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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78661 ***
+
+Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "OH! ARE YOU BACK ALREADY?"]
+
+
+
+                          HEATHER'S MISTRESS
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                            AMY LE FEUVRE
+
+
+           AUTHOR OF "PROBABLE SONS," "THE CARVED CUPBOARD,"
+              "DWELL DEEP," "ON THE EDGE OF A MOOR," ETC.
+
+
+             WITH FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. S. CROMPTON
+
+
+                         _SECOND IMPRESSION_
+
+
+                                LONDON
+                     THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
+          56, PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. LEFT ALONE
+
+   II. A RELATION
+
+  III. IN AN OLD-FASHIONED HOUSEHOLD
+
+   IV. A STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
+
+    V. IN PARK LANE
+
+   VI. A TASTE OF TOWN LIFE
+
+  VII. DUTY'S CALL
+
+ VIII. SEPARATION
+
+   IX. THE VILLAGERS
+
+    X. A SUMMER LODGER
+
+   XI. BROUGHT INTO LIGHT
+
+  XII. A FISHERMAN
+
+ XIII. BLUEBELL'S RETURN
+
+  XIV. "THE RIGHT MAN"
+
+   XV. THE OLD PRIORY
+
+   XVI. A CALAMITY
+
+  XVII. IN THE OLD GARDEN
+
+ XVIII. WITH FRIENDS AGAIN
+
+   XIX. AN UNEXPECTED OFFER
+
+    XX. ABROAD
+
+   XXI. A TREASURE TAKEN
+
+  XXII. DUTY A GOOD MISTRESS
+
+
+
+                          HEATHER'S MISTRESS
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+LEFT ALONE
+
+   "By the fireside there are youthful dreamers,
+    Building castles fair with stately stairways,
+                   Asking blindly
+    Of the future what it cannot give them."
+                                       LONGFELLOW.
+
+IT was a grey dreary afternoon. Steady rain, leaden skies, and a flat
+straight road bordered by leafless hedges did not provide a cheery
+outlook to the solitary walker. She stepped along bravely, a slim
+little figure in a grey ulster and a black straw hat. Her thoughts were
+far away from her surroundings, and it was not until she had reached a
+wooden gate leading up a drive that she roused herself with a start.
+
+"How wet I am!" she murmured. "And here have I been carrying my
+umbrella unopened in my hand, and spoiling my new hat! What will
+Abigail say?"
+
+She passed through the gate and up the drive edged by tall shrubberies,
+and then came out before an old-fashioned red-brick house which had
+something forbidding and grim in the look of its ivy-clad walls and
+tall narrow windows.
+
+She paused in the porch and shook out her damp garments with a grimace
+of disgust. Then quietly opening a glass door, she entered a small
+square hall. It was dusk, and the dark oak walls and stone-flagged
+floor seemed cold and dreary. An old-fashioned oak staircase rose from
+the centre of it, and some oil portraits and a few antlers were dimly
+discernible on the walls.
+
+The girl opened a door on the right, and shutting it behind her said in
+a quick clear voice—
+
+"Bluebell, are you here?"
+
+There was a bright wood fire in the wide open fireplace, and the
+contrast to the dull greyness of the atmosphere without was striking.
+It was a long low room, with casement windows in deep recesses facing
+east and west. The walls were covered with a deep crimson flock paper;
+all the furniture was oak, dark with age; and the flickering firelight
+played on some massive silver plate on a sideboard behind the door. A
+dark crimson cloth on the square centre table, and crimson curtains
+to the windows, gave a most cosy look to the room. And perhaps the
+pleasantest picture in it was that of a young girl seated on the
+hearthrug, her elbows on a leather chair, and a book before her in
+which she was engrossed.
+
+She raised her head at her sister's entrance, then sprang to her feet.
+
+"Oh, are you back already? I've been having a splendid time!"
+
+Looking from one sister to the other, one would have had no difficulty
+in deciding that they were twins.
+
+Each possessed the same bright brown hair which curled naturally
+round their broad white brows, and was fastened in a careless fashion
+of their own in loose coils on the top of their heads. Their eyes
+were grey, with long curling lashes, but whilst Bluebell's twinkled
+irrepressibly and continually, Heather's seemed to be looking out into
+the future with a soft dreaminess that was characteristic of her. Both
+had the same delicately cut features and clear pale skin, both the
+same determined little mouth and rounded chin. And the pair of them,
+in spite of country-made garments and a quaint old-fashioned air, were
+interesting in the extreme.
+
+"I don't doubt you have," was Heather's reply, as, taking off her wet
+ulster, she came over to the fire and seated herself in an easy chair.
+"It is a dreadful day out. Look at my boots! They're soaked through. I
+am so glad to be home again."
+
+"Why did you go? Rachael said she would go for you to-morrow."
+
+"Yes, I know." And Heather gave a little sigh as she leant back and
+warmed her damp toes.
+
+Then, after a minute, she added abruptly, "I went because I felt it
+would be right. Grandmother would have wished it. I have been thinking,
+Bluebell, that we have been wasting our time rather lately, and I think
+we ought not to read so much."
+
+Bluebell laughed a little consciously, then she looked down at her
+black frock and shook her pretty head.
+
+"It is just six weeks since grandmother died, and it seems a year. I
+don't think we could have lived through this time, Heather, if we had
+not found these books. It has made such a change in the house, hasn't
+it? No invalid to read to or amuse, no one to watch over our words and
+actions. Suddenly we find ourselves our own mistresses, and our daily
+round of occupation all swept away. For three weeks we haven't seen a
+soul to speak to—I mean outside the house. Every day is the same, and I
+suppose it always will be now. I am getting and enjoying fresh life in
+'Ivanhoe,' so don't you say it is waste of time."
+
+Heather glanced at the book in question, then spoke rather hesitatingly.
+
+"Of course I know it is delicious. I am dying to get to the end of 'The
+Monastery' myself, but I think we're rather overdoing it. Sir Walter
+Scott won't run away from us; we have plenty of time before us, and—and
+I think it unsettles us for our daily life."
+
+"No; it brings fresh thoughts into our heads, I allow, but I don't feel
+unsettled. I went over the store cupboard this morning with Abigail,
+made a fresh list for you to take into the town with you, then I mended
+some table-napkins, and fed the canaries. And I also put our myrtles
+out into the rain, and watered the greenhouse plants. After that, I
+settled myself with a good conscience to my reading, and, oh, how
+I wonder that grandmother never told us what treasures were in her
+bookcase!"
+
+"Perhaps she did not think them suitable reading for us," said Heather,
+thoughtfully. "You see, we have not been brought up like other girls;
+she was so particular!"
+
+"Well, we can do as we like now. There is no one in the wide world to
+give us any advice. How do you like the sensation of it?"
+
+Bluebell looked across at her sister with a gleam of mischief in her
+eye.
+
+Heather met her gaze gravely, then clasping her hands behind her neck,
+she rested her head against them, and said with much emphasis, "Oh, it
+is dreadfully and awfully lonely. I have been thinking of it out in
+the rain. You and I with youth and health, and just enough money to
+live comfortably here, and only Abigail and Rachael, not a friend or
+relative belonging to us. And I suppose we shall live on here all our
+lives, and will never see a bit more of the world than just this corner
+of it. We have each other, but we shall never have any one else. And
+we shall go on growing older and older, and our days will be just the
+same; and Abigail will order us about and manage us as if we were still
+children up to the very last."
+
+Bluebell's laughing lips took serious curves. "I don't think we shall
+always live like this. I am looking for a benighted traveller, a prince
+in disguise to arrive one day, and then suddenly, we shall find our
+lives changed. Joking apart, don't you think we have a single relation
+in the world? Everybody has some relations, however distant; why should
+not we?"
+
+"We will ask Abigail. Grandmother never would talk to us about our
+family, but I always understood from her we had none. Father was her
+only son, and mother was an only daughter."
+
+There was a pause.
+
+Then Bluebell said, "I don't think our lives will be empty. We have
+a lot of interests here—all the poor people that grandmother used to
+relieve. You have your old blind man to read to every week. I have
+my Band of Hope with the children, and—and when we want a little
+dissipation, we can pull up the river and have a picnic or spend a day
+in town, and I don't see why we shouldn't take an excursion by train
+now and then."
+
+Heather gave a little impatient sigh.
+
+"It is people I want to know—people in our own class of life, girls
+like ourselves, women and men."
+
+"We never shall know people here," said Bluebell; "there are none to
+know. The doctor, the rector, and grandmother's lawyer from London are
+the only ones we have seen for years, and they're all over sixty."
+
+Suddenly Heather started up, an inspiration having come to her. And her
+soft eyes sparkled as she said, "What is there to prevent us going up
+to see the sights of London? We have the money to do it."
+
+"London!" exclaimed Bluebell, opening her eyes at her sister's
+audacity. "Grandmother said Paris and London were the most wicked
+cities in the world! Do you think Abigail would let us go? Never!"
+
+A pink flush had come into Heather's cheeks, but her face fell at the
+thought of Abigail. Then she said recklessly, "If Abigail tried to
+prevent us, we could send her away. She is only a servant, after all,
+and we are not children. We are of age, and can please ourselves!"
+
+Bluebell gave a little gasp. Life without Abigail as the controlling
+power seemed vague and impossible.
+
+"We are our own mistresses," said Heather, with warmth, but she was
+stopped by the entrance of Abigail herself.
+
+Abigail was a tall severe-looking woman, the personification of
+neatness and order; her white cap and apron proclaimed her position,
+otherwise the authority in her voice and demeanour would have led one
+to suppose she was the mistress of the house.
+
+"Miss Heather, is this your wet ulster flung down on the chair? I did
+not hear you come in."
+
+Heather's tone was meekness itself as she replied, "Yes, I was so tired
+that I have been resting."
+
+"And you have not changed your damp boots?"
+
+"No, I am going upstairs to do it now."
+
+She slipped out of the room, and Abigail, taking up the ulster,
+followed her upstairs to the pretty bedroom that both girls shared
+together.
+
+Everything was very simple, but the white dimity curtains and
+bed-hangings were spotless in their freshness. Two small beds, a
+toilet-table draped in snowy muslin, a round table with devotional
+books and writing materials upon it, and two old-fashioned wardrobes
+were the chief pieces of furniture in it. The floor was covered with
+an old Brussels carpet, and the casement windows, with their deep
+window-seats, were the facsimile of the dining-room ones below.
+
+Abigail came up to her young mistress and felt the edge of her skirt.
+
+"You must change your dress at once, miss. You are too old to be so
+careless. It is just the way to get a severe cold—coming in and sitting
+down in your damp things and letting them dry on you!"
+
+"Oh, what does it matter?" Heather said, a little petulantly.
+
+But she obeyed Abigail at once, watched her close the shutters and
+light the wax candles, and then detained her just as she was leaving
+the room.
+
+"Abigail, you lived with grandmother before our father married, did you
+not?"
+
+"I did," responded Abigail, grimly.
+
+"Well, you ought to know. Have we not a relation in the world?"
+
+Abigail's brows contracted.
+
+"Why do you ask, miss?"
+
+"Oh," said Heather, a little confusedly, "we have only been wondering,
+that is all."
+
+"None that would improve your manners, or edify your souls," the old
+servant said dryly. Then after a pause she added, "Your grandmother had
+one niece, but she left the Society of Friends and went into the gay
+world and married a worldling. We heard she had one daughter, and later
+on, she died."
+
+"Who? The daughter?"
+
+"No, your grandmother's niece."
+
+"And what became of the daughter? She would be about our age, would she
+not?"
+
+"A good ten or twelve years older. We saw her marriage in the paper
+some years ago. She married a soldier, and you know what we think of
+them."
+
+"I should like to find her out, and know her."
+
+Abigail looked startled at the quiet determination in Heather's tone.
+
+"Your grandmother would not wish it," she said sternly. "I promised
+that things should go on after her death as they had done in her life,
+and I am ashamed of your wishing otherwise."
+
+Heather said nothing.
+
+Abigail waited with her hand on the door-handle for some response.
+Finding there was none forthcoming, she went out.
+
+But there was a look of care and perplexity on her face as she joined
+her fellow-servant in the kitchen. Rachael was a great contrast to
+Abigail. She was a short, stout little woman with a cheery face and
+manner, and though Abigail had a real and deep affection for the
+twins, Rachael showed hers by terms of endearment and an outward
+demonstrativeness that was very acceptable to the young girls.
+
+Bluebell termed the two women "Sugar" and "Salt." Perhaps the terms
+were not inappropriate.
+
+An hour later, and the two girls sat down to a solemn dinner; one at
+the head of the long dining-table, the other at the foot, and Abigail
+waited upon them in silence.
+
+Neither of them felt at ease this evening. They had a consciousness
+that Abigail was criticizing every word and smile, and they were
+longing to be able to talk freely to each other, without her taciturn
+presence.
+
+When at length she left them, and they were finishing their substantial
+meal with some grapes and nuts, they relapsed into easy and perhaps
+startling confidences.
+
+It was a delicious sensation to be planning out audacious schemes for
+their future, and Heather talked with rapidity and animation of the
+possibility of a wider and fuller life before them.
+
+They left the table at seven, for their dinner-hour was the
+old-fashioned one of six. And they demurely walked into the
+drawing-room to renew their talk over the fire.
+
+The drawing-room might have been a pretty room. Every article in it was
+real and good of its kind, but for thirty years it had remained the
+same, and the handsome blue damask chairs and couches were shrouded
+in brown holland covers bound with blue braid. The orthodox round
+table, with photograph albums and a case of carved ivory chessmen
+upon it, stood in the centre of the room. Old china and valuable
+paintings hung upon the walls, which were adorned with gilt and white
+paper. The carpet and curtains were covered with large bouquets of
+impossible-looking flowers, but age had softened and mellowed their
+tints. Screens of wonderful wool-work stood about, depicting rosy-faced
+milkmaids and children disporting themselves under green trees with
+baskets of fruit; and white crochet antimacassars were placed in
+profusion on all the chairs. The two slight girls, in their black silk
+evening dresses heavily trimmed with crape, looked sadly out of keeping
+with their gaudy surroundings.
+
+They laughed and talked in the firelight as only young girls can do,
+and then as the clock struck nine, Abigail wheeled in a small table,
+upon which tea, bread and butter, and cake were placed. Heather poured
+out tea. But after they had finished it, they took out their books and
+read on in silence till ten o'clock.
+
+Abigail came in then, bearing a large Bible and Prayer-book in her
+hand, and Rachael followed her.
+
+Bluebell sat up, and in her soft clear voice read and prayed. The twins
+divided their honours very evenly. Heather led the morning devotions,
+and this they had done for some time previous to their grandmother's
+death.
+
+After prayers were over, Abigail went up to their room with them, and
+brushed and plaited their hair, after which the girls performed their
+private devotions in silence, and were soon enjoying a sweet and sound
+slumber in their white dimity beds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A RELATION
+
+                                    "Her presence
+   Fell on their hearts like a ray of the sun on the walls of a
+         prison."
+                                               LONGFELLOW.
+
+"HEATHER, is your religion real to you?"
+
+This startling question was asked by Bluebell the next morning as she
+was conning over her morning chapter in the Bible, before going down to
+breakfast.
+
+Heather was rolling up her curly hair in front of her glass, but her
+eyes were not on her reflected image. They were straying out of the
+window into the sunny meadows below. She turned round with a start. The
+sisters were peculiarly reserved about their deepest feelings. They
+never failed in performing their devotional duties, which had been
+prescribed and enforced by their Quaker grandmother from their earliest
+childhood. In fact, they would as soon have thought of omitting to
+brush their hair as to omit their daily Bible reading before breakfast.
+
+"My religion!" said Heather. "Of course it is real. I am not a
+hypocrite!"
+
+"How far does it go?"
+
+Bluebell's merry eyes were soft and grave as she put the question.
+
+"I don't know what you mean."
+
+"I have just been reading this verse:
+
+   "'Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.'
+
+"We have been talking so much of seeing more of the world, that I have
+been wondering if our longing after it is not wrong!"
+
+"I don't see that it is wrong," said Heather, slowly, "as long as we
+don't let it take the place of God Himself. Knowing it and seeing it is
+not loving it."
+
+"But that may lead to our loving it!"
+
+"I don't expect we shall ever have that chance," said Heather,
+carelessly.
+
+Bluebell gazed at her verse thoughtfully.
+
+"I think I want to be real," she said, "but we have never had our
+religion tested, Heather."
+
+"No, that is true. Our lives are so even and monotonous. Do you
+remember our naughty days when we were children? How we used to escape
+Abigail's clutches, and knowing the punishment that would follow, how
+we would revel in wickedness till she caught us? We have steadied down
+now, she would tell us. But I don't know. This time of perfect freedom
+sets all the pulses in me throbbing and tingling for action. And I do
+not think our religion condemns us to this narrow, fettered life. I do
+not believe it is right for us two young girls to be shut away from all
+society and friendship, and have no one to talk to but our inferiors.
+It is not right; I feel it is not. I shall pray hard that we may be
+taken out of it."
+
+Bluebell shut up her Bible, and said no more. She danced downstairs
+with as light a heart as if no serious thoughts had ever troubled her.
+She had the old-fashioned urn brought in, and made the tea, and when
+Heather came in, she chattered away as usual about her plans for the
+day.
+
+"I shall do some gardening this morning. And now the spring is coming
+on, old Peter must come oftener than once a week, Heather. I think I
+had better walk over to the village this afternoon. I want to see some
+of my children, and I can see him at the same time, and tell him to
+come and bed out some seedlings."
+
+"You might take some jelly to Mrs. Wick's little girl. Abigail says she
+is ill again, poor child. Why, here is old Watty coming up the drive!
+How exciting! Now, who can the letter be from?"
+
+Bluebell darted out into the hall at once, and soon returned, holding a
+letter in her hand.
+
+"It is addressed to Miss Fotheringay, and it is quite a strange hand.
+Let us open it."
+
+They read it with their curly heads close together, and certainly the
+contents filled them with a dazed kind of wonder.
+
+                                          "Park Lane, W.
+
+   "MY DEAR COUSIN,—I am an unknown quantity to you, but Mr. Brody, your
+grandmother's lawyer, has been to me, and has enlisted my sympathy
+on your behalf. He tells me you and your sister are left all alone,
+and are young enough to need a chaperon. I feel, as I am your second
+cousin, that I ought to do something for you, so propose to come and
+pay you a little visit. If we like each other, we may hit upon some
+plan that will be agreeable to all of us. I feel sure that you will be
+able to put me up, so hope to be with you on Friday afternoon. I shall
+leave my maid behind, and come quite by myself, so do not make any
+extra preparations for me. Your affectionate cousin,—
+
+                           "IDA CARTER."
+
+"Isn't it extraordinary," said Heather, "that while we were talking
+about having no relations, she should be writing to us? She must be the
+cousin, Abigail told me of yesterday. Coming here on Friday! I can't
+believe it."
+
+"So our lives are going to widen out at once! I like her letter. How I
+hope we shall like her. And what will Abigail say?"
+
+They had not much appetite for their breakfast. At half-past nine,
+Abigail, Rachael, and Johnnie, the small boy who cleaned the knives and
+boots and made himself generally useful, filed in to prayers. Heather
+read and prayed with an abstracted mind.
+
+When it was over, Abigail began to remove the breakfast things.
+
+Bluebell stood on the hearthrug with nervously clasped hands. She
+glanced at Heather, who sat down on the arm of a leather chair, and,
+assuming a careless attitude, hummed the air of an old song.
+
+Abigail looked at them both a little sharply.
+
+"Who has written to you?" she demanded.
+
+Heather resolved to show a brave front.
+
+"Oh, you saw the postman, did you, Abigail? We have heard from our
+cousin, Mrs. Carter, and she is coming to stay with us next Friday. The
+spare room must be got ready for her."
+
+Her tone was dignified. Abigail was so startled at the news that she
+forgot her good manners, and, placing her arms akimbo, ejaculated, "Now
+may the good Lord deliver us from the wolf coming down upon the fold!
+Give me the letter, Miss Heather; let me see it. Who has told her about
+you, I should like to know?"
+
+For a moment, Heather hesitated. She was longing to assert her
+authority, but the habits of a lifetime were too strong for her, and
+she meekly put the letter into Abigail's hand. That good woman whipped
+out her spectacles from her capacious pocket, read it and re-read it,
+and then gave a contemptuous sniff.
+
+"I should like to give Mr. Brody a piece of my mind! 'Young enough to
+need—' what's this word? 'Chaper—chaperon!' some French nonsense, I
+suppose! You need nothing, and will need nothing as long as I am with
+you; and I will give Mrs. Carter my word for that as soon as she enters
+this house."
+
+Rarely had the girls seen Abigail so moved.
+
+Bluebell said timidly—
+
+"It is very kind of her, Abigail, to think of us at all; we have been
+longing to know some of our relations, and it will be a great pleasure
+to see her."
+
+"Oh, you poor little creatures!"
+
+No one but Abigail could have put such contemptuous pity in her tone.
+She took up a covered dish, and went out of the room, as if she were
+afraid to trust herself further.
+
+Heather's cheeks were scarlet, and her grey eyes flashed angrily.
+
+"She treats us like babies! I am thankful we shall have some one who
+will make her remember her proper place. Since grandmother's death, she
+has got worse and worse. I should like to be free from her!"
+
+"We shall be!" exclaimed Bluebell, dancing lightly round the room. "We
+shall go to London with Mrs. Carter, and see the world at last."
+
+"I wonder if it is an answer to my prayer this morning," said Heather,
+thoughtfully, her ire dying away as suddenly as it came. "I have been
+longing so for something to happen, but I never expected the change to
+come so soon."
+
+"Miss Heather," said Abigail, entering the room again, and speaking
+in her usually quiet, grave tone, "Rachael is waiting to have the
+stores given out, and there is some of last year's jam that needs to be
+freshly covered. Perhaps you can do that this morning."
+
+Heather seized her housekeeping keys, and ran out to the kitchen.
+
+It was a relief to hear Rachael's view of things.
+
+"There, my dear Miss Heather, of course Abigail is a bit upset. The
+mistress was so anxious you should grow up steady, good young women,
+and keep out of all the world's temptations, but I've been sayin' the
+Lord will take care of His own. And if this Mrs. Carter be what we
+fears, a giddy, worldly woman, well, she won't be allowed to harm you,
+and you have a good head on your shoulders, and won't let your early
+training be all brought to nought. 'Tis dull for you two young girls,
+as I have been sayin' to Abigail, and any one belongin' to one's own
+flesh and blood is very welcome. We'll hope for the best, and I think
+I shall walk into town to-morrow, and order a few necessary additions
+to the list we made yesterday. I'll do the best for my dear departed
+mistress's credit to give the lady good meals while she is here, and
+I'll have a couple of the young spring chickens killed at once!"
+
+The next two days were very busy and pleasant ones. The garden, the
+greenhouse, every room was looked over, and adorned afresh.
+
+For the first time, the twins began to wonder if their country-made
+black dresses were correct in style. They were keenly anxious that
+their visitor should be favourably impressed.
+
+
+When Friday came, they wandered up and down the house, longing for, yet
+dreading her advent. Dusk set in before she arrived. They went up to
+the spare bedroom, put flowers on the toilet-table, lit up the massive
+silver candlesticks, and looked round with a critical eye. It was a
+gloomy room, but the linen was of the finest, the green damask curtains
+round the four-post bed had all been freshly shaken and hung, and the
+bright wood fire that Abigail had grudgingly lighted shed its ruddy
+light over all the dark corners.
+
+"I think she will be comfortable," said Bluebell. "Oh, I hope she will
+like it here."
+
+"I don't want her to think us incompetent," said Heather, with a little
+toss of her head. "We have never had a guest before, but I shall make
+a point of seeing to her comfort. And now will be our time for shaking
+off Abigail's yoke. I mean to have a good try."
+
+"You'll never—never succeed," said Bluebell, laughing. "Abigail is too
+old to become different. Oh, Heather, listen! There are wheels! I feel
+quite shy. Shall we go down?"
+
+They reached the hall, and in another moment were face to face with
+their guest. Abigail stood in the background, and felt that her worst
+fears were realized.
+
+Mrs. Carter was a pretty, vivacious little woman. She was clad in a
+scarlet jacket trimmed with astrakan, a toque with scarlet wings was
+set jauntily over a quantity of dark frizzy hair, her dress was covered
+with costly trimming, and an atmosphere of scent and perfumes was about
+her.
+
+She looked at the two girlish figures in their unbecoming dresses of
+black silk and crape, then embraced them warmly.
+
+"So delighted to make your acquaintance, dears. What an out of the way
+place this is! Four miles from a railway station, and not a house did
+we pass during the drive. I'm afraid I should die of the dumps if I
+lived here."
+
+"Will you come up to your room now?" asked Heather, feeling quite
+bewildered at such an apparition in their Quaker household.
+
+"If you like, or shall I come into the drawing-room first—I am longing
+for a cup of tea."
+
+"We shall be dining in half an hour," said Heather, with an uneasy
+glance at Abigail, "but if you would like a cup of tea, I will send it
+up to you."
+
+"Thank you. I think I should. I had a very early lunch. How like you
+two girls are to each other! I shall never know the difference between
+you. Come along, both of you, and show me my room."
+
+She rustled up the stairs, Heather leading the way, and she sank into
+the easy chair by her fire with a little sigh of content.
+
+Looking at the two girls in front of her, she said—
+
+"Now tell me your names. I do not even know those, and yet I am a
+cousin."
+
+"Our baptismal names are Drusilla and Priscilla," said Bluebell,
+quickly, "but our mother could not bear them. She was Scotch, and did
+not belong to the Friends. So she called us Heather and Bluebell, and
+even grandmother got to call us so too. We try and forget that we were
+called anything else!"
+
+"Very wise of you," laughed Mrs. Carter. "And now may I ask what time
+you dine? Surely not yet?"
+
+"At six o'clock," Heather replied.
+
+Mrs. Carter raised her eyebrows, but said nothing, and at this moment,
+a knock was heard at the door.
+
+Heather looked round, and saw Abigail with a face like thunder.
+
+"Have you brought Mrs. Carter a cup of tea?" Heather asked, lifting her
+little head up proudly.
+
+She felt sure that Abigail was determined to prevent any confidences
+being exchanged between them and their cousin, and she resented it
+accordingly.
+
+Abigail looked at her charges with a glance that made them quail
+beneath it.
+
+"You will please to go downstairs, young ladies," she said sternly,
+"and I will attend upon the lady myself. I have something to say to
+her."
+
+Mrs. Carter looked up quickly, and was about to speak, but checked
+herself. She nodded brightly to the girls as she saw them slipping from
+the room.
+
+[Illustration: "I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU A WORD OF CAUTION, MEM."]
+
+"I shall see you downstairs presently," she called out after them. And
+then she turned to Abigail—"I was not going to trouble you," she said
+very sweetly, "but since you have offered to attend upon me, perhaps
+you will unlace my boots for me. I miss my maid when I am away from
+her."
+
+This was more than Abigail was prepared to do. But she went down on her
+knees at once, and Mrs. Carter continued pleasantly—
+
+"I want to have a good talk with you soon about your young ladies, but
+I am tired to-night, so we will put off our chat till to-morrow."
+
+Abigail, struggling on her knees with a refractory lace, felt herself
+at a disadvantage. She said nothing till her task was done, then she
+rose to her feet.
+
+"I would like to give you a word of caution, mem," she said grimly. "I
+have been in this family for years, before you were born. I knew your
+mother when she was a slip of a girl, and my late mistress has given
+me a trust that I will be faithful to, cost me what it may. The young
+ladies have been brought up apart from the world, and into it they
+shall not go with my consent. I promised her I would look after them
+as long as I lived. She did not wish me to communicate with you, or I
+would have done so. You never came near her as long as she lived, and
+there is no need now to come putting foolish and sinful ideas into the
+poor children's heads. Perhaps you do not know that my mistress wished
+them to live on here with me?"
+
+Mrs. Carter leant back in her chair and smiled. "Yes, I do know it,
+and Mr. Brody is their guardian, and I am sure you have their best
+interests at heart. Now, do not let me keep you any longer. Perhaps you
+will kindly unstrap my trunk before you go. Thank you. We will have our
+chat to-morrow."
+
+Abigail went downstairs shaking her head solemnly. She felt she had met
+her match, and difficult times were ahead for them all.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN AN OLD-FASHIONED HOUSEHOLD
+
+     "Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
+   For those that wander they know not where
+   Are full of trouble and full of care—
+      To stay at home is best."
+                                      LONGFELLOW.
+
+HEATHER'S cheeks were scarlet with mortified shame, when she and her
+sister were turned out of their cousin's room by Abigail.
+
+"She—she almost makes me hate her," she said in a vehement whisper;
+"but I am sure Mrs. Carter will not stand much from her. I know it is
+wrong, but I hope she will be well snubbed; and I shall enjoy seeing
+it!"
+
+Bluebell took the matter lightly. She was a happy-hearted girl with an
+affectionate sunshiny disposition, and viewed life at present through
+rose-coloured spectacles. She had also a keen sense of humour, and she
+laughed now at the remembrance of Abigail's face when Heather inquired
+for the cup of tea.
+
+"Never mind," she said, "we must not expect Abigail to be different now
+from what she always is. She is too old to change. Did you see what a
+lot of luggage Mrs. Carter has brought? I think she is lovely, don't
+you?"
+
+"Yes," assented Heather, warmly. "I have never seen any one like her.
+Now let us come into the drawing-room. I wish Abigail would have had
+the holland covers taken off. I can't bear them."
+
+Mrs. Carter did not make her appearance till dinner was on the table.
+In fact, she was ten minutes behind time, and came down in a black
+satin dress with low neck and short sleeves, apologizing very prettily
+for keeping them waiting. The girls were too well-bred to show their
+feelings, but cast many a shy admiring glance at her through their long
+lashes. The pearls round her neck, the glittering bracelets on her
+white arms and sparkling rings upon her fingers, all appealed to their
+love of beauty.
+
+She talked and chatted with them on the most trivial subjects through
+the meal. Abigail moved to and fro with a grim face, and an aching
+heart. When she had finally left the room, Mrs. Carter came to more
+personal matters.
+
+"Have you girls ever been to school?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then who has educated you?"
+
+"Grandmother."
+
+"I always heard her spoken of as a very clever and cultivated woman,"
+Mrs. Carter said slowly. "I wonder what she taught you?"
+
+"Everything," said Bluebell, rashly. "We used to work five hours every
+day, often six."
+
+"Do you know anything of Algebra, Latin, or Mathematics?"
+
+Bluebell's face fell.
+
+"No."
+
+"How many languages can you speak?"
+
+"We know French fairly well, a little German and Italian."
+
+"Can you sing and play?"
+
+"Heather can play the harp. And I can sing a little. I am not very fond
+of music."
+
+"Grandmother used to say," said Heather, thoughtfully, "that a woman
+should be thoroughly grounded in history and geography. She should have
+plenty of general knowledge, so that she could always be at ease in
+literary society and conversation. A little music was essential, but
+the main duties in her life would be housekeeping; and this I think
+Bluebell and I know to our finger ends."
+
+"Tell me what you can do," said Mrs. Carter, looking kindly at them.
+
+"We will tell you what we do do," said Bluebell, vivaciously. "Heather
+keeps the accounts, she is better at it than I am. She also looks after
+a small farm that belongs to us. We get our butter and milk from it,
+and every week the farmer comes up and does business with her in the
+study. He says she 'do have a wunnerful head.' She also has charge of
+the store cupboard, and orders dinner every day. I make all the jam,
+and potted meat, and pickles, and everything of that sort, and we have
+a tiny dispensary with simple remedies for the village people, which
+is my province. The linen cupboard is in my charge too, and I look
+after all the mending. Sometimes we make jellies and broth for the sick
+people in the village. Grandmother would have us both learn cooking.
+She said a woman ought to know it thoroughly, and we can do most
+things, can't we, Heather?"
+
+Heather assented, adding, "You see, we are a small household, but the
+villagers look to us for everything. They come up once a week during
+the winter for soup, and there are always some old and sick who want
+special attention."
+
+"I dare say your grandmother was more sensible than most people of
+the present day," said Mrs. Carter. "I do not hold with this college
+education for women, but times have changed. It is not every girl who
+is placed in such comfortable circumstances as you are. Now I should
+like to know if you are all Quakers here?"
+
+"No, we have never been brought up so," said Heather. "There are no
+Friends about here. Abigail and Rachael used to attend a little meeting
+in the town, but it is too far for them to walk, and they generally
+go to chapel. Grandmother never left the house for seven years before
+she died. Bluebell and I walk over to church, which is two miles away.
+Mr. Monk is the rector. He is very old and very poor, and we don't see
+much of him. He comes to us when he wants any special relief for a
+parishioner."
+
+"Have you no friends? Surely this is not the only big house in the
+neighbourhood?"
+
+"Our squire lives eight miles off. We don't know him. Grandmother never
+visited. Our doctor is an old bachelor, and he lives six miles away. We
+never meet any one in our own station of life!"
+
+"What a life!"
+
+After this ejaculation, Mrs. Carter seemed lost in thought, and then
+they moved into the drawing-room. She made Heather play to her, and
+when she was seated at the harp, and Bluebell leant back in a low chair
+by the fire to listen, Mrs. Carter looked at her young cousins with
+greater interest than ever. Heather played some old Scotch airs, and
+then drifted into "Il Trovatore." Her touch was light and sweet, and
+Mrs. Carter was charmed with the grace and spirit with which she played.
+
+"I feel," she said, when Heather had come to the fire, and taken a seat
+opposite hers, "that I am in a dream. I have gone back a generation. Do
+you know that you are utterly unlike most girls of your own age?"
+
+"We have never seen any," said Heather, simply; "at least only the
+farmers' daughters, and the villagers."
+
+"Did your grandmother expect you would live and die here in seclusion?"
+
+"We thought, till your letter came, that we should have to do it," said
+Bluebell. Then she added, with a laughing light in her eyes, "Heather
+was meditating a bold stroke for freedom; may we tell you about it? You
+won't be shocked?"
+
+"I do not think you two little Puritans will be likely to shock me,"
+was the amused reply. "Tell me, by all means."
+
+Then Heather spoke in hushed tones, with a backward glance at the door,
+for fear of Abigail's form appearing.
+
+"It is Abigail. She rules us with a rod of iron. You saw how she sent
+us from your room before dinner. She has been worse than ever since
+grandmother died. She treats us like tiny children. And Bluebell and I
+are children no longer. We are mistresses here; we have our own money.
+Grandmother left everything to us. I know all about it, for I have
+been over it with Mr. Brody. We have quite enough money to live very
+comfortably, and—and to travel."
+
+"Yes," put in Bluebell, "and we were going up to London by ourselves.
+We had hardly settled whether we should dismiss Abigail from our
+service, or run away without telling her. Of course she would never
+have allowed us to go to London, we knew that. It would have been more
+dignified to send her away, but it would have taken a lot of courage to
+do it, and she is—well—very awe-inspiring!"
+
+"I think we should have been driven to do it," said Heather. "I could
+not have run away from our own home like a coward; and I have felt
+lately things were getting desperate. You have come and solved the
+difficulty. It will be all right now."
+
+"By that you mean I am to do battle on your behalf? Well, we will see."
+
+When tea was brought in by Abigail, she saw the new-comer on the best
+of terms with the two girls, who, with flushed cheeks and bright eyes,
+were listening to some of her London experiences. Abigail went out to
+Rachael, and in tones of despair exclaimed—
+
+"She has bewitched them with her airs and graces. They didn't even so
+much as look at me when I went in! They're drinking in the poison, and
+it will be the ruin of their young lives. And I have to stand by and
+say nothin'!"
+
+She wrung her hands, and Rachael looked aghast at the imperturbable
+Abigail being so deeply moved.
+
+"We must trust them to the Lord," she said soothingly. "Maybe Mrs.
+Carter is only young and giddy. She will find this a dull place to
+linger in. She will come and go, and, when once in London, will forget
+all about them again. Don't you fret now, don't, for mercy's sake!"
+
+Abigail shook her head, but said no more. She would not tell Rachael
+her worst fears.
+
+
+Prayer-time came, and Bluebell very simply asked Mrs. Carter to lead
+the devotions. She laughed and declined, but watched her young cousin
+sit up and conduct them with an amused and yet softened look in her
+eyes.
+
+"And now you are going to bed," she said afterwards. "Well, I will too;
+it is not much beauty sleep that I get in town!"
+
+But when she was up in her bedroom, she did not retire to rest. Drawing
+up the writing-table to her fire, she wrote a long letter to her
+husband. And this was what she wrote:—
+
+   "DEAREST OLD HAL,—I think I have tumbled into one of the quaintest and
+most out of the world households in existence. I have to pinch myself
+sometimes to make sure that I am not dreaming. How I wish you were here
+to enjoy it with me. For enjoying it I am, and that most thoroughly.
+Where shall I begin? With the house itself, I think. It is one of those
+thoroughly comfortable old-fashioned residences, with thick walls, and
+picturesque corners and gables, casement windows and deep window-seats,
+plenty of good old oak about it.
+
+   "I could make it simply sweet; but, oh, my dear boy! I think even
+your inartistic soul would stand aghast at the colours and style of
+the decorations within! I have been sitting in the drawing-room, and
+inwardly shuddering all the time at my surroundings. I should think it
+was furnished sixty or seventy years ago, in the most hideous fashion
+of our grandmothers, and has never touched since—all gilt and white,
+with the crudest colours all bunched together, a large long room with
+four windows. Not a plant or flower in it. Chairs and sofas in brown
+holland.
+
+   "Fancy worsted-work screens, and glass cases of flowers, stuffed birds,
+and fruit. Well, you're a man; and I can't write to you as I should to
+a woman, so I will stop. Every room is the same. And yet, with it all,
+it is thoroughly comfortable, though so inharmonious. I have not seen
+the grounds, but I believe the garden is not a large one. There are
+dense shrubberies in all directions. The household goes by clockwork.
+You never saw such old characters as the two Quaker servants. They and
+a small boy do all the work of the house between them. How they manage
+it, I don't know, for I can give them credit for keeping everything
+in the most beautiful order. The linen and plate are the very
+best—exquisite, in fact—but I always heard that Quakers were noted for
+those two items in their households.
+
+   "And now I come to the girls. I wonder what you will think of them!
+I foresee a bright future for them after a little training. Of course,
+they are in the most hideous garbs imaginable, but it says much for
+their natural grace that they draw attention to themselves, and not
+to their dress. They hold themselves well, and are, as far as I have
+seen them yet, without a trace of self-consciousness. Perfectly simple
+and natural, but oh, so undeveloped! And yet, sometimes, when I say to
+myself what babies they are, they will startle me with some words of
+wisdom or depth of feeling that I feel I don't possess myself! They are
+tall, slim maidens, with the most lovely eyes and hair, and delicate
+features and complexions, as like as two peas. I don't yet know them
+apart.
+
+   "They are guarded by a regular dragon, whom I am longing to fight
+and subdue. She sees in me everything that is evil, and is fiercely
+determined that I shall not carry off her nurselings. I don't yet
+know what I shall do with them, but they are too pretty to waste
+their sweetness on the desert air. Tell me what you advise. Can't you
+run down from Saturday to Monday? Don't get into mischief while your
+'missis' is away, and tell Cyril that if I find the slightest whiff of
+tobacco in my drawing-room when I return, he shall receive his 'congé'
+immediately. Don't go to too many theatres, and remember I may be at
+home any day, so will catch you out before you know it! Your loving—
+
+                          "IDA."
+
+   "P.S.—Imagine no afternoon tea, dinner at six o'clock, and an
+old-fashioned tea-table with hot-buttered toast and cakes, wheeled
+into the drawing-room at nine o'clock! Prayers at ten, and then to
+bed; and if you could have seen the sweet gravity with which one of
+these children conducted our devotions, and the calm air with which she
+handed me a huge Bible, I think you would have longed to be good as I
+did!"
+
+The next morning Mrs. Carter begged to be shown over the house, and
+whilst Heather was attending to her housekeeping, Bluebell took her
+round. The study, which had been the girls' nursery and schoolroom in
+former years, was rather a gloomy-looking room, but opened into a small
+greenhouse, in which was a large cage of canaries filling the air with
+their songs. Bluebell's plants and flowers looked flourishing; she was
+a born gardener, and knew how to pot, plant, and graft to perfection.
+She took her cousin out into the garden, which had a long stretch of
+green turf edged with old elm trees, and a few flower beds; and a very
+small kitchen garden was beyond.
+
+"We get most of our vegetables from the farm. Heather will take you
+over to see that. We sometimes go there, and make the butter. When
+Annie was ill—she is the farmer's wife; she used to help in the house,
+and married our gardener who is now the farmer—when she was ill, after
+her last baby was born, Heather and I went down and made the butter
+every day!"
+
+"You are most industrious young people. I shall be quite afraid of you.
+I am sure you never do anything wrong—now, do you?"
+
+Bluebell's laugh rang out merrily.
+
+"Abigail would tell you how many scoldings we get in a day! But do you
+know," and the girl's eyes were almost serious as she turned them upon
+her cousin, "since we have been our own mistresses, we don't seem to
+have got into half so many scrapes. In fact, when we are left to do
+exactly as we like, we find that there is no temptation to do what we
+ought not to do."
+
+"The moral is that you should be always left to yourselves, isn't it? I
+am afraid you will not be willing to hand yourselves over to my keeping
+for a little, will you?"
+
+Bluebell looked up eagerly.
+
+"Are you going to offer to take us away with you?"
+
+"I haven't said so. We must talk over it with your sister."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
+
+   "The soul, emancipated, unoppressed,
+    Free to prove all things, and hold fast the best,
+    Learns much."
+                                               COWPER.
+
+MRS. CARTER seemed to adapt herself with the greatest ease to the quiet
+routine of her young cousins' home. She was always bright and pleasant,
+always ready for a chat with any one, from Rachael to little Johnnie
+and any of the villagers who came in her way. Abigail alone stoutly
+resisted her charms; and Abigail she had resolved to conquer by charms,
+or sheer strength of will.
+
+She came down one morning braced for the conflict, looking, in her
+fresh tailor-made shirt and skirt, a dainty little person. Captain
+Carter had declined to come to her help, and she was longing to be back
+in town with him again.
+
+It was a lovely spring morning. As she looked across at her little
+black-robed cousins, she said, "I long to put you two girls into fresh
+spring frocks. Don't look so shocked. I don't mean you should leave off
+your mourning, but you might have lost two parents from the depth of
+your crape!"
+
+"Grandmother acted as a parent," said Heather, quietly.
+
+"Yes, dear, I know, but such deep mourning is out of date. It is only
+a matter of custom. It does those who are gone no mortal good, and
+is only a burden to the wearers. Now I want to talk to you both very
+seriously. I must be going home in a few days. Would you like to come
+with me, and see some of the sights of London? Of course we shall
+be very quiet. Your recent loss would be quite sufficient excuse to
+prevent your going out much. But we could do a good deal in a quiet
+way, and I am sure the change of air and scene would do you both a
+great deal of good."
+
+"We should like to," said Heather, thoughtfully, "but Abigail is so
+dreadfully set against it that she would never agree to it!"
+
+"You told me a little time ago, you would give her notice to leave if
+she interfered with us," said Bluebell, mischievously.
+
+"I know I did, but that was when the possibility of doing it seemed
+vague and uncertain."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Carter, a little impatiently; "I cannot force you to
+come against your wills, but, if you would like to come, I will manage
+Abigail."
+
+"I don't know who would take up the—the things we do," said Heather.
+"The villagers will miss us going in and out, and we help a good deal
+in the house."
+
+"My dear child, I am only asking for a short visit. Abigail could be
+quite well left in charge until you returned. I am not asking you to
+give up your home altogether."
+
+"Of course we must come," said Bluebell, impetuously. "It will be our
+first chance of seeing more of life, which Heather is always longing
+for. Abigail is the stumbling-block. If you will manage her, we will
+come—gratefully and gladly, won't we, Heather?"
+
+And Heather assented a little doubtfully, but in accents of relief at
+her sister's taking the decision into her own hands.
+
+
+Mrs. Carter waited till the afternoon to broach the subject to Abigail.
+She sent the girls out for a walk, and when they were well out of the
+way, she asked Abigail to come and have a little chat with her.
+
+She was sitting in the drawing-room, and Abigail entered with
+compressed lips and lowering brows. She had a presentiment of what was
+coming, and if Mrs. Carter had braced herself for the interview, so had
+she.
+
+"Won't you sit down, Abigail? We shall not be interrupted, for I don't
+suppose you have one visitor in a twelvemonth here, do you?"
+
+"I suppose we might have a good many, if we opened the doors to all who
+asked themselves without invitation," was the grim reply.
+
+"It is only a cousin's privilege to do that," responded Mrs. Carter,
+gaily. "Now, we won't fence round the bush, but I will come at once to
+the point. I have asked your young ladies to come and pay me a visit,
+and they are coming to London with me the beginning of next week."
+
+"That they are not," was the stern reply, "and you'll excuse me for
+contradicting you, mem. I've nursed those children since their birth,
+and being their rightful guardian now, I shall have my say in the
+matter."
+
+"Now, look here, Abigail, listen to me. I admire your faithfulness
+and mistaken ideas of duty, but if you are as sensible a woman as I
+take you to be, you must know in your heart that the present state of
+things here cannot last. Miss Heather and Miss Bluebell are young, but
+they are of age. Their grandmother left them her money without any
+restrictions; and they have a perfect right to make their plans as they
+think best. Do you imagine that they could be kept in this isolated
+fashion for much longer? Did their grandmother wish to make nuns of
+them? If so, she might as well have sent them off to a convent at once.
+What do you think will happen to them when you and Rachael are taken
+from them? You are neither of you very young persons, and in all human
+probability, they will outlive you many years. Then two young girls
+would be left friendless and unprotected, too innocent of the world and
+its ways, to be able to defend themselves from any dangers that might
+beset them."
+
+"Nothing will make me consent to them going away with you, if you
+please, mem. No amount of smooth-spoken words will make me do it.
+Perhaps I may have my say. My late mistress has trained the young
+ladies in the way that they should go, and I have helped her to do it.
+They are trained for heaven, and not for the pomps and vanities of this
+wicked world. They are leading happy, useful lives here, and until you
+came to instil sinful desires into their innocent minds, had no wish
+to do otherwise. My late mistress did not wish them to be acquainted
+with you at all. We have often talked it over together. Your husband is
+a soldier—that alone prejudiced her against you. You live a butterfly
+existence; your dress is such that no decent woman would wear. The
+young ladies have never been accustomed to see bare necks and arms of
+an evening, and such an amount of jewellery and flash! You wish to make
+them like yourself, to rob them of their piety, their innocence, and
+their maidenly modesty. You would take them to dances, to theatres,
+to all sorts of worldly pleasures, you would deck them in flowers and
+coloured silks and satins, you would have them spend their substance in
+riotous living. I know the ways of London, and I tell you, mem, I would
+rather see them in their graves than taken away to be under your roof
+and influence."
+
+Abigail paused for breath.
+
+Mrs. Carter looked as placid and smiling as ever. "I think you
+misunderstand me, Abigail. I am not going to take them away from you
+altogether. They have a sweet old home here, and have no intention of
+leaving it. But they tell me they have never slept a night away for
+the last three years. It is extremely bad for them. Change of air is
+necessary to us all, especially after the sad time they have lately
+gone through. I think you are letting your prejudice run away with your
+sound common sense. You are afraid I am going to steal your chicks from
+you, and so in the soreness of your heart, you give me the credit of
+all that is bad, and paint me as black as you can. I can promise you
+that their religion shall not suffer whilst with me. I go to church
+twice every Sunday, and once in the week all through Lent. I have only
+asked them for a month, and have told them that their deep mourning
+alone prevents them from taking part in any of the gaieties. London is
+very quiet now, and will be until after Easter. You will have them back
+with you then, more than ever in love with their sweet country home,
+after all the dust and glare of London streets."
