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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76596-0.txt b/76596-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6de4a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7386 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76596 *** + +Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed. + + + +[Illustration: She then moistened his lips with milk from the bottle. +In a few minutes the sick man opened his eyes.] + + + + _[The Stanton-Corbet Chronicles.]_ + _[Year 1685]_ + + + WINIFRED; + + OR, + + AN ENGLISH MAIDEN IN THE + + SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. + + + BY + + L. E. G. + + _[Lucy Ellen Guernsey]_ + + + [Illustration] + + + LONDON: + JOHN F. SHAW AND CO. + 48 PATERNOSTER ROW. + + + + CONTENTS. + + [Illustration] + +CHAP. + + I. JACK'S GHOST + + II. THE MIDNIGHT WALK + + III. MY LADY + + IV. THE CONFERENCE + + V. JACK'S MISFORTUNE + + VI. A NARROW ESCAPE + + VII. FURTHER CONSULTATIONS + + VIII. THE DISGUISE + + IX. SUNDAY + + X. THE ESCAPE + + XI. THE BEGINNING OF CHANGES + + XII. BRISTOL + + XIII. THE CITY KNIGHT'S FAMILY + + XIV. THE BANQUET + + XV. THE FEVER + + XVI. SURPRISES + + XVII. THE PRINCE + +XVIII. CONCLUSION + + + + WINIFRED. + + [Illustration] + +CHAPTER I. + +JACK'S GHOST. + +IT was nearly two mouths after the battle of Sedgemoor, which was +fought on the 6th of July, 1685, between the forces of James the +Second, King of England, and those of the Duke of Monmouth, his +illegitimate nephew, who laid claim to the crown. Monmouth was without +the shadow of right upon his side, and was utterly unsupported, save +by a few political exiles and adventurers as reckless as himself. He +had hoped that as soon as he landed, the gentry of the western counties +would flock to his standard, but in this he was mistaken. Nobody joined +him but the country people, and a few prominent dissenters who were +misled by their hatred of popery and their dread and dislike of the +reigning king. + +After some weeks of aimless marching and counter-marching, of foolish +proclamations and senseless quarrels among themselves, the forces of +Monmouth encountered those of King James upon Sedgemoor, not far from +Bridgewater in Somersetshire, and were utterly defeated, though most +of his raw, undisciplined troops behaved with the greatest bravery, +resisting to the very last, even after they were abandoned by their +leader. Monmouth fled, but was soon taken, carried to London, tried, +and executed. + +No one could blame King James for putting Monmouth to death. He had +been guilty of high treason in taking up arms against the government, +and had justly forfeited his life. But nothing could excuse the +barbarous cruelty exercised toward his followers, almost all of whom +were simple country people, who had been influenced chiefly by personal +attachment to the duke. In Somersetshire alone two hundred and thirty +persons were put to death. Their bodies hung in chains, or their heads +and mangled corpses, hoisted upon poles, poisoned the air of every +market-place and village-green in the County. One poor half idiot, +who had been long supported by charity, was treated in this way. And +two aged women, one in Hampshire and one in London, were sentenced to +be burned alive, merely for sheltering and assisting with food and +money some of the wretched fugitives. Both were persons of the best +character, noted for their piety and their active benevolence. By the +urgent intercession of certain of the king's own party, the sentence of +Alice Lisle was changed from burning to beheading, but Elizabeth Gaunt +perished in the flames, meeting her death with a patience and courage +worthy of an ancient Christian martyr. + +At the time when my story commences, Master David Evans lived near a +little hamlet called Holford, about nine or ten miles from Bridgewater. +He was a yeoman, that is to say, he farmed his own land, which had +belonged to his family for several generations. Master Evans had +received more education than most of his neighbors, even those of +higher rank than himself, and possessed what in that time and place +was esteemed quite a library, that is to say, he had besides his great +Bible and Prayer-book, "The Whole Duty of Man," Foxe's "Martyrs," and +a couple of odd volumes of Hackluyt's "Voyages." He was not rich, for +his land was none of the best, and scientific farming was unknown in +those days. But he had always enough and to spare, and no poor person +applying to him for help was sent empty away. His principal profits +were derived from his orchards and cider presses, for which then as now +Somersetshire was famous, and from the horses he raised for the London +market. + +His elder son had been apprenticed to a shipwright in Bristol, and was +now in business for himself. The younger was captain of a fine vessel +sailing from the same port, while his wife Magdalen lived with her +father-in-law, kept his house, and attended to the dairy and poultry +yard. + +Magdalen belonged to a good Devonshire family, which had sent more than +one confessor to the rack and the stake in the time of Queen Mary, and +had borne a good share in the naval exploits by which the men of Devon +rendered themselves famous during the next glorious reign. Magdalen +herself was a woman of a grave and earnest spirit, scrupulously exact +in the performance of all daily duties, kind and considerate to those +about her, and thoroughly imbued with that spirit of religious devotion +which had sustained her great-grandmother amid the fires of Smithfield. +She had two children. Jack was a sturdy boy of twelve, with a great +aptitude for fishing, birds'-nesting, and riding on horseback, and +an equal disinclination for learning of any sort, together with a +marvellous capacity for tearing his clothes, blackening his eyes, and +getting into scrapes generally. Winifred was nearly three years older, +and very much resembled her mother, both in mind and person. + +Master Evans had been in no way concerned in the Rebellion. He was +not given to politics at any time, and he looked upon the Duke of +Monmouth's adventure with equal dislike and contempt. He was a constant +and devout church-goer, and even his great high-tory neighbor, Sir +Edward Peckham, could find no other fault with him than that he +dispensed his charities to churchman and dissenter alike, which however +was equally true of the vicar of the parish and the Bishop of Bath and +Wells, the learned and excellent Doctor Ken. + +But it did not follow of course that Master Evans was in no danger +during the bloody proscription which followed the battle of Sedgemoor. +A great many persons as innocent as himself had been put to death by +the monster Jeffreys and the almost equally wicked soldiers Kirke and +Faversham. He could not go to the parish church on Sunday without +seeing over the porch the ghastly head of his kind old neighbor and +friend Master Oldmixon, who had been hung for no other crime than that +of having been in Bridgewater bargaining for the sale of his cheese +on the day before the battle, and taking off his hat to the Duke of +Monmouth as he passed by. Another neighbor had sold eggs and cider to +certain of the duke's officers, and for this offence he was hung in +chains at his own house-door. But Master Evans had thus far escaped +persecution, and as he was not rich enough to excite the covetousness +of the king's officers, he began to hope he should go entirely free. + +It was about two weeks after the conclusion of the Bloody Assizes, as +they have ever since been called, that Jack Evans was going across the +field with a basket in his hand, containing some meal, a large piece +of cheese, and sundry other provisions which his mother had sent him +to carry to a poor widow. Old Dame Sprat lived in a hovel on the edge +of a waste, swampy plain, partly overgrown with bushes and reeds; and +to reach her hut, it was necessary to pass through a certain thicket +called the Black Copse, which bore no good name. Strange sounds had +been heard, and strange lights seen glancing among the trees. Nay, +it was solemnly declared that the place was haunted by a black horse +without a head, which spoke with a human voice. + +All country people were superstitious at that time, and Jack was no +wiser than his neighbors in this respect, while the terrible incidents +and horrible sights of the last few weeks had filled the country +with ghost stories. However, his mother had commanded, and there was +nothing for it but to obey. The afternoon was warm and sunny, and the +hazel-nuts were ripening in the hedges. And besides, Jack, who was +really a kind-hearted boy, pitied the poor lonely old woman who had +no one to care for her. So he went along cheerily enough, sometimes +whistling, sometimes singing an old ballad or some sea-song which he +had learned from his father. He was passing through his grandfather's +barley field, and had nearly reached the stile at the further end, +when he noticed with surprise that two or three of the barley sheaves +had fallen down, and were lying partly unbound and scattered upon the +ground. + +"Who has done that?" said he to himself. "I wonder if the gypsies have +been turning their asses into the field again? However, the sheaves +must not be left like that, for I think it is coming on to rain, and +they will all be spoiled." + +So saying, he put down his basket and set himself seriously to the +business of restoring the fallen barley to its place. It was not an +easy task to accomplish alone, but Jack was both strong and skilful for +a boy of his age, and he knew how important it was that not a grain +of this precious barley should be lost: so he persevered, and at last +succeeded in putting matters to rights. + +He was just fastening the band of the last sheaf, when he heard a sound +which made him spring to his feet, with hair bristling and eyes almost +starting from his head. It was a deep groan, as of a person in great +distress. He listened, trembling in every limb. Presently, he heard it +again, and then a faint, hollow voice, speaking, as it were, out of the +ground. + +"My good lad!" it said. + +Jack waited to hear no more. If truth must be told, he was at all +times an arrant coward, and the horrible events of the summer had made +him afraid of his own shadow. He thought no more of basket, barley, +or Widow Sprat. Terror lent him wings, and he never paused to look +round or breathe till he burst into the kitchen, where his mother and +grandfather were sitting, and fell flat on the floor. It was some +time before he could speak so as to be understood, and then he told +a terrible tale of groans, and voices speaking out of the ground, of +clattering hoofs pursuing him, and a white spectre as tall as a chimney +which waved its arms over his head. He could give no account of the +basket, and he declared, in his distress, that he would not go to the +Black Copse again, no, not if they killed him. Indeed it was plain +enough that to send him back would be to endanger his reason if not his +life. + +"I cannot tell what to do!" said Dame Magdalen, very much perplexed. +"Your grandfather is ill with rheumatism, and the men are all away. My +ankle is so lame with the sprain I got yesterday, that I can hardly +make shift to go about house, and Jenny and Priscy would either of them +be as bad as Jack himself. I fear the poor old dame will suffer for +want of food." + +Both the maids declared that they could not and would not go near the +Black Copse that night for all the world. And Jenny added, "Not for +King Monmouth himself, God bless him!" + +"Hush, fool!" said Master Evans, sternly. "There is more danger in one +such speech as that than in all the ghosts in Somersetshire. Let me +never hear the name of that unhappy man spoken under my roof!" + +Jenny was careful to put the dairy door between herself and her master +before she muttered that King Monmouth would come to his own yet, in +spite of them all. + +"As for you, Jack, you had better take your supper, and then go to +bed and sleep off your fright, which I dare say has not taken away +your appetite," said Master Evans. "I do not know what you will do, +Magdalen. I fear the poor woman must go supperless to bed." + +"I will carry the basket to Dame Sprat!" said Winifred, who had sat all +this time in the chimney-corner without speaking a word. + +"You, Winifred!" said her mother, surprised. "But will you not be +afraid?" + +"No, mother, I do not think there is any danger," replied Winifred. + +"Oh, you are wondrous brave, Miss Winifred!" said Jack, not very well +pleased. "Just wait till you hear the headless horse speaking to +you—that's all!" + +"It would be so strange to hear a horse speak at all that I do not +think his not having a head would make much difference," replied +Winifred, slyly. "Are you sure it was a horse which followed you, Jack, +or did you only hear the clattering of your own shoes?" + +Jack muttered something about girls thinking they knew more than any +one else, and followed Jenny into the dairy, that he might enlarge upon +his adventure to a more credulous listener. + +"Then you do not believe in Jack's goblins, Winifred?" + +"No, mother. I have noticed before that when Jack is frightened, he can +never see anything as it really is. I suppose the ghost was the old +dead tree in the copse, which he has seen a hundred times before, and +the groans he heard were the creaking of the branches, or perhaps the +old red cow who is always grumbling to herself. I remember when I had +the fever, how the dame sat up with me and told me tales all night when +I could not sleep, and how she made cool drinks for me, and baskets +of rushes. I always thought I should like to do something for her in +return." + +"But if you should meet any of the soldiers, Winifred?" + +"There are no soldiers in the neighborhood now, mother," said Winifred. +"Dame Hodges has just come from Bridgewater this morning, whither she +has been to see her poor son, and she tells me the soldiers have all +gone away to some other place, with the chief-justice. She went to bid +poor Simeon farewell, but she was not allowed even to see him." + +"Lord have mercy on him, poor creature!" said Dame Evans. "He had +hardly sense to tell his right hand from his left. I do not believe he +even knew upon which side he was fighting. But, daughter, if you are +frightened, what will you do? It is a long way from any house." + +"I will say my prayers or sing a psalm, mother," replied Winifred, +simply. "I think I ought to go," she added. "I think it would be but +right. None of us have been near the dame for some days, and she may be +starving." + +"Give her the basket and let her go, Magdalen," said the old man. "She +has the spirit of thy great-grandmother the martyr. May the blessing +of God go with thee, child!" he added, laying his hand upon her head. +"I will trust Him to bring thee safe back again, but make no further +delay, for it is waxing late, and the days are shorter than they were." + +"And, Winifred, you may take this bottle of milk for the old dame, and +give a look for the other basket as you pass the white elm. It will +doubtless be standing somewhere about." + +Winifred was soon on her way with her bottle and a second basket +well filled. It may seem strange that she was so ready to undertake +the task, but Winifred Evans was no common child. She came of a race +of heroes and confessors, and it seemed as if she had inherited her +character from them. Quiet and retiring as she ordinarily was, hardly +ever speaking unless when spoken to, and preferring her book or her own +thoughts to any kind of play, she was never known to show a particle +of fear. Gentle, patient, and ever ready to yield to the wishes and +opinions of others, in matters where right and wrong were concerned she +was inflexible. + +Winifred's library was not a large one. There was no Sunday-school +library in those times with its weekly supply of story-books—no +magazine or illustrated newspaper. Her books were few, and those of a +character which I fear would hardly attract many of my young readers. +Her favorite volumes were the Bible, the "Book of Martyrs," and an odd +volume of Mr. Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queene," which her father had +bought for her in Bristol. Besides which she read aloud now and then to +Mrs. Alwright in Hall's "Chronicle" and Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia." +But the very fact that Winifred had access to so few books made her +prize more dearly and study more attentively those she had. Over the +first of these especially she pondered for hours in the intervals of +her daily tasks, strengthening her spirit and feeding her imagination +with the glorious truths of the one and the beautiful tales of heroism +and virtue in the others. + +In other circumstances she might have become a mere luxurious dreamer +and castle-builder, living in a world of her own fancies, to the +neglect of real duties, but no such result was possible under the +sensible and energetic training of Dame Magdalen Evans. Ever since +Winifred had been able to run alone, she had had a regular round of +daily duties laid upon her, for the performance of which she had +been held strictly accountable. The chickens must be fed, the eggs +collected, the daily task of spinning and knitting duly performed. And +the little girl was taught to hallow these daily and commonplace toils +by a spirit of religious consecration. + +Dame Magdalen early made her daughter her assistant in those works +of charity and mercy which were the delight of her own heart, and +Winifred was at all times a welcome-visitor in the cottages of their +poor neighbors, who looked upon her as a kind of saint. She shrank from +no toil, however disagreeable, which would benefit others, and she +sometimes undertook tasks from which elder people shrank in dismay. + +It was she who first gained access to Dame Oldmixon, as she sat alone +in her darkened cottage, distracted with grief and terror after the +horrible death of her husband, and at first by tears and caresses, and +then by whispered prayers and verses of Scripture, had quieted the +poor creature and persuaded her to take some food and try to sleep. It +was she who by long and careful searching had recovered little Willie +Higgins' silver sixpence, just as the child had given up the quest in +despair, and was going home to the whipping he was pretty certain to +receive. + +It was Winifred who penetrated to the awful presence of Sir Edward +Peckham himself, to beg off the herd-boy who was about to be sent +to jail for robbing the heron's nest of eggs and feathers; in which +enterprise she succeeded so well that she not only saved the lad +from punishment, but was presented with a new silver piece by Sir +Edward himself, and regaled with sweetmeats by my lady, besides +obtaining the inestimate privilege of coming twice in every week, and +sometimes oftener, to take lessons in fine work and confectionery of +Lady Peckham's waiting gentlewoman, Mistress Alwright. Finally, it +was Winifred who read the delinquent herd-boy such a lecture on the +enormity of his guilt in robbing the herons, that he blubbered over it +for an hour, and promised never again to take what did not belong to +him. + +This very day she had been to visit poor Dame Hodges in her affliction, +and had thus heard the news of the departure of the soldiers from +Bridgewater. + +Winifred walked briskly along, now watching the rooks, which were +beginning to return to their nests in Holford Avenue, and the robin +redbreasts in the hedges; now musing upon something she had read, or +repeating aloud her favorite verses and ballads. As she drew near the +place where the dead elm stood white and gaunt in the copse, she began +to look about for the basket which Jack had left behind in his terror. +Presently she espied it not far from a tall, upright stone near the +dead tree I have mentioned. + +This stone stood close to the edge of the copse, amid a number of +similar ones which had fallen across each other in wild confusion, +and which were believed to have once formed part of some old heathen +temple. The ruin, if such it was, was nearly overgrown with rank +weeds and brambles, and was looked upon with peculiar disfavor by the +country folks, as being the favorite haunt of the headless steed before +mentioned. + +"Why, there is the basket!" said Winifred, surprised. "I would not have +believed Jack would go so near the standing stones alone for all the +blackberries in Somersetshire." + +She went to the place, and as she stooped to take up the basket, she +heard distinctly the same sound which had scared Jack—a faint, hollow +groan. + +"Jack did hear something, after all!" was her first thought. "It is +some poor creature who has been wounded, and is perhaps starving!" was +her second thought. She looked carefully around, and seeing nobody +near, she said in a low voice, "Who is here?" + +Another fainter groan was the only reply. Winifred drew nearer. +Stretched upon the ground, in a little hollow among the fallen +stones, lay a young gentleman—so Winifred judged him to be by his +dress—apparently just at the point of death. His once gay doublet was +soiled and ragged, his eyes were sunken and closed, and there was a +half-healed scar upon his cheek. Winifred spoke to him, but there was +no answer except a deep, tremulous sigh. + +Winifred was not long in deciding what to do. She put down her burden +and raised the poor gentleman's head upon her lap. She then moistened +his lips with milk from the bottle, and with great difficulty forced +a few drops into his mouth. In a few moments, the sick man opened his +eyes. + +"Who is this?" he asked, faintly. + +"A friend!" answered Winifred, who was now moistening some bits of +bread with milk. "Try to swallow this." + +The poor sufferer eagerly took the food offered him, and presently was +able to sit up and feed himself. + +"May God bless you, my maid!" said he. "I thought all was over with me, +but I seem already to feel new strength. I believe you have saved my +life. How did you find me out?" + +Winifred related the story of Jack's adventure. + +The gentleman smiled faintly. + +"It was I who frightened your brother and robbed him of his basket as +well," said he. "I had managed to crawl to the barley field in the +hope of carrying off a little straw to add to my bedding, when I was +surprised by his approach, and shrank behind the sheaves. At that +moment I felt such a deadly faintness and hunger come over me that I +could not resist the impulse to call upon him for aid—an impulse I +bitterly regretted when I saw how frightened he was. I expected no +less than that he would bring back a crowd with him, and crept to my +hiding-place, carrying the basket with me. I was, however, too far +exhausted to profit by its contents, and I believe should soon have +died but for your timely aid. I have been hiding in this den for a +week, in all which time I have eaten nothing but wild fruits and +berries and the remains of a loaf which a poor woman gave me. But, my +maid, can you tell me what has become of the Duke of Monmouth?" + +"He and my Lord Grey were taken alive, and carried to London," replied +Winifred. "We do not know what is become of them, but I heard my Lady +Peckham say they would doubtless be put to death." + +"Aye, doubtless!" said the stranger, with much bitterness. "He has +fallen into hands which know not mercy. Are the soldiers of the king +still in the neighborhood?" + +"They have mostly gone from Bridgewater," replied Winifred; "though +there are still a few scattered about the country—too many for any of +the duke's men to be safe." + +"I see you have guessed my secret," the stranger began, but Winifred +interrupted him. + +"I think, if you please, sir, you had better not tell me who you are, +and then if any one questions me, I shall have nothing to say." + +"You are a wise little, maid. You will never betray me, I am sure!" + +"Never!" said Winifred, firmly. "They should sooner cut off my head. +But I must tell my mother and grandfather. You need have no fear," +she added, seeing his countenance change at her words. "They are good +Christian people, and would never betray a poor wanderer. I must tell +them, that we may know what to do for your relief and escape. I will +leave you the cheese and part of the loaf, but I must go now, or my +mother will be frightened at my stay." + +As Winifred walked away, her head was fuller than ever of serious +thoughts. She knew that the deed she had just done was one which might +bring destruction not only upon herself but her whole family, if ever +it were known that she had helped one of Monmouth's men. She had heard, +like every one else, of Lady Alice Lisle, who had been put to death +for no other offence than that of giving food and shelter to the two +fugitives Hickes and Nelthorpe. She had heard from Mrs. Alwright of +little Miss Linwood, only ten years old, who was a member of the girls' +school which had presented the Duke of Monmouth with a standard at +Tawton. The poor child knew nothing of what she was about, and only +did as she was bid. Nevertheless she was thrown into jail, and only +released to die of jail fever, after her father and uncle had paid for +her a fine of twelve hundred pounds, a great part of which sum, it was +said, went to fill the purses of the queen's maids of honor. + +All these and many other things made Winifred shudder at the thought +of what she had done, and yet she did not see how she could possibly +have acted in any other way. She felt that she could no more have gone +away and left the poor gentleman to die, than she could have killed +him with her own hands. Nay, it would have been murder in the sight of +God—Winifred was sure of it. No, she could not have done otherwise! +There was no use in speculating about that. The only course which now +remained was to tell her mother and grandfather, with all secrecy, what +she had done, and leave them to act as they saw best. + +Another thing troubled her. She had given away at least half Dame +Sprat's bread and milk. True, there still remained enough for the +old woman's supper and breakfast, but she would at once see that the +loaf had been broken, and what would Winifred say? She had passed the +dreaded Black Copse, and reached the widow's door before she had quite +made up her mind. + +Poor old Dame Sprat lived alone in a hovel, which in this country would +hardly be thought good enough for a cow-house. Her husband and children +were dead, her property had all been lost in the civil wars and the +times which followed them, and she had now no dependence for her +daily bread, save the kindness of her neighbors and the faithfulness +of that God whom she loved. She had been the wife of an Independent +preacher, who was an elderly man at the breaking out of the civil wars. +Nevertheless, his age did not prevent him from acting as chaplain to +one of Cromwell's regiments, and following its fortunes till just +before the Restoration, when he died, full of years and honors. After +his death, evil days came upon his widow. She was turned out of the +farm upon which her husband's family had lived for many generations, +her furniture and goods were wasted and scattered, and herself driven +from one place to another till she found a refuge in her present abode. +She was now a very aged woman, more than a hundred years old, having +been born in the days when Queen Elizabeth sat upon the throne of +England: and many a tale had she told Winifred of those stirring times +of conquest and adventure, and of the sad and sorrowful days which had +followed under the Stuarts. + +She now sat by the little window of her hut, with her great Bible, +almost the only remaining relic of her wealth, on a rude table before +her. Her eyes had failed a good deal during the last few years, but she +was still able to follow the sacred text by the help of her spectacles. +Indeed she was so well acquainted with its contents that she hardly +needed the book. + +"Welcome, my child!" said she, as Winifred appeared. "It is long since +you have gladdened my eyes. I began to be troubled lest some misfortune +had befallen you." + +"I should have been here yesterday, but my mother has sprained her +ankle and needed me at home," replied Winifred. "She sends you this +basket and a bottle of new milk, but, dame," she added, hesitating, +"all is not there that mother sent. I have given away part of your +bread and milk, but I cannot tell to whom." + +"Aye, aye!" said the old dame, nodding her head, sagaciously. "I see +how it is! Some poor soul fleeing as a bird from the fowlers. But oh, +my dear child, be careful! These are evil times, in which he that +departeth from evil maketh himself a prey." + +"I know!" said Winifred. "But will you give me two or three apples, +dame? I see yours are ripe." + +"Yes, sweetheart, surely. Take what you please. Here, wait a moment." +The old woman hobbled to the place where her bed stood, and after some +searching, drew forth an old checked blanket or coverlet. + +"I shall not need this, these warm nights," said she, "but if any poor +body were hiding in the fields, it might be a great comfort to him." + +Winifred could not help being terrified when she saw that the dame had +so quickly understood her secret. What if others should penetrate it as +easily? Dame Sprat saw her trouble and guessed its cause. + +"Have no fear, my maid," she said. "I have lived in troublous times +before, and well do I know the ways of the outcast and the wanderer. I +am an old woman, and my summons may come at any hour. What then should +I gain by betraying any poor creature? I would gladly give such an one +shelter under my poor roof if it were thought safe for him." + +"I am sure you are very good!" said Winifred. "I must tell the whole to +my mother and see what she will say; and now good-night, dame. I must +be going, for it grows late, but I will try to come again to-morrow." + +Winifred soon reached the standing stones, and first looking carefully +around to see that she was not observed, she gave a low signal. The +stranger peeped out of the burrow he had made for himself among the +fallen masses. + +"Have you come so soon again, my little friend?" said he. + +"I am on my way home," replied Winifred. "I have brought you some +apples and this blanket, but I must not stay." + +"Wait only one moment," said the stranger. + +He searched in his bosom as he spoke, and produced a very small parcel, +wrapped in soft leather, and a watch and seals, such as gentlemen wore +in those days. "Do you know my Lady Peckham at the Hall?" he asked. "I +think you mentioned her name." + +"O yes," replied Winifred. "She has been very kind to me, and I go to +the Hall twice a week, and sometimes oftener, to take lessons in fine +work and other matters of Mrs. Alwright; my lady's gentlewoman." + +"Ah, poor Alwright! Is she still with my lady? Many a saucy trick have +I played upon her," said the strange, smiling. "Well, sweetheart, you +may carry this parcel and the watch to my lady, and tell her—no, you +need tell her nothing. She will understand. But as you value my life, +let no one see the packet. Can you put it into Lady Peckham's hands in +private?" + +"I think I can," replied Winifred, after a moment's consideration. "I +think I see the way to manage it. Good-night, sir." + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE MIDNIGHT WALK. + +"YOU are late, my daughter," said her mother, who stood at the door +watching for her. "The sun has set and the dew is beginning to fall +heavily. What has kept you so long?" + +"I could not help it, mother," replied Winifred. + +"I suppose you stayed to order the dame's house and cook her supper for +her," continued her mother. "I like to have you do all you can for the +poor body, for she is a good woman, and old and helpless withal, but it +is not well to be out after sunset, now that the dews are so heavy, and +besides it is not safe in these troublous times. But you were late in +setting out, and it is something of a walk to the cottage. Come now and +have your supper. Priscy has kept a bit of apple pie for you, and you +shall have some clotted cream, for a treat. So put away your basket, +and sit down by the fire, for you look pale and chilly." + +Winifred ate her supper in silence, and then sat still by the fire, +thinking how she should contrive to tell her mother of her adventure. +She knew it was time for her to go to bed, but still she lingered, +watching Dame Magdalen and the maids as they bustled about, finishing +up the work and making things tidy for the night. + +At last, her mother noticed her as she sat in the corner of the wide +chimney. + +"Come, child, why do you sit here?" said she, hastily. "You should have +been in bed an hour ago." + +"I should like to sit up as long as you do, to-night, mother." + +"Why, what has come over the child!" said her mother. "I should think +you would be ready for your bed, after such a walk: and you are looking +pale still!" she added. "Did anything frighten you, Winifred?" + +"No, mother, but I should like to sit up to-night." + +"Well, have thy way for once!" said her mother. "It is not often you +take a fancy, I will say that for you. See now, I have finished all, +and the maids are gone to bed. I will take my knitting and sit down by +the fire, and you shall tell me a tale from your favorite book." + +Winifred had another sort of tale to tell, but she delayed it till +her mother was seated at her knitting. It was nothing unusual for +Dame Magdalen to sit down by the fire with her wheel or her stocking +after all the rest were gone to bed. It was thus she gained time for +quiet thought over the events of the day, for disentangling domestic +perplexities, and for those devotional musings which were meat and +drink to her thirsty soul. Winifred saw that all the doors were shut, +and then drew close to her mother's side. + +"Mother," said she, "I have found out what frightened Jack." + +"Aye!" said her mother. "Then there really was something the matter?" + +"Matter enough, though there was no ghost in the case," said Winifred, +and she proceeded to relate, in the lowest tones, the history of her +adventure. "I know it was dangerous, mother," she concluded, "but what +else could I do? I am certain he would have died if I had gone away and +left him. Was I wrong?" she asked, anxiously, as she received no answer +from Dame Magdalen, who had dropped her knitting and sat looking at +the fire. "Should I have gone on my way and left the poor gentleman to +perish?" + +"No, child! God forbid!" exclaimed the mother, hastily. "You acted like +a Christian, but it is a sad shame, and I cannot tell what to do. I +must waken your grandfather and tell him the story, for the barley will +be carted to-morrow, and then all may be discovered." + +"You do not think any of the men or maids would betray the stranger, do +you, mother?" asked Winifred. + +"I cannot tell, child. I trust not, but the times are evil, and terror +makes people mean and treacherous. God forgive the rulers who put such +temptations in the way of simple folk like us." + +"I should like to go to the American colonies, where my father was last +year," said Winifred. "There is no king there, they say, and the people +are all of one mind." + +"They have their own troubles—what with the savages and the wild +beasts, the sickness, and the hard, cold winter," said her mother. +"Aye, and they have their own dissensions and quarrels too, and will +doubtless have more as their numbers increase. You would not like to +leave my lady at the Hall, and the parish church, and all the places +you have known since you were born, for those wild hills and waters. +There are trials and temptations in all lands and in all stations; and +since it is God who sends them or permits them, He will doubtless give +us grace to bear them. But I must awaken your grandfather, and then we +will take counsel together upon this poor gentleman's case." + +"He is not asleep," said Winifred; "I hear him stirring." + +"What is all this talking?" asked Master Evans, putting his head out +of the room next the kitchen, in which he slept. "Cannot Winifred find +time to tell her fairy tales by daylight? It is time for simple folks +like us to be abed and asleep, and you know to-morrow will be a busy +day." + +"It is no fairy tale that the poor maid has to tell this time," replied +Dame Magdalen. "Will you come to the fire, grandfather, that we may +take counsel together?" + +Master Evans closed his door, and presently came out, wrapped in the +Indian gown which his son had brought him from the East. He sat down +and listened with earnest attention, while Winifred again related her +story. + +"The child is uneasy, lest she should have done wrong in bringing this +danger upon us," said Magdalen, when the tale was finished, "but, in +truth, I see not what else she could have done." + +"Nor I," said Master Evans. "She did no more than her duty; I must say +I wish it had chanced otherwise, but it is God's will, and doubtless +for the best. Where has this gallant been ever since the battle?" + +"As far as I made out, he has been hiding among the poor people—fishers +and gypsies and such like—till he should find himself fit to travel, +but he was too weak to talk a great deal, and I thought best not to +question him." + +"Right! You are sure no one saw you, Winifred?" + +"Quite sure, grandfather. You know one can see far around from the +standing stones, and not a creature was in sight. But Dame Sprat +guessed at once that something was the matter. She gave me one of her +blankets, which she said would keep some poor creature warm. She told +me she should be glad to shelter such an one if it were thought safe +for him: and I have been thinking, grandfather—" + +"Well, say on, child," said Master Evans, as Winifred hesitated; "thy +thoughts are mostly to the purpose." + +"I think, grandfather, that since she is willing, Dame Sprat's cottage +is the best place for the stranger. You know she has no visitors but +ourselves, and it is a lonely place, where there are no passers-by. +The dame has a small out-house where she keeps her turf. The gentleman +might hide there during the day, and if pursuit came, he could flee +into the waste, where he would have a much better chance of escape than +where he is now. When I go to carry the dame's meal and milk, I would +carry enough for both, and no one need be the wiser." + +"The plan seems a good one," said Master Evans, after some +consideration. "No place could be found more solitary, and the dame is +as true as steel, and a wise woman besides. But who will be his guide +to the cottage, and when? The barley must be carried to-morrow, if the +day be at all fair, and I have bid the men be in the field by daylight. +There seems to be no time." + +"I will guide him," said Winifred, "and to-night. The moon is almost +full, and there are no clouds. I will wrap myself in my gray cloak, and +steal along by the hedge. No one will be abroad, and if any one should +chance to see me, he will take me for a fairy," she added, smiling. +"Then, to-morrow I can go up to the Hall as usual, to take my lesson +of Mrs. Alwright. My lady always walks in the maze before dinner, and +I can wait and speak to her there. I know the way. I have been there +before to gather the rose-leaves and violets for Mrs. Alwright. And +if any of the servants see me, they will think me about some such +business." + +"The child is too wise for her years!" said Magdalen. "But, my dear +one, I cannot have thee abroad in the lonesome fields at night, and +with a stranger whom no one knows." + +"I think there is no danger, mother; at least not so much as in +leaving the matter till to-morrow. Nobody would harm a child like me, +especially when she came to do him a service." + +"Alas, poor child! You know little of the wickedness of this world. I +could find it in my heart to wish you should never know more than now!" + +"And besides, dear mother," continued Winifred, in a low and reverent +tone, "I have prayed to God to take care of me: and then I opened my +Bible and read this verse: 'Yea, the darkness is no darkness to Thee, +but the night is as clear as the day: the darkness and the light to +Thee are both alike.' So then I thought God can take care of me as well +when I am alone in the fields as when I am asleep in my bed; for all +places are alike to Him: and why then should I fear, since I am abroad +upon His work, and an errand of mercy?" + +"True," said her grandfather; "I see where thy courage comes from. She +is right, Magdalen! Whatever is to be done, must be done this night, or +not at all. The harvesters will be in the fields by daylight, and some +of the lads will be daring each other to gather sloes at the standing +stones. Even thinking of naught but our own safety, it is the wisest +course, for it will bring destruction upon us all if the poor gentleman +be found there, and it becomes known, as it will, that he has had food +from us. I have a shrewd guess as to who he may be, but I say nothing." + +"Go then, my daughter, and may thy God and the God of thy fathers go +with thee," said her mother. "Since it is His will that thou shouldst +run into danger, I do trust He will bring thee safe out of it." + +Winifred was soon wrapped up in her warm gray cloak, and with her +basket well filled a second time, and with certain other matters tied +up in a bundle, she set out on her lonely walk. Magdalen watched her +from the door till she could no longer see the little gray figure, and +then with a heavy heart she went back to the kitchen, and sat down to +await her daughter's return, and to pray that she might be kept from +all the dangers of the way. + +The time passed slowly enough to the two people sitting by the +fireside, and more than once did Magdalen bitterly repent having +allowed her daughter to go upon such an errand. Again and again she +thought of all the perils to which the child might be exposed, whether +from pixies and goblins (for Magdalen was by no means above the +superstitions of her time), or from the king's soldiers, or even the +stranger himself. There were but few words spoken. Magdalen was never +given to very much expression, and any strong emotion was apt to shut +her up within herself; and Master Evans seemed wrapped up in his own +meditations. + +At last, the patter of the little feet was heard upon the stones of the +paved court outside the kitchen door. Magdalen could hardly give the +child time to tell her story, so anxious was she to put her into a warm +bed, and dose her with the hot spiced elder wine which she had kept +simmering among the ashes. + +Winifred had succeeded perfectly. She found the gentleman asleep, +and had with some difficulty aroused him, and made him understand +her errand. He had objected at first, she said, for fear of bringing +trouble upon them all, but when she had made him comprehend the true +state of the case, he had gone with her, slowly and with a good deal of +difficulty (for he was stiff and very lame), to the widow's cottage. +Dame Sprat was easily aroused, and opened her door at once. She knew +the stranger directly, and called him Master Arthur. + +"Aye, aye, I thought as much!" said the farmer, nodding. "But least +said soonest mended. Go on, my child." + +"That is all," said Winifred, simply. "Dame Sprat welcomed him like a +lady in her own hall. She would fain have had him take her bed, but +he would not hear of that. He wrapped himself up in the dame's old +duffel cloak and was asleep in a moment in her great chair. Then I left +the basket and came home as fast as I could. I heard the church clock +strike twelve as I came over the stile by our orchard, and oh, it was +so cold!" said Winifred, shivering. + +"Yes, I fear you are chilled through and through! I trust you have not +caught your death!" said her mother. "Come now, and let me put you to +bed at once." + +The warmed bed and the hot spiced drink soon threw off the chill, and +in half an hour Winifred was sleeping as sweetly as though she had gone +to bed with the chickens, as usual. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MY LADY. + +"WINNIE is lazy this morning," said Jack, as he sat down to his +breakfast of bread and milk in the kitchen. "It is almost six, and she +is not down yet." + +"No," replied his mother; "Winnie is not lazy, but tired, and not very +well. She was awake late last night, and I thought she had better sleep +awhile this morning." + +"Yes, there is always some good reason for everything that Winnie +does!" said Jack, peevishly. "I wish I could always do just right, as +she does!" + +"I wish you could," said his mother, "but that is not the way to begin." + +Jack murmured something about favorites, which, however, he was very +careful not to let his mother hear, and went on eating his breakfast +with a very discontented face. The truth was, he was a good deal +ashamed of his fright the evening before, and he felt vexed at Winifred +for doing the errand he had been afraid to perform. Jack knew that +he was a coward, and he was ashamed of his cowardice, but instead of +letting his shame lead him to the amendment of his fault, he permitted +it to make him jealous of every one who was braver than himself, and +especially of Winnie, who, being a girl, had, he opined, no business to +go where he was afraid to venture. + +"I don't care!" he said to himself. "I will do something which shall +show them that I am not afraid. I will climb up to the magpie's nest +and bring down a pair of the young ones to tame. Winnie dare not do +that, I know. I can teach the young magpies all sorts of things—even to +speak, I dare say, and then I can sell one of them at the fair." + +The magpie's nest which Jack intended to rob was built in the top of a +very high old tree, which stood not far from the farm-house. The tree +had been long dead, and the branches were as dry as tinder; a fact of +which the cunning magpie was doubtless well aware when she built her +nest in the highest fork. A tame magpie is fully as entertaining as a +parrot, and Jack, with whom bird's-nesting was a kind of passion, often +cast longing eyes upon the nest in question. His grandfather, however, +had forbidden him to go near it, not from any particular tenderness to +the birds, but because the tree was such dangerous climbing. + +It was nearly eight o'clock when Winifred opened her eyes with a start, +and saw her mother standing by her bedside. + +"Did I frighten you?" asked her mother. + +"No, mother—I was dreaming. I thought the soldiers had come!" replied +Winifred. "Is it not very late?" she added, looking at the sun and +starting up in alarm. + +"Almost eight o'clock!" replied her mother. "I have let you sleep as +long as I dared, but you know you have to go to the Hall to-day. You +will have no more than time to dress yourself neatly and eat your +breakfast. Do not forget the packet for my lady." + +There was no great danger of Winifred's forgetting it. She had slept +with it under her pillow, and a dozen times during the night she had +gone over the matter in her dreams, with all sorts of absurd and +frightful incidents attached thereto. Now she was telling the secret to +Lady Peckham, at the parish church, in service time, while the vicar +stopped his sermon and all the congregation turned around to listen. +Now she was in the street of Bridgewater, on a market day, irresistibly +impelled to tell every one she met that the Duke of Monmouth was +hiding in Lady Peckham's closet. And again, she found herself at the +water-side in Bristol, whither she had once gone to meet her father, +and all the bells of the place were ringing at once: "Tell my Lady +Peckham! Tell my Lady Peckham!" + +But if Winifred's dreams had been disturbed and confused, her waking +thoughts were composed and collected. She had already settled her +plan of operations, by the time she was dressed. She knew that Lady +Peckham was exceedingly regular in all her habits, having exactly +appointed hours for her devotional reading and prayers, for attending +to her household concerns, for her still-room where she and Mrs. +Alwright prepared medicines and cordials for the sick, and perfumes +and confections for the well; for her embroidery, and for walking in +the maze or on the terrace. It was at this latter time that Winifred +intended to address her. She was soon on her way to the Hall, with +her little work-basket on her arm, and the precious watch and packet +carefully secured in her bosom, to take her lesson in cut-work or +carpet-work of Mrs. Alwright, my lady's gentlewoman. + +As Winifred walked along by the hedgerow or under the orchard trees, +bending to the earth with their load of fruit, she sang in a sweet +voice good Bishop Ken's beautiful morning hymn: + + "Awake, my soul, and with the sun, + Thy daily course of duty run! + Shake off dull sloth, and early rise + To pay thy morning sacrifice." + +"How beautiful it must be to be able to write such fine hymns as the +good bishop!" thought Winifred. "And yet his heart must often be sad, +when he sees so much evil which he cannot help. They say he shed tears +when he pleaded with the chief-justice, and even with the king himself, +for the poor prisoners, and all to no purpose. No, I should not like to +be in his place, or in that of any other great person, especially in +these sad times. I am sure my lady and Sir Edward often look troubled +and distressed, and Dame Sprat says the great Queen Elizabeth died of +a broken heart for all the trouble she saw coming on the country she +loved so well, and which she could do nothing to hinder. + +"No, I should not like to be any great person. It is as much as I can +manage, and more, to do my duty in that state of life to which it has +pleased God to call me. But then I suppose if God puts people in high +places, He will give them grace to do their duty there also, if they +ask Him for it, as much as to grandfather or to me. He gives to every +one according to his need. Dame Sprat told me that she has often heard +her mother tell how, in Queen Mary's days, even young lads like William +Huntington went to their death singing and praising God; and they say +when Dame Gaunt was bound the other day in London, she was calm as +though she were going to her night's rest. I am afraid I never could be +like that." + +And Winifred shuddered at the thought of being brought before the +terrible chief-justice, whose face and voice overcame even the boldest +men, and had actually scared to death a young lady at the assizes in +Tawton not long before. It must be remembered that this was no mere +fancy on her part, such as girls sometimes like to scare themselves +withal. It was an event likely enough to happen, if she were found out +in helping or concealing any follower of the Duke of Monmouth. + +"But why should I fear?" she continued. "If God means any such trial +for me, why should I doubt that He will give me strength and grace to +bear it, and take me safely through? Even if I should lose my life, the +pain will be but short, and then comes heaven, which will never, never +end, where I shall see all the saints and angels, the holy martyrs who +have died for the truth, and our blessed Lord Himself." + +Winifred's fears were gone—lost in the thoughts which now came crowding +upon her. Thoughts of her heavenly home—speculations as to what it +would be like, and what would be her employment there. She often dwelt +upon these realities of another world, as other girls dwell upon their +air-built castles, reading over and over the last chapters of the +Revelation, and everything she could find in the Bible relating to her +future state, till the mansions of her Father's house in heaven seemed +as real to her as the gray thatched farm-house in which her days had +been spent, or the old Elizabethan Hall whither she was going, and than +which she had never seen anything finer. She was so absorbed in her own +reflections that the mile and a half between the farm and the Hall were +quickly passed over, and she almost started to find herself at the park +gate. + +Holford Hall was a quaint old red brick pile, all angles, and gables, +and projecting turrets, and clustered chimneys, with a stately terrace +and a long elm-tree avenue where the rooks built, year after year. Sir +Edward had often called it barbarous and antiquated, and wished he +could build it over in more modern style, but fortunately he had never +been able to command money enough for such an undertaking, and so the +old Hall remained as it had come down from the days of Elizabeth. + +Sir Edward was a man of more cultivation and reading than many country +gentlemen of his day. He read the "Sylvia," and corresponded with +its accomplished author, Mr. Evelyn, and he took great pride in the +stately evergreens, formal clipped yews, and brilliant flower-gardens +which surrounded the Hall. And not without reason, for in those days +it was no uncommon thing for a gentleman's country house to have all +the litter of farm and stable-yard directly under its windows, while +the only garden consisted of a few gooseberry bushes and pot-herbs, and +perhaps some knots of common flowers, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, +and growing as best they could. + +Winifred tripped along the terrace and across the paved court, stopping +for a moment to caress the old blood-hound, who knocked his tail +against the flagstones at her approach, too lazy for any more active +greeting; and entered the little ground-floor parlor which was Mrs. +Alwright's peculiar sanctuary. + +Mrs. Alwright received her little friend with her usual dignified +kindness. She was a tall, thin, rather severe-looking person, very +neat and prim in her dress, and more stately in her manners than my +lady herself. You must not think she was at all like an ordinary +waiting-woman of these days, though she dressed her lady's hair and +took care of her clothes. She was of a good family and respectfully +educated for those times, and her brother was vicar of the parish of +Holford. Such persons in those days thought it no disgrace to take +service with ladies of higher rank, and were often treated with a +great deal of consideration. Mrs. Alwright was older than her lady, +and had been brought up by her mother, the old Lady Carew, who was a +famous manager and housekeeper. She understood all sorts of work, plain +and ornamental, and every kind of household duty, from pickling beef +and pork to making the most delicate confectionery. She had taken a +great fancy to Winifred from the first of their acquaintance, and she +intended that the child should be thoroughly taught everything she +herself knew. + +Winifred usually enjoyed very much the hours she passed by Mrs. +Alwright's side in the housekeeper's room, working at her embroidery or +her knitting, as the case might be. She knew that the privilege was a +very great one, such as few girls in her station enjoyed. And she was +anxious to make the most of her time, lest something should happen to +interrupt these precious hours. Moreover, she was very fond of good +Mrs. Alwright, and loved to please her; and she usually gained great +commendation for her industry and attention. To-day, however, she was +so absent-minded and set so many stitches awry in the fine cut-work +band she was making, that Mrs. Alwright thought it necessary to give +her a little lecture on her carelessness. + +"But I am sure you are not well!" was the sudden conclusion of her +discourse. "You are as white as a lily, and have dark marks under your +eyes. You shall lay aside your work for the present, and have a glass +of my rose cordial or a dose of my lady's sovereign balm, and a piece +of gingerbread or saffron cake, and when you have rested, you shall +read to me out of Hall's 'Chronicle.' I have kept the mark in the book +where you left off last time." + +Winifred had no objection to the cordial, fragrant with rose-leaves +and spices, but she could not help an inward shudder at the thought +of my lady's balm, even if it were to be followed by a liberal slice +of Mrs. Alwright's excellent gingerbread, stuffed with citron and +almonds. She had helped at the distilling of that balm, and had a +lively recollection of the double handful of rod earthworms and the six +woodlice which went into the still, along with the herbs and drugs, the +flour of coral and amber, the spice and flowers, which went to make +up the medicine. She earnestly assured Mrs. Alwright that she was not +at all ill, only somewhat tired from having taken a long walk the day +before, and added that she was sure the rose cordial would do her good, +especially if she might go and walk in the garden awhile. + +Mrs. Alwright bustled about to procure these refreshments, and looked +on with great satisfaction while Winifred sipped the fragrant medicine, +declaring that she looked better already. + +"And, Winifred, as you say, it will do you good to be in the air; so +you may take my little basket, and gather all the rose-hips which you +can find in the maze. I am going to make some conserve for my brother's +cough, and you shall help me prepare it. 'Tis a most sovereign thing +for a cold and cough, as you will do well to remember." + +Winifred could not repress an expression of thankfulness when she found +her way so smoothed before her. She had half filled her basket with +the red shining rose-berries, or hips, as they are called, and began +to fear that Lady Peckham was not coming out to-day, when she saw her +patroness approaching, and stood still, dropping her little courtesy as +she drew near. + +Lady Peckham was a woman past fifty years old, but still possessing the +remains of great beauty, though she was thin and worn, and her face +wore an expression of sadness—that kind of sadness which has grown +so habitual as to become a par of the character itself. She had been +first married at seventeen, to a distant cousin of her own. It was a +marriage of affection, and one not altogether favored by her parents, +for they were stanch loyalists, and had suffered greatly in the royal +cause, while Captain Winthrop was a rising young officer in the army of +the Commonwealth. But Lord Carew was "out at elbows" in money matters, +and not in good odor with the dominant party, and the countenance and +assistance of the young Colonel of Ironsides were not to be despised. + +For a few years Margaret Winthrop's life had been a happy dream +checkered only by fears for her husband, and by the hardly concealed +displeasure of her parents, whom, however, she seldom saw; for Lord +Carew had found it expedient to leave his estates in Devonshire and +reside in a remote corner of Wales, where his wife possessed a small +property. Then the dream was rudely broken! Margaret's young husband +died suddenly, leaving his still younger wife penniless. The great +Protector passed away, and was succeeded by his feeble son, who soon +gave way to Charles the Second. The royal party came into power, and +used their power with an unsparing hand. Lord Carew came back to his +estates, and was able to offer his widowed daughter a refuge, which she +had no choice but to accept. + +Lady Carew, Margaret's mother, was a bustling, active woman, a +wonderful manager and housekeeper, a famous disciplinarian, and a +violent churchwoman of the political stamp. Withal she was kind-hearted +and charitable, and benevolently anxious to make people happy, provided +always that they were willing to be made happy exactly in her way, +but exceedingly averse to allowing them any choice in the matter. +Above all, she was a strenuous and successful match-maker, and was +reputed to have brought together more couples than any one else in the +county; albeit it was said that her matrimonial mixtures, unlike her +home-made wines and preserves, sometimes soured and fermented in a +very unpleasant manner. She had been twice married, and both times had +bettered her condition; and she could see no earthly reason why her +daughter Margaret should live single all her days because her first +marriage had not turned out well. + +Accordingly Margaret had not left off her first weeds, before her +mother began to look about for a match for her. She soon pitched +upon a suitable bridegroom in the person of Sir Edward Peckham, a +Somersetshire baronet of old family, who, having been a Parliament man +when that party was uppermost, had changed sides with great dexterity +and just at the right moment, contriving to keep not only all his own +large property, but, report said, not a little which had belonged to +other people before the civil war. + +Margaret resisted for a long time with all the force of a not very +strong will, but her suitor was persevering and her mother determined. +Parents in those days had large authority in such matters, and children +little freedom of choice. Lady Carew well knew when and where to apply +the screws, and apply them she did with an unrelenting hand, comforting +herself all the time with the reflection that she was acting for her +daughter's good, and that Margaret would live to thank her some day. + +But that day never came. Margaret, indeed, yielded at last, from sheer +want of strength to resist any longer. She married Sir Edward, but +she went to her wedding as an unwilling nun might take the vows in +her convent. Even her mother had some misgivings as she noticed her +daughter's white cheek and sunken eye, and saw the mechanical and +lifeless manner in which she went through the marriage ceremony and +received the congratulations of her friends, especially as she could +not but perceive that the same things were noticed and remarked upon by +the company. + +"But it will be all right when she has once a family about her," +said she to her husband. "She will busy herself with the duties and +the pleasures of her station, and forget all about that idle young +Winthrop." + +Lord Carew had his doubts about things ever being again all right with +Margaret, but he was a man who loved peace and quiet at home, so he +only replied to his wife's predictions with a vague shake of the head, +which might mean anything or nothing. + +Margaret was never to hold in her arms a child of her own. Her first +and only infant came into the world only to receive a name and a place +in the family vault of the Peckhams under Holford Church, while its +mother was unconscious of its existence. For many days she lay between +life and death, and for weeks and months she was confined to the +darkened chamber, which it was feared she would never leave again. At +last, however, she recovered and resumed the duties of her station, +performing them all with anxious, punctilious accuracy, as if she would +thus make up to her husband for that love which she was unable to give +him. + +For years she lived under a heavy cloud of religious depression which +nothing could remove. She felt that she had sinned against herself and +her husband in taking upon herself vows which she could not perform, +and she thought she had thus shut herself quite out of God's mercy. +Thus she was deprived of the only thing which could have been any +comfort to her. + +This persuasion had finally given way under the judicious counsel of +some of those religious teachers who in the midst of a faithless and +perverse generation inculcated a pure and exalted spirituality, such as +has never been surpassed. She learned to seek in faithful and earnest +self-consecration that peace which the world can neither give nor take +away. And her long-troubled heart found rest in God. Thenceforward her +life was one long waiting till that change should come which would +restore her to all she loved best. And she was content to wait, doing +all in her power to promote the welfare and happiness of those about +her, to make up for or to conceal all that was wanting in her husband, +and to perfect holiness in the fear of God. + +Sir Edward did not pretend to understand his wife's religion, but he +saw that it had the sanction of such men as Jeremy Taylor and his +friends Mr. and Mrs. Evelyn, which satisfied all his scruples as to +its orthodoxy. And he rejoiced to see that it made his wife happy, +for he loved her with all the force of which his somewhat small and +narrow nature was capable. To Sir Edward, as to Lady Carew, religion +was an affair of state and policy. The sermons which suited him best +were discourses upon the divine right of kings, the duty of passive +obedience under all conceivable provocations, and the heinous nature of +dissent and republicanism. And he sometimes was tempted to entertain +serious doubts of the orthodoxy of the vicar of Holford because he +dispensed his charities to churchman and dissenter alike, and seldom +preached mere than once a quarter upon his favorite topics. + +Time-server and worldling as he undoubtedly was, Sir Edward was not +deficient in generosity. Though the dearest wish of his heart was +disappointed by the fact of his having no children, he never by word +or look reproached his wife. The only way in which his mortification +showed itself was in a great dislike to children in general, and a +special hatred towards those of his heir-at-law. Lady Peckham had once +ventured to propose that one or two of these young people should be +invited to the Hall for a visit, but the request was met with such an +angry refusal that it was never repeated. + +For the rest, Sir Edward was a good landlord and master, a tolerably +efficient justice of the peace, and a keen sportsman, and enjoyed the +pleasure of being greatly looked up to by the yeomanry and smaller +gentry in the neighborhood, towards whom he was at all times gracious +and condescending. + +Lady Peckham had frequently noticed Winifred in church and at the +village school, founded by Dame Peckham in days long gone by, and was +so attracted by her appearance that she asked the vicar whose child she +was. + +"She is a granddaughter of old Master Evans at the Stonehill farm," was +the reply. "Her father married in Devonshire somewhere about Plymouth, +and it is said quite above his own rank; and indeed Dame Evans is very +different from most of the farmers' wives hereabout." + +"Do you know what her name was before she was married?" asked Lady +Peckham. "I fancy this little girl reminds me of some one I have known." + +"It was a very grave name, being nothing less than Coffin!" replied the +vicar, who sometimes ventured upon a very mild little joke. "I have +heard that many of the family emigrated to the American plantations, at +the accession of his late gracious majesty. But you are ill, my lady!" + +"It is nothing," said Lady Peckham, rising; "I sat too long in the +close school-room. And so her mother's name was Coffin, and she came +from Devonshire!" she murmured. "Strange that I should not have seen at +once where the resemblance lay!" + +The vicar waited for an explanation, but none came, and he was obliged +to wait still longer till he could mention the matter to his sister. + +Mrs. Alwright nodded, and screwed up her month mysteriously. + +"I understand it all!" said she. "Mrs. Winthrop, the mother of my +lady's first husband, was a Coffin. I have often seen her, and +certainly this young maid hath a look both of her and of Colonel +Winthrop. The poor young gentleman had just such deep gray eyes, always +looking as if they saw more than other folks could see, and just such +regular eyebrows. No wonder my poor dear lady was drawn to her. I must +have a gossip with Dame Evans, and find out whether there was really +any kinship between them." + +"Then you think my lady still remembers her first husband?" the vicar +ventured to ask. + +"Don't be a fool, John Alwright! Remember him! Of course she does! My +lady is as good a wife as ever breathed, but between ourselves, she +loves the very shadow of Colonel Winthrop better than she loves Sir +Edward's whole body. She would never have married again but for her +mother, my old lady, who, with all due reverence, was altogether too +fond of having her own way, and putting her finger in other people's +pies. Remember him, indeed!" repeated Alwright, indignantly. "Do you +suppose I have ever forgotten my poor John Foster, who was killed at +Long Marston, though we never were married at all? I should like to see +anybody try to make me marry against my will!" + +"Doubtless the person who should attempt such coercion would speedily +become aware of his error," replied her brother, dryly. "I meant no +offence, Hannah, and no disrespect to my lady, whom I honor from my +heart, but you know I have but little knowledge of women's matters." + +"Of course not! How should you?" said Mrs. Alwright in a mollified +tone. "Now let me look over your shirts and bands, and see that you +have something decent to wear. You ought to take a wife, John Alwright, +if only to sew on your buttons and keep your house in order." + +Mrs. Alwright took an early opportunity to question Dame Evans +respecting her family, and discovered that she was nearly related to +Colonel Winthrop. Whether she ever communicated the fact to her lady no +one knew, but it is certain Lady Peckham continued to treat Winifred +with great kindness, and to take an active interest in her education, +even sometimes going so far as to instruct her herself in those +branches of knowledge which were considered suitable to a young woman. +Hence it was that at fifteen Winifred was better educated than many +young ladies of higher station. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONFERENCE. + +IT was, as we have seen, nothing unusual for Winifred to be employed +by Mrs. Alwright in gathering flowers and herbs for the still-room, +so that Lady Peckham was not at all surprised at meeting her in the +shrubbery, or maze, as it was then called. + +"Well, Winifred, are you helping Mrs. Alwright, to-day?" asked Lady +Peckham, kindly. "She tells me you are making great progress with your +work, and she is intending to teach you to do carpet-work. But you are +not looking well, sweetheart?" + +"I am quite well, my lady, but—" Winifred glanced around, and, seeing +no one near, drew close to Lady Peckham, and said in a low voice: "I +have a message and a token for you, my lady." + +"And if you have, why did you not give them to me before?" asked Lady +Peckham, in some displeasure. "Or why did not you send them to me by +the hands of Mrs. Alwright?" + +"Because I was to put them into your own hands, and when no one was +by," answered Winifred, modestly but firmly. "It is a matter of life +and death, my lady!" + +"Winifred, what do you mean?" asked Lady Peckham, surprised and +somewhat startled. "You know, little one, I am not to be trifled with." + +For all reply Winifred drew the watch and the packet from her bosom, +and placed them in Lady Peckham's hands. + +The lady looked at the watch, and turned so pale that Winifred, +alarmed, expected her to sink to the ground. + +"Who gave you this?" she asked, in a hoarse whisper. + +"If you please, my lady, it is a long story, and some one might be +within hearing, or listening behind the hedge," replied Winifred, in a +low tone. + +"You are right!" said Lady Peckham, recovering herself with a great +effort. "Come with me." + +Winifred followed her benefactress through the garden and along the +terrace till they came to a little door in the bottom of one of the +many turrets which adorned the front of the Hall. Lady Peckham opened +the door with a key which she drew from her pocket, and led the way up +a winding stone stair lighted with narrow windows, and into a little +chamber where Winifred had never been before. It was very bare of +furniture, having only a table, chair, and footstool, with a small +Persian rug on the floor before the table, upon which lay a large Bible +and one or two other volumes. A couple of shelves well filled with +books hung against the wall, which was decorated with two or three +pictures, one of which Winifred recognized at once as a portrait of the +wounded cavalier who lay concealed at Dame Sprat's cottage. + +"Wait for me here!" said Lady Peckham, and went out, shutting the door +after her. + +Winifred waited for what seemed to her a very long time. She looked +at the figures on the tapestry which covered the walls and which was +adorned with the story of the Deluge, executed in colored wools and +silks, and wondered who had the patience to do all that work. She read +the titles of all the volumes, and thought Lady Peckham must be a happy +woman to possess so many books, and have so much time to read them. She +looked at the great Bible bound in red velvet, and wondered whether +there were any pictures in it. + +"I suppose this is my lady's closet, where she comes to read and pray," +she thought. "It must be very nice to have such a pleasant room all to +oneself, with no sewing, or milking, or feeding chickens to interrupt +just as one gets to the interesting place. I should not like to be one +of the court ladies, who, Mrs. Alwright says, spend all their time in +dressing and dancing and painting their faces, but it must be wondrous +pleasant to have such a closet as this, and such a withdrawing-room +as my lady's, with Indian cabinets and great china jugs full of +rose-leaves and spices; and to have nothing to do but to work tapestry +and distill medicines and cordials. I would not put any earthworms or +woodlice in them, though. I would only use sweet herbs and gums, and +powder of corals and pearls, and such things as are in the receipt for +Lady Hewett's Cordial Balm, which I copied out for Mrs. Alwright." + +Winifred was in some danger of growing discontented, when the door of +the closet was again opened, and Lady Peckham entered. Winifred could +now see that the closet opened into a dressing-room or small parlor, +where Mrs. Alwright was now sitting, and where Winifred had often been +to show her needlework to her lady, and to read to her. Lady Peckham +closed the door and seemed about to seat herself in her great chair, +but as if suddenly changing her mind, she opened another little door +concealed by a hanging strip of tapestry, and beckoned Winifred out +upon a small stone balcony. + +"No one can listen here!" said she. "Tell me now what you have to say." + +Winifred related her story in as few words as possible. When she had +finished, Lady Peckham stood for some time in silence, looking abroad +to the horizon where was to be seen a strip of the blue waters of the +Bristol channel. + +"Winifred," said she, at last, "do you know what you have done?" + +"I hope I have done no wrong, my lady," replied Winifred. "I know there +is danger, and that King Monmouth's men are rebels, but, my lady, if he +had been twice a rebel, I could not have left the poor gentleman there +to die. You would not have done so yourself!" she concluded, rather +amazed at her own boldness. "I am sure you would not." + +Lady Peckham smiled through her tears, and sitting down on a stone +bench, she drew Winifred to her and kissed her again and again. "Oh, if +God had but seen fit to give me such a daughter as you, my child, what +a treasure would you be to me! Do you know, sweetheart, what you have +done? You have saved the life of my own dearest brother!" + +"That then was the reason why Dame Sprat knew him!" said Winifred. "She +called him Master Arthur at once, and when I told my grandfather, he +said he thought as much. And was that really Mr. Carew?" + +"It really was Arthur Carew!" replied Lady Peckham. "The same little +brother whom I have nursed and tended many a day (for he was much +younger than myself), and who was my greatest comfort when I was in +deep affliction. My own dear little Arthur, whom I loved as my own +child! He was suspected, though most unjustly, of taking part in the +last plot against King Charles, and fled to Holland, where he was +much befriended by the unhappy Duke of Monmouth. It must have been by +the duke's persuasion that he was induced to join in this last mad +undertaking. There would be no hope for him if he were taken. But he +must not remain in that miserable hovel, Winifred. You will help, will +you not, to bring him up to the Hall?" + +"I will do anything in the world for you, my lady!" replied Winifred. +"But—" + +"But what, child?" + +"I think he is safer where he is than he would be at the Hall, madam. +Dame Sprat lives on the edge of the waste, in a most lonesome place, +where no one passes by and no one ever goes but our own family. She is +so poor that no one will suspect her of having anything to spare for +others. If Mr. Carew is brought to the Hall, more than one person must +be in the secret. Sir Edward's friends will be coming and going; even +Colonel Kirke himself, perhaps, for Sir Edward is well-known to be a +warm friend to the king." + +"That is true!" said the lady. "And yet my heart aches to think of my +poor brother lying in that miserable hovel, which will hardly keep out +the weather." + +"Dame Sprat has lived there ten years!" Winifred ventured to observe. +"I have heard my grandfather say that she once lived in as good a house +as ours, with servants of her own, and everything comfortable about +her." + +"Your words go to my heart, Winifred!" said Lady Peckham. "It was my +father who turned Dame Sprat off his land, for the part her husband +took in the civil wars. What security can I have that the old woman +will not avenge her wrongs upon my unfortunate brother, now that he is +in her power?" + +"Indeed, my lady, you need have no such fear!" replied Winifred, +eagerly. "You do not know Dame Sprat, or you would never think of such +a thing. I am certain she would not betray any one, least of all her +enemy." + +"And why least of all her enemy, little one?" + +"Because she is a godly Christian woman, madam, one who loves her +Bible and her Saviour and tries to be like Him. She never complains of +her lot, poor and hard as it is, for she says it would be foolish to +quarrel with a shelter which she may leave any minute for the Courts +of her Father's house in heaven. And while she is daily and hourly +expecting to go to meet her Saviour, I am sure she would never dare to +disobey His commands by rendering evil for evil. Besides I do not think +she bears a grudge against Mr. Arthur Carew for anything his father +may have done. She welcomed him as though he had been a prince of the +blood, and would gladly have given up to him her own bed, only he would +not take it. Indeed, my lady, if you knew Dame Sprat as I do, you would +never think of her betraying anybody!" + +"Aye, you have doubtless a great knowledge of the world and of men," +said the lady, smiling sadly. "When you have seen as much of both as I, +you may be more distrustful." + +"Then I hope I shall never see more," said Winifred. "I do not like to +distrust people, but I am sure of Dame Sprat!" + +"And you do really think my brother would be safe with her—safer than +he would be at the Hall?" + +"I do, my lady. And you know," she added, timidly, "it is our secret +as well as your ladyship's, and if the dame betrays us, we are utterly +ruined, without remedy." + +"True!" said Lady Peckham. "You are very young, my maid, to be burdened +with secrets which concern men's lives. Suppose you should be brought +before the chief-justice and questioned, could you have the firmness to +keep silence?" + +"I think so, madam." + +"You have a very good conceit of yourself, Winifred," said Lady +Peckham, not altogether pleased with the readiness of the answer. "Take +care that it does not betray you. Pride goeth before destruction." + +"If I may venture to say so much, I think you do not quite understand +me," said Winifred, modestly. "I was thinking the matter over as I came +home through the fields last night, and perplexing myself with the same +question, whether I should be able to keep the secret, when all at +once it seemed to come to me that I was taking thought for to-morrow, +and worrying myself about things which might never happen. And then I +remembered a great many such texts as these: 'My grace is sufficient +for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness,' 'I will never +leave thee, nor forsake thee,' and a great many more such verses of +Scripture. So then I thought God has always helped me when I have asked +Him heretofore, and why should I begin to doubt His love now, when I +need His aid more than ever? It is not because I have any strength of +my own, but because I hope He will give it me." + +"You are a strange child, Winifred! How do you come to have such grave +thoughts, when other girls of your age are thinking only of new gowns +and gingerbread?" + +"Please, my lady, I like new gowns and gingerbread too," replied +Winifred, smiling. "My father has promised to bring me a new gown all +the way from the Indies when he comes home again, and also a china pot +full of sweetmeats." + +"That is spoken like a child again!" said Lady Peckham, smiling in her +turn. "And now, Winifred, you shall stay and dine with Mrs. Alwright +while I consider what is best for us to do. We must let her into the +secret. I see no help for that, since we shall need her assistance, but +I am sure of her, and indeed it is only her due. But oh, my maid, be +careful. Remember how much may hang upon one careless word!" + +"I shall remember, my lady," said Winifred, quietly. While she could +not help thinking that there was not much danger of her being careless +so long as her own life and that of her friends depended upon her +prudence, as well as the life of Mr. Arthur Carew. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JACK'S MISFORTUNE. + +MRS. ALWRIGHT rose up with a firm and somewhat dissatisfied +countenance, as her lady entered with Winifred. Fond as she was of the +child, she was not well pleased that Winifred should have so long a +conference with her lady from which she herself was excluded, and she +had already prepared in her own mind a lecture upon forwardness and +presumption of which she meant to give Winifred the benefit so soon +as they should be alone together. This lecture, however, was destined +never to be delivered. + +"Will you come with me, Alwright?" said Lady Peckham. "Winifred, you +may remain here and amuse yourself, if you will, with the pictures in +that great book on the table. Keep the door shut, and inform me if any +one wants me." + +The book was well worth looking at, being a Bible illustrated with +wood-cuts by Albert Durer, the father, as he might almost be called, +of wood-engraving. Winifred almost forgot her mighty secret, as she +studied the pictures of Joseph and his brethren, of David and Goliath, +of Samson and the Queen of Sheba, and above all those in the Gospels, +of the shepherds coming with their humble offerings, of the wise men +presenting their gifts, and of Mary and Martha in their house at +Bethany. + +Her natural good taste and feeling led her fully to appreciate the +beauty and sentiment of the pictures, while her ignorance prevented +her from seeing the various incongruities of scenery, costume, &c. +For aught she knew, Jerusalem might have been adorned with just such +steeples and gables, and Martha might have kept her dishes in just +such an open carved dresser as that in the picture. She had not nearly +finished the volume, when Mrs. Alwright appeared, her eyes red with +weeping. + +She took Winifred by the hand without speaking a word, and led her +through various galleries and up a turnpike stair to her own private +chamber, when, having bolted the door, she caught the child in her +arms, and covered her with kisses, mingled with tears, sobs, and words +of endearment. Winifred was amazed, for Mrs. Alwright had usually +thought it necessary that her pupil, like all young people, should be +kept down to her proper place, and made to understand that if she were +treated with any consideration, it arose solely from the kindness of +her elders and superiors, and not in the least from any merits of her +own. Winifred had never before received from her good old friend any +greater token of approbation than a pat on the head or a few carefully +measured words of praise. + +"Oh, my dear lamb! My blessed child!" sobbed Mrs. Alwright. "To think +that you should have done such a thing! That you should have saved +Master Arthur, whom I have carried in my arms when he was a baby, and +taught him his letters with my own hands, my dear—and risking your +precious life abroad in the lonesome fields at midnight, and the dew +and all, enough to give you your death! You shall have two bottles +of the rose cordial to take home with you; and mind you take a glass +whenever you come in, to prevent catching cold. + +"But Master Arthur, living in that lonesome place, along with Dame +Sprat! She was always a good woman and kind to the poor, and I never +did justify my Lord Carew in turning her off his land, where she and +hers had lived for hundreds of years, even before my lord's ancestors +came from Normandy, which they did with the Conqueror, my dear! And +all because her husband was for the Protector, which, for the matter +of that, so were some other folks who shall be nameless, though they +turned round quickly enough when the sun shone on the other side of the +hedge. Dame Sprat shall have my duffel gown and my gray cloak to keep +her warm this winter, and I will knit her some woollen stockings with +my own hands. + +"But poor dear Master Arthur, how he could be so mad I can't think, +only he was always in mischief from a boy, when he used to steal my +saffron cakes, and was flogged at school for helping to bar out the +master. But to think of him wounded and lying out in the fields all +night! Dear, dear! It is enough to break one's heart!" + +All this and much more did Mrs. Alwright pour out with many sobs and +little regard to her stops or her grammar, till Winifred, terrified for +the consequences, reminded her that it would be highly dangerous for +any one to hear Master Arthur's name mentioned, or even to guess that +anything unusual was the matter. + +"I know it, my dear, I know it! And you shall see that no one shall +ever guess anything from me. I shall feel better now that I have had my +cry out! But poor dear Master Arthur, that was such a lovely baby, and +my poor dear lady loved him more like a son than a brother—" + +"I think I hear some one coming up-stairs!" said Winifred, fearing lest +the cry should commence again. + +Mrs. Alwright started up and wiped her eyes vigorously. + +"Open the door, Winifred, while I wash my face," said she. "It will be +only Betty, coming to say that our dinner is ready. You are to stay and +dine with me, my dear, and then you shall help me to make the conserve +of hips, and I will send a pot of it to your good mother against winter +comes." + +But Betty had more to tell. The herd-boy had come up to say that +Winifred was needed at home, because her brother had fallen from a tree +and hurt himself very badly. Also Betty gave notice that Colonel Kirke +was come to dine and sup with Sir Edward, and Mrs. Alwright was wanted +to attend to the pastry and other additions to the dinner-which the +presence of such an important guest rendered necessary. + +"Dear me!" said Mrs. Alwright. "How things do happen all together! I +hope that unlucky boy has broken no bones, but it would be just like +him. I often wonder why boys should be made at all, they are such +plagues. One can do something with girls in the way of needlework +and giving them dolls to play with, but men ought to be made already +grown up, and then they are plagues enough. You must go home at once, +Winifred, without waiting to finish your work, and mind you remember +what I have told you. Your mother will need you, for at such times even +little girls can be of use, if they are not idle and careless, as too +many are. Betty, why do you stand staring and listening there at the +door, instead of getting the fowls ready for the spit? Go about your +work directly, and let me find the chickens neatly dressed when I come +down-stairs. Come into the store-room with me, Winifred, and I will +give you a basket and medicine for the poor woman you spoke of." + +Mrs. Alwright's store-room was a model of its kind. The stone floor +was as white as hands could make it, and the wood-work shone with much +rubbing. Every inch of wall was covered with cupboards, shelves, and +drawers, containing piles upon piles of fine linen, much of it of Mrs. +Alwright's own spinning, and jars, pots, and boxes innumerable filled +with all sorts of good things, while hams, sausages, bundles of sweet +herbs, and bunches of onions and garlic dangled from the ceiling. It +was evident to the most unpractised eye that all these good things +were presided over by a vigilant and capable guardian, for nothing +was out of place—everything was labelled, covered, and secured in the +most approved manner, and not a stray crumb was left lying anywhere to +tempt the mice. Mrs. Alwright took down a good-sized basket and began +filling it, taking the opportunity, which, indeed, she seldom lost, of +delivering a little moral lecture for Winifred's benefit. + +"You see now, Winifred, the advantage of having a place for everything, +and everything in its place. If I were obliged to hunt all over the +house for a basket, and then look half an hour for every individual +thing I wanted to put into it, it would take me half the day, but now +you see I have everything ready to my hand. These saffron cakes and +these clean napkins and handkerchiefs are for Master Arthur. He used +to be very fond of saffron cakes, poor dear young gentleman! This bit +of bacon and these sausages are for the dame, and also this bottle of +ginger cordial, which will be warming and comforting for her poor old +bones. Now, can you carry any more?" + +Winifred lifted the basket, and thought she could. + +"Well then, here is the rose cordial for yourself, and a cake of +gingerbread, but mind you must not let Jack have any of that to-day. +And here are two clean shirts for Master Arthur. They are Sir Edward's, +and are old and worn, but they will be better than none. So now go +along, my dear, and may God bless you! Come again as soon as you can. +And, Winifred!" she called after her. "Don't forget to tell your good +mother to send up the green geese as soon as she can get them ready. +She need not dress them. Betty and her niece can see to that." + +"Don't you mind Mrs. Alwright, Miss Winifred!" said good-natured Betty, +as Winifred presently passed out by the kitchen door. "Her bark is +worse than her bite, we all know that. I see she has been lecturing +you, but that is all for your good. Young folks must learn. She scolds +me too, but la! I don't mind. I know her ways, and take her the year +round, you will not find many better people than Mrs. Alwright, look +where you will." + +"And that is very true, Betty," said Winifred, not at all displeased to +see Betty go off on a wrong scent. "I am sure she is very good to me. +But I must hurry home as fast as I can." + +"Aye, and you have a heavy basket to carry—for some poor body, I +warrant me! That is another of her ways. She will rail at my poor +sister for having so many children, and not keeping them cleaner, but +she always ends by giving her something to make over for them, and +maybe a loaf of white bread for a treat. Then there was Madge Wilkin—" + +"I really must go, Betty!" said Winifred, cutting short the catalogue +of Mrs. Alwright's good deeds, to which at another time she would +gladly have listened. "Mother will need me, I am sure, and I want to +see poor Jack." + +"Aye, go along, there's a dear maid! It is some comfort to have you +about," said Betty, continuing her remarks for the benefit of her own +niece, a girl about Winifred's age, who was cleaning some pots near +by. "Not like some girls, who cannot even scour a saucepan without +blacking themselves from head to foot. Why can't you take pattern by +Miss Winifred, Cicily? You never saw 'her' in such a mess—no, not when +she was no bigger than my thumb!" + + +Winifred was not destined to reach home without farther interruption. +She was walking very fast down the avenue, with her eyes bent on the +ground, when she was nearly run over by two gentlemen, who were coming +in the opposite direction with their guns and dogs, and followed by +a groom leading their horses. Winifred looked up with a start, and +recognized Sir Edward Peckham. She had never seen the other gentleman +in the richly laced uniform, but she guessed at once that the fierce, +sun-burnt face, bold, wicked-looking eyes, and long mustache belonged +to no other than the dreaded Colonel Kirke, who was feared and hated +almost as much as the chief-justice himself, for his cruelty and +rapacity. Her color rose and her heart beat fast at the sight of +the man whom she associated with so much misery and distress. She +courtesied, and would have passed on, but she was not to escape so +easily. + +"Holloa! What little Puritan have we here?" said the soldier, in a +loud, coarse voice, and seizing Winifred by the arm. "Not so fast, my +pretty maid!" he added, as Winifred would have escaped. "What, do you +think I make a breakfast of children every morning, as some folks say, +that you are so afraid of me?" + +[Illustration: "Holloa! What little Puritan have we here?" said the +soldier in a loud coarse voice and seizing Winifred by the arm.] + +"I am not afraid of you," said Winifred, standing still and looking her +captor in the face, while her large gray eyes flashed with indignation. +"My brother is sick, and my mother needs me at home. I pray you let me +pass on my way!" + +"Your brother is sick, eh? That means he has been out with Monmouth and +got hurt, I suppose! Where does this brother of yours live, mistress? I +must look after him!" + +"My brother is only twelve years old, and was hurt in falling from a +tree," replied Winifred, calmly. "He and I live with our grandfather, +at the gray house on the hill yonder." + +"What, you are old Master Evans' granddaughter!" said Sir Edward, +kindly. "You are so grown, I did not know you! This maid is a favorite +of Lady Peckham's, Colonel Kirke, and I can vouch for the loyalty of +her whole family. I pray you let her pass on her way, as she desires." + +"My lady knows how to choose her favorites, I should say!" returned +Colonel Kirke. "I protest I have not seen a prettier rustic damsel. +Well, give me a kiss for your ransom, my shepherdess, and here is a +gold piece for you all the way from Africa, to make up for the fright I +have given you." + +Trembling more with indignation than fear, Winifred submitted to the +kiss, and received the piece of gold, which she inwardly determined to +put into the poor-box the very first time she went to church. + +"It looks as though it had blood upon it," she thought, as she went on +her way; "and what an evil-looking man he is! I wonder how Sir Edward +can endure to have him in his house. But they say he is always for +keeping well with whatever party is uppermost. I am glad that Colonel +Kirke did not take notice of my basket. I don't know what I should have +said to account for some of the things in it. Poor Jack! I trust he is +not very much hurt. It is unlucky that he should take just this busy +time for his mishap. I fear I shall not be able to go to Dame Sprat's +at all to-day. They have food enough to last till to-morrow, that is +one comfort." + +When Winifred arrived at home, she found both pain and pleasure +awaiting her. The pain was the news that Jack was indeed very much +hurt, having broken his arm and bruised himself severely. He had +climbed the tree to the magpie's nest, secured a pair of the young +ones, and come half way down with his prize, when one of the dry limbs +gave way, and he came to the ground, killing the poor young birds in +his fall. + +The vicar, who possessed considerable knowledge of surgery, happened to +be riding by at the time, saw the tumble, and had been the first on the +spot. He carried the poor boy into the house, set his arm, and gave his +mother directions for his treatment, adding a special injunction to let +the patient have no food stronger than gruel or weak broth till he came +again. + +This injunction seemed to poor Jack a greater calamity even than his +broken arm. He was very fond of good things. He remembered the nice +jellies and cordials, the beaten-up eggs and roasted fowls, which had +been prepared for Winifred when she was slowly recovering from her +long fever, and he had comforted himself with the thought of all these +dainties for his prospective pain and confinement. + +The water-gruel law was a terrible blow, and poor Jack was in very +low spirits indeed. He had the additional discomfort of knowing that +his trouble was all his own fault, for he had been strictly forbidden +to climb the tree, and he had waited till his grandfather was away in +the barley field, and his mother busy in the dairy, before he made the +attempt. As his grandfather said, he was bold in the wrong place and +cowardly in the wrong place. He was not afraid to disobey, and he was +afraid to do a necessary errand. + +The good news which met Winifred was the arrival of a letter and a +parcel from her father, whose ship had come into Plymouth, instead of +into Bristol as usual, having been damaged by a gale not far from the +coast. The parcel contained, besides tokens for the rest of the family, +the promised new gown for Winifred, and better still, three new books! +One of these was the "Pilgrim's Progress," then lately published, with +wood-cuts, which, however rude they might appear beside the latest +edition of the Tract Society and the Sunday-School Union, were marvels +of art in the eyes of our young friend. The other books were "A Serious +Call to a Devout and Holy Life," by Mr. William Law, and the "Paradise +Lost" of John Milton. + +"These seem but grave books for a young maid like Winifred," wrote +her father; "but I have read the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' and believe +my serious daughter will care more for it than for any fairy tale. +The other books were given me by a very grave and religious gentleman +who went out to India on board our ship; so I doubt not Winifred will +be pleased with them. I have just now heard of the terrible things +which have been happening among you, and I am thankful that none of +our family have been engaged in them, but I doubt I shall hear heavy +tidings of some of our neighbors. I cannot leave the ship just at +present, but I shall come as soon as possible." + +Delighted as Winifred was with her new treasures, she had scant time +to examine them. She was wanted everywhere at once—by Jack's bedside, +to tell him tales and sing him to sleep; in the dairy, to churn, while +Priscy carried their lunch to the men in the barley field; then to feed +the fowls, and take especial care of a brood of late chickens; to count +up the ducks and drive home the young turkeys. She had hardly time to +eat her supper, and any visit to Dame Sprat was of course out of the +question; so she carefully locked up the basket lest it should tell +tales, and set about her multifarious tasks with her usual neatness and +dispatch. + +As Dame Magdalen said, the child was run off her feet! So that when +bed-time came, she was glad to go to bed without even asking to sit by +the fire and examine her precious new books. