, her mouth had sad curves at
+the corners. She was a picture of pathetic appealing youth, and Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe whispered under her breath:</p>
+
+<p>"What a darling child!"</p>
+
+<p>For an instant no one spoke, then the girl broke the silence.</p>
+
+<p>"How kind of you to come. I guess you are relations of Mr. Holt's. Miss
+Ward has told me of her fruitless journey to his house. Please sit
+down."</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could have exceeded the gravity of her manner. She seated
+herself lightly on the arm of an old horsehair couch opposite them, and
+slightly swung one slender foot to and fro. Mrs. Wharnecliffe began to
+feel less at ease than the girl herself.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come up to talk things over with you," said Thorold, clearing
+his throat.</p>
+
+<p>"What kind of things?" asked the girl softly.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked sharply across at her.</p>
+
+<p>The grave intense blue eyes were now quivering with mirth. The woman of
+the world intervened quickly. She was not going to sit silent, and see
+her quixotic friend baited for a girl's amusement.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Holt has very kindly come up to see if he can help you in any way
+to make plans for the future. We hear you are very badly off, and your
+friend was bitterly disappointed to find that the one she relied upon
+to help you is dead. Both Mr. Holt and I knew your mother long ago, and
+we want to befriend her daughter."</p>
+
+<p>A faint rose colour came to the pale cheeks of the girl. She drew up
+her small head in a very haughty fashion, and all mirth died away.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Ward brought the disappointment upon herself alone. It was
+against my wish she went to beg. I am making my own plans for the
+future and require no help from strangers, however kind."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold was about to speak, when Mrs. Wharnecliffe forestalled him.</p>
+
+<p>"That is good from your point of view. I wonder what you intend to do?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl did not appear to resent this question; she stopped swinging
+her foot, and clasping her hands lightly in front of her looked
+dreamily out of the window opposite her, across the chimney tops into
+the grey murky sky.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a choice between two investments," she said in her still
+grave tone. "I should prefer to live my life above the world. But an
+aeroplane might not be so paying as a car. And I know less about it. I
+have driven a car in Italy. Yesterday I had a lesson in driving through
+the city, but my instructor practically told me that I had little to
+learn. You see, my nerves are strong and steady, and I have no fear in
+me. I never had. I should think a livelihood could be got easily in any
+big town by motoring passengers to and from stations, and taking them
+on any tour round. Miss Ward does not want me to sink all the capital I
+have in a venture. But I am perfectly certain in my own mind as to the
+success of it."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a ridiculous, preposterous idea!" spluttered out Thorold
+impulsively. "No wonder Miss Ward does not approve of it."</p>
+
+<p>The sparkle came back to the girl's eyes, and her lips smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I was told I would find English men and women working shoulder to
+shoulder and doing the same jobs everywhere. Is it not so? Are there
+still some of the old-fashioned sort left? Are you one of them? Why is
+it so preposterous and ridiculous?"</p>
+
+<p>And then Thorold gave one of his hearty laughs, and for an instant the
+girl looked at him with quickened interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Because you know nothing of life, my dear child, and very little of
+men and women, I should say. How old are you? You do not look more than
+sixteen."</p>
+
+<p>"I am two-and-twenty, and Italy is not a cannibal island. I have met
+English people out there by scores, as well as Americans and every
+nationality under the sun. I left school nearly five years ago. In five
+years one grows fast and learns much."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any friends in England?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask Miss Ward. Here she is to speak for herself."</p>
+
+<p>The door opened and Miss Ward appeared.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold rose to his feet and introduced her to Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who
+said at once:</p>
+
+<p>"We came up to town to see if we could befriend Miss Brendon; but she
+will have none of us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Gentian!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Waddy!" mimicked the girl pulling down her lips, and bringing a
+piteous look into her blue eyes. "Now sit down and declare on whose
+side you are! Mine, or theirs."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward seated herself irresolutely upon the edge of the old couch.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid we have come on a fruitless errand," said Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe. "It seems that your young charge here has mapped out her
+future to her own satisfaction, and wants no interference."</p>
+
+<p>"Her future!" exclaimed Miss Ward miserably. "It will be the workhouse."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no," retorted Gentian quickly; "there is unemployment pay, you
+know; but that will be unnecessary as long as my hands and feet and
+nerve are sound."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I beseech you," said Miss Ward, turning suddenly to Thorold, who
+was sitting back looking on with amused eyes, "don't forsake us. If you
+will be a friend to us, I will be everlastingly grateful."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, how can I serve you best?" he asked gravely and earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"By having a long talk with me," she said promptly.</p>
+
+<p>And then Gentian rose to her feet, and put one slim hand on Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us leave them," she said; "will you come this way?"</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_2">CHAPTER II</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>THE YOUNG GUEST</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>SHE led her into the back room which, to Mrs. Wharnecliffe's surprise,
+was as dainty and pretty a room as the other was dingy. The bed in
+the corner was covered with a striped silk rug, and great blue satin
+cushions were piled upon it. A piano was in a corner of the room, and
+open music was on it. Pretty watercolour sketches were pinned upon the
+walls, a Persian rug was underfoot, and flowers seemed to be everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, this is my room, where I live," said Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>Her tones were soft now; she placed Mrs. Wharnecliffe in an easy chair;
+then took a stool near her, and looked up at her with a pathetic smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I can talk. That grim-faced man with his critical eyes is away.
+You are a stranger, but you have a heart. I see it in your eyes. What
+is it you want me to do? I cannot and will not accept charity from
+strangers. Anything but that I will do my best to comply with. You see,
+do you not, that I must earn money, and earn it quickly before we come
+to starvation?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe's eyes strayed to the piano.</p>
+
+<p>"You love music?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's blue eyes almost flashed fire.</p>
+
+<p>"I adore it! I have wept cauldrons because I cannot sing; but at the
+convent school I played the big organ in the chapel, and was at peace."</p>
+
+<p>"And what else can you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Drive cars."</p>
+
+<p>Mischief lurked in the blue eyes again.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dear, but that would be a perilous and uncertain occupation,
+whereas music has many delightful possibilities. Will you play to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know that I'm in the mood for music now."</p>
+
+<p>But she moved across to the piano, for a moment gazing into space, then
+dropping her fingers upon the keys, began playing. Her music was so
+soft, so weird, so unutterably sad, that after listening for nearly ten
+minutes, Mrs. Wharnecliffe begged her to stop.</p>
+
+<p>"You will make me so depressed that you will soon reduce me to tears.
+What a strange child you are."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian twisted herself round on the music-stool, and faced her visitor
+with grave, earnest eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I ought to be sad," she said; "I am alone in a strange country
+without a relation in the world—and my only friend goes to beg from
+strangers for me, and they come to try to darken the only gleam of
+light in my horizon. Not a cheerful outlook is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"But what is your gleam of light?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe, puzzled at
+this girl's quick change of mood.</p>
+
+<p>"Raking in pound notes by the score from driving my taxi!" replied
+Gentian with a laugh so sunny and infectious that Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You have a wonderful gift for music," she said; "you show it in your
+touch."</p>
+
+<p>"But music is too sacred a subject with me to be bartered for sordid
+money," said Gentian growing grave once more. "Oh, I know I must have
+money to live. Waddy has saved, and can keep herself. I must learn
+to do the same. There was £500 in the bank after mother left me—her
+savings—the only thing she could leave me. I am getting through the
+first hundred now. You see, it is necessary for me to start working at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>"And where do you mean to live?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe, humouring her.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in London; I want to live away from houses and people—and yet I
+must be in touch with them. And I want to see and know England from end
+to end, as I know Italy."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come and stay with me till your plans are settled? I live
+in the country—in such a pretty part, and we are only an hour from
+town—very little more."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian did not answer for a moment, then she said, "Do you live with
+Mr. Holt? Are you a relation of his?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh dear no, we are like brother and sister, we have known each other
+all our lives; but I live with my husband, who is a busy Member of
+Parliament. And we are hardly ever in town; we both prefer the country."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you very much. I will talk to Waddy about it. I think I should
+like to stay with you, if you will promise not to try to manage me—I
+think we had better go back to the others. I do not know what plots
+they may be hatching."</p>
+
+<p>She stepped lightly across the room and opened the door. Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe followed her, wondering at the impulse that had made her
+offer this strange girl a temporary home.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward and Thorold were still talking. The latter got up from his
+chair with rather a satisfied smile upon his face. Mrs. Wharnecliffe at
+once repeated her invitation, including Miss Ward, but that good lady
+shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to see a married sister of mine in Wiltshire. If you
+could have Gentian for a week or so, I should be very glad."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed gleefully, and her laughter was that of a happy
+irresponsible child.</p>
+
+<p>"And that means, Waddy, that you hope a week or so in a grave,
+well-ordered, conventional English house, with some kind and sound
+common-sense drilled into me every day, will send me back to you in
+an amenable frame of mind. But you are very rash in resigning your
+precious charge into the hands of utter strangers. Why do you believe
+in them more than you believe in me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose," said Thorold dryly, "it is our grey hairs. I have a good
+many. It's an extraordinary thing, but when you get a few years older,
+you will actually place more reliance in the wisdom of the experienced
+than in the very young."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at him for the first time with interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to have a talk with you," she said; "I have had one with
+your friend, and Waddy has had her innings with you. It is my turn now."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold turned to Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think we might go out to lunch somewhere? then we could
+become further acquainted with Miss Brendon."</p>
+
+<p>There was some discussion. Finally Miss Ward elected to remain at home
+and Gentian accompanied her new friends to a quiet and comfortable
+little restaurant not very far away. She slipped into a fur coat, with
+a smart little blue velvet toque, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe again assured
+herself that she was dangerously attractive.</p>
+
+<p>"I am a kind of cousin," said Thorold as he walked by her side. "I
+think it would be better and easier for us all if you were to consider
+me as such."</p>
+
+<p>"And what do cousins do?" she asked mischievously. "I suppose they call
+each other by their Christian names. You can call me Gentian, what
+shall I call you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Thorold," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe quietly.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's blue eyes turned to her.</p>
+
+<p>"You are afraid that Thorold will be too familiar? I must put the
+cousin before it to show my respect and veneration."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that is all immaterial," said Thorold, a slight impatience in his
+tone. "But being cousins, I am a relation, and so bound to look after
+you a little. And as I understand from Miss Ward the peculiarity of
+your circumstances, I shall do as she wants me to do, and regard you as
+a trust handed on by your godfather with all his other earthly goods
+and chattels."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's blue eyes opened their widest.</p>
+
+<p>"So I'm a chattel, like his tables and chairs and books? Oh, thank you
+so very much. I should like to know what you intend to do with me."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe left Gentian's other side, to administer a quiet
+pinch to Thorold. As they were crossing a wide thoroughfare it was not
+noticed, though Thorold rubbed his arm a little ruefully. He understood
+the signal, and knew he was not to proceed quite so quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," he responded carelessly, "I mean to take a fatherly interest in
+you. I can spread out certain plans for your future, for your refusal
+or acceptance. And you can use me as a buffer when occasion requires. A
+cousin in the background of a certain standing and respectability, is
+an important asset sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent, then as they came to the restaurant, and Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe led the way, she turned back towards Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"I might use you," she said slowly and thoughtfully, "till Mr.
+Paget—comes to England."</p>
+
+<p>"And who is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"The man who wants to marry me."</p>
+
+<p>Then she followed Mrs. Wharnecliffe in without another word.</p>
+
+<p>And Thorold did not know whether he felt relieved by her announcement
+or not. Relieved, he decided after a few minutes' reflection, for his
+guardianship might prove to be of very short duration.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian now turned her attention to other things. She was full of
+interest in her surroundings; commented on the people around her,
+and asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe a hundred questions about London and its
+pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>"I am tired of people and cities myself," she said; "but if you have to
+earn your livelihood as I mean to earn mine, you are dependent on them
+to support you. If I come to stay with you for a week or two, may I
+bring my car down? Have you one of your own?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have, but you do not mean to say that you have bought one already?"</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I did it yesterday. At least I made up my mind which one I would have,
+and I am taking a few trial trips with it. They send an experienced man
+with you, so there is no fear. It is not a Ford, but one of these new
+American ones. The Americans are more up-to-date and less expensive
+than the British. I want Waddy to come with me to-morrow. I am going to
+run down to Richmond and back. I have never seen Richmond Park."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at Thorold in a helpless fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"Has Miss Ward seen this purchase of yours?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No. She's not much good in choosing cars."</p>
+
+<p>"And may we ask the cost of it?" Mrs. Wharnecliffe asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It will clear me out," she replied frankly; "but then, you see, it's
+like purchasing a business. I shall make the price of it over and over
+again. It's an investment. I know a lot about investments. I have heard
+men talk and I've made them explain it to me. I reckon this will return
+me 10 per cent. for my money. That's all right, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>She looked so childish as she talked, that Mrs. Wharnecliffe could only
+smile at her. But Thorold seemed bent on asserting his authority.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to have a look at it," he said. "I know something about
+cars. Shall we go and see it now after lunch? We shall have time."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment a frown settled over Gentian's bright face. Then she said
+with dignity:</p>
+
+<p>"You may come and see it, if you say nothing. I don't want you to be
+countermanding my order, but you would not be so discourteous as that."</p>
+
+<p>So after lunch, they took a taxi to the city, and when Thorold saw the
+contemplated purchase, he found to his surprise that he could find no
+fault with it. He had a talk with the head of the firm, and then they
+all returned to the Gower Street lodgings. But on the way there, he
+said gravely to Gentian:</p>
+
+<p>"This is a very risky venture of yours. We don't want to throw water
+on your hopes, or prevent you from earning your livelihood, but will
+you let the final decision about it be postponed for a month from
+this date? Come down into the country and see what English country is
+like—Mrs. Wharnecliffe has invited you to be her guest."</p>
+
+<p>"If my car doesn't come with me, I don't come," said Gentian with great
+determination.</p>
+
+<p>"Then have it on trial. It may not prove a good one."</p>
+
+<p>"I might do that."</p>
+
+<p>And so a compromise was made, and an hour later Mrs. Wharnecliffe and
+Thorold were in the train for home, almost too bewildered by Gentian's
+personality to discuss her.</p>
+
+<p>They felt that they and any others would be only ciphers in her life.</p>
+
+<p>And Thorold said with a little laugh when he parted from Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe:</p>
+
+<p>"She seems to have come into our life like a whirlwind and taken root
+at once. You know that neither of us need have anything to do with her."</p>
+
+<p>"I foresee trouble ahead for you," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a smile
+and a little sigh; "because you will make other people's business your
+own. You always have."</p>
+
+<p>"The prospective husband will come along."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't believe in him—Miss Ward would have mentioned him had
+there been anything in it."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Ward is kept in the dark a good deal."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes—well—the girl is coming to me next week, and I'll see what I can
+do with her. I'm really enjoying the prospect. She's so ridiculously
+young and fresh, and so world-old in her own opinion."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian arrived at Oakberry Hall towards the end of a bright April
+afternoon. The gardens in front of the house were a blaze of colour.
+Daffodils, hyacinths, narcissus, and tulips were all in their prime.
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe had had a wire in the middle of the day to say that
+Gentian was coming down by road. And about five o'clock, a light,
+fawn-coloured car rolled up the drive. Gentian was driving it, and
+was absolutely alone. Two neat suitcases and a hat-box were in the
+tonneau behind. She wore a close-fitting little brown-leather cap,
+and a leather coat, which she shed in the hall, and she stepped into
+the drawing-room looking as fresh and dainty as if she had only just
+dressed for her journey.</p>
+
+<p>"She's a little beauty. We've had no hitch, and I only went a couple of
+miles out of my way. You've very good roads from town. I've christened
+her 'Mousie.' I chose that colour because she doesn't show the dust.
+Have you a chauffeur? Will he look after her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he will do all that's necessary. Come and have some tea. I'm
+alone to-day. My husband will be very late home from town. So we'll
+have a tête-à-tête dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"And Cousin Thorold—I don't forget the 'cousin' you see—will not be
+here. I'm so glad. He's a little too interfering—means well, I dare
+say. I passed Winderball coming here, your nearest town, isn't it?
+I liked the look of it. It's quite big. I wonder if I could find an
+opening there. I should not mind settling near you, if you would leave
+me alone—I like you—no one could help liking you—you're so—so motherly."</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting on a low chair close to Mrs. Wharnecliffe, and just for
+a moment she laid a slender hand on that lady's arm.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe's eyes grew misty. She thought of two small graves
+in the country churchyard close by. She had only had five years of
+motherliness, and then boy and girl had both left her in a virulent
+attack of scarlet fever.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian went on talking:</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy has gone off to her sister. Isn't it strange how perfectly
+she trusts you? Before we came home, I had five or six different
+invitations in Italy, and she would let me accept none of them. There
+was the old Contessa De Nienti, she wanted me to stay with her, but
+Waddy said her only friends were men of doubtful reputation, and her
+house was not a fit one for a young girl. And one or two of my men
+friends wanted me to go and stay with their people, and there was a
+Mother Superior in the convent near. She wanted me as a guest, but
+Waddy would have none of them. I suppose it is because you're so
+English, and your home is an English one, like the story-books! Oh, it
+is sweet to-day! I think I shall be very happy here."</p>
+
+<p>She paused, then added with twinkling eyes:</p>
+
+<p>"I and Mousie—we shall enjoy ourselves. But you will not spoil me. I
+mean to be a working woman, a hard-working woman, and I must train
+for it. Out in all weathers—they say you have torrents of rain
+perpetually—and up early and many hours without food. I have thought it
+all out."</p>
+
+<p>"You are not fit to rough it," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, glancing at
+the slim, delicate-looking girl with perplexed eyes. "If you had an
+accident to your car, on a lonely road, what could you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"A good deal. If it was a burst tyre, I could replace it; if the engine
+was too hot, I would cool it. If there were any strain or breakage of
+any part of the engine or valves, I would make for the nearest garage.
+I understand the making of the car. And I'm wiry and strong as iron—ask
+Waddy. I love machinery. If I had been a boy, I should have been a
+civil engineer."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe let her talk on all about herself. She wanted to get
+at the girl's mind. Every now and then she astonished her.</p>
+
+<p>After tea she went out to the garage to speak to the chauffeur about
+her car, then she was taken to her room by her hostess, and she stayed
+there enjoying the dainty comfort of her surroundings till the dinner
+gong sounded.</p>
+
+<p>There was no lack of conversation during the meal. Gentian talked
+amusingly about her first arrival in England and Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+proved herself a sympathetic listener. When it was over they went back
+to the drawing-room and at her hostess' request the girl went to the
+piano and began playing so softly and sweetly in the dusky twilight,
+that Mrs. Wharnecliffe was charmed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "you ought to do something with your music. I should
+like you to come over one day to a blind friend of mine. He is a great
+musician and has an organ in his hall which he plays himself. I should
+like you to know him. Anyone can drive a car, but it is not every one
+who can play as you do."</p>
+
+<p>"The Mother Superior wanted me to be their organist. They had such a
+lovely organ in their chapel, but though I went to a convent school, I
+never became a Roman Catholic. It does not appeal to me. Waddy says I
+have too modern a mind. I don't like anybody between me and God."</p>
+
+<p>She spoke in a hushed voice.</p>
+
+<p>"My little mother was not religious," she went on in that low voice;
+"not till she grew ill, and then she became frightened, and thought she
+had better turn, and have a priest. But I said 'No,' there was comfort
+and direction to be got out of the Bible, Waddy had always told me
+so, so I got it, and hunted about, and found out the most beautiful
+passages! They made me long to be on my sick-bed getting near the Gates
+of Paradise. And I read and read, and then I went to church to pray
+for her, and then I came back and found I could pray in her room, and
+we read and prayed, and prayed and read, till she was quite happy. She
+asked me to put over her grave:</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'Unto Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His Own Blood.'<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"That was how she went to Paradise with those words upon her lips. I
+think no Roman Catholic could have died more happily."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at her with soft sympathetic eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be a happy girl, if you have a happy religion. I believe
+Christianity is meant to be so."</p>
+
+<p>Then Gentian gave her soft little laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy says it is not good to be always happy; there is a side of us
+which remains uncultivated—a waste bit of ground, but when one loses
+one's mother, one goes through enough anguish to last a lifetime. I
+think if I may, I will go to bed now. I am rather tired."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe accompanied her upstairs, saw that she had every
+comfort for the night, then came down and sat in deep thought before
+the blazing fire awaiting her husband's return.</p>
+
+<p>He rallied her a little upon her extreme quietness.</p>
+
+<p>"Your new charge's responsibility has a depressing effect perhaps?" he
+queried after he had come in and told her all his news.</p>
+
+<p>"No—not depressing," was the quick reply; "but I'm wondering if trouble
+has been to my advantage or otherwise. I've lived very carelessly,
+Frank. Gentian has a deeper nature than I imagined. I'm intensely
+interested in her."</p>
+
+<p>Then she relapsed into her usual gay tone, and did not mention Gentian
+again that night.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_3">CHAPTER III</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>THE HOUSE THAT WAS WAITING</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>GENTIAN came to the breakfast table the next morning looking the
+embodiment of spring. She showed her enjoyment of her surroundings in a
+very fresh and unconventional fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"English people are so sociable," she said; "my mother often told me
+so. They do not eat their breakfast alone in their rooms, and think
+over their mistakes, and sins of yesterday, but they come together and
+plan their day out as we are doing now. Oh, it is all delicious. This
+is how I should like to live, but it takes money to do it, does it not?
+These lovely flowers and the garden of flowers up to the windows, and
+the glass and the silver, and the well-laid table. Waddy and I could
+never have this, never, never!"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you were going to make your fortune," said Mr. Wharnecliffe
+with a good-natured smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I hope I am. Will you let me drive you to the station this
+morning in my car? You will see then that I am an experienced driver.
+And I want you to test my car, and tell me if you think it is a
+comfortable one."</p>
+
+<p>For an instant husband's and wife's eyes met across the table, then
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe said:</p>
+
+<p>"Let her do it, Frank. We'll tell Munn he will not be needed."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was delighted. She drove her host to the station an hour later,
+and he found no fault with her driving, or with her car. Yet he, as
+well as his wife, expressed disapproval of her taking it up as a
+profession.</p>
+
+<p>"I would not let a daughter of my own do it on any consideration," he
+told her.</p>
+
+<p>"But if you and your wife were taken to the other world, and your
+daughter left alone with no money and no home, would not that alter the
+case?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I should never rest in my grave if I knew that a young girl was
+being exposed to such a difficult and dangerous life."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent. She did not come straight home after she had left
+the station. She picked up two old women trudging along the dusty
+road with heavy baskets of eggs which they were carrying to market in
+Winderball, and she drove them to their destination; then she explored
+the country on the farther side of the town, and coming back, bought a
+motor map of the county.</p>
+
+<p>When she arrived at the Hall, she found Mrs. Wharnecliffe in the garden
+giving directions to her gardener. They walked through the garden
+together, Gentian giving an account of her drive.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to take you to have tea with Thorold this afternoon," said
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe presently. "He has invited us."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at her with laughing eyes but with screwed-up lips.</p>
+
+<p>"He must leave me alone whilst I am your guest," she said; "I feel he
+will try to manage me, if I get to know him well. I suppose men can't
+help that assertive manner in dealing with women."</p>
+
+<p>"Thorold is a dear," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe quickly; "you must not
+abuse him to me. He is one of the most unselfish men on the face of the
+earth, and it is only lately that he has had any leisure or comfort. He
+has toiled early and late to support three young stepbrothers, and he
+was very badly off before his cousin died."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if he has known poverty, he ought to sympathize with me."</p>
+
+<p>"Does he not?"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian turned aside to pick up a fallen rose, for Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+was gathering some roses as she talked.</p>
+
+<p>"He looks a good man," the girl said after a short silence. "I won't
+discuss him any more."</p>
+
+<p>She was full of interest when they motored over to Crowhurst Manor,
+comparing the English country with Italy and telling Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+many of her experiences there.</p>
+
+<p>When they drove up the chestnut avenue that led to the Manor, and
+stopped before the old grey house with its ancient tiled roof and
+mullioned windows, Gentian expressed her admiration. She looked
+curiously about her as they entered the old square hall, and were
+ushered into the smoking-room and library where Thorold usually sat.
+Tea was spread on an oval table by the fire, which was an open one, and
+the blazing logs shed a bright glow on the silver tea service. Thorold
+came forward to greet them.</p>
+
+<p>"And this was my cousin's home," were Gentian's first words. Her face
+was grave as she spoke. Thorold looked at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sorry you did not come here in his life time?" he asked her.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not. He was a stranger to me. Why should I leave my mother
+to go to a stranger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Gentian," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe lightly: "we are here to enjoy
+ourselves, so we won't rake up the past. Shall I pour out tea for you,
+Thorold? I generally do, don't I?"</p>
+
+<p>She sat down to the table and made light conversation; for she did not
+want any sparring matches just now. Gentian relapsed into rather a
+pensive mood, but after tea she wandered up to the bookshelves.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to borrow a book?" asked Thorold. "I have all sorts and
+conditions as you see. Some of them are the best friends I have."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's eyes glistened as she took one and another out of their
+shelves to look at. With a little nod of approval she said:</p>
+
+<p>"Ah yes, when I am very miserable, very lonely; when I have made Waddy
+weep, and feel it's an empty world I live in, I creep inside a book,
+and stay there till I'm happy again. I would like this life of a hunter
+in the Himalayas; may I take it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, do, only don't wait till you are miserable to read it. And now
+I want to show you my garden, and then I'm going to take you into the
+small church close by. It's a little gem of the fifteenth century and
+has a most wonderful screen."</p>
+
+<p>They wandered out into an old-fashioned sunk garden laid out in rather
+the Dutch style. Gentian did not like it, and frankly said so.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor little bulbs, what freedom and individuality have they? All in
+rows and circles, the red together and then the yellows and then the
+blues! How sick they must get of each other! How they must long to get
+away alone and grow their own lives as they like. When I get rich—and
+I mean to one day—I shall have a garden where each flower will feel
+it is an individual personality. I won't have masses of the same sort
+all together—so monotonous and tame it must be for them! Ah! This is
+better."</p>
+
+<p>She was standing in the rock garden, and in every cleft of the rocks
+different plants were blooming.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a rebel by nature," said Thorold pleasantly; "that's the way
+with a good many nowadays. Every one wants to grow as he likes."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. But we can have a corner to ourselves and not have every idea
+quenched."</p>
+
+<p>They walked across the old lawn under some ancient cedars, and then
+went down a path in a shrubbery until they reached the road by a
+private gate. Only a few steps down the road brought them to the little
+church. It lay in the midst of trees, the churchyard was beautifully
+kept and borders of spring flowers were on each side of the path, which
+led up to the church door. The door was not locked, and they went in
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian caught her breath as she looked about her, and Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe saw her blue eyes get soft and dreamy. All her quick
+independent bearing seemed to forsake her; and she listened to
+Thorold's account of the old carved screen, and the beautiful mellow
+coloured windows, with quiet, pensive face.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to try the organ?" he asked her. "I will blow for you."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment she hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a very beautiful one, though small," he said; "your cousin
+Charles had a great affection for this little church; he spent a good
+bit of money on it. Everything is of the best in it, as you see."</p>
+
+<p>She moved towards the organ without another word. Mrs. Wharnecliffe sat
+down just inside the porch and waited. She knew she was going to have
+a treat, and when once Gentian's hands were upon the keys, she was not
+in a hurry to take them off. Her music absorbed her; she played without
+notes, and Thorold heard in wonder; he did not know she was such a
+musician. She played from memory; a medley; bits of Mozart, Chopin, and
+Bach. Then very softly and sweetly she began to improvise, and time and
+surroundings faded right away from her. She started when at last Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe touched her elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"Your blower will be getting tired. You have been playing for over half
+an hour."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it has been heavenly."</p>
+
+<p>Her cheeks were flushed and eyes bright, but she slipped off the organ
+stool at once, and thanked Thorold very prettily when he joined them
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a good instrument," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, almost as good as the convent one."</p>
+
+<p>"And now I want you to come along the road a little farther," Thorold
+said.</p>
+
+<p>He and Mrs. Wharnecliffe walked out of the church together, but Gentian
+lingered behind, and when he turned he saw her kneeling in the aisle,
+her head buried in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>She caught them up a few minutes later. Her face was perfectly radiant.</p>
+
+<p>"I like your organ and your church better than your house and your
+books," she said.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled at her.</p>
+
+<p>"It's safer," he said.</p>
+
+<p>She hardly heard him.</p>
+
+<p>"What a darling sweet little house," she said, stopping suddenly before
+a small green wooden gate, and looking up a tiled path edged by box
+borders, to a quaint low grey stone house with broad windows, red
+japonica and yellow jasmine climbing up its walls.</p>
+
+<p>"This used to be the Vicarage," he said, "and was in your cousin's
+gift; but since his death, Crowhurst has been joined to the next parish
+where our rector lives, and I let this furnished. We lost our tenants a
+couple of months ago. Would you like to come inside? I have the key."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's one of the cosiest houses I've ever seen," said Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe enthusiastically; "and it has an oak staircase nearly two
+hundred years old, Gentian. Come along in. I always envy the inmates of
+this house."</p>
+
+<p>They walked up the path, and Gentian was like a child in her ecstatic
+admiration over the low, quaint, old-fashioned room, with roomy
+cupboards in the thick walls, and oak beams across the ceilings. There
+were two sitting-rooms and a large kitchen downstairs and four sunny
+bedrooms above with a long attic in the roof.</p>
+
+<p>The furniture was in keeping with the house, the walls were all
+coloured a pale apple green, the doors and wainscotting dark oak.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian stood at one window overlooking a small garden and an apple
+orchard at the back.</p>
+
+<p>"There are English cottages and houses left like one reads of in
+books," she said; "how pretty I could make this!"</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to try?" Thorold asked. He was sitting on the edge of
+an oak table, and looking at Mrs. Wharnecliffe, and not at Gentian as
+he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" the girl asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it seems waiting for some one, and Miss Ward thought it might
+suit you and her for a short time, until your plans were settled, or
+for longer if it suited you!"</p>
+
+<p>"And what may be the rent?" demanded Gentian, looking at him with
+surprise, pleasure, but also with a little defiance in her gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"We are in need of an organist," Thorold said slowly; "the present
+one has to ride over here every Sunday from the next parish, and he's
+an old man and he wants to give it up. If we could get hold of an
+organist, who would take the house in lieu of a salary, it would suit
+us down to the ground."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll get one," was Gentian's cheerful response; "Waddy and I
+would not care to take a house and make it pretty, only to be turned
+out for some one else shortly."</p>
+
+<p>"But why shouldn't you be the organist?" said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who
+had been keeping silent with some difficulty up to now.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian turned to her with laughing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"And this is the plot which Cousin Thorold began to hatch with Waddy in
+London, and which put her in such a good temper. Do tell me the whole
+of it. Of course I was brought to see my gilded cage to-day. It really
+is a darling little cage, but I'm afraid it's too out of the way for my
+car. And it's—it's too near my thoughtful cousin."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't think about me," said Thorold dryly, "I like to live my
+life alone I should not expect you to be running in and out. You might
+borrow a book occasionally, perhaps."</p>
+
+<p>"How kind!" said Gentian. "But you see I must earn money to buy clothes
+and food. This house won't provide that—and who would want to employ
+my car out here? I might drive into Winderball every day, certainly. I
+must think about it and let you know."</p>
+
+<p>A shadow of sadness came into her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"It's strange how kindness brings one a sense of loneliness. I have to
+settle my life apart from you two, for your one idea is to give, and I
+am a bad taker; Waddy tells me I am. I will not take from you, Cousin
+Thorold."</p>
+
+<p>"But this is not a gift. It is an exchange for your services. And
+remember it belonged to your cousin Charles, and do you know I am a
+little afraid of ghosts?"</p>
+
+<p>"Are you? How interesting! I think I'm rather fond of them. At least I
+should be if I saw any. It would be so uplifting and mystical. Whose
+ghost do you fear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your cousin Charles. He might be very angry if I did not act towards
+you as he would have done."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he's an unknown person to me."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was standing in the doorway as she talked.</p>
+
+<p>"Hush!" she said suddenly, putting her finger on her lip.</p>
+
+<p>A pert little robin hopping about the tiled path flew past her into the
+house. He perched himself on an oak chest in the tiny hall and lifting
+up his voice burst into ecstatic song.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's pathetic face was instantly illumined with sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>"The darling! That settles it. I'll be your organist, Cousin Thorold,
+and come here to-morrow, if you like. Waddy will have to find the money
+to live here. I shan't want much in the way of food if I have music and
+robins and flowers to feed me, and I shall try to earn money at once. I
+shall have my car, and I'll take it to the station at Winderball every
+morning on the chance of picking up passengers."</p>
+
+<p>"That's settled then. St. Anselm's Vicarage is to be your new home."</p>
+
+<p>There was relief in Thorold's tone, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be near enough, dear, for me to see you very often," she said
+affectionately.</p>
+
+<p>"And I shall be still nearer Cousin Thorold," said Gentian with a
+doubtful look at him, "but he has assured me he never wants to see me."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be close at hand if you get into difficulties," said Thorold
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>They were out in the garden now. Gentian was on her knees in a moment,
+picking some daffodils from a bed under the window, and sticking them
+in her belt.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a darling little sunny home," she said.</p>
+
+<p>And then she relapsed into silence until they had walked up the road
+and reached the Manor. Here Mrs. Wharnecliffe's car was waiting for
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Thorold, smiling at Gentian, "you must write to Miss Ward
+and tell her that you like the idea of living in the Vicarage. And you
+can settle in as soon as you like."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian, putting a hand on his coat sleeve and speaking
+very earnestly, "Waddy and I will be very happy here, if you will
+promise to leave us alone. It sounds rude, but I dread being managed by
+a man, and being pestered by his ideas of propriety and convention. I
+must live my life apart from your protection and care. I thank you with
+all my heart for giving Waddy and me this home. But your kindness and
+generosity must stop here. Let me feel that I am free in that house. Do
+not make it into a cage. Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>She stepped lightly into the car with a wave of the hand. Thorold went
+into his house shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>"All very well, my young lady. But you have dropped into my life like
+a thunderbolt, and I believe you have come to stay. Boys are a serious
+charge, but a girl is a stupendous one!"</p>
+
+<p>Driving home, Gentian chattered away to Mrs. Wharnecliffe as gaily as a
+bird.</p>
+
+<p>"I like the little house, and the organ almost next door will make life
+a perfect joy. But I shall have to earn my living, and the question
+is, will this county produce enough customers—fares—for me? I imagine
+most people who have big houses like you, have their own cars, and
+the country people in their sweet little cottages have no money to
+hire cars—they walk along the roads carrying their baskets like those
+dear old dames I took up in my car the other day. The class I want are
+city men going to town, and sightseers—Americans, who want to see the
+English country. I have a thought! Thomas Cook, who runs cars in town
+himself, might help me. I will tell him I am only forty minutes from
+town, and will take parties to do the English country."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child," interrupted Mrs. Wharnecliffe, "you are not running a
+char-à-banc! Your car only holds four besides the driver."</p>
+
+<p>"Five. No, I will only take private parties."</p>
+
+<p>She relapsed into silence, looking very pensive, for a few minutes,
+then her face cleared, and seemed flooded with sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>"I will just live day by day, and I am going to fill myself with joy
+and peace, getting into that anchorage of bliss, that darling nest of a
+vicarage. May I give it another name, do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I should not alter it, for the country round know it by that name.