+
+"They shall never go with you," repeated Abigail, with determined lips.
+"Never shall they leave me, while I have health and strength to prevent
+it. You talk of your religion, mem, but it must be the religion of
+the Pharisees of old, a whitened sepulchre outside, and inside dead
+bones! Haven't I seen you stifling a yawn when we are in the midst of
+our morning devotions? Have you any real love for the Word of Life,
+and for the God who gave it to us? Ay, you may go to church, and think
+that church-going covers a multitude of sins. You may bend your head
+in worship, when your heart is full of disobedience and rebellion
+against your Maker. Do you live for His glory alone, mem? Do you know
+what it is to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow the
+Master who was despised and rejected of men? If the summons came to
+you to-day—'This night thy soul shall be required of thee'—would you
+be ready to meet the Judge of all the earth? Folks talk about their
+religion! Religion, as you understand it, won't redeem your soul from
+destruction, won't blot out the sins and follies of a lifetime. It
+lulls your immortal soul to sleep, and gives you a false peace that
+will prove your ruin!"
+
+"Come, come, Abigail, I did not call you in here to preach to me. It
+is beside the question altogether. If you will not see things in a
+reasonable light, I will reason with you no longer. The young ladies
+are coming home with me next week. There is nothing more to be said."
+
+"And how will you send them back to me?" said Abigail, in the
+bitterness of her soul. "Having given them a taste of sinful pleasures,
+and drawn them into your net, do you think they'll come back as fresh
+and innocent as when they went?"
+
+"They may come back engaged to be married," said Mrs. Carter,
+exasperatingly calm in tone. "I am going to try and get them good
+husbands. That is the best thing that could happen to them."
+
+Abigail turned her back upon the speaker, and walked straight out of
+the room. With clenched hands she went upstairs to her bedroom, and
+there locking the door, she went down on her knees by her bedside in
+agony of supplication.
+
+"Oh, God Almighty," she gasped, "I am weak and helpless by the side of
+this sinful woman. Thou knowest how I have prayed for these children.
+I have hoped they were in Thy fold. All things are possible to Thee!
+Frustrate the design of the evil one. Give them the desire to stay at
+home, and the strength to resist her persuasions. It is the thin edge
+of the wedge, Lord. Oh, help me in this hour of need. Do Thou send
+deliverance. All things are possible to Thee."
+
+Her honest, rugged face was quivering with emotion. She rose from her
+knees more hopeful. Surely her influence was not at an end with the
+girls! She would appeal to them, and as soon as they came back from
+their walk, she would speak to them alone.
+
+
+Mrs. Carter did not feel very comfortable after Abigail's departure;
+she got up and paced the room, her pretty brows contracted with
+thought. Was it true that her religion was merely an empty form?
+Abigail's words stung deeply, and she began to feel a little hesitation
+in taking away the girls. Then she laughed aloud:
+
+"She is an ignorant, narrow-minded woman, and though I respect her
+motives, it is ridiculous and absurd to suppose that my influence will
+do the girls any harm."
+
+She met the twins at the hall door, when they returned.
+
+"Abigail and I have fought it out," she said laughingly. "She is sure
+to speak to you, but say as little as possible, and it will be all
+right."
+
+The girls looked at each other, then ran up to their room to take their
+hats off.
+
+"I hope Abigail won't make a great fuss," said Heather; "but I feel, I
+don't care if she does."
+
+"No, we shall soon get away from her. She has really no power to
+prevent our going."
+
+A knock at the door made them look at each other in dismay.
+
+"Here she is, now for it!" said Bluebell, adding in a louder voice.
+"Come in."
+
+Abigail appeared with a white and rigid face. Heather turned to her
+looking-glass, and began to hum a tune as she arranged the front of her
+hair. Her heart was beating violently, but she controlled her voice as
+she said carelessly, "Do you want anything, Abigail?"
+
+For a moment Abigail did not speak. Then she turned to the door and
+locked it behind her, standing like a sentinel in front of it.
+
+"It is well to prevent interruption," she said dryly; "for I have a few
+words to say to you both, and I wish to have time to say them."
+
+"Now, Abigail, don't be cross," said Bluebell, plunging into the matter
+at once. "We know what you're going to say, but our minds are quite
+made up, and nothing you can say will alter our arrangements."
+
+"And may I ask, Miss Bluebell, if the wishes of one who has nursed you
+from babyhood, and has your best welfare at heart, are to count for
+nothing? Is an irreligious and flighty stranger by her flatteries and
+temptations to beguile you from your home and your God? Are you and
+Miss Heather so weak and foolish as to believe all her deceiving words,
+and go astray like silly sheep from the true fold I was trusting you
+were in?"
+
+Then Heather faced round with flushed cheeks and earnest eyes.
+
+"One would think we were going to do a dreadfully wicked thing, from
+the way you talk, Abigail. We are going to London on a visit; our
+mother did the same thing when she was young, and so did grandmother,
+she told us so. You have no right to say we shall be acting wrongly."
+
+"'Tis the company you're going with, and the company you'll meet
+with, you silly child, that is the sin. How can you serve God in such
+a worldly house as you'll be going to? It's enough to raise your
+grandmother's ghost, after all she has done and said to make you grow
+up into good and virtuous young women! How can you go down on your
+knees and ask God's blessing on such an enterprise? You're just a
+couple of silly moths fluttering round the light, and it will be your
+destruction in the end."
+
+Abigail's vehement earnestness had the effect she desired on her
+charges. They looked at each other with troubled eyes. She continued in
+tones of entreaty—
+
+"Now, be good children, and be advised by me. I would cut off my right
+hand to prevent you going! I know the wickedness of the world, and you
+do not. If you are tired of this place, you can go for a change to the
+seaside with me. The summer will be coming on. I will do all in my
+power to give you change and brightness. If you go with Mrs. Carter,
+your happiness and peace in religion will depart from you. 'No man can
+serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon!'"
+
+"But we mean to serve God in London," said Heather, in hesitating
+tones. "There must be some good people there. We shall not do anything
+that grandmother would not have liked us to do."
+
+Then Abigail took a false step. Seeing the girls were already wavering,
+she thought she would clench their decision.
+
+"I forbid you to go!" she cried. "You were left in my charge, and I
+shall prevent it. Mrs. Carter shall go back alone, and I'll lock you in
+your rooms rather than you should go with her. You know how determined
+I can be, and if fair words shall not move you, force will. You can
+plan and plot as you like, but never as long as I'm alive shall I let
+you go with her."
+
+If only Abigail had known how fatal these words were to her cause, she
+would have bitten her tongue out rather than have uttered them.
+
+Heather's eyes flashed fire at once.
+
+"I think you forget, Abigail, your position. Bluebell and I have a
+perfect right to make what plans we choose without consulting you in
+the least. And—and we mean to in future. We have arranged to go to
+London with Cousin Ida, and go we shall, and if you make any more fuss
+about it, I shall give you notice to leave us!"
+
+Abigail was perfectly speechless. Never had she dreamt of such utter
+indifference to her authority. She could hardly believe it was Heather
+speaking. This was turning the tables upon her with a vengeance!
+
+"You poor misguided young creatures!" she exclaimed, and the real love
+for them at the bottom of her heart seemed to come uppermost at once.
+With a little choke in her throat, she unlocked the door, and went out
+without another word.
+
+And Heather, white and trembling at the thought of her audacity, sank
+down on a chair and burst into a flood of tears.
+
+Bluebell put her arms around her, and cried too. "We have done it, we
+have done it!" she said. "And now we must go straight on, and never
+look back!"
+
+"I wish," sobbed inconstant Heather, "that Cousin Ida had never found
+us out. I am sure we shall come to a bad end! We are going against
+grandmother and Abigail, and God won't give us His blessing!"
+
+And so it was with tears and misgivings that the twins gained their
+independence.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+IN PARK LANE
+
+   "This world is not worthy of your soul. Give it not a Good-day when
+[Christ] cometh in competition with it."—RUTHERFORD.
+
+THE fly from the neighbouring town was at the door. Rachael and Johnnie
+were assisting with the luggage. Abigail was nowhere to be seen.
+Heather and Bluebell looked dazed and uncomfortable, but the future had
+still its attractions for them. They had been into the kitchen early
+that morning to get a little comfort from Rachael.
+
+"Do say you don't think us wicked, Rachael!" pleaded Heather. "It is so
+dreadful leaving home when Abigail is so angry. She has hardly spoken
+to us for the last three or four days."
+
+"Bless you both!" exclaimed warm-hearted Rachael. "I'm trusting to
+the good Lord to take care of you, as I keep telling Abigail. She's
+not angry with you, but sore grieved about it. We learn wisdom by
+our mistakes sometimes. Ask the Lord's guidance, and He will give it
+to you, and if you get to love the world more than Him, give it up
+and come back. You'll want great judgment to discern, and separate
+yourselves from the right and wrong that is mixed up in gay society.
+But I'm trusting that we shall soon have you back again."
+
+They went to find Abigail at the last moment. She was locked in her
+room.
+
+"Say good-bye to us," Bluebell called out.
+
+There was no answer for a moment, and then Abigail's stern old voice
+rang out, "'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.'"
+
+Not a word more could they get out of her.
+
+"Oh, come on," exclaimed Heather, dragging Bluebell away. "She doesn't
+care a bit for us. I told you it was no good coming up to her."
+
+
+When the fly drove away, Abigail leant out of her window, and with
+straining eyes followed it. Her heart was nearly broken. She could
+hardly realize that, after all these years of care and loving tyranny,
+her authority had been swept aside with such ease, and that her
+charges, in utter indifference to her threats and persuasions, had
+taken their future into their own hands, and had left their home in
+company with a comparative stranger.
+
+When they had passed out of her sight, she wiped the tears away with
+her apron.
+
+"They're gone for ever. If I see them again, they'll be no longer the
+innocent girls they are now."
+
+And then she walked downstairs, and set about cleaning the house,
+and putting away all traces of the ones who had left her. From that
+time forward, she closed her lips, and would never discuss her young
+mistresses with Rachael or any one.
+
+
+It was about five o'clock in the afternoon when the girls reached
+Paddington Station with their cousin. As they alighted on the platform,
+feeling bewildered with the bustle and confusion around them, a tall,
+soldier-like man came forward, and Mrs. Carter seized hold of his arms
+in delight.
+
+"Hal, you old dear! I never thought you would come to meet us. Here are
+the girls. Let me introduce you. Now, will you see to our luggage?"
+
+Captain Carter pulled his big moustache, and looked down upon his
+young wife with great affection. After the first glance at the girls,
+who were hardly looking their best in their country-made garments, he
+busied himself in carrying out his wife's directions, and he and she
+carried on an animated conversation during the drive home.
+
+Heather and Bluebell were quietly enjoying all the fresh sights
+and sounds around them. When they came into Mrs. Carter's pretty
+drawing-room, full of hothouse plants and tasteful furniture, the
+contrast between it and their room at home struck them very forcibly.
+
+Afternoon tea was brought in on a dainty little table, and then, just
+as Captain Carter was handing them a cup, the door opened, and a very
+tall, broad-shouldered man, bearing a great resemblance to the captain,
+strolled in. Mrs. Carter welcomed him warmly, to which he responded
+with a comical shrug of his shoulders.
+
+"I feel I ought to do the welcoming, for Hal and I are quite at home
+here. We have had a most enjoyable time together during your absence.
+In fact, Hal has just come to the stage of believing that the house
+belongs to him. Imagine it!"
+
+"You are as rude as ever, I see. Now, girls, let me introduce you to my
+brother-in-law, Mr. Cyril Carter. He has just been returned member for
+his county, and it has rather turned his head."
+
+Cyril Carter smiled very pleasantly as he bowed to the twins.
+
+"Your cousin is a martinet in her house. Did you know it? I hardly
+know now which chair I can safely sit down upon without outraging some
+delicate piece of work that has a trick of slipping down directly you
+touch it. I set to work the other day with a needle and cotton and
+sewed them on like grim death to the backs of the chairs to which they
+are supposed to belong, but one of the maids, I see, has carefully
+unpicked all my work. I expect she was afraid of her mistress."
+
+"I have been wondering how many of my household gods would be
+destroyed," said Mrs. Carter, looking round the room as she spoke.
+
+[Illustration: "WHERE IS MY WHITE FLOWER-POT?"]
+
+"I don't think I shall ever leave two men alone in the house again. I
+have lain awake at night thinking of the havoc I should find. Hal!"—And
+sitting upright in her chair, Mrs. Carter pointed severely to a small
+table in the window—"Where is my white flower-pot?"
+
+Captain Carter looked in a guilty manner across at his brother, who
+leant back in his chair with a complacent smile.
+
+"Don't look at me, my dear fellow. I am not your scapegoat."
+
+Poor Captain Carter gulped down his cup of tea, and walked to the door.
+
+"I'm just going to have a smoke," he said carelessly. "I'm very sorry,
+my dear, but it was when I heard that you were really coming home
+to-day. In the excess of joy, I was standing up to execute a 'pas
+seul', when my coat-tails caught the pot, and it fell—"
+
+"'Oh, what a fall was there!'" quoted Cyril with tragic air. "'Then you
+and I and all the world fell down. Whilst—'"
+
+Captain Carter had disappeared. His wife stopped her brother-in-law's
+quotation with a little vexed laugh.
+
+"I might have known it! And I gave seven and sixpence for that pot!
+Girls, would you like to come upstairs? Don't think all members of
+Parliament are as frivolous as this specimen. Come along—this way!"
+
+They had been listening to the conversation with amused faces, but
+followed her at once, and were charmed with their rooms, which led into
+one another, and were dainty in the extreme.
+
+"My maid will come and help you to unpack. Take a good rest. We do not
+dine till eight."
+
+She left them, and they looked at each other.
+
+"Do you like it?" Heather asked.
+
+Bluebell nodded.
+
+"I think it seems delicious," she said; "every one is in such good
+spirits, and it is all so different from home. Doesn't it seem a year
+since this morning?"
+
+Heather looked out of her window which faced Hyde Park, and said
+thoughtfully—
+
+"I cannot get Abigail's verse out of my head. 'She that liveth in
+pleasure is dead while she liveth.' Where is that verse, Bluebell; do
+you know?"
+
+"No. We will look when we do our reading to-night. We are not going to
+live in pleasure, so why should it worry you?"
+
+"I think—we are," was Heather's slow reply.
+
+Bluebell did not answer. She was diving into her trunk, and brought up
+her head with a flushed and anxious look.
+
+"I wish our dresses were made more like Cousin Ida's," she said. "I
+never used to think of dress, but I am sure we look great frights. She
+said to-day that she would take us to her dressmaker as soon as she
+could. Do you like Captain Carter?"
+
+"Yes, and his brother too. But they talk more like boys than men; don't
+you think so?"
+
+"I like it. I don't feel a bit afraid of either of them."
+
+
+Meanwhile, they were the subjects of discussion downstairs. Captain
+Carter could not stay away from his wife for very long, and he was back
+in the drawing-room.
+
+"Well," he said, "you will have your hands full. I never saw such
+oddities. What are you going to make of them?"
+
+"Humble imitations of your wife, sir," Mrs. Carter said, dropping him
+a mock curtsey. "You wait till I have got them some London frocks!
+I prophesy that next season they will be acknowledged beauties in
+society. I shall marry one to a foreign prince and the other to a
+duke—or shall I say a worthy millionaire? Dukes are all so poor
+nowadays. Well, Cyril, you old wiseacre! I saw you stealing covert
+glances at them through your half-closed lids. What do you think of
+them?"
+
+"I think one of them is the ditto of the other," put in Captain Carter;
+"I don't see the object in having the two. One expects a little variety
+in one's guests."
+
+"I know them apart already," said his brother. "What is the one called
+with the laughing eyes? They are the only bit of life about her staid
+little figure, but they're as merry as a cricket!"
+
+"Oh, that is Bluebell. Isn't it a pretty name! And the graver-faced one
+is Heather. I think she is the more clever of the two, and she has a
+good bit of pride about her. I am going to give them dancing-lessons at
+once. Fancy their never having had any! They have been brought up in a
+Quaker household, and you must both be very careful not to shock them.
+I am going to bring them on by degrees. Oh, I must tell you of the
+she-dragon who has been fighting me!"
+
+And forthwith Mrs. Carter gave a most vivid and laughable description
+of the quiet household in which she had been staying. Abigail's tone
+and manner were mimicked so successfully that her husband laughed till
+the tears rolled down his cheeks.
+
+
+The girls made their appearance at dinner with flushed cheeks and
+bright eyes. Before the evening was over, they were on easy terms with
+Captain Carter and his brother. Many things puzzled them, especially
+the light badinage that flew backwards and forwards, but being
+perfectly natural and unconscious of self, they got on far better than
+they had feared.
+
+"I would like to change places with you," said Cyril to Bluebell in the
+course of the evening; "it must be so delightful to be viewing London
+and society for the first time. You ought to keep a diary—I suppose you
+do, don't you?"
+
+"No," said Bluebell, laughing. "I don't see the use of diaries, do you?
+Unless you are very very good, and leave them for people to publish
+after your death, when they write your biography."
+
+"But aren't you very very good?"
+
+Bluebell shook her little head in the negative.
+
+"Oh dear no. Of course we try to be—everybody does, I suppose." Then in
+a graver tone she added, "Our old servant Abigail thinks us very wicked
+to come to London, but Heather and I don't agree with her. It doesn't
+say much for your religion if you can only be good in one place."
+
+Cyril twisted his moustache in silence, looking at her with amused
+eyes. Then he said lightly, "Let me know when our London air takes
+effect, and you feel yourself turning wicked. Now, what sights are you
+going to see to-morrow?"
+
+Bluebell looked across at Mrs. Carter.
+
+"I don't know," she said hesitatingly. "You must ask Mrs. Carter."
+
+"What do you want to see most? The shops, I suppose?"
+
+"Oh, no indeed, we have shops at home. They are only three miles off."
+
+Cyril's eyes twinkled, but he went on gravely, "There must be a good
+deal you are longing to see, isn't there?"
+
+"Yes, we want to see Westminster Abbey, and the Tower, and the
+Zoological Gardens, and London Bridge, and—oh, ever so many places. The
+Houses of Parliament too; you speak there, don't you?"
+
+"Not always," said Cyril, dryly.
+
+"Ask him to rehearse his maiden speech," put in Captain Carter. "It
+is like a page or two of Chaucer that I learnt when a boy. It was so
+indelibly impressed upon my brain that I shall remember it to my dying
+day. Your cousin and I had a private hearing of it, Miss Fotheringay.
+It was about one a.m. We thought we heard murmured voices, and so
+prowled round the house expecting to find burglars gloating over our
+plate. We found the sounds proceeded from his room, and putting our
+ears to the keyhole, heard our member, with inflated chest and sonorous
+tones, addressing the House. It was grand. It saved us the trouble of
+going to hear him the next day. He learnt every word of it by heart,
+and he rolled it off with the fluency of a Paddy!"
+
+So with chat and laughter the evening wore away.
+
+The twins came upstairs to bed very tired, but very happy.
+
+As they were doing their evening's reading, Heather said with a
+sigh—"Poor old Abigail! I don't feel quite comfortable at leaving
+without her blessing."
+
+"I think she was really angry at our taking our own way instead of
+hers," said Bluebell, thoughtfully.
+
+"Is it our own way? It ought to be God's way."
+
+Heather sat down by the fire and clasped her hands round her knees as
+she uttered these words.
+
+Bluebell looked up from her Bible quickly.
+
+"I don't see why it shouldn't be God's way for us. You told me you were
+praying to have a fuller life. And then Cousin Ida came. I am thanking
+God she did, and I shall thank Him every day for all our pleasures."
+
+There was almost a defiant note in her tones.
+
+Heather looked at her with a smile.
+
+"You always think everything is for the best."
+
+Bluebell did not reply for a minute, then she raised her head from her
+Bible again.
+
+"Here it is. In the First Epistle to Timothy. 'But she that liveth in
+pleasure is dead while she liveth.' It is about widows, I think."
+
+"Well, never mind, I'm so sleepy. Let us go to bed."
+
+But before Heather dropped off to sleep, she murmured, "Poor old
+Abigail! I hope her verse won't come true!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A TASTE OF TOWN LIFE
+
+   "Every beginning is pleasant. The threshold is the place of
+expectation."—GOETHE.
+
+"BLUEBELL, do you know we have been here a month to-day? What shall I
+say about our coming home to Rachael? I am writing to her."
+
+"Oh, you needn't say anything, need you? Cousin Ida has no intention of
+letting us go yet. Make haste with your letter, the dinner-bell will
+ring soon. Give my love to Rachael, and tell her to give the canaries a
+little saffron in their water. That is what they want when they don't
+seem well."
+
+"Any message to Abigail?"
+
+"I should think not, indeed. She has never sent us one, or written us
+one line since we left."
+
+"Well, we haven't written to her."
+
+"No, and we don't want to. Oh, Heather, aren't you longing for the
+concert to-morrow?"
+
+The girls are sitting in their pretty bedrooms, and at first glance,
+they seem much altered. Their simple white evening dresses with black
+ribbons have a style about them that only a London dressmaker can give.
+Their hair is coiled up in the latest fashion, and their radiant,
+animated faces make them quite beautiful. They are getting accustomed
+to town life now. They have done a large amount of sight-seeing under
+the guidance of Cyril, whom they regard as a cousin. He seems to have a
+good deal of spare time on his hands, and is not at all averse to his
+position as mentor.
+
+Mrs. Carter is very well satisfied with her charges. After a great
+deal of persuasion, she has begun to give them dancing-lessons, and
+the girls, though wondering what Abigail would say, are quick and apt
+pupils and thoroughly enjoy it. They have not been introduced into
+society yet, but Captain Carter, who is in the Grenadier Guards, is in
+the habit of bringing several of his brother officers in to dinner,
+and Mrs. Carter has a great many friends and acquaintances who avail
+themselves of her genial, pleasant hospitality. So that, altogether,
+they see a great deal of company, and the novelty attracts and delights
+them.
+
+A few minutes later, and the girls had left their rooms and were going
+in to dinner.
+
+"It seems quite nice to be alone for once," said Mrs. Carter. "I hope
+you have no engagement to-night, Hal?"
+
+"Tell me how you're going to entertain me if I stay at home."
+
+"We are going to have some music. You haven't heard Heather play on her
+harp. It arrived this morning. I don't know whether it's the thing for
+her to take up. Harp-playing has gone out of fashion."
+
+"Then by all means play it," said Cyril, turning to Heather, with a
+little nod of approval. "There's nothing like novelty nowadays, and the
+girls must be conspicuous, or they'll die!"
+
+"I don't mind being 'conspicuous,' as you call it, when we are alone,"
+said Heather, spiritedly; "and I am not going to give up my harp for
+any one. I love it!"
+
+"We'll arrange a programme. Minnehaha, you and I will sing that duet
+that we have been practising. The captain will recite a barrack-room
+ballad, and the missus will finish up with a waltz on the piano, and
+we'll foot it on the carpet. What? Is your precious carpet unable to
+bear the strain of our light feet? We'll exit into the hall, then.
+I have been yawning over County Council Bills all the day, and must
+stretch my limbs a little."
+
+"I always say," said Captain Carter, meditatively, "that county members
+are the most narrow useless beings in the whole House. Their interest
+is only in agriculture and in game laws. Anything affecting the
+metropolis or the world at large is a matter of perfect indifference to
+them. They vote whichever way their party tells them. And as to matters
+concerning the Services or the Colonies they're as ignorant as a baby.
+They're sent to the House by a few hundreds of country yokels, and as
+long as they know what their constituents want, and try to get it for
+them, they think they have done their duty."
+
+"I will not be drawn into talking shop," said Cyril, calmly. "When
+we are in ladies' society, let us suit the conversation to their
+capabilities."
+
+"I never take interest in parliamentary affairs, unless there is
+a row of some sort," said Mrs. Carter, not at all offended by her
+brother-in-law's remark. "I like to read of the lords of creation
+losing their tempers, and slanging each other like a pack of
+schoolboys, but when they are all dull and prosy, they're no good at
+all. I think your maiden speech was the essence of dulness, Cyril!"
+
+"Thank you. I know now what your taste is, and what style you prefer.
+What are you making big eyes at, Minnehaha?"
+
+He had dubbed Bluebell this two days after her first arrival.
+
+"I was thinking," she said, "how very seldom I have heard you speak
+seriously on any subject."
+
+"He couldn't be serious," responded Mrs. Carter; "joking runs in the
+family. Even on my wedding-day, just before we took our places in
+church together, Hal whispered—
+
+   "'All the king's horses, and all the king's men,
+     Can't make me a happy bachelor again!'"
+
+"She looked so exasperatingly superior and complacent," said Captain
+Carter, joining in the laugh. "I suppose it's the one day when women
+feel their power. The man is nowhere; people look upon him as a poor
+fool!"
+
+"Power is a wonderful thing," said Cyril, fixing his eyes on Bluebell's
+laughing face opposite his. "There isn't a human being on earth who
+doesn't love power."
+
+"I don't," said Bluebell, promptly.
+
+"I do," said Mrs. Carter, nodding her head saucily across at her
+husband.
+
+"And I think I do sometimes," said Heather, slowly.
+
+"Allow me to continue. It is a subject upon which I can speak
+seriously. Power is an attribute that is in the breast of every human
+creature from infancy. Take a baby; why does it love shaking a rattle,
+ringing a handbell, seizing handfuls of its mother's hair? The love of
+power over all objects it can grasp. Watch a girl alternately nursing
+and slapping a doll, a boy beating a drum and whipping a top. Power
+over inanimate objects again. See the schoolboy bullying, making pets
+of anything he can control, and working havoc in all directions. Love
+of power prompts him. Ask an artist, a musician, a sculptor, an author,
+in what their chief enjoyment consists. They will allow, if they are
+truthful, that it is their sense of power over their pencils, their
+pens, their clay, and their instruments. Analyze your own feelings over
+your favourite occupations, you will find you never really like a thing
+unless you think you do it well."
+
+"Such as hearing one's self talk, and reducing others to silence,"
+murmured Captain Carter. "Pray go on."
+
+"I don't think I agree with you," said Heather, turning to Cyril.
+
+"You never do," said Mrs. Carter, laughing. "I think you two disagree
+on every point brought up."
+
+Cyril raised his eyebrows.
+
+Heather said a little confusedly, "I was thinking about enjoyment.
+I like playing on my harp, but I enjoy hearing others' music much
+the best. I think I like anything that takes me quite away from my
+surroundings."
+
+"Highly complimentary to present company," murmured Captain Carter
+again, and Heather's fair young face was covered with blushes at once.
+
+"You are only half developed yet, my child," said Cyril, with his
+grandfatherly air, stopping her confused apology. "Wait till you have
+had a season in town; your tastes will have altered by that time, I
+fancy."
+
+"Lady Grace asked me to-day if they were going to be presented," said
+Mrs. Carter, looking across at her husband. "What do you male creatures
+think about it?"
+
+"Folly and waste of money," said her husband tersely.
+
+Bluebell and Heather looked up greatly excited.
+
+"Presented to the queen!" they gasped. "Could we be?"
+
+"Very easily. I was presented just after my marriage, and I could take
+you. If you stay a couple of months longer with me, I can manage it."
+
+"Are they going back to the country, after such a taste of society?"
+queried Cyril, with a mocking light in his eyes.
+
+Mrs. Carter rose.
+
+"We need not discuss the matter further now," she said with great
+dignity. "Come, girls, we will leave them to their smoke."
+
+But Heather and Bluebell were far too excited to let the matter drop.
+They pursued it in the drawing-room till the gentlemen came in, and
+when they retired to their rooms were still full of the subject.
+
+"We must stay away longer now," said Heather. "Why, even Abigail would
+be proud to think we had been presented to the Queen! Isn't it almost
+like a fairy tale, Bluebell? Sometimes I fancy we shall wake up and
+find it all a dream."
+
+"Yes," said Bluebell; "it seems as if every enjoyment has been kept
+away from us all our lives, and now they crowd upon us so thick and
+fast that it is quite overwhelming."
+
+"And Abigail would have kept us out of it all."
+
+"Heather, do you know, I cannot go back to our old life again. Is it
+wicked, I wonder, to feel so?"
+
+Heather gave an impatient little sigh.
+
+"Oh, don't keep asking if it is wicked," she said; "I'm going to enjoy
+the present as much as ever I can without thinking."
+
+Bluebell drew her Bible to her, but she soon closed it.
+
+"I feel I can't do anything but think about the Drawing-Room," she
+said. "Won't you be very frightened of making your curtsey, Heather?
+Cousin Ida says we can't be asked out to any really nice people's
+houses until we have been presented. I did not know that was so
+necessary."
+
+"Our dresses will cost a lot of money," said Heather, meditatively. "I
+don't know how it is, but money seems to fly in London. We have spent
+more in this month than we should do in a whole year at home."
+
+"Cousin Cyril said that was part of our education. To learn how to
+spend money! How dreadfully satirical he is! He always seems to
+consider women on such a much lower level than himself. And don't you
+object to his making fun of serious subjects as he does? I do dislike
+his asking us so often how our religion is getting on!"
+
+"He seems to think we're losing it," said Heather, slowly, as she
+brushed out her curly hair and gazed at herself abstractedly in the
+glass as she did so. Then after a moment's pause she added, "And I am
+not sure that he isn't right."
+
+"Speak for yourself, please," said Bluebell, lightly. "I'm not going
+to turn into a heathen because I am in London. It's ridiculous, and
+absurd."
+
+"What is true religion?"
+
+Heather breathed rather than spoke the words. Then she flashed forth a
+little excitedly—
+
+"I wonder now if we ever had anything but a mere form of religion. We
+had nothing to tempt us, nothing to try us at home. I don't believe
+any girls were more shielded from evil than we were. And now when our
+lives are so utterly changed, it seems a test of it all. I cannot get
+Abigail's verse out of my head, 'She that liveth pleasure is dead while
+she liveth.' I don't know how you feel, but I want pleasure. I love
+it, and I seem to want more and more of it. I should be miserable if I
+went home now and left it all when we are only just beginning to enjoy
+ourselves. But I do not believe God wants us to be shut out of the
+world. Cousin Ida is religious and she loves London society. I mean
+to copy her. I believe there are two kinds of religion in the Bible;
+Abigail's is one kind and Cousin Ida's is the other, and which is
+right, I wonder! I know which is the brightest and happiest life."
+
+"It's very puzzling," said Bluebell, a graver look stealing into her
+merry eyes. "But I think we're both of one mind about it. We will enjoy
+the present while we can. And don't let us philosophize too much about
+it. It puts one in the blues!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+DUTY'S CALL
+
+   "It is right to begin with the obligations of home—no other duties can
+possibly be substituted for them."—DICKENS.
+
+MORE than a year has passed.
+
+Bluebell and Heather have not yet been home. They have travelled
+abroad with their cousin; they have passed a season in town; and the
+little simple country girls have developed into brilliant young women
+of fashion. Mrs. Carter is beginning to wonder when they will marry.
+Heather has had two or three offers, but has refused them all. She
+charms many by her little imperious queenly ways, her bright wits, and
+her quick changes of mood from grave to gay.
+
+Bluebell is always saucy and bewitching; some wonder if she can ever
+be serious; some, if she has a heart at all. At present, she has a
+persistent and devoted suitor, Sir Herbert Mowbray by name. He is not
+a very young man, and is silent and reserved by nature. Bluebell alone
+can bring the grave smile to his eye and lips. But she holds him aloof,
+ignores his devotion, and treats him as she treats all others, with
+laughing indifference.
+
+The sisters have very few grave conversations together now. Their Bible
+reading is short and hurried, often missed altogether. The late hours
+and rush of gaiety that they live in, have already left marks on their
+young faces. But they appear in the brightest spirits, and Mrs. Carter
+is more than satisfied with the success of her training. Captain Carter
+looks upon them as permanent inmates of his household, and will not
+hear of them taking their departure.
+
+Cyril still chaffs and criticizes their actions. He makes his brother's
+house his home when Parliament is sitting, but is a good part of the
+year in the country managing his property.
+
+"Girls, where shall we go this summer?" said Mrs. Carter one sunny
+morning in July, as they sat at breakfast. "It is too stifling for
+words in town. I am longing for a breath of country air."
+
+"We have four invitations for August," said Heather a little languidly,
+"none of which we have accepted yet."
+
+"One of them is to Lady Grace in Scotland. I always think Scotch houses
+are very dull except during the shooting. What are the others?" said
+Mrs. Carter.
+
+"Mrs. Finch wants us to go on a house-boat with her."
+
+"Without me. Yes, I remember, and I think she is too go-ahead! Who are
+her party?"
+
+"Mr. Finch, Major Rankin, Mr. Greeson, and a young nephew."
+
+Mrs. Carter pursed up her mouth and looked across at her brother-in-law.
+
+"I am not prudish," she said; "but what did you tell me about Major
+Rankin, Cyril?"
+
+Cyril stroked his moustache with a superior air.
+
+"Something best not repeated," he said. "That invitation must be
+declined at once."
+
+"That is for us to settle," said Heather, quickly, with a flash in her
+eyes that Cyril always called the "danger signal."
+
+"What is number three?" asked Mrs. Carter, hastily. "We will talk about
+accepting or declining them later."
+
+"Lady Mowbray's," put in Bluebell. "Sir Herbert has been pestering my
+life out, ever since I had the letter."
+
+"And the fourth?"
+
+"Oh, that doesn't really count," said Heather, looking out of the
+window as she spoke.
+
+"Because it is the only one that is coming off," said Cyril, coolly.
+"Don't pretend you have forgotten, missus, that you are coming to
+entertain for me. I expect the whole lot of you for a good month."
+
+"Oh, did we promise? I must say I like being entertained better than
+entertaining," said Mrs. Carter with a little grimace. "I get enough of
+that in my own house."
+
+"We certainly shall not give you a month," said Bluebell. "We should
+all be bored to death. Heather and I will give you the last week in
+August if you like, after we have done our other visits."
+
+"Speak for yourself, Minnehaha! Heather will come before that if you
+don't."
+
+Both girls exclaimed—
+
+"We have never been separated in our lives. As if we would sleep apart
+from each other for a single night!"
+
+"Now, my dear children, that idea is quite exploded. It is a perfect
+fallacy to think twins ought not to be separated. I know two
+fellows—twins—who led a life of misery till they took my advice; one
+went towards the North Pole, the other towards the South, and they
+quietly and firmly decided that they would never come into contact
+with one another again. Their life was becoming a perfect bondage to
+them, and when they were once away from each other, they said it was
+a delicious sensation to realize their individuality apart and alone
+from any one else's. The sooner you assert your separate individuality,
+the better for both of you. Now, missus, put your oar in! You know
+I am speaking words of wisdom. How are the silly young creatures to
+get husbands if they will live in one another's pockets? There, I
+thought the missus would rise to that bait. I will leave you to fight
+it out together. Men are best out of the way when husbands are under
+discussion!"
+
+Cyril sauntered out of the room after this speech.
+
+Mrs. Carter began to improve the occasion.
+
+"I think there is a certain amount of sense in what he says, girls.
+If you could make up your minds to do without each other sometimes,
+it would be much better for you. For instance, Lady Mowbray wants
+Bluebell, Lady Grace wants you, Heather."
+
+Bluebell flushed a little, and laughed.
+
+"I am not going to Lady Mowbray's by myself, Cousin Ida. Not if I know
+it! She is an irascible old lady, I have heard. Even her son says she
+is 'difficult,' and he is devoted to her."
+
+"If you make up your mind to accept Sir Herbert, you must make the
+best of his mother," said Mrs. Carter, quietly. Then looking at
+Bluebell a little keenly, she said, "He spoke to me about you yesterday
+evening—I—I wished him success!"
+
+Bluebell only laughed.
+
+"Don't look like that at me, Cousin Ida! As if you are longing to
+congratulate me. It is premature, I assure you. If he doesn't take
+care, he'll find such haste will spoil his cause. I am not going to be
+tied or bound to any man yet. I love my liberty too much."
+
+She danced out of the room, singing as she did so—
+
+   "I care for nobody, and somebody cares for me.
+    If somebody thinks he's nobody, I may care for he!"
+
+Mrs. Carter looked a little worried.
+
+"I hoped you would both be engaged by this time," she said to Heather,
+who sat gravely looking through her letters. "It isn't my fault that
+you are not."
+
+"No indeed," said Heather, quickly looking up; "I am afraid we have
+sadly disappointed you. I had never realized till I had gone through a
+season what a solemn duty this business of marriage is. And sometimes,
+Cousin Ida, it sickens me. Life isn't all marrying and giving in
+marriage! You have been truly good to us, but I think Bluebell will
+soon do what you want. Don't worry her too much."
+
+"And what about you?"
+
+Heather got up from her seat, and walked over to the window. She drew
+her slight young figure up rather proudly.
+
+"I would rather not discuss myself. Bluebell and I cannot part with
+each other yet. I think we must do our visits together. Shall we talk
+over them now?"
+
+"There is one lesson I have to learn," said Mrs. Carter with a mock
+plaintive air. "If I can come the 'missus' over Hal and Cyril, I cannot
+over you two girls. Sometimes I think you look upon me as an old dowdy
+chaperon. I wonder if you do! It's the way of young girls nowadays."
+
+"It will never be our way," said Heather, warmly; "Bluebell and I can
+never thank you enough for all the enjoyment you have given us."
+
+Then the two sat down to earnest discussion over the forthcoming visits.
+
+
+A month later, and the twins were at Rawton Cross, Cyril's property.
+They had visited Lady Mowbray, and had liked the hot-tempered,
+good-natured old lady. Bluebell was not yet formally engaged to Sir
+Herbert, but it was an understood thing, and Heather sometimes wondered
+why her sister seemed to hang back when matters had gone so far.
+
+Cyril was a capital host. His house was a picturesque-looking Gothic
+building, and he filled it with pleasant guests.
+
+Mrs. Carter was in her element at once. She said one day as she was
+dispensing afternoon tea on the lovely old lawn under the beech trees,
+"I think I would have made you a good wife, Cyril. What a pity you
+didn't ask me before Hal did!"
+
+"The red coat did it," said her husband, lazily. "I felt her heart
+thump its admiration the first time we met, when I took her into supper
+at one of our regimental festivities!"
+
+"How can you give me away so before these girls? You know you had to
+propose to me three times before I accepted you!"
+
+"No," said Cyril, meditatively, as he leant back in his lounge chair
+and surveyed the company with lazy satisfaction, "I have found celibacy
+such a blessing that I have constantly congratulated myself that I have
+'kept myself to myself' all these years."
+
+"It is a shame of you," said young Mrs. Plowman, coquettishly. "Your
+house will never be truly comfortable till it has a mistress. And think
+how many single women would be only too thankful to take charge of you—"
+
+"And my money!"
+
+"Mercenary wretch! Whom are you saving it for?"
+
+Heather, who had been listening to this silently, now got up and
+sauntered away. Sometimes the empty chit-chat of society disgusted
+her. She had never really become accustomed to it, and other, graver
+thoughts were now occupying her mind.
+
+She turned her steps to a winding path that led into the woods close
+by. Walking along, she found herself soon between steep banks of moss
+and fern, and with a long-drawn breath of delight, she sprang up, and
+curling herself up amongst the ferns, she rested her head against an
+old tree, and proceeded to read and re-read a letter which seemed to
+cause her much anxious thought.
+
+Time went on, and still she sat there. Bright-eyed rabbits, with
+startled ears, peeped over the high ferns to look at this intruder. A
+squirrel darted over the branches above her, and the wood-pigeons came
+and cooed in the top of some tall elms close by.
+
+Heather did not heed them. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. Her brows were puckered, and her face looked harassed.
+Then she took out a pencil from her pocket, and began making rapid
+calculations on paper. A heavy sigh followed, and then her quiet was
+suddenly disturbed.
+
+"Found at last, Regina!"
+
+It was only Cyril who called her by this nickname, and he stood over
+her with an amused look in his eyes.
+
+"Now what may I ask has suddenly driven you to solitude? In love at
+last?"
+
+Heather looked up startled, and a little annoyed. "Do you never feel
+you would like to be alone?" she said, trying to speak carelessly.
+
+"Oh yes, very often. But beautiful maidens must not be allowed to waste
+their sweetness on the desert air. Major Canning has been hunting
+for you. Jack Bedford is distrait at your absence, and each supposes
+you are having a 'tête-à-tête' with Frank Rushton, who has also
+disappeared."
+
+Heather gave another sigh.
+
+"I wish you could be serious," she said, "then I might confide in you.
+I would just as soon tell you as Cousin Ida, because you can keep
+things quiet, and she cannot."
+
+[Illustration: SHE CURLED HERSELF UP AMONG THE FERNS.]
+
+He threw himself down on the grass beside her.
+
+"I am your elder brother. Now, child, tell it out!"
+
+A pink flush rose to Heather's face. She hesitated, then plunged into
+her perplexity.
+
+"Cousin Cyril, I have a letter here from one of our old servants,
+Rachael. It is not the first one I have received in such a strain. I
+used to think I was very good at money matters, but somehow or other
+now, Bluebell and I cannot keep within our incomes. Both these last two
+quarters, I am ashamed to say, we have overdrawn at our bank. There
+are things that must be seen to at once at home, repairs to our small
+farm. We have not the money to send. And worse than all, there are two
+or three old people to whom our grandmother always paid a small weekly
+pittance. Rachael asks me to send the amount for the next quarter,
+and—and I cannot do it."
+
+"Hard up!" said Cyril with a quiet smile. "Borrow from me, till you get
+round the corner!"
+
+Heather drew her head up proudly.
+
+"Never," she said. "I will not go further into debt. I feel disgraced
+and ashamed when I think of the sums we have been lavishing on our
+amusements and dress, whilst our dear old people at home are actually
+in want."
+
+She paused, then went on rapidly—
+
+"I dare say you cannot understand, but the villagers have always looked
+to us for relief, and grandmother used to give a great deal away. I
+promised her before she died that we would continue to do the same. It
+is only lately that I have found it impossible to keep my promise. We
+are spending a good deal of money, and do not seem able to draw in."
+
+"The only thing for you to do is to let or sell your old home. You will
+never go back to live there again, so why have the expense of keeping
+it all up for the sake of two old servants? Pension them off, let the
+farm go, and you will find yourself the richer."
+
+Cyril spoke with easy indifference, but he was watching her very keenly
+the while.
+
+Heather flashed round upon him impetuously. "Is pleasure before duty
+your only clue out of the difficulty?"
+
+He smiled.
+
+"I thought you had forgotten there was such a word as duty these past
+twelve months," he said; "we who follow fashion's fancy will have none
+of such an old-fashioned article!"
+
+Heather looked straight before her with compressed lips and flashing
+eyes.
+
+"There is one way out of the difficulty," she said determinedly, "and
+that is the way we must take."
+
+"Into the Bankruptcy Court?"
+
+"We must go home, and stay there!"
+
+He looked at her curiously, then sprang to his feet.
+
+"Away with such a dark thought! Let us return to lighter and brighter
+realities. Come and have a row on the river!"
+
+Heather gave a sigh, put her letter in her pocket, and was her bright
+self again when she joined the others still on the lawn.
+
+But she had made a resolve in her own heart, and that resolve she meant
+to keep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SEPARATION
+
+   "He who has well considered his duty, will at once carry his conviction
+into action."—S. SMILES.
+
+"BLUEBELL, we must go home. That is the only solution to our
+difficulty."
+
+The girls were talking it over a few nights later, when they had
+retired to their room for the night.
+
+"We can't do that."
+
+"When do you think of returning?"
+
+"Oh, some day. Not yet awhile. Picture Abigail's greeting! When I have
+found life a failure, I will take refuge in her arms. She would welcome
+me then. Never, if I was finding it a joy and a success?"
+
+"We cannot go on as we are doing. Bluebell, you are not a child—be
+serious! Do you like being in debt! Do you enjoy thinking of Mary
+Scrivens and old Ralph going without their little comforts, even
+necessaries, because we are spending the money that rightfully belongs
+to them? I cannot sleep at night for worrying over it. We must go back;
+there is no way out of it."
+
+Bluebell leant back in an easy chair and clasped her hands behind her
+neck. Her saucy eyes took a grave look.
+
+"I know we are in rather a fix. We mustn't be so extravagant in future.
+Money seems to fly in London. Oh dear! I wish we were really rich!
+Can't you borrow a little from Cousin Ida?"
+
+"I shouldn't think of it. When could we pay it back? The more I think
+about it, the more convinced I am that it is our duty to go home and
+stay there quietly. I have spoken to Cousin Ida about it to-day. She
+was angry at first, but when I had talked to her for a little, she said
+that perhaps it would be wise. Her idea is that we should go home for a
+time, and come to her again next spring."
+
+Bluebell looked annoyed.
+
+"You needn't have spoken to her about it. I don't mean to go home.
+Captain and Mrs. Foster have asked us to go a yachting trip with them.
+Sir Herbert and Cousin Cyril are both going. And I have promised we
+shall go."
+
+"I shall not go."
+
+"I shall."
+
+"Then I must go home alone!"
+
+There was dead silence. Each girl had a strong will, but never in their
+lives had they clashed with each other before.
+
+And before long Bluebell was in tears, and Heather with a strained
+white face was pacing the room.
+
+Then Bluebell, from passionate protestations, began to coax and entreat.
+
+Heather set her lips in hard lines, and listened without a word.
+
+Duty was before her. She had been brought up from her infancy to
+consider it an important part of life, and not even the gay pleasures
+she had so delighted in could turn her steps aside. Her heart felt
+nearly breaking when she realized that Bluebell would prefer separation
+to taking up the quiet country life again. She did not look forward to
+it with pleasure herself. She was still enjoying her society life, and
+the possibility of going back alone to the two old servants seemed too
+dreadful to contemplate.
+
+Bluebell was almost as miserable at the thought of separation. And yet
+the growing love for all that makes a society life pleasant perhaps
+helped her to bear it with more equanimity.
+
+"Nothing will induce me to go back!" she sobbed. "I hate the idea of
+it! I should die if I were stifled in that silent house again without a
+soul to speak to from one year's end to another! I wish an earthquake
+would swallow the whole place up! Yes, I do! Don't look so shocked!
+I'll never go back there, never, never, never!"
+
+She crept off to bed, sobbing.
+
+Heather lay awake with tearless eyes, but with a sick pain at heart.
+All sunshine in her path seemed to have gone. Only dull heavy clouds
+hung above her. And when Bluebell had at last sobbed herself to sleep,
+Heather crept up to her, hung over her with a world of love in her grey
+eyes, and laying her cheek against hers, kissed her passionately.
+
+"Our first quarrel, our first separation! How shall I be able to bear
+it!"
+
+Bluebell stirred and smiled in her sleep. Then one word came softly
+between her lips—"Herbert!"
+
+Heather turned away passionately.
+
+"She does not care. She only thinks of him! It would have had to come
+sooner or later, so I must bear it."
+
+And then, kneeling down by her bed, she took her trouble to One whom
+she but seldom approached now. As she bent her head, a rush of sorrow
+for her coldness and carelessness in her daily devotions came over her.
+And the tears, which up to now had been stayed, gushed freely.
+
+When she crept into bed again, it was with a greater feeling of comfort
+and peace than she had experienced for some time.
+
+The girls were very quiet the next morning. Cyril rallied them on their
+gravity. Mrs. Carter looked anxious; the other guests were a little
+puzzled, for the twins were acknowledged to be the life of every party
+they joined.