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A NARROW ESCAPE. + +IT was not till the next afternoon that Winifred found time to visit +Dame Sprat again, and then it was only by giving Jack full possession +of her new book, that she was able to leave him even for an hour. Jack +had usually rather a contempt for Winifred's society, classing her +with the rest of "women folks," who he considered were made only to +wait upon their fathers and brothers. But the poor boy was no braver +about bearing pain than he was about anything else, and he had a great +deal of pain to bear. Nobody could turn and smooth his hot pillow, or +cool his feverish hands and forehead, or put his bed to rights without +hurting him so well as Winnie, not even his mother. And above all, +Winifred had never once said or even looked "I told you so!" or, "Just +good enough for you!" Remarks which he had to bear often enough from +the maids Priscy and Jenny, with whom he was no favorite. + +But by the afternoon of the next day, Jack began to feel better. He +was greatly taken by the pictures of Giant Despair and Apollyon in the +"Pilgrim's Progress," and he agreed, if Winnie would leave him the +book, to allow her to go to Dame Sprat's, provided she did not stay too +long. + +Winifred was glad to get away upon any terms. She took on her arm the +basket Mrs. Alwright had sent, and set off across the fields, thinking, +as she went, of Christian setting out on his pilgrimage with his burden +on his back, of the little wicket-gate, and of Mr. Worldly Wiseman, +who, she fancied, might have looked a good deal like Sir Edward Peckham. + +When she reached the dame's cottage, she was surprised not to see the +good woman sitting by her window, as usual. + +"Something must have happened!" she thought, and quickening her steps +she entered without knocking. + +A curious scene met her eyes as she opened the door. The poor old dame +was in bed, apparently unable to rise. But everything in the hut was +in its usual order, a saucepan was simmering on the embers, and Mr. +Carew himself, in his shirt sleeves, was in the act of sweeping up the +hearth. He started as Winifred entered, but quickly recovered himself +when he recognized the visitor. + +"So it is you, my fearless little guide!" said he, laughing, and +blushing a little. "The dame is ill with rheumatism, and I could do no +less than take care of her. I fear I am but a rough sick-nurse, though +I think I may fairly call myself a tolerable cook. Eh, dame?" + +"Indeed, sir, I think you are very skilful in both ways," replied Dame +Sprat, "but I fear you are running a great risk." + +"Indeed you are, Mr. Carew!" said Winifred, earnestly. "You are all the +time in danger of being surprised. Think if it had been anybody but me, +who stole upon you so silently just now. You must needs be content to +lie concealed during the day, at least for the present. Colonel Kirke +is still in the neighborhood, though the soldiers are mostly gone. He +dined with Sir Edward at the Hall yesterday, and he is to be with him +for several days. Bethink you, sir, it is not only your own safety, but +that of all your friends, which depends upon your prudence!" + +"Even so, my wise little monitor! I know all that as well as you, but +I could not see my good, kind hostess suffering so long as I was able +to help. Now that she is in better hands, I will get me into my lair +again, so soon as you have told me the news from the Hall. Did you give +my sister the watch?" + +"Yes, sir, the next morning. She has sent you a message, and Mrs. +Alwright some clothes and other things, which are in the basket. She +has also sent you some sausages and bacon, dame, and some ginger +cordial. And she bade me say she had a gown and cloak for you against +cold weather." + +"She is very good!" said Dame Sprat. "Mrs. Alwright was always kind to +the poor, and her mother before her. I knew the family well!" + +"And you say Kirke is at the Hall?" said Arthur Carew. + +"Yes, and I understand he is to remain some time, for the sake of the +shooting. I saw him and Sir Edward with their guns and dogs, yesterday +morning." + +"Aye, my cautious brother-in-law will be friends with whichever party +is uppermost, whatever company he may keep in so doing!" muttered +Arthur. "I have seen the day when he would not have been very fond +of Kirke's society. No chance of any help from him! But what said my +sister?" + +"My lady and I talked the matter over," said Winifred, gravely, and +not observing the slight smile exchanged between the dame and Arthur +at the words. "She bade me say that she would gladly have you at the +Hall, but she judges you are safer here for the present than you could +be anywhere else. And, dame," continued Winifred, "my lady prays you to +forget all past cause of unkindness, of which there has been more than +enough, and for her mother's sake, who was always your good friend, to +be kind to Mr. Arthur." + +The old dame smiled rather proudly, and a little color mounted to her +withered cheek. + +"My lady has no reason to fear!" she replied. "I have no cause of +quarrel with her. I would serve her with all my heart, were it only +for the sake of that gracious and godly youth Colonel Winthrop, my +husband's friend. Neither have I aught against Master Arthur, seeing he +was but a babe in arms at the time of my misfortunes. But were my Lord +Carew himself to seek shelter with me from his enemies, he should be +welcome to all this poor hut affords, for the sake not of old times or +ties, but of Him who purchased forgiveness for me with His own blood, +even our Lord Jesus Christ." + +Arthur Carew reverently bowed his head. "You are indeed a true +Christian, my good old friend," said he. "If ever I come to my own, +this matter shall be righted for you, even if it costs me the half of +my inheritance." + +"Ah! My dear young gentleman," cried the dame, kindly, "I trust and +pray that you may indeed be brought back to your father's house in +peace, but, my dears, long before that time, I shall have entered upon +a far greater inheritance, even that which is incorruptible, undefiled, +and which fadeth not away. But, Master Arthur, when you do come to your +own, as something tells me you will, remember me, and for my sake, +meddle not with the consciences of men. If they are wrong in their +belief, it is to God they must give account; and if right, persecution +will not alter them, while it will prove a millstone round your neck +and those of your descendants. The sins of the fathers are visited upon +the children!" + +"Yes, methinks I have reason to believe that!" said Arthur, with some +bitterness. "My father made six families homeless for conscience' sake, +and now his eldest son is a poor lunatic, and the younger a homeless, +outlawed wanderer; while his daughter—but I will say nothing of her. +She has never been a free agent. How does my sister, Winifred?" + +Winifred did not answer for the moment. She was looking out of the +window, from which she presently turned, with a face ashy pale, but +with her usual quiet manner. + +"I fear all is lost!" said she. "Sir Edward and Colonel Kirke are +coming across the waste with their dogs and guns. I can see the +colonel's mustache. What shall we do?" + +"I must go!" said Arthur Carew, hastily looking for his doublet, which +he had thrown aside during the process of his cookery. "I will not +be found here to bring ruin upon you all. Farewell, dame! Farewell, +Winifred, and may God bless you!" + +"Stay!" said Dame Sprat, raising herself and speaking in a tone of +authority. "You go to certain death! Winifred, how near are they?" + +"They are by the great black thorn tree," said Winifred, peeping out. +"They seem to be looking at something in the water." + +"Aye, the snare with which I took the great pike which is now stewing +in the saucepan," said Arthur. "I doubt the fish will prove a dear +bargain." + +"There is yet time, and the delay is all in our favor!" said the old +woman. "Get you at once into the shed, Master Arthur. Climb over the +fagots, and lie down behind them, close to the wall, pulling them over +you. Take with you the clothes and the wine my lady sent, lest they +tell tales. Now, Winifred, close the door. Leave the basket where +it is, and the sausages also. Trust me to account for them if any +questions are asked. Now that you have made all tidy, take the book, +and sit down as if reading to me. It may be that they will pass on +without calling, but should they come, we are ready for them. Now, my +child, let us look to the Strong for strength." + +The dame's prayer was in few words, but it brought back the courage to +Winifred's heart and the color to her cheeks. She took the Bible and +sat down by the bedside, from which she could watch the approach of the +sportsmen. They hesitated for a moment, and then turned toward the door +of the hut, which they entered without knocking. Dame Sprat slightly +raised herself in bed. + +"You are welcome to my poor house, with your friend, Sir Edward +Peckham!" she said, with, as Winifred thought, the air of a queen. "Can +I do aught to serve you? Winifred, set the chair and stool for the +gentlemen." + +"Do not disturb yourself, my good dame," said Sir Edward, kindly; for, +though a pompous man in general, he was always gracious and polite, +especially to his inferiors in rank. "A drink of fair water is all we +require." + +"The water is none of the best, but such as it is you are heartily +welcome," replied Dame Sprat. "Winifred, bring a jug of fresh water, +and mix with it some of the ginger cordial you brought me, to take off +the earthy taste." + +"What! My little Puritan again, I protest!" exclaimed Colonel Kirke. +"What brings you here, my fairy?" + +"I came to see and wait upon Dame Sprat," replied Winifred. + +"And you seem to have performed your office well!" said the colonel. +"Your cooking smells very savory," he continued, lifting the cover of +the saucepan without ceremony. "Pray, did your mother send this fine +fish with all the rest?" + +"No," replied the dame. "That was given me by a stranger who had been +fishing in the stream not far-away. I have more than once received such +treats from the sportsmen and fowlers, who now and then call, as you +have done, for a drink of water or some directions concerning the way. +The fish is at your service, gentlemen, if you please to eat." + +"No, no, dame, I will not rob you of your supper, but you are lucky +in having such a neat handmaiden—a 'neat-handed Phyllis,' as that +pestilent old roundhead, John Milton, says. I could find it in my heart +to take her away from you. What say you, my fairy, will you go with me +to London to see the king and dress in silks and satins?" + +"No!" replied Winifred, as she poured out the water. "I am but a simple +country maid, and I have no desire to be anything else." + +"The gentleman is but jesting with you, child!" said Sir Edward, not +very well pleased with the soldier's tone toward his wife's favorite, +since any person or thing in the remotest degree connected with himself +became sacred in his eyes. "Colonel Kirke, will it please you to drink?" + +"Well, here's a health to you and your attendant sprite, dame!" said +the colonel. "What makes the dog so uneasy?" + +One of Sir Edward's dogs had been snuffing about the hut ever since +they entered, smelling here and there, and whining eagerly. Winifred's +heart sank fathoms deep as she saw him scratching at the door of the +shed, and heard the soldier's question. She thought all was indeed +lost, but the old woman answered in her usual quiet tone: + +"Doubtless he smells the cat, which hath her kittens. May I ask you, +gentleman, as a favor, not to let the creature be disturbed? She is +almost my only companion, and even the love of a dumb beast is some +solace, as I sit here alone all day." + +"Truly, I should think so!" said Kirke. "Have no fear, dame! Your +cat shall not be troubled, though I think a dog would be the better +companion." + +The dame smiled. "A dog could not provide for himself as my poor +Tabby does, and in poverty such as mine, even the food of a dog is of +consequence." + +"Where have I seen you before, dame?" asked the soldier, abruptly. +"Your face, voice, and manner are all familiar to me, and yet I cannot +recall the time or place where I have known you." + +"Yes, you have been under my roof and eaten at my table in other +days," replied Dame Sprat. "When you were a young lad, staying with +your mother's brother in Devonshire, you and your young cousins used +often to come to my house to eat junkets and raspberries with clotted +cream. I well remember the fall from the great pear-tree, by which +you got that scar on your cheek, and your encounter with my husband's +long-horned bull." + +"Aye, when you came in with your broomstick, and drove the animal +away. Truly I had the worst of that encounter, and but for your timely +help, had hardly been here to tell the tale. But why did you not make +yourself known to me, dame, since you remembered me so well?" + +"I am but a poor woman now, living upon charity, and you are a great +gentleman!" said the dame, with a touch of the gentle pride she +sometimes showed. "Things are greatly changed since I was at the head +of my own house and you were a young boy, not much above my own rank." + +The fierce soldier of fortune sighed. "Yes, dame, they are indeed, and +not for the better, perhaps, with either of us. However, it is a world +of changes, and we must even take it as it comes. But tell me, dame, +have you seen any of the escaped rebels lurking here in the waste? It +seems a likely place enough to afford them shelter. Sir Edward, suppose +we bring out the blood-hound, and see what he can find for us? It would +afford us good sport—better than tramping through the moss after wild +ducks." + +"You are indeed changed from the innocent and kind-hearted lad +I once knew you, since you can talk so lightly of hunting your +fellow-creatures with hounds, like beasts of the chase!" said Dame +Sprat, sadly and severely. "Surely enough of blood hath already been +shed in this unhappy cause. Remember, Colonel Kirke, that though +man and the world change, there is One who changeth not—One who has +solemnly and sternly declared that 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man +shall his blood be shed!' And that 'With what measure ye mete, it shall +be measured to you again.' To Him you must one day render a strict +account, and neither rank nor riches, nor the favor of kings, will +weigh one atom with Him, to whom even kings themselves must answer for +the deeds done in the body!" + +"'When He maketh inquisition for blood, He remembereth the poor!'" said +Winifred, in a low voice, and speaking more to herself than to any one +else. + +"What, you too, my fairy? Nay, then I must indeed stand reproved! Sir +Edward, do you allow female preachers upon your lands? Methinks the +vicar should resent such an encroachment upon his office." + +"We allow old women to say what they please, so long as they do not +forget the respect due to their betters. Winifred, you are too forward +with your words! Your lady would be much displeased." + +"Oh she did but discharge her conscience or her mind, which comes to +much the same thing," said Kirke, laughing. "It would be hard indeed +to refuse women the use of their tongues, since they have no other +weapons. And so, my fair Saint Winifred, you will not come to London +with me, for all the fine things?" + +"No, sir!" replied Winifred. "London is no place for such as I am. Amy +Crofoot went to London, and I have heard she came to no good." + +"Well, you are a wise maid, and I will tease you no more. But tell me, +child, why are you so afraid of me? You trembled and changed color when +I spoke to you first in the park, as though you expected no less than +to be ordered to execution, and I think you are little better now. Why +should you fear me?" + +"Because I have heard such tales of you," replied Winifred, modestly +but firmly. "I mean no offence," she added, seeing his brow darken, +"but since you are pleased to ask me, I must needs speak the truth." + +"You should have known, Winifred, that even were he so inclined, +Colonel Kirke would never have dreamed of offering injury to any member +of 'my' family," said Sir Edward, with more than usual stateliness; +"and such I may well call you, since my lady is pleased to distinguish +you by her favor, though you do not at present dwell under my roof." + +Winifred made her lowest reverence, in acknowledgment of Sir Edward's +words. "I thank you humbly, Sir Edward," said she. "I do not fear +Colonel Kirke so much now, for I see he can be kind when it pleases +him." + +"Aye, and how do you know that, sweetheart?" said Kirke. + +"Because you would not let the dog hunt and worry Dame Sprat's cat, and +because you do not seem angry at her plain speaking," replied Winifred. + +The soldier's brow smoothed itself, and a smile stole over his face, +which seemed for the moment to make another man of him. + +"It is but a small matter to change your mind upon," said he. "I should +indeed be a brute to make such a return to an old friend for her +hospitality. But, Winifred, do you not know that these people of whom +you have heard were the king's enemies, and deserved to be punished?" + +"I know that the Duke of Monmouth was the king's enemy, and that the +people were wrong in following him," replied Winifred. "But I think, +with all submission, that the way for the king to turn them into his +friends would be to treat them kindly, and show mercy toward them." + +"You are but a child, and do not understand these matters," said +Colonel Kirke. + +"I know that, and therefore I would rather be excused from speaking of +them." + +"Colonel Kirke, it is full time we were going, if you mean to be at +home by midnight," said Sir Edward, impatiently. "Your supper will be +spoiled by waiting, and my lady will be uneasy at our delay." + +"I am at your service," said Colonel Kirke, rising. "Farewell, dame, +and thank you for your courtesy. I will leave you a brace of wild ducks +for your fair cookmaid to exercise her skill upon, and here is a broad +piece or two to repay your hospitality, and for the sake of old times. +Nay, I pray you refuse not my gift. It will be at least one item to my +credit in the account you spoke of." + +"I need no payment, and you are heartily welcome to all you have had," +replied Dame Sprat. "But I will not refuse your gift, which is pleasing +to me as a token of kindness for an old acquaintance, and will furnish +me with many needed comforts. I am often in want, and indeed should +starve but for the kindness of Dame Evans and her daughter. Sir Edward, +present my humble duty to your excellent lady. Farewell, gentlemen, +both—may God bless you!" + +"That is a stately old dame!" said Kirke, after they had left the +cottage, followed by the dogs, one of which, however, showed no +disposition to go. "With what an air she delivered her blessing, +as she bade us farewell! Methinks an archbishop could hardly have +done it better. She was well to pass in the world when I knew her in +Devonshire. How has she become so poor? Her husband was accounted a +rich man, and one that knew how to keep what he had." + +"He was a chaplain in Cromwell's army," replied Sir Edward, "and Lord +Carew, upon whose land they lived, turned the family adrift after the +old man's death. She would hardly have found a harbor upon my estate, +but this hut and the small bit of arable land on which it stands belong +to Master Evans, one of our substantial yeomen, and a loyal man both to +church and state. Indeed, one can hardly grudge the poor old creature +her miserable shelter, though I dare swear she is as rank a puritan +and republican at heart as ever her husband was. She is, as you see, +somewhat of a preacher herself, but otherwise harmless enough." + +"It would be hardly fair to complain of her preaching, since she gave +us of the best she had at the same time. It is amazing, however, the +constancy these roundheads show. I make no doubt this infirm old +creature would go to the stake with the same dignified composure with +which she welcomed us to her fireside, and sing psalms till the smoke +stopped her breath. I am glad I was able to afford her some help, for +she was kind to me when I had but few friends, and I believe saved my +life in that same battle with the long-horned bull. There, your dog is +uneasy again!" + +"Yes, he cannot give up the old woman's cat! 'Tis a dog which once +belonged to my wife's young brother, who died abroad, and he hath never +been properly broken in. Come to heel, sirrah, or I shall find means to +teach you!" + +The dog obeyed, but unwillingly, and the two sportsmen hastened on +their way. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +FURTHER CONSULTATIONS. + +WINNIE stood at the cottage door and watched the retreating figures of +the sportsmen as long as she could see them. It seemed to her that no +one was ever so long in walking a quarter of a mile, but at last they +reached the bend of the valley down which the little brook took its +course, and were out of view, Carlo pausing and taking another look at +the hut, as though his mind were not yet quite at rest about that cat. +When she could no longer see the least glimpse, Winifred returned to +the bedside, and, throwing herself down with her face hidden in the +bed-clothes, she burst into tears, and sobbed as if her heart would +break. + +"Why, my maid, what is the matter?" asked the old woman. "The danger is +over for this time, and Master Arthur is safe. They will not come back +again to-night." + +"I know it," sobbed Winifred. "I know I am silly, but I cannot help +crying. It was so dreadful! And the dog smelling at the door, and all! +I thought two or three times it was all over with us!" + +"And so did I!" replied Dame Sprat. "I heartily wished the cat at +Bristol, or further off, fond as I am of the poor creature." + +"Then you think it was really the cat, and not Master Arthur, the dog +was after?" said Winifred, composing herself by degrees. + +"I think so, but of course I cannot tell," replied the dame. "At all +events, the cat was there, and right glad am I that the gentlemen would +not allow her to be molested." + +"Does it not seem strange," said Winifred, "that a man like Colonel +Kirke, who laughed at the prayers of mothers for their children, and +made hideous jests upon the poor dying creatures in their agonies—he +who made a poor lad run a race with a colt to save his life, and hanged +him after all—should have been willing to spare the poor cat because +you asked him, and should have taken your plain speaking so kindly?" + +"He was in cool blood, and I suppose his heart might be softened by old +recollections. There are few men, however hardened in crime, but have +some good left about them, if one can only find it." + +"I wonder if there is any good left about Judge Jeffreys?" said +Winifred. + +"Possibly there may be, but I should expect it sooner in Kirke than in +him. Kirke is a soldier of fortune, bred up in the midst of war and +carnage, and has lived many years in Tangier among the heathen, where +he has probably not had one good or softening influence near him. The +consequence is that he is a savage, and almost a wild beast. But so +far as I know, he has not deliberately sold himself to the devil for +gold and gain, as it seems Jeffreys has done, and as did the Duke of +Lauderdale in Scotland, who, himself a Presbyterian, lent himself +to persecute the suffering people of that name. But I cannot but be +sorry for Kirke. It is sad to me to see one whom I remember well as a +pleasant, kind-hearted little lad, transformed into such a ruffian. We +live in evil times, my child, but I trust they will soon pass away. +Something tells me that better days are at hand for this poor country!" + +"Yes, if the good Princess of Orange should come to be queen, but then +the king may live a long time, and perhaps have children." + +"Well, we will not speculate upon the matter, child. There is One who +is King over all, and who can bring good out of the darkest evil. I +think we are in no further danger of visitors this night, so you may +venture to call Master Arthur, and receive his messages for his sister." + +Winifred opened the door, and called, "Master Arthur, they are gone, +and the dame thinks you are safe. Will you please come out, and tell me +what I am to say to my lady?" + +"So they are gone at last!" said Arthur, creeping out of his hole, and +stretching his long limbs vigorously. "It is a fine time, truly, when I +am driven to hide, like a rat in a hole, from my own sister's husband." + +"You ought to be thankful that you had the hole to hide in, and that +you were safe even there!" said Winifred, rather severely, for she was +scandalized by the lightness of his tone. "I am sure I gave all up for +lost when the dog scratched at the door." + +"And so I am thankful, my wise little monitor, not only for the hole, +but still more to you and my good old friend here, for the steady +courage you showed under such a severe trial. I heard every word as +I lay close to the wall, and know how near my poor old Carlo was to +betraying me. The dumb beast has a longer memory for his friends than +many who call themselves his superiors. I am thankful, too, to Mistress +Puss and her family for taking my peril upon herself. I think I shall +always stand up for the whole race of cats from this day, and, by the +way, they shall have a share of the fish, which I fear is sadly spoiled +by waiting so long." + +Winifred sighed. This jesting tone seemed to her sadly out of place in +one who had just had such a narrow escape from captivity and death. + +Dame Sprat heard the sigh, and said kindly: + +"You must, remember, Winifred, that Master Arthur is a soldier, and +used to dangers and narrow escapes. We cannot expect him to look upon +such things as we do. I doubt not he does in his heart give earnest +thanks to his Heavenly Father for this deliverance." + +"Indeed I do, dame!" said Arthur, more gravely. "I am, as you say, a +soldier, besides being an outlaw and an exile, and one becomes used to +danger as to other things, such as cold, hunger, and home-sickness. +Nevertheless, I do, as you well say, give earnest thanks to God for His +mercies, and not least for raising me up such kind friends at my utmost +need. And I trust, if He delivers me from this present peril, to serve +Him more faithfully than I have ever done before." + +"It is well spoken, and may He who giveth grace send you strength +according to your need!" said Dame Sprat. "But, Winifred, it is time +you were on your way home. Your good mother will be uneasy at your +delay." + +"If Mr. Carew will give me the message for my lady," said Winifred. + +"Oh, aye! Tell my good sister to run no risk upon my account, and to +make no move till Sir Edward has gone up to London. After that, if she +can in some way furnish me with a horse, a small quantity of ready +money, and a suit of clothes, I can easily find friends, who will +aid me to escape from some of the western ports. I would gladly see +Margaret if it could be managed, but I would not risk bringing her into +trouble or danger." + +"I do not think it is her own trouble or danger which my lady fears," +said Winifred; "and I am sure she has no lack of affection for you." + +"I know, I know!" interrupted Arthur. "My sister cannot do as she +would, and I like you the better for being so ready to defend her. But +you will come again before long, Winifred?" + +"The day after to-morrow," said Winifred, smiling. "You have abundance +of provisions till that time, so you will not miss me." + +"It is not the provisions I am thinking of, but yourself, my saucy +little maid, as you well know," said Arthur, smiling in his turn. "Your +face is a medicine for home-sickness." + +"Now I will not have the child's head turned with your courtier's +compliments, Master Arthur," interposed Dame Sprat. "Thank your mother +for her gifts, Winifred, and also good Mrs. Alwright. Stay, my child, +one word more! If you go to the Hall again while he is there, I would +have you endeavor carefully to avoid Colonel Kirke. He is a bold, bad +man, and not one to do you any good; nor do I think him likely to pay +much respect to Sir Edward's family. Keep you close to my lady or Mrs. +Alwright, and do not by any means stray in the park or gardens by +yourself. You may not understand me, nor is it needful you should, but +I have reasons for what I say. Now once more good-night, and may the +Lord bless thee!" + +"That is a marvellous little maid!" said Arthur, after Winifred had +departed. "It is no wonder that my sister loves her." + +"She is indeed a wonderfully gracious child!" replied Dame Sprat. "She +comes of a good family, and hath been well-taught both by her mother +and by my lady, who keeps her much in her company. I cannot but think, +however, that she owes much of her peculiar goodness and purity to a +higher teacher than either. She is truly a child of grace and led by +the Spirit of God. He would be a wretch indeed who should sully so pure +a flower, yet I sometimes fear lest her great beauty should lead her +into danger. I would Colonel Kirke had never set his evil eyes upon her +face." + +"He would indeed be a wretch who could harm her," said Arthur; "but +Kirke has done even worse things, unless he is greatly belied. The +protection of the queen herself would be no shield to one on whom he +fixed his fancy." + +"I dare say not," returned the dame, dryly. "Royal protection hath not +been particularly favorable to virtue in these latter days." + +"Truly not! But you say Winifred is of good family? I thought she +belonged to some of the farmers hereabout." + +"Her father is a sailor, the younger son of old Master Evans of the +Stonehill farm, than whom no one is more respected in these parts. Her +mother belongs to an ancient but somewhat decayed Devonshire family, +of whom I dare say you know something—the Coffins of North Devon. She +is, not distantly, related to your sister's first husband, Colonel +Winthrop. I do not know whether my lady is aware of it, but indeed I +think she must be, for this child is wonderfully like him, both in face +and manner. He was a gracious youth, and one who, my husband used to +say, had more of the root of the matter in him than many of those who +made more words about it. I suppose you do not remember your brother +Winthrop, Master Arthur?" + +"Hardly, dame, since he died the very year that I was born," replied +Arthur. "But I have seen his portrait in my sister's cabinet, when I +was a child. It had always a great charm for me—partly, I suppose, +because I fancied some mystery attached to it. Do you know Winifred's +age?" + +"She is fifteen, though she looks so much younger that she might easily +pass for eleven. I trust, Master Arthur, I have no need to remind you—" + +"I understand you, dame," said Arthur, coloring high, as Dame Sprat +paused, with her eyes fixed upon his face. "I cannot blame you for the +thought, considering what are the manners of the time, but believe me, +you do me great wrong. I have done many things in my life-time which +had been better left undone, but I should be a fiend indeed if I were +capable of doing aught that should injure yon fair child. I am right +glad my sister has taken such a fancy to her for both their sakes, +since Winifred could not have a kinder or more judicious friend, and +I sometimes fear my poor Margaret hath but a dull life of it. But our +supper is ready, and a savory one it is, thanks to good old Alwright. +I am in a hurry to see if her sausages are as good as ever. Here, +Mistress Puss, come and have your share." + + +Winifred found Jack in a very doleful mood. + +"What made you stay so long?" he murmured, "I think it is too bad in +you to leave me for that old woman!" + +"I have only been away three hours, Jack," replied Winifred. "The poor +old dame is down with rheumatism, and has no one to attend upon her, +while you have all the house to wait upon you." + +"It is all the fault of that old magpie. Grandfather ought to have had +the tree cut down!" + +"It was not the tree's fault, nor the poor magpie's either," remarked +Priscy, who had just come in. "I am sure the poor bird never asked you +to rob her nest. You should have minded the master and left the tree +alone, and then you might have been helping to gather the apples this +day, instead of lying here groaning and making ever so much trouble." + +"Well, never mind, Priscy!" said Winifred, gently. "Jack will be wiser +another time. See here, Jack, what fine apples I picked up as I came +through the orchard. I will ask mother to let me roast one for you, and +when I go up to the Hall to-morrow, I will ask Mrs. Alwright to send +you something nice. I am sure she will, for she said she was very sorry +for you. Come now, don't cry any more, and I will read you a story out +of my new book." + +Winnie's gentleness and kindness finally soothed poor Jack and got him +to sleep. And Winnie then delivered a small lecture to Priscilla. + +"You should not tease poor Jack, now that he is ill and helpless. It +only makes him fret, and I am sure it does him no good. You are not +always careful yourself any more than Jack. Do you remember how you +would go to Bridgewater fair, in the rain, despite all my mother and +grandfather could say? You would not have thought it very kind, when +you were sick with your cold and ague afterwards, if my mother had all +the time reproached you with the trouble you gave, though your illness +was far more inconvenient than Jack's, coming as it did in the midst of +sheep-shearing." + +"And that is true indeed, Mrs. Winifred!" said Priscilla, a little +conscience-stricken. "The dear mistress—she never gave me a word all +the time, and nursed me as I had been her own sister. But then, dear +me, I never expect to be as good as you and the mistress." + +"I don't see why not, Priscy. I don't see any reason why you should not +be as good as the best saint that ever lived!" + +"No, I dare say you don't, because you judge other folks by yourself. +But, Mrs. Winnie, my dear, I will not tease poor Jack any more. I will +go to the mistress this minute, and ask her if I may not make the poor +lad a nice custard against he wakes. I am sure a custard cannot hurt +him." + +Permission was given, and Jack and Priscilla were soon good friends +over the custard. + +When every one else had gone to bed, Winifred related to her mother the +adventure of the afternoon. Dame Magdalen shuddered at thought of the +peril. + +"It was indeed a wonderful escape, and you are a wonderful child," said +she. "I fear I could never have kept myself quiet as you did." + +"I do not think we any of us know what we can do till we try," said +Winifred. "When I look back over this week, and think of all that has +happened, it seems to me that I am hardly the same person I was last +Sunday—I feel so much older. I wonder what the reason is?" + +"'Tis the care, child! Care and trouble make young folks old, and you +have heretofore known little of either. My poor grandmother's hair +turned gray all in a single week while her mother was in prison, and +she was a young woman not thirty years old. Those were fearful times, +and who knows but we may have the same back again, since the king is +a papist, and by all account as hard-hearted and as much led by the +Jesuits as Queen Mary herself!" + +"Do you think all papists are hard-hearted, mother?" asked Winifred. "I +have heard Priscilla say that the Lady Stratford, with whom her mother +lived, was a kind, good lady." + +"No doubt there are good and bad among them, as among others. The +king has had provocation, too, that cannot be denied, both of late, +and in the old times of the Popish Plot. Nevertheless, that does +not excuse what has been done in his name in this and other places. +Well, Winifred, you have become entangled in this matter by no fault +of yours, and I do not see but you must carry it through. It seems +hard, or at least strange, that you should have been allowed to fall +into such trouble and danger, only for doing your duty and aiding the +distressed." + +"I think it often happens so," said Winifred. "The apostles were all +put to death for teaching people the way of salvation, and you know, +mother," she added, with reverence, "our Lord Himself laid down His +life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." + +"True, my daughter! That is the real spirit of Christ. I trust, +however, that you may not be called to any such sacrifice. Now, to +bed and to sleep, my child, and do not dream of the dangers you have +passed." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE DISGUISE. + +THE next day Winifred went up to the Hall, as usual, promising Jack to +bring him something good, and not to remain away longer than she could +help. As she entered the court-yard, she saw several horses standing +before the door, and it was with no little satisfaction that she +learned from one of the servants the news that Sir Edward was going up +to London that very day, along with Colonel Kirke, who had been sent +for by the king. + +She was conscious of a great lightening of her heart as she skipped +along the passages to Mrs. Alwright's room, and then watched from the +window the two gentlemen mount their horses and ride away, followed by +their servants and baggage-horses. + +Presently Mrs. Alwright entered, considerably heated and flurried. + +"You dear child, are you here already?" she exclaimed, kissing Winifred +on both cheeks, and then dropping into her chair. "Dear heart, I am +run off my feet! I don't think I have sat down to-day, and I was up +all night, getting things ready for Sir Edward's journey; and glad I +am that they are gone! Only to think that Sir Edward and that colonel +should actually have been in Dame Sprat's cottage while you were there, +and they never suspected anything either. I promise you my lady turned +as white as a sheet when they spoke of it at supper. I could see her +face in the great Venice glass as I stood behind her chair. My heart +went thump, thump—it seemed as if every one in the room might have +heard it. I was afraid my dear lady would betray herself by fainting or +some such thing, but I need not have been alarmed. + +"She just drank a glass of water, and then said, as quietly as +possible, 'The dame must be growing very old and infirm. By your +permission, Sir Edward, I would gladly make her more comfortable by +sending her a load of fuel and other provisions before winter. I knew +her well when I was a young girl at home.' + +"Then Sir Edward hesitated and said something about her husband's +having been a sturdy rebel, and herself a Puritan. Upon which Colonel +Kirke spoke up and said, with his great, coarse laugh, that a good +many folks were rebels in Cromwell's time who were king's men now. +Which touched Sir Edward, as I suppose he meant it should, my dear. +Then he went on to say that he would take it kind of my lady if she +would befriend Dame Sprat, seeing the good woman had been kind to him +in former days. So then Sir Edward could do no less after that than to +tell my lady to do what she pleased. And when my lady said she would +ride over some day to the cottage, and see what the old woman most +needed, he said that would be a good plan, if the ride were not too +long or too rough for her; which I believe it was for nothing else but +to please Colonel Kirke, my dear. No, I won't say that either, for Sir +Edward is a kind man to the poor—I will say that for him!" + +"I think he is," said Winifred. + +"But now tell me all about it, for I am dying to know," said Mrs. +Alwright, "and I will sit here and rest a bit." + +Winifred related the story, interrupted by many exclamations of wonder, +pity, and admiration from Mrs. Alwright. + +"Dear, dear! Well, I do declare! I never heard the like! It is like +a story out of a play or a romance—not that you should ever touch +plays and romances, my dear, for they are all a pack of wickedness and +abominations—at least all that are written now-a-days. Well, I am truly +thankful that it has all turned out so well, and that Colonel Kirke +is going away. The king's messenger came last night just as they were +rising from supper, and Colonel Kirke was not very well pleased, I +could see that plainly. I fancy he has some game afoot that he did not +care to leave, but what, I do not know nor want to know. He is a bad, +impudent man, if he were twice the king's officer, and his servants are +as bad as their master, enough to turn any decent house upside down. + +"Well, so Sir Edward said he would ride with him for company, since +he must go next week at any rate. And we have been all in a bustle, +my lady and I, getting him ready and making biscuits and gingerbread +for the road. Fortunately his clothes are all in order; whereby, my +dear, you may see the great importance of never letting things fall +behindhand, as I am often telling you, and your mother the same, no +doubt. And here I am, keeping you all this time!" cried Alwright, as if +she had just thought of it. "And my lady said you were to come to her +directly you came in! So run up-stairs, as quickly as you can! You will +find my lady in her closet, where you went before." + +Winifred stopped only to lay aside her cloak and smooth her hair, and +to prefer her humble request to Mrs. Alwright for something good for +poor Jack. + +"Dear me! Yes, to be sure, poor lad! He shall have some of the nice +biscuits I made last night, and a pot of my gooseberry jam. You may +tell your mother I do not think a little more generous diet would do +him any harm after this. Go along to my lady, sweetheart, and I will +have your work ready against you come back. I am going to teach you the +lace stitch this morning." + +Winifred found Lady Peckham in her closet, as Alwright had said. The +great red velvet Bible lay open before her, and her eyes looked as +if she had been weeping. Winifred paused at the door and made her +courtesy, but my lady beckoned her to come nearer, and kissed her +forehead. + +"So you came near having a surprise yesterday, sweetheart! Where was my +brother all the time?" + +"In the shed, my lady, under the stack. The dog smelt him and scratched +at the door, but the dame said it was the cat he was after, and begged +the gentlemen not to let her be hurt, so they thought nothing of it. +But indeed, my lady, I was horribly frightened, though I tried not to +show it, lest they should suspect something. I could not help crying +after they were gone and the danger was past." + +"I do not wonder!" said Lady Peckham, shuddering. "It was a severe +trial, and the thought of it makes me tremble even now. How shall I +ever repay you, Winifred, for all you have done for me and mine?" + +"I need no repayment, my lady," replied Winifred. "I have done no more +than my duty, and you have ever been a most kind friend to me, both in +noticing me yourself, and in allowing Mrs. Alwright to teach me so many +things." + +"You are an apt scholar, and you have had a higher Teacher than either +myself or Alwright," said Lady Peckham. "You might well say that He +would give you strength at your need. Without it you could never have +come safely through such an ordeal as that of yesterday; And now tell +me about my brother. How does he?" + +"Well, my lady, and in good spirits, but I think he is very +venturesome. The dame was ill with rheumatism yesterday, and nothing +would do but Master Arthur must go out and catch a fish for her, +and then cook it himself, and tidy up the cottage. He was sweeping +when I went in, and if I had not been there to give him warning, Sir +Edward and Colonel Kirke would have come right in upon him. I tried to +persuade him not to do the like again, but he treated the whole affair +more like a jest than anything else." + +"I dare say. That was always his way, but he feels deeply, for all +that. Did he send me no message?" + +Winifred repeated it faithfully. + +Lady Peckham wiped the tears from her eyes. + +"Poor heart, I see he thinks I do not care for him! He little knows the +weight which has rested upon my heart all these years that he has been +in exile, and yet I think he might trust my love. But now, Winifred, I +wish to consult you upon another matter. Sir Edward has given me leave +to ride over and see Dame Sprat, and I wish to go while my brother is +there. It does not seem to me that I can bear to let him go abroad +again without once seeing him, but I do not see how to bring it about. +I do not know the way, and it would never do to take one of our men. +Can you think of anything?" + +Winifred considered with a passing thought how strange it was that such +a simple child as she should be called to assist and advise such great +people as Lady Peckham and Mr. Carew! + +"You do not always take a man with you when you ride about to visit the +poor folks, my lady. You might come to our house as if to see Jack, and +I could guide you through our lane and across the heath to the dame's +cottage. I as often go that way as the other. It is a somewhat rough +ride, but your pony is sure-footed, and I dare say you will not mind +for once, in a way." + +"No, indeed! I think the plan a good one, and can see no objection +to it. Now, as to the disguise for my brother. I think we must call +Alwright to our council for that matter." + +Mrs. Alwright was called and consulted. "Why, my lady, as to that, the +disguise is all ready made to our hand, as a body may say. There are +the clothes of the chaplain who died last year at the Hall. He had +neither kith nor kin that I could hear of, poor man, so I put all his +things away in lavender and camphor, thinking that they would do a +turn for some poor scholar,—which shows the great advantage of saving +things, since one always does find a use for them, sooner or later," +added Alwright, improving the occasion for Winifred's benefit, as usual. + +"True!" said Lady Peckham. "Poor Mr. Mills must have been about +Arthur's size, I should say." + +"Just about the same, my lady, and there are his doublet and cassock, +his wig, spectacles, and all, even to a thick horseman's cloak which +he wore when he came here, and the saddle-bags which held his worldly +goods, and room to spare too, poor soul!" + +"Nothing could be more to our purpose," said Lady Peckham. "Arthur +could always support any character which it pleased him to assume, and +no one will take him for anything but a clergyman on his travels. But +how shall we get the clothes conveyed to him when all is done?" + +"Nothing could be easier, my lady," replied Alwright, evidently pleased +with her own cleverness as a conspirator. "I can do them up in a small +bundle, and you can take it on your horse as if it were something for +the dame herself. You have often done the like for poor folks, so no +one will think it strange." + +"Very good!" said Lady Peckham. "There is one difficulty removed, but +I see another and a greater one in the way of Arthur's escape. Money +I have in plenty, but how and where to find a horse? Sir Edward has +taken with him all the beasts except the old coach-horses and my pony, +and besides Arthur could not possibly take a horse from here without +exciting suspicion. What say you, Winifred? Can you propose anything?" + +"I think, if you please, my lady, we had better consult my grandfather +about that matter. He breeds a great many horses and knows all about +them. I think he will find a way to help us out." + +"Well, be it so," said Lady Peckham. "To-morrow is Sunday, and we will +all go to church as usual, and try to gather strength for the work to +come. On Monday, Winifred, I will come to your house, and you shall be +my guide across the heath to the dame's cottage. Meantime consult your +good grandfather about the horse, that all may be arranged as speedily +as may be. I shall not know an easy moment till my brother is beyond +seas and in safety." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +SUNDAY. + +WINIFRED'S first thought on waking was, "Oh, how glad I am that this is +Sunday, and I 'cannot' do anything except go to church and wait upon +Jack!" + +Never had the day of rest, always pleasant to her, been more welcome +than after this week of excitement and fatigue. She slipped out of bed +without waking her mother, and went to the window. How wonderfully calm +and quiet everything seemed! The plow-horses, turned out in the field +near the house, seemed to know that no work would be required of them +this day, and stood with their heads together looking over the gate. +The cows were collected in their lane, waiting to be milked and turned +out. The cider-press, which had been groaning and creaking for several +days, was quiet under its little roof of thatch; the very poultry +seemed to make less noise than usual, and a pretty robin was singing +his autumn song on the top of the porch. + +Winifred drew a long breath, and again repeated to herself, "Oh, how +glad I am that this is Sunday!" + +After breakfast and the finishing up of the morning's work, arose the +question who was to go to church, and who was to stay at home with +Jack. Priscilla volunteered to stay, and was not at all pleased when +Jack declared, peevishly, that he didn't want her—he wanted Winnie. + +"Priscy will just keep scolding at me all the time, and she can't read +either. She has to spell all the words. I want Winnie to read to me in +the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' and about David, and Goliath, and Samson." + +"Master Jack is very fond of hearing about all sorts of brave doings," +said Priscilla. "He takes his bravery out in that way, I think. As +for Miss Winnie's new book, 'tis no fit book to read on Sunday, in my +opinion. 'Tis more like a fairy tale." + +"O no, Priscy! It is just as good a Sunday book as 'The Whole Duty of +Man,'" said Winifred. "I will explain it all to you, some day." + +Priscy was still privately of opinion that a book which was so +interesting could not possibly be fit for Sunday, but she did not like +to contradict Winifred, whom she looked upon as a kind of saint. So she +contented herself with declaring that there were no such books when +she was young—which was undoubtedly true—and that my Lady Colville +(with whom she had once lived, and who was her great authority upon +all occasions) had severely reproved my Lady Alice and had kept her +upon bread and water for two days because she found her reading in the +"Arcadia" on Sunday evening. + +"The 'Arcadia' is a story-book, I know," said Winifred. "I read out of +it to Mrs. Alwright, and it is all about shepherds, and shepherdesses, +and knights. That is not at all like the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' Priscy." + +Priscy could not see the difference, but said she supposed Mrs. +Winifred knew best. + +"Of course she does," said Jack; "and you will stay with me, won't you, +Winnie?" + +Winifred had particularly wished to go to church. She always enjoyed +the services very much, and she felt as though she specially needed +their soothing and strengthening influence, after the worry and +excitement of the week past, but she saw that Jack had set his heart +upon her reading to him, and she knew that if he and Priscy were left +together, they would do nothing but quarrel all the morning. + +"Well, never mind, Jack, I will stay with you this morning, and go to +church in the afternoon," said she. "It is very dull to lie in bed and +do nothing. I found that out when I had the fever." + +"Yes, and very much Master Jack put himself out for you then, did he +not?" said Priscilla. "He would not so much as go down to the spring +in the evening when you wanted some cool water, because he was afraid +of the bogle. Suppose Miss Winifred should say she was afraid to stay +alone in the house with you for fear of robbers, what then, Master +Jack?" + +Jack, having no better answer at hand, began to cry. + +"Hush, hush, Priscy!" said Winifred, gravely. "I am sure that is not +proper talk for Sunday. Did not you promise me that you would not tease +Jack any more, while he was sick?" + +"Well, he is enough to aggravate anybody. But I won't say any more, +only next time I hope he will remember and do as he would be done by, +that's all!" And Priscilla flounced out of the room, and went to "clean +herself," as she said, for church. + +"Don't say any more, Jack!" said Winifred. "You will make your head +ache. You need not think so much of what Priscy says. You know she +would do anything in the world for you." + +"What do I care about her doing for me, when she plagues me all the +time!" sobbed Jack. "She is always saying the hatefulest things she can +think of, and then when I am mad, she begins to tell what she has done +for me. I would rather people would never do anything for me, than that +they should be always twitting me with it afterwards!" + +"I have felt a good deal so myself," said Winifred. "It is very hard to +be grateful for favors when they are thrown in one's face. Somehow one +feels as if one had paid for them all that they were worth. But don't +let us think anything more about it, lest we should spoil our Sunday. +How far have you got in the book?" + +"Just to where he came to the lions. But, Winnie," said Jack, with some +little trepidation in his voice, "you are not afraid to stay all alone +with me while they go to church, are you? You don't really think there +is any danger?" + +"Of course not!" said Winifred. "What is there to fear?" + +"Oh, nothing—only—I wish Roger or grandfather would stay at home with +us!" + +"Roger has gone home to see his sick mother, and I am sure you would +not want grandfather to stay at home. Just think, how long it is since +he has been able to go to church before! What harm can possibly happen +to us?" + +Jack didn't know, only it was very disagreeable to be left alone with +nobody but a little girl to take care of him. "Suppose the robbers +should come, or suppose there should be a thunder-storm, or such an +apparition as Dame Rogers saw when she was all alone in the house!" + +"Or suppose one of the lions should come out of the book and bite you, +which is quite as likely," said Winifred, laughing. "You are always +talking about going to sea with my father, Jack. What sort of sailor +will you make if you are afraid of storms at home, with a good roof +over your head? Or what would you do if the ship was attacked by the +Barbary pirates, as the Princess of Orange was once? Dear Jack, do try +and not be so afraid of everything!" + +"I don't see how I can help it," said Jack; "and I am not afraid of +everything, either. If I had been, I should not have gone up the tree +after the magpie. But I don't like to be alone here, and I think +grandfather might stay at home." + +"I would not say anything about it; they will only laugh at you," said +Winifred. "I will read to you, and then they will be at home again +before you can think." + +The dread of being laughed at by his grandfather prevailed for the +time over Jack's other fears, and he saw the family set out for church +without making any more objections. But when they were gone, his terror +revived. He insisted on Winifred's fastening all the doors and windows, +and calling in the great house-dog to guard them; and she had no sooner +done so, and settled herself down to read, than he concluded, after +all, it would be safer to have Trusty in the yard, as he could give +them notice by barking if any danger approached. Then he interrupted +her once more to ask her if she did not hear a noise in the outer +kitchen. + +"I hear the kittens chasing one another and the cat mewing to them. I +suppose Priscy shut them in to look out for the mice. Now, Jack, do +listen!" And Winnie read on: + +"Now, before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, +which was about a furlong off the porter's lodge, and, looking very +narrowly before him as he went, he spied two lions in the way. 'Now,' +thought he—" + +"Winnie, do listen!" said Jack. "I am sure I hear some one on the +porch!" + +"I dare say it is only Trusty," said Winifred. "I will look out of the +window and see." + +"No, don't!" whispered Jack. "What if it should be a robber, and he +should see you? Don't stir, and then he will not know that there is +anybody in the house! There, do you hear that?" + +And Jack seized hold of Winifred's hand, and hid his face in the +bed-clothes, as a man's foot was distinctly heard upon the stones +outside. + +"Dear Jack, don't be so scared!" said Winifred. "I don't think there is +any danger. I dare say it is only some traveller wishing to inquire his +way, or perhaps one of the neighbors has been taken ill. Let me peep +out of the window and see." + +But Jack would not allow her to move. He had fully persuaded himself +that the stranger was captain of a band of robbers, and that his +grandfather would come home in time to find him and his sister robbed +and murdered, or perhaps carried off and sold as slaves. + +"It is some one whom Trusty knows," said Winifred, after listening a +little. "Just hear how the old dog whines and barks, exactly as he does +when father comes home. O Jack! Suppose it should be father himself! It +might be, you know. He might have set out from Plymouth the day before +yesterday, and been delayed on the road. Do, Jack, let me look out and +see!" + +No, Jack would not let her stir. He knew that it was not his father, +though it might very likely be his father's ghost, come to tell them +that he had been murdered on the way home. More likely, however, it +was a gypsy, who it was well blown knew how to tame any dog, however +fierce. He grew so agitated that Winifred was afraid he might injure +his broken arm in his struggles, and though she felt almost certain +that the stranger was her father, she did not again try to move till +the family came home. It did seem a very long time to her as well as +to Jack before they were heard approaching. Then Winifred heard her +mother's voice in a tone of joyful surprise, and then another which she +knew right well. + +"It 'is' father, as I told you!" said she, as she hastened to unbar the +door. "What will he think of us for not letting him in?" + +"Why, Winifred, what has come over you all at once?" said her +grandfather. "Why did you not look out and see who was there? Here has +been your father sitting in the porch this hour and more, thinking, +to be sure, as all the doors and windows are fastened, there would be +nobody at home. That is but a poor welcome to give your father, child!" + +"Never mind," said the sailor, as he took Winifred in his arms. "We +don't expect little girls to be very brave, and the many frightful +things which have happened of late are enough to make cowards of older +and stronger people than Winifred. But, sweetheart, you used not to be +afraid of anything!" + +Winifred did not say it was Jack who had prevented her from opening the +door. She thought the truth would come out quite soon enough, and so it +did, not by any good will of Jack's, however. He was in no hurry to let +his father know that he was afraid, and laughed as heartily as anybody +at the idea of Winifred's barring the door to keep out her own father. + +"Of course you know 'I' could not get out of bed to open it!" said he. +"So there we were listening and wondering who it could possibly be. You +would not have stayed in the porch if I had been able to get about." + +Unluckily for poor Jack, this speech was overheard by Priscilla, who +had just come in behind the others. She pounced upon him directly. + +"Yes, if you had been about, no doubt it would have been just right. I +dare say it was you who held Miss Winifred fast, and would not let her +stir. And thought your father was all the thieves and robbers that ever +were in Bridgewater jail. Now wasn't it so, Miss Winifred?" + +"Never mind, Priscy," replied Winifred, making her a sign to stop. "My +father is in now, and what does it matter?" + +"It matters a great deal!" said her father. "Now, Winifred, tell me the +truth. Was it yourself or Jack who was afraid to open the door?" + +"It was Jack, father," said Winifred, in a low tone, and casting a +reproachful glance at Priscilla. + +"And you, Jack, threw the blame upon your sister! Oh, my lad, for +shame! It is bad enough to be a coward, but it is far worse to try to +shift the blame of your own cowardice upon another person's shoulders. +I see you have been young master at home too long. To sea you go, my +lad, as soon as ever your arm is well. The ship is to be laid up for +repairs, and by the time she is finished, you will be quite recovered." + +Jack did not know whether to be glad or sorry at this decision. He was +pleased with the thought of leaving home, where he often fancied that +every one was very unjust and unkind to him; and he liked the notion +of being a sailor, and seeing foreign countries. But, on the other +hand, he had a great dread of the dangers of the sea, and he stood +not a little in awe of his father. However, he comforted himself with +reflecting that a great many things might happen in the course of six +months, and he might never go after all. While, in the mean time, he +might have the pleasure of talking about his prospects to all the boys +in the village. So he finally concluded to make the best of matters, +especially as they could not be helped. It was observable that Jack's +recovery went on much more rapidly after his father's return. The next +day but one he was up and dressed, and going about with his arm in a +sling; and he even offered to carry Dame Sprat's milk to her, an offer +which was dryly refused by his mother, with the remark that she had no +milk to spare, to be thrown away the first time Jack saw his own shadow +on the ground. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE ESCAPE. + +WINIFRED had talked over with her grandfather on Saturday night the +question of procuring a horse for Arthur Carew. And Master Evans, after +some consideration, had decided that he could spare the black mare, +which was a steady, strong beast, and more suitable in appearance for +a clergyman than any of the colts. He told Winifred that it would be +best for Arthur, after putting on his disguise, to come himself for the +mare. There would be nothing remarkable in his doing so, as many people +came to the Stonehill farm to buy horses, and it would be a safer +course than letting any of the men either at the Hall or the farm have +a guess at the secret. + +"You are sure it will be quite safe for him, grandfather?" said +Winifred. + +"Yes, I think so. Nobody about here has seen Master Arthur Carew for +many years, and so far as I can hear, no one has mentioned his name in +connection with the Duke of Monmouth. Indeed, there was a rumor some +time ago that he had died in foreign parts." + +"He went by a different name, I know," said Winifred. "He called +himself Fullerton." + +"I am glad he had at least that much sense," said Master Evans. "It was +a most mad undertaking for all concerned." + +"Master Arthur only came along because of his affection for the duke," +replied Winifred, feeling somehow that she did not like to hear Arthur +blamed. + +"That may be some excuse, but it does not justify him. We have no right +to let our friends drag us into doing what we know to be foolish and +wrong. However, there is no help for it now. I think we have hit upon +the best way of managing the matter: Mr. Arthur can come as if from the +Hall, and if any one sees him, he will be taken for some poor scholar +whom my lady has been helping on his way. You had better tell my lady +all this yourself. I should say, the sooner the matter was managed the +better." + +As her grandfather advised, Winifred disclosed the plan to Lady +Peckham, who arrived on her pony the next day, followed by a +serving-man bearing a good-sized bundle, and dismounted to see Jack. +Jack was very sensible of the honor, and also of the cakes my lady +brought him, and listened with all due respect and submission to the +lecture she read him upon doing as he was bid and keeping the fifth +commandment. + +"And now, Winifred, if you are ready to guide me to the cottage, I +think we will dismiss Thomas," said her ladyship, rising. "I want him +to ride into Bridgewater and do some errands there. Mrs. Alwright will +give you your commissions, Thomas, and it is full time you were on your +way." + +Thomas was well enough pleased to be excused from attending his lady +to the cottage of Dame Sprat, whom, like many other people, he looked +upon as a kind of white witch, or at least as knowing more than any +Christian ought to know. He made his reverence, therefore, and departed +on his errand, and Lady Peckham prepared to mount her horse once more. + +"Whose voice is that?" she exclaimed, starting, as a man's voice was +heard without. "It is surely not your grandfather's!" + +Jack saw the start and the change of color, and treasured them up as +some sort of excuse for his own terrors of the day before—terrors +of which he was more and more ashamed the more he thought of them. +He little guessed what cause for alarm the poor lady had, since, of +course, no one had dared to let him into the secret. + +"It is only my father, madam," said Winifred. "He came home yesterday, +and understanding that your ladyship was to be here to-day, he desired +to pay his duty to you." + +Lady Peckham was a true lady, both by nature and education, as well +as by name, and though she was all the time impatient to be gone, she +listened graciously while Gilbert Evans, in few but sensible words, +expressed his gratitude for her kindness to his daughter. He ended by +requesting her ladyship's acceptance of a valuable and curious piece of +China vase which he had brought from the East. Lady Peckham was really +pleased with the present, which was of a kind highly valued at that +time, and she was also pleased with the feeling which had evidently +prompted it. So there was great satisfaction upon all sides, and it was +arranged that Gilbert should himself carry the vase to the Hall next +day. + +I will not attempt to describe the meeting between the brother and +sister, nor that between the lady and the old woman whom her father had +so deeply injured, and who had had such a rare opportunity of returning +good for evil. It is enough to say that the dame welcomed her guest +with true Christian politeness, and that Arthur greeted his sister with +the warmest affection—that Winifred kept watch at the door while the +interview lasted, and that it was settled that Arthur should come up to +the Hall early the next morning, that he might go from thence to Master +Evans' house. + +The brother and sister had so many things to say to each other, that +it was not till Dame Sprat herself warned the lady of the danger of +such a long visit that they could make up their minds to separate. On +farther consideration, it was decided that Arthur should not risk being +recognized by any of the servants at the Hall, but that he should come +at once to the farm and thence depart without farther leave-taking. + + +The next morning Winifred was at work in the garden, gathering various +kinds of herbs and seeds. It was a task in which she took great +delight, finding much pleasure in observing the forms and markings of +the leaves, and the different ways in which the seeds were provided +for. She was so busy that she did not look up till she heard her +father's voice close beside her. + +"Where is your grandfather, daughter? Here is a gentleman who desires +to see him about buying a horse." + +Winifred looked up with a start. She could hardly believe her eyes. +Could this middle-aged clergyman in spectacles, with his full periwig, +flapped hat, and somewhat worn black suit—could this be Arthur Carew? + +"Is this your daughter, my friend?" said the stranger, in formal, +measured tones. "Truly, a fine child, and one my Lady Peckham tells me, +of great promise. I think I have seen you with my lady at the Hall, +have I not, my little maid?" he asked, while the least bit of a roguish +twinkle showed itself in his eyes. "But I dare say you do not remember +me." + +Winifred could only courtesy and say that she remembered the gentleman +very well. + +"Will it please you to walk into the house, and wait for my father, +sir?" said Gilbert Evans. "He is in the house field, but I will soon +call him." + +"With your good leave I will repose here," replied the stranger, +seating himself on the bench under the great pear-tree. "This soft +autumn air is grateful to my senses, and I am somewhat weary with my +walk. And so you did know me, Winifred, after all?" he added, as soon +as Gilbert Evans was out of hearing. + +"I don't think I should have done so, if I had not known you were +coming," answered Winifred, surveying him from head to foot. "No, I +am sure I should not. The wig seems to alter the shape of your face +entirely." + +"So much the better! Now, Winifred, that we are alone, I wish to say a +few serious words to you. You have saved my life and the credit of my +family. Whether we shall ever meet again, God only knows, but I shall +never forget you, and you must always remember me. Will you promise to +do so?" + +Winifred tried to keep back her tears, as she said she should never +forget Mr. Arthur as long as she lived. + +"I am but a wanderer—a hunted exile, without home or country," resumed +Arthur, "and you are hardly more than a child even now. But if ever I +return, I shall come to find you. I must not even write to you, since +it would not be safe for either, but I shall think of you, and meantime +I want you to wear this." + +He took from his breast a beautiful little locket and chain, decorated +with a crest and figures in black and green enamel. + +"This locket contains my mother's and sister's hair, and in all my +wanderings I have never parted with it. Put it round your neck under +your kerchief—so. Now, have you nothing to give me in exchange—no +little silver penny or sixpence?" + +"I have only this," said Winifred, taking from her pocket the broad, +thin Moorish gold coin which Colonel Kirke had given her. + +"That will do, nicely. Now farewell, my own Winifred! Be as much as may +be with my sister, and learn all you can of her and of good Alwright. +Give them my last love. Pray for me, sweetheart! You and the good dame, +between you, taught me that the Christian religion is a reality. There, +I hear your good grandfather coming." + +Winifred stood feeling like one in a dream, while Roger led out the +black mare from the stable. The stranger looked her over, and seemed to +talk about the price, while the saddle was put on her and the stirrups +adjusted. At last all was settled, the stranger mounted, bowed politely +to her grandfather, put something into old Roger's hand, and rode away, +turning at the last point where he could see Winifred and raising his +hat. + +Then she drew a long breath and went back to her work, wondering how it +was that all the interest seemed to have gone out of it, and that she +could think of nothing but the last glimpse of Arthur Carew. + +"The master have sold the black mare, Miss Winifred, and the saddle and +bridle he bought of the Widow Oldmixon!" said Roger, presently, coming +through the garden. "The gentleman as bought them paid all in gold and +gave me a crown-piece to boot. He was a bookish-looking sort of man +like a parson, but he seemed a goodish judge of a horse too, and he +rode away more like a dragoon than a scholar, to my mind." + +There was an uneasy feeling in Winifred's heart that night. She was +not sure that she had done right in exchanging tokens with Mr. Carew +in that way, and for the first time in all her life she felt a certain +disinclination to open her mind to her mother. But the life-long habit +of openness prevailed, and at bed-time, the usual hour for confidences, +she showed the locket to her mother and told her all about it. + +Dame Magdalen was not a little disturbed. "Beshrew the man and his +courtier's compliments!" said she to herself. "I wish he had gone +anywhere else for a horse!" + +But as she looked at Winifred's steadfast, modest gray eyes, she could +not think any harm had yet been done. "I am heartily glad he is out of +the way!" was her second comment. + +But she only said: "There was no harm in it. Mr. Carew naturally wished +to give you a token, and I suppose he had nothing else which he thought +would please a young maid. As to the exchanging of tokens, that is but +one of his court fashions. I dare say he will spend your gold piece at +the first tavern." + +"Then I may keep the locket, mother?" said Winifred, somehow feeling +that her heart was not particularly lightened by this view of the case. + +"Yes, if you please, child, so you do not show it. It is too valuable +an ornament for one in your station." + +There was no danger of her showing it, Winifred thought. Neither would +she bring herself to believe that Mr. Carew would spend her gold piece +at the first tavern. She had slept alone in the little room over the +porch since her father's arrival, and that night, for almost the first +time in her life, she cried herself to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BEGINNING OF CHANGES. + +THE next three or four months were months of sad suspense to all the +friends of Arthur Carew. To Winifred they were the longest she had ever +spent. All the excitement and adventure of her life had been crowded +into ten days, and now that they were over, it seemed hard to return +to the little common duties of every-day life—to have nothing more +important on her mind, when she awoke in the morning, than feeding the +chickens or carrying her daily portion to Dame Sprat. Even her lessons +with Mrs. Alwright had lost part of their charm, now that there were +no messages to carry back and forth between my lady and Mr. Arthur—now +that she was no longer a counsellor and in some sort a heroine, but had +sunk into plain little Winifred Evans again. + +In truth a great change had passed over Winifred. She had passed that +place "where the brooks and rivers meet." She had from a simple child +become a woman, with all a woman's cares and feelings, living the best +part of her life in another. And she could no more go back to what +she was before the memorable night when she walked over the fields +with Arthur Carew, than she could return to the days when she played +contentedly for hours with a doll and a few bits of broken earthenware. + +Winifred had now to learn what all women must learn, sooner or later, +that it often requires as much courage, though of a somewhat different +kind, to live one's common every-day life, as it does to risk that +life in some great danger or adventure. She sometimes found it hard +not to be pettish and impatient with Jack when he boasted of what he +would do when he was a sailor, and she sometimes found herself looking +with disgust upon the little cares and the common every-day work which +occupied her from morning till night, without seeming, after all, to +bring anything to pass. + +But Winifred was too truly a Christian, and too strongly confirmed in +the habit of honest self-examination, to allow this frame of mind to +become a habit. She soon perceived that she was growing fretful and +discontented, and even moody and impatient of the society of those +about her. And she set herself resolutely to remedy the evil, by +earnest prayer, and by a steady, straightforward analysis of her own +feelings and conduct. + +"God has placed me where I am," she argued with herself. "He hath +called me to this state of life, and the work I am obliged to do +every day—feeding the fowls, sweeping and scouring, waiting upon my +grandfather and Jack, and helping Priscilla in the dairy—all this is as +much His work, as saving Mr. Carew's life or helping my lady. And if +I let myself be unfaithful and discontented in these little matters, +just because they do not seem to come to anything, what right have I +to expect strength when any great temptation comes to try me? And if I +sit thinking of all that has happened, and of Mr. Arthur Carew, when +I ought to be saying my prayers—and I know I have done so a good many +times—I have no right to expect my devotions will seem as pleasant to +me as they have done before. + +"I might take pattern of my lady about that. Of course the suspense +about Mr. Arthur must be much worse for her than for me, yet she seems +to go about everything just as usual—visiting the poor sick folks, +the school, and the old women at the almshouses, reading and working, +though I dare say all these things are often as tiresome to her as my +spinning and knitting are to me. I will not be so silly any more!" was +the conclusion of her meditation. + +"God has been very good to me in giving me such kind friends as my lady +and Mrs. Alwright, and such a home as this at the farm, and I will +not be ungrateful. I will make the most of my lessons as long as I am +allowed to have them. I will do my very best with my spinning, and see +if I cannot draw as fine and even a thread as my mother. I found out +long ago that the way to make work interesting was to do one's very +best with it. God has always been good to me, and what a comfort it is +to think that He can never be anything else than good—that whatever +changes come, He will be always the same." + +Winifred was likely to have need of all the comfort she could find in +such thoughts, for many sad changes were before her. + + +One morning, as she entered Mrs. Alwright's room, she found that +discreet spinster surrounded by a wonderful litter of linen and other +garments, busily engaged in mending some very precious lace of her +lady's. + +"News, Winifred!" said Mrs. Alwright. + +"Good news or bad?" asked Winifred. + +"Both good and bad! Good news of Mr. Arthur, and bad news for you and +me, my dear!" + +"Mr. Arthur!" asked Winifred, her heart beating so fast as almost to +choke her. "Is he safe?" + +"Yes, my dear. After many troubles and perils, he escaped in a ship +from Biddeford, and got safe and well through France into Holland. He +says he wrote a letter, and sent it on shore just as they were about to +sail, but we never received it. My lady says you are to come up to her +by-and-by, and she will tell you all about the matter herself." + +"That is good news, indeed!" said Winifred. "But I wonder why my lady +never received his first letter?" + +"No doubt it was intrusted to some careless person who lost it," +replied Mrs. Alwright. "There is no end to the evils brought about by +carelessness, as you will do well to remember." + +"And what is the bad news, Mrs. Alwright? I hope nothing has happened +to Sir Edward." + +"Why, yes, something has happened, though not anything which can be +called a misfortune, exactly. His majesty has been pleased to give Sir +Edward some office about the court. And we—that is my lady and I, and +the butler and the coachman, and Betty Cook—are all going up to London +to live." + +Winifred's heart sank fathoms deep. My lady and Mrs. Alwright going +away from the Hall! No more lessons in embroidery, no more reading out +of the "Chronicle" and the "Arcadia," no more pleasant hours spent in +gathering sweet herbs and flowers in the garden, or helping in the +still-room and store-room! No more hours spent with my lady in reading +and talking about the Bible and the history books—and above all, no +further chance of hearing from Arthur Carew! + +Winifred felt as though all the sunshine of her life had gone out +in a moment. She remembered how dissatisfied she had been the past +winter—how weary of everything, even of her precious lessons, and she +felt as though God had punished her for her discontent by taking away +the blessing for which she had been ungrateful. She bit her lip, and +busied herself with the fastening of her basket, but all was of no use. +The tears would come, and with a sudden impulse, she dropped upon her +knees by the side of her good old friend, and laying her head in her +lap, she sobbed as if her heart would break. + +"Aye, poor dear! I knew just how you would take it!" said Mrs. +Alwright, wiping her own eyes and smoothing Winifred's hair, entirely +regardless for once of the detriment to her own clean starched lawn +apron. "Such a quiet and pleasant time as we have had this winter since +Sir Edward went away! So much as you have improved, and just as you +have learned to do cut-work and satin-stitch so nicely, and all the +darning stitches as well as I could myself. I meant to begin with you +in carpet-work and tapestry the very next week, and give you the wool +and silk to work a cushion for a birthday present. I got them from +Bristol only last night. But you shall have them just the same, and I +will give you a lesson every day that we stay at the Hall. It shall go +hard, but I will find the time somehow or other. I will give you my +small frame, too, and you are so clever, I make no doubt you will be +able to go on by yourself. So cheer up, my dear, for no doubt it will +be all for the best in the end, and don't let us waste our precious +time in crying, for that would be very foolish, now that we have so +little left." + +Winifred felt the truth of this last remark. She dried her eyes, and +prepared to make the most of the few pleasant hours she was likely to +enjoy. Mrs. Alwright brought out her frame and prepared her canvas, and +Winifred for a time almost forgot her troubles in the excitement of +seeing a pretty pink rose-bud growing up, as it were, under her fingers. + +"Does my lady like going to London?" she asked, as she presently +stopped to thread her needle. + +"Why, my dear, it is not always easy to say what my lady likes. You +know great folks are not forward in expressing their feelings, and my +lady never talks of herself. Of course, if Sir Edward is to live in +London, my lady would wish to be with him, like a dutiful wife as she +is. And so much the better for him, since, between ourselves, my dear, +though I would not say so to every one, she has more sense in her glove +than ever dwelt under his hat. I dare say my lady may be pleased at the +thought of seeing some of her old friends again, but, upon the whole, +I am of opinion that she would rather stay here than go to town. She +never was fond of company, even as a girl. She would often beg to be +left at home when the rest went out, and after she became a widow, I do +believe that with her own good will she would never have left her own +room, save to go to church or visit some poor body. + +"Sir Edward went to London after his marriage, and was much about the +king for some years. So my lady had to go to court with the other +great ladies, but never was a bird more glad to escape from the cage +than she was when we came down to the Hall. She recovered her spirits +wonderfully, so that Sir Edward himself noticed the change, and he was +greatly pleased to see her take such an interest in the gardens and in +the schools and almshouses which his grandmother set up. It seemed as +though she grew ten years younger. No, I cannot think my lady would +ever go to London of her own accord." + +"And you, Mrs. Alwright, how do you like it?" + +"My dear, I hate and detest London and everything belonging to it!" +said Mrs. Alwright, with so much energy that Winifred started and broke +her thread. "Nasty, dirty place that it is, always knee-deep in dirt, +in mud or dust, everything covered with soot and black, so that one can +never be sure of a decent cap and kerchief for two minutes together, +and no getting them washed as they should be, either! All sorts of +wickedness and folly going on, night and day. Never sure when one hires +a new maid that she is not a what-shall-call-um, who will rob the house +and run away the first chance you give her, and pretty certain that she +will be a lazy, dirty baggage, not worth her salt! The streets fall of +all sorts of disorder so that no one is safe after dark. + +"My lady was once stopped in her coach, coming home from Whitehall, and +would have been robbed and murdered too, for aught I know, only for a +party of soldiers who came up just in time. Poor starving creatures +begging at the corners of the streets—why, if you will believe me, my +dear, a poor sailor actually crept into our back-yard for shelter one +cold night, and was found dying in the morning. My lady and I tried all +we could to revive him, but he was too far gone. He said he had ate +nothing for a week, and I could easily believe it by his looks. Brazen, +painted baggages riding in their coaches in the park and jostling +honest women!" + +Mrs. Alwright stopped for sheer want of breath. + +"But I suppose there must be some good people in so large a place as +London?" said Winifred, doubtfully. + +"Yes, to be sure, child, a plenty of them. Even in the court itself, +bad as it was. There was Mrs. Godolphin, a saint if ever there was +one, and Mr. and Mrs. Evelyn, better people could not be; and as for +Mrs. Macy, their daughter, she was too good to live. O yes, no doubt +there are good people everywhere, but yet there is a terrible deal of +wickedness in great cities, such as we know nothing about here. For my +part, I could wish there was no such place. I did hope to spend the +rest of my days among the green fields, and to live and die in the +country, but God's will be done! No doubt He knows best!" + +"It is hard to think so always," said Winifred. + +"Well, sweetheart, it is a comfort that He does know best, and will go +on in His own way, whatever we poor mortals may think of His doings. +But now you must go up to my lady, and while you are gone, I will put a +few stitches just to help you along, and give you something to look at +for a guide." + +Winifred found Lady Peckham in her dressing-room, which was all in a +litter with mails and boxes. Lady Peckham was seated at her cabinet, +looking over and destroying letters and papers. As Winifred looked +around the usually pleasant and orderly apartment, as she remembered +the delightful hours she had spent there, and thought how soon it would +be shut up and deserted, the tears swelled to her eyes again, and she +wished, with Mrs. Alwright, that there were no such place as London in +the whole world! + +"Well, Winifred, I suppose you have heard all the news from Mrs. +Alwright?" said Lady Peckham, kindly. + +"Yes, my lady." + +"I have a message for you from my brother," said Lady Peckham, taking a +letter from her pocket. "He says, 'Tell my little Winifred that I think +of her, and I hope she remembers me, at least in her prayers.'" + +Winifred felt that there was little danger of her forgetting, but she +knew that she should break down utterly if she tried to speak, so she +courtesied, and remained silent. + +"Come hither to me, Winifred," said Lady Peckham. + +Winifred obeyed, not by any means sure that she had not incurred a +reproof in presuming to shed tears before such a great lady. She was +mistaken. + +"My poor child! My dear, faithful little friend!" said Lady Peckham, +and presently, to her astonishment, Winifred found herself drawn into +my lady's arms, and crying on her shoulder as freely as if it had been +her own mother. + +"You are very dear to me, Winifred," said my lady, presently, in a low +voice. "I have always been fond of you, both for your own sake and that +of a dear friend whom you much resemble. I have envied your mother the +possession of such a daughter, but the events of the last few weeks +have made me feel toward you more like an elder sister." + +What made the hot blood rush into Winifred's cheeks at these words, so +that she was glad to have her face hidden from her friend? Perhaps she +could not have told if she had been asked. + +"I would gladly take you with me to London, if it were possible," +continued Lady Peckham. "I would gladly adopt you as my own, but I +should have no right to deprive your parents of such a treasure. God +has appointed to each of us His children our place, where we have His +special work to do, and if in our impatience or self-indulgence we +strive to better His appointment, He will soon show us our mistake. +But, Winifred, if anything should happen to make you need a home, you +must let me know." + +"Will you never come back to the Hall, my lady?" + +"I cannot tell, my child. Not for a long time, I fear. Sir Edward has +received an appointment, as you have doubtless heard from Alwright, +and so long as he is attached to the court we must remain in London. I +confess it is not a pleasant prospect to me, but I try to submit and to +believe that it will be for the best." + +"It is hard to think that God orders everything for the best," Winifred +ventured to observe, "but, my lady, I think it would be still harder to +live if one did not believe it. It seems the only comfort one has in +times like these." + +"True, sweetheart! I trust you may never find your faith more severely +tried than now. But this is a world of great and sad changes, and you +may live to look back upon the present as a very small trial." + +Winifred could not imagine any state of things in which the present +trial should seem small to her. She was soon to find out her mistake. + +"And now, Winifred, I wish you to ask a favor for me of your good +mother," continued Lady Peckham. "I wish you would ask her to allow you +to remain at the Hall until we go to London. You can help Mrs. Alwright +a great deal, and I shall be glad of your society." + +Winifred looked up in surprise. The news seemed too good to be true. +Should she really remain a whole week at the Hall—perhaps longer—and +see my lady every day? + +"Oh, my lady, you are too good!" she said, gratefully. + +Lady Peckham smiled rather sadly. "I am good to myself, then, my dear. +I am not at all sure that I am conferring any favor upon you. But you +may tell your mother that I shall be careful not to spoil her little +maiden." + +Dame Magdalen looked rather doubtfully at her husband when Winifred +preferred Lady Peckham's request, after her return home. + +"I should be loth to refuse my lady anything, sweetheart, so kind as +she has been to you! But to let you stay so long at the Hall—I am +doubtful." + +"My lady said she would be sure not to spoil me, mother," said Winifred. + +"She will not 'mean' to spoil you, I know very well. My lady means +nothing but what is kind and good, but, my maid, how will it be when +you return home again? Will not the plain, homely ways and life at +the farm, and the every-day work and duties of your station, become +wearisome to you? My lady has been very kind in noticing and making in +some sort a companion of you, but you must never forget that you are a +plain yeoman's daughter." + +"I will try not to be discontented, mother," said. Winifred, meekly. +"I know what my place is, and I am thankful that I have so good +and pleasant a home as this, but, mother—" and Winifred's voice +faltered—"perhaps I shall never see my dear lady again!" + +"Let her go, dame, I pray you!" said Gilbert Evans, stroking his +daughter's head. "We all owe much to my lady for her care of the child, +and she will learn nothing but good at the Hall, though there are few +great families of which I would say as much. I do not wonder the poor +lady feels the need of companionship. Go now, and bring me my pipe +and box. The child must go out into the world some day!" he added, as +Winifred left the room. "We cannot always keep her to ourselves, and +she is learning what will help her to earn her bread if ever she should +be thrown on herself." + +"Winifred has learned a great deal," said Magdalen. "Her white seam and +cut-work are wonderful, and she can do the twill and diaper darning +stitches better than I could in my best days, but yet I sometimes fear +for the effect of all these lessons. Whom is the girl to marry?" + +"Perhaps she may have the luck to catch a sailor lad, as her mother did +before her," said Gilbert, laughing, and patting his wife's still fair +cheek. "Dost remember how thy fine relations turned up their noses at +poor Gilbert Evans, when he came a-courting Magdalen Coffin, whom he +fished out of the Catwater when the pleasure-boat was overset? + +"'What does that sailor fellow want with Madge?' said thy cousin. 