+St. Anselm's Vicarage, Crowhurst, is a pretty address, I think."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>When they arrived home, Gentian found a packet of letters awaiting her.
+She went off to her room with them, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe did not see
+her till dinner time.</p>
+
+<p>She was rather silent through the meal. Afterwards, when Mr.
+Wharnecliffe had retired to his smoking-room for a perusal of
+the evening papers, she said to her hostess as they sat over the
+drawing-room fire:</p>
+
+<p>"I heard from Mr. Paget to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Is he your English friend?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the only Englishman I have ever liked. Many of them came out to
+Italy with arrogant voices, and found fault with everything, and others
+seemed to be always busy making or losing money at the Casino. Jim
+Paget loved Italy, he does not like his country. He is in London now."</p>
+
+<p>"But you are not really engaged to him, Gentian, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>She gazed into the fire dreamily without speaking for a few minutes;
+then her blue eyes looked at Mrs. Wharnecliffe very quietly and
+directly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am still thinking about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me a little more about him, dear. Describe him to me."</p>
+
+<p>"He is tall and fair, but his eyes are quick and restless, not like
+Cousin Thorold's. His are still and steadfast, but they break up
+sometimes into pools of laughter. I like him then, even when I know he
+is quietly laughing at me—Jim would never laugh at me, never! But he
+is magnetic and he pulls me after him sometimes against my will. He
+is very quick and enthusiastic, and lives his life breathlessly, and
+he would drag me after him anywhere and everywhere if I married him;
+and mind and body are so strong, I cannot keep pace with him! I should
+never have repose, and though I love doing and seeing everything, I
+like when I have done it all to sit down and rest and think about it.
+Jim never rests; he can think as he's rushing on. But oh, he is so full
+of life, that he keeps me full too!"</p>
+
+<p>"Has he any parents living?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, in Northumberland. That is the far north of England, is it not?"</p>
+
+<p>A grave look came into her eyes, then she shook her head in a pretty
+careless way.</p>
+
+<p>"We have discussed him enough. He is in England, so you may meet him
+and see what he is like. Now tell me, shall we go over to-morrow to the
+Vicarage and open its cupboards, and get out all the curtains, and see
+how pretty we can make it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I think we can; we will go in the morning. In the afternoon I
+want to take you to see my blind friend, Sir Gilbert Winnington."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to have a charming time here," said Gentian, smiling up at
+her hostess like a pleased child. "I feel it was a happy day when we
+made each other's acquaintance."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed it was," responded Mrs. Wharnecliffe warmly.</p>
+
+<p>And when Gentian had gone to bed, she said to her husband: "I feel
+increasing responsibility over this child. She is the last sort of girl
+to be out in the world alone, and I don't think Miss Ward is strong
+enough in character to deal with her. I wish she would give up this
+motor business."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it will give her up," responded her husband cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe shook her head doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_4">CHAPTER IV</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>JIM PAGET</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>THE next morning Mrs. Wharnecliffe took Gentian over to St. Anselm's
+Vicarage. Thorold's old housekeeper was already there. They spent a
+very happy two hours in the house, for Mrs. Wharnecliffe was never
+happier than when arranging and beautifying rooms; and Gentian was like
+a joyous child, dancing in and out, and singing gay little Italian
+songs under her breath.</p>
+
+<p>By the time they were obliged to return home, chintz curtains were
+hanging in the windows, pretty rugs were underfoot upon the stained
+floors, and the whole house wore a habitable aspect.</p>
+
+<p>As they were walking away from the door, Thorold passed down the road.
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe called to him.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope everything is all right?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," responded Gentian, turning towards him her glowing radiant face.
+"It's the dearest little house in the world, and I've discovered that
+there are swallows building under the eaves. Does not that bring us
+luck? I am longing for Waddy to see it."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe turned to speak to her chauffeur, and Gentian's eyes
+suddenly became soft and grave.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to speak to you alone," she said to Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"We will walk down the road," he said. "I hope you have no fresh
+difficulties about the house?"</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. It is this. I have taken advantage of your kindness. I have
+claimed cousinship with you in a letter to a friend, and I thought I
+had better tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I hoped you would do," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>She clasped and reclasped her hands rather nervously. "It is Mr. Paget
+who has made it necessary. He is too rapid, too dictatorial, he sweeps
+me off my feet, and he wrote to me as if I were quite alone and forlorn
+in the world, and he said he wanted me to meet his parents, that they
+were very anxious to make my acquaintance, that they were staying in
+London and he was much disappointed that I had left town so soon. He
+expected me to come up at once and see him—to-morrow—and then he hoped
+I would come and stay with them in the North, but though he did not say
+it, I felt his parents would not invite me on a visit, unless they saw
+me and liked me; and I am not accustomed to that sort of thing. It is
+not for me to go to them for inspection, I prefer they come to me, and
+I do not want to be bothered with his parents at present. I am very
+happy here, and I shall be too busy earning my living soon to be paying
+visits in the North. So I wrote and said I might not be visiting London
+again for a long while; that I had a cousin down here, and that I was
+making my home here for the time. Do you mind? I hope not. I shall be
+using you as a buffer when occasion requires."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes! I told you that, did I not? Very wise of you. I think I had
+better make acquaintance with this young fellow, and let him see that
+you must be treated with respect."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," said Gentian airily; "that is not necessary. I can keep him in
+his place. I would be friends with no one who did not show me respect."</p>
+
+<p>Her little head rose a good inch higher as she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Wharnecliffe must invite him down," Thorold said in his quiet
+determined manner. "I forget whether you are formally engaged to him or
+not?"</p>
+
+<p>"You cannot forget, for you have never been told," flashed forth
+Gentian; and then she made him a little graceful foreign bow, and
+turned back to the car.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe saw from Thorold's amused eyes and the girl's
+heightened colour, that there had been a few words between them, and
+Gentian soon enlightened her.</p>
+
+<p>"My cousin Thorold is a little too inquisitive," she said presently.
+"He thinks he has a right to know all my friends. And I see no reason
+for it. But I would like you to know Jim Paget, he is an Englishman and
+has a home I think something like yours. And he wants to see me, but it
+is not comme il faut for me to fly to him. He must fly to me. Would it
+be presuming on your kindness to ask you to receive him one day? And I
+could fetch him from the station in my car."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I would not like that. Certainly, dear, we will ask him down, but
+I will send our car for him. I was going to suggest having him here if
+you want to see him."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you very much. I will write to him at once."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon Mrs. Wharnecliffe drove her over to see her old blind
+friend, Sir Gilbert Winnington.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked with interest at the old Tudor house as they approached
+it. The green leaves and shrubberies surrounding it with the spring
+flowers again evoked her admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"You have not the colour we have in Italy, but you are cool and green
+and shady and your trees are so big and old, that they look as if
+they've been here for hundreds of years."</p>
+
+<p>"And so they have," replied Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "And this house is five
+hundred years old."</p>
+
+<p>"Has your friend always been blind?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, only about seven years. He lives quite alone with a secretary who
+is devoted to him. But he often has nieces staying with him, and he is
+the most cheery contented being in the world."</p>
+
+<p>They were shown into a long low room which struck Gentian as one of the
+most comfortable she had seen in England. Books and pictures abounded;
+the easy chairs and couches were, all covered with soft blue leather,
+blue velvet curtains hung from the tall narrow windows, and thick
+Persian rugs were under foot.</p>
+
+<p>At a table near an open window sat Sir Gilbert and his young secretary.
+Gentian was introduced to them both, and then Mr. George Damers slipped
+away, and Sir Gilbert made his visitors comfortable beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so glad you have brought your young friend to see me," Sir
+Gilbert said in a cheerful tone; "I always do like to have young people
+round me."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know I am young?" asked Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>"By your voice," was the quick reply. "And you are quicksilvery by
+nature, and a little impatient."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a wizard! Waddy is always telling me the same."</p>
+
+<p>Then Gentian criticized her host. He was a tall, good-looking man,
+with a short grey beard, and rather delicately cut features. But there
+was a wonderfully peaceful look upon his face; he reminded Gentian
+of some of the saints in the pictures she had seen abroad. He and
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe talked together for some time and then he turned to
+Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear you play the organ. Come and see mine. It is in the hall."</p>
+
+<p>He led the way without a falter in his step, and it was not difficult
+to persuade him to play. Gentian sat back in an old carved chair in a
+dark corner of the hall, and as she listened, her whole soul was moved
+within her.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Gilbert played as she had heard few play before. The sweetness of
+the notes thrilled her through and through. Mrs. Wharnecliffe listened
+for some time, and then slipped away. She wanted to speak to Mr.
+Damers, and also wanted to leave Gentian alone with Sir Gilbert.</p>
+
+<p>When he at last ceased playing Gentian was at his elbow, and tears were
+in her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it is beautiful! How can you play so! You touch my heart. It is
+like the angels must play in Paradise. Some people move to laughter and
+gaiety with their music, and some awe one, and some move to tears, but
+you draw one up and away to God himself. How do you do it?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned round on the organ stool and smiled at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" he said. "You respond to music, you love it. And do you love God,
+little one?"</p>
+
+<p>"When I am in church I do, and when I listen to music; and sometimes
+when I make it myself."</p>
+
+<p>"And never when you are quiet and still? Or do you never give yourself
+time to be quiet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I am quiet when I see a beautiful sky, or the moonlight over a
+lake, or the afterglow of the sunset on the snow mountains."</p>
+
+<p>He placed his hand on her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God every day of your life that you can see these things. He has
+given you much. What have you given Him? When we love we give."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked up at him with a wistful gleam in her blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't love like that. I give a little money in church sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Gilbert smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't your pocket God wants, but your soul, the little soul that is
+still fresh and young and full of life and energy."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent. She laid her hand on his sleeve and after a minute
+she said:</p>
+
+<p>"I like people to talk to me like that. No one ever has. And I want to
+get near Heaven. How can I give God my soul when I am alive? I hope He
+will take it when I die. When I think of Our Lord on the Cross I love
+Him, but I do not think often enough. I forget! There is so very much
+to interest me in the world. I want to see all I can, and know all I
+can, and do all I can. It does not give me time for thinking much."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you spare half an hour every evening before you go to sleep, to
+think about these things?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will try," was Gentian's sober reply.</p>
+
+<p>"If you live your life in touch with God, you will make a success of
+it. If not, you are one of this world's failures."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not like being a failure, but I love to be happy. I could not go
+into a convent and stay there as so many good women do."</p>
+
+<p>"God forbid. He wants you to enjoy life abundantly, but to enjoy it
+with Him, and in His service."</p>
+
+<p>"Play again to me, it helps me to think."</p>
+
+<p>So the blind man turned to his organ, and soon Handel's beautiful
+"Comfort ye my people" was pealing through the silent hall.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe slipped back to listen to it.</p>
+
+<p>When it was over Gentian's eyes were full of tears. But when they moved
+into another room to have tea, she exerted herself to talk. George
+Damers came back; he was a tall grave-looking youth, with something of
+Sir Gilbert's sweet expression about his face. He was very attentive to
+Sir Gilbert's wants, but when the meal was over Sir Gilbert asked him
+to show Gentian the conservatory. The brilliancy and variety of flowers
+there delighted her.</p>
+
+<p>"What a pity Sir Gilbert can't see his flowers. Why does he have them?"</p>
+
+<p>"He can smell them. He loves flowers. His life has not narrowed since
+he became blind. I think, on the contrary, it has widened."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very fond of him, are you not?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is a man in a thousand," was the quick reply. "I have reason to
+be grateful to him, for I was at my wits' end—I was one of those
+discharged soldiers after the war—incapable of continuing in the army,
+and I could do nothing else. He heard of me by chance, and took me in
+straight away. And every day the post is the medium of bringing relief
+to hundreds of others like myself, and every one he helps, he takes
+into his life. His purpose in it all is a great one, but he never talks
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>"I think," said Gentian slowly, "that he makes every one he knows
+better, doesn't he? He makes them good, like himself."</p>
+
+<p>"He tries to, at all events," the young secretary said.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian rejoined Sir Gilbert in a thoughtful frame of mind. He talked
+with her about her music, made her a present of a volume of short organ
+voluntaries, and wanted her to try his organ, but this she declined to
+do.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not play this afternoon," she said. "I have been listening to
+you, and your music and your talk is filling all my thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>On their way home she told Mrs. Wharnecliffe that she was sure that Sir
+Gilbert would not live very long.</p>
+
+<p>"He is too good to live," she asserted. "I have seen women who are
+good, but not men. Men leave religion to women—unless they are monks or
+clergymen. Sir Gilbert spends his days in pleasing God. People in the
+world don't do that unless they are going to die."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my dear child," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, smiling; "sometimes I
+wonder if you are six or sixty. Sir Gilbert is a very ordinary English
+gentleman. People call him a philanthropist, for he is very interested
+in all things that help and benefit young people. And he has a
+wonderful personal influence over them. There are many good men in the
+world, I'm glad to say, though you may not have met them. Goodness is
+not confined to dying men."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent. She was very quiet for the rest of that day, but
+the next morning seemed quite to have recovered her usual high spirits.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Two days afterwards, Jim arrived. Mrs. Wharnecliffe liked the look of
+him. She was amused at the determination on his part to be a big unit
+in Gentian's life, and at her proud aloofness and determination that he
+should keep his distance, and only have what she chose to give him.</p>
+
+<p>He swept away at once all idea of Gentian assuming the profession of
+chauffeur.</p>
+
+<p>"It is ridiculous, and impossible, and out of the question. You must
+come and stay with us, and my mother will show you why it is the last
+calling in the world for you."</p>
+
+<p>"But I do not know your mother," said Gentian slowly, "and her views
+and mine might be very far apart."</p>
+
+<p>Jim was a tall, muscular young fellow. Be towered over Gentian now,
+like some great Saxon giant.</p>
+
+<p>"You alone in a car driving strange men about! Do you think your
+mother would have allowed it! I've seen three women chauffeurs. Thank
+goodness, they're of a different sort and make to you! And if you get
+hung up, with a burst tyre or a puncture or get run into by one of
+these char-à-bancs, where are you then? It's preposterous, absurd, not
+to be thought of! If you have a craze for motoring, you must come to
+us, and I'll tour you round for a bit. We'll take a run over the border
+into Scotland. You want to see everything and you must see that. When
+will you come? My people will be in town for the next fortnight, but
+they'll be home the end of the month. Can you come to us the first week
+in June?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think not," said Gentian. "I am going to move into my new house with
+Waddy that week. I am very much occupied just now. In England we do not
+live the life of Italy. There the sun and the flowers help to keep you
+lazy. It is just a life of pleasure, of taking your ease. Here every
+one who is not rich works, do they not, Mrs. Wharnecliffe? Girls as
+well as men. We have to earn our daily bread. My car and my music and
+my house will take up all my time. My cousin has placed this house at
+my disposal, he lives near—"</p>
+
+<p>"But do you mean that you will not pay us a visit?" Jim Paget's face
+showed great discomposure. "Your cousin, you say—you did not know
+he existed a few months ago. What has he to say to it? We are old
+friends—we are more than old friends—we—"</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at Mrs. Wharnecliffe impatiently, wishing her out of the
+room, but she did not take the hint.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was perfectly serene and composed.</p>
+
+<p>"I am very glad to see you, Jim. We are old friends, as you say, and
+perhaps some time later in the summer I may like to come and see your
+mother. But not just now. Have you a rock garden in your home? Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe has a beautiful one; would you like to come and see it?"</p>
+
+<p>Jim Paget got up with a sigh of relief, and Wharnecliffe wisely let the
+two young people wander out into the garden by themselves. They were
+there a long time. Sitting in her drawing-room by the open window, Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe was at last aware by the sound of their voices that they
+were returning to the house.</p>
+
+<p>Jim's voice was raised in indignant protest. "Are you going to keep me
+hanging about till you see some one you may like better?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, dear Jim. I will not do that, take your dismissal at once. I mean
+it. I will not be bullied. Every one thinks he can browbeat and manage
+a girl that is alone. And I have a soul and mind as well as my body,
+and it is my soul you do not understand. It will not lie down to be
+trampled upon. If I married you, it would not be my own at all; you
+would have it in your hands, refusing to let it breathe and slowly
+squeezing it to death."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Gentian, don't be so ridiculous!"</p>
+
+<p>Jim's face was hot, and his tone not too gentle.</p>
+
+<p>And then Gentian came with flying steps into the drawing-room through
+the open French windows. She stopped short for an instant when she saw
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe, then she slipped into an easy chair with a little
+sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"It is very warm in the garden. We have seen your rock garden, Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe, and I believe Jim has gone to his room to pack up his
+things."</p>
+
+<p>"But he is staying with us another night, is he not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he will. Urgent business will summon him to town."</p>
+
+<p>There was a hint of laughter in Gentian's wonderful blue eyes. Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe wondered if she were heartless.</p>
+
+<p>But Jim was not easily crushed. He came down to dinner that night and
+talked politics hard with Mr. Wharnecliffe, showing himself a keen
+student of his country's constitution. He almost ignored Gentian,
+who was very quiet and pensive, and after dinner went off to the
+smoking-room with his host.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe did not press for Gentian's confidence and the girl
+retired early to bed. Jim said nothing about leaving, but came into the
+drawing-room just as Mrs. Wharnecliffe was about to leave it.</p>
+
+<p>"May I speak to you?" he said very earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"Come along and sit down," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe cheerfully; "Gentian
+has gone to bed. She was tired."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I would not have troubled her with my company to-night," he said a
+little bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you young people have been rubbing each other up," said
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "Can I help towards smoothing matters out? First of
+all, I should like to know how things are between you."</p>
+
+<p>"We are virtually engaged," said Jim quickly. "At least, I thought we
+were. Gentian has never been practical about it, she always says we
+don't know each other well enough to be sure whether we shall suit each
+other. And I—I'm desperately in love with her. I've been so for five
+years. You don't know her as I do. She's the sweetest-natured girl in
+the world, but elusive, and she lives in a dream world of her own,
+and thinks every one a saint, and her moods are as many as the stars
+in the heavens. She's angry with me now, but in the morning she'll be
+sorry—she always is. I cannot stand her taking up this car business. Is
+she fit for it? Do you consider she is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most certainly not, but though I don't know her as well as you, I know
+she must be persuaded and not driven, and I am going slowly. I don't
+think it will come to anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know. She has such a daring adventurous streak in her. I
+want you to be my friend, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I can afford to marry.
+I am in business in the city, and it's doing well. I can give her a
+comfortable home, and at my father's death, I come into the family
+property. I'm the only son. Gentian has no need to earn her living. I
+am ready and waiting to give her a happy home. Do talk to her, and let
+something definite come of this visit of mine. I'm so glad to find her
+amongst people of her own. You're a kind of cousin, aren't you? Do, for
+her sake, if not mine, persuade her to be properly engaged to me, and
+then we'll get married as soon as possible."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe was touched by the young man's impetuosity.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you would be really able to make her happy?" she said
+slowly. "You see, I place Gentian first. She is almost like a daughter
+to me already, and I am certain that if Gentian married where she did
+not really love, a very unhappy future would be in store for herself
+and her husband. She is a very wilful little person. I think you are
+the same. Would you expect her to give way to you always?"</p>
+
+<p>Jim looked slightly uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, if she belonged to me, I would make her happy," he said; "it's the
+uncertainty that irritates me at times."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you want me to talk to Gentian and plead your cause?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you will. She's missed her mother so, and old Waddy is no good at
+all. You're a woman of the world, and you can make her see that we
+can't go on in this indefinite way any longer. It's good for neither of
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"And you'll take your dismissal courageously and quietly, if she wishes
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>Jim's face fell.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she can't dismiss me after all these years. I won't think it
+possible."</p>
+
+<p>They talked together for some little time, and finally Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe promised to speak to Gentian the next morning.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_5">CHAPTER V</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>THE young people met at breakfast as if nothing had happened between
+them. Gentian was her bright happy self again; she wanted to drive Jim
+to the town in her car, but he made the excuse that he was going to
+write business letters in the library and would prefer not to go out
+till the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe was just going to speak to Gentian when Thorold
+arrived over. He had come to ask Gentian if she could possibly take the
+organ the following Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>"Could I do it?" she questioned half-diffidently, half-eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"If you come to the practice to-night at six o'clock, our organist
+would be there, and would put you in the way of it; but he has to
+go away to see a sick relation to-morrow, and will not be back till
+Monday."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll come. Mr. Paget is here; would you like to see him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be very glad to make his acquaintance. Does he know of the
+buffer's existence?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've dragged you into every other sentence. I think he thinks you and
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe are brother and sister, and you mustn't undeceive
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Then she looked at him sternly.</p>
+
+<p>"I remember now, you told me you wished to see my friend, and the organ
+is just an excuse. You came on purpose to see him."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I did," said Thorold dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"He is in the library, writing letters. I don't think he wishes to be
+disturbed."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I will fetch him," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who had no qualms about
+interrupting her visitor's occupation.</p>
+
+<p>She was not surprised to find him smoking a cigarette and moodily
+sitting by the window doing nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to make acquaintance with Gentian's cousin, Mr. Holt," she
+said cheerfully. "May I bring him in here?"</p>
+
+<p>"This is your house," the young fellow said, rising hastily from his
+seat in some confusion; "of course I shall be very glad to see him."</p>
+
+<p>So Thorold was brought in and introduced; and then Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+went back to Gentian, who did not look very pleased. "Cousin Thorold is
+very obstinate in doing his own will," she said; "why does he come over
+to see Jim Paget? Does he want to see if he is a fit friend for me?
+If he was a gorilla, I should stick up for him if I wanted to. Cousin
+Thorold couldn't well prevent me."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Gentian, my dear child, I want you to be frank with me. This
+Mr. Paget considers you are virtually engaged to him. Is this so? He
+evidently wants matters to be settled. Is it that you cannot make up
+your mind? Do you really like him? I want to help you if I can. He
+says he has known and loved you for five years. You cannot keep a man
+waiting too long, though I own you are full young yet to marry. He
+seems to me a nice straightforward man with means of his own and he is
+very fond of you."</p>
+
+<p>"He has been getting hold of you. I told you the other day what I feel
+about him. He is too strong-willed for me. I don't know which is worst,
+he or Cousin Thorold. Of course Cousin Thorold is more reliable, and a
+little kinder. I saw him pick up a village child and kiss it the other
+day when it had fallen and hurt itself. Jim would never do that, he
+would push it out of his way. Jim is going through the world elbowing
+people right and left—clearing his way, and knocking down everybody
+and everything that stops his progress. Cousin Thorold looks out for
+those he can help, but he likes to manage those he helps, and that's
+where they are alike. Jim likes to manage too. No, it's no good, Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe, if Jim wants his answer now, I'll give it to him, but
+I shall be awfully sorry if he goes away in a huff and never sees me
+again; because I shall have no friend left then; and he has always been
+as good as a brother to me."</p>
+
+<p>"It is only fair to him that it should be one thing or the other," said
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe; "if you don't want to marry him, you must not keep
+him hanging round you."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent. Then she said in an animated tone: "Now I wonder
+what those two are talking about? May I go and see?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think you had better wait. They will come to us when they want us."</p>
+
+<p>And in a very few minutes Thorold came in. He addressed himself to
+Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>"The interview has been very satisfactory. I like your friend."</p>
+
+<p>"How kind of you!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's tone was non-committal. It might have been sarcasm, or an
+expression of pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>"But I have told him that you are settling down here for the present,
+and he must not worry you to go away, if you want to stay here."</p>
+
+<p>"No one will worry me to do anything that I do not want to do," said
+Gentian calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then why the little creases on your brow at present?"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked up at him and laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"You make the creases; I always feel my bristles rising when you come
+near. You think you've got to take care of me and guide my steps, and
+you want to lock me up in a glass case and keep me there."</p>
+
+<p>"As a precious ornament," said Thorold; "you ought to be flattered. It
+is only treasures that require guarding."</p>
+
+<p>Then he altered his tone.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to make any more creases. They do not suit you, so I'll
+leave you. If Mr. Paget would like to see the Vicarage this afternoon,
+my housekeeper will have the keys. I shall be out."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I daresay we may stroll down there."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe walked down the drive with Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"I really don't understand her one bit," she confided to him; "I am
+pretty certain she is not in love with this boy, but what she intends
+to do is past my comprehension. He wants to be definitely engaged to
+her. I have told her it must be one thing or the other. They have been
+going on like this for nearly five years. It's my belief she clings to
+him as to an old friend, and does not want to lose his friendship. She
+said as much to me."</p>
+
+<p>"He means to settle it to-day," said Thorold. "If she sends him away,
+we shall have the responsibility of her altogether. I was wishing
+the other day that she were my daughter. Now I don't know. Girls are
+difficult to manage."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Ward will have the charge of her very soon," said Thorold easily;
+"and I dare say she and this young fellow will settle it up together.