+
+At last, the facts were known, and once known, Heather hastened to put
+her resolve into action. In two days' time her trunks were packed, and
+she was bidding good-bye to every one.
+
+Cyril drove her to the station in his dog-cart. Bluebell had taken
+leave of her sister in private, and was now sobbing her heart out in
+her room.
+
+Heather was very quiet and dignified; her feelings were too deep for
+words, but she had the sense of rest when alone with Cyril that she
+had sadly been needing before all the curious eyes and comments of her
+friends.
+
+"You won't be able to do without us," said Cyril at last, quietly and
+meditatively.
+
+Heather's spirit rose at once.
+
+"I lived twenty-two years very happily without any of you," she said.
+
+"Not without Minnehaha! But I was not thinking of her. How will you
+spend your time! You are like a bird that has been freed, returning to
+its cage. You will only beat your wings against the bars and stop your
+singing."
+
+"Never! One would think my home was a prison."
+
+"How long will you immure yourself? I won't repeat some lady's
+conjectures that I have heard. Your sex is very unmerciful."
+
+"Oh, I can guess them," said Heather, with a hard little laugh. "They
+say I am disappointed in love, and am going into seclusion to hide my
+wounded heart. Or some say I am going to recruit my health and beauty,
+and flash out afresh the beginning of next season, remembering the old
+adage, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' You see I am well aware
+of what is said behind my back."
+
+"It is a pity you haven't married," said Cyril, in his most fatherly
+tone. "Now, Minnehaha is doing well for herself. It would be a good way
+out of your difficulty."
+
+Heather smiled. Then looking up into his face, she said frankly—
+
+"Do you know, that is the one reason why I am glad I am going home. I
+shall hear nothing of the modern marriage market. I am so tired of it
+all."
+
+"Have you made up your mind to choose a spinster's lot?"
+
+"It is not one to be despised," she said.
+
+He was silent.
+
+When he had seen her into a comfortable carriage, tossed some
+picture-papers into her lap, and held out his hand for the final
+good-bye, he said, "You are a strong-minded young woman. But I admire
+the principle that is at the root of it! The missus says you will be
+back under her wings within a month. I give you two. Adieu!"
+
+The train moved off, Heather waved a laughing farewell, but when once
+alone, great tears filled her eyes.
+
+She leant back in her seat, feeling lonely, forlorn, and miserable. Not
+even the conviction that she was obeying the dictates of her conscience
+and had not faltered in the path of duty could comfort her now.
+
+"I am so young," she murmured regretfully, "to leave it all, and to
+lead the life in front of me. It was fit for our grandmother. It is not
+fit for us. It is the best time of my life now, and it is wasting it to
+shut myself up with Abigail and Rachael."
+
+So she mused, and then took herself to task for having such selfish
+views. She took up the papers, and tried to bury herself in the news of
+the day. The journey seemed never ending.
+
+At last she reached the country town. No one was there to meet her, but
+she hardly expected it. Taking a fly, she was driven slowly through the
+country lanes she knew so well, and reached home about five o'clock.
+It was a lovely summer evening; the drive up to the house was bordered
+with bright flower beds, and masses of crimson roses and white clematis
+fell over the porch.
+
+As she stepped out, a burst of song came from the canaries' cage in the
+greenhouse. And Heather lifted up her tired head, and with a bright
+smile came into the cool, dark hall.
+
+Abigail stood like a sentinel inside; Rachael was fluttering about in
+the background. Heather did not wait for a welcome; she went straight
+into Abigail's arms, and was not repulsed.
+
+[Illustration: "ONE OF YOUR WANDERERS HAS COME BACK."]
+
+"One of your wanderers has come back," she whispered. And then, putting
+her arms round the old servant's neck with the simplicity of a child,
+she kissed her.
+
+Abigail cleared her throat, tried to speak, and then Heather felt a hot
+tear touch her cheek.
+
+With a little jerk, Abigail released herself from those clinging arms,
+and found her self-control again by scolding the driver for treading
+on the beeswaxed floor with his heavy nailed boots. Heather turned to
+Rachael, who laughed and cried in the same breath.
+
+"Oh, my dear Miss Heather, we thought we had lost you altogether. It
+has been a long dreary time this past year. But eh!—how did you leave
+Miss Bluebell? Are we not going to see her down here? And how bonny
+you're looking, but not the same young lady that went from here! You
+are so grand—have such an air. Is it dress has done it?"
+
+"I hope I am just the same," Heather said, laughing.
+
+And resolving to preserve a brave front, she ran in and out of the
+rooms, looking at and praising all she could. The evening sunshine
+stealing in through the casement windows brightened up the dark
+corners. And though she found all exactly as she had left it, her heart
+sank at the bareness, the crude colouring, and the absence of the
+pretty details to which she had become accustomed in her cousin's house.
+
+"If I had not come home to economize, I would improve and alter many
+things," was her thought as she stood in the drawing-room and surveyed
+the brown holland coverings with uneasy disapproval. "I can arrange the
+furniture a little differently, but what is the good of it when I am
+all by myself! Oh, how shall I be able to live alone! Bluebell might
+have come—she might have come!"
+
+It was her inward cry all that evening. Abigail waited upon her in
+solemn silence at dinner. And afterwards, she wandered out into the
+garden. But though the soft stillness of the evening air soothed her,
+she could not feel content in her surroundings, and when later on
+Abigail brought the big Bible and took her seat with Rachael to take
+part in evening prayers, Heather had hard work to keep her self-control.
+
+When Abigail, silver candlestick in hand, came up with her to her room,
+Heather put her hand on her arm wistfully.
+
+"Come in and talk to me, Abigail. Tell me you have forgiven us for
+running away from you. And tell me all about the farm—and the old
+people. I—I feel lonely to-night."
+
+Abigail's hard face softened.
+
+"If you have seen the evil of your ways, Miss Heather, and are
+purposing to follow in your dear grandmother's footsteps, I will be the
+last one to cast up the past in your face."
+
+"Don't scold me. I cannot stand scolding to-night. I don't know what I
+am going to do yet. But to-morrow morning, I am going to talk business
+with you and Rachael. I want the gossip of the neighbourhood, Abigail."
+
+"You went away a sweet and simple maiden," said Abigail, with a sigh,
+"and you have come back a fashionable town lady. I hardly am liking to
+touch your hair. Maybe you would rather I did not take up the old ways
+again?"
+
+Heather laughed, and throwing her dressing-gown round her, handed
+Abigail her brush.
+
+"I shall love to have you attend me. Now talk, and brush away."
+
+Abigail's next question brought a pink flush to Heather's cheeks.
+
+"And how goes your soul's health, Miss Heather? That is what I am
+longing to know. Are you as near heaven as you were when you left this?"
+
+"I would rather you told me first what I am longing to know."
+
+Heather's tone was dignity itself.
+
+Abigail gave a heavy sigh, but after a pause began telling her the
+village news.
+
+And Heather did not give her an opportunity again of any personal
+questions. She chatted and laughed, and then wished her good night. But
+seeing the grieved look on the old woman's face as she was taking her
+departure, she said with one of her flashing smiles that were so rare—
+
+"I am not quite so wicked as you think me, Abigail. You will see how
+good I mean to be now I am home again."
+
+A little time later, and Heather's face was buried in her pillow,
+choking sobs escaping her.
+
+"Oh, Bluebell, you cannot love me as I love you! Shall we never be
+together again? It is like death itself! How shall I be able to bear
+it?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE VILLAGERS
+
+   "Let it ever be thy pride
+    To linger by the labourer's side;
+    With words of sympathy or song
+    To cheer the dreary march along,
+    Of the great army of the poor."
+                                  LONGFELLOW.
+
+THE old servants hardly knew what to make of their young mistress
+the next morning. She came downstairs apparently in the best of
+spirits, but full of plans and innovations that sorely perplexed and
+disconcerted them.
+
+She told Rachael she would in future like afternoon tea in the
+drawing-room every afternoon at five o'clock, dinner not a minute
+sooner than half-past seven. She uncovered the drawing-room chairs
+and couches, and tossed the holland covers into the bottom of the
+linen cupboard. She brought in flowering plants from the greenhouse,
+and disposed of them in every corner of the room. Calling the small
+boy into her service, she wheeled out the round table into an empty
+bedroom, and by dint of banishing some articles of furniture and
+altering others, had soon completely transformed the drawing-room.
+
+Abigail looked on in silent horror. This masterful young woman, with
+bright careless smile and quick peremptory tones, was not the same
+girl that had trembled at her voice in bygone days! Heather worked on
+indifferent to her frown, and directly after her lunch, walked down to
+the farm to see George Thatcher and his wife.
+
+For a good two hours, she perambulated round the premises, talking
+business matters over with the farmer, and jotting down in her
+note-book the repairs that were absolutely necessary, those that could
+wait, and the respective cost of each.
+
+"Be you comin' in to see the missus?" asked George, shyly, after their
+talk was done. "She do be expectin' to see you, miss."
+
+"Yes; I will come."
+
+And Heather followed him into a spotlessly clean kitchen.
+
+Annie, a fair, gentle-faced young woman, rose up from some needlework
+with a blushing smile.
+
+"Eh, miss, 'tis nice to see you here again."
+
+"Yes," said Heather, brightly, as she shook hands, and then stooped to
+kiss a bonny child of two years old playing at his mother's feet. "I
+feel as if I haven't been away so long, after all. And yet, when I see
+Tommy, it does seem strange; he was a baby in arms when I left."
+
+"How is Miss Bluebell? 'Tis a disappointment not to see her. Will she
+be coming home soon?"
+
+"Not just yet. She is going to Norway with some friends in a yacht.
+Well, Annie, how do you think I look?"
+
+"Beautiful, miss."
+
+There was no mistaking the hearty admiration in Annie's face and tone.
+
+Heather laughed lightly, and George, who had swung his little son upon
+his shoulder, now turned and looked at her.
+
+"We were hearing you went to see the Queen," he said a little
+doubtfully.
+
+"Yes, we had the honour of kissing her hand, and making our curtsey to
+her."
+
+"There now," broke in Annie, "I knew it were true. Some said one thing
+and some another, and old Watty would have it that you must have a Lady
+before your name to go to Buckingham Palace. I says to him,—
+
+"'Our young ladies are as high as any other ladies in the land, though
+they have kept theirselves so quiet.'
+
+"And he was as obstinate as a donkey that the Queen's visitors were
+duchesses and countesses, and lords and ladies, and no plain misses
+could ever get near her. Did you have tea or dinner with her, miss? And
+how did she look? Did she ask you any questions?"
+
+Heather tried to explain. And her experience at her first drawing-room
+greatly raised her in the estimation of the farmer and his wife, though
+it all seemed very unreal and puzzling to them.
+
+She chatted on to them, and then, as milking-time came round, she took
+her leave and hastened homewards.
+
+Poor Heather! She was making valiant struggles to so occupy her time
+that she would have no room for thought. But now as she was walking
+through the green meadows, it all came back with a rush.
+
+"I don't know how I shall be able to bear it," she murmured to herself;
+"it seems so dreadful to be quite alone. Bluebell will be surrounded
+by friends; I am without a soul to speak to. I feel inclined to fly
+back to them all, and yet I will not. It is my duty to stay here, and I
+will. And I will try to be as cheerful as I can."
+
+She returned to the house, found some pleasure in showing Abigail how
+to place tea in the drawing-room, and then took her solitary cup in
+state, thinking idly how much she would like to see the door open and
+some of her London friends and acquaintances appear.
+
+
+Half an hour after, she was out again, this time wending her step
+towards the village. She stopped first at a very small thatched cottage
+with a bright flower garden in front. She lifted the latch of the door
+quietly, and went in.
+
+For a moment, she thought that no one was in the tiny kitchen; then
+from behind an old settle popped a bright-eyed little woman. Very old
+and feeble she looked, and for a minute she peered up in alarm at her
+visitor. This young lady, in her dainty white dress and hat, seemed a
+stranger.
+
+"Mary, don't you know me?"
+
+"Ay, ay, bless your sweet voice; it can't be no other but Miss Heather!"
+
+And here the old woman seized hold of the delicately gloved hands, and
+tears dropped fast upon them.
+
+"I thought ye were swallowed up in the big town, and had forgotten us
+altogether. Ay, my dear, 'tis good to see you again. Abigail has come
+in with my bit o' money every Saturday, but she never seemed to have no
+tidings to tell of—leastways, not from you and Miss Bluebell. And 'twas
+only last Saturday she shakes her head and says,—
+
+"'Ye mustn't be surprised, Mrs. Scrivens, if ye gets no more siller for
+a bit. The young ladies are badly off, and times is not what they were,
+and maybe this is the last I can bring ye!'
+
+"To be sure, when she'd gone, ye could have knocked me down with a
+feather! For ye know my past, Miss Heather, dear, how with six children
+and a husband that died when the eldest were but seven, and one little
+one a cripple, and the other lost his sight through blastin', and one
+o' the girls takin' consummation and dwindlin' down to a skellikon, and
+me givin' of her a proper funeral, and then a helpin' my own sister who
+come to sad want, bein' one who couldn't help herself—well, I didn't
+put savin's by, 'tweren't to be expected, were it? And havin' had the
+help from your dear grandmother so many years, my faith was rather took
+aback, so to speak.
+
+"I sat in the corner here, and I thinks o' 'Lijah and the ravens, and
+then I asks my Father not to let me come to want, and I casts about
+in my mind what I could do without, and how I could earn a few pence.
+All this week I've give up my ha'porth o' milk, and the bit o' meat
+I has on the Wednesday, and I've kept half the bit o' drippin' Mrs.
+Styles from next door gives me, to go towards nex' week. 'Tis hard to
+be eckycomical with so little, but 'twas harder to tell old Ralph he
+might come to-morrer bein' Saturday, and strip my bit o' garden of
+all my bits o' flowers and take 'em and sell 'em in the market. And
+then he tells me Abigail had brought him the same message, and he and
+me had a good weep together, and then he said the Lord 'ud provide,
+and went away with a solemn shake o' his head, and he's goin' to try
+his cabbages in the market, but they be a poor lot. Ralph never was a
+gardener; he allays were so took up wi' books an' such like."
+
+Old Mary stopped for breath. She had poured out her story with smiles
+and tears, and Heather felt a little choke in her throat as she thought
+of the luxury in which she had been living, and the contrast of her
+life with this one.
+
+"You shall not want the money, Mary. I have brought it to you
+myself this afternoon. I did not think Abigail had told you of our
+difficulties, but she did not know last Saturday that I was coming
+home."
+
+"Praise the Lord! He has not failed me. Now, Miss Heather, just you
+kneel down and let us thank Him for His goodness. Ay, I have been
+mistrustin' of Him, and He just brought you back to us Hisself when He
+knew we couldn't a get on without you!"
+
+Down on the uneven stone floor knelt Heather, with the little woman
+sniffing and ejaculating beside her. But it was not Heather's voice
+broke the silence that fell on them, she felt too humiliated and
+ashamed to utter a word. It was Mary who sobbed out her thanksgiving
+with many tears, and when they got up from their knees, and the old
+woman poured forth blessings on her head, Heather rather sadly hushed
+her.
+
+"I am ashamed you should have had a day's anxiety about it, Mary. I
+must go and see Ralph. Good-bye."
+
+She left her, after placing a little packet in her hand, and found
+the old man at his garden gate reading the local newspaper. Ralph
+was rather a character. He prided himself upon his knowledge of the
+world and its ways. He would quote noted politicians in his talk, and
+even crowned heads, as if they were intimate friends of his own. His
+geography was vague, his history and all general knowledge was taken
+from the papers. The more ignorant of the villagers gaped with open
+mouths at his utterances when he had his paper in his hand. Without it,
+he was as lost as a lame man without a stick, or a short-sighted man
+without his spectacles!
+
+"Let us see now," he would say with a wise shake of his head, "what the
+young Emperor of Germany has been saying to his ministers last Friday.
+I misdoubted his wisdom in that affair in Chiny, but he allays has been
+too precipitous with his tongue. He reminds me of his gran'-feyther in
+that affair of the war with the Frenchies. And here's trouble again
+in Indy. Well, well, if there's fightin't here, 'twill have to be the
+sailors this time. There be all our soldiers wanted for Africa, Lord
+Salisbury says, and they can't be fightin' on two sides of our island
+at once!"
+
+He looked up as Heather approached.
+
+"Good arternoon, miss," he cried joyously. "Well, there! I have a bin
+concerned about you! Right glad to see ye back, miss; and ye be lookin'
+up foine too! Missis Abigail she be so close and mournful like at your
+Lunnon visit, that I has high words with her on the subjec' last time
+she were round. I sez to her,—
+
+"'Missis,' I sez, 'the young birds allays leaves their nest. 'Tis the
+way of all nature; how else should they learn to fly?' I sez! 'And when
+they be took up by her gracious Majesty, and be brought to see her in
+the Palace,' I sez, 'they that knows 'em ought to be that joyful that
+they should have the honour of being invited, that they should be werry
+thankful they ever left their home.' I sez—
+
+"But there, miss, my tongue do run on! I was a just calculatin' from
+the paper what my bits o' vegetables might fetch in the market."
+
+"Yes," said Heather, hastily, "I have heard, Ralph, but you needn't be
+afraid your money will stop. Now I am home again I will see that it
+does not."
+
+The old man looked at her.
+
+"Then 'twas only Missis Abigail's croaks? Well, I do be truly thankful!
+I never gives in, for 'tis a long lane that has no turnin', and there's
+many a slip 'twix the cup and the lip, but this mornin' I had a heerd
+how Mrs. Scrivens were a scrapin' together, and I felt if the choice
+lay betwixt my paper and the house, well, it must be the house I goes
+to, for a man is little better than a beast if he don't know the news
+of the day!"
+
+Heather laughed, and stayed chatting to the old man for some time. They
+discussed politics, and Heather gave him many bits of information about
+London and its ways. Before she went, he asked her gravely—
+
+"And has Miss Bluebell got a husband? We heerd tell so. And haven't you
+a lover, miss? There allays are plenty dangling about town, they say."
+
+"No, I haven't one yet, Ralph, neither has Miss Bluebell a husband! Now
+I must go. Good-bye."
+
+One more old friend she met on the way home, and this was Watty Clark,
+the postman. He was striding along, his long white beard reaching to
+his waist, and the post-bag swinging to and fro. He looked the picture
+of health and activity, though he had passed his seventy-fifth year.
+His chief characteristic was a great belief in himself and utter
+disbelief in every one and everything else. It was he who had thrown a
+doubt on "our young ladies going to see the Queen," and now he stopped
+to look rather queerly at Heather as she greeted him.
+
+"Well, Watty, did you think we were never coming back?"
+
+"Never," he said with a shake of his head, "and there's only half of ye
+now without Miss Bluebell. I allays said she wouldn't never come back;
+she were too fond of excitement and such like."
+
+"Did you think better of me?"
+
+"Ah well, I've heard say the reason, and I gives ye the credit of
+meanin' well, but ye won't keep it up. 'Tisn't to be expected ye will,
+and ye'll be pinin' for city life before many weeks be out! Lasses are
+the same all the world over. They be no good for hard grindin' work and
+duty; they just flitter flutters by and takes the cream, and leaves the
+skim for them who ain't so flighty as theirselves."
+
+"Now, if you are rude to me, I shall not come and see you, and bring
+you some medicine for your cough, as I used to do."
+
+"Are you going to start yer medicine-shop agen, miss?"
+
+The old man's tone was eager.
+
+"Yes," said Heather. "Every Saturday morning I will see any one who
+comes up."
+
+"Ah then, I'll bring up my wife's nephew, Fred. He's had gatherin' on
+his thumb, poor little chap, and maybe ye'll be able to do somethin'.
+He's bin cryin' out at nights latterly. Not that I has faith in
+doctorin'. Natur' is our best doctor, but the missus is whinin' over
+him, and I can't abear to see women's tears. I reckon she'll cheer up,
+if she thinks you'll take him in hand; she's such a one for believin'
+in everybody!"
+
+He passed on chuckling and muttering to himself, and Heather, now that
+she was alone, lost her bright keen look, and wistful curves came to
+her lips.
+
+"I must keep busy, that is the only thing; if only I need not think!
+But now I shall have a long lonely evening and no one to speak to. If
+I feel it like this to-day, when everything is so fresh, what shall I
+do in a few weeks' time! Watty says I shan't keep it up. Well, I am
+determined I shall. I shall brace myself for duty, and let pleasure
+go. After all, I have had a good turn of enjoying myself. Now I will
+live for others, and leave myself out of the question. I must try and
+imagine I never had a sister; lots of girls live lonely lives, why
+should not I be able to do it? Or just supposing Bluebell were dead,
+how much more dreadful it would be!"
+
+Reasoning and philosophizing thus, Heather reached home, and filled
+up the rest of her time that evening by writing a long letter to her
+absent sister.
+
+When she went to her room, she took up her Bible thoughtfully, and
+commenced reading it, as she had not done for a long time. She had an
+uneasy feeling that her religion had not stood the test it had been
+subjected to. As she looked back and remembered the days when she
+realized the love and nearness of God, she now seemed far away, and her
+heart was lifeless and cold. She read a chapter with difficulty. It
+seemed dreary and uninteresting; she knelt in prayer, but her thoughts
+wandered away to Bluebell.
+
+Yet when she got up, she thought to herself, "I am sure I must be
+pleasing God by doing my duty and coming home."
+
+And feeling rather virtuous, and very miserable, she crept into bed,
+sleep coming to her aid, and taking her into its embrace very soon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A SUMMER LODGER
+
+   "A transient visit intervening,
+    And made almost without a meaning,
+       *      *       *       *
+    Produced a friendship, then begun,
+    That has cemented us in one."
+                                   COWPER.
+
+THE next month dragged very heavily. Heather brought all her pride and
+pluck into requisition, and never betrayed to those around how bitterly
+she bewailed her lot in private. Abigail looked on and wondered. She
+saw her young mistress taking a keener interest in all that concerned
+the villagers than ever before. She was always ready with a laugh and
+jest, and her spirit and energy never seemed to flag.
+
+Yet Abigail knew well that she was not really happy. The old servant
+had keen sight, and there were hard strained lines round the young
+girl's eyes that never used to be there. She watched her in silence.
+It had been a great shock to find how entirely her former rule was
+now cast lightly aside. Heather was always pleasant, but there was a
+reserve and dignity about her that forbade any familiarity on the part
+of Abigail. She was mistress of the household, and showed every one
+that she meant to be treated as such.
+
+Abigail waited on her for the most part in silence, but her old heart
+was full of love and pity for the lonely girl. And as Heather seemed
+to increase rather than diminish the distance between them, so did
+Abigail's affection rise proportionately.
+
+A few weeks after Heather's return, she had visitors.
+
+A Lady Monteith, living about four miles off, came to call with her
+daughters. Heather had met some connections of theirs in town, and she
+found to her amusement that she and Bluebell could no longer be buried
+in oblivion. Their season in town had made a great difference in their
+social status, and the county families who had ignored them before,
+now intended to stretch out a welcome to the bright young beauties of
+fashion. Lady Monteith was followed by others, and Heather was not
+surprised to receive soon the following letter from her cousin:—
+
+   "MY DEAREST HEATHER,—I am getting distinctly anxious about you, and
+though you have cast me off for a time, I will not yet disclaim all
+responsibility of your actions. How long are you going to be in the
+country? All the winter? Because, if so, I think you ought to have some
+worthy duenna living with you. Lady Monteith is talking about you, and
+you know what that means. If you weren't so good-looking, it would not
+matter. But if the county is opening its arms to you, as I hear from
+her it intends doing, you must have some one to go about with you. I
+think I can find some one for you if you wish it, but I know of old
+what a decided little person you are, so won't do anything till I hear
+from you. I can't offer to come and stay with you myself, for your
+worthy handmaiden is too much for my temper. Hal sends love. He expects
+you back next spring, and says you will take London by storm. Cyril
+has gone off to a Scotch moor with a new friend of his whom I fear and
+dislike. He is deeply religious, and you don't suspect from his manners
+at first what traps he is laying for you. I fell into his clutches
+once, and keep a safe distance off now, I can assure you! I suppose you
+hear from Bluebell? I don't, but I am told matters are proceeding very
+smoothly between her and Sir Herbert.
+
+   "In haste, with love, your affectionate cousin,—
+
+                                               "IDA."
+
+Her answer was brief and to the point:—
+
+   "My DEAR IDA,—Do not distress yourself about me. If I intended to
+continue my gay life in the country, I should not have come. I may
+return a few calls, but beyond that I shall not mix in society. I have
+quite enough to do in attending to my home duties and the needs of our
+poor people to keep me occupied. I came home to retrench my expenses.
+That I am doing.
+
+   "With love, your affectionate cousin,—
+
+                                  "HEATHER."
+
+"It sounds curt and cold," she mused, as she read it over before
+sending off. "But I fancy Cousin Ida is not so genial as she was. I
+can never forget what she has done for us, but I know she is vexed at
+my coming home, and disappointing some of her hopes. Her letter sounds
+uninterested. I have taken my choice, and she will soon forget me, I
+expect."
+
+Perhaps Heather judged harshly, but she was not far from the truth.
+Mrs. Carter was getting a little tired of her chaperonage. Her views
+were that girls ought to become engaged in their first season. She had
+been gratified by her young cousins' favourable impression upon society
+when first introduced, and their growing popularity had been very
+pleasant to witness. But after a time, she grew a little tired of her
+responsibility regarding their movements. She found them more difficult
+to manage, and when Heather explained her motives for returning home,
+she resented them, and chose to consider they cast a reflection on her
+superintendence of dress and expenditure.
+
+When she received Heather's letter, she tossed it across to her husband
+with a laugh.
+
+"She is a cool young woman, isn't she? I cannot quite understand her. I
+think she has a puritanical vein in her nature—hereditary, I suppose."
+
+"She took to town life very easily," said Captain Carter.
+
+"As a duck takes to water! Well, I have relieved my conscience, and
+shall let her 'gang her ain gait.' I only wrote because I was smarting
+from Lady Monteith's scathing comments on 'girls of the present day,
+and the farce of chaperons.' I looked after her well as long as she was
+under my roof. She left it of her own accord, so I shall trouble no
+more about her."
+
+
+A little later than this, Heather was one day asked by George Thatcher
+if she would object to his wife taking in lodgers for a month or so. It
+appeared that a sister of his in service had written to ask him if he
+knew of any rooms in the neighbourhood that would suit an invalid lady.
+Times were rather bad; Annie had two or three spare rooms, and would
+like to accommodate the lady.
+
+"But we weren't certain if you'd like it, miss. 'Tis your farm, and we
+wouldn't do nothink to put you about."
+
+Heather laughed.
+
+"Of course I don't object. Why should I? I envy the invalid such cosy
+quarters. I will come down and see Annie, and find out if I can do
+anything to help her in this new venture." Which she accordingly did.
+
+In her quiet, uneventful life, even the advent of a summer lodger
+brought interest and pleasure. And when the invalid finally arrived,
+Heather resolved to go and call upon her.
+
+So, one bright afternoon, she set out for the farm. On the way, she
+passed Watty and old Ralph in the midst of an animated discourse. They
+were leaning over the old stone bridge which arched the river, and
+which was called by many "The Idler's Corner."
+
+"Well, Watty," said Heather, as she came up to them, "aren't you
+supposed to be on your afternoon rounds? Have you any letters for me?"
+
+"Didn't I bring you three this mornin', miss?" said Watty, not
+attempting to move. "You couldn't go for to expec' any more to-day.
+We be havin' an argiment, Ralph and me, and he be such a one with his
+tongue that I can't get my innin's."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Ralph, cheerily, as he spread out his beloved paper
+before him. "Well, Miss Heather, here be Watty shakin' his head over
+strangers a-comin' to lodge to your farm. I sez, the more we get, the
+better it be for trade; he sez, importation of any sort ruins our
+country. I sez, we want our village to grow; he sez, railways and
+telegraphs are a curse instead of a blessin'. I sez, they brings work
+to hundreds; he sez, increase o' poppylation means increase o' crime
+and taxes. I sez—"
+
+"Oh, please stop," said Heather, laughingly putting her hands to her
+ears. "I never will discuss such questions. What does it matter? If you
+waste your time much longer, Watty, you will get into trouble. Good
+afternoon! I am too busy to stay gossiping here."
+
+She left them, and as her light steps sped on their way, Watty shook
+his head after her.
+
+"She have taken up grand airs since she have a bin in Lunnon; she rules
+as strong as a master, and it ought not to be! Women be sadly fallin'
+off, in these wicked days, and everything be turnin' topsy-turvy and
+inside out!"
+
+Heather reached the farm, and paused just before she went up the garden
+to look around her. The orchard close by was full of ripe and rosy
+fruit, the virginian creeper over the old porch was in its scarlet
+mantle; everything around seemed united in glowing gold and crimson.
+The old-fashioned border that went right round the smooth grass-plot
+was full of bright dahlias, sunflowers, and hollyhocks, and the foliage
+of the woods in the distance would have delighted any artist's eye, for
+every shade from gold to deep copper quivered in the autumn sunshine.
+Heather drew a deep breath as she gazed.
+
+"There is nothing in London like this," she said.
+
+And then feeling soothed and comforted, she entered the house.
+
+She was shown at once into the best parlour, a pretty old room with
+large bay window overlooking the orchard. In an easy chair drawn up to
+the window was the invalid, and Heather, who had quite expected to see
+a fragile old lady, almost started at the contrast to her expectation.
+Miss Vaughan was not a very young woman, but there was no sign of
+feebleness or of age about her, and Heather thought her face was the
+handsomest she had ever seen. Very dark eyes which flashed and glowed
+with intense feeling, rippling brown hair with hardly a streak of grey
+discernible, finely cut features, and a broad intellectual forehead,
+and, lastly, lips that parted in a most bewitching smile,—these were
+the points that Heather's quick glance took note of.
+
+She introduced herself very simply, and laid an exquisite bunch of
+tea-roses on the small table by the invalid's side.
+
+"I thought you might like a few roses," she said. "It may be vain of
+me, but I never think any roses smell like ours!"
+
+Miss Vaughan looked delighted.
+
+"You have indeed given me a treat. I have heard a great deal about you,
+Miss Fotheringay. Mrs. Thatcher has a great affection for you and your
+sister."
+
+"She was one of our maids a few years ago. I hope she will make you
+comfortable."
+
+"I am quite sure she will. This is such a delicious contrast to my
+London lodgings."
+
+"Do you live in London?"
+
+"No, but I have been staying there for the last six months. Not a very
+bright time, for I went up for treatment, and have been in the doctor's
+hands until now."
+
+"I hope you are better," said Heather, sympathetically.
+
+Miss Vaughan answered brightly, "I am not worse, and I know now that
+nothing more can be done. Certainty is always preferable to doubt."
+
+Heather was silent. She did not like to appear too inquisitive.
+
+But Miss Vaughan, after a glance at her, said frankly, "It is my spine.
+I hurt it two years ago out hunting, and I have been living in the
+hopes of getting about on my feet again. I have had the best advice,
+and know now that that can never be."
+
+"How dreadful for you! How can you bear it?"
+
+Such a glad light shone out of Miss Vaughan's speaking eyes.
+
+"I don't think I could have borne it two years ago, but I have had
+great happiness since I have been laid aside, and nothing seems to
+matter much now."
+
+Heather looked at her inquiringly, and Miss Vaughan responded to her
+look.
+
+"I only thought of earth and its pleasures before," she said softly. "I
+have had my eyes and heart opened to so much more since."
+
+Heather was silent, but there was a wistful look in her eyes that Miss
+Vaughan noticed at once.
+
+"Do you know my receipt for happiness?" was the next question gently
+put.
+
+"I ought to know it, Miss Vaughan. I thought I did once, but I don't
+know it now. It is all unreal and far away."
+
+Encouraged by the sympathetic voice of the stranger, Heather was
+surprised afterwards to realize how fully she confided to her the
+events of her life for the past few years. She did not say much about
+her inner feelings, but what was omitted Miss Vaughan was able to fill
+in for herself. She had a very good idea of what the girl was passing
+through.
+
+"And now," said Heather, trying to speak gaily, "I am settling into a
+quiet country life, and am trying to do my duty in every respect. If I
+had my sister with me, I think I should be quite happy."
+
+Then, being a little afraid of Miss Vaughan's probing her too deeply,
+she deftly turned the subject.
+
+"I am wondering how you get about. Don't you go out at all? Do you
+drive?"
+
+"I am out a great deal. I have a wheelchair, and I have brought my
+little attendant with me. He is a small ugly boy with a shock of red
+hair, but with the warmest heart imaginable, and faithful to the last
+degree. I have sent him out to buy me some stamps. He wheels me out,
+and looks after me as an old nurse would. Can you tell me if there is
+good fishing in the neighbourhood?"
+
+"Yes; our river is splendid for trout."
+
+They talked a little longer, and then Heather took her leave, feeling
+keenly interested in this fresh-comer.
+
+[Illustration: A LOVELY NOOK BY THE RIVER.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+BROUGHT INTO LIGHT
+
+   "Another called, another brought, dear Master, to Thy feet!
+    Oh, where are words to tell the joy so wonderful and sweet!
+       *      *       *       *       *       *
+    Another heart will own Thee, Lord, and worship Thee as King,
+    And grateful love and glowing praise and willing service bring."
+                                                  F. R. HAVERGAL.
+
+AS days went on, Heather spent a good deal of her time at the farm, and
+before long had become fast friends with Miss Vaughan.
+
+One afternoon, they were out-of-doors together in a lovely nook by the
+river. Dick, the red-haired boy, was farther down the river, trying to
+catch fish for his mistress's supper.
+
+"I think," said Heather, laughing, "if I had been a man, I should have
+fallen in love with you at first sight, and by this time, I should have
+proposed to you. Would you have had me, I wonder?"
+
+"I am certain I should not," was the amused reply. "Disparity of age
+would have been the chief obstacle."
+
+"Oh, you are not so very very much older than I am."
+
+Miss Vaughan rested her hand affectionately on Heather's shoulder, as
+she reclined on the grass at her side.
+
+"I am years older in experience, dear."
+
+"I feel I have had experience," said Heather, thoughtfully. "Society
+life in London makes one grow old very quickly. I learnt more in one
+year about the world, and—and people generally, than I would have done
+if I had lived on here for twenty years."
+
+"And did the knowledge do you good?"
+
+"Perhaps not; and yet how I did enjoy it! Miss Vaughan, don't think
+better of me than I deserve. I did not leave society because I was sick
+of it. I would go back to it to-morrow with joy, if I could with a
+clear conscience. If some one left me a fortune, I would. I am fretting
+and chafing my heart out here in this narrow groove."
+
+"You conceal it very well."
+
+Heather laughed.
+
+"I try to, of course. I should despise myself if I went crawling about
+and whining to everybody about my hard fate. And I am fond of our poor
+people. There are compensations. Still one is dreadfully cramped and
+stifled in such a life."
+
+"What must mine be, then?"
+
+"Oh, you are different."
+
+"My dear child, I had ten years of what you call 'society life.' I
+suppose I enjoyed it after my own fashion, but comparing it with my
+present one, I shiver at the narrowness, the paucity, the emptiness of
+it all! If you want width—breadth—depth—you will never have it in all
+that. It cramps and chokes the soul as nothing else does! I can breathe
+now, parts of me live that were lying dead or dormant, and isn't it a
+grand thing to be able to defy all circumstances to mar or disturb your
+happiness and peace! There! I must not talk so much of myself and my
+feelings! It is a way invalids have!"
+
+Heather looked at the glowing eyes of her friend and sighed.
+
+"I often wonder if my religion was real at all," she said. "I think
+Bluebell and I grew up in a Christian atmosphere, took everything for
+granted, and just went through a routine of it. Yet I cannot remember
+the time when I did not realize that God loved me, was watching over
+me, and that I belonged to Him."
+
+"And when did you first lose the reality of it all?"
+
+"I suppose in London. There seemed so little time for thinking about
+such things. We seemed in such a whirl. And I think, when we found the
+things we had been brought up to consider as wicked were what every
+nice person seemed to be doing, it shook our faith in what we had been
+taught. Abigail would tell you that we have 'fallen from grace.' I
+hardly know where I am now. I try not to think of it."
+
+Miss Vaughan looked at Heather with much interest.
+
+"We have had a very different experience. Now, I was brought up to
+be a success in society. I never had a serious thought till after my
+accident. Perhaps that is the reason why my happiness is so great now.
+I always had an uneasy feeling at the bottom of my heart that I was not
+ready to meet death. To look forward now, and to be able to say with
+calm assurance, 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He
+is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day,'
+why, it does indeed bring one a peace that is not of this world!"
+
+Heather sighed again, and said after a few minutes' silence—
+
+"I have no love for God; I feel quite indifferent."
+
+"No love for your Saviour?"
+
+"I am afraid not much."
+
+"Do you want to have love for Him?"
+
+"I—I—don't know. Yes, I think I do, but I have—to put it frankly—a fear
+if I were to become a very earnest Christian, I should think it right
+to give up all enjoyments of any kind, and I don't want to do that."
+
+"You feel you haven't had your fill yet of this world's pleasures?"
+
+"Yes; Abigail's religion is such a hard and narrow one."
+
+"Now, my dear Heather, don't take your religion from Abigail. She has
+naturally, I expect, an austere, severe nature. I find that since I
+have given myself to God as His servant, I have tenfold more pleasure
+in life. Grasp the fact that God loves you, and wants you to be
+happy. That He gives us this lovely country, the flowers, the birds,
+everything that sings His praises; that He is caring for us, shaping
+every circumstance for our good, and teaching and preparing us a little
+every day, for our glorious future by-and-by! If you can once believe
+this, will you be able to go about in gloom and depression? And add to
+this the wonderful fact of our redemption and the intense love of our
+Saviour for us, what ingrates we are, not to be bursting with praise
+all our lives long!"
+
+"Oh, I wish I could feel as you do," said Heather, wistfully. "I
+think if I were really happy, I could be quite content not to go back
+to London again, but to live my life here. But I am restless and
+dissatisfied, and I find doing my duty every day is very irksome and
+disagreeable. Tell me how I can learn to love God as you do?"
+
+Miss Vaughan was silent for a few minutes, her usually bright face
+softened into solemn reverence. Then she said quickly—
+
+"Do you like me, Heather?"
+
+"You know I do. I have never met any one before that I wanted so much
+to be my friend."
+
+"When you first heard I was coming to lodge here, you didn't care about
+me?"
+
+"I did not know you."
+
+"I think, dear, that answer explains your lack of love for your
+Saviour; you do not know Him. Now, how did you get to know me?"
+
+"I came over to see you, we had talks together, and every time I was
+with you, I liked you better."
+
+"Exactly. Now, the oftener you talk to Christ, the oftener you read His
+Word, His Life, His Sayings, the better you will get to know Him, the
+more you will love Him. And the first step towards loving Him comes
+when we gaze at Him on the cross."
+
+"Go on," said Heather, breathlessly; "tell me more!"
+
+"Have you ever stood gazing up at the cross like Christian, with his
+burden on his back? Have you ever realized your sins nailed Him there?
+Have you heard His cry of agony when your sins were laid on Him, 'My
+God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' And then, have you heard the
+cry of triumph, 'It is finished'? And have you cast yourself at His
+feet, in humble gratitude for the pardon He obtained for you then?"
+
+Miss Vaughan sank her voice to an impressive whisper.
+
+Heather shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked across the rippling
+water in front of her to the blue sky beyond. Her heart was stirred;
+light was creeping in, as it had never done before. She was intensely
+still, and Miss Vaughan did not break the silence that fell on them
+both. She had the consciousness of a soul groping after its Redeemer,
+and would not by word or look thrust herself in between.
+
+And then, after a long time, Heather turned round, and with misty eyes
+silently kissed her friend.
+
+"I am going home," she said very quietly. "I shall hope to see you
+to-morrow."
+
+Miss Vaughan let her go without a word, and sat in her chair silently
+praying for her, till Dick came up excitedly with a fair-sized trout,
+and claimed his mistress's interest and attention for the time.
+
+
+Miss Vaughan was not surprised the next afternoon, when Heather met her
+with a happy face.
+
+They talked long together of the subject uppermost in their minds.
+
+"I never saw it so before," said Heather, softly. "I don't think I ever
+realized that I had part in the Crucifixion. I have been thinking of it
+so much. Of course, all my life I have believed that Christ died for
+the sins of the whole world, but it never came home to me personally.
+I grew up trying to be good, but I never definitely took Him for my
+Saviour. Miss Vaughan, you have brought me into close touch with God at
+last. How can I thank you! I think I hardly deserve to have come into
+the light so suddenly. I wasn't properly seeking. I was only wanting it
+in a half-hearted way."
+
+"The Shepherd goes out to seek His sheep before they are conscious of
+seeking Him," responded Miss Vaughan. "You will find it make a great
+difference in your life, Heather."
+
+"Indeed I shall. I seem almost overwhelmed with God's goodness. I feel
+I shall never be unhappy again."
+
+It was not long before Abigail was aware of the change in her young
+mistress. She found her one evening with her Bible on her knees,
+marking some verses. Heather's first natural instinct was to close her
+Bible at once upon Abigail's approach. Though perfectly frank and open
+with Miss Vaughan, she could not conquer the reserve that had sprung up
+between herself and Abigail, but she thought better of it, and did not
+move her position.
+
+"I'm glad to see you reading that blessed Book," was Abigail's comment.
+
+Heather looked up gravely.
+
+"Yes," she said, "I hope I shall never neglect it again."
+
+"Are you back in the fold, Miss Heather?"
+
+"I think I am, perhaps safer than I ever was before."
+
+Abigail turned round and abruptly left the room, to Heather's great
+surprise.
+
+She would have been still more surprised if she had seen that good
+woman hasten downstairs and with radiant smile and streaming eyes fling
+open the kitchen door.
+
+"Rachael, give thanks with me. The Lord has answered my prayers. Miss
+Heather is restored to His favour!"
+
+And Abigail's solemn, rugged face seemed a good ten years younger for
+the next few days.
+
+Heather's friendship with Miss Vaughan, or "Ena," as she had learnt to
+call her, deepened day by day. Those days were intensely happy ones
+to her. She had been very lonely since she had left London. She could
+not even yet become reconciled to her separation from Bluebell, but
+her heart was satisfied as it had never been before, and the Christian
+life, instead of a monotonous round of duty, seemed to be one flooded
+with sunshine.
+
+She said something of this sort to Ena one afternoon.
+
+"Yes, I know," was the quick response. "It is good to bask in the
+sunshine of God's great love; but, Heather, do not think there will
+never be any clouds in your life again."
+
+"Have you experienced any? You do not look as if you have."
+
+Ena laughed a little, then she said earnestly—"My experience has
+been this. I, like you, felt at first my heart and life flooded with
+sunshine, and wondered if it were possible that anything on earth
+could trouble me again. Very soon clouds came. Physical weakness and
+depression with me. I lost heart, and then was led to realize that
+the sun was shining still, and always would shine, behind the cloud.
+So I waited, believing the cloud would pass. It did. I have had many
+ups and downs; and I think the lesson one gradually learns is that
+one will never find sunshine in one's self—only in our Master. He is
+always the same. Our feelings may rise and fall, but we can rest on
+His faithfulness and unchangeableness, and this brings the settled
+brightness and peace into our souls. I wonder if I have explained
+myself clearly? I am not a very experienced Christian, you know, but I
+seem to have learnt this."
+
+"It must have been dreadful when the doctor told you that you would
+never walk again," said Heather, slowly, after a pause. "I don't
+think I could be as bright us you are, if I knew I was doomed to be a
+perpetual invalid."
+
+"Yes, you could," replied Ena, smiling. "It was a black cloud at first,
+but I don't feel it now. Religion is not real if it does not help you
+to rise above your circumstances."
+
+Then Heather changed the subject.
+
+"I have been wanting to ask you, Ena, if you will take pity on my
+loneliness, and leave your lodgings for a week or two. It would be so
+delightful for me if you were my visitor. I could give you a bedroom
+on the ground floor, and Dick could come too. You don't know what
+miserable evenings I have. Of course, I have been happier lately, but I
+never shall get accustomed to living alone, it is dreadful! I generally
+spend my evenings in writing to Bluebell, and I cry over my letters,
+and go to bed in the depths of woe. It is very foolish of me, but I
+have never been away from her before. She is a bit of my life gone."
+
+"I do not think you should be alone. You are too young."
+
+"That is what Cousin Ida says. She says I want a chaperon. Oh, Ena,
+will you come and act as one? I should love to have you."
+
+"And what about my brother?"
+
+"I keep forgetting you have one. Isn't he always abroad?"
+
+"No, indeed. He has been in Scotland for the last month, but I heard
+from him this morning, and he is coming down in a few days' time to see
+what my quarters are like, and how soon I shall return home."
+
+Heather's face fell.
+
+"He doesn't want you as much as I do. Do you always live together?"
+
+"Always. I don't know what I should do without him. He has been so
+good, so patient with me since my accident. I should like you to know
+him, Heather. He is one of those people who say little but do much. His
+whole life has been one long sacrifice for others. I never talk about
+him much, for I cannot bear brothers and sisters singing each other's
+praises in public. But it is only since I have been lying on a sick bed
+that I seem to have had glimpses of what he has given up and missed for
+our sakes."
+
+"I don't think that is the way of most men," said Heather, slowly.
+
+"No. I will tell you a little of our family life, if you like. We were
+very well off as long as my father lived. When he died, my mother and
+I had hardly enough to live upon. Bertram was in the 9th Lancers. He
+was just made captain, and was going abroad. I must tell you my father
+had left him and my eldest brother Frank a very comfortable allowance,
+and this was rather a sore point with my mother. The fact was, the
+investment that my father hoped would bring in a good bit to my mother
+failed almost directly after his death. It was not his fault.
+
+"Frank married at once, and went out to Australia. Bertram wrote to
+him to suggest that they should both make my mother a small allowance,
+and so enable her to have the same comforts she had always been
+accustomed to. He wrote back saying that as he was a married man, this
+was impossible. Then Bertram, after much thought, left his regiment,
+and exchanged into the Line. He felt this very keenly, but he did it
+without saying a word to us, for he could not afford to give my mother
+so much if he stayed on in the Cavalry.
+
+"I was just leaving school then, and I am afraid, wishing to please me,
+and give me a good time, my mother moved to London, and we soon were
+in the midst of a lot of gaiety, and consequently spent a good deal of
+money. Bertram came to our rescue more than once, but the more he gave
+us, the easier it seemed to us to spend, and we had no idea how rigidly
+he was denying himself. I heard through a girl then that he had been
+very nearly engaged to the colonel's daughter in the 9th Lancers, but
+when he left the regiment, he lost her as well. I remember wondering
+why he had done it. Of course, I did not understand then what I do now.
+
+"My mother died rather suddenly, when we were staying abroad, and then
+I wrote to Bertram asking him what I had better do. He came out and
+brought me back, and then told me that he could not bear the idea of
+barrack life for me, so he had resolved to leave the Service. If I
+would be content with a country life, and an occasional visit to town,
+he would take the offer he had had of an old priory that belonged to a
+cousin of ours, and farm his own land. It would give him occupation,
+and we could live very comfortably together. I was delighted at the
+idea, and we have lived there ever since. He gave me every comfort, and
+till I met with this accident, I used to hunt four days in every week
+in the season, and enjoyed myself immensely. But I see now how all my
+life I have been taking from him and giving nothing in return.
+
+"Of course, I tell you this in the greatest confidence. I think we are
+very happy together. But he has still anxieties about money matters. My
+brother Frank seems in continual trouble. He helps him a great deal.
+Now, don't you see, dear, that I cannot leave him? Doesn't this make
+you understand how strongly I feel that my home is with him?"