'Give +him a crown and a draught of strong water, and send him on his way!'" + +"Ah, Gilbert, it is not every orphan and dependent maid who has the +luck of poor Madge Coffin!" said Magdalen, smiling. "Winifred's lot is +likely to be the opposite of mine. My proud cousin brought me up to be +a household drudge—a serving-maid in all but the name. But even let +the child do as she will! She is a good girl, and has worked hard this +winter." + +So it was settled, and Winifred went up to the Hall to stay for the +two weeks that should elapse before Lady Peckham went to London. Busy +weeks they were, and full of pleasant employment, whether she worked +at her embroidery, ran up and down-stairs for Mrs. Alwright and helped +her in the still-room and kitchen, where she learned to make biscuits, +and almond paste, and maukpane and saffron cakes, and all the other +delicacies for which that lady was famous, or whether she sat or walked +with my lady in the rapidly lengthening twilight, telling of the things +they both loved, or read to her as she worked in her own chamber. + +Many were the cabinet drawers and boxes she helped to rummage, filled +with all the accumulations of generations of ladies famous for +needlework and all such accomplishments, and many were the precious +presents she received,—bits of wonderful brocades and ribbons for her +silk patchwork (then a great fashion, as it was a few years since), +of ivory and tortoise-shell tatting-shuttles and netting-boxes, of +pin-cushions and needle-books, of embroidery patterns and silks, each +and all accompanied by the exhortation, "Take care of it, child! It +will come in use some day." + +But at last all came to an end. The day of final departure arrived. +Winifred bade her friends farewell, and stood at the hall door till the +clumsy coach with its six horses and outriders (not for show, but use) +drove down the long avenue and disappeared. Then, feeling as though a +part of her life had gone away with it, she dried her eyes, and turned +back into the house to finish up some last things which had been left +to her care. + +Later in the day, Winifred walked homeward, followed by the herd-boy +bearing her bundles, but carrying herself, as too precious to intrust +to another, her chief treasures—Hall's "Chronicle," some books of +devotion my lady had given her, and the "Arcadia" of Sir Philip +Sidney—"the only romance," said Mrs. Alwright, "fit for a young maiden +to read." + +At the turn of the avenue, she stopped and looked back. There stood +the old Hall, in all its quaint beauty, under the light of the spring +sunshine, but all the windows were closed, and Winifred thought it +already looked desolate and forlorn. She gazed a long time, till her +eyes grew too full to see any longer. + +"Well," said she, as at last she turned away, "I have at least one +comfort! No one can ever take from me the remembrance of the pleasant +times I have had and the things I have learned of my lady!" + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +BRISTOL. + +"HERE is that child, poring over her book again, wasting her precious +time and eyesight! I declare she is enough to try a saint! After all I +have done for her! I have a great mind to burn up all her books except +the Bible, that I have." + +Winifred looked up wearily as these words were spoken. She had grown +tall and pale since we last saw her in the avenue at Holford Hall, and +the expression of her face wears more of sadness, but there are the +same clear-cut features, the same large, steadfast gray eyes and marked +eyebrows which first attracted Lady Peckham's attention to the child +in the Blue-school at Holford. But the window where she now sits and +strains her sight to catch the last daylight looks not into the farm +closes, but into such a narrow lane that the opposite neighbors could +almost shake hands across it. For Master Simon Evans lives near the +water-side for the convenience of his business. And even the dog-carts +used in the wider streets of Bristol cannot pass each other in Fish +Lane. + + +[Illustration: "Here is that child, poring over her book again, wasting +her precious time and eyesight."] + +Winifred looked up wearily as the shrill voice of reproach sounded over +her head. The speaker was a sharp, energetic-looking woman who seemed +to have worked off every inch of superfluous flesh and to have nothing +left but bone and muscle. + +"I have finished all the sewing you laid out, aunt, and I have carried +home Mrs. Bowler's kerchiefs, and put the money in your box. The +children are in bed and asleep, and I thought I might read a little +while." + +"And how much did Mrs. Bowler pay you, child? She ought to give you a +good price." + +"Forty shillings for the kerchiefs, aunt, and ten for the apron." + +"Well, well! It is a fair price, but they are well worth every farthing +of it!" said Dame Evans, slightly mollified. "I will say for you that +there is not a person in Bristol who can do cut-work and satin-stitch +equal to yourself. But you might have taken your knitting, child, if +you had nothing else to do. Reading is nothing but a waste of time for +folks like us, except upon Sundays and holidays, when we can do nothing +else." + +"And, aunt, I saw Lady Corbet at Mrs. Bowler's, and she wishes me +to come to her house every day to teach her daughters and oversee +their work. I am to take my meals with the young ladies and walk out +with them, and she will give me ten shillings a week. I am to begin +to-morrow if you are willing." + +"Laws me!" exclaimed Dame Evans, quite dazzled at the prospect of such +an honor. "What a fine thing for you! Why, they are the richest people +in Bristol. Sir John entertained his late blessed majesty when he +visited the city, and was knighted on that occasion. I have heard my +Lady Corbet was cousin to old Lord Carew." + +Winifred's heart gave a bound at this news. Might she not, through Lady +Corbet, obtain some news of Lady Peckham and Arthur? It was nearly +three years since she had heard anything of Arthur, but she had never +once forgotten to pray for him, night and morning. + +"You are willing to have me go then, aunt?" + +"What does the child mean? Willing indeed! You ought to be thankful +on your knees for such an honor, and you talk about being willing, as +though you had asked leave to go to the fair! I am only afraid you will +not know how to behave properly with such grand ladies, having lived in +the country all your life. Yes, of course I am willing, only be careful +of your manners, and be sure you say 'my lady' every time you speak to +her." + +Winifred smiled rather sadly. She had not many fears upon the score +of manners. She had been used to intercourse with a much greater lady +than Lady Corbet, the wife of a Bristol sugar-refiner, but she was +glad of the employment, as well as of the prospect of some change in +her monotonous and dreary life. She had entertained serious thoughts +of setting up a little school of her own, and here was the work ready +provided for her. + +The last two years had brought many sad reverses to Winifred Evans. +The removal of Lady Peckham to London had been the first of a series +of changes which had ended by bringing her into the little brick-paved +kitchen in Fish Lane where we now find her. But a few months after +Gilbert Evans sailed taking with him his son, came news of the total +loss of the ship and crew. Master Evans, who had been for some time in +declining health, had a paralytic stroke upon hearing the news, and +lingered on a helpless and apparently senseless invalid till the next +year. + +Then came one of the devastating epidemics of that period, sweeping +over Bridgewater and all the towns in the neighborhood. The feeble old +man and Dame Magdalen, worn out with care and sorrow, were among the +first victims, and Winifred was left with nobody to depend upon but her +uncle and aunt in Bristol, whom she had seldom seen. And Lady Peckham, +who was far-away in London—and London, so far as communication was +concerned, was as far from Bristol in that day as it is now from New +Zealand. + +She wrote at once to my lady, sending the letter by one of the grooms +at the Hall who was going up to town, and waited anxiously for an +answer, but none came. And at last the news arrived at the Hall that +Sir Edward had gone abroad, taking his family with him! Here was a +death-blow to all Winifred's hopes! She had nothing left to do but to +return to Bristol with her uncle and aunt and share their home, at +least till some prospect appeared of independent occupation. + +Dame Evans was on the whole a well-meaning woman, but like some other +well-meaning persons, very intolerable to live with. Housekeeping was +her idol. She cared for nothing in the world but scouring and cleaning, +cooking and washing, spinning, sewing, and knitting. In her mind a +house was not a place to live and be happy in, but something whose use +was to be kept clean; to have the bricks scoured, the wood-work waxed +and rubbed and polished endlessly, the windows brightened, and the +flies driven out. Comfort and shelter were secondary objects. Clothes +were made to be mended and kept clean; and as to books, they had, +according to Dame Margery, "no use in the 'varsal world but to waste +people's precious time and keep them from their duties." + +Dame Margery was a steady keeper at home on week-days, and a regular +church-goer on Sundays; she never went to revels or merry-makings, or +allowed her family to do so. And she would have been both surprised +and indignant if any one had told her that she was as much wedded to +the things of this world as her neighbor the goldsmith's wife, whose +gay gowns and frequent parties were the talk of the whole street; and +that it was as frivolous and belittling to set her heart upon pewter +tankards and fine linen as upon flounces and lace. It did not occur +to her to think that drawers and cupboards, kitchen floors and parlor +windows, trenchers and napkins, were as much earthly and transitory +in their nature as fairs and revels. Simon Evans was a master-workman +and well to do in the world, but Dame Margery saved every penny and +every candle-end as carefully as she had done when he was living upon +the wages of a journeyman. She allowed her family no better food, and +had no more to give away. If people were poor, it was their own fault. +"She" was not poor—why could not they do as she had done? The question, +"Who maketh thee to differ?" was one which did not occur to her. + +It may be guessed that Winifred and her aunt did not suit each other +very well. Dame Evans declared that the girl had been utterly spoiled +by poor sister Magdalen, who was nothing better than a dreamer herself, +for all her gentle blood, and congratulated the child on at last +getting into hands that would give her some training and teach her +something useful. The training consisted in toiling from morning till +night to clean what had just been washed and to wash what was already +clean; in making garments which when done were too good to be worn, and +in being reminded every day and all day long of her own deficiencies, +and of the goodness of her uncle and aunt in taking upon themselves +such a burden. + +Winifred could not bring herself to feel that she was a burden. She +was well aware that she did as much work as had ever been expected of +Priscilla at the farm, and since she had found fine needlework and +embroidery to do, she had earned more than enough money for her own +support. Moreover she had taught the two girls to read and write since +she came to Bristol, rather, it must be confessed, against the will of +their mother, who complained that Winnie would make Betsey and Sally as +idle and dreaming as herself. But here, for once, Simon Evans exerted +his authority, and when he did, even Dame Margery had no choice but to +submit. + +These were dreary days to Winifred. The change was great from the open, +breezy field and heath, and the stately avenues and lovely gardens of +the Hall, to the narrow alley where she now lived. There was not a +green thing to be seen except from one window in the attic, where she +could catch a glimpse of some distant tree-tops; and at these tree-tops +Winifred could gladly have gazed for hours if she would have been +allowed. But it was hard for her to find time even to think, since +Dame Margery's voice kept up an incessant patter of small complaints +and fault-findings, small remarks and smaller gossip, for, although +she seldom went out, she contrived to pick up all the news of the +town. Her very voice grated on Winifred's ears. She never spoke in a +pleasant or cheerful tone. And a stranger hearing her in another room +would be sure to think she was either whining or scolding. While at +the least annoyance, she took on a tone and expression of suffering +martyrdom. Reading was out of the question, save by fits and snatches, +or on Sundays, when she was not engaged in cooking the Sunday dinner, +or keeping the little ones quiet, while their mother nodded over her +Bible, under the idea that she was performing a pious duty. + +It was a great relief when Winifred found fine sewing and embroidery +enough to occupy her hands for some hours of every day. The close +attention which this work required was a sufficient excuse for not +talking, and she was learning by degrees to listen to her aunt's voice +as one listens to the working of machinery or the patter of the rain—as +a disagreeable noise which cannot be helped. As she worked at the +muslin apron or the lace whisk which occupied her hands and eyes, her +thoughts were comparatively free, and they wandered backward over the +past—her pleasant life at the farm, the hours spent at the Hall or with +good Dame Sprat, now enjoying that Heavenly Inheritance to which she +had so steadily looked forward during her long and troubled life. She +called to mind her last precious conversations with Lady Peckham, and +the dying words of her mother: + +"Winifred, lay hold on eternal life. Whatever may be your lot here, +never give up your title to your Heavenly Inheritance. Remember always +how He hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.' And +there is no change in His goodness. I leave you in His hands who never +yet failed them that sought Him." + +This was Winifred's only stay, her one source of courage and comfort. +Severe as was the change, heavy as were her bereavements, weary and +dull as was her daily toil, fretting as were her daily trials, it was +her Heavenly Father who sent or who allowed it all, and therefore all +"must" be for her good in the end, though it might be a long time first. + +She was sure that there was waiting for her a lovely, peaceful home, +filled with all those beautiful things which she loved, and many, many +others, far beyond anything she had seen or could conceive—a home +where all her dear ones were waiting for her or would come at last, +and where there would be no more parting forever. This inheritance was +"hers,"—prepared for her by her Heavenly Father, sealed and made sure +by her Saviour's death and resurrection. It was to be hers at last, +however long she might have to wait, and it might be hers any day. She +might go to bed any night in her little close bedroom, and awake amid +the unspeakable splendors of heaven. + +Such thoughts gave Winifred courage to live from day to day, making +no plans, never looking forward, but leaving all in better hands than +her own. They were no longer beautiful dreams, as in the days when she +walked over the heath or up to the Hall. They alone were the living +realities, and all the rest was but a dream—a weary, troublesome dream, +which would pass away in the morning. She was careful to give no just +cause of offence, and when she was blamed unjustly, she tried to accept +it in the spirit of meekness, knowing that the trial of our faith +"worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and +hope maketh not ashamed." + +It was with a thankful heart that Winifred dressed herself next day for +her that lesson at Lady Corbet's. She thought it likely that she might +meet with some disagreeable things. Lady Corbet evidently had a great +idea of her own consequence, and seemed to think she was conferring a +favor on Winifred by allowing her to teach her daughters. It was very +likely also that the young ladies might be proud and consequential. But +at all events it was a change. Sir John Corbet lived in the best part +of the city, on one of the hills upon which Bristol is built. He had a +fine house and also a garden, and the very thought of seeing green and +growing plants was pleasant to one who had been shut away from them so +long. + +"How pretty Cousin Winnie looks!" said Betsey, gazing after her cousin +as she tripped down the lane with something of her old elastic step. + +"Beauty is nothing, child!" said her mother, though she herself was +thinking at that moment that Winifred was a very creditable young +person to have passing in and out of the house. "Good looks are only +skin deep! Handsome is that handsome does!" + +"Then I think Winifred is the handsomest person I know!" returned +sturdy little Betsey. "For I am sure she is the very best." + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE CITY KNIGHT'S FAMILY. + +BRISTOL, at the time of our story, was the second city in England, and +was famous for its wealth and luxury, for its West India trade and its +sugar refineries, and, alas! also for the infamous slave-trade of which +it was the centre, and which dealt in white skins as well as black +ones, which not only brought in negroes, but carried out white boys and +girls, stolen in the streets sometimes, never to be heard of again. It +contained some splendid churches and several ancient endowed schools +and hospitals, but the streets were so narrow that no carts were used +save those drawn with dogs. And there was hardly a coach in the whole +city, for the simple reason that there was no place in which to use one. + +Winifred found Lady Corbet in her own private sitting-room, and was +reminded at once of Mrs. Alwright, not only by the basket of linen +piled up to be darned and the huge bunch of keys in its little basket +on the table, but even by something in the lady's manner of handling +her needle and scissors. + +"Ah! So you have come betimes, Mrs. Evans!" was her greeting. "I am +truly glad to see you! My girls are losing their time and running wild +for want of something to do. I have no time to teach them myself, and +my last governess has just married Sir John's managing clerk—and a +good match for her too, poor thing, for she was an orphan, and Mr. +Thomas Green is a good, kind, and steady man, though perhaps a thought +elderly. And what can you teach, child—anything besides tapestry and +cut-work? I suppose, for instance, you don't know anything about +figures?" + +"Yes, madam," replied Winifred—she could not bring herself to say my +lady—"I know how to cast accounts, and how to keep a household book." + +"Dear me, how glad I am!" exclaimed Lady Corbet, relaxing a little from +the stateliness with which she had met Winifred, and which did not seem +in the least natural to her. "Then I am sure you will help me now and +then, won't you? Sir John he insists that I shall keep an account of +all the expenses of the house, but what is the use, when I never can +make my sums come out twice alike?" + +Winifred professed her willingness to render any assistance which might +be needed. + +"Well, that is kind of you. You see, in such a great household as +this—for Sir John he will have all his clerks and 'prentices live in +the family—there is a great deal going out all the time, and unless +some one looks after things, presently everything is at sixes and +sevens. Now I cannot make up my mind to do like my cousin Norton +the alderman's wife—she just spends and spends, and seems to know +no more what it costs to live than my Betty. I cannot think that is +right, somehow. It seems as if one ought to give an account of one's +stewardship, don't you think so, sweetheart?" asked Lady Corbet, who +seemed quite delighted at having some one to whom she could talk freely. + +"I do, indeed, madam!" replied Winifred, feeling her heart warm toward +the bustling lady, whom she had at first thought she never could like. +"I shall be glad to give you help about accounts or any other matter. +Mrs. Alwright taught me a good deal about housekeeping when I used to +go to the Hall." + +"Mrs. Alwright!" exclaimed Lady Corbet. "Dear me, child, you don't +surely mean Hannah Alwright—she that was brought up by my old Lady +Carew, and afterward went to live with her daughter, Lady Peckham at +Holford Hall?" + +"The same, madam," replied Winifred, her heart beating fast. "My lady +was the kindest friend I ever had; and I used to go to Mrs. Alwright +two or three times a week to learn fine work and other things, and I +stayed at the Hall for two weeks before my lady went away to London." + +"Laws me! Do you know, my dear—" Lady Corbet's dignity had dissolved +into thin air by this time—"I thought of Cousin Margaret the moment I +saw you at Mistress Bowler's the other day! Not that you look like her, +either, but you have something in your manner—and do you know anything +of my cousin, Mrs. Evans?" + +"Indeed I do not, madam," said Winifred, sadly. "I hoped I might hear +news of her from you." + +"And I wish I had it for you, with all my heart!" returned Lady Corbet. +"But it is long since I have had anything to do with the family. You +see I am related to the Carews by my mother's side, and my old lady, +she would have me to live with her after my parents died. It was good +in her, no doubt, but we did not get on well. My lady must needs have +everything in her own way, and she set out to break off my match +with John Corbet, though I had been betrothed to him in my parents' +life-time, and with their consent—and to marry me to Mr. Hervey, a +cousin of her own, and a much grander match, to be sure, as things were +then, than my poor John Corbet. But though I approve of young folks +being guided by their elders in all such matters, I would not give up +my poor John for any Mr. Hervey, so there was a breach directly. My +cousin Margaret took my part, though she dared not say a great deal, +for every one in the house stood in awe of my lady. However, married I +was, and my lady would never see me afterward. And how was my cousin, +Mrs. Evans? Did not poor Arthur's death break her down very much? Why, +my dear, how white you are! Is the room too warm for you?" + +"I walked fast," said Winifred, recovering herself by a violent effort, +though she felt stunned and giddy. + +"Yes, I dare say, and you are not used to the crowded streets. Here, +take my smelling-bottle. Yes, poor Arthur died five or six years ago, +soon after he went abroad, and a pity it was, for he was a likely +youth, and they say the present lord will never do any good. Well, my +dear, your color has come back, sure enough. So if you are ready, we +will go see my girls. Just let me lay out the clean towels and napkins +for the maids." + +Winifred had time to recover the calmness which had been so sorely +shaken, while Lady Corbet bustled about, arranging the linen. She +understood at once that the first report of Arthur's death was the +one to which Lady Corbet referred. She was conscious of a mingled +feeling of relief and intense disappointment. She could not feel that +no news was good news, but at least it was not bad news. She was quite +her usual self when Lady Corbet announced that she was ready to go +up-stairs. The school-room was in the upper floor of a wing built +out into the garden, and as they opened the green baize door which +separated it from the rest of the house, their ears were met by the +sound of passionate crying. + +"Ah, my poor Betty!" said Lady Corbet. "I do hope, my dear Mrs. Evans, +you will be able to prevent that child's sisters from teasing her life +out. They dare not do so before me or their father, but so sure as she +is left alone with them, there is 'such' a time! Heyday! What does this +mean?" she exclaimed, as she opened the door: "Betty, what are you +doing there!" + +The scene partly explained itself. A pale little girl of nine years or +thereabout was perched very insecurely, as it seemed, on the top of +a high cabinet or chest of drawers. She had evidently climbed to her +elevation by means of a stool placed upon a table, but the table had +been pushed away, and she had no means of descending. While her two +sisters, twins of fourteen, stood laughing at her discomfiture. A third +girl, some two or three years older, sat reading in a window, with +rather an elaborate appearance of taking no notice of the others. + +"What does this mean?" asked Lady Corbet again, helping the child down +from her dangerous position. "What have you been about?" + +"Jem threw my doll up there on the cabinet," sobbed Betty, "and when +I climbed up to get it, they took away the table! And they said," +continued Betty, clinging to her mother, and pointing to a cupboard +high up in the wall, "they said there was a skeleton in there!" + +"Nonsense!" returned Lady Corbet, sharply. "There is nothing whatever +in the cupboard. Are you not ashamed, girls, to treat your poor sister +so? Here is Mrs. Evans, your new governess, wondering at your bad +manners!" + +To do them justice, the girls did look heartily ashamed. + +"I must say, Paulina, I think you might use your influence to prevent +such tricks," said her mother, severely, turning to the young lady in +the window, who had not moved. "At least," she added, sharply, "you +might rise to your feet when your mother and your governess enter the +room!" + +Paulina rose with the air of a martyr. + +"I beg your pardon, madam!" said she, in a mournful voice. "I am so +used to noise and confusion that a little more or less does not attract +my attention." + +"She is just as bad as the rest, only she is slyer about it!" cried the +little girl. "I hate them all, that I do, and I wish I was dead—so!" + +Paulina darted a glance at her sister which was anything but amiable, +and then casting her eyes on the floor, she stood in silence. + +"Hush! Hush! Let me hear not one word more, or nobody will have +anything but bread and water till supper time!" said Lady Corbet, +decidedly. "This is your new governess, Mrs. Winifred Evans, who has +been brought up by my cousin the Lady Peckham, and is doubtless well +qualified to teach you all you should know. She will remain with you +from eight in the morning till six at night—were not those the hours we +agreed upon, Mrs. Evans?—and you will obey her as you would your father +and mother. Let me hear no complaints of any of you, from oldest to +youngest—do you hear?" + +The young ladies courtesied demurely. Paulina lifted her heavy eyelids, +and looked first at the newcomer and then at her mother. + +"Do I understand you, madam, to include me in the list of Mrs. Evans' +pupils?" she asked. + +"Of course!" said her mother, sharply, again. "You have many things yet +to learn, mistress, though you think yourself so wise. Let me hear that +you show yourself both obedient and apt to learn." + +Paulina, courtesied again, with an intensification of the martyr +expression. + +"You will teach them whatever you think best, Mrs. Evans. I have +perfect confidence in you," said Lady Corbet, turning to Winifred. +"But I hope you will be particular as to their behavior, both toward +each other and toward yourself, and also as to their needlework, which +is, in my opinion, one of the most necessary things for a lady to +understand. Now, let me hear a good account of you, my mistresses, or +it will be the worse for you all!" + +There were a few minutes of silence after Lady Corbet left the room. +Paulina had returned to her book, turning her back ostentatiously on +the company. The younger girls stood as if uncertain what to do next, +and were evidently much disposed to giggle. Winifred saw that her task +might be a somewhat difficult one, and she determined to take it in +hand at once. + +"What work are you doing, young ladies?" she asked, in the calm, clear +tones which always command attention. "Let me see your frames." + +Jemima brought her own and her sisters' frames from a closet, but +Paulina made no movement. + +"I will attend to your elder sister first," said Winifred. "Mrs. +Paulina, let me see your work." + +There was a slight but decided emphasis in the tone, which made Paulina +think it best to obey. She threw down her book, unwillingly enough, and +brought her tapestry work to the table. It was less perfect than either +of her sisters, and was indeed in utter confusion. + +"I can do nothing with it!" said she, pettishly. "I hate the sight of +it! Where is the use of wasting so much precious time upon needlework, +which is, after all, of no use to any one?" + +"Pall only says so because she cannot work as well as Phyllis!" said +Betty, pertly. + +"You should not speak so of your elder sister," said Winifred, gravely. +"You have made a mistake in the very beginning of your pattern, Mrs. +Paulina, and that has put you wrong all through. You cannot go on well +when you begin wrong, whether in tapestry work or anything else." + +Paulina, seemed interested in the remark, and her brow cleared up a +little. + +"I understand that," said she, "but what is the use of beginning at +all? How much better to discipline one's mind and heart by good works +and acts of devotion!" + +"And what better discipline or work could you find than that of +obedience to your parents?" asked Winifred. "That is the discipline +God himself has prepared for you, and surely it is more likely to be +beneficial than any you can contrive or arrange for yourself. This must +all come out, Paulina, or else you must take a new piece. I should +advise you to begin anew from the beginning, for I fear you will never +make anything of this." + +"I would rather try taking this out," said Paulina, the martyr +expression returning, as she sat down with her frame in her old place +by the window. "I don't wish to choose the easiest way, for my part!" + +Winifred could not forbear smiling. + +Paulina saw the smile, and colored. + +"Yes, I expect to be laughed at," said she, in a tone which was +certainly not that of a martyr. "I have always been ridiculed and +persecuted ever since I began to try to lead a devout life, and I +always expect to be, but I mean to persevere, for all that." + +Winifred turned to the work of the other girls, praised what they had +done well, corrected their mistakes, and finally, having set them all +down to work, proposed that she should read or relate to them a tale +while they were at their frames. The proposition was received with +great favor by the younger ones, especially by Betty, who declared that +she loved nothing so much as a tale. + +"And let it be all about giants, and fairies, and enchanted castles," +pleaded Jemima. + +"I will tell you plenty of such tales in our play hours," said +Winifred, "but not in school-time. Let me see if I cannot make a true +story as interesting to you as a fairy tale." + +She then began the touching story of Richard Grenville's death, as +she had read it in Hackluyt's "Voyages," and was glad to see that her +auditors were capable of being interested, and that even Paulina, who +had begun by turning her back upon the company, became so engaged with +the story as to forget her self-imposed task of picking out. As the +clock struck eleven, there was a general cry of "Oh, do go on!" + +"Not now," said Winifred. "We must keep to our hours, and you have been +sitting still long enough. Does madam your mother allow you to walk in +the garden?" + +"She will let us, I know, if you go with us," replied Phyllis, one of +the twins. "Shall I ask her?" + +"If you please." + +Phyllis skipped away and presently returned, followed by her mother. + +"What is this about walking in the garden?" asked Lady Corbet. + +Winifred explained. + +"O yes, they may go if you like to go with them and keep an eye upon +them. But perhaps you will not care to do that?" + +"Indeed I shall, madam. I have not been in a garden since I used to +gather rose-leaves in that at the Hall." + +"Ah, but you must not expect to see anything like the Hall gardens +here, my dear. My cousin, Sir Edward, was always famous for his taste +in gardening and the like, but Sir John has no time for such matters. +Only do not let these wild girls meddle with fruit or flowers, for +their father will be very angry. You must watch them well." + +The garden possessed neither the extent nor the variety of that at +Holford Hall, but still it was a garden, and it was with a sensation of +exquisite delight that Winifred found herself once more among flowers +and shrubs, and the familiar odors of lavender, rosemary, and lilies. +Paulina walked silently at her side. She was a tall, pretty girl, and +would have been attractive but for the air of self-conscious and almost +sullen constraint which pervaded her whole face and manner. She seemed +like a person who was trying hard to sustain an assumed character, and, +as it seemed, with very indifferent success. + +"Tell me about Lady Peckham," said she, at last, abruptly. "My mother +speaks of her as if she were a saint! Was she really so?" + +"What do you mean by a saint, Mrs. Paulina?" asked Winifred. + +Paulina's ideas did not seem very clear. She thought a saint was +one who observed all the hours of prayer, and took the sacraments +frequently, and attended on the poor and sick, and gave up the world by +retiring into a convent or some such place. + +"And is that all?" asked Winifred. + +"Of course, a saint would read none but religious books, and wear +coarse clothes with haircloth next the skin, and perhaps lie all night +in her coffin or upon ashes, and do many penances." + +"Mrs. Paulina, do you read your Bible and Prayer-book?" asked Winifred. + +"Of course," answered Paulina, indignantly. "I have read the Bible +all through twice, and I know the daily prayers and the Litany and +Communion Service by heart." + +"Well, will you tell me which of the saints of the Bible is described +as wearing haircloth next his skin, and sleeping in his coffin upon +ashes?" + +Paulina could not think of any one. + +"Feeding the poor, and constant prayer, and such like are all well +in their way, but they are not enough to make a saint," continued +Winifred. "St. Paul says he might give all his goods to feed the poor, +and give his body to be burned, yes, and even have faith so that he +could remove mountains, and yet all these things might profit him +nothing." + +"I don't see what will make a saint, then," said Paulina. + +"Suppose you read that same chapter I have quoted—the thirteenth of +First Corinthians—and see if it will help you." + +"But please tell me about Cousin Margaret," said Paulina. + +"I will at another time. At present I must see to your sisters. Come, +girls, let us have a race from end to end of this green alley, and see +if it will not give us an appetite for dinner." + +"I cannot run," said Betsey. "It makes my side ache and my heart beat +so." + +"Well, then, you shall be judge. Come, now—start fair! One, two, three, +and away!" + +This was a new idea—this having a governess who could play with them. +When they were out of breath with exercise, Winifred showed them how +to make larkspur rings and whole families of dolls out of foxgloves +and the small green berries which had fallen from the trees. Never +had a play hour passed so pleasantly, so free from quarrelling and +fault-finding. + +"Well, you do look all as fresh as roses!" said Lady Corbet, +approvingly, as, with shining hair, neatly arranged dress, and rosy +cheeks, the young ladies presented themselves before her at dinner. +"Even Betty has a little color in her pale face. I am sure, Mrs. Evans, +you know how to deal with them, and I shall leave them entirely to you." + +The afternoon was not quite as pleasant as the morning. There was an +examination in tables and arithmetical rules, in which all were utterly +deficient—indeed, arithmetic was not a common acquirement in those +days. None of the girls except Paulina could read intelligently, and +Betty scarcely at all. There was some mortification and not a few tears +over the tasks set them, and Betty declared she could not learn to +read—there was no use in trying. However, by a mixture of decision and +gentleness, the lessons were dragged through at last. + +"That was very well, my dear!" said Winifred, as Phyllis finished her +recitation of the pence table, after two or three trials. "I see you +have taken pains, and I doubt not the next time you will have it quite +perfect." + +"How can you say so, Mrs. Evans?" exclaimed Paulina, who had appeared +quite absorbed in the book she was reading. "Phyllis made at least +three mistakes, and hesitated at all the questions. I do not see how +you can call that a good lesson." + +Phyllis' smile vanished, and she cast an angry glance at her sister. + +"Just like you. Grudging a morsel of praise to any one but yourself," +she muttered. + +"I call it a good lesson, because Phyllis has taken pains and applied +herself," said Winifred. "I think you would be much better employed +in doing so than in watching the lessons of others for whom you are +in no way responsible. Let me request that I may have no more such +interference from any of you." + +Paulina, returned to her book with her cheeks flushed scarlet, nor did +she speak again during the whole afternoon. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BANQUET. + +FOR some weeks all went on smoothly between Winifred and her pupils. +The needlework was transferred from the morning to the afternoon, and a +story or a reading was the reward of good behavior. Phyllis and Jemima, +the twins, were easily made amenable to discipline. Phyllis was a +lively, high-spirited girl, affectionate and truthful, taking the lead +in study and play, and maintaining a complete ascendency over Jemima, +who was slower and more disposed to indolence, but who followed her +sister's lead in everything, good and bad. + +Winifred found the most difficulty in breaking up the habit of teasing +both their elder and younger sisters. Paulina's airs of superior +sanctity and wisdom, and Betty's passionate temper, offered a fair +mark for their girlish wit. Paulina usually received their assaults +in sullen silence and contempt, while a very little sufficed to throw +Betty into a passion of rage, in which she was like a mad creature for +a few minutes, and afterwards perfectly overwhelmed with penitence and +grief. These tempests were the more dangerous as the child's health was +very delicate, and she was subject to alarming swoons. + +With Paulina, Winifred could not feel that she gained any ground. At +first, indeed, Paulina seemed much interested in talking about Lady +Peckham and her ways, though she was evidently unwilling to allow any +merit to a style of piety so very different from her own; and many +were the arguments she held with Winifred upon the subject. All at +once, just as Winifred seemed to be getting upon some terms of intimacy +and confidence with her, Paulina froze up again more entirely than +ever. She would not speak a word more than she could help on religious +subjects, or any other, and spent as much time as possible in her own +room; while her fastings and penances were renewed with redoubled +ardor. She asked and obtained permission to attend morning prayers at +the cathedral—a permission her mother granted all the more easily, +because Sir John Trelawny, the bishop, was noted as a very decided +Protestant, and was indeed one of the seven bishops who were soon +afterwards imprisoned by King James. + +Lady Corbet only stipulated that her daughter should always be +accompanied by Molly, one of the maids, who was a great favorite +both with her and Ashwell, the old housekeeper. She had come highly +recommended, and was a well-mannered, smooth-spoken personage, +professing great devotion to the whole family and especially to Mrs. +Paulina. Winifred did not like her, and blamed herself for entertaining +a prejudice against such a useful and harmless person, but she could +not get rid of the feeling that Molly was somehow playing a double +part. As Phyllis said, she always looked as if she were watching +everything and everybody. + +To judge by Paulina's face and manner, she found little comfort in her +church-going. She grew thin and pale every day, and often appeared in +the morning with her eyes swollen as if she had cried all night. She +professed to read a great deal in her own room, but she always excused +herself, if possible, from the Bible reading with which Winifred began +the morning lessons, and indeed almost always came in too late for +them, while her preoccupation told visibly upon her lessons, in which +Phyllis and even Jemima threatened to outstrip her. + +"I shall have to speak to your mother, unless you take more pains +with your lessons, Paulina," said Winifred to her, one day, after the +children had left the room. "You set your sisters a very bad example. +What can they think of the effect of your religion, when they see you +growing more careless and neglectful of your duties every day? You +bring dishonor on the cause itself." + +"I cannot help it," said Paulina. "I have something more important to +think about than tapestry work and tables." + +"Your matters must be important indeed, if they are more so than the +duty imposed upon you by God Himself of obeying and honoring your +parents!" said Winifred, gravely. "You are cheating and deceiving them +by thus wasting your time and mine." + +Paulina flushed scarlet, and then, bursting into tears, she ran out of +the room. From that time she was more careful with her lessons, but +the cloud of depression grew deeper every day, and Winifred began to +be seriously uneasy, and to debate with herself whether she ought not +to mention the matter to the girl's mother. But incidents were soon to +occur which would render any such explanation unnecessary, and which +put an end forever to all poor Betty's school-room troubles. + +"Dear me, Mrs. Evans, I wonder if you can help me upon a pinch?" +exclaimed Lady Corbet one day, bursting into the school-room, evidently +in a great heat. "Here has Sir John sent up from the sugar-house to say +that he has a party of Londoners come to see the furnaces, and desiring +me to have a banquet prepared for them and be ready to receive them all +in half an hour. And there is the furniture in the great room to be +uncovered and dusted, and myself to be dressed—and how it is to be done +'I' don't know, for Ashwell has gone home to her mother, who is ill, +and the cook has no notion of anything beyond her saucepans. Do tell me +what I shall do, there's a dear!" + +"If you will allow me, madam, I will arrange the banquet myself, and +that will allow you time to dress and to superintend the ordering of +the great rooms," said Winifred. + +"Oh, my dear! But are you sere you know how? Sir John is very +particular." + +"I think so," said Winifred, smiling. "I have often assisted Mrs. +Alwright. There is abundance of wall fruit now ripe, and if you will +allow me as many flowers as I need, and the help of Mrs. Paulina—" + +"Take anything you need!" said Lady Corbet, evidently greatly relieved. +"You will find a tray and dishes in the great closet, and there is the +key of the store-room, where is abundance of preserved fruits, both +English and other. But use the Indian comfits as much as you can, for +Sir John will be glad to see them." + +"Cannot we help too?" asked the twins and Betty, all in a breath. + +"Not this time," said Winifred. "You have your lessons to learn, and, +having wasted so much time already this morning, I cannot allow you to +spend any more. Let me see when I come back that you have redeemed your +time, and with madam your mother's permission, I will bring you some +comfits." + +"To be sure, poor wretches!" (Wretch, in those days, was a term of +endearment.) "Do just as you like, Mrs. Evans, only do have everything +ready in time!" + +"No fear, madam. Give yourself no concern, only go and dress, and +we will have all things prepared," said Winifred, entering into the +spirit of the affair, which recalled to her mind some of the delightful +bustles at the Hall on similar occasions. "Run to the garden, Paulina, +and bring me all the red and white roses you can find, with plenty of +other flowers, and young lavender and rosemary shoots. Cut short stems, +and don't go off in a dream and forget what you are about!" + +Paulina departed, and presently returned with her basket and apron full +of flowers. She found Winifred, with her gown tucked up and her ruffles +turned back, dishing out preserves, arranging comfits and spices +in numberless glass and china bowls, and piling up fruit in silver +baskets. All these bowls and baskets, being arranged in symmetrical +order in the large wooden trays which stood on the table, and decked +with quantities of flowers, constituted the banquet which it was the +custom to serve up to guests like those Lady Corbet expected. Paulina +looked on in wonder and admiration, as Winifred contrived, arranged, +and planned, harmonizing forms and colors with the eye of a born artist. + +"That is really beautiful!" said she, as Winifred stepped back to +contemplate her work. "All I have ever seen before were just heaps +of good things piled up any how. And you really take pleasure in the +work!" she added, looking at Winifred's delicately flushed cheeks +and sparkling eyes. "I don't see how one like you can care for such +matters. In an hour all this will be ruined and scattered, and who will +be the better for all your toil?" + +"Ever so many people!" said Winifred. "I shall be the better for having +pleased madam your mother, who has been kind to me. Madam will be +pleased because Sir John is, and Sir John will be gratified at having +done due honor to his guests. Besides, I love the work. It recalls the +happiest days of all my life, when I used to help my dear lady at the +Hall." + +"I should not think my cousin would have cared for such worldly +trifles," said Paulina. + +"My dear lady cared for anything which would give pleasure to others," +said Winifred. "I have seen her spend hours over Sir Edward's laced +bands and ruffles because no one else could do them so much to his +mind. Ah, my dear, when you come to look rightly at life, you will find +that the least trifles may be sanctified by being directed and done to +our dear Divine Master. But we will talk of that another time. I hear +your mother coming from her room; please ask her to step this way." + +Lady Corbet held up her hands. + +"You are a jewel—a perfect jewel, Mrs. Evans! I must have you for my +own. That comes from your good bringing up. But I must certainly have +you with me all the time. You would be worth all the other women in the +house to me." + +"I am sure, madam, Ashwell does her best," said Paulina. "She has been +a faithful servant for many years, and it would be hard to turn her +away for a stranger." + +"And pray, Mistress Malapert, who talks of turning her away, or who +asked your advice in the matter at all?" said Lady Corbet, turning +sharply round. "When I want your counsel, I will ask for it. There, +child, I did not mean to be sharp with you, but you do vex me past +endurance—always taking it for granted that one means to do the +worst thing possible, and taking elders and betters to task on every +occasion. When I was at your age, I should have felt the rod for such a +speech, aye, or such a look, either. There, go to the school-room and +keep your sisters in order, while Mrs. Evans remains here to send in +the refreshments. The child does put me past patience with her airs," +she added, as Paulina departed, with the look of one going to the +stake. "Just think of her taking upon her to lecture her own godmother, +my old Aunt Norton, as good a woman as ever breathed, because the poor +old lady took her knitting upon Ash-Wednesday!" + +"Yet Mrs. Paulina seems, too, as if she were trying to do right," said +Winifred. "I do not understand it." + +"Oh! Trying to do right. One may try too much, in my opinion. I have no +fancy for these over-righteous people. But there is the knocker, and I +must go. I trust all to you, my dear. I am sure all will go well." + +Fortunately all did go well, until just as the last tray of sweetmeats +was sent in, when Phyllis, with a scared, pale face, peeped into the +little store-room. + +"Please, Mrs. Evans, will you come up to the school-room? We can't do +anything with Betty." + +"What is the matter, and why should you do anything with Betty?" asked +Winifred. "Have you been teasing your little sister again, Phyllis?" + +"I am sure we did not mean anything," said Phyllis, looking very much +ashamed, "only she is so cross. But Paulina needn't have shook her so. +But please, Mrs. Evans, do hurry, before madam hears Betty!" + +Winifred looked about her to see that everything was safe, and then +hurried up to the school-room. As she opened the green baize door, she +was startled by hearing a shriek from Betty very different from her +usual scream of passion—an unmistakable cry of pain. She opened the +school-room door. Betty stood in the corner of the room, with both +hands pressed to her side, sobbing at every breath, and shrieking +at every third respiration. Jemima was trying to pacify her, while +Paulina sat in the window, endeavoring very unsuccessfully to appear +unconscious of what was going on. In an instant Winifred saw that +something serious was the matter. + +"Come here to me, Betty!" she said, in her gentle tone of authority. +"Mrs. Paulina, open the window at once—throw the casement wide. +Phyllis, run and bring a glass of wine and some cool water; you will +find them in the store-room. Jemima, come and unloose your sister's +stays and gown while I hold her in the fresh air." + +"Really, Mrs. Evans," began Paulina, but a louder cry from Betty +stopped her words, and the child's head sank back upon her friend's +shoulder. + +"She is dead!" shrieked the twins. + +"No; I think she has only fainted," said Winifred, trying to speak +calmly, though she was herself alarmed at the child's ghastly +appearance. "Paulina, did not Lady Corbet say that a doctor from London +was to be among the guests?" + +But Paulina, pale as death and trembling in every limb, could remember +nothing. + +"She did, I know," said Phyllis, who possessed more ready wit and +presence of mind than all the rest together. "Doctor Mercer was his +name." + +"Very well. Now I am going to lay Betty upon the window seat, where the +fresh air will blow upon her. Do you, Phyllis, bathe her face with the +strong waters, and, Jemima, fan her. Be steady and quiet like sensible +girls till I come back." + +The twins, quieted by the trust imposed upon them, promised to obey, +and Winifred was soon at the drawing-room door, asking to speak to Lady +Corbet. + +"Why, what has happened, child? You are as white as your cap! You have +not broken the great standing china bowl, have you?" + +"No, madam!" said Winifred, hardly able to suppress a smile even there, +to see how the good lady's housekeeping instinct came uppermost. "But +Betty has fainted, and I fear she is going to be very ill. Will you +please come and bring the doctor with you?" + +On ordinary occasions, when annoyed, Lady Corbet was as fussy and +flustered as an old hen, but any real emergency always made her quiet +and sensible at once. + +"Ah, poor child! Hath she had another swoon? Pray go back to her, Mrs. +Winifred, and I will bring the doctor directly." + +Winifred hurried back as desired, and found that Betty had revived, +but was still in great pain, unable to draw a long breath or to move. +Phyllis was supporting her in an upright position as well as she could, +and Jemima was fanning her, while Paulina had thrown herself upon the +floor in the farthest corner of the room, and was leaning her head upon +a chair. + +"O Mrs. Evans, help me! Don't let me die!" gasped the poor child. "Oh! +Am I dying?" + +"I trust not, my dear. Do not be alarmed!" said Winifred, cheerfully. +"See, you are better already, and here is your mother with the good +doctor from London. Now be a good maid, and do as you are bid, and I +trust all will be well." + +"What's this? The window open, and the air blowing in the child's +face!" exclaimed Lady Corbet, who had all the dread of fresh air +natural to an Englishwoman of the time, or indeed of any time. + +"Of course! Where should it blow?" returned the doctor, roughly but not +unkindly. "When people are gasping for breath, they need fresh air, +though I wonder how my young mistress came by sense enough to give it +to her. Hold her more upright still—ah! That will do. Let me have your +hand, my little girl. Ah! I see. Have you given her anything?" sharply +to Winifred. + +"Nothing," said Winifred. "I sent for some wine, but she had fainted +before it came." + +"Just as well. She must have an anodyne at once. Bring me some syrup, a +spoon, and water." + +"In the store-room, Phyllis!" said Winifred. "Quickly, my dear." + +Phyllis was back almost before the words were spoken, and the doctor +prepared the anodyne with his own hands. There had always been a great +struggle to make Betty take medicine, but her own alarm and distress +and the ascendency Winifred had already obtained over her rendered her +docile. + +"Now, she must be put to bed, and kept absolutely quiet," said the +doctor. "This young lady—I have not the honor of knowing her name—seems +to have her wits at her fingers' ends. Let her stay with the child and +sit up with her to-night. You, madam, keep the house very quiet. I +am to be in town some days, and I will look in upon you again in the +morning." + +"What causes these attacks, doctor?" asked Lady Corbet, after Betty had +left the room. + +"Heart disease," answered Doctor Mercer, briefly. "I am sorry to shock +you, madam, but it is but right you should know, in order to guard +against them, since every paroxysm she has is just so much ground lost. +With care, she may outgrow them, but she is likely enough to die in any +one. You must avoid all cause of excitement with her; never let her be +struck or shaken; above all, taken roughly by the left arm. One such +shock may be fatal." + +Paulina, in her dark corner, buried her face deeper at these words, +as she remembered how sharply she had shaken Betty by that very arm, +and how thin and fragile it had felt in her grasp. The twins heard it +also as they clung together in the window, and promised each other in +whispers that they would never, no, never tease Betty again, no matter +what she did, if God would only spare her this time. + +"And what about this fever, doctor, that they say is in the town? Can +one do anything to keep it off by fumigations or the like?" + +"The best way to keep it off is to use plenty of air and cleanliness," +replied Doctor Mercer, who was so far in advance of his age as to be +accounted almost a heretic by his learned brethren. "Use good food in +moderation, and see that your work-people and the poor about you have +the same, and leave the rest to God." + +"But you will come and see my poor Betty again in the morning?" urged +the anxious mother. + +"To be sure! I said so. By the way, who is this young gentlewoman who +seems to understand herself so well? A kinswoman of your own?" + +"Nay, I cannot call her a kinswoman exactly, though she is a connection +of my cousin Margaret, Lady Peckham of Holford, and was indeed partly +brought up by her," answered Lady Corbet, who never failed to sport the +Peckhams of Holford on every possible occasion. "Her father was captain +of a vessel sailing from this port, and son of a Somersetshire yeoman +of good estate, but her mother was daughter to a Devonshire gentleman +of very old family. She is daily governess to my daughters, and I am +so much pleased with her that I think of taking her into my house +altogether." + +"So she is an orphan?" said the doctor. "Well, madam, follow my +directions, and I trust all will be well, but above all keep the house +quiet. I will not answer for consequences should the child be suddenly +awakened." + +"Well, maidens, you have heard what the good doctor has said," said +Lady Corbet. "Let me see how quiet you can be. I must say you have +behaved well and shown yourselves sensible girls. But where is Paulina?" + +"Here, madam!" said Paulina, lifting her pale, tear-stained face from +the chair on which it had been hidden; and then, throwing herself at +her mother's feet, she exclaimed, in a suppressed voice: "It was all +my fault, mother—all, all! Beat me if you will or turn me out of the +house, for I deserve it all!" + +"Hush, hush, child! It is a good thing to own your fault, and I am glad +to see it, but don't go into hysterics, and wake your poor sister. +Phyllis, you can tell a straight story. Let me hear an account of the +whole from you." + +There did not seem to be so very much to tell. The twins had been +teasing Betty with rough play, while Paulina was reading as usual in +her corner. Finally Betty fell over a footstool against Paulina, and +knocked her book out of her hand. Betty cried out. + +"And then," concluded Phyllis, "Paulina shook her hard, and slapped her +shoulders two or three times with the book, to make her stop screaming. +Then when she would not stop, Paulina set her in the corner, and shook +her again. Then I was frightened because Betty looked so bad, and I ran +and called Mrs. Evans." + +"It is all true!" said Paulina, between her sobs. "I have killed the +child! It was all my wicked temper because you sent me up-stairs. I +have done all the mischief." + +Lady Corbet was amazed. It was the first time Paulina, had ever accused +herself of a fault. She administered lectures and pardons all round, +was certain they would never be so bad again, sent for some of the +relics of the banquet to make them a feast, and, when it was plain that +Paulina could not eat, made her a cup of tea (then a very uncommon +luxury), and sent her to bed to sleep off her headache. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE FEVER. + +ABOUT nine o'clock Lady Corbet came softly into the room where Betty +had at last fallen into a quiet and sound slumber. + +"Poor little dear!" said she, sadly, as she looked at the pale face of +the little sleeper. "She really breathes more gently, does she not? How +lucky that the doctor happened to be in the house! But, sweetheart, you +must go and got some supper and a breath of fresh air, for I am sure +you need it. And, my dear, will you, as you come back, just step in +and see if Pall is asleep? The poor child is all but broken-hearted. I +could not be hard upon her when I saw how sorry she was for her fault, +especially as it is so rare for her to own herself in the wrong." + +Winifred was rather unwilling to leave her charge, but she was afraid +of an argument on the subject which would waken Betty, so she slipped +gently out of the room. She had eaten nothing since her twelve o'clock +dinner, and felt herself refreshed by the delicate little supper which +had been prepared for her by the motherly care of Lady Corbet. She went +to the garden door to catch a breath of fresh air, but there seemed to +be no air abroad. The heat was melting, and a low, heavy cloud brooded +over the whole sky. + +"What a stifling heat!" thought Winifred, drawing a long breath. "I +wonder if it is any fresher on the top of Holford heath? It seems as +though one breath smelling of the furze would put new life into my +heart." + +She drew another long breath, and went slowly up-stairs to Paulina's +little chamber. She opened the door, and at first thought no one was +in the room, but a closer inspection showed her Paulina, in her white +night-dress, prostrate on the bare boards, her face hidden in her arms, +and her whole body shaking with suppressed sobs. + +"My poor, dear child!" said Winifred, kneeling beside her. "Why are you +here, when you should be in bed and asleep?" + +Paulina did not reply, save by her deeper sobs. + +"Even if you have done wrong, which I do not deny, you know there is +forgiveness for the worst of sinners," continued Winifred, in soothing +tones. "Do you not remember who it was that came into the world to save +sinners?" + +"'Don't,' Mrs. Evans!" interrupted Paulina, in tones of agony. "You +will kill me. For three long years I have been trying to make myself a +Christian, and I am no nearer to it than when I began. I have fasted +and prayed, and done penance, and thought upon death and judgment, till +my head was like to burst, and all to no purpose. I shall never be +prepared for them nor for heaven!" + +"Poor child!" said Winifred, soothingly, as Paulina dropped her +head upon her arms with a fresh burst of sobs. "No wonder you are +discouraged. Your efforts have been like your tapestry work. You have +begun all wrong, and therefore it is no wonder that your labors have +produced nothing but confusion. Do you remember what I told you about +it—that you would never do anything with that piece, but you must begin +anew?" + +"Yes!" answered Paulina, interested, as it were, in spite of herself. + +"And you found it so, did you not? You had to take all new +materials—canvas, worsted, and silk—after you had tried two or three +days to rectify your mistakes. After that you went on prosperously +enough." + +"Well?" said Paulina. + +"Well, Paulina, you have made the same mistake in your religion. You +have begun wrong, and thus you have gone on from bad to worse; and if +you were to go on forever, you can never get to heaven in this way, +because you are not in the way thither." + +"I don't know what you mean, Mrs. Winifred," said Paulina, both roused +and piqued by this unexpected statement. "I don't know how one is to +got to heaven except by being good." + +"Then no one will over go there, for assuredly no one was ever good +enough yet. You are fond of saying that you know all the prayers in +the church service, Paulina. Who is it who is said, in the Communion +Service, to have made by His one oblation of himself once offered, a +full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole +world?" + +"Our Lord, of course!" + +"Well, what was the need of His making that costly offering, if people +can gain salvation and heaven by their own efforts without Him; above +all, if by penance and fasting they can make atonement for their own +sins? No, no, my child, you are wrong. Do you think that by lying +all night weeping on the ground you can blot out the evil you have +done this day, and thus make your account even with the God you have +offended?" + +"No, oh, no!" cried Paulina, letting her head fall again. "Oh! If any +penance, any pilgrimage, could make amend or restore my poor sister, +how gladly would I do it!" + +"But if the way is already provided whereby your sin may be blotted +out as if it had never been," said Winifred; "if by no action upon +your part, save sorrow for your sins and faith in your Saviour, you +could settle all the long account against you and receive strength +for all time to come, would it not be worth while to try? O Paulina! +Give up this wretched and false idea of earning the favor of God. Cast +yourself just as you are—a poor, lost, dying sinner—utterly unworthy of +anything save condemnation, upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ His +Son, and beg forgiveness for His sake who died and rose again for you. +Then indeed you may feel yourself forgiven. Then you will know what it +is to love your Father in heaven as well as to fear Him; and humbled +yet encouraged, you may go on striving to please God, not because He +is a hard and exacting master, but because He is a dear Father, who +so loved you that He gave His own Son to die for you. I must go back +to your sister now, but, Paulina, think of what I have said, and try +to act upon it. And do not by thus exposing your health add to your +mother's cares and anxieties. Believe me that is only another form of +selfishness!" + +"I will do as you tell me," said Paulina, submissively, "but oh! Mrs. +Winifred, do not be hard upon me! I am so very, very unhappy!" + +"But what is there to make you so unhappy, Paulina? Anything but what +happened to-day?" + +"Everything!" said Paulina, abruptly. "I wish I had never been born. +But there, Betty will want you. Good-night!" + +"I must indeed go to her!" said Winifred. "Good-night, my dear child, +and may God bless you and teach you by His Holy Spirit!" + +"Well, and how did you find Pall?" asked Lady Corbet. + +"Very sad, madam, but I left her more quiet, and, I trust, in a way to +be comforted. And now, let me beg you to rest, and leave our little one +to my care." + +The next morning found Betty decidedly improved, though very weak and +languid, and much disposed to insist upon her privileges as an invalid, +and keep the whole house waiting upon her. At last, however, she was +prevailed upon to let Phyllis sit by her side and tell her stories, +while Winifred refreshed herself with washing and dressing and a walk +in the garden. She looked up at Paulina's window, but the curtain was +drawn. Winifred gathered a handful of flowers and leaves, and made a +couple of little nosegays to carry up to her patient. She peeped into +Paulina's room, and found her awake, but not up. + +"I do not know what is the matter with me," was her reply to Winifred's +question, "but I cannot rise at all. I am so sick and giddy, and my +head feels so strangely! I have been hot and cold by fits all night, +and so thirsty I have drunk up all the water in the jug. But oh! please +do open the window, and let in the fresh air. I am stifled in this +close room." + +Winifred undrew the curtains and let in the light and air. As she +did so, she looked at Paulina, and her heart sank within her, for +she thought she recognized in the girl's face the first signs of the +dreadful fever which had swept away in five weeks more than half the +inhabitants of Bridgewater. + +"Do not try to rise," said she. "You are not able. I will excuse you to +madam your mother, and will bring the doctor to you when he comes to +see Betty." + +Paulina, sank back on her pillow with a sigh, as though it were a +sort of comfort to find herself relieved from exertion, and Winifred +hastened down-stairs as she heard the doctor's foot ascending. + +He looked at Betty, pronounced her doing well, and quite won her heart +by his jokes and a new picture-book, so that she readily agreed to stay +in bed and play with her doll if only Phyllis might stay with her. + +"If you please, madam, I should like the doctor to see Mrs. Paulina," +said Winifred. "She seems to me far from well and is quite unable to +rise." + +The moment Doctor Mercer entered the room, he exchanged a glance with +Winifred, which seemed to say on one side, "Do you know the state of +the case?" and on the other, "Yes, I do." + +Paulina was heavy and drowsy, answering intelligently when roused, but +soon dropping of again. + +The doctor felt her pulse and head, examined her tongue, and asked many +questions as to how she had rested and how she had felt for some days +back. Then he beckoned Lady Corbet out of the room. + +"Your daughter is very ill, madam," said he, gravely, "and, I fear, is +likely to be worse. She has every symptom of the prevailing fever." + +Lady Corbet turned pale and trembled. She had the dread of infection +common to the time, when, indeed, there was every excuse for it; since, +owing to the manner of life and the ignorance of hygienic laws, almost +all diseases took on an infectious character. But she was, as I have +said, a woman great in emergencies, and it was but a moment before she +recovered herself, and asked, anxiously indeed but calmly, what was to +be done, and whether any measures could be taken to prevent the spread +of the disease. + +"You see, Doctor Mercer, I do not exactly know to whom to turn. Our old +family doctor is lately dead, and Doctor Butler, who would be my next +dependence, has turned papist, and can think of nothing but his crosses +and medals and other popish trinkets, besides which he is not a man of +such character as I should like to have about my young daughters. He +hath made trouble in more than one family. O doctor! If you could only +stay and attend upon my children!" + +The doctor smiled. "I have been thinking, madam, of spending some time +in the West, specially for the purpose of studying this fever, which +has made such ravages of late years. I shall be happy to attend your +daughters, but I warn you that I am considered little better than a +heretic by many of my medical brethren. I shall not bleed Mrs. Paulina, +nor shut her up in a close room with neither air nor water." + +"You shall do just as you please," said Lady Corbet, evidently greatly +relieved. "To be sure, it does not seem very sensible to heat up folks +that are burning up already." + +"Have you servants upon whom you can rely?" asked Doctor Mercer. + +"That I don't know," answered Lady Corbet. "There is Ashwell, who would +go through fire and water to serve me, and scold and grumble at me all +the time! But as for the rest, I cannot answer for them." + +"This Mrs. Evans, now?" said the doctor, in an inquiring tone. + +"Oh, yes; I doubt not she would be worth a host, but you see, Doctor +Mercer, she is an orphan child, and under no obligation to me, and I +could not ask her to put her life in peril for a stranger." + +"You are a good woman, I am sure of that," said the doctor, abruptly. +"But the gentlewoman has been exposed already. Does not that make a +difference?" + +"I shall remain, of course," said Winifred, who had come to the door in +time to hear the last few words. "If you, madam, will send some one to +my aunt's to let her know the reason of my stay and to bring me some +clothes, I shall remain with Mrs. Paulina till she is better. I am not +afraid." + +"But you do not, perhaps, understand the danger?" said the doctor, +kindly. + +"My grandfather and my mother, and many of our neighbors, died of the +fever," replied Winifred. "I have nothing to hinder my staying, and I +am not in the least afraid." + +"But can you have your wits about you, and not go off in a fit yourself +if your patient swoons or bleeds at the nose?" asked the doctor, +gruffly. "The sick-room is no place for nervous fine ladies." + +"I can do as I am bid," replied Winifred, simply. + +"If you can, you are a wonderful woman and worth your weight in gold. +Come with me, that I may tell you what to do." + +Paulina grew rapidly worse, and by noon was utterly prostrated. + +Sir John, coming home to dinner, complained of headache and pains in +all his joints; and though he made light of it, and declared that +nothing ailed him but his yesterday's dinner, it was plain that the +disease was upon him. By night he was unable to rise, and one of the +'prentice lads showed symptoms of coming down. + +"Only think, Mrs. Evans," said Ashwell, as Winifred came down-stairs +to prepare same gruel for her patient, "here have all the servants run +away and left us—yes, every maid in the house, and the two men, and +the knife-boy that my good lady took out of the very street, as a body +may say—all gone but poor black Jack, who has hardly the sense of an +ape and cannot talk like a Christian. Yes, every one, the ungrateful +hussies, and after all the time I have spent teaching them, and my +mistress giving them each a new gown only last quarter! And this +new-fangled doctor, with his fancies about fresh air and cool water for +Mrs. Paulina, as if any one ever heard of such a thing in a fever!" + +"Why did not Jack go with the rest?" asked Winifred. + +"Me not going to run away and leave my kind massa what tooked me out +of de ship, gave me good clothes and all, and missus that was always +kind to poor Jack," said the negro, answering for himself. "Me stay and +wait on my massa! Suppose I do get fever, what then? I got no fader nor +moder, no wife, no babies! Suppose Jack die, he buried in the ground; +there's an end of poor black man, unless maybe that good Lord Jesus my +missus tell me 'bout come some day, and say, 'Get up, Jack, and come +'long with me!'" + +"Just hear the poor creature!" said Ashwell, wiping the tears from her +eyes. "Whoever thought of his having feeling like that? Well, Mrs. +Evans, I suppose you will be going to leave us, like the rest?" + +"No, Ashwell, I have no notion of going at present," replied Winifred, +who was, as she well knew, no favorite with the spoiled and jealous old +servant. "I am like poor Jack," she added, with a sad smile. "Suppose I +do die, there is no one to cry for me. I shall not leave Lady Corbet so +long as I can do anything for her." + +"Mighty fine!" grumbled the old woman. "But who is to do all the work, +I should like to know?" + +"You and I, and poor Jack, and Mrs. Jem and Phyllis—begging their +pardon for putting them in such company," replied Winifred, smiling. +"As for what cannot be done, we must just leave it undone; and I am +sure Jack will help us all he is able." + +"Yes, dat I will, young missus!" replied Jack, briskly. "Me could cook +do dinner as well as dat greasy Jenny Cook," he added, with an injured +air, "only Misses Ashwell she never tink Jack know nothing!" + +"Yes, you look like it!" said Ashwell, and then added, in a softer +tone, "I dare say you would do your best." + +"I should not wonder if he did know how!" said Winifred. "I have heard +my father say that some of the best cooks he ever saw were West India +negroes." + +"Dat de livin' truth, young missus!" said Jack, eagerly. "My moder she +cook for old massa, and I learnt all her ways, for I was big boy before +massa sold me. You just let me try, that's all!" + +"Well, well, we will see! See who is knocking there!" + +The knocker was no less a person than Dame Evans herself. That good +woman had been thrown into ten times more than her usual fume and +flutter by the receipt of her niece's note, which she had been unable +to read till her husband came home. Then indeed there was a breeze. +Dame Evans wept and scolded—declared that there never was such an +unlucky woman, and that everything turned out just to spite her. + +"Here, just as we had made up our minds to go out into the country—to +the very house this wilful, troublesome girl was born in and was always +raving about—and an awful piece of work it will be, no doubt, and +endless damage—Winifred must go and expose herself to the fever, so +that we cannot take her without danger to all our precious lives. And +as if that was not enough, she must go and make up her mind to stay and +nurse these gentlefolks, who are neither kith nor kin to her. I declare +it is enough to provoke a saint!" concluded Dame Evans, in her usual +style. + +"Since you could not take her without danger, it is well that she has +made up her mind to remain with my Lady Corbet!" observed Dame Joyce, +who had run in to hear and tell the latest news about the fever, the +Irish army King James was bringing over, and the dreadful doings of the +papists. "The Corbets are fine, open-handed people, and can pay them +that serve them—that is one thing." + +"And suppose they can—is that any reason my niece should endanger her +precious life and put me to all this inconvenience?" said Dame Evans, +turning angrily upon her visitor. "Thank goodness, we are not dependent +upon the pay of great folks, nor need to be, seeing we have means of +our own, and know how to use them too, if we don't wear lace whisks and +camlet gowns every day!" casting a glance of supreme contempt upon the +somewhat superabundant finery of the goldsmith's wife. + +Good, easy Dame Joyce laughed, and addressed herself to Master Evans. + +"And so you are going out into the country, for all the world like +gentlefolks. But maybe you will not be so much better off, for they say +the fever was very bad at Bridgewater last time. Who knows," she added +mischievously, "that the seeds of the fever may not be remaining in the +house, since your father and sister died of it, and the place has been +shut up for so long?" + +"I'll tell you what, Mistress Joyce, you are not to judge every one by +yourself," said Dame Evans, sharply. "You won't find any slat-holes or +filthy, dirty cupboards about my place, or my sister's either, for ill +smells and sickness to lurk in. It is my opinion that if folks were +as careful as they should be to keep clean and decent, we should not +have so much of these fevers!" A remark in which the good woman was +undoubtedly correct. + +"Well, well, dame, we will not quarrel about that!" said Mrs. Joyce. +"What are you going to do about your niece?" + +"I'm sure I don't know!" said Dame Evans, pettishly. "I don't quite +like to leave her behind, but I don't see how we are to take her, now +that she has been exposed to the fever." + +"Yes, and so bad as they have it, too!" said Mrs. Joyce, who seemed +to take delight in tormenting her neighbor. "Their servants have all +run away, men and maids and all, except old Sarah Ashwell and the +blackamoor who waits on Sir John." + +"Winifred must do as she thinks right," said Master Evans, who had not +spoken before. "If the family is in such straits, I do not believe she +will leave them, nor can I blame her if she does not. Nevertheless she +must have the choice of going with us or staying behind, as she thinks +best. Perhaps, when she knows we are going to the Stonehill farm, she +may change her mind." + +"And that is true, too!" said Dame Evans. "I will see her this +afternoon, and I doubt not I can bring her to reason. She has been well +brought up—not like some people's children, left to go to rack and +ruin, while their mother goes about the street to show her finery." + +Dame Evans always bestowed these hints and innuendoes upon her +easy-tempered neighbor in great abundance: nevertheless she would have +felt herself much aggrieved if Dame Joyce had not run in at least every +other day to give her the news of the street and the city. + + +Dame Evans dressed herself with extra care for walking, and, having set +the little girls their tasks of knitting and sewing, she sallied out +and took her way to Sir John Corbet's house, fortifying her mind with +all the arguments she could think of wherewith to overcome Winifred's +obstinacy. She would not come within the door, but remained in the +court while Jack called Winifred out of the housekeeper's room. + +"There, don't come too near me, child!" said Dame Evans, shrinking +back. "I suppose you have just come from that poor young lady's +sickbed." + +"Yes, I have been over her all day," replied Winifred. "Will you come +into the house, aunt, or will you walk into the garden?" + +"Let us go into the garden," said Dame Evans, though she felt a great +desire to see the fine house of which she had heard so much. "We shall +be in the fresh air at least." + +Winifred opened the gate which led into the garden, and conducted her +aunt to a pleasant little arbor at the opposite end from the house. + +"Well, this is a fine place, to be sure!" said Dame Evans, looking +about her. "What a large garden, and what a great house! Which is Mrs. +Paulina's room, now?" + +"That one with the projecting window and the open casement." + +"You don't mean to say you leave the window open, and she lying ill of +a fever!" exclaimed Dame Evans, in horror. "What can you be thinking +of, child? 'Tis enough to be her death!" + +"It is by the doctor's orders," said Winifred. "He is a new doctor from +London, who is taking care of the family." + +"Aye, some of those new-fangled notions! No doubt, he must be setting +up to know more than all his elders and betters. Tis the way of this +age! I dare say the poor child will die, and Sir John too." + +"Almost every one does die who has the fever, anyway," observed +Winifred. "Perhaps it may be well to try some new method, since the old +ones certainly seem to answer no good purpose." + +"Well, well, 'twas not for that I came," said Dame Evans, pettishly. +"I want to know what you mean, Winifred, by staying here in this +plague-stricken house? Why did you not come home directly Mrs. Paulina +was taken? And now they say all the maids have run away—idle, cowardly +jades! I'll be bound I'd teach them! And who is to do anything?" + +"Why, aunt, it seems to me that I should have been as bad as the +maids, if I had gone away and left the family in their distress!" said +Winifred. "Why not?" + +"Why not, gurtha! Why, because they are hired servants bound to stay +till their quarter-day, whatever happens! Do you mean to even yourself +to a common serving-wench?" + +"No, and for that reason I would not be willing to leave in their +trouble a family who have been kind to me. The maids are poor, ignorant +creatures, of whom we cannot expect a great deal. I should not like to +show that I am worth no more than they!" added Winifred, smiling. + +"Well, well!" said her aunt, somewhat taken aback by being thus met +on her own ground. "All that does not signify. What I want to know +is, whether you will go out to Stonehill farm with us to-morrow or +no. The house is empty, and business here is dull, besides that the +fever is already growing bad down by the water-side, and you uncle +hath concluded to take a holiday for once and go into the country for +a month. He says that you shall have your choice, for all you have +behaved so ill, and are just as like as not to bring the fever among +us," added the dame, falling into her usual grumbling strain. "But you +must make up your mind quickly." + +For one moment Winifred's heart bounded. To see the old place once +more—to visit all the old haunts where she had walked with her +mother—to go over the Hall and the gardens, and walk across the moor to +Dame Sprat's old cottage! But long before Dame Evans had finished her +speech, Winifred's mind was made up. + +She glanced up at Paulina's casement, and then at the window of the +school-room, where she could see the little girl anxiously watching +her. Then she thought how lonely and sad all the old haunts would seem, +with none of the dear familiar faces—the once cheerful farm-house under +the different rule of her aunt, who never allowed any one about her to +be happy if she could help it; and she felt as if she had little to +regret. + +"No, aunt, I cannot go!" she replied. "It would not be right, as you +say, to expose you all to the fever, and besides I am needed here. +Madam must needs be with Sir John, and Ashwell will have her hands +full, besides that she will not follow the doctor's rules in anything. +Then there is Betty, who will mind no one but me. No, I do not see well +how I can go." + +"Mighty well!" grumbled her aunt, who, though inwardly relieved by +Winifred's decision, was not disposed to let it pass without a proper +amount of fault-finding. "Mighty fine, indeed! I suppose you learned +all that out of your books that you are always poring over? To my +mind, such fine notions are only fit for gentlefolks—though I suppose +you think yourself a gentlewoman, as good as the best. Look out for +yourself, that is my notion!" + +"But, aunt, the Bible—" + +"Oh, don't go talking to me about the Bible, Mrs. Winifred!" retorted +the dame, not unwilling to work herself into a passion, that she might +stifle certain unpleasant qualms of conscience. "The Bible is all well +enough for Sundays and such like, and for sick people, maybe, but I +never saw any good come of those folks who are always making a fuss +about the Bible and religion. They were just the people who got up +Monmouth's war, and made all that distress. If there is anything I do +despise, it is a hypocrite. But your uncle says you are to have your +own way, so I must e'en leave you to your own destruction!" added Dame +Evans, in whose mind existed a great contention between her selfish +fears and her real affection for her niece. "'Twill be worth a fortune +to you if you do live through it, that is one thing, for the Corbets +are generous people, and they will never forget it of you. I should not +wonder if it should be the making of you. But then, if you should die!" + +"Then I shall go home, indeed!" said Winifred, with her sad smile. "And +that will be better than going to Stonehill." + +"Mrs. Evans, here's Missy Polly a-calling for you!" called Jack. + +"Ah, the ugly ape! How any one can bear a blackamoor about them, I +can't tell!" said Dame Evans, rising. + +"Well, good-bye, lovey! Take care of yourself!" And her heart getting +for once the better of her fears, she threw both her arms round her +niece, and kissed her, crying heartily. "Whatever happens, I will +always say that you have been a good, dutiful girl—that you have! I +will send by the 'prentice lad all your things, and as to the money you +have earned—" + +"Dear aunt, please keep that, and buy with it the pair of pewter +tankards you liked so much, to remember your little Winifred! I have +money by me, and Lady Corbet will let me want for nothing." + +"Well, well, we shall see about that. But, Winifred—" turning back at +the last moment—"is it true that Mrs. Paulina has turned papist?" + +"No, I should think not," answered Winifred. "I have seen no signs of +it." + +"Well, all I know is that neighbor Joyce says so, and pretends that she +had her news from her sister Jones, who is a papist herself. Dame Joyce +says she has been seen talking with that Doctor Butler they make such +a fuss about, and people talk of her giving him meetings and going to +confession. Moreover she is sure that she herself saw Mrs. Paulina in +the new Romish chapel on Ascension-day, whither she went herself—more +shame to her—to see the sights. She says Mrs. Paulina had her hood +pulled over her face, but she knew her directly!" + +"I hardly think that can be true. Dame Joyce must be mistaken." + +"Not she! She has eyes in the back of her head, I think. Well, +farewell, sweetheart, and God bless thee!" + + +Winifred returned to the chamber of her patient, too much startled by +what she had just heard to think as much as she would otherwise have +done of the parting with her aunt. She could not believe the story, and +yet, if it were true, it explained many little things which had puzzled +her. Paulina's severe penances—her evident desire of late to avoid the +Bible readings—her self-righteous notions—her reserved and burdened +air, as if she had always something to conceal—all tended that way! + +Nay, upon that very Ascension-day, Paulina had refused to go to church +with the rest on the ground of a headache, which excuse was fully borne +out by her paleness and her heavy, downcast eyes. She remembered, +too, that, when they returned, Paulina was nowhere to be found, and +that by-and-by she had come in from the garden, looking flurried and +flushed. Could it possibly be that the girl was deceiving her parents +and all about her? And if so, what could be done about the matter? + +The last year of James the Second's most unfortunate reign was one of +great activity among that portion of the English Roman Catholics—not by +any means the most respectable or intelligent portion—who with the king +were guided by the counsels of the Jesuits rather than by those of the +pope. What might be called the Country party believed with the pontiff +that James was injuring the cause instead of benefiting it, and that a +reaction must inevitably follow, which would leave the English Roman +Catholics in a worse position than ever. Events proved them to have +been in the right, but nothing could induce the king or his advisers to +pause in their career. A good many people joined themselves to them, +some from policy, some, no doubt, from sincere conviction, and the new +recruits were more zealous than those who had grown up in the faith +from their childhood. + +Amongst the most important converts in the city of Bristol was the +Doctor Butler who has been more than once mentioned. Though considered +a skilful physician, he had never been a man of good character, and +more than one family had had reason to repent the confidence placed in +him. Since his conversion by Father Hewling, the principal Jesuit in +the city, he had professed great repentance for his former misdeeds, +and an equal desire to atone for them by his zeal in the new religion, +but Father Kennedy, the harmless, good-natured old secular priest +who had looked after the spiritual interests of the few old Catholic +families in Bristol for thirty years, shook his head and raised his +eyebrows when the doctor was mentioned, and would not say one word in +his favor. + +Winifred found Paulina, roused from her stupor, and raving in delirium, +declaring that Ashwell meant to suffocate her. With some trouble she +was persuaded to lie down, and her face being bathed with rose-water, +and the casement opened, she soon became quiet again. + +"Very well, Mrs. Evans, mighty well, indeed!" said the old woman, +trembling with rage. "Only when you are called to account for the death +of that dear child, don't blame me! As if I, that nursed her and her +sister from their birth, and took care of all my five sisters in the +fever when they every one died, was to be taught my duty by a chit like +you!" + +"But, Mrs. Ashwell, such are the doctor's orders! It is none of my +doing." + +"Yes, you and your new-fangled doctor! Well, well, I wash my hands of +it!" And the old woman hobbled down-stairs, muttering to herself that +it should go hard but she would get better advice for her darling—that +she would, indeed! + +All day long did Winifred go from one sick-room to another, and from +the kitchen to the school-room. An attempt had been made to isolate +the throe younger girls, but it was found impracticable, and they were +merely kept out of the presence of the sufferers. Even this did not +seem likely to be possible for any great length of time, since Sir John +claimed the whole of Lady Corbet's attention, with what help she could +receive from black Jack; and Ashwell's inveterate prejudice against the +doctor made her worse than useless in the sick-room. + +The little girls were very good, waiting upon themselves and making +a conscience of doing some part of their usual tasks every day. They +were very kind and patient with Betty, and Betty herself, warned by the +violence of her late attack, and helped by the forbearance with which +she was treated, had fewer "tantrums," as Ashwell called them, than +ever before in her life. + +Paulina's case was the worst of all. Day by day she sank more and more +under the power of the disease, her lucid intervals became fewer, +and her delirium worse in its character. Doctor Mercer came to see +her twice a day, and sometimes oftener, but all his remedies seemed +powerless to arrest the course of the disease. He had become very +popular among the poorer class in the city, helped, probably, by the +fact that he gave away liberally both advice and medicine, but few of +the upper classes employed him, and by most of the medical fraternity, +he was denounced in no measured terms. What indeed was to be expected +of a man who would have the casements of his patients' rooms opened all +day, and sometimes all night, and allowed the sick to drink as much +cold water as they desired! + +"Well, and how is our young lady to-day?" he asked, one morning, of +Winifred, as she met him at the door of Paulina's room. + +"Worse and worse!" said Winifred, with tears in her eyes. "She has not +spoken or shown any sign of sense since midnight." + +"Aye, I think this will be the crisis," said the doctor, as he +examined the patient, whose senses now appeared closed to all external +impressions, while her sunken features seemed already to have assumed +the immobility of death. "You must not be discouraged, however. The +case is not yet hopeless so long as she can swallow, but you must watch +her carefully, for the next twenty-four hours will decide the question +of life or death. I have not seen so bad a case as hers among any of my +Protestant patients." + +"Is the fever, then, worse among the papists?" asked Winifred. + +"The worst cases I have met with seem to have been among those who were +at the new Romish chapel on Ascension-day," replied the doctor. "It +seems there was a great crowd, and the heat was intense. I suppose I +have had at least twenty cases which originated there, all taken down +at once. And, by the way, this young lady was attacked at the very same +time. It can hardly be, I suppose, that she was among them?" + +Winifred thought, with a start, of her aunt's gossip, which had nearly +faded from her mind. + +"I cannot believe it!" said she. "Lady Corbet would never allow such +a thing, and I cannot think Mrs. Paulina would deceive her parents. +She always went to the early morning prayers at the cathedral, rather +against the will of her mother, who, however, permitted it, partly +because Mrs. Paulina was delicate, and the walk was thought good for +her." + +"Did she go alone?" asked Doctor Mercer. + +"No, one of the maids, who lately left us, went with her." + +"Hath she ever seemed to you to have any burden upon her mind?" + +"I have sometimes thought so, especially during the two weeks before +she was taken ill. But why do you ask, Doctor Mercer? Have you any +suspicions?" asked Winifred. + +"I can hardly tell you why, but I certainly have!" answered Doctor +Mercer. "You know the Jesuits are making converts all over the nation. +I will not conceal from you, Mrs. Evans, that I have heard some such +reports about this poor young lady, and I fear she may have fallen +among the Philistines, as the phrase is. But that is not our business +just now. We will bring our patient through the present distress, if +possible, and then we will see what can be done." + +Doctor Mercer gave Winifred very particular directions about the +treatment of Paulina, charging her to watch her most carefully, visited +the other patients and pronounced them to be going on favorably, all +but coaxed old Ashwell into a good humor, and then went home to snatch +such rest as he could before he should be called out again. + +The day waned into evening, and still Paulina continued apparently +unconscious and motionless, though she swallowed what was put into her +mouth. The house grew still as the grave, save where a mouse squeaked +or rattled down the wall, or some of those unaccountable creaks and +rustlings which are always to be heard by a watcher in an old house, +made themselves audible. The night drew towards dawn, and still there +was no change. At last, a bird chirped in the dark garden below, and +was answered by another. + +"Winifred!" said a faint, oh, such a faint voice from the bed. "Are you +here, Winifred?" + +"Yes, dear child!" answered Winifred, striving to speak calmly, +although her heart bounded as if she had heard a voice from the dead. +"You are better, are you not?" + +"Winifred!" said Paulina, arresting her hand as she put a spoonful of +wine and water to the parched lips. "It is all true—all the doctor +said! I heard, though I could not speak. It is all true!" + +"Do not talk now, Paulina," said Winifred. "I trust you are better, and +that you will have ample time to say all you wish, but you must not +speak now. Your life depends upon your keeping quiet." + +"I 'must!'" said Paulina, detaining Winifred's hand with more force +than seemed possible in her weak state. "I shall not be better till +this is off my mind. Is my father living?" + +"Yes, and going on well. Your mother is with him." + +"My sisters?" + +"Are all well, as yet. Dear Paulina, be quiet, I beseech you!" + +"I tell you, Winifred, I 'must' speak!" said Paulina, almost fiercely. +"I must tell the truth before I die! Listen, that you may tell my +parents, if I do not see them again!" + +Winifred felt, for a moment, in an agony of indecision and distress. +The next, her own calm, good sense, and the habit of looking to a +Higher Power for aid, quieted her, and she made up her mind what to do. + +"Speak then, dear, if it will relieve your mind, but be short. You wish +to tell me that you were at the Romish chapel on Ascension-day?" + +"Yes, and before—many times!" + +Paulina's voice was weak, and she spoke with many pauses, but her words +were clear and coherent, and her skin felt cool and natural. + +"When you thought I went to the cathedral—I went to the chapel!" + +"But Molly?" exclaimed Winifred, astonished. + +"I bribed her. She waited outside. It was Doctor Butler who took me +there. I met him at my cousin's, and then at my Lady Germaine's. They +are Catholics, you know, but she was not to blame, nor Father Kennedy. +They said I was deceiving my parents—that it would come to no good. +Doctor Butler took me to Father Hewling. They flattered and coaxed me, +especially Doctor Butler." + +"But how could you have anything to do with him?" Winifred could not +help saying. "You knew what a bad man he has been, and all the trouble +he made in your cousin Chester's family. It has been town talk!" + +"I was a conceited fool!" said Paulina. "He made me think myself a +martyr and a saint, and persuaded me to deceive my mother. I was +wretched all the time. I see all now—all so clearly!" + +"You mean that you see the truth now," said Winifred, fearing the +effect of every word, yet desiring, for the sake of the poor girl's +parents, to have something of comfort to repeat. + +"Yes, indeed—all! Winifred, say those verses in the Communion Service." + +Winifred's gentle voice repeated the "comfortable words." + +Paulina caught eagerly at the last verse. "Yes, that is it! He is the +propitiation. It has all been made plain to me the last few hours! I +could think, though I could not speak. Oh, how I have been misled!" + +"Paulina, you must not say one word more!" said Winifred, with the +authority she well knew how to assume. "I shall find it hard to answer +to the doctor for what has already passed. Now take some more wine, be +silent, and let me read you to sleep." + +"Pray—pray!" said Paulina, eagerly. "For forgiveness—that I may make +amends to my dear parents!" + +Winifred knelt by the bedside, and prayed as desired, and then, +softly repeating psalms and verses of Scripture, she had at last the +satisfaction of seeing her patient sink into a quiet sleep. She herself +was worn out by watching, and, leaning her head upon the bedside, she +slumbered for half an hour, starting like a guilty creature, as the +first rays of the sun aroused her. Full of terror and reproach, she +glanced at her patient. + +Paulina was sleeping, her breathing faint indeed, but regular, while a +change, indescribable save to those who have seen it, had come over her +face. + +"Surely, surely she must be—she is better!" thought Winifred. "Oh, if +she is but spared after all!" + +She drew the curtain to shut out the sun, and as she did so, the sick +girl awoke—not as before to muttering delirium or sad, half-conscious +moaning, but with a look of full reason and a faint, but natural smile. + +"You are better, sweetheart!" said Winifred, bending over her. + +"O yes! Surely I am better! My mind and body are in most bland ease. Is +this the lighting up before death of which I have heard, or am I going +to get well?" + +Winifred half feared the first, and anxiously did she await the +doctor's opinion. + +He came very early, with his soft footstep, and entered the room before +she was aware of his presence. His first look reassured her. + +"Here is a change indeed!" said he, cheerily, as he examined the +patient. "You mean to do me credit yet, I see, my fair mistress." + +"Then she is really better!" said Winifred, hardly able to credit the +words she had so earnestly desired to hear. + +"Of course! Cannot you see for yourself?" returned the doctor, roughly +but kindly. "I do not say we are out of the woods yet, but with care +and good nursing, I trust we shall do well." + +"I shall be sure to be well nursed while I have Winifred!" said +Paulina, smiling. + +"See you do as she bids you, then. And look you, young lady, I will +have no talking. I am Fine Ear the fairy, and can tell when my patients +are misbehaving, though I were at the other end of the town; so do not +think to deceive me!" + +"I will not," said Paulina, sadly smiling. "I have had enough of that!" + +"Yes, I should think so!" muttered the doctor. "Now, Mrs. Winifred, +since that is your name, come with me that I may give you further +directions." + +As they left the room, they met Ashwell, so near the door that it +seemed as if she must have been listening. The old woman trembled +visibly as the doctor's eye fell upon her, and seemed as if she would +have shrunk out of sight, but he called her. + +"See here, Dame Ashwell! Do you sit by Mrs. Paulina awhile, and let our +other nurse rest for a few minutes. Give her the wine and water every +half hour, and do not let her talk.