+He's very fond of her."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe gave a little sigh.</p>
+
+<p>After lunch Jim Paget and Gentian set off for the Vicarage. They were
+gone nearly three hours, and then Jim returned alone with a very rueful
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Gentian?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe when she saw him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she's staying on for the organ practice. Mr. Holt's housekeeper is
+giving her tea. I've been dismissed for good and all, and I think I'll
+go back to town to-night, if you'll excuse my doing so. There's the
+7.30 express."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, and her heart ached for the young
+fellow, whose face looked haggard and drawn.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't look for it, and that's a fact!" he said. "After all these
+years too! I don't believe she knows what she's doing. She's enamoured
+with her new surroundings here. I wish—if I may say so—that you had
+never discovered her. If she and Waddy had been alone in London
+lodgings, she would have turned to me with joy. But she's crazed about
+this car of hers, and the little house and the organ. She'll find me
+wanting soon. I shan't give up hope. I shall be utterly silent to her,
+and perhaps after a time, she'll want to hear of me. I never shall
+marry anyone else, I know that."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe tried to comfort him. She ordered the car to take him
+to the station, and felt a little vexed with Gentian; but at the same
+time her instinct told her that the girl was right, for her heart was
+not Jim's. It still remained untouched.</p>
+
+<p>When Gentian came in, it was to find that Jim had gone. She looked
+rather blank when Mrs. Wharnecliffe gave her the news.</p>
+
+<p>"What an awful hurry he was in! I quite meant to wish him good-bye
+properly and to part friends. But perhaps it is best as it is."</p>
+
+<p>"How did the practice go off?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it was lovely! The organ is a gem, and I found it quite easy to
+play, and the small boys were such dears, and there's quite an old man
+who comes with them and sings the deepest bass, and keeps saying: 'We
+b'aint in 'armony!'"</p>
+
+<p>She gave an animated account of her doings, and seemed to forget
+Jim. But she was very quiet and pensive at dinner, and went to the
+piano afterwards, and played such dreary dirges, that at last Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe begged her to stop.</p>
+
+<p>"It's to mark the burial of my friendship with Jim, and all his hopes
+and mine. I really feel as if he has died. It is like it to me. He says
+he will never see me again unless I send for him, and I shall never do
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you do not regret having sent him away."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I do!" she said passionately. "You can't give up a friend
+without feeling it. You have made me do it. You and he together. I
+could not marry him, but lots of girls have men friends, and I call him
+selfish to leave me for ever like this."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you are selfish to accept his love and attentions when you
+know you do not mean to make him happy."</p>
+
+<p>"I am very, very selfish," said Gentian in a humble tone; "I always
+have been. But if he was unselfish, he would not wish to force me
+against my liking to marry him. Shut up with Jim all my life! Oh, I
+couldn't live! I should die. It would be dreadful!"</p>
+
+<p>Then she slipped her arm through Mrs. Wharnecliffe's with a wistful
+smile up at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, do love me and be kind to me I have forsaken Jim, for you and
+Cousin Thorold. Perhaps you would rather I had married him, so as to
+get rid of me. I feel sure that Cousin Thorold wanted me to do it. But
+I won't burden you with the care of me. When I get Waddy again, I shall
+be quite independent, and so busy that I shall have no time to come and
+see you."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Gentian," she said, "I am very glad we are not going to
+lose you. And I mean to see a great deal of you in the future. I am
+old-fashioned enough to believe in love matches, and if you don't love
+a man, don't marry him. That is my advice. I have seen disaster again
+and again come upon young people, because they married in haste for
+expediency."</p>
+
+<p>So Jim Paget departed out of Gentian's life, and at the end of a few
+days, she seemed as if she had forgotten all about him. She was getting
+quite absorbed in her small house, and when the day came for her to
+move into it, and Miss Ward was expected to arrive, she was as excited
+as a child.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe felt a blank in the house when she left her. Gentian
+made her presence and personality felt wherever she went.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>About a week after she moved in, Thorold, taking a morning walk past
+the house, was confronted by a large white notice board in its front
+garden facing the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Car for hire. Apply within."</p>
+
+<p>He was standing looking up at it with disapproval stamped upon his
+face, when Gentian's voice over the hedge surprised him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, and what do you think of it? I am afraid we are too out of the
+way for people to see it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like it at all," said Thorold gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"What a pity! I am proud of it. I have had two fares already. Every
+morning I drive into Winderball and go slowly up and down the high
+street with my notice 'for hire' staring every one in the face. They
+won't let me stand in the station yard, so that is all I can do, but I
+took a gentleman to the station yesterday, and the day before I drove
+a young couple to see an empty house about eight miles out. That was a
+good stroke of business. I shall get on in spite of your disapproval.
+I could not stay here if I did not. Don't you want to go and see Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe and ask her opinion about my notice board? I will run you
+out this afternoon if you like. The journey there and back will be
+twenty-two shillings. I cannot take tips, as it is my own car."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you do not tempt me," said Thorold, smiling in spite of
+himself. "Having a motor-bike and a horse, I am independent of cars."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of course, you are what they call complete in yourself. Now, dear
+Cousin Thorold—"</p>
+
+<p>She changed her tone and began to coax:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't fight me about this board. It means a livelihood for me, and I
+do not like cross faces and expostulations. All yesterday Miss Ward was
+telling me you would not like it. And I said to her:</p>
+
+<p>"'Cousin Thorold is a sensible broad-minded man, and very kind at
+heart!'</p>
+
+<p>"Are you not? We'll say no more about it. Now can you tell me if this
+is the time to plant roses? I want some badly, and there is a woman
+called Mrs. Guddings in the village who has a moss rose, and tells me
+she will give me a root of it."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold succumbed, and the talk veered to roses. The board remained up,
+and only two days afterwards it brought Gentian business.</p>
+
+<p>She was gardening very busily, and Miss Ward was having her afternoon
+siesta, when a middle-aged lady appeared at her gate. She seemed in
+some haste and agitation.</p>
+
+<p>"We've had a breakdown at the bottom of the road, and I want to get to
+town urgently to see a sister who is ill. We heard from a cottage that
+there was a car for hire here. Can you lend it to us? I conclude there
+is a driver."</p>
+
+<p>"I drive my car myself," Gentian said with her greatest dignity. "I
+will come with you at once."</p>
+
+<p>The lady looked at her in a surprised fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you take a small amount of luggage? I have a niece with me, but we
+shall be obliged to send our chauffeur back to the town with the car.
+You look very young. I know girls do drive cars in these days, but have
+you had much experience?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have done the journey from town here with perfect ease, and know the
+road well. Would you like to see the car?"</p>
+
+<p>Without waiting for an answer, Gentian led the way to her garage.</p>
+
+<p>The lady looked at the car critically, but appeared satisfied. She
+asked if Gentian could start at once.</p>
+
+<p>"In five minutes," said Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will go back and relieve my niece's mind. It is her mother who
+is ill, and we have missed the train to town."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian slipped quietly up to her room and got into her motor kit,
+being careful not to disturb Miss Ward, for she was doubtful as to what
+that lady would say to this expedition, as it was already late in the
+afternoon. She left a message with the servant for her, and then drove
+her car rapidly down the road.</p>
+
+<p>She found the two ladies anxiously awaiting her. Their car was in the
+ditch, and their chauffeur hard at work trying to get it back into the
+road.</p>
+
+<p>It was only the work of a few minutes to get her passengers and luggage
+arranged for the journey, and then Gentian with glowing eyes and
+cheeks, and a proud consciousness of her own powers, drove steadily
+along the London road.</p>
+
+<p>The run was made very successfully. Gentian was offered some
+refreshment at the London house, but she declined, as she was anxious
+to get back. It was a very sultry evening, and there was every
+appearance of a storm brewing. She had got well out of London, and
+was in a very lonely part of the country when the storm burst full
+upon her. Vivid lightning and peals of thunder rather shook her nerve.
+It was with a sense of relief that she came to a wayside inn which
+possessed a garage, and very soon she and her car were taking advantage
+of the shelter.</p>
+
+<p>The storm was a heavy one, and lasted nearly an hour. Gentian had a
+dish of eggs and bacon and a cup of tea in the inn parlour, but there
+were some rough-looking farmers who tramped in and out, and she felt
+uncomfortable when they persisted in talking to her. One of them asked
+her to give him a lift. She refused, as she saw he had been drinking
+freely, and she was very glad when she was able to start again, and get
+away from them all.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed as if misfortune dogged her steps. She had got a little more
+than half-way, when suddenly one of her tyres burst. It was now just
+dark. She was on a road bordered by thick pine woods on each side, and
+there was not a house within sight. She got out and with the light of
+her lamp commenced to remedy matters. She had a spare tyre and had
+been taught how to put one on, but a man had helped her, and she did
+not seem to have the strength to screw the jack up, to get the tyre
+off the ground. She exerted all her strength, but the wheel refused to
+lift. Time went by. She was perilously near tears, and the feeling of
+helplessness and inability to remedy matters, made her furious with
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>At last she determined that she must leave her car where it was, and
+walk on till she could get help from some one. It was at this juncture
+that she saw a light approaching her. The noise told her that it was a
+motor-cycle, and she plucked up courage to shout for help. Her surprise
+was intense to find, the next moment, that the cycle rider was Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she cried. "I am glad to see you!"</p>
+
+<p>He got off his cycle at once, asked what was the matter, and very soon
+had the burst tyre removed and the new one in its place.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought something must have happened, as you did not turn up, so I
+came to meet you," he said simply.</p>
+
+<p>There was no word of reproach or "I told you so," and Gentian felt
+subdued and very grateful. She started her car again, and he drove by
+her side, till she reached the Vicarage, then he helped her to put her
+car by, wished her good night, and disappeared, but Gentian felt that
+she had not heard the last of this late run to town.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward with an anxious troubled face met her at the door. Her
+reproaches and remonstrances continued during Gentian's late supper.
+She got impatient at last.</p>
+
+<p>"I am tired, Waddy. You should never kick a person when she's down.
+Good night."</p>
+
+<p>And abruptly she left her and went to bed.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_6">CHAPTER VI</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>A FRESH PROPOSITION</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>IT was a very quiet Gentian who came into the small drawing-room the
+next afternoon, when she was told by Miss Ward that Thorold had called
+and wished to see her. She shook hands with him in silence, and seated
+herself on the low cushioned window seat.</p>
+
+<p>"I really meant to have asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe to speak to you about
+this," said Thorold coming to the point at once; "but I rather believe
+in doing disagreeable things oneself. I suppose you see for yourself
+how impossible it is for you to be a public chauffeur."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure," said Gentian pathetically, "I have had enough
+expostulation and scolding and threatening from Miss Ward, but I am
+ready to have it over again. Please get it over as quickly as you can."</p>
+
+<p>"Supposing I had not been able to meet you, what would you have done?"
+asked Thorold rather brusquely.</p>
+
+<p>"I should have waited till some one came by."</p>
+
+<p>"And who would that have been? Just after we started do you remember a
+cart of drunken men who almost overtook us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian unguardedly; "I had already seen them at the inn."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you have liked their help?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should not have asked for it."</p>
+
+<p>"But they would have offered it, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I can look after myself. Girls have to do so nowadays."</p>
+
+<p>"They never will if I have anything to do with them." Thorold spoke
+sharply, and very determinedly. "Yesterday you were mercifully
+kept from harm, but did not your experience show you that you were
+absolutely unfitted to run a car as a man could?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," flashed forth Gentian; "it didn't. Difficulties make me long to
+overcome them. I won't be crushed by them. I think the jack must have
+been rusty. I shall practice using it till I can do it quite easily."</p>
+
+<p>"It must be stopped, Gentian. We will find something else for you to
+do. You cannot run a car for the benefit of the public."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked out of the window. When she turned round tears were
+trembling on the tips of her eyelashes.</p>
+
+<p>"You have no right to dictate to me," she said, trying to maintain her
+dignity.</p>
+
+<p>"Cheer up," Thorold said. "I don't want to take your car from you. But
+you must promise me that you'll never take any long journey so late in
+the day. And I'll see if we can't find something better for you to do."</p>
+
+<p>"If your car is for hire, you can't dictate to people the time you go."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll trust you won't be asked to go off to London so late in
+the day again. And if it did happen that you were asked to take a night
+journey, you must absolutely refuse."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm in dead earnest," Thorold said, looking at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," said Gentian passionately, "I haven't a friend in the world
+except Waddy. Jim has left me, and you're determined to refuse me my
+liberty and shut me up here, and take away from me the only hope of
+earning my living and being independent."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no. I will help you to be independent if I can. We won't quarrel.
+It's only because I want you to be shielded from unpleasantness and
+harm that I object to this car business. Forgive me, and let us part
+friends."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled upon her, and when Thorold smiled he was irresistible.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian put her hand into his.</p>
+
+<p>"Interfering with the object of doing others good, is your besetting
+sin, I think, Cousin Thorold. Good-bye. I was very glad to see you last
+night. Those woods on each side of me frightened me. I promise you I
+won't do night journeys again. I don't like them."</p>
+
+<p>She had recovered her spirits, but the next morning when she found that
+Thorold had quietly removed her notice board she was ruffled again.</p>
+
+<p>"Was there ever a more arbitrary, meddlesome, managing man than Cousin
+Thorold!" she said to Miss Ward.</p>
+
+<p>"I think he is one of the kindest, truest friends that any girl could
+wish to have," was Miss Ward's fervent response.</p>
+
+<p>And Gentian, seeing she would get no sympathy from her, said no more.</p>
+
+<p>She took her car into Winderball nearly every day, and it was
+astonishing how many fares she got.</p>
+
+<p>About a week later, she went out as usual one morning and did not
+return till six o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward asked her where she had been.</p>
+
+<p>"Out into the country a long way, and they made me take them a long
+round. They were looking at houses. Most of my good fares are people
+house-hunting."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you have any lunch?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we stopped at an inn."</p>
+
+<p>She said no more, but all the evening was strangely silent and
+preoccupied. The next morning she did not take her car out, but told
+Miss Ward she was going to practise in the church. She had found a lame
+boy who was always ready to blow for her, when her usual blower was at
+school.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe appeared about twelve o'clock, and hearing the sound
+of the organ as she passed the church, stopped her car and went in.</p>
+
+<p>She could tell at once from Gentian's playing that all was not well
+with her. But she did not interrupt her, she took a back seat in the
+little church and waited.</p>
+
+<p>The music ceased at last. Gentian dismissed the lame boy; she had no
+idea that anyone was in the church but herself, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+felt a little uncomfortable when she saw her leave her organ stool and,
+slipping into one of the front seats, kneel down and bury her face in
+her hands.</p>
+
+<p>When Gentian rose at last, the church was empty; but she found Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe walking up and down the churchyard.</p>
+
+<p>They greeted each other affectionately; then Gentian turned rather
+eagerly to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I think I'm going to make you happy. Certainly
+Cousin Thorold will be, but my future is very dark. I'm giving up my
+car. I shall never use it for the public, and I shan't be able to
+afford the oil for it, so I suppose I shall have to sell it."</p>
+
+<p>"Since when have you decided this, dear?" Mrs. Wharnecliffe asked
+gently.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I've lost all zest for it, for some days. And yesterday I said
+to myself 'never again.' I was driving four very common men about the
+country. And I didn't like them at all. And it isn't pleasant to be a
+girl sometimes, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. And I'd rather be a road-mender on
+the road, than everybody's and anybody's chauffeur."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe was much astonished, but could not hide her approval,
+and Gentian's eyes were keen and far-seeing.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" she said, throwing out her hands in her foreign gesture of
+despair. "I shall have no sympathy from anyone. I must learn to go my
+way through life without it. You are pleased when I am sad—you are sad
+when I am pleased."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, I cannot help feeling pleased when you show such
+wisdom. I wish you would tell me a little more. I am afraid you have
+experienced some unpleasantness. It was what we feared would happen.
+But I am sorry, very sorry for you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is past."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian drew herself up to her full height. There was pride and a
+little aloofness in her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"I will not talk about it, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. But I am hardly happy
+to-day. I cannot be—I wish—"</p>
+
+<p>Here her tone became impassioned and vicious.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I was an old hag with a bald head and hairs about my chin, and
+a nutcracker mouth, and a hump on my back, and then I would drive my
+car anywhere, everywhere, by day, and by night, and enjoy myself!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Gentian, what a child you are!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian joined Mrs. Wharnecliffe in her laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel better now. Come and see Waddy. I have been as cross as two
+sticks to her all the morning. And I'll leave you to tell her of my
+decision, and she and you will sing a song of thanksgiving together,
+while I go for a solitary walk."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, wait! I think I have some good news for you. I came along to
+tell it to you. It has come at the right time."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure it's another job you have found me. Let me guess. Is it to
+teach in the infants' school?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Yesterday I was visiting some old friends of mine who live about
+five miles away. They are sisters, two elderly women. One is very
+strong—has never been ill in her life she says, and she still rides and
+hunts. The other is delicate, and lives too much indoors. Her doctor
+wants her to have air, and has suggested her having some motor-drives.
+She used to have a carriage, but was upset one day by a drunken
+coachman, and has never taken a drive since. She sold the carriage and
+horses and dismissed her coachman. I got her to drive with me the other
+day in my car, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. I suggested your taking
+her for regular drives every day, and she is delighted at the thought
+of it. She may eventually buy a car of her own, but at present she
+would like to consider yours at her disposal whenever she wants it. And
+she will give you anything you like to ask. She understands that if you
+keep your car for her, you will be unable to use it for anyone else."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's face was a study. The brilliant colour came back to her
+cheeks and the light to her eyes. She seemed as if she could not speak
+for a few minutes; then her eyes grew misty and tears trembled on the
+edges of her eyelashes.</p>
+
+<p>"And so while I was praying," she said in a whisper, "the answer was
+coming along the road to meet me. Mrs. Wharnecliffe, if only you
+weren't an English woman I would throw my arms round your neck and
+hug you! Do consider it done, will you. How lucky I am to have such a
+friend! Am I to start to-morrow? Will she want me in the morning or the
+afternoon, or both?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not quite so fast. They would like to see you and talk it over. So I
+said I would bring you to-morrow, or rather that you would bring me in
+your car, so that they could see it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, do go and tell Waddy. She will be so glad!"</p>
+
+<p>But Gentian did not go in with Mrs. Wharnecliffe. She sped up the road
+to a certain small pine wood which she had discovered, and which served
+her as a delightful retreat when she wanted to be alone and think.</p>
+
+<p>She did not come away from it for a full hour. And then on the way home
+she met Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said; "have you had a good day at your trade?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you not met Mrs. Wharnecliffe?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I have been over the hill to one of my tenant farmers. Has she
+been in these parts to-day?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, indeed she has."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian leant against a gate in the hedge, and looked up at Thorold
+with a reflective light in her blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm considering," she said, with a mischievous curl to her lips,
+"whether I shall keep back part of the truth from you. I think I will.
+You are not my Father Confessor. I am thinking of being a kind of
+private chauffeur to an invalid lady, a friend of Mrs. Wharnecliffe."</p>
+
+<p>"Capital!"</p>
+
+<p>"If she makes it worth my while, it will be less fatiguing than
+ordinary hire work."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's face, like Mrs. Wharnecliffe's, showed relief and
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian frowned.</p>
+
+<p>"So now when you pass me in the road, you needn't screw up your eyes
+to see whom I'm driving, and you needn't have your motor-cycle at hand
+ready to dash out and meet me if I am rather late in getting home. In
+fact you will be able to dismiss me entirely from your thoughts and
+observation. And forget that I exist."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if I shall," said Thorold in rather a drawling voice.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be too busy to give you a thought," said Gentian with a little
+snap in her tone.</p>
+
+<p>And then Thorold laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I was just going to ask you to come to a tea-party at my house the day
+after to-morrow. I have some farmers' wives coming—six of them—we're
+going to talk over the dairy stall at the flower-show in Winderball
+next month, and I want some one to pour out tea for them. I thought
+perhaps Miss Ward would come too—"</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Gentian's face cleared.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall love to come," she said enthusiastically; "I adore pouring out
+tea! And farmers' wives are great fun, I'm sure!"</p>
+
+<p>"They will be very serious, for it's a committee meeting, and if you've
+had no experience of them, you will be astonished at the gravity of the
+situation."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I won't let them be grave. I can always make people laugh if I
+want to. It's a pity you're so grave, Cousin Thorold. Perhaps when
+you realize that the burden and cares of my livelihood are no more
+necessary, you will take a brighter view of things."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a wonderful thing—the different point of view that people take.
+Now Mrs. Wharnecliffe always complains that I am frivolous!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know what she means. You never seem in earnest, or care about
+anything very much. That's why you annoy me so. You always seem
+laughing at me up your sleeve!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I do know how to laugh sometimes?"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian made an impatient movement, as if she were about to walk on,
+then she turned towards him again.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a solid bit of rock, and I'm just a bubble! That's what I feel
+when I talk to you. And I feel more bubbly than ever now that I have a
+fresh start in front of me. Ah! I forgot! I can make no engagement for
+the day after to-morrow. My old lady may want me—"</p>
+
+<p>"She'll be enjoying tea under her mulberry tree at the time I want you—"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, don't be surprised if I fail to turn up. She may be going to
+a tea-party. Perhaps she may come to yours. But she isn't a farmer's
+wife."</p>
+
+<p>"I have one lady coming to me. She is a Miss Horatia Buchan."</p>
+
+<p>"Then she can pour out tea if I don't turn up. Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>She nodded to him and walked on.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold went on his way, but he muttered to himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Now I wonder what has upset the child and caused this revolution. Wild
+horses would not have dragged her to this old lady a week ago!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian went straight to her garage and pulled out her car. For half an
+hour she cleaned and oiled it, then she walked into the house and had
+her lunch.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward was of course beaming.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems the very thing for you, dear. How kind Mrs. Wharnecliffe is!
+I feel I shall not be anxious now about you, for I shall know that you
+are in good company."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to run over and see Sir Gilbert after lunch," said Gentian;
+"would you like to come? It's a pretty drive—"</p>
+
+<p>"No thank you. I'm not fond of motoring, as you know."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>It was not the first time Gentian had been to see the blind man. She
+and he had struck up a great friendship. And he was pretty certain to
+see her if she was in any difficulty or trouble. But to-day she arrived
+over in the best of spirits. It was a very warm afternoon and she found
+him on the lawn under an old cedar.</p>
+
+<p>His secretary was reading to him, but he closed the book when he saw
+Gentian and slipped away, for he knew the two liked to be together for
+a tête-à-tête talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Gilbert, it is true, quite true what you told me the other day.
+I put it to the test. You said if we took a right step, we should
+not suffer for it, that God always gave better than we could give
+ourselves. I decided this morning early that I would be a public
+chauffeur no longer. I think I have been driven to it. But it cost me
+a lot to give it up, only I knew it was the right step, and I was in
+such trouble about it that I went into church to comfort myself with
+the organ. And you know, for you play yourself, how the organ makes you
+think of Paradise, and of God, so I left the organ and got down on my
+knees and prayed that God would give me something better than what I
+was giving up. And the answer came directly. Mrs. Wharnecliffe came up
+and told me an old lady wanted the monopoly of my car, and I was to be
+her chauffeur. Isn't it splendid! I'm going to see her to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Gilbert smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"It's good news for all your friends," he said; "none of us have liked
+your occupation."</p>
+
+<p>"No—and it shows how wicked I am at heart, for the thought of Cousin
+Thorold's satisfaction, and of Mrs. Wharnecliffe's relief, and Waddy's
+thankfulness, makes me just long to go back to it. They've all proved
+so annoyingly right in their fears and surmises."</p>
+
+<p>"You feel that the young ought to prove more wise in their judgments
+than the old? Well, we all have done that in our time, and as we grow
+older our heads are bowed lower down. Age teaches humility."</p>
+
+<p>"I feel humbled to the dust, but I'm very grateful for my answered
+prayer. And it makes me want more than ever to be good, really good
+like you. Do you think I shall ever be so? Don't say you aren't good."</p>
+
+<p>"None of us are really good, my child. But you will learn to love more,
+and then your service will be easier."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's face was very sweet and grave. She clasped her hands round
+her old friend's arm and looked up into his face very earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"I have felt uncomfortable for weeks. I knew that I was doing every day
+what you all disapproved of! Now to-morrow I am making a fresh start.
+And I will learn to love more, and trust more. Now will you play to me?"</p>
+
+<p>Sir Gilbert gladly acquiesced; he went to his organ and Gentian settled
+herself in a comfortable chair to listen.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Gilbert had said to Mrs. Wharnecliffe:</p>
+
+<p>"Your little friend has a dual nature: she is by turns a wayward, gay
+little soul, and a very sweet and earnest aspirant after holy things."</p>
+
+<p>And certainly now, Gentian, with her wistful eyes and rapt grave face,
+was very different from the mischievous laughing girl which most
+outsiders knew and admired.</p>
+
+<p>When the music ceased Gentian rose to go.</p>
+
+<p>"One day I shall compose," she said slowly and thoughtfully; "and my
+first composition will be a soul's flight to Paradise. We often get to
+the gates before we die. We go up like the skylark and then we drop as
+swiftly as he does to earth again. I get so close to the gates when you
+play to me! And when you stop, I drop like a stone to the ground."</p>
+
+<p>"Then my music is of no use to you," Sir Gilbert said a little sadly.</p>
+
+<p>"But yes, it is," she said, seizing his hand and keeping it between
+both of hers. "We can't live above the earth always; but it makes me
+long and long for the Unseen Land. And I am praying and trying to live
+as I should, till I reach it."</p>
+
+<p>"May God bless you, my child," was the blind man's quick response.</p>
+
+<p>And then Gentian bent her head and pressed her lips to his wrinkled
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come to you in my bad moments," she said; "and to-day I thought
+I must give you my good news. Au revoir."</p>
+
+<p>She left him and arrived home with a happy, smiling face.</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy, you did a good thing when you came down here on my account. I
+think we're going to have a rattling good time, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes, my dear, we have certainly fallen on our feet. There are
+very few men so generous and kind as your cousin has been to us."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Cousin Thorold. I wasn't thinking of him. He's a very good buffer,
+as he said, and he's useful at times, but there are other friends round
+about us, and I hope I shall make fresh friends to-morrow. I'm longing
+to see my new employer."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_7">CHAPTER VII</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>A PRIVATE CHAUFFEUR</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>"MRS. WHARNECLIFFE and Miss Brendon," announced an elderly maidservant,
+opening the door of the big drawing-room at the Mount.</p>
+
+<p>The two occupants of the room looked at Gentian rather critically as
+she approached them. She wore her close-fitting motor-cap, and a long
+white linen coat fell down to her slim ankles. She might have been a
+stripling of a boy, so neat, and taut, and severe was her attire.</p>
+
+<p>The eldest Miss Buchan spoke to her first, and Gentian's expressive
+face kindled under her friendly look. Miss Anne Buchan was a handsome
+old woman with dark eyes and white hair, and an extreme air of
+fragility. She looked like some hothouse flower that had never been
+exposed to any fresh breezes or pure air. She was slight in build and
+rather tall, and stooped as she walked. Miss Horatia was younger, with
+a rugged tanned face and big blue eyes, and a humorous mouth. She was
+standing in the window mending a hunting crop and whistling as she did
+so. Whilst Miss Anne was clothed in rich satin gown with priceless
+lace about her neck, Miss Horatia was in a white shirt and rough tweed
+skirt, with two big pockets, which held contents that schoolboys would
+have envied.</p>
+
+<p>"And so this is my lady chauffeur," said Miss Anne pleasantly, as she
+shook hands with Gentian. "You seem very young for the post, but youth
+is to the fore now. It is we old people who are needed no longer."</p>
+
+<p>"Not to give us advice, and remind us of the good old days which have
+gone for ever?" said Gentian with her mischievous smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, I wonder if you will take advice from anyone!" Miss Anne responded.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Horatia looked sharply up from her employment.</p>
+
+<p>"How d'ye do?" she said brusquely. "What's your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gentian Brendon."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, these new-fangled names; who chose that for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean Gentian? My mother. When I was a baby. I had eyes that
+reminded her of the flower."</p>
+
+<p>"And they're the same now," said gentle Miss Anne. "Sit down, child.
+Now, Lallie, how are you?"</p>
+
+<p>For the next few minutes Gentian sat and listened to the conversation
+which followed, and in which she felt she had no part. Miss Horatia
+said very little; occasionally she put in a word. Presently she turned
+to Gentian and said suddenly:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you realize that you and I are representatives of two centuries?"</p>
+
+<p>"But you are not very old?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am old in my habits, in my love for God's creatures instead of
+men's. Don't expect me to set foot in your snorting bit of machinery.
+When my horse and I part company, my life will be done. And when I'm
+too old to sit in a saddle, I shall go straight to bed and stop there—"</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to ride," said Gentian a little wistfully; "but cars are
+cheaper than horses, and swifter."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Horatia said no more. Mrs. Wharnecliffe did not make a long stay.
+Miss Anne discussed everything with Gentian. She told her she would
+like her to come every afternoon and take her out, Sundays excepted,
+and the salary she mentioned more than satisfied Gentian. She came away
+in the highest spirits and thanked Mrs. Wharnecliffe very warmly for
+having obtained the post for her.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be enjoying myself hugely every afternoon, and earning my
+living, and be doing quite the proper thing. Nobody, not even Cousin
+Thorold, can say it is not nice for me to be driving an old lady out
+every day! Why!—Now I come to think of it, Cousin Thorold said he
+expected a Miss Horatia Buchan to a tea-party at his house to-morrow.
+Can it be the same? She's very sporting looking; not at all his style."</p>
+
+<p>"Horatia and Thorold have been friends for a long time," said Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe. "Once upon a time I hoped they would marry."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but they'd never suit each other," said Gentian in a startled
+tone. "They're both so managing and masterful, and she must be years
+older than he is."</p>
+
+<p>"They're just the same age, I believe—"</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Horatia looks as if she could be a great-grandmother—"</p>
+
+<p>"When you come to her age, you won't feel so ancient as that."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed, and said no more.</p>
+
+<p>She drove Miss Anne out the next afternoon from two to four, but came
+home to Miss Ward with a very doleful face.</p>
+
+<p>"She won't let me go faster than a horse. Says she likes quiet motion,
+so that she can enjoy the air without being blown about. Isn't it a
+humiliation and degradation for my dear Mousie! We got no distance, and
+when I left her, I scorched along the road for all I was worth. Mousie
+and I were panting to do it. It's too horrible for words! I shall never
+have the patience to keep the job. Aren't you sorry for me, Waddy? Say
+you are!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't, but you can put on speed now, and change your dress,
+for we are going to Mr. Holt's to tea. I can't think why the present
+generation want such rapid motion. It's very bad for their brains!"</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Thorold's tea-party and meeting were a great success. Miss Horatia was
+there, and looked on at Gentian tea-making with an amused eye.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of that child?" she asked Thorold bluntly. "Does she
+think our old world, revolves on its axis entirely and wholly for her?"</p>
+
+<p>"She's very young," said Thorold apologetically. "But life will teach
+her what it has taught us."</p>
+
+<p>"We don't all learn the same lessons. Some can't be taught, and some
+won't be. I don't think I'm at all an apt learner. But when I was her
+age, I was more malleable, I fancy—"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold shook his head at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Never!" he said, and then he went off to talk to some one else.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian chattered away to all the farmers' wives as if she had known
+them all her life. When the meeting was over, and they were dispersing,
+one of them, a Mrs. Homer, said to Gentian pleasantly:</p>
+
+<p>"Come along one afternoon, miss, and have a cup of tea with me. I've
+always held up for you, though there be many which say you be too
+light-fingered on the organ for 'em on Sundays. There be almost a
+merriment in your pieces afore and after church; they say it be not
+seemly in church—"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you feel happy on Sundays? I always do," returned Gentian. "Why
+shouldn't we be bright and cheerful in church?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Crake—but I'll allow she's had a chapel bringin' up—she's only
+conformed to church of late—she said las' Sunday her girl Ada passed
+the remark that 'twould be easy to dance to your pieces."</p>
+
+<p>"What a dreadful thing to say!" said Gentian with sparkling eyes. "I'll
+give you the creeps next Sunday if I can—a proper solemn dirge. Thank
+you for asking me to tea. I shall love to come."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Horatia, was the last one to leave, and then Thorold walked home
+with Miss Ward and Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't had time to hear how you like this last venture of yours,"
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I shan't give myself away. I have only had one day. It is
+oppressively slow, but when I think of how many people I have pleased
+by taking the job, I feel I shan't live in vain! Miss Anne is an old
+dear. I love old ladies. I am so tired—so disgusted—so out of friends
+with men."</p>
+
+<p>"Are we such a bad lot?" asked Thorold quietly.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at him with a pretty shake of her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about you. I'm in and out of friends with you so often!