+
+"I suppose so," said Heather, with a sigh. "Still, you could come to me
+for a short visit, could you not?"
+
+"Perhaps I could do that. I will talk it over when he comes."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A FISHERMAN
+
+   "He was a man of honour, of noble and generous nature."
+                                            LONGFELLOW.
+
+HEATHER had been visiting in the village. She had just come out of Mary
+Scrivens's cottage, where she had been reading to her; for the poor
+old woman was confined to her bed with a bad cold. She was making her
+way across to the village post-office to get some stamps, when she was
+stopped by old Ralph, who was talking very eagerly to a stranger.
+
+"Here be our young leddy, sir. She can tell you if she don't agree with
+me, for she's bin to Court herself, and knows the ways of royalty!"
+
+Heather looked up amused, and met the glance of a tall man in
+fisherman's garb, his basket slung over his shoulder, and rod in his
+hand.
+
+"What is it, Ralph?" asked Heather, lightly. "You are not going to draw
+me into a political discussion, are you?"
+
+The stranger raised his hat, and Heather acknowledged it with a
+dignified little bow. She knew how little these old villagers stood on
+ceremony with any one. Strangers were few and far between; they saw no
+reason why "their young leddy" should not "pass the time of day" with a
+stranger, as well as with any of them. Ralph began at once—
+
+"Me and this gent has been discussin' the clack and fightin' that is
+just goin' on in the French assembly. I sez it is all for want of a
+king to keep 'em in order. He sez a president be just as good, but I
+sticks to what I sez! The countries go to the dogs where there ain't
+no kings or queens! 'Tis natural, like. Every one for their selves,
+and all wantin' to climb over each other's heads! He sez Americky is
+a grand country. I sez it allays has the biggest calamities that ever
+befalls a nation! The earthquakes, and floods, and fires, all gives
+it a turn, as if God Almighty shows His disapproval. And, in course,
+He made the first king—He didn't make a president or a parliament. I
+b'lieve, now I come to think on't, He tried judges, but they turned out
+a bad sort, and 'tis kings and queens the Almighty ordains to reign."
+
+"We are very loyal in this part of the country," said Heather, looking
+at the fisherman with a smile.
+
+"So I perceive. I wonder if you can give me the information I was
+trying to obtain from our good friend here, before we touched on
+politics. I want to know if there is a cart track to Willow Pool,
+which, I am told, is the best spot for trout. They say there is no
+road, but would it be possible for a wheelchair to get there?"
+
+A light came into Heather's eyes.
+
+"I think you must be Captain Vaughan?" she said. And on receiving an
+assent, she added, "There is only one locked gate at the end of the
+large meadow, and I can get you the key of that, for it belongs to us.
+I hope Miss Vaughan may be able to go with you. Ralph, where is Ted
+Hind?"
+
+Ralph folded up his paper leisurely, and put it in his pocket.
+
+"Maybe he's gone to market. Maybe he's in the Dragon's Arms."
+
+"Will you step across and ask his wife to give you the key of the water
+meadow gate? And then bring it to this gentleman."
+
+"Maybe she's out in the fields."
+
+Heather looked at the unwilling old man rather sternly.
+
+"Ralph, you do nothing all day but read your paper, and gossip to
+everybody you see. Don't be disagreeable, but do what I ask you."
+
+"Ay, Miss Heather, 'tis all very well, but you've interrupted an
+important discussion, and my old legs don't work so easy as my tongue!"
+
+"It is a mercy they don't," said Heather, severely.
+
+Captain Vaughan looked on with a twinkle in his eye. He was a
+good-looking man, with rather rugged features, his moustache and hair
+Just tinged with grey, and a humorous, kindly look in his blue eyes.
+
+"I am much obliged to you," he said, turning to Heather, who was just
+moving away; "I will go myself to get the key. My sister, as you know,
+has not many opportunities of getting about, and it will be a great
+pleasure to her, if she can accompany me."
+
+"I am sure it will," said Heather, warmly, "and I am so glad she has
+you to look after her. Please give her my love."
+
+They parted, and Heather went into the post-office. Mrs. Carpenter, who
+kept it, was a busy, talkative little woman. She had been a widow for
+twenty years, and was supposed to have saved a good bit of money.
+
+"Well, Miss Heather, and what may you think of the captin? I have
+seed you a-makin' acquaintance with one another. Have he come a long
+while to stay? 'Tis a new thing—visitors a-comin' to this part o' the
+world. But so long as they pays their way, they be welcome. Do you
+know anythin' of their fam'ly? They seem the gentry, judgin' from the
+quantity of letters that do come and go!"
+
+"I don't think we need be alarmed, Mrs. Carpenter. They are most
+respectable, I believe. Now, I want half a crown's worth of stamps,
+please, for I am in a hurry."
+
+"You're a good customer, Miss Heather. Time you was away, I was
+dreadful slack! But it seems to me you write more letters to Miss
+Bluebell than she do to you! When be she comin' back? That Norway that
+be on her letters be close to the North Pole, Ralph were tellin' me.
+She must be dreadful cold. Is it all Polar bears and ice?"
+
+Heather could not get away from the old woman very quickly. But when
+she did, she found herself walking home with her thoughts full of Ena
+and her brother.
+
+"He is not a bit as I thought he would be. I pictured a grave, sad man.
+Life does not seem to have gone hardly with him. He does not look like
+a self-sacrificing hero at all. I know Ena thinks him very good. He
+does not show it in his appearance. But, then, neither does she. And I
+much prefer people who are perfectly natural, and don't look as if they
+were always mourning for their sins. Poor Abigail does not recommend
+her Christianity, and yet I dare say if she were not a Christian, she
+would be ten times more severe. How I envy Ena going across to Willow
+Pool! I wish they had asked me. I shall miss my afternoon talks with
+her, but she won't want me while her brother is here."
+
+A sigh followed, and Heather felt more than usually lonely for the rest
+of that day.
+
+Captain Vaughan obtained the key, and hastened back to his sister.
+
+"Now then, Dick!" he shouted. "Bring the chair round. We must be off at
+once."
+
+Dick grinned in pleased anticipation of an outing, as he tenderly
+assisted his mistress into her chair. He was a little bit of a
+character in his small way. Like an old woman for thoughtfulness and
+patient devotion, he attended on Ena as well as any trained nurse
+could have done. His manner to outsiders was at all times a trifle
+supercilious. "My family, my lady, my sitivation," were quoted
+constantly, and no one's opinion's or wishes were consulted in the
+least before his mistress's.
+
+He had not been two days at the farm before he marched into Annie's
+kitchen—
+
+"Here, missis," he said, his small nose well in the air, "we can't
+stand this state o' things. Them filthy pigs are a-gruntin' and
+a-walkin' past my lady's window, and are distractin' her h'observation
+from the view. They must be got rid of, missis, at once. Pigs is meant
+to be kept out o' sight, and certingly not to be marched past a lady's
+window all the mornin'!"
+
+Obliging Annie felt a great awe of this small boy, and promised that
+the pigs should be kept away. But when it came to the fowls being
+tabooed the orchard, she went to Ena in perturbation of mind, which was
+at once set at rest by that lady. Dick was called in, and admonished.
+But whenever he could get a chance of administering a snub to the
+farmer's wife, he quickly made use of it.
+
+"I think I have seen your young friend, Ena," said Captain Vaughan, as
+he leisurely walked by her chair across the green meadows smoking his
+pipe.
+
+"Have you? Where?"
+
+"In the village. It was she who told me of the locked gate, and got me
+this key."
+
+"And what did you think of her?"
+
+"She seemed a nice little girl."
+
+His tone was indifferent.
+
+"She is a dear child," said Ena, warmly. "It is not many girls who
+would give up a society life in town, and come and live alone in the
+country because the poor people needed her care."
+
+"A healthier life for her," said her brother. "I should not think there
+need be much self-denial in it!"
+
+"Ah, but you don't know her circumstances. She has a twin sister from
+whom she has never been separated before. It was a terrible wrench. The
+sister would not come with her."
+
+"I suppose it was a question of principle?"
+
+"Yes—or, rather, of duty. She was spending too much money, she told me,
+and if she had not come home, their charities here would have had to
+be stopped. It was very noble of her, I think, for she had no better
+motive to assist her, and was enjoying her life immensely. She wants me
+to stay with her a short time before I leave. What do you think?"
+
+"Just as you like. I expected you to return with me, but if you're
+happy and well here, it would be a pity to leave."
+
+Ena looked at him a little wistfully, then she said with her bright
+laugh—
+
+"I wish you would say sometimes that you miss me, Bertram. A woman
+loves to feel herself of importance. And though I am such a useless
+appendage to your household, I am company, am I not?"
+
+"That you are," he said quietly.
+
+There was silence for a few minutes. Then he said, with a humorous
+gleam in his eye that his sister so loved to see—
+
+"You do not make such quick friendships as a rule. What is the
+fascination about this young person?"
+
+"I can't tell you. I took an interest in her from the very first,
+before I saw her. My landlady was full of 'the young ladies,' and 'Miss
+Heather's wonderful business head.' She superintends all the business
+of the farm, and the farmer looks upon her decisions with the greatest
+respect. It is such a lonely life for a young girl. And she is so
+brave and natural about it. I like to see her little regal ways with
+the villagers; she comes to me like a sweet fresh sunbeam, and if you
+really get into deep conversation with her, you would be astonished
+at her powers of thought. Then, too, lately, well, I think I have
+helped her by my own experience these past two years. She was dazed and
+bewildered between the fashionable religion of London society and the
+austere and puritan belief of her two old servants, who are Quakers by
+persuasion."
+
+"And how long do you propose to stay with her?"
+
+"I thought perhaps a fortnight. This air seems to give me fresh life,
+after London."
+
+"But the Priory is not London."
+
+"No; and I am longing to be home again, and settle down quietly for the
+winter."
+
+"Well, extend your stay to the fortnight. Then I have to go up to town,
+so it will suit me just as well to go now."
+
+
+Heather was pleased the next day to receive a little note of invitation
+to tea at the farm. She went, and found that Captain Vaughan's being
+there did not diminish her enjoyment of her friend's society, though
+she had a feeling that he was only kindly tolerant of her presence.
+
+"The natives of this part are a constant entertainment," Captain
+Vaughan said presently. "The old postman told me this morning that he
+had lived for fifty years in one house, and considered that the bulk of
+his neighbours had very little good in them at all, but that outside
+Thornlea Vale they were absolutely and entirely evil."
+
+"That is Watty," said Heather, smiling. "He has had a sad life. He was
+brought up by a drunken stepmother, and was engaged to be married for
+ten years to a girl who jilted him in the end."
+
+"Could not wait any longer?"
+
+"Yes, and I hardly wonder; Watty will never hurry himself. However, he
+is married now to a very nice woman. He is a pessimist, and glories
+in it. He does not approve of your coming here at all, and told
+Mrs. Carpenter at the post-office that all diseases and crimes were
+introduced into country villages by wayside lodgers."
+
+Ena's rippling laugh rang out.
+
+"Dick came back from the post-office purple in the face yesterday.
+He said he had been 'giving information to ignorant folks as to the
+ways and h'ideas of their betters.' Can't you fancy him holding forth,
+Bertram?"
+
+"I back him to hold his own anywhere, young scamp!"
+
+"Of course, I know the narrowness and bigotry of our village strikes
+every outsider," said Heather, thoughtfully. "But, after life in town,
+it is very refreshing to return to. We are like one big family here.
+Our interests, our doings and sayings, are all important to every one.
+I am always sure of sympathy if my usual letter from Bluebell does
+not come, from at least three or four of the villagers. In London, it
+struck me when first I went there, how far divided the classes were.
+How uninterested everybody was. I think if I were to be doomed to a
+lonely life, I would live it in the country and not in the town."
+
+"It is bad training," said Captain Vaughan, with a comical shake of his
+head. "We need to find our own level, and not be exalted into little
+popes, whose every word is of importance. Of all dogmatic, obstinate,
+narrow-minded beings on the face of the earth, give me a country
+squire!"
+
+"No, no," cried Heather, "I will not have you abuse us country-folk. I
+found the men in town infinitely more self-satisfied and egotistical
+than any I had seen near home. Of course," she added truthfully, "I
+have not seen very many in this part, but everybody in town gets to
+look and talk as if it is too much trouble to breathe, and they are
+great martyrs because they have to do it."
+
+"The best specimens of manhood do not frequent London drawing-rooms,"
+said Captain Vaughan, dryly.
+
+"Now, I will not have either of you begin running down our neighbours,"
+said Ena, briskly. "We will change the conversation. Let us remember we
+are in the country, and choose a fresh and breezy topic."
+
+Heather returned home that evening with a flush on her cheek and light
+in her eye. Ena had consented to come and pay her a visit.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+BLUEBELL'S RETURN
+
+   "He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his
+home."—GOETHE.
+
+CAPTAIN VAUGHAN only stayed with his sister for a week. Heather was a
+little afraid of him. He was apt to be quietly sarcastic, and his eyes
+seemed to note everything—not a thing escaped his keen observation. Yet
+his sharpest speeches were always given with a kindly look in his eyes,
+and he had a fund of keen humour which made him a most entertaining
+companion. When he left, Ena, true to her promise, came to stay with
+Heather.
+
+Abigail was rather doubtful of these newcomers, but Heather ruled
+the old servants now with fearless firmness, and after a few days,
+Abigail's stern heart was quite won by Ena's sweet good nature.
+
+As the two old servants heard the merry talk and laughter proceeding
+from the drawing-room in the evening, Abigail, instead of shaking her
+head, would grimly smile—
+
+"Ay, 'tis not the unholy mirth that Mrs. Carter brought with her. That
+was the crackling of thorns under the pot. Miss Vaughan is a Christian
+woman, and 'tis she I find that has helped Miss Heather so. One likes
+to hear voices about. I've felt sorry for the poor child. And as to
+Miss Bluebell, I fear she's entirely lost to us and to all that's
+right. She seems sucked into the giddy stream of worldly gaiety!"
+
+The fortnight soon slipped away.
+
+And one afternoon, Heather returned to her home after bidding farewell
+to her friend. She felt doubly lonely now, and needed all her spirit to
+keep her from being depressed. But she was daily learning lessons from
+a Master who was becoming very near and dear to her, and though not
+always able to see bright sunshine, was able to draw all the comfort
+and strength she needed for her daily life from above.
+
+"It is a test now of how much I lean upon the Lord," she would say to
+herself. And the old servants never missed her bright smile and tones.
+
+Quietly and steadily, Heather was seeking to influence the villagers
+she visited for good. It was no unusual thing for her to read a few
+verses from her little Bible that she carried about with her, or have
+a few words of prayer with those who were sick or in trouble. And she
+found that, in seeking to help and comfort others, she obtained help
+and comfort herself.
+
+
+It was late autumn now; the days were drawing in, and the weather
+became damp and cold. Storms of wind and rain swept round the house,
+the leaves from the old elms lay on the ground sodden with the wet,
+and the canaries, instead of brightening the house with their song,
+crouched on their perches with ruffled feathers and disconsolate gaze.
+
+Heather tried hard to keep cheerful. She had learnt the secret of being
+always busy when she felt particularly lonely. But one wet afternoon,
+she laid down a book she had been reading, and abandoned herself to her
+thoughts. She seemed to see again that wet afternoon when she came in
+from her walk and found Bluebell reading "Ivanhoe" by the dining-room
+fire. How long ago it seemed! How differently she viewed life now,
+since that first burst of longing to see the world and widen her
+circle! Wrapped in her thoughts, she did not hear a fly drive up to
+the door, nor steps and voices in the hall. But in a moment, the door
+opened, and Bluebell flung herself into her arms.
+
+"I have come back, Heather! I can't live without you! I'm tired of them
+all, and have come home!"
+
+The sisters embraced each other, divided between tears and laughter.
+And it was some time before Bluebell could calm herself sufficiently to
+tell her story.
+
+[Illustration: "I HAVE COME BACK, HEATHER!"]
+
+After a cup of tea, which Abigail brought in with a dazed, bewildered
+face, Bluebell began at once—
+
+"Oh, how good it is to be with you again! I've longed to say things
+in my letters, and then I felt I couldn't. I am afraid Cousin Ida is
+awfully vexed with me. Her last words were,—
+
+"'You have both thoroughly disappointed me!'
+
+"The fact is, Heather, I can't stand Sir Herbert! I used to fancy I was
+in love with him, but I never was quite sure. And our yachting trip
+settled it. By the time we had had a month of it, I was perfectly sick
+of him! Bored to death with his prosiness! He is as dull as ditchwater,
+and it would be dreadful to live with a husband who could never see or
+make a joke! Now, wouldn't it? I've simply run away from him. I sent
+him a note last night to say how sorry I was, but that I was sure we
+should never suit each other. You know I've been with Cousin Ida for
+a fortnight. Well, he has come round to the house every single day
+after me. I couldn't really stand it. Cousin Hal said he would be a
+good antidote to me. I told him it takes a fool to be always content
+with his own jokes. Oh, may I never see another serious man as long
+as I live! I am tired to death with his dulness and gravity. And so I
+thought the best thing I could do was to come straight home to you. I
+will stay in seclusion till all unpleasantness is over, and people will
+have found something else to talk about. Do you think me heartless,
+Heather? I am sorry for him. I think I have treated him shamefully,
+but isn't it better to stop now than go on pretending I care for him
+till it is too late to draw back? Oh, do comfort me, for I'm perfectly
+miserable!"
+
+Here Bluebell broke down and burst into floods of tears, and Heather
+was too glad and thankful to have her back again to scold her. She
+petted and caressed and sympathized with her. And by the time dinner
+came round, Bluebell had quite recovered her flow of high spirits, and
+was making Heather laugh at her naïve accounts of the yachting trip.
+
+She tripped down to dinner in a pale-blue silk dress, looking as fresh
+as a rose, and when she caught Abigail's disapproving eye in the hall,
+she danced up to her.
+
+"Well, Abigail, aren't you glad to see me back again? Have you no
+welcome for me? For shame! Heather is the only one who is really
+delighted to see me."
+
+"What have you come back for, Miss Bluebell?" asked Abigail, severely.
+
+"Why did Heather come back? Is that how you greeted her? What a dismal
+time she must have had! Now, Abigail, you must be nice. I'm going to
+alarm you with my goodness. I have seen the error of my ways. That is
+why I have come back, of course! Can't you give me a tiny smile? Don't
+you like the idea of having both of us in your power for a little
+while?"
+
+"You have grown out of my power, Miss Bluebell, and you know it! More's
+the pity! I would fain see you in a more modest dress, and with a more
+sober demeanour!"
+
+"What is the matter with my dress? Heather is in a white one. Oh, you
+don't like to see so much of my neck, do you? Well, don't look, then.
+And as to a sober demeanour, I wasn't born with one, Abigail, and you
+know I wasn't!"
+
+She left her, and joined Heather in the dining-room with a radiant face.
+
+"It is good to be at home again," she said; "and how you've improved
+the house, Heather! But there is a great deal more to be done. We
+must get some fresh carpets and chintz for the drawing-room, and have
+several of the rooms re-papered. I shall enjoy doing it. It will give
+me something to do."
+
+"But, Bluebell, we have no money to spare for that kind of thing. I
+have hardly got things straight yet."
+
+"Don't remind me of money. I shall have to borrow from you to pay my
+dressmaker's last bill. She is bothering me continually about it. Why
+can't every one have enough and to spare, I wonder!"
+
+Heather looked at her sister gravely. She saw she was talking
+recklessly to conceal her true feelings, and was sorry that Abigail,
+who was in the room, should hear her talk so. But Bluebell did not
+care. She chatted on, as if she had not a care or thought beyond
+herself and her own concerns, and Abigail left them at their dessert
+with a sore and anxious heart.
+
+"She has come back as frivolous and empty-headed as Mrs. Carter," she
+confided to Rachael. "Ay, 'tis sad to be her! I could sit down and
+weep. She'll be for trying to entice Miss Heather up to London soon
+again, that is what I fear. And she talks of her debts as gaily as if
+it was the usual thing to buy things and have no money to pay for them!"
+
+The twins had much to talk over, but it was not until they were
+upstairs in their bedroom over their fire that Bluebell began to soften.
+
+She looked at Heather's Bible dreamily.
+
+"Have you really become good, Heather? I couldn't quite understand from
+your letters?"
+
+"No," said Heather, smiling, "I am afraid I haven't. I should like to.
+I will tell you about it some other time. You look tired and sleepy. I
+have found that real religion makes you very happy. That is all I will
+say to-night."
+
+"Do you remember Abigail's text?" said Bluebell, gazing into the fire
+thoughtfully. "'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth'?
+It has come true, in my case. I have lived in pleasure, and my soul is
+perfectly dead!"
+
+"Oh, Bluebell, don't say such shocking things!"
+
+"But it is true. I never read my Bible. Prayer is just an empty form to
+me. I have really no religion except going to church on Sunday. I went
+out for a walk with Cousin Cyril yesterday. He has been away, and came
+in for the first time. He asked me how my religion was getting on? He
+always asks that question, periodically, if you remember. I told him,
+it had left me entirely. He was silent for a whole minute! Then, what
+do you think he said?
+
+"'I've been with a fellow lately who has the real article, and I'm more
+than half inclined to try for it myself!'"
+
+"That does not sound like Cyril," said Heather, softly.
+
+Bluebell looked at her quickly. Then she left her chair, and seating
+herself on the floor beside her sister, she leant her head against her
+knees. After a pause, she said quietly—
+
+"Heather, tell me, has there ever been anything between Cyril and you?"
+
+"Between Cyril and me!" Heather repeated in astonishment. "Why, of
+course not. I have always liked him, but I always bracket Cousin Hal
+and him together. He is like a brother, that is all. Why do you ask? I
+am sure neither he nor I ever did anything to set people talking!"
+
+"Oh no; I never heard any one mention your names," said Bluebell,
+yawning slightly. "I only used to wonder, sometimes, if that was the
+reason you never seemed to fancy any one else!"
+
+"Do you know," said Heather, and a faint flush came to her cheeks and
+a proud intonation into her voice, "that this is why I am thankful to
+be at home again? There is no question of marriage or of love. I got so
+tired of it. I feel I can breathe freely again. I don't think it is a
+nice atmosphere to spend one's life in. I never saw a single man that
+I would think twice about, and I always hated the chaff and talk about
+such things."
+
+Bluebell sighed. "I have made a mess of my affair," she said, "but I
+was forced into it, and forced on. I think it was rather a shame."
+Then, almost under her breath, she added, "Why is it, that it is always
+the wrong man?"
+
+Heather heard, but answered nothing. She only pondered as she lay in
+bed that night: Who, then, was the right man?
+
+
+The sisters had much to talk over for the next few days. Bluebell
+was here, there, and everywhere, apparently as gay and light-hearted
+as ever. She bore the villagers' outspoken remarks with laughing
+equanimity. Watty told her that she "had aged considerable," Ralph that
+he "didn't expec' to see her without her bridegroom," Mrs. Carpenter
+that "folks were sayin' that Missis Abigail was shakin' her head over
+Miss Bluebell's carryin' on, and now she was to home agen, she meant to
+keep her there!"
+
+Yet Heather was keenly conscious that Bluebell's apparent levity was
+only on the surface. She told her soon about her own experience, and
+finished up by saying wistfully—
+
+"I wish you could see it as I do, Bluebell, or as we are meant to see
+it."
+
+Bluebell shook her pretty head.
+
+"No, no; I'm afraid I shall never feel religious again. I love the
+world too much. I could never settle down here as you have done. I
+can't think how you can stand it!"
+
+"Don't I look happy? I am. I think happier than I have ever been in my
+life before!"
+
+"Oh yes, you're radiant. 'Brilliant' is what you were called in town.
+Cousin Ida is rather disgusted with you quitting a fashionable life so
+soon. And, by-the-by, she knows of a poor lady that she wants us to
+have here as a chaperon. I told her I didn't intend to bury myself here
+very long, but she is uneasy about you. She says this Mrs.—now what is
+her name?—Fish—Fisher, that's it—Mrs. Fisher would be glad of a home,
+and wouldn't require any salary, so you need not refuse her on that
+score. What do you think about it? We might have people to stay if she
+were here."
+
+"We have not the means to entertain at present, Bluebell. It is out of
+the question. Does Cousin Ida think I am settled here for good and all?"
+
+"She is afraid so."
+
+"I did not intend to be here altogether, when I first came back," said
+Heather, slowly, "but I think now that I shall be."
+
+"Well, then, you must have Mrs. Fisher. I will write and tell Cousin
+Ida to send her down."
+
+"Oh, Bluebell! And we shall never be alone together again. It will be
+dreadful having a third person always with us. I cannot understand your
+wishing it."
+
+"I think it will be expedient; I want to have a little gaiety even here
+this winter. We can do nothing till she comes."
+
+Impetuous Bluebell had her way, and before another fortnight had
+elapsed, Mrs. Fisher arrived, and was soon a settled inmate of their
+home. She was a quiet, unpretentious little widow. "An ideal chaperon"
+she was called by girls whom she had taken about. She was the wife of a
+naval officer who had lately died, and had seen a good bit of life in
+her young days.
+
+She adapted herself to her vocation with easy complacency, and even
+Abigail found nothing to say against her.
+
+The twins did not find her in the way. They walked, and talked, and
+planned out their days together in the old style. But Heather felt that
+there was a chasm between them that could not be bridged over, and her
+heart ached over her bright young sister when she saw how uninterested
+she was in spiritual things. She did not say much, but she prayed night
+and morning for her, and dimly began to understand a little of the
+stern Abigail's sentiments about a society life for her nurslings.
+
+Bluebell seemed entirely swallowed up in it. She was restless and
+discontented at the narrow sphere in which she found herself. She did
+not care to visit in the village; her talk, her aspirations, her hopes,
+were all in the gay world which she had left. Yet at times, she would
+sit looking at Heather with a sweet gravity that was out of keeping
+with her reckless chatter. And one evening, by their bedroom fire, she
+startled Heather by saying—
+
+"I think, when I am thirty, if I am not married, I will try to be good."
+
+Heather smiled at the childish sentence, then she said earnestly—
+
+"Bluebell, do you remember telling me before we went to London that you
+wanted your religion to be real, but that you had never had it tested?"
+
+"Yes; it didn't stand the test, Heather, it failed me."
+
+"It wasn't the right sort. Oh, Bluebell, how I wish you knew the Lord
+as your personal Friend! It makes such a difference. We went through
+our religion like machines; I don't think either of us had ever come
+into close touch with God. We had never accepted Christ's death for us,
+and come to Him as guilty sinners for forgiveness, and received the
+pardon He obtained for us."
+
+"You are getting out of my depth. I don't understand that kind of
+thing. It is mere words to me."
+
+"But you must think seriously sometimes. You say you will wait till you
+are thirty. You may not live so long."
+
+Bluebell shivered.
+
+"Don't put me in the blues. I should like to feel as you do, but I
+can't. I tell you again, I think my soul is dead."
+
+"That is an awful thing to say. Do you realize what it means? Death of
+the soul means separation from God for ever. Can you look forward to an
+eternity spent without Him?"
+
+"Now you're talking like Abigail. Well, I won't say it is dead. It is
+asleep for the present, and I would rather leave it so; it is more
+comfortable. Don't look shocked at me. I am getting very sleepy, so
+shall turn into bed."
+
+This was how all such discussions ended. But Heather did not lose
+heart, and she believed her prayers would be answered before long.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"THE RIGHT MAN"
+
+   "Maid choosing man, remember this:
+      You take his nature with his name;
+    Ask, too, what his religion is,
+      For you will soon be of the same."
+                           COVENTRY PATMORE.
+
+IT was a bright frosty morning in December. Heather and Bluebell had
+just returned from a walk, and were standing over the study fire
+chatting to Mrs. Fisher, who, with her inevitable knitting, was seated
+in her easy chair.
+
+Bluebell was just giving a laughable account of the village shop being
+thrown into the utmost confusion by her request for a reel of red silk,
+when the door opened, and Abigail said in tones of severity—
+
+"A gentleman has called, and is in the drawing-room. Here is his card."
+
+Heather took it, and she exclaimed in tones of delight, "It is Cyril!
+Ask him to come in here, Abigail; it is so much more cosy."
+
+Abigail's face was a study, but she withdrew in silence.
+
+And a moment after, Cyril was ushered in.
+
+"Aren't you surprised to see me?" he said, after the first greetings
+had been exchanged. "The fact is, I remembered your station, and as I
+have to go twenty miles beyond it on business, I thought I would have
+a break, and come and see how you were getting on. Why, Minnehaha,
+you look perfectly blooming, and not a bit conscience-stricken for
+your—ahem—shall I say discreet retreat!"
+
+"The past is past, if you please," said Bluebell, trying to copy
+Heather's dignified air, but failing to impress her audience. "We only
+live in the present. That was what I was taught in good society."
+
+Cyril looked at her quizzically, then turned to Heather.
+
+"Well, Regina, don't you think it was time for her to return to you?
+How have you been occupying your time in this secluded spot? I must
+tell you, I have walked from the station. It's a good three miles, I
+suppose, but I wanted to stretch my legs. And on the way, I overtook
+your country postman. We began to compare notes upon our boots, and
+agreed that leather and humanity were sadly deteriorating. When he
+heard whither I was bound, he became most interested, asked me some
+searching questions, and took stock of me from head to foot. Then he
+began to give me his views upon 'our young leddies.' I can tell you,
+I've heard more about your ways and doings from his lips than I should
+ever have learnt from your own!"
+
+"Watty doesn't think much of us," said Heather, laughing. "In fact, he
+has a very poor idea of the world in general."
+
+"So I gathered; but he holds one person in great esteem!"
+
+"Himself? Yes, one soon discovers that."
+
+Cyril stayed to lunch, and it was a cheery, pleasant meal, in spite of
+Abigail's increased severity of face and tone as she moved in and out.
+
+Afterwards, the girls took him round the garden, which, in spite of its
+wintry appearance, charmed the critical visitor.
+
+"It has an old-world atmosphere, and so has your house. I understand
+you both better, now I have seen the home in which you have been
+brought up."
+
+"I always thought our home had none of the picturesque beauty of most
+old-fashioned places," said Bluebell, slowly. "But now I have been away
+from it, in spite of much that is hideous, I like it better than I did."
+
+"You think you could be reconciled to a country life?" said Cyril, with
+a quick glance at her.
+
+"No," said Bluebell, laughing and tossing her head; "I can't vegetate.
+It wants great minds or little minds to live contented in the country,
+and I have just a medium commonplace one, which must be taken out of
+itself, and amused and interested by external circumstances. There! I
+am talking like an old wiseacre! Come down to our farm. It will be a
+nice walk before tea."
+
+"I must write letters," said Heather, hesitatingly; "I'm afraid I shall
+not have time to do both."
+
+"We shall be back for a cup of tea," said Bluebell.
+
+And she walked off with Cyril, talking and laughing with him in the
+freest and most careless way.
+
+For a minute, Heather stood at the garden gate and watched them. Then
+she resolutely hastened to the house, and tackled some business letters
+with a divided mind.
+
+
+Mrs. Fisher had retired to her room for her usual afternoon nap. An
+hour passed, and Heather rose from her writing-table, her business
+done. She took a seat by the study window, which overlooked the
+meadows. Something in Bluebell's manner, since Cyril had arrived, gave
+her uneasiness. Was it only from seeing an old friend again that gave
+her eyes such brightness, and brought such soft flushes to her checks?
+She remembered how Cyril and she had always chaffed and laughed with
+one another; how more than usually reckless and audacious Bluebell had
+always been in his company; and she laughed at herself for imagining
+anything different now.
+
+Presently, from the window she saw two figures crossing the meadows,
+and she watched them as they came nearer.
+
+There was a little droop and softness in the poise of Bluebell's
+figure that again awoke misgiving in Heather's heart. She saw her
+stop and pick something from a hedge, she saw Cyril spring eagerly
+to her assistance, two heads very close together, and a pause in the
+gathering. Then she turned away, ashamed of overlooking them, and
+wondering if this was for her sister's good.
+
+Half an hour later, and she heard voices in the hall. Still, she did
+not go to meet them. And when the door opened and Bluebell came in
+search of her, she did not move from her seat.
+
+Was this the right man, after all?
+
+A moment later, and she was told. With arms clinging round her neck,
+her soft cheeks pressed against hers, Bluebell told her story. And it
+was enough to look at her softened, radiant face to know that she was
+happy.
+
+"He came on purpose, Heather. I never thought he cared, and he never
+thought I did. And when Sir Herbert was pestering me, he kept back.
+And if I had married him, I should never have known what I had missed!
+Aren't men stupid! I used to think you were fond of him, and so I
+wouldn't let myself think of him. But it is all right now, and oh,
+isn't it delicious to have a right to let your feelings go, instead of
+bottling them all up, and thinking them wicked!"
+
+Bluebell rattled this off incoherently, then subsided into tears.
+
+"I want to be good, Heather. He has been talking quite differently from
+what he did. He says he never really scoffed at real religion, only at
+shams, and he has been with some friend who has made him see things
+quite differently. I told him I was a butterfly, but he seems to think
+I shall steady down. Do you think I shall? Oh! Here is Abigail—what a
+nuisance! Tea is in, I suppose."
+
+Bluebell dashed away to her room, and Heather went into the
+drawing-room, feeling almost bewildered at this sudden confirmation of
+her fears.
+
+She found Cyril alone, standing on the hearthrug, his back to the fire.
+
+He looked at her with a queer smile. "Well, Regina?"
+
+"I can't congratulate either of you yet," said Heather, trying to speak
+calmly. "It has been such a surprise to me that I cannot get accustomed
+to the thought of it. It never entered my head till I saw you together
+to-day."
+
+"Are you averse to me as a brother-in-law?"
+
+There was a silence, then Heather spoke with kindling eyes—
+
+"I would rather have you as a brother-in-law—than—than many others in
+town. But, Cyril, frankly I tell you, I see things differently now from
+what I did. And I long for Bluebell to have some one to help her on
+the upward path. Not to drag her down to a dead level of stagnation,
+and—and mere pleasure-seeking!"
+
+[Illustration: "WELL, REGINA?"]
+
+"Is that my life?"
+
+"It was ours in London."
+
+Cyril looked at her with his keen eyes, in silence, for a minute.
+
+"The old influences have been at work with you, then, and have
+prejudiced you against society life?"
+
+"No; I think it is quite a new influence that has crept into my life,"
+said Heather, smiling—"an influence that has brought me real happiness
+at last."
+
+There was another pause, then Cyril said—
+
+"You know that I never consider myself a society man, as you term it.
+I have too much to do when in town, and Minnehaha is quite willing to
+spend most of the year in the country. We shall not be butterflies of
+fashion."
+
+Heather was silent, then he said in a lighter tone, "Your venture back
+here has been a success, then? You do not regret it? Won't you be
+pining for more life soon?"
+
+"I have got as much as I can hold here," said Heather, turning upon him
+such a radiant look of happiness that Cyril wondered, and said no more.
+
+He had to leave very soon, but promised to come down again before long.
+His last words to Heather were—
+
+"I will try and be to Minnehaha what you desire. I, too, like yourself,
+have had a new influence creeping into my life. It has made a great
+difference to me."
+
+Bluebell insisted upon Heather accompanying her to the station to see
+Cyril off. As the two girls were walking back, they met Watty, who was
+generally to be found loitering along the high-road. His wife was a
+good laundress, and was always well supplied with work, so he did not
+see any necessity for doing anything besides his letter-carrying.
+
+"Ah," he said, with a knowing look, as the girls stopped to speak to
+him, "and which is it of you he be after?"
+
+"Which do you think?" asked Bluebell, with twinkling eyes.
+
+Watty rubbed his left ear reflectively.
+
+"I said to him, as we be a-joggin' along this mornin',—
+
+"'And what be your business in these parts? 'Tis to be hoped ye're an
+honest man if ye be after the young leddies, for them Londoners are
+mostly thieves and vagabonds, and the gentry a wild lot, I've heerd
+tell!'
+
+"And he were bound to agree, for he wished me to think well of 'un. I
+sez to him,—
+
+"'If 'tis Miss Bluebell ye've come after, ye can have 'en, and welcome,
+I sez, but she'll lead a sober man a dance, and want tight reins and a
+strong hand wi' 'er. But if 'tis Miss Heather,' I sez, 'well, there be
+several parties in this 'ere village that will have a word to say on
+that p'int. And ye won't earn their goodwill by carryin' of her off;
+not but what she be rather a haughty-headed young wiman with a will o'
+her own, and needs a deal o' managin', but her heart and purse goes
+well together, and she have a care for the poor and destitoot.'"
+
+"And what did he say?" asked Bluebell, quite unabashed by the old man's
+speech.
+
+"Well, he appeared to be a-considerin', and I gave 'un a bit more
+profitable talk, for which he thanked me, and us went our ways. I sez,—
+
+"'I wish you well, sir, but b'lieve me, a maid is a risky treasure, and
+'tis them that is single that is blest!'"
+
+"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Watty," said Heather, severely,
+"with such a good wife at home, to speak so! Where would you be without
+her?"
+
+Watty chuckled dryly.
+
+"Ah, well. Her does her best. And I will allow she might be worse, but
+I have 'er well in hand. Which be it, young leddies, which be it?"
+
+"You had the honour, Watty," said Bluebell, drawing herself up with
+great assumption of dignity, "to speak to my affianced husband this
+morning. Miss Heather is still going to remain amongst you to manage
+you all. I don't wish her joy of it; good afternoon."
+
+They passed rapidly on, and Watty gazed after them for a moment in
+silence.
+
+"Well, my reckonin' were not far out! So there 'll be weddin'-bells
+soon, and a good hearty supper after, if Miss Heather does her part
+well. I must just step into the office and tell Mrs. Carpenter. She
+allays thinks she's first hand for news, but this 'll take the feather
+out o' her cap, I reckon!"
+
+Abigail received the news in grim silence.
+
+Bluebell was content to have her silent, and she did not ask her for
+congratulations.
+
+But when Heather happened to go into the kitchen late in the evening,
+Abigail came forward.
+
+"Is this match to your likin', Miss Heather?" she asked sternly.
+
+"My opinion has not been asked, Abigail," Heather answered gently.
+"Bluebell must please herself. She will not stand dictation from me.
+Mr. Carter is an upright, honourable gentleman; we have known him
+intimately for a long time, and he will make a good husband."
+
+"And is this all you can say? Have you no thought for their immortal
+souls? Is he a servant of the Lord, Miss Heather? One that my late
+departed mistress would have approved of? Will he be for following
+righteousness, or the wicked ways of the world? Is Miss Bluebell to be
+allowed to yoke herself to an unbeliever, I ask you?"
+
+Heather looked a little troubled.
+
+"I know all you feel, Abigail, and wish I could reassure you. You must
+remember, Bluebell does not see things in the light that we do. But
+from what I know of Mr. Carter, I feel sure he will lead her right, and
+not wrong. This is in confidence to you. Some time ago, Mrs. Carter
+wrote to me saying that Mr. Carter was in Scotland with a friend who
+was very religious. I am sure he must have influenced him, for Mr.
+Carter seems graver, and talks differently about serious things now. In
+fact, he told me as much when I spoke to him, and I am hoping very much
+that he will lead Bluebell to think differently too. We must pray for
+them both."
+
+She left the kitchen, and Abigail said no more. Just before going to
+bed, Heather put her arm round her twin sister affectionately.
+
+"And are you perfectly happy now, Bluebell?"
+
+"Perfectly!" said Bluebell, with emphasis. "Oh," she added impetuously,
+"I can't tell what a nightmare Sir Herbert was to me! The feeling that
+he could not and would not see a joke, the heavy stolid conversation he
+tried to make, and the awful oppression I always felt in his company!
+Now, with Cyril, it is all sunshine; I always felt I could go to the
+wilds of Africa and be happy with him. You need have no fears about
+us, Heather. We shall be a well-matched couple, without being a too
+sentimental one!"
+
+"And what do you intend your married life to be?"
+
+"To be? I don't quite understand you. We shall be up in town a good
+part of the year, so I shall see plenty of society, and the rest of the
+year, we shall be in the country, and I shall have nice people staying
+with us. And if I feel very good, I shall visit our tenants and look
+after their welfare."
+
+"It sounds delightful," said Heather, earnestly. "But, Bluebell dear,
+you can never be really happy living only for your own pleasure and
+amusement. Don't start a married life without God. You will only drift
+farther away. I don't say much to you, but I do long that you should
+know what real religion is!"
+
+"I don't want Abigail's religion!" said Bluebell, flippantly.
+
+"No one wants you to have her religion. Your nature is quite a
+different one from hers. I don't want you to have any one's religion
+but Christ's."
+
+Bluebell sighed.
+
+"Well, I will some day," she said, "when I get tired of life. But I
+want to enjoy it at present."
+
+"You will never, never enjoy it until you are a true Christian," said
+Heather, with kindling eyes. "I couldn't have believed the difference
+it makes in one's heart. Do I seem unhappy, Bluebell?"
+
+"No, I can't say you do; I've never seen you so bright. But don't worry
+me any more. I told you my soul was asleep, and I want it to stay
+asleep for a little. I hate feeling uncomfortable. I mean to be really
+good later on, but not just now."
+
+She changed the subject as she always did, and Heather only prayed the
+more.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE OLD PRIORY
+
+   "The thread of our life would be dark, Heaven knows,
+    If it were not with friendship and love intertwined."
+                                                     MOORE.
+
+SPRING again. We find Heather still in her country home. But Bluebell
+has married, and is travelling abroad with her husband. The wedding
+was a quiet one. Mrs. Carter wished it to be in town, but both girls
+decided that it must be in their old home. And so Captain and Mrs.
+Carter, and a few friends, came to be present at it, and Mrs. Carter
+enjoyed a battle of words again with the inexorable Abigail.
+
+"Miss Heather must marry next, and if she is not quick about it, I
+shall carry her off to London again. She is not going to be an old
+maid, if I can help it!"
+
+"She is going to be what the Lord means her to be, mem," retorted
+Abigail. "He is her Keeper, and not those that tempted her astray from
+His paths for a time! Miss Heather has thoughts above marryin' and
+givin' in marriage!"
+
+"Her time hasn't come yet. Wait till the right man turns up, and then
+away she will go like all the rest of us! She is very much admired
+in town, Abigail. A certain major in my husband's battalion has not
+forgotten her yet. I think I shall give him a hint to follow Mr.
+Carter's example, and come and see how the land lies now. She would
+make a good soldier's wife!"
+
+"A soldier, mem! A paid murderer, we would consider him! And Miss
+Heather has not been nurtured and brought up by a member of the Society
+of Friends, to fling herself away on one with the lowest calling in our
+nation!"
+
+The wedding over, Heather settled down to her quiet life, having Mrs.
+Fisher to enliven her solitude, and her poor people to interest her.
+She steadfastly refused Mrs. Carter's invitation to pay her a visit,
+and, though missing her sister daily, preserved a bright and sunshiny
+spirit.
+
+One morning, she received a letter from Ena Vaughan, in which she asked
+her to come and stay with her for a short time.
+
+She sat with this letter in her hand for some time considering, and
+then consulted Mrs. Fisher.
+
+The thought of seeing her friend again filled her with delight. It was
+a visit that would not only give her intense pleasure, but would, she
+felt sure, be beneficial to her in many ways. And when Mrs. Fisher and
+Abigail both said that a change would do her good, Heather wrote off,
+and joyfully accepted the invitation.
+
+[Illustration: TURNING ROUND, SHE ENCOUNTERED DICK.]
+
+It was a lovely spring evening when she reached the small country
+station that was her destination. She alighted on the platform, and
+looked about her. There were very few passengers by the same train,
+and the old porter seemed half asleep. She was trying to make him
+understand where she wanted to go, when turning round, she encountered
+Dick, who had arrived rather warm and breathless after a sharp run.
+
+"If you please, miss, the missus said as I were to take charge of your
+luggage and see it packed in the trap. Mr. Spike, he can't leave the
+horse, and I were kept waiting on a message or I should have been here
+before, and the master, he is away on business or he would have come to
+meet you himself. The trap is this way, if you please, miss."
+
+Dick was struggling with his dignity and breathlessness, but Heather
+smiled, and understood. She followed him out, and found the trap
+waiting for her. In a few minutes, she was being driven swiftly through
+sweet-smelling lanes, eventually stopping at an old stone gateway with
+a rustic lodge at one side. Then up a rhododendron drive, where the
+flowers were in masses of bloom. They eventually drew up before an
+ivy-clad turreted stone house with old-fashioned casement windows, and
+a weather-beaten porch, over which was sculptured in stone the Latin
+device, "Sic vos non vobis."
+
+Heather looked around her with a keen sense of pleasure and refreshment
+in everything she saw. Just inside the door, waiting in her wheelchair
+to receive her, was Ena. Great bowls of golden daffodils stood on the
+old oak sideboards in the square wainscoted hall. The stairs with their
+crimson carpets wound round and upwards, past a richly stained window,
+and all inside the house seemed to give an atmosphere of warmth and
+comfort, which contrasted delightfully with the dark oak panelling and
+dusky corners that abounded in the old Priory.
+
+The first greetings over, Dick gently wheeled his mistress into the
+drawing-room, and Heather followed her. It was a quaint low room,
+panelled in oak; old china and beautiful paintings adorned the walls,
+thick oriental rugs covered the polished floor; books, music, spring
+flowers in abundance, and a dozen other nameless trifles, showed that
+it was a room for use and comfort, and not for show.
+
+A bright wood fire was burning in the grate; the evening sun shone in,
+and played upon the silver tea-service and flowers that were on the
+afternoon tea-table drawn up to Ena's couch. Dick assisted his mistress
+there, then noiselessly left the room, and Heather sank into an easy
+chair feeling that her lines had fallen in pleasant places.
+
+"It is delicious to be here," she said. "I feel rather tired of being
+mistress, and managing every one."
+
+"You are looking tired and pale," said Ena, affectionately. "I have
+felt so sorry for you since your sister's marriage."
+
+"Yes," Heather said, with a little sigh, "it is a dreadful experience
+to go through, for I feel that she will never be quite the same again.
+But I was prepared for it when she was away from me before. That was
+the worst wrench, I think, for it was our first parting."
+
+"Now I am going to give you some tea, and then you would like to go
+to your room. I hope you will be comfortable, but I can trust my maid
+to see after you. It is one of my trials that I cannot look to my
+visitors' comfort, but I never go upstairs at all. I have my bedroom on
+the ground floor. What do you think of our home?"
+
+"I think it is sweet," said Heather, enthusiastically. "It must be very
+old, isn't it?"
+
+"Very old. The monks lived here in the time of Henry VIII., but were
+turned out by the king, who gave it to one of his court favourites—a
+certain baron, Sir Bertram Havish. The Havishes were ancestors of my
+mothers, and the Priory has belonged to them ever since. A cousin of
+ours lived here up to the time we came into it. He handed it over to my
+brother because he wanted to go off to the Colonies. I think I told you
+about it. Of course the best part of the Priory is in ruins; this is
+quite a small bit of it, but it is the only part of it that has always
+been lived in, and it is quite large enough for us. Did you notice the
+doorway as you came in?"
+
+"Yes, I did, and the carved motto above. What is the exact meaning of
+it? Something about labour or work, isn't it?"
+
+"'Thus you do not labour for yourselves.' Rather nice, isn't it? A
+gentle reminder to all who live here that selfishness and indolence
+will not be tolerated. I like to put with it that verse, 'that they
+which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him
+which died for them.'"
+
+Heather's eyes shone.
+
+"Yes," she said; "it isn't only living and labouring for other people,
+but for Him!"
+
+Ena nodded smilingly.