—I believe that old woman has a hand +in this business!" he added, as they passed on down-stairs. "I saw +her last night, as I came down the street, talking with Butler at the +garden gate." + +"I cannot think so," said Winifred. "She is a zealous Protestant. She +has talked sometimes of getting better advice for her young lady, for +she is as much alarmed as my aunt at the fresh air and cold water. It +might be that which took her to Doctor Butler." + +"Possibly. Well, Mrs. Evans, I have run the fox to earth at last, I do +believe! I have heard the whole tale of Mrs. Paulina's church-goings." + +"And so have I," said Winifred. + +"Indeed! From whom?" + +"From the culprit herself." And Winifred repeated what had passed, +adding: "I feared it was wrong to let her talk, but I saw that she +would never rest while it was on her mind." + +"You acted sensibly, as usual. Well, you must know, I was called last +night, as soon as I left here to see a poor woman not far from the +water-side. I knew the moment I set eyes on her that she had not a +chance, and I suppose she read it in my face, for she fell a-screaming +and crying, and calling for a clergyman, that she might free her mind. +I sent a lad for Mr. Gunnison, who hath been unwearied in visiting the +poor (as I must say, so have most of the city clergy), but he had gone +out, so I was fain to do what I could to take his place, at least so +far as to comfort the poor creature by Scripture and prayers. But she +said she must tell what was on her mind, and at last out it came—that +she had been bribed by Mrs. Paulina and Doctor Butler both, to be a +sort of go-between; that she had carried messages, and had gone with +Paulina to chapel when her friends supposed her at church; and she +feared she had been the ruin of her dear young lady. + +"I was startled at first, and did not know what to fear, but she +guessed my thought, and eagerly assured me that I was mistaken, that +Mrs. Paulina had never been alone with the man nor with the priest, +but would always have her near, though not to hear what they said. She +begged me to ask forgiveness of Sir John and Lady Corbet, who, she +said, had ever been good to her, and of Mrs. Paulina, and died at last, +poor thing, in great distress, though I believe sincerely penitent." + +"Poor Molly!" said Winifred. "She was a great favorite with madam and +with Ashwell, but she was the first to desert us. I am heartily glad +the truth has come out in time to save further mischief. But is it not +strange that my old Lady Germaine, who has always been a friend to this +family, should not have told Lady Corbet what was going on?" + +"She hardly dared go as far as that, I suppose," remarked the doctor. +"I believe many of the old Catholic families are grieved and distressed +at the present state of things, and their position is a very painful +one. For of course, if they say a word, they are taxed by the zealous +party as being lukewarm and betrayers of the Church. Truly this nation +is in evil case! Are you feeling quite well this morning?" he asked, +changing the subject abruptly and scrutinizing Winifred's face closely. + +"I feel more tired than usual, and my head seems both drowsy and +confused," replied Winifred. "I suppose it comes from want of sleep." + +"I should not wonder," returned the doctor, dryly. "Few people learn to +do without sleep altogether, though we doctors come near to it in these +times. You must lie down this morning and have a good nap. I do not +quite like trusting Ashwell with our patient, either, but I see no help +for it." + +"Doctor Mercer," said Winifred, gravely, "I think we should call Lady +Corbet and tell her all we know of this distressful matter. She is a +lady of great sense and discernment where her children are concerned, +and will know what is the best course in the present conjuncture." + +"I believe you are right. The straight course is best in the end; and +though I dread adding to her burdens, I think, with you, that she +should know the whole." + +Lady Corbet was therefore called out of Sir John's room. And Winifred +related the story, interrupted by many tears and exclamations of +distress and wonder from the poor mother. + +"That I should have been so deceived by my own child, whom I believed +to be the pattern of truth, for all her peevish ways! And my old Lady +Germaine, that I thought such a friend!" + +"I imagine she had little free-will," remarked the doctor. + +"To be sure, I remember now she hath of late given me many hints as +to letting the girls go out without me, and allowing them so much +liberty," resumed Lady Corbet, "but she is always giving advice, poor +old lady, and she thinks the young women of the present day are allowed +too much license. And Molly, whom I thought such a good girl! And that +wretch, Doctor Butler! Well, thank Heaven, Mrs. Winifred, I have you +and Ashwell left, and upon you I can depend!" + +"I am not so sure of Ashwell," said the doctor, and he related what he +had seen the evening before. + +Lady Corbet wrung her hands in renewed distress, but, suddenly +collecting herself, she spoke with much dignity and feeling. + +"I thank you, Doctor Mercer, and you, Winifred, for the way in which +you have dealt in this delicate matter. I need not say how necessary +it is for my poor child's sake, that nothing should transpire out of +the family more than has already. I will myself stay with Pall, while +Winifred rests. Jack can easily do all which is needed for Sir John, +who sleeps almost all the time. You, Winifred, will go to your own room +and take a good rest, which I am certain you need. God bless you, my +dear! It was a happy day which brought you to this house." + +Ashwell had established herself in Paulina's room, and was evidently +taken very much aback by her lady's orders "to betake herself to the +kitchen, see that things were made decent and comfortable, and have Sir +John's broth ready against he needed it." She began to say something +about Jack's making the broth, but was cut very short, and went +down-stairs, muttering to herself as usual. + +"Not a word, my poor maid!" said Lady Corbet, as Paulina began to +speak. "I have heard all, and you have my full and free pardon, so long +as you do not attempt to deceive me again. I take blame to myself as a +careless mother—" + +"No, no!" interrupted Paulina. "It was my pride and +self-conceit—thinking myself wiser than all the world!" + +"Well, well, we will let by-gones be by-gones, as your father's Scotch +cousin hath it," said her mother, smiling, and kissing her. "I will not +deny that you have always been somewhat prone to be wiser than your +elders, since you used to advise me upon household matters before you +could speak plain. Show that you have learnt more wisdom by obeying the +doctor's orders, and not trying to talk when you are forbid to speak a +word! There, that smile is more like my own little Pall than aught I +have seen this many a day." + + +Winifred had a long and deep sleep, and awoke feeling somewhat giddy +and confused. A plentiful ablution of cold water and the process of +dressing refreshed her. Startled to find by the striking of the clock +how long she had slept, she went straight down to the housekeeper's +room, where she was amazed at finding Ashwell drowned in tears and +sobs. Her first thought was that Paulina was worse, perhaps dying. + +"No, no!" sobbed Ashwell. "Poor dear, she is better, if I have not +killed her! But oh, Mrs. Winifred, intercede with my lady for me. I +meant no harm, and if I had but known that he was trying to make a +papist of Mrs. Pall, I would never have come near him. But I thought +the doctor was killing her, and the windows open and all—" + +Ashwell became totally incoherent, and her words were drowned in sobs. + +"What do you mean, Ashwell?" asked Winifred, bewildered. "What has +happened?" + +It was not easy to get at the story, but at last Winifred extracted +from the weeping old woman, that, being dissatisfied with the new +doctor's treatment, she had been holding secret conferences with +Doctor Butler as to her darling's health, and had finally undertaken +to introduce him into the house, that he might judge of the patient's +state. She had calculated very nicely that she would be called upon to +sit with her young lady while Winifred rested, and Lady Corbet was busy +with Sir John and making her morning visit to the school-room. She had +agreed with Doctor Butler to be in the garden at that hour, when she +would bring him in by the little turret staircase which opened near +Paulina's room. + +All these plans had been disconcerted by the straightforward counsels +of Winifred and the doctor, and also by a very simple accident. Paulina +had expressed a wish for some flowers, and her mother, always kind +and desirous by every means in her power to show that she had fully +forgiven the poor child, went down to the garden to gather them. In +so doing, she came upon Ashwell in close conference with Butler, and +heard enough of their conversation to discover their design. She had +confronted them on the spot, ordered Butler from the premises, and +taken possession of the keys of the gate; and had then sternly given +Ashwell warning, saying she would have no traitors about her. + +The poor old soul, who had been totally innocent of any connivance at +the doctor's proselyting schemes, was thunder-struck at the treachery +of her ally and the anger of her lady, and implored Winifred to +intercede for her. Winifred, thankful that the matter was no worse, +soothed and quieted her, promised to see what could be done, persuaded +Ashwell to busy herself in sending up an unusually dainty dinner to +the school-room, and finally left her in a tolerably reasonable and +comfortable frame of mind. + +It was long before Lady Corbet would listen to any plea on her behalf, +but at last her own good-nature and Winifred's influence prevailed, +and she was brought to tell Ashwell that, for the sake of Mrs. Evans' +intercession, she would pass over the present offence. + +It was a bitter pill to poor Ashwell, after all her years of service, +to be forgiven for the sake of one on whom she had always looked +with jealousy and contempt. But love for her lady and her nurselings +prevailed over every other consideration. + +It was well that it was so; for the very next day poor little Betty was +attacked with the fever, and died after only a week's illness. And on +the day of her burial, Winifred was taken with the same disease, and +was declared by the doctor to be in the utmost danger. Her system was +prostrated by all the fatigue she had undergone, and it would be all +but a miracle if she lived through it. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SURPRISES. + +MORE than two months had passed since the date of the last chapter. The +household of Sir John Corbet had returned to its old, regular routine. +New servants had replaced the old. Sir John once more went to his +office and wharf, and superintended his workmen. And his lady, like the +wise dame of the Scriptures, looked well to the ways of her household, +and, while she made sure that nobody from herself to the knife-boy ate +the bread of idleness, took more pains than ever that every one under +her roof should be happy and contented. + +In the school-room there was a great change. Poor little Betty, with +her moods and tenses, her alternations of high and low spirits, her +unmanageable "tantrums," and her almost equally unmanageable fits of +penitence, was gone. And the twins, Phyllis and Jemima, could only +weep over every little memorial of their departed sister, and declare +to each other that they would never, no, never tease anybody again! +Paulina, still pale and thin, and showing signs of recent illness +in her hollow eyes and close-cropped hair, had taken present charge +of the school-room, and was hearing her sisters' lessons, finding +out every day how much less she knew than she supposed, discovering +the mighty difference which existed between the real crosses of her +reduced strength and the daily trials of temper and patience in the +school-room, and those artificial crosses she used to manufacture for +herself. Nevertheless, she went on bravely, doing her best, and making +herself more useful and agreeable than she had ever done before. + +But Paulina had a cross to bear far harder than any petty trials of the +school-room—a cross all the sharper because she had brought it upon +herself and her father and mother, who shared the burden with her. The +affair with Doctor Butler had taken wing, as was to be expected, and +the whole city of Bristol rang with the stories of Paulina's stolen +interviews with him, at chapel and elsewhere, and of the attempt to +introduce him into her room. Who had chattered in the last case, nobody +knew. But the scandal had gone abroad, distorted and exaggerated in a +hundred forms. + +Paulina, never stirred away from home, save under her mother's wing, +and then only, to church, but even there she felt herself the mark +for curious eyes and whispers, while her mother had to encounter +condolences and questions from all her acquaintances. Moreover, +Paulina was not safe even yet from persecution. It had indeed been +found expedient for Doctor Butler to leave town, but the priests had +no notion of giving up their victim so easily, and more than one +letter had been conveyed to Paulina, now pitying her as a martyr under +persecution, now threatening her as a relapsed heretic. + +Meantime, a cloud rested upon her reputation. None of her young friends +visited her or invited her, and Lady Corbet was blamed for permitting +her to take the charge of her young sisters. Her father had been +furiously angry upon hearing the story, and, though he had been brought +to say at last that he forgave her, he was hard and stern toward her, +and showed her constantly that she was distrusted and watched. Her +mother was kindness itself, but a heavy cloud of sadness rested upon +her once cheery face, and her voice, when she spoke to Paulina, had a +tone of grief and pity. + +All this was very hard to bear—far harder than the fasting, the lying +upon the floor, and all the other penances Paulina had been accustomed +to practise; harder than the being obliged to give her attention to +her work and pick it out when it was wrong; than being reproved for +stooping her shoulders or poking her chin, or having her shoes down +at heel and her petticoats draggled. Nor was this the hardest, after +all. It was with inexpressible bitterness that Paulina heard of Doctor +Butler's attempt to enter her room, and of his departure from the city, +and learned from the pain the news gave her that her affections were no +longer in her own keeping. + +Any woman worthy of the name must feel a sensation of intensest shame +and anguish, when she finds herself loving one who does not care for +her, even though that one may be in every way worthy; and the shame is +increased twofold if the object prove utterly base. This was Paulina's +case. She loved Doctor Butler, and she knew him to be a base, bad +man—one who had destroyed the peace and reputation of more than one +woman, and who might, but for what seemed the special interference of +Providence, have done the same for her. + +She recalled a hundred things which might have shown her her danger, +and she felt a sense of gratitude to poor Molly, who had been so far +faithful that she had never let her young mistress out of her sight. +She said to herself that her love was unworthily placed, and must be +conquered, but the task was a hard one, and the poor girl was indeed +very unhappy. + +Yet it somehow happened that the real trials did not fret Paulina's +temper or wear out her patience as the imaginary ones had done. She was +sad indeed, and often much depressed, but she was no longer fretful +or peevish; she no longer wore her set, self-conscious expression, or +spoke and moved like an automaton. She had found the secret of peace. +In the time of her trouble she had sought the Lord, and found in Him +not only forgiveness and remission of sin, but strength to resist +temptation, to bear suffering with patience and humility. Her service +was no longer one of constraint and fear, but of love—no longer the +enforced task of a slave, but the free gift of a child. + +The twins, on their part, sobered by the trouble they had passed +through, and pitying Paulina for the sorrow they only half understood, +did their best, both in work and lessons, to please their sister and +mother. And the school-room labors went on harmoniously and pleasantly +enough for the most part, though now and then was heard a deep sigh or +an impatient interjection, always followed by the exclamation: "I do +wish Mrs. Winifred would get well, don't you, Pall?" answered by, "Yes, +indeed I do, with all my heart!" + +And where, all this time, was Mrs. Winifred? In the great chintz +bedroom, the very best room in the house, whither she had been carried +by Lady Corbet's orders when stricken down with the fever, waited upon +and tended by every one, from Sir John himself down to black Jack; +nursed with jealous care by Ashwell, end visited by Doctor Mercer +every day, and by Paulina every hour. She had passed the crisis of +the disease, contrary to everybody's expectation, and Doctor Mercer +said there seemed no reason why she should not get well, but day after +day passed, and still she lay on her couch or leaned back languidly +in the great chair, pale, thin, and weak, unable to eat, to talk, to +employ herself in any way more than a few minutes at a time. It seemed +as if the excitement and fatigue of nearly three years past had made +themselves felt all at once. + +For the first time in her life, Winifred lost the control of her own +mind and feelings. She could not think clearly of anything for five +minutes at a time. She could not fix her mind upon the things she had +always loved best, or drive away the sadness, the discontent, the +wretched forebodings, the distrust of her heavenly Father's love, the +doubts of His truth which assailed her. Good Mr. Gunnison, who was +instructing the twins preparatory to their approaching confirmation, +talked and prayed with her, and in these visits Winifred found great +comfort, but too often "the clouds returned after the rain," the +temptations and the grief came back again, and the work was once more +all to do. + +Meantime, the weak body languished and lost day by day, and it seemed +likely enough that Winifred would fade away and drop into the earth +with the fading flowers of autumn. But her work was not yet done, and +she could not go home till it was finished. + + +One day she was leaning back listlessly enough in the chair which +Ashwell had drawn to the window, that Winifred might look down on the +still gay garden and away to the hills beyond the city. She had wearied +herself in the attempt to set right the piece of work which the twins +in a fit of desperation had brought to show her, and had not half +finished, when Ashwell came in, scolded them both well, and sent the +girls down, Phyllis crying and Jemima in a fit of sulks, to get out of +their difficulty as best they could. Winifred felt tired, disappointed, +and utterly discouraged. And as soon as Ashwell had left her, she +leaned back in her chair, and gave way to a fit of weeping as childish +as that of poor Phyllis. + +The tears at least did her some good, for she sobbed herself to sleep, +and awaked somewhat refreshed and strengthened, and really feeling +a little wonder as to what time it was and whether Ashwell would be +coming presently with her dinner. She had been dreaming of old times +at the Hall—of walking with my lady and working with Mrs. Alwright. +The dream was very clear and distinct; she almost felt as though Lady +Peckham's inquiry was still ringing in her ear: "And where is my little +Winifred?" There seemed a good deal of bustle in the house which she +could not understand—and then, why did not Ashwell come? + +The door opened. It was not Ashwell with the tray, however, but +Paulina, with a little flush of color in her cheeks, and a certain +excitement in her manner. She came to Winifred's chair and kissed her. + +"Do you feel better? I peeped in a few moments ago, and you were fast +asleep in your chair, with the tears on your cheeks! What had you been +crying for, you naughty child? Like Phyllis, because Ashwell scolded +you?" + +"I hardly know myself," returned Winifred, winking away the tears +which would stay very near her eyes. "I felt sorry for the poor girls, +and vexed at myself for being so easily tired. But, Paulina, if they +will bring up their frames now, I will try to show them." + +"You are to do no such thing," said Paulina, positively. "The frames +can wait, and I have something else to set you upon just now besides +tapestry work." + +"Why, Paulina, what has come over you?" said Winifred, rousing herself +and looking at the girl with attention. "You look as though you had +been hearing some great piece of good news!" + +"Suppose I have—do you want to hear it?" + +Winifred's heart began to beat fast, and she looked at Paulina without +speaking. + +"Suppose now I could bring the person in all the world you most wanted +to see,—whom should it be?" asked Paulina. + +Winifred flushed scarlet all at once, for the name which came to her +lips was that of Arthur Carew. + +Then, as her dream came across her mind, she exclaimed, "Paulina, tell +me! Have you news of my lady?" + +Then as Paulina nodded mischievously, with her eyes full of smiles and +her mouth demurely pursed up: + +"Paulina, tell me! Don't tease me, please!" + +"It shall not be teased, then," said Paulina. "It shall be made to look +pretty, and neat, and have on its new cap, and then it shall see what +it shall see." + +"No, no, Paulina!" said a voice at the half-opened door. "You shall not +keep us waiting any longer. Winifred, my dear, my darling child!" + +It was the voice of her dream. Winifred stretched out her arms with a +cry like that of a child which sees its mother. She saw the well-known +face, looking more delicate than ever under the close widow's coif +and veil, caught a glimpse of Alwright's tall, spare form behind her +mistress, heard a little cry of alarm from Paulina, and that was the +last she knew, till she found herself lying on the bed, with Mrs. +Alwright bathing her face, and Lady Peckham and Paulina watching her. + +I shall not attempt to describe the meeting between Winifred and her +oldest friend, nor the raptures of Alwright over her former pupil. At +last Lady Peckham yielded to her cousin's hospitable entreaties, and +descended to partake of the feast Lady Corbet had prepared for her, and +Winifred was left in charge of Alwright, who insisted upon cutting her +dinner, and would gladly have been allowed to put it into her mouth. + +"No, indeed, dear Alwright, I can feed myself very well," said +Winifred. "I feel better than for a long time past, though I was so +silly as to faint. Sit you there where I can look at you, and tell me +all the news. I see my lady is a widow. When did Sir Edward die?" + +"At Rome, whither we went in the train of my Lord Castlewaine the +ambassador—and pretty company he was!" said Alwright, in disgust. "You +know, my dear, between ourselves, Sir Edward was always inclined to +side with whichever party was uppermost. So, after we went to London +and to court, he began to look the way the king's party did—toward +Rome, you know. He did not really go over, and perhaps he never meant +to do so, but he read their books, and went to the chapel, and all +that. So, when this embassy was sent out, Sir Edward must needs go +along. It was a grief to my lady, though he made her health one reason +for the journey, but you know she never opposed her husband." + +"Perhaps his majesty thought the journey to Rome would finish Sir +Edward's conversion," said Winifred. + +"And so it did, indeed, my dear, but it was the wrong way. Sir Edward +saw and heard so many things that no true English gentleman could +swallow, that he became disgusted with the whole concern. Then he took +one of the fevers they have there, and died in a few days. The priests +came about him, and would have it that he died in the Church of Rome, +but it was no such thing. And then, my lady was very ill and feeble +for a long time after, so we could not leave when my Lord Castlewaine +did—more by token, they say the pope never showed him the least bit +of favor, after all. I must say, some of the foreign papists were +very good to us—I shall always remember it of them, I am sure—but oh, +Winifred, if you could only see the cooking, and the smells, and the +old women! Well, my lady got better, at last, and then we came home as +quickly as we could." + +"I tried every way to hear from you," said Winifred, "but I could not +learn where Sir Edward had gone. When I first came here, I heard that +Lady Corbet was cousin to my lady, and hoped to get news from her, but +she could only tell me that my Lord Carew was dead, and my lady, she +thought, was still abroad." + +"Yes, the poor gentleman is dead at last, and a good thing, too, for +himself and everybody. Master Arthur is Lord Carew now. Much good it +does him, since he cannot come home to enjoy it!" + +"And where is Master Arthur—I mean, my lord?" asked Winifred, suddenly +very busy with her boiled chicken. + +"He has been all this time in far-away parts, fighting the Turks that +they say the King of France has brought upon Christendom again. But now +he hath returned to Holland, and is in the service of the Prince and +Princess of Orange, God bless them!" + +"But how did you find me out, and why did my lady never answer the +letter I sent her by Joseph the groom, after my mother died? Oh, Mrs. +Alwright, if you know how I wearied for an answer to that letter!" + +"Aye, aye, poor maid!" said Alwright, sympathetically. "I can guess +well. 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.' But the letter never +reached my lady. Joseph did not get to London till after we had set out +for Rome. As soon as we came back to the Hall, my lady's first inquiry +was for you, and sadly disappointed we were to learn that the family +was broken up, and you were gone no one knew where." + +"Your brother knew, and Dame Oldmixon." + +"Yes, but neither of them were at Holford. A gentleman my brother knew +at college has given him a fine living away off in the North, somewhere +about Durham. And Dame Oldmixon has gone to live with some of her kin. +So we could find out nothing from them. Then my lady left the Hall for +good, and we went to Exeter, where we have—I mean, my lady has a fine +old house, as good as this. And the heir has new furnished the Hall, +and given my lady a deal of the old furniture, so you will see the +place looking very natural, though, to be sure, we have not the Hall +garden to walk in." + +"But how did you find me out at last?" + +"Oh, my lady was wanted at the Hall on some business. I must say the +new family are very civil, and treated her as though she were the head +of the house still. So we went out to visit all the old places, and +among the rest the Stonehill farm. And there we found your uncle and +aunt—a stirring, notable dame she seems, but no more like your dear +mother than a houseleek is like a bunch of violets. She told us that +you had gone to live as governess to my Lady Corbet's daughters, and +had staid behind to nurse them in the fever, but she did not know +whether you were dead or alive. + +"So then my lady said, 'Alwright, I am going to Bristol to seek out my +cousin Judith.' + +"For you see, there had been no intercourse between them for ever so +long, my old lady having been bitterly opposed to Mrs. Judith marrying +young Corbet, though he has turned out enough better than that poor +silly Mr. Hervey. + +"'I am sure she will give us a welcome for the sake of old times,' said +my lady; 'and perhaps I may find Winifred still with her.' + +"And so she did! She had always a warm heart, had Mrs. Judith, and +I for one never blamed her for marrying the man to whom her parents +betrothed her. So she welcomed us as if we had been princesses of the +blood, and could not say enough in your praise for all you did, which +I was not at all surprised at, for you were ever a good girl, my dear, +and had the best of teaching, though I say it that should not, perhaps." + +"She is an excellent lady," said Winifred, warmly. "An own father and +mother could not have been kinder than she and Sir John have been to me +since I have been ill." + +"And so she ought!" said Alwright, rather indignantly. "I wonder what +she would have done without you. But she is a good woman, that I do not +deny, and seems to have brought up her daughters well." + +"That she has, and they are all sweet girls. I long for the time when I +shall be able to teach them again." + +"Then you may leave off longing, for you are not going to do any such +thing!" answered Alwright, sharply. "You are to go home with us to +Exeter, and be brought up as my lady's own daughter henceforth! She +told me so herself. + +"'If I find Winifred at all what I expect—' those were her very +words—'I shall take her home and treat her as my own child.' + +"And I am sure she will not be disappointed in you, for seeing that +you are so thin and pale, you are prettier than ever, and more like +poor Captain Winthrop, your cousin. So don't be thinking or talking of +teaching any more, sweetheart, but got well as fast as you can, and +be ready to return home with us. And I must learn to call you Mrs. +Winifred, now that you are to be a great lady!" + +"You shall never call me anything but your own Winnie, dear Alwright! +And so my lady does not live at the Hall any more?" + +"No; in her house at Exeter, as I told you. And she hath a good +jointure and money from her father's estate besides. So we have such an +establishment as becomes a lady of her quality, though we see little +company, my lady being so lately a widow. But now, my dear, you must +not speak a word more, but lie and rest against my lady comes up." + +Winifred did not wish to talk. She was quite content to lie still and +enjoy the sober certainty of waking bliss. "To live with my lady all +the rest of her life—to read to her and wait upon her—was it possible +that, after all her past trials, such a future could be in store for +her?" How unthankful, how distrustful she had lately been, and all this +time God had this blessing in store for her! This very morning she had +been feeling as if He had forgotten her! Most earnest was her prayer +for forgiveness, her thanksgiving for the unexpected and undeserved +blessing. She fell asleep with the words of prayer in her heart and on +her lips, and awoke to find the dear face bending over her, the dear +hand once more clasped in hers. + +From that time Winifred improved rapidly, gaining flesh and strength +from day to day, until she was able to go first into the school-room +for a change, and then out into the garden. It was quite settled now +that Winifred was to return home with Lady Peckham as soon as the +doctor should pronounce her strong enough to bear the journey, and was +to be considered henceforth as her ladyship's adopted child. + +"I am sure I don't know what in the world I shall do without you, +dear!" said good Lady Corbet. "You have been everything to us during +this disastrous time of sickness and poor Paulina's trouble, and I +shall always say that it was a blessed day for us all when I met you at +Mrs. Bowler's. At the same time, I don't deny that my kinswoman hath +the best right to you, and perhaps needs you more than I, in respect +she hath no daughters to keep her company in her widow's household. And +though daughters are a care, doubtless, and an anxiety, yet it cannot +be denied that they are a great comfort. I am sure Sir John would +have always given you a home as long as you needed it, and would have +provided a marriage portion for you the same as for his own girls, and +no doubt my lady will do the same when you come to leave her, as of +course you will do some day, sweetheart, for such maids as you do not +go begging." + +"I shall never leave my lady," said Winifred, hastily, and vexed to +feel her cheeks growing scarlet. + +"Aye, aye, that is what they all say," said Lady Corbet, smiling. "'I +shall never leave you, mother,' says Pall. Poor Pall, I do not know +what she, of all others, will do without you." + +Winifred echoed her good friend's sigh. She felt herself drawn two +ways, and while she, like the rest, took it for granted that she was to +go with Lady Peckham, she could not help feeling many regrets for those +she was leaving behind. + + +The next day Lady Corbet came up again, full of smiles and significant +looks. + +"Aha, madam, did I not say our Winifred was not one to go begging?" +said she, addressing herself to Lady Peckham, who was amusing her +young cousins with some stories of her experience abroad, while Mrs. +Alwright looked over and rectified the much abused tapestry work. Then +recollecting herself, she assumed an air of becoming importance, as she +beckoned Lady Peckham into the next room. + +"I wonder what my mother means?" said the literal Jemima, as the door +closed. "Why should Mrs. Winifred go begging?" + +"She does not really mean begging," said Phyllis, laughing. "I know +what it is! Somebody has been proposing for Winifred, and I guess who +it is, too! It is Mr. Gunnison." + +"Mr. Gunnison!" said Jemima, slowly. "Why, he is married. I saw his +wife's name in the cathedral. 'Here lies Mary, beloved wife of James +Gunnison, aged twenty-six!'" + +"But she is dead, you goose! Don't you know that when you read her name +on the tomb yourself? How should she be in the cathedral vault, else?" + +"Oh, I do hope it is Mr. Gunnison, because then Winifred will live in +the Close and we can see her every day." + +"Hush, hush!" said Alwright, who had established herself in the +school-room, where she reigned supreme over needles and frames, to the +great disgust of old Ashwell. "Young ladies should never talk of being +married, or guess what their elders mean! Now, take your frames, be +good maids, and sit up straight at your work, and I will tell you how +my lady and I went to visit the convent at Rome." + +Phyllis was right in guessing that her mother's words related to a +matrimonial proposition for Winifred, though she was mistaken in the +person. Doctor Mercer had admired Winifred from the first of their +acquaintance. They were naturally thrown much together during the +continuance of the fever, and afterwards, in Winifred's own sick-room. +And the more he knew her, the more he saw to admire. Doctor Mercer, +blunt and odd as it pleased him at times to appear, was a gentleman, +and a man of strong and warm feelings. He had known little of women, +having always been devoted to science and to his profession, and +had been in the habit of looking upon them with a kind of indulgent +contempt, as poor weak creatures, who must be borne with and taken care +of because they "were" weak, and because they were necessary to the +well-being and continuance of the race. + +But in Winifred he had met with a woman who had commanded first his +admiration, and then his respect and love, by her quiet courage, her +docility and good sense, and her straightforward truthfulness. The end +of the matter was that the grave, middle-aged doctor had fallen in love +with the girl of eighteen. And this very morning he had, after the +fashion considered decorous at the time, made proposals to Lady Corbet +as being her present guardian, for the hand of Winifred Evans, and she +in her turn had propounded the matter to Lady Peckham. + +"You see, cousin, it may be or might have been considered a fine +match for our Winifred. Doctor Mercer is no common apothecary but a +physician, besides that he is a gentleman of a good old family, and +hath a moderate fortune of his own besides his profession. He is a +man of high character, and a good Christian. I am sure his prayers +and his exhortations, when my poor children were ill, were as good as +a clergyman's, and so said Mr. Gunnison himself. To be sure, he is a +thought elderly for Winifred, but then she is grave beyond her years." + +"And what does Winifred think of the matter?" asked Lady Peckham, as +soon as she could get in a word. "Does she like this Doctor Mercer?" + +"She always speaks well of him, and talks and laughs with him when he +comes to see her, especially since she has been so much better. More +than that, I cannot say. But no doubt she will be guided by you in +the matter. I told Doctor Mercer, 'My cousin Margaret has taken the +gentlewoman under her own charge,' said I; 'and she is the person to be +consulted, but doubtless Winifred will be governed by her will, as is +becoming.'" + +"It all depends upon Winifred's own feelings," said Lady Peckham, +smiling and sighing. "I am not one of those who believe in forcing +the inclinations of young people, however great may be the worldly +advantages promised." + +"Nor I," said Lady Corbet. "You know how I stood out against my old +lady, your honored mother, who, with all due respect to her and you, +did a deal more of that sort of thing than ever came to good. But then +Winifred may like him, you know. It is nothing very strange for a girl +to fancy a man old enough to be her father." + +"True, especially if he is presented to her in the light of a hero," +observed Lady Peckham. + +"And you know it would be a good match," continued Lady Corbet. "Sir +John has put by the money for Winifred's portion the same as for his +own girls, and you and I could give her an outfit suitable for any lady +in the land," continued the good lady, who was evidently gratified +at the prospect of a wedding. "Doctor Mercer has established himself +permanently in Bristol, and is coming into good practice. It would be +hard for you, that is true," she concluded, struck all at once by the +idea that there was another side to the matter, "to lose Winifred, just +as you have found her again." + +"I should not let that consideration stand in the way, if Winifred were +disposed to the match," said Lady Peckham. "Girls always do marry some +time or other—at least, such girls as Winifred—and it is of no use to +calculate upon anything else. It would be gross selfishness in me to +allow myself to be influenced by any such thing as that. I suppose, +Cousin Judith, the best way will be for me to sound Winifred upon the +matter, and see what her feelings are. Or will you undertake the office +yourself?" + +"Dear heart, no! I have no sense at all about managing any such matter. +I should say and do just exactly the wrong thing. I never knew any +other way of going to work than just speaking right out." + +"I think that is usually the best way of going to work," said Lady +Peckham, smiling. "It was always your way, Judith. I remember my father +used to call you 'Down-right Dunstable!' However, I will talk to +Winifred about the matter, and put the good doctor out of suspense as +quickly as possible." + +Winifred received the doctor's proposal at first with simple +incredulity, then with some degree of indignation, and at last she +burst into tears and sobbed hysterically. + +"Why, Winifred, my child, what is all this for?" said Lady Peckham. "I +cannot for my life see anything in the matter calling for such floods +of tears! Come, come, be a woman, and tell me what to say to the good +man!" + +The old tone of gentle command had not lost its effect over Winifred. +She checked herself by degrees, and presently was calm enough to say: + +"I am sure he is very good—and does me great honor—but oh, my lady, I +cannot think of it! I cannot, indeed! I wish to do my duty, but—" + +There seemed imminent danger of another flood of tears, as Winifred +ceased speaking, and busied herself with the fringe of her tippet. + +"It is not necessarily your duty to marry a man because he asks you," +said Lady Peckham, smiling. "But, Winifred, I would have you consider +seriously before you reject this offer. It is a very advantageous one, +in every respect." + +"I know it, my lady, and far above my deserts, but—" + +"You have seen a great deal of Doctor Mercer, and that is a way to +become well acquainted with him," pursued her friend. "What is there +about him that you do not like?" + +"Nothing, my lady! He is one of the best men I ever knew! To be sure, I +have not known many." + +"He has a good estate besides his practice, and his family is, to say +the least, equal to your own." + +"Superior, my lady! I have not forgotten that I am but the daughter of +a merchant captain, and the granddaughter of a Somersetshire yeoman," +said Winifred, not without a touch of pride. "I trust not to forget my +station." + +"Your mother belonged to one of our oldest Devonshire families," said +Lady Peckham. "I do not think there is any disparity upon that score. +Sir John Corbet claims the pleasure of paying your marriage portion, +and my good cousin Judith and myself will see that you have everything +becoming your position. Think of it, Winifred! Such an opportunity of +establishing yourself will not come every day. Think well before you +decide!" + +To judge from her face, Winifred did not seem to be thinking favorably. +Her friend watched her with something like a smile lurking in her eyes +and the corners of her mouth, as Winifred sat very erect, looking down +at the sprigs of rosemary which she was pulling to pieces for Alwright +to distil, and upon which she was bestowing a good deal more strength +than was necessary. + +"Well, my child," said she, at last, "you must not keep the good man in +doubt longer than you can help. What shall I say to him?" + +"I cannot marry him, my lady!" Winifred's voice was husky, but firm, +and her face had regained its calmness. "He is very good—too good for +me, but I cannot be his wife. It would not be right! I am sure it would +not! Oh, my dear lady, do not be angry with me, but indeed, indeed I +cannot marry Doctor Mercer!" + +"My dear child, I have no right or cause to be angry, since the +doctor's loss is my gain. I have no mind to part with you, Winifred, +though I could of course do so, if it seemed best for you. You are +still young, and your health is not yet firmly established—though, as +my cousin Judith would say, that is the more reason for your marrying a +doctor." + +"Please, my lady!" + +"I suppose I ought to go over with all the stock phrases and +questions," continued Lady Peckham, smiling rather sadly. "I ought to +preach to you the duty of submission to your elders, to lecture you +upon your presumption, and to question you as to whether you have any +other attachment which prevents you from accepting so good an offer. +Why, my child, if you color so, I shall think there is some occasion +for the question!" + +Winifred's face was indeed scarlet with the provoking color which +"would" rush into her cheeks at the wrong time. + +"What dream are you cherishing, little one?" asked her friend, tenderly +drawing the blushing face and tearful eyes to hide themselves on her +shoulder. "You have, perhaps, seen some one who more nearly approaches +your notions of a hero than even your kind and courageous doctor! You +have no engagement, have you, Winifred?" + +"No, my lady." + +"Well, my child, I do not want to pry into your secrets, if you have +them." + +"Indeed, my lady, I have none," said Winifred, lifting her head, but +letting it fall once more as she met Lady Peckham's motherly and +penetrating gaze. "Oh, madam, do not be angry with me!" + +"Why should I be angry, Winifred?" asked Lady Peckham, gravely. "Do you +know of aught that should displease me?" + +"No, madam," said Winifred, recovering her calmness, and meeting her +friend's gaze. "I have nothing in my mind of which to be ashamed before +you or before God. It is true that I have had an attachment to one whom +I have not seen for some years, and shall probably never meet again, +but that is all. I shall never be married, nor have I any wish to be +so. I have no other desire than to live with you and wait upon you, or, +if that may not be, to go on earning my bread as I have done. Marry +Doctor Mercer, I cannot! I am deeply sorry to seem so ungrateful for +all his kindness, but the thing is impossible. I would rather work in +Lady Corbet's kitchen, or even scrub my aunt's floors and trenchers all +my life-long!" + +"Well, sweetheart, that is not the alternative," said Lady Peckham, +kissing her. "I shall acquaint my cousin with your decision and leave +her to inform the doctor. But, Winifred, my dear child, beware of +making an idol, even of your cross! Believe me, it is easy to do so. Do +not let your thoughts dwell or your fancies wander in a world of your +own making, lest in doing your own works, you cease from God's, and +thus lose your portion in the rest which remaineth for His people. Now +lie down and repose yourself, and try to gain strength, for I wish to +return home as soon as possible. I hope to find letters from my brother +awaiting me." + +Lady Peckham was helping to loosen Winifred's dress as she spoke, and +she felt the start and quiver, at the same time that she caught a +glimpse of an enamelled chain and locket which she well knew. + +"And is it even so!" she thought, as she descended the stairs. "Has +the poor little thing been cherishing the memory and image of my wild +Arthur all these weary years? I remember now how shy she has seemed +of asking or speaking about him! Well, well! Such constancy deserves +its reward, but I fear for her, especially if Arthur should return. +However, there is no help for it now. She would make a lovely little +baroness, that is certain, and her birth and breeding are better than +those of the London heiress my poor mother destined for her elder son. +But what an old fool I am! Arthur has doubtless fallen in love with a +dozen ladies of quality since he hath seen Winifred!" + +Lady Corbet could not help showing her disappointment at the rejection +of Doctor Mercer, and would have plied Winifred with various arguments +in his favor, had not her cousin persuaded her that to agitate Winifred +in her present weak state would be to endanger a relapse which would +infallibly kill the patient. + +"Well, I dare say you are right, Cousin Margaret! You always are, and +if Winifred cannot like him, she cannot; and that is all about it. But +to see the luck some girls have! I could almost have wished the offer +had fallen to my Pall, who, poor child, can hardly hope for any great +match after all that has happened. Not that I should care so much for +that, if I could only see her hold up her head once more." + +"I have observed that my young cousin seemed to have a cloud hanging +over her," said Lady Peckham, not unwilling to divert Lady Corbet's +attention from Winifred. "She appears like one who has some heavy +trouble upon her mind." + +The good mother was easily won to tell the story, and her cousin +listened with real sympathy and kindness. + +"And, now you see all this puts my poor girl in a sad position!" +concluded Lady Corbet. "Her father is displeased, and with good reason, +and people about town make the tale a deal worse than it really is. It +is bad enough, no doubt, and would have been worse, but for Winifred +and the good doctor, but yet it seems hard that the poor maid's life +should be thus overclouded. My old Lady Germaine, who has always been +my great friend and adviser, cannot help me here, in respect she is +herself a papist—more's the pity! And what to do I cannot tell." + +"You do not think Paulina has any present inclination to the Church of +Rome?" asked her cousin. + +"Bless your heart, no! I am rather afraid of her going to the other +extreme. I found her only yesterday reading the strangest book! It is +called the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' and Mr. Gunnison says it was written +by a Baptist tinker. I must say it reads like a fairy tale, and though +I am no great reader, I could hardly lay it down. But surely such a +book cannot be fit for a young lady!" + +"I believe there is no harm in the book, cousin," said Lady Peckham. +"Winifred read it aloud to me some three years ago. It appeared to me +to be a remarkable book to come from such a source, and to contain a +great deal of truth." + +"Well, I dare say you are right! I would as soon have your notion of a +book as the bishop's. But I wish you would give me your best advice, +for I am at my wits' end and that is the truth!" + +"Suppose you let my young cousin go home with me for a while," said +Lady Peckham, after a little consideration. "My household will be but +a dull one for a young lady, but Paulina will have Winifred for a +companion, and as you say she has not yet finished her studies, she can +perfect herself in work and housewifery under my good Alwright, and I +will myself instruct both her and Winifred in what accomplishments I +possess." + +Lady Corbet joyfully accepted the offer, and proceeded to acquaint her +daughter with it. Paulina was equally pleased. She liked the prospect +of having a change and seeing something new, and she was overjoyed at +leaving Bristol, where, she fancied, every one stared and pointed at +her. Winifred was delighted not to be separated from Paulina, to whom +she was greatly attached, and, in fine, every one was pleased except +poor Doctor Mercer and the twins. The latter were indeed inconsolable +at the thought of losing Winifred and Paulina both at once, and were +hardly to be comforted by the promise that they should also go to visit +Cousin Margaret in her new home. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE PRINCE. + +"GOOD evening to you, madam! So you have absolutely condescended, +for as great lady as you are, to come and visit the house of your +father's own brother! That is more than I expected. Girl, this is my +lady's adopted daughter, a lady of quality. Why do you not make your +reverences at once, and acknowledge the honor she does us!" + +Such was the affectionate greeting which Dame Evans bestowed on her +husband's niece, who had hastened to come and see her as soon as she +heard through a neighbor of their return to Bristol. In truth, the poor +woman's narrow soul was boiling over with envy and spite at her niece's +change of fortune. She was one of those unlucky people who regard every +piece of preferment falling to any one else as just so much taken from +themselves. + +Simon Evans had given his full and free consent when Lady Peckham had +informed him, on occasion of her visit to Holford, of her intentions +with regard to Winifred, adding that Winifred was half a lady by birth, +and wholly so in her bringing up; and much better, suited to be a +companion to Lady Peckham than a household help to such as they were. + +"I trust Winifred has not failed in her duty to you or to her aunt," +said Lady Peckham. + +"By no means, my lady! She has been everything that she should be, and +more!" + +"I don't know what you mean by that," grumbled Dame Evans, by no means +pleased with this unqualified praise of Winifred. "I am sure, the pains +I had to wean her from her books and her dreaming, and make her do +anything useful! And now to have her snatched away, and by a stranger, +as it were! I must say, 'tis very hard!" + +Master Evans gave his wife a glance that she well understood as a +signal to hold her tongue. "If the girl is alive, as I trust she may +be, your ladyship is heartily welcome to her, and I hope she may repay +your kindness towards her," continued her uncle. "'Tis not every great +lady to whom I would trust her in these times, but you, my lady, and +Sir Edward, are well-known: as befit no favorers of court follies and +sins." + +So the matter was settled, to the great chagrin of Margery Evans, who +would have liked at least to throw some difficulties in the way. But +even this was not the worst. Simon Evans had been much surprised at +the circumstance that his father had died without making a will. It +was very unlike his ordinary business-like habits, which caused him to +make a matter of conscience of doing everything in the right time and +way. Magdalen Evans had always been a great favorite with her father, +and with good reason. For, ever since her marriage, she had kept his +house, looked after his interests, and waited upon him with more than +the devotion of a daughter. And never by word or sign had she shown +any consciousness of superiority to the family of the yeoman. Under +these circumstances it seemed incredible to Simon Evans that his father +should have left Magdalen and her child unprovided for; especially as +his brother Gilbert was in the habit of putting his wages into his +father's hands to be invested for the benefit of his family. No will, +however, had been found, and Simon, an honest and upright though rather +thick-headed man, had ever since been casting about in his mind for the +best way to set right the injustice his father had committed. + +No sooner had the Evans family arrived at the farm, than Dame Margery +began the necessary process of cleaning the long shut up house. And +great was the rummaging and wonderful the objurgations bestowed upon +the dirty sluts of maids, and the carelessness and neglect of poor +sister Magdalen, who, it was plain to be seen, had never given the +place a thorough cleaning since she went into it. It was well for +Winifred's peace of mind that she was not present to hear the remarks +made upon her mother's management. + +One day she attacked old Master Evans' room, and turned all the +furniture out of doors, that she might, as she said, have the place to +herself. Out went the ancient chair and table, the heavy bedstead was +denuded of its hangings and dragged out into the middle of the floor, +and Dame Margery called upon her husband to come and help move out +the heavy old secretary and chest of drawers, in which Master Evans +had always kept his papers and other more valuable possessions. Simon +had looked through this secretary more than once without finding what +he sought. Now, however, as he drew the end away from the wall, he +perceived a paper sticking out through a crevice, at the back. With +some difficulty he pulled it out, and unfolded it, and a moment's +glance showed him it was the will he had sought. + +"Well, what now?" said his wife, sharply. "What is in that paper, that +you stare at it like an owl at a mouse?" + +"I believe, Margery," said Simon, slowly, "that I have found my +father's will." + +"And what if you have? What difference will that make?" + +"It may make a great deal of difference!" said Simon. "I must find some +one who can make me understand this paper. I am sorry that my good lady +is gone from the Hall. I believe I will go to the vicar." + +"Better keep it to yourself, good man," suggested Margery, somewhat +alarmed. "What does it signify? You are the eldest son, and have the +best right to your father's property, and Winifred is provided for. +Better let well alone." + +"Woman!" said Simon Evans sternly. "Wouldst thou have me build up my +house by wrong and robbery, and thus bring upon these young ones the +curse of ill-gotten gain? I have ever thought it strange that my father +left nothing to my brother Gilbert's family. I doubt not this will set +the matter right." + +So it proved. The new vicar examined the will, and read it to Simon +Evans. By this instrument, he discovered that his father had put no +less than six hundred pounds into the hands of Sir Edward Peckham, to +be invested for the benefit of Magdalen Evans and her children. A great +part of this sum, it was stated, consisted of the earnings of Gilbert +Evans, and the result of some fortunate speculations in the china jars +and Indian brocades and cottons which were just becoming fashionable. +In addition, Winifred was to have for life the rents of certain +tenements in the village of Holford. Vouchers and all other papers +relating to the transaction would be found in the secret drawer where +the will was deposited. The clue being given, it was not difficult +to discover the drawer, in which were all the documents, arranged in +perfect order. + +Sir Edward's former lawyer had died of the fever, but his son and +successor at Bridgewater easily discovered among Sir Edward's papers +additional evidence of the transaction. And as the baronet was +perfectly methodical in all business affairs, and left abundance of +ready money for the discharge of all debts, there seemed no doubt that +Winifred's portion would be immediately forthcoming. + +It would be more easy to imagine than to describe the wrath of Dame +Margery Evans at this discovery. In vain did her husband represent +to her that the money in question had belonged to Winifred's father, +and not to his own, and was therefore no concern of his. In vain did +he tell her that, as they had never known of the existence of this +six hundred pounds, they were no poorer without them. Dame Margery +persisted in considering it as just so much bread taken out of the +mouths of her own children. She lamented and scolded day and night, +till her husband, worn out, assumed his rare tone of authority, and +bade her never mention the subject in his hearing again, under pain of +certain penalties not unusual in those days. + + +It may be believed that Margery's gall was none the less bitter for +this enforced suppression. She had come back to Bristol, determined, as +she said, to see Winifred, and give her a piece of her mind. And the +opportunity had come sooner than she expected. Winifred's affectionate +anxiety to meet and greet her relatives had, so to speak, led her +directly into the lion's jaws. She had as yet heard nothing of her good +fortune, Lady Peckham having thought it better that the matter should +be settled entirely before it was spoken of; and she stood perfectly +aghast at the reception she met with. + +Dame Margery perceived her confusion, and followed up her advantage +with a torrent of abuse of Winifred herself, and all her friends, +including her mother, Lady Peckham, and the whole Corbet family. +There was no telling how far she might have gone, if Betsey, becoming +alarmed at her mother's violence, had not run down to the water-side +and called her father. The presence of Master Evans at once restored +quiet. Margery's storm of words subsided into a low mutter, and +presently dissolved into a shower of tears, in which she bewailed her +unhappy fate in meeting with such black ingratitude from those she had +nourished as her own, alluded to frozen vipers which stung those who +warmed them, and finally, having fairly worn out her fit of temper, +was ready to meet Winifred with a sort of mournful solemnity, when she +came down-stairs from packing up such of her possessions as remained +at her aunt's, and dividing between the little girls the presents she +had brought them: to hope that her sins would not be visited on her +head, and that she would not come to shame and destruction among the +fine folks who had taken her up, now that it was known she had a little +money of her own. + +"You forget, dame," said her husband, "that my lady has known Winifred +longer than we have, and that Sir John's family took her up because she +was useful to them in teaching the young ladies." + +But Dame Evans did not choose to remember. Winifred had chosen her +lot, and she must abide by it, she said. She washed her hands of the +whole matter. Thank goodness, she had no reason to be running after +gentlefolks. She had kept her own house over her head and the heads of +her family—much thanks she got for it—and she hoped to do so, though +the bread "had" been taken out of the mouths of her children to enrich +strangers. And here, the temper coming uppermost once more, she fell +into a regular screaming and kicking fit of hysterics. + +"Go, Winifred, you can do no good here," said her uncle. "May God +bless you, child! I trust and will believe you are provided for, but +if ever you are in need, remember my house is always open to you. Give +my grateful duty to my lady, and as you go by the goldsmith's, send in +Dame Joyce to see to your aunt. She is a good-natured woman, and knows +how to manage her." + +Winifred never saw her aunt again. The dame died not very long after +from a cold taken in scrubbing the bricks of the little court one cold +day, while she was wet through and through from washing of windows. +After waiting a decent time, Simon Evans took to wife a younger sister +of Dame Joyce, who had been well-educated in one of the excellent +foundation schools of Bristol. With all the kindness of heart and +cheerfulness of spirit of her elder sister, she possessed more sense +and steadiness of purpose. She proved a real blessing to the household +of Simon Evans, and was more truly a mother to his daughters than ever +their own had been. Simon Evans grew rich and prospered, and, feeling +a certain longing after his old home, he sold out his business, and +retired with his family to the Stonehill farm, where he and his wife +lived and died in peace, respected by all who knew them. + + +In the course of a week Lady Peckham returned to her house at Exeter, +taking Paulina and Winifred, and the two girls were soon settled +into a regular course of study and work, under the direction of Lady +Peckham and the vigorous supervision of Mrs. Alwright. Relieved from +the annoyance of curious and reproachful eyes, and influenced by the +calm and cheerful spirit of her cousin, Paulina rapidly regained health +and spirits. She took a new interest in the accomplishments she had +heretofore despised, when shown that they, like all other advantages, +were talents committed to her charge to be used for the glory of God +and the good of those about her. She threw herself into study and +work with an energy which nobody had believed was in her, and daily +surprised her kind teacher by her progress, and astonished Alwright +by her skill in inventing new patterns and improving old ones, and by +baking a saffron cake and an almond pastry as well as her teacher or +Winifred. + +To Winifred all seemed more like a happy dream than like any possible +reality; and she almost feared to wake and find herself again scouring +trenchers or washing casements under the supervision of Dame Margery. +Not that even now she was perfectly happy. She could not but regret the +terms on which she had parted with her aunt, though her own reason told +her she was not in fault. And she was conscious of a sharp pang of pain +and regret whenever anything was said about Arthur Carew. + +Lady Peckham seldom mentioned her brother, though Winifred believed +that she often heard from him. She only knew that he was in Holland, +and, openly or covertly, in the service of the Prince of Orange, and +that if the now much talked of expedition of the prince should take +place, Arthur Carew would doubtless accompany him. But suppose she +should ever see him again, what good would that do her? Was it at all +likely that after so long a time he would remember the little country +girl to whom he had given the locket and said those words under the +great pear-tree? Had those words ever been anything more than the empty +compliments of a courtier? Or, if he had been sincere at the time, +would not Lord Carew be a very different person from the wounded and +half-starved adventurer whom she had guided to Dame Sprat's cottage on +that memorable midnight? And what would my lady say to such a match? + +But with all these questionings and a hundred more, Winifred's faith +did not fail. She knew that her fate was in better hands than those +of any earthly friend, however kind and wise, and that all would be +ordered for the best. So she took up her cross bravely, and bore +it silently, as many a woman has done both before and since, never +allowing her thoughts to dwell upon her trouble more than she could +help, and thankful that she had at least one Friend to whom she could +pour out her heart, and whom she could ask for blessings upon all those +dearest to her. + +Meantime she gave her whole mind and attention to the studies she was +pursuing with Paulina, under Lady Peckham's direction, went to prayers +at the grand old cathedral on Sundays and holidays, worked for the +poor, and was introduced to Lady Peckham's visitors as "Mrs. Evans, +a young kinswoman whom I have taken to bring up." Thus the little +household in the fine old house at Exeter pursued its quiet way amid +all the disturbances of the time, seeing little company and hearing +little news. Though Winifred shrewdly suspected that her lady knew more +of what went on in the great world outside than she always saw fit to +communicate. + + +One afternoon in November, Lady Peckham sat in the bow-windowed parlor, +looking into the garden with her two young friends, busied with her +knitting, while Paulina and Winifred read aloud in turn. Either the +chronicler was not very entertaining or the readers were preoccupied, +for Lady Peckham often let her knitting fall as she looked absently +into the garden, Paulina seemed in imminent danger of going to sleep +over her frame, and Winifred more than once lost her place, when they +were suddenly startled and effectually aroused by the entrance of Mrs. +Alwright, in a state of perturbation and alarm most unusual in that +staid and discreet spinster. + +"O madam! O my lady! John Footman has just come home, and he says there +is certain news come that the Prince of Orange has landed at Torbay +with all his army, and is marching direct upon Exeter by this very +road. What shall we do? What will become of us?" + +The whole party started, and Winifred turned pale as death. She well +remembered the undisciplined rabble of Monmouth's army and the horrors +which followed its defeat. Lady Peckham seemed the least disturbed of +the three. + +"I do not think there is any cause for present alarm," said she. "Yes, +my poor Winifred, I see well of what you are thinking, but I believe +this will be a very different matter from that wretched affair of the +Duke of Monmouth. The Prince of Orange is a worthy Christian gentleman, +and his wife the next heir to the throne. I have reason to know that he +has been invited over at this time by some of the foremost men in the +kingdom. His troops are famous for their discipline and good order, and +he has with him many English gentlemen." + +"Then your ladyship does not think we had better begin to pack up our +goods?" said Alwright. + +"On the contrary, I think you had better prepare for the reception of +guests—especially of some one who loves sweet sausages and saffron +cakes—for I am mistaken if we do not have a visitor before long!" + + +The next few days were days of great excitement to all the people of +Exeter, and our friends had their full share of interest in what was +going on. Some of the cathedral authorities, as soon as they heard +of the landing of the troops at Torbay, left their posts and went up +to London. The magistrates who favored King James remained in their +places, but they could do nothing against the universal feeling of the +inhabitants, and, wisely enough probably, did not try. + +All sorts of rumors were afloat about the men the prince had brought +with him. It was said that they were a race of giants; that they +carried such arms and accoutrements as had never been seen before; that +some of them were savages from the far north where the sun never shone +and the ocean was frozen solid. The people of Exeter, whose notions +of armies were taken from the lawless rabble of Monmouth or the more +highly organized rapacity and ruffianism of Kirke's band, began to +anticipate with terror the entrance of the troops into the city. But +all the rumors which came from the now rapidly advancing army concurred +in saying that the soldiers were under the strictest discipline, took +nothing without paying for it, and were civil to all who came in their +way. + +"Only think, madam," said a young servant one morning, "they say the +prince has two or three hundred blackamoors with him—real blackamoors +from the Indies!" + +"Well," said Lady Peckham, not at all discomposed by the news, "I dare +say they are harmless enough." + +"I cannot help liking blackamoors!" said Paulina. "Poor Jack, my +father's black, was so good when we were all ill!" + +"They are good and bad, like other people, I suppose!" said Lady +Peckham. "I do not think you have any cause for fear, Dolly. Only +attend to your work, and all will go well enough." + +"Poor Dolly!" said Winifred, laughing, as the girl retreated. "She +seems rather disappointed that her story has made no more stir." + +"Yes, people of her sort have a great fondness for horrors. But I do +not think there is any cause for alarm. The prince himself, I am well +advised, will be here to-morrow or the next day, and no disorder is +likely to go on in his neighborhood!" + + +The next day but one all Exeter was in the street or at the windows. +The houses were hung with tapestry or ornamented with flowers to +welcome the man who had come to save England from popish domination. +Lady Peckham's house, in the principal street, by which the prince must +pass to the lodgings assigned him, had its windows crowded with gazers, +but one little balcony was reserved for Lady Peckham herself and her +family. And not a few eyes turned from the crowds in the street to rest +upon the stately figure of the widowed lady, supported by her two young +cousins, both so lovely and in such different styles. + +Peace of mind and improving health had brought the carnation to +Paulina's cheek and the light to her dark eyes. Winifred was outwardly +calm and pale as usual, but her mind was in a flutter of expectation +of she knew not what. She told herself again and again that she had +nothing to look for, that Lord Carew was and could be nothing to her, +that she owed it to herself and to her lady to think no more about him. +But not the less did her heart bound every time the thought crossed her +mind that she might perhaps see him again before she slept. + +"Here they come at last!" said Lady Peckham. "I hear the music; and +see, the crowd parts! Who comes first?" + +First came a troop of gentlemen, many of them English, splendidly +mounted, and attended by their negro servants in turbans and white +feathers, rolling their eyes and showing their white teeth as though +they considered the whole pageant had been got up for their exclusive +honor. + +Winifred gazed intently, but saw no face that she knew. + +"What a pity Jack is not here!" said Paulina. "He might find some +friends among all these black people. But who are these with the fur +cloaks and black armor?" + +"They must be the Swedes of whom we heard," said Lady Peckham. "They +are indeed a formidable troop! Here comes the prince's banner. Can you +read the device, Winifred?" + +"'The Protestant Religion and the Liberties of England!'" said +Winifred. "I hope it may be well, but I cannot help thinking of the +poor, unhappy Duke of Monmouth." + +"I do not wonder you think of him, but this is a very different +matter," replied Lady Peckham. "Monmouth brought with him no such +troops as these, and, besides, he had not a shadow of right or reason +upon his side. The very proclamation he put forth was enough to have +ruined his cause with all reasonable people. But look! Who comes here? +The Prince of Orange himself!" + +"How grave and thoughtful he looks!" observed Paulina. "One would not +think he could ever smile." + +"It is his nature to be grave, and even gloomy, and he has, besides, +had much in his life to make him so," said Lady Peckham. "Moreover, his +present enterprise is one which may well cause him to look grave. He +has aged greatly since I saw him last, but he had always that austere +and settled regard even as a young boy." + +"See, see! What is that old dame about?" cried Winifred, as a very aged +woman pressed through the crowd towards the prince. "Oh, Lady Peckham! +It is Dame Oldmixon! Do you not remember her?" + +"It is our old neighbor indeed! I fear she will be trampled under +foot," said Lady Peckham. "But no, the crowd makes way for her! She +touches the prince's hand! See, he speaks to her, and smiles! You see +he can smile, Paulina, and very brightly too! Poor old dame, she is +thinking of her son and husband!" + +"What of them?" asked Paulina. + +"The son was killed at Sedgemoor, and his father, though, I believe, +perfectly innocent of any share in the rebellion, was put to death by +Jeffreys. Winifred, send some one to bring the poor old woman in, and +give her some refreshment. She is not fit to be abroad in this press +and crowd." + +The messenger was sent, and returned: "She will not come, my lady. She +sends her grateful duty to you, but says she will go home and die, now +that she has seen the deliverer of England." + +"We will find her out, and see that she is comfortably provided for," +said Lady Peckham. "I heard that she had come to Exeter to live." + +After the prince came a long train of infantry, mostly Swiss soldiers +in the employ of the Dutch government, and then various bands, +distinguished, as was the fashion of those times, by the names of their +leaders. + +"See there, Winifred!" said Lady Peckham, suddenly. "Who is that +gentleman with the fair hair and mustache—there on the black horse? +See, Alwright!" + +"It is Master Arthur! It is my lord!" cried Alwright, in great +excitement. "But how old he has grown, and what a great scar he has on +his cheek!" + +"That scar came from a Turkish sabre," said Lady Peckham. "Stop, he +sees us! He waves his hat!" + +[Illustration: Arthur's face was upturned; all at once he started, +raised his hat and looked earnestly at the group in the balcony.] + +Arthur's face was upturned, and his eyes were earnestly perusing the +crowds of ladies in the windows and balconies. All at once he started, +raised his hat, looked earnestly at the group in the balcony, and then +waved his plumed hat once more, with a smile and gesture of triumph. + +"Is that my cousin?" asked Paulina, in a tone of some disappointment. +"I had thought him a much younger man. Did not you, Winifred?" + +"He looks thin and very brown," said Winifred, commanding herself to +speak, "but I do not think he has grown old so very much, considering +all he has gone through." + +"Why, did you ever see him before?" asked Paulina, curiously. "You +never told me that! What an odd girl you are, Winifred!" + +Winifred did not reply, and Lady Peckham answered for her. + +"Winifred knew my brother when she was a little girl. I hardly know +whether he will recognize her!" + +Winifred said nothing, but she could not help thinking that Arthur +"had" recognized her, and that the wave of the hat and the smile were +for her. All the rest of the pageant passed before her eyes like a +dream, and she was only glad when she could escape to her room, and be +alone for awhile to collect her thoughts and compose herself. + +But she could not be spared long. She was wanted here, there, and +everywhere, for the house was full of company, and Alwright in such a +flurry and fever that, as she herself said, she did not know whether +she was on her head or her heels. Winifred must set out the cakes and +sweetmeats, see that every one was helped, assist the ladies to find +their cloaks and hoods, and make herself generally useful. + +At last, the last guest departed, and Winifred, tired in body and +wearied with excitement and hope deferred, returned to Lady Peckham's +withdrawing-room. There was no one in the room, and Winifred dropped +into a chair and covered her face with her hands. + +"Oh, give me strength! Only give me strength!" was her prayer. "Let me +know the truth, and give me grace to bear it, whatever it may be!" + +The door opened, and Winifred started up, to be confronted face to face +by a tall figure in a colonel's uniform. The two looked at each other +for one moment. Then all uncertainty was at an end. + +"Winifred, my own Winifred, you have not forgotten me in all these +years that I have worn your piece of gold next my heart!" + +Lady Peckham had heard her brother's step, and, hastening to meet him, +had been just in time to see the greeting. + +"Oho, Master Arthur!" said she to herself, with a smile. "You have +found your young friend already, have you? Well, well, better Winifred +than some others! But we shall see!" + +"And so you have really come back again safe and sound, Master Arthur—I +mean, my lord," said Alwright, "from the Turks and all! But you have +got an ugly scar on your face!" + +"Yes, a Turkish janizary spoiled my beauty for me," replied Arthur, +laughing, "and came near doing worse; for he fired his pistol at me, +and the ball struck me just here above my heart!" + +"Goodness me!" exclaimed Alwright. "Why did he not kill you?" + +"Through no good will of his, I assure you. I bore a charm in the shape +of a certain piece of Moorish gold which hung round my neck by a chain +and turned the ball!" + +"Well!" said the sage Alwright, "say what you will, I shall always +maintain that there is something in charms and amulets, and so I told +my brother when he refused to wear the hare's foot I was at the pains +to provide for his colic. 'Depend upon it,' said I, 'there is more in +such things than you think!' I shall just tell him this story and see +what he has to say. But where did you get your charm, Master Arthur—I +mean, my lord?" + +"Oh, that is a secret!" said Arthur, laughing. "If I should tell where +it came from, the charm would be spoiled." + +"To be sure, you ought not to tell," said Alwright. "I always did hear +it would break the spell of such things, and you may need its help +yet—who knows?" + +"Who knows, indeed?" said Arthur. "I trust this same amulet of mine may +yet bring me the greatest blessing of my life!" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +CONCLUSION. + +ARTHUR'S stay in Exeter was short, but before he left he had sought a +private interview with Winifred, and asked her to be his wife so soon +as the troubles should be settled. + +"I have always kept this object in view, ever since we parted under +the great pear-tree in your father's garden," said he. "I have been at +foreign courts since then, and seen some of the most beautiful women +in the world. I have been, too, in scenes of temptation and trial, +among wild and dissolute men, and women still worse, but your face has +always come between me and harm, and your piece of gold has indeed been +a talisman which has kept me from many a sin. Winifred, will you be my +wife? I can promise you no great wealth—no court gaieties. I am but a +soldier, and my fortunes will rise or fall with those of the Prince of +Orange, my master. At best I shall be but a poor lord, living on my +estate in Devonshire, where you may follow my good sister's example and +play Lady Bountiful to tenants and cottagers. But if you are such as I +think you, such a life will suit you better than fluttering at court or +in the parks." + +"Yes, indeed!" said Winifred, simply. "But what will my lady say? I am +but a yeoman's daughter, you know. I can boast no gentle blood, save on +the side of my mother, and I have no great fortune, which I have heard +sometimes makes up for lack of long descent. I can do nothing against +the will of my lady." + +"I believe my sister will make no objection," said Arthur. "I think she +must see how the case stands. But, as you say, we owe a duty to her. +She has been almost a mother to me, and more than a mother to you. We +will do nothing without her. But the matter must be settled speedily, +for the prince may move any day, and you wot, sweetheart, that when the +master rides, the man must run." + + +"Well, well!" said Mrs. Alwright at the conclusion of a private +conference with her mistress, some days afterwards. "So this is the way +it is to turn out! I never would allow Mrs. Winifred to read novels +or plays, but I don't see but I might just as well have done so, for +I am sure nothing more romantic is to be found even in the tales of +King Arthur. And so, all the time I was thinking perhaps he may take a +fancy to his cousin Mrs. Paulina, he was making up to Mrs. Winifred! +And all the time I was teaching Winifred to sit straight at her frame +and keep her head well up and her chin under, and to speak and carry +herself like a lady, I was teaching the future Lady Carew—which shows +the importance of doing a thing well while one is about it," moralized +Alwright, "as I shall make a point of telling Mrs. Paulina, who is +apt to slight her work and not fasten her threads well. And so little +Winifred Evans, the daughter of Magdalen Coffin, is to stand in my old +lady's shoes and sit in her chair! Well, well!" + +"You think my mother would have been shocked," said Lady Peckham; "yet, +as I was saying to myself, Winifred's birth and breeding are both above +that of the woman to whom my mother would have married poor Edward. Do +you remember when she came down to the Hall on a visit?" + +"Aye, that I do!" said Alwright. "How she bustled in her silks and +satins, and talked loud, and took the words out of my lady's mouth at +her own table, and wondered 'how anybody as was anybody could abear +to live down in Devonshire among the savages.' I promise you it was a +bitter pill for my lady, despite the gilding; though she would have +swallowed it for all that, only the London lady took fright at poor +Master Edward's strange ways—for he was strange even then. But little +Winnie Evans! However, my lady is not here to object, and will know +nothing about it, that is one comfort. And even if she does, 'tis to be +hoped she has learned to see things differently by this time. And when +is the wedding to be, my lady?" + +"That we cannot say exactly. Much depends upon the movements of the +prince. Should he be defeated after all, I suppose my brother will have +to go abroad once more." + +"But I trust he will not, my lady! So many gentlemen are joining him +on every side. Here are Sir William Putman and Sir Francis Wane, and +so many others flocking to him. Exeter is quite like a court, with the +gentlemen and their servants. But what about the wedding clothes, my +lady? Should not Mrs. Winifred's linen be got in hand?" + +"O yes, whenever you please," said Lady Peckham, smiling. "As soon as +things are a little more settled, I must write to my cousin Judith and +tell her the news. It is but her due, after her kindness to Winifred, +and I presume she will desire to do something towards her outfit. We +must have them all here for the wedding, Alwright, whenever it takes +place." + + +By the middle of February the English Revolution was a fixed fact, and +William and Mary were settled upon the throne, but it was not till the +primroses were blossoming in the green lanes of Devonshire that the +wedding was celebrated in Exeter, and the new Lord and Lady Carew took +possession of the gray old mansion house which had stood shut up and +deserted so many years, all but the few rooms inhabited by the poor +madman and his keepers. + +Winifred was in no hurry to leave her dear lady, and it was agreed on +all sides to wait till such time as would be decorous for the young +Corbets to put off their mourning. Great was the joy and exultation of +good, kind-hearted Lady Corbet on the occasion. She had always known, +she said, that Winifred was born for a great lady, and she was as +pleased that she was as if it had been her own Paulina. It might be +Pall's turn next, perhaps, but the girl stuck up her nose, forsooth, +and declared she would never marry. She would live with Cousin Margaret +all her life, unless she was needed at home. She had no fancy at all +for the men, had Pall, and the twins were far more excited about the +wedding than their elder sister. + +Meantime half the seamstresses in Bristol were at work, under her +direction, in fulfilling her vow that whenever Winifred married, she +should have a setting-out equal to that of any lady in the land. And +marvellous indeed were the lace and fine linen, the cut-work and raised +work, the brocades, and cambrics, and scented gloves, and gold-fringed +gaiters, and clocked stockings, which Lady Corbet displayed to +Alwright's admiring eyes on her arrival at Exeter a few days before the +wedding. + +Sir John insisted upon adding to Winifred's little fortune the sum +he had originally destined for her dowry, and presented besides a +beautiful set of jewels. One other present Winifred had which cost her +a fit of crying. It was from Doctor Mercer, and consisted of a case +containing a beautiful and costly Bible and Prayer-book. + +"Poor man, he is sad enough!" said Lady Corbet. "But he will not hear +any one say a word against you, for all that. When my cousin Norton +began to say, one day, that doubtless you know what you were about, +that you had feathered your nest well, and got on the blind side of +my lady, for all your saintliness—you know my cousin Norton never can +abide any one who makes any profession of godliness—I think she feels +it a reproach to herself, poor thing, for she does live like a heathen, +and a sad grief it is to her mother-in-law, my Paulina's godmother. +Well, when she said so, Doctor Mercer took her up, and I promise you, +he soon silenced her! I could wish sometimes that the doctor would take +a fancy to Pall, but I doubt his ever marrying now." + + +The rest of our tale is soon told. Lord and Lady Carew lived on +their estate in Devonshire, with little interruption, save when +Arthur accompanied the king to Ireland in that memorable campaign +which resulted in the Battle of the Boyne. Winifred was the same in +prosperity that she had been in adversity—calm, brave, religious, +trusting in God and walking daily and hourly with Him, doing good to +all about her. She found a grandson of her old friend Dame Sprat living +in great poverty on the outskirts of the estate, and had the happiness +of placing him on the farm of his grandfather, where he did credit to +his descent and her patronage. She revived the village school, which +had fallen to decay, and it continues to do good to this day, the girls +of Lady Carew's school being in great request as house-servants and +nursery-maids. + +Lady Peckham retained her house in Exeter, but spent many months of +every year with Winifred in the home of her childhood, where Alwright +made saffron cakes and almond pastys, imparted wonderful secrets of +cooking and preserving to Lady Carew and her housekeeper, and had the +pleasure of introducing little Mrs. Margaret and Mrs. Magdalen to the +mysteries of cross-stitch and open-hem. + +Paulina kept her word about remaining single, and living with cousin +Margaret. Her first fancy, settled upon a most unworthy object, had +been cruelly blighted, and she never had a second. After Lady Peckham's +death, she inherited the house at Exeter, where she had always with +her three or four motherless or orphan girls whom she brought up. Her +little school became famous for the excellence and soundness of the +education acquired under her charge, and she could have filled her +house many times over, but she steadily refused to take more than a +certain number, and always gave the preference to those who had no +mothers. She was effectually assisted by Alwright, who retained her +faculties unimpared to a great age, and could teach cross-stitch and +fine-darning by the aid of her glasses when she was ninety years old. + +The twins often visited their sister and "cousin Winifred," as they +delighted to call Lady Carew. They grew up useful, well-educated women, +and married well during the life-time of their mother, thus making up +in some degree for Paulina's obstinate single-blessedness. + +Nothing more was ever heard of Doctor Butler, and it was supposed that +he went abroad. Doctor Mercer lived and died in Bristol, where he +had many warm friends among both rich and poor, and won the respect +of all, notwithstanding his heretical opinions upon the subject of +fresh air and cold water. Sir John and Lady Corbet lived to see their +great-grandchildren, and died respected and loved by their numerous +descendants, and all who knew them. A wife was found for black Jack in +a fine young negro girl brought from the West Indies; and that worthy +blackamoor lived to be as white-headed as his old master. + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76596 *** diff --git a/76596-h/76596-h.htm b/76596-h/76596-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f795c13 --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/76596-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7648 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Winifred; or, An English Maiden in the Seventeenth Century, by Lucy Ellen Guernsey │ Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/image001.jpg" type="image/cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size:12.0pt; + font-family:"Verdana"; +} + +p {text-indent: 2em;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} + +.w100 { + width: auto + } + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: 125%; + text-align: center + } + +p.t2 { + text-indent: 0%; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center + } + +p.t3 { + text-indent: 0%; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center + } + +p.t3b { + text-indent: 0%; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center + } + +p.t4 { + text-indent: 0%; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center + } + +p.poem { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + padding: 20px 0; + text-align: left; + width: 555px; + } + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76596 ***</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>She then moistened his lips with milk from the bottle.</b><br> +<b>In a few minutes the sick man opened his eyes.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t1"> +<em>[The Stanton-Corbet Chronicles.]</em><br> +<br> +<em>[Year 1685]</em><br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<h1>WINIFRED;</h1> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +OR,<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t1"> +AN ENGLISH MAIDEN IN THE<br> +<br> +SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +BY<br> +</p> + +<p class="t1"> +L. E. G.<br> +<br> +<em>[Lucy Ellen Guernsey]</em><br> +<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="image003" style="max-width: 25.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/image003.jpg" alt="image003"></figure> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> +LONDON:<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +JOHN F. SHAW AND CO.<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +48 PATERNOSTER ROW.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +CONTENTS.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="image004" style="max-width: 25.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/image004.jpg" alt="image004"></figure> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>CHAP.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_1">I. JACK'S GHOST</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_2">II. THE MIDNIGHT WALK</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_3">III. MY LADY</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_4">IV. THE CONFERENCE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_5">V. JACK'S MISFORTUNE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_6">VI. A NARROW ESCAPE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_7">VII. FURTHER CONSULTATIONS</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_8">VIII. THE DISGUISE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_9">IX. SUNDAY</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_10">X. THE ESCAPE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_11">XI. THE BEGINNING OF CHANGES</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_12">XII. BRISTOL</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_13">XIII. THE CITY KNIGHT'S FAMILY</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_14">XIV. THE BANQUET</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_15">XV. THE FEVER</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_16">XVI. SURPRISES</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_17">XVII. THE PRINCE</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Chapter_18">XVIII. CONCLUSION</a></p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t2"> +<b>WINIFRED.</b><br> +</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="image005" style="max-width: 25.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/image005.jpg" alt="image005"></figure> + +<p><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_1">CHAPTER I.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>JACK'S GHOST.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>IT was nearly two mouths after the battle of Sedgemoor, which was +fought on the 6th of July, 1685, between the forces of James the +Second, King of England, and those of the Duke of Monmouth, his +illegitimate nephew, who laid claim to the crown. Monmouth was without +the shadow of right upon his side, and was utterly unsupported, save +by a few political exiles and adventurers as reckless as himself. He +had hoped that as soon as he landed, the gentry of the western counties +would flock to his standard, but in this he was mistaken. Nobody joined +him but the country people, and a few prominent dissenters who were +misled by their hatred of popery and their dread and dislike of the +reigning king.</p> + +<p>After some weeks of aimless marching and counter-marching, of foolish +proclamations and senseless quarrels among themselves, the forces of +Monmouth encountered those of King James upon Sedgemoor, not far from +Bridgewater in Somersetshire, and were utterly defeated, though most +of his raw, undisciplined troops behaved with the greatest bravery, +resisting to the very last, even after they were abandoned by their +leader. Monmouth fled, but was soon taken, carried to London, tried, +and executed.</p> + +<p>No one could blame King James for putting Monmouth to death. He had +been guilty of high treason in taking up arms against the government, +and had justly forfeited his life. But nothing could excuse the +barbarous cruelty exercised toward his followers, almost all of whom +were simple country people, who had been influenced chiefly by personal +attachment to the duke. In Somersetshire alone two hundred and thirty +persons were put to death. Their bodies hung in chains, or their heads +and mangled corpses, hoisted upon poles, poisoned the air of every +market-place and village-green in the County. One poor half idiot, +who had been long supported by charity, was treated in this way. And +two aged women, one in Hampshire and one in London, were sentenced to +be burned alive, merely for sheltering and assisting with food and +money some of the wretched fugitives. Both were persons of the best +character, noted for their piety and their active benevolence. By the +urgent intercession of certain of the king's own party, the sentence of +Alice Lisle was changed from burning to beheading, but Elizabeth Gaunt +perished in the flames, meeting her death with a patience and courage +worthy of an ancient Christian martyr.</p> + +<p>At the time when my story commences, Master David Evans lived near a +little hamlet called Holford, about nine or ten miles from Bridgewater. +He was a yeoman, that is to say, he farmed his own land, which had +belonged to his family for several generations. Master Evans had +received more education than most of his neighbors, even those of +higher rank than himself, and possessed what in that time and place +was esteemed quite a library, that is to say, he had besides his great +Bible and Prayer-book, "The Whole Duty of Man," Foxe's "Martyrs," and +a couple of odd volumes of Hackluyt's "Voyages." He was not rich, for +his land was none of the best, and scientific farming was unknown in +those days. But he had always enough and to spare, and no poor person +applying to him for help was sent empty away. His principal profits +were derived from his orchards and cider presses, for which then as now +Somersetshire was famous, and from the horses he raised for the London +market.</p> + +<p>His elder son had been apprenticed to a shipwright in Bristol, and was +now in business for himself. The younger was captain of a fine vessel +sailing from the same port, while his wife Magdalen lived with her +father-in-law, kept his house, and attended to the dairy and poultry +yard.</p> + +<p>Magdalen belonged to a good Devonshire family, which had sent more than +one confessor to the rack and the stake in the time of Queen Mary, and +had borne a good share in the naval exploits by which the men of Devon +rendered themselves famous during the next glorious reign. Magdalen +herself was a woman of a grave and earnest spirit, scrupulously exact +in the performance of all daily duties, kind and considerate to those +about her, and thoroughly imbued with that spirit of religious devotion +which had sustained her great-grandmother amid the fires of Smithfield. +She had two children. Jack was a sturdy boy of twelve, with a great +aptitude for fishing, birds'-nesting, and riding on horseback, and +an equal disinclination for learning of any sort, together with a +marvellous capacity for tearing his clothes, blackening his eyes, and +getting into scrapes generally. Winifred was nearly three years older, +and very much resembled her mother, both in mind and person.</p> + +<p>Master Evans had been in no way concerned in the Rebellion. He was +not given to politics at any time, and he looked upon the Duke of +Monmouth's adventure with equal dislike and contempt. He was a constant +and devout church-goer, and even his great high-tory neighbor, Sir +Edward Peckham, could find no other fault with him than that he +dispensed his charities to churchman and dissenter alike, which however +was equally true of the vicar of the parish and the Bishop of Bath and +Wells, the learned and excellent Doctor Ken.</p> + +<p>But it did not follow of course that Master Evans was in no danger +during the bloody proscription which followed the battle of Sedgemoor. +A great many persons as innocent as himself had been put to death by +the monster Jeffreys and the almost equally wicked soldiers Kirke and +Faversham. He could not go to the parish church on Sunday without +seeing over the porch the ghastly head of his kind old neighbor and +friend Master Oldmixon, who had been hung for no other crime than that +of having been in Bridgewater bargaining for the sale of his cheese +on the day before the battle, and taking off his hat to the Duke of +Monmouth as he passed by. Another neighbor had sold eggs and cider to +certain of the duke's officers, and for this offence he was hung in +chains at his own house-door. But Master Evans had thus far escaped +persecution, and as he was not rich enough to excite the covetousness +of the king's officers, he began to hope he should go entirely free.</p> + +<p>It was about two weeks after the conclusion of the Bloody Assizes, as +they have ever since been called, that Jack Evans was going across the +field with a basket in his hand, containing some meal, a large piece +of cheese, and sundry other provisions which his mother had sent him +to carry to a poor widow. Old Dame Sprat lived in a hovel on the edge +of a waste, swampy plain, partly overgrown with bushes and reeds; and +to reach her hut, it was necessary to pass through a certain thicket +called the Black Copse, which bore no good name. Strange sounds had +been heard, and strange lights seen glancing among the trees. Nay, +it was solemnly declared that the place was haunted by a black horse +without a head, which spoke with a human voice.