+Waddy is always singing your praises, so of course I do the opposite.
+If you took me more seriously, I would like you better. Sir Gilbert is
+the only man about here who speaks naturally and earnestly to me—"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Gentian, your tongue runs away with you—" Miss Ward's tone was
+shocked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Waddy, I never choose my words with Cousin Thorold. And I'm only
+speaking the truth."</p>
+
+<p>They had reached the Cottage. Miss Ward went indoors, but Gentian
+lingered at the gate with Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry I don't take you seriously," Thorold said; "we'll have some
+grave talks whenever you like."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we'll have one now," said Gentian impetuously; "come to the
+bottom of the garden and sit on the seat with me, where I watch the sun
+setting."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold followed her without a word. He sat down on one end of the
+seat, she took the other.</p>
+
+<p>She was looking distractingly pretty, in a white embroidered linen
+gown, and a shady white hat with a wreath of periwinkles round it which
+matched the colour of her eyes. Now she leant forward, elbow on knees,
+and her chin in the palm of her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to do something with my life," she said with earnest solemnity.
+"I am doing absolutely nothing now. I have been stuck down in this
+dear little corner of England, and all of you are drawing fences round
+me to keep me in. They are getting nearer and nearer, and my space is
+getting smaller and smaller. Waddy and you and Mrs. Wharnecliffe think
+I ought to be quite happy in my little cottage, watering the garden,
+and helping Waddy to housekeep and then driving out an old lady at a
+snail's pace every day. You say,—</p>
+
+<p>"'Now she's protected—now she's safe!'</p>
+
+<p>"And then you ask me out to tea to keep me from feeling dull, and Waddy
+says what a pleasant thing it is to have my organ and choir practice
+as a recreation. And you quite expect me to go on living like this for
+years! It's just stagnation of soul and body, that's what it is. And
+God in heaven looks down, and wonders when I'm going to begin to live!"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold was not shocked at this outburst. He was surprised, but he
+concealed that, and said in his slow voice:</p>
+
+<p>"And what is your idea of life? You have mentioned God Almighty's name,
+and I know you have not used it in mockery. Is it your idea to carry
+out His will or your own?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know, but He has made me, I do believe, for something
+better than this. What a big world it is! And how much there is to
+do. Sir Gilbert talks to me about Heaven's purposes, and the earth's
+failures. I have brains, and strength, and leisure, and I can't sit
+about in armchairs and just be comfortable—I'm too young for it. And I
+have an uncomfortable feeling that I'm living on Waddy's savings. She
+always tells me there's plenty of money for our needs. But where does
+it come from? I don't earn enough to keep the house going. Miss Anne is
+very generous, and I shall be able to support myself on what she gives
+me, but I shan't be able to save much. And my life is too easy, and
+empty, and narrow. There now! That's the gist of the matter! I shall
+break away soon—I must. It's the Bubble's efforts to soar, before it
+bursts!"</p>
+
+<p>"But you have had one effort to break away, haven't you? And it wasn't
+altogether a success."</p>
+
+<p>"I knew that would come. I have failed. I own it. It is your nasty
+English people that have made me fail. But there are other vocations
+besides driving motors."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear you are tired of it by now."</p>
+
+<p>Laughter came into her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm an awful creature, I know I am. Two days ago I was enchanted
+with this fresh job. I am cross to-day because I must make my car's
+speed match a horse's. But, all the same, deep down, I know my soul is
+meant to do something bigger. And I want to find out the biggest and
+best thing to do, and then DO it!"</p>
+
+<p>"There are different estimates of size, I fancy," said Thorold. "We
+are like the children who think an orange in their hand much bigger
+than the brightest planet in the heavens. Our big things are so
+infinitesimal in God's eyes, and His big things are paltry and small in
+our estimation."</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't comfort or guide me in the least," said Gentian, looking
+at him thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"If you want to fulfil God's purpose for you, it will be shown you.
+Pray, and the answer will come."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian drew in a long breath.</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought that you were quite so good, Cousin Thorold," she
+said in a light and airy voice. "Thank you so much for having taken me
+seriously for once. I've had enough—"</p>
+
+<p>He smiled at her.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll say no more then—"</p>
+
+<p>He got up from the seat. Gentian accompanied him as far as the gate.</p>
+
+<p>"I have one of my young brothers coming home on leave," Thorold said
+as he wished her good-bye. "He's in the navy; he comes to me next
+Thursday. I think you'll like him. Godwin is a sunny-hearted youngster."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian rounded her lips into a small ball.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys are so boring," she said; "they always think such a lot of
+themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"I have known girls who do the same," said Thorold, and with this
+parting shot, he left her.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian went indoors to Miss Ward.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know I was within an ace of liking Cousin Thorold," she said;
+"and then he lapsed into his annoying way of talking, and I feel as if
+I never want to see him again!"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Gentian, you are never of the same mind about anything or
+anybody for two minutes together. I often wonder why you put up with me
+as you do."</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy dear, you knew and loved my little mother. I have no one in the
+wide world left to love me but you, and I think you do just a little—"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward looked at her affectionately, but she was not a demonstrative
+woman, and it wasn't till Gentian stole up softly to her and put her
+arms round her neck, looking into her eyes with such wistful longing,
+that she gave her the warm kiss she was expecting.</p>
+
+<p>"Plenty of people will come along and love you, child, if you let them.
+I am getting an old woman, and my life will soon be over, but yours is
+all in front of you—and you'll never have to complain of being unloved,
+I am sure!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I think a lot of myself, Waddy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I think you do."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian hugged her.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a dear old truth-teller. You see, I really have no one to
+think about but myself. And it is astonishing how fond all people are
+of themselves. I believe you are, but you don't show it. Of course I
+have to think about myself, because my future is in my own hands, I
+suppose. I can make or mar it, can't I? And I want to get the best out
+of life. I must—I will. And it's my will that must be kept up to the
+mark—</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"'The souls of women are so small<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;That some believe they've none at all.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Or if they have, like cripples still,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;They've but one faculty, the WILL!'<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"Some nasty man wrote that. Oh, Waddy dear, you're quite right. I'm one
+thing one day, and another the next. My small soul is like a bag of
+scraps, crammed full of rubbish, bits of good material mixed with the
+bad, and never properly sorted out. Now I'm going to water the garden.
+Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>She flashed out of the room and into the garden.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward heard her breaking into song as she wielded her watering-pot,
+and she sighed heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I did not love her so much," she murmured; "she needs a firmer
+hand, and some one to teach her discipline and self-control."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>It was not very long before Gentian met young Godwin Holt. He arrived
+like a fresh sea-breeze, and made friends at once with Miss Ward and
+Gentian. He was a fair, curly-haired young lieutenant, with fresh
+complexion and mischievous blue eyes. He was very susceptible to all
+women's influences, and fell headlong in love with Gentian at first
+sight.</p>
+
+<p>She treated him as if he were a schoolboy on holiday. Thorold watched
+their intimacy with quiet amusement.</p>
+
+<p>One morning Godwin arrived at the Cottage at breakfast time.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here," he said breathlessly; "can you 'phone to your old lady,
+Miss Brendon, to spare you to-day? We'll take a car—not yours—because
+it's my affair, and go down to the New Forest. You've never been there?
+Thought not. We'll lunch at one of the inns in the Forest. I'm going to
+drag Thor away from his books and writing. Miss Ward, you'll come too.
+Must have an even number. It's a shame to let this topping weather go
+by without doing something. I see so little green at sea that I revel
+in forests. And you ought to know what England produces in that way!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't spring it on Miss Buchan so late in the day," said Gentian,
+her eyes sparkling at the thought of such an outing. "Won't to-morrow
+do? I'm rather afraid she won't like it."</p>
+
+<p>"You can easily get a substitute to take your place. I'll find one for
+you in an hour—"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try," said Gentian, "but we've no 'phone—"</p>
+
+<p>"Thor has. Come on over."</p>
+
+<p>He dragged her off with him.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The 'phone was in Thorold's study.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at him pleadingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't tell me I'm a shirker. I've driven her for ten days now at a
+snail's pace. And she might give me one day off."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better ask for Miss Horatia. The old lady will never use the
+'phone."</p>
+
+<p>So Miss Horatia was called up.</p>
+
+<p>She received Gentian's suggestion with great coldness.</p>
+
+<p>"My sister does not like to be deprived of her afternoon drive, and
+I know she won't hear of a substitute. That is out of the question.
+She is far too nervous of cars at present to have a strange driver.
+Besides, she has arranged to go and see an old friend of hers this
+afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"Could I have to-morrow off then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will see—"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, chuck them," cried Godwin. "You aren't a slavey."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm earning my daily bread," said Gentian in a dignified tone; "and
+I'm in her employ."</p>
+
+<p>They waited rather impatiently. Miss Horatia returned in about ten
+minutes' time.</p>
+
+<p>"My sister has agreed to forgo her drive to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"A thousand thanks. I will be round at the usual time this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't to-morrow do as well?" asked Thorold, looking at his young
+brother's disappointed face.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I hate to-morrows—always have—"</p>
+
+<p>"So have I," said Gentian, "but we'll make the best of it. I shall love
+to see the New Forest. But do let us take my car, and let me drive.
+That will be half the fun."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you want me to hire you?" asked Godwin. "For I mean to stand the
+treat."</p>
+
+<p>"You can pay for the oil we use, if you like, nothing more."</p>
+
+<p>Godwin frowned.</p>
+
+<p>"I hate the independence of girls nowadays. You ought not to know how
+to drive!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the style of the old-fashioned English gentlemen. Of course
+you take after your brother!"</p>
+
+<p>"No man, if he's a decent sort, likes to see girls roughing it."</p>
+
+<p>"You would like me in a white muslin gown lying back amongst the
+cushions of the car sighing plaintively: 'Please not quite so fast,
+driver, the wind is too strong upon my face, the motion shakes me—'
+That's what my old lady says to me, and I long to scorch for all I'm
+worth."</p>
+
+<p>"What time shall we start?" said Godwin, wisely turning the subject. "I
+vote for eight o'clock. It will be a long run."</p>
+
+<p>"I think," said Thorold slowly, looking at Gentian as he spoke, "that
+we'll have our own car, Godwin. It will give Gentian a rest. She shall
+lie back on comfortable cushions for once in her life, and then we
+shan't see those tired lines about her eyes that so often come there."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very rude, Cousin Thorold."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Brendon couldn't look fitter than she does, but all the same,
+I'm with you, Thor. It will be my treat and my car, and I'll choose a
+capable driver."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed. Her laughter had such an infectious and delightful
+ripple in it, that both brothers smiled at her.</p>
+
+<p>"As I'm to be your guest," she said, "I have nothing to say but a
+very grateful 'thank you.' And, if we rumbled along in a donkey-cart,
+I should enjoy myself. I love a jaunt of any sort, it reminds me of
+Italy. Waddy and I are too poor to take many in England."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_8">CHAPTER VIII</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>THE DAY IN THE NEW FOREST</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>THE day for the New Forest dawned very brightly. Gentian was radiantly
+happy, and she and Godwin were like two children in their whole-hearted
+enjoyment of every hour. There was no lack of conversation during the
+run. She and Godwin chattered away together, Thorold occasionally
+joining in. Miss Ward for the most part took her pleasure in silence.</p>
+
+<p>It was a perfect day for seeing the Forest. A gentle breeze kept the
+air cool. The green glades under the magnificent old oaks and beeches
+seemed like an enchanted country to Gentian. They had lunch at a
+picturesque old inn, and then she and Godwin wandered off to find the
+tree under which William Rufus was killed.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I was a gipsy," sighed Gentian; "I am sure a nomad wandering
+life would suit me. Women ought not to have such a dull time as they
+do. Look at you, now! You go over the seas and round the world and see
+a little of everything; and I am told I ought to be content to stay in
+my small corner for life."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd long to find a corner to stick in if you were a sailor. I'm
+looking forward to a snug little home of my own one day."</p>
+
+<p>"With a wife shut up in it all the year round," said Gentian, mischief
+in her eyes. "I know what a sailor's wife is. I knew two in Italy. One
+had come out there by doctor's orders. She said the loneliness of her
+home when her husband was at sea was more than she could stand."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," said Godwin, "I would have my wife meet me at different ports.
+I'd keep her lively. You bet I would. Don't disparage sailors, Miss
+Brendon. You'll send me into the blues if you do—"</p>
+
+<p>They were sitting down in the bracken at the foot of an old oak.
+Gentian leant her back against the gnarled trunk and looked up dreamily
+into the green foliage above.</p>
+
+<p>"A bird must be so happy," she observed. "It has command of the earth
+and air, and no one can prevent it soaring away from disagreeables when
+it chooses."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to have no disagreeables in your life," said Godwin. "You
+want a husband to shoulder all difficulties, and keep you safe and
+happy."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think men are fond of shouldering women's burdens," said
+Gentian reflectively; "when I go about in the village, and see how all
+the strain and work falls on the poor wife, who is on her feet from
+early morning to late at night, mending and making and cooking for her
+lord and master, as well as her children, it makes me feel that the
+man's lot in life is the comfortable one."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but in our class things are slightly different. Do you think I
+would let my wife slave for me? Never—"</p>
+
+<p>Then he put his hand softly over hers.</p>
+
+<p>"I would always joyfully shoulder your burdens for you. Don't you know
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"But I haven't any," said Gentian, laughing as she quietly slipped
+her hand away. "Oh, look, isn't that a squirrel above us? The little
+darling! He has an acorn, I believe, in his paws."</p>
+
+<p>"I expect he has a nest up there. I'll just see."</p>
+
+<p>The squirrel had disappeared under a big branch. Godwin felt that the
+moment had not come for him, so he was willing to change the subject.
+In an instant he had thrown off his coat and sprung up on a low-lying
+branch. The old tree would have been easy for a child to climb, but he
+was quite unprepared to have Gentian following him. She was as agile as
+he, and when they failed to trace the squirrel's home, they sat astride
+a big branch and laughed at each other.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't climbed trees for years," she said; "what fun it is. And how
+shocked Waddy would be if she were to see me!"</p>
+
+<p>"She's deep in 'The Times.' Thor has ungallantly left her—he's mooning
+round on his own—collecting beetles, I expect. He was always great on
+natural history."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it delicious to be off the ground? It's the nearest approach to
+a bird, sitting up here out of sight."</p>
+
+<p>A sudden gale of wind sprang up. Gentian's hat was off her head. In
+reaching out to catch it, she overbalanced herself and fell with a
+heavy thud upon the grass below. Godwin was down from the tree in a
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hurt? Darling Gentian, speak!"</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't call me darling," murmured Gentian; "I am not dead yet."</p>
+
+<p>She sat up. No bones were broken, but she had a cut one side of her
+forehead, against a projecting bit of root in the ground, and it was
+bleeding profusely. Godwin was in an awful state of mind. He took out
+his handkerchief, and was in the act of binding it up when Thorold
+suddenly appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard a crash," he said; "and thought there must be an accident."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian turned impatiently from Godwin towards him.</p>
+
+<p>"You do it," she said, "I would rather you did."</p>
+
+<p>Godwin looked hurt, but taking a flask out of his pocket, Thorold bade
+him fetch some water from a stream near. In a few minutes the bleeding
+was staunched, and her head neatly bound up, but Gentian felt dizzy and
+faint. She persisted in walking back to the car, and Thorold's arm was
+taken, not Godwin's. Miss Ward, who was sitting in it under the shade
+of a chestnut tree, made her comfortable at once, and then they decided
+to go to the nearest town, and get a doctor to look at it.</p>
+
+<p>"It shan't spoil our day," said Gentian. "I'm feeling all right again."</p>
+
+<p>"What were you doing, dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Trying to imagine myself a bird, Waddy. Pride must have a fall."</p>
+
+<p>"You might have been killed," said Godwin.</p>
+
+<p>He looked white and shaken. His brother glanced at him curiously, but
+made no remark.</p>
+
+<p>At the very entrance to the next village they were fortunate enough to
+come to a doctor's house. The brass plate on the gate told its tale.
+They were still more fortunate to find the doctor at home, and he very
+soon plastered up the cut, and reassured Miss Ward about it.</p>
+
+<p>"It's only a surface wound," he said; "and her head is a little
+bruised. She is lucky to have escaped so easily."</p>
+
+<p>"My accident mustn't shorten our day out," said Gentian, when they were
+in the car again. "I'm quite well. Do please let us do more of the
+Forest."</p>
+
+<p>So they turned once again into the Forest, and drove through it to the
+place they had arranged to have tea. But Godwin's spirits had visibly
+declined; his eyes never left Gentian's face, and she noticed and
+resented the change in him.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you make such big eyes at me!" she exclaimed at last. "You
+needn't be glum and cross, because I made a fool of myself."</p>
+
+<p>They had just left the car when she made this remark. Thorold and Miss
+Ward had gone into the hotel to order tea.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," he cried, "you don't realize what it meant to me—seeing you fall
+like that—you might have been killed on the spot! And I'm afraid even
+now that you are more hurt than you make out. You must be! I expect
+you'll feel it to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for your cheerful comfort! You sound like an old lady
+talking!"</p>
+
+<p>A red flush mounted in Godwin's fair cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"No man would dare to say that to me," he said quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian gave one of her rippling laughs.</p>
+
+<p>"That's how I like to see you. I wanted to get a rise out of you. It's
+very nice of you to be so interested in me, but I'd much rather you
+forgot all about me and told me some more of your sea yarns."</p>
+
+<p>"Interested in you!" Godwin exclaimed. "I—I love you, Gentian—I
+wouldn't have any hurt happen to your little finger if I could help it.
+I feel I could die for you, and yet you wouldn't let me touch you when
+you were so hurt! You turned to Thor instead!"</p>
+
+<p>They were standing on a balcony outside the hotel. In the distance
+the golden sun slanted across the old forest trees. It was only five
+o'clock, but there seemed already that preliminary hush before evening,
+when the active birds retire, wearied, to their beds, in the thick
+leafy trees, and the butterflies and bees creep to their respective
+lairs, giving place to the countless midges and mosquitos which haunt
+the evening air.</p>
+
+<p>"I always turn to Cousin Thorold when I'm in trouble," Gentian said in
+a quiet dignified tone. The pink colour was coming into her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>Godwin pressed closer to her, and took possession of her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to turn to any one except me when I am by your side,"
+he said in a low passionate tone. "Gentian, tell me you care for me a
+little. I can't expect you to love ice as I love you. There's nothing
+in me to attract you, I daresay. You're an enchanting, adorable angel.
+But I've an honest heart to offer you. And your happiness will be
+always my first thought."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, please stop—"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's voice was troubled now.</p>
+
+<p>"I like you very much as a friend, but nothing more. No, you could
+never be anything more. You're too young. I feel I know as much as
+you do. I've lived as long as you have, you know. We're just about
+the same age, aren't we? We won't talk any more about it. And if you
+only knew the real me, you'd find me a restless, discontented, selfish
+creature. And Waddy says I'm hopeless about housekeeping. I burnt a
+cake yesterday which she had made. I shouldn't be an enchanting wife.
+Anybody who married me would be bitterly, bitterly disappointed in me.
+Don't look so miserable."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Godwin tried to smile. The softness of Gentian's voice, the
+kindness in her eyes, and the pretty little shake of her head as
+she mentioned her disabilities as a wife, only aggravated his
+disappointment. She had hurt him in his tenderest part, when she had
+alluded to his youth. But he choked back his feelings and tried to
+speak manfully. In his effort, he adopted rather a truculent tone.</p>
+
+<p>"As far as my youth goes, that will mend itself. I will wait. I will
+come back from my next voyage, and then you may listen to me more
+patiently. A man who has seen the world as I have, and who has seen
+women and beautiful women, too, of all nationalities, is not to be
+easily moved, when once he has made his choice. You won't prevent my
+continuing to love you. And sometimes pertinacity conquers! Oh, blow
+them! Why can't they keep away!"</p>
+
+<p>This last spluttering ejaculation was made as Thorold and Miss Ward
+appeared. And then Gentian added insult to injury by laughing outright.
+She checked herself at once and turned to Miss Ward.</p>
+
+<p>"Is tea ready? We've been admiring the view—at least, I have. How many
+trees do you think are in the Forest? A million?"</p>
+
+<p>She was the one who talked now. Through tea her tongue never faltered.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold laughed and teased her as was his wont; Godwin was the only one
+who sat silent.</p>
+
+<p>The drive home was not quite such a success. Gentian was rather
+relieved than otherwise when the Cottage was reached.</p>
+
+<p>She slipped her hand into Godwin's with a little comforting pressure.</p>
+
+<p>"Cheer up," she whispered to him. "I really am not worth what you think
+I am, and it is ungrateful of me to have spoiled the delicious day you
+have given us. I shall dream of those old Forest glades. Ever so many
+thanks."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to cheer up," said Godwin, setting his lips determinedly.
+"You are too young to know your own mind. You are still a child—"</p>
+
+<p>This was a Roland for her Oliver.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at him with laughing tender eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to keep you as a friend," she said; and then she turned to
+Thorold. "Be very nice to your brother to-night, because we've had a
+difference of opinion."</p>
+
+<p>Then she followed Miss Ward into the Cottage, and her smile disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Waddy dear, I feel as if I've been beaten all over, and my head
+aches so I'll go straight to bed. I don't want any supper."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward was full of anxiety and tenderness at once. She hovered over
+her till she was safely in bed. As she stooped over to give her a good
+night kiss, Gentian put her arms round her neck and hugged her.</p>
+
+<p>"You're the only real friend I have, Waddy! The others are only friends
+for a time. Directly I won't marry them, they cut up rusty."</p>
+
+<p>And though Miss Ward was told no more, she knew that Godwin had
+received his congé. She sighed as she stroked the curly head on the
+pillow.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope the right man will come one day, dear. Now go to sleep, and
+that poor head of yours will be better in the morning."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Thorold and his young brother reached home, Godwin being
+unusually silent and subdued.</p>
+
+<p>Later on, when they sat over the smoking-room fire, and smoked their
+pipes, Godwin gave his brother his confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"I did think she might listen to me; she almost laughed it off. And
+having such a short time here is awfully rotten! But I'm in downright
+earnest and she'll find it out. I wish you'd sound her a bit, Thor—she
+might listen to you. She dismissed me too lightly. I don't believe she
+knows her own mind. I've never seen any one like her. It isn't mere
+beauty—it's the light and sparkling fire which seem to be covered over
+and hidden most of the time. Oh, she's adorable—bewitching—don't laugh
+at me—Don't you think she may relent? I'd give my life for her!"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold did not smile. There was a tender, almost pitying look in his
+eyes, as he looked at the earnest boy beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"I have known others, Godwin, who were going to make you desperate by
+not listening to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, calf love!" said Godwin hastily. "Don't remind me of those
+schoolgirls."</p>
+
+<p>"One was a young widow—"</p>
+
+<p>"You're very unpleasant!"</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me, my boy—I'm only wondering if Gentian Brendon would hold
+your heart for a lifetime. You sailors come and go, and you're apt to
+be extra susceptible on shore. She's a girl, I fancy, who will demand
+a good deal. You're as restless and emotional as she is. Will you
+suit each other? I'm only looking the thing fair and square in the
+face. I could wish for a different type of wife for your happiness.
+Two impatient, aspiring, eager young souls do not always go happily
+together in harness!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's just clap-trap! I don't put her in the scales and weigh every
+mood and attribute that she possesses—I'm in love with her. I'll never
+marry anyone else! Never!"</p>
+
+<p>A silence fell between them, which Thorold broke.</p>
+
+<p>"She is not unaccustomed to having young fellows in love with her. I
+gather from Miss Ward that she has had several proposals already, and I
+interviewed one lover who was badly hit. I am only telling you this to
+prepare you for the worst. She's a very determined young lady, and will
+not easily change her mind."</p>
+
+<p>"She's a child—a baby—she has no mind to change."</p>
+
+<p>But Godwin's heart sank within him. He said no more, and retired early
+to bed, though not to sleep.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Thorold, looking across the breakfast table at him the next morning,
+felt very sympathetic towards him.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have a talk with Gentian, my boy—and tell you the result."</p>
+
+<p>"If she won't have anything to do with me, I'll go up to town. I can't
+stay on here. The Cliffords want me to stay with them."</p>
+
+<p>Godwin spoke quietly, but he looked quite miserable.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>About twelve o'clock, Thorold went off down the road. He heard the
+sound of the organ in the little church, and slipped inside to listen.
+He was very fond of music, and Gentian was playing so exquisitely that
+he sat down just inside the door and lost himself in a dream. When she
+had finished, he waited for her in the churchyard. She came down the
+path talking to an old man who had been blowing for her. When she saw
+Thorold, she smiled and waved her hand to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you come to make tender inquiries after my poor head?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you are none the worse for the accident?" Thorold said gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Just a little," replied Gentian. "I'm in a nervy, irritable state of
+mind to-day. Waddy annoyed me at breakfast and I was rude to her, so I
+came into church to get good again."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to have a little talk with you," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy has gone into the town to shop. Come along in."</p>
+
+<p>She led the way to the Vicarage. The little room was full of fragrant
+roses in china bowls. The low windows were wide open, and the scent of
+mignonette and heliotrope came in from the beds outside.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian took up her position with her back to the fireplace. She
+motioned to Thorold to take a seat, but he declined.</p>
+
+<p>"Not while you stand."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how old-fashioned you are! I never get a chance of looking down
+upon you. If I did, it would help me enormously."</p>
+
+<p>She sat down on the couch, and Thorold took a seat opposite her. Then
+he cleared his throat and began:</p>
+
+<p>"It's a rather delicate subject, but I have really come to you on
+Godwin's behalf. He is very unhappy, and is buoyed up with the hope
+that possibly you will reconsider your decision."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's blue eyes began to sparkle.</p>
+
+<p>"Well now, honestly, Cousin Thorold, do you advise me to marry such a
+boy?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a little silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Godwin is a frank, straightforward, good-living lad," said Thorold
+slowly and a little heavily. "I don't think he is from a worldly point
+of view a good match. But he'll have some money at my death, and—"</p>
+
+<p>A low ripple of laughter came from Gentian's lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Please excuse me," she said checking herself. "Do you think my
+marriage with your brother will relieve you of a rather tiresome
+neighbour? It might for a time, but if you are really interested
+in your brother, I wouldn't advise you to urge it. I am positively
+certain I should run away from him before I had been married to him a
+twelvemonth. And I'm sure you wouldn't like that. It would worry you a
+lot."</p>
+
+<p>"Do not think for a moment that I want to get rid of you."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's tone was earnest.</p>
+
+<p>"Frankly, I have told Godwin that I consider you both too young for
+marriage. Not in years, perhaps, but in temperament. Still, I promised
+to speak to you. He is under the impression that you may alter your
+mind."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Cousin Thorold, look me straight in the face and tell me if you
+really and truly from the bottom of your heart think that I should make
+your brother a good wife? You know I shouldn't. Waddy says I think a
+lot of myself. But I know my limitations. It would take much more of
+a man than Godwin to have the patience necessary to bear with me. I
+think I'm only half-fledged. I'm not sufficiently developed to be a
+satisfactory wife for any one. And he hasn't the character to attract
+or inspire me. You've done your best, but you're too truthful by nature
+to be a good advocate in this case. Tell him you found me a veritable
+block of marble, and that nothing in this world would make me ever
+think of him in the light of a husband. I'm awfully sorry for you both.
+I don't think I'm a marrying sort. I'm sure I shall go on living here
+and get old and grey. You won't get rid of me in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>Then a dawning look came into her eyes. She clasped her hands round her
+knees and gazed out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were to marry, the man must be like a rock for steadiness and
+reliability; he must never fail me, never deceive me, never disappoint
+me. And his soul must be the strongest part of him just as it is the
+weakest part of me. It would be rather a one-sided bargain, wouldn't
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>She jumped up from her seat suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"And now we have done with the subject, haven't we? Do come out and eat
+a few strawberries with me. We have such stunning ones just now."</p>
+
+<p>But Thorold shook his head, and went thoughtfully back to his young
+brother.</p>
+
+<p>Why was he so devoutly thankful that Gentian did not want to be his
+sister-in-law?</p>
+
+<p>Godwin listened to his brother's account of the interview with a moody
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"I still believe she doesn't know her own mind, but I'm not one to be
+begging for snubs on my knees. I'll go up to town to-morrow and—and
+forget her if I can."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that's the best thing you can do," said Thorold gravely.</p>
+
+<p>So Godwin disappeared, and Gentian seemed perfectly indifferent as to
+his existence. She never asked for him, or mentioned his visit.</p>
+
+<p>And Miss Ward wisely respected her silence, and kept clear of any
+reference to that day in the New Forest.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_9">CHAPTER IX</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>DARK CLOUDS</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>GENTIAN did not see Thorold for some time after this. He went away into
+Cornwall to visit an old friend, and though he only meant his visit to
+last a week or ten days, it prolonged itself into a month. She missed
+him more than she had thought it possible she could. Miss Ward looked
+at her in an amused fashion when one day she said rather impatiently
+that he ought to be back.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely you like to be free from any kind of surveillance or influence,
+my dear? You are always telling me that Mr. Holt presumes upon his
+assumed cousinship."</p>
+
+<p>"So he does, Waddy, but I do enjoy a scrap sometimes. It's so dull when
+no one opposes me. You are much too gentle, you know. It isn't much fun
+to fight a feather!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is that what I am?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't look hurt! You're an angel."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't fancy," Miss Ward said slowly, "that Mr. Holt will always stay
+here. He has said several times to me lately that he is feeling lazy
+and self-indulgent, and that he is not old enough to live the life he
+is doing."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what other life could he live?" Gentian looked startled. "He's on
+ever so many philanthropic councils and committees, and always busy.
+How could he go away from his house? It's his own, and every one says
+he deserves the rest he is having. He has earned it they say."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose he does seem old to you—but he doesn't to me. I rather agree
+with him. He is a man of exceptional ability, and there is very little
+real work to occupy him here."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Waddy, what stuff you are talking! People don't want work when
+they have money."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very young, my child. Money supplies the needs of the body,
+not of the mind and soul."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not going to argue the point," said Gentian laughing; "you do
+love to put me in my place, Waddy, just under your feet, where if I do
+attempt a rise, you give me a firm pat down again. I know this much,
+that you and I could do with more money. My mind needs books, and
+intellectual entertainment, and a more crowded atmosphere to make it
+work properly. I think Cousin Thorold is the only one who stimulates
+me to think, and if he went away, I believe I should march after him!