+
+They drank their tea and chatted together, and then Heather was taken
+upstairs to her room. It was as quaint as the rest of the house, with
+its deep recesses and low window-seat, overlooking a range of wooded
+hills and a winding river. All the rooms were panelled in oak, but
+light chintz curtains and hangings relieved the bedrooms of any gloom.
+A small wood fire was burning in her grate, and bowls of daffodils and
+primroses stood on her dressing-table.
+
+Heather felt as she sat down on her cushioned window-seat, and surveyed
+the scene within and without, that her room would be a pleasant resort
+for rest and enjoyment.
+
+Later on, she came down to the drawing-room in her dinner-dress, and
+found Ena and her brother together.
+
+Captain Vaughan apologized, as he shook hands with her, for not meeting
+her at the station.
+
+"My sister and I have so few guests now that I feel we ought to welcome
+warmly any who do come to us. But I was obliged to attend a committee
+meeting at the very hour your train arrived."
+
+"I did not mind at all," Heather responded. "We have been so used to
+manage for ourselves lately that I feel quite independent. At home, no
+one ever meets us. You see, we have no trap, so we always take a fly
+and drive straight back with no difficulty."
+
+"Bertram thinks that no woman ought to be able to do anything for
+herself," said Ena, laughing. "He can't understand the up-to-date
+girls, who are so well accustomed to take care of themselves."
+
+Heather laughed as she turned frankly to Captain Vaughan.
+
+"It is pleasant to be taken care of," she said, "but if you have no
+father or brothers, it naturally makes you independent."
+
+"Oh yes," he said, with a little smile; "and the independence is very
+pleasant, is it not?"
+
+"Perhaps it is. I know Bluebell and I gloried in it a year ago, but I
+fancy after a time, one tires of it."
+
+There was unconscious wistfulness in her eyes. Ena said quickly—
+
+"You have left all leadership and responsibility behind you now, and
+have sunk into a commonplace country visitor. I am going to treat you
+as such, and I am sure you are longing for some dinner. There is the
+gong, so let us go in. Do congratulate me upon my improvement. I can
+join you at dinner in my wheelchair. I have only managed this for the
+last month, so am still proud of my achievement."
+
+Dinner was a pleasant meal. Heather thoroughly enjoyed the cheerful,
+cultivated society of her friends. Captain Vaughan had a good deal of
+quiet humour, but he was also a well-read and well-informed man with
+literary tastes. And both he and his sister took a keen interest in the
+current literature of the day.
+
+"I feel very ignorant when I hear you and your brother talk," Heather
+said to Ena as they sat in the drawing-room afterwards, leaving Captain
+Vaughan to his smoke. "But you don't know how I like hearing you!
+We are so shut up at home to our housekeeping, and the wants of the
+village, that I sometimes forget the great world outside us."
+
+"I don't know what I should do without outside interests," said Ena,
+thoughtfully. "It takes one out of one's self so, and I dread falling
+into an invalid's self-centred life. Bertram is such a help in that
+way. I always think men are like a fresh breeze through a house,
+especially those who are out-of-doors a good deal, and are in the way
+of meeting other men. Bertram is a keen sportsman, though he looks upon
+sport only as a recreation. And then he very often goes up to town, and
+I hear the latest news in that way."
+
+"I should like to have had a brother," said Heather, as she gazed into
+the fire, making a pretty picture as she sat in an old oak chair, her
+slender little figure, in its white dress, thrown into full relief by
+the dark wood background.
+
+Ena looked at her and smiled.
+
+"Perhaps you will be given a husband instead," she said playfully.
+
+Heather shook her head, and changed the subject.
+
+Captain Vaughan soon came in, and Ena asked him what engagements he had
+for the next day?
+
+"I want you to show Heather the church, and the dripping well. I cannot
+manage it because of the steps."
+
+"I shall be busy all the morning," he said, "but after luncheon, I can
+take Miss Fotheringay anywhere. We can do the church and well and go on
+to St. Margaret's. I think those are all the antiquities to be seen.
+Are you fond of ruins, Miss Fotheringay?"
+
+"Yes, if they're picturesque," said Heather, smiling. "It reminds me
+of old Ralph at home, who met a wandering artist one day. He asked if
+there were any ruins to be seen, and Ralph led him off with alacrity to
+a half-burnt pigstye of Farmer White's.
+
+"'There,' he said, ''tis a newer ruin than those old ruins at Rome my
+paper tells me of, for 'twas only burnt last Toosday week, so you've
+come to the right man for showin' the right sort!'"
+
+"One never quite understands whether it is simplicity or shrewdness in
+many of these rustics," said Captain Vaughan. "I always feel they're
+having a quiet laugh at my expense when I talk with them. Well, St.
+Margaret's is worth seeing. It used to be an old convent, and the good
+people in those days knew how to pitch their retreats in the most
+exquisite parts of our country."
+
+"I suppose it solaced them for what they had forsaken," said Heather.
+"And after all, there is nothing like Nature to soothe and calm, and
+help meditation."
+
+"For the tired and weary spirits," put in Ena, "but hardly for the
+young restless ones. There must have been many who, like caged birds,
+beat their wings against their prison walls, and pined away in the
+narrow sphere in which they found themselves. Their energies must have
+been cramped, their lives dwarfed, and their tempers soured by the
+constant restrictions and supervision over them."
+
+"Yet I fancy it was easier in those days to act, when contrasts were
+so strongly defined," said Heather, thoughtfully. "If one wanted to be
+good, there was always the convent. You weren't supposed to be half in
+the world and half out of it; it was one thing or the other."
+
+"Not taken out of the world, but kept from the evil. In the world, but
+not of it."
+
+Ena spoke softly, and Heather looked up with a smile.
+
+"I think the world has always approved of Christians taking themselves
+right out of the way so as not to be objectionable and give offence,"
+said Captain Vaughan, strolling to the window and looking out on the
+dusky garden. "It always has been fashionable to enter convents and
+sisterhoods, but not fashionable to be introducing one's religious
+opinions to society in general."
+
+"No," said Heather, "and I suppose if a Christian bottles up his
+religion, he becomes like a stagnant pool. He must be a worker of some
+sort. So there is nothing for it but to separate himself at once."
+
+"But he need not hide himself away in a monastery," said Ena, brightly.
+"Do you think so, Bertram?"
+
+Captain Vaughan turned round from the window with a smile.
+
+"I consider if ever we are in doubt about the kind of life we should
+lead, whether we should mix with our fellows in society to show them
+that Christians are not narrow and bigoted, and are able to take part
+in all their pleasures, we have our guidance in Nehemiah, and a very
+good reason given for our withdrawal from much of it."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Heather, with interest.
+
+"I suppose each one of us is helping to build the walls of the church.
+If we are, this is Nehemiah's excuse:
+
+   "'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the
+work cease whilst I leave it, and come down to you?'"
+
+"I like that," exclaimed Heather, with a flash of gladness in her eye.
+"But of course it can only apply to busy Christians."
+
+"Ought we not all to be busy about our Father's business?"
+
+There was a little silence, broken by Dick's appearance with a message.
+
+But Heather had enough for plenty of thought that evening, and she lay
+her head on her pillow a little later with a happy, restful heart.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A CALAMITY
+
+   "Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise
+above it."—WASHINGTON IRVING.
+
+THE days slipped by very quickly to Heather. She enjoyed the walks with
+Captain Vaughan, the talks with Ena, and the wonderful beauty of her
+picturesque surroundings.
+
+She lost a little of her imperious manner; she was no longer the
+mistress of house and farm, "the young leddy" of the village. There was
+no one to keep in order, no business matters to be taken in hand, and
+the relaxation of her life brought out all the light-hearted gaiety of
+her nature, and made her gain in girlish grace what she lost in dignity.
+
+Ena watched her flitting about with a happy ringing laugh, and listened
+to her bright humorous speeches with delight.
+
+"I am making you younger," she said to her, laughingly, one morning, as
+they sat in the sunshine under the old stone porch.
+
+"I believe you are," Heather replied, with twinkling eyes. "I feel very
+old at home, especially when I am trying to manage Abigail. And since
+Bluebell has married, I have been lonely. It isn't good to live alone,
+now, is it? What would you feel like if you had no brother in and out?"
+
+Ena shook her head.
+
+"I fail to imagine. And yet, of course, he may marry, and I may have to
+seek a home elsewhere."
+
+"Then you could come and live with me. That would be delightful."
+
+Ena laughed.
+
+Heather went on more seriously. "It is a great comfort to feel that
+one's future is already planned by God, and out of our own hands. I
+like to think of it. I wish I had realized it before; it would have
+saved me from a good deal of fret. I don't think I should have tried to
+change our lives so. I often think now that it has not been good for
+Bluebell. She seems to love nothing better than a whirl of excitement.
+I hope she will be different now that she is married, but I don't know."
+
+A little sigh followed her words.
+
+"I wish I knew your sister. I have never seen her."
+
+"Yes, I should like you to know her. She always has taken life
+brightly, much more so than I. I used to be much more discontented
+with our quiet life than she was. I incited her to want a change, and
+it seems strange that it should be I who have been brought back to the
+quiet life again, and she who is away from it."
+
+"But I think you must be the happier of the two."
+
+"I really think I am. But, Ena, I am wondering if I ought to do more
+definite work for God."
+
+"What do you do? I mean outside your home duties."
+
+"I visit the villagers, and since I have—well, since I have seen the
+reality of it all, I have tried to speak to them about it. I have
+started a little working-party amongst the mothers, it is a kind of a
+mothers' meeting. And then I have Bluebell's Band of Hope, and I have
+my Sunday class on Sunday. I don't think I do anything else. I go to
+the Union once a week, that is four miles away. But in a small village,
+there is not much to be done. I have been wondering, as I have no
+home-ties, whether I ought not to go into some distinct work, perhaps
+abroad as a missionary. I feel I should like to give my life right up
+for God."
+
+"That we can do at home as well as abroad," said Ena, quietly. "I know
+when first I became a true Christian I thought the same, and grumbled a
+little because my accident prevented all such ideas. But I have come to
+see that a Christian's work is close to them, all round them, and that
+a soul is worth winning, whether it is a fashionable member of society,
+or a cannibal in heathen lands. If we each did our part in soul-winning
+from our own home-centre, the world would be a different place.
+
+"Of course, I know the needs of missions are great, and many are right
+to obey the call and go. For myself, I have been placed here, and my
+brother and I both try to quietly influence our neighbours. You have
+not seen many of our friends yet. There are one or two that, judging
+from appearances and life, would have been the last persons you would
+imagine had any religious cravings. Yet three of them come to me for
+real downright earnest talk; and one has quite lately seen with us,
+that life is not life till one gets linked on to the Living One. I am
+only telling you this to encourage you. Get to know young girls in your
+neighbourhood and try to influence them. Ask them to stay with you—oh,
+there is a great deal of work close to one's hand always, if we would
+only see it."
+
+"But," said Heather, hesitating a little, "I can speak to the poor
+people about these things, but not to those in my own class. It would
+be so difficult."
+
+"Why? Is our Lord's service only for the poor? Are the rich to be
+excluded from it? Don't their very temptations and difficulties appeal
+to us from having known them ourselves?"
+
+"I suppose it is cowardice," said Heather. "One knows the poor do not
+sneer at one or shrug their shoulders at 'such fanaticism' as it is
+termed. There is no cross to bear when working among the poor. But I am
+afraid of girls of my own class. And the fact is, there are very few
+about our neighbourhood. We have never had any girl-friends. I met a
+good many when staying with Cousin Ida in town, but they would be bored
+to death if I asked them to stay with me."
+
+"I know a good many here," said Ena, thoughtfully. "I think I must have
+some of them over to tea, and let you get acquainted with them."
+
+But this plan was not carried into action.
+
+
+The very next morning, Heather received a letter from her lawyer, Mr.
+Brody, asking her for an immediate interview.
+
+"It is something disagreeable about our money affairs, I know," said
+Heather, with a perplexed face.
+
+It was after breakfast. Captain Vaughan had just brought his sister
+some early tomatoes from the greenhouse, and he stood in the French
+window of his sister's morning-room.
+
+"Cannot he come and see you here?" asked Ena. "You have only been with
+us a fortnight, and you promised me a month."
+
+"I am afraid I must go home. Mr. Brody has written me several long
+letters lately. Some of our dividends have not come in, and grandmother
+left us nearly all her money in shares that are very shaky now, I am
+afraid. I cannot quite follow his letters, but I must see him, and I
+think I would rather see him at home."
+
+"When do you want to go?" asked Captain Vaughan, quietly.
+
+"He wants to see me to-morrow. I ought to leave this afternoon. Would
+it be possible?"
+
+"Certainly, if you wish it. I will drive you to the station myself.
+There is a train leaving at three, which will get you home before dark.
+Will that do?"
+
+"Yes, thank you, very nicely."
+
+Captain Vaughan walked away without another word, and Heather turned to
+her friend.
+
+"Oh, Ena, I am so sorry. I have been enjoying myself so!"
+
+The tears were in Heather's eyes as she stooped to kiss her friend.
+
+"I sometimes think," she went on, trying to speak bravely, "that I am
+not meant to have much pleasure in my life; duty is always stepping in
+and spoiling it. Aren't there some plants that thrive best in the shade
+and not in the sunshine? I think I must be one of them."
+
+"No, no," said Ena, shaking her head, "my dear child, that is a gloomy
+theory. This is a great disappointment to both of us, but I hope after
+your interview, you will come back to us and finish your visit. Don't
+you think that could be managed?"
+
+"I should like to," said Heather, somewhat wistfully, "but I don't feel
+as if I shall."
+
+Then, brightening up a little, she added, "It is ungrateful of me to
+talk so. I shall have enough pleasant memories of this dear old Priory
+to last me till I come again. And you have promised me a visit later
+on, so I shall look forward to that. I must go to pack my trunk now. I
+shall not be long."
+
+And for the rest of the time before she went, Heather was her bright,
+brave self. She talked cheerily to Captain Vaughan on the way to the
+station, and asked his advice about one or two things connected with
+the farm.
+
+Though perfectly at ease with him, she felt a strange shyness sometimes
+when in his company. He was an extremely reticent and undemonstrative
+man, and though always courteous and pleasant to her, and occasionally
+humorous, he never seemed to invite any one's confidence, and had an
+absent distrait manner that was not flattering to the one with whom he
+was conversing.
+
+Just before they came to the station, Heather asked him, a little
+diffidently, "Do you know anything about these shares of ours, Captain
+Vaughan? Do you think I need be uneasy?"
+
+"Have you most of your income from them?"
+
+"Yes, nearly all of it."
+
+Captain Vaughan was silent, then he said, "I expect your lawyer can
+give you better information about them than I can. Sometimes the tide
+turns, and things look up when they've been about as bad as they can
+be."
+
+"I can see you think badly of them."
+
+"If you want the truth, I do. But do not worry yourself unnecessarily.
+Wait until you have had a good talk with your lawyer. Are you coming
+back to us?"
+
+"If—if things are satisfactory," said Heather, with knitted brow.
+
+They were at the station. Captain Vaughan saw to her comforts, and, as
+she shook hands the last thing, said—
+
+"My best wishes, Miss Fotheringay. And, after all, remember money is
+not happiness. There are other things left."
+
+"It is an anxiety," said Heather, with a smile.
+
+And as she was borne away by the express, her thoughts went back to the
+day she had first separated from Bluebell, nearly a twelvemonth ago.
+
+"Then it was want of money took me home. Now it is the same thing. I
+almost wish I had none to lose!"
+
+
+A week after, Ena received the following letter from Heather:—
+
+   "DEAREST ENA,—I sent you such a hasty line, telling you of my safe
+arrival, that I am ashamed I have not written since. Truth to tell, I
+have been so worried and uncertain about our affairs, that I felt I
+could tell you nothing. I have had several interviews with Mr. Brody,
+and now I can tell you definitely that Bluebell and I have lost nearly
+the whole of our income. I can hardly realize it, even as I write it.
+This house must be sold. I shall have barely forty pounds a year to
+live upon, but I must be thankful for that.
+
+   "Of course, Bluebell wants me to go and live with her, but I feel I
+cannot do it—Abigail and Rachael have been so kind—so has everybody. I
+think I feel most for our poor people. How I should love to have you to
+talk to about things! At first, I thought I could live on in our farm,
+but it is not paying as it ought, and we shall have to sell that too.
+I have no light at present upon my future. I lie awake at night and
+wonder, and try to believe that it is all right.
+
+   "Don't you think this may be God's way of preparing me for some special
+work? He has taken my home away from me. I am trying to discover what I
+am fit for. My education has not been a modern one. A governess is out
+of the question. A companion or mother's help may be more in my line,
+but I don't know. Can you give me any advice? Remember, I must earn my
+living. I cannot help telling you of an interview I have just had with
+Watty.
+
+   "'Ay, well, Miss Heather, 'tis a proper breakdown to ye, but us will
+hope some un will come along and patch ye up a bit. Some of your fine
+Lunnon folks might do somethin' for ye!'
+
+   "'Thank you, Watty,' I said, with all the dignity I could assume, 'but
+I don't feel at all broken down. I have health and strength, and hands
+and feet to work, and I shall soon be earning my living like most of
+you.'
+
+   "'Well, to be sure!' he ejaculated. 'And what may you be thinkin'
+of?' Then, with a burst of generosity, he added, 'Tell you what, Miss
+Heather—ye can't be spared from this 'ere village. If ye'll put up
+with my wife's tantrums, and like a humble lodgin' wi' us, I'll let
+you do turn-about with me of a carryin' them letters, for since this
+'ere Lunnon post-master has given the public leave to send such vollims
+of their trashy writin's for a penny, my old back just cracks wi' the
+weight on 'em! Turn-about wi' the carryin'—turn-about wi' the pay! And
+it'll keep you from the Union, Miss Heather, so let us settle it right
+away!'
+
+   "I think I hurt him by my laughter, but I was very near tears! No more
+for now. Cyril is so good. He is coming down to see about the sale of
+everything for me, and I am going to lodge at the farm for the present,
+for I think Annie and her husband will be allowed to keep it on under
+their fresh landlord. Sir Thomas Black is going to buy it. Much love,
+and kind regards to Captain Vaughan.
+
+                                  "Your loving—
+
+                                         "HEATHER."
+
+   "This is a dull letter, but don't think I am perfectly hopeless. I feel
+any troubles that come now will be light compared with what they would
+have been a year ago."
+
+"She is a dear child," said Ena to her brother, after she had told him
+the contents of the letter. "I always think happiness will come to her;
+she tries to do her duty so bravely. It does seem as if her sister has
+had all the sunshine and she the shade. She is such a lonely little
+thing with no relatives to look after her. What would you say, Bertram,
+to her coming to live with us?"
+
+Captain Vaughan looked at his sister gravely. "I scarcely think she
+would do it," he said.
+
+"Why not? I should love to have her. She makes me forget my
+helplessness so. She has such a quick, quiet way of seeing what I want,
+and doing it before I have time to express the wish."
+
+"You would ask her as a paid companion?"
+
+"Now, Bertram, do you think I would? She is too proud, I fear, for
+that. I should like her to come back to finish her visit, and then
+drift on into staying with us altogether. You are so silent. Would you
+dislike her here?"
+
+Captain Vaughan gave a short laugh that seemed to his sister rather
+constrained.
+
+"My dear Ena, if you would like her, that is quite enough. I am out so
+much that her presence really hardly affects me. You can ask her if you
+like, but I am of the opinion that she will decline the invitation."
+
+Captain Vaughan was right. Ena begged Heather to come to them directly
+the sale was over, but she wrote saying it was impossible.
+
+"I promise to come to you before I start my independent life," she
+wrote, "but I must settle my future before paying any visits."
+
+And with this, Ena had to be content.
+
+
+A month passed, and then Heather wrote again:—
+
+   "You will be glad to hear that, through the exertions of Cousin Ida,
+I have found a berth. An old lady, a friend of hers, is going abroad
+for the winter in September, and wants a companion. I have been up to
+London to see her, and she has approved of me. She is a thorough woman
+of the world, and a little irascible in temper. Do you think I am right
+in accepting this post? I shall not be plunged into society, for she
+told me she liked her companions to keep themselves in the background!
+
+   "But I cannot help hoping I may be a comfort to her, and perhaps may be
+given opportunities of work amongst those in my own class, as you have
+so often suggested. Bluebell is a little vexed about it, but I cannot
+be dependent upon any one. I do not feel at my age that it is right. I
+am going to stay with Bluebell for a month now, and then, if you will
+have me, I should like to come to you before going abroad."
+
+"Well," remarked Ena, as she folded up the letter, "I suppose she is
+right to go, but I cannot bear to think of her in such a position. She
+is too young, too pretty, and too refined, to be turned into an old
+woman's slave."
+
+Her brother made no reply. He seemed absorbed in his newspaper.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+IN THE OLD GARDEN
+
+   "My poverty, but not my will, consents."
+                                   SHAKESPEARE.
+
+IT was Heather's last day in her native village. She stood in the
+deserted garden of her home, and her heart ached at the thought of
+leaving it all. The sale was over. Straw and paper littered the gravel
+paths, the shutters were closed, and the house lay in the shadows of
+the old elms, dark and silent, having finished a long chapter of its
+life. The family that had moved within its walls for over sixty years
+had left it for ever, and a new era had already begun.
+
+Heather had been saying good-bye to the villagers, and it was hard work
+preserving her bright demeanour. Now she felt she could let herself go,
+and leaning her head down on the old sun-dial, she sobbed as if her
+heart would break.
+
+The sun shone down, the blackbird in the laurels sang as sweetly as
+in days gone by, the bees hummed lazily over the roses and peonies,
+and Nature seemed supremely indifferent to the grief in its vicinity.
+Heather was not the only one in her sorrow that afternoon.
+
+[Illustration: SHE SOBBED AS IF HER HEART WOULD BREAK.]
+
+Along the narrow cinder path that led through the kitchen garden walked
+Abigail. She was picking bits of lavender and sweet herbs with many a
+sniff, and muttering to herself in an audible undertone—
+
+"The Lord will comfort His own. 'Tis good to be afflicted, and He will
+care for her. My life is nearly over. I could not have gone on in
+service much longer. Me and Rachael have saved, and we will make our
+home together, please God. But my heart aches over that child. 'Twas
+here she used to run, and Miss Bluebell with her, when they were little
+trots, and liked to pick the parsley for Rachael. I can see them now,
+and the mistress watchin' them from the window. Ay well, she would be
+sorely grieved if she were to see us now, and 'tis to be hoped she does
+not. But she would be glad to see Miss Heather growin' into a good and
+sober woman. I daren't think of Miss Bluebell. She has chosen the broad
+road, and her heart is full of vanity. May the Lord in His mercy bring
+her to a right mind and show her her sins and wickedness!"
+
+Heather's thoughts were with Bluebell, too. She felt it keenly that
+her sister had left her to break up their home alone. Cyril had indeed
+been a help, but he had only stayed a couple of days, and the bulk
+of the work had fallen on Heather's shoulders. Bluebell had written
+sympathizingly, but said she would be in town the week of the sale, or
+she would have tried to go to her.
+
+   "I am sure," she wrote, "it can be no grief to you to shut up that
+house. It never has had happy associations to me, though of course it
+has been our home. My only memories are of always being pounced upon by
+Abigail, and lectured, if ever we were trying to enjoy ourselves. You
+will be far happier away from it. You must come and live with me, and
+perhaps after another season in town, you will meet your fate. I am not
+at all anxious about your future, so don't worry about it."
+
+Wise advice, perhaps, but Heather felt her sister understood her
+less than ever since her marriage. Even Cyril seemed to guess at her
+feelings better. Just before he left, he said—
+
+"I wish you would come right away with me instead of staying on here.
+It is not fit work for you."
+
+"I cannot leave it. It is impossible."
+
+"Why have you all the grit, I wonder, and Minnehaha none? She takes
+life as easily as you do seriously."
+
+"Don't spoil her, Cyril," Heather said rather earnestly. "Bluebell has
+depths in her that can only be stirred by emergencies or trouble, and
+I hope she will not have that. She has not a butterfly heart, whatever
+her manner may lead you to believe. I sometimes wish life had not been
+made so easy to her."
+
+   "'Wayward as the Minnehaha,
+     With her moods of shade and sunshine,
+     Eyes that smiled and frowned alternate,
+     Feet as rapid as the river,
+     Tresses flowing like the water
+     And as musical a laughter.'
+
+"I find she bears out that description exactly, and I am very well
+satisfied with my wife as she is."
+
+"That is only as you ought to be," said Heather, smiling. "But if you
+want her to show more grit, as you express it, you must let her share
+some of your responsibility."
+
+"Ah, well, that will come in time." Then with change of tone he added,
+"I hope things may turn out better than you expect. You are very plucky
+over it. I suppose you hardly realize your misfortune with so much to
+do and to see to."
+
+"I don't think I can ever forget it," said Heather, with gravity. Then
+she added with a smile, "You must remember earthly comforts are not so
+much to me as they used to be. I have something now that I cannot lose."
+
+"Ah yes, I know. Well, I thought some months ago I had got hold of
+life differently, but it was a passing emotion, I fancy. We are
+impressionable creatures sometimes, even we men."
+
+Then Heather looked him straight in the face.
+
+"Will you tell me how you saw life differently, Cyril? Did you come
+into real touch with God? Did you take Christ to be your Saviour and
+Master?"
+
+Cyril stroked his moustache consideringly.
+
+"Well, you put it so crudely. I hardly got to those lengths. But I
+seemed to see we were not meant to live mere animal lives, and ought to
+bring glory to our Creator."
+
+"And you never got any further?"
+
+"I think I meant to look into the matter, but Minnehaha came into my
+life, and we—well, we haven't the time, you know, for quiet meditation.
+Are you going to preach to me, Regina?"
+
+"No, but I pray a good deal that you and Bluebell may be out and out
+for Christ. You will never bring glory to your Creator till you accept
+the work of His Son, and own Him as your Saviour, and take Him to be
+your King. It is dishonouring to God to refuse allegiance to the One
+He sent into the world to be our King. Forgive my plain speaking, but
+you do not know how I long that those I care for should experience the
+peace and happiness in their souls that have been given to me."
+
+She said no more, but Cyril Carter went away more impressed by her
+words than he would care to allow.
+
+Now, as Heather, with tearful eyes, raised her head from the dial and
+looked at the empty, deserted house for the last time, her thoughts
+were still with Bluebell.
+
+"She and I will never be the same again to each other as we have been
+in this old garden. Our girlhood seems a thing of the past. I feel a
+woman now in experience, and I dread seeing how changed she is, when I
+stay with her. Oh, why need changes come so fast? Nothing will ever be
+the same to me again now I have lost my home!"
+
+She started when Abigail touched her elbow.
+
+"Miss Heather, don't take on so. 'Tis the Lord's doin', and ye'll be
+givin' Him praise one day for this very trouble."
+
+"Shall I?"
+
+Heather looked up with a tearful smile.
+
+"Don't be hard on me," she added. "I came here to have my cry out
+alone. I did not know you would be here, Abigail."
+
+"Ah well, I was havin' a look round, and the old times had come up and
+near overwhelmed me. Miss Heather, my words may have been hard to you
+at times, but my heart has always held you tight, and it will to my
+dyin' day!"
+
+A choke in her voice made Heather glance at her astonished, and then in
+a moment, the faithful old servant had gathered her into her arms like
+a little child, and was sobbing her heart out over her.
+
+At last, ashamed of her display of feeling, she turned gruffly away.
+But Heather kissed the worn old cheek very tenderly before she let her
+go.
+
+"I shall never have another faithful friend like you, Abigail," she
+said; "it is nice to feel you care so. There are times lately when I
+have felt that there is no one left to care what becomes of me."
+
+
+A few days afterwards, and Heather was in Bluebell's country home. The
+sisters were glad to be together, but the house was so full of guests
+that they had little opportunity for talk alone. Heather watched her
+sister dispensing her hospitality and entertaining all her husband's
+friends with her pretty graciousness, and wondered if she had ever a
+thought beyond the present. Sometimes she fancied Bluebell eluded close
+talk with her, and she could only pray, and try not to withhold her
+testimony if opportunity favoured it.
+
+One evening after dinner, as the ladies were in the drawing-room by
+themselves, conversation turned upon old Mrs. Macintyre, with whom
+Heather was going abroad.
+
+"I am told she is an awful old tartar," said Lady Robertson, a
+vivacious young bride, who seemed to carry with her plenty of society
+gossip, "and she gambles dreadfully. I knew a girl who lived with her
+for a time. She gives her companions a handsome allowance, but compels
+them to play cards with her every evening; she always manages to win,
+and the poor creatures find their salary making its way back into the
+old lady's pockets. I am told she meditates going to Monte Carlo this
+year. I pity the slavey who goes with her."
+
+Bluebell gave a little sign to Heather not to speak, but she ignored
+it, and said frankly—
+
+"Thank you for your pity, Lady Robertson. I am going with her, I
+believe."
+
+"Good gracious! You don't say so! But not as her companion?"
+
+"Yes. You know we have lost a good bit of our money."
+
+"It is a freak of hers," said Bluebell, a little crossly. "I want her
+to stay with me, but she will be independent. I am sure a month of old
+Mrs. Macintyre will send her back to us."
+
+"Well, if you take my advice, you will get out of that card-playing,"
+said Lady Robertson.
+
+"I don't think there is any fear of her doing that," said Bluebell,
+laughing; "is there, Heather?"
+
+"No, certainly not. If such a thing had been mentioned to me, I should
+have declined going with her," said Heather, with decision.
+
+"Why? Do you object to card-playing?"
+
+"Oh, Heather is a good person," said Bluebell, laughing; "of course she
+does. I think she considers all amusements wrong. I should enjoy seeing
+her tackle Mrs. Macintyre on the subject."
+
+"Are you good?" asked a girl, Laura Kent by name. "I remember you were
+not at all prudish in your first season?"
+
+"I hope I am not prudish now," said Heather, with a rising colour. "I
+don't feel so."
+
+"You don't look it," said Lady Robertson, good naturedly. "I have an
+aunt who is dreadfully good. She drags religion into every sentence,
+until she sickens every one with it. Now, I am not against religion
+myself, but it is not a thing to be talked about."
+
+"I think there are times," said Heather, "when it is desirable to
+mention it. But it depends upon circumstances. I used to think all
+mention of religion was out of place, but if it is the most real thing
+in our lives, why should it be?"
+
+"It's a very shadowy thing to me," said Laura, thoughtfully.
+
+"It wouldn't be, if you got hold of the real thing," said Heather,
+quietly.
+
+"But what is the real thing? Nothing seems real nowadays. Everything is
+just a mere hobby, which gets ridden to death, until a fresh one comes
+along."
+
+"I suppose real Christianity is living our lives in touch with Christ,
+and having the consciousness of His presence in everything that we do
+or say."
+
+"No one could live like that, unless you were always in church or
+retired to a convent," said Lady Robertson, with a slight yawn.
+
+"And how can any one arrive at such a stage, even then?" queried Laura,
+turning her honest grey eyes upon Heather with interest.
+
+But at this moment, the gentlemen entered, and Bluebell gave a sigh of
+relief.
+
+"Come along," she said gaily; "we were just forgetting that we were
+a set of frivolous women whose after dinner talk always consists in
+picking one another to pieces. We were actually getting into deep
+theology. Let us have some music."
+
+That short conversation brought Heather into close contact with Laura
+Kent. She came to her bedroom afterwards, and had a long talk with her.
+And before Heather left her sister's, one restless, dissatisfied soul
+had found its way into the true path of peace.
+
+She began to see now that even in society there are many who need a
+helping hand and word.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+WITH FRIENDS AGAIN
+
+   "Friendship! Mysterious cement of the soul!
+      Sweet'ner of life, and solder of society,
+            I owe thee much."
+                                           BLAIR.
+
+AGAIN Heather found herself at the Priory, for a farewell visit before
+she went abroad. It was autumn, and the roses and dahlias brightened
+the old house with their rich colouring. As she stood on the lawn by
+Ena's side the first morning after her arrival, she gave a little sigh
+of happiness.
+
+"It is good to be here," she said, "and I am going to enjoy my time
+with you to the full, so that I shall look back with pleasure to this
+visit when I am abroad this coming winter."
+
+"I wish you were not going," said Ena.
+
+"Please don't make me dissatisfied. I have decided that it is right to
+go, so we will not talk about it."
+
+"That is Regina's tone," said Ena, laughing, for she had heard of
+Cyril's nickname, and sometimes used it herself.
+
+Heather laughed with her, then said a little wistfully—
+
+"Don't think me headstrong. I have had to decide things myself, and no
+one else can judge for me. I think I am being taught more and more that
+I must stand alone."
+
+"Never alone, Heather."
+
+"No," said Heather, colouring, "not in the sense you mean, and that is
+my greatest comfort."
+
+She changed the subject, and began asking Ena about her friends.
+Presently Captain Vaughan came up.
+
+"I am off on a fishing expedition, Miss Fotheringay. Won't you bring
+Ena out this afternoon, and meet me at the pool below St. Margaret's? I
+shall work down the river that way."
+
+"I should like to very much, if you feel up to it, Ena."
+
+"Yes, I shall manage very well, and we will take the kettle in the
+bottom of my chair, and have tea down there. It is an exquisite day."
+
+So it was settled, and soon after lunch they started, Dick in high
+feather at having the "charge of the h'expedition," as he expressed it.
+
+St. Margaret's was a ruined convent beneath a wooded hillside, and in
+a most exquisite hollow close to the river, which dashed over grey
+boulders of rock, arched in by overhanging trees. Ferns of the rarest
+kind grew in profusion along its banks, and Ena's chair was drawn up
+into a mossy glade, a little way from the rush of the water. There was
+no sign of Captain Vaughan when they got there, and Heather flitted
+about, gathering fir cones and dry sticks to kindle the fire, with
+girlish delight. Jack helped her with his usual dignity, and amused her
+with his remarks:
+
+"It h'appears too damp a h'atmosphere to h'ignite as it should," he
+said, watching her unavailing efforts to create the flame.
+
+But Heather persevered, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing the
+flames curl and crackle round the kettle.
+
+"Isn't it delicious here?" she said presently, throwing herself down on
+the grass by Ena's side. "It makes one feel at peace with all mankind."
+
+Ena was busy with her sketching block. She was a clever artist, and was
+rapidly filling in the nook in front of her.
+
+"Now, Heather dear, go a little farther away, and I will put you in.
+There—just so! I will not trouble you long."
+
+"You must give it to me as a memento, only I should like your figure in
+it, not mine."
+
+Just as the sketch was being finished, Captain Vaughan appeared. He had
+had a successful day, and turned out his fish with some pride before
+his sister's eyes. Then, lounging on the grass by her side, he looked
+at her sketch, and Heather, springing up, busied herself about the tea.
+
+"I have told Ena," she said to Captain Vaughan, "that if I am to keep
+that sketch I would rather she figured in it than I. Her own position
+and background is quite a picture, and I long to sketch it myself."
+
+"Don't you sketch at all?" asked Captain Vaughan, a little lazily.
+
+"No; I have no talents—except, perhaps, music. But I got disheartened
+when I was in town over that. Bluebell and I were brought up in
+the old-fashioned style, and my harp-playing seemed to most very
+extraordinary, I know."
+
+"I will try my hand at a sketch," said Captain Vaughan, taking block
+and pencil out of his sister's possession, in his slow deliberate way.
+
+And by the time tea was served round, he had sketched Ena in her chair,
+with the background of rocks and overhanging green, with such a true
+and skilful touch that Heather was delighted.
+
+"It is you exactly, isn't it, Ena? It is for me? Oh, thank you. When I
+am on the Mediterranean with my old lady I shall often look at it."
+
+A little sigh escaped her, but she changed it into a laugh as she went
+on—
+
+"Bluebell advises me to keep a diary, and call it 'Views of Riviera
+Life by one in the Background.' She says if I was very racy in my
+description of people and things, I could get it printed, and Mudie
+would take it. I am afraid it would be a strong temptation to present
+my charge in a ludicrous light. Her very appearance is awe-inspiring.
+She is a conglomeration of colour and scent, and always wears white kid
+gloves."
+
+"I want you to have some people to dinner this week, Ena," said Captain
+Vaughan, rather abruptly.
+
+Heather often fancied her friends and interests bored him, and she was
+always sorry when she became communicative in his presence.
+
+"Who are they?" asked Ena.
+
+"He is a friend I met in Rome some years ago. He is a dabbler in
+archaeology and antiquities, and he married a Miss Phillips. Her father
+is the noted sculptor. They are staying with the Gregorys; of course
+you must ask them too."
+
+"Very well. How would Friday suit you? Or is it too short notice?"
+
+As brother and sister were discussing the subject, Heather wandered off
+by herself along the river-side. She had a keen love of all that was
+beautiful in nature, and this quiet, peaceful spot seemed to soothe
+and quiet her anxious spirit. For though outwardly brave over her
+future, she had many qualms and fears about it. She could not forget
+the conversation at her sister's over the eccentric old lady who was
+to give her a home, and she viewed her gambling propensity with the
+greatest horror. Would she be able to stand her ground and refuse to
+participate in the nightly play? Ought she to acquaint the old lady
+with her principles, and let her know she could not oblige her on this
+point? Yet, as nothing had been said to her about it when she was
+engaged, it might after all be merely exaggerated gossip. Weighing the
+matter to and fro in her mind, Heather walked on.
+
+She crossed the river by a slender plank, and then climbed up into the
+fir-woods above, thinking she would catch sight of the others below.
+But she had miscalculated the distance, and when she turned to retrace
+her steps, the many winding paths in the wood confused her, and she
+missed her bearings altogether. For some time she struggled to reach
+the river, but the dense foliage below prevented her from seeing it,
+and she at last stopped in despair.
+
+"It is ridiculous to think that I am lost," she said, half laughing,
+half vexed; "they will wonder where I am. I shall not trust to these
+paths any longer. If I clamber straight down, I must come to the river,
+and then I shall find my way."
+
+With this resolve, she started her downward path through brambles and
+undergrowth, and then suddenly, without a warning, the slippery soil
+below her feet gave way, and down she rolled, over and over, with
+increased force and swiftness, till unconsciousness came to her aid,
+and she knew no more. When she at length opened her eyes, she found
+herself lying against a fallen tree about twenty feet above the river,
+which dashed along as merrily as ever. Her head felt bruised and
+aching, and, when she tried to raise herself, she found her left arm
+doubled under her, and giving her exquisite pain when she moved it.
+After several struggles, she succeeded in getting to her feet, and then
+she found she had cut her forehead in her fall.
+
+With one hand she tried to stop the bleeding and bandage it, but she
+became so faint that she was obliged to reseat herself on the ground
+and wait for assistance. She tried to call out, but she was still too
+dazed with her fall to put much energy into her cries.
+
+It was a happy moment when in the distance she heard the sound of
+footsteps, and the crackling of the dead twigs underfoot told her that
+some one was approaching. And when she saw the brown fishing-suit of
+Captain Vaughan through the trees, she called out for help with fresh
+vigour.
+
+In another moment he was by her side. "I have been scouring the wood
+for you," he said cheerily. "Have you lost yourself? Ena has gone on. I
+persuaded her to go, though she was loth to do it; but it was getting
+late. Not hurt, are you?"
+
+He was leaning over her now.
+
+And weak and unnerved, Heather was struggling against tears. "I've had
+a tumble," she said with quivering lip, "and I've hurt my arm. I almost
+think it must be broken."
+
+[Illustration: CAPTAIN VAUGHAN MADE AN IMPROMPTU SLING.]
+
+"Let me see it. Ah! Don't move. We must put it in a sling till it can
+be seen to."
+
+Captain Vaughan was not easily nonplussed. He slipped out of his pocket
+a large silk handkerchief, and in two minutes had made an impromptu
+sling. Then, as deftly and quietly as a woman, he took her own
+handkerchief and bound up her forehead.
+
+"Now sit still," he said quietly, "and drink this. And then we will see
+about getting home."
+
+He produced his flask, and Heather did as she was told, and the colour
+crept back into her lips and cheeks.
+
+In a short time she was able to walk, though in great pain. Captain
+Vaughan took good care of her, and though talking cheerily all the
+time, made her take his arm, and led her as gently as possible along
+the river bank.
+
+Heather strove to be cheerful, and when they at last reached the
+Priory, she turned to him with tears in her eyes.
+
+"I can't thank you, Captain Vaughan. You have been so good to me."
+
+"Oh, nonsense," he said, laughing; "it is not much I have been able to
+do. Come in and lie down. I will send that young scamp Dick for the
+doctor. Here, Ena, we have a patient on our hands, but I hope it is
+nothing serious."
+
+It was not serious. She was bruised and shaken by the fall, and had
+broken a small bone in her arm; but quiet and complete rest for a few
+days did wonders, and she was almost herself again in ten days' time.
+
+"You are too good to me, Ena," she said to her friend one afternoon,
+when she insisted upon her resting on the sofa in her morning-room, and
+brought her some grapes and a book to amuse herself with. "Think how I
+shall miss all this attention soon."
+
+"The more reason you should have a little of it now," said Ena,
+playfully. Then she added seriously, "I would give anything to have you
+here altogether. I have become so dependent on your society, that when
+you are away I feel inexpressibly lonely."
+
+"But you have your brother."
+
+"He is out a great deal. Oh, I know I ought not to complain, and I am
+never unhappy, only I think having you about me has made me feel not
+quite such a hopeless and incurable invalid."
+
+It was seldom Ena touched upon her infirmity. Heather looked wistfully
+at her.
+
+"If I come back with my old lady next spring, perhaps you would let me
+come to you for another visit."
+
+"You know how delighted I shall be. Oh, Heather dear, why don't you
+throw it all up and be my companion instead?"
+
+Heather smiled and shook her head.
+
+"We have argued that out many times. I am afraid I am too proud, for
+one thing. I must and will be independent of my friends, even of my
+sister, who is only too anxious I should make my home with her."
+
+"I don't believe we were brought together to be separated so soon," Ena
+went on, leaning back in her chair and looking out upon the lawn with
+dreamy eyes.
+
+"We were brought together that you might be the means of bringing me a
+big blessing," said Heather, stretching out her hand to her friend. "If
+we drift apart on earth, we shall have eternity together."
+
+"Yes; but I have a strong feeling that we shall not be allowed to drift
+apart," was the quick response.
+
+"We will hope not. At all events, we can write to each other. I often
+think how good God has been to me, Ena. Just at the time when I was
+missing Bluebell so intensely, He sent you into our neighbourhood. It
+does look as if you were meant to take her place. I don't think I could
+have borne her being gradually taken away from me if I had not found a
+friend in you. I feel Bluebell will never be the same to me again now
+as she was before she married."
+
+"Yes," repeated Ena, smiling, "and I still believe we are meant to live
+together, and I am waiting God's time for that pleasure to come."
+
+Heather shook her head, and changed the subject.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+AN UNEXPECTED OFFER
+
+   "Whither my heart has gone, there follows
+    My hand, and not elsewhere."
+                                    LONGFELLOW.
+
+IT was a stormy day. Wind and rain fought for predominance, and lashed
+the old trees on the lawn in their fury. The casement windows rattled,
+and the wind howled down the chimneys, making even Ena shiver. It
+was very near the end of Heather's visit, and she had just received
+instructions from Mrs. Macintyre as to where and when she was to meet
+her.
+
+Ena listened and advised, but soon after breakfast got such a violent
+headache that she was forced to go to her room to lie down.
+
+"Storms always affect me," she said; "if I can manage to get to sleep,
+I shall be better. Make yourself comfortable over the fire, Heather. I
+think you will hear the wind less in the drawing-room."
+
+So to the drawing-room Heather went, trying to battle with her
+depression of spirits. She took out Mrs. Macintyre's letter and re-read
+it, trying to imagine herself in familiar and friendly relations with
+that good lady. The postscript did not reassure her.
+
+"Do not bring fancy work of any sort with you. I have found it
+engrosses the thoughts too much, and your time is mine whilst you are
+with me. I wish you from the first to understand this."
+
+"It will be slavery," was Heather's thought, as, leaning back in an
+easy chair, she looked into the glowing coals in front of her, and
+tried to banish the sounds of the storm without.
+
+She remained there deep in thought until, with a start, she was roused
+by Captain Vaughan's voice.
+
+"Are you in a brown study?"
+
+Heather laughed a little unsteadily.
+
+Captain Vaughan came and leant against the old oak mantel-piece,
+looking down upon her, and pulling out the ends of his moustache
+thoughtfully.
+
+"This kind of day always seems to send you women into the blues. Ena
+has collapsed, and you—excuse me for the remark—look as if you are
+going to drown yourself!"
+
+"I have no thoughts in that direction," said Heather, looking up at him
+with a little laugh. "I think I was dreaming. I am sorry to be leaving
+Ena. I have enjoyed my visit so much here, and only regret that it is
+coming to an end."
+
+"Why do you go?"
+
+"I must."
+
+There was silence. Captain Vaughan walked to the window and looked out,
+then came back to the fire and took up his former position.
+
+"I don't see why you need go," he persisted. "Ena enjoys having you
+with her, and you do her a world of good."
+
+"I could not stay on with her indefinitely," said Heather, quietly.
+
+"I think you could."
+
+Something in his tone made Heather look up. There was purpose and
+determination in it, such as she had never heard him use before.
+
+"Would you not like to make this your home?" was his next question.
+
+Heather felt a little puzzled.
+
+"I suppose I might," she said, "if I felt it right to do so. But I see
+my way lies differently."
+
+"I want you to reconsider your decision. It is not too late. I want you
+to stay here altogether, and stay here as my wife!"
+
+If a thunderbolt had dropped at Heather's feet, she could not have felt
+more astonished. She had been accustomed to a great deal of attention
+and admiration when in London, and the very quietness and polite
+indifference with which Captain Vaughan had treated her made her regard
+him entirely as her friend's brother, and in no other light.
+
+She looked at him now in complete bewilderment, and his quiet, steady
+gaze did not help her.
+
+"Are you joking?" she asked, trying to smile.
+
+"No," he said; "I am in sober earnest."
+
+Heather's head felt in a whirl.
+
+"Is this for your sister's sake?" she asked.
+
+"For my own as well."
+
+And then mustering courage, Heather rose to her feet.
+
+"I am so utterly unprepared for this, Captain Vaughan, that I feel I
+cannot give you an answer at present. Forgive me, but even now I am
+wondering if you are in earnest."
+
+"I cannot do more than give you my word as a gentleman that I am."
+
+His tone was a little stiff. He added more gently—
+
+"Don't act in a hurry. Think it over. I believe you would be happy with
+us. We would try to make you so. I know I am much older than yourself,
+but you like our home, and are sorry to leave us. Isn't this a way out
+of your difficulty?"
+
+Then Heather looked up, and as simply as a child placed her hand in his.
+
+"I believe in your kindness of heart," she said. "Let me think it over."
+
+She left the room softly, and after she had gone, Captain Vaughan paced
+up and down with knitted brows.
+
+
+Heather fled to her room, locked the door, and with a tumult of feeling
+threw herself into the easy chair by the window. Her thoughts were
+these.
+
+"Not a word of love! It was like offering me another situation. What
+does he mean by it? If I did not know his past history, and how
+self-sacrificing and unselfish he is, I would not fear so much. It
+must be pity for me, love for his sister, that is making him act so!
+Oh, I couldn't, I couldn't! If I am not wanted for my own sake, I
+will not give myself away. He does not seem to reckon love or liking
+at all in the question, nor care to know if I like him well enough to
+link my life to his for good and all. And do I like him? Oh, I don't
+know. I honour and respect him immensely, but I don't feel I know him.