</p> + +<p>All country people were superstitious at that time, and Jack was no +wiser than his neighbors in this respect, while the terrible incidents +and horrible sights of the last few weeks had filled the country +with ghost stories. However, his mother had commanded, and there was +nothing for it but to obey. The afternoon was warm and sunny, and the +hazel-nuts were ripening in the hedges. And besides, Jack, who was +really a kind-hearted boy, pitied the poor lonely old woman who had +no one to care for her. So he went along cheerily enough, sometimes +whistling, sometimes singing an old ballad or some sea-song which he +had learned from his father. He was passing through his grandfather's +barley field, and had nearly reached the stile at the further end, +when he noticed with surprise that two or three of the barley sheaves +had fallen down, and were lying partly unbound and scattered upon the +ground.</p> + +<p>"Who has done that?" said he to himself. "I wonder if the gypsies have +been turning their asses into the field again? However, the sheaves +must not be left like that, for I think it is coming on to rain, and +they will all be spoiled."</p> + +<p>So saying, he put down his basket and set himself seriously to the +business of restoring the fallen barley to its place. It was not an +easy task to accomplish alone, but Jack was both strong and skilful for +a boy of his age, and he knew how important it was that not a grain +of this precious barley should be lost: so he persevered, and at last +succeeded in putting matters to rights.</p> + +<p>He was just fastening the band of the last sheaf, when he heard a sound +which made him spring to his feet, with hair bristling and eyes almost +starting from his head. It was a deep groan, as of a person in great +distress. He listened, trembling in every limb. Presently, he heard it +again, and then a faint, hollow voice, speaking, as it were, out of the +ground.</p> + +<p>"My good lad!" it said.</p> + +<p>Jack waited to hear no more. If truth must be told, he was at all +times an arrant coward, and the horrible events of the summer had made +him afraid of his own shadow. He thought no more of basket, barley, +or Widow Sprat. Terror lent him wings, and he never paused to look +round or breathe till he burst into the kitchen, where his mother and +grandfather were sitting, and fell flat on the floor. It was some +time before he could speak so as to be understood, and then he told +a terrible tale of groans, and voices speaking out of the ground, of +clattering hoofs pursuing him, and a white spectre as tall as a chimney +which waved its arms over his head. He could give no account of the +basket, and he declared, in his distress, that he would not go to the +Black Copse again, no, not if they killed him. Indeed it was plain +enough that to send him back would be to endanger his reason if not his +life.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell what to do!" said Dame Magdalen, very much perplexed. +"Your grandfather is ill with rheumatism, and the men are all away. My +ankle is so lame with the sprain I got yesterday, that I can hardly +make shift to go about house, and Jenny and Priscy would either of them +be as bad as Jack himself. I fear the poor old dame will suffer for +want of food."</p> + +<p>Both the maids declared that they could not and would not go near the +Black Copse that night for all the world. And Jenny added, "Not for +King Monmouth himself, God bless him!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, fool!" said Master Evans, sternly. "There is more danger in one +such speech as that than in all the ghosts in Somersetshire. Let me +never hear the name of that unhappy man spoken under my roof!"</p> + +<p>Jenny was careful to put the dairy door between herself and her master +before she muttered that King Monmouth would come to his own yet, in +spite of them all.</p> + +<p>"As for you, Jack, you had better take your supper, and then go to +bed and sleep off your fright, which I dare say has not taken away +your appetite," said Master Evans. "I do not know what you will do, +Magdalen. I fear the poor woman must go supperless to bed."</p> + +<p>"I will carry the basket to Dame Sprat!" said Winifred, who had sat all +this time in the chimney-corner without speaking a word.</p> + +<p>"You, Winifred!" said her mother, surprised. "But will you not be +afraid?"</p> + +<p>"No, mother, I do not think there is any danger," replied Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are wondrous brave, Miss Winifred!" said Jack, not very well +pleased. "Just wait till you hear the headless horse speaking to +you—that's all!"</p> + +<p>"It would be so strange to hear a horse speak at all that I do not +think his not having a head would make much difference," replied +Winifred, slyly. "Are you sure it was a horse which followed you, Jack, +or did you only hear the clattering of your own shoes?"</p> + +<p>Jack muttered something about girls thinking they knew more than any +one else, and followed Jenny into the dairy, that he might enlarge upon +his adventure to a more credulous listener.</p> + +<p>"Then you do not believe in Jack's goblins, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"No, mother. I have noticed before that when Jack is frightened, he can +never see anything as it really is. I suppose the ghost was the old +dead tree in the copse, which he has seen a hundred times before, and +the groans he heard were the creaking of the branches, or perhaps the +old red cow who is always grumbling to herself. I remember when I had +the fever, how the dame sat up with me and told me tales all night when +I could not sleep, and how she made cool drinks for me, and baskets +of rushes. I always thought I should like to do something for her in +return."</p> + +<p>"But if you should meet any of the soldiers, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"There are no soldiers in the neighborhood now, mother," said Winifred. +"Dame Hodges has just come from Bridgewater this morning, whither she +has been to see her poor son, and she tells me the soldiers have all +gone away to some other place, with the chief-justice. She went to bid +poor Simeon farewell, but she was not allowed even to see him."</p> + +<p>"Lord have mercy on him, poor creature!" said Dame Evans. "He had +hardly sense to tell his right hand from his left. I do not believe he +even knew upon which side he was fighting. But, daughter, if you are +frightened, what will you do? It is a long way from any house."</p> + +<p>"I will say my prayers or sing a psalm, mother," replied Winifred, +simply. "I think I ought to go," she added. "I think it would be but +right. None of us have been near the dame for some days, and she may be +starving."</p> + +<p>"Give her the basket and let her go, Magdalen," said the old man. "She +has the spirit of thy great-grandmother the martyr. May the blessing +of God go with thee, child!" he added, laying his hand upon her head. +"I will trust Him to bring thee safe back again, but make no further +delay, for it is waxing late, and the days are shorter than they were."</p> + +<p>"And, Winifred, you may take this bottle of milk for the old dame, and +give a look for the other basket as you pass the white elm. It will +doubtless be standing somewhere about."</p> + +<p>Winifred was soon on her way with her bottle and a second basket +well filled. It may seem strange that she was so ready to undertake +the task, but Winifred Evans was no common child. She came of a race +of heroes and confessors, and it seemed as if she had inherited her +character from them. Quiet and retiring as she ordinarily was, hardly +ever speaking unless when spoken to, and preferring her book or her own +thoughts to any kind of play, she was never known to show a particle +of fear. Gentle, patient, and ever ready to yield to the wishes and +opinions of others, in matters where right and wrong were concerned she +was inflexible.</p> + +<p>Winifred's library was not a large one. There was no Sunday-school +library in those times with its weekly supply of story-books—no +magazine or illustrated newspaper. Her books were few, and those of a +character which I fear would hardly attract many of my young readers. +Her favorite volumes were the Bible, the "Book of Martyrs," and an odd +volume of Mr. Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queene," which her father had +bought for her in Bristol. Besides which she read aloud now and then to +Mrs. Alwright in Hall's "Chronicle" and Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia." +But the very fact that Winifred had access to so few books made her +prize more dearly and study more attentively those she had. Over the +first of these especially she pondered for hours in the intervals of +her daily tasks, strengthening her spirit and feeding her imagination +with the glorious truths of the one and the beautiful tales of heroism +and virtue in the others.</p> + +<p>In other circumstances she might have become a mere luxurious dreamer +and castle-builder, living in a world of her own fancies, to the +neglect of real duties, but no such result was possible under the +sensible and energetic training of Dame Magdalen Evans. Ever since +Winifred had been able to run alone, she had had a regular round of +daily duties laid upon her, for the performance of which she had +been held strictly accountable. The chickens must be fed, the eggs +collected, the daily task of spinning and knitting duly performed. And +the little girl was taught to hallow these daily and commonplace toils +by a spirit of religious consecration.</p> + +<p>Dame Magdalen early made her daughter her assistant in those works +of charity and mercy which were the delight of her own heart, and +Winifred was at all times a welcome-visitor in the cottages of their +poor neighbors, who looked upon her as a kind of saint. She shrank from +no toil, however disagreeable, which would benefit others, and she +sometimes undertook tasks from which elder people shrank in dismay.</p> + +<p>It was she who first gained access to Dame Oldmixon, as she sat alone +in her darkened cottage, distracted with grief and terror after the +horrible death of her husband, and at first by tears and caresses, and +then by whispered prayers and verses of Scripture, had quieted the +poor creature and persuaded her to take some food and try to sleep. It +was she who by long and careful searching had recovered little Willie +Higgins' silver sixpence, just as the child had given up the quest in +despair, and was going home to the whipping he was pretty certain to +receive.</p> + +<p>It was Winifred who penetrated to the awful presence of Sir Edward +Peckham himself, to beg off the herd-boy who was about to be sent +to jail for robbing the heron's nest of eggs and feathers; in which +enterprise she succeeded so well that she not only saved the lad +from punishment, but was presented with a new silver piece by Sir +Edward himself, and regaled with sweetmeats by my lady, besides +obtaining the inestimate privilege of coming twice in every week, and +sometimes oftener, to take lessons in fine work and confectionery of +Lady Peckham's waiting gentlewoman, Mistress Alwright. Finally, it +was Winifred who read the delinquent herd-boy such a lecture on the +enormity of his guilt in robbing the herons, that he blubbered over it +for an hour, and promised never again to take what did not belong to +him.</p> + +<p>This very day she had been to visit poor Dame Hodges in her affliction, +and had thus heard the news of the departure of the soldiers from +Bridgewater.</p> + +<p>Winifred walked briskly along, now watching the rooks, which were +beginning to return to their nests in Holford Avenue, and the robin +redbreasts in the hedges; now musing upon something she had read, or +repeating aloud her favorite verses and ballads. As she drew near the +place where the dead elm stood white and gaunt in the copse, she began +to look about for the basket which Jack had left behind in his terror. +Presently she espied it not far from a tall, upright stone near the +dead tree I have mentioned.</p> + +<p>This stone stood close to the edge of the copse, amid a number of +similar ones which had fallen across each other in wild confusion, +and which were believed to have once formed part of some old heathen +temple. The ruin, if such it was, was nearly overgrown with rank +weeds and brambles, and was looked upon with peculiar disfavor by the +country folks, as being the favorite haunt of the headless steed before +mentioned.</p> + +<p>"Why, there is the basket!" said Winifred, surprised. "I would not have +believed Jack would go so near the standing stones alone for all the +blackberries in Somersetshire."</p> + +<p>She went to the place, and as she stooped to take up the basket, she +heard distinctly the same sound which had scared Jack—a faint, hollow +groan.</p> + +<p>"Jack did hear something, after all!" was her first thought. "It is +some poor creature who has been wounded, and is perhaps starving!" was +her second thought. She looked carefully around, and seeing nobody +near, she said in a low voice, "Who is here?"</p> + +<p>Another fainter groan was the only reply. Winifred drew nearer. +Stretched upon the ground, in a little hollow among the fallen +stones, lay a young gentleman—so Winifred judged him to be by his +dress—apparently just at the point of death. His once gay doublet was +soiled and ragged, his eyes were sunken and closed, and there was a +half-healed scar upon his cheek. Winifred spoke to him, but there was +no answer except a deep, tremulous sigh.</p> + +<p>Winifred was not long in deciding what to do. She put down her burden +and raised the poor gentleman's head upon her lap. She then moistened +his lips with milk from the bottle, and with great difficulty forced +a few drops into his mouth. In a few moments, the sick man opened his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Who is this?" he asked, faintly.</p> + +<p>"A friend!" answered Winifred, who was now moistening some bits of +bread with milk. "Try to swallow this."</p> + +<p>The poor sufferer eagerly took the food offered him, and presently was +able to sit up and feed himself.</p> + +<p>"May God bless you, my maid!" said he. "I thought all was over with me, +but I seem already to feel new strength. I believe you have saved my +life. How did you find me out?"</p> + +<p>Winifred related the story of Jack's adventure.</p> + +<p>The gentleman smiled faintly.</p> + +<p>"It was I who frightened your brother and robbed him of his basket as +well," said he. "I had managed to crawl to the barley field in the +hope of carrying off a little straw to add to my bedding, when I was +surprised by his approach, and shrank behind the sheaves. At that +moment I felt such a deadly faintness and hunger come over me that I +could not resist the impulse to call upon him for aid—an impulse I +bitterly regretted when I saw how frightened he was. I expected no +less than that he would bring back a crowd with him, and crept to my +hiding-place, carrying the basket with me. I was, however, too far +exhausted to profit by its contents, and I believe should soon have +died but for your timely aid. I have been hiding in this den for a +week, in all which time I have eaten nothing but wild fruits and +berries and the remains of a loaf which a poor woman gave me. But, my +maid, can you tell me what has become of the Duke of Monmouth?"</p> + +<p>"He and my Lord Grey were taken alive, and carried to London," replied +Winifred. "We do not know what is become of them, but I heard my Lady +Peckham say they would doubtless be put to death."</p> + +<p>"Aye, doubtless!" said the stranger, with much bitterness. "He has +fallen into hands which know not mercy. Are the soldiers of the king +still in the neighborhood?"</p> + +<p>"They have mostly gone from Bridgewater," replied Winifred; "though +there are still a few scattered about the country—too many for any of +the duke's men to be safe."</p> + +<p>"I see you have guessed my secret," the stranger began, but Winifred +interrupted him.</p> + +<p>"I think, if you please, sir, you had better not tell me who you are, +and then if any one questions me, I shall have nothing to say."</p> + +<p>"You are a wise little, maid. You will never betray me, I am sure!"</p> + +<p>"Never!" said Winifred, firmly. "They should sooner cut off my head. +But I must tell my mother and grandfather. You need have no fear," +she added, seeing his countenance change at her words. "They are good +Christian people, and would never betray a poor wanderer. I must tell +them, that we may know what to do for your relief and escape. I will +leave you the cheese and part of the loaf, but I must go now, or my +mother will be frightened at my stay."</p> + +<p>As Winifred walked away, her head was fuller than ever of serious +thoughts. She knew that the deed she had just done was one which might +bring destruction not only upon herself but her whole family, if ever +it were known that she had helped one of Monmouth's men. She had heard, +like every one else, of Lady Alice Lisle, who had been put to death +for no other offence than that of giving food and shelter to the two +fugitives Hickes and Nelthorpe. She had heard from Mrs. Alwright of +little Miss Linwood, only ten years old, who was a member of the girls' +school which had presented the Duke of Monmouth with a standard at +Tawton. The poor child knew nothing of what she was about, and only +did as she was bid. Nevertheless she was thrown into jail, and only +released to die of jail fever, after her father and uncle had paid for +her a fine of twelve hundred pounds, a great part of which sum, it was +said, went to fill the purses of the queen's maids of honor.</p> + +<p>All these and many other things made Winifred shudder at the thought +of what she had done, and yet she did not see how she could possibly +have acted in any other way. She felt that she could no more have gone +away and left the poor gentleman to die, than she could have killed +him with her own hands. Nay, it would have been murder in the sight of +God—Winifred was sure of it. No, she could not have done otherwise! +There was no use in speculating about that. The only course which now +remained was to tell her mother and grandfather, with all secrecy, what +she had done, and leave them to act as they saw best.</p> + +<p>Another thing troubled her. She had given away at least half Dame +Sprat's bread and milk. True, there still remained enough for the +old woman's supper and breakfast, but she would at once see that the +loaf had been broken, and what would Winifred say? She had passed the +dreaded Black Copse, and reached the widow's door before she had quite +made up her mind.</p> + +<p>Poor old Dame Sprat lived alone in a hovel, which in this country would +hardly be thought good enough for a cow-house. Her husband and children +were dead, her property had all been lost in the civil wars and the +times which followed them, and she had now no dependence for her +daily bread, save the kindness of her neighbors and the faithfulness +of that God whom she loved. She had been the wife of an Independent +preacher, who was an elderly man at the breaking out of the civil wars. +Nevertheless, his age did not prevent him from acting as chaplain to +one of Cromwell's regiments, and following its fortunes till just +before the Restoration, when he died, full of years and honors. After +his death, evil days came upon his widow. She was turned out of the +farm upon which her husband's family had lived for many generations, +her furniture and goods were wasted and scattered, and herself driven +from one place to another till she found a refuge in her present abode. +She was now a very aged woman, more than a hundred years old, having +been born in the days when Queen Elizabeth sat upon the throne of +England: and many a tale had she told Winifred of those stirring times +of conquest and adventure, and of the sad and sorrowful days which had +followed under the Stuarts.</p> + +<p>She now sat by the little window of her hut, with her great Bible, +almost the only remaining relic of her wealth, on a rude table before +her. Her eyes had failed a good deal during the last few years, but she +was still able to follow the sacred text by the help of her spectacles. +Indeed she was so well acquainted with its contents that she hardly +needed the book.</p> + +<p>"Welcome, my child!" said she, as Winifred appeared. "It is long since +you have gladdened my eyes. I began to be troubled lest some misfortune +had befallen you."</p> + +<p>"I should have been here yesterday, but my mother has sprained her +ankle and needed me at home," replied Winifred. "She sends you this +basket and a bottle of new milk, but, dame," she added, hesitating, +"all is not there that mother sent. I have given away part of your +bread and milk, but I cannot tell to whom."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye!" said the old dame, nodding her head, sagaciously. "I see +how it is! Some poor soul fleeing as a bird from the fowlers. But oh, +my dear child, be careful! These are evil times, in which he that +departeth from evil maketh himself a prey."</p> + +<p>"I know!" said Winifred. "But will you give me two or three apples, +dame? I see yours are ripe."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sweetheart, surely. Take what you please. Here, wait a moment." +The old woman hobbled to the place where her bed stood, and after some +searching, drew forth an old checked blanket or coverlet.</p> + +<p>"I shall not need this, these warm nights," said she, "but if any poor +body were hiding in the fields, it might be a great comfort to him."</p> + +<p>Winifred could not help being terrified when she saw that the dame had +so quickly understood her secret. What if others should penetrate it as +easily? Dame Sprat saw her trouble and guessed its cause.</p> + +<p>"Have no fear, my maid," she said. "I have lived in troublous times +before, and well do I know the ways of the outcast and the wanderer. I +am an old woman, and my summons may come at any hour. What then should +I gain by betraying any poor creature? I would gladly give such an one +shelter under my poor roof if it were thought safe for him."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you are very good!" said Winifred. "I must tell the whole to +my mother and see what she will say; and now good-night, dame. I must +be going, for it grows late, but I will try to come again to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Winifred soon reached the standing stones, and first looking carefully +around to see that she was not observed, she gave a low signal. The +stranger peeped out of the burrow he had made for himself among the +fallen masses.</p> + +<p>"Have you come so soon again, my little friend?" said he.</p> + +<p>"I am on my way home," replied Winifred. "I have brought you some +apples and this blanket, but I must not stay."</p> + +<p>"Wait only one moment," said the stranger.</p> + +<p>He searched in his bosom as he spoke, and produced a very small parcel, +wrapped in soft leather, and a watch and seals, such as gentlemen wore +in those days. "Do you know my Lady Peckham at the Hall?" he asked. "I +think you mentioned her name."</p> + +<p>"O yes," replied Winifred. "She has been very kind to me, and I go to +the Hall twice a week, and sometimes oftener, to take lessons in fine +work and other matters of Mrs. Alwright; my lady's gentlewoman."</p> + +<p>"Ah, poor Alwright! Is she still with my lady? Many a saucy trick have +I played upon her," said the strange, smiling. "Well, sweetheart, you +may carry this parcel and the watch to my lady, and tell her—no, you +need tell her nothing. She will understand. But as you value my life, +let no one see the packet. Can you put it into Lady Peckham's hands in +private?"</p> + +<p>"I think I can," replied Winifred, after a moment's consideration. "I +think I see the way to manage it. Good-night, sir."</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_2">CHAPTER II.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE MIDNIGHT WALK.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>"YOU are late, my daughter," said her mother, who stood at the door +watching for her. "The sun has set and the dew is beginning to fall +heavily. What has kept you so long?"</p> + +<p>"I could not help it, mother," replied Winifred.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you stayed to order the dame's house and cook her supper for +her," continued her mother. "I like to have you do all you can for the +poor body, for she is a good woman, and old and helpless withal, but it +is not well to be out after sunset, now that the dews are so heavy, and +besides it is not safe in these troublous times. But you were late in +setting out, and it is something of a walk to the cottage. Come now and +have your supper. Priscy has kept a bit of apple pie for you, and you +shall have some clotted cream, for a treat. So put away your basket, +and sit down by the fire, for you look pale and chilly."</p> + +<p>Winifred ate her supper in silence, and then sat still by the fire, +thinking how she should contrive to tell her mother of her adventure. +She knew it was time for her to go to bed, but still she lingered, +watching Dame Magdalen and the maids as they bustled about, finishing +up the work and making things tidy for the night.</p> + +<p>At last, her mother noticed her as she sat in the corner of the wide +chimney.</p> + +<p>"Come, child, why do you sit here?" said she, hastily. "You should have +been in bed an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"I should like to sit up as long as you do, to-night, mother."</p> + +<p>"Why, what has come over the child!" said her mother. "I should think +you would be ready for your bed, after such a walk: and you are looking +pale still!" she added. "Did anything frighten you, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"No, mother, but I should like to sit up to-night."</p> + +<p>"Well, have thy way for once!" said her mother. "It is not often you +take a fancy, I will say that for you. See now, I have finished all, +and the maids are gone to bed. I will take my knitting and sit down by +the fire, and you shall tell me a tale from your favorite book."</p> + +<p>Winifred had another sort of tale to tell, but she delayed it till +her mother was seated at her knitting. It was nothing unusual for +Dame Magdalen to sit down by the fire with her wheel or her stocking +after all the rest were gone to bed. It was thus she gained time for +quiet thought over the events of the day, for disentangling domestic +perplexities, and for those devotional musings which were meat and +drink to her thirsty soul. Winifred saw that all the doors were shut, +and then drew close to her mother's side.</p> + +<p>"Mother," said she, "I have found out what frightened Jack."</p> + +<p>"Aye!" said her mother. "Then there really was something the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Matter enough, though there was no ghost in the case," said Winifred, +and she proceeded to relate, in the lowest tones, the history of her +adventure. "I know it was dangerous, mother," she concluded, "but what +else could I do? I am certain he would have died if I had gone away and +left him. Was I wrong?" she asked, anxiously, as she received no answer +from Dame Magdalen, who had dropped her knitting and sat looking at +the fire. "Should I have gone on my way and left the poor gentleman to +perish?"</p> + +<p>"No, child! God forbid!" exclaimed the mother, hastily. "You acted like +a Christian, but it is a sad shame, and I cannot tell what to do. I +must waken your grandfather and tell him the story, for the barley will +be carted to-morrow, and then all may be discovered."</p> + +<p>"You do not think any of the men or maids would betray the stranger, do +you, mother?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell, child. I trust not, but the times are evil, and terror +makes people mean and treacherous. God forgive the rulers who put such +temptations in the way of simple folk like us."</p> + +<p>"I should like to go to the American colonies, where my father was last +year," said Winifred. "There is no king there, they say, and the people +are all of one mind."</p> + +<p>"They have their own troubles—what with the savages and the wild +beasts, the sickness, and the hard, cold winter," said her mother. +"Aye, and they have their own dissensions and quarrels too, and will +doubtless have more as their numbers increase. You would not like to +leave my lady at the Hall, and the parish church, and all the places +you have known since you were born, for those wild hills and waters. +There are trials and temptations in all lands and in all stations; and +since it is God who sends them or permits them, He will doubtless give +us grace to bear them. But I must awaken your grandfather, and then we +will take counsel together upon this poor gentleman's case."</p> + +<p>"He is not asleep," said Winifred; "I hear him stirring."</p> + +<p>"What is all this talking?" asked Master Evans, putting his head out +of the room next the kitchen, in which he slept. "Cannot Winifred find +time to tell her fairy tales by daylight? It is time for simple folks +like us to be abed and asleep, and you know to-morrow will be a busy +day."</p> + +<p>"It is no fairy tale that the poor maid has to tell this time," replied +Dame Magdalen. "Will you come to the fire, grandfather, that we may +take counsel together?"</p> + +<p>Master Evans closed his door, and presently came out, wrapped in the +Indian gown which his son had brought him from the East. He sat down +and listened with earnest attention, while Winifred again related her +story.</p> + +<p>"The child is uneasy, lest she should have done wrong in bringing this +danger upon us," said Magdalen, when the tale was finished, "but, in +truth, I see not what else she could have done."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Master Evans. "She did no more than her duty; I must say +I wish it had chanced otherwise, but it is God's will, and doubtless +for the best. Where has this gallant been ever since the battle?"</p> + +<p>"As far as I made out, he has been hiding among the poor people—fishers +and gypsies and such like—till he should find himself fit to travel, +but he was too weak to talk a great deal, and I thought best not to +question him."</p> + +<p>"Right! You are sure no one saw you, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"Quite sure, grandfather. You know one can see far around from the +standing stones, and not a creature was in sight. But Dame Sprat +guessed at once that something was the matter. She gave me one of her +blankets, which she said would keep some poor creature warm. She told +me she should be glad to shelter such an one if it were thought safe +for him: and I have been thinking, grandfather—"</p> + +<p>"Well, say on, child," said Master Evans, as Winifred hesitated; "thy +thoughts are mostly to the purpose."</p> + +<p>"I think, grandfather, that since she is willing, Dame Sprat's cottage +is the best place for the stranger. You know she has no visitors but +ourselves, and it is a lonely place, where there are no passers-by. +The dame has a small out-house where she keeps her turf. The gentleman +might hide there during the day, and if pursuit came, he could flee +into the waste, where he would have a much better chance of escape than +where he is now. When I go to carry the dame's meal and milk, I would +carry enough for both, and no one need be the wiser."</p> + +<p>"The plan seems a good one," said Master Evans, after some +consideration. "No place could be found more solitary, and the dame is +as true as steel, and a wise woman besides. But who will be his guide +to the cottage, and when? The barley must be carried to-morrow, if the +day be at all fair, and I have bid the men be in the field by daylight. +There seems to be no time."</p> + +<p>"I will guide him," said Winifred, "and to-night. The moon is almost +full, and there are no clouds. I will wrap myself in my gray cloak, and +steal along by the hedge. No one will be abroad, and if any one should +chance to see me, he will take me for a fairy," she added, smiling. +"Then, to-morrow I can go up to the Hall as usual, to take my lesson +of Mrs. Alwright. My lady always walks in the maze before dinner, and +I can wait and speak to her there. I know the way. I have been there +before to gather the rose-leaves and violets for Mrs. Alwright. And +if any of the servants see me, they will think me about some such +business."</p> + +<p>"The child is too wise for her years!" said Magdalen. "But, my dear +one, I cannot have thee abroad in the lonesome fields at night, and +with a stranger whom no one knows."</p> + +<p>"I think there is no danger, mother; at least not so much as in +leaving the matter till to-morrow. Nobody would harm a child like me, +especially when she came to do him a service."</p> + +<p>"Alas, poor child! You know little of the wickedness of this world. I +could find it in my heart to wish you should never know more than now!"</p> + +<p>"And besides, dear mother," continued Winifred, in a low and reverent +tone, "I have prayed to God to take care of me: and then I opened my +Bible and read this verse: 'Yea, the darkness is no darkness to Thee, +but the night is as clear as the day: the darkness and the light to +Thee are both alike.' So then I thought God can take care of me as well +when I am alone in the fields as when I am asleep in my bed; for all +places are alike to Him: and why then should I fear, since I am abroad +upon His work, and an errand of mercy?"</p> + +<p>"True," said her grandfather; "I see where thy courage comes from. She +is right, Magdalen! Whatever is to be done, must be done this night, or +not at all. The harvesters will be in the fields by daylight, and some +of the lads will be daring each other to gather sloes at the standing +stones. Even thinking of naught but our own safety, it is the wisest +course, for it will bring destruction upon us all if the poor gentleman +be found there, and it becomes known, as it will, that he has had food +from us. I have a shrewd guess as to who he may be, but I say nothing."</p> + +<p>"Go then, my daughter, and may thy God and the God of thy fathers go +with thee," said her mother. "Since it is His will that thou shouldst +run into danger, I do trust He will bring thee safe out of it."</p> + +<p>Winifred was soon wrapped up in her warm gray cloak, and with her +basket well filled a second time, and with certain other matters tied +up in a bundle, she set out on her lonely walk. Magdalen watched her +from the door till she could no longer see the little gray figure, and +then with a heavy heart she went back to the kitchen, and sat down to +await her daughter's return, and to pray that she might be kept from +all the dangers of the way.</p> + +<p>The time passed slowly enough to the two people sitting by the +fireside, and more than once did Magdalen bitterly repent having +allowed her daughter to go upon such an errand. Again and again she +thought of all the perils to which the child might be exposed, whether +from pixies and goblins (for Magdalen was by no means above the +superstitions of her time), or from the king's soldiers, or even the +stranger himself. There were but few words spoken. Magdalen was never +given to very much expression, and any strong emotion was apt to shut +her up within herself; and Master Evans seemed wrapped up in his own +meditations.</p> + +<p>At last, the patter of the little feet was heard upon the stones of the +paved court outside the kitchen door. Magdalen could hardly give the +child time to tell her story, so anxious was she to put her into a warm +bed, and dose her with the hot spiced elder wine which she had kept +simmering among the ashes.</p> + +<p>Winifred had succeeded perfectly. She found the gentleman asleep, +and had with some difficulty aroused him, and made him understand +her errand. He had objected at first, she said, for fear of bringing +trouble upon them all, but when she had made him comprehend the true +state of the case, he had gone with her, slowly and with a good deal of +difficulty (for he was stiff and very lame), to the widow's cottage. +Dame Sprat was easily aroused, and opened her door at once. She knew +the stranger directly, and called him Master Arthur.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, I thought as much!" said the farmer, nodding. "But least +said soonest mended. Go on, my child."</p> + +<p>"That is all," said Winifred, simply. "Dame Sprat welcomed him like a +lady in her own hall. She would fain have had him take her bed, but +he would not hear of that. He wrapped himself up in the dame's old +duffel cloak and was asleep in a moment in her great chair. Then I left +the basket and came home as fast as I could. I heard the church clock +strike twelve as I came over the stile by our orchard, and oh, it was +so cold!" said Winifred, shivering.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I fear you are chilled through and through! I trust you have not +caught your death!" said her mother. "Come now, and let me put you to +bed at once."</p> + +<p>The warmed bed and the hot spiced drink soon threw off the chill, and +in half an hour Winifred was sleeping as sweetly as though she had gone +to bed with the chickens, as usual.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_3">CHAPTER III.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>MY LADY.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>"WINNIE is lazy this morning," said Jack, as he sat down to his +breakfast of bread and milk in the kitchen. "It is almost six, and she +is not down yet."</p> + +<p>"No," replied his mother; "Winnie is not lazy, but tired, and not very +well. She was awake late last night, and I thought she had better sleep +awhile this morning."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is always some good reason for everything that Winnie +does!" said Jack, peevishly. "I wish I could always do just right, as +she does!"</p> + +<p>"I wish you could," said his mother, "but that is not the way to begin."</p> + +<p>Jack murmured something about favorites, which, however, he was very +careful not to let his mother hear, and went on eating his breakfast +with a very discontented face. The truth was, he was a good deal +ashamed of his fright the evening before, and he felt vexed at Winifred +for doing the errand he had been afraid to perform. Jack knew that +he was a coward, and he was ashamed of his cowardice, but instead of +letting his shame lead him to the amendment of his fault, he permitted +it to make him jealous of every one who was braver than himself, and +especially of Winnie, who, being a girl, had, he opined, no business to +go where he was afraid to venture.</p> + +<p>"I don't care!" he said to himself. "I will do something which shall +show them that I am not afraid. I will climb up to the magpie's nest +and bring down a pair of the young ones to tame. Winnie dare not do +that, I know. I can teach the young magpies all sorts of things—even to +speak, I dare say, and then I can sell one of them at the fair."</p> + +<p>The magpie's nest which Jack intended to rob was built in the top of a +very high old tree, which stood not far from the farm-house. The tree +had been long dead, and the branches were as dry as tinder; a fact of +which the cunning magpie was doubtless well aware when she built her +nest in the highest fork. A tame magpie is fully as entertaining as a +parrot, and Jack, with whom bird's-nesting was a kind of passion, often +cast longing eyes upon the nest in question. His grandfather, however, +had forbidden him to go near it, not from any particular tenderness to +the birds, but because the tree was such dangerous climbing.</p> + +<p>It was nearly eight o'clock when Winifred opened her eyes with a start, +and saw her mother standing by her bedside.</p> + +<p>"Did I frighten you?" asked her mother.</p> + +<p>"No, mother—I was dreaming. I thought the soldiers had come!" replied +Winifred. "Is it not very late?" she added, looking at the sun and +starting up in alarm.</p> + +<p>"Almost eight o'clock!" replied her mother. "I have let you sleep as +long as I dared, but you know you have to go to the Hall to-day. You +will have no more than time to dress yourself neatly and eat your +breakfast. Do not forget the packet for my lady."</p> + +<p>There was no great danger of Winifred's forgetting it. She had slept +with it under her pillow, and a dozen times during the night she had +gone over the matter in her dreams, with all sorts of absurd and +frightful incidents attached thereto. Now she was telling the secret to +Lady Peckham, at the parish church, in service time, while the vicar +stopped his sermon and all the congregation turned around to listen. +Now she was in the street of Bridgewater, on a market day, irresistibly +impelled to tell every one she met that the Duke of Monmouth was +hiding in Lady Peckham's closet. And again, she found herself at the +water-side in Bristol, whither she had once gone to meet her father, +and all the bells of the place were ringing at once: "Tell my Lady +Peckham! Tell my Lady Peckham!"</p> + +<p>But if Winifred's dreams had been disturbed and confused, her waking +thoughts were composed and collected. She had already settled her +plan of operations, by the time she was dressed. She knew that Lady +Peckham was exceedingly regular in all her habits, having exactly +appointed hours for her devotional reading and prayers, for attending +to her household concerns, for her still-room where she and Mrs. +Alwright prepared medicines and cordials for the sick, and perfumes +and confections for the well; for her embroidery, and for walking in +the maze or on the terrace. It was at this latter time that Winifred +intended to address her. She was soon on her way to the Hall, with +her little work-basket on her arm, and the precious watch and packet +carefully secured in her bosom, to take her lesson in cut-work or +carpet-work of Mrs. Alwright, my lady's gentlewoman.</p> + +<p>As Winifred walked along by the hedgerow or under the orchard trees, +bending to the earth with their load of fruit, she sang in a sweet +voice good Bishop Ken's beautiful morning hymn:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<br> +"Awake, my soul, and with the sun,<br> + Thy daily course of duty run!<br> + Shake off dull sloth, and early rise<br> + To pay thy morning sacrifice."<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>"How beautiful it must be to be able to write such fine hymns as the +good bishop!" thought Winifred. "And yet his heart must often be sad, +when he sees so much evil which he cannot help. They say he shed tears +when he pleaded with the chief-justice, and even with the king himself, +for the poor prisoners, and all to no purpose. No, I should not like to +be in his place, or in that of any other great person, especially in +these sad times. I am sure my lady and Sir Edward often look troubled +and distressed, and Dame Sprat says the great Queen Elizabeth died of +a broken heart for all the trouble she saw coming on the country she +loved so well, and which she could do nothing to hinder.</p> + +<p>"No, I should not like to be any great person. It is as much as I can +manage, and more, to do my duty in that state of life to which it has +pleased God to call me. But then I suppose if God puts people in high +places, He will give them grace to do their duty there also, if they +ask Him for it, as much as to grandfather or to me. He gives to every +one according to his need. Dame Sprat told me that she has often heard +her mother tell how, in Queen Mary's days, even young lads like William +Huntington went to their death singing and praising God; and they say +when Dame Gaunt was bound the other day in London, she was calm as +though she were going to her night's rest. I am afraid I never could be +like that."</p> + +<p>And Winifred shuddered at the thought of being brought before the +terrible chief-justice, whose face and voice overcame even the boldest +men, and had actually scared to death a young lady at the assizes in +Tawton not long before. It must be remembered that this was no mere +fancy on her part, such as girls sometimes like to scare themselves +withal. It was an event likely enough to happen, if she were found out +in helping or concealing any follower of the Duke of Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"But why should I fear?" she continued. "If God means any such trial +for me, why should I doubt that He will give me strength and grace to +bear it, and take me safely through? Even if I should lose my life, the +pain will be but short, and then comes heaven, which will never, never +end, where I shall see all the saints and angels, the holy martyrs who +have died for the truth, and our blessed Lord Himself."</p> + +<p>Winifred's fears were gone—lost in the thoughts which now came crowding +upon her. Thoughts of her heavenly home—speculations as to what it +would be like, and what would be her employment there. She often dwelt +upon these realities of another world, as other girls dwell upon their +air-built castles, reading over and over the last chapters of the +Revelation, and everything she could find in the Bible relating to her +future state, till the mansions of her Father's house in heaven seemed +as real to her as the gray thatched farm-house in which her days had +been spent, or the old Elizabethan Hall whither she was going, and than +which she had never seen anything finer. She was so absorbed in her own +reflections that the mile and a half between the farm and the Hall were +quickly passed over, and she almost started to find herself at the park +gate.</p> + +<p>Holford Hall was a quaint old red brick pile, all angles, and gables, +and projecting turrets, and clustered chimneys, with a stately terrace +and a long elm-tree avenue where the rooks built, year after year. Sir +Edward had often called it barbarous and antiquated, and wished he +could build it over in more modern style, but fortunately he had never +been able to command money enough for such an undertaking, and so the +old Hall remained as it had come down from the days of Elizabeth.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward was a man of more cultivation and reading than many country +gentlemen of his day. He read the "Sylvia," and corresponded with +its accomplished author, Mr. Evelyn, and he took great pride in the +stately evergreens, formal clipped yews, and brilliant flower-gardens +which surrounded the Hall. And not without reason, for in those days +it was no uncommon thing for a gentleman's country house to have all +the litter of farm and stable-yard directly under its windows, while +the only garden consisted of a few gooseberry bushes and pot-herbs, and +perhaps some knots of common flowers, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, +and growing as best they could.</p> + +<p>Winifred tripped along the terrace and across the paved court, stopping +for a moment to caress the old blood-hound, who knocked his tail +against the flagstones at her approach, too lazy for any more active +greeting; and entered the little ground-floor parlor which was Mrs. +Alwright's peculiar sanctuary.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright received her little friend with her usual dignified +kindness. She was a tall, thin, rather severe-looking person, very +neat and prim in her dress, and more stately in her manners than my +lady herself. You must not think she was at all like an ordinary +waiting-woman of these days, though she dressed her lady's hair and +took care of her clothes. She was of a good family and respectfully +educated for those times, and her brother was vicar of the parish of +Holford. Such persons in those days thought it no disgrace to take +service with ladies of higher rank, and were often treated with a +great deal of consideration. Mrs. Alwright was older than her lady, +and had been brought up by her mother, the old Lady Carew, who was a +famous manager and housekeeper. She understood all sorts of work, plain +and ornamental, and every kind of household duty, from pickling beef +and pork to making the most delicate confectionery. She had taken a +great fancy to Winifred from the first of their acquaintance, and she +intended that the child should be thoroughly taught everything she +herself knew.</p> + +<p>Winifred usually enjoyed very much the hours she passed by Mrs. +Alwright's side in the housekeeper's room, working at her embroidery or +her knitting, as the case might be. She knew that the privilege was a +very great one, such as few girls in her station enjoyed. And she was +anxious to make the most of her time, lest something should happen to +interrupt these precious hours. Moreover, she was very fond of good +Mrs. Alwright, and loved to please her; and she usually gained great +commendation for her industry and attention. To-day, however, she was +so absent-minded and set so many stitches awry in the fine cut-work +band she was making, that Mrs. Alwright thought it necessary to give +her a little lecture on her carelessness.</p> + +<p>"But I am sure you are not well!" was the sudden conclusion of her +discourse. "You are as white as a lily, and have dark marks under your +eyes. You shall lay aside your work for the present, and have a glass +of my rose cordial or a dose of my lady's sovereign balm, and a piece +of gingerbread or saffron cake, and when you have rested, you shall +read to me out of Hall's 'Chronicle.' I have kept the mark in the book +where you left off last time."</p> + +<p>Winifred had no objection to the cordial, fragrant with rose-leaves +and spices, but she could not help an inward shudder at the thought +of my lady's balm, even if it were to be followed by a liberal slice +of Mrs. Alwright's excellent gingerbread, stuffed with citron and +almonds. She had helped at the distilling of that balm, and had a +lively recollection of the double handful of rod earthworms and the six +woodlice which went into the still, along with the herbs and drugs, the +flour of coral and amber, the spice and flowers, which went to make +up the medicine. She earnestly assured Mrs. Alwright that she was not +at all ill, only somewhat tired from having taken a long walk the day +before, and added that she was sure the rose cordial would do her good, +especially if she might go and walk in the garden awhile.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright bustled about to procure these refreshments, and looked +on with great satisfaction while Winifred sipped the fragrant medicine, +declaring that she looked better already.</p> + +<p>"And, Winifred, as you say, it will do you good to be in the air; so +you may take my little basket, and gather all the rose-hips which you +can find in the maze. I am going to make some conserve for my brother's +cough, and you shall help me prepare it. 'Tis a most sovereign thing +for a cold and cough, as you will do well to remember."</p> + +<p>Winifred could not repress an expression of thankfulness when she found +her way so smoothed before her. She had half filled her basket with +the red shining rose-berries, or hips, as they are called, and began +to fear that Lady Peckham was not coming out to-day, when she saw her +patroness approaching, and stood still, dropping her little courtesy as +she drew near.</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham was a woman past fifty years old, but still possessing the +remains of great beauty, though she was thin and worn, and her face +wore an expression of sadness—that kind of sadness which has grown +so habitual as to become a par of the character itself. She had been +first married at seventeen, to a distant cousin of her own. It was a +marriage of affection, and one not altogether favored by her parents, +for they were stanch loyalists, and had suffered greatly in the royal +cause, while Captain Winthrop was a rising young officer in the army of +the Commonwealth. But Lord Carew was "out at elbows" in money matters, +and not in good odor with the dominant party, and the countenance and +assistance of the young Colonel of Ironsides were not to be despised.</p> + +<p>For a few years Margaret Winthrop's life had been a happy dream +checkered only by fears for her husband, and by the hardly concealed +displeasure of her parents, whom, however, she seldom saw; for Lord +Carew had found it expedient to leave his estates in Devonshire and +reside in a remote corner of Wales, where his wife possessed a small +property. Then the dream was rudely broken! Margaret's young husband +died suddenly, leaving his still younger wife penniless. The great +Protector passed away, and was succeeded by his feeble son, who soon +gave way to Charles the Second. The royal party came into power, and +used their power with an unsparing hand. Lord Carew came back to his +estates, and was able to offer his widowed daughter a refuge, which she +had no choice but to accept.</p> + +<p>Lady Carew, Margaret's mother, was a bustling, active woman, a +wonderful manager and housekeeper, a famous disciplinarian, and a +violent churchwoman of the political stamp. Withal she was kind-hearted +and charitable, and benevolently anxious to make people happy, provided +always that they were willing to be made happy exactly in her way, +but exceedingly averse to allowing them any choice in the matter. +Above all, she was a strenuous and successful match-maker, and was +reputed to have brought together more couples than any one else in the +county; albeit it was said that her matrimonial mixtures, unlike her +home-made wines and preserves, sometimes soured and fermented in a +very unpleasant manner. She had been twice married, and both times had +bettered her condition; and she could see no earthly reason why her +daughter Margaret should live single all her days because her first +marriage had not turned out well.</p> + +<p>Accordingly Margaret had not left off her first weeds, before her +mother began to look about for a match for her. She soon pitched +upon a suitable bridegroom in the person of Sir Edward Peckham, a +Somersetshire baronet of old family, who, having been a Parliament man +when that party was uppermost, had changed sides with great dexterity +and just at the right moment, contriving to keep not only all his own +large property, but, report said, not a little which had belonged to +other people before the civil war.</p> + +<p>Margaret resisted for a long time with all the force of a not very +strong will, but her suitor was persevering and her mother determined. +Parents in those days had large authority in such matters, and children +little freedom of choice. Lady Carew well knew when and where to apply +the screws, and apply them she did with an unrelenting hand, comforting +herself all the time with the reflection that she was acting for her +daughter's good, and that Margaret would live to thank her some day.</p> + +<p>But that day never came. Margaret, indeed, yielded at last, from sheer +want of strength to resist any longer. She married Sir Edward, but +she went to her wedding as an unwilling nun might take the vows in +her convent. Even her mother had some misgivings as she noticed her +daughter's white cheek and sunken eye, and saw the mechanical and +lifeless manner in which she went through the marriage ceremony and +received the congratulations of her friends, especially as she could +not but perceive that the same things were noticed and remarked upon by +the company.</p> + +<p>"But it will be all right when she has once a family about her," +said she to her husband. "She will busy herself with the duties and +the pleasures of her station, and forget all about that idle young +Winthrop."</p> + +<p>Lord Carew had his doubts about things ever being again all right with +Margaret, but he was a man who loved peace and quiet at home, so he +only replied to his wife's predictions with a vague shake of the head, +which might mean anything or nothing.</p> + +<p>Margaret was never to hold in her arms a child of her own. Her first +and only infant came into the world only to receive a name and a place +in the family vault of the Peckhams under Holford Church, while its +mother was unconscious of its existence. For many days she lay between +life and death, and for weeks and months she was confined to the +darkened chamber, which it was feared she would never leave again. At +last, however, she recovered and resumed the duties of her station, +performing them all with anxious, punctilious accuracy, as if she would +thus make up to her husband for that love which she was unable to give +him.</p> + +<p>For years she lived under a heavy cloud of religious depression which +nothing could remove. She felt that she had sinned against herself and +her husband in taking upon herself vows which she could not perform, +and she thought she had thus shut herself quite out of God's mercy. +Thus she was deprived of the only thing which could have been any +comfort to her.</p> + +<p>This persuasion had finally given way under the judicious counsel of +some of those religious teachers who in the midst of a faithless and +perverse generation inculcated a pure and exalted spirituality, such as +has never been surpassed. She learned to seek in faithful and earnest +self-consecration that peace which the world can neither give nor take +away. And her long-troubled heart found rest in God. Thenceforward her +life was one long waiting till that change should come which would +restore her to all she loved best. And she was content to wait, doing +all in her power to promote the welfare and happiness of those about +her, to make up for or to conceal all that was wanting in her husband, +and to perfect holiness in the fear of God.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward did not pretend to understand his wife's religion, but he +saw that it had the sanction of such men as Jeremy Taylor and his +friends Mr. and Mrs. Evelyn, which satisfied all his scruples as to +its orthodoxy. And he rejoiced to see that it made his wife happy, +for he loved her with all the force of which his somewhat small and +narrow nature was capable. To Sir Edward, as to Lady Carew, religion +was an affair of state and policy. The sermons which suited him best +were discourses upon the divine right of kings, the duty of passive +obedience under all conceivable provocations, and the heinous nature of +dissent and republicanism. And he sometimes was tempted to entertain +serious doubts of the orthodoxy of the vicar of Holford because he +dispensed his charities to churchman and dissenter alike, and seldom +preached mere than once a quarter upon his favorite topics.</p> + +<p>Time-server and worldling as he undoubtedly was, Sir Edward was not +deficient in generosity. Though the dearest wish of his heart was +disappointed by the fact of his having no children, he never by word +or look reproached his wife. The only way in which his mortification +showed itself was in a great dislike to children in general, and a +special hatred towards those of his heir-at-law. Lady Peckham had once +ventured to propose that one or two of these young people should be +invited to the Hall for a visit, but the request was met with such an +angry refusal that it was never repeated.</p> + +<p>For the rest, Sir Edward was a good landlord and master, a tolerably +efficient justice of the peace, and a keen sportsman, and enjoyed the +pleasure of being greatly looked up to by the yeomanry and smaller +gentry in the neighborhood, towards whom he was at all times gracious +and condescending.</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham had frequently noticed Winifred in church and at the +village school, founded by Dame Peckham in days long gone by, and was +so attracted by her appearance that she asked the vicar whose child she +was.</p> + +<p>"She is a granddaughter of old Master Evans at the Stonehill farm," was +the reply. "Her father married in Devonshire somewhere about Plymouth, +and it is said quite above his own rank; and indeed Dame Evans is very +different from most of the farmers' wives hereabout."</p> + +<p>"Do you know what her name was before she was married?" asked Lady +Peckham. "I fancy this little girl reminds me of some one I have known."</p> + +<p>"It was a very grave name, being nothing less than Coffin!" replied the +vicar, who sometimes ventured upon a very mild little joke. "I have +heard that many of the family emigrated to the American plantations, at +the accession of his late gracious majesty. But you are ill, my lady!"</p> + +<p>"It is nothing," said Lady Peckham, rising; "I sat too long in the +close school-room. And so her mother's name was Coffin, and she came +from Devonshire!" she murmured. "Strange that I should not have seen at +once where the resemblance lay!"</p> + +<p>The vicar waited for an explanation, but none came, and he was obliged +to wait still longer till he could mention the matter to his sister.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright nodded, and screwed up her month mysteriously.</p> + +<p>"I understand it all!" said she. "Mrs. Winthrop, the mother of my +lady's first husband, was a Coffin. I have often seen her, and +certainly this young maid hath a look both of her and of Colonel +Winthrop. The poor young gentleman had just such deep gray eyes, always +looking as if they saw more than other folks could see, and just such +regular eyebrows. No wonder my poor dear lady was drawn to her. I must +have a gossip with Dame Evans, and find out whether there was really +any kinship between them."</p> + +<p>"Then you think my lady still remembers her first husband?" the vicar +ventured to ask.</p> + +<p>"Don't be a fool, John Alwright! Remember him! Of course she does! My +lady is as good a wife as ever breathed, but between ourselves, she +loves the very shadow of Colonel Winthrop better than she loves Sir +Edward's whole body. She would never have married again but for her +mother, my old lady, who, with all due reverence, was altogether too +fond of having her own way, and putting her finger in other people's +pies. Remember him, indeed!" repeated Alwright, indignantly. "Do you +suppose I have ever forgotten my poor John Foster, who was killed at +Long Marston, though we never were married at all? I should like to see +anybody try to make me marry against my will!"</p> + +<p>"Doubtless the person who should attempt such coercion would speedily +become aware of his error," replied her brother, dryly. "I meant no +offence, Hannah, and no disrespect to my lady, whom I honor from my +heart, but you know I have but little knowledge of women's matters."</p> + +<p>"Of course not! How should you?" said Mrs. Alwright in a mollified +tone. "Now let me look over your shirts and bands, and see that you +have something decent to wear. You ought to take a wife, John Alwright, +if only to sew on your buttons and keep your house in order."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright took an early opportunity to question Dame Evans +respecting her family, and discovered that she was nearly related to +Colonel Winthrop. Whether she ever communicated the fact to her lady no +one knew, but it is certain Lady Peckham continued to treat Winifred +with great kindness, and to take an active interest in her education, +even sometimes going so far as to instruct her herself in those +branches of knowledge which were considered suitable to a young woman. +Hence it was that at fifteen Winifred was better educated than many +young ladies of higher station.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_4">CHAPTER IV.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE CONFERENCE.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>IT was, as we have seen, nothing unusual for Winifred to be employed +by Mrs. Alwright in gathering flowers and herbs for the still-room, +so that Lady Peckham was not at all surprised at meeting her in the +shrubbery, or maze, as it was then called.</p> + +<p>"Well, Winifred, are you helping Mrs. Alwright, to-day?" asked Lady +Peckham, kindly. "She tells me you are making great progress with your +work, and she is intending to teach you to do carpet-work. But you are +not looking well, sweetheart?"</p> + +<p>"I am quite well, my lady, but—" Winifred glanced around, and, seeing +no one near, drew close to Lady Peckham, and said in a low voice: "I +have a message and a token for you, my lady."</p> + +<p>"And if you have, why did you not give them to me before?" asked Lady +Peckham, in some displeasure. "Or why did not you send them to me by +the hands of Mrs. Alwright?"</p> + +<p>"Because I was to put them into your own hands, and when no one was +by," answered Winifred, modestly but firmly. "It is a matter of life +and death, my lady!"</p> + +<p>"Winifred, what do you mean?" asked Lady Peckham, surprised and +somewhat startled. "You know, little one, I am not to be trifled with."</p> + +<p>For all reply Winifred drew the watch and the packet from her bosom, +and placed them in Lady Peckham's hands.</p> + +<p>The lady looked at the watch, and turned so pale that Winifred, +alarmed, expected her to sink to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Who gave you this?" she asked, in a hoarse whisper.</p> + +<p>"If you please, my lady, it is a long story, and some one might be +within hearing, or listening behind the hedge," replied Winifred, in a +low tone.</p> + +<p>"You are right!" said Lady Peckham, recovering herself with a great +effort. "Come with me."</p> + +<p>Winifred followed her benefactress through the garden and along the +terrace till they came to a little door in the bottom of one of the +many turrets which adorned the front of the Hall. Lady Peckham opened +the door with a key which she drew from her pocket, and led the way up +a winding stone stair lighted with narrow windows, and into a little +chamber where Winifred had never been before. It was very bare of +furniture, having only a table, chair, and footstool, with a small +Persian rug on the floor before the table, upon which lay a large Bible +and one or two other volumes. A couple of shelves well filled with +books hung against the wall, which was decorated with two or three +pictures, one of which Winifred recognized at once as a portrait of the +wounded cavalier who lay concealed at Dame Sprat's cottage.</p> + +<p>"Wait for me here!" said Lady Peckham, and went out, shutting the door +after her.</p> + +<p>Winifred waited for what seemed to her a very long time. She looked +at the figures on the tapestry which covered the walls and which was +adorned with the story of the Deluge, executed in colored wools and +silks, and wondered who had the patience to do all that work. She read +the titles of all the volumes, and thought Lady Peckham must be a happy +woman to possess so many books, and have so much time to read them. She +looked at the great Bible bound in red velvet, and wondered whether +there were any pictures in it.</p> + +<p>"I suppose this is my lady's closet, where she comes to read and pray," +she thought. "It must be very nice to have such a pleasant room all to +oneself, with no sewing, or milking, or feeding chickens to interrupt +just as one gets to the interesting place. I should not like to be one +of the court ladies, who, Mrs. Alwright says, spend all their time in +dressing and dancing and painting their faces, but it must be wondrous +pleasant to have such a closet as this, and such a withdrawing-room +as my lady's, with Indian cabinets and great china jugs full of +rose-leaves and spices; and to have nothing to do but to work tapestry +and distill medicines and cordials. I would not put any earthworms or +woodlice in them, though. I would only use sweet herbs and gums, and +powder of corals and pearls, and such things as are in the receipt for +Lady Hewett's Cordial Balm, which I copied out for Mrs. Alwright."</p> + +<p>Winifred was in some danger of growing discontented, when the door of +the closet was again opened, and Lady Peckham entered. Winifred could +now see that the closet opened into a dressing-room or small parlor, +where Mrs. Alwright was now sitting, and where Winifred had often been +to show her needlework to her lady, and to read to her. Lady Peckham +closed the door and seemed about to seat herself in her great chair, +but as if suddenly changing her mind, she opened another little door +concealed by a hanging strip of tapestry, and beckoned Winifred out +upon a small stone balcony.</p> + +<p>"No one can listen here!" said she. "Tell me now what you have to say."</p> + +<p>Winifred related her story in as few words as possible. When she had +finished, Lady Peckham stood for some time in silence, looking abroad +to the horizon where was to be seen a strip of the blue waters of the +Bristol channel.</p> + +<p>"Winifred," said she, at last, "do you know what you have done?"</p> + +<p>"I hope I have done no wrong, my lady," replied Winifred. "I know there +is danger, and that King Monmouth's men are rebels, but, my lady, if he +had been twice a rebel, I could not have left the poor gentleman there +to die. You would not have done so yourself!" she concluded, rather +amazed at her own boldness. "I am sure you would not."</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham smiled through her tears, and sitting down on a stone +bench, she drew Winifred to her and kissed her again and again. "Oh, if +God had but seen fit to give me such a daughter as you, my child, what +a treasure would you be to me! Do you know, sweetheart, what you have +done? You have saved the life of my own dearest brother!"</p> + +<p>"That then was the reason why Dame Sprat knew him!" said Winifred. "She +called him Master Arthur at once, and when I told my grandfather, he +said he thought as much. And was that really Mr. Carew?"</p> + +<p>"It really was Arthur Carew!" replied Lady Peckham. "The same little +brother whom I have nursed and tended many a day (for he was much +younger than myself), and who was my greatest comfort when I was in +deep affliction. My own dear little Arthur, whom I loved as my own +child! He was suspected, though most unjustly, of taking part in the +last plot against King Charles, and fled to Holland, where he was +much befriended by the unhappy Duke of Monmouth. It must have been by +the duke's persuasion that he was induced to join in this last mad +undertaking. There would be no hope for him if he were taken. But he +must not remain in that miserable hovel, Winifred. You will help, will +you not, to bring him up to the Hall?"</p> + +<p>"I will do anything in the world for you, my lady!" replied Winifred. +"But—"</p> + +<p>"But what, child?"</p> + +<p>"I think he is safer where he is than he would be at the Hall, madam. +Dame Sprat lives on the edge of the waste, in a most lonesome place, +where no one passes by and no one ever goes but our own family. She is +so poor that no one will suspect her of having anything to spare for +others. If Mr. Carew is brought to the Hall, more than one person must +be in the secret. Sir Edward's friends will be coming and going; even +Colonel Kirke himself, perhaps, for Sir Edward is well-known to be a +warm friend to the king."</p> + +<p>"That is true!" said the lady. "And yet my heart aches to think of my +poor brother lying in that miserable hovel, which will hardly keep out +the weather."</p> + +<p>"Dame Sprat has lived there ten years!" Winifred ventured to observe. +"I have heard my grandfather say that she once lived in as good a house +as ours, with servants of her own, and everything comfortable about +her."</p> + +<p>"Your words go to my heart, Winifred!" said Lady Peckham. "It was my +father who turned Dame Sprat off his land, for the part her husband +took in the civil wars. What security can I have that the old woman +will not avenge her wrongs upon my unfortunate brother, now that he is +in her power?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, my lady, you need have no such fear!" replied Winifred, +eagerly. "You do not know Dame Sprat, or you would never think of such +a thing. I am certain she would not betray any one, least of all her +enemy."</p> + +<p>"And why least of all her enemy, little one?"</p> + +<p>"Because she is a godly Christian woman, madam, one who loves her +Bible and her Saviour and tries to be like Him. She never complains of +her lot, poor and hard as it is, for she says it would be foolish to +quarrel with a shelter which she may leave any minute for the Courts +of her Father's house in heaven. And while she is daily and hourly +expecting to go to meet her Saviour, I am sure she would never dare to +disobey His commands by rendering evil for evil. Besides I do not think +she bears a grudge against Mr. Arthur Carew for anything his father +may have done. She welcomed him as though he had been a prince of the +blood, and would gladly have given up to him her own bed, only he would +not take it. Indeed, my lady, if you knew Dame Sprat as I do, you would +never think of her betraying anybody!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, you have doubtless a great knowledge of the world and of men," +said the lady, smiling sadly. "When you have seen as much of both as I, +you may be more distrustful."</p> + +<p>"Then I hope I shall never see more," said Winifred. "I do not like to +distrust people, but I am sure of Dame Sprat!"</p> + +<p>"And you do really think my brother would be safe with her—safer than +he would be at the Hall?"</p> + +<p>"I do, my lady. And you know," she added, timidly, "it is our secret +as well as your ladyship's, and if the dame betrays us, we are utterly +ruined, without remedy."</p> + +<p>"True!" said Lady Peckham. "You are very young, my maid, to be burdened +with secrets which concern men's lives. Suppose you should be brought +before the chief-justice and questioned, could you have the firmness to +keep silence?"</p> + +<p>"I think so, madam."</p> + +<p>"You have a very good conceit of yourself, Winifred," said Lady +Peckham, not altogether pleased with the readiness of the answer. "Take +care that it does not betray you. Pride goeth before destruction."</p> + +<p>"If I may venture to say so much, I think you do not quite understand +me," said Winifred, modestly. "I was thinking the matter over as I came +home through the fields last night, and perplexing myself with the same +question, whether I should be able to keep the secret, when all at +once it seemed to come to me that I was taking thought for to-morrow, +and worrying myself about things which might never happen. And then I +remembered a great many such texts as these: 'My grace is sufficient +for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness,' 'I will never +leave thee, nor forsake thee,' and a great many more such verses of +Scripture. So then I thought God has always helped me when I have asked +Him heretofore, and why should I begin to doubt His love now, when I +need His aid more than ever? It is not because I have any strength of +my own, but because I hope He will give it me."</p> + +<p>"You are a strange child, Winifred! How do you come to have such grave +thoughts, when other girls of your age are thinking only of new gowns +and gingerbread?"</p> + +<p>"Please, my lady, I like new gowns and gingerbread too," replied +Winifred, smiling. "My father has promised to bring me a new gown all +the way from the Indies when he comes home again, and also a china pot +full of sweetmeats."</p> + +<p>"That is spoken like a child again!" said Lady Peckham, smiling in her +turn. "And now, Winifred, you shall stay and dine with Mrs. Alwright +while I consider what is best for us to do. We must let her into the +secret. I see no help for that, since we shall need her assistance, but +I am sure of her, and indeed it is only her due. But oh, my maid, be +careful. Remember how much may hang upon one careless word!"</p> + +<p>"I shall remember, my lady," said Winifred, quietly. While she could +not help thinking that there was not much danger of her being careless +so long as her own life and that of her friends depended upon her +prudence, as well as the life of Mr. Arthur Carew.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_5">CHAPTER V.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>JACK'S MISFORTUNE.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>MRS. ALWRIGHT rose up with a firm and somewhat dissatisfied +countenance, as her lady entered with Winifred. Fond as she was of the +child, she was not well pleased that Winifred should have so long a +conference with her lady from which she herself was excluded, and she +had already prepared in her own mind a lecture upon forwardness and +presumption of which she meant to give Winifred the benefit so soon +as they should be alone together. This lecture, however, was destined +never to be delivered.</p> + +<p>"Will you come with me, Alwright?" said Lady Peckham. "Winifred, you +may remain here and amuse yourself, if you will, with the pictures in +that great book on the table. Keep the door shut, and inform me if any +one wants me."</p> + +<p>The book was well worth looking at, being a Bible illustrated with +wood-cuts by Albert Durer, the father, as he might almost be called, +of wood-engraving. Winifred almost forgot her mighty secret, as she +studied the pictures of Joseph and his brethren, of David and Goliath, +of Samson and the Queen of Sheba, and above all those in the Gospels, +of the shepherds coming with their humble offerings, of the wise men +presenting their gifts, and of Mary and Martha in their house at +Bethany.</p> + +<p>Her natural good taste and feeling led her fully to appreciate the +beauty and sentiment of the pictures, while her ignorance prevented +her from seeing the various incongruities of scenery, costume, &c. +For aught she knew, Jerusalem might have been adorned with just such +steeples and gables, and Martha might have kept her dishes in just +such an open carved dresser as that in the picture. She had not nearly +finished the volume, when Mrs. Alwright appeared, her eyes red with +weeping.</p> + +<p>She took Winifred by the hand without speaking a word, and led her +through various galleries and up a turnpike stair to her own private +chamber, when, having bolted the door, she caught the child in her +arms, and covered her with kisses, mingled with tears, sobs, and words +of endearment. Winifred was amazed, for Mrs. Alwright had usually +thought it necessary that her pupil, like all young people, should be +kept down to her proper place, and made to understand that if she were +treated with any consideration, it arose solely from the kindness of +her elders and superiors, and not in the least from any merits of her +own. Winifred had never before received from her good old friend any +greater token of approbation than a pat on the head or a few carefully +measured words of praise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear lamb! My blessed child!" sobbed Mrs. Alwright. "To think +that you should have done such a thing! That you should have saved +Master Arthur, whom I have carried in my arms when he was a baby, and +taught him his letters with my own hands, my dear—and risking your +precious life abroad in the lonesome fields at midnight, and the dew +and all, enough to give you your death! You shall have two bottles +of the rose cordial to take home with you; and mind you take a glass +whenever you come in, to prevent catching cold.</p> + +<p>"But Master Arthur, living in that lonesome place, along with Dame +Sprat! She was always a good woman and kind to the poor, and I never +did justify my Lord Carew in turning her off his land, where she and +hers had lived for hundreds of years, even before my lord's ancestors +came from Normandy, which they did with the Conqueror, my dear! And +all because her husband was for the Protector, which, for the matter +of that, so were some other folks who shall be nameless, though they +turned round quickly enough when the sun shone on the other side of the +hedge. Dame Sprat shall have my duffel gown and my gray cloak to keep +her warm this winter, and I will knit her some woollen stockings with +my own hands.</p> + +<p>"But poor dear Master Arthur, how he could be so mad I can't think, +only he was always in mischief from a boy, when he used to steal my +saffron cakes, and was flogged at school for helping to bar out the +master. But to think of him wounded and lying out in the fields all +night! Dear, dear! It is enough to break one's heart!"</p> + +<p>All this and much more did Mrs. Alwright pour out with many sobs and +little regard to her stops or her grammar, till Winifred, terrified for +the consequences, reminded her that it would be highly dangerous for +any one to hear Master Arthur's name mentioned, or even to guess that +anything unusual was the matter.</p> + +<p>"I know it, my dear, I know it! And you shall see that no one shall +ever guess anything from me. I shall feel better now that I have had my +cry out! But poor dear Master Arthur, that was such a lovely baby, and +my poor dear lady loved him more like a son than a brother—"</p> + +<p>"I think I hear some one coming up-stairs!" said Winifred, fearing lest +the cry should commence again.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright started up and wiped her eyes vigorously.</p> + +<p>"Open the door, Winifred, while I wash my face," said she. "It will be +only Betty, coming to say that our dinner is ready. You are to stay and +dine with me, my dear, and then you shall help me to make the conserve +of hips, and I will send a pot of it to your good mother against winter +comes."</p> + +<p>But Betty had more to tell. The herd-boy had come up to say that +Winifred was needed at home, because her brother had fallen from a tree +and hurt himself very badly. Also Betty gave notice that Colonel Kirke +was come to dine and sup with Sir Edward, and Mrs. Alwright was wanted +to attend to the pastry and other additions to the dinner-which the +presence of such an important guest rendered necessary.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" said Mrs. Alwright. "How things do happen all together! I +hope that unlucky boy has broken no bones, but it would be just like +him. I often wonder why boys should be made at all, they are such +plagues. One can do something with girls in the way of needlework +and giving them dolls to play with, but men ought to be made already +grown up, and then they are plagues enough. You must go home at once, +Winifred, without waiting to finish your work, and mind you remember +what I have told you. Your mother will need you, for at such times even +little girls can be of use, if they are not idle and careless, as too +many are. Betty, why do you stand staring and listening there at the +door, instead of getting the fowls ready for the spit? Go about your +work directly, and let me find the chickens neatly dressed when I come +down-stairs. Come into the store-room with me, Winifred, and I will +give you a basket and medicine for the poor woman you spoke of."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright's store-room was a model of its kind. The stone floor +was as white as hands could make it, and the wood-work shone with much +rubbing. Every inch of wall was covered with cupboards, shelves, and +drawers, containing piles upon piles of fine linen, much of it of Mrs. +Alwright's own spinning, and jars, pots, and boxes innumerable filled +with all sorts of good things, while hams, sausages, bundles of sweet +herbs, and bunches of onions and garlic dangled from the ceiling. It +was evident to the most unpractised eye that all these good things +were presided over by a vigilant and capable guardian, for nothing +was out of place—everything was labelled, covered, and secured in the +most approved manner, and not a stray crumb was left lying anywhere to +tempt the mice. Mrs. Alwright took down a good-sized basket and began +filling it, taking the opportunity, which, indeed, she seldom lost, of +delivering a little moral lecture for Winifred's benefit.</p> + +<p>"You see now, Winifred, the advantage of having a place for everything, +and everything in its place. If I were obliged to hunt all over the +house for a basket, and then look half an hour for every individual +thing I wanted to put into it, it would take me half the day, but now +you see I have everything ready to my hand. These saffron cakes and +these clean napkins and handkerchiefs are for Master Arthur. He used +to be very fond of saffron cakes, poor dear young gentleman! This bit +of bacon and these sausages are for the dame, and also this bottle of +ginger cordial, which will be warming and comforting for her poor old +bones. Now, can you carry any more?"</p> + +<p>Winifred lifted the basket, and thought she could.</p> + +<p>"Well then, here is the rose cordial for yourself, and a cake of +gingerbread, but mind you must not let Jack have any of that to-day. +And here are two clean shirts for Master Arthur. They are Sir Edward's, +and are old and worn, but they will be better than none. So now go +along, my dear, and may God bless you! Come again as soon as you can. +And, Winifred!" she called after her. "Don't forget to tell your good +mother to send up the green geese as soon as she can get them ready. +She need not dress them. Betty and her niece can see to that."</p> + +<p>"Don't you mind Mrs. Alwright, Miss Winifred!" said good-natured Betty, +as Winifred presently passed out by the kitchen door. "Her bark is +worse than her bite, we all know that. I see she has been lecturing +you, but that is all for your good. Young folks must learn. She scolds +me too, but la! I don't mind. I know her ways, and take her the year +round, you will not find many better people than Mrs. Alwright, look +where you will."</p> + +<p>"And that is very true, Betty," said Winifred, not at all displeased to +see Betty go off on a wrong scent. "I am sure she is very good to me. +But I must hurry home as fast as I can."</p> + +<p>"Aye, and you have a heavy basket to carry—for some poor body, I +warrant me! That is another of her ways. She will rail at my poor +sister for having so many children, and not keeping them cleaner, but +she always ends by giving her something to make over for them, and +maybe a loaf of white bread for a treat. Then there was Madge Wilkin—"</p> + +<p>"I really must go, Betty!" said Winifred, cutting short the catalogue +of Mrs. Alwright's good deeds, to which at another time she would +gladly have listened. "Mother will need me, I am sure, and I want to +see poor Jack."</p> + +<p>"Aye, go along, there's a dear maid! It is some comfort to have you +about," said Betty, continuing her remarks for the benefit of her own +niece, a girl about Winifred's age, who was cleaning some pots near +by. "Not like some girls, who cannot even scour a saucepan without +blacking themselves from head to foot. Why can't you take pattern by +Miss Winifred, Cicily? You never saw 'her' in such a mess—no, not when +she was no bigger than my thumb!"</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Winifred was not destined to reach home without farther interruption. +She was walking very fast down the avenue, with her eyes bent on the +ground, when she was nearly run over by two gentlemen, who were coming +in the opposite direction with their guns and dogs, and followed by +a groom leading their horses. Winifred looked up with a start, and +recognized Sir Edward Peckham. She had never seen the other gentleman +in the richly laced uniform, but she guessed at once that the fierce, +sun-burnt face, bold, wicked-looking eyes, and long mustache belonged +to no other than the dreaded Colonel Kirke, who was feared and hated +almost as much as the chief-justice himself, for his cruelty and +rapacity. Her color rose and her heart beat fast at the sight of +the man whom she associated with so much misery and distress. She +courtesied, and would have passed on, but she was not to escape so +easily.</p> + +<p>"Holloa! What little Puritan have we here?" said the soldier, in a +loud, coarse voice, and seizing Winifred by the arm. "Not so fast, my +pretty maid!" he added, as Winifred would have escaped. "What, do you +think I make a breakfast of children every morning, as some folks say, +that you are so afraid of me?"</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="image006" style="max-width: 25.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/image006.jpg" alt="image006"></figure> +<p class="t4"> +<b>"Holloa! What little Puritan have we here?" said the</b><br> +<b>soldier in a loud coarse voice and seizing Winifred by the arm.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>"I am not afraid of you," said Winifred, standing still and looking her +captor in the face, while her large gray eyes flashed with indignation. +"My brother is sick, and my mother needs me at home. I pray you let me +pass on my way!"</p> + +<p>"Your brother is sick, eh? That means he has been out with Monmouth and +got hurt, I suppose! Where does this brother of yours live, mistress? I +must look after him!"</p> + +<p>"My brother is only twelve years old, and was hurt in falling from a +tree," replied Winifred, calmly. "He and I live with our grandfather, +at the gray house on the hill yonder."</p> + +<p>"What, you are old Master Evans' granddaughter!" said Sir Edward, +kindly. "You are so grown, I did not know you! This maid is a favorite +of Lady Peckham's, Colonel Kirke, and I can vouch for the loyalty of +her whole family. I pray you let her pass on her way, as she desires."</p> + +<p>"My lady knows how to choose her favorites, I should say!" returned +Colonel Kirke. "I protest I have not seen a prettier rustic damsel. +Well, give me a kiss for your ransom, my shepherdess, and here is a +gold piece for you all the way from Africa, to make up for the fright I +have given you."</p> + +<p>Trembling more with indignation than fear, Winifred submitted to the +kiss, and received the piece of gold, which she inwardly determined to +put into the poor-box the very first time she went to church.</p> + +<p>"It looks as though it had blood upon it," she thought, as she went on +her way; "and what an evil-looking man he is! I wonder how Sir Edward +can endure to have him in his house. But they say he is always for +keeping well with whatever party is uppermost. I am glad that Colonel +Kirke did not take notice of my basket. I don't know what I should have +said to account for some of the things in it. Poor Jack! I trust he is +not very much hurt. It is unlucky that he should take just this busy +time for his mishap. I fear I shall not be able to go to Dame Sprat's +at all to-day. They have food enough to last till to-morrow, that is +one comfort."</p> + +<p>When Winifred arrived at home, she found both pain and pleasure +awaiting her. The pain was the news that Jack was indeed very much +hurt, having broken his arm and bruised himself severely. He had +climbed the tree to the magpie's nest, secured a pair of the young +ones, and come half way down with his prize, when one of the dry limbs +gave way, and he came to the ground, killing the poor young birds in +his fall.</p> + +<p>The vicar, who possessed considerable knowledge of surgery, happened to +be riding by at the time, saw the tumble, and had been the first on the +spot. He carried the poor boy into the house, set his arm, and gave his +mother directions for his treatment, adding a special injunction to let +the patient have no food stronger than gruel or weak broth till he came +again.</p> + +<p>This injunction seemed to poor Jack a greater calamity even than his +broken arm. He was very fond of good things. He remembered the nice +jellies and cordials, the beaten-up eggs and roasted fowls, which had +been prepared for Winifred when she was slowly recovering from her +long fever, and he had comforted himself with the thought of all these +dainties for his prospective pain and confinement.</p> + +<p>The water-gruel law was a terrible blow, and poor Jack was in very +low spirits indeed. He had the additional discomfort of knowing that +his trouble was all his own fault, for he had been strictly forbidden +to climb the tree, and he had waited till his grandfather was away in +the barley field, and his mother busy in the dairy, before he made the +attempt. As his grandfather said, he was bold in the wrong place and +cowardly in the wrong place. He was not afraid to disobey, and he was +afraid to do a necessary errand.</p> + +<p>The good news which met Winifred was the arrival of a letter and a +parcel from her father, whose ship had come into Plymouth, instead of +into Bristol as usual, having been damaged by a gale not far from the +coast. The parcel contained, besides tokens for the rest of the family, +the promised new gown for Winifred, and better still, three new books! +One of these was the "Pilgrim's Progress," then lately published, with +wood-cuts, which, however rude they might appear beside the latest +edition of the Tract Society and the Sunday-School Union, were marvels +of art in the eyes of our young friend. The other books were "A Serious +Call to a Devout and Holy Life," by Mr. William Law, and the "Paradise +Lost" of John Milton.</p> + +<p>"These seem but grave books for a young maid like Winifred," wrote +her father; "but I have read the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' and believe +my serious daughter will care more for it than for any fairy tale. +The other books were given me by a very grave and religious gentleman +who went out to India on board our ship; so I doubt not Winifred will +be pleased with them. I have just now heard of the terrible things +which have been happening among you, and I am thankful that none of +our family have been engaged in them, but I doubt I shall hear heavy +tidings of some of our neighbors. I cannot leave the ship just at +present, but I shall come as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>Delighted as Winifred was with her new treasures, she had scant time +to examine them. She was wanted everywhere at once—by Jack's bedside, +to tell him tales and sing him to sleep; in the dairy, to churn, while +Priscy carried their lunch to the men in the barley field; then to feed +the fowls, and take especial care of a brood of late chickens; to count +up the ducks and drive home the young turkeys. She had hardly time to +eat her supper, and any visit to Dame Sprat was of course out of the +question; so she carefully locked up the basket lest it should tell +tales, and set about her multifarious tasks with her usual neatness and +dispatch.</p> + +<p>As Dame Magdalen said, the child was run off her feet! So that when +bed-time came, she was glad to go to bed without even asking to sit by +the fire and examine her precious new books.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_6">CHAPTER VI.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>A NARROW ESCAPE.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>IT was not till the next afternoon that Winifred found time to visit +Dame Sprat again, and then it was only by giving Jack full possession +of her new book, that she was able to leave him even for an hour. Jack +had usually rather a contempt for Winifred's society, classing her +with the rest of "women folks," who he considered were made only to +wait upon their fathers and brothers. But the poor boy was no braver +about bearing pain than he was about anything else, and he had a great +deal of pain to bear. Nobody could turn and smooth his hot pillow, or +cool his feverish hands and forehead, or put his bed to rights without +hurting him so well as Winnie, not even his mother. And above all, +Winifred had never once said or even looked "I told you so!" or, "Just +good enough for you!" Remarks which he had to bear often enough from +the maids Priscy and Jenny, with whom he was no favorite.</p> + +<p>But by the afternoon of the next day, Jack began to feel better. He +was greatly taken by the pictures of Giant Despair and Apollyon in the +"Pilgrim's Progress," and he agreed, if Winnie would leave him the +book, to allow her to go to Dame Sprat's, provided she did not stay too +long.</p> + +<p>Winifred was glad to get away upon any terms. She took on her arm the +basket Mrs. Alwright had sent, and set off across the fields, thinking, +as she went, of Christian setting out on his pilgrimage with his burden +on his back, of the little wicket-gate, and of Mr. Worldly Wiseman, +who, she fancied, might have looked a good deal like Sir Edward Peckham.</p> + +<p>When she reached the dame's cottage, she was surprised not to see the +good woman sitting by her window, as usual.</p> + +<p>"Something must have happened!" she thought, and quickening her steps +she entered without knocking.</p> + +<p>A curious scene met her eyes as she opened the door. The poor old dame +was in bed, apparently unable to rise. But everything in the hut was +in its usual order, a saucepan was simmering on the embers, and Mr. +Carew himself, in his shirt sleeves, was in the act of sweeping up the +hearth. He started as Winifred entered, but quickly recovered himself +when he recognized the visitor.</p> + +<p>"So it is you, my fearless little guide!" said he, laughing, and +blushing a little. "The dame is ill with rheumatism, and I could do no +less than take care of her. I fear I am but a rough sick-nurse, though +I think I may fairly call myself a tolerable cook. Eh, dame?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sir, I think you are very skilful in both ways," replied Dame +Sprat, "but I fear you are running a great risk."</p> + +<p>"Indeed you are, Mr. Carew!" said Winifred, earnestly. "You are all the +time in danger of being surprised. Think if it had been anybody but me, +who stole upon you so silently just now. You must needs be content to +lie concealed during the day, at least for the present. Colonel Kirke +is still in the neighborhood, though the soldiers are mostly gone. He +dined with Sir Edward at the Hall yesterday, and he is to be with him +for several days. Bethink you, sir, it is not only your own safety, but +that of all your friends, which depends upon your prudence!"