+Don't look so horrified! I disliked him intensely when we first came
+here, but he has a way of impressing himself—his individuality you
+would say—upon you, which makes his absence quite a blank. Don't let us
+talk any more about him. I'm pretty certain he doesn't want to uproot
+himself from here—"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian had perplexed and puzzled Miss Ward all her life, but perhaps
+never more than now. She seemed to have fits of preoccupation and
+moodiness, alternated with reckless gaiety and irresponsibility.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward was more relieved than otherwise when Gentian came home one
+day and announced with glee that she was going to take the Miss Buchans
+up to Scotland in the car.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be gone three weeks or a month; they'll pay all my expenses.
+Isn't it too enchanting! We've been looking out a tour—up the
+Caledonian Canal. I've seen pictures of it—a perfect dream, through
+Braemar, and we shall end in the Trossachs—taking Edinburgh and Perth
+by the way. Oh, Waddy, if ever I shall have a good time, it will be
+now!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder they trust themselves to you—I hope you'll do it by easy
+stages. It will be too much for you otherwise. I don't know that I
+altogether approve. But I suppose they will look after you."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed and scoffed at this last idea.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to look after them. It is a triumph for me. Miss Horatia
+said when I first went to them that she would never go in a car as long
+as she had a horse, but she's actually coming with us. Can't trust me
+with Miss Anne; she pretends she's making herself into a martyr, but
+I believe she'll enjoy it as much as I shall. The Scotch all seem to
+think their country is the most wonderful in the world, and they want
+to go and see the part to which they belong. Miss Anne is quite keen
+to go. She's always talking about the Scotch air in the Highlands. I
+laugh when I think that Miss Anne was so nervous when I began, that
+she wouldn't let me drive through the high street on market day! How
+delighted you will be to get rid of me, Waddy! It will be a peaceful
+holiday for you."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be anxious till I get you back again under my wing. I never
+have confidence in these cars." But she made no more objection, saw
+that Gentian had plenty of warm clothes for the tour, and packed all
+her belongings with her own hands.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The house was certainly very quiet when she had gone. Her letters were
+Miss Ward's greatest comfort. She wrote in the highest spirits, and
+beyond one or two slight mishaps, the tour seemed a great success.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold was back before Gentian was, but he seemed strangely absorbed
+when Miss Ward met him, and did not come to the house as often as was
+his custom.</p>
+
+<p>The days were closing in before Gentian returned. She sent a wire the
+day she expected to arrive, and turned up at the Cottage about seven
+o'clock one evening. Miss Ward was relieved to see her looking fit
+and well, though she thought her thinner—and Gentian took it as a
+compliment when she said so.</p>
+
+<p>"I do dislike to be plump," she said; "and I can assure you I've kept
+them on the go the whole time. But they've thoroughly enjoyed it, and
+so have I. Only they say they've had enough of the car for the present,
+and have given me a fortnight's holiday. What shall we do, Waddy? Is
+Cousin Thor home? Wasn't it queer? We ran up against a daughter of
+the man he is staying with! She had just arrived in Edinburgh when we
+were leaving. Her father is a rector down in Cornwall. Such a handsome
+girl! But we didn't cotton to each other. She talked of Cousin Thor in
+a patronizing, appropriative kind of way. Said he was a thorough good
+sort, and that she and he had a lot in common, and it was nice to think
+of having him as a possible neighbour soon. Now what did she mean by
+that? I didn't let her see I was curious, but I am most dreadfully and
+painfully so. Are you in his confidence? Before I went away you spoke
+as if he might be leaving us."</p>
+
+<p>"It was only conjecture, my dear. I know nothing, and have hardly seen
+him to speak to since he came back."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, I'll ask him straight out. He'll tell me. Men can never keep
+a secret."</p>
+
+<p>And the very next afternoon Thorold appeared and found Gentian
+comfortably settled by the fire with a book. Miss Ward was out in the
+village doing a little shopping at the general shop there.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said; "you're back again. Had a good time?"</p>
+
+<p>"A heavenly one! And you?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold drew up a chair to the fire, and rubbed his hands together,
+looking reflectively into the glowing coals.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very glad I went down, very. I've come to rather a momentous
+decision. We've sometimes had talks together about work in life,
+haven't we? You rubbed it in one day when you talked of wanting to do
+something with your life."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian, twinkling her eyes as she looked at him, "but you
+discouraged me. I must always be content to stay where I am and do what
+I'm bid—I am too young to strike out a new line for myself."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled. "I think you are at present. But it's a different case
+with me. Dick Muir, my friend in Cornwall, opened a door to me. You
+know I'm a bit of a Socialist. I believe in sharing good things with
+those who are without them, and the people all round him are in an
+awfully bad way. No work—no money—no hope for better times. As their
+parson, he feels it—and he can do so little to help. The long and
+short is—I'm going to open up a mine there to provide work. I have the
+money to do it, for an investment I made some time ago has proved very
+remunerative. What's the good of living in idleness and luxury when
+others are starving? It isn't the life anyone but the helpless and aged
+ought to live. And I've strength and brain for a long time yet, I'm
+hoping."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's blue eyes were big with interest and concern.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about mines," she said, "except that they're
+down in the earth. Will you be a miner? You don't live in idleness,
+Cousin Thorold. Mr. Wharnecliffe says you're taking the first rest
+you've had in your life!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I've had my rest right enough. The mines have been closed down—the
+owners found them a losing concern, but they got into difficulties
+through want of capital."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you may lose, too, if you put your money in it, and then what
+would you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't hurt me if I did. I have no one dependent on me now. But
+I don't think I shall lose. Anyway, I'm going to take the risk. I've
+been talking to an expert down there. The mines were not developed far
+enough. They stopped short when they ought to have gone on. It would
+give work to hundreds. That's worth thinking about in these days."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, they'll only want your money, not yourself," said Gentian
+serenely. "You'll go on living here, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I want to be part and parcel of the concern; my own manager by and
+by. I shall sell up here and live in quite a small way down there at
+first. But I want to start it personally and get in touch with those I
+employ."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold looked at her with his kind, thoughtful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't make any difference to you and Miss Ward," he said; "you'll
+go on living here just the same. I shan't sell the Vicarage. And you
+will be freed from my unwarranted interference in your doings!"</p>
+
+<p>He smiled as he spoke, but Gentian did not smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You've made such a substantial background to our life here, that I
+don't know what we shall feel like without you."</p>
+
+<p>"A background can very easily be dispensed with," he said lightly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I am very rude to call you a background," said Gentian,
+looking at him contritely. "And I don't think it quite describes you.
+You are too aggressive for that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm generally considered a very mild-mannered man."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian laughed, and her face cleared.</p>
+
+<p>"I like you better than I did," she said; "and if I get very dull here
+having no one to contradict me, I shall drag Waddy off to Cornwall
+and take some lodgings just over your mines, and watch you trying to
+turn yourself into a miner or mine-owner. Do you know I have been to
+Scotland; and in Edinburgh I met a Miss Frances Muir, a great friend of
+yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did you meet her? How strange! She's a nice girl. I'm her godfather."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ward came back at this moment, and she had to be told the news.
+She took it quietly, but she had a strange sinking of heart when she
+realized that she would no longer be able to appeal to Thorold for
+advice. She had certainly leant upon him more than she had ever done
+upon anyone before.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's news soon spread. Mrs. Wharnecliffe had known all about it
+from the beginning, and she highly disapproved of the step.</p>
+
+<p>"He will lose his money, and his health, and die in the workhouse," she
+told her husband. "Why is it that some people will never take their
+rest in this world? I almost wish he had not come into money. I might
+have known it would never do him any lasting good!"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's a fine thing of him to do," said her husband. "I wish a
+few more moneyed folk would open up some Cornish mines. I've been told
+the land is rich with untold wealth below the surface, and anyone who
+gives employment, to our honest poor in these days is a benefactor."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Before the winter came, Thorold's house was for sale, and he was saying
+good-bye to his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't have got your mines ready yet to work," said Gentian, when
+he paid his farewell visit to her.</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I want to know my manager and the people round, and every
+detail of the work if I can."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll work yourself to death." She looked up at him with troubled
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold would not meet those blue eyes. He seemed nervous and ill at
+ease.</p>
+
+<p>"If anything goes wrong here," he said, suddenly turning to Miss Ward,
+"be sure to let me know."</p>
+
+<p>"What could go wrong?" said Gentian, giving a funny little laugh. "I
+shall only drive my car, and play my organ, and worry Waddy to death!
+Life is very monotonous. I shall try hard and make it hum if I can, but
+I'm getting rather tired of this part of the world. If only I could
+make a little more money, we might go back to Italy."</p>
+
+<p>"That is out of the question," Miss Ward said sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't consider this a long farewell," said Thorold in a cheerful
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>He took Gentian's hand in his.</p>
+
+<p>She gave him a quick little grip, then pulled her hand away and whisked
+round to the window.</p>
+
+<p>"It's raining," she said. "Even the sky is weeping at the thought of
+losing you."</p>
+
+<p>But when Thorold went out at the hall door, there was a moist drop on
+his hand which had not fallen from the skies. And his lips compressed
+themselves together as he strode out into the wet.</p>
+
+<p>"She hasn't had her chance yet. I'm an old fool—much, much too dull
+and old, to think of such a thing. But I'm glad the child likes me a
+little. I never thought she would."</p>
+
+<p>He had not been in Cornwall many days before he got a letter from
+Gentian.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"My DEAR COUSIN THOROLD,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Cousins can write to each other, can't they? And I want some safety
+valve—else I shall have spontaneous combustion. You told us to let
+you know if anything is wrong, and something is very wrong with me. I
+really don't think I can go on living here. Mrs. Wharnecliffe has shut
+up her house and gone to London. Sir Gilbert has gone off to Cannes.
+Miss Horatia is hunting and thinks and talks of nothing else. I wander
+up and down the road and look at your empty house. We hear some one has
+bought it—a single woman, they say, but she hasn't yet appeared. Your
+English winters are loathsome. Rain and mud, mud and rain—black skies,
+dead trees and hedges, and cold as the North Pole. How can you expect
+us to thrive without any sun? Miss Anne is in for the winter—at least,
+she is in unless we get a mild, sunny day. Instead of driving her out,
+I go over and read to her. That's the only nice time in my day. She
+gets books down from Mudie's and I live in them from three to four
+every afternoon. Do write and say what you're doing and where you are
+living, and if Miss Frances Muir has taken possession of you. And do,
+do find out a big piece of work—real work for me to do, with a very
+big W.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Women can do anything nowadays—but there seems nothing that just suits
+me. I'm getting almost tired of my car, and I want to do something
+big—and worth living for. I'm praying for something to be sent to me. I
+know you believe in prayer. I wish I could lead a Crusade, or something
+of that sort. I want to do something that will call out all my powers
+of soul as well as of my body. You see how the poor Bubble wants to
+soar! And Waddy is trying to fasten me down with string to the earth.
+String composed of Convention and Caution and Contentment, three C's
+that I snap and break in fury.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Write me a long letter and cheer me up.<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">"YOUR POOR DISTRACTED BUBBLE."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>But before Thorold could reply to this, Gentian's prayers were answered
+in a way that she little expected.</p>
+
+<p>It was a cold grey afternoon in December. Gentian was returning in her
+car from the Mount where she had been reading to Miss Anne. As she
+neared the Vicarage she saw a car with lights standing outside the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Jumping out of her own car, she met the doctor who lived near coming
+down the path.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Wild, what is the matter?" she cried out.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her gravely as he pulled on his gloves.</p>
+
+<p>"It's your friend—Miss Ward. I fortunately happened to be passing when
+your small maid called me in. I'll come back into the house with you. I
+think you'll have to have a nurse."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," cried Gentian, "tell me quickly. Is it an accident?"</p>
+
+<p>"No—it's a seizure, and a bad one. Your maid found her unconscious, and
+she's unconscious still. Was she quite well when you saw her last?"</p>
+
+<p>But Gentian had dashed upstairs. She could hardly believe it to be
+true, and flung herself on the bed by Miss Ward's unconscious figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy, dearest Waddy, speak to me, speak! Oh, what can have happened
+to you!"</p>
+
+<p>She was so unused to illness, and the shock was so sudden, that she was
+almost beside herself.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Wild got her out of the room and talked to her quietly downstairs,
+and in a short time she had regained her self-control.</p>
+
+<p>"She was quite well when I left her this afternoon. She had been
+complaining of her head these last few days, but I thought it was only
+one of her ordinary headaches. We can't afford a nurse. I'll nurse her
+myself. She's all the world to me!"</p>
+
+<p>So Gentian talked, but the doctor meant to have his way about a nurse.</p>
+
+<p>"Have her for a week, and we shall then see how things are going. Has
+she ever had an attack like this before?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never, that I know of. It's awful! What shall we do?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll get through all right," he said reassuringly. "I must go now
+as I've other patients to see, but I'll look in again this evening and
+bring back a nurse with me."</p>
+
+<p>It seemed like some black dream to poor Gentian. She had never realized
+how dependent she was on Miss Ward till now, nor how deep was her
+affection for her.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Wild was able to bring back a nice capable nurse, and Gentian was
+persuaded to go to bed leaving her in charge. But she did not sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Life, which had seemed so easy before, now presented horrible
+possibilities. She felt her own inexperience and irresponsibility.
+What would she do without her faithful friend beside her? She had no
+experience of housekeeping or money matters. Miss Ward had kept the
+house going economically, but comfortably. She would appear the first
+thing every morning at Gentian's bedside with a cup of tea and some
+daintily cut bread and butter. She tidied her room and drawers, she
+cooked, or supervised their village maid, she dusted the rooms and kept
+flowers fresh and clean, and mended Gentian's clothes; even darned her
+stockings.</p>
+
+<p>All this the girl had taken as a matter of course. It had been done
+during her mother's lifetime. Miss Ward had been nurse, and maid, and
+companion, and friend, and chaperon, in turn to her. Now she was lying
+unconscious, stricken down in one moment, and the doctor seemed to
+think seriously of the case.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"O God," Gentian prayed, "have pity on me. I can't live without her!
+Make her well again, I beseech Thee to do it. I am quite helpless
+without her. I have been a selfish pig. I promise Thee I'll try to do
+better, and think more of her and less of myself if Thou sparest her!"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>She tossed to and fro on her bed, and rose the next morning unrefreshed
+by her night's rest. Kate, the little maid, brought her a cup of tea
+with scared eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"She ain't no better, miss. I've seen nurse. She be just the same,
+breathing so loud and hard, it fair frightens me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Send nurse to me—"</p>
+
+<p>And so the nurse came, but could give her little comfort. Gentian
+dressed and came downstairs, then set to work to keep things going as
+usual in the small household. She sent a note to Miss Buchan telling
+her what had happened. And then she waited patiently for the doctor's
+visit, hoping vainly that he would give her better news.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_10">CHAPTER X</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>LEFT ALONE</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>IT was a sunny morning towards the end of February. The garden was gay
+with spring bulbs, and Gentian stood looking out of the window upon the
+bright scene in front of her with wistful lips and sad eyes. Her bright
+colour had faded, her face was white and rather strained. She seemed
+to be years older, and yet it was barely two months since Miss Ward
+had been first taken ill. For those two months Gentian and a nurse had
+hardly left the invalid's room.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe had been in and out, and wanted Gentian to come and
+stay with her for a little rest, but she firmly refused to leave the
+house even for one evening, and every one was surprised to see the
+merry, volatile girl, turn into the thoughtful, patient nurse. Gentian
+made many mistakes at first, and was rather rebellious and impatient
+when she found her earnest prayers for her dear Waddy were not going to
+be answered in the way she wished.</p>
+
+<p>For a few weeks it seemed that Miss Ward would recover; then she had
+another seizure, and gradually became unconscious again.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible time for poor Gentian when she was told by the
+doctor that there was no longer any hope of recovery. But she remained
+steadfastly at her post, tried not to think of the future, and gave up
+her whole heart and strength to minister to her friend's needs.</p>
+
+<p>Just before Miss Ward passed away, she seemed to have a phase of
+consciousness. Gentian bent over her lovingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Waddy, darling, I'm here."</p>
+
+<p>The sick woman smiled, pointed upwards, and said, with a little effort,
+"Home!" Then her eyes closed, and a few moments after, her spirit had
+left her tired body and had reached its "Home."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was at first like one stunned. Mrs. Wharnecliffe swept down
+upon her again, but she would not leave the little house till her
+friend was laid to rest in the peaceful churchyard close by, and she
+insisted upon presiding at the organ and playing the "Dead March" when
+all was over.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Wharnecliffe was allowed to have her way, and Gentian
+accompanied her home and stayed there for a few days. But she seemed as
+if she could not rest.</p>
+
+<p>"I would rather go home," she told her hostess; "there is a good deal I
+must do."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, you cannot continue to live there alone. I wish Thorold
+was here; it is most unfortunate that he should be abroad. I have
+written to him, and I know he will come as soon as his young brother is
+quite convalescent. He always has been the slave of those boys."</p>
+
+<p>"Godwin has been very ill," said Gentian rebukingly; "when his ship
+left him at the hospital in Gibraltar, they did not think he would
+live."</p>
+
+<p>"You know all about it," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I do. Cousin Thor and I write to each other continually."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked at the girl, but said nothing. She was puzzled
+herself as to what had better be done with Gentian, now that her
+natural protector had left her.</p>
+
+<p>"If you really want to live on in your present home," she said
+presently, "it will be quite easy to find you some nice person as
+companion—or somebody of that class to live with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Gentian, with a little fire in her eye—"I shall not
+need anyone to supplant dear Waddy."</p>
+
+<p>She had refused to discuss the subject further. She seemed to Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe to have suddenly developed into a very remote and
+self-reliant young woman. But then Mrs. Wharnecliffe had not seen her
+last letter to Thorold, a letter that was causing him to wrinkle his
+brows with much perplexity of soul.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh, Cousin Thor, do you know what has happened? The skies have fallen
+on me, my world has gone to pieces, and I am crushed to atoms. My
+darling Waddy has left me. I hoped, as you know, that she was going to
+get well. But she had another seizure, and she left me without a word,
+excepting that she pointed upwards and murmured 'Home.' What does a
+girl do when her comforter, and mentor, and prop, and refuge is taken
+from her? Waddy filled my mother's place, she was my safety valve, she
+circled me with attentions and ministrations and love. I thought I was
+independent and self-reliant. Just as much as a limpet is independent
+of its rock! And I am rebellious, and desolate, and absolutely at the
+end of everything. What am I to do? How am I to live? I don't promise
+to do a single thing you say, but you must write to me at once—sheets,
+please! And inspire me with a desire to live, and imbue me with some
+fraction of courage—and tell me what I ought to be thinking, and
+saying, and doing. I am so frightfully unprepared for this awful blow.
+You are never unprepared for anything. But all the same I don't believe
+you can say anything that will bring me the least ray of light or
+comfort.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'm trying to be self-controlled. I say to myself—'I'll eat my
+breakfast, I'll take a walk—I'll order dinner and eat it. I'll darn my
+stockings and mend the household linen, and do all the things I most
+dislike, until tea comes, and then I'll take another walk, and then
+I'll eat my supper; and then I'll go to bed, and I'll go round and
+round this treadmill till I die, but never shall I feel happy and gay
+and young again.'<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"There's one thing I can't do. I can't go into church and play my
+beloved organ. I did it for her funeral, but I shudder at the thought
+of touching it again. And I think my nerves have gone to pieces. I feel
+if I took 'Mousie' out, I would drive myself into eternity. I daren't
+trust myself at her wheel. I daren't go over to the Miss Buchans yet. I
+daren't start driving Miss Anne out. So all my favourite pursuits are
+gone.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This is all about myself, but now I have nobody in the world to love,
+or who loves me, so that I shall grow more selfish and egotistical than
+ever. Who wouldn't? I'm glad your brother is on the way to recovery.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I may say that my religion has all gone to pieces as well as
+everything else. God seems nowhere. He hasn't listened to me. I feel He
+hasn't cared. He wanted Waddy and He took her, and He doesn't take the
+slightest notice of me, or cares for me at all—I have agonized my soul
+in prayer to no purpose at all. This is all I have to say.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The Bubble at last has burst—<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">"YOUR POOR BURST BUBBLE.</span><br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Are you going to turn me out of the little Vicarage now that Waddy
+has gone?"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>It was rather a relief than otherwise to Mrs. Wharnecliffe when
+Gentian had left her and returned to the Vicarage. She was concerned
+about the girl, but could not comfort her. She marvelled at her still
+icy composure, but she was a woman of experience and guessed that
+underneath was a depth of grief which she could hardly fathom.</p>
+
+<p>She had been touched by the faithful love and adoration shown by Miss
+Ward to her charge, but she had not realized how much it was returned
+by the merry light-hearted girl.</p>
+
+<p>And now Gentian was home again in the empty house, and was gazing out
+upon her flower-beds, wishing that winter would return and be more in
+unison with her feelings.</p>
+
+<p>Kate the little maid had gone to the village on an errand. When the
+latch of the gate was lifted, Gentian thought it might be her returning.</p>
+
+<p>Then a short quick rap on the door made her start, and flush with
+sudden excitement. Surely no one but Thorold Holt knocked like that!</p>
+
+<p>In a moment she was out in the hall and at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Cousin Thor!" was her only exclamation, but seizing him by both
+hands she dragged him into the sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled at her as he relieved himself of his light overcoat, then he
+seated himself in the big arm-chair by the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if I can do you any good by coming," he said. "I am on my way
+back to Cornwall. I arrived last night. The Wharnecliffes are putting
+me up."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was struggling now for self-control. To her horror, tears were
+rising to her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>In her impulsive fashion she exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"If I cry, take no notice—I feel I would like to lie down on the
+hearthrug and sob myself to death."</p>
+
+<p>Then she drew her hand lightly across her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"It is only the sight of you, just the same as ever, sitting there
+looking at me—that breaks me down. There! I'm better. It's waste of
+time crying whilst you're here. I suppose you have a flying half-hour
+to spend with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No—I am in no hurry. Can you give me lunch?"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian flew out of the room. She returned after a short consultation
+with Kate in the kitchen. A ray of brightness was in her face.</p>
+
+<p>Then she sobered down. For some minutes she talked of Miss Ward's last
+hours.</p>
+
+<p>"I wrote to you, but there's nothing like talking," she said, with a
+long-drawn breath, when she had told him all.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I thought," said Thorold dryly. "I resolved to answer your
+letter in person. Shall I begin?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, do—what am I to do? Is there any hope? It all seems so dark."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a pity you did not live in the Early Christian times," said
+Thorold slowly. "What is such a misery to you was such a joy to them!
+Have you never, in your life abroad, visited the Catacombs in Rome?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I did once, but I thought it gruesome."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you not notice the triumphant joy that was the keynote to all the
+inscriptions there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I noticed nothing. I came out of it as soon as I could. What have the
+Catacombs to do with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only that those early Christians took the right course as regards
+death. It was a joyful event to all of them, and so ought it to be to
+us, and if we love persons very much, we should rejoice in their joy
+and not think about ourselves."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, now you're coming down from heaven to earth. I knew you would call
+me selfish, my letter was a wail of self-misery, but it's just how I
+felt! Of course, I hope darling Waddy is happy, but that doesn't alter
+my misery—I thought I could live alone, but I find I can't."</p>
+
+<p>"I quite agree with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't be fixing up some starched old woman to live with me who
+will look upon me as an unpleasant duty. After darling Waddy, who
+really loved me, anyone, however suitable in your sight, would be a
+torture to me."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence. Then Gentian said appealingly:</p>
+
+<p>"I know I'm pig-headed and unreasonable. Forgive me, I don't know what
+I'm saying, or what I want. I really would like—"</p>
+
+<p>She paused, and a little bright mischief came into her eye.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to come down to Cornwall and keep house for you. You've
+made yourself into a kind of guardian of mine. Can't a ward live
+with her guardian? That reminds me, I am exceedingly annoyed about
+something and I had better have it out with you at once. I have been
+looking into our business affairs—my business affairs, I shall have to
+say now, and I find that in the banking account which is held jointly
+in Waddy's name and mine, there is a certain big quarterly sum which
+seems to come from you. What is the meaning of it? I just left all
+money matters to Waddy and the dear thing has left a written paper in
+which she bequeaths all her hard-earned savings to me. Have you been
+supplementing our income ever since we came to live here?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was an arrangement I made with Miss Ward," said Thorold, fidgeting
+in his seat, and looking rather uncomfortable, "we talked it over. I
+considered that some of your cousin's money rightfully belonged to you,
+and I hope you will let the arrangement stand as it is."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do nothing of the sort. I am not going to receive charity from
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's eyes flashed as she spoke. She looked really angry, then with
+her quick silvery moods, she dissolved into a tearful smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, forgive me! It's more than generous and good of you, but don't
+you see my pride or self-respect won't let me take it from you?
+Unless—unless—you would let me be your housekeeper in a business
+capacity and give me a salary. I really have become quite good at
+cooking and keeping house."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child," said Thorold hastily, "I don't yet possess a house
+in Cornwall. I am living at the Rectory, and I have no housekeeper at
+present."</p>
+
+<p>"But you won't be always at the Rectory?</p>
+
+<p>"No. I am thinking of taking a small house a couple of miles out of the
+village, but I may not do that. It is all uncertain. I am waiting to
+see how the mine develops."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what is to become of me?" said Gentian, the gloom returning
+to her face again. "I think I shall go back to Italy and try to earn
+a living there. Nobody wants me, or cares for me in this grey old
+England, and I have sunshine in Italy. I expect you'll say I must leave
+this little Vicarage, where I have been so happy. I shall have to earn
+my living in some way."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen or heard anything of the Miss Buchans?"</p>
+
+<p>"They wrote their sympathy and asked me to come over and see them. Miss
+Horatia called one day, but I was crying my eyes out and I wouldn't
+see her. I'm not ready to see people yet. I'm not controlled enough;
+at least, it's a strain to be so. I was at Mrs. Wharnecliffe's for a
+few days, and was quite glad to get back here again, where I can cry in
+peace, and go without my meals if I choose!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I must tell you that Miss Anne Buchan told Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+yesterday that she would very much like you to go to her altogether as
+a companion as well as a chauffeur. She is one person who is fond of
+you. You like her, do you not? You would have a comfortable home with
+them."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at him with grave eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"So dull, so commonplace," she murmured. "I know you will fix up some
+dreary groove for me. And I warn you I shall not stay in it—I suppose I
+ought not to care. I ought to be grateful for a roof over my head, and
+food to eat, and fires to warm me. I know what your winters are like,
+and of course it is good to be sheltered; I suppose it won't matter
+where I am or what I do, for I shall be too miserable to care. And I've
+lost my faith in God, that's the worst of all."</p>
+
+<p>"That would be the worst fate of all, if you had," said Thorold
+gravely. "But you're in a fog at present and don't realize that the sun
+is the other side and will soon shine through."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, let us leave my fate, and future alone for a bit, and you talk
+to me about my soul," said Gentian, crossing her hands in her lap like
+a little child, and looking up at him with wistful expectancy. "I know
+you're a good man from things you've said to me, but you bottle it all
+up inside and won't let yourself go. Be like Sir Gilbert. He talks to
+me like an angel. He is not like a stiff, reserved Englishman."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that what you find me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not when you find fault with me, you're quick enough and sharp
+enough then, but you don't let me know what you feel about Paradise,
+and God, and the Heavenly Things."</p>
+
+<p>There was a little silence, then Thorold said suddenly:</p>
+
+<p>"When I went down to Cornwall I got a new waterproof coat. I was not
+sure whether it was as genuine as the shopkeeper stated, I wanted a
+storm-proof garment, not a shower-proof one, and I told him so. There
+are wild storms round the Cornish coast, and I was soon out in one.
+My coat kept me dry, but it needed the storm for me to test it. It
+wouldn't have been any good to me if it had only kept the showers off."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, what on earth are you driving at?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you see that the storms in life ought not to shake our faith in
+God? They are test times and sent to us for the purpose. Your religion
+is a very flimsy fabric if it will not stand you when trouble comes.
+A man learns to know the value of his fireproof safe if a fire takes
+place, in a way that he would never know otherwise. What do you think
+has happened to your Heavenly Father? Is not He above, ordering all
+things still? If He thinks fit to send you trouble and loneliness and
+the loss of your friend, ought you not to accept it at His hand? Think
+of Job in the first overwhelming moments of his trouble:</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not
+receive evil?'<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"Surely your faith is robust enough, and your love sincere enough,
+to trust in the One Who has you in His keeping! I heard some one say
+once—'A knife does not only cut to wound but to beautify.' He was
+speaking of the gardener's ruthless pruning at times, but go into any
+Cathedral and see the effect of the knife and the chisel on the walls
+and roofs, making it a building of delight and joy to all who are in
+it. You have been touched by the knife now. Is it not going to beautify
+your character? Teach you patience and submission, and courage to
+endure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you are severe! You make me feel so wicked! But I do believe I am,
+and it is myself that is all wrong, and God Who is all right!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian gazed before her with dreamy thoughtful eyes. Then she got up
+from her seat.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like long sermons, though I asked you to give me one, but I've
+had more than enough. Enough to think over and act up to, and perhaps
+one day thank you for! Isn't it like you, not to give me one little
+word of pity or of kindness, only stringent, pungent words bracing me
+to endure?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold had risen from his seat at the same time she had, now he turned
+abruptly to the window. His heart was hammering against his side,
+his whole soul was longing to take the girl into his arms and keep
+her there. He did not know when or how she had stolen her way to his
+heart, but she was enshrined there now, and he, in his old-fashioned,
+self-sacrificing way was daily trying to persuade himself that he was
+too old and dull a personage to mate with such a fresh young flower of
+youth.</p>
+
+<p>When he could gain command of his feelings, he turned back and faced
+Gentian, who was regarding him with wistful, puzzled eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I do feel for you very much," he said, but his words fell coldly on
+the ears of the warmhearted girl. "I hurried off to you as soon as I
+could leave my young brother. I am only so sorry that I could not have
+been with you sooner."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going back to him?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; he is coming down to me, as soon as he leaves hospital."</p>
+
+<p>"To the Rectory?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I have taken rooms near. He asked to be remembered to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you."</p>
+
+<p>"I was to tell you how he sympathizes with you, and that his mind and
+heart is as it was. He has not changed."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian smiled, then impulsively she laid her hand on Thorold's coat
+sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>"Do be nice and ask me down to Cornwall before he comes. I want to
+see your mine, and the Rectory, and—and Miss Frances Muir, your
+goddaughter, and the house you think of living in."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like you to see it all," said Thorold heartily; "and as Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe wants to do so too, I'll ask her to bring you with her. If
+I take the house, I want her advice about the interior decorations. It
+has been owned by an old man who let it go to pieces, and it needs a
+lot of repairs."</p>
+
+<p>Kate, the little maid, here interrupted them by saying that lunch was
+ready, and Gentian was soon presiding over some mutton chops and apple
+tart. She could eat little herself, but she seemed brighter and more
+like her old self, and Thorold tried to interest her in Gibraltar, and
+told her about the friends Godwin had there. He did not stay long. When
+the meal was over, he got up to go and asked her as he was leaving if
+she would not go to the Miss Buchans for a time.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not only for your benefit, but for theirs; you could make Miss
+Anne's life much happier and brighter by being with her. There is
+nothing like interest in others for easing heart-ache."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll go. I suppose I must. And is this dear little house to be
+empty again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut it up! Consider it still yours, and leave all your belongings in
+it. Come to it when you want to rummage about."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for that small mercy. And the quarterly cheque to the bank
+must stop. I only go to Miss Anne on that condition."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well."</p>
+
+<p>Then, as he held out his hand to her in farewell greeting, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember saying to me in a letter that you wanted to do
+something that would call out all the powers of your soul as well as of
+your body? Don't you think the illness and loss of your friend has done
+this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah no, indeed! It hasn't. I have failed, entirely failed."</p>
+
+<p>Tears came to her eyes with a rush. She let them brim over.</p>
+
+<p>"But I'll try. I'll remember all you've said. The Catacombs, and
+the knife, and the waterproof. I'll go over and over them till I've
+impressed my subconscious self with them, and they remain with me for
+ever. Good-bye, Cousin Thor, and I'm coming down to Cornwall very
+soon. Tell Mrs. Wharnecliffe to let me know when she goes. And think
+of me sorting out Miss Anne's wools, and getting her footstools and
+reading out very goody and improving books; and in the evening, playing
+backgammon and card games, and hiding my yawns and my weariness behind
+a very smiling countenance."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall think of you at the piano transporting a weary woman to
+the realms of light and beauty—and driving her out, with the spring
+awaking all around you. There is much happiness still in store for
+you—good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>He was gone, and Gentian turned back into the empty house with a
+feeling of warmth and comfort in her heart that she had not experienced
+since Miss Ward had left her.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_11">CHAPTER XI</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>A VISIT TO CORNWALL</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>LIFE at the moment with the Miss Buchans was at first rather irksome,
+but Gentian's nature had its compensation. If she suffered intensely,
+she enjoyed intensely, and the little things of life laid hold of her
+with an absorbing interest. Miss Horatia's horses and a couple of young
+terriers were a perpetual joy to her. One morning Miss Horatia saw
+Gentian mounted on one of her hunters which the groom was exercising.