+He has depths that he will reveal to no one. He has seemed so calmly
+indifferent to all I do or say, that I can't believe he means what he
+says.
+
+"Of course I could be happy, oh, I know I could, if—if he really cared
+for me. If he was even as tender and gentle as I have sometimes seen
+him with Ena. Yet he was that the other day when he found me down by
+the river after my accident. I felt then how good it was to have some
+one to take care of one. He seemed so strong, so reliable. Oh, what
+shall I do? It is such a temptation. The right to stay on here in
+this dear old place, the right to make it my home and be shielded and
+cared for all my life. He could not make an unkind husband. Need all
+marriages be love ones? And how happy Ena would be! I know she would be
+pleased. I could look after her and make her life a brighter one, I am
+sure I could.
+
+"If only he seemed to care a little. If it is simply his unselfish
+kindness in taking pity on my homeless condition, if it is done
+entirely for his sister's sake, how could I place myself in such a
+humiliating position? Oh, I don't know what to do! I wish I had a
+mother to talk it over with. I cannot argue it out with Ena. I wonder
+if she knows. I don't believe she has any idea of it."
+
+Poor Heather soon got on her knees to ask for the guidance and help
+which she felt she so much needed at this crisis.
+
+It was a great temptation to her. She felt unutterably lonely when away
+from her friend, and the prospect of the winter before her was not
+cheering. Yet marriage had not lost its sacredness to her; she knew too
+well what misery so many marriages "de convenance" brought, and her
+pride recoiled from giving herself away unloved.
+
+The luncheon bell rang, and she reluctantly left her room, hoping that
+she would not be condemned to a "tête-à-tête" meal with the one so much
+in her thoughts. This was spared her. Ena's head was better, and she
+was able to come to the table. Captain Vaughan was out, the maid told
+them, and would not return till dinner-time.
+
+"Where can he have gone in this storm?" said Ena. "He told me he would
+be indoors most of the day."
+
+"I think it is going to clear," Heather said, looking out of the
+window, where great masses of dark clouds rolled by, and gleams of
+light appeared on the horizon.
+
+"Perhaps it is. We must hope so. You look pale and worried, Heather
+dear. What have you been doing with yourself?"
+
+"I have been in my room most of the morning."
+
+"Not packing?"
+
+"No, not yet. I have still two days before me."
+
+Ena saw she was troubled, but thought it was at the idea of her near
+departure, and Heather still felt her mind in such chaos that she could
+not mention what had passed.
+
+"He is the person to tell her, not I," she thought.
+
+The afternoon passed. Ena was at all times a pleasant companion, and
+Heather was enough versed in self-control to set her feelings aside and
+enter into her friend's interests.
+
+Captain Vaughan made his appearance just as they were finishing
+afternoon tea, and Heather slipped quietly out of the room, leaving him
+telling his sister where he had been.
+
+When she had closed the door behind her, Captain Vaughan said abruptly—
+
+"Have you been told anything, Ena?"
+
+"No; what?"
+
+He did not answer for a moment, then he said slowly—
+
+"I asked your little friend to stay on with us indefinitely."
+
+"Did you really? I'm afraid you did not succeed in persuading her to do
+so."
+
+"I don't know."
+
+Something in his voice made his sister look up.
+
+"Now, Bertram, what is it? You're keeping something back."
+
+"I offered her an extra inducement to stay," was the dry response.
+
+Ena caught her breath. Her woman's quick wit guessed the truth at once.
+
+"Oh, Bertram!" she exclaimed. "If you care for her, I shall have
+obtained my heart's desire!"
+
+"How about her side?"
+
+"Oh, she must, she will say Yes. I have secretly longed to be a
+match-maker. You don't know how I have wished to bring you together.
+But you are so silent, and have been particularly so in reference to
+her, that I hardly dared to hope it. What did she say?"
+
+"She has postponed her reply."
+
+"No wonder she has looked so absorbed. Why didn't she confide in me? I
+must see her at once. Oh, Bertram, I can't tell you what I feel about
+it! It is more than I hoped, and now this dreadful visit abroad must be
+put an end to. But why have you left it so late in the day? It might
+have been too late altogether. Will you ring for Dick?"
+
+Ena was quite excited.
+
+Her brother listened to her apparently quite unmoved, then, with his
+hand upon the bell, he said quietly—
+
+"I must ask you, as a special favour, not to allude to this matter
+until after dinner. It will be an awkward time for all of us if you do.
+I am going out afterwards, so you will have the whole evening to talk
+over it."
+
+Ena's face fell, but she saw the wisdom of her brother's words.
+
+As it was, there was a certain constraint upon them all when they met
+in the dining-room. Captain Vaughan was perhaps the least discomposed,
+and Heather talked away to Ena rather more rapidly than usual, as if
+she dreaded any pauses in the conversation.
+
+It was afterwards in the drawing-room that Ena touched upon the
+subject, and her intense delight in the possibility of the engagement
+made it very difficult for Heather to express her real sentiments.
+
+She could not let his sister know that she doubted his reality of
+feeling about it. And she sighed to think that at such a time as this,
+her friend could not give her an unbiassed opinion, for Ena felt that
+no one could refuse her brother. And Heather wondered, if she were to
+refuse him, whether it would bring a break in her friendship with his
+sister.
+
+[Illustration: "DO YOU REALLY WANT ME TO SAY 'YES'?"]
+
+She went to bed that night still restless and undecided, wondering if
+the dictates of her heart would play her false.
+
+For by this time she had come to this conclusion. Life with Captain
+Vaughan at her side wore a very roseate hue; without him, it would
+be a blank. And if she had been convinced that he reciprocated these
+sentiments, there would have been no cloud upon her horizon. There was
+little or no sleep for her. The storm that still swept on its wild way
+outside was a picture of the storm within her soul, but at length, as
+another day dawned soft and fair, with no signs of the wild weather
+that had preceded it, Heather's resolve was made. The dawning of a
+love which now surprised herself overcame the pride that had battled
+fiercely for predominance.
+
+
+It was after breakfast in the garden that Heather gave her answer. She
+was gathering dahlias in an old-fashioned winding walk that led round
+the outskirts of the grounds, when a step behind her sent a quick flush
+to her cheek.
+
+It was Captain Vaughan, and he spoke with his usual simple directness.
+
+"I have come for my answer, Miss Fotheringay."
+
+Then Heather faced him, and her eyes held his for a moment as she tried
+to read him through and through.
+
+"Do you really want me to say Yes?" she asked, a little unsteadily.
+
+"I do, indeed," was the grave reply.
+
+Her eyes dropped. With a pretty grace, she put both her hands in his.
+
+"Then I say it."
+
+"God bless you."
+
+That was all, but it was enough.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+ABROAD
+
+   "Let nothing disturb thee,
+    Nothing affright thee;
+    All things are passing,
+    God never changeth,
+    Patient endurance
+    Attaineth to all things."
+                              LONGFELLOW.
+
+"SEND her a telegram, and tell her a letter will follow."
+
+"I could not do it."
+
+"What do you propose, then?"
+
+Captain Vaughan and Heather were speaking, and they were out on the
+lawn after breakfast the next morning. Ena was there, too, in her
+chair, superintending a little gardening done by Dick. Captain Vaughan
+was going to his farm, but stayed to discuss Heather's intended trip
+abroad.
+
+"It would not be right to throw her over at the last minute," said
+Heather, looking at Captain Vaughan rather pleadingly.
+
+He had a little frown between his eyes, for he was strongly averse to
+her keeping to her engagement, and Heather still felt strangely shy of
+him. She turned to Ena.
+
+"Oh, Ena, help me; you know I could not do it. What would she say, when
+all her preparations are made, and she is relying upon me to join her
+to-morrow at Victoria Station?"
+
+"I don't know what to say," said Ena, with a smile. The future of the
+two she loved best in the world looked so bright to her that nothing
+else seemed to matter. "I am sure," she went on, "we shall not consent
+to your being abroad with her till next spring. But I confess it is
+very late now for you to refuse to go to her."
+
+"Well," said Captain Vaughan, with a shrug of his shoulders, "you must
+talk it over together, and settle it your own way, as you will not have
+my advice. My proposal is that she should be written to at once. She
+could very soon find another companion; it would only delay her trip
+for a week or two."
+
+He walked off. Heather looked after him for a minute, then with light
+steps rejoined him before he reached the garden gate.
+
+"You won't be vexed with me if I go?" she asked.
+
+He stopped, and laid his hand on her shoulder. His tone was grave, but
+his eyes had that kindly humour in them that was one of his attractions
+to women.
+
+"You won't take care of yourself," he said, "and now I consider I have
+the right to take care of you."
+
+"You would not like me to do anything dishonourable?"
+
+Heather was smiling now, but she watched his face a little anxiously.
+
+"I don't think you could," was the reply; "but settle it as you will
+with Ena."
+
+"I think the best way for me to act is to go with Mrs. Macintyre, and
+stay with her until she finds some one else to take my place. I will
+tell her what you wish. And a month abroad will not hurt me. Please say
+you approve of this."
+
+"I don't approve, but I will try and be content with it."
+
+He went off, and Heather returned to Ena, feeling lighter hearted at
+his consent.
+
+Both he and his sister wished to prolong her stay with them, but
+Heather never flinched where she saw her duty lay.
+
+Accordingly, the next day found her making her departure, but not with
+the sad heart-sinkings that she had anticipated a short time before.
+
+[Illustration: "YOU WON'T BE VEXED WITH ME IF I GO?"]
+
+As she looked round the old Priory, and gazed at it lying still and
+peaceful in the autumn sunshine, as she mounted the trap and let her
+eyes rest on the old stone porch with its quaint inscription, now
+almost hidden under the flaming creepers surrounding it, and waved a
+misty farewell to Ena in her wheeled chair, and her important attendant
+standing by her side, her heart was throbbing with bright hope and
+gladness.
+
+"I shall come back to it again, and it will be my home."
+
+And if a little shadow lay on her path, if a little doubt of the strong
+figure by her side seemed to rise in her heart, she stifled and stilled
+it instantly.
+
+"He is a good, a noble man; an unselfish son and brother; and he will
+be as good to me as he has been to every one else."
+
+Captain Vaughan was very silent during the drive, and Heather was quite
+content to follow his example. He looked after her comforts, and when
+the train was just moving off gave her a warm hand-grip.
+
+"God bless and keep you! Write to us soon. And remember that we expect
+you back before Christmas."
+
+Heather leant back in her seat, and wondered if any girl had such an
+undemonstrative lover as she. Yet she assured herself that she would
+rather have one such hand-grip from him than dozens of flattering
+protestations of admiration and love from any one else, and for the
+rest of her journey she lived in a dream.
+
+
+She met Mrs. Macintyre, as arranged, at Victoria Station, and then,
+indeed, she had her hands full. An exacting, nervous, and irritable
+companion on a long railway journey is always a trial. It was doubly so
+to Heather in her present position, and before three or four days had
+elapsed, she felt nearly worn out.
+
+Yet her patience and good nature never flagged, and even Mrs. Macintyre
+owned after a fortnight's time that she suited her very well.
+
+But Heather could not leave her long in ignorance of her own plans, and
+when, as gently as possible, she told her that her circumstances had
+changed, and that her friends wished her to return to them as soon as
+she could be spared, there was trouble at once. Mrs. Macintyre was a
+woman who had never controlled her temper or restrained her tongue, and
+she was furious at this change of purpose.
+
+"You have deliberately deceived me; I engaged you for the winter,
+and you are trying to leave me stranded in a foreign place amongst
+strangers. But I will not have it. You are bound to me, and stay with
+me you shall, for the time we agreed upon! Have I not given way to
+your nasty narrow cranks? When you told me you never played for money
+on principle, did I not generously concede to your request that you
+should be allowed to read to me instead? Have I not denied myself the
+pleasure of my usual recreation in order to gratify your Pharisaical
+nature? It is only the pious people like yourself who can stoop to
+such mean actions, and you are with the wrong person, let me tell you,
+Miss Fotheringay, if you think you can act so! There would have been
+hundreds only too glad and thankful to step into your shoes!"
+
+"I would not leave you, Mrs. Macintyre, until you have some one to
+take my place. I think you will not find it difficult, as you say, to
+find some one else. I am truly sorry. It would have been better not to
+come with you at all, but I could not bear to put you off at the last
+minute!"
+
+"I will not hear a word more from you," and Mrs. Macintyre literally
+stamped her foot. "I forbid you to mention the subject again. You dare
+not break your agreement with me, for I should simply take it into the
+law courts rather than give way. Pack our trunks to-night for Monte
+Carlo, and not another word!"
+
+So to Monte Carlo they went, and the old lady solaced herself for the
+want of a congenial companion, by frequenting the gaming tables day by
+day. It was a time of unspeakable wretchedness to Heather, for though
+she never took part, she was dragged there against her will; and the
+very atmosphere seemed degrading.
+
+
+But the end came in an unexpected way.
+
+Ena received a letter a fortnight after, which made her cheeks blanch.
+She handed it to her brother without a word.
+
+And he sat for a moment after reading, as if considering his course of
+action.
+
+   "DEAREST ENA,—I write to you because I feel I can give you fuller
+details than Captain Vaughan. I have gone through such a dreadful
+time this last twenty-four hours that I hardly know how to describe
+it. I told you how infatuated poor Mrs. Macintyre has been over these
+dreadful tables. She first won a great deal, but this last week has
+been losing steadily every day. The night before last she came to my
+room and implored me to lend her some money. She told me she had lost
+everything she possessed, and must win it back. I did not know whether
+to believe her or not, but we had a dreadful scene. I steadily refused
+to lend her one franc, and then—I could not help it—I think she wrought
+upon my feelings so that I felt I must speak plainly. And I spoke
+straight to her about her soul and the life she was leading.
+
+   "I am thankful I did now, but I shall never forget her look of
+astonishment when I first began. Of course, she was very angry, but I
+begged her to listen to me. I told her I knew I was only a young girl,
+with not a quarter of her experience of the world, but that I had seen
+a little of it, and compared with my present life it was as chaff to
+wheat. And at last she grew calmer, and finally, to my perplexity and
+distress, she burst into tears, and said that there was no one in the
+wide world who cared for her. She was a ruined woman, and would die
+in the workhouse, and life was a tangle and hideous disappointment
+from beginning to end. She let me talk to her for over an hour. I felt
+utterly inexperienced and helpless, and yet when I got my Bible, and
+she let me give her a verse or two, I felt quite at rest about it.
+She said no one had ever spoken to her about such things before. I
+think she was utterly crushed by her losings, and so was more ready to
+listen. Then I begged her to come away from Monte Carlo, and when she
+said she had no ready money, I told her I would willingly lend her some
+for that purpose.
+
+   "So the next morning we left, and came straight on to Nice. We were
+nearly there, when there was the most awful shock I have ever felt in
+my life. I shall never forget the horror of it. It was a collision. You
+will perhaps see it in the papers before this reaches you. I remember
+nothing after the first shock. When I came to myself, I found myself
+with a number of others on the railway bank, doctors and officials
+rushing frantically about, and gesticulating and chattering as only
+Frenchmen can. I felt dreadfully queer and shaken, but found I was not
+injured in any way, and my first thought was for Mrs. Macintyre. I
+can't tell you what a shock it was to come across her poor body. She
+had been killed instantaneously, the doctors said, her skull fractured.
+
+   "I cannot tell you all I have been through. They seem abroad as if
+their one idea is to bury their dead instantaneously, and they hardly
+gave me time to telegraph to her lawyer before they were making
+arrangements for the burial. I am staying at this quiet hotel, and have
+just received a telegram from her lawyer saying he and a cousin of hers
+will be with me to-night. I feel almost as if it were my doing that we
+were in the accident. If I had not hurried her away from Monte Carlo
+she might have been alive and well now; and yet, would you not have
+acted in the same way if you had been in my place? I can't believe she
+is really gone, it seems so awful. Pray for me, won't you? I am quite
+unnerved. Your loving—
+
+                             "HEATHER."
+
+"I shall go out to her and fetch her back at once," he said briefly.
+
+"She may have started home before you can reach her."
+
+"I shall wire."
+
+"Poor dear child. What an awful experience! How little we thought by
+what means she would be brought back to us!"
+
+Captain Vaughan sent his telegram, but received one before he could
+start.
+
+"Cyril here. Am returning with him."
+
+
+And so, a few days after, Heather found herself with her sister in her
+London house. Bluebell received her affectionately. She was pleased
+with her engagement, and begged Captain Vaughan to come up and stay
+with them for a short time. This he was unable to do, and Heather
+almost felt it a relief when she heard he was not coming.
+
+She had suffered more than she at first thought in the collision, and
+for days she did not leave her room. The doctor said it had been a
+great shock to her nerves, and she must be kept very quiet.
+
+Poor Heather felt that in such a gay house, and with the roar and
+bustle of the London streets so close to her, this was a difficult
+prescription to follow. But Bluebell was not very well herself, and
+determined to spend a quiet Christmas in the country, so in a few
+weeks' time, they went to their country house, and Heather's health and
+spirits began to improve at once.
+
+It was in the middle of February that Bluebell became the happy mother
+of a little son, and her joy and pride in her baby was intense.
+
+"Oh, Heather," she said one evening, as they were in the nursery seeing
+him put into his little cot, "I never thought I should be so foolish
+over a child. I think he will be my idol now. If anything could wean me
+from society and the gay life you condemn, he will. I believe I could
+be happy in a cottage with him in my arms."
+
+"He has been sent to you in love," responded Heather, gravely; "let him
+draw you to the One who has given him to you."
+
+"Yes. I really mean to be a good mother. He is such a charge to train.
+I should never like him to grow up and find anything in his mother to
+condemn. I mean to be everything that is good and noble now that I am a
+mother."
+
+She spoke in the full joy and confidence of her mother's love, and for
+a time was very softened. Yet when her vigorous health and spirits
+returned to her, she plunged afresh into gaiety, and laughed at her
+sister's pleadings.
+
+Her love for her child seemed almost a passion, and Cyril shared in the
+adoration. But, like many others, Bluebell cast all serious thoughts
+away from her, and refused to recognize that the gift was from God, and
+that she might be called upon to relinquish it.
+
+About this time Captain Vaughan came to pay his long-promised visit.
+
+Heather met him with mingled feelings of shyness and delight. She had
+not seen him since she had been abroad, and her correspondence with him
+was rather constrained. She still had the feeling that she did not know
+him, and that his heart was not hers.
+
+She was alone in her sister's sunny drawing-room when he arrived. He
+came in with his kindly smile and cheery voice, and, for the first time
+since they had been engaged, stooped and kissed her. It brought the
+blood with a rush to her cheeks, and almost overpowered her, but asking
+after Ena and hearing the Priory news soon put her at ease.
+
+"And when are you coming back to us for good?" he asked presently.
+"There is no need to wait much longer, is there?"
+
+Heather looked at him with startled eyes, and he did not press the
+question.
+
+But before many days passed Bluebell asked Heather the same question.
+
+"Do you want to get rid of me?" Heather asked with a smile.
+
+"I want you to be happy in a home of your own like I am. Why should you
+wait? I always think long engagements are a mistake. When you have once
+made up your mind to marry a man, the sooner it is done the better. I
+suppose your mind is made up?"
+
+"Of course it is. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Oh, sometimes I think you are a queer couple, so dreadfully
+matter-of-fact and undemonstrative! And then there is the sister.
+I wish you were not going to be saddled with her. An invalid
+sister-in-law is rather trying. I think she ought to live elsewhere."
+
+"If Ena were not there, I wouldn't marry at all," said Heather, with
+some heat.
+
+Bluebell leant back in her chair and looked at her sister, half amused,
+half perplexed.
+
+"It is the sister you are going to marry, then, not him? I thought so."
+
+"Oh, Bluebell, don't tease so. You know I wouldn't marry a man if I did
+not care for him."
+
+And Heather walked away, with her head a little bit uplifted, whilst
+Bluebell called after her mischievously—
+
+"He ought to take you to a desert island for your honeymoon, to find
+out whether it is he or his sister who has won your affections."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A TREASURE TAKEN
+
+   "Her little child hath gone to sleep,
+    Why should a mother watch and weep?
+    Earth's ills were gathering round his nest.
+    He crept into a Father's breast."
+
+ANOTHER lovely spring afternoon, reminding Heather strangely of the
+first day she saw the Priory. But now she was coming to it as a bride,
+and as she entered the old stone porch, leaning on her husband's arm,
+she looked up with a happy smile. "'Sic vos non vobis,'" she repeated;
+"you must remind me of that, sometimes, Bertram. I hope I shall not be
+tempted to forget it."
+
+Captain Vaughan knew his young wife too well to think that would be
+possible, and later in the evening, when they stood together watching
+the sun set in all its golden beauty, he drew her gently to him.
+
+"Will an old man make you happy?" he asked.
+
+Heather's doubts and fears had long gone now. She raised her face
+trustingly to his.
+
+"I never thought I could be so happy," she said.
+
+And then he laughed.
+
+"Your sister had her doubts of me. She told me I was too
+undemonstrative. But I cannot wear my heart on my sleeve. From the
+first day that you set your foot inside this house, I knew that if I
+were to have a wife at all, it must be you. I was afraid our life would
+be too quiet for you, and the disparity in our ages made me waver."
+
+"But you ventured at last," Heather said, laughingly, "and I think I
+was never so astonished in my life. If you ever do such a thing again,
+let me advise you to show a little more warmth of feeling before you
+propose; you were always like an iceberg to me."
+
+"I think one venture will be enough," Captain Vaughan replied
+humorously. "I will see how this one turns out first."
+
+And then, secure in each other's trust and love, they settled down as
+husband and wife, and Ena's cup of happiness was full.
+
+
+One evening towards the end of June, they were again in the garden.
+Heather was picking some roses; Captain Vaughan resting in a lounge
+chair under one of the old elms, for he had been away from home on
+business all day, and had returned very tired; and Ena reading an
+article in the "Times" by his side. Heather hovered about, occasionally
+putting in a remark, and presently her husband called her.
+
+"Come here," he said, for he was watching her every movement; "you are
+looking quite pale; why are you so restless? Leave the roses in peace,
+and listen to this article."
+
+She came and stood over him, with her hand lightly resting on his
+shoulder.
+
+"I am listening," she said; "but I don't care for the subject. I am
+afraid I am too insular to care about quarrels in the French senate."
+
+Captain Vaughan drew another chair to his side, and made her sit down.
+But directly Ena had finished, she got up, and wandered away by herself
+again.
+
+This time Captain Vaughan followed her, and found her leaning over a
+stone wall at the end of the flower garden, which overlooked the valley
+and river below.
+
+When she turned round and saw him, she smiled, but the creases in her
+forehead did not disappear.
+
+"Well," he said, taking out his pipe, and leaning against the wall
+rather lazily, "what is the matter with you this evening? Why are you
+so perturbed?"
+
+"I don't think I am perturbed," Heather replied evasively; "it is very
+close to-night. Do you think we are going to have a storm?"
+
+"I should not say so."
+
+There was silence for a minute, then he said lightly, watching her
+keenly the while—
+
+"I am not to be honoured with your confidence then?"
+
+Heather flushed up at once. Then turning round in her pretty, graceful
+way, she laid her hand on his arm.
+
+"You won't laugh at me?"
+
+"Do I ever?"
+
+"Yes, with your eyes, if not with your mouth."
+
+"I will shut them."
+
+"I don't think I will tell you."
+
+Captain Vaughan was a wise man. He said nothing, only waited.
+
+And then, with a little sigh, Heather looked away to some dark grey
+clouds rolling by in the distance.
+
+"I feel oppressed," she said. "I have felt so all day. I can't describe
+it to you, but I'm sure there's trouble coming, and—and Bluebell's in
+it!"
+
+Captain Vaughan did not laugh, but he raised his eyebrows.
+
+Heather went on with knitted brow—
+
+"I dreamt of her all last night, and I haven't had her out of my
+thoughts all day. I feel as if she is in trouble, and it makes me
+uneasy."
+
+Captain Vaughan put his arm round her, and drew her to him gently.
+
+"You mustn't get fanciful, little woman. I thought you were too
+sensible to be so swayed by your imagination."
+
+"I am sure I shall hear some bad news," Heather said, in a troubled
+voice, as she tightened her hold of his coat-sleeve. "We are twins,
+Bertram. People may laugh at it, but I remember, when we were quite
+children, I always knew if Bluebell were in trouble, even when she was
+quite away from me."
+
+"Don't get into the way of anticipating trouble. You will make yourself
+more miserable than you are intended to be."
+
+"You don't believe in it? Do you think I am mistaken?"
+
+Heather raised her face so wistfully that her husband had not the heart
+to laugh at her.
+
+"My dear child," he said gently, "if you are anxious about her, pray
+for her and leave it. What do you think could happen to her? She was
+quite well when you heard last, was she not?"
+
+"Yes; she is in town. I will try and think it fancy. Talk to me about
+other things to take my mind off."
+
+Captain Vaughan did his best to comply with this request, but Heather
+was not at all herself that evening.
+
+And she had unconsciously so impressed her husband with her sense of
+impending trouble that he was not in the least surprised the next
+morning when a telegram was brought up to the house for her. Its
+contents were brief.
+
+   "Come to me at once."
+
+                         "BLUEBELL."
+
+Yes, after eighteen months of happy married life, Bluebell was called
+to go through her first crushing trouble.
+
+She had come up for the season in town, without a shadow on her path.
+Her boy was growing into a most lovely and engaging child, and when she
+was not enjoying the society of her friends, she was always to be found
+in his nursery. She had been fortunate enough to secure the services of
+a very trustworthy and experienced nurse, so had no anxiety about his
+welfare.
+
+One afternoon, her husband came into the drawing-room, and found
+mother and son in the midst of a regular gambol on the hearthrug. He
+remonstrated with a smile on his wife's undignified position, and she
+rose to her feet, tossing her boy in the air with all a mother's pride
+in his bonny beauty.
+
+"Isn't he a kill-joy, my sweet! Your mother shall crawl on all fours
+with you if she pleases, and you shall satisfy her craving for a romp,
+as her cynical old husband never can!"
+
+Baby Percival chuckled with delight at this thrust at his father, and
+diving amongst his mother's curly tresses, wrought such havoc there
+with his chubby fingers that Cyril had to come to the rescue. And then,
+with wife on one knee and son on the other, he proceeded to deliver a
+mild harangue on a time and season for all things.
+
+It was a pretty family scene, and one that lingered in the parents'
+memories for long afterwards.
+
+Only the next day, the nurse remarked on baby's listlessness. It was
+the heat, his mother said.
+
+"We shall be going out of town soon. He is looking pale; the country
+will soon set him up again."
+
+She went out to dinner that night, and when she and her husband
+returned, were met on their door-step by their doctor.
+
+"Your nurse has called me in," he said gravely; "I think the child has
+had a touch of the sun—"
+
+Bluebell's cheeks blanched at once.
+
+"Nothing serious, is it?" asked her husband, quickly.
+
+"We will hope not. I will come again to-morrow early. I have given your
+nurse all necessary instructions."
+
+Bluebell had dashed upstairs with her usual impetuosity, and her
+husband found her a few minutes later leaning over her child's cot with
+agonized anxiety, the nurse trying in vain to soothe her.
+
+She turned her eyes up to her husband's face as he drew near, and her
+expression was like that of some wounded animal brought to bay.
+
+"She won't let me touch him, Cyril! I'm his mother. He is ill; and he
+shall be ill in his mother's arms!"
+
+With difficulty, she was persuaded to let her child alone. But an hour
+after, her husband came again into the nursery, and found her in a low
+rocking-chair, with her baby in her arms.
+
+"I have him fast," she said, "and—" lowering her voice to one of
+intense determination—"I shall let no one—no, not death itself, take
+him from me!"
+
+Cyril wondered if she were losing her senses. He noted the fever spots
+on her cheeks, the dark circles round her eyes, and the anguish that
+shone out of them.
+
+"You are exciting yourself needlessly, darling," he said. "Dr. Hope did
+not say he was in danger."
+
+Bluebell looked at her husband, then at her child.
+
+"Dr. Hope is not a mother," she said. "I know! I can tell! He hardly
+knows his mother, my bonny baby boy!"
+
+And all through the silent hours of the night, she sat with her child
+in her lap, prepared to wrestle with the unseen foe, so close at hand.
+
+At early dawn the doctor was sent for, and he came in haste, but a look
+at the baby's figure, with his curly golden head hanging like a dead
+weight upon his mother's arm, told him the truth.
+
+He shook his head sadly. "I am afraid it is only a question of time."
+
+"You 'must' save him, doctor; you 'must.' He shall not be taken from
+me. He hasn't yet learnt to call me mother; his life is only beginning;
+it is all in front of him. I tell you, he 'shall' not die!"
+
+Dr. Hope stood silently by. He had witnessed too many of these scenes
+to be very deeply moved; and yet something in the pitiable defiance of
+this young mother, the hopeless fight against a power that was going to
+crush her in spite of all her struggles, brought a huskiness into his
+voice as he replied—
+
+"Life and death are in higher hands than mine. God alone can save your
+child."
+
+"Then pray, oh, Cyril, pray, all of you pray!"
+
+Bluebell's voice rang out, and it was shrill and metallic in tone. Her
+husband stood by her side, working his moustache up and down fiercely
+to hide his emotion. The nurse stood behind her mistress's chair,
+and the doctor on his knees felt the tiny pulse that was beating so
+fitfully, so feebly.
+
+There was no response to Bluebell's appeal, only silence.
+
+She talked recklessly on, hardly knowing what she said. "Only God
+can save him. Well, He will, He 'must,' He gave him to me. I used to
+love God once; He remembers; He won't be so cruel as to take him. If
+He takes him, I shall go too, I shall! I will not live without him.
+Oh, pray, Cyril, pray! Be quick, the minutes are flying! I am like a
+stone; I can't do it; some one must. Will you see him die for want of a
+prayer?"
+
+A sob rose in Cyril's throat. He turned despairing eyes towards the
+doctor.
+
+And he did not fail them.
+
+   "O God Almighty, we beseech Thee to save this child's life, for
+Christ's sake. Amen."
+
+There was stillness. The angel of death hovered above as if awaiting
+God's command.
+
+But in love and pity the word was given, and the angel softly descended.
+
+Baby opened his blue eyes, and the sweetest smile hovered over his
+lips. But his look and smile were not at his mother, and she saw and
+understood.
+
+Only the ticking of the doctor's watch in his hand was heard, and then
+a little child's tired sigh and a sharp agonizing cry from a mother's
+breaking heart.
+
+One more baby spirit gathered in all its fresh innocence and beauty
+above, one more empty cot and childless home.
+
+An hour after, the telegram was sent to Heather, and she reached her
+sister that same evening. She was met in the hall by Cyril.
+
+"It's the boy," he said huskily; "he has been taken from us. Go to
+his mother, and get her to eat something if you can; she has touched
+nothing for twenty-four hours."
+
+Without a word, Heather sped up the stairs, and was shown into her
+sister's darkened bedroom. She found her seated in her easy chair, her
+hands locked tightly together, but lying listlessly upon her lap. She
+looked up, and Heather almost started. Could this white-strained face,
+with vacant, hard stare and grim-set mouth, belong to her bright and
+sunny sister? She seemed to have aged ten years.
+
+And then in a moment Heather had her arms round her, and was sobbing
+out—
+
+"My darling, I knew of your trouble yesterday. I would have come to
+you, even if I had received no telegram, for I felt you would need me.
+How did it happen? Can you tell me?"
+
+"Yes," said Bluebell, in an unmoved tone. "I can tell you every
+detail. God has struck hard at last. He couldn't have sent me a worse
+punishment, could He? He knew better than you can, what my baby was to
+me. I suppose He gave me my chance of serving Him in my prosperity, and
+as I didn't do it, has begun to take away from me! Begun! He has taken
+my all, and it will not draw me heavenwards. Cruelty will not draw me!"
+
+"Oh, hush, hush, dear. God is never cruel. He only wounds to heal. Tell
+me about your darling."
+
+Bluebell gave her all the details in a hard, dry voice.
+
+"Come and see him," she said; "I have only just come away. Nurse won't
+let me stay longer."
+
+She led the way into the nursery, and the sight of the little clothes,
+the toys, and all the child's belongings, brought the tears with
+another rush to Heather's eyes. The mother drew aside the curtains of
+the little cot, and gazed with tearless eyes upon her boy.
+
+Like a little waxen image he lay, nestled in a bed of white flowers.
+His little hands were clasped across his breast, and the long lashes,
+resting on his cheek, looked as if they ought to lift and show his
+mischievous blue eyes beneath them.
+
+Heather bent and kissed the white, fair brow, and softly stroked the
+golden curls.
+
+"Happy baby," she murmured. "He will never give you a heartache now—an
+anxious thought."
+
+"He never would have done that had he lived," said Bluebell, coldly.
+
+"How can you tell? You would have brought him up for the world, and
+think of some of the men we have met, who have had just such careful
+love from their mothers as you would have given him."
+
+"I would have taught him to be good," said Bluebell, gazing with
+thoughtfulness on the silent little form. "I think I might have been
+given another chance."
+
+"I suppose God felt He could train him better Himself," said Heather,
+softly. "Don't think of him as dead, darling; he has been moved into
+God's garden. You will thank God one day that He took him before he
+knew either sorrow or sin."
+
+[Illustration: HEATHER KNELT QUIETLY BY HER AND PRAYED.]
+
+Bluebell made no reply, she continued to gaze upon her child with stony
+eyes.
+
+"I keep thinking he may wake up," she said drearily; "it's the awful
+stillness that appals one so. And yet I wish I could be lying dead
+beside him. I have nothing to live for now."
+
+"Oh, Bluebell, not your husband?"
+
+"I am sick of everybody and everything. Oh, my boy, my boy!" She flung
+herself on her knees by the cot, and bowed her head upon the little
+form.
+
+Heather knelt quietly by her and prayed. She felt it was the only thing
+she could do. Who could comfort a mother but the Comforter Himself?
+
+   "O God, have pity upon us. Thou hast done it in love, let Bluebell feel
+this. Comfort her; draw her to Thyself, and let her realize that the
+same arm that is round her child is round her. And comfort Cyril too,
+and make this heavy trial into a real blessing to them both. For Jesus
+Christ's sake. Amen."
+
+Then sobs shook Bluebell's frame—dry, choking sobs at first, but soon
+the tears came, and proved a real relief to her heated brain. And then,
+by the side of her dead child, Bluebell crept back to the feet of that
+Saviour whom she had left.
+
+   "Have pity on me!" she sobbed. "I want him to be mine still, though
+Thou hast taken him. Help me to meet him again. Forgive my worldliness,
+my love of everything but Thee. Take me back, receive me, pardon me.
+Make me believe Thou hast done it in love. Keep me from getting more
+hardened."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+DUTY A GOOD MISTRESS
+
+   "Calmly we look behind us, on joys and sorrows past,
+    We know that all is mercy now, and shall be well at last.
+    Calmly we look before us—we fear no future ill:
+    Enough for safety and for peace, if Thou art with us still."
+                                                  H. L. L.
+
+HEATHER stayed with her sister till after the funeral. And Bluebell,
+after the first violence of her grief was over, was strangely calm and
+self-controlled. Only once, when her husband called her by his pet
+name, "Minnehaha," did she turn upon him almost fiercely—
+
+"Never call me that again, for there will be no more laughter for me."
+
+Heather was urged to stay with them longer, but she felt that husband
+and wife would draw the closer together after she left.
+
+"I have my husband to think of," she said to Bluebell, as they were
+talking in Heather's room one evening.
+
+"Oh, I always think you are only half married," said Bluebell, with a
+little of her old impetuosity; "he has his sister."
+
+"But his sister is not his wife."
+
+And Heather's tone was regal.
+
+"Do you really love him?" asked Bluebell.
+
+But when she saw the light that sparkled in Heather's eyes, she sighed.
+
+"Well, we must part. Cyril wants to take me abroad; I suppose I must
+go. Do you know, I have been thinking about our two selves a great
+deal. I suppose we were children of many prayers. We never had a
+temptation to speak of, until we forsook our quiet nest and plunged
+into gaiety. I think I had more qualms about it at first than you had,
+but it was strange how we drifted apart. I suppose God was calling us
+both back; you listened, and I shut my ears."
+
+"No," said Heather; "I often wonder at it myself. I only went home
+because I thought it was my duty, not because I thought our gay life
+was wrong."
+
+"Well, I shut my eyes to duty. I tell you honestly, Heather, I have
+been quietly fighting against God ever since our first season in town.
+I knew in my heart, before that year was over, that the world was
+swallowing up all my ambitions, my desires, and my affections. I knew I
+could not serve two masters, and I deliberately chose the world. When I
+was going to be married, you impressed me tremendously. I felt I ought
+to be different, but I put it off. When my darling came to me, I almost
+prayed I might be given the strength to change my life. But I still
+clung on to everything that made life pleasant to me. And I have found
+out this for myself, Heather, I am not judging any one else. I suppose
+I am too impetuous. I must throw myself heart and soul into everything
+I do. But—I cannot live a society life and be at peace with God. The
+two things don't go together. Some people say they can. I think they
+must be satisfied with a very little religion, not the sort that goes
+deep down into your soul, and affects every fibre of your being. I have
+been fighting, as I say, against God all this time, and I knew it."
+
+"I think your religion must have been more than a mere form in our
+girlish days," said Heather, looking at her sister thoughtfully.
+
+"It was. I often used to wonder if you felt it as deeply as I did."
+
+"No; it seemed to come upon me quite as a fresh revelation."
+
+"I was watching yesterday morning a few sheep being turned into an
+enclosure in the Park," said Bluebell, gently. "I noticed the ones who
+had to be driven and beaten before they would enter, and those who ran
+in without any trouble."
+
+There was silence.
+
+Then Heather said—"You think I have run in without any trouble?"
+
+"Yes; and I have had to be driven. I am seeing the love of it dimly.
+Prosperity would never have drawn me, I am afraid."
+
+Tears filled Heather's eyes at the quiet pathos of it. She kissed her
+sister, saying in a whisper—
+
+"Thank God we are both inside. May we keep there."
+
+
+The next day, Captain Vaughan came to fetch his wife.
+
+They were at Paddington Station, just starting, when he asked her
+rather abruptly—
+
+"Would you like to go round and have a look at your old home again? It
+would be a little trip, and would not take us much out of our way."
+
+"I should love it," she exclaimed enthusiastically, "I should like to
+call at the farm and see Annie and her husband."
+
+"And some of the old village characters, eh?"
+
+"Yes," Heather said, a pink colour coming into her cheeks; "I should
+like to have Watty's opinion of my husband."
+
+So, that afternoon, in the sweet summer sunshine, Heather and her
+husband walked up the old village street.
+
+"It seems one of the strangest things in life," said Heather,
+thoughtfully, "that if you go away from a place for ages, you come
+back to it and find the people doing exactly the same things at the
+same time with a clockwork regularity that makes you almost start.
+You wonder if all your life since has been a dream. Look, there are
+Watty and Ralph gossiping on the old bridge. Watty has still got his
+letter-bag, and Ralph his paper."
+
+[Illustration: "SAKE'S ALIVE! 'TIS MISS HEATHER."]
+
+They walked up to them, and much disturbed their equanimity.
+
+"Sakes alive!" ejaculated Ralph. "'Tis Miss Heather and her man! Well,
+to be sure, what a sight!"
+
+"Yes, here we are," said Heather, in her old bright tone, and with the
+little imperious toss of her head; "and what do you think of us?"
+
+"Do you remember me?" asked Captain Vaughan, with his cheery smile.
+"The wayside lodger who came down to fish one summer?"
+
+"Ay, ay," said Watty, shaking his head knowingly, "us knowed ye was
+after a bigger fish nor ye could drag out o' this 'ere bit o' river! An
+I sez to Ralph here, when you was a-gone, that ye had the looks of a
+adventurer after matrimony!"
+
+How they laughed! And then Watty seized his bag, more eager to spread
+the news of Heather's appearance than to stay and see her himself.
+
+"Time is flyin'. 'Tis only folks like Ralph here that can afford to
+dawdle with leisurable people holiday makin'. Good arternoon to ye,
+sir. Good arternoon, Miss Heather."
+
+He lounged off, his bag swinging from side to side.
+
+
+And after a little chat with Ralph, Heather made her way to the farm.
+
+Annie and George were delighted to see them, and insisted upon their
+having a cup of tea before they left.
+
+Then they went to the old house, which was still empty, looking more
+desolate and forsaken than ever.
+
+Heather's thoughts went back to that dreadful day when she had sobbed
+out her heart upon the old dial, and Captain Vaughan guessed a little
+what was passing through her mind.
+
+"We mustn't let this be a sad day," he said.
+
+Heather looked up at him with misty eyes.
+
+"No," she said, smiling, "it is not going to be. God has been too good
+to me for me to be sad."
+
+"I wonder if you will love the Priory as much as you do this?"
+
+"I think I do more. The associations with this one are not altogether
+happy ones. We used to look upon it almost like a prison when Abigail
+was cross. Now let us come and see her."
+
+So to the cosy little thatched cottage they went, and Abigail opened
+the door herself. Rachael was away visiting a friend. Abigail was
+delighted and tearful, which made Heather wonder if she were getting
+softer with increasing age. She had heard of Bluebell's trouble, and
+turned to Captain Vaughan with fervour—
+
+"Ay, sir, you have the best of the two, but I'm thankful Miss Bluebell
+has seen the error of her ways. I never forget to pray for them, both
+night and morn. And Miss Heather has chosen well, for we've heard you
+are on the Lord's side yourself, sir. We always hoped—Rachael and
+me—that Miss Heather would meet with a sober, God-fearing man. She
+always from a child had a stern idea of duty, and would go straight on
+without a falter, as I hope she will to the end of her life. The only
+crooked turn she took was when her poor, misguided cousin persuaded her
+to go to London. But she saw her mistake, and came back to us, and I
+wish her and yourself happiness, sir, with all my heart!"
+
+When they had said good-bye to the faithful old servant, and were
+walking through the quiet lanes to the station, Captain Vaughan turned
+to his wife and drew her hand through his arm.
+
+"Did you take your husband from a sense of duty, little woman?"
+
+"I was once afraid duty had led you to propose to me," said Heather,
+laughing.
+
+"Well, duty is a good mistress."
+
+"But love is better," urged Heather.
+
+"We will have a combination of them in our life. It was your following
+duty so conscientiously that first made me wish to have you always by
+my side. I have found the old saying true—
+
+   "'Duty only frowns when you flee from it.
+     Follow it, and it smiles upon you.'"
+
+They walked on. The evening sun was setting across the meadows in front
+of them, and presently they stood still and watched it slowly fade
+away. Heather's face was soft and wistful as she watched its glowing
+rays. Then her eyes met her husband's, and she smiled in perfect trust.
+
+"I suppose all earthly joys fade sooner or later," she said.
+
+"And then we shall be gathered into the land where our sun shall rise
+to set no more."
+
+
+
+                                THE END
+
+
+
+             ——————————————————————————————————————————
+        LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED
+ DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78661 ***
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+<head>
+    <meta charset="UTF-8">
+    <title>
+      Heather's Mistress │ Project Gutenberg
+    </title>
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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78661 ***</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>"OH! ARE YOU BACK ALREADY?"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h1>HEATHER'S MISTRESS</h1>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+BY<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t1">
+AMY LE FEUVRE<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+AUTHOR OF "PROBABLE SONS," "THE CARVED CUPBOARD,"<br>
+"DWELL DEEP," "ON THE EDGE OF A MOOR," ETC.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+WITH FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. S. CROMPTON<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+<em>SECOND IMPRESSION</em><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+LONDON<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+56, PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+CONTENTS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>CHAPTER</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_1">I. LEFT ALONE</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_2">II. A RELATION</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_3">III. IN AN OLD-FASHIONED HOUSEHOLD</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_4">IV. A STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_5">V. IN PARK LANE</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_6">VI. A TASTE OF TOWN LIFE</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_7">VII. DUTY'S CALL</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_8">VIII. SEPARATION</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_9">IX. THE VILLAGERS</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_10">X. A SUMMER LODGER</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_11">XI. BROUGHT INTO LIGHT</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_12">XII. A FISHERMAN</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_13">XIII. BLUEBELL'S RETURN</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_14">XIV. "THE RIGHT MAN"</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_15">XV. THE OLD PRIORY</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_16">XVI. A CALAMITY</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_17">XVII. IN THE OLD GARDEN</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_18">XVIII. WITH FRIENDS AGAIN</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_19">XIX. AN UNEXPECTED OFFER</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_20">XX. ABROAD</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_21">XXI. A TREASURE TAKEN</a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#Chapter_22">XXII. DUTY A GOOD MISTRESS</a></p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t2">
+<b>HEATHER'S MISTRESS</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_1">CHAPTER I</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+LEFT ALONE<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"By the fireside there are youthful dreamers,<br>
+&nbsp;Building castles fair with stately stairways,<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">Asking blindly</span><br>
+&nbsp;Of the future what it cannot give them."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>IT was a grey dreary afternoon. Steady rain, leaden skies, and a flat
+straight road bordered by leafless hedges did not provide a cheery
+outlook to the solitary walker. She stepped along bravely, a slim
+little figure in a grey ulster and a black straw hat. Her thoughts were
+far away from her surroundings, and it was not until she had reached a
+wooden gate leading up a drive that she roused herself with a start.</p>
+
+<p>"How wet I am!" she murmured. "And here have I been carrying my
+umbrella unopened in my hand, and spoiling my new hat! What will
+Abigail say?"</p>
+
+<p>She passed through the gate and up the drive edged by tall shrubberies,
+and then came out before an old-fashioned red-brick house which had
+something forbidding and grim in the look of its ivy-clad walls and
+tall narrow windows.</p>
+
+<p>She paused in the porch and shook out her damp garments with a grimace
+of disgust. Then quietly opening a glass door, she entered a small
+square hall. It was dusk, and the dark oak walls and stone-flagged
+floor seemed cold and dreary. An old-fashioned oak staircase rose from
+the centre of it, and some oil portraits and a few antlers were dimly
+discernible on the walls.</p>
+
+<p>The girl opened a door on the right, and shutting it behind her said in
+a quick clear voice—</p>
+
+<p>"Bluebell, are you here?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a bright wood fire in the wide open fireplace, and the
+contrast to the dull greyness of the atmosphere without was striking.
+It was a long low room, with casement windows in deep recesses facing
+east and west. The walls were covered with a deep crimson flock paper;
+all the furniture was oak, dark with age; and the flickering firelight
+played on some massive silver plate on a sideboard behind the door. A
+dark crimson cloth on the square centre table, and crimson curtains
+to the windows, gave a most cosy look to the room. And perhaps the
+pleasantest picture in it was that of a young girl seated on the
+hearthrug, her elbows on a leather chair, and a book before her in
+which she was engrossed.</p>
+
+<p>She raised her head at her sister's entrance, then sprang to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, are you back already? I've been having a splendid time!"</p>
+
+<p>Looking from one sister to the other, one would have had no difficulty
+in deciding that they were twins.</p>
+
+<p>Each possessed the same bright brown hair which curled naturally
+round their broad white brows, and was fastened in a careless fashion
+of their own in loose coils on the top of their heads. Their eyes
+were grey, with long curling lashes, but whilst Bluebell's twinkled
+irrepressibly and continually, Heather's seemed to be looking out into
+the future with a soft dreaminess that was characteristic of her. Both
+had the same delicately cut features and clear pale skin, both the
+same determined little mouth and rounded chin. And the pair of them,
+in spite of country-made garments and a quaint old-fashioned air, were
+interesting in the extreme.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't doubt you have," was Heather's reply, as, taking off her wet
+ulster, she came over to the fire and seated herself in an easy chair.