</p> + +<p>"Even so, my wise little monitor! I know all that as well as you, but +I could not see my good, kind hostess suffering so long as I was able +to help. Now that she is in better hands, I will get me into my lair +again, so soon as you have told me the news from the Hall. Did you give +my sister the watch?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, the next morning. She has sent you a message, and Mrs. +Alwright some clothes and other things, which are in the basket. She +has also sent you some sausages and bacon, dame, and some ginger +cordial. And she bade me say she had a gown and cloak for you against +cold weather."</p> + +<p>"She is very good!" said Dame Sprat. "Mrs. Alwright was always kind to +the poor, and her mother before her. I knew the family well!"</p> + +<p>"And you say Kirke is at the Hall?" said Arthur Carew.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I understand he is to remain some time, for the sake of the +shooting. I saw him and Sir Edward with their guns and dogs, yesterday +morning."</p> + +<p>"Aye, my cautious brother-in-law will be friends with whichever party +is uppermost, whatever company he may keep in so doing!" muttered +Arthur. "I have seen the day when he would not have been very fond +of Kirke's society. No chance of any help from him! But what said my +sister?"</p> + +<p>"My lady and I talked the matter over," said Winifred, gravely, and +not observing the slight smile exchanged between the dame and Arthur +at the words. "She bade me say that she would gladly have you at the +Hall, but she judges you are safer here for the present than you could +be anywhere else. And, dame," continued Winifred, "my lady prays you to +forget all past cause of unkindness, of which there has been more than +enough, and for her mother's sake, who was always your good friend, to +be kind to Mr. Arthur."</p> + +<p>The old dame smiled rather proudly, and a little color mounted to her +withered cheek.</p> + +<p>"My lady has no reason to fear!" she replied. "I have no cause of +quarrel with her. I would serve her with all my heart, were it only +for the sake of that gracious and godly youth Colonel Winthrop, my +husband's friend. Neither have I aught against Master Arthur, seeing he +was but a babe in arms at the time of my misfortunes. But were my Lord +Carew himself to seek shelter with me from his enemies, he should be +welcome to all this poor hut affords, for the sake not of old times or +ties, but of Him who purchased forgiveness for me with His own blood, +even our Lord Jesus Christ."</p> + +<p>Arthur Carew reverently bowed his head. "You are indeed a true +Christian, my good old friend," said he. "If ever I come to my own, +this matter shall be righted for you, even if it costs me the half of +my inheritance."</p> + +<p>"Ah! My dear young gentleman," cried the dame, kindly, "I trust and +pray that you may indeed be brought back to your father's house in +peace, but, my dears, long before that time, I shall have entered upon +a far greater inheritance, even that which is incorruptible, undefiled, +and which fadeth not away. But, Master Arthur, when you do come to your +own, as something tells me you will, remember me, and for my sake, +meddle not with the consciences of men. If they are wrong in their +belief, it is to God they must give account; and if right, persecution +will not alter them, while it will prove a millstone round your neck +and those of your descendants. The sins of the fathers are visited upon +the children!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, methinks I have reason to believe that!" said Arthur, with some +bitterness. "My father made six families homeless for conscience' sake, +and now his eldest son is a poor lunatic, and the younger a homeless, +outlawed wanderer; while his daughter—but I will say nothing of her. +She has never been a free agent. How does my sister, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>Winifred did not answer for the moment. She was looking out of the +window, from which she presently turned, with a face ashy pale, but +with her usual quiet manner.</p> + +<p>"I fear all is lost!" said she. "Sir Edward and Colonel Kirke are +coming across the waste with their dogs and guns. I can see the +colonel's mustache. What shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"I must go!" said Arthur Carew, hastily looking for his doublet, which +he had thrown aside during the process of his cookery. "I will not +be found here to bring ruin upon you all. Farewell, dame! Farewell, +Winifred, and may God bless you!"</p> + +<p>"Stay!" said Dame Sprat, raising herself and speaking in a tone of +authority. "You go to certain death! Winifred, how near are they?"</p> + +<p>"They are by the great black thorn tree," said Winifred, peeping out. +"They seem to be looking at something in the water."</p> + +<p>"Aye, the snare with which I took the great pike which is now stewing +in the saucepan," said Arthur. "I doubt the fish will prove a dear +bargain."</p> + +<p>"There is yet time, and the delay is all in our favor!" said the old +woman. "Get you at once into the shed, Master Arthur. Climb over the +fagots, and lie down behind them, close to the wall, pulling them over +you. Take with you the clothes and the wine my lady sent, lest they +tell tales. Now, Winifred, close the door. Leave the basket where +it is, and the sausages also. Trust me to account for them if any +questions are asked. Now that you have made all tidy, take the book, +and sit down as if reading to me. It may be that they will pass on +without calling, but should they come, we are ready for them. Now, my +child, let us look to the Strong for strength."</p> + +<p>The dame's prayer was in few words, but it brought back the courage to +Winifred's heart and the color to her cheeks. She took the Bible and +sat down by the bedside, from which she could watch the approach of the +sportsmen. They hesitated for a moment, and then turned toward the door +of the hut, which they entered without knocking. Dame Sprat slightly +raised herself in bed.</p> + +<p>"You are welcome to my poor house, with your friend, Sir Edward +Peckham!" she said, with, as Winifred thought, the air of a queen. "Can +I do aught to serve you? Winifred, set the chair and stool for the +gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"Do not disturb yourself, my good dame," said Sir Edward, kindly; for, +though a pompous man in general, he was always gracious and polite, +especially to his inferiors in rank. "A drink of fair water is all we +require."</p> + +<p>"The water is none of the best, but such as it is you are heartily +welcome," replied Dame Sprat. "Winifred, bring a jug of fresh water, +and mix with it some of the ginger cordial you brought me, to take off +the earthy taste."</p> + +<p>"What! My little Puritan again, I protest!" exclaimed Colonel Kirke. +"What brings you here, my fairy?"</p> + +<p>"I came to see and wait upon Dame Sprat," replied Winifred.</p> + +<p>"And you seem to have performed your office well!" said the colonel. +"Your cooking smells very savory," he continued, lifting the cover of +the saucepan without ceremony. "Pray, did your mother send this fine +fish with all the rest?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied the dame. "That was given me by a stranger who had been +fishing in the stream not far-away. I have more than once received such +treats from the sportsmen and fowlers, who now and then call, as you +have done, for a drink of water or some directions concerning the way. +The fish is at your service, gentlemen, if you please to eat."</p> + +<p>"No, no, dame, I will not rob you of your supper, but you are lucky +in having such a neat handmaiden—a 'neat-handed Phyllis,' as that +pestilent old roundhead, John Milton, says. I could find it in my heart +to take her away from you. What say you, my fairy, will you go with me +to London to see the king and dress in silks and satins?"</p> + +<p>"No!" replied Winifred, as she poured out the water. "I am but a simple +country maid, and I have no desire to be anything else."</p> + +<p>"The gentleman is but jesting with you, child!" said Sir Edward, not +very well pleased with the soldier's tone toward his wife's favorite, +since any person or thing in the remotest degree connected with himself +became sacred in his eyes. "Colonel Kirke, will it please you to drink?"</p> + +<p>"Well, here's a health to you and your attendant sprite, dame!" said +the colonel. "What makes the dog so uneasy?"</p> + +<p>One of Sir Edward's dogs had been snuffing about the hut ever since +they entered, smelling here and there, and whining eagerly. Winifred's +heart sank fathoms deep as she saw him scratching at the door of the +shed, and heard the soldier's question. She thought all was indeed +lost, but the old woman answered in her usual quiet tone:</p> + +<p>"Doubtless he smells the cat, which hath her kittens. May I ask you, +gentleman, as a favor, not to let the creature be disturbed? She is +almost my only companion, and even the love of a dumb beast is some +solace, as I sit here alone all day."</p> + +<p>"Truly, I should think so!" said Kirke. "Have no fear, dame! Your +cat shall not be troubled, though I think a dog would be the better +companion."</p> + +<p>The dame smiled. "A dog could not provide for himself as my poor +Tabby does, and in poverty such as mine, even the food of a dog is of +consequence."</p> + +<p>"Where have I seen you before, dame?" asked the soldier, abruptly. +"Your face, voice, and manner are all familiar to me, and yet I cannot +recall the time or place where I have known you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have been under my roof and eaten at my table in other +days," replied Dame Sprat. "When you were a young lad, staying with +your mother's brother in Devonshire, you and your young cousins used +often to come to my house to eat junkets and raspberries with clotted +cream. I well remember the fall from the great pear-tree, by which +you got that scar on your cheek, and your encounter with my husband's +long-horned bull."</p> + +<p>"Aye, when you came in with your broomstick, and drove the animal +away. Truly I had the worst of that encounter, and but for your timely +help, had hardly been here to tell the tale. But why did you not make +yourself known to me, dame, since you remembered me so well?"</p> + +<p>"I am but a poor woman now, living upon charity, and you are a great +gentleman!" said the dame, with a touch of the gentle pride she +sometimes showed. "Things are greatly changed since I was at the head +of my own house and you were a young boy, not much above my own rank."</p> + +<p>The fierce soldier of fortune sighed. "Yes, dame, they are indeed, and +not for the better, perhaps, with either of us. However, it is a world +of changes, and we must even take it as it comes. But tell me, dame, +have you seen any of the escaped rebels lurking here in the waste? It +seems a likely place enough to afford them shelter. Sir Edward, suppose +we bring out the blood-hound, and see what he can find for us? It would +afford us good sport—better than tramping through the moss after wild +ducks."</p> + +<p>"You are indeed changed from the innocent and kind-hearted lad +I once knew you, since you can talk so lightly of hunting your +fellow-creatures with hounds, like beasts of the chase!" said Dame +Sprat, sadly and severely. "Surely enough of blood hath already been +shed in this unhappy cause. Remember, Colonel Kirke, that though +man and the world change, there is One who changeth not—One who has +solemnly and sternly declared that 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man +shall his blood be shed!' And that 'With what measure ye mete, it shall +be measured to you again.' To Him you must one day render a strict +account, and neither rank nor riches, nor the favor of kings, will +weigh one atom with Him, to whom even kings themselves must answer for +the deeds done in the body!"</p> + +<p>"'When He maketh inquisition for blood, He remembereth the poor!'" said +Winifred, in a low voice, and speaking more to herself than to any one +else.</p> + +<p>"What, you too, my fairy? Nay, then I must indeed stand reproved! Sir +Edward, do you allow female preachers upon your lands? Methinks the +vicar should resent such an encroachment upon his office."</p> + +<p>"We allow old women to say what they please, so long as they do not +forget the respect due to their betters. Winifred, you are too forward +with your words! Your lady would be much displeased."</p> + +<p>"Oh she did but discharge her conscience or her mind, which comes to +much the same thing," said Kirke, laughing. "It would be hard indeed +to refuse women the use of their tongues, since they have no other +weapons. And so, my fair Saint Winifred, you will not come to London +with me, for all the fine things?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir!" replied Winifred. "London is no place for such as I am. Amy +Crofoot went to London, and I have heard she came to no good."</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a wise maid, and I will tease you no more. But tell me, +child, why are you so afraid of me? You trembled and changed color when +I spoke to you first in the park, as though you expected no less than +to be ordered to execution, and I think you are little better now. Why +should you fear me?"</p> + +<p>"Because I have heard such tales of you," replied Winifred, modestly +but firmly. "I mean no offence," she added, seeing his brow darken, +"but since you are pleased to ask me, I must needs speak the truth."</p> + +<p>"You should have known, Winifred, that even were he so inclined, +Colonel Kirke would never have dreamed of offering injury to any member +of 'my' family," said Sir Edward, with more than usual stateliness; +"and such I may well call you, since my lady is pleased to distinguish +you by her favor, though you do not at present dwell under my roof."</p> + +<p>Winifred made her lowest reverence, in acknowledgment of Sir Edward's +words. "I thank you humbly, Sir Edward," said she. "I do not fear +Colonel Kirke so much now, for I see he can be kind when it pleases +him."</p> + +<p>"Aye, and how do you know that, sweetheart?" said Kirke.</p> + +<p>"Because you would not let the dog hunt and worry Dame Sprat's cat, and +because you do not seem angry at her plain speaking," replied Winifred.</p> + +<p>The soldier's brow smoothed itself, and a smile stole over his face, +which seemed for the moment to make another man of him.</p> + +<p>"It is but a small matter to change your mind upon," said he. "I should +indeed be a brute to make such a return to an old friend for her +hospitality. But, Winifred, do you not know that these people of whom +you have heard were the king's enemies, and deserved to be punished?"</p> + +<p>"I know that the Duke of Monmouth was the king's enemy, and that the +people were wrong in following him," replied Winifred. "But I think, +with all submission, that the way for the king to turn them into his +friends would be to treat them kindly, and show mercy toward them."</p> + +<p>"You are but a child, and do not understand these matters," said +Colonel Kirke.</p> + +<p>"I know that, and therefore I would rather be excused from speaking of +them."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Kirke, it is full time we were going, if you mean to be at +home by midnight," said Sir Edward, impatiently. "Your supper will be +spoiled by waiting, and my lady will be uneasy at our delay."</p> + +<p>"I am at your service," said Colonel Kirke, rising. "Farewell, dame, +and thank you for your courtesy. I will leave you a brace of wild ducks +for your fair cookmaid to exercise her skill upon, and here is a broad +piece or two to repay your hospitality, and for the sake of old times. +Nay, I pray you refuse not my gift. It will be at least one item to my +credit in the account you spoke of."</p> + +<p>"I need no payment, and you are heartily welcome to all you have had," +replied Dame Sprat. "But I will not refuse your gift, which is pleasing +to me as a token of kindness for an old acquaintance, and will furnish +me with many needed comforts. I am often in want, and indeed should +starve but for the kindness of Dame Evans and her daughter. Sir Edward, +present my humble duty to your excellent lady. Farewell, gentlemen, +both—may God bless you!"</p> + +<p>"That is a stately old dame!" said Kirke, after they had left the +cottage, followed by the dogs, one of which, however, showed no +disposition to go. "With what an air she delivered her blessing, +as she bade us farewell! Methinks an archbishop could hardly have +done it better. She was well to pass in the world when I knew her in +Devonshire. How has she become so poor? Her husband was accounted a +rich man, and one that knew how to keep what he had."</p> + +<p>"He was a chaplain in Cromwell's army," replied Sir Edward, "and Lord +Carew, upon whose land they lived, turned the family adrift after the +old man's death. She would hardly have found a harbor upon my estate, +but this hut and the small bit of arable land on which it stands belong +to Master Evans, one of our substantial yeomen, and a loyal man both to +church and state. Indeed, one can hardly grudge the poor old creature +her miserable shelter, though I dare swear she is as rank a puritan +and republican at heart as ever her husband was. She is, as you see, +somewhat of a preacher herself, but otherwise harmless enough."</p> + +<p>"It would be hardly fair to complain of her preaching, since she gave +us of the best she had at the same time. It is amazing, however, the +constancy these roundheads show. I make no doubt this infirm old +creature would go to the stake with the same dignified composure with +which she welcomed us to her fireside, and sing psalms till the smoke +stopped her breath. I am glad I was able to afford her some help, for +she was kind to me when I had but few friends, and I believe saved my +life in that same battle with the long-horned bull. There, your dog is +uneasy again!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he cannot give up the old woman's cat! 'Tis a dog which once +belonged to my wife's young brother, who died abroad, and he hath never +been properly broken in. Come to heel, sirrah, or I shall find means to +teach you!"</p> + +<p>The dog obeyed, but unwillingly, and the two sportsmen hastened on +their way.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_7">CHAPTER VII.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>FURTHER CONSULTATIONS.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>WINNIE stood at the cottage door and watched the retreating figures of +the sportsmen as long as she could see them. It seemed to her that no +one was ever so long in walking a quarter of a mile, but at last they +reached the bend of the valley down which the little brook took its +course, and were out of view, Carlo pausing and taking another look at +the hut, as though his mind were not yet quite at rest about that cat. +When she could no longer see the least glimpse, Winifred returned to +the bedside, and, throwing herself down with her face hidden in the +bed-clothes, she burst into tears, and sobbed as if her heart would +break.</p> + +<p>"Why, my maid, what is the matter?" asked the old woman. "The danger is +over for this time, and Master Arthur is safe. They will not come back +again to-night."</p> + +<p>"I know it," sobbed Winifred. "I know I am silly, but I cannot help +crying. It was so dreadful! And the dog smelling at the door, and all! +I thought two or three times it was all over with us!"</p> + +<p>"And so did I!" replied Dame Sprat. "I heartily wished the cat at +Bristol, or further off, fond as I am of the poor creature."</p> + +<p>"Then you think it was really the cat, and not Master Arthur, the dog +was after?" said Winifred, composing herself by degrees.</p> + +<p>"I think so, but of course I cannot tell," replied the dame. "At all +events, the cat was there, and right glad am I that the gentlemen would +not allow her to be molested."</p> + +<p>"Does it not seem strange," said Winifred, "that a man like Colonel +Kirke, who laughed at the prayers of mothers for their children, and +made hideous jests upon the poor dying creatures in their agonies—he +who made a poor lad run a race with a colt to save his life, and hanged +him after all—should have been willing to spare the poor cat because +you asked him, and should have taken your plain speaking so kindly?"</p> + +<p>"He was in cool blood, and I suppose his heart might be softened by old +recollections. There are few men, however hardened in crime, but have +some good left about them, if one can only find it."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if there is any good left about Judge Jeffreys?" said +Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Possibly there may be, but I should expect it sooner in Kirke than in +him. Kirke is a soldier of fortune, bred up in the midst of war and +carnage, and has lived many years in Tangier among the heathen, where +he has probably not had one good or softening influence near him. The +consequence is that he is a savage, and almost a wild beast. But so +far as I know, he has not deliberately sold himself to the devil for +gold and gain, as it seems Jeffreys has done, and as did the Duke of +Lauderdale in Scotland, who, himself a Presbyterian, lent himself +to persecute the suffering people of that name. But I cannot but be +sorry for Kirke. It is sad to me to see one whom I remember well as a +pleasant, kind-hearted little lad, transformed into such a ruffian. We +live in evil times, my child, but I trust they will soon pass away. +Something tells me that better days are at hand for this poor country!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if the good Princess of Orange should come to be queen, but then +the king may live a long time, and perhaps have children."</p> + +<p>"Well, we will not speculate upon the matter, child. There is One who +is King over all, and who can bring good out of the darkest evil. I +think we are in no further danger of visitors this night, so you may +venture to call Master Arthur, and receive his messages for his sister."</p> + +<p>Winifred opened the door, and called, "Master Arthur, they are gone, +and the dame thinks you are safe. Will you please come out, and tell me +what I am to say to my lady?"</p> + +<p>"So they are gone at last!" said Arthur, creeping out of his hole, and +stretching his long limbs vigorously. "It is a fine time, truly, when I +am driven to hide, like a rat in a hole, from my own sister's husband."</p> + +<p>"You ought to be thankful that you had the hole to hide in, and that +you were safe even there!" said Winifred, rather severely, for she was +scandalized by the lightness of his tone. "I am sure I gave all up for +lost when the dog scratched at the door."</p> + +<p>"And so I am thankful, my wise little monitor, not only for the hole, +but still more to you and my good old friend here, for the steady +courage you showed under such a severe trial. I heard every word as +I lay close to the wall, and know how near my poor old Carlo was to +betraying me. The dumb beast has a longer memory for his friends than +many who call themselves his superiors. I am thankful, too, to Mistress +Puss and her family for taking my peril upon herself. I think I shall +always stand up for the whole race of cats from this day, and, by the +way, they shall have a share of the fish, which I fear is sadly spoiled +by waiting so long."</p> + +<p>Winifred sighed. This jesting tone seemed to her sadly out of place in +one who had just had such a narrow escape from captivity and death.</p> + +<p>Dame Sprat heard the sigh, and said kindly:</p> + +<p>"You must, remember, Winifred, that Master Arthur is a soldier, and +used to dangers and narrow escapes. We cannot expect him to look upon +such things as we do. I doubt not he does in his heart give earnest +thanks to his Heavenly Father for this deliverance."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do, dame!" said Arthur, more gravely. "I am, as you say, a +soldier, besides being an outlaw and an exile, and one becomes used to +danger as to other things, such as cold, hunger, and home-sickness. +Nevertheless, I do, as you well say, give earnest thanks to God for His +mercies, and not least for raising me up such kind friends at my utmost +need. And I trust, if He delivers me from this present peril, to serve +Him more faithfully than I have ever done before."</p> + +<p>"It is well spoken, and may He who giveth grace send you strength +according to your need!" said Dame Sprat. "But, Winifred, it is time +you were on your way home. Your good mother will be uneasy at your +delay."</p> + +<p>"If Mr. Carew will give me the message for my lady," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Oh, aye! Tell my good sister to run no risk upon my account, and to +make no move till Sir Edward has gone up to London. After that, if she +can in some way furnish me with a horse, a small quantity of ready +money, and a suit of clothes, I can easily find friends, who will +aid me to escape from some of the western ports. I would gladly see +Margaret if it could be managed, but I would not risk bringing her into +trouble or danger."</p> + +<p>"I do not think it is her own trouble or danger which my lady fears," +said Winifred; "and I am sure she has no lack of affection for you."</p> + +<p>"I know, I know!" interrupted Arthur. "My sister cannot do as she +would, and I like you the better for being so ready to defend her. But +you will come again before long, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"The day after to-morrow," said Winifred, smiling. "You have abundance +of provisions till that time, so you will not miss me."</p> + +<p>"It is not the provisions I am thinking of, but yourself, my saucy +little maid, as you well know," said Arthur, smiling in his turn. "Your +face is a medicine for home-sickness."</p> + +<p>"Now I will not have the child's head turned with your courtier's +compliments, Master Arthur," interposed Dame Sprat. "Thank your mother +for her gifts, Winifred, and also good Mrs. Alwright. Stay, my child, +one word more! If you go to the Hall again while he is there, I would +have you endeavor carefully to avoid Colonel Kirke. He is a bold, bad +man, and not one to do you any good; nor do I think him likely to pay +much respect to Sir Edward's family. Keep you close to my lady or Mrs. +Alwright, and do not by any means stray in the park or gardens by +yourself. You may not understand me, nor is it needful you should, but +I have reasons for what I say. Now once more good-night, and may the +Lord bless thee!"</p> + +<p>"That is a marvellous little maid!" said Arthur, after Winifred had +departed. "It is no wonder that my sister loves her."</p> + +<p>"She is indeed a wonderfully gracious child!" replied Dame Sprat. "She +comes of a good family, and hath been well-taught both by her mother +and by my lady, who keeps her much in her company. I cannot but think, +however, that she owes much of her peculiar goodness and purity to a +higher teacher than either. She is truly a child of grace and led by +the Spirit of God. He would be a wretch indeed who should sully so pure +a flower, yet I sometimes fear lest her great beauty should lead her +into danger. I would Colonel Kirke had never set his evil eyes upon her +face."</p> + +<p>"He would indeed be a wretch who could harm her," said Arthur; "but +Kirke has done even worse things, unless he is greatly belied. The +protection of the queen herself would be no shield to one on whom he +fixed his fancy."</p> + +<p>"I dare say not," returned the dame, dryly. "Royal protection hath not +been particularly favorable to virtue in these latter days."</p> + +<p>"Truly not! But you say Winifred is of good family? I thought she +belonged to some of the farmers hereabout."</p> + +<p>"Her father is a sailor, the younger son of old Master Evans of the +Stonehill farm, than whom no one is more respected in these parts. Her +mother belongs to an ancient but somewhat decayed Devonshire family, +of whom I dare say you know something—the Coffins of North Devon. She +is, not distantly, related to your sister's first husband, Colonel +Winthrop. I do not know whether my lady is aware of it, but indeed I +think she must be, for this child is wonderfully like him, both in face +and manner. He was a gracious youth, and one who, my husband used to +say, had more of the root of the matter in him than many of those who +made more words about it. I suppose you do not remember your brother +Winthrop, Master Arthur?"</p> + +<p>"Hardly, dame, since he died the very year that I was born," replied +Arthur. "But I have seen his portrait in my sister's cabinet, when I +was a child. It had always a great charm for me—partly, I suppose, +because I fancied some mystery attached to it. Do you know Winifred's +age?"</p> + +<p>"She is fifteen, though she looks so much younger that she might easily +pass for eleven. I trust, Master Arthur, I have no need to remind you—"</p> + +<p>"I understand you, dame," said Arthur, coloring high, as Dame Sprat +paused, with her eyes fixed upon his face. "I cannot blame you for the +thought, considering what are the manners of the time, but believe me, +you do me great wrong. I have done many things in my life-time which +had been better left undone, but I should be a fiend indeed if I were +capable of doing aught that should injure yon fair child. I am right +glad my sister has taken such a fancy to her for both their sakes, +since Winifred could not have a kinder or more judicious friend, and +I sometimes fear my poor Margaret hath but a dull life of it. But our +supper is ready, and a savory one it is, thanks to good old Alwright. +I am in a hurry to see if her sausages are as good as ever. Here, +Mistress Puss, come and have your share."</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Winifred found Jack in a very doleful mood.</p> + +<p>"What made you stay so long?" he murmured, "I think it is too bad in +you to leave me for that old woman!"</p> + +<p>"I have only been away three hours, Jack," replied Winifred. "The poor +old dame is down with rheumatism, and has no one to attend upon her, +while you have all the house to wait upon you."</p> + +<p>"It is all the fault of that old magpie. Grandfather ought to have had +the tree cut down!"</p> + +<p>"It was not the tree's fault, nor the poor magpie's either," remarked +Priscy, who had just come in. "I am sure the poor bird never asked you +to rob her nest. You should have minded the master and left the tree +alone, and then you might have been helping to gather the apples this +day, instead of lying here groaning and making ever so much trouble."</p> + +<p>"Well, never mind, Priscy!" said Winifred, gently. "Jack will be wiser +another time. See here, Jack, what fine apples I picked up as I came +through the orchard. I will ask mother to let me roast one for you, and +when I go up to the Hall to-morrow, I will ask Mrs. Alwright to send +you something nice. I am sure she will, for she said she was very sorry +for you. Come now, don't cry any more, and I will read you a story out +of my new book."</p> + +<p>Winnie's gentleness and kindness finally soothed poor Jack and got him +to sleep. And Winnie then delivered a small lecture to Priscilla.</p> + +<p>"You should not tease poor Jack, now that he is ill and helpless. It +only makes him fret, and I am sure it does him no good. You are not +always careful yourself any more than Jack. Do you remember how you +would go to Bridgewater fair, in the rain, despite all my mother and +grandfather could say? You would not have thought it very kind, when +you were sick with your cold and ague afterwards, if my mother had all +the time reproached you with the trouble you gave, though your illness +was far more inconvenient than Jack's, coming as it did in the midst of +sheep-shearing."</p> + +<p>"And that is true indeed, Mrs. Winifred!" said Priscilla, a little +conscience-stricken. "The dear mistress—she never gave me a word all +the time, and nursed me as I had been her own sister. But then, dear +me, I never expect to be as good as you and the mistress."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why not, Priscy. I don't see any reason why you should not +be as good as the best saint that ever lived!"</p> + +<p>"No, I dare say you don't, because you judge other folks by yourself. +But, Mrs. Winnie, my dear, I will not tease poor Jack any more. I will +go to the mistress this minute, and ask her if I may not make the poor +lad a nice custard against he wakes. I am sure a custard cannot hurt +him."</p> + +<p>Permission was given, and Jack and Priscilla were soon good friends +over the custard.</p> + +<p>When every one else had gone to bed, Winifred related to her mother the +adventure of the afternoon. Dame Magdalen shuddered at thought of the +peril.</p> + +<p>"It was indeed a wonderful escape, and you are a wonderful child," said +she. "I fear I could never have kept myself quiet as you did."</p> + +<p>"I do not think we any of us know what we can do till we try," said +Winifred. "When I look back over this week, and think of all that has +happened, it seems to me that I am hardly the same person I was last +Sunday—I feel so much older. I wonder what the reason is?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis the care, child! Care and trouble make young folks old, and you +have heretofore known little of either. My poor grandmother's hair +turned gray all in a single week while her mother was in prison, and +she was a young woman not thirty years old. Those were fearful times, +and who knows but we may have the same back again, since the king is +a papist, and by all account as hard-hearted and as much led by the +Jesuits as Queen Mary herself!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think all papists are hard-hearted, mother?" asked Winifred. "I +have heard Priscilla say that the Lady Stratford, with whom her mother +lived, was a kind, good lady."</p> + +<p>"No doubt there are good and bad among them, as among others. The +king has had provocation, too, that cannot be denied, both of late, +and in the old times of the Popish Plot. Nevertheless, that does +not excuse what has been done in his name in this and other places. +Well, Winifred, you have become entangled in this matter by no fault +of yours, and I do not see but you must carry it through. It seems +hard, or at least strange, that you should have been allowed to fall +into such trouble and danger, only for doing your duty and aiding the +distressed."</p> + +<p>"I think it often happens so," said Winifred. "The apostles were all +put to death for teaching people the way of salvation, and you know, +mother," she added, with reverence, "our Lord Himself laid down His +life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."</p> + +<p>"True, my daughter! That is the real spirit of Christ. I trust, +however, that you may not be called to any such sacrifice. Now, to +bed and to sleep, my child, and do not dream of the dangers you have +passed."</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_8">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE DISGUISE.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>THE next day Winifred went up to the Hall, as usual, promising Jack to +bring him something good, and not to remain away longer than she could +help. As she entered the court-yard, she saw several horses standing +before the door, and it was with no little satisfaction that she +learned from one of the servants the news that Sir Edward was going up +to London that very day, along with Colonel Kirke, who had been sent +for by the king.</p> + +<p>She was conscious of a great lightening of her heart as she skipped +along the passages to Mrs. Alwright's room, and then watched from the +window the two gentlemen mount their horses and ride away, followed by +their servants and baggage-horses.</p> + +<p>Presently Mrs. Alwright entered, considerably heated and flurried.</p> + +<p>"You dear child, are you here already?" she exclaimed, kissing Winifred +on both cheeks, and then dropping into her chair. "Dear heart, I am +run off my feet! I don't think I have sat down to-day, and I was up +all night, getting things ready for Sir Edward's journey; and glad I +am that they are gone! Only to think that Sir Edward and that colonel +should actually have been in Dame Sprat's cottage while you were there, +and they never suspected anything either. I promise you my lady turned +as white as a sheet when they spoke of it at supper. I could see her +face in the great Venice glass as I stood behind her chair. My heart +went thump, thump—it seemed as if every one in the room might have +heard it. I was afraid my dear lady would betray herself by fainting or +some such thing, but I need not have been alarmed.</p> + +<p>"She just drank a glass of water, and then said, as quietly as +possible, 'The dame must be growing very old and infirm. By your +permission, Sir Edward, I would gladly make her more comfortable by +sending her a load of fuel and other provisions before winter. I knew +her well when I was a young girl at home.'</p> + +<p>"Then Sir Edward hesitated and said something about her husband's +having been a sturdy rebel, and herself a Puritan. Upon which Colonel +Kirke spoke up and said, with his great, coarse laugh, that a good +many folks were rebels in Cromwell's time who were king's men now. +Which touched Sir Edward, as I suppose he meant it should, my dear. +Then he went on to say that he would take it kind of my lady if she +would befriend Dame Sprat, seeing the good woman had been kind to him +in former days. So then Sir Edward could do no less after that than to +tell my lady to do what she pleased. And when my lady said she would +ride over some day to the cottage, and see what the old woman most +needed, he said that would be a good plan, if the ride were not too +long or too rough for her; which I believe it was for nothing else but +to please Colonel Kirke, my dear. No, I won't say that either, for Sir +Edward is a kind man to the poor—I will say that for him!"</p> + +<p>"I think he is," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"But now tell me all about it, for I am dying to know," said Mrs. +Alwright, "and I will sit here and rest a bit."</p> + +<p>Winifred related the story, interrupted by many exclamations of wonder, +pity, and admiration from Mrs. Alwright.</p> + +<p>"Dear, dear! Well, I do declare! I never heard the like! It is like +a story out of a play or a romance—not that you should ever touch +plays and romances, my dear, for they are all a pack of wickedness and +abominations—at least all that are written now-a-days. Well, I am truly +thankful that it has all turned out so well, and that Colonel Kirke +is going away. The king's messenger came last night just as they were +rising from supper, and Colonel Kirke was not very well pleased, I +could see that plainly. I fancy he has some game afoot that he did not +care to leave, but what, I do not know nor want to know. He is a bad, +impudent man, if he were twice the king's officer, and his servants are +as bad as their master, enough to turn any decent house upside down.</p> + +<p>"Well, so Sir Edward said he would ride with him for company, since +he must go next week at any rate. And we have been all in a bustle, +my lady and I, getting him ready and making biscuits and gingerbread +for the road. Fortunately his clothes are all in order; whereby, my +dear, you may see the great importance of never letting things fall +behindhand, as I am often telling you, and your mother the same, no +doubt. And here I am, keeping you all this time!" cried Alwright, as if +she had just thought of it. "And my lady said you were to come to her +directly you came in! So run up-stairs, as quickly as you can! You will +find my lady in her closet, where you went before."</p> + +<p>Winifred stopped only to lay aside her cloak and smooth her hair, and +to prefer her humble request to Mrs. Alwright for something good for +poor Jack.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! Yes, to be sure, poor lad! He shall have some of the nice +biscuits I made last night, and a pot of my gooseberry jam. You may +tell your mother I do not think a little more generous diet would do +him any harm after this. Go along to my lady, sweetheart, and I will +have your work ready against you come back. I am going to teach you the +lace stitch this morning."</p> + +<p>Winifred found Lady Peckham in her closet, as Alwright had said. The +great red velvet Bible lay open before her, and her eyes looked as +if she had been weeping. Winifred paused at the door and made her +courtesy, but my lady beckoned her to come nearer, and kissed her +forehead.</p> + +<p>"So you came near having a surprise yesterday, sweetheart! Where was my +brother all the time?"</p> + +<p>"In the shed, my lady, under the stack. The dog smelt him and scratched +at the door, but the dame said it was the cat he was after, and begged +the gentlemen not to let her be hurt, so they thought nothing of it. +But indeed, my lady, I was horribly frightened, though I tried not to +show it, lest they should suspect something. I could not help crying +after they were gone and the danger was past."</p> + +<p>"I do not wonder!" said Lady Peckham, shuddering. "It was a severe +trial, and the thought of it makes me tremble even now. How shall I +ever repay you, Winifred, for all you have done for me and mine?"</p> + +<p>"I need no repayment, my lady," replied Winifred. "I have done no more +than my duty, and you have ever been a most kind friend to me, both in +noticing me yourself, and in allowing Mrs. Alwright to teach me so many +things."</p> + +<p>"You are an apt scholar, and you have had a higher Teacher than either +myself or Alwright," said Lady Peckham. "You might well say that He +would give you strength at your need. Without it you could never have +come safely through such an ordeal as that of yesterday; And now tell +me about my brother. How does he?"</p> + +<p>"Well, my lady, and in good spirits, but I think he is very +venturesome. The dame was ill with rheumatism yesterday, and nothing +would do but Master Arthur must go out and catch a fish for her, +and then cook it himself, and tidy up the cottage. He was sweeping +when I went in, and if I had not been there to give him warning, Sir +Edward and Colonel Kirke would have come right in upon him. I tried to +persuade him not to do the like again, but he treated the whole affair +more like a jest than anything else."</p> + +<p>"I dare say. That was always his way, but he feels deeply, for all +that. Did he send me no message?"</p> + +<p>Winifred repeated it faithfully.</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham wiped the tears from her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Poor heart, I see he thinks I do not care for him! He little knows the +weight which has rested upon my heart all these years that he has been +in exile, and yet I think he might trust my love. But now, Winifred, I +wish to consult you upon another matter. Sir Edward has given me leave +to ride over and see Dame Sprat, and I wish to go while my brother is +there. It does not seem to me that I can bear to let him go abroad +again without once seeing him, but I do not see how to bring it about. +I do not know the way, and it would never do to take one of our men. +Can you think of anything?"</p> + +<p>Winifred considered with a passing thought how strange it was that such +a simple child as she should be called to assist and advise such great +people as Lady Peckham and Mr. Carew!</p> + +<p>"You do not always take a man with you when you ride about to visit the +poor folks, my lady. You might come to our house as if to see Jack, and +I could guide you through our lane and across the heath to the dame's +cottage. I as often go that way as the other. It is a somewhat rough +ride, but your pony is sure-footed, and I dare say you will not mind +for once, in a way."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed! I think the plan a good one, and can see no objection +to it. Now, as to the disguise for my brother. I think we must call +Alwright to our council for that matter."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright was called and consulted. "Why, my lady, as to that, the +disguise is all ready made to our hand, as a body may say. There are +the clothes of the chaplain who died last year at the Hall. He had +neither kith nor kin that I could hear of, poor man, so I put all his +things away in lavender and camphor, thinking that they would do a +turn for some poor scholar,—which shows the great advantage of saving +things, since one always does find a use for them, sooner or later," +added Alwright, improving the occasion for Winifred's benefit, as usual.</p> + +<p>"True!" said Lady Peckham. "Poor Mr. Mills must have been about +Arthur's size, I should say."</p> + +<p>"Just about the same, my lady, and there are his doublet and cassock, +his wig, spectacles, and all, even to a thick horseman's cloak which +he wore when he came here, and the saddle-bags which held his worldly +goods, and room to spare too, poor soul!"</p> + +<p>"Nothing could be more to our purpose," said Lady Peckham. "Arthur +could always support any character which it pleased him to assume, and +no one will take him for anything but a clergyman on his travels. But +how shall we get the clothes conveyed to him when all is done?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing could be easier, my lady," replied Alwright, evidently pleased +with her own cleverness as a conspirator. "I can do them up in a small +bundle, and you can take it on your horse as if it were something for +the dame herself. You have often done the like for poor folks, so no +one will think it strange."</p> + +<p>"Very good!" said Lady Peckham. "There is one difficulty removed, but +I see another and a greater one in the way of Arthur's escape. Money +I have in plenty, but how and where to find a horse? Sir Edward has +taken with him all the beasts except the old coach-horses and my pony, +and besides Arthur could not possibly take a horse from here without +exciting suspicion. What say you, Winifred? Can you propose anything?"</p> + +<p>"I think, if you please, my lady, we had better consult my grandfather +about that matter. He breeds a great many horses and knows all about +them. I think he will find a way to help us out."</p> + +<p>"Well, be it so," said Lady Peckham. "To-morrow is Sunday, and we will +all go to church as usual, and try to gather strength for the work to +come. On Monday, Winifred, I will come to your house, and you shall be +my guide across the heath to the dame's cottage. Meantime consult your +good grandfather about the horse, that all may be arranged as speedily +as may be. I shall not know an easy moment till my brother is beyond +seas and in safety."</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_9">CHAPTER IX.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>SUNDAY.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>WINIFRED'S first thought on waking was, "Oh, how glad I am that this is +Sunday, and I 'cannot' do anything except go to church and wait upon +Jack!"</p> + +<p>Never had the day of rest, always pleasant to her, been more welcome +than after this week of excitement and fatigue. She slipped out of bed +without waking her mother, and went to the window. How wonderfully calm +and quiet everything seemed! The plow-horses, turned out in the field +near the house, seemed to know that no work would be required of them +this day, and stood with their heads together looking over the gate. +The cows were collected in their lane, waiting to be milked and turned +out. The cider-press, which had been groaning and creaking for several +days, was quiet under its little roof of thatch; the very poultry +seemed to make less noise than usual, and a pretty robin was singing +his autumn song on the top of the porch.</p> + +<p>Winifred drew a long breath, and again repeated to herself, "Oh, how +glad I am that this is Sunday!"</p> + +<p>After breakfast and the finishing up of the morning's work, arose the +question who was to go to church, and who was to stay at home with +Jack. Priscilla volunteered to stay, and was not at all pleased when +Jack declared, peevishly, that he didn't want her—he wanted Winnie.</p> + +<p>"Priscy will just keep scolding at me all the time, and she can't read +either. She has to spell all the words. I want Winnie to read to me in +the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' and about David, and Goliath, and Samson."</p> + +<p>"Master Jack is very fond of hearing about all sorts of brave doings," +said Priscilla. "He takes his bravery out in that way, I think. As +for Miss Winnie's new book, 'tis no fit book to read on Sunday, in my +opinion. 'Tis more like a fairy tale."</p> + +<p>"O no, Priscy! It is just as good a Sunday book as 'The Whole Duty of +Man,'" said Winifred. "I will explain it all to you, some day."</p> + +<p>Priscy was still privately of opinion that a book which was so +interesting could not possibly be fit for Sunday, but she did not like +to contradict Winifred, whom she looked upon as a kind of saint. So she +contented herself with declaring that there were no such books when +she was young—which was undoubtedly true—and that my Lady Colville +(with whom she had once lived, and who was her great authority upon +all occasions) had severely reproved my Lady Alice and had kept her +upon bread and water for two days because she found her reading in the +"Arcadia" on Sunday evening.</p> + +<p>"The 'Arcadia' is a story-book, I know," said Winifred. "I read out of +it to Mrs. Alwright, and it is all about shepherds, and shepherdesses, +and knights. That is not at all like the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' Priscy."</p> + +<p>Priscy could not see the difference, but said she supposed Mrs. +Winifred knew best.</p> + +<p>"Of course she does," said Jack; "and you will stay with me, won't you, +Winnie?"</p> + +<p>Winifred had particularly wished to go to church. She always enjoyed +the services very much, and she felt as though she specially needed +their soothing and strengthening influence, after the worry and +excitement of the week past, but she saw that Jack had set his heart +upon her reading to him, and she knew that if he and Priscy were left +together, they would do nothing but quarrel all the morning.</p> + +<p>"Well, never mind, Jack, I will stay with you this morning, and go to +church in the afternoon," said she. "It is very dull to lie in bed and +do nothing. I found that out when I had the fever."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and very much Master Jack put himself out for you then, did he +not?" said Priscilla. "He would not so much as go down to the spring +in the evening when you wanted some cool water, because he was afraid +of the bogle. Suppose Miss Winifred should say she was afraid to stay +alone in the house with you for fear of robbers, what then, Master +Jack?"</p> + +<p>Jack, having no better answer at hand, began to cry.</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush, Priscy!" said Winifred, gravely. "I am sure that is not +proper talk for Sunday. Did not you promise me that you would not tease +Jack any more, while he was sick?"</p> + +<p>"Well, he is enough to aggravate anybody. But I won't say any more, +only next time I hope he will remember and do as he would be done by, +that's all!" And Priscilla flounced out of the room, and went to "clean +herself," as she said, for church.</p> + +<p>"Don't say any more, Jack!" said Winifred. "You will make your head +ache. You need not think so much of what Priscy says. You know she +would do anything in the world for you."</p> + +<p>"What do I care about her doing for me, when she plagues me all the +time!" sobbed Jack. "She is always saying the hatefulest things she can +think of, and then when I am mad, she begins to tell what she has done +for me. I would rather people would never do anything for me, than that +they should be always twitting me with it afterwards!"</p> + +<p>"I have felt a good deal so myself," said Winifred. "It is very hard to +be grateful for favors when they are thrown in one's face. Somehow one +feels as if one had paid for them all that they were worth. But don't +let us think anything more about it, lest we should spoil our Sunday. +How far have you got in the book?"</p> + +<p>"Just to where he came to the lions. But, Winnie," said Jack, with some +little trepidation in his voice, "you are not afraid to stay all alone +with me while they go to church, are you? You don't really think there +is any danger?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not!" said Winifred. "What is there to fear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing—only—I wish Roger or grandfather would stay at home with +us!"</p> + +<p>"Roger has gone home to see his sick mother, and I am sure you would +not want grandfather to stay at home. Just think, how long it is since +he has been able to go to church before! What harm can possibly happen +to us?"</p> + +<p>Jack didn't know, only it was very disagreeable to be left alone with +nobody but a little girl to take care of him. "Suppose the robbers +should come, or suppose there should be a thunder-storm, or such an +apparition as Dame Rogers saw when she was all alone in the house!"</p> + +<p>"Or suppose one of the lions should come out of the book and bite you, +which is quite as likely," said Winifred, laughing. "You are always +talking about going to sea with my father, Jack. What sort of sailor +will you make if you are afraid of storms at home, with a good roof +over your head? Or what would you do if the ship was attacked by the +Barbary pirates, as the Princess of Orange was once? Dear Jack, do try +and not be so afraid of everything!"</p> + +<p>"I don't see how I can help it," said Jack; "and I am not afraid of +everything, either. If I had been, I should not have gone up the tree +after the magpie. But I don't like to be alone here, and I think +grandfather might stay at home."</p> + +<p>"I would not say anything about it; they will only laugh at you," said +Winifred. "I will read to you, and then they will be at home again +before you can think."</p> + +<p>The dread of being laughed at by his grandfather prevailed for the +time over Jack's other fears, and he saw the family set out for church +without making any more objections. But when they were gone, his terror +revived. He insisted on Winifred's fastening all the doors and windows, +and calling in the great house-dog to guard them; and she had no sooner +done so, and settled herself down to read, than he concluded, after +all, it would be safer to have Trusty in the yard, as he could give +them notice by barking if any danger approached. Then he interrupted +her once more to ask her if she did not hear a noise in the outer +kitchen.</p> + +<p>"I hear the kittens chasing one another and the cat mewing to them. I +suppose Priscy shut them in to look out for the mice. Now, Jack, do +listen!" And Winnie read on:</p> + +<p>"Now, before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, +which was about a furlong off the porter's lodge, and, looking very +narrowly before him as he went, he spied two lions in the way. 'Now,' +thought he—"</p> + +<p>"Winnie, do listen!" said Jack. "I am sure I hear some one on the +porch!"</p> + +<p>"I dare say it is only Trusty," said Winifred. "I will look out of the +window and see."</p> + +<p>"No, don't!" whispered Jack. "What if it should be a robber, and he +should see you? Don't stir, and then he will not know that there is +anybody in the house! There, do you hear that?"</p> + +<p>And Jack seized hold of Winifred's hand, and hid his face in the +bed-clothes, as a man's foot was distinctly heard upon the stones +outside.</p> + +<p>"Dear Jack, don't be so scared!" said Winifred. "I don't think there is +any danger. I dare say it is only some traveller wishing to inquire his +way, or perhaps one of the neighbors has been taken ill. Let me peep +out of the window and see."</p> + +<p>But Jack would not allow her to move. He had fully persuaded himself +that the stranger was captain of a band of robbers, and that his +grandfather would come home in time to find him and his sister robbed +and murdered, or perhaps carried off and sold as slaves.</p> + +<p>"It is some one whom Trusty knows," said Winifred, after listening a +little. "Just hear how the old dog whines and barks, exactly as he does +when father comes home. O Jack! Suppose it should be father himself! It +might be, you know. He might have set out from Plymouth the day before +yesterday, and been delayed on the road. Do, Jack, let me look out and +see!"</p> + +<p>No, Jack would not let her stir. He knew that it was not his father, +though it might very likely be his father's ghost, come to tell them +that he had been murdered on the way home. More likely, however, it +was a gypsy, who it was well blown knew how to tame any dog, however +fierce. He grew so agitated that Winifred was afraid he might injure +his broken arm in his struggles, and though she felt almost certain +that the stranger was her father, she did not again try to move till +the family came home. It did seem a very long time to her as well as +to Jack before they were heard approaching. Then Winifred heard her +mother's voice in a tone of joyful surprise, and then another which she +knew right well.</p> + +<p>"It 'is' father, as I told you!" said she, as she hastened to unbar the +door. "What will he think of us for not letting him in?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Winifred, what has come over you all at once?" said her +grandfather. "Why did you not look out and see who was there? Here has +been your father sitting in the porch this hour and more, thinking, +to be sure, as all the doors and windows are fastened, there would be +nobody at home. That is but a poor welcome to give your father, child!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said the sailor, as he took Winifred in his arms. "We +don't expect little girls to be very brave, and the many frightful +things which have happened of late are enough to make cowards of older +and stronger people than Winifred. But, sweetheart, you used not to be +afraid of anything!"</p> + +<p>Winifred did not say it was Jack who had prevented her from opening the +door. She thought the truth would come out quite soon enough, and so it +did, not by any good will of Jack's, however. He was in no hurry to let +his father know that he was afraid, and laughed as heartily as anybody +at the idea of Winifred's barring the door to keep out her own father.</p> + +<p>"Of course you know 'I' could not get out of bed to open it!" said he. +"So there we were listening and wondering who it could possibly be. You +would not have stayed in the porch if I had been able to get about."</p> + +<p>Unluckily for poor Jack, this speech was overheard by Priscilla, who +had just come in behind the others. She pounced upon him directly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you had been about, no doubt it would have been just right. I +dare say it was you who held Miss Winifred fast, and would not let her +stir. And thought your father was all the thieves and robbers that ever +were in Bridgewater jail. Now wasn't it so, Miss Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Priscy," replied Winifred, making her a sign to stop. "My +father is in now, and what does it matter?"</p> + +<p>"It matters a great deal!" said her father. "Now, Winifred, tell me the +truth. Was it yourself or Jack who was afraid to open the door?"</p> + +<p>"It was Jack, father," said Winifred, in a low tone, and casting a +reproachful glance at Priscilla.</p> + +<p>"And you, Jack, threw the blame upon your sister! Oh, my lad, for +shame! It is bad enough to be a coward, but it is far worse to try to +shift the blame of your own cowardice upon another person's shoulders. +I see you have been young master at home too long. To sea you go, my +lad, as soon as ever your arm is well. The ship is to be laid up for +repairs, and by the time she is finished, you will be quite recovered."</p> + +<p>Jack did not know whether to be glad or sorry at this decision. He was +pleased with the thought of leaving home, where he often fancied that +every one was very unjust and unkind to him; and he liked the notion +of being a sailor, and seeing foreign countries. But, on the other +hand, he had a great dread of the dangers of the sea, and he stood +not a little in awe of his father. However, he comforted himself with +reflecting that a great many things might happen in the course of six +months, and he might never go after all. While, in the mean time, he +might have the pleasure of talking about his prospects to all the boys +in the village. So he finally concluded to make the best of matters, +especially as they could not be helped. It was observable that Jack's +recovery went on much more rapidly after his father's return. The next +day but one he was up and dressed, and going about with his arm in a +sling; and he even offered to carry Dame Sprat's milk to her, an offer +which was dryly refused by his mother, with the remark that she had no +milk to spare, to be thrown away the first time Jack saw his own shadow +on the ground.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_10">CHAPTER X.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE ESCAPE.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>WINIFRED had talked over with her grandfather on Saturday night the +question of procuring a horse for Arthur Carew. And Master Evans, after +some consideration, had decided that he could spare the black mare, +which was a steady, strong beast, and more suitable in appearance for +a clergyman than any of the colts. He told Winifred that it would be +best for Arthur, after putting on his disguise, to come himself for the +mare. There would be nothing remarkable in his doing so, as many people +came to the Stonehill farm to buy horses, and it would be a safer +course than letting any of the men either at the Hall or the farm have +a guess at the secret.</p> + +<p>"You are sure it will be quite safe for him, grandfather?" said +Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so. Nobody about here has seen Master Arthur Carew for +many years, and so far as I can hear, no one has mentioned his name in +connection with the Duke of Monmouth. Indeed, there was a rumor some +time ago that he had died in foreign parts."</p> + +<p>"He went by a different name, I know," said Winifred. "He called +himself Fullerton."</p> + +<p>"I am glad he had at least that much sense," said Master Evans. "It was +a most mad undertaking for all concerned."</p> + +<p>"Master Arthur only came along because of his affection for the duke," +replied Winifred, feeling somehow that she did not like to hear Arthur +blamed.</p> + +<p>"That may be some excuse, but it does not justify him. We have no right +to let our friends drag us into doing what we know to be foolish and +wrong. However, there is no help for it now. I think we have hit upon +the best way of managing the matter: Mr. Arthur can come as if from the +Hall, and if any one sees him, he will be taken for some poor scholar +whom my lady has been helping on his way. You had better tell my lady +all this yourself. I should say, the sooner the matter was managed the +better."</p> + +<p>As her grandfather advised, Winifred disclosed the plan to Lady +Peckham, who arrived on her pony the next day, followed by a +serving-man bearing a good-sized bundle, and dismounted to see Jack. +Jack was very sensible of the honor, and also of the cakes my lady +brought him, and listened with all due respect and submission to the +lecture she read him upon doing as he was bid and keeping the fifth +commandment.</p> + +<p>"And now, Winifred, if you are ready to guide me to the cottage, I +think we will dismiss Thomas," said her ladyship, rising. "I want him +to ride into Bridgewater and do some errands there. Mrs. Alwright will +give you your commissions, Thomas, and it is full time you were on your +way."</p> + +<p>Thomas was well enough pleased to be excused from attending his lady +to the cottage of Dame Sprat, whom, like many other people, he looked +upon as a kind of white witch, or at least as knowing more than any +Christian ought to know. He made his reverence, therefore, and departed +on his errand, and Lady Peckham prepared to mount her horse once more.</p> + +<p>"Whose voice is that?" she exclaimed, starting, as a man's voice was +heard without. "It is surely not your grandfather's!"</p> + +<p>Jack saw the start and the change of color, and treasured them up as +some sort of excuse for his own terrors of the day before—terrors +of which he was more and more ashamed the more he thought of them. +He little guessed what cause for alarm the poor lady had, since, of +course, no one had dared to let him into the secret.</p> + +<p>"It is only my father, madam," said Winifred. "He came home yesterday, +and understanding that your ladyship was to be here to-day, he desired +to pay his duty to you."</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham was a true lady, both by nature and education, as well +as by name, and though she was all the time impatient to be gone, she +listened graciously while Gilbert Evans, in few but sensible words, +expressed his gratitude for her kindness to his daughter. He ended by +requesting her ladyship's acceptance of a valuable and curious piece of +China vase which he had brought from the East. Lady Peckham was really +pleased with the present, which was of a kind highly valued at that +time, and she was also pleased with the feeling which had evidently +prompted it. So there was great satisfaction upon all sides, and it was +arranged that Gilbert should himself carry the vase to the Hall next +day.</p> + +<p>I will not attempt to describe the meeting between the brother and +sister, nor that between the lady and the old woman whom her father had +so deeply injured, and who had had such a rare opportunity of returning +good for evil. It is enough to say that the dame welcomed her guest +with true Christian politeness, and that Arthur greeted his sister with +the warmest affection—that Winifred kept watch at the door while the +interview lasted, and that it was settled that Arthur should come up to +the Hall early the next morning, that he might go from thence to Master +Evans' house.</p> + +<p>The brother and sister had so many things to say to each other, that +it was not till Dame Sprat herself warned the lady of the danger of +such a long visit that they could make up their minds to separate. On +farther consideration, it was decided that Arthur should not risk being +recognized by any of the servants at the Hall, but that he should come +at once to the farm and thence depart without farther leave-taking.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>The next morning Winifred was at work in the garden, gathering various +kinds of herbs and seeds. It was a task in which she took great +delight, finding much pleasure in observing the forms and markings of +the leaves, and the different ways in which the seeds were provided +for. She was so busy that she did not look up till she heard her +father's voice close beside her.</p> + +<p>"Where is your grandfather, daughter? Here is a gentleman who desires +to see him about buying a horse."</p> + +<p>Winifred looked up with a start. She could hardly believe her eyes. +Could this middle-aged clergyman in spectacles, with his full periwig, +flapped hat, and somewhat worn black suit—could this be Arthur Carew?</p> + +<p>"Is this your daughter, my friend?" said the stranger, in formal, +measured tones. "Truly, a fine child, and one my Lady Peckham tells me, +of great promise. I think I have seen you with my lady at the Hall, +have I not, my little maid?" he asked, while the least bit of a roguish +twinkle showed itself in his eyes. "But I dare say you do not remember +me."</p> + +<p>Winifred could only courtesy and say that she remembered the gentleman +very well.</p> + +<p>"Will it please you to walk into the house, and wait for my father, +sir?" said Gilbert Evans. "He is in the house field, but I will soon +call him."</p> + +<p>"With your good leave I will repose here," replied the stranger, +seating himself on the bench under the great pear-tree. "This soft +autumn air is grateful to my senses, and I am somewhat weary with my +walk. And so you did know me, Winifred, after all?" he added, as soon +as Gilbert Evans was out of hearing.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I should have done so, if I had not known you were +coming," answered Winifred, surveying him from head to foot. "No, I +am sure I should not. The wig seems to alter the shape of your face +entirely."</p> + +<p>"So much the better! Now, Winifred, that we are alone, I wish to say a +few serious words to you. You have saved my life and the credit of my +family. Whether we shall ever meet again, God only knows, but I shall +never forget you, and you must always remember me. Will you promise to +do so?"</p> + +<p>Winifred tried to keep back her tears, as she said she should never +forget Mr. Arthur as long as she lived.</p> + +<p>"I am but a wanderer—a hunted exile, without home or country," resumed +Arthur, "and you are hardly more than a child even now. But if ever I +return, I shall come to find you. I must not even write to you, since +it would not be safe for either, but I shall think of you, and meantime +I want you to wear this."</p> + +<p>He took from his breast a beautiful little locket and chain, decorated +with a crest and figures in black and green enamel.</p> + +<p>"This locket contains my mother's and sister's hair, and in all my +wanderings I have never parted with it. Put it round your neck under +your kerchief—so. Now, have you nothing to give me in exchange—no +little silver penny or sixpence?"</p> + +<p>"I have only this," said Winifred, taking from her pocket the broad, +thin Moorish gold coin which Colonel Kirke had given her.</p> + +<p>"That will do, nicely. Now farewell, my own Winifred! Be as much as may +be with my sister, and learn all you can of her and of good Alwright. +Give them my last love. Pray for me, sweetheart! You and the good dame, +between you, taught me that the Christian religion is a reality. There, +I hear your good grandfather coming."</p> + +<p>Winifred stood feeling like one in a dream, while Roger led out the +black mare from the stable. The stranger looked her over, and seemed to +talk about the price, while the saddle was put on her and the stirrups +adjusted. At last all was settled, the stranger mounted, bowed politely +to her grandfather, put something into old Roger's hand, and rode away, +turning at the last point where he could see Winifred and raising his +hat.</p> + +<p>Then she drew a long breath and went back to her work, wondering how it +was that all the interest seemed to have gone out of it, and that she +could think of nothing but the last glimpse of Arthur Carew.</p> + +<p>"The master have sold the black mare, Miss Winifred, and the saddle and +bridle he bought of the Widow Oldmixon!" said Roger, presently, coming +through the garden. "The gentleman as bought them paid all in gold and +gave me a crown-piece to boot. He was a bookish-looking sort of man +like a parson, but he seemed a goodish judge of a horse too, and he +rode away more like a dragoon than a scholar, to my mind."</p> + +<p>There was an uneasy feeling in Winifred's heart that night. She was +not sure that she had done right in exchanging tokens with Mr. Carew +in that way, and for the first time in all her life she felt a certain +disinclination to open her mind to her mother. But the life-long habit +of openness prevailed, and at bed-time, the usual hour for confidences, +she showed the locket to her mother and told her all about it.</p> + +<p>Dame Magdalen was not a little disturbed. "Beshrew the man and his +courtier's compliments!" said she to herself. "I wish he had gone +anywhere else for a horse!"</p> + +<p>But as she looked at Winifred's steadfast, modest gray eyes, she could +not think any harm had yet been done. "I am heartily glad he is out of +the way!" was her second comment.</p> + +<p>But she only said: "There was no harm in it. Mr. Carew naturally wished +to give you a token, and I suppose he had nothing else which he thought +would please a young maid. As to the exchanging of tokens, that is but +one of his court fashions. I dare say he will spend your gold piece at +the first tavern."</p> + +<p>"Then I may keep the locket, mother?" said Winifred, somehow feeling +that her heart was not particularly lightened by this view of the case.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you please, child, so you do not show it. It is too valuable +an ornament for one in your station."</p> + +<p>There was no danger of her showing it, Winifred thought. Neither would +she bring herself to believe that Mr. Carew would spend her gold piece +at the first tavern. She had slept alone in the little room over the +porch since her father's arrival, and that night, for almost the first +time in her life, she cried herself to sleep.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_11">CHAPTER XI.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE BEGINNING OF CHANGES.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>THE next three or four months were months of sad suspense to all the +friends of Arthur Carew. To Winifred they were the longest she had ever +spent. All the excitement and adventure of her life had been crowded +into ten days, and now that they were over, it seemed hard to return +to the little common duties of every-day life—to have nothing more +important on her mind, when she awoke in the morning, than feeding the +chickens or carrying her daily portion to Dame Sprat. Even her lessons +with Mrs. Alwright had lost part of their charm, now that there were +no messages to carry back and forth between my lady and Mr. Arthur—now +that she was no longer a counsellor and in some sort a heroine, but had +sunk into plain little Winifred Evans again.</p> + +<p>In truth a great change had passed over Winifred. She had passed that +place "where the brooks and rivers meet." She had from a simple child +become a woman, with all a woman's cares and feelings, living the best +part of her life in another. And she could no more go back to what +she was before the memorable night when she walked over the fields +with Arthur Carew, than she could return to the days when she played +contentedly for hours with a doll and a few bits of broken earthenware.</p> + +<p>Winifred had now to learn what all women must learn, sooner or later, +that it often requires as much courage, though of a somewhat different +kind, to live one's common every-day life, as it does to risk that +life in some great danger or adventure. She sometimes found it hard +not to be pettish and impatient with Jack when he boasted of what he +would do when he was a sailor, and she sometimes found herself looking +with disgust upon the little cares and the common every-day work which +occupied her from morning till night, without seeming, after all, to +bring anything to pass.</p> + +<p>But Winifred was too truly a Christian, and too strongly confirmed in +the habit of honest self-examination, to allow this frame of mind to +become a habit. She soon perceived that she was growing fretful and +discontented, and even moody and impatient of the society of those +about her. And she set herself resolutely to remedy the evil, by +earnest prayer, and by a steady, straightforward analysis of her own +feelings and conduct.</p> + +<p>"God has placed me where I am," she argued with herself. "He hath +called me to this state of life, and the work I am obliged to do +every day—feeding the fowls, sweeping and scouring, waiting upon my +grandfather and Jack, and helping Priscilla in the dairy—all this is as +much His work, as saving Mr. Carew's life or helping my lady. And if +I let myself be unfaithful and discontented in these little matters, +just because they do not seem to come to anything, what right have I +to expect strength when any great temptation comes to try me? And if I +sit thinking of all that has happened, and of Mr. Arthur Carew, when +I ought to be saying my prayers—and I know I have done so a good many +times—I have no right to expect my devotions will seem as pleasant to +me as they have done before.</p> + +<p>"I might take pattern of my lady about that. Of course the suspense +about Mr. Arthur must be much worse for her than for me, yet she seems +to go about everything just as usual—visiting the poor sick folks, +the school, and the old women at the almshouses, reading and working, +though I dare say all these things are often as tiresome to her as my +spinning and knitting are to me. I will not be so silly any more!" was +the conclusion of her meditation.</p> + +<p>"God has been very good to me in giving me such kind friends as my lady +and Mrs. Alwright, and such a home as this at the farm, and I will +not be ungrateful. I will make the most of my lessons as long as I am +allowed to have them. I will do my very best with my spinning, and see +if I cannot draw as fine and even a thread as my mother. I found out +long ago that the way to make work interesting was to do one's very +best with it. God has always been good to me, and what a comfort it is +to think that He can never be anything else than good—that whatever +changes come, He will be always the same."</p> + +<p>Winifred was likely to have need of all the comfort she could find in +such thoughts, for many sad changes were before her.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>One morning, as she entered Mrs. Alwright's room, she found that +discreet spinster surrounded by a wonderful litter of linen and other +garments, busily engaged in mending some very precious lace of her +lady's.</p> + +<p>"News, Winifred!" said Mrs. Alwright.</p> + +<p>"Good news or bad?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Both good and bad! Good news of Mr. Arthur, and bad news for you and +me, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Arthur!" asked Winifred, her heart beating so fast as almost to +choke her. "Is he safe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear. After many troubles and perils, he escaped in a ship +from Biddeford, and got safe and well through France into Holland. He +says he wrote a letter, and sent it on shore just as they were about to +sail, but we never received it. My lady says you are to come up to her +by-and-by, and she will tell you all about the matter herself."</p> + +<p>"That is good news, indeed!" said Winifred. "But I wonder why my lady +never received his first letter?"</p> + +<p>"No doubt it was intrusted to some careless person who lost it," +replied Mrs. Alwright. "There is no end to the evils brought about by +carelessness, as you will do well to remember."</p> + +<p>"And what is the bad news, Mrs. Alwright? I hope nothing has happened +to Sir Edward."</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, something has happened, though not anything which can be +called a misfortune, exactly. His majesty has been pleased to give Sir +Edward some office about the court. And we—that is my lady and I, and +the butler and the coachman, and Betty Cook—are all going up to London +to live."</p> + +<p>Winifred's heart sank fathoms deep. My lady and Mrs. Alwright going +away from the Hall! No more lessons in embroidery, no more reading out +of the "Chronicle" and the "Arcadia," no more pleasant hours spent in +gathering sweet herbs and flowers in the garden, or helping in the +still-room and store-room! No more hours spent with my lady in reading +and talking about the Bible and the history books—and above all, no +further chance of hearing from Arthur Carew!</p> + +<p>Winifred felt as though all the sunshine of her life had gone out +in a moment. She remembered how dissatisfied she had been the past +winter—how weary of everything, even of her precious lessons, and she +felt as though God had punished her for her discontent by taking away +the blessing for which she had been ungrateful. She bit her lip, and +busied herself with the fastening of her basket, but all was of no use. +The tears would come, and with a sudden impulse, she dropped upon her +knees by the side of her good old friend, and laying her head in her +lap, she sobbed as if her heart would break.</p> + +<p>"Aye, poor dear! I knew just how you would take it!" said Mrs. +Alwright, wiping her own eyes and smoothing Winifred's hair, entirely +regardless for once of the detriment to her own clean starched lawn +apron. "Such a quiet and pleasant time as we have had this winter since +Sir Edward went away! So much as you have improved, and just as you +have learned to do cut-work and satin-stitch so nicely, and all the +darning stitches as well as I could myself. I meant to begin with you +in carpet-work and tapestry the very next week, and give you the wool +and silk to work a cushion for a birthday present. I got them from +Bristol only last night. But you shall have them just the same, and I +will give you a lesson every day that we stay at the Hall. It shall go +hard, but I will find the time somehow or other. I will give you my +small frame, too, and you are so clever, I make no doubt you will be +able to go on by yourself. So cheer up, my dear, for no doubt it will +be all for the best in the end, and don't let us waste our precious +time in crying, for that would be very foolish, now that we have so +little left."</p> + +<p>Winifred felt the truth of this last remark. She dried her eyes, and +prepared to make the most of the few pleasant hours she was likely to +enjoy. Mrs. Alwright brought out her frame and prepared her canvas, and +Winifred for a time almost forgot her troubles in the excitement of +seeing a pretty pink rose-bud growing up, as it were, under her fingers.</p> + +<p>"Does my lady like going to London?" she asked, as she presently +stopped to thread her needle.</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear, it is not always easy to say what my lady likes. You +know great folks are not forward in expressing their feelings, and my +lady never talks of herself. Of course, if Sir Edward is to live in +London, my lady would wish to be with him, like a dutiful wife as she +is. And so much the better for him, since, between ourselves, my dear, +though I would not say so to every one, she has more sense in her glove +than ever dwelt under his hat. I dare say my lady may be pleased at the +thought of seeing some of her old friends again, but, upon the whole, +I am of opinion that she would rather stay here than go to town. She +never was fond of company, even as a girl. She would often beg to be +left at home when the rest went out, and after she became a widow, I do +believe that with her own good will she would never have left her own +room, save to go to church or visit some poor body.</p> + +<p>"Sir Edward went to London after his marriage, and was much about the +king for some years. So my lady had to go to court with the other +great ladies, but never was a bird more glad to escape from the cage +than she was when we came down to the Hall. She recovered her spirits +wonderfully, so that Sir Edward himself noticed the change, and he was +greatly pleased to see her take such an interest in the gardens and in +the schools and almshouses which his grandmother set up. It seemed as +though she grew ten years younger. No, I cannot think my lady would +ever go to London of her own accord."</p> + +<p>"And you, Mrs. Alwright, how do you like it?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, I hate and detest London and everything belonging to it!" +said Mrs. Alwright, with so much energy that Winifred started and broke +her thread. "Nasty, dirty place that it is, always knee-deep in dirt, +in mud or dust, everything covered with soot and black, so that one can +never be sure of a decent cap and kerchief for two minutes together, +and no getting them washed as they should be, either! All sorts of +wickedness and folly going on, night and day. Never sure when one hires +a new maid that she is not a what-shall-call-um, who will rob the house +and run away the first chance you give her, and pretty certain that she +will be a lazy, dirty baggage, not worth her salt! The streets fall of +all sorts of disorder so that no one is safe after dark.</p> + +<p>"My lady was once stopped in her coach, coming home from Whitehall, and +would have been robbed and murdered too, for aught I know, only for a +party of soldiers who came up just in time. Poor starving creatures +begging at the corners of the streets—why, if you will believe me, my +dear, a poor sailor actually crept into our back-yard for shelter one +cold night, and was found dying in the morning. My lady and I tried all +we could to revive him, but he was too far gone. He said he had ate +nothing for a week, and I could easily believe it by his looks. Brazen, +painted baggages riding in their coaches in the park and jostling +honest women!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Alwright stopped for sheer want of breath.</p> + +<p>"But I suppose there must be some good people in so large a place as +London?" said Winifred, doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes, to be sure, child, a plenty of them. Even in the court itself, +bad as it was. There was Mrs. Godolphin, a saint if ever there was +one, and Mr. and Mrs. Evelyn, better people could not be; and as for +Mrs. Macy, their daughter, she was too good to live. O yes, no doubt +there are good people everywhere, but yet there is a terrible deal of +wickedness in great cities, such as we know nothing about here. For my +part, I could wish there was no such place. I did hope to spend the +rest of my days among the green fields, and to live and die in the +country, but God's will be done! No doubt He knows best!"</p> + +<p>"It is hard to think so always," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Well, sweetheart, it is a comfort that He does know best, and will go +on in His own way, whatever we poor mortals may think of His doings. +But now you must go up to my lady, and while you are gone, I will put a +few stitches just to help you along, and give you something to look at +for a guide."</p> + +<p>Winifred found Lady Peckham in her dressing-room, which was all in a +litter with mails and boxes. Lady Peckham was seated at her cabinet, +looking over and destroying letters and papers. As Winifred looked +around the usually pleasant and orderly apartment, as she remembered +the delightful hours she had spent there, and thought how soon it would +be shut up and deserted, the tears swelled to her eyes again, and she +wished, with Mrs. Alwright, that there were no such place as London in +the whole world!</p> + +<p>"Well, Winifred, I suppose you have heard all the news from Mrs. +Alwright?" said Lady Peckham, kindly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lady."</p> + +<p>"I have a message for you from my brother," said Lady Peckham, taking a +letter from her pocket. "He says, 'Tell my little Winifred that I think +of her, and I hope she remembers me, at least in her prayers.'"</p> + +<p>Winifred felt that there was little danger of her forgetting, but she +knew that she should break down utterly if she tried to speak, so she +courtesied, and remained silent.</p> + +<p>"Come hither to me, Winifred," said Lady Peckham.</p> + +<p>Winifred obeyed, not by any means sure that she had not incurred a +reproof in presuming to shed tears before such a great lady. She was +mistaken.</p> + +<p>"My poor child! My dear, faithful little friend!" said Lady Peckham, +and presently, to her astonishment, Winifred found herself drawn into +my lady's arms, and crying on her shoulder as freely as if it had been +her own mother.</p> + +<p>"You are very dear to me, Winifred," said my lady, presently, in a low +voice. "I have always been fond of you, both for your own sake and that +of a dear friend whom you much resemble. I have envied your mother the +possession of such a daughter, but the events of the last few weeks +have made me feel toward you more like an elder sister."</p> + +<p>What made the hot blood rush into Winifred's cheeks at these words, so +that she was glad to have her face hidden from her friend? Perhaps she +could not have told if she had been asked.</p> + +<p>"I would gladly take you with me to London, if it were possible," +continued Lady Peckham. "I would gladly adopt you as my own, but I +should have no right to deprive your parents of such a treasure. God +has appointed to each of us His children our place, where we have His +special work to do, and if in our impatience or self-indulgence we +strive to better His appointment, He will soon show us our mistake. +But, Winifred, if anything should happen to make you need a home, you +must let me know."</p> + +<p>"Will you never come back to the Hall, my lady?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell, my child. Not for a long time, I fear. Sir Edward has +received an appointment, as you have doubtless heard from Alwright, +and so long as he is attached to the court we must remain in London. I +confess it is not a pleasant prospect to me, but I try to submit and to +believe that it will be for the best."</p> + +<p>"It is hard to think that God orders everything for the best," Winifred +ventured to observe, "but, my lady, I think it would be still harder to +live if one did not believe it. It seems the only comfort one has in +times like these."</p> + +<p>"True, sweetheart! I trust you may never find your faith more severely +tried than now. But this is a world of great and sad changes, and you +may live to look back upon the present as a very small trial."</p> + +<p>Winifred could not imagine any state of things in which the present +trial should seem small to her. She was soon to find out her mistake.</p> + +<p>"And now, Winifred, I wish you to ask a favor for me of your good +mother," continued Lady Peckham. "I wish you would ask her to allow you +to remain at the Hall until we go to London. You can help Mrs. Alwright +a great deal, and I shall be glad of your society."</p> + +<p>Winifred looked up in surprise. The news seemed too good to be true. +Should she really remain a whole week at the Hall—perhaps longer—and +see my lady every day?</p> + +<p>"Oh, my lady, you are too good!" she said, gratefully.</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham smiled rather sadly. "I am good to myself, then, my dear. +I am not at all sure that I am conferring any favor upon you. But you +may tell your mother that I shall be careful not to spoil her little +maiden."</p> + +<p>Dame Magdalen looked rather doubtfully at her husband when Winifred +preferred Lady Peckham's request, after her return home.</p> + +<p>"I should be loth to refuse my lady anything, sweetheart, so kind as +she has been to you! But to let you stay so long at the Hall—I am +doubtful."</p> + +<p>"My lady said she would be sure not to spoil me, mother," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"She will not 'mean' to spoil you, I know very well. My lady means +nothing but what is kind and good, but, my maid, how will it be when +you return home again? Will not the plain, homely ways and life at +the farm, and the every-day work and duties of your station, become +wearisome to you? My lady has been very kind in noticing and making in +some sort a companion of you, but you must never forget that you are a +plain yeoman's daughter."</p> + +<p>"I will try not to be discontented, mother," said. Winifred, meekly. +"I know what my place is, and I am thankful that I have so good +and pleasant a home as this, but, mother—" and Winifred's voice +faltered—"perhaps I shall never see my dear lady again!"</p> + +<p>"Let her go, dame, I pray you!" said Gilbert Evans, stroking his +daughter's head. "We all owe much to my lady for her care of the child, +and she will learn nothing but good at the Hall, though there are few +great families of which I would say as much. I do not wonder the poor +lady feels the need of companionship. Go now, and bring me my pipe +and box. The child must go out into the world some day!" he added, as +Winifred left the room. "We cannot always keep her to ourselves, and +she is learning what will help her to earn her bread if ever she should +be thrown on herself."</p> + +<p>"Winifred has learned a great deal," said Magdalen. "Her white seam and +cut-work are wonderful, and she can do the twill and diaper darning +stitches better than I could in my best days, but yet I sometimes fear +for the effect of all these lessons. Whom is the girl to marry?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she may have the luck to catch a sailor lad, as her mother did +before her," said Gilbert, laughing, and patting his wife's still fair +cheek. "Dost remember how thy fine relations turned up their noses at +poor Gilbert Evans, when he came a-courting Magdalen Coffin, whom he +fished out of the Catwater when the pleasure-boat was overset?</p> + +<p>"'What does that sailor fellow want with Madge?' said thy cousin. 'Give +him a crown and a draught of strong water, and send him on his way!'"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Gilbert, it is not every orphan and dependent maid who has the +luck of poor Madge Coffin!" said Magdalen, smiling. "Winifred's lot is +likely to be the opposite of mine. My proud cousin brought me up to be +a household drudge—a serving-maid in all but the name. But even let +the child do as she will! She is a good girl, and has worked hard this +winter."</p> + +<p>So it was settled, and Winifred went up to the Hall to stay for the +two weeks that should elapse before Lady Peckham went to London. Busy +weeks they were, and full of pleasant employment, whether she worked +at her embroidery, ran up and down-stairs for Mrs. Alwright and helped +her in the still-room and kitchen, where she learned to make biscuits, +and almond paste, and maukpane and saffron cakes, and all the other +delicacies for which that lady was famous, or whether she sat or walked +with my lady in the rapidly lengthening twilight, telling of the things +they both loved, or read to her as she worked in her own chamber.</p> + +<p>Many were the cabinet drawers and boxes she helped to rummage, filled +with all the accumulations of generations of ladies famous for +needlework and all such accomplishments, and many were the precious +presents she received,—bits of wonderful brocades and ribbons for her +silk patchwork (then a great fashion, as it was a few years since), +of ivory and tortoise-shell tatting-shuttles and netting-boxes, of +pin-cushions and needle-books, of embroidery patterns and silks, each +and all accompanied by the exhortation, "Take care of it, child! It +will come in use some day."</p> + +<p>But at last all came to an end. The day of final departure arrived. +Winifred bade her friends farewell, and stood at the hall door till the +clumsy coach with its six horses and outriders (not for show, but use) +drove down the long avenue and disappeared. Then, feeling as though a +part of her life had gone away with it, she dried her eyes, and turned +back into the house to finish up some last things which had been left +to her care.</p> + +<p>Later in the day, Winifred walked homeward, followed by the herd-boy +bearing her bundles, but carrying herself, as too precious to intrust +to another, her chief treasures—Hall's "Chronicle," some books of +devotion my lady had given her, and the "Arcadia" of Sir Philip +Sidney—"the only romance," said Mrs. Alwright, "fit for a young maiden +to read."</p> + +<p>At the turn of the avenue, she stopped and looked back. There stood +the old Hall, in all its quaint beauty, under the light of the spring +sunshine, but all the windows were closed, and Winifred thought it +already looked desolate and forlorn. She gazed a long time, till her +eyes grew too full to see any longer.</p> + +<p>"Well," said she, as at last she turned away, "I have at least one +comfort! No one can ever take from me the remembrance of the pleasant +times I have had and the things I have learned of my lady!"</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_12">CHAPTER XII.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>BRISTOL.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>"HERE is that child, poring over her book again, wasting her precious +time and eyesight! I declare she is enough to try a saint! After all I +have done for her! I have a great mind to burn up all her books except +the Bible, that I have."</p> + +<p>Winifred looked up wearily as these words were spoken. She had grown +tall and pale since we last saw her in the avenue at Holford Hall, and +the expression of her face wears more of sadness, but there are the +same clear-cut features, the same large, steadfast gray eyes and marked +eyebrows which first attracted Lady Peckham's attention to the child +in the Blue-school at Holford. But the window where she now sits and +strains her sight to catch the last daylight looks not into the farm +closes, but into such a narrow lane that the opposite neighbors could +almost shake hands across it. For Master Simon Evans lives near the +water-side for the convenience of his business. And even the dog-carts +used in the wider streets of Bristol cannot pass each other in Fish +Lane.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="image007" style="max-width: 25.