+The audacity of it amused her, but when she came to breakfast she took
+the girl to task for her rashness.</p>
+
+<p>"If you want to learn to ride, practise on old Sophy, the grey mare. I
+don't want you to break your neck. Rufus is not fit for a novice."</p>
+
+<p>"I only walked him up and down the avenue. I was out playing with the
+dogs, and I couldn't resist mounting when he came by with an empty
+saddle on him. Green says I've a born seat on horseback. Do you mind? I
+ought to have asked your permission."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't have you ride my hunters," said Miss Horatia good-naturedly;
+"but you can ride out on Sophy if you like."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian flushed with pleasure. Every morning before breakfast she
+accompanied the groom when he exercised the horses. There was a burst
+of warm weather, and the hunting had stopped. After breakfast she went
+up to Miss Anne's room and read and worked with her, writing some of
+her letters, and occasionally going to the town to pay her bills, or to
+shop for her. In the afternoon the car was taken out.</p>
+
+<p>And after tea Gentian was allowed a couple of hours to herself. They
+dined at half-past seven, and music and games were the order of most
+evenings. Gentian would fly over and pay Mrs. Wharnecliffe a visit
+sometimes, and when Sir Gilbert was home again, she went over to him.
+Once a week she had her organ practices, for she resumed her organist's
+duties on Sundays at the little church, and always put fresh flowers on
+the new grave in the little churchyard.</p>
+
+<p>Very slowly peace was returning to her heart. A long talk with Sir
+Gilbert had completed what Thorold had commenced. Gentian could look
+up now and take courage. A sharp attack of gout, which laid Mr.
+Wharnecliffe up, prevented his wife from going to Cornwall as soon
+as she had intended. Gentian was disappointed, but she had learnt to
+control her feelings.</p>
+
+<p>The Miss Buchans were kind, and treated her quite as one of the family,
+but their surprised faces when Gentian at first burst into one of her
+tirades, showed her that she must put a curb upon her tongue. It was
+discipline to which she was not accustomed. She relieved her feelings
+by writing long letters to Thorold.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I don't care whether you answer me or not, and I give you leave to
+tear my letters up directly you have read them, but I have no Waddy
+now, and I simply must pour out my heart to some one. You would not
+know me. So meek, so quiet, so gentle of tongue am I, so serene and
+unaware of all vexations and annoyances! That is the outside me. But
+the inside! Ah! It is a boiling cauldron, and a mass of contradictions,
+whims and whamsies.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I am learning to ride; it is kind of Miss Horatia to let me. I work
+off a good many tempers and moods when I am jogging along the roads
+with Green, the groom. But when we get to a bit of grass we have a good
+canter, and away fly all my black shadows and rebellious feelings! I
+come back to the house ready for anything!"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>And then one morning Mrs. Wharnecliffe arrived at the Mount asking the
+Miss Buchans if they would allow Gentian to come with her the next day
+to Cornwall.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall only be away the week-end. I am going to put up at the small
+inn at Perrancombe. And I shall go down in the car; the trains are so
+tedious."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Anne said she would be willing to spare Gentian, and so it was
+settled and the girl went about the house with such a radiant face that
+Miss Horatia chaffed her about it.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you and Thorold Holt were always sparring with one another.
+You have told me that you did not like his interference. Is it a case
+of 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't altogether him," said Gentian confusedly; "it's the sea, and
+the mines, and the Cornish people I want to see. Besides, it's a trip
+to an unknown place, and I always love that!"</p>
+
+<p>Then she added with her natural truthfulness:</p>
+
+<p>"I feel differently about Cousin Thor now; he's a link with the
+past—the only link I have; every one has been swept away from me. He's
+always a kind of buffer to me, and I miss him. And he has been very
+kind to me, hasn't he? I came to England a stranger. Now dear Waddy has
+gone, I feel stranger than ever. There isn't a person in the whole wide
+world who really belongs to me. How would you feel if you were I?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be able to remedy that one day," said Miss Horatia.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Anne looked horrified at the insinuation, and Gentian laughed her
+merry laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not in a hurry to belong to a stranger," she said.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The next day came, and proved ideal for motoring. A bright blue sky,
+and very little wind. Mrs. Wharnecliffe called for Gentian at ten
+o'clock. They sped swiftly along and were both rather silent at first.
+Then Gentian began to talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it would be impossible for me to live with Cousin Thor
+and keep his house for him? He would look after me so very well. You
+don't seem to like the idea of my living alone, and I do want a home.
+I've always had one. It's all very well being with the Miss Buchans for
+a time, but I shan't be able to keep on doing it for ever. I cry over
+it when I'm in bed at night. I never felt lonely when Waddy was alive.
+I knew she would never leave me, but I'm desperately lonely now."</p>
+
+<p>"My poor child!" said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, laying her hand softly on the
+girl's arm. "I was hoping you were settling down happily. You have your
+riding to interest you, and it is a busy, useful life for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, if Cousin Thor takes this house, couldn't I live with him in
+it? I should love to look after him; he never looks after himself."</p>
+
+<p>"No; I don't think that plan would work at all," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+decidedly. "He has never expressed a wish to have you, has he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no. I would go like a shot if he did."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian gave a sigh, then brightened up.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I sound him on the subject, or will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thorold has been too long a bachelor to like a woman in his house. She
+would embarrass him and be in his way. I tried for a long time to get
+him a lady housekeeper, but he would not have it."</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say," said Gentian gloomily, "that this Miss Muir will marry
+him. I don't think he is a bit too old to be married. And a wife would
+soon get him out of his old-fashioned bachelor ways."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe could not help laughing. Gentian still talked at
+times like a child. She turned the conversation to other subjects, and
+Thorold was not mentioned again.</p>
+
+<p>They arrived at Launceston about two o'clock, and had lunch at an
+hotel there. It was between four and five when they reached their
+destination. Gentian was charmed with the village in a wooded valley
+that ran down to the sea. They heard the thunder and roar of the surf
+breaking over the rocks before they came in sight of it. The church
+was perched on a hill, and they turned, up a steep lane to get to the
+Rectory which was close to it. Just as they came up to a big iron gate
+set in the middle of two granite walls, Thorold himself appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been looking for you for the last hour," he said: "have you had
+lunch?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, at Launceston. We've seen no sign of the inn, so came on to ask
+you where it was."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't in the village, which is good, for you will be quieter away
+from the fisher-folk. It is five minutes' drive from here on the high
+road which leads across the moor."</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, and we'll drive on together."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold slipped into the front seat by the chauffeur, then he looked
+back at Gentian and smiled at her.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you like Cornwall?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's rather bare and wind-swept," said Gentian, "but the sun on the
+sea reminds me of Italy."</p>
+
+<p>"If we follow this line along, we shall come to the house I want you to
+look at, but we'll find the inn first."</p>
+
+<p>It was a very small place when they reached it—but it looked clean,
+and there were flowers in the small garden behind it, which delighted
+Gentian's heart.</p>
+
+<p>They put up the car, then sat down and had tea together. Thorold
+told them that his friend the Rector had hoped to give them tea—but
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe was tired and wanted a rest. Motoring was not the
+exhilarating experience to her that it was to Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>But in an hour's time she declared she was ready for a walk, and they
+sauntered through a sheltered lane which twisted and turned continually
+till Gentian said it made her quite giddy. Thorold was able to give
+them a good deal of information about his mine. Work was beginning, and
+he was very hopeful of the result.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it tin or copper?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>"Tin," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"No radium about it?"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"No, that is only obtainable in the china clay. I am not going to make
+my fortune over this, Lallie."</p>
+
+<p>"If you did, you would only give it away twenty-four hours after you
+had got it," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was rather silent, listening to the talk but not joining in it.
+Presently they came in sight of a clump of pines, then a white gate was
+seen, and Thorold told them that this was the little house he wished
+them to see. They glided down a drive bordered by high tamarisk hedges,
+then came to a fair-sized shrubbery of rhododendrons and azaleas, with
+a background of trees, and then swept round to the front of the house.</p>
+
+<p>"What a little darling!" exclaimed Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>It was a solid granite house with a slate roof, but it was covered from
+end to end with creepers. Jasmine and rose, and the sweet-smelling
+stentonia, and a big magnolia hid the grey walls from view. There was a
+neglected lawn in front of it, with an old sundial in the middle, but
+when Gentian jumped out of the car and stood on the doorstep, she gave
+an exclamation of surprise and delight.</p>
+
+<p>The lawn sloped down to green cornfields, and at the bottom of them
+lay the blue, shining sea. No trees hid the ocean from their eyes. The
+Cornish coast-line stretched away on the right. To the left against the
+sky-line was Rame Head, and nearer Tregantle Fort could be dimly seen.</p>
+
+<p>The house was small and very old. There were casement windows, and the
+square stone hall was dark. An old staircase, with solid oak stairs,
+went up in the middle of it.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe looked about her, then opened a door at the back of
+the hall and found it led out into a square paved court.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "you must have glass panels in this door to let the
+light in, Thorold, and turn this little courtyard into a conservatory.
+What is the aspect?"</p>
+
+<p>"East," said Thorold. "Frances Muir suggested a Dutch garden here."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," said Gentian quickly; "then she's been over the house with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"She's known this house all her life," Thorold responded.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian said no more, but her quick eyes were taking everything in. She
+liked the old-fashioned kitchen and dairies; there were two rooms on
+each side of the front door, and a third sitting-room in a side wing.
+Upstairs there were five good-sized bedrooms and some attics. Gentian
+danced in and out of the empty rooms in her light-hearted fashion;
+she loved the oak panelling in the dining-room, and the deep window
+recesses. Mrs. Wharnecliffe signified her approval of the house as a
+whole.</p>
+
+<p>"A man won't find it lonely," she said, "but if you were bringing a
+wife here, I shouldn't be so content, for I think she would get the
+blues. Have you no neighbours?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, within driving distance. Do you think it gloomy?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned to Gentian.</p>
+
+<p>"Now it is empty it is, but it won't be when it is furnished," said
+Gentian, looking about her with dreamy eyes. "I can see it with wood
+fires and thick curtains, and music, and books, and flowers."</p>
+
+<p>Then she laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"And you in it, Cousin Thor, moving about in your serene, cheerful way,
+never ruffled if the soot fell down the chimney and the water-pipes
+leaked and the fires smoked. Are you going to keep a car?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I'm thinking of a horse."</p>
+
+<p>"And a man and his wife to look after you," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+"Thorold, I am afraid you will be buried alive here."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I have too many people to consider and to help."</p>
+
+<p>"Now let us come to your repairs," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "Of course,
+you must cut down your creepers, and one or two trees that are too
+close to the house, and the shrubberies want cutting back. I should
+put a south window in the biggest sitting-room which faces west, then
+you'll get plenty of sunshine."</p>
+
+<p>She went through the rooms again, discussing many possible
+improvements. Gentian left them and wandered round the neglected
+garden. She followed a little path through the shrubbery which led her
+to a rising knoll on which was a seat looking seawards. She sat down
+and lapsed into day dreams.</p>
+
+<p>"I must be getting very old," she mused; "I feel as if I want to settle
+down somewhere and stay there. I don't want to career about the world
+any more. How peaceful it is here!"</p>
+
+<p>A thrush was singing in the bushes close to her; there was a sweet
+scent of syringa which was not far away; and as she raised her head she
+heard a lark singing in the cornfields. A moment after steps approached
+her. It was Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"I have tracked you at last," he said. "Mrs. Wharnecliffe is on her way
+back to the inn; I told her we would follow. What do you think of the
+view from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is heavenly."</p>
+
+<p>He sat down on the seat beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow you must come and see the mine. I am in two minds about
+taking this house. Dick Muir and his daughter advised me against it.
+They want me to remain on with them indefinitely, or else build on a
+site which Dick can let me have, but I don't care about doing that. I
+would rather take rooms in the village where Godwin was. I don't feel
+like starting another house just yet. The mine is a speculation. I may
+lose all my money over it."</p>
+
+<p>"And then you would be a pauper like me," said Gentian cheerfully; "I
+wonder how you would like that."</p>
+
+<p>"I have gone through poverty, child."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I forgot. Forgive me. And I hope with all my heart that your mine
+will succeed. I think I would take the house, Cousin Thor, and then you
+could invite Mrs. Wharnecliffe and me down to visit you. I would like
+to come alone best, but Mrs. Wharnecliffe won't let me hint at such a
+thing! I can't fancy you in lodgings; you've always had a nice home. I
+only wish I could get the chance of having one."</p>
+
+<p>Then she stole a look at him through her long eyelashes.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard from Jim Paget the other day. He's been over the Rocky
+Mountains and now is on his way home. He would give me a home, any day.
+I might do worse than have him, but I'm afraid we should fight like
+cat and dog. Still, I would have a house of my own, and I should love
+furnishing it and arranging rooms."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't marry for a home," said Thorold gravely. "The man must come
+first. You would have a miserable life if you did not care for your
+husband."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think so? It's a funny world. Things happen so contrary. He
+likes me, and I don't like him, and yet I may meet somebody else whom
+I shall like and he won't like me. I somehow feel as if I shall never
+have just what I want. And I think I'm getting dull and old, and I
+shan't be at all likeable when my teeth and hair fall out."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold threw his head back with his quick laugh, as he did when she
+amused him.</p>
+
+<p>"Cheer up, you are not so very ancient yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me truthfully, do you think I shall make any man a bad wife?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold turned to her. Something in his eyes made Gentian catch her
+breath. He was about to speak, when round the corner of the shrubbery
+path appeared Miss Frances Muir.</p>
+
+<p>She greeted them delightedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Here you are! I've been scouring the village for you, for I heard Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe, your friend, had returned to the inn. How do you do, Miss
+Brendon? We met in Edinburgh, didn't we? How are your old ladies? I
+thought them so quaint, especially the horsey one."</p>
+
+<p>"They are quite well, thank you."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's tone was stiff; she resented the Miss Buchans being
+criticized.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Mr. Holt, you must come home at once. Your manager is at our
+house waiting to see you. It's something about the mine, some of the
+machinery has gone wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said Thorold, with a concerned face. "Then my fears are realized.
+Gentian, I'm afraid I must leave you. Explain it to Mrs. Wharnecliffe.
+I hope to take you over the mine to-morrow, but I must go off with
+Dormer at once."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take Miss Brendon to the church," said Frances Muir, "that is,
+if she is not in a hurry to return to her friend. What do you think of
+this little house?"</p>
+
+<p>"I like it," said Gentian. "I'm in no hurry at all, and should like to
+see the church. Has it a nice organ?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"It has a wheezy old harmonium, that is all," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"It is awful, isn't it?" said Miss Muir. "But I'm not musical, I don't
+know one note from another. Our little schoolmistress plays it."</p>
+
+<p>They were walking along the lane at a good brisk pace, then Thorold
+turned up one road and they took another. Gentian was quiet and grave,
+as she usually was when she did not feel sure of a person.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Muir did most of the talking.</p>
+
+<p>"Dad is so delighted to have Mr. Holt down here. It's making him quite
+young again, but we don't approve of that house for him. It's too
+desolate and lonely. I'm not going to let him take it if I can help it.
+And he would be better the other side of the village near his mine."</p>
+
+<p>"If I had a mine, I wouldn't want it just outside my windows," said
+Gentian, "and Cousin Thor is accustomed to a nice house and has always
+lived alone. There aren't any other empty houses about are there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he could build. I love planning houses; I always think I should
+have made a good architect. He and I spend our evenings in drawing out
+plans. I have a lovely one just completed, that would suit all his
+requirements."</p>
+
+<p>"I hate new houses," said Gentian shortly, "they have no tradition or
+atmosphere."</p>
+
+<p>"But you won't be asked to live in it," said Miss Muir laughing.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian spoke with real temper now:</p>
+
+<p>"Can't one like or dislike things for one's friends without being
+involved in them personally? I don't think I'll go to the church now,
+thank you. I'll wait till Cousin Thor can take me. Here's the inn,
+good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>She flashed away from Miss Muir like a bright meteor, and burst in upon
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe in impetuous fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"I dislike Miss Muir very much; I think I hate her," she announced,
+flinging her gloves down on the table, and facing her friend with hard,
+defiant eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she's what people call 'catty.' She gives herself airs, and thinks
+she's going to frame Cousin Thor to her liking."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps she will," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe slowly; "perhaps Thorold has
+met his fate in this little Cornish village."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish him a better fate than that conceited girl," snapped out
+Gentian. "I don't believe he likes her a bit. I shall ask him. Fancy!
+She doesn't know one note of music from another and doesn't care!
+Boasts of it! A person without any love for music is a person without a
+soul!"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Gentian, don't get so hot over her."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Mrs. Wharnecliffe, why should she take possession of him as she's
+doing? He never knew her before he came here, she's not going to let
+him take that house, she says. She wants to build him one of her own
+planning."</p>
+
+<p>"Thorold is not a weak boy, my dear Gentian. He will please himself.
+He is a man who has decided opinions of his own, and is not easily
+influenced by others, as I have found to my cost."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Gentian, suddenly becoming quiet and rather despondent,
+"he's like a granite wall, and if you beat your head against him,
+you'll only break it, and not hurt him. Sometimes I think Cousin Thor
+has no feeling at all! Just once—now and then—very seldom, his eyes
+betray him!"</p>
+
+<p>She stopped herself and relapsed into silence. What did that look
+of his mean? And what was he going to say when Miss Muir had so
+inopportunely interrupted them?</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe glanced at her anxiously. She never could understand
+the girl, but she was fond of her. Her contradictions moods and
+irrelevant talk bewildered her. What a creature of impulse she was!
+Even her late sorrow had not steadied her, and yet how nobly she had
+stood by her sick friend in her last illness! How wonderfully patient
+and capable she had become!</p>
+
+<p>"I think, my dear, you had better go and change your dress. Dinner is
+at the early hour of seven here. Thorold was to dine with us. Where has
+he gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Off to his old mine. There's something gone wrong."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe sighed. "I always feel he will ruin himself over this
+project. It is such a risk!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian left the room, murmuring to herself: "If she hadn't interrupted
+us! Oh, if she only hadn't!"</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_12">CHAPTER XII</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>THOROLD'S SECRET</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>THOROLD appeared just in time for dinner, which was served in a quaint
+coffee-room overlooking the garden.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian, in a filmy black gown which accentuated the fairness of her
+neck and arms, began the meal in a quiet, pensive mood. She let Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe and Thorold do most of the conversation, and listened to
+Thorold's account of some of the difficulties which now beset him.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we shall get over the present difficulty," he said. "We have
+been trying to adapt some of the old machinery; it means a good bit of
+extra expense to have new, but we must do so. I have been wondering
+whether I have brought you down on a fool's errand, for I doubt if it
+will be wise for me at present to take that house. I must go slowly."</p>
+
+<p>"You must live somewhere," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>"A single man doesn't need so much accommodation."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Muir doesn't want you to go there," struck in Gentian with rather
+a sharp tone in her voice; "she wants you to build one close to the
+Rectory and the mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Thorold, with a smile; "Frances thinks I should be too far
+away from my work."</p>
+
+<p>"As if you're going to work in the mine!" said Gentian a little
+scornfully. Then the dimples came into her cheeks and she gave a little
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"You are becoming like me, Cousin Thor. You're a wobbler. You actually
+can't make up your mind. I never knew you had it in you to hesitate or
+to change."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I hesitate about lots of things," Thorold replied promptly; "it's
+only when we're very young that we're very sure."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that isn't a hit at me, for I'm never sure of anything, except
+what I want to do at the moment. But I'd like to know what kind of
+things you wobble about."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold looked at her with his whimsical smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I have considerable hesitation about you and your welfare very often,"
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked dumbfounded.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think about me very much, Cousin Thor?" she asked demurely.</p>
+
+<p>"Really, Gentian," expostulated Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "We've wandered away
+from our subject of the house. Suppose we get back to that. Where do
+you propose living, Thorold? I hope you won't build."</p>
+
+<p>"No, a new house is perfectly hateful," said Gentian; "I told Miss Muir
+so. I should be sorry to live in a house of her planning. She has no
+sense of beauty."</p>
+
+<p>"She's a very clever girl," said Thorold. "Aren't you judging her
+rather hastily? About the house: I have the first refusal of it, and I
+think in two or three months' time, I shall know how the mine is going
+and be better able to judge what I can afford. I shall take rooms in
+the village."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian quickly; "if you stay on at the Rectory you'll
+lose all independence. Miss Muir will manage you and all your affairs
+completely."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"A good many people have tried to manage me in my life. We'll except
+the present company! But it is an experience to which I am well
+accustomed, and it doesn't trouble me in the least."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"We need not have an uneasy thought about him, Gentian. As I told you
+he is well able to look after himself. Now don't you think we could
+have a walk as it is such a lovely evening? Is the tide in or out? Let
+us go down to the sea."</p>
+
+<p>"It is out, I think," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"Run and put a warm wrap on, Gentian," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "I have
+a much thicker gown than you. We will wait for you in the verandah."</p>
+
+<p>As the girl disappeared, Mrs. Wharnecliffe took hold of Thorold by the
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Now come along, I want to talk to you. I am anxious about this child.
+Your Rector wants the little Vicarage house for a new-married curate
+who is going to be in charge of the church. I haven't told Gentian, for
+I know the outcry she will make. She cannot live there alone, and you
+must let the Rector have it. It will be a way out of the difficulty.
+I have some empty attics where she can store her boxes and things. It
+is very difficult to know what to do with her. I don't believe she'll
+go on living with the Miss Buchans year in and year out, she'll be too
+dull there. And she's not the sort of girl to be knocking about the
+world on her own."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be a blow to her," said Thorold, looking grave. "She tells me
+that young fellow Jim Paget is on her track again. Coming back, isn't
+he? He may induce her to listen to him this time."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could think so, but I'm sure she won't have him. She ought to
+marry. I think she might develop into a good little wife."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence between them for a moment or two. Then Mrs.
+Wharnecliffe said slowly:</p>
+
+<p>"Thorold, have you ever thought that she may be caring for you?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold was just lighting his pipe. He let it slip through his fingers,
+and fall with a clatter on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Caring for me," he said, stooping down to pick up his pipe; "what
+nonsense! I think she may like me better than she did, but she looks
+upon me as her elderly guardian—offered to come and keep house for me!"</p>
+
+<p>His face was a dull red as he raised himself, but Mrs. Wharnecliffe's
+quick eyes noted his confusion.</p>
+
+<p>"There's not much disparity in your ages. You are not elderly, Thorold.
+You are in the prime of life. I may be wrong. She is childishly jealous
+of Frances Muir, but, of course, that may be because she likes to come
+first with you."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be wicked," muttered Thorold, "to tie her up to an old fogy
+like me."</p>
+
+<p>"Gentian would not do anything she did not want to do."</p>
+
+<p>"But she's in a dangerous state now. She wants a home. She might do
+anything to get one. I would not take advantage of a child like that
+for all the world."</p>
+
+<p>"Thorold!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe pressed his arm. "You love her!"</p>
+
+<p>"I adore her!" he said, with a quick-caught breath, and then he tried
+to relight his pipe with nervous, trembling fingers.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe drew a long sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it has come to you at last," she said; "now don't spoil your
+life and hers by stupid bashfulness and false modesty. You have a great
+deal to offer her. A clear, upright, honourable record, a comfortable
+home, and a love—well, I won't say more on that point, but any girl
+would be lucky with you for a husband, Thorold. I don't say she is good
+enough for you, but she's a fascinating little soul, and where she
+loves, she'll love to distraction. You won't have a dull moment with
+her, I know that, and I believe she'll develop into something grand and
+good, by and by."</p>
+
+<p>"You've forced my confidence," Thorold said; "respect it and say no
+more. I'm not in a position to offer anyone a home until I see how the
+mine is going. And I can't believe, and I don't believe, that she would
+listen to me for a moment."</p>
+
+<p>"Who won't listen to you?" asked a gay voice behind them.</p>
+
+<p>It was Gentian, of course. She did not wait for an answer but slipped
+her arm into Mrs. Wharnecliffe's.</p>
+
+<p>"Now let us sally forth," she said, "to see the wonders of the ocean
+shore."</p>
+
+<p>There was no lack of conversation between the three of them, though
+Thorold was the one who spoke least. Mrs. Wharnecliffe talked eagerly,
+almost feverishly, and Gentian was her own gay chattering little self.
+It was a good walk from the inn to the fishing village, which was most
+picturesque. Like many of the Cornish fishing villages, the houses were
+placed at all angles, one above the other, with quaint cobbled paths
+twisting and turning in every direction, and rough stone steps up and
+down to the beach and cliffs. They came down to a stone bridge across
+the river, and here in the middle they turned their backs to the sea
+and looked along the wooded valley with the shining river winding its
+way at the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was getting low, and sending its golden rays across the water.
+Gentian leant her arms on the stone wall and gazed dreamily in front of
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"This is sweet," she murmured. "I don't think England's beauty spots
+are distributed fairly. River and woods are enough without the sea."</p>
+
+<p>They turned round and walked on, past a row of old-fashioned shops
+facing the river, and then eventually found themselves on the sea
+front. Fishermen lounged about smoking their pipes, or tinkering at
+their boats. The tide was out. Across the short strip of sand in front
+of them and the grey rocks that stretched away to the cliff the golden
+sunshine was sending its long slanting rays. Away on the horizon were
+the fishing smacks starting for their night's fishing. Gentian looked
+at it all with interest and delight.</p>
+
+<p>Then she slipped her hand into Thorold's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's walk down to the sea," she said, "it's too far off from us here."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall sit down here," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, sinking on
+one of the wooden seats near her; "don't be too long, for when the sun
+sets, it will be chilly."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold and Gentian walked across the sand until they came to the
+ocean. Only rippling waves disturbed the silence.</p>
+
+<p>"I like this," Gentian said contentedly. "I should like to live by the
+sea. It always brings peace to me. It reminds me of the sea in Italy.