+"It is a dreadful day out. Look at my boots! They're soaked through. I
+am so glad to be home again."</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you go? Rachael said she would go for you to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know." And Heather gave a little sigh as she leant back and
+warmed her damp toes.</p>
+
+<p>Then, after a minute, she added abruptly, "I went because I felt it
+would be right. Grandmother would have wished it. I have been thinking,
+Bluebell, that we have been wasting our time rather lately, and I think
+we ought not to read so much."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell laughed a little consciously, then she looked down at her
+black frock and shook her pretty head.</p>
+
+<p>"It is just six weeks since grandmother died, and it seems a year. I
+don't think we could have lived through this time, Heather, if we had
+not found these books. It has made such a change in the house, hasn't
+it? No invalid to read to or amuse, no one to watch over our words and
+actions. Suddenly we find ourselves our own mistresses, and our daily
+round of occupation all swept away. For three weeks we haven't seen a
+soul to speak to—I mean outside the house. Every day is the same, and I
+suppose it always will be now. I am getting and enjoying fresh life in
+'Ivanhoe,' so don't you say it is waste of time."</p>
+
+<p>Heather glanced at the book in question, then spoke rather hesitatingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I know it is delicious. I am dying to get to the end of 'The
+Monastery' myself, but I think we're rather overdoing it. Sir Walter
+Scott won't run away from us; we have plenty of time before us, and—and
+I think it unsettles us for our daily life."</p>
+
+<p>"No; it brings fresh thoughts into our heads, I allow, but I don't feel
+unsettled. I went over the store cupboard this morning with Abigail,
+made a fresh list for you to take into the town with you, then I mended
+some table-napkins, and fed the canaries. And I also put our myrtles
+out into the rain, and watered the greenhouse plants. After that, I
+settled myself with a good conscience to my reading, and, oh, how
+I wonder that grandmother never told us what treasures were in her
+bookcase!"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps she did not think them suitable reading for us," said Heather,
+thoughtfully. "You see, we have not been brought up like other girls;
+she was so particular!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we can do as we like now. There is no one in the wide world to
+give us any advice. How do you like the sensation of it?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked across at her sister with a gleam of mischief in her
+eye.</p>
+
+<p>Heather met her gaze gravely, then clasping her hands behind her neck,
+she rested her head against them, and said with much emphasis, "Oh, it
+is dreadfully and awfully lonely. I have been thinking of it out in
+the rain. You and I with youth and health, and just enough money to
+live comfortably here, and only Abigail and Rachael, not a friend or
+relative belonging to us. And I suppose we shall live on here all our
+lives, and will never see a bit more of the world than just this corner
+of it. We have each other, but we shall never have any one else. And
+we shall go on growing older and older, and our days will be just the
+same; and Abigail will order us about and manage us as if we were still
+children up to the very last."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell's laughing lips took serious curves. "I don't think we shall
+always live like this. I am looking for a benighted traveller, a prince
+in disguise to arrive one day, and then suddenly, we shall find our
+lives changed. Joking apart, don't you think we have a single relation
+in the world? Everybody has some relations, however distant; why should
+not we?"</p>
+
+<p>"We will ask Abigail. Grandmother never would talk to us about our
+family, but I always understood from her we had none. Father was her
+only son, and mother was an only daughter."</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause.</p>
+
+<p>Then Bluebell said, "I don't think our lives will be empty. We have
+a lot of interests here—all the poor people that grandmother used to
+relieve. You have your old blind man to read to every week. I have
+my Band of Hope with the children, and—and when we want a little
+dissipation, we can pull up the river and have a picnic or spend a day
+in town, and I don't see why we shouldn't take an excursion by train
+now and then."</p>
+
+<p>Heather gave a little impatient sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"It is people I want to know—people in our own class of life, girls
+like ourselves, women and men."</p>
+
+<p>"We never shall know people here," said Bluebell; "there are none to
+know. The doctor, the rector, and grandmother's lawyer from London are
+the only ones we have seen for years, and they're all over sixty."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Heather started up, an inspiration having come to her. And her
+soft eyes sparkled as she said, "What is there to prevent us going up
+to see the sights of London? We have the money to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"London!" exclaimed Bluebell, opening her eyes at her sister's
+audacity. "Grandmother said Paris and London were the most wicked
+cities in the world! Do you think Abigail would let us go? Never!"</p>
+
+<p>A pink flush had come into Heather's cheeks, but her face fell at the
+thought of Abigail. Then she said recklessly, "If Abigail tried to
+prevent us, we could send her away. She is only a servant, after all,
+and we are not children. We are of age, and can please ourselves!"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell gave a little gasp. Life without Abigail as the controlling
+power seemed vague and impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"We are our own mistresses," said Heather, with warmth, but she was
+stopped by the entrance of Abigail herself.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail was a tall severe-looking woman, the personification of
+neatness and order; her white cap and apron proclaimed her position,
+otherwise the authority in her voice and demeanour would have led one
+to suppose she was the mistress of the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Heather, is this your wet ulster flung down on the chair? I did
+not hear you come in."</p>
+
+<p>Heather's tone was meekness itself as she replied, "Yes, I was so tired
+that I have been resting."</p>
+
+<p>"And you have not changed your damp boots?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I am going upstairs to do it now."</p>
+
+<p>She slipped out of the room, and Abigail, taking up the ulster,
+followed her upstairs to the pretty bedroom that both girls shared
+together.</p>
+
+<p>Everything was very simple, but the white dimity curtains and
+bed-hangings were spotless in their freshness. Two small beds, a
+toilet-table draped in snowy muslin, a round table with devotional
+books and writing materials upon it, and two old-fashioned wardrobes
+were the chief pieces of furniture in it. The floor was covered with
+an old Brussels carpet, and the casement windows, with their deep
+window-seats, were the facsimile of the dining-room ones below.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail came up to her young mistress and felt the edge of her skirt.</p>
+
+<p>"You must change your dress at once, miss. You are too old to be so
+careless. It is just the way to get a severe cold—coming in and sitting
+down in your damp things and letting them dry on you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what does it matter?" Heather said, a little petulantly.</p>
+
+<p>But she obeyed Abigail at once, watched her close the shutters and
+light the wax candles, and then detained her just as she was leaving
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Abigail, you lived with grandmother before our father married, did you
+not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did," responded Abigail, grimly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you ought to know. Have we not a relation in the world?"</p>
+
+<p>Abigail's brows contracted.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you ask, miss?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," said Heather, a little confusedly, "we have only been wondering,
+that is all."</p>
+
+<p>"None that would improve your manners, or edify your souls," the old
+servant said dryly. Then after a pause she added, "Your grandmother had
+one niece, but she left the Society of Friends and went into the gay
+world and married a worldling. We heard she had one daughter, and later
+on, she died."</p>
+
+<p>"Who? The daughter?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, your grandmother's niece."</p>
+
+<p>"And what became of the daughter? She would be about our age, would she
+not?"</p>
+
+<p>"A good ten or twelve years older. We saw her marriage in the paper
+some years ago. She married a soldier, and you know what we think of
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to find her out, and know her."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail looked startled at the quiet determination in Heather's tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Your grandmother would not wish it," she said sternly. "I promised
+that things should go on after her death as they had done in her life,
+and I am ashamed of your wishing otherwise."</p>
+
+<p>Heather said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail waited with her hand on the door-handle for some response.
+Finding there was none forthcoming, she went out.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a look of care and perplexity on her face as she joined
+her fellow-servant in the kitchen. Rachael was a great contrast to
+Abigail. She was a short, stout little woman with a cheery face and
+manner, and though Abigail had a real and deep affection for the
+twins, Rachael showed hers by terms of endearment and an outward
+demonstrativeness that was very acceptable to the young girls.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell termed the two women "Sugar" and "Salt." Perhaps the terms
+were not inappropriate.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later, and the two girls sat down to a solemn dinner; one at
+the head of the long dining-table, the other at the foot, and Abigail
+waited upon them in silence.</p>
+
+<p>Neither of them felt at ease this evening. They had a consciousness
+that Abigail was criticizing every word and smile, and they were
+longing to be able to talk freely to each other, without her taciturn
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>When at length she left them, and they were finishing their substantial
+meal with some grapes and nuts, they relapsed into easy and perhaps
+startling confidences.</p>
+
+<p>It was a delicious sensation to be planning out audacious schemes for
+their future, and Heather talked with rapidity and animation of the
+possibility of a wider and fuller life before them.</p>
+
+<p>They left the table at seven, for their dinner-hour was the
+old-fashioned one of six. And they demurely walked into the
+drawing-room to renew their talk over the fire.</p>
+
+<p>The drawing-room might have been a pretty room. Every article in it was
+real and good of its kind, but for thirty years it had remained the
+same, and the handsome blue damask chairs and couches were shrouded
+in brown holland covers bound with blue braid. The orthodox round
+table, with photograph albums and a case of carved ivory chessmen
+upon it, stood in the centre of the room. Old china and valuable
+paintings hung upon the walls, which were adorned with gilt and white
+paper. The carpet and curtains were covered with large bouquets of
+impossible-looking flowers, but age had softened and mellowed their
+tints. Screens of wonderful wool-work stood about, depicting rosy-faced
+milkmaids and children disporting themselves under green trees with
+baskets of fruit; and white crochet antimacassars were placed in
+profusion on all the chairs. The two slight girls, in their black silk
+evening dresses heavily trimmed with crape, looked sadly out of keeping
+with their gaudy surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>They laughed and talked in the firelight as only young girls can do,
+and then as the clock struck nine, Abigail wheeled in a small table,
+upon which tea, bread and butter, and cake were placed. Heather poured
+out tea. But after they had finished it, they took out their books and
+read on in silence till ten o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail came in then, bearing a large Bible and Prayer-book in her
+hand, and Rachael followed her.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell sat up, and in her soft clear voice read and prayed. The twins
+divided their honours very evenly. Heather led the morning devotions,
+and this they had done for some time previous to their grandmother's
+death.</p>
+
+<p>After prayers were over, Abigail went up to their room with them, and
+brushed and plaited their hair, after which the girls performed their
+private devotions in silence, and were soon enjoying a sweet and sound
+slumber in their white dimity beds.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_2">CHAPTER II</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A RELATION<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"Her presence</span><br>
+Fell on their hearts like a ray of the sun on the walls of a<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;prison."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 23.5em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"HEATHER, is your religion real to you?"</p>
+
+<p>This startling question was asked by Bluebell the next morning as she
+was conning over her morning chapter in the Bible, before going down to
+breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Heather was rolling up her curly hair in front of her glass, but her
+eyes were not on her reflected image. They were straying out of the
+window into the sunny meadows below. She turned round with a start. The
+sisters were peculiarly reserved about their deepest feelings. They
+never failed in performing their devotional duties, which had been
+prescribed and enforced by their Quaker grandmother from their earliest
+childhood. In fact, they would as soon have thought of omitting to
+brush their hair as to omit their daily Bible reading before breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"My religion!" said Heather. "Of course it is real. I am not a
+hypocrite!"</p>
+
+<p>"How far does it go?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell's merry eyes were soft and grave as she put the question.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what you mean."</p>
+
+<p>"I have just been reading this verse:</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.'<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"We have been talking so much of seeing more of the world, that I have
+been wondering if our longing after it is not wrong!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see that it is wrong," said Heather, slowly, "as long as we
+don't let it take the place of God Himself. Knowing it and seeing it is
+not loving it."</p>
+
+<p>"But that may lead to our loving it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't expect we shall ever have that chance," said Heather,
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell gazed at her verse thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I want to be real," she said, "but we have never had our
+religion tested, Heather."</p>
+
+<p>"No, that is true. Our lives are so even and monotonous. Do you
+remember our naughty days when we were children? How we used to escape
+Abigail's clutches, and knowing the punishment that would follow, how
+we would revel in wickedness till she caught us? We have steadied down
+now, she would tell us. But I don't know. This time of perfect freedom
+sets all the pulses in me throbbing and tingling for action. And I do
+not think our religion condemns us to this narrow, fettered life. I do
+not believe it is right for us two young girls to be shut away from all
+society and friendship, and have no one to talk to but our inferiors.
+It is not right; I feel it is not. I shall pray hard that we may be
+taken out of it."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell shut up her Bible, and said no more. She danced downstairs
+with as light a heart as if no serious thoughts had ever troubled her.
+She had the old-fashioned urn brought in, and made the tea, and when
+Heather came in, she chattered away as usual about her plans for the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do some gardening this morning. And now the spring is coming
+on, old Peter must come oftener than once a week, Heather. I think I
+had better walk over to the village this afternoon. I want to see some
+of my children, and I can see him at the same time, and tell him to
+come and bed out some seedlings."</p>
+
+<p>"You might take some jelly to Mrs. Wick's little girl. Abigail says she
+is ill again, poor child. Why, here is old Watty coming up the drive!
+How exciting! Now, who can the letter be from?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell darted out into the hall at once, and soon returned, holding a
+letter in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"It is addressed to Miss Fotheringay, and it is quite a strange hand.
+Let us open it."</p>
+
+<p>They read it with their curly heads close together, and certainly the
+contents filled them with a dazed kind of wonder.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"Park Lane, W.</span><br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"MY DEAR COUSIN,—I am an unknown quantity to you, but Mr. Brody, your
+grandmother's lawyer, has been to me, and has enlisted my sympathy
+on your behalf. He tells me you and your sister are left all alone,
+and are young enough to need a chaperon. I feel, as I am your second
+cousin, that I ought to do something for you, so propose to come and
+pay you a little visit. If we like each other, we may hit upon some
+plan that will be agreeable to all of us. I feel sure that you will be
+able to put me up, so hope to be with you on Friday afternoon. I shall
+leave my maid behind, and come quite by myself, so do not make any
+extra preparations for me. Your affectionate cousin,—<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">"IDA CARTER."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it extraordinary," said Heather, "that while we were talking
+about having no relations, she should be writing to us? She must be the
+cousin, Abigail told me of yesterday. Coming here on Friday! I can't
+believe it."</p>
+
+<p>"So our lives are going to widen out at once! I like her letter. How I
+hope we shall like her. And what will Abigail say?"</p>
+
+<p>They had not much appetite for their breakfast. At half-past nine,
+Abigail, Rachael, and Johnnie, the small boy who cleaned the knives and
+boots and made himself generally useful, filed in to prayers. Heather
+read and prayed with an abstracted mind.</p>
+
+<p>When it was over, Abigail began to remove the breakfast things.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell stood on the hearthrug with nervously clasped hands. She
+glanced at Heather, who sat down on the arm of a leather chair, and,
+assuming a careless attitude, hummed the air of an old song.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail looked at them both a little sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"Who has written to you?" she demanded.</p>
+
+<p>Heather resolved to show a brave front.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you saw the postman, did you, Abigail? We have heard from our
+cousin, Mrs. Carter, and she is coming to stay with us next Friday. The
+spare room must be got ready for her."</p>
+
+<p>Her tone was dignified. Abigail was so startled at the news that she
+forgot her good manners, and, placing her arms akimbo, ejaculated, "Now
+may the good Lord deliver us from the wolf coming down upon the fold!
+Give me the letter, Miss Heather; let me see it. Who has told her about
+you, I should like to know?"</p>
+
+<p>For a moment, Heather hesitated. She was longing to assert her
+authority, but the habits of a lifetime were too strong for her, and
+she meekly put the letter into Abigail's hand. That good woman whipped
+out her spectacles from her capacious pocket, read it and re-read it,
+and then gave a contemptuous sniff.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to give Mr. Brody a piece of my mind! 'Young enough to
+need—' what's this word? 'Chaper—chaperon!' some French nonsense, I
+suppose! You need nothing, and will need nothing as long as I am with
+you; and I will give Mrs. Carter my word for that as soon as she enters
+this house."</p>
+
+<p>Rarely had the girls seen Abigail so moved.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell said timidly—</p>
+
+<p>"It is very kind of her, Abigail, to think of us at all; we have been
+longing to know some of our relations, and it will be a great pleasure
+to see her."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you poor little creatures!"</p>
+
+<p>No one but Abigail could have put such contemptuous pity in her tone.
+She took up a covered dish, and went out of the room, as if she were
+afraid to trust herself further.</p>
+
+<p>Heather's cheeks were scarlet, and her grey eyes flashed angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"She treats us like babies! I am thankful we shall have some one who
+will make her remember her proper place. Since grandmother's death, she
+has got worse and worse. I should like to be free from her!"</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be!" exclaimed Bluebell, dancing lightly round the room. "We
+shall go to London with Mrs. Carter, and see the world at last."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if it is an answer to my prayer this morning," said Heather,
+thoughtfully, her ire dying away as suddenly as it came. "I have been
+longing so for something to happen, but I never expected the change to
+come so soon."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Heather," said Abigail, entering the room again, and speaking
+in her usually quiet, grave tone, "Rachael is waiting to have the
+stores given out, and there is some of last year's jam that needs to be
+freshly covered. Perhaps you can do that this morning."</p>
+
+<p>Heather seized her housekeeping keys, and ran out to the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>It was a relief to hear Rachael's view of things.</p>
+
+<p>"There, my dear Miss Heather, of course Abigail is a bit upset. The
+mistress was so anxious you should grow up steady, good young women,
+and keep out of all the world's temptations, but I've been sayin' the
+Lord will take care of His own. And if this Mrs. Carter be what we
+fears, a giddy, worldly woman, well, she won't be allowed to harm you,
+and you have a good head on your shoulders, and won't let your early
+training be all brought to nought. 'Tis dull for you two young girls,
+as I have been sayin' to Abigail, and any one belongin' to one's own
+flesh and blood is very welcome. We'll hope for the best, and I think
+I shall walk into town to-morrow, and order a few necessary additions
+to the list we made yesterday. I'll do the best for my dear departed
+mistress's credit to give the lady good meals while she is here, and
+I'll have a couple of the young spring chickens killed at once!"</p>
+
+<p>The next two days were very busy and pleasant ones. The garden, the
+greenhouse, every room was looked over, and adorned afresh.</p>
+
+<p>For the first time, the twins began to wonder if their country-made
+black dresses were correct in style. They were keenly anxious that
+their visitor should be favourably impressed.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>When Friday came, they wandered up and down the house, longing for, yet
+dreading her advent. Dusk set in before she arrived. They went up to
+the spare bedroom, put flowers on the toilet-table, lit up the massive
+silver candlesticks, and looked round with a critical eye. It was a
+gloomy room, but the linen was of the finest, the green damask curtains
+round the four-post bed had all been freshly shaken and hung, and the
+bright wood fire that Abigail had grudgingly lighted shed its ruddy
+light over all the dark corners.</p>
+
+<p>"I think she will be comfortable," said Bluebell. "Oh, I hope she will
+like it here."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want her to think us incompetent," said Heather, with a little
+toss of her head. "We have never had a guest before, but I shall make
+a point of seeing to her comfort. And now will be our time for shaking
+off Abigail's yoke. I mean to have a good try."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll never—never succeed," said Bluebell, laughing. "Abigail is too
+old to become different. Oh, Heather, listen! There are wheels! I feel
+quite shy. Shall we go down?"</p>
+
+<p>They reached the hall, and in another moment were face to face with
+their guest. Abigail stood in the background, and felt that her worst
+fears were realized.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter was a pretty, vivacious little woman. She was clad in a
+scarlet jacket trimmed with astrakan, a toque with scarlet wings was
+set jauntily over a quantity of dark frizzy hair, her dress was covered
+with costly trimming, and an atmosphere of scent and perfumes was about
+her.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at the two girlish figures in their unbecoming dresses of
+black silk and crape, then embraced them warmly.</p>
+
+<p>"So delighted to make your acquaintance, dears. What an out of the way
+place this is! Four miles from a railway station, and not a house did
+we pass during the drive. I'm afraid I should die of the dumps if I
+lived here."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come up to your room now?" asked Heather, feeling quite
+bewildered at such an apparition in their Quaker household.</p>
+
+<p>"If you like, or shall I come into the drawing-room first—I am longing
+for a cup of tea."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be dining in half an hour," said Heather, with an uneasy
+glance at Abigail, "but if you would like a cup of tea, I will send it
+up to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I think I should. I had a very early lunch. How like you
+two girls are to each other! I shall never know the difference between
+you. Come along, both of you, and show me my room."</p>
+
+<p>She rustled up the stairs, Heather leading the way, and she sank into
+the easy chair by her fire with a little sigh of content.</p>
+
+<p>Looking at the two girls in front of her, she said—</p>
+
+<p>"Now tell me your names. I do not even know those, and yet I am a
+cousin."</p>
+
+<p>"Our baptismal names are Drusilla and Priscilla," said Bluebell,
+quickly, "but our mother could not bear them. She was Scotch, and did
+not belong to the Friends. So she called us Heather and Bluebell, and
+even grandmother got to call us so too. We try and forget that we were
+called anything else!"</p>
+
+<p>"Very wise of you," laughed Mrs. Carter. "And now may I ask what time
+you dine? Surely not yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"At six o'clock," Heather replied.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter raised her eyebrows, but said nothing, and at this moment,
+a knock was heard at the door.</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked round, and saw Abigail with a face like thunder.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you brought Mrs. Carter a cup of tea?" Heather asked, lifting her
+little head up proudly.</p>
+
+<p>She felt sure that Abigail was determined to prevent any confidences
+being exchanged between them and their cousin, and she resented it
+accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail looked at her charges with a glance that made them quail
+beneath it.</p>
+
+<p>"You will please to go downstairs, young ladies," she said sternly,
+"and I will attend upon the lady myself. I have something to say to
+her."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter looked up quickly, and was about to speak, but checked
+herself. She nodded brightly to the girls as she saw them slipping from
+the room.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image003" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image003.jpg" alt="image003"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>"I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU A WORD</b><br>
+<b>OF CAUTION, MEM."</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>"I shall see you downstairs presently," she called out after them. And
+then she turned to Abigail—"I was not going to trouble you," she said
+very sweetly, "but since you have offered to attend upon me, perhaps
+you will unlace my boots for me. I miss my maid when I am away from
+her."</p>
+
+<p>This was more than Abigail was prepared to do. But she went down on her
+knees at once, and Mrs. Carter continued pleasantly—</p>
+
+<p>"I want to have a good talk with you soon about your young ladies, but
+I am tired to-night, so we will put off our chat till to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail, struggling on her knees with a refractory lace, felt herself
+at a disadvantage. She said nothing till her task was done, then she
+rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to give you a word of caution, mem," she said grimly. "I
+have been in this family for years, before you were born. I knew your
+mother when she was a slip of a girl, and my late mistress has given
+me a trust that I will be faithful to, cost me what it may. The young
+ladies have been brought up apart from the world, and into it they
+shall not go with my consent. I promised her I would look after them
+as long as I lived. She did not wish me to communicate with you, or I
+would have done so. You never came near her as long as she lived, and
+there is no need now to come putting foolish and sinful ideas into the
+poor children's heads. Perhaps you do not know that my mistress wished
+them to live on here with me?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter leant back in her chair and smiled. "Yes, I do know it,
+and Mr. Brody is their guardian, and I am sure you have their best
+interests at heart. Now, do not let me keep you any longer. Perhaps you
+will kindly unstrap my trunk before you go. Thank you. We will have our
+chat to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail went downstairs shaking her head solemnly. She felt she had met
+her match, and difficult times were ahead for them all.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_3">CHAPTER III</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+IN AN OLD-FASHIONED HOUSEHOLD<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;"Home-keeping hearts are happiest,<br>
+For those that wander they know not where<br>
+Are full of trouble and full of care—<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To stay at home is best."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>HEATHER'S cheeks were scarlet with mortified shame, when she and her
+sister were turned out of their cousin's room by Abigail.</p>
+
+<p>"She—she almost makes me hate her," she said in a vehement whisper;
+"but I am sure Mrs. Carter will not stand much from her. I know it is
+wrong, but I hope she will be well snubbed; and I shall enjoy seeing
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell took the matter lightly. She was a happy-hearted girl with an
+affectionate sunshiny disposition, and viewed life at present through
+rose-coloured spectacles. She had also a keen sense of humour, and she
+laughed now at the remembrance of Abigail's face when Heather inquired
+for the cup of tea.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind," she said, "we must not expect Abigail to be different now
+from what she always is. She is too old to change. Did you see what a
+lot of luggage Mrs. Carter has brought? I think she is lovely, don't
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," assented Heather, warmly. "I have never seen any one like her.
+Now let us come into the drawing-room. I wish Abigail would have had
+the holland covers taken off. I can't bear them."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter did not make her appearance till dinner was on the table.
+In fact, she was ten minutes behind time, and came down in a black
+satin dress with low neck and short sleeves, apologizing very prettily
+for keeping them waiting. The girls were too well-bred to show their
+feelings, but cast many a shy admiring glance at her through their long
+lashes. The pearls round her neck, the glittering bracelets on her
+white arms and sparkling rings upon her fingers, all appealed to their
+love of beauty.</p>
+
+<p>She talked and chatted with them on the most trivial subjects through
+the meal. Abigail moved to and fro with a grim face, and an aching
+heart. When she had finally left the room, Mrs. Carter came to more
+personal matters.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you girls ever been to school?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Then who has educated you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>"I always heard her spoken of as a very clever and cultivated woman,"
+Mrs. Carter said slowly. "I wonder what she taught you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everything," said Bluebell, rashly. "We used to work five hours every
+day, often six."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know anything of Algebra, Latin, or Mathematics?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell's face fell.</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"How many languages can you speak?"</p>
+
+<p>"We know French fairly well, a little German and Italian."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you sing and play?"</p>
+
+<p>"Heather can play the harp. And I can sing a little. I am not very fond
+of music."</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother used to say," said Heather, thoughtfully, "that a woman
+should be thoroughly grounded in history and geography. She should have
+plenty of general knowledge, so that she could always be at ease in
+literary society and conversation. A little music was essential, but
+the main duties in her life would be housekeeping; and this I think
+Bluebell and I know to our finger ends."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me what you can do," said Mrs. Carter, looking kindly at them.</p>
+
+<p>"We will tell you what we do do," said Bluebell, vivaciously. "Heather
+keeps the accounts, she is better at it than I am. She also looks after
+a small farm that belongs to us. We get our butter and milk from it,
+and every week the farmer comes up and does business with her in the
+study. He says she 'do have a wunnerful head.' She also has charge of
+the store cupboard, and orders dinner every day. I make all the jam,
+and potted meat, and pickles, and everything of that sort, and we have
+a tiny dispensary with simple remedies for the village people, which
+is my province. The linen cupboard is in my charge too, and I look
+after all the mending. Sometimes we make jellies and broth for the sick
+people in the village. Grandmother would have us both learn cooking.
+She said a woman ought to know it thoroughly, and we can do most
+things, can't we, Heather?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather assented, adding, "You see, we are a small household, but the
+villagers look to us for everything. They come up once a week during
+the winter for soup, and there are always some old and sick who want
+special attention."</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say your grandmother was more sensible than most people of
+the present day," said Mrs. Carter. "I do not hold with this college
+education for women, but times have changed. It is not every girl who
+is placed in such comfortable circumstances as you are. Now I should
+like to know if you are all Quakers here?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, we have never been brought up so," said Heather. "There are no
+Friends about here. Abigail and Rachael used to attend a little meeting
+in the town, but it is too far for them to walk, and they generally
+go to chapel. Grandmother never left the house for seven years before
+she died. Bluebell and I walk over to church, which is two miles away.
+Mr. Monk is the rector. He is very old and very poor, and we don't see
+much of him. He comes to us when he wants any special relief for a
+parishioner."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you no friends? Surely this is not the only big house in the
+neighbourhood?"</p>
+
+<p>"Our squire lives eight miles off. We don't know him. Grandmother never
+visited. Our doctor is an old bachelor, and he lives six miles away. We
+never meet any one in our own station of life!"</p>
+
+<p>"What a life!"</p>
+
+<p>After this ejaculation, Mrs. Carter seemed lost in thought, and then
+they moved into the drawing-room. She made Heather play to her, and
+when she was seated at the harp, and Bluebell leant back in a low chair
+by the fire to listen, Mrs. Carter looked at her young cousins with
+greater interest than ever. Heather played some old Scotch airs, and
+then drifted into "Il Trovatore." Her touch was light and sweet, and
+Mrs. Carter was charmed with the grace and spirit with which she played.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel," she said, when Heather had come to the fire, and taken a seat
+opposite hers, "that I am in a dream. I have gone back a generation. Do
+you know that you are utterly unlike most girls of your own age?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have never seen any," said Heather, simply; "at least only the
+farmers' daughters, and the villagers."</p>
+
+<p>"Did your grandmother expect you would live and die here in seclusion?"</p>
+
+<p>"We thought, till your letter came, that we should have to do it," said
+Bluebell. Then she added, with a laughing light in her eyes, "Heather
+was meditating a bold stroke for freedom; may we tell you about it? You
+won't be shocked?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think you two little Puritans will be likely to shock me,"
+was the amused reply. "Tell me, by all means."</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather spoke in hushed tones, with a backward glance at the door,
+for fear of Abigail's form appearing.</p>
+
+<p>"It is Abigail. She rules us with a rod of iron. You saw how she sent
+us from your room before dinner. She has been worse than ever since
+grandmother died. She treats us like tiny children. And Bluebell and I
+are children no longer. We are mistresses here; we have our own money.
+Grandmother left everything to us. I know all about it, for I have
+been over it with Mr. Brody. We have quite enough money to live very
+comfortably, and—and to travel."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," put in Bluebell, "and we were going up to London by ourselves.
+We had hardly settled whether we should dismiss Abigail from our
+service, or run away without telling her. Of course she would never
+have allowed us to go to London, we knew that. It would have been more
+dignified to send her away, but it would have taken a lot of courage to
+do it, and she is—well—very awe-inspiring!"</p>
+
+<p>"I think we should have been driven to do it," said Heather. "I could
+not have run away from our own home like a coward; and I have felt
+lately things were getting desperate. You have come and solved the
+difficulty. It will be all right now."</p>
+
+<p>"By that you mean I am to do battle on your behalf? Well, we will see."</p>
+
+<p>When tea was brought in by Abigail, she saw the new-comer on the best
+of terms with the two girls, who, with flushed cheeks and bright eyes,
+were listening to some of her London experiences. Abigail went out to
+Rachael, and in tones of despair exclaimed—</p>
+
+<p>"She has bewitched them with her airs and graces. They didn't even so
+much as look at me when I went in! They're drinking in the poison, and
+it will be the ruin of their young lives. And I have to stand by and
+say nothin'!"</p>
+
+<p>She wrung her hands, and Rachael looked aghast at the imperturbable
+Abigail being so deeply moved.</p>
+
+<p>"We must trust them to the Lord," she said soothingly. "Maybe Mrs.
+Carter is only young and giddy. She will find this a dull place to
+linger in. She will come and go, and, when once in London, will forget
+all about them again. Don't you fret now, don't, for mercy's sake!"</p>
+
+<p>Abigail shook her head, but said no more. She would not tell Rachael
+her worst fears.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Prayer-time came, and Bluebell very simply asked Mrs. Carter to lead
+the devotions. She laughed and declined, but watched her young cousin
+sit up and conduct them with an amused and yet softened look in her
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"And now you are going to bed," she said afterwards. "Well, I will too;
+it is not much beauty sleep that I get in town!"</p>
+
+<p>But when she was up in her bedroom, she did not retire to rest. Drawing
+up the writing-table to her fire, she wrote a long letter to her
+husband. And this was what she wrote:—</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAREST OLD HAL,—I think I have tumbled into one of the quaintest and
+most out of the world households in existence. I have to pinch myself
+sometimes to make sure that I am not dreaming. How I wish you were here
+to enjoy it with me. For enjoying it I am, and that most thoroughly.
+Where shall I begin? With the house itself, I think. It is one of those
+thoroughly comfortable old-fashioned residences, with thick walls, and
+picturesque corners and gables, casement windows and deep window-seats,
+plenty of good old oak about it.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I could make it simply sweet; but, oh, my dear boy! I think even
+your inartistic soul would stand aghast at the colours and style of
+the decorations within! I have been sitting in the drawing-room, and
+inwardly shuddering all the time at my surroundings. I should think it
+was furnished sixty or seventy years ago, in the most hideous fashion
+of our grandmothers, and has never touched since—all gilt and white,
+with the crudest colours all bunched together, a large long room with
+four windows. Not a plant or flower in it. Chairs and sofas in brown
+holland.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Fancy worsted-work screens, and glass cases of flowers, stuffed birds,
+and fruit. Well, you're a man; and I can't write to you as I should to
+a woman, so I will stop. Every room is the same. And yet, with it all,
+it is thoroughly comfortable, though so inharmonious. I have not seen
+the grounds, but I believe the garden is not a large one. There are
+dense shrubberies in all directions. The household goes by clockwork.
+You never saw such old characters as the two Quaker servants. They and
+a small boy do all the work of the house between them. How they manage
+it, I don't know, for I can give them credit for keeping everything
+in the most beautiful order. The linen and plate are the very
+best—exquisite, in fact—but I always heard that Quakers were noted for
+those two items in their households.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"And now I come to the girls. I wonder what you will think of them!
+I foresee a bright future for them after a little training. Of course,
+they are in the most hideous garbs imaginable, but it says much for
+their natural grace that they draw attention to themselves, and not
+to their dress. They hold themselves well, and are, as far as I have
+seen them yet, without a trace of self-consciousness. Perfectly simple
+and natural, but oh, so undeveloped! And yet, sometimes, when I say to
+myself what babies they are, they will startle me with some words of
+wisdom or depth of feeling that I feel I don't possess myself! They are
+tall, slim maidens, with the most lovely eyes and hair, and delicate
+features and complexions, as like as two peas. I don't yet know them
+apart.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"They are guarded by a regular dragon, whom I am longing to fight
+and subdue. She sees in me everything that is evil, and is fiercely
+determined that I shall not carry off her nurselings. I don't yet
+know what I shall do with them, but they are too pretty to waste
+their sweetness on the desert air. Tell me what you advise. Can't you
+run down from Saturday to Monday? Don't get into mischief while your
+'missis' is away, and tell Cyril that if I find the slightest whiff of
+tobacco in my drawing-room when I return, he shall receive his 'congé'
+immediately. Don't go to too many theatres, and remember I may be at
+home any day, so will catch you out before you know it! Your loving—<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">"IDA."</span><br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"P.S.—Imagine no afternoon tea, dinner at six o'clock, and an
+old-fashioned tea-table with hot-buttered toast and cakes, wheeled
+into the drawing-room at nine o'clock! Prayers at ten, and then to
+bed; and if you could have seen the sweet gravity with which one of
+these children conducted our devotions, and the calm air with which she
+handed me a huge Bible, I think you would have longed to be good as I
+did!"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Mrs. Carter begged to be shown over the house, and
+whilst Heather was attending to her housekeeping, Bluebell took her
+round. The study, which had been the girls' nursery and schoolroom in
+former years, was rather a gloomy-looking room, but opened into a small
+greenhouse, in which was a large cage of canaries filling the air with
+their songs. Bluebell's plants and flowers looked flourishing; she was
+a born gardener, and knew how to pot, plant, and graft to perfection.
+She took her cousin out into the garden, which had a long stretch of
+green turf edged with old elm trees, and a few flower beds; and a very
+small kitchen garden was beyond.</p>
+
+<p>"We get most of our vegetables from the farm. Heather will take you
+over to see that. We sometimes go there, and make the butter. When
+Annie was ill—she is the farmer's wife; she used to help in the house,
+and married our gardener who is now the farmer—when she was ill, after
+her last baby was born, Heather and I went down and made the butter
+every day!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are most industrious young people. I shall be quite afraid of you.
+I am sure you never do anything wrong—now, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell's laugh rang out merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Abigail would tell you how many scoldings we get in a day! But do you
+know," and the girl's eyes were almost serious as she turned them upon
+her cousin, "since we have been our own mistresses, we don't seem to
+have got into half so many scrapes. In fact, when we are left to do
+exactly as we like, we find that there is no temptation to do what we
+ought not to do."</p>
+
+<p>"The moral is that you should be always left to yourselves, isn't it? I
+am afraid you will not be willing to hand yourselves over to my keeping
+for a little, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked up eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to offer to take us away with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't said so. We must talk over it with your sister."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_4">CHAPTER IV</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"The soul, emancipated, unoppressed,<br>
+&nbsp;Free to prove all things, and hold fast the best,<br>
+&nbsp;Learns much."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 23.5em;">COWPER.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>MRS. CARTER seemed to adapt herself with the greatest ease to the quiet
+routine of her young cousins' home. She was always bright and pleasant,
+always ready for a chat with any one, from Rachael to little Johnnie
+and any of the villagers who came in her way. Abigail alone stoutly
+resisted her charms; and Abigail she had resolved to conquer by charms,
+or sheer strength of will.</p>
+
+<p>She came down one morning braced for the conflict, looking, in her
+fresh tailor-made shirt and skirt, a dainty little person. Captain
+Carter had declined to come to her help, and she was longing to be back
+in town with him again.</p>
+
+<p>It was a lovely spring morning. As she looked across at her little
+black-robed cousins, she said, "I long to put you two girls into fresh
+spring frocks. Don't look so shocked. I don't mean you should leave off
+your mourning, but you might have lost two parents from the depth of
+your crape!"</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother acted as a parent," said Heather, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dear, I know, but such deep mourning is out of date. It is only
+a matter of custom. It does those who are gone no mortal good, and
+is only a burden to the wearers. Now I want to talk to you both very
+seriously. I must be going home in a few days. Would you like to come
+with me, and see some of the sights of London? Of course we shall
+be very quiet. Your recent loss would be quite sufficient excuse to
+prevent your going out much. But we could do a good deal in a quiet
+way, and I am sure the change of air and scene would do you both a
+great deal of good."</p>
+
+<p>"We should like to," said Heather, thoughtfully, "but Abigail is so
+dreadfully set against it that she would never agree to it!"</p>
+
+<p>"You told me a little time ago, you would give her notice to leave if
+she interfered with us," said Bluebell, mischievously.</p>
+
+<p>"I know I did, but that was when the possibility of doing it seemed
+vague and uncertain."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Mrs. Carter, a little impatiently; "I cannot force you to
+come against your wills, but, if you would like to come, I will manage
+Abigail."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know who would take up the—the things we do," said Heather.
+"The villagers will miss us going in and out, and we help a good deal
+in the house."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, I am only asking for a short visit. Abigail could be
+quite well left in charge until you returned. I am not asking you to
+give up your home altogether."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course we must come," said Bluebell, impetuously. "It will be our
+first chance of seeing more of life, which Heather is always longing
+for. Abigail is the stumbling-block. If you will manage her, we will
+come—gratefully and gladly, won't we, Heather?"</p>
+
+<p>And Heather assented a little doubtfully, but in accents of relief at
+her sister's taking the decision into her own hands.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter waited till the afternoon to broach the subject to Abigail.
+She sent the girls out for a walk, and when they were well out of the
+way, she asked Abigail to come and have a little chat with her.</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting in the drawing-room, and Abigail entered with
+compressed lips and lowering brows. She had a presentiment of what was
+coming, and if Mrs. Carter had braced herself for the interview, so had
+she.</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you sit down, Abigail? We shall not be interrupted, for I don't
+suppose you have one visitor in a twelvemonth here, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose we might have a good many, if we opened the doors to all who
+asked themselves without invitation," was the grim reply.</p>
+
+<p>"It is only a cousin's privilege to do that," responded Mrs. Carter,
+gaily. "Now, we won't fence round the bush, but I will come at once to
+the point. I have asked your young ladies to come and pay me a visit,
+and they are coming to London with me the beginning of next week."</p>
+
+<p>"That they are not," was the stern reply, "and you'll excuse me for
+contradicting you, mem. I've nursed those children since their birth,
+and being their rightful guardian now, I shall have my say in the
+matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, look here, Abigail, listen to me. I admire your faithfulness
+and mistaken ideas of duty, but if you are as sensible a woman as I
+take you to be, you must know in your heart that the present state of
+things here cannot last. Miss Heather and Miss Bluebell are young, but
+they are of age. Their grandmother left them her money without any
+restrictions; and they have a perfect right to make their plans as they
+think best. Do you imagine that they could be kept in this isolated
+fashion for much longer? Did their grandmother wish to make nuns of
+them? If so, she might as well have sent them off to a convent at once.
+What do you think will happen to them when you and Rachael are taken
+from them? You are neither of you very young persons, and in all human
+probability, they will outlive you many years. Then two young girls
+would be left friendless and unprotected, too innocent of the world and
+its ways, to be able to defend themselves from any dangers that might
+beset them."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing will make me consent to them going away with you, if you
+please, mem. No amount of smooth-spoken words will make me do it.
+Perhaps I may have my say. My late mistress has trained the young
+ladies in the way that they should go, and I have helped her to do it.
+They are trained for heaven, and not for the pomps and vanities of this
+wicked world. They are leading happy, useful lives here, and until you
+came to instil sinful desires into their innocent minds, had no wish
+to do otherwise. My late mistress did not wish them to be acquainted
+with you at all. We have often talked it over together. Your husband is
+a soldier—that alone prejudiced her against you. You live a butterfly
+existence; your dress is such that no decent woman would wear. The
+young ladies have never been accustomed to see bare necks and arms of
+an evening, and such an amount of jewellery and flash! You wish to make
+them like yourself, to rob them of their piety, their innocence, and
+their maidenly modesty. You would take them to dances, to theatres,
+to all sorts of worldly pleasures, you would deck them in flowers and
+coloured silks and satins, you would have them spend their substance in
+riotous living. I know the ways of London, and I tell you, mem, I would
+rather see them in their graves than taken away to be under your roof
+and influence."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail paused for breath.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter looked as placid and smiling as ever. "I think you
+misunderstand me, Abigail. I am not going to take them away from you
+altogether. They have a sweet old home here, and have no intention of
+leaving it. But they tell me they have never slept a night away for
+the last three years. It is extremely bad for them. Change of air is
+necessary to us all, especially after the sad time they have lately
+gone through. I think you are letting your prejudice run away with your
+sound common sense. You are afraid I am going to steal your chicks from
+you, and so in the soreness of your heart, you give me the credit of
+all that is bad, and paint me as black as you can. I can promise you
+that their religion shall not suffer whilst with me. I go to church
+twice every Sunday, and once in the week all through Lent. I have only
+asked them for a month, and have told them that their deep mourning
+alone prevents them from taking part in any of the gaieties. London is
+very quiet now, and will be until after Easter. You will have them back
+with you then, more than ever in love with their sweet country home,
+after all the dust and glare of London streets."</p>
+
+<p>"They shall never go with you," repeated Abigail, with determined lips.
+"Never shall they leave me, while I have health and strength to prevent
+it. You talk of your religion, mem, but it must be the religion of
+the Pharisees of old, a whitened sepulchre outside, and inside dead
+bones! Haven't I seen you stifling a yawn when we are in the midst of
+our morning devotions? Have you any real love for the Word of Life,
+and for the God who gave it to us? Ay, you may go to church, and think
+that church-going covers a multitude of sins. You may bend your head
+in worship, when your heart is full of disobedience and rebellion
+against your Maker. Do you live for His glory alone, mem? Do you know
+what it is to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow the
+Master who was despised and rejected of men? If the summons came to
+you to-day—'This night thy soul shall be required of thee'—would you
+be ready to meet the Judge of all the earth? Folks talk about their
+religion! Religion, as you understand it, won't redeem your soul from
+destruction, won't blot out the sins and follies of a lifetime. It
+lulls your immortal soul to sleep, and gives you a false peace that
+will prove your ruin!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, Abigail, I did not call you in here to preach to me. It
+is beside the question altogether. If you will not see things in a
+reasonable light, I will reason with you no longer. The young ladies
+are coming home with me next week. There is nothing more to be said."</p>
+
+<p>"And how will you send them back to me?" said Abigail, in the
+bitterness of her soul. "Having given them a taste of sinful pleasures,
+and drawn them into your net, do you think they'll come back as fresh
+and innocent as when they went?"</p>
+
+<p>"They may come back engaged to be married," said Mrs. Carter,
+exasperatingly calm in tone. "I am going to try and get them good
+husbands. That is the best thing that could happen to them."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail turned her back upon the speaker, and walked straight out of
+the room. With clenched hands she went upstairs to her bedroom, and
+there locking the door, she went down on her knees by her bedside in
+agony of supplication.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, God Almighty," she gasped, "I am weak and helpless by the side of
+this sinful woman. Thou knowest how I have prayed for these children.
+I have hoped they were in Thy fold. All things are possible to Thee!
+Frustrate the design of the evil one. Give them the desire to stay at
+home, and the strength to resist her persuasions. It is the thin edge
+of the wedge, Lord. Oh, help me in this hour of need. Do Thou send
+deliverance. All things are possible to Thee."</p>
+
+<p>Her honest, rugged face was quivering with emotion. She rose from her
+knees more hopeful. Surely her influence was not at an end with the
+girls! She would appeal to them, and as soon as they came back from
+their walk, she would speak to them alone.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter did not feel very comfortable after Abigail's departure;
+she got up and paced the room, her pretty brows contracted with
+thought. Was it true that her religion was merely an empty form?
+Abigail's words stung deeply, and she began to feel a little hesitation
+in taking away the girls. Then she laughed aloud:</p>
+
+<p>"She is an ignorant, narrow-minded woman, and though I respect her
+motives, it is ridiculous and absurd to suppose that my influence will
+do the girls any harm."</p>
+
+<p>She met the twins at the hall door, when they returned.</p>
+
+<p>"Abigail and I have fought it out," she said laughingly. "She is sure
+to speak to you, but say as little as possible, and it will be all
+right."</p>
+
+<p>The girls looked at each other, then ran up to their room to take their
+hats off.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope Abigail won't make a great fuss," said Heather; "but I feel, I
+don't care if she does."</p>
+
+<p>"No, we shall soon get away from her. She has really no power to
+prevent our going."</p>
+
+<p>A knock at the door made them look at each other in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>"Here she is, now for it!" said Bluebell, adding in a louder voice.