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/image007.jpg" alt="image007"></figure> +<p class="t4"> +<b>"Here is that child, poring over her book again, wasting</b><br> +<b>her precious time and eyesight."</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Winifred looked up wearily as the shrill voice of reproach sounded over +her head. The speaker was a sharp, energetic-looking woman who seemed +to have worked off every inch of superfluous flesh and to have nothing +left but bone and muscle.</p> + +<p>"I have finished all the sewing you laid out, aunt, and I have carried +home Mrs. Bowler's kerchiefs, and put the money in your box. The +children are in bed and asleep, and I thought I might read a little +while."</p> + +<p>"And how much did Mrs. Bowler pay you, child? She ought to give you a +good price."</p> + +<p>"Forty shillings for the kerchiefs, aunt, and ten for the apron."</p> + +<p>"Well, well! It is a fair price, but they are well worth every farthing +of it!" said Dame Evans, slightly mollified. "I will say for you that +there is not a person in Bristol who can do cut-work and satin-stitch +equal to yourself. But you might have taken your knitting, child, if +you had nothing else to do. Reading is nothing but a waste of time for +folks like us, except upon Sundays and holidays, when we can do nothing +else."</p> + +<p>"And, aunt, I saw Lady Corbet at Mrs. Bowler's, and she wishes me +to come to her house every day to teach her daughters and oversee +their work. I am to take my meals with the young ladies and walk out +with them, and she will give me ten shillings a week. I am to begin +to-morrow if you are willing."</p> + +<p>"Laws me!" exclaimed Dame Evans, quite dazzled at the prospect of such +an honor. "What a fine thing for you! Why, they are the richest people +in Bristol. Sir John entertained his late blessed majesty when he +visited the city, and was knighted on that occasion. I have heard my +Lady Corbet was cousin to old Lord Carew."</p> + +<p>Winifred's heart gave a bound at this news. Might she not, through Lady +Corbet, obtain some news of Lady Peckham and Arthur? It was nearly +three years since she had heard anything of Arthur, but she had never +once forgotten to pray for him, night and morning.</p> + +<p>"You are willing to have me go then, aunt?"</p> + +<p>"What does the child mean? Willing indeed! You ought to be thankful +on your knees for such an honor, and you talk about being willing, as +though you had asked leave to go to the fair! I am only afraid you will +not know how to behave properly with such grand ladies, having lived in +the country all your life. Yes, of course I am willing, only be careful +of your manners, and be sure you say 'my lady' every time you speak to +her."</p> + +<p>Winifred smiled rather sadly. She had not many fears upon the score +of manners. She had been used to intercourse with a much greater lady +than Lady Corbet, the wife of a Bristol sugar-refiner, but she was +glad of the employment, as well as of the prospect of some change in +her monotonous and dreary life. She had entertained serious thoughts +of setting up a little school of her own, and here was the work ready +provided for her.</p> + +<p>The last two years had brought many sad reverses to Winifred Evans. +The removal of Lady Peckham to London had been the first of a series +of changes which had ended by bringing her into the little brick-paved +kitchen in Fish Lane where we now find her. But a few months after +Gilbert Evans sailed taking with him his son, came news of the total +loss of the ship and crew. Master Evans, who had been for some time in +declining health, had a paralytic stroke upon hearing the news, and +lingered on a helpless and apparently senseless invalid till the next +year.</p> + +<p>Then came one of the devastating epidemics of that period, sweeping +over Bridgewater and all the towns in the neighborhood. The feeble old +man and Dame Magdalen, worn out with care and sorrow, were among the +first victims, and Winifred was left with nobody to depend upon but her +uncle and aunt in Bristol, whom she had seldom seen. And Lady Peckham, +who was far-away in London—and London, so far as communication was +concerned, was as far from Bristol in that day as it is now from New +Zealand.</p> + +<p>She wrote at once to my lady, sending the letter by one of the grooms +at the Hall who was going up to town, and waited anxiously for an +answer, but none came. And at last the news arrived at the Hall that +Sir Edward had gone abroad, taking his family with him! Here was a +death-blow to all Winifred's hopes! She had nothing left to do but to +return to Bristol with her uncle and aunt and share their home, at +least till some prospect appeared of independent occupation.</p> + +<p>Dame Evans was on the whole a well-meaning woman, but like some other +well-meaning persons, very intolerable to live with. Housekeeping was +her idol. She cared for nothing in the world but scouring and cleaning, +cooking and washing, spinning, sewing, and knitting. In her mind a +house was not a place to live and be happy in, but something whose use +was to be kept clean; to have the bricks scoured, the wood-work waxed +and rubbed and polished endlessly, the windows brightened, and the +flies driven out. Comfort and shelter were secondary objects. Clothes +were made to be mended and kept clean; and as to books, they had, +according to Dame Margery, "no use in the 'varsal world but to waste +people's precious time and keep them from their duties."</p> + +<p>Dame Margery was a steady keeper at home on week-days, and a regular +church-goer on Sundays; she never went to revels or merry-makings, or +allowed her family to do so. And she would have been both surprised +and indignant if any one had told her that she was as much wedded to +the things of this world as her neighbor the goldsmith's wife, whose +gay gowns and frequent parties were the talk of the whole street; and +that it was as frivolous and belittling to set her heart upon pewter +tankards and fine linen as upon flounces and lace. It did not occur +to her to think that drawers and cupboards, kitchen floors and parlor +windows, trenchers and napkins, were as much earthly and transitory +in their nature as fairs and revels. Simon Evans was a master-workman +and well to do in the world, but Dame Margery saved every penny and +every candle-end as carefully as she had done when he was living upon +the wages of a journeyman. She allowed her family no better food, and +had no more to give away. If people were poor, it was their own fault. +"She" was not poor—why could not they do as she had done? The question, +"Who maketh thee to differ?" was one which did not occur to her.</p> + +<p>It may be guessed that Winifred and her aunt did not suit each other +very well. Dame Evans declared that the girl had been utterly spoiled +by poor sister Magdalen, who was nothing better than a dreamer herself, +for all her gentle blood, and congratulated the child on at last +getting into hands that would give her some training and teach her +something useful. The training consisted in toiling from morning till +night to clean what had just been washed and to wash what was already +clean; in making garments which when done were too good to be worn, and +in being reminded every day and all day long of her own deficiencies, +and of the goodness of her uncle and aunt in taking upon themselves +such a burden.</p> + +<p>Winifred could not bring herself to feel that she was a burden. She +was well aware that she did as much work as had ever been expected of +Priscilla at the farm, and since she had found fine needlework and +embroidery to do, she had earned more than enough money for her own +support. Moreover she had taught the two girls to read and write since +she came to Bristol, rather, it must be confessed, against the will of +their mother, who complained that Winnie would make Betsey and Sally as +idle and dreaming as herself. But here, for once, Simon Evans exerted +his authority, and when he did, even Dame Margery had no choice but to +submit.</p> + +<p>These were dreary days to Winifred. The change was great from the open, +breezy field and heath, and the stately avenues and lovely gardens of +the Hall, to the narrow alley where she now lived. There was not a +green thing to be seen except from one window in the attic, where she +could catch a glimpse of some distant tree-tops; and at these tree-tops +Winifred could gladly have gazed for hours if she would have been +allowed. But it was hard for her to find time even to think, since +Dame Margery's voice kept up an incessant patter of small complaints +and fault-findings, small remarks and smaller gossip, for, although +she seldom went out, she contrived to pick up all the news of the +town. Her very voice grated on Winifred's ears. She never spoke in a +pleasant or cheerful tone. And a stranger hearing her in another room +would be sure to think she was either whining or scolding. While at +the least annoyance, she took on a tone and expression of suffering +martyrdom. Reading was out of the question, save by fits and snatches, +or on Sundays, when she was not engaged in cooking the Sunday dinner, +or keeping the little ones quiet, while their mother nodded over her +Bible, under the idea that she was performing a pious duty.</p> + +<p>It was a great relief when Winifred found fine sewing and embroidery +enough to occupy her hands for some hours of every day. The close +attention which this work required was a sufficient excuse for not +talking, and she was learning by degrees to listen to her aunt's voice +as one listens to the working of machinery or the patter of the rain—as +a disagreeable noise which cannot be helped. As she worked at the +muslin apron or the lace whisk which occupied her hands and eyes, her +thoughts were comparatively free, and they wandered backward over the +past—her pleasant life at the farm, the hours spent at the Hall or with +good Dame Sprat, now enjoying that Heavenly Inheritance to which she +had so steadily looked forward during her long and troubled life. She +called to mind her last precious conversations with Lady Peckham, and +the dying words of her mother:</p> + +<p>"Winifred, lay hold on eternal life. Whatever may be your lot here, +never give up your title to your Heavenly Inheritance. Remember always +how He hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.' And +there is no change in His goodness. I leave you in His hands who never +yet failed them that sought Him."</p> + +<p>This was Winifred's only stay, her one source of courage and comfort. +Severe as was the change, heavy as were her bereavements, weary and +dull as was her daily toil, fretting as were her daily trials, it was +her Heavenly Father who sent or who allowed it all, and therefore all +"must" be for her good in the end, though it might be a long time first.</p> + +<p>She was sure that there was waiting for her a lovely, peaceful home, +filled with all those beautiful things which she loved, and many, many +others, far beyond anything she had seen or could conceive—a home +where all her dear ones were waiting for her or would come at last, +and where there would be no more parting forever. This inheritance was +"hers,"—prepared for her by her Heavenly Father, sealed and made sure +by her Saviour's death and resurrection. It was to be hers at last, +however long she might have to wait, and it might be hers any day. She +might go to bed any night in her little close bedroom, and awake amid +the unspeakable splendors of heaven.</p> + +<p>Such thoughts gave Winifred courage to live from day to day, making +no plans, never looking forward, but leaving all in better hands than +her own. They were no longer beautiful dreams, as in the days when she +walked over the heath or up to the Hall. They alone were the living +realities, and all the rest was but a dream—a weary, troublesome dream, +which would pass away in the morning. She was careful to give no just +cause of offence, and when she was blamed unjustly, she tried to accept +it in the spirit of meekness, knowing that the trial of our faith +"worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and +hope maketh not ashamed."</p> + +<p>It was with a thankful heart that Winifred dressed herself next day for +her that lesson at Lady Corbet's. She thought it likely that she might +meet with some disagreeable things. Lady Corbet evidently had a great +idea of her own consequence, and seemed to think she was conferring a +favor on Winifred by allowing her to teach her daughters. It was very +likely also that the young ladies might be proud and consequential. But +at all events it was a change. Sir John Corbet lived in the best part +of the city, on one of the hills upon which Bristol is built. He had a +fine house and also a garden, and the very thought of seeing green and +growing plants was pleasant to one who had been shut away from them so +long.</p> + +<p>"How pretty Cousin Winnie looks!" said Betsey, gazing after her cousin +as she tripped down the lane with something of her old elastic step.</p> + +<p>"Beauty is nothing, child!" said her mother, though she herself was +thinking at that moment that Winifred was a very creditable young +person to have passing in and out of the house. "Good looks are only +skin deep! Handsome is that handsome does!"</p> + +<p>"Then I think Winifred is the handsomest person I know!" returned +sturdy little Betsey. "For I am sure she is the very best."</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_13">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE CITY KNIGHT'S FAMILY.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>BRISTOL, at the time of our story, was the second city in England, and +was famous for its wealth and luxury, for its West India trade and its +sugar refineries, and, alas! also for the infamous slave-trade of which +it was the centre, and which dealt in white skins as well as black +ones, which not only brought in negroes, but carried out white boys and +girls, stolen in the streets sometimes, never to be heard of again. It +contained some splendid churches and several ancient endowed schools +and hospitals, but the streets were so narrow that no carts were used +save those drawn with dogs. And there was hardly a coach in the whole +city, for the simple reason that there was no place in which to use one.</p> + +<p>Winifred found Lady Corbet in her own private sitting-room, and was +reminded at once of Mrs. Alwright, not only by the basket of linen +piled up to be darned and the huge bunch of keys in its little basket +on the table, but even by something in the lady's manner of handling +her needle and scissors.</p> + +<p>"Ah! So you have come betimes, Mrs. Evans!" was her greeting. "I am +truly glad to see you! My girls are losing their time and running wild +for want of something to do. I have no time to teach them myself, and +my last governess has just married Sir John's managing clerk—and a +good match for her too, poor thing, for she was an orphan, and Mr. +Thomas Green is a good, kind, and steady man, though perhaps a thought +elderly. And what can you teach, child—anything besides tapestry and +cut-work? I suppose, for instance, you don't know anything about +figures?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madam," replied Winifred—she could not bring herself to say my +lady—"I know how to cast accounts, and how to keep a household book."</p> + +<p>"Dear me, how glad I am!" exclaimed Lady Corbet, relaxing a little from +the stateliness with which she had met Winifred, and which did not seem +in the least natural to her. "Then I am sure you will help me now and +then, won't you? Sir John he insists that I shall keep an account of +all the expenses of the house, but what is the use, when I never can +make my sums come out twice alike?"</p> + +<p>Winifred professed her willingness to render any assistance which might +be needed.</p> + +<p>"Well, that is kind of you. You see, in such a great household as +this—for Sir John he will have all his clerks and 'prentices live in +the family—there is a great deal going out all the time, and unless +some one looks after things, presently everything is at sixes and +sevens. Now I cannot make up my mind to do like my cousin Norton +the alderman's wife—she just spends and spends, and seems to know +no more what it costs to live than my Betty. I cannot think that is +right, somehow. It seems as if one ought to give an account of one's +stewardship, don't you think so, sweetheart?" asked Lady Corbet, who +seemed quite delighted at having some one to whom she could talk freely.</p> + +<p>"I do, indeed, madam!" replied Winifred, feeling her heart warm toward +the bustling lady, whom she had at first thought she never could like. +"I shall be glad to give you help about accounts or any other matter. +Mrs. Alwright taught me a good deal about housekeeping when I used to +go to the Hall."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Alwright!" exclaimed Lady Corbet. "Dear me, child, you don't +surely mean Hannah Alwright—she that was brought up by my old Lady +Carew, and afterward went to live with her daughter, Lady Peckham at +Holford Hall?"</p> + +<p>"The same, madam," replied Winifred, her heart beating fast. "My lady +was the kindest friend I ever had; and I used to go to Mrs. Alwright +two or three times a week to learn fine work and other things, and I +stayed at the Hall for two weeks before my lady went away to London."</p> + +<p>"Laws me! Do you know, my dear—" Lady Corbet's dignity had dissolved +into thin air by this time—"I thought of Cousin Margaret the moment I +saw you at Mistress Bowler's the other day! Not that you look like her, +either, but you have something in your manner—and do you know anything +of my cousin, Mrs. Evans?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do not, madam," said Winifred, sadly. "I hoped I might hear +news of her from you."</p> + +<p>"And I wish I had it for you, with all my heart!" returned Lady Corbet. +"But it is long since I have had anything to do with the family. You +see I am related to the Carews by my mother's side, and my old lady, +she would have me to live with her after my parents died. It was good +in her, no doubt, but we did not get on well. My lady must needs have +everything in her own way, and she set out to break off my match +with John Corbet, though I had been betrothed to him in my parents' +life-time, and with their consent—and to marry me to Mr. Hervey, a +cousin of her own, and a much grander match, to be sure, as things were +then, than my poor John Corbet. But though I approve of young folks +being guided by their elders in all such matters, I would not give up +my poor John for any Mr. Hervey, so there was a breach directly. My +cousin Margaret took my part, though she dared not say a great deal, +for every one in the house stood in awe of my lady. However, married I +was, and my lady would never see me afterward. And how was my cousin, +Mrs. Evans? Did not poor Arthur's death break her down very much? Why, +my dear, how white you are! Is the room too warm for you?"</p> + +<p>"I walked fast," said Winifred, recovering herself by a violent effort, +though she felt stunned and giddy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I dare say, and you are not used to the crowded streets. Here, +take my smelling-bottle. Yes, poor Arthur died five or six years ago, +soon after he went abroad, and a pity it was, for he was a likely +youth, and they say the present lord will never do any good. Well, my +dear, your color has come back, sure enough. So if you are ready, we +will go see my girls. Just let me lay out the clean towels and napkins +for the maids."</p> + +<p>Winifred had time to recover the calmness which had been so sorely +shaken, while Lady Corbet bustled about, arranging the linen. She +understood at once that the first report of Arthur's death was the +one to which Lady Corbet referred. She was conscious of a mingled +feeling of relief and intense disappointment. She could not feel that +no news was good news, but at least it was not bad news. She was quite +her usual self when Lady Corbet announced that she was ready to go +up-stairs. The school-room was in the upper floor of a wing built +out into the garden, and as they opened the green baize door which +separated it from the rest of the house, their ears were met by the +sound of passionate crying.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my poor Betty!" said Lady Corbet. "I do hope, my dear Mrs. Evans, +you will be able to prevent that child's sisters from teasing her life +out. They dare not do so before me or their father, but so sure as she +is left alone with them, there is 'such' a time! Heyday! What does this +mean?" she exclaimed, as she opened the door: "Betty, what are you +doing there!"</p> + +<p>The scene partly explained itself. A pale little girl of nine years or +thereabout was perched very insecurely, as it seemed, on the top of +a high cabinet or chest of drawers. She had evidently climbed to her +elevation by means of a stool placed upon a table, but the table had +been pushed away, and she had no means of descending. While her two +sisters, twins of fourteen, stood laughing at her discomfiture. A third +girl, some two or three years older, sat reading in a window, with +rather an elaborate appearance of taking no notice of the others.</p> + +<p>"What does this mean?" asked Lady Corbet again, helping the child down +from her dangerous position. "What have you been about?"</p> + +<p>"Jem threw my doll up there on the cabinet," sobbed Betty, "and when +I climbed up to get it, they took away the table! And they said," +continued Betty, clinging to her mother, and pointing to a cupboard +high up in the wall, "they said there was a skeleton in there!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" returned Lady Corbet, sharply. "There is nothing whatever +in the cupboard. Are you not ashamed, girls, to treat your poor sister +so? Here is Mrs. Evans, your new governess, wondering at your bad +manners!"</p> + +<p>To do them justice, the girls did look heartily ashamed.</p> + +<p>"I must say, Paulina, I think you might use your influence to prevent +such tricks," said her mother, severely, turning to the young lady in +the window, who had not moved. "At least," she added, sharply, "you +might rise to your feet when your mother and your governess enter the +room!"</p> + +<p>Paulina rose with the air of a martyr.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, madam!" said she, in a mournful voice. "I am so +used to noise and confusion that a little more or less does not attract +my attention."</p> + +<p>"She is just as bad as the rest, only she is slyer about it!" cried the +little girl. "I hate them all, that I do, and I wish I was dead—so!"</p> + +<p>Paulina darted a glance at her sister which was anything but amiable, +and then casting her eyes on the floor, she stood in silence.</p> + +<p>"Hush! Hush! Let me hear not one word more, or nobody will have +anything but bread and water till supper time!" said Lady Corbet, +decidedly. "This is your new governess, Mrs. Winifred Evans, who has +been brought up by my cousin the Lady Peckham, and is doubtless well +qualified to teach you all you should know. She will remain with you +from eight in the morning till six at night—were not those the hours we +agreed upon, Mrs. Evans?—and you will obey her as you would your father +and mother. Let me hear no complaints of any of you, from oldest to +youngest—do you hear?"</p> + +<p>The young ladies courtesied demurely. Paulina lifted her heavy eyelids, +and looked first at the newcomer and then at her mother.</p> + +<p>"Do I understand you, madam, to include me in the list of Mrs. Evans' +pupils?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course!" said her mother, sharply, again. "You have many things yet +to learn, mistress, though you think yourself so wise. Let me hear that +you show yourself both obedient and apt to learn."</p> + +<p>Paulina, courtesied again, with an intensification of the martyr +expression.</p> + +<p>"You will teach them whatever you think best, Mrs. Evans. I have +perfect confidence in you," said Lady Corbet, turning to Winifred. +"But I hope you will be particular as to their behavior, both toward +each other and toward yourself, and also as to their needlework, which +is, in my opinion, one of the most necessary things for a lady to +understand. Now, let me hear a good account of you, my mistresses, or +it will be the worse for you all!"</p> + +<p>There were a few minutes of silence after Lady Corbet left the room. +Paulina had returned to her book, turning her back ostentatiously on +the company. The younger girls stood as if uncertain what to do next, +and were evidently much disposed to giggle. Winifred saw that her task +might be a somewhat difficult one, and she determined to take it in +hand at once.</p> + +<p>"What work are you doing, young ladies?" she asked, in the calm, clear +tones which always command attention. "Let me see your frames."</p> + +<p>Jemima brought her own and her sisters' frames from a closet, but +Paulina made no movement.</p> + +<p>"I will attend to your elder sister first," said Winifred. "Mrs. +Paulina, let me see your work."</p> + +<p>There was a slight but decided emphasis in the tone, which made Paulina +think it best to obey. She threw down her book, unwillingly enough, and +brought her tapestry work to the table. It was less perfect than either +of her sisters, and was indeed in utter confusion.</p> + +<p>"I can do nothing with it!" said she, pettishly. "I hate the sight of +it! Where is the use of wasting so much precious time upon needlework, +which is, after all, of no use to any one?"</p> + +<p>"Pall only says so because she cannot work as well as Phyllis!" said +Betty, pertly.</p> + +<p>"You should not speak so of your elder sister," said Winifred, gravely. +"You have made a mistake in the very beginning of your pattern, Mrs. +Paulina, and that has put you wrong all through. You cannot go on well +when you begin wrong, whether in tapestry work or anything else."</p> + +<p>Paulina, seemed interested in the remark, and her brow cleared up a +little.</p> + +<p>"I understand that," said she, "but what is the use of beginning at +all? How much better to discipline one's mind and heart by good works +and acts of devotion!"</p> + +<p>"And what better discipline or work could you find than that of +obedience to your parents?" asked Winifred. "That is the discipline +God himself has prepared for you, and surely it is more likely to be +beneficial than any you can contrive or arrange for yourself. This must +all come out, Paulina, or else you must take a new piece. I should +advise you to begin anew from the beginning, for I fear you will never +make anything of this."</p> + +<p>"I would rather try taking this out," said Paulina, the martyr +expression returning, as she sat down with her frame in her old place +by the window. "I don't wish to choose the easiest way, for my part!"</p> + +<p>Winifred could not forbear smiling.</p> + +<p>Paulina saw the smile, and colored.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I expect to be laughed at," said she, in a tone which was +certainly not that of a martyr. "I have always been ridiculed and +persecuted ever since I began to try to lead a devout life, and I +always expect to be, but I mean to persevere, for all that."</p> + +<p>Winifred turned to the work of the other girls, praised what they had +done well, corrected their mistakes, and finally, having set them all +down to work, proposed that she should read or relate to them a tale +while they were at their frames. The proposition was received with +great favor by the younger ones, especially by Betty, who declared that +she loved nothing so much as a tale.</p> + +<p>"And let it be all about giants, and fairies, and enchanted castles," +pleaded Jemima.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you plenty of such tales in our play hours," said +Winifred, "but not in school-time. Let me see if I cannot make a true +story as interesting to you as a fairy tale."</p> + +<p>She then began the touching story of Richard Grenville's death, as +she had read it in Hackluyt's "Voyages," and was glad to see that her +auditors were capable of being interested, and that even Paulina, who +had begun by turning her back upon the company, became so engaged with +the story as to forget her self-imposed task of picking out. As the +clock struck eleven, there was a general cry of "Oh, do go on!"</p> + +<p>"Not now," said Winifred. "We must keep to our hours, and you have been +sitting still long enough. Does madam your mother allow you to walk in +the garden?"</p> + +<p>"She will let us, I know, if you go with us," replied Phyllis, one of +the twins. "Shall I ask her?"</p> + +<p>"If you please."</p> + +<p>Phyllis skipped away and presently returned, followed by her mother.</p> + +<p>"What is this about walking in the garden?" asked Lady Corbet.</p> + +<p>Winifred explained.</p> + +<p>"O yes, they may go if you like to go with them and keep an eye upon +them. But perhaps you will not care to do that?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I shall, madam. I have not been in a garden since I used to +gather rose-leaves in that at the Hall."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but you must not expect to see anything like the Hall gardens +here, my dear. My cousin, Sir Edward, was always famous for his taste +in gardening and the like, but Sir John has no time for such matters. +Only do not let these wild girls meddle with fruit or flowers, for +their father will be very angry. You must watch them well."</p> + +<p>The garden possessed neither the extent nor the variety of that at +Holford Hall, but still it was a garden, and it was with a sensation of +exquisite delight that Winifred found herself once more among flowers +and shrubs, and the familiar odors of lavender, rosemary, and lilies. +Paulina walked silently at her side. She was a tall, pretty girl, and +would have been attractive but for the air of self-conscious and almost +sullen constraint which pervaded her whole face and manner. She seemed +like a person who was trying hard to sustain an assumed character, and, +as it seemed, with very indifferent success.</p> + +<p>"Tell me about Lady Peckham," said she, at last, abruptly. "My mother +speaks of her as if she were a saint! Was she really so?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by a saint, Mrs. Paulina?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>Paulina's ideas did not seem very clear. She thought a saint was +one who observed all the hours of prayer, and took the sacraments +frequently, and attended on the poor and sick, and gave up the world by +retiring into a convent or some such place.</p> + +<p>"And is that all?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Of course, a saint would read none but religious books, and wear +coarse clothes with haircloth next the skin, and perhaps lie all night +in her coffin or upon ashes, and do many penances."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Paulina, do you read your Bible and Prayer-book?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Of course," answered Paulina, indignantly. "I have read the Bible +all through twice, and I know the daily prayers and the Litany and +Communion Service by heart."</p> + +<p>"Well, will you tell me which of the saints of the Bible is described +as wearing haircloth next his skin, and sleeping in his coffin upon +ashes?"</p> + +<p>Paulina could not think of any one.</p> + +<p>"Feeding the poor, and constant prayer, and such like are all well +in their way, but they are not enough to make a saint," continued +Winifred. "St. Paul says he might give all his goods to feed the poor, +and give his body to be burned, yes, and even have faith so that he +could remove mountains, and yet all these things might profit him +nothing."</p> + +<p>"I don't see what will make a saint, then," said Paulina.</p> + +<p>"Suppose you read that same chapter I have quoted—the thirteenth of +First Corinthians—and see if it will help you."</p> + +<p>"But please tell me about Cousin Margaret," said Paulina.</p> + +<p>"I will at another time. At present I must see to your sisters. Come, +girls, let us have a race from end to end of this green alley, and see +if it will not give us an appetite for dinner."</p> + +<p>"I cannot run," said Betsey. "It makes my side ache and my heart beat +so."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you shall be judge. Come, now—start fair! One, two, three, +and away!"</p> + +<p>This was a new idea—this having a governess who could play with them. +When they were out of breath with exercise, Winifred showed them how +to make larkspur rings and whole families of dolls out of foxgloves +and the small green berries which had fallen from the trees. Never +had a play hour passed so pleasantly, so free from quarrelling and +fault-finding.</p> + +<p>"Well, you do look all as fresh as roses!" said Lady Corbet, +approvingly, as, with shining hair, neatly arranged dress, and rosy +cheeks, the young ladies presented themselves before her at dinner. +"Even Betty has a little color in her pale face. I am sure, Mrs. Evans, +you know how to deal with them, and I shall leave them entirely to you."</p> + +<p>The afternoon was not quite as pleasant as the morning. There was an +examination in tables and arithmetical rules, in which all were utterly +deficient—indeed, arithmetic was not a common acquirement in those +days. None of the girls except Paulina could read intelligently, and +Betty scarcely at all. There was some mortification and not a few tears +over the tasks set them, and Betty declared she could not learn to +read—there was no use in trying. However, by a mixture of decision and +gentleness, the lessons were dragged through at last.</p> + +<p>"That was very well, my dear!" said Winifred, as Phyllis finished her +recitation of the pence table, after two or three trials. "I see you +have taken pains, and I doubt not the next time you will have it quite +perfect."</p> + +<p>"How can you say so, Mrs. Evans?" exclaimed Paulina, who had appeared +quite absorbed in the book she was reading. "Phyllis made at least +three mistakes, and hesitated at all the questions. I do not see how +you can call that a good lesson."</p> + +<p>Phyllis' smile vanished, and she cast an angry glance at her sister.</p> + +<p>"Just like you. Grudging a morsel of praise to any one but yourself," +she muttered.</p> + +<p>"I call it a good lesson, because Phyllis has taken pains and applied +herself," said Winifred. "I think you would be much better employed +in doing so than in watching the lessons of others for whom you are +in no way responsible. Let me request that I may have no more such +interference from any of you."</p> + +<p>Paulina, returned to her book with her cheeks flushed scarlet, nor did +she speak again during the whole afternoon.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_14">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE BANQUET.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>FOR some weeks all went on smoothly between Winifred and her pupils. +The needlework was transferred from the morning to the afternoon, and a +story or a reading was the reward of good behavior. Phyllis and Jemima, +the twins, were easily made amenable to discipline. Phyllis was a +lively, high-spirited girl, affectionate and truthful, taking the lead +in study and play, and maintaining a complete ascendency over Jemima, +who was slower and more disposed to indolence, but who followed her +sister's lead in everything, good and bad.</p> + +<p>Winifred found the most difficulty in breaking up the habit of teasing +both their elder and younger sisters. Paulina's airs of superior +sanctity and wisdom, and Betty's passionate temper, offered a fair +mark for their girlish wit. Paulina usually received their assaults +in sullen silence and contempt, while a very little sufficed to throw +Betty into a passion of rage, in which she was like a mad creature for +a few minutes, and afterwards perfectly overwhelmed with penitence and +grief. These tempests were the more dangerous as the child's health was +very delicate, and she was subject to alarming swoons.</p> + +<p>With Paulina, Winifred could not feel that she gained any ground. At +first, indeed, Paulina seemed much interested in talking about Lady +Peckham and her ways, though she was evidently unwilling to allow any +merit to a style of piety so very different from her own; and many +were the arguments she held with Winifred upon the subject. All at +once, just as Winifred seemed to be getting upon some terms of intimacy +and confidence with her, Paulina froze up again more entirely than +ever. She would not speak a word more than she could help on religious +subjects, or any other, and spent as much time as possible in her own +room; while her fastings and penances were renewed with redoubled +ardor. She asked and obtained permission to attend morning prayers at +the cathedral—a permission her mother granted all the more easily, +because Sir John Trelawny, the bishop, was noted as a very decided +Protestant, and was indeed one of the seven bishops who were soon +afterwards imprisoned by King James.</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet only stipulated that her daughter should always be +accompanied by Molly, one of the maids, who was a great favorite +both with her and Ashwell, the old housekeeper. She had come highly +recommended, and was a well-mannered, smooth-spoken personage, +professing great devotion to the whole family and especially to Mrs. +Paulina. Winifred did not like her, and blamed herself for entertaining +a prejudice against such a useful and harmless person, but she could +not get rid of the feeling that Molly was somehow playing a double +part. As Phyllis said, she always looked as if she were watching +everything and everybody.</p> + +<p>To judge by Paulina's face and manner, she found little comfort in her +church-going. She grew thin and pale every day, and often appeared in +the morning with her eyes swollen as if she had cried all night. She +professed to read a great deal in her own room, but she always excused +herself, if possible, from the Bible reading with which Winifred began +the morning lessons, and indeed almost always came in too late for +them, while her preoccupation told visibly upon her lessons, in which +Phyllis and even Jemima threatened to outstrip her.</p> + +<p>"I shall have to speak to your mother, unless you take more pains +with your lessons, Paulina," said Winifred to her, one day, after the +children had left the room. "You set your sisters a very bad example. +What can they think of the effect of your religion, when they see you +growing more careless and neglectful of your duties every day? You +bring dishonor on the cause itself."</p> + +<p>"I cannot help it," said Paulina. "I have something more important to +think about than tapestry work and tables."</p> + +<p>"Your matters must be important indeed, if they are more so than the +duty imposed upon you by God Himself of obeying and honoring your +parents!" said Winifred, gravely. "You are cheating and deceiving them +by thus wasting your time and mine."</p> + +<p>Paulina flushed scarlet, and then, bursting into tears, she ran out of +the room. From that time she was more careful with her lessons, but +the cloud of depression grew deeper every day, and Winifred began to +be seriously uneasy, and to debate with herself whether she ought not +to mention the matter to the girl's mother. But incidents were soon to +occur which would render any such explanation unnecessary, and which +put an end forever to all poor Betty's school-room troubles.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, Mrs. Evans, I wonder if you can help me upon a pinch?" +exclaimed Lady Corbet one day, bursting into the school-room, evidently +in a great heat. "Here has Sir John sent up from the sugar-house to say +that he has a party of Londoners come to see the furnaces, and desiring +me to have a banquet prepared for them and be ready to receive them all +in half an hour. And there is the furniture in the great room to be +uncovered and dusted, and myself to be dressed—and how it is to be done +'I' don't know, for Ashwell has gone home to her mother, who is ill, +and the cook has no notion of anything beyond her saucepans. Do tell me +what I shall do, there's a dear!"</p> + +<p>"If you will allow me, madam, I will arrange the banquet myself, and +that will allow you time to dress and to superintend the ordering of +the great rooms," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear! But are you sere you know how? Sir John is very +particular."</p> + +<p>"I think so," said Winifred, smiling. "I have often assisted Mrs. +Alwright. There is abundance of wall fruit now ripe, and if you will +allow me as many flowers as I need, and the help of Mrs. Paulina—"</p> + +<p>"Take anything you need!" said Lady Corbet, evidently greatly relieved. +"You will find a tray and dishes in the great closet, and there is the +key of the store-room, where is abundance of preserved fruits, both +English and other. But use the Indian comfits as much as you can, for +Sir John will be glad to see them."</p> + +<p>"Cannot we help too?" asked the twins and Betty, all in a breath.</p> + +<p>"Not this time," said Winifred. "You have your lessons to learn, and, +having wasted so much time already this morning, I cannot allow you to +spend any more. Let me see when I come back that you have redeemed your +time, and with madam your mother's permission, I will bring you some +comfits."</p> + +<p>"To be sure, poor wretches!" (Wretch, in those days, was a term of +endearment.) "Do just as you like, Mrs. Evans, only do have everything +ready in time!"</p> + +<p>"No fear, madam. Give yourself no concern, only go and dress, and +we will have all things prepared," said Winifred, entering into the +spirit of the affair, which recalled to her mind some of the delightful +bustles at the Hall on similar occasions. "Run to the garden, Paulina, +and bring me all the red and white roses you can find, with plenty of +other flowers, and young lavender and rosemary shoots. Cut short stems, +and don't go off in a dream and forget what you are about!"</p> + +<p>Paulina departed, and presently returned with her basket and apron full +of flowers. She found Winifred, with her gown tucked up and her ruffles +turned back, dishing out preserves, arranging comfits and spices +in numberless glass and china bowls, and piling up fruit in silver +baskets. All these bowls and baskets, being arranged in symmetrical +order in the large wooden trays which stood on the table, and decked +with quantities of flowers, constituted the banquet which it was the +custom to serve up to guests like those Lady Corbet expected. Paulina +looked on in wonder and admiration, as Winifred contrived, arranged, +and planned, harmonizing forms and colors with the eye of a born artist.</p> + +<p>"That is really beautiful!" said she, as Winifred stepped back to +contemplate her work. "All I have ever seen before were just heaps +of good things piled up any how. And you really take pleasure in the +work!" she added, looking at Winifred's delicately flushed cheeks +and sparkling eyes. "I don't see how one like you can care for such +matters. In an hour all this will be ruined and scattered, and who will +be the better for all your toil?"</p> + +<p>"Ever so many people!" said Winifred. "I shall be the better for having +pleased madam your mother, who has been kind to me. Madam will be +pleased because Sir John is, and Sir John will be gratified at having +done due honor to his guests. Besides, I love the work. It recalls the +happiest days of all my life, when I used to help my dear lady at the +Hall."</p> + +<p>"I should not think my cousin would have cared for such worldly +trifles," said Paulina.</p> + +<p>"My dear lady cared for anything which would give pleasure to others," +said Winifred. "I have seen her spend hours over Sir Edward's laced +bands and ruffles because no one else could do them so much to his +mind. Ah, my dear, when you come to look rightly at life, you will find +that the least trifles may be sanctified by being directed and done to +our dear Divine Master. But we will talk of that another time. I hear +your mother coming from her room; please ask her to step this way."</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet held up her hands.</p> + +<p>"You are a jewel—a perfect jewel, Mrs. Evans! I must have you for my +own. That comes from your good bringing up. But I must certainly have +you with me all the time. You would be worth all the other women in the +house to me."</p> + +<p>"I am sure, madam, Ashwell does her best," said Paulina. "She has been +a faithful servant for many years, and it would be hard to turn her +away for a stranger."</p> + +<p>"And pray, Mistress Malapert, who talks of turning her away, or who +asked your advice in the matter at all?" said Lady Corbet, turning +sharply round. "When I want your counsel, I will ask for it. There, +child, I did not mean to be sharp with you, but you do vex me past +endurance—always taking it for granted that one means to do the +worst thing possible, and taking elders and betters to task on every +occasion. When I was at your age, I should have felt the rod for such a +speech, aye, or such a look, either. There, go to the school-room and +keep your sisters in order, while Mrs. Evans remains here to send in +the refreshments. The child does put me past patience with her airs," +she added, as Paulina departed, with the look of one going to the +stake. "Just think of her taking upon her to lecture her own godmother, +my old Aunt Norton, as good a woman as ever breathed, because the poor +old lady took her knitting upon Ash-Wednesday!"</p> + +<p>"Yet Mrs. Paulina seems, too, as if she were trying to do right," said +Winifred. "I do not understand it."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Trying to do right. One may try too much, in my opinion. I have no +fancy for these over-righteous people. But there is the knocker, and I +must go. I trust all to you, my dear. I am sure all will go well."</p> + +<p>Fortunately all did go well, until just as the last tray of sweetmeats +was sent in, when Phyllis, with a scared, pale face, peeped into the +little store-room.</p> + +<p>"Please, Mrs. Evans, will you come up to the school-room? We can't do +anything with Betty."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, and why should you do anything with Betty?" asked +Winifred. "Have you been teasing your little sister again, Phyllis?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure we did not mean anything," said Phyllis, looking very much +ashamed, "only she is so cross. But Paulina needn't have shook her so. +But please, Mrs. Evans, do hurry, before madam hears Betty!"</p> + +<p>Winifred looked about her to see that everything was safe, and then +hurried up to the school-room. As she opened the green baize door, she +was startled by hearing a shriek from Betty very different from her +usual scream of passion—an unmistakable cry of pain. She opened the +school-room door. Betty stood in the corner of the room, with both +hands pressed to her side, sobbing at every breath, and shrieking +at every third respiration. Jemima was trying to pacify her, while +Paulina sat in the window, endeavoring very unsuccessfully to appear +unconscious of what was going on. In an instant Winifred saw that +something serious was the matter.</p> + +<p>"Come here to me, Betty!" she said, in her gentle tone of authority. +"Mrs. Paulina, open the window at once—throw the casement wide. +Phyllis, run and bring a glass of wine and some cool water; you will +find them in the store-room. Jemima, come and unloose your sister's +stays and gown while I hold her in the fresh air."</p> + +<p>"Really, Mrs. Evans," began Paulina, but a louder cry from Betty +stopped her words, and the child's head sank back upon her friend's +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"She is dead!" shrieked the twins.</p> + +<p>"No; I think she has only fainted," said Winifred, trying to speak +calmly, though she was herself alarmed at the child's ghastly +appearance. "Paulina, did not Lady Corbet say that a doctor from London +was to be among the guests?"</p> + +<p>But Paulina, pale as death and trembling in every limb, could remember +nothing.</p> + +<p>"She did, I know," said Phyllis, who possessed more ready wit and +presence of mind than all the rest together. "Doctor Mercer was his +name."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Now I am going to lay Betty upon the window seat, where the +fresh air will blow upon her. Do you, Phyllis, bathe her face with the +strong waters, and, Jemima, fan her. Be steady and quiet like sensible +girls till I come back."</p> + +<p>The twins, quieted by the trust imposed upon them, promised to obey, +and Winifred was soon at the drawing-room door, asking to speak to Lady +Corbet.</p> + +<p>"Why, what has happened, child? You are as white as your cap! You have +not broken the great standing china bowl, have you?"</p> + +<p>"No, madam!" said Winifred, hardly able to suppress a smile even there, +to see how the good lady's housekeeping instinct came uppermost. "But +Betty has fainted, and I fear she is going to be very ill. Will you +please come and bring the doctor with you?"</p> + +<p>On ordinary occasions, when annoyed, Lady Corbet was as fussy and +flustered as an old hen, but any real emergency always made her quiet +and sensible at once.</p> + +<p>"Ah, poor child! Hath she had another swoon? Pray go back to her, Mrs. +Winifred, and I will bring the doctor directly."</p> + +<p>Winifred hurried back as desired, and found that Betty had revived, +but was still in great pain, unable to draw a long breath or to move. +Phyllis was supporting her in an upright position as well as she could, +and Jemima was fanning her, while Paulina had thrown herself upon the +floor in the farthest corner of the room, and was leaning her head upon +a chair.</p> + +<p>"O Mrs. Evans, help me! Don't let me die!" gasped the poor child. "Oh! +Am I dying?"</p> + +<p>"I trust not, my dear. Do not be alarmed!" said Winifred, cheerfully. +"See, you are better already, and here is your mother with the good +doctor from London. Now be a good maid, and do as you are bid, and I +trust all will be well."</p> + +<p>"What's this? The window open, and the air blowing in the child's +face!" exclaimed Lady Corbet, who had all the dread of fresh air +natural to an Englishwoman of the time, or indeed of any time.</p> + +<p>"Of course! Where should it blow?" returned the doctor, roughly but not +unkindly. "When people are gasping for breath, they need fresh air, +though I wonder how my young mistress came by sense enough to give it +to her. Hold her more upright still—ah! That will do. Let me have your +hand, my little girl. Ah! I see. Have you given her anything?" sharply +to Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," said Winifred. "I sent for some wine, but she had fainted +before it came."</p> + +<p>"Just as well. She must have an anodyne at once. Bring me some syrup, a +spoon, and water."</p> + +<p>"In the store-room, Phyllis!" said Winifred. "Quickly, my dear."</p> + +<p>Phyllis was back almost before the words were spoken, and the doctor +prepared the anodyne with his own hands. There had always been a great +struggle to make Betty take medicine, but her own alarm and distress +and the ascendency Winifred had already obtained over her rendered her +docile.</p> + +<p>"Now, she must be put to bed, and kept absolutely quiet," said the +doctor. "This young lady—I have not the honor of knowing her name—seems +to have her wits at her fingers' ends. Let her stay with the child and +sit up with her to-night. You, madam, keep the house very quiet. I +am to be in town some days, and I will look in upon you again in the +morning."</p> + +<p>"What causes these attacks, doctor?" asked Lady Corbet, after Betty had +left the room.</p> + +<p>"Heart disease," answered Doctor Mercer, briefly. "I am sorry to shock +you, madam, but it is but right you should know, in order to guard +against them, since every paroxysm she has is just so much ground lost. +With care, she may outgrow them, but she is likely enough to die in any +one. You must avoid all cause of excitement with her; never let her be +struck or shaken; above all, taken roughly by the left arm. One such +shock may be fatal."</p> + +<p>Paulina, in her dark corner, buried her face deeper at these words, +as she remembered how sharply she had shaken Betty by that very arm, +and how thin and fragile it had felt in her grasp. The twins heard it +also as they clung together in the window, and promised each other in +whispers that they would never, no, never tease Betty again, no matter +what she did, if God would only spare her this time.</p> + +<p>"And what about this fever, doctor, that they say is in the town? Can +one do anything to keep it off by fumigations or the like?"</p> + +<p>"The best way to keep it off is to use plenty of air and cleanliness," +replied Doctor Mercer, who was so far in advance of his age as to be +accounted almost a heretic by his learned brethren. "Use good food in +moderation, and see that your work-people and the poor about you have +the same, and leave the rest to God."</p> + +<p>"But you will come and see my poor Betty again in the morning?" urged +the anxious mother.</p> + +<p>"To be sure! I said so. By the way, who is this young gentlewoman who +seems to understand herself so well? A kinswoman of your own?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I cannot call her a kinswoman exactly, though she is a connection +of my cousin Margaret, Lady Peckham of Holford, and was indeed partly +brought up by her," answered Lady Corbet, who never failed to sport the +Peckhams of Holford on every possible occasion. "Her father was captain +of a vessel sailing from this port, and son of a Somersetshire yeoman +of good estate, but her mother was daughter to a Devonshire gentleman +of very old family. She is daily governess to my daughters, and I am +so much pleased with her that I think of taking her into my house +altogether."</p> + +<p>"So she is an orphan?" said the doctor. "Well, madam, follow my +directions, and I trust all will be well, but above all keep the house +quiet. I will not answer for consequences should the child be suddenly +awakened."</p> + +<p>"Well, maidens, you have heard what the good doctor has said," said +Lady Corbet. "Let me see how quiet you can be. I must say you have +behaved well and shown yourselves sensible girls. But where is Paulina?"</p> + +<p>"Here, madam!" said Paulina, lifting her pale, tear-stained face from +the chair on which it had been hidden; and then, throwing herself at +her mother's feet, she exclaimed, in a suppressed voice: "It was all +my fault, mother—all, all! Beat me if you will or turn me out of the +house, for I deserve it all!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush, child! It is a good thing to own your fault, and I am glad +to see it, but don't go into hysterics, and wake your poor sister. +Phyllis, you can tell a straight story. Let me hear an account of the +whole from you."</p> + +<p>There did not seem to be so very much to tell. The twins had been +teasing Betty with rough play, while Paulina was reading as usual in +her corner. Finally Betty fell over a footstool against Paulina, and +knocked her book out of her hand. Betty cried out.</p> + +<p>"And then," concluded Phyllis, "Paulina shook her hard, and slapped her +shoulders two or three times with the book, to make her stop screaming. +Then when she would not stop, Paulina set her in the corner, and shook +her again. Then I was frightened because Betty looked so bad, and I ran +and called Mrs. Evans."</p> + +<p>"It is all true!" said Paulina, between her sobs. "I have killed the +child! It was all my wicked temper because you sent me up-stairs. I +have done all the mischief."</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet was amazed. It was the first time Paulina, had ever accused +herself of a fault. She administered lectures and pardons all round, +was certain they would never be so bad again, sent for some of the +relics of the banquet to make them a feast, and, when it was plain that +Paulina could not eat, made her a cup of tea (then a very uncommon +luxury), and sent her to bed to sleep off her headache.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_15">CHAPTER XV.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE FEVER.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>ABOUT nine o'clock Lady Corbet came softly into the room where Betty +had at last fallen into a quiet and sound slumber.</p> + +<p>"Poor little dear!" said she, sadly, as she looked at the pale face of +the little sleeper. "She really breathes more gently, does she not? How +lucky that the doctor happened to be in the house! But, sweetheart, you +must go and got some supper and a breath of fresh air, for I am sure +you need it. And, my dear, will you, as you come back, just step in +and see if Pall is asleep? The poor child is all but broken-hearted. I +could not be hard upon her when I saw how sorry she was for her fault, +especially as it is so rare for her to own herself in the wrong."</p> + +<p>Winifred was rather unwilling to leave her charge, but she was afraid +of an argument on the subject which would waken Betty, so she slipped +gently out of the room. She had eaten nothing since her twelve o'clock +dinner, and felt herself refreshed by the delicate little supper which +had been prepared for her by the motherly care of Lady Corbet. She went +to the garden door to catch a breath of fresh air, but there seemed to +be no air abroad. The heat was melting, and a low, heavy cloud brooded +over the whole sky.</p> + +<p>"What a stifling heat!" thought Winifred, drawing a long breath. "I +wonder if it is any fresher on the top of Holford heath? It seems as +though one breath smelling of the furze would put new life into my +heart."</p> + +<p>She drew another long breath, and went slowly up-stairs to Paulina's +little chamber. She opened the door, and at first thought no one was +in the room, but a closer inspection showed her Paulina, in her white +night-dress, prostrate on the bare boards, her face hidden in her arms, +and her whole body shaking with suppressed sobs.</p> + +<p>"My poor, dear child!" said Winifred, kneeling beside her. "Why are you +here, when you should be in bed and asleep?"</p> + +<p>Paulina did not reply, save by her deeper sobs.</p> + +<p>"Even if you have done wrong, which I do not deny, you know there is +forgiveness for the worst of sinners," continued Winifred, in soothing +tones. "Do you not remember who it was that came into the world to save +sinners?"</p> + +<p>"'Don't,' Mrs. Evans!" interrupted Paulina, in tones of agony. "You +will kill me. For three long years I have been trying to make myself a +Christian, and I am no nearer to it than when I began. I have fasted +and prayed, and done penance, and thought upon death and judgment, till +my head was like to burst, and all to no purpose. I shall never be +prepared for them nor for heaven!"</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" said Winifred, soothingly, as Paulina dropped her +head upon her arms with a fresh burst of sobs. "No wonder you are +discouraged. Your efforts have been like your tapestry work. You have +begun all wrong, and therefore it is no wonder that your labors have +produced nothing but confusion. Do you remember what I told you about +it—that you would never do anything with that piece, but you must begin +anew?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" answered Paulina, interested, as it were, in spite of herself.</p> + +<p>"And you found it so, did you not? You had to take all new +materials—canvas, worsted, and silk—after you had tried two or three +days to rectify your mistakes. After that you went on prosperously +enough."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Paulina.</p> + +<p>"Well, Paulina, you have made the same mistake in your religion. You +have begun wrong, and thus you have gone on from bad to worse; and if +you were to go on forever, you can never get to heaven in this way, +because you are not in the way thither."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean, Mrs. Winifred," said Paulina, both roused +and piqued by this unexpected statement. "I don't know how one is to +got to heaven except by being good."</p> + +<p>"Then no one will over go there, for assuredly no one was ever good +enough yet. You are fond of saying that you know all the prayers in +the church service, Paulina. Who is it who is said, in the Communion +Service, to have made by His one oblation of himself once offered, a +full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole +world?"</p> + +<p>"Our Lord, of course!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what was the need of His making that costly offering, if people +can gain salvation and heaven by their own efforts without Him; above +all, if by penance and fasting they can make atonement for their own +sins? No, no, my child, you are wrong. Do you think that by lying +all night weeping on the ground you can blot out the evil you have +done this day, and thus make your account even with the God you have +offended?"</p> + +<p>"No, oh, no!" cried Paulina, letting her head fall again. "Oh! If any +penance, any pilgrimage, could make amend or restore my poor sister, +how gladly would I do it!"</p> + +<p>"But if the way is already provided whereby your sin may be blotted +out as if it had never been," said Winifred; "if by no action upon +your part, save sorrow for your sins and faith in your Saviour, you +could settle all the long account against you and receive strength +for all time to come, would it not be worth while to try? O Paulina! +Give up this wretched and false idea of earning the favor of God. Cast +yourself just as you are—a poor, lost, dying sinner—utterly unworthy of +anything save condemnation, upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ His +Son, and beg forgiveness for His sake who died and rose again for you. +Then indeed you may feel yourself forgiven. Then you will know what it +is to love your Father in heaven as well as to fear Him; and humbled +yet encouraged, you may go on striving to please God, not because He +is a hard and exacting master, but because He is a dear Father, who +so loved you that He gave His own Son to die for you. I must go back +to your sister now, but, Paulina, think of what I have said, and try +to act upon it. And do not by thus exposing your health add to your +mother's cares and anxieties. Believe me that is only another form of +selfishness!"</p> + +<p>"I will do as you tell me," said Paulina, submissively, "but oh! Mrs. +Winifred, do not be hard upon me! I am so very, very unhappy!"</p> + +<p>"But what is there to make you so unhappy, Paulina? Anything but what +happened to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Everything!" said Paulina, abruptly. "I wish I had never been born. +But there, Betty will want you. Good-night!"</p> + +<p>"I must indeed go to her!" said Winifred. "Good-night, my dear child, +and may God bless you and teach you by His Holy Spirit!"</p> + +<p>"Well, and how did you find Pall?" asked Lady Corbet.</p> + +<p>"Very sad, madam, but I left her more quiet, and, I trust, in a way to +be comforted. And now, let me beg you to rest, and leave our little one +to my care."</p> + +<p>The next morning found Betty decidedly improved, though very weak and +languid, and much disposed to insist upon her privileges as an invalid, +and keep the whole house waiting upon her. At last, however, she was +prevailed upon to let Phyllis sit by her side and tell her stories, +while Winifred refreshed herself with washing and dressing and a walk +in the garden. She looked up at Paulina's window, but the curtain was +drawn. Winifred gathered a handful of flowers and leaves, and made a +couple of little nosegays to carry up to her patient. She peeped into +Paulina's room, and found her awake, but not up.</p> + +<p>"I do not know what is the matter with me," was her reply to Winifred's +question, "but I cannot rise at all. I am so sick and giddy, and my +head feels so strangely! I have been hot and cold by fits all night, +and so thirsty I have drunk up all the water in the jug. But oh! please +do open the window, and let in the fresh air. I am stifled in this +close room."</p> + +<p>Winifred undrew the curtains and let in the light and air. As she +did so, she looked at Paulina, and her heart sank within her, for +she thought she recognized in the girl's face the first signs of the +dreadful fever which had swept away in five weeks more than half the +inhabitants of Bridgewater.</p> + +<p>"Do not try to rise," said she. "You are not able. I will excuse you to +madam your mother, and will bring the doctor to you when he comes to +see Betty."</p> + +<p>Paulina, sank back on her pillow with a sigh, as though it were a +sort of comfort to find herself relieved from exertion, and Winifred +hastened down-stairs as she heard the doctor's foot ascending.</p> + +<p>He looked at Betty, pronounced her doing well, and quite won her heart +by his jokes and a new picture-book, so that she readily agreed to stay +in bed and play with her doll if only Phyllis might stay with her.</p> + +<p>"If you please, madam, I should like the doctor to see Mrs. Paulina," +said Winifred. "She seems to me far from well and is quite unable to +rise."</p> + +<p>The moment Doctor Mercer entered the room, he exchanged a glance with +Winifred, which seemed to say on one side, "Do you know the state of +the case?" and on the other, "Yes, I do."</p> + +<p>Paulina was heavy and drowsy, answering intelligently when roused, but +soon dropping of again.</p> + +<p>The doctor felt her pulse and head, examined her tongue, and asked many +questions as to how she had rested and how she had felt for some days +back. Then he beckoned Lady Corbet out of the room.</p> + +<p>"Your daughter is very ill, madam," said he, gravely, "and, I fear, is +likely to be worse. She has every symptom of the prevailing fever."</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet turned pale and trembled. She had the dread of infection +common to the time, when, indeed, there was every excuse for it; since, +owing to the manner of life and the ignorance of hygienic laws, almost +all diseases took on an infectious character. But she was, as I have +said, a woman great in emergencies, and it was but a moment before she +recovered herself, and asked, anxiously indeed but calmly, what was to +be done, and whether any measures could be taken to prevent the spread +of the disease.</p> + +<p>"You see, Doctor Mercer, I do not exactly know to whom to turn. Our old +family doctor is lately dead, and Doctor Butler, who would be my next +dependence, has turned papist, and can think of nothing but his crosses +and medals and other popish trinkets, besides which he is not a man of +such character as I should like to have about my young daughters. He +hath made trouble in more than one family. O doctor! If you could only +stay and attend upon my children!"</p> + +<p>The doctor smiled. "I have been thinking, madam, of spending some time +in the West, specially for the purpose of studying this fever, which +has made such ravages of late years. I shall be happy to attend your +daughters, but I warn you that I am considered little better than a +heretic by many of my medical brethren. I shall not bleed Mrs. Paulina, +nor shut her up in a close room with neither air nor water."</p> + +<p>"You shall do just as you please," said Lady Corbet, evidently greatly +relieved. "To be sure, it does not seem very sensible to heat up folks +that are burning up already."</p> + +<p>"Have you servants upon whom you can rely?" asked Doctor Mercer.</p> + +<p>"That I don't know," answered Lady Corbet. "There is Ashwell, who would +go through fire and water to serve me, and scold and grumble at me all +the time! But as for the rest, I cannot answer for them."</p> + +<p>"This Mrs. Evans, now?" said the doctor, in an inquiring tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; I doubt not she would be worth a host, but you see, Doctor +Mercer, she is an orphan child, and under no obligation to me, and I +could not ask her to put her life in peril for a stranger."</p> + +<p>"You are a good woman, I am sure of that," said the doctor, abruptly. +"But the gentlewoman has been exposed already. Does not that make a +difference?"</p> + +<p>"I shall remain, of course," said Winifred, who had come to the door in +time to hear the last few words. "If you, madam, will send some one to +my aunt's to let her know the reason of my stay and to bring me some +clothes, I shall remain with Mrs. Paulina till she is better. I am not +afraid."</p> + +<p>"But you do not, perhaps, understand the danger?" said the doctor, +kindly.</p> + +<p>"My grandfather and my mother, and many of our neighbors, died of the +fever," replied Winifred. "I have nothing to hinder my staying, and I +am not in the least afraid."</p> + +<p>"But can you have your wits about you, and not go off in a fit yourself +if your patient swoons or bleeds at the nose?" asked the doctor, +gruffly. "The sick-room is no place for nervous fine ladies."</p> + +<p>"I can do as I am bid," replied Winifred, simply.</p> + +<p>"If you can, you are a wonderful woman and worth your weight in gold. +Come with me, that I may tell you what to do."</p> + +<p>Paulina grew rapidly worse, and by noon was utterly prostrated.</p> + +<p>Sir John, coming home to dinner, complained of headache and pains in +all his joints; and though he made light of it, and declared that +nothing ailed him but his yesterday's dinner, it was plain that the +disease was upon him. By night he was unable to rise, and one of the +'prentice lads showed symptoms of coming down.</p> + +<p>"Only think, Mrs. Evans," said Ashwell, as Winifred came down-stairs +to prepare same gruel for her patient, "here have all the servants run +away and left us—yes, every maid in the house, and the two men, and +the knife-boy that my good lady took out of the very street, as a body +may say—all gone but poor black Jack, who has hardly the sense of an +ape and cannot talk like a Christian. Yes, every one, the ungrateful +hussies, and after all the time I have spent teaching them, and my +mistress giving them each a new gown only last quarter! And this +new-fangled doctor, with his fancies about fresh air and cool water for +Mrs. Paulina, as if any one ever heard of such a thing in a fever!"</p> + +<p>"Why did not Jack go with the rest?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Me not going to run away and leave my kind massa what tooked me out +of de ship, gave me good clothes and all, and missus that was always +kind to poor Jack," said the negro, answering for himself. "Me stay and +wait on my massa! Suppose I do get fever, what then? I got no fader nor +moder, no wife, no babies! Suppose Jack die, he buried in the ground; +there's an end of poor black man, unless maybe that good Lord Jesus my +missus tell me 'bout come some day, and say, 'Get up, Jack, and come +'long with me!'"</p> + +<p>"Just hear the poor creature!" said Ashwell, wiping the tears from her +eyes. "Whoever thought of his having feeling like that? Well, Mrs. +Evans, I suppose you will be going to leave us, like the rest?"</p> + +<p>"No, Ashwell, I have no notion of going at present," replied Winifred, +who was, as she well knew, no favorite with the spoiled and jealous old +servant. "I am like poor Jack," she added, with a sad smile. "Suppose I +do die, there is no one to cry for me. I shall not leave Lady Corbet so +long as I can do anything for her."</p> + +<p>"Mighty fine!" grumbled the old woman. "But who is to do all the work, +I should like to know?"</p> + +<p>"You and I, and poor Jack, and Mrs. Jem and Phyllis—begging their +pardon for putting them in such company," replied Winifred, smiling. +"As for what cannot be done, we must just leave it undone; and I am +sure Jack will help us all he is able."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dat I will, young missus!" replied Jack, briskly. "Me could cook +do dinner as well as dat greasy Jenny Cook," he added, with an injured +air, "only Misses Ashwell she never tink Jack know nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you look like it!" said Ashwell, and then added, in a softer +tone, "I dare say you would do your best."</p> + +<p>"I should not wonder if he did know how!" said Winifred. "I have heard +my father say that some of the best cooks he ever saw were West India +negroes."</p> + +<p>"Dat de livin' truth, young missus!" said Jack, eagerly. "My moder she +cook for old massa, and I learnt all her ways, for I was big boy before +massa sold me. You just let me try, that's all!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, we will see! See who is knocking there!"</p> + +<p>The knocker was no less a person than Dame Evans herself. That good +woman had been thrown into ten times more than her usual fume and +flutter by the receipt of her niece's note, which she had been unable +to read till her husband came home. Then indeed there was a breeze. +Dame Evans wept and scolded—declared that there never was such an +unlucky woman, and that everything turned out just to spite her.</p> + +<p>"Here, just as we had made up our minds to go out into the country—to +the very house this wilful, troublesome girl was born in and was always +raving about—and an awful piece of work it will be, no doubt, and +endless damage—Winifred must go and expose herself to the fever, so +that we cannot take her without danger to all our precious lives. And +as if that was not enough, she must go and make up her mind to stay and +nurse these gentlefolks, who are neither kith nor kin to her. I declare +it is enough to provoke a saint!" concluded Dame Evans, in her usual +style.</p> + +<p>"Since you could not take her without danger, it is well that she has +made up her mind to remain with my Lady Corbet!" observed Dame Joyce, +who had run in to hear and tell the latest news about the fever, the +Irish army King James was bringing over, and the dreadful doings of the +papists. "The Corbets are fine, open-handed people, and can pay them +that serve them—that is one thing."</p> + +<p>"And suppose they can—is that any reason my niece should endanger her +precious life and put me to all this inconvenience?" said Dame Evans, +turning angrily upon her visitor. "Thank goodness, we are not dependent +upon the pay of great folks, nor need to be, seeing we have means of +our own, and know how to use them too, if we don't wear lace whisks and +camlet gowns every day!" casting a glance of supreme contempt upon the +somewhat superabundant finery of the goldsmith's wife.</p> + +<p>Good, easy Dame Joyce laughed, and addressed herself to Master Evans.</p> + +<p>"And so you are going out into the country, for all the world like +gentlefolks. But maybe you will not be so much better off, for they say +the fever was very bad at Bridgewater last time. Who knows," she added +mischievously, "that the seeds of the fever may not be remaining in the +house, since your father and sister died of it, and the place has been +shut up for so long?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what, Mistress Joyce, you are not to judge every one by +yourself," said Dame Evans, sharply. "You won't find any slat-holes or +filthy, dirty cupboards about my place, or my sister's either, for ill +smells and sickness to lurk in. It is my opinion that if folks were +as careful as they should be to keep clean and decent, we should not +have so much of these fevers!" A remark in which the good woman was +undoubtedly correct.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, dame, we will not quarrel about that!" said Mrs. Joyce. +"What are you going to do about your niece?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know!" said Dame Evans, pettishly. "I don't quite +like to leave her behind, but I don't see how we are to take her, now +that she has been exposed to the fever."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and so bad as they have it, too!" said Mrs. Joyce, who seemed +to take delight in tormenting her neighbor. "Their servants have all +run away, men and maids and all, except old Sarah Ashwell and the +blackamoor who waits on Sir John."</p> + +<p>"Winifred must do as she thinks right," said Master Evans, who had not +spoken before. "If the family is in such straits, I do not believe she +will leave them, nor can I blame her if she does not. Nevertheless she +must have the choice of going with us or staying behind, as she thinks +best. Perhaps, when she knows we are going to the Stonehill farm, she +may change her mind."</p> + +<p>"And that is true, too!" said Dame Evans. "I will see her this +afternoon, and I doubt not I can bring her to reason. She has been well +brought up—not like some people's children, left to go to rack and +ruin, while their mother goes about the street to show her finery."</p> + +<p>Dame Evans always bestowed these hints and innuendoes upon her +easy-tempered neighbor in great abundance: nevertheless she would have +felt herself much aggrieved if Dame Joyce had not run in at least every +other day to give her the news of the street and the city.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Dame Evans dressed herself with extra care for walking, and, having set +the little girls their tasks of knitting and sewing, she sallied out +and took her way to Sir John Corbet's house, fortifying her mind with +all the arguments she could think of wherewith to overcome Winifred's +obstinacy. She would not come within the door, but remained in the +court while Jack called Winifred out of the housekeeper's room.</p> + +<p>"There, don't come too near me, child!" said Dame Evans, shrinking +back. "I suppose you have just come from that poor young lady's +sickbed."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have been over her all day," replied Winifred. "Will you come +into the house, aunt, or will you walk into the garden?"</p> + +<p>"Let us go into the garden," said Dame Evans, though she felt a great +desire to see the fine house of which she had heard so much. "We shall +be in the fresh air at least."</p> + +<p>Winifred opened the gate which led into the garden, and conducted her +aunt to a pleasant little arbor at the opposite end from the house.</p> + +<p>"Well, this is a fine place, to be sure!" said Dame Evans, looking +about her. "What a large garden, and what a great house! Which is Mrs. +Paulina's room, now?"</p> + +<p>"That one with the projecting window and the open casement."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say you leave the window open, and she lying ill of +a fever!" exclaimed Dame Evans, in horror. "What can you be thinking +of, child? 'Tis enough to be her death!"</p> + +<p>"It is by the doctor's orders," said Winifred. "He is a new doctor from +London, who is taking care of the family."</p> + +<p>"Aye, some of those new-fangled notions! No doubt, he must be setting +up to know more than all his elders and betters. Tis the way of this +age! I dare say the poor child will die, and Sir John too."</p> + +<p>"Almost every one does die who has the fever, anyway," observed +Winifred. "Perhaps it may be well to try some new method, since the old +ones certainly seem to answer no good purpose."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, 'twas not for that I came," said Dame Evans, pettishly. +"I want to know what you mean, Winifred, by staying here in this +plague-stricken house? Why did you not come home directly Mrs. Paulina +was taken? And now they say all the maids have run away—idle, cowardly +jades! I'll be bound I'd teach them! And who is to do anything?"</p> + +<p>"Why, aunt, it seems to me that I should have been as bad as the +maids, if I had gone away and left the family in their distress!" said +Winifred. "Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Why not, gurtha! Why, because they are hired servants bound to stay +till their quarter-day, whatever happens! Do you mean to even yourself +to a common serving-wench?"</p> + +<p>"No, and for that reason I would not be willing to leave in their +trouble a family who have been kind to me. The maids are poor, ignorant +creatures, of whom we cannot expect a great deal. I should not like to +show that I am worth no more than they!" added Winifred, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" said her aunt, somewhat taken aback by being thus met +on her own ground. "All that does not signify. What I want to know +is, whether you will go out to Stonehill farm with us to-morrow or +no. The house is empty, and business here is dull, besides that the +fever is already growing bad down by the water-side, and you uncle +hath concluded to take a holiday for once and go into the country for +a month. He says that you shall have your choice, for all you have +behaved so ill, and are just as like as not to bring the fever among +us," added the dame, falling into her usual grumbling strain. "But you +must make up your mind quickly."</p> + +<p>For one moment Winifred's heart bounded. To see the old place once +more—to visit all the old haunts where she had walked with her +mother—to go over the Hall and the gardens, and walk across the moor to +Dame Sprat's old cottage! But long before Dame Evans had finished her +speech, Winifred's mind was made up.</p> + +<p>She glanced up at Paulina's casement, and then at the window of the +school-room, where she could see the little girl anxiously watching +her. Then she thought how lonely and sad all the old haunts would seem, +with none of the dear familiar faces—the once cheerful farm-house under +the different rule of her aunt, who never allowed any one about her to +be happy if she could help it; and she felt as if she had little to +regret.</p> + +<p>"No, aunt, I cannot go!" she replied. "It would not be right, as you +say, to expose you all to the fever, and besides I am needed here. +Madam must needs be with Sir John, and Ashwell will have her hands +full, besides that she will not follow the doctor's rules in anything. +Then there is Betty, who will mind no one but me. No, I do not see well +how I can go."</p> + +<p>"Mighty well!" grumbled her aunt, who, though inwardly relieved by +Winifred's decision, was not disposed to let it pass without a proper +amount of fault-finding. "Mighty fine, indeed! I suppose you learned +all that out of your books that you are always poring over? To my +mind, such fine notions are only fit for gentlefolks—though I suppose +you think yourself a gentlewoman, as good as the best. Look out for +yourself, that is my notion!"</p> + +<p>"But, aunt, the Bible—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't go talking to me about the Bible, Mrs. Winifred!" retorted +the dame, not unwilling to work herself into a passion, that she might +stifle certain unpleasant qualms of conscience. "The Bible is all well +enough for Sundays and such like, and for sick people, maybe, but I +never saw any good come of those folks who are always making a fuss +about the Bible and religion. They were just the people who got up +Monmouth's war, and made all that distress. If there is anything I do +despise, it is a hypocrite. But your uncle says you are to have your +own way, so I must e'en leave you to your own destruction!" added Dame +Evans, in whose mind existed a great contention between her selfish +fears and her real affection for her niece. "'Twill be worth a fortune +to you if you do live through it, that is one thing, for the Corbets +are generous people, and they will never forget it of you. I should not +wonder if it should be the making of you. But then, if you should die!"</p> + +<p>"Then I shall go home, indeed!" said Winifred, with her sad smile. "And +that will be better than going to Stonehill."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Evans, here's Missy Polly a-calling for you!" called Jack.</p> + +<p>"Ah, the ugly ape! How any one can bear a blackamoor about them, I +can't tell!" said Dame Evans, rising.</p> + +<p>"Well, good-bye, lovey! Take care of yourself!" And her heart getting +for once the better of her fears, she threw both her arms round her +niece, and kissed her, crying heartily. "Whatever happens, I will +always say that you have been a good, dutiful girl—that you have! I +will send by the 'prentice lad all your things, and as to the money you +have earned—"</p> + +<p>"Dear aunt, please keep that, and buy with it the pair of pewter +tankards you liked so much, to remember your little Winifred! I have +money by me, and Lady Corbet will let me want for nothing."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, we shall see about that. But, Winifred—" turning back at +the last moment—"is it true that Mrs. Paulina has turned papist?"</p> + +<p>"No, I should think not," answered Winifred. "I have seen no signs of +it."</p> + +<p>"Well, all I know is that neighbor Joyce says so, and pretends that she +had her news from her sister Jones, who is a papist herself. Dame Joyce +says she has been seen talking with that Doctor Butler they make such +a fuss about, and people talk of her giving him meetings and going to +confession. Moreover she is sure that she herself saw Mrs. Paulina in +the new Romish chapel on Ascension-day, whither she went herself—more +shame to her—to see the sights. She says Mrs. Paulina had her hood +pulled over her face, but she knew her directly!"</p> + +<p>"I hardly think that can be true. Dame Joyce must be mistaken."</p> + +<p>"Not she! She has eyes in the back of her head, I think. Well, +farewell, sweetheart, and God bless thee!"</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Winifred returned to the chamber of her patient, too much startled by +what she had just heard to think as much as she would otherwise have +done of the parting with her aunt. She could not believe the story, and +yet, if it were true, it explained many little things which had puzzled +her. Paulina's severe penances—her evident desire of late to avoid the +Bible readings—her self-righteous notions—her reserved and burdened +air, as if she had always something to conceal—all tended that way!</p> + +<p>Nay, upon that very Ascension-day, Paulina had refused to go to church +with the rest on the ground of a headache, which excuse was fully borne +out by her paleness and her heavy, downcast eyes. She remembered, +too, that, when they returned, Paulina was nowhere to be found, and +that by-and-by she had come in from the garden, looking flurried and +flushed. Could it possibly be that the girl was deceiving her parents +and all about her? And if so, what could be done about the matter?</p> + +<p>The last year of James the Second's most unfortunate reign was one of +great activity among that portion of the English Roman Catholics—not by +any means the most respectable or intelligent portion—who with the king +were guided by the counsels of the Jesuits rather than by those of the +pope. What might be called the Country party believed with the pontiff +that James was injuring the cause instead of benefiting it, and that a +reaction must inevitably follow, which would leave the English Roman +Catholics in a worse position than ever. Events proved them to have +been in the right, but nothing could induce the king or his advisers to +pause in their career. A good many people joined themselves to them, +some from policy, some, no doubt, from sincere conviction, and the new +recruits were more zealous than those who had grown up in the faith +from their childhood.</p> + +<p>Amongst the most important converts in the city of Bristol was the +Doctor Butler who has been more than once mentioned. Though considered +a skilful physician, he had never been a man of good character, and +more than one family had had reason to repent the confidence placed in +him. Since his conversion by Father Hewling, the principal Jesuit in +the city, he had professed great repentance for his former misdeeds, +and an equal desire to atone for them by his zeal in the new religion, +but Father Kennedy, the harmless, good-natured old secular priest +who had looked after the spiritual interests of the few old Catholic +families in Bristol for thirty years, shook his head and raised his +eyebrows when the doctor was mentioned, and would not say one word in +his favor.</p> + +<p>Winifred found Paulina, roused from her stupor, and raving in delirium, +declaring that Ashwell meant to suffocate her. With some trouble she +was persuaded to lie down, and her face being bathed with rose-water, +and the casement opened, she soon became quiet again.</p> + +<p>"Very well, Mrs. Evans, mighty well, indeed!" said the old woman, +trembling with rage. "Only when you are called to account for the death +of that dear child, don't blame me! As if I, that nursed her and her +sister from their birth, and took care of all my five sisters in the +fever when they every one died, was to be taught my duty by a chit like +you!"</p> + +<p>"But, Mrs. Ashwell, such are the doctor's orders! It is none of my +doing."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you and your new-fangled doctor! Well, well, I wash my hands of +it!" And the old woman hobbled down-stairs, muttering to herself that +it should go hard but she would get better advice for her darling—that +she would, indeed!</p> + +<p>All day long did Winifred go from one sick-room to another, and from +the kitchen to the school-room. An attempt had been made to isolate +the throe younger girls, but it was found impracticable, and they were +merely kept out of the presence of the sufferers. Even this did not +seem likely to be possible for any great length of time, since Sir John +claimed the whole of Lady Corbet's attention, with what help she could +receive from black Jack; and Ashwell's inveterate prejudice against the +doctor made her worse than useless in the sick-room.</p> + +<p>The little girls were very good, waiting upon themselves and making +a conscience of doing some part of their usual tasks every day. They +were very kind and patient with Betty, and Betty herself, warned by the +violence of her late attack, and helped by the forbearance with which +she was treated, had fewer "tantrums," as Ashwell called them, than +ever before in her life.</p> + +<p>Paulina's case was the worst of all. Day by day she sank more and more +under the power of the disease, her lucid intervals became fewer, +and her delirium worse in its character. Doctor Mercer came to see +her twice a day, and sometimes oftener, but all his remedies seemed +powerless to arrest the course of the disease. He had become very +popular among the poorer class in the city, helped, probably, by the +fact that he gave away liberally both advice and medicine, but few of +the upper classes employed him, and by most of the medical fraternity, +he was denounced in no measured terms. What indeed was to be expected +of a man who would have the casements of his patients' rooms opened all +day, and sometimes all night, and allowed the sick to drink as much +cold water as they desired!</p> + +<p>"Well, and how is our young lady to-day?" he asked, one morning, of +Winifred, as she met him at the door of Paulina's room.</p> + +<p>"Worse and worse!" said Winifred, with tears in her eyes. "She has not +spoken or shown any sign of sense since midnight."</p> + +<p>"Aye, I think this will be the crisis," said the doctor, as he +examined the patient, whose senses now appeared closed to all external +impressions, while her sunken features seemed already to have assumed +the immobility of death. "You must not be discouraged, however. The +case is not yet hopeless so long as she can swallow, but you must watch +her carefully, for the next twenty-four hours will decide the question +of life or death. I have not seen so bad a case as hers among any of my +Protestant patients."</p> + +<p>"Is the fever, then, worse among the papists?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"The worst cases I have met with seem to have been among those who were +at the new Romish chapel on Ascension-day," replied the doctor. "It +seems there was a great crowd, and the heat was intense. I suppose I +have had at least twenty cases which originated there, all taken down +at once. And, by the way, this young lady was attacked at the very same +time. It can hardly be, I suppose, that she was among them?"</p> + +<p>Winifred thought, with a start, of her aunt's gossip, which had nearly +faded from her mind.</p> + +<p>"I cannot believe it!" said she. "Lady Corbet would never allow such +a thing, and I cannot think Mrs. Paulina would deceive her parents. +She always went to the early morning prayers at the cathedral, rather +against the will of her mother, who, however, permitted it, partly +because Mrs. Paulina was delicate, and the walk was thought good for +her."</p> + +<p>"Did she go alone?" asked Doctor Mercer.</p> + +<p>"No, one of the maids, who lately left us, went with her."</p> + +<p>"Hath she ever seemed to you to have any burden upon her mind?"</p> + +<p>"I have sometimes thought so, especially during the two weeks before +she was taken ill. But why do you ask, Doctor Mercer? Have you any +suspicions?" asked Winifred.</p> + +<p>"I can hardly tell you why, but I certainly have!" answered Doctor +Mercer. "You know the Jesuits are making converts all over the nation. +I will not conceal from you, Mrs. Evans, that I have heard some such +reports about this poor young lady, and I fear she may have fallen +among the Philistines, as the phrase is. But that is not our business +just now. We will bring our patient through the present distress, if +possible, and then we will see what can be done."</p> + +<p>Doctor Mercer gave Winifred very particular directions about the +treatment of Paulina, charging her to watch her most carefully, visited +the other patients and pronounced them to be going on favorably, all +but coaxed old Ashwell into a good humor, and then went home to snatch +such rest as he could before he should be called out again.</p> + +<p>The day waned into evening, and still Paulina continued apparently +unconscious and motionless, though she swallowed what was put into her +mouth. The house grew still as the grave, save where a mouse squeaked +or rattled down the wall, or some of those unaccountable creaks and +rustlings which are always to be heard by a watcher in an old house, +made themselves audible. The night drew towards dawn, and still there +was no change. At last, a bird chirped in the dark garden below, and +was answered by another.</p> + +<p>"Winifred!" said a faint, oh, such a faint voice from the bed. "Are you +here, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear child!" answered Winifred, striving to speak calmly, +although her heart bounded as if she had heard a voice from the dead. +"You are better, are you not?"</p> + +<p>"Winifred!" said Paulina, arresting her hand as she put a spoonful of +wine and water to the parched lips. "It is all true—all the doctor +said! I heard, though I could not speak. It is all true!"</p> + +<p>"Do not talk now, Paulina," said Winifred. "I trust you are better, and +that you will have ample time to say all you wish, but you must not +speak now. Your life depends upon your keeping quiet."</p> + +<p>"I 'must!'" said Paulina, detaining Winifred's hand with more force +than seemed possible in her weak state. "I shall not be better till +this is off my mind. Is my father living?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and going on well. Your mother is with him."</p> + +<p>"My sisters?"</p> + +<p>"Are all well, as yet. Dear Paulina, be quiet, I beseech you!"</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Winifred, I 'must' speak!" said Paulina, almost fiercely. +"I must tell the truth before I die! Listen, that you may tell my +parents, if I do not see them again!"</p> + +<p>Winifred felt, for a moment, in an agony of indecision and distress. +The next, her own calm, good sense, and the habit of looking to a +Higher Power for aid, quieted her, and she made up her mind what to do.</p> + +<p>"Speak then, dear, if it will relieve your mind, but be short. You wish +to tell me that you were at the Romish chapel on Ascension-day?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and before—many times!"</p> + +<p>Paulina's voice was weak, and she spoke with many pauses, but her words +were clear and coherent, and her skin felt cool and natural.</p> + +<p>"When you thought I went to the cathedral—I went to the chapel!"</p> + +<p>"But Molly?" exclaimed Winifred, astonished.</p> + +<p>"I bribed her. She waited outside. It was Doctor Butler who took me +there. I met him at my cousin's, and then at my Lady Germaine's. They +are Catholics, you know, but she was not to blame, nor Father Kennedy. +They said I was deceiving my parents—that it would come to no good. +Doctor Butler took me to Father Hewling. They flattered and coaxed me, +especially Doctor Butler."</p> + +<p>"But how could you have anything to do with him?" Winifred could not +help saying. "You knew what a bad man he has been, and all the trouble +he made in your cousin Chester's family. It has been town talk!"</p> + +<p>"I was a conceited fool!" said Paulina. "He made me think myself a +martyr and a saint, and persuaded me to deceive my mother. I was +wretched all the time. I see all now—all so clearly!"</p> + +<p>"You mean that you see the truth now," said Winifred, fearing the +effect of every word, yet desiring, for the sake of the poor girl's +parents, to have something of comfort to repeat.