+How far is the mine from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite five miles. It is inland. The Rectory is a good mile and a half
+from us here."</p>
+
+<p>"And do your miners live in these dear little houses?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no. This is entirely a fisher population. There is a small hamlet
+near the mine where they will congregate; but a good many come by the
+train along the light railway from other villages. Every day I have
+applicants from all parts. It's extraordinary how news flies. I hope I
+shall be able to give them all work."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you could give me work," said Gentian, turning a face that
+was a mixture of wistfulness and mischief up to his. "I shall soon
+be unemployed again, I feel it in my bones. And I am not a very
+satisfactory companion to an indoors lady. Fancy! The other day I was
+saying how much I should love to hunt next winter, and Miss Horatia
+laughed and didn't seem against the idea, when Miss Anne drew herself
+up as if I had quite shocked her,—</p>
+
+<p>"'That is hardly one of the duties of a lady's companion,' she said.</p>
+
+<p>"So I was angry, of course, and I said quickly: 'I am only a temporary
+companion. I may end it any day,'</p>
+
+<p>"And then Miss Anne said very sweetly: 'I think it would be your loss,
+if you did so.'</p>
+
+<p>"Now do you think that quite nice of her? She tries to keep me in my
+place; but somehow bubble up away from it—and any day may bring a
+crisis."</p>
+
+<p>"I agree with Miss Anne," said Thorold gravely; "that it will be your
+loss if you lose such a comfortable home."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Cousin Thor, do you think it is a home to me? How can it be? I
+have lost my home, and I have lost the love and care that went with
+it. I am hedged about with convention and duties and restrictions. I
+must be punctual and tidy and meek, and always must be at the beck
+and call of a very kind mistress certainly, but a very old-fashioned,
+punctilious lady."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you want to go through life only pleasing yourself, and satisfying
+your own desires?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now you're getting into the stern old martinet you were when I first
+knew you! You have been much kinder lately. I don't always want to
+please myself. There are some people that I would like to do anything
+for—I think I might be willing to die for them!"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's eyes twinkled as he looked at her.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll hope that won't be necessary at your time of life," he said.</p>
+
+<p>She was standing very close to him as she spoke; now she moved away
+with a dignified air.</p>
+
+<p>"You like to laugh at me," she said. "You never take me in earnest, you
+treat me like a child, and now Waddy has left me I feel a hundred years
+old, as if my whole future life is my own responsibility, and I get
+frightened. I have no money at my back, and very few friends. I don't
+think you or Mrs. Wharnecliffe would let me starve, but then if I went
+away from you, you might not know. I sometimes wonder if I could earn
+my living in London by my music. I'll talk to Jim Paget about it when
+he comes over. He knows a lot of people in London."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's brows grew rather threatening.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he said quickly; "don't do that. When you feel you must have a
+change of employment, tell me. I promise I will help you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't feel very sure of you down here," said Gentian, looking at
+him with earnest eyes. "I'm so afraid you will marry Miss Frances
+Muir! There! I know I ought not to say so, but somehow with you I
+must unburden myself. And if you marry her, you won't care about me
+any more. You'll forget all about me—and she—Miss Muir—will keep you
+from having anything to do with me—I know her kind. I don't like
+her and she doesn't like me. We are natural—what is the word? Not
+enemies—antagonists. Why are you laughing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help being amused at your matchmaking propensities. Am I so
+very susceptible to female charm? Haven't you always considered me a
+thorough old bachelor? We are talking nonsense, let us come back to
+Mrs. Wharnecliffe."</p>
+
+<p>He turned; then, as Gentian seemed reduced to silence, he put his hand
+on her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Your future is not in your hands, child. A loving God is caring for
+you. Leave it to Him, He makes no mistakes. That is one of the facts
+that strengthen with years."</p>
+
+<p>She did not speak. Her eyes filled with tears. She was very silent for
+the rest of the evening. Thorold left them as soon as he had taken them
+back to the hotel, promising to be with them again at ten o'clock the
+next morning, when Mrs. Wharnecliffe's car would take them to the mine.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>And the next day dawned brilliantly. Blue sky, and no wind, the sea lay
+calm and still as a mill pond. They caught the glimpses of it as they
+sped up and down hill through the Cornish lanes.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was her bright self again, and keenly interested in all the
+working of the mine. She was very disappointed that she was not allowed
+to go down into it. She talked to the manager, and to every miner that
+she came across, and bewildered them by her questions and inquiries.</p>
+
+<p>Later on, Thorold took them to see a row of cottages which were just
+being built. Gentian did not think much of the hamlet, but loved its
+quaint name, which was Menabockle. She spoke to a woman who stood at a
+cottage door.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you very happy to have the mine working again?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Twill give work to many," said the woman with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and you're lucky to have Mr. Holt owning it. If you're in
+trouble, he'll get you out of it by hook or crook. He was born to do
+that, I believe."</p>
+
+<p>She nodded and smiled and passed on. Only the woman caught her
+words. Thorold was busy talking to Mrs. Wharnecliffe. He was bent on
+reassuring her about his venture.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a risk, of course, but all here know that tin is to be found;
+and the mine stopped working through want of capital to carry it on. Be
+patient, and you'll see that I have not wasted my money."</p>
+
+<p>"Why need you be on the spot always?" asked Gentian. "When it's once
+started, can't your manager carry it on?"</p>
+
+<p>"If the owners had lived on the spot before, it would have been better
+for their mines. Managers are not infallible. Besides, I want to know
+the people. I am going to start a small institute or club for the young
+men and boys. I am full of ideas from which I want practical results."</p>
+
+<p>"And what about the house?" asked Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>"Just for the present, we'll leave it. As I said before, I have the
+first refusal of it. But I'm thankful for your suggestions and advice."</p>
+
+<p>He returned to the inn with them and they had lunch together. They had
+hardly finished the meal before Thorold's friend, the Rector of the
+parish, and his daughter appeared.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Muir was a tall, stalwart man, with a cheerful face and breezy
+manner. He was very disappointed to hear that Mrs. Wharnecliffe was
+returning home immediately.</p>
+
+<p>"We quite hoped you would dine with us to-night, or at least, come up
+and have a 'dish o' tay,' as our Cornish folk say. Do you approve of
+this Cornish benefactor?" He laid his hand on Thorold's shoulder as he
+spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a doubtful experiment," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe gravely; "but
+Thorold knows his own business best, and if his heart is in it, I
+can but wish him good luck. I hope he will succeed where others have
+failed."</p>
+
+<p>"It's going to be a huge success," said Frances enthusiastically. "Mr.
+Holt always succeeds in everything he puts his hand to, now does he
+not?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"He gets his own way with people as a rule."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold looked across at Gentian with his humorous smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you endorse that?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, because you are so doggedly determined and persevering," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Frances, "we all want him to have his own way down here.
+There's no opposition from anyone. How could there be? We are most
+keenly interested in what he is doing. And as for the people round,
+they're wild with delight that the mines are going to be restarted."</p>
+
+<p>"The only thing that I don't like about them," said Gentian, "is the
+mess they make of the country. They spoil the landscape, and foul the
+air with blacks and dust."</p>
+
+<p>Frances' smile had a twinge of pity in it.</p>
+
+<p>"That is rather a narrow outlook," she said; "when you put against a
+few acres of waste ground the employment and prosperity of hundreds of
+living souls."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was silent. She was glad when the car was announced, but vexed
+that she and Mrs. Wharnecliffe should drive off leaving Thorold by the
+side of the girl to whom she had taken such a hearty dislike.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_13">CHAPTER XIII</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>A NEW FRIEND</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>IT was not long after Gentian's return to the Miss Buchans that the
+blow fell upon her about St. Anselm's Vicarage. Thorold wrote to her
+himself about it, and Mrs. Wharnecliffe had her over for the day to
+discuss plans. To her astonishment, Gentian took it very quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not surprised. I have no right to a house. I have no money to
+live there. I am alone in this grey old England. Cousin Thor gave it
+more to Waddy than to me, and now she is gone I have no right to expect
+that Cousin Thor should provide me with a house to keep my possessions
+in. He did tell me that I could have it for a time, but now this curate
+with his family wants it, and they will take possession of the darling
+organ. It has all gone from me. I shall only have memories of it now."</p>
+
+<p>"You must look upon my house as your pied-à-terre, I won't say home,
+for you have become such an independent young lady that you resent the
+thought of any one taking care of you. But you know, dear, that you
+will be always welcome, and that I am ready to help you in every way
+possible."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind," said Gentian, looking at her with a deep gravity
+in her blue starry eyes; "but I am learning to stand alone. I shall
+have to do it, and the sooner I begin the better. I shall be very
+grateful if you will store a few boxes for me. I haven't very many
+worldly goods, have I? Only just some mementoes from my darling Italy,
+and a few of my mother's treasures. I will write this evening and tell
+Cousin Thor that I will clear out my things to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold got her letter, and for some hours after receiving it, felt
+distracted and disturbed.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAR CORNISH BENEFACTOR,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You have broken your news very softly. But I am ready to quit, as
+the Americans would say, and shall march out with my head up, and my
+tears locked down into a pool at the bottom of my heart. You have a
+right to let your own house to anyone. I was only a charity pauper
+whilst there. This isn't bitterness but fact, and never was a poor
+orphan more kindly housed than I was. I knew when I turned the key in
+the door and went off to the Miss Buchans that I should never go back
+again. I felt it in my bones. Mrs. Wharnecliffe impressed upon me that
+I could not live there alone. I knew that I had not enough money of my
+own to feed myself and a chaperone, to say nothing of paying her to
+dance attendance on me. So there we are. I feel I am growing wise and
+old. That sunny chapter of my life is over. The clouds began to appear
+when you took your departure, and when Waddy left me for good, the sun
+disappeared altogether.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"But, and this is a big But. I will print it in large letters, BUT,
+I have I believe got my storm-proof and mackintosh on, and I'm assuring
+myself over and over, that this fresh storm may beat about my feelings
+and passions and hopes and desires, but can't reach my soul. I don't
+forget your little sermon, you see. I've discovered one of the Bible's
+secrets, that blessedness—that's happiness, is it not?—comes to those
+who believe when they can't see. And then after I have thought over
+that a good while, I give myself a pat on the shoulder and say, 'Your
+future is not in your hands, child.' Only I can't give it quite the
+nice kind of pat that you did.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Anyhow, I want you to be assured that I accept my fate with placidity,
+and am still pursuing my daily rounds of duty combined with some small
+bits of pleasure. I am getting quite a good rider. Now I know and share
+Miss Horatia's feelings about cars. They're good to get to places, but
+for enjoying the country they're not in it with a horse. She has taken
+me for several long rides through lanes and woods where cars cannot go,
+and if ever I become a rich woman, I will buy a horse and keep it till
+I die.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I suppose Jim Paget would give me a horse if I married him. He has
+written to-day to say he wants to see me, but I've put him off. I can't
+see him here. It would be awkward, and Miss Anne told me to-day that
+she's expecting a nephew of theirs from abroad to come and stay with
+them. He is arriving to-morrow. Do you know him? His name is Vernon
+Buchan. He is a great violinist and gives recitals in London. I am
+anxious and excited to meet him. I do love anyone who loves music, don
+t you? Miss Horatia rather sniffs when his name is mentioned. I don't
+think she approves of him. She said straight out yesterday when Miss
+Anne said how long it was since they had seen him:<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'He is in want of something, my dear Anne, or he would not ask us to
+have him.'<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Miss Anne shook her head and looked at me. I pretended, of course, to
+be engrossed in Miss Anne's knitting.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This evening Miss Anne asked me if I would like a few days' holiday.
+I don't think she wants me to meet her nephew. Why? I have seen too many
+men and musicians abroad to be unduly impressed by them. But of course
+I said I could go to Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I think she will have me. I did
+not know about it this afternoon when I was over there. And I can't
+go to her to-morrow, so I shall have a glimpse of the nephew before I
+disappear.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh, Cousin Thor, I am scribbling away like this to take my thoughts
+off my unfortunate existence. Does anyone in the whole wide world
+really want me, I wonder? I don't mean foolish creatures like Jim and
+your Godwin who like the outside of me, and have no more ideas of my
+real self than a cat has of a polar bear. Miss Anne, you see, can
+dispense with my services very easily when she likes.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"How is that darling little fishing village? I should like to own a
+boat and turn myself into a fisher girl and sail away into the sunset
+sky every evening, drawing my fishing net through the rippling water,
+and watch the stars come out one by one and twinkle in a thousand
+lights on the moonlit waves! I would be quite happy in one of those
+queer little whitewashed houses with my chimney touching my neighbour's
+doorstep above.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Good-bye, Guardian, Mentor, and Granite Tor.<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">"Your lonely, bewildered, but not utterly beaten—</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"BUBBLE."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Miss Buchans were at tea in the big drawing-room when their nephew
+arrived.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was with them. She wore a simple white gown. The only colour
+about her was that of the arresting blue of her eyes. But as Vernon
+Buchan came swiftly forward to greet his aunts, his eyes only took in
+one picture, that of the slim white girlish figure with the piquant
+oval face, the sunny cloud of hair and the wonderful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>She was introduced to him, and for a moment he wondered how she came
+there. Miss Anne quietly enlightened him.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Brendon looks after me, and drives me out in the afternoon. In
+these days we have lady chauffeurs. It was some time before I became
+accustomed to the idea."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian said to herself with mutinous lips: "And now I am put in my
+place and must stay there."</p>
+
+<p>But Vernon was so talkative, and his conversation was so interesting,
+that she could not stay mute for long, and when she heard that he had
+only just arrived from Italy and had been to Capri three days before
+leaving, she clasped her hands in eager delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, tell me! It was my home for so many years. Tell me how it looks.
+Where did you stay? I know every one. And is Luigi still the first to
+come and offer to take you and your luggage to the Engleesh-speaking
+hotel?"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed gaily. Miss Anne could as soon stop the current of a river
+towards the sea as the animated talk which followed between the two
+young people.</p>
+
+<p>Before dinner time came, Vernon was well acquainted with Gentian's
+history, but he did not devote himself entirely to her; he only took
+good care to include her in conversation with his two aunts.</p>
+
+<p>It was a lovely summer evening. In the big drawing-room later on,
+Gentian went to the piano. It was her custom to play to Miss Anne for
+half an hour every night. Vernon sat by the open window, and listened
+with his heart in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"But your music is divine!" he exclaimed. "You have the soul of a true
+artist. I have my violin. I never go anywhere without it. Will you
+accompany me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that I can," said Gentian simply, "but I will try."</p>
+
+<p>Horatia smiled grimly when she saw them settle themselves at the piano
+for the rest of the evening.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was quick at reading at sight. Her touch and her execution
+entranced Vernon.</p>
+
+<p>At last Miss Anne intervened.</p>
+
+<p>"Please let us enjoy your society, Vernon. I think you had better
+practise in the mornings. Too much music makes my head ache. Oh, don't
+apologize, but it is nearly ten o'clock and I want to hear a great deal
+from you. How is your sister, and where is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she has a flat in town."</p>
+
+<p>Vernon put by his violin with reluctance.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm staying with her. I had to hurry back, for I have one or two
+recitals coming off before the season closes."</p>
+
+<p>"Is her husband with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear aunt, is he ever with her? He's hunting big game in Ceylon
+at present. Emmie and I are always happy together. But just now I'm a
+harassed wretch. I felt I must have a couple of nights with you, and
+I've really come down here to look up a certain Miss Lascelles who is
+in your neighbourhood. My accompanist is ill, he's had to go off to
+Davos—lung trouble—and Miss Lascelles took his place once before. She
+lives in Winderball. Isn't that your nearest town?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Miss Horatia. "I know whom you mean. Miss Lascelles is the
+daughter of a doctor there. She makes a living by her music, does she
+not, but some one told me only last week that she had gone abroad—to
+Austria, I think. She has obtained some musical post over there."</p>
+
+<p>Vernon ran his hand nervously up and down through his hair.</p>
+
+<p>"Disaster stares me in the face! I shall have to pelt back to town
+to-morrow to arrange something."</p>
+
+<p>But when the next day came he did not go. Instead, he kept Gentian at
+the piano every moment of her spare time, and at five o'clock tea he
+sprang his bomb.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been directed down here," he said solemnly; "by my good fairy.
+I have found my accompanist. Aunt Anne, will you spare Miss Brendon for
+a week or two? Emmie will gladly put her up. With her, my success in
+town will be assured. She's a born accompanist."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Anne was simply speechless. Nothing more had been said about
+Gentian's proposed holiday. Miss Horatia had told her sister gruffly
+that it was too late in the day to save the situation.</p>
+
+<p>"He is bowled over, as I knew he would be, by her pretty grace and her
+music. But it will be one of his passing emotions. Vernon is too fond
+of his own ease and comfort to mean anything serious."</p>
+
+<p>Now Miss Horatia, if feeling startled, did not show it. She smiled at
+her nephew a little provokingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Anything more?" she asked. "Would you like our good cook, and my
+hunter? Not that I class Miss Brendon with them, but she is here for a
+purpose and cannot be spared."</p>
+
+<p>He waved his hand airily.</p>
+
+<p>"She must be spared. You have got on without her for a good many years,
+and a month at the outside will see me through my recitals. Town will
+be getting empty very soon. This is my chance, and I am not going to
+lose it. It would be a sin and shame to keep her down here, whilst I am
+rushing all over the country and tearing my hair to find somebody who
+will do for me."</p>
+
+<p>"There are hundreds of people in town who will jump at the job," said
+Miss Horatia, "and any Concert Directoire would find one for you."</p>
+
+<p>Vernon got up from his seat.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to have Miss Brendon," he said emphatically. "I shall run away
+with her, abduct her. It's so easy in these days with a car. She may be
+going on an errand to the village, a car slows down, a shawl is flung
+over her head, and it's done. She's dropped in the bottom of the car a
+helpless heap, and away we go—in London before she is even missed!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be so ridiculous, Vernon!"</p>
+
+<p>"And improper," murmured Miss Anne.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian began to laugh. Her happy infectious laugh made every one join
+in it.</p>
+
+<p>"I am the person to be consulted," she said, "and I could not possibly
+leave my present situation, sir." Here she gave a little bow to Vernon.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed you can. Aunt Anne and Aunt Horatia can come up to town
+with you if they like, if they won't trust Emmie to look after you. I
+mean you to come—and I'm a bit of a hypnotist; you'll find yourself
+doing it before you can say 'Jack Robinson.'"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going upstairs to have a rest in my room before dinner,"
+announced Miss Anne quietly. "Gentian, come with me, please."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian offered her her arm at once and they left the room together.</p>
+
+<p>Vernon settled down in his chair again. He meant to have it out with
+his Aunt Horatia.</p>
+
+<p>A determined man can get the better of two women if they happen to
+be fond of him. Miss Anne and Miss Horatia did not approve of their
+nephew's ways. He was too Bohemian, too unconventional, and too
+improvident to please them. But they loved him, and had given him a
+home when his parents were abroad and he was a small schoolboy.</p>
+
+<p>Before another day had elapsed, Gentian found herself ready to agree to
+his proposal. Secretly she was elated at the thought of it. She went
+over to Mrs. Wharnecliffe and coaxed her round to give her permission,
+but to Thorold she did not write till everything was settled and she
+was in the train with Vernon for Town.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The ensuing weeks seemed unreal to her. She was by turn delighted and
+wearied with the wild rush of life that was now her lot. Mrs. St.
+Lucas, Vernon's sister, was a bright happy-go-lucky little lady, who
+was as eager in her protestations of friendship for Gentian, as she was
+in getting rid of all responsibility concerning her.</p>
+
+<p>The practices for the Recitals kept Gentian busy, but she was not at
+the piano the whole day, and Vernon was only too ready to take her out
+to lunch and dinner and then to the theatre afterwards. Mrs. St. Lucas
+was generally with them, but not always—and as time went on, Vernon
+began to assume airs of proprietorship which Gentian opposed with quiet
+dignity. She would laugh and talk with him about a hundred different
+things, but let personality be brought into prominence, then she
+stiffened immediately.</p>
+
+<p>The first Recital was a great success—Gentian wrote a full account of
+it to Thorold.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You see," she concluded, "that I am now being shown that the talent
+which has been given to me must be used. You have no idea of the
+flattering things that have been said to me. The Managing Director told
+me that if I stayed in London, he could give me continual work, and the
+pay he would offer me staggers me. It would be foolish, dear Cousin
+Thor, would it not, to go back to the Miss Buchans and wind wool and
+read magazine articles and drive a car when I could earn double here,
+and have such a lovely time? It is so exquisite, feeling I have a right
+and a duty to spend hours at the piano. I have always dreamt of playing
+to an audience, and they seem to think that I could manage a solo or
+two of my own later on. Mr. Buchan amuses me so much—he thinks he has a
+right to choose the dress I am to wear when I play for him. I have to
+buy new gowns up here. Mrs. St. Lucas has taken me to her dressmaker,
+and it seems to me that my first earnings will be swallowed up with
+frocks. He insisted upon my wearing a kind of moonlight blue when I
+made my first appearance in public. And then he wanted me to be in
+white and gold. But I stuck at that. It was not retiring enough for an
+accompanist.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh, Cousin Thor, how he plays! He pours his whole soul out! I think
+his violin comes first in the world with him. He makes me thrill and
+quiver when he plays, and I could weep from sheer ecstasy.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I must tell you, that the other day I met Jim in Bond Street.
+Mr. Buchan and I were going to the Academy. It was a surprise. Jim came
+with us, but it was uncomfortable being three, and they glared at each
+other like angry dogs over a bone. I needn't tell you I was the bone.
+And the poor bone wished herself miles away from them both.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Then Jim came to see me yesterday, and Mrs. St. Lucas welcomed him
+sweetly, but when we were alone, he trotted out the old story, and
+I thought hard, of the home he would give me, and the fun, and the
+affection. And the managing. But he told me in the midst of it all,
+that the musical world was a rotten environment for any girl, and that
+he would never let any one he knew play in public! I thanked him and
+dismissed him, and cried when he had gone.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Why do you all try to manage me? Mr. Buchan does—but I am in his
+pay, so he is my master. I think you are better than you used to be.
+Perhaps it is that you are rather tired of me and do not feel it worth
+while. I thought you might be angry when you heard I was here, but your
+letters say so little. They're as mild as toast and water. I don't want
+you to object to what I am doing, for I mean to go on doing it, and
+I am writing to the Miss Buchans to-day to break with them. Mrs. St.
+Lucas wants me to go to Vienna with her next month. What do you think
+of that! I mean to study music there, and next autumn I am assured of
+plenty of work.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Sometimes I shut my eyes and see the little valley running down to the
+sea. Tell me how the mine is going, and if Miss Muir is still planning
+a house for you. And are you living in lodgings or still at the Rectory?<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This is from the Bubble who is beginning to soar once more."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's answer was as follows:</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"MY DEAR LITTLE FLEDGED MUSICIAN,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Why should I try to cut your wings? And stamp upon your talent which
+is now seeing the light of London Town? I don't like the life for you,
+and rather agree with poor unfortunate Jim. It is too hard work for one
+of your calibre. The late hours, the strain, and rush, and artificial
+atmosphere will all tell on your nervous system, but this, I am sure,
+you will have to find out for yourself. The week or two you are
+experiencing now will be very different from the perpetual grind of a
+professional accompanist. And if you should develop into a professional
+soloist, it will be harder work still.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I have nothing to say, except that if you get tired or disillusioned,
+send for me. I am at the end of a wire. And we'll fix up something
+else. Never be afraid of owning up to mistakes. Such a lot of trouble
+comes from false pride. What can I tell you about myself? I am in
+diggings at a farm near the mine, and I eat a lot of Cornish cream,
+and enjoy Cornish pasties and Saffron buns. We're very pleased with
+the mine—we've opened up a vein of tin, and now the work is going
+fast! I feel sorry that your time at the Mount is over. What will Miss
+Anne do without you? Vienna is not an attractive town to me. I knew
+it in my young days before my father died. To spend one of summer's
+best months there is pitiful. But the music, of course, is enchanting.
+Only—only—child—don't let the musical world swamp and drown your soul.<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">"Yours when you want me,</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">"THOROLD."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Gentian tucked this letter inside her frock after kissing the signature.</p>
+
+<p>"Yours when you want me," she murmured to herself; "how I wish I could
+make that into a proposal! Oh, Cousin Thor, I'll send for you, I know I
+shall, but not yet! Things are going too well, and I'm enjoying myself.
+And my musical soul is being fed and satisfied."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_14">CHAPTER XIV</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>"I WANT YOU"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>TO say that both Mrs. Wharnecliffe and Thorold were very uneasy about
+their young protégé would be to state it very mildly.</p>
+
+<p>If Mrs. Wharnecliffe had not had her husband in bed with one of his
+bad attacks of gout, she would have gone up to town herself and taken
+Gentian under her motherly wing. She knew Mrs. St. Lucas, and was well
+aware of her happy-go-lucky Bohemian propensities.</p>
+
+<p>As to Thorold, he thought about Gentian night and day; he longed to
+cast prudence and diffidence to the winds, and go up to London and
+fetch her down to Cornwall, where she could once more be under his
+protecting care. But when he had written to her, he waited patiently,
+dreading, yet sometimes almost longing, to receive a summons from her.</p>
+
+<p>And then about the middle of July it came.</p>
+
+<p>A telegram was handed to him as he was starting to meet his manager at
+the mine, one morning about ten o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>It was very brief.</p>
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"I want you—Gentian."</span><br>
+
+<p>He flung a few things into his suit-case, borrowed Mr. Muir's car and
+caught the morning express from Liskeard to town. She had wired to him
+from a country inn just outside Maidenhead. He did not get there till
+about six o'clock. The landlady came to the door at once.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be the young lady's cousin or guardian, so she tells me. She
+ought to be in bed, but she's on the couch in the best parlour. Come
+this way, please."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she ill—an accident—what is the matter?</p>
+
+<p>"The doctor says 'tis a marvel: she's escaped with bruises and a
+sprained wrist. She was pitched right out of the car, and found
+underneath it."</p>
+
+<p>"Who was with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody, she drove herself down from town, and turning a corner ran
+into some felled trees. I always do say that for a reckless driver,
+give me a young lady!"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold said nothing. He followed her to a small dingy parlour at the
+back of the house, and there, covered with an old plaid shawl, upon a
+horsehair couch, lay Gentian. An ugly bruise and plastered cut on her
+forehead and a bandaged wrist were the only evidences of her accident,
+but she looked white and shaken, and could only faintly smile as she
+looked up at him.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew you would come. I told the landlady so."</p>
+
+<p>He stood looking down upon her with his kind eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Do your friends know where you are?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I have run away from them."</p>
+
+<p>It was so like Gentian, that Thorold could have smiled, had he been
+less concerned about her.</p>
+
+<p>And then she held out her unhurt hand to him, and when she had got hold
+of his hand, clutched it as if she could never let it go, and burst
+into a flood of tears.</p>
+
+<p>He stood silent beside her, for he knew that her tears would relieve
+her, and then he said gently:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't bother to talk. I'll wait to be told things till you're feeling
+better, but I must let Mrs. St. Lucas know where you are, and I would
+like to see the doctor."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't tell Mrs. St. Lucas, don't! He will come down and make a fuss.
+We were going up to Chester and York—a kind of tour—and I won't go, and
+he'll be angry."</p>
+
+<p>She was struggling to get the better of her tears.</p>
+
+<p>"I must wire to relieve their anxiety, but I won't say where you are.
+I will say you are returning home with me. I will write later when you
+can give me details."</p>
+
+<p>He left the room. He was always prompt and practical. When he returned,
+he had seen the doctor, wired to Mrs. St. Lucas, and ordered a nice
+little dinner to be sent into the parlour for himself and Gentian. He
+had also got a room for himself at an hotel in Maidenhead.</p>
+
+<p>He found Gentian looking much better and brighter.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all right now you are here," she said, "I'm ready to explain all."</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet. We will have some food first. What a fortunate thing you were
+so near this inn!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; one of the ostlers heard the crash and ran out. It was only just
+round the corner. Such a corner! They ought to have put up warning
+lights, but I suppose I was reckless—I felt so."</p>
+
+<p>She could not eat much, she said her head was bad, but she drank a cup
+of tea, and she looked up at him pathetically when he helped her back
+to the couch.</p>
+
+<p>"If only I was feeling well, how much we could enjoy ourselves!" she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>A little later the meal was carried away, and then he drew up a chair
+to her side, and with her hand lightly clasping his she told her story.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know Mr. Buchan? He is very amusing, and alive to his
+finger-tips, and he's a passionate, magnificent violinist. He loves
+his violin like nothing in the world, and he amuses himself with
+everybody else. He liked me, and he was awfully nice, and respectful
+and courteous, and all he ought to be, until we had finished our London
+recitals. Then he was tired and his nerves were on edge, and he would
+take me about to places I did not like, and he began to take liberties,
+called me by my Christian name, and was always taking hold of me, and
+talking in a silly inane fashion. He thought I liked it, until one day
+I made myself very angry and showed him that I did not intend to be
+treated so. Then he did it to tease me.</p>
+
+<p>"The night before last, Mrs. St. Lucas had a dinner engagement
+somewhere, and I was feeling tired. I had not been in bed before two
+or three in the morning for a whole week. He came in about dinner time
+and wanted me to go to the Ritz with him. I refused, and then he said
+he should stay at home with me. I am quite sure he took too much whisky
+at dinner, for when he came into the drawing-room afterwards, he reeked
+of it, and he began to be most objectionable, calling me his 'darling
+girl' and trying to kiss me. I walked straight away from him and locked
+myself up in my bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. St. Lucas came home very late, so I determined to tell her about
+it in the morning. I did not know quite what to do, for she had made
+all arrangements to go to Vienna, and of course Mr. Buchan was going
+too, and I suddenly felt sick and disgusted with it all. I hardly
+slept—worrying through things and not seeing how I could back out of
+it, or get away from them. Then in the morning I heard from Mrs. St.
+Lucas' maid when she called me that Mrs. St. Lucas had gone down to
+Richmond with a party of friends for the day. It was just like her. She
+left a message saying she would be back early in the evening. I asked
+the maid if Mr. Buchan were out or in, and she gave me a note from him."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian paused, then with her head held very proudly, she went on:</p>
+
+<p>"If he had apologized for his behaviour, I would very likely have
+forgiven him on condition he never offended in that way again, but his
+note was sentimental drivel, just flattering me, and saying that the
+earth could do better without the sun than he could without me, and he
+ended by saying he wanted to take me down the river for the day. Would
+I be kind and come? I sent a message by the maid to say that I was not
+well and was going to have a quiet day in my room. And then after I had
+heard him leave the flat, and angrily tell the maid he would not be in
+till late, it suddenly struck me what I could do!</p>
+
+<p>"In a few minutes I was out of bed and dressed, and had got to the
+nearest garage. I hired a car without thinking of where I was going.
+I only knew I must get away from it all. I remembered as I was going
+through the streets, that Waddy had a married sister in Wiltshire. She
+came to her funeral, and I thought for the sake of Waddy that she might
+take me in. And then, just as I came here, I ran into some trees half
+across the road. I'm not smashed up myself, perhaps it would be better
+for you and others if I were, but the car is an utter wreck, and I
+shall have to pay an awful sum at the garage, I suppose. I didn't know
+what to do, and then I thought of you. And if you can square it up with
+them now, I'll pay you back by instalments. If it takes a lifetime to
+do it, I will!"</p>
+
+<p>She glanced up at him feverishly.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold responded at once.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll write to them to-night, they must know, of course. Now what do
+you want to do?"</p>
+
+<p>There was silence. Gentian leant back against a very hard cushion and
+looked up at him gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you advise me to do?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I think the best thing for you to do is to go to bed and have a good
+night's rest. You look as if you badly need it. I'll come round after
+breakfast, and if you feel fit, I'll take you to Mrs. Wharnecliffe, who
+is really anxious about you. She told me you had left off writing to
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I haven't written to anyone—except perhaps you—and you haven't
+heard very often, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll talk over things to-morrow. I do not know whether you want to
+break entirely with these new friends of yours. But don't worry your
+head over them. Now I am going. Good night. The landlady says she has a
+comfortable bedroom for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what does it matter where I sleep! I'm only a plague and bother
+to all my friends. Good night. You're like one of your Cornish Tors—I
+wish—I wish I could be so immovably serene!"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold left her—and acting upon his advice, Gentian went up to her
+bedroom and got into an old-fashioned fourpost bed with a feather
+mattress. As she put down her head upon her pillow, she said to herself
+determinedly:</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't think of Vernon or his sister. I shall wipe them off my mind.