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed—all! Winifred, say those verses in the Communion Service."</p> + +<p>Winifred's gentle voice repeated the "comfortable words."</p> + +<p>Paulina caught eagerly at the last verse. "Yes, that is it! He is the +propitiation. It has all been made plain to me the last few hours! I +could think, though I could not speak. Oh, how I have been misled!"</p> + +<p>"Paulina, you must not say one word more!" said Winifred, with the +authority she well knew how to assume. "I shall find it hard to answer +to the doctor for what has already passed. Now take some more wine, be +silent, and let me read you to sleep."</p> + +<p>"Pray—pray!" said Paulina, eagerly. "For forgiveness—that I may make +amends to my dear parents!"</p> + +<p>Winifred knelt by the bedside, and prayed as desired, and then, +softly repeating psalms and verses of Scripture, she had at last the +satisfaction of seeing her patient sink into a quiet sleep. She herself +was worn out by watching, and, leaning her head upon the bedside, she +slumbered for half an hour, starting like a guilty creature, as the +first rays of the sun aroused her. Full of terror and reproach, she +glanced at her patient.</p> + +<p>Paulina was sleeping, her breathing faint indeed, but regular, while a +change, indescribable save to those who have seen it, had come over her +face.</p> + +<p>"Surely, surely she must be—she is better!" thought Winifred. "Oh, if +she is but spared after all!"</p> + +<p>She drew the curtain to shut out the sun, and as she did so, the sick +girl awoke—not as before to muttering delirium or sad, half-conscious +moaning, but with a look of full reason and a faint, but natural smile.</p> + +<p>"You are better, sweetheart!" said Winifred, bending over her.</p> + +<p>"O yes! Surely I am better! My mind and body are in most bland ease. Is +this the lighting up before death of which I have heard, or am I going +to get well?"</p> + +<p>Winifred half feared the first, and anxiously did she await the +doctor's opinion.</p> + +<p>He came very early, with his soft footstep, and entered the room before +she was aware of his presence. His first look reassured her.</p> + +<p>"Here is a change indeed!" said he, cheerily, as he examined the +patient. "You mean to do me credit yet, I see, my fair mistress."</p> + +<p>"Then she is really better!" said Winifred, hardly able to credit the +words she had so earnestly desired to hear.</p> + +<p>"Of course! Cannot you see for yourself?" returned the doctor, roughly +but kindly. "I do not say we are out of the woods yet, but with care +and good nursing, I trust we shall do well."</p> + +<p>"I shall be sure to be well nursed while I have Winifred!" said +Paulina, smiling.</p> + +<p>"See you do as she bids you, then. And look you, young lady, I will +have no talking. I am Fine Ear the fairy, and can tell when my patients +are misbehaving, though I were at the other end of the town; so do not +think to deceive me!"</p> + +<p>"I will not," said Paulina, sadly smiling. "I have had enough of that!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I should think so!" muttered the doctor. "Now, Mrs. Winifred, +since that is your name, come with me that I may give you further +directions."</p> + +<p>As they left the room, they met Ashwell, so near the door that it +seemed as if she must have been listening. The old woman trembled +visibly as the doctor's eye fell upon her, and seemed as if she would +have shrunk out of sight, but he called her.</p> + +<p>"See here, Dame Ashwell! Do you sit by Mrs. Paulina awhile, and let our +other nurse rest for a few minutes. Give her the wine and water every +half hour, and do not let her talk.—I believe that old woman has a hand +in this business!" he added, as they passed on down-stairs. "I saw +her last night, as I came down the street, talking with Butler at the +garden gate."</p> + +<p>"I cannot think so," said Winifred. "She is a zealous Protestant. She +has talked sometimes of getting better advice for her young lady, for +she is as much alarmed as my aunt at the fresh air and cold water. It +might be that which took her to Doctor Butler."</p> + +<p>"Possibly. Well, Mrs. Evans, I have run the fox to earth at last, I do +believe! I have heard the whole tale of Mrs. Paulina's church-goings."</p> + +<p>"And so have I," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"Indeed! From whom?"</p> + +<p>"From the culprit herself." And Winifred repeated what had passed, +adding: "I feared it was wrong to let her talk, but I saw that she +would never rest while it was on her mind."</p> + +<p>"You acted sensibly, as usual. Well, you must know, I was called last +night, as soon as I left here to see a poor woman not far from the +water-side. I knew the moment I set eyes on her that she had not a +chance, and I suppose she read it in my face, for she fell a-screaming +and crying, and calling for a clergyman, that she might free her mind. +I sent a lad for Mr. Gunnison, who hath been unwearied in visiting the +poor (as I must say, so have most of the city clergy), but he had gone +out, so I was fain to do what I could to take his place, at least so +far as to comfort the poor creature by Scripture and prayers. But she +said she must tell what was on her mind, and at last out it came—that +she had been bribed by Mrs. Paulina and Doctor Butler both, to be a +sort of go-between; that she had carried messages, and had gone with +Paulina to chapel when her friends supposed her at church; and she +feared she had been the ruin of her dear young lady.</p> + +<p>"I was startled at first, and did not know what to fear, but she +guessed my thought, and eagerly assured me that I was mistaken, that +Mrs. Paulina had never been alone with the man nor with the priest, +but would always have her near, though not to hear what they said. She +begged me to ask forgiveness of Sir John and Lady Corbet, who, she +said, had ever been good to her, and of Mrs. Paulina, and died at last, +poor thing, in great distress, though I believe sincerely penitent."</p> + +<p>"Poor Molly!" said Winifred. "She was a great favorite with madam and +with Ashwell, but she was the first to desert us. I am heartily glad +the truth has come out in time to save further mischief. But is it not +strange that my old Lady Germaine, who has always been a friend to this +family, should not have told Lady Corbet what was going on?"</p> + +<p>"She hardly dared go as far as that, I suppose," remarked the doctor. +"I believe many of the old Catholic families are grieved and distressed +at the present state of things, and their position is a very painful +one. For of course, if they say a word, they are taxed by the zealous +party as being lukewarm and betrayers of the Church. Truly this nation +is in evil case! Are you feeling quite well this morning?" he asked, +changing the subject abruptly and scrutinizing Winifred's face closely.</p> + +<p>"I feel more tired than usual, and my head seems both drowsy and +confused," replied Winifred. "I suppose it comes from want of sleep."</p> + +<p>"I should not wonder," returned the doctor, dryly. "Few people learn to +do without sleep altogether, though we doctors come near to it in these +times. You must lie down this morning and have a good nap. I do not +quite like trusting Ashwell with our patient, either, but I see no help +for it."</p> + +<p>"Doctor Mercer," said Winifred, gravely, "I think we should call Lady +Corbet and tell her all we know of this distressful matter. She is a +lady of great sense and discernment where her children are concerned, +and will know what is the best course in the present conjuncture."</p> + +<p>"I believe you are right. The straight course is best in the end; and +though I dread adding to her burdens, I think, with you, that she +should know the whole."</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet was therefore called out of Sir John's room. And Winifred +related the story, interrupted by many tears and exclamations of +distress and wonder from the poor mother.</p> + +<p>"That I should have been so deceived by my own child, whom I believed +to be the pattern of truth, for all her peevish ways! And my old Lady +Germaine, that I thought such a friend!"</p> + +<p>"I imagine she had little free-will," remarked the doctor.</p> + +<p>"To be sure, I remember now she hath of late given me many hints as +to letting the girls go out without me, and allowing them so much +liberty," resumed Lady Corbet, "but she is always giving advice, poor +old lady, and she thinks the young women of the present day are allowed +too much license. And Molly, whom I thought such a good girl! And that +wretch, Doctor Butler! Well, thank Heaven, Mrs. Winifred, I have you +and Ashwell left, and upon you I can depend!"</p> + +<p>"I am not so sure of Ashwell," said the doctor, and he related what he +had seen the evening before.</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet wrung her hands in renewed distress, but, suddenly +collecting herself, she spoke with much dignity and feeling.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Doctor Mercer, and you, Winifred, for the way in which +you have dealt in this delicate matter. I need not say how necessary +it is for my poor child's sake, that nothing should transpire out of +the family more than has already. I will myself stay with Pall, while +Winifred rests. Jack can easily do all which is needed for Sir John, +who sleeps almost all the time. You, Winifred, will go to your own room +and take a good rest, which I am certain you need. God bless you, my +dear! It was a happy day which brought you to this house."</p> + +<p>Ashwell had established herself in Paulina's room, and was evidently +taken very much aback by her lady's orders "to betake herself to the +kitchen, see that things were made decent and comfortable, and have Sir +John's broth ready against he needed it." She began to say something +about Jack's making the broth, but was cut very short, and went +down-stairs, muttering to herself as usual.</p> + +<p>"Not a word, my poor maid!" said Lady Corbet, as Paulina began to +speak. "I have heard all, and you have my full and free pardon, so long +as you do not attempt to deceive me again. I take blame to myself as a +careless mother—"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" interrupted Paulina. "It was my pride and +self-conceit—thinking myself wiser than all the world!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, we will let by-gones be by-gones, as your father's Scotch +cousin hath it," said her mother, smiling, and kissing her. "I will not +deny that you have always been somewhat prone to be wiser than your +elders, since you used to advise me upon household matters before you +could speak plain. Show that you have learnt more wisdom by obeying the +doctor's orders, and not trying to talk when you are forbid to speak a +word! There, that smile is more like my own little Pall than aught I +have seen this many a day."</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Winifred had a long and deep sleep, and awoke feeling somewhat giddy +and confused. A plentiful ablution of cold water and the process of +dressing refreshed her. Startled to find by the striking of the clock +how long she had slept, she went straight down to the housekeeper's +room, where she was amazed at finding Ashwell drowned in tears and +sobs. Her first thought was that Paulina was worse, perhaps dying.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" sobbed Ashwell. "Poor dear, she is better, if I have not +killed her! But oh, Mrs. Winifred, intercede with my lady for me. I +meant no harm, and if I had but known that he was trying to make a +papist of Mrs. Pall, I would never have come near him. But I thought +the doctor was killing her, and the windows open and all—"</p> + +<p>Ashwell became totally incoherent, and her words were drowned in sobs.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Ashwell?" asked Winifred, bewildered. "What has +happened?"</p> + +<p>It was not easy to get at the story, but at last Winifred extracted +from the weeping old woman, that, being dissatisfied with the new +doctor's treatment, she had been holding secret conferences with +Doctor Butler as to her darling's health, and had finally undertaken +to introduce him into the house, that he might judge of the patient's +state. She had calculated very nicely that she would be called upon to +sit with her young lady while Winifred rested, and Lady Corbet was busy +with Sir John and making her morning visit to the school-room. She had +agreed with Doctor Butler to be in the garden at that hour, when she +would bring him in by the little turret staircase which opened near +Paulina's room.</p> + +<p>All these plans had been disconcerted by the straightforward counsels +of Winifred and the doctor, and also by a very simple accident. Paulina +had expressed a wish for some flowers, and her mother, always kind +and desirous by every means in her power to show that she had fully +forgiven the poor child, went down to the garden to gather them. In +so doing, she came upon Ashwell in close conference with Butler, and +heard enough of their conversation to discover their design. She had +confronted them on the spot, ordered Butler from the premises, and +taken possession of the keys of the gate; and had then sternly given +Ashwell warning, saying she would have no traitors about her.</p> + +<p>The poor old soul, who had been totally innocent of any connivance at +the doctor's proselyting schemes, was thunder-struck at the treachery +of her ally and the anger of her lady, and implored Winifred to +intercede for her. Winifred, thankful that the matter was no worse, +soothed and quieted her, promised to see what could be done, persuaded +Ashwell to busy herself in sending up an unusually dainty dinner to +the school-room, and finally left her in a tolerably reasonable and +comfortable frame of mind.</p> + +<p>It was long before Lady Corbet would listen to any plea on her behalf, +but at last her own good-nature and Winifred's influence prevailed, +and she was brought to tell Ashwell that, for the sake of Mrs. Evans' +intercession, she would pass over the present offence.</p> + +<p>It was a bitter pill to poor Ashwell, after all her years of service, +to be forgiven for the sake of one on whom she had always looked +with jealousy and contempt. But love for her lady and her nurselings +prevailed over every other consideration.</p> + +<p>It was well that it was so; for the very next day poor little Betty was +attacked with the fever, and died after only a week's illness. And on +the day of her burial, Winifred was taken with the same disease, and +was declared by the doctor to be in the utmost danger. Her system was +prostrated by all the fatigue she had undergone, and it would be all +but a miracle if she lived through it.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_16">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>SURPRISES.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>MORE than two months had passed since the date of the last chapter. The +household of Sir John Corbet had returned to its old, regular routine. +New servants had replaced the old. Sir John once more went to his +office and wharf, and superintended his workmen. And his lady, like the +wise dame of the Scriptures, looked well to the ways of her household, +and, while she made sure that nobody from herself to the knife-boy ate +the bread of idleness, took more pains than ever that every one under +her roof should be happy and contented.</p> + +<p>In the school-room there was a great change. Poor little Betty, with +her moods and tenses, her alternations of high and low spirits, her +unmanageable "tantrums," and her almost equally unmanageable fits of +penitence, was gone. And the twins, Phyllis and Jemima, could only +weep over every little memorial of their departed sister, and declare +to each other that they would never, no, never tease anybody again! +Paulina, still pale and thin, and showing signs of recent illness +in her hollow eyes and close-cropped hair, had taken present charge +of the school-room, and was hearing her sisters' lessons, finding +out every day how much less she knew than she supposed, discovering +the mighty difference which existed between the real crosses of her +reduced strength and the daily trials of temper and patience in the +school-room, and those artificial crosses she used to manufacture for +herself. Nevertheless, she went on bravely, doing her best, and making +herself more useful and agreeable than she had ever done before.</p> + +<p>But Paulina had a cross to bear far harder than any petty trials of the +school-room—a cross all the sharper because she had brought it upon +herself and her father and mother, who shared the burden with her. The +affair with Doctor Butler had taken wing, as was to be expected, and +the whole city of Bristol rang with the stories of Paulina's stolen +interviews with him, at chapel and elsewhere, and of the attempt to +introduce him into her room. Who had chattered in the last case, nobody +knew. But the scandal had gone abroad, distorted and exaggerated in a +hundred forms.</p> + +<p>Paulina, never stirred away from home, save under her mother's wing, +and then only, to church, but even there she felt herself the mark +for curious eyes and whispers, while her mother had to encounter +condolences and questions from all her acquaintances. Moreover, +Paulina was not safe even yet from persecution. It had indeed been +found expedient for Doctor Butler to leave town, but the priests had +no notion of giving up their victim so easily, and more than one +letter had been conveyed to Paulina, now pitying her as a martyr under +persecution, now threatening her as a relapsed heretic.</p> + +<p>Meantime, a cloud rested upon her reputation. None of her young friends +visited her or invited her, and Lady Corbet was blamed for permitting +her to take the charge of her young sisters. Her father had been +furiously angry upon hearing the story, and, though he had been brought +to say at last that he forgave her, he was hard and stern toward her, +and showed her constantly that she was distrusted and watched. Her +mother was kindness itself, but a heavy cloud of sadness rested upon +her once cheery face, and her voice, when she spoke to Paulina, had a +tone of grief and pity.</p> + +<p>All this was very hard to bear—far harder than the fasting, the lying +upon the floor, and all the other penances Paulina had been accustomed +to practise; harder than the being obliged to give her attention to +her work and pick it out when it was wrong; than being reproved for +stooping her shoulders or poking her chin, or having her shoes down +at heel and her petticoats draggled. Nor was this the hardest, after +all. It was with inexpressible bitterness that Paulina heard of Doctor +Butler's attempt to enter her room, and of his departure from the city, +and learned from the pain the news gave her that her affections were no +longer in her own keeping.</p> + +<p>Any woman worthy of the name must feel a sensation of intensest shame +and anguish, when she finds herself loving one who does not care for +her, even though that one may be in every way worthy; and the shame is +increased twofold if the object prove utterly base. This was Paulina's +case. She loved Doctor Butler, and she knew him to be a base, bad +man—one who had destroyed the peace and reputation of more than one +woman, and who might, but for what seemed the special interference of +Providence, have done the same for her.</p> + +<p>She recalled a hundred things which might have shown her her danger, +and she felt a sense of gratitude to poor Molly, who had been so far +faithful that she had never let her young mistress out of her sight. +She said to herself that her love was unworthily placed, and must be +conquered, but the task was a hard one, and the poor girl was indeed +very unhappy.</p> + +<p>Yet it somehow happened that the real trials did not fret Paulina's +temper or wear out her patience as the imaginary ones had done. She was +sad indeed, and often much depressed, but she was no longer fretful +or peevish; she no longer wore her set, self-conscious expression, or +spoke and moved like an automaton. She had found the secret of peace. +In the time of her trouble she had sought the Lord, and found in Him +not only forgiveness and remission of sin, but strength to resist +temptation, to bear suffering with patience and humility. Her service +was no longer one of constraint and fear, but of love—no longer the +enforced task of a slave, but the free gift of a child.</p> + +<p>The twins, on their part, sobered by the trouble they had passed +through, and pitying Paulina for the sorrow they only half understood, +did their best, both in work and lessons, to please their sister and +mother. And the school-room labors went on harmoniously and pleasantly +enough for the most part, though now and then was heard a deep sigh or +an impatient interjection, always followed by the exclamation: "I do +wish Mrs. Winifred would get well, don't you, Pall?" answered by, "Yes, +indeed I do, with all my heart!"</p> + +<p>And where, all this time, was Mrs. Winifred? In the great chintz +bedroom, the very best room in the house, whither she had been carried +by Lady Corbet's orders when stricken down with the fever, waited upon +and tended by every one, from Sir John himself down to black Jack; +nursed with jealous care by Ashwell, end visited by Doctor Mercer +every day, and by Paulina every hour. She had passed the crisis of +the disease, contrary to everybody's expectation, and Doctor Mercer +said there seemed no reason why she should not get well, but day after +day passed, and still she lay on her couch or leaned back languidly +in the great chair, pale, thin, and weak, unable to eat, to talk, to +employ herself in any way more than a few minutes at a time. It seemed +as if the excitement and fatigue of nearly three years past had made +themselves felt all at once.</p> + +<p>For the first time in her life, Winifred lost the control of her own +mind and feelings. She could not think clearly of anything for five +minutes at a time. She could not fix her mind upon the things she had +always loved best, or drive away the sadness, the discontent, the +wretched forebodings, the distrust of her heavenly Father's love, the +doubts of His truth which assailed her. Good Mr. Gunnison, who was +instructing the twins preparatory to their approaching confirmation, +talked and prayed with her, and in these visits Winifred found great +comfort, but too often "the clouds returned after the rain," the +temptations and the grief came back again, and the work was once more +all to do.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the weak body languished and lost day by day, and it seemed +likely enough that Winifred would fade away and drop into the earth +with the fading flowers of autumn. But her work was not yet done, and +she could not go home till it was finished.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>One day she was leaning back listlessly enough in the chair which +Ashwell had drawn to the window, that Winifred might look down on the +still gay garden and away to the hills beyond the city. She had wearied +herself in the attempt to set right the piece of work which the twins +in a fit of desperation had brought to show her, and had not half +finished, when Ashwell came in, scolded them both well, and sent the +girls down, Phyllis crying and Jemima in a fit of sulks, to get out of +their difficulty as best they could. Winifred felt tired, disappointed, +and utterly discouraged. And as soon as Ashwell had left her, she +leaned back in her chair, and gave way to a fit of weeping as childish +as that of poor Phyllis.</p> + +<p>The tears at least did her some good, for she sobbed herself to sleep, +and awaked somewhat refreshed and strengthened, and really feeling +a little wonder as to what time it was and whether Ashwell would be +coming presently with her dinner. She had been dreaming of old times +at the Hall—of walking with my lady and working with Mrs. Alwright. +The dream was very clear and distinct; she almost felt as though Lady +Peckham's inquiry was still ringing in her ear: "And where is my little +Winifred?" There seemed a good deal of bustle in the house which she +could not understand—and then, why did not Ashwell come?</p> + +<p>The door opened. It was not Ashwell with the tray, however, but +Paulina, with a little flush of color in her cheeks, and a certain +excitement in her manner. She came to Winifred's chair and kissed her.</p> + +<p>"Do you feel better? I peeped in a few moments ago, and you were fast +asleep in your chair, with the tears on your cheeks! What had you been +crying for, you naughty child? Like Phyllis, because Ashwell scolded +you?"</p> + +<p>"I hardly know myself," returned Winifred, winking away the tears +which would stay very near her eyes. "I felt sorry for the poor girls, +and vexed at myself for being so easily tired. But, Paulina, if they +will bring up their frames now, I will try to show them."</p> + +<p>"You are to do no such thing," said Paulina, positively. "The frames +can wait, and I have something else to set you upon just now besides +tapestry work."</p> + +<p>"Why, Paulina, what has come over you?" said Winifred, rousing herself +and looking at the girl with attention. "You look as though you had +been hearing some great piece of good news!"</p> + +<p>"Suppose I have—do you want to hear it?"</p> + +<p>Winifred's heart began to beat fast, and she looked at Paulina without +speaking.</p> + +<p>"Suppose now I could bring the person in all the world you most wanted +to see,—whom should it be?" asked Paulina.</p> + +<p>Winifred flushed scarlet all at once, for the name which came to her +lips was that of Arthur Carew.</p> + +<p>Then, as her dream came across her mind, she exclaimed, "Paulina, tell +me! Have you news of my lady?"</p> + +<p>Then as Paulina nodded mischievously, with her eyes full of smiles and +her mouth demurely pursed up:</p> + +<p>"Paulina, tell me! Don't tease me, please!"</p> + +<p>"It shall not be teased, then," said Paulina. "It shall be made to look +pretty, and neat, and have on its new cap, and then it shall see what +it shall see."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Paulina!" said a voice at the half-opened door. "You shall not +keep us waiting any longer. Winifred, my dear, my darling child!"</p> + +<p>It was the voice of her dream. Winifred stretched out her arms with a +cry like that of a child which sees its mother. She saw the well-known +face, looking more delicate than ever under the close widow's coif +and veil, caught a glimpse of Alwright's tall, spare form behind her +mistress, heard a little cry of alarm from Paulina, and that was the +last she knew, till she found herself lying on the bed, with Mrs. +Alwright bathing her face, and Lady Peckham and Paulina watching her.</p> + +<p>I shall not attempt to describe the meeting between Winifred and her +oldest friend, nor the raptures of Alwright over her former pupil. At +last Lady Peckham yielded to her cousin's hospitable entreaties, and +descended to partake of the feast Lady Corbet had prepared for her, and +Winifred was left in charge of Alwright, who insisted upon cutting her +dinner, and would gladly have been allowed to put it into her mouth.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, dear Alwright, I can feed myself very well," said +Winifred. "I feel better than for a long time past, though I was so +silly as to faint. Sit you there where I can look at you, and tell me +all the news. I see my lady is a widow. When did Sir Edward die?"</p> + +<p>"At Rome, whither we went in the train of my Lord Castlewaine the +ambassador—and pretty company he was!" said Alwright, in disgust. "You +know, my dear, between ourselves, Sir Edward was always inclined to +side with whichever party was uppermost. So, after we went to London +and to court, he began to look the way the king's party did—toward +Rome, you know. He did not really go over, and perhaps he never meant +to do so, but he read their books, and went to the chapel, and all +that. So, when this embassy was sent out, Sir Edward must needs go +along. It was a grief to my lady, though he made her health one reason +for the journey, but you know she never opposed her husband."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps his majesty thought the journey to Rome would finish Sir +Edward's conversion," said Winifred.</p> + +<p>"And so it did, indeed, my dear, but it was the wrong way. Sir Edward +saw and heard so many things that no true English gentleman could +swallow, that he became disgusted with the whole concern. Then he took +one of the fevers they have there, and died in a few days. The priests +came about him, and would have it that he died in the Church of Rome, +but it was no such thing. And then, my lady was very ill and feeble +for a long time after, so we could not leave when my Lord Castlewaine +did—more by token, they say the pope never showed him the least bit +of favor, after all. I must say, some of the foreign papists were +very good to us—I shall always remember it of them, I am sure—but oh, +Winifred, if you could only see the cooking, and the smells, and the +old women! Well, my lady got better, at last, and then we came home as +quickly as we could."</p> + +<p>"I tried every way to hear from you," said Winifred, "but I could not +learn where Sir Edward had gone. When I first came here, I heard that +Lady Corbet was cousin to my lady, and hoped to get news from her, but +she could only tell me that my Lord Carew was dead, and my lady, she +thought, was still abroad."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the poor gentleman is dead at last, and a good thing, too, for +himself and everybody. Master Arthur is Lord Carew now. Much good it +does him, since he cannot come home to enjoy it!"</p> + +<p>"And where is Master Arthur—I mean, my lord?" asked Winifred, suddenly +very busy with her boiled chicken.</p> + +<p>"He has been all this time in far-away parts, fighting the Turks that +they say the King of France has brought upon Christendom again. But now +he hath returned to Holland, and is in the service of the Prince and +Princess of Orange, God bless them!"</p> + +<p>"But how did you find me out, and why did my lady never answer the +letter I sent her by Joseph the groom, after my mother died? Oh, Mrs. +Alwright, if you know how I wearied for an answer to that letter!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, poor maid!" said Alwright, sympathetically. "I can guess +well. 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.' But the letter never +reached my lady. Joseph did not get to London till after we had set out +for Rome. As soon as we came back to the Hall, my lady's first inquiry +was for you, and sadly disappointed we were to learn that the family +was broken up, and you were gone no one knew where."</p> + +<p>"Your brother knew, and Dame Oldmixon."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but neither of them were at Holford. A gentleman my brother knew +at college has given him a fine living away off in the North, somewhere +about Durham. And Dame Oldmixon has gone to live with some of her kin. +So we could find out nothing from them. Then my lady left the Hall for +good, and we went to Exeter, where we have—I mean, my lady has a fine +old house, as good as this. And the heir has new furnished the Hall, +and given my lady a deal of the old furniture, so you will see the +place looking very natural, though, to be sure, we have not the Hall +garden to walk in."</p> + +<p>"But how did you find me out at last?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my lady was wanted at the Hall on some business. I must say the +new family are very civil, and treated her as though she were the head +of the house still. So we went out to visit all the old places, and +among the rest the Stonehill farm. And there we found your uncle and +aunt—a stirring, notable dame she seems, but no more like your dear +mother than a houseleek is like a bunch of violets. She told us that +you had gone to live as governess to my Lady Corbet's daughters, and +had staid behind to nurse them in the fever, but she did not know +whether you were dead or alive.</p> + +<p>"So then my lady said, 'Alwright, I am going to Bristol to seek out my +cousin Judith.'</p> + +<p>"For you see, there had been no intercourse between them for ever so +long, my old lady having been bitterly opposed to Mrs. Judith marrying +young Corbet, though he has turned out enough better than that poor +silly Mr. Hervey.</p> + +<p>"'I am sure she will give us a welcome for the sake of old times,' said +my lady; 'and perhaps I may find Winifred still with her.'</p> + +<p>"And so she did! She had always a warm heart, had Mrs. Judith, and +I for one never blamed her for marrying the man to whom her parents +betrothed her. So she welcomed us as if we had been princesses of the +blood, and could not say enough in your praise for all you did, which +I was not at all surprised at, for you were ever a good girl, my dear, +and had the best of teaching, though I say it that should not, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"She is an excellent lady," said Winifred, warmly. "An own father and +mother could not have been kinder than she and Sir John have been to me +since I have been ill."</p> + +<p>"And so she ought!" said Alwright, rather indignantly. "I wonder what +she would have done without you. But she is a good woman, that I do not +deny, and seems to have brought up her daughters well."</p> + +<p>"That she has, and they are all sweet girls. I long for the time when I +shall be able to teach them again."</p> + +<p>"Then you may leave off longing, for you are not going to do any such +thing!" answered Alwright, sharply. "You are to go home with us to +Exeter, and be brought up as my lady's own daughter henceforth! She +told me so herself.</p> + +<p>"'If I find Winifred at all what I expect—' those were her very +words—'I shall take her home and treat her as my own child.'</p> + +<p>"And I am sure she will not be disappointed in you, for seeing that +you are so thin and pale, you are prettier than ever, and more like +poor Captain Winthrop, your cousin. So don't be thinking or talking of +teaching any more, sweetheart, but got well as fast as you can, and +be ready to return home with us. And I must learn to call you Mrs. +Winifred, now that you are to be a great lady!"</p> + +<p>"You shall never call me anything but your own Winnie, dear Alwright! +And so my lady does not live at the Hall any more?"</p> + +<p>"No; in her house at Exeter, as I told you. And she hath a good +jointure and money from her father's estate besides. So we have such an +establishment as becomes a lady of her quality, though we see little +company, my lady being so lately a widow. But now, my dear, you must +not speak a word more, but lie and rest against my lady comes up."</p> + +<p>Winifred did not wish to talk. She was quite content to lie still and +enjoy the sober certainty of waking bliss. "To live with my lady all +the rest of her life—to read to her and wait upon her—was it possible +that, after all her past trials, such a future could be in store for +her?" How unthankful, how distrustful she had lately been, and all this +time God had this blessing in store for her! This very morning she had +been feeling as if He had forgotten her! Most earnest was her prayer +for forgiveness, her thanksgiving for the unexpected and undeserved +blessing. She fell asleep with the words of prayer in her heart and on +her lips, and awoke to find the dear face bending over her, the dear +hand once more clasped in hers.</p> + +<p>From that time Winifred improved rapidly, gaining flesh and strength +from day to day, until she was able to go first into the school-room +for a change, and then out into the garden. It was quite settled now +that Winifred was to return home with Lady Peckham as soon as the +doctor should pronounce her strong enough to bear the journey, and was +to be considered henceforth as her ladyship's adopted child.</p> + +<p>"I am sure I don't know what in the world I shall do without you, +dear!" said good Lady Corbet. "You have been everything to us during +this disastrous time of sickness and poor Paulina's trouble, and I +shall always say that it was a blessed day for us all when I met you at +Mrs. Bowler's. At the same time, I don't deny that my kinswoman hath +the best right to you, and perhaps needs you more than I, in respect +she hath no daughters to keep her company in her widow's household. And +though daughters are a care, doubtless, and an anxiety, yet it cannot +be denied that they are a great comfort. I am sure Sir John would +have always given you a home as long as you needed it, and would have +provided a marriage portion for you the same as for his own girls, and +no doubt my lady will do the same when you come to leave her, as of +course you will do some day, sweetheart, for such maids as you do not +go begging."</p> + +<p>"I shall never leave my lady," said Winifred, hastily, and vexed to +feel her cheeks growing scarlet.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, that is what they all say," said Lady Corbet, smiling. "'I +shall never leave you, mother,' says Pall. Poor Pall, I do not know +what she, of all others, will do without you."</p> + +<p>Winifred echoed her good friend's sigh. She felt herself drawn two +ways, and while she, like the rest, took it for granted that she was to +go with Lady Peckham, she could not help feeling many regrets for those +she was leaving behind.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>The next day Lady Corbet came up again, full of smiles and significant +looks.</p> + +<p>"Aha, madam, did I not say our Winifred was not one to go begging?" +said she, addressing herself to Lady Peckham, who was amusing her +young cousins with some stories of her experience abroad, while Mrs. +Alwright looked over and rectified the much abused tapestry work. Then +recollecting herself, she assumed an air of becoming importance, as she +beckoned Lady Peckham into the next room.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what my mother means?" said the literal Jemima, as the door +closed. "Why should Mrs. Winifred go begging?"</p> + +<p>"She does not really mean begging," said Phyllis, laughing. "I know +what it is! Somebody has been proposing for Winifred, and I guess who +it is, too! It is Mr. Gunnison."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Gunnison!" said Jemima, slowly. "Why, he is married. I saw his +wife's name in the cathedral. 'Here lies Mary, beloved wife of James +Gunnison, aged twenty-six!'"</p> + +<p>"But she is dead, you goose! Don't you know that when you read her name +on the tomb yourself? How should she be in the cathedral vault, else?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do hope it is Mr. Gunnison, because then Winifred will live in +the Close and we can see her every day."</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush!" said Alwright, who had established herself in the +school-room, where she reigned supreme over needles and frames, to the +great disgust of old Ashwell. "Young ladies should never talk of being +married, or guess what their elders mean! Now, take your frames, be +good maids, and sit up straight at your work, and I will tell you how +my lady and I went to visit the convent at Rome."</p> + +<p>Phyllis was right in guessing that her mother's words related to a +matrimonial proposition for Winifred, though she was mistaken in the +person. Doctor Mercer had admired Winifred from the first of their +acquaintance. They were naturally thrown much together during the +continuance of the fever, and afterwards, in Winifred's own sick-room. +And the more he knew her, the more he saw to admire. Doctor Mercer, +blunt and odd as it pleased him at times to appear, was a gentleman, +and a man of strong and warm feelings. He had known little of women, +having always been devoted to science and to his profession, and +had been in the habit of looking upon them with a kind of indulgent +contempt, as poor weak creatures, who must be borne with and taken care +of because they "were" weak, and because they were necessary to the +well-being and continuance of the race.</p> + +<p>But in Winifred he had met with a woman who had commanded first his +admiration, and then his respect and love, by her quiet courage, her +docility and good sense, and her straightforward truthfulness. The end +of the matter was that the grave, middle-aged doctor had fallen in love +with the girl of eighteen. And this very morning he had, after the +fashion considered decorous at the time, made proposals to Lady Corbet +as being her present guardian, for the hand of Winifred Evans, and she +in her turn had propounded the matter to Lady Peckham.</p> + +<p>"You see, cousin, it may be or might have been considered a fine +match for our Winifred. Doctor Mercer is no common apothecary but a +physician, besides that he is a gentleman of a good old family, and +hath a moderate fortune of his own besides his profession. He is a +man of high character, and a good Christian. I am sure his prayers +and his exhortations, when my poor children were ill, were as good as +a clergyman's, and so said Mr. Gunnison himself. To be sure, he is a +thought elderly for Winifred, but then she is grave beyond her years."</p> + +<p>"And what does Winifred think of the matter?" asked Lady Peckham, as +soon as she could get in a word. "Does she like this Doctor Mercer?"</p> + +<p>"She always speaks well of him, and talks and laughs with him when he +comes to see her, especially since she has been so much better. More +than that, I cannot say. But no doubt she will be guided by you in +the matter. I told Doctor Mercer, 'My cousin Margaret has taken the +gentlewoman under her own charge,' said I; 'and she is the person to be +consulted, but doubtless Winifred will be governed by her will, as is +becoming.'"</p> + +<p>"It all depends upon Winifred's own feelings," said Lady Peckham, +smiling and sighing. "I am not one of those who believe in forcing +the inclinations of young people, however great may be the worldly +advantages promised."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Lady Corbet. "You know how I stood out against my old +lady, your honored mother, who, with all due respect to her and you, +did a deal more of that sort of thing than ever came to good. But then +Winifred may like him, you know. It is nothing very strange for a girl +to fancy a man old enough to be her father."</p> + +<p>"True, especially if he is presented to her in the light of a hero," +observed Lady Peckham.</p> + +<p>"And you know it would be a good match," continued Lady Corbet. "Sir +John has put by the money for Winifred's portion the same as for his +own girls, and you and I could give her an outfit suitable for any lady +in the land," continued the good lady, who was evidently gratified +at the prospect of a wedding. "Doctor Mercer has established himself +permanently in Bristol, and is coming into good practice. It would be +hard for you, that is true," she concluded, struck all at once by the +idea that there was another side to the matter, "to lose Winifred, just +as you have found her again."</p> + +<p>"I should not let that consideration stand in the way, if Winifred were +disposed to the match," said Lady Peckham. "Girls always do marry some +time or other—at least, such girls as Winifred—and it is of no use to +calculate upon anything else. It would be gross selfishness in me to +allow myself to be influenced by any such thing as that. I suppose, +Cousin Judith, the best way will be for me to sound Winifred upon the +matter, and see what her feelings are. Or will you undertake the office +yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Dear heart, no! I have no sense at all about managing any such matter. +I should say and do just exactly the wrong thing. I never knew any +other way of going to work than just speaking right out."</p> + +<p>"I think that is usually the best way of going to work," said Lady +Peckham, smiling. "It was always your way, Judith. I remember my father +used to call you 'Down-right Dunstable!' However, I will talk to +Winifred about the matter, and put the good doctor out of suspense as +quickly as possible."</p> + +<p>Winifred received the doctor's proposal at first with simple +incredulity, then with some degree of indignation, and at last she +burst into tears and sobbed hysterically.</p> + +<p>"Why, Winifred, my child, what is all this for?" said Lady Peckham. "I +cannot for my life see anything in the matter calling for such floods +of tears! Come, come, be a woman, and tell me what to say to the good +man!"</p> + +<p>The old tone of gentle command had not lost its effect over Winifred. +She checked herself by degrees, and presently was calm enough to say:</p> + +<p>"I am sure he is very good—and does me great honor—but oh, my lady, I +cannot think of it! I cannot, indeed! I wish to do my duty, but—"</p> + +<p>There seemed imminent danger of another flood of tears, as Winifred +ceased speaking, and busied herself with the fringe of her tippet.</p> + +<p>"It is not necessarily your duty to marry a man because he asks you," +said Lady Peckham, smiling. "But, Winifred, I would have you consider +seriously before you reject this offer. It is a very advantageous one, +in every respect."</p> + +<p>"I know it, my lady, and far above my deserts, but—"</p> + +<p>"You have seen a great deal of Doctor Mercer, and that is a way to +become well acquainted with him," pursued her friend. "What is there +about him that you do not like?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, my lady! He is one of the best men I ever knew! To be sure, I +have not known many."</p> + +<p>"He has a good estate besides his practice, and his family is, to say +the least, equal to your own."</p> + +<p>"Superior, my lady! I have not forgotten that I am but the daughter of +a merchant captain, and the granddaughter of a Somersetshire yeoman," +said Winifred, not without a touch of pride. "I trust not to forget my +station."</p> + +<p>"Your mother belonged to one of our oldest Devonshire families," said +Lady Peckham. "I do not think there is any disparity upon that score. +Sir John Corbet claims the pleasure of paying your marriage portion, +and my good cousin Judith and myself will see that you have everything +becoming your position. Think of it, Winifred! Such an opportunity of +establishing yourself will not come every day. Think well before you +decide!"</p> + +<p>To judge from her face, Winifred did not seem to be thinking favorably. +Her friend watched her with something like a smile lurking in her eyes +and the corners of her mouth, as Winifred sat very erect, looking down +at the sprigs of rosemary which she was pulling to pieces for Alwright +to distil, and upon which she was bestowing a good deal more strength +than was necessary.</p> + +<p>"Well, my child," said she, at last, "you must not keep the good man in +doubt longer than you can help. What shall I say to him?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot marry him, my lady!" Winifred's voice was husky, but firm, +and her face had regained its calmness. "He is very good—too good for +me, but I cannot be his wife. It would not be right! I am sure it would +not! Oh, my dear lady, do not be angry with me, but indeed, indeed I +cannot marry Doctor Mercer!"</p> + +<p>"My dear child, I have no right or cause to be angry, since the +doctor's loss is my gain. I have no mind to part with you, Winifred, +though I could of course do so, if it seemed best for you. You are +still young, and your health is not yet firmly established—though, as +my cousin Judith would say, that is the more reason for your marrying a +doctor."</p> + +<p>"Please, my lady!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose I ought to go over with all the stock phrases and +questions," continued Lady Peckham, smiling rather sadly. "I ought to +preach to you the duty of submission to your elders, to lecture you +upon your presumption, and to question you as to whether you have any +other attachment which prevents you from accepting so good an offer. +Why, my child, if you color so, I shall think there is some occasion +for the question!"</p> + +<p>Winifred's face was indeed scarlet with the provoking color which +"would" rush into her cheeks at the wrong time.</p> + +<p>"What dream are you cherishing, little one?" asked her friend, tenderly +drawing the blushing face and tearful eyes to hide themselves on her +shoulder. "You have, perhaps, seen some one who more nearly approaches +your notions of a hero than even your kind and courageous doctor! You +have no engagement, have you, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Well, my child, I do not want to pry into your secrets, if you have +them."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, my lady, I have none," said Winifred, lifting her head, but +letting it fall once more as she met Lady Peckham's motherly and +penetrating gaze. "Oh, madam, do not be angry with me!"</p> + +<p>"Why should I be angry, Winifred?" asked Lady Peckham, gravely. "Do you +know of aught that should displease me?"</p> + +<p>"No, madam," said Winifred, recovering her calmness, and meeting her +friend's gaze. "I have nothing in my mind of which to be ashamed before +you or before God. It is true that I have had an attachment to one whom +I have not seen for some years, and shall probably never meet again, +but that is all. I shall never be married, nor have I any wish to be +so. I have no other desire than to live with you and wait upon you, or, +if that may not be, to go on earning my bread as I have done. Marry +Doctor Mercer, I cannot! I am deeply sorry to seem so ungrateful for +all his kindness, but the thing is impossible. I would rather work in +Lady Corbet's kitchen, or even scrub my aunt's floors and trenchers all +my life-long!"</p> + +<p>"Well, sweetheart, that is not the alternative," said Lady Peckham, +kissing her. "I shall acquaint my cousin with your decision and leave +her to inform the doctor. But, Winifred, my dear child, beware of +making an idol, even of your cross! Believe me, it is easy to do so. Do +not let your thoughts dwell or your fancies wander in a world of your +own making, lest in doing your own works, you cease from God's, and +thus lose your portion in the rest which remaineth for His people. Now +lie down and repose yourself, and try to gain strength, for I wish to +return home as soon as possible. I hope to find letters from my brother +awaiting me."</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham was helping to loosen Winifred's dress as she spoke, and +she felt the start and quiver, at the same time that she caught a +glimpse of an enamelled chain and locket which she well knew.</p> + +<p>"And is it even so!" she thought, as she descended the stairs. "Has +the poor little thing been cherishing the memory and image of my wild +Arthur all these weary years? I remember now how shy she has seemed +of asking or speaking about him! Well, well! Such constancy deserves +its reward, but I fear for her, especially if Arthur should return. +However, there is no help for it now. She would make a lovely little +baroness, that is certain, and her birth and breeding are better than +those of the London heiress my poor mother destined for her elder son. +But what an old fool I am! Arthur has doubtless fallen in love with a +dozen ladies of quality since he hath seen Winifred!"</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet could not help showing her disappointment at the rejection +of Doctor Mercer, and would have plied Winifred with various arguments +in his favor, had not her cousin persuaded her that to agitate Winifred +in her present weak state would be to endanger a relapse which would +infallibly kill the patient.</p> + +<p>"Well, I dare say you are right, Cousin Margaret! You always are, and +if Winifred cannot like him, she cannot; and that is all about it. But +to see the luck some girls have! I could almost have wished the offer +had fallen to my Pall, who, poor child, can hardly hope for any great +match after all that has happened. Not that I should care so much for +that, if I could only see her hold up her head once more."</p> + +<p>"I have observed that my young cousin seemed to have a cloud hanging +over her," said Lady Peckham, not unwilling to divert Lady Corbet's +attention from Winifred. "She appears like one who has some heavy +trouble upon her mind."</p> + +<p>The good mother was easily won to tell the story, and her cousin +listened with real sympathy and kindness.</p> + +<p>"And, now you see all this puts my poor girl in a sad position!" +concluded Lady Corbet. "Her father is displeased, and with good reason, +and people about town make the tale a deal worse than it really is. It +is bad enough, no doubt, and would have been worse, but for Winifred +and the good doctor, but yet it seems hard that the poor maid's life +should be thus overclouded. My old Lady Germaine, who has always been +my great friend and adviser, cannot help me here, in respect she is +herself a papist—more's the pity! And what to do I cannot tell."</p> + +<p>"You do not think Paulina has any present inclination to the Church of +Rome?" asked her cousin.</p> + +<p>"Bless your heart, no! I am rather afraid of her going to the other +extreme. I found her only yesterday reading the strangest book! It is +called the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' and Mr. Gunnison says it was written +by a Baptist tinker. I must say it reads like a fairy tale, and though +I am no great reader, I could hardly lay it down. But surely such a +book cannot be fit for a young lady!"</p> + +<p>"I believe there is no harm in the book, cousin," said Lady Peckham. +"Winifred read it aloud to me some three years ago. It appeared to me +to be a remarkable book to come from such a source, and to contain a +great deal of truth."</p> + +<p>"Well, I dare say you are right! I would as soon have your notion of a +book as the bishop's. But I wish you would give me your best advice, +for I am at my wits' end and that is the truth!"</p> + +<p>"Suppose you let my young cousin go home with me for a while," said +Lady Peckham, after a little consideration. "My household will be but +a dull one for a young lady, but Paulina will have Winifred for a +companion, and as you say she has not yet finished her studies, she can +perfect herself in work and housewifery under my good Alwright, and I +will myself instruct both her and Winifred in what accomplishments I +possess."</p> + +<p>Lady Corbet joyfully accepted the offer, and proceeded to acquaint her +daughter with it. Paulina was equally pleased. She liked the prospect +of having a change and seeing something new, and she was overjoyed at +leaving Bristol, where, she fancied, every one stared and pointed at +her. Winifred was delighted not to be separated from Paulina, to whom +she was greatly attached, and, in fine, every one was pleased except +poor Doctor Mercer and the twins. The latter were indeed inconsolable +at the thought of losing Winifred and Paulina both at once, and were +hardly to be comforted by the promise that they should also go to visit +Cousin Margaret in her new home.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_17">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>THE PRINCE.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>"GOOD evening to you, madam! So you have absolutely condescended, +for as great lady as you are, to come and visit the house of your +father's own brother! That is more than I expected. Girl, this is my +lady's adopted daughter, a lady of quality. Why do you not make your +reverences at once, and acknowledge the honor she does us!"</p> + +<p>Such was the affectionate greeting which Dame Evans bestowed on her +husband's niece, who had hastened to come and see her as soon as she +heard through a neighbor of their return to Bristol. In truth, the poor +woman's narrow soul was boiling over with envy and spite at her niece's +change of fortune. She was one of those unlucky people who regard every +piece of preferment falling to any one else as just so much taken from +themselves.</p> + +<p>Simon Evans had given his full and free consent when Lady Peckham had +informed him, on occasion of her visit to Holford, of her intentions +with regard to Winifred, adding that Winifred was half a lady by birth, +and wholly so in her bringing up; and much better, suited to be a +companion to Lady Peckham than a household help to such as they were.</p> + +<p>"I trust Winifred has not failed in her duty to you or to her aunt," +said Lady Peckham.</p> + +<p>"By no means, my lady! She has been everything that she should be, and +more!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean by that," grumbled Dame Evans, by no means +pleased with this unqualified praise of Winifred. "I am sure, the pains +I had to wean her from her books and her dreaming, and make her do +anything useful! And now to have her snatched away, and by a stranger, +as it were! I must say, 'tis very hard!"</p> + +<p>Master Evans gave his wife a glance that she well understood as a +signal to hold her tongue. "If the girl is alive, as I trust she may +be, your ladyship is heartily welcome to her, and I hope she may repay +your kindness towards her," continued her uncle. "'Tis not every great +lady to whom I would trust her in these times, but you, my lady, and +Sir Edward, are well-known: as befit no favorers of court follies and +sins."</p> + +<p>So the matter was settled, to the great chagrin of Margery Evans, who +would have liked at least to throw some difficulties in the way. But +even this was not the worst. Simon Evans had been much surprised at +the circumstance that his father had died without making a will. It +was very unlike his ordinary business-like habits, which caused him to +make a matter of conscience of doing everything in the right time and +way. Magdalen Evans had always been a great favorite with her father, +and with good reason. For, ever since her marriage, she had kept his +house, looked after his interests, and waited upon him with more than +the devotion of a daughter. And never by word or sign had she shown +any consciousness of superiority to the family of the yeoman. Under +these circumstances it seemed incredible to Simon Evans that his father +should have left Magdalen and her child unprovided for; especially as +his brother Gilbert was in the habit of putting his wages into his +father's hands to be invested for the benefit of his family. No will, +however, had been found, and Simon, an honest and upright though rather +thick-headed man, had ever since been casting about in his mind for the +best way to set right the injustice his father had committed.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the Evans family arrived at the farm, than Dame Margery +began the necessary process of cleaning the long shut up house. And +great was the rummaging and wonderful the objurgations bestowed upon +the dirty sluts of maids, and the carelessness and neglect of poor +sister Magdalen, who, it was plain to be seen, had never given the +place a thorough cleaning since she went into it. It was well for +Winifred's peace of mind that she was not present to hear the remarks +made upon her mother's management.</p> + +<p>One day she attacked old Master Evans' room, and turned all the +furniture out of doors, that she might, as she said, have the place to +herself. Out went the ancient chair and table, the heavy bedstead was +denuded of its hangings and dragged out into the middle of the floor, +and Dame Margery called upon her husband to come and help move out +the heavy old secretary and chest of drawers, in which Master Evans +had always kept his papers and other more valuable possessions. Simon +had looked through this secretary more than once without finding what +he sought. Now, however, as he drew the end away from the wall, he +perceived a paper sticking out through a crevice, at the back. With +some difficulty he pulled it out, and unfolded it, and a moment's +glance showed him it was the will he had sought.</p> + +<p>"Well, what now?" said his wife, sharply. "What is in that paper, that +you stare at it like an owl at a mouse?"</p> + +<p>"I believe, Margery," said Simon, slowly, "that I have found my +father's will."</p> + +<p>"And what if you have? What difference will that make?"</p> + +<p>"It may make a great deal of difference!" said Simon. "I must find some +one who can make me understand this paper. I am sorry that my good lady +is gone from the Hall. I believe I will go to the vicar."</p> + +<p>"Better keep it to yourself, good man," suggested Margery, somewhat +alarmed. "What does it signify? You are the eldest son, and have the +best right to your father's property, and Winifred is provided for. +Better let well alone."</p> + +<p>"Woman!" said Simon Evans sternly. "Wouldst thou have me build up my +house by wrong and robbery, and thus bring upon these young ones the +curse of ill-gotten gain? I have ever thought it strange that my father +left nothing to my brother Gilbert's family. I doubt not this will set +the matter right."</p> + +<p>So it proved. The new vicar examined the will, and read it to Simon +Evans. By this instrument, he discovered that his father had put no +less than six hundred pounds into the hands of Sir Edward Peckham, to +be invested for the benefit of Magdalen Evans and her children. A great +part of this sum, it was stated, consisted of the earnings of Gilbert +Evans, and the result of some fortunate speculations in the china jars +and Indian brocades and cottons which were just becoming fashionable. +In addition, Winifred was to have for life the rents of certain +tenements in the village of Holford. Vouchers and all other papers +relating to the transaction would be found in the secret drawer where +the will was deposited. The clue being given, it was not difficult +to discover the drawer, in which were all the documents, arranged in +perfect order.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward's former lawyer had died of the fever, but his son and +successor at Bridgewater easily discovered among Sir Edward's papers +additional evidence of the transaction. And as the baronet was +perfectly methodical in all business affairs, and left abundance of +ready money for the discharge of all debts, there seemed no doubt that +Winifred's portion would be immediately forthcoming.</p> + +<p>It would be more easy to imagine than to describe the wrath of Dame +Margery Evans at this discovery. In vain did her husband represent +to her that the money in question had belonged to Winifred's father, +and not to his own, and was therefore no concern of his. In vain did +he tell her that, as they had never known of the existence of this +six hundred pounds, they were no poorer without them. Dame Margery +persisted in considering it as just so much bread taken out of the +mouths of her own children. She lamented and scolded day and night, +till her husband, worn out, assumed his rare tone of authority, and +bade her never mention the subject in his hearing again, under pain of +certain penalties not unusual in those days.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>It may be believed that Margery's gall was none the less bitter for +this enforced suppression. She had come back to Bristol, determined, as +she said, to see Winifred, and give her a piece of her mind. And the +opportunity had come sooner than she expected. Winifred's affectionate +anxiety to meet and greet her relatives had, so to speak, led her +directly into the lion's jaws. She had as yet heard nothing of her good +fortune, Lady Peckham having thought it better that the matter should +be settled entirely before it was spoken of; and she stood perfectly +aghast at the reception she met with.</p> + +<p>Dame Margery perceived her confusion, and followed up her advantage +with a torrent of abuse of Winifred herself, and all her friends, +including her mother, Lady Peckham, and the whole Corbet family. +There was no telling how far she might have gone, if Betsey, becoming +alarmed at her mother's violence, had not run down to the water-side +and called her father. The presence of Master Evans at once restored +quiet. Margery's storm of words subsided into a low mutter, and +presently dissolved into a shower of tears, in which she bewailed her +unhappy fate in meeting with such black ingratitude from those she had +nourished as her own, alluded to frozen vipers which stung those who +warmed them, and finally, having fairly worn out her fit of temper, +was ready to meet Winifred with a sort of mournful solemnity, when she +came down-stairs from packing up such of her possessions as remained +at her aunt's, and dividing between the little girls the presents she +had brought them: to hope that her sins would not be visited on her +head, and that she would not come to shame and destruction among the +fine folks who had taken her up, now that it was known she had a little +money of her own.</p> + +<p>"You forget, dame," said her husband, "that my lady has known Winifred +longer than we have, and that Sir John's family took her up because she +was useful to them in teaching the young ladies."</p> + +<p>But Dame Evans did not choose to remember. Winifred had chosen her +lot, and she must abide by it, she said. She washed her hands of the +whole matter. Thank goodness, she had no reason to be running after +gentlefolks. She had kept her own house over her head and the heads of +her family—much thanks she got for it—and she hoped to do so, though +the bread "had" been taken out of the mouths of her children to enrich +strangers. And here, the temper coming uppermost once more, she fell +into a regular screaming and kicking fit of hysterics.</p> + +<p>"Go, Winifred, you can do no good here," said her uncle. "May God +bless you, child! I trust and will believe you are provided for, but +if ever you are in need, remember my house is always open to you. Give +my grateful duty to my lady, and as you go by the goldsmith's, send in +Dame Joyce to see to your aunt. She is a good-natured woman, and knows +how to manage her."</p> + +<p>Winifred never saw her aunt again. The dame died not very long after +from a cold taken in scrubbing the bricks of the little court one cold +day, while she was wet through and through from washing of windows. +After waiting a decent time, Simon Evans took to wife a younger sister +of Dame Joyce, who had been well-educated in one of the excellent +foundation schools of Bristol. With all the kindness of heart and +cheerfulness of spirit of her elder sister, she possessed more sense +and steadiness of purpose. She proved a real blessing to the household +of Simon Evans, and was more truly a mother to his daughters than ever +their own had been. Simon Evans grew rich and prospered, and, feeling +a certain longing after his old home, he sold out his business, and +retired with his family to the Stonehill farm, where he and his wife +lived and died in peace, respected by all who knew them.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>In the course of a week Lady Peckham returned to her house at Exeter, +taking Paulina and Winifred, and the two girls were soon settled +into a regular course of study and work, under the direction of Lady +Peckham and the vigorous supervision of Mrs. Alwright. Relieved from +the annoyance of curious and reproachful eyes, and influenced by the +calm and cheerful spirit of her cousin, Paulina rapidly regained health +and spirits. She took a new interest in the accomplishments she had +heretofore despised, when shown that they, like all other advantages, +were talents committed to her charge to be used for the glory of God +and the good of those about her. She threw herself into study and +work with an energy which nobody had believed was in her, and daily +surprised her kind teacher by her progress, and astonished Alwright +by her skill in inventing new patterns and improving old ones, and by +baking a saffron cake and an almond pastry as well as her teacher or +Winifred.</p> + +<p>To Winifred all seemed more like a happy dream than like any possible +reality; and she almost feared to wake and find herself again scouring +trenchers or washing casements under the supervision of Dame Margery. +Not that even now she was perfectly happy. She could not but regret the +terms on which she had parted with her aunt, though her own reason told +her she was not in fault. And she was conscious of a sharp pang of pain +and regret whenever anything was said about Arthur Carew.</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham seldom mentioned her brother, though Winifred believed +that she often heard from him. She only knew that he was in Holland, +and, openly or covertly, in the service of the Prince of Orange, and +that if the now much talked of expedition of the prince should take +place, Arthur Carew would doubtless accompany him. But suppose she +should ever see him again, what good would that do her? Was it at all +likely that after so long a time he would remember the little country +girl to whom he had given the locket and said those words under the +great pear-tree? Had those words ever been anything more than the empty +compliments of a courtier? Or, if he had been sincere at the time, +would not Lord Carew be a very different person from the wounded and +half-starved adventurer whom she had guided to Dame Sprat's cottage on +that memorable midnight? And what would my lady say to such a match?</p> + +<p>But with all these questionings and a hundred more, Winifred's faith +did not fail. She knew that her fate was in better hands than those +of any earthly friend, however kind and wise, and that all would be +ordered for the best. So she took up her cross bravely, and bore +it silently, as many a woman has done both before and since, never +allowing her thoughts to dwell upon her trouble more than she could +help, and thankful that she had at least one Friend to whom she could +pour out her heart, and whom she could ask for blessings upon all those +dearest to her.</p> + +<p>Meantime she gave her whole mind and attention to the studies she was +pursuing with Paulina, under Lady Peckham's direction, went to prayers +at the grand old cathedral on Sundays and holidays, worked for the +poor, and was introduced to Lady Peckham's visitors as "Mrs. Evans, +a young kinswoman whom I have taken to bring up." Thus the little +household in the fine old house at Exeter pursued its quiet way amid +all the disturbances of the time, seeing little company and hearing +little news. Though Winifred shrewdly suspected that her lady knew more +of what went on in the great world outside than she always saw fit to +communicate.</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>One afternoon in November, Lady Peckham sat in the bow-windowed parlor, +looking into the garden with her two young friends, busied with her +knitting, while Paulina and Winifred read aloud in turn. Either the +chronicler was not very entertaining or the readers were preoccupied, +for Lady Peckham often let her knitting fall as she looked absently +into the garden, Paulina seemed in imminent danger of going to sleep +over her frame, and Winifred more than once lost her place, when they +were suddenly startled and effectually aroused by the entrance of Mrs. +Alwright, in a state of perturbation and alarm most unusual in that +staid and discreet spinster.</p> + +<p>"O madam! O my lady! John Footman has just come home, and he says there +is certain news come that the Prince of Orange has landed at Torbay +with all his army, and is marching direct upon Exeter by this very +road. What shall we do? What will become of us?"</p> + +<p>The whole party started, and Winifred turned pale as death. She well +remembered the undisciplined rabble of Monmouth's army and the horrors +which followed its defeat. Lady Peckham seemed the least disturbed of +the three.</p> + +<p>"I do not think there is any cause for present alarm," said she. "Yes, +my poor Winifred, I see well of what you are thinking, but I believe +this will be a very different matter from that wretched affair of the +Duke of Monmouth. The Prince of Orange is a worthy Christian gentleman, +and his wife the next heir to the throne. I have reason to know that he +has been invited over at this time by some of the foremost men in the +kingdom. His troops are famous for their discipline and good order, and +he has with him many English gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"Then your ladyship does not think we had better begin to pack up our +goods?" said Alwright.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I think you had better prepare for the reception of +guests—especially of some one who loves sweet sausages and saffron +cakes—for I am mistaken if we do not have a visitor before long!"</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>The next few days were days of great excitement to all the people of +Exeter, and our friends had their full share of interest in what was +going on. Some of the cathedral authorities, as soon as they heard +of the landing of the troops at Torbay, left their posts and went up +to London. The magistrates who favored King James remained in their +places, but they could do nothing against the universal feeling of the +inhabitants, and, wisely enough probably, did not try.</p> + +<p>All sorts of rumors were afloat about the men the prince had brought +with him. It was said that they were a race of giants; that they +carried such arms and accoutrements as had never been seen before; that +some of them were savages from the far north where the sun never shone +and the ocean was frozen solid. The people of Exeter, whose notions +of armies were taken from the lawless rabble of Monmouth or the more +highly organized rapacity and ruffianism of Kirke's band, began to +anticipate with terror the entrance of the troops into the city. But +all the rumors which came from the now rapidly advancing army concurred +in saying that the soldiers were under the strictest discipline, took +nothing without paying for it, and were civil to all who came in their +way.</p> + +<p>"Only think, madam," said a young servant one morning, "they say the +prince has two or three hundred blackamoors with him—real blackamoors +from the Indies!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Lady Peckham, not at all discomposed by the news, "I dare +say they are harmless enough."</p> + +<p>"I cannot help liking blackamoors!" said Paulina. "Poor Jack, my +father's black, was so good when we were all ill!"</p> + +<p>"They are good and bad, like other people, I suppose!" said Lady +Peckham. "I do not think you have any cause for fear, Dolly. Only +attend to your work, and all will go well enough."</p> + +<p>"Poor Dolly!" said Winifred, laughing, as the girl retreated. "She +seems rather disappointed that her story has made no more stir."</p> + +<p>"Yes, people of her sort have a great fondness for horrors. But I do +not think there is any cause for alarm. The prince himself, I am well +advised, will be here to-morrow or the next day, and no disorder is +likely to go on in his neighborhood!"</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>The next day but one all Exeter was in the street or at the windows. +The houses were hung with tapestry or ornamented with flowers to +welcome the man who had come to save England from popish domination. +Lady Peckham's house, in the principal street, by which the prince must +pass to the lodgings assigned him, had its windows crowded with gazers, +but one little balcony was reserved for Lady Peckham herself and her +family. And not a few eyes turned from the crowds in the street to rest +upon the stately figure of the widowed lady, supported by her two young +cousins, both so lovely and in such different styles.</p> + +<p>Peace of mind and improving health had brought the carnation to +Paulina's cheek and the light to her dark eyes. Winifred was outwardly +calm and pale as usual, but her mind was in a flutter of expectation +of she knew not what. She told herself again and again that she had +nothing to look for, that Lord Carew was and could be nothing to her, +that she owed it to herself and to her lady to think no more about him. +But not the less did her heart bound every time the thought crossed her +mind that she might perhaps see him again before she slept.</p> + +<p>"Here they come at last!" said Lady Peckham. "I hear the music; and +see, the crowd parts! Who comes first?"</p> + +<p>First came a troop of gentlemen, many of them English, splendidly +mounted, and attended by their negro servants in turbans and white +feathers, rolling their eyes and showing their white teeth as though +they considered the whole pageant had been got up for their exclusive +honor.</p> + +<p>Winifred gazed intently, but saw no face that she knew.</p> + +<p>"What a pity Jack is not here!" said Paulina. "He might find some +friends among all these black people. But who are these with the fur +cloaks and black armor?"</p> + +<p>"They must be the Swedes of whom we heard," said Lady Peckham. "They +are indeed a formidable troop! Here comes the prince's banner. Can you +read the device, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"'The Protestant Religion and the Liberties of England!'" said +Winifred. "I hope it may be well, but I cannot help thinking of the +poor, unhappy Duke of Monmouth."</p> + +<p>"I do not wonder you think of him, but this is a very different +matter," replied Lady Peckham. "Monmouth brought with him no such +troops as these, and, besides, he had not a shadow of right or reason +upon his side. The very proclamation he put forth was enough to have +ruined his cause with all reasonable people. But look! Who comes here? +The Prince of Orange himself!"</p> + +<p>"How grave and thoughtful he looks!" observed Paulina. "One would not +think he could ever smile."</p> + +<p>"It is his nature to be grave, and even gloomy, and he has, besides, +had much in his life to make him so," said Lady Peckham. "Moreover, his +present enterprise is one which may well cause him to look grave. He +has aged greatly since I saw him last, but he had always that austere +and settled regard even as a young boy."</p> + +<p>"See, see! What is that old dame about?" cried Winifred, as a very aged +woman pressed through the crowd towards the prince. "Oh, Lady Peckham! +It is Dame Oldmixon! Do you not remember her?"</p> + +<p>"It is our old neighbor indeed! I fear she will be trampled under +foot," said Lady Peckham. "But no, the crowd makes way for her! She +touches the prince's hand! See, he speaks to her, and smiles! You see +he can smile, Paulina, and very brightly too! Poor old dame, she is +thinking of her son and husband!"</p> + +<p>"What of them?" asked Paulina.</p> + +<p>"The son was killed at Sedgemoor, and his father, though, I believe, +perfectly innocent of any share in the rebellion, was put to death by +Jeffreys. Winifred, send some one to bring the poor old woman in, and +give her some refreshment. She is not fit to be abroad in this press +and crowd."</p> + +<p>The messenger was sent, and returned: "She will not come, my lady. She +sends her grateful duty to you, but says she will go home and die, now +that she has seen the deliverer of England."</p> + +<p>"We will find her out, and see that she is comfortably provided for," +said Lady Peckham. "I heard that she had come to Exeter to live."</p> + +<p>After the prince came a long train of infantry, mostly Swiss soldiers +in the employ of the Dutch government, and then various bands, +distinguished, as was the fashion of those times, by the names of their +leaders.</p> + +<p>"See there, Winifred!" said Lady Peckham, suddenly. "Who is that +gentleman with the fair hair and mustache—there on the black horse? +See, Alwright!"</p> + +<p>"It is Master Arthur! It is my lord!" cried Alwright, in great +excitement. "But how old he has grown, and what a great scar he has on +his cheek!"</p> + +<p>"That scar came from a Turkish sabre," said Lady Peckham. "Stop, he +sees us! He waves his hat!"</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="image008" style="max-width: 25.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/image008.jpg" alt="image008"></figure> +<p class="t4"> +<b>Arthur's face was upturned; all at once he started,</b><br> +<b>raised his hat and looked earnestly at the group in the balcony.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>Arthur's face was upturned, and his eyes were earnestly perusing the +crowds of ladies in the windows and balconies. All at once he started, +raised his hat, looked earnestly at the group in the balcony, and then +waved his plumed hat once more, with a smile and gesture of triumph.</p> + +<p>"Is that my cousin?" asked Paulina, in a tone of some disappointment. +"I had thought him a much younger man. Did not you, Winifred?"</p> + +<p>"He looks thin and very brown," said Winifred, commanding herself to +speak, "but I do not think he has grown old so very much, considering +all he has gone through."</p> + +<p>"Why, did you ever see him before?" asked Paulina, curiously. "You +never told me that! What an odd girl you are, Winifred!"</p> + +<p>Winifred did not reply, and Lady Peckham answered for her.</p> + +<p>"Winifred knew my brother when she was a little girl. I hardly know +whether he will recognize her!"</p> + +<p>Winifred said nothing, but she could not help thinking that Arthur +"had" recognized her, and that the wave of the hat and the smile were +for her. All the rest of the pageant passed before her eyes like a +dream, and she was only glad when she could escape to her room, and be +alone for awhile to collect her thoughts and compose herself.</p> + +<p>But she could not be spared long. She was wanted here, there, and +everywhere, for the house was full of company, and Alwright in such a +flurry and fever that, as she herself said, she did not know whether +she was on her head or her heels. Winifred must set out the cakes and +sweetmeats, see that every one was helped, assist the ladies to find +their cloaks and hoods, and make herself generally useful.</p> + +<p>At last, the last guest departed, and Winifred, tired in body and +wearied with excitement and hope deferred, returned to Lady Peckham's +withdrawing-room. There was no one in the room, and Winifred dropped +into a chair and covered her face with her hands.</p> + +<p>"Oh, give me strength! Only give me strength!" was her prayer. "Let me +know the truth, and give me grace to bear it, whatever it may be!"</p> + +<p>The door opened, and Winifred started up, to be confronted face to face +by a tall figure in a colonel's uniform. The two looked at each other +for one moment. Then all uncertainty was at an end.</p> + +<p>"Winifred, my own Winifred, you have not forgotten me in all these +years that I have worn your piece of gold next my heart!"</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham had heard her brother's step, and, hastening to meet him, +had been just in time to see the greeting.</p> + +<p>"Oho, Master Arthur!" said she to herself, with a smile. "You have +found your young friend already, have you? Well, well, better Winifred +than some others! But we shall see!"</p> + +<p>"And so you have really come back again safe and sound, Master Arthur—I +mean, my lord," said Alwright, "from the Turks and all! But you have +got an ugly scar on your face!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a Turkish janizary spoiled my beauty for me," replied Arthur, +laughing, "and came near doing worse; for he fired his pistol at me, +and the ball struck me just here above my heart!"</p> + +<p>"Goodness me!" exclaimed Alwright. "Why did he not kill you?"</p> + +<p>"Through no good will of his, I assure you. I bore a charm in the shape +of a certain piece of Moorish gold which hung round my neck by a chain +and turned the ball!"</p> + +<p>"Well!" said the sage Alwright, "say what you will, I shall always +maintain that there is something in charms and amulets, and so I told +my brother when he refused to wear the hare's foot I was at the pains +to provide for his colic. 'Depend upon it,' said I, 'there is more in +such things than you think!' I shall just tell him this story and see +what he has to say. But where did you get your charm, Master Arthur—I +mean, my lord?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is a secret!" said Arthur, laughing. "If I should tell where +it came from, the charm would be spoiled."</p> + +<p>"To be sure, you ought not to tell," said Alwright. "I always did hear +it would break the spell of such things, and you may need its help +yet—who knows?"</p> + +<p>"Who knows, indeed?" said Arthur. "I trust this same amulet of mine may +yet bring me the greatest blessing of my life!"</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<h3><a id="Chapter_18">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></h3> + +<p class="t3"> +<b>CONCLUSION.</b><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>ARTHUR'S stay in Exeter was short, but before he left he had sought a +private interview with Winifred, and asked her to be his wife so soon +as the troubles should be settled.</p> + +<p>"I have always kept this object in view, ever since we parted under +the great pear-tree in your father's garden," said he. "I have been at +foreign courts since then, and seen some of the most beautiful women +in the world. I have been, too, in scenes of temptation and trial, +among wild and dissolute men, and women still worse, but your face has +always come between me and harm, and your piece of gold has indeed been +a talisman which has kept me from many a sin. Winifred, will you be my +wife? I can promise you no great wealth—no court gaieties. I am but a +soldier, and my fortunes will rise or fall with those of the Prince of +Orange, my master. At best I shall be but a poor lord, living on my +estate in Devonshire, where you may follow my good sister's example and +play Lady Bountiful to tenants and cottagers. But if you are such as I +think you, such a life will suit you better than fluttering at court or +in the parks."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" said Winifred, simply. "But what will my lady say? I am +but a yeoman's daughter, you know. I can boast no gentle blood, save on +the side of my mother, and I have no great fortune, which I have heard +sometimes makes up for lack of long descent. I can do nothing against +the will of my lady."</p> + +<p>"I believe my sister will make no objection," said Arthur. "I think she +must see how the case stands. But, as you say, we owe a duty to her. +She has been almost a mother to me, and more than a mother to you. We +will do nothing without her. But the matter must be settled speedily, +for the prince may move any day, and you wot, sweetheart, that when the +master rides, the man must run."</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>"Well, well!" said Mrs. Alwright at the conclusion of a private +conference with her mistress, some days afterwards. "So this is the way +it is to turn out! I never would allow Mrs. Winifred to read novels +or plays, but I don't see but I might just as well have done so, for +I am sure nothing more romantic is to be found even in the tales of +King Arthur. And so, all the time I was thinking perhaps he may take a +fancy to his cousin Mrs. Paulina, he was making up to Mrs. Winifred! +And all the time I was teaching Winifred to sit straight at her frame +and keep her head well up and her chin under, and to speak and carry +herself like a lady, I was teaching the future Lady Carew—which shows +the importance of doing a thing well while one is about it," moralized +Alwright, "as I shall make a point of telling Mrs. Paulina, who is +apt to slight her work and not fasten her threads well. And so little +Winifred Evans, the daughter of Magdalen Coffin, is to stand in my old +lady's shoes and sit in her chair! Well, well!"</p> + +<p>"You think my mother would have been shocked," said Lady Peckham; "yet, +as I was saying to myself, Winifred's birth and breeding are both above +that of the woman to whom my mother would have married poor Edward. Do +you remember when she came down to the Hall on a visit?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, that I do!" said Alwright. "How she bustled in her silks and +satins, and talked loud, and took the words out of my lady's mouth at +her own table, and wondered 'how anybody as was anybody could abear +to live down in Devonshire among the savages.' I promise you it was a +bitter pill for my lady, despite the gilding; though she would have +swallowed it for all that, only the London lady took fright at poor +Master Edward's strange ways—for he was strange even then. But little +Winnie Evans! However, my lady is not here to object, and will know +nothing about it, that is one comfort. And even if she does, 'tis to be +hoped she has learned to see things differently by this time. And when +is the wedding to be, my lady?"</p> + +<p>"That we cannot say exactly. Much depends upon the movements of the +prince. Should he be defeated after all, I suppose my brother will have +to go abroad once more."</p> + +<p>"But I trust he will not, my lady! So many gentlemen are joining him +on every side. Here are Sir William Putman and Sir Francis Wane, and +so many others flocking to him. Exeter is quite like a court, with the +gentlemen and their servants. But what about the wedding clothes, my +lady? Should not Mrs. Winifred's linen be got in hand?"</p> + +<p>"O yes, whenever you please," said Lady Peckham, smiling. "As soon as +things are a little more settled, I must write to my cousin Judith and +tell her the news. It is but her due, after her kindness to Winifred, +and I presume she will desire to do something towards her outfit. We +must have them all here for the wedding, Alwright, whenever it takes +place."</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>By the middle of February the English Revolution was a fixed fact, and +William and Mary were settled upon the throne, but it was not till the +primroses were blossoming in the green lanes of Devonshire that the +wedding was celebrated in Exeter, and the new Lord and Lady Carew took +possession of the gray old mansion house which had stood shut up and +deserted so many years, all but the few rooms inhabited by the poor +madman and his keepers.</p> + +<p>Winifred was in no hurry to leave her dear lady, and it was agreed on +all sides to wait till such time as would be decorous for the young +Corbets to put off their mourning. Great was the joy and exultation of +good, kind-hearted Lady Corbet on the occasion. She had always known, +she said, that Winifred was born for a great lady, and she was as +pleased that she was as if it had been her own Paulina. It might be +Pall's turn next, perhaps, but the girl stuck up her nose, forsooth, +and declared she would never marry. She would live with Cousin Margaret +all her life, unless she was needed at home. She had no fancy at all +for the men, had Pall, and the twins were far more excited about the +wedding than their elder sister.</p> + +<p>Meantime half the seamstresses in Bristol were at work, under her +direction, in fulfilling her vow that whenever Winifred married, she +should have a setting-out equal to that of any lady in the land. And +marvellous indeed were the lace and fine linen, the cut-work and raised +work, the brocades, and cambrics, and scented gloves, and gold-fringed +gaiters, and clocked stockings, which Lady Corbet displayed to +Alwright's admiring eyes on her arrival at Exeter a few days before the +wedding.</p> + +<p>Sir John insisted upon adding to Winifred's little fortune the sum +he had originally destined for her dowry, and presented besides a +beautiful set of jewels. One other present Winifred had which cost her +a fit of crying. It was from Doctor Mercer, and consisted of a case +containing a beautiful and costly Bible and Prayer-book.</p> + +<p>"Poor man, he is sad enough!" said Lady Corbet. "But he will not hear +any one say a word against you, for all that. When my cousin Norton +began to say, one day, that doubtless you know what you were about, +that you had feathered your nest well, and got on the blind side of +my lady, for all your saintliness—you know my cousin Norton never can +abide any one who makes any profession of godliness—I think she feels +it a reproach to herself, poor thing, for she does live like a heathen, +and a sad grief it is to her mother-in-law, my Paulina's godmother. +Well, when she said so, Doctor Mercer took her up, and I promise you, +he soon silenced her! I could wish sometimes that the doctor would take +a fancy to Pall, but I doubt his ever marrying now."</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p>The rest of our tale is soon told. Lord and Lady Carew lived on +their estate in Devonshire, with little interruption, save when +Arthur accompanied the king to Ireland in that memorable campaign +which resulted in the Battle of the Boyne. Winifred was the same in +prosperity that she had been in adversity—calm, brave, religious, +trusting in God and walking daily and hourly with Him, doing good to +all about her. She found a grandson of her old friend Dame Sprat living +in great poverty on the outskirts of the estate, and had the happiness +of placing him on the farm of his grandfather, where he did credit to +his descent and her patronage. She revived the village school, which +had fallen to decay, and it continues to do good to this day, the girls +of Lady Carew's school being in great request as house-servants and +nursery-maids.</p> + +<p>Lady Peckham retained her house in Exeter, but spent many months of +every year with Winifred in the home of her childhood, where Alwright +made saffron cakes and almond pastys, imparted wonderful secrets of +cooking and preserving to Lady Carew and her housekeeper, and had the +pleasure of introducing little Mrs. Margaret and Mrs. Magdalen to the +mysteries of cross-stitch and open-hem.</p> + +<p>Paulina kept her word about remaining single, and living with cousin +Margaret. Her first fancy, settled upon a most unworthy object, had +been cruelly blighted, and she never had a second. After Lady Peckham's +death, she inherited the house at Exeter, where she had always with +her three or four motherless or orphan girls whom she brought up. Her +little school became famous for the excellence and soundness of the +education acquired under her charge, and she could have filled her +house many times over, but she steadily refused to take more than a +certain number, and always gave the preference to those who had no +mothers. She was effectually assisted by Alwright, who retained her +faculties unimpared to a great age, and could teach cross-stitch and +fine-darning by the aid of her glasses when she was ninety years old.</p> + +<p>The twins often visited their sister and "cousin Winifred," as they +delighted to call Lady Carew. They grew up useful, well-educated women, +and married well during the life-time of their mother, thus making up +in some degree for Paulina's obstinate single-blessedness.</p> + +<p>Nothing more was ever heard of Doctor Butler, and it was supposed that +he went abroad. Doctor Mercer lived and died in Bristol, where he +had many warm friends among both rich and poor, and won the respect +of all, notwithstanding his heretical opinions upon the subject of +fresh air and cold water. Sir John and Lady Corbet lived to see their +great-grandchildren, and died respected and loved by their numerous +descendants, and all who knew them. A wife was found for black Jack in +a fine young negro girl brought from the West Indies; and that worthy +blackamoor lived to be as white-headed as his old master.</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76596 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/76596-h/images/image001.jpg b/76596-h/images/image001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..536ab7f --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image001.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image002.jpg b/76596-h/images/image002.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e5737e --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image002.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image003.jpg b/76596-h/images/image003.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7ee210 --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image003.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image004.jpg b/76596-h/images/image004.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..871e216 --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image004.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image005.jpg b/76596-h/images/image005.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b581da3 --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image005.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image006.jpg b/76596-h/images/image006.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..733566e --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image006.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image007.jpg b/76596-h/images/image007.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9c3538 --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image007.jpg diff --git a/76596-h/images/image008.jpg b/76596-h/images/image008.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..43ac84f --- /dev/null +++ b/76596-h/images/image008.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5de0b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #76596 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76596) |