+I shall only dream and think of that peaceful Cornish valley by the
+sea, and of Cousin Thor moving about in it trying to shoulder all the
+people's burdens. He is shouldering mine, and I will leave him to do
+it. He never fails me."</p>
+
+<p>Sleep came to her very soon in spite of aching wrist and limbs. She met
+Thorold at the breakfast table the next morning looking much more like
+herself. And she had recovered her spirits. Meeting his intent gaze she
+asked him lightly:</p>
+
+<p>"Am I looking an awful guy? I feel as if I have been in a football
+scrimmage."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very thin," said Thorold gravely. "I suppose it is the result
+of the life you have been leading—late hours and excitement."</p>
+
+<p>"I have only had six weeks of it, barely that."</p>
+
+<p>"It's long enough to have brought lines to your face which were not
+there before."</p>
+
+<p>"You're not complimentary. You never are to me. But I have got nervy
+and cross in London. I always hated towns. I told you so when you came
+and took Waddy and me away from it. The air is used up, and people get
+in one's way, and are nasty, and then that rouses nastiness in me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now we must talk matters over. You have been too hasty and
+impetuous in running away like this! Do you want to end all this
+musical life? Will you be content to settle down quietly away from it
+all?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never want to get away from music. I could not be happy without a
+piano or organ, but I never want to see Mr. Buchan again, never. He
+thinks of nobody but himself, and thinks he can treat me anyhow!"</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's cheeks grew hot and red as she thought of her last interview
+with Vernon, and of his letter following it.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know where I am to live," she went on with a plaintive tone in
+her voice. "I could never go back to the Miss Buchans. Now I see that I
+treated them badly, for they have been very kind to me. But Mr. Buchan
+made me write to them and definitely refuse to go back to them. And I
+can't stay very long with Mrs. Wharnecliffe."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll talk over plans with her," said Thorold hastily. "I think you
+had better write yourself to both Mr. Buchan and his sister. They have
+been kind to you. Don't shirk it. You are not a child, and must be able
+to have the courage of your convictions."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian looked at him with laughter in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You are just the same as ever. Very kind when I am in trouble, but so
+quick to dictate to me and correct my faults. When I sweep people out
+of my life, I do it with one good swish of the broom, and never give my
+reasons. Why should I?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it would be more courteous and more straightforward if you
+were to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"What! To tell Mrs. St. Lucas that her brother is detestable to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, that is not necessary."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian jumped up from the breakfast table. "I'll write with the
+greatest pleasure. No one can say that I am afraid of them."</p>
+
+<p>She seized hold of her writing-case, sat down and scribbled off two
+hasty notes which she handed to Thorold to read before she placed them
+in their envelopes.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAR MRS. ST. LUCAS,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I hope you were not anxious about me. I would have explained had you
+been home. I have had enough of town life. Your brother and I have had
+words—I don't feel I care about being with him any more. I have played
+for him at his two big Recitals, and that is all I came up for. I shall
+never change my mind, but I thank you for your kind hospitality and
+hope you will enjoy Vienna. Please send my luggage to Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+and forgive my hasty departure.<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">"Yours gratefully,</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">"GENTIAN BRENDON."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAR MR. BUCHAN,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I feel you will have given your sister an explanation of my
+disappearance. Please do not think that all girls are alike, and that I
+understand such talk and behaviour as yours. Your letter is offensive
+to me. What have I done to make you write in such a style? I hope we
+shall never meet again. I should have been happier if I had never known
+you.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I can't describe myself anything but a disgusted and disillusioned
+acquaintance,<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">"GENTIAN BRENDON."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Thorold handed them back to her with a very grave face.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you don't approve of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think you might write to him differently. With a little more
+dignity. After all, he may have only expressed what he felt for you—you
+are too severe."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, men always side with men."</p>
+
+<p>"I am trying to be just and fair," said Thorold. "Give his note back to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian tore it to pieces, then dashed off another epistle.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAR MR. BUCHAN,—<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I am sorry that I felt obliged to come away from town. Your attitude
+lately has stopped our friendly intercourse, and I think it wiser to
+end my visit to your sister.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Thanking you for all your past kindness,<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">"Yours sincerely,</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">"GENTIAN BRENDON."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"That is better," was Thorold's comment. "Now we'll post these at once,
+and get them off our mind. There's a train we can catch in an hour's
+time. The doctor wants to see you once more. I see him coming along the
+road now."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't want doctors," said Gentian impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>But she was persuaded to see him, and he was able to bandage her wrist
+afresh.</p>
+
+<p>"You want a good rest. Your nerves are overstrained," he told her. "Why
+will you young people burn the candle at both ends! Then if illness or
+accident comes, you have no resisting force to overcome them."</p>
+
+<p>"I consider I've weathered through my accident in splendid fashion,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Your pulse does not tell me so. Take it quietly. You will feel your
+bruises for some days, but you have had a wonderful escape."</p>
+
+<p>In an hour's time Gentian was sitting opposite Thorold in a railway
+carriage.</p>
+
+<p>He talked to her a great deal about Cornwall; of its traditions and
+folklore and history. He persistently refused to discuss any future
+plans with her and she was content, for the time being, to live in the
+present.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe received Gentian with her usual warmth of welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"The very bad penny has returned to you," said Gentian softly and
+contritely.</p>
+
+<p>"I almost felt it would be so," was Mrs. Wharnecliffe's response. "Your
+heart was so set on going, that I felt it would be wise to let you go;
+but I had a presentiment that it would be a failure."</p>
+
+<p>They had had luncheon in the train. Sitting out under the big acacia
+tree on the lawn, Gentian poured out her story. Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+smiled at times at her childishness, yet was surprised with her quick
+comprehension and discernment. She saw that Vernon Buchan had wearied
+her long before the actual break with him, and she was thankful for it.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold left them alone for a considerable time; then, when he joined
+them, Mrs. Wharnecliffe said she must finish writing some letters.</p>
+
+<p>"We will have tea out here," she said. "I shall not be long."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold took a garden chair and pulled out his pipe, but he did not
+light it. He looked at Gentian in a funny, diffident kind of way.</p>
+
+<p>"Now shall we talk plans?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian with a sigh; "but you'll be very clever if you can
+find a home for me anywhere, I must work; but what to do, and how to
+earn money, I do not know. I suppose I must try and give music lessons,
+but I am not very patient."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold cleared his throat.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to offer you a home," he said; "but I doubt if you
+would—"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, where? Not in Cornwall with you? As your housekeeper?"</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's face fell.</p>
+
+<p>Then he put his pipe in his pocket, and took her slim little hand in
+his.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I too old and stodgy for you, Gentian? Too dull and commonplace to
+make you happy? Would you care to come down to Cornwall and make me one
+of the happiest men there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Are you asking me to marry you?" whispered Gentian, her blue eyes
+glowing as she looked up into his rather agitated face.</p>
+
+<p>"I am asking you to be my wife," he said very solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>Her face broke up into ripples of laughter. Then a tender softness came
+over it.</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Thor, you're a darling! Do you really mean it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Would I joke on such a subject?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never, never thought you'd care enough for me. Why, I like you
+better than anyone else in the world! You're not asking me out of pity?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold had drawn her into his arms.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no pity in my heart," he said softly, "only immense love. And
+it has been there for a long, long time, only I thought I was too old
+for you."</p>
+
+<p>"You're not a bit old, you're everything that I want. Did you know how
+I felt about you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me."</p>
+
+<p>But Gentian had suddenly become shy. "I will one day, but not yet."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe, looking out of her morning-room, suddenly rang her
+bell, and gave orders that tea was to be delayed half an hour. At the
+end of that time, she walked out to the acacia tree, and received the
+news with great equanimity.</p>
+
+<p>"And now do you think all your troubles are at an end, Gentian?" she
+asked, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Troubles?" repeated the girl with shining eyes. "Oh, indeed they are!
+The whole world is changed to me. Now, Mrs. Wharnecliffe, I shall have
+a right to go off to Cornwall as often as I like, and a right to have
+my say in his house, and everything that concerns him. I have a right
+to look after him in every way. How I've longed to do it! I can hardly
+believe it is true! Just think. An hour ago I had no hope—no certainty
+or knowledge of what was to become of me—I was lonely and miserable. I
+had made a mess of my affairs in town—I had offended the Misses Buchan,
+I felt you and Cousin Thor did not know what to do with me, and looked
+upon me as an incubus—an obstacle to your peace of mind! I felt he was
+going back to his mine, and Miss Muir meant to marry him. And here in
+this peaceful garden I was at the end of everything. When Cousin Thor
+said he wanted to talk plans, I thought I should be placed in some
+awful family, or have a stiff, starched chaperon. I haven't had time to
+think things out yet. I hardly know if I stand on my head or my heels.
+Do you think he really and truly means what he says? He's the sort that
+might sacrifice his whole life from compassion or pity on somebody. And
+that somebody would be me! You know him very well."</p>
+
+<p>But Thorold interrupted:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you doubt my word?" he asked her softly.</p>
+
+<p>And Gentian gazed at him with tender smiling eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you couldn't tell a lie. You've done for yourself, Cousin Thor,
+for good or evil you have got me now. Mrs. Wharnecliffe, are you in
+your heart of hearts the least bit sorry for him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should be, if I did not know you both very intimately. I know he
+will satisfy all your requirements, Gentian, and it is in your power to
+satisfy his."</p>
+
+<p>"Here we are, taking all the romance and beauty out of it, and
+deliberately discussing it in cold blood," said Gentian. "I shall be
+as bold as brass, and say it out loud: I love him, Mrs. Wharnecliffe,
+and he loves me. Nothing else matters, nothing. If his mine burst up
+to-morrow, and we had to live in two rooms on bread and cheese, I would
+be singing for joy in my heart."</p>
+
+<p>"And now we will have tea," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, laughing, "and for
+the present, Gentian, bread and cheese is not your portion. May I say
+this, that you are a very fortunate girl. I don't think you know what I
+think of your Cousin Thorold."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes I do—he's a tower of strength. I told him once my ideal of a
+husband, and he's the only man that has fulfilled it. I want some
+one like a rock for steadiness and reliability, he must never fail
+me, never deceive me, never disappoint me. And his soul must be the
+strongest part of him; for mine is the weakest. And you know his side
+of the bargain. A scatter-brained, changeable, impetuous, well-meaning,
+but altogether selfish bubble—just a frothy bubble. But—" here sudden
+fire leaped to her eyes—"I'll do better, and I'll spend my life in
+making him happy. He never thinks of himself, he has always thought
+first of others. I will think first of him."</p>
+
+<p>"You embarrass me," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe gave a turn to the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Personalities will now be avoided," she said playfully. "What is more
+to the purpose is—how long will you be able to stay here, Thorold?"</p>
+
+<p>"I must get back to-morrow night."</p>
+
+<p>They began to discuss plans. But Gentian's glowing animation died down.
+She sat with clasped hands round her knees, gazing dreamily across the
+sunny lawn.</p>
+
+<p>She felt that this was the golden hour in her life, and as her eyes
+wandered up to the deep blue sky above her, she wondered if her
+faithful friend would be allowed to know the great happiness that had
+come to her.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h3><a id="Chapter_15">CHAPTER XV</a></h3>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<b>THEIR GOLDEN TIME</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>THOROLD did not leave till late the next afternoon. He took Gentian off
+for a walk in the morning. And they found a lot to say to each other,
+though perhaps he was the more silent of the two.</p>
+
+<p>She was rather shy at times.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," she explained to him, "I am not yet accustomed to my new
+position. And if it seems to turn my head at first, you must make
+allowances. It's rather a case of King Cophetua and the beggar-maid.
+Yes, I'm next door to a beggar-maid, and to know that for the rest of
+my life I shall have no money anxieties is entrancing. Do you think now
+if the mine goes on well, that you and I could get a couple of good
+horses and ride about together in Cornwall? You see, I'm at my old
+trade, begging from the king already!"</p>
+
+<p>Her laughter rang out so merrily that Thorold could not help joining
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we will ride together," he said. "I would rather ride any day
+than use a car."</p>
+
+<p>"And you'll take that little grey stone house, and let me make it cosy
+and pretty? What a lot of things there are to be done! Oh, I wonder if
+I shall make you a good wife? You like the old-fashioned sort, don't
+you? A wife who'll always stay at home, and take care of the house, and
+welcome her husband back with smiles of peace and looks of love. I'm
+afraid I shall find it very difficult, but I mean to do everything you
+want. Oh, Cousin Thor, you don't know how I worship you!"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll drop the 'cousin,' shall we?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, of course. But I've a lot of secret pet names for you. Would you
+like to hear them? Thorold is so grave and stiff. I called you the
+Buffer first, because you always came between me and difficulties, and
+then I thought of you as 'Mr. Ready to help,' and then the 'Limpet's
+Rock'—I was the limpet, of course—and you were also 'the Universal
+Improver.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, spare me," said Thorold with a little laugh; "I know I have been
+very down on you for many things, but you have taken my scoldings like
+an angel, and I don't feel like scolding any more."</p>
+
+<p>Then in a graver tone, he began to talk to her about the life they
+would have together, of the responsibilities that would come to them,
+and of the opportunities they would have of helping those around them.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian listened with eager delight.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall, of course, do all I can. I do think seriously, you know, and
+I'm full now of noble resolves and desires. You will have to lift me up
+away from earth when you are soaring heavenwards yourself. And when I
+drop down with a thud into the mire, you will have to pick me up again,
+and start me afresh."</p>
+
+<p>Their talk veered from grave to gay, but when they returned to the
+house, Mrs. Wharnecliffe asked them if they had settled the day for
+their marriage.</p>
+
+<p>"You have nothing to wait for," she said; "I am sure you know each
+other through and through. I mean to keep Gentian with me until her
+trousseau will be ready, and you will have to get your house in order,
+Thorold. Don't think I want to hurry you, but I'm going to take Phil to
+the Riviera in November, and should love to see you settled comfortably
+for the winter, before we go."</p>
+
+<p>"I have touched upon that crucial point," said Thorold.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian, a little shyly; "and I'm going to leave it to
+him—I want just a little time to take it all in, and to think over it,
+but when he wants me, I'll be ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why not fix a day towards the end of October? That will leave a
+good three months," suggested Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>And both Thorold and Gentian signified their assent.</p>
+
+<p>The hours of that day passed too quickly for Gentian. She clung to
+Thorold when his time of departure came.</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite sure you haven't made a mistake?" she said, laying her
+head on his shoulder with a little happy sigh; "you won't let Miss Muir
+make you think I am too young and giddy to make you a good wife? I
+shall do awful things sometimes, I always do, but I shan't do them on
+purpose. And I have some pride, and I'll show Miss Muir that I can keep
+house, and dispense hospitality, and be as good a hostess as she is
+herself."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not afraid that my future wife will lack either dignity or
+grace," said Thorold. "My darling, I have made many mistakes in my
+life, but I am quite certain that I am not making one now."</p>
+
+<p>"And we'll write and write and write to each other, till we meet
+again," said Gentian; "and if you're very long away, I shall get into
+my car and come tearing down to see you—I can always do that."</p>
+
+<p>She parted from him with smiles and misty eyes, and when he had gone,
+came to Mrs. Wharnecliffe.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm the happiest girl in the world! Did you know he liked me? Did
+you know I liked him? I'm thanking God with all my heart for bringing
+such joy into my life. I shall love Him so much more, and shall
+serve Him so much better now. I always think that Cousin Thor is an
+uncalendared saint; and living with him will, of course, make me a much
+better character. We won't keep our engagement a secret. There's one
+person I should like to tell soon, and that is Sir Gilbert. He is one
+of my greatest friends next to you."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll drive over and see him to-morrow," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe. "I
+have had a pretty good idea, for some time past, that your feelings
+towards Thorold were undergoing a change. You did not care for him at
+first, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no," admitted Gentian; "for he was too masterful. Isn't it
+funny? I don't mind that a bit now. I like it in him—I don't want my
+own way, I want his."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe, "that is the right kind of love, that
+gives more than it takes. I hope you'll always feel like that, my dear
+child."</p>
+
+<p>"I have really grown older," said Gentian thoughtfully, "in many ways.
+Dear Waddy's illness taught me a good deal. I remember I felt when she
+left me, that I would never smile again, my heart was quite cold and
+dead. Cousin Thor did me good, when he came over to see me. And I see
+now how right he was. Trouble does work for good if we take it in the
+right way. I was very rebellious and impatient at first, and I have
+been most awfully depressed lately—not seeing my future one little bit.
+Somehow I never dreamt that Cousin Thor would or could care for me. I
+felt very inclined to marry Jim, or anyone, and make the best of a bad
+job. Fancy if I had! It doesn't bear thinking about."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe let her talk on. She was a very sympathetic listener,
+and was too pleased with the match to be over-critical; otherwise she
+might have checked the girl's egotistical talk.</p>
+
+<p>In a few days the news became known.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Gilbert received it with his serene smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I think," he said, "I must congratulate you most. There are few men
+nowadays so quietly helpful and so selfless as Thorold Holt."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gentian; "everybody loves him. I suppose you think I am not
+half good enough for him. He ought to have a sweet, dignified, queenly
+woman, serene and calm, and instead, he has me."</p>
+
+<p>"He has a little person who is learning fast to control her likes and
+dislikes, to think nothing of herself, and everything of those she
+loves."</p>
+
+<p>"I am trying to arrive at that, but am not there yet," said Gentian
+humbly.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Horatia arrived over one afternoon to offer her congratulations.</p>
+
+<p>"I felt you would not come and see us," she said in her blunt downright
+fashion; "so I came to see you. We are not annoyed with you, though I
+am sure you think we are. Anne and I know our nephew's way so well.
+That was why we did not want you to meet him. He takes violent fancies
+to girls, and then slips away from them, before he definitely commits
+himself."</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't treat me like that," said Gentian, with great dignity. "It
+was I who ran away from him. But I was too hasty and impulsive, Miss
+Horatia. I was beside myself with excitement in London, and when I was
+told I could make quite a nice sum by accompanying people, I thought I
+should like to take it up as a profession."</p>
+
+<p>"And then what happened?" inquired Miss Horatia.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Gentian hesitating, "Mr. Vernon would not leave me alone.
+He wearied me. I had to do everything with him, and go everywhere with
+him, and I got sick of it, and of the people I had to meet. I am not
+made for towns. I always think some of us are made for the country and
+some for towns, don't you think so? And then I simply fled, and I never
+want to see London again. It all tired me to death, and made my nerves
+all come to the top of my skin. Do you know the feeling?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could have told you what it would be like, but you would not have
+believed me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am ashamed of myself. How is Miss Anne? Would she see me if I came
+over and asked her forgiveness for leaving her so suddenly, after all
+her kindness to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"She'll like to see you any day. And so you're really engaged to
+Thorold Holt? I thought you considered him an antiquated prig and
+meddler."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought he was everything that was horrid when I first knew him,"
+said Gentian laughing; "but everybody who really gets to know him, and
+watches his life, must adore him, Miss Horatia!"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Horatia laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then that is your role now! Well—you can pin your faith and love on
+Thorold and never be disillusioned. I'll say that, and I've known him
+for a good many years. You're a lucky young woman, and I congratulate
+you with all my heart."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. Every one tells me that. And they nearly say 'you're not
+half enough good for him,' their eyes and corners of their mouths say
+it, if their tongues don't! But it's quite true. I'm not good enough,
+or clever enough, or steady enough. But somebody said once that people
+who live together get like each other, so I'm hoping to get like him in
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"You would do well to be shaken into a bag together," said Miss
+Horatia. "I dare say you'll tone down, and he'll brisk up. Now what I
+want to ask you is this: Are you going to get a chance of continuing
+your riding after you're married?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I hope so. Cousin Thor says he will have horses. How is my dear
+Sophy?"</p>
+
+<p>"She's eating her head off in the stable. Are you staying here? If so,
+come over and exercise her. I think I may give my old hunter to you as
+a wedding present."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Miss Horatia! After the way I have behaved! Why, you're a perfect
+angel!"</p>
+
+<p>Impulsive Gentian seized hold of Miss Horatia's hands, and in her
+pretty foreign fashion which had not altogether left her, lifted them
+to her lips and kissed them.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Horatia drew her hands away with a little laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't offend me. Young people must go their own way nowadays.
+I couldn't, when I was a girl—more's the pity. And you have gone up
+several pegs in my estimation by your appreciation of Thorold."</p>
+
+<p>"Appreciation!" gasped Gentian. "Why I would die for him! Nobody
+realizes what I feel for him!"</p>
+
+
+<p>The next day she went over to see Miss Anne, who received her kindly,
+but a little stiffly.</p>
+
+<p>But when Gentian told her contritely how sorry and ashamed she was for
+having left them in such haste, she was graciously forgiven.</p>
+
+<p>"My sister and I have talked it over. We knew you were under our
+nephew's influence, for he wrote to us about you and told us plainly
+that he would not let you come back to us. You made a great mistake
+in going up to town in the first instance, but that you would do.
+However, all's well that ends well, and I think that Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+and anyone who cares about you, must feel very thankful for your
+engagement."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," murmured Gentian; "I'm sure you think it is more than I deserve.
+But it means a fresh start, and a new life, and a glorious future for
+me. And I'm going to try and turn into a dowdy, virtuous, old-fashioned
+wife, so that every one will say: 'How her marriage has improved her!
+I never should have dreamt that that undisciplined, wilful, giddy girl
+could have altered so!' I hope you'll say so, dear Miss Anne—oh, do
+give me your blessing."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Anne could no more resist Gentian when she adopted her winning,
+persuasive tone than anyone else. She promised she would come to her
+wedding if she were able, and would be glad to see her at any time.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>And then for the next month Mrs. Wharnecliffe kept her very busy over
+her trousseau. She wanted to take Gentian for a few weeks to town to
+shop there, but the girl shrank from it, and said she would much rather
+get her clothes made locally.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't like a place that has made you unhappy. London was not a
+friend to me. I think she is one of the cities in the world which is
+pleasant for the workers and business people and the gay idlers, but
+I'm a betwixt and a between, I'm not exactly a drone, and I'm not a
+busy bee. I'm just a lover of sunshine and peace and quiet country.
+Don't smile like that, Mrs. Wharnecliffe. I'm altering a lot as I grow
+older. I shall love the quietness of that grey Cornish house, and you
+can't say I don't love the country here. And I'm not going to be a
+smart, fashionable woman. Thorold loves me in blue, he says he wants me
+to dress in nothing else, so that's easy. And we're not going to have a
+smart wedding."</p>
+
+<p>"But I shall insist upon a white wedding dress," said Mrs. Wharnecliffe
+firmly, "and you must have one or two nice evening frocks and some of
+them not blue."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian was smiling happily, with her thoughts far away. Thorold had
+told her that the picture of her standing in the doorway of that dingy
+lodging-house in London had never left his memory.</p>
+
+<p>"You were dressed in a rich blue gown with turquoise beads, and somehow
+you reminded me with your sad, sweet little face and big blue eyes of a
+young madonna. You might have stepped out of some old Italian picture."</p>
+
+<p>"And then you discovered I was only an imp," Gentian had said to him.</p>
+
+<p>She was thinking of this now and of how Thorold had drawn her into his
+arms and murmured:</p>
+
+<p>"My little blue Gentian—I want you always dressed in blue."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wharnecliffe smiled as she noted her abstraction of mind. She
+remembered her own courting days, and made due allowance for Gentian's
+moods.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Time slipped along rapidly; and then they went for another day or two
+down to Cornwall.</p>
+
+<p>This time Frances Muir was away, and Gentian was relieved to hear it.</p>
+
+<p>The house was in the decorators' hands, and work being pushed along as
+rapidly as it could be in one of the leisurable counties of England.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold and Gentian wandered over the house by themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"How I longed to furnish it when I was here before. And now we are
+doing it," laughed Gentian. "Now you must promise not to laugh at me if
+I ask you for one thing. There is a little empty room at the end of the
+passage. It looks out west. I want a bit of the house all to myself,
+and I want this room. I shall watch the sunsets from it, and in the
+winter I shall see the daylight die away later than in any other room."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have the room most certainly. It can be your boudoir."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, it is going to be my Sanctuary. When I was in Italy, I knew
+somebody—she was only a girl—one of my own friends—but she had in her
+beautiful home one little room where she used to go to tell her beads
+and pray before a silver crucifix. I am not a Roman Catholic. I don't
+want a crucifix or beads, but I shall have a prie-dieu chair just
+before the window, and I shall have my Bible on a blue cushion upon
+the wide window-ledge, and when I'm in one of my passions—or when I
+feel worried or depressed—I shall run away there and be quiet, and then
+shall come out with peace in my heart. Sir Gilbert and you have taught
+me to take all my troubles to God. I do it as a habit now. But I love
+to have a little quiet closet as the Bible says, and be shut in there
+alone."</p>
+
+<p>"My darling," said Thorold, bending over her and kissing rather a
+wistful little face, "you shall indeed have your Sanctuary. I only wish
+it were big enough for a small organ, for I think you would like one
+there. But I must tell you, I am going to present the little church
+here with one. I don't think you and I could stand that harmonium every
+Sunday. I have talked with Dick about it, and he is very pleased. You
+will be able to run into church whenever you like, and if you would
+sometimes play for the Sunday services, I expect everyone would be
+delighted."</p>
+
+<p>Gentian's face became radiant.</p>
+
+<p>"An organ! Oh, how lovely. It is the one thing I have felt unhappy
+about, leaving dear St. Anselm's and my dear, dear organ! Why, Thorold,
+there's everything we want now in this little village."</p>
+
+<p>And Thorold made response in his dry and whimsical way:</p>
+
+<p>"I am easily contented. Organs and rooms, and all such common things
+only form a background to my centre. And my centre is to be kept well
+and happy, so I am now going to lock this house up before she gets
+overtired and take her off to the Rectory to lunch."</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>Many people gathered together to see Gentian married in St. Anselm's
+Church. And yet it was a very quiet wedding. Neither of Thorold's young
+brothers was present. Gentian was much relieved to hear of Godwin's
+engagement to his Admiral's daughter, before her own engagement to his
+brother was broken to him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bright, frosty October morning. Sir Gilbert gave the bride
+away, and afterwards played the wedding march himself as she and her
+bridegroom came down the aisle. Through the whole of the service
+Gentian seemed very composed and quiet, but her head drooped and she
+never raised her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Thorold had felt her hand tremble as he put the ring upon her finger.</p>
+
+<p>She never once looked at him till they were in the car driving from the
+church to Oakberry Hall, and then when Thorold put his arm round her,
+she glanced up at him through a mist of tears.</p>
+
+<p>"It's just joy," she whispered to him, "and relief that I did not take
+Jim in a hurry and lose you! And it's a little bit frightening, isn't
+it, getting married? We've neither of us done it before, and if you
+ever were to be disgusted and ashamed of me, what should I do? Now,
+don't stop me! I feel that everybody thinks me too young and foolish to
+be your wife, but time will put that right, won't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Thorold's protests made her smile.</p>
+
+<p>"And now," she said, "just call me Mrs. Holt, so that I may hear how it
+sounds."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Afterwards, at Mrs. Wharnecliffe's reception, her quiet grace and
+dignity were noted by all.</p>
+
+<p>The rector's wife was much impressed by it.</p>
+
+<p>"She has improved," she said to her husband; "since Miss Ward's death
+she has been much steadier. I could have wished that Mr. Holt had
+done better, but of course, in the circumstances, one does not wonder
+that he has married her. He considered that he had cut her out of her
+relation's money."</p>
+
+<p>But it was not pity that shone in Thorold's grey eyes. He had had a
+grey life, and the golden sunshine that now flooded his heart almost
+dazed him. Gentian had long ago stolen into his heart; he knew that she
+would be enshrined there for the rest of his life. They went off to
+Italy for a fortnight and then came straight home to Cornwall.</p>
+
+<p>It had been an ideal honeymoon. Thorold looked years younger, and
+Gentian had developed in many ways. She was changing from a pretty girl
+into a beautiful woman. Sometimes her grave dignity with strangers made
+her husband wonder. Her explanation was very simple:</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going to be that contemptible thing, a child-wife! People
+shan't curl their lips, and go away and pity you. When we're quite
+alone, I'll have my fun, but not in public!"</p>
+
+<p>They came to their grey manor house as dusk was falling, but there
+were lights and fire to welcome them, and Frances Muir had found them
+a delightful Cornish couple of the name of Tiddy. Mr. Tiddy opened
+the door and made smart salute. He had been a sailor, and thought the
+British Navy the most important creation on the face of the earth.
+Mrs. Tiddy was clean and rosy and very small, but she moved about at
+lightning pace and never wasted time in talk. Her spouse was the one
+with the tongue, as she told Gentian when talking about him.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew afore us were wedded what a clacker 'e be, an' sez I, two
+tongues wull soon raise the wind, one agen t'uther, zo zilent be I from
+this time forth, an' so I be. But I'll say this for Jerry, 'e du wark
+so well as talk."</p>
+
+<p>Most of Thorold's furniture had been brought to the house. The square
+hall, with its thick rugs underfoot, and thick curtains to the doors
+and windows, and blazing log fire, looked a very different place from
+when Gentian had first seen it. Whilst Thorold was giving directions
+about their luggage, she ran upstairs, peeped into her big, bright
+bedroom, where flowered chintzes and another bright fire awaited her,
+and then down the passage she went to her Sanctuary. There was no fire
+here, but she turned on the electric light, which had been installed
+all over the house, and looked around her, well pleased with the result
+of her furnishing.</p>
+
+<p>The walls were white, the woodwork dark oak. A rich blue carpet was
+on the floor, and blue velvet curtains were drawn across the windows.
+The prie-dieu chair, with its blue cushion, was before the window;
+there were a writing-table, an easy chair and a small book-case filled
+with devotional books. Two pictures only were hung upon the walls. One
+depicted Christ walking with his two disciples to Emmaus, the other
+Daniel kneeling before his open window.</p>
+
+<p>Gentian drew aside the curtains. In the distance she saw a line of
+silver sea. A young moon was already shining in the sky. She gazed for
+a moment up into the infinite blue above her, then turned and, kneeling
+upon her chair, bowed her head.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"O God," she murmured, "I thank Thee for my husband and home. Bless us
+in it. Make me a good wife, and help me to be a better Christian, for
+Jesus Christ's sake—Amen."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>A moment later and she was hanging upon her husband's arm, listening
+with laughing eyes to Tiddy's talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Missus an' me will do 'ee praper, esfay us will. A've bin to sea wi'
+the highest in the land, an' they be most alway single gents, and
+vrom puttin' in they dashed little studs in dinner starched shirts to
+cleanin' patent boots wi' a shine on they vit to see wan's face tu,
+a've waited on 'em, an' got nought but praise. An' missus an' me can
+well attend tu the wants of a couple like 'ee, for a du lay that man
+an' maid, be they king or tinker folk, when they virst be wed, be so
+ower taken up wi' each on 'em, that they be main easy to be pleased."</p>
+
+<p>Thorold laughed and drew Gentian into the smoking-room.</p>
+
+<p>"He won't find us such fools as he hopes. We dream our dreams, but I
+for one can be very practical, and I think my wife can be so too."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to be everything that I ought to be," said Gentian earnestly,
+then she laughingly laid her head on her husband's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"But there is one thing I can't and won't be, and that is a long-faced,
+melancholy Christian. They ought to be exterminated, for they make
+others hate religion."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I'm not one of that sort," said Thorold smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"You? Never. You're grave sometimes, but the twinkle in your eyes
+always saves you. Oh, Thorold, do you think we shall always be as happy
+as we are now?"</p>
+
+<p>And Thorold, looking at the radiant young face turned towards him,
+had no misgivings that life should rob her of her joyousness. He only
+softly repeated some lines which he had read:</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"The heart that trusts for ever sings,<br>
+&nbsp;And feels as light as it had wings;<br>
+&nbsp;A well of peace within it springs,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Come good or ill,<br>
+&nbsp;Whate'er to-day, to-morrow brings.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It is His Will."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+FINIS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75231 ***</div>
+</body>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #75231 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75231)