+"Come in."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail appeared with a white and rigid face. Heather turned to her
+looking-glass, and began to hum a tune as she arranged the front of her
+hair. Her heart was beating violently, but she controlled her voice as
+she said carelessly, "Do you want anything, Abigail?"</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Abigail did not speak. Then she turned to the door and
+locked it behind her, standing like a sentinel in front of it.</p>
+
+<p>"It is well to prevent interruption," she said dryly; "for I have a few
+words to say to you both, and I wish to have time to say them."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Abigail, don't be cross," said Bluebell, plunging into the matter
+at once. "We know what you're going to say, but our minds are quite
+made up, and nothing you can say will alter our arrangements."</p>
+
+<p>"And may I ask, Miss Bluebell, if the wishes of one who has nursed you
+from babyhood, and has your best welfare at heart, are to count for
+nothing? Is an irreligious and flighty stranger by her flatteries and
+temptations to beguile you from your home and your God? Are you and
+Miss Heather so weak and foolish as to believe all her deceiving words,
+and go astray like silly sheep from the true fold I was trusting you
+were in?"</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather faced round with flushed cheeks and earnest eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"One would think we were going to do a dreadfully wicked thing, from
+the way you talk, Abigail. We are going to London on a visit; our
+mother did the same thing when she was young, and so did grandmother,
+she told us so. You have no right to say we shall be acting wrongly."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis the company you're going with, and the company you'll meet
+with, you silly child, that is the sin. How can you serve God in such
+a worldly house as you'll be going to? It's enough to raise your
+grandmother's ghost, after all she has done and said to make you grow
+up into good and virtuous young women! How can you go down on your
+knees and ask God's blessing on such an enterprise? You're just a
+couple of silly moths fluttering round the light, and it will be your
+destruction in the end."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail's vehement earnestness had the effect she desired on her
+charges. They looked at each other with troubled eyes. She continued in
+tones of entreaty—</p>
+
+<p>"Now, be good children, and be advised by me. I would cut off my right
+hand to prevent you going! I know the wickedness of the world, and you
+do not. If you are tired of this place, you can go for a change to the
+seaside with me. The summer will be coming on. I will do all in my
+power to give you change and brightness. If you go with Mrs. Carter,
+your happiness and peace in religion will depart from you. 'No man can
+serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon!'"</p>
+
+<p>"But we mean to serve God in London," said Heather, in hesitating
+tones. "There must be some good people there. We shall not do anything
+that grandmother would not have liked us to do."</p>
+
+<p>Then Abigail took a false step. Seeing the girls were already wavering,
+she thought she would clench their decision.</p>
+
+<p>"I forbid you to go!" she cried. "You were left in my charge, and I
+shall prevent it. Mrs. Carter shall go back alone, and I'll lock you in
+your rooms rather than you should go with her. You know how determined
+I can be, and if fair words shall not move you, force will. You can
+plan and plot as you like, but never as long as I'm alive shall I let
+you go with her."</p>
+
+<p>If only Abigail had known how fatal these words were to her cause, she
+would have bitten her tongue out rather than have uttered them.</p>
+
+<p>Heather's eyes flashed fire at once.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you forget, Abigail, your position. Bluebell and I have a
+perfect right to make what plans we choose without consulting you in
+the least. And—and we mean to in future. We have arranged to go to
+London with Cousin Ida, and go we shall, and if you make any more fuss
+about it, I shall give you notice to leave us!"</p>
+
+<p>Abigail was perfectly speechless. Never had she dreamt of such utter
+indifference to her authority. She could hardly believe it was Heather
+speaking. This was turning the tables upon her with a vengeance!</p>
+
+<p>"You poor misguided young creatures!" she exclaimed, and the real love
+for them at the bottom of her heart seemed to come uppermost at once.
+With a little choke in her throat, she unlocked the door, and went out
+without another word.</p>
+
+<p>And Heather, white and trembling at the thought of her audacity, sank
+down on a chair and burst into a flood of tears.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell put her arms around her, and cried too. "We have done it, we
+have done it!" she said. "And now we must go straight on, and never
+look back!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish," sobbed inconstant Heather, "that Cousin Ida had never found
+us out. I am sure we shall come to a bad end! We are going against
+grandmother and Abigail, and God won't give us His blessing!"</p>
+
+<p>And so it was with tears and misgivings that the twins gained their
+independence.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_5">CHAPTER V</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+IN PARK LANE<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This world is not worthy of your soul. Give it not a Good-day when
+[Christ] cometh in competition with it."—RUTHERFORD.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>THE fly from the neighbouring town was at the door. Rachael and Johnnie
+were assisting with the luggage. Abigail was nowhere to be seen.
+Heather and Bluebell looked dazed and uncomfortable, but the future had
+still its attractions for them. They had been into the kitchen early
+that morning to get a little comfort from Rachael.</p>
+
+<p>"Do say you don't think us wicked, Rachael!" pleaded Heather. "It is so
+dreadful leaving home when Abigail is so angry. She has hardly spoken
+to us for the last three or four days."</p>
+
+<p>"Bless you both!" exclaimed warm-hearted Rachael. "I'm trusting to
+the good Lord to take care of you, as I keep telling Abigail. She's
+not angry with you, but sore grieved about it. We learn wisdom by
+our mistakes sometimes. Ask the Lord's guidance, and He will give it
+to you, and if you get to love the world more than Him, give it up
+and come back. You'll want great judgment to discern, and separate
+yourselves from the right and wrong that is mixed up in gay society.
+But I'm trusting that we shall soon have you back again."</p>
+
+<p>They went to find Abigail at the last moment. She was locked in her
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"Say good-bye to us," Bluebell called out.</p>
+
+<p>There was no answer for a moment, and then Abigail's stern old voice
+rang out, "'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.'"</p>
+
+<p>Not a word more could they get out of her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, come on," exclaimed Heather, dragging Bluebell away. "She doesn't
+care a bit for us. I told you it was no good coming up to her."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>When the fly drove away, Abigail leant out of her window, and with
+straining eyes followed it. Her heart was nearly broken. She could
+hardly realize that, after all these years of care and loving tyranny,
+her authority had been swept aside with such ease, and that her
+charges, in utter indifference to her threats and persuasions, had
+taken their future into their own hands, and had left their home in
+company with a comparative stranger.</p>
+
+<p>When they had passed out of her sight, she wiped the tears away with
+her apron.</p>
+
+<p>"They're gone for ever. If I see them again, they'll be no longer the
+innocent girls they are now."</p>
+
+<p>And then she walked downstairs, and set about cleaning the house,
+and putting away all traces of the ones who had left her. From that
+time forward, she closed her lips, and would never discuss her young
+mistresses with Rachael or any one.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>It was about five o'clock in the afternoon when the girls reached
+Paddington Station with their cousin. As they alighted on the platform,
+feeling bewildered with the bustle and confusion around them, a tall,
+soldier-like man came forward, and Mrs. Carter seized hold of his arms
+in delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Hal, you old dear! I never thought you would come to meet us. Here are
+the girls. Let me introduce you. Now, will you see to our luggage?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Carter pulled his big moustache, and looked down upon his
+young wife with great affection. After the first glance at the girls,
+who were hardly looking their best in their country-made garments, he
+busied himself in carrying out his wife's directions, and he and she
+carried on an animated conversation during the drive home.</p>
+
+<p>Heather and Bluebell were quietly enjoying all the fresh sights
+and sounds around them. When they came into Mrs. Carter's pretty
+drawing-room, full of hothouse plants and tasteful furniture, the
+contrast between it and their room at home struck them very forcibly.</p>
+
+<p>Afternoon tea was brought in on a dainty little table, and then, just
+as Captain Carter was handing them a cup, the door opened, and a very
+tall, broad-shouldered man, bearing a great resemblance to the captain,
+strolled in. Mrs. Carter welcomed him warmly, to which he responded
+with a comical shrug of his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel I ought to do the welcoming, for Hal and I are quite at home
+here. We have had a most enjoyable time together during your absence.
+In fact, Hal has just come to the stage of believing that the house
+belongs to him. Imagine it!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are as rude as ever, I see. Now, girls, let me introduce you to my
+brother-in-law, Mr. Cyril Carter. He has just been returned member for
+his county, and it has rather turned his head."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril Carter smiled very pleasantly as he bowed to the twins.</p>
+
+<p>"Your cousin is a martinet in her house. Did you know it? I hardly
+know now which chair I can safely sit down upon without outraging some
+delicate piece of work that has a trick of slipping down directly you
+touch it. I set to work the other day with a needle and cotton and
+sewed them on like grim death to the backs of the chairs to which they
+are supposed to belong, but one of the maids, I see, has carefully
+unpicked all my work. I expect she was afraid of her mistress."</p>
+
+<p>"I have been wondering how many of my household gods would be
+destroyed," said Mrs. Carter, looking round the room as she spoke.</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 class="t4">
+<b>"WHERE IS MY WHITE FLOWER-POT?"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I shall ever leave two men alone in the house again. I
+have lain awake at night thinking of the havoc I should find. Hal!"—And
+sitting upright in her chair, Mrs. Carter pointed severely to a small
+table in the window—"Where is my white flower-pot?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Carter looked in a guilty manner across at his brother, who
+leant back in his chair with a complacent smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't look at me, my dear fellow. I am not your scapegoat."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Captain Carter gulped down his cup of tea, and walked to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm just going to have a smoke," he said carelessly. "I'm very sorry,
+my dear, but it was when I heard that you were really coming home
+to-day. In the excess of joy, I was standing up to execute a 'pas
+seul', when my coat-tails caught the pot, and it fell—"</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, what a fall was there!'" quoted Cyril with tragic air. "'Then you
+and I and all the world fell down. Whilst—'"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Carter had disappeared. His wife stopped her brother-in-law's
+quotation with a little vexed laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"I might have known it! And I gave seven and sixpence for that pot!
+Girls, would you like to come upstairs? Don't think all members of
+Parliament are as frivolous as this specimen. Come along—this way!"</p>
+
+<p>They had been listening to the conversation with amused faces, but
+followed her at once, and were charmed with their rooms, which led into
+one another, and were dainty in the extreme.</p>
+
+<p>"My maid will come and help you to unpack. Take a good rest. We do not
+dine till eight."</p>
+
+<p>She left them, and they looked at each other.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you like it?" Heather asked.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it seems delicious," she said; "every one is in such good
+spirits, and it is all so different from home. Doesn't it seem a year
+since this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked out of her window which faced Hyde Park, and said
+thoughtfully—</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot get Abigail's verse out of my head. 'She that liveth in
+pleasure is dead while she liveth.' Where is that verse, Bluebell; do
+you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. We will look when we do our reading to-night. We are not going to
+live in pleasure, so why should it worry you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think—we are," was Heather's slow reply.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell did not answer. She was diving into her trunk, and brought up
+her head with a flushed and anxious look.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish our dresses were made more like Cousin Ida's," she said. "I
+never used to think of dress, but I am sure we look great frights. She
+said to-day that she would take us to her dressmaker as soon as she
+could. Do you like Captain Carter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and his brother too. But they talk more like boys than men; don't
+you think so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I like it. I don't feel a bit afraid of either of them."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, they were the subjects of discussion downstairs. Captain
+Carter could not stay away from his wife for very long, and he was back
+in the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "you will have your hands full. I never saw such
+oddities. What are you going to make of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Humble imitations of your wife, sir," Mrs. Carter said, dropping him
+a mock curtsey. "You wait till I have got them some London frocks!
+I prophesy that next season they will be acknowledged beauties in
+society. I shall marry one to a foreign prince and the other to a
+duke—or shall I say a worthy millionaire? Dukes are all so poor
+nowadays. Well, Cyril, you old wiseacre! I saw you stealing covert
+glances at them through your half-closed lids. What do you think of
+them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think one of them is the ditto of the other," put in Captain Carter;
+"I don't see the object in having the two. One expects a little variety
+in one's guests."</p>
+
+<p>"I know them apart already," said his brother. "What is the one called
+with the laughing eyes? They are the only bit of life about her staid
+little figure, but they're as merry as a cricket!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that is Bluebell. Isn't it a pretty name! And the graver-faced one
+is Heather. I think she is the more clever of the two, and she has a
+good bit of pride about her. I am going to give them dancing-lessons at
+once. Fancy their never having had any! They have been brought up in a
+Quaker household, and you must both be very careful not to shock them.
+I am going to bring them on by degrees. Oh, I must tell you of the
+she-dragon who has been fighting me!"</p>
+
+<p>And forthwith Mrs. Carter gave a most vivid and laughable description
+of the quiet household in which she had been staying. Abigail's tone
+and manner were mimicked so successfully that her husband laughed till
+the tears rolled down his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The girls made their appearance at dinner with flushed cheeks and
+bright eyes. Before the evening was over, they were on easy terms with
+Captain Carter and his brother. Many things puzzled them, especially
+the light badinage that flew backwards and forwards, but being
+perfectly natural and unconscious of self, they got on far better than
+they had feared.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to change places with you," said Cyril to Bluebell in the
+course of the evening; "it must be so delightful to be viewing London
+and society for the first time. You ought to keep a diary—I suppose you
+do, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Bluebell, laughing. "I don't see the use of diaries, do you?
+Unless you are very very good, and leave them for people to publish
+after your death, when they write your biography."</p>
+
+<p>"But aren't you very very good?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell shook her little head in the negative.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh dear no. Of course we try to be—everybody does, I suppose." Then in
+a graver tone she added, "Our old servant Abigail thinks us very wicked
+to come to London, but Heather and I don't agree with her. It doesn't
+say much for your religion if you can only be good in one place."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril twisted his moustache in silence, looking at her with amused
+eyes. Then he said lightly, "Let me know when our London air takes
+effect, and you feel yourself turning wicked. Now, what sights are you
+going to see to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked across at Mrs. Carter.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," she said hesitatingly. "You must ask Mrs. Carter."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want to see most? The shops, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no indeed, we have shops at home. They are only three miles off."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril's eyes twinkled, but he went on gravely, "There must be a good
+deal you are longing to see, isn't there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we want to see Westminster Abbey, and the Tower, and the
+Zoological Gardens, and London Bridge, and—oh, ever so many places. The
+Houses of Parliament too; you speak there, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not always," said Cyril, dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask him to rehearse his maiden speech," put in Captain Carter. "It
+is like a page or two of Chaucer that I learnt when a boy. It was so
+indelibly impressed upon my brain that I shall remember it to my dying
+day. Your cousin and I had a private hearing of it, Miss Fotheringay.
+It was about one a.m. We thought we heard murmured voices, and so
+prowled round the house expecting to find burglars gloating over our
+plate. We found the sounds proceeded from his room, and putting our
+ears to the keyhole, heard our member, with inflated chest and sonorous
+tones, addressing the House. It was grand. It saved us the trouble of
+going to hear him the next day. He learnt every word of it by heart,
+and he rolled it off with the fluency of a Paddy!"</p>
+
+<p>So with chat and laughter the evening wore away.</p>
+
+<p>The twins came upstairs to bed very tired, but very happy.</p>
+
+<p>As they were doing their evening's reading, Heather said with a
+sigh—"Poor old Abigail! I don't feel quite comfortable at leaving
+without her blessing."</p>
+
+<p>"I think she was really angry at our taking our own way instead of
+hers," said Bluebell, thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it our own way? It ought to be God's way."</p>
+
+<p>Heather sat down by the fire and clasped her hands round her knees as
+she uttered these words.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked up from her Bible quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why it shouldn't be God's way for us. You told me you were
+praying to have a fuller life. And then Cousin Ida came. I am thanking
+God she did, and I shall thank Him every day for all our pleasures."</p>
+
+<p>There was almost a defiant note in her tones.</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked at her with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You always think everything is for the best."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell did not reply for a minute, then she raised her head from her
+Bible again.</p>
+
+<p>"Here it is. In the First Epistle to Timothy. 'But she that liveth in
+pleasure is dead while she liveth.' It is about widows, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, never mind, I'm so sleepy. Let us go to bed."</p>
+
+<p>But before Heather dropped off to sleep, she murmured, "Poor old
+Abigail! I hope her verse won't come true!"</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_6">CHAPTER VI</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A TASTE OF TOWN LIFE<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Every beginning is pleasant. The threshold is the place of
+expectation."—GOETHE.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"BLUEBELL, do you know we have been here a month to-day? What shall I
+say about our coming home to Rachael? I am writing to her."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you needn't say anything, need you? Cousin Ida has no intention of
+letting us go yet. Make haste with your letter, the dinner-bell will
+ring soon. Give my love to Rachael, and tell her to give the canaries a
+little saffron in their water. That is what they want when they don't
+seem well."</p>
+
+<p>"Any message to Abigail?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not, indeed. She has never sent us one, or written us
+one line since we left."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we haven't written to her."</p>
+
+<p>"No, and we don't want to. Oh, Heather, aren't you longing for the
+concert to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>The girls are sitting in their pretty bedrooms, and at first glance,
+they seem much altered. Their simple white evening dresses with black
+ribbons have a style about them that only a London dressmaker can give.
+Their hair is coiled up in the latest fashion, and their radiant,
+animated faces make them quite beautiful. They are getting accustomed
+to town life now. They have done a large amount of sight-seeing under
+the guidance of Cyril, whom they regard as a cousin. He seems to have a
+good deal of spare time on his hands, and is not at all averse to his
+position as mentor.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter is very well satisfied with her charges. After a great
+deal of persuasion, she has begun to give them dancing-lessons, and
+the girls, though wondering what Abigail would say, are quick and apt
+pupils and thoroughly enjoy it. They have not been introduced into
+society yet, but Captain Carter, who is in the Grenadier Guards, is in
+the habit of bringing several of his brother officers in to dinner,
+and Mrs. Carter has a great many friends and acquaintances who avail
+themselves of her genial, pleasant hospitality. So that, altogether,
+they see a great deal of company, and the novelty attracts and delights
+them.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later, and the girls had left their rooms and were going
+in to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems quite nice to be alone for once," said Mrs. Carter. "I hope
+you have no engagement to-night, Hal?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me how you're going to entertain me if I stay at home."</p>
+
+<p>"We are going to have some music. You haven't heard Heather play on her
+harp. It arrived this morning. I don't know whether it's the thing for
+her to take up. Harp-playing has gone out of fashion."</p>
+
+<p>"Then by all means play it," said Cyril, turning to Heather, with a
+little nod of approval. "There's nothing like novelty nowadays, and the
+girls must be conspicuous, or they'll die!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind being 'conspicuous,' as you call it, when we are alone,"
+said Heather, spiritedly; "and I am not going to give up my harp for
+any one. I love it!"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll arrange a programme. Minnehaha, you and I will sing that duet
+that we have been practising. The captain will recite a barrack-room
+ballad, and the missus will finish up with a waltz on the piano, and
+we'll foot it on the carpet. What? Is your precious carpet unable to
+bear the strain of our light feet? We'll exit into the hall, then.
+I have been yawning over County Council Bills all the day, and must
+stretch my limbs a little."</p>
+
+<p>"I always say," said Captain Carter, meditatively, "that county members
+are the most narrow useless beings in the whole House. Their interest
+is only in agriculture and in game laws. Anything affecting the
+metropolis or the world at large is a matter of perfect indifference to
+them. They vote whichever way their party tells them. And as to matters
+concerning the Services or the Colonies they're as ignorant as a baby.
+They're sent to the House by a few hundreds of country yokels, and as
+long as they know what their constituents want, and try to get it for
+them, they think they have done their duty."</p>
+
+<p>"I will not be drawn into talking shop," said Cyril, calmly. "When
+we are in ladies' society, let us suit the conversation to their
+capabilities."</p>
+
+<p>"I never take interest in parliamentary affairs, unless there is
+a row of some sort," said Mrs. Carter, not at all offended by her
+brother-in-law's remark. "I like to read of the lords of creation
+losing their tempers, and slanging each other like a pack of
+schoolboys, but when they are all dull and prosy, they're no good at
+all. I think your maiden speech was the essence of dulness, Cyril!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I know now what your taste is, and what style you prefer.
+What are you making big eyes at, Minnehaha?"</p>
+
+<p>He had dubbed Bluebell this two days after her first arrival.</p>
+
+<p>"I was thinking," she said, "how very seldom I have heard you speak
+seriously on any subject."</p>
+
+<p>"He couldn't be serious," responded Mrs. Carter; "joking runs in the
+family. Even on my wedding-day, just before we took our places in
+church together, Hal whispered—</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"'All the king's horses, and all the king's men,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Can't make me a happy bachelor again!'"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"She looked so exasperatingly superior and complacent," said Captain
+Carter, joining in the laugh. "I suppose it's the one day when women
+feel their power. The man is nowhere; people look upon him as a poor
+fool!"</p>
+
+<p>"Power is a wonderful thing," said Cyril, fixing his eyes on Bluebell's
+laughing face opposite his. "There isn't a human being on earth who
+doesn't love power."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't," said Bluebell, promptly.</p>
+
+<p>"I do," said Mrs. Carter, nodding her head saucily across at her
+husband.</p>
+
+<p>"And I think I do sometimes," said Heather, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Allow me to continue. It is a subject upon which I can speak
+seriously. Power is an attribute that is in the breast of every human
+creature from infancy. Take a baby; why does it love shaking a rattle,
+ringing a handbell, seizing handfuls of its mother's hair? The love of
+power over all objects it can grasp. Watch a girl alternately nursing
+and slapping a doll, a boy beating a drum and whipping a top. Power
+over inanimate objects again. See the schoolboy bullying, making pets
+of anything he can control, and working havoc in all directions. Love
+of power prompts him. Ask an artist, a musician, a sculptor, an author,
+in what their chief enjoyment consists. They will allow, if they are
+truthful, that it is their sense of power over their pencils, their
+pens, their clay, and their instruments. Analyze your own feelings over
+your favourite occupations, you will find you never really like a thing
+unless you think you do it well."</p>
+
+<p>"Such as hearing one's self talk, and reducing others to silence,"
+murmured Captain Carter. "Pray go on."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I agree with you," said Heather, turning to Cyril.</p>
+
+<p>"You never do," said Mrs. Carter, laughing. "I think you two disagree
+on every point brought up."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril raised his eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>Heather said a little confusedly, "I was thinking about enjoyment.
+I like playing on my harp, but I enjoy hearing others' music much
+the best. I think I like anything that takes me quite away from my
+surroundings."</p>
+
+<p>"Highly complimentary to present company," murmured Captain Carter
+again, and Heather's fair young face was covered with blushes at once.</p>
+
+<p>"You are only half developed yet, my child," said Cyril, with his
+grandfatherly air, stopping her confused apology. "Wait till you have
+had a season in town; your tastes will have altered by that time, I
+fancy."</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Grace asked me to-day if they were going to be presented," said
+Mrs. Carter, looking across at her husband. "What do you male creatures
+think about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Folly and waste of money," said her husband tersely.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell and Heather looked up greatly excited.</p>
+
+<p>"Presented to the queen!" they gasped. "Could we be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very easily. I was presented just after my marriage, and I could take
+you. If you stay a couple of months longer with me, I can manage it."</p>
+
+<p>"Are they going back to the country, after such a taste of society?"
+queried Cyril, with a mocking light in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter rose.</p>
+
+<p>"We need not discuss the matter further now," she said with great
+dignity. "Come, girls, we will leave them to their smoke."</p>
+
+<p>But Heather and Bluebell were far too excited to let the matter drop.
+They pursued it in the drawing-room till the gentlemen came in, and
+when they retired to their rooms were still full of the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"We must stay away longer now," said Heather. "Why, even Abigail would
+be proud to think we had been presented to the Queen! Isn't it almost
+like a fairy tale, Bluebell? Sometimes I fancy we shall wake up and
+find it all a dream."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Bluebell; "it seems as if every enjoyment has been kept
+away from us all our lives, and now they crowd upon us so thick and
+fast that it is quite overwhelming."</p>
+
+<p>"And Abigail would have kept us out of it all."</p>
+
+<p>"Heather, do you know, I cannot go back to our old life again. Is it
+wicked, I wonder, to feel so?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather gave an impatient little sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't keep asking if it is wicked," she said; "I'm going to enjoy
+the present as much as ever I can without thinking."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell drew her Bible to her, but she soon closed it.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel I can't do anything but think about the Drawing-Room," she
+said. "Won't you be very frightened of making your curtsey, Heather?
+Cousin Ida says we can't be asked out to any really nice people's
+houses until we have been presented. I did not know that was so
+necessary."</p>
+
+<p>"Our dresses will cost a lot of money," said Heather, meditatively. "I
+don't know how it is, but money seems to fly in London. We have spent
+more in this month than we should do in a whole year at home."</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Cyril said that was part of our education. To learn how to
+spend money! How dreadfully satirical he is! He always seems to
+consider women on such a much lower level than himself. And don't you
+object to his making fun of serious subjects as he does? I do dislike
+his asking us so often how our religion is getting on!"</p>
+
+<p>"He seems to think we're losing it," said Heather, slowly, as she
+brushed out her curly hair and gazed at herself abstractedly in the
+glass as she did so. Then after a moment's pause she added, "And I am
+not sure that he isn't right."</p>
+
+<p>"Speak for yourself, please," said Bluebell, lightly. "I'm not going
+to turn into a heathen because I am in London. It's ridiculous, and
+absurd."</p>
+
+<p>"What is true religion?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather breathed rather than spoke the words. Then she flashed forth a
+little excitedly—</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder now if we ever had anything but a mere form of religion. We
+had nothing to tempt us, nothing to try us at home. I don't believe
+any girls were more shielded from evil than we were. And now when our
+lives are so utterly changed, it seems a test of it all. I cannot get
+Abigail's verse out of my head, 'She that liveth pleasure is dead while
+she liveth.' I don't know how you feel, but I want pleasure. I love
+it, and I seem to want more and more of it. I should be miserable if I
+went home now and left it all when we are only just beginning to enjoy
+ourselves. But I do not believe God wants us to be shut out of the
+world. Cousin Ida is religious and she loves London society. I mean
+to copy her. I believe there are two kinds of religion in the Bible;
+Abigail's is one kind and Cousin Ida's is the other, and which is
+right, I wonder! I know which is the brightest and happiest life."</p>
+
+<p>"It's very puzzling," said Bluebell, a graver look stealing into her
+merry eyes. "But I think we're both of one mind about it. We will enjoy
+the present while we can. And don't let us philosophize too much about
+it. It puts one in the blues!"</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_7">CHAPTER VII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+DUTY'S CALL<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"It is right to begin with the obligations of home—no other duties can
+possibly be substituted for them."—DICKENS.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>MORE than a year has passed.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell and Heather have not yet been home. They have travelled
+abroad with their cousin; they have passed a season in town; and the
+little simple country girls have developed into brilliant young women
+of fashion. Mrs. Carter is beginning to wonder when they will marry.
+Heather has had two or three offers, but has refused them all. She
+charms many by her little imperious queenly ways, her bright wits, and
+her quick changes of mood from grave to gay.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell is always saucy and bewitching; some wonder if she can ever
+be serious; some, if she has a heart at all. At present, she has a
+persistent and devoted suitor, Sir Herbert Mowbray by name. He is not
+a very young man, and is silent and reserved by nature. Bluebell alone
+can bring the grave smile to his eye and lips. But she holds him aloof,
+ignores his devotion, and treats him as she treats all others, with
+laughing indifference.</p>
+
+<p>The sisters have very few grave conversations together now. Their Bible
+reading is short and hurried, often missed altogether. The late hours
+and rush of gaiety that they live in, have already left marks on their
+young faces. But they appear in the brightest spirits, and Mrs. Carter
+is more than satisfied with the success of her training. Captain Carter
+looks upon them as permanent inmates of his household, and will not
+hear of them taking their departure.</p>
+
+<p>Cyril still chaffs and criticizes their actions. He makes his brother's
+house his home when Parliament is sitting, but is a good part of the
+year in the country managing his property.</p>
+
+<p>"Girls, where shall we go this summer?" said Mrs. Carter one sunny
+morning in July, as they sat at breakfast. "It is too stifling for
+words in town. I am longing for a breath of country air."</p>
+
+<p>"We have four invitations for August," said Heather a little languidly,
+"none of which we have accepted yet."</p>
+
+<p>"One of them is to Lady Grace in Scotland. I always think Scotch houses
+are very dull except during the shooting. What are the others?" said
+Mrs. Carter.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Finch wants us to go on a house-boat with her."</p>
+
+<p>"Without me. Yes, I remember, and I think she is too go-ahead! Who are
+her party?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Finch, Major Rankin, Mr. Greeson, and a young nephew."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter pursed up her mouth and looked across at her brother-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not prudish," she said; "but what did you tell me about Major
+Rankin, Cyril?"</p>
+
+<p>Cyril stroked his moustache with a superior air.</p>
+
+<p>"Something best not repeated," he said. "That invitation must be
+declined at once."</p>
+
+<p>"That is for us to settle," said Heather, quickly, with a flash in her
+eyes that Cyril always called the "danger signal."</p>
+
+<p>"What is number three?" asked Mrs. Carter, hastily. "We will talk about
+accepting or declining them later."</p>
+
+<p>"Lady Mowbray's," put in Bluebell. "Sir Herbert has been pestering my
+life out, ever since I had the letter."</p>
+
+<p>"And the fourth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that doesn't really count," said Heather, looking out of the
+window as she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Because it is the only one that is coming off," said Cyril, coolly.
+"Don't pretend you have forgotten, missus, that you are coming to
+entertain for me. I expect the whole lot of you for a good month."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, did we promise? I must say I like being entertained better than
+entertaining," said Mrs. Carter with a little grimace. "I get enough of
+that in my own house."</p>
+
+<p>"We certainly shall not give you a month," said Bluebell. "We should
+all be bored to death. Heather and I will give you the last week in
+August if you like, after we have done our other visits."</p>
+
+<p>"Speak for yourself, Minnehaha! Heather will come before that if you
+don't."</p>
+
+<p>Both girls exclaimed—</p>
+
+<p>"We have never been separated in our lives. As if we would sleep apart
+from each other for a single night!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, my dear children, that idea is quite exploded. It is a perfect
+fallacy to think twins ought not to be separated. I know two
+fellows—twins—who led a life of misery till they took my advice; one
+went towards the North Pole, the other towards the South, and they
+quietly and firmly decided that they would never come into contact
+with one another again. Their life was becoming a perfect bondage to
+them, and when they were once away from each other, they said it was
+a delicious sensation to realize their individuality apart and alone
+from any one else's. The sooner you assert your separate individuality,
+the better for both of you. Now, missus, put your oar in! You know
+I am speaking words of wisdom. How are the silly young creatures to
+get husbands if they will live in one another's pockets? There, I
+thought the missus would rise to that bait. I will leave you to fight
+it out together. Men are best out of the way when husbands are under
+discussion!"</p>
+
+<p>Cyril sauntered out of the room after this speech.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter began to improve the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"I think there is a certain amount of sense in what he says, girls.
+If you could make up your minds to do without each other sometimes,
+it would be much better for you. For instance, Lady Mowbray wants
+Bluebell, Lady Grace wants you, Heather."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell flushed a little, and laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going to Lady Mowbray's by myself, Cousin Ida. Not if I know
+it! She is an irascible old lady, I have heard. Even her son says she
+is 'difficult,' and he is devoted to her."</p>
+
+<p>"If you make up your mind to accept Sir Herbert, you must make the
+best of his mother," said Mrs. Carter, quietly. Then looking at
+Bluebell a little keenly, she said, "He spoke to me about you yesterday
+evening—I—I wished him success!"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell only laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't look like that at me, Cousin Ida! As if you are longing to
+congratulate me. It is premature, I assure you. If he doesn't take
+care, he'll find such haste will spoil his cause. I am not going to be
+tied or bound to any man yet. I love my liberty too much."</p>
+
+<p>She danced out of the room, singing as she did so—</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"I care for nobody, and somebody cares for me.<br>
+&nbsp;If somebody thinks he's nobody, I may care for he!"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter looked a little worried.</p>
+
+<p>"I hoped you would both be engaged by this time," she said to Heather,
+who sat gravely looking through her letters. "It isn't my fault that
+you are not."</p>
+
+<p>"No indeed," said Heather, quickly looking up; "I am afraid we have
+sadly disappointed you. I had never realized till I had gone through a
+season what a solemn duty this business of marriage is. And sometimes,
+Cousin Ida, it sickens me. Life isn't all marrying and giving in
+marriage! You have been truly good to us, but I think Bluebell will
+soon do what you want. Don't worry her too much."</p>
+
+<p>"And what about you?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather got up from her seat, and walked over to the window. She drew
+her slight young figure up rather proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"I would rather not discuss myself. Bluebell and I cannot part with
+each other yet. I think we must do our visits together. Shall we talk
+over them now?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is one lesson I have to learn," said Mrs. Carter with a mock
+plaintive air. "If I can come the 'missus' over Hal and Cyril, I cannot
+over you two girls. Sometimes I think you look upon me as an old dowdy
+chaperon. I wonder if you do! It's the way of young girls nowadays."</p>
+
+<p>"It will never be our way," said Heather, warmly; "Bluebell and I can
+never thank you enough for all the enjoyment you have given us."</p>
+
+<p>Then the two sat down to earnest discussion over the forthcoming visits.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>A month later, and the twins were at Rawton Cross, Cyril's property.
+They had visited Lady Mowbray, and had liked the hot-tempered,
+good-natured old lady. Bluebell was not yet formally engaged to Sir
+Herbert, but it was an understood thing, and Heather sometimes wondered
+why her sister seemed to hang back when matters had gone so far.</p>
+
+<p>Cyril was a capital host. His house was a picturesque-looking Gothic
+building, and he filled it with pleasant guests.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carter was in her element at once. She said one day as she was
+dispensing afternoon tea on the lovely old lawn under the beech trees,
+"I think I would have made you a good wife, Cyril. What a pity you
+didn't ask me before Hal did!"</p>
+
+<p>"The red coat did it," said her husband, lazily. "I felt her heart
+thump its admiration the first time we met, when I took her into supper
+at one of our regimental festivities!"</p>
+
+<p>"How can you give me away so before these girls? You know you had to
+propose to me three times before I accepted you!"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Cyril, meditatively, as he leant back in his lounge chair
+and surveyed the company with lazy satisfaction, "I have found celibacy
+such a blessing that I have constantly congratulated myself that I have
+'kept myself to myself' all these years."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a shame of you," said young Mrs. Plowman, coquettishly. "Your
+house will never be truly comfortable till it has a mistress. And think
+how many single women would be only too thankful to take charge of you—"</p>
+
+<p>"And my money!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mercenary wretch! Whom are you saving it for?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather, who had been listening to this silently, now got up and
+sauntered away. Sometimes the empty chit-chat of society disgusted
+her. She had never really become accustomed to it, and other, graver
+thoughts were now occupying her mind.</p>
+
+<p>She turned her steps to a winding path that led into the woods close
+by. Walking along, she found herself soon between steep banks of moss
+and fern, and with a long-drawn breath of delight, she sprang up, and
+curling herself up amongst the ferns, she rested her head against an
+old tree, and proceeded to read and re-read a letter which seemed to
+cause her much anxious thought.</p>
+
+<p>Time went on, and still she sat there. Bright-eyed rabbits, with
+startled ears, peeped over the high ferns to look at this intruder. A
+squirrel darted over the branches above her, and the wood-pigeons came
+and cooed in the top of some tall elms close by.</p>
+
+<p>Heather did not heed them. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. Her brows were puckered, and her face looked harassed.
+Then she took out a pencil from her pocket, and began making rapid
+calculations on paper. A heavy sigh followed, and then her quiet was
+suddenly disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>"Found at last, Regina!"</p>
+
+<p>It was only Cyril who called her by this nickname, and he stood over
+her with an amused look in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what may I ask has suddenly driven you to solitude? In love at
+last?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked up startled, and a little annoyed. "Do you never feel
+you would like to be alone?" she said, trying to speak carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, very often. But beautiful maidens must not be allowed to waste
+their sweetness on the desert air. Major Canning has been hunting
+for you. Jack Bedford is distrait at your absence, and each supposes
+you are having a 'tête-à-tête' with Frank Rushton, who has also
+disappeared."</p>
+
+<p>Heather gave another sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you could be serious," she said, "then I might confide in you.
+I would just as soon tell you as Cousin Ida, because you can keep
+things quiet, and she cannot."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image005" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image005.jpg" alt="image005"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>SHE CURLED HERSELF UP AMONG THE FERNS.</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>He threw himself down on the grass beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am your elder brother. Now, child, tell it out!"</p>
+
+<p>A pink flush rose to Heather's face. She hesitated, then plunged into
+her perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Cyril, I have a letter here from one of our old servants,
+Rachael. It is not the first one I have received in such a strain. I
+used to think I was very good at money matters, but somehow or other
+now, Bluebell and I cannot keep within our incomes. Both these last two
+quarters, I am ashamed to say, we have overdrawn at our bank. There
+are things that must be seen to at once at home, repairs to our small
+farm. We have not the money to send. And worse than all, there are two
+or three old people to whom our grandmother always paid a small weekly
+pittance. Rachael asks me to send the amount for the next quarter,
+and—and I cannot do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Hard up!" said Cyril with a quiet smile. "Borrow from me, till you get
+round the corner!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather drew her head up proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"Never," she said. "I will not go further into debt. I feel disgraced
+and ashamed when I think of the sums we have been lavishing on our
+amusements and dress, whilst our dear old people at home are actually
+in want."</p>
+
+<p>She paused, then went on rapidly—</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say you cannot understand, but the villagers have always looked
+to us for relief, and grandmother used to give a great deal away. I
+promised her before she died that we would continue to do the same. It
+is only lately that I have found it impossible to keep my promise. We
+are spending a good deal of money, and do not seem able to draw in."</p>
+
+<p>"The only thing for you to do is to let or sell your old home. You will
+never go back to live there again, so why have the expense of keeping
+it all up for the sake of two old servants? Pension them off, let the
+farm go, and you will find yourself the richer."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril spoke with easy indifference, but he was watching her very keenly
+the while.</p>
+
+<p>Heather flashed round upon him impetuously. "Is pleasure before duty
+your only clue out of the difficulty?"</p>
+
+<p>He smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you had forgotten there was such a word as duty these past
+twelve months," he said; "we who follow fashion's fancy will have none
+of such an old-fashioned article!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked straight before her with compressed lips and flashing
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"There is one way out of the difficulty," she said determinedly, "and
+that is the way we must take."</p>
+
+<p>"Into the Bankruptcy Court?"</p>
+
+<p>"We must go home, and stay there!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her curiously, then sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Away with such a dark thought! Let us return to lighter and brighter
+realities. Come and have a row on the river!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather gave a sigh, put her letter in her pocket, and was her bright
+self again when she joined the others still on the lawn.</p>
+
+<p>But she had made a resolve in her own heart, and that resolve she meant
+to keep.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_8">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+SEPARATION<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"He who has well considered his duty, will at once carry his conviction
+into action."—S. SMILES.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"BLUEBELL, we must go home. That is the only solution to our
+difficulty."</p>
+
+<p>The girls were talking it over a few nights later, when they had
+retired to their room for the night.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't do that."</p>
+
+<p>"When do you think of returning?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, some day. Not yet awhile. Picture Abigail's greeting! When I have
+found life a failure, I will take refuge in her arms. She would welcome
+me then. Never, if I was finding it a joy and a success?"</p>
+
+<p>"We cannot go on as we are doing. Bluebell, you are not a child—be
+serious! Do you like being in debt! Do you enjoy thinking of Mary
+Scrivens and old Ralph going without their little comforts, even
+necessaries, because we are spending the money that rightfully belongs
+to them? I cannot sleep at night for worrying over it. We must go back;
+there is no way out of it."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell leant back in an easy chair and clasped her hands behind her
+neck. Her saucy eyes took a grave look.</p>
+
+<p>"I know we are in rather a fix. We mustn't be so extravagant in future.
+Money seems to fly in London. Oh dear! I wish we were really rich!
+Can't you borrow a little from Cousin Ida?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't think of it. When could we pay it back? The more I think
+about it, the more convinced I am that it is our duty to go home and
+stay there quietly. I have spoken to Cousin Ida about it to-day. She
+was angry at first, but when I had talked to her for a little, she said
+that perhaps it would be wise. Her idea is that we should go home for a
+time, and come to her again next spring."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked annoyed.</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't have spoken to her about it. I don't mean to go home.
+Captain and Mrs. Foster have asked us to go a yachting trip with them.
+Sir Herbert and Cousin Cyril are both going. And I have promised we
+shall go."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not go."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I must go home alone!"</p>
+
+<p>There was dead silence. Each girl had a strong will, but never in their
+lives had they clashed with each other before.</p>
+
+<p>And before long Bluebell was in tears, and Heather with a strained
+white face was pacing the room.</p>
+
+<p>Then Bluebell, from passionate protestations, began to coax and entreat.</p>
+
+<p>Heather set her lips in hard lines, and listened without a word.</p>
+
+<p>Duty was before her. She had been brought up from her infancy to
+consider it an important part of life, and not even the gay pleasures
+she had so delighted in could turn her steps aside. Her heart felt
+nearly breaking when she realized that Bluebell would prefer separation
+to taking up the quiet country life again. She did not look forward to
+it with pleasure herself. She was still enjoying her society life, and
+the possibility of going back alone to the two old servants seemed too
+dreadful to contemplate.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell was almost as miserable at the thought of separation. And yet
+the growing love for all that makes a society life pleasant perhaps
+helped her to bear it with more equanimity.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing will induce me to go back!" she sobbed. "I hate the idea of
+it! I should die if I were stifled in that silent house again without a
+soul to speak to from one year's end to another! I wish an earthquake
+would swallow the whole place up! Yes, I do! Don't look so shocked!
+I'll never go back there, never, never, never!"</p>
+
+<p>She crept off to bed, sobbing.</p>
+
+<p>Heather lay awake with tearless eyes, but with a sick pain at heart.
+All sunshine in her path seemed to have gone. Only dull heavy clouds
+hung above her. And when Bluebell had at last sobbed herself to sleep,
+Heather crept up to her, hung over her with a world of love in her grey
+eyes, and laying her cheek against hers, kissed her passionately.</p>
+
+<p>"Our first quarrel, our first separation! How shall I be able to bear
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell stirred and smiled in her sleep. Then one word came softly
+between her lips—"Herbert!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather turned away passionately.</p>
+
+<p>"She does not care. She only thinks of him! It would have had to come
+sooner or later, so I must bear it."</p>
+
+<p>And then, kneeling down by her bed, she took her trouble to One whom
+she but seldom approached now. As she bent her head, a rush of sorrow
+for her coldness and carelessness in her daily devotions came over her.
+And the tears, which up to now had been stayed, gushed freely.</p>
+
+<p>When she crept into bed again, it was with a greater feeling of comfort
+and peace than she had experienced for some time.</p>
+
+<p>The girls were very quiet the next morning. Cyril rallied them on their
+gravity. Mrs. Carter looked anxious; the other guests were a little
+puzzled, for the twins were acknowledged to be the life of every party
+they joined.</p>
+
+<p>At last, the facts were known, and once known, Heather hastened to put
+her resolve into action. In two days' time her trunks were packed, and
+she was bidding good-bye to every one.</p>
+
+<p>Cyril drove her to the station in his dog-cart. Bluebell had taken
+leave of her sister in private, and was now sobbing her heart out in
+her room.</p>
+
+<p>Heather was very quiet and dignified; her feelings were too deep for
+words, but she had the sense of rest when alone with Cyril that she
+had sadly been needing before all the curious eyes and comments of her
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't be able to do without us," said Cyril at last, quietly and
+meditatively.</p>
+
+<p>Heather's spirit rose at once.</p>
+
+<p>"I lived twenty-two years very happily without any of you," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not without Minnehaha! But I was not thinking of her. How will you
+spend your time! You are like a bird that has been freed, returning to
+its cage. You will only beat your wings against the bars and stop your
+singing."</p>
+
+<p>"Never! One would think my home was a prison."</p>
+
+<p>"How long will you immure yourself? I won't repeat some lady's
+conjectures that I have heard. Your sex is very unmerciful."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I can guess them," said Heather, with a hard little laugh. "They
+say I am disappointed in love, and am going into seclusion to hide my
+wounded heart. Or some say I am going to recruit my health and beauty,
+and flash out afresh the beginning of next season, remembering the old
+adage, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' You see I am well aware
+of what is said behind my back."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a pity you haven't married," said Cyril, in his most fatherly
+tone. "Now, Minnehaha is doing well for herself. It would be a good way
+out of your difficulty."</p>
+
+<p>Heather smiled. Then looking up into his face, she said frankly—</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, that is the one reason why I am glad I am going home. I
+shall hear nothing of the modern marriage market. I am so tired of it
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you made up your mind to choose a spinster's lot?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is not one to be despised," she said.</p>
+
+<p>He was silent.</p>
+
+<p>When he had seen her into a comfortable carriage, tossed some
+picture-papers into her lap, and held out his hand for the final
+good-bye, he said, "You are a strong-minded young woman. But I admire
+the principle that is at the root of it! The missus says you will be
+back under her wings within a month. I give you two. Adieu!"</p>
+
+<p>The train moved off, Heather waved a laughing farewell, but when once
+alone, great tears filled her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>She leant back in her seat, feeling lonely, forlorn, and miserable. Not
+even the conviction that she was obeying the dictates of her conscience
+and had not faltered in the path of duty could comfort her now.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so young," she murmured regretfully, "to leave it all, and to
+lead the life in front of me. It was fit for our grandmother. It is not
+fit for us. It is the best time of my life now, and it is wasting it to
+shut myself up with Abigail and Rachael."</p>
+
+<p>So she mused, and then took herself to task for having such selfish
+views. She took up the papers, and tried to bury herself in the news of
+the day. The journey seemed never ending.</p>
+
+<p>At last she reached the country town. No one was there to meet her, but
+she hardly expected it. Taking a fly, she was driven slowly through the
+country lanes she knew so well, and reached home about five o'clock.
+It was a lovely summer evening; the drive up to the house was bordered
+with bright flower beds, and masses of crimson roses and white clematis
+fell over the porch.</p>
+
+<p>As she stepped out, a burst of song came from the canaries' cage in the
+greenhouse. And Heather lifted up her tired head, and with a bright
+smile came into the cool, dark hall.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail stood like a sentinel inside; Rachael was fluttering about in
+the background. Heather did not wait for a welcome; she went straight
+into Abigail's arms, and was not repulsed.</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>"ONE OF YOUR WANDERERS HAS COME BACK."</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>"One of your wanderers has come back," she whispered. And then, putting
+her arms round the old servant's neck with the simplicity of a child,
+she kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail cleared her throat, tried to speak, and then Heather felt a hot
+tear touch her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>With a little jerk, Abigail released herself from those clinging arms,
+and found her self-control again by scolding the driver for treading
+on the beeswaxed floor with his heavy nailed boots. Heather turned to
+Rachael, who laughed and cried in the same breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my dear Miss Heather, we thought we had lost you altogether. It
+has been a long dreary time this past year. But eh!—how did you leave
+Miss Bluebell? Are we not going to see her down here? And how bonny
+you're looking, but not the same young lady that went from here! You
+are so grand—have such an air. Is it dress has done it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I am just the same," Heather said, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>And resolving to preserve a brave front, she ran in and out of the
+rooms, looking at and praising all she could. The evening sunshine
+stealing in through the casement windows brightened up the dark
+corners. And though she found all exactly as she had left it, her heart
+sank at the bareness, the crude colouring, and the absence of the
+pretty details to which she had become accustomed in her cousin's house.</p>
+
+<p>"If I had not come home to economize, I would improve and alter many
+things," was her thought as she stood in the drawing-room and surveyed
+the brown holland coverings with uneasy disapproval. "I can arrange the
+furniture a little differently, but what is the good of it when I am
+all by myself! Oh, how shall I be able to live alone! Bluebell might
+have come—she might have come!"</p>
+
+<p>It was her inward cry all that evening. Abigail waited upon her in
+solemn silence at dinner. And afterwards, she wandered out into the
+garden. But though the soft stillness of the evening air soothed her,
+she could not feel content in her surroundings, and when later on
+Abigail brought the big Bible and took her seat with Rachael to take
+part in evening prayers, Heather had hard work to keep her self-control.</p>
+
+<p>When Abigail, silver candlestick in hand, came up with her to her room,
+Heather put her hand on her arm wistfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in and talk to me, Abigail. Tell me you have forgiven us for
+running away from you. And tell me all about the farm—and the old
+people. I—I feel lonely to-night."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail's hard face softened.</p>
+
+<p>"If you have seen the evil of your ways, Miss Heather, and are
+purposing to follow in your dear grandmother's footsteps, I will be the
+last one to cast up the past in your face."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't scold me. I cannot stand scolding to-night. I don't know what I
+am going to do yet. But to-morrow morning, I am going to talk business
+with you and Rachael. I want the gossip of the neighbourhood, Abigail."</p>
+
+<p>"You went away a sweet and simple maiden," said Abigail, with a sigh,
+"and you have come back a fashionable town lady. I hardly am liking to
+touch your hair. Maybe you would rather I did not take up the old ways
+again?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed, and throwing her dressing-gown round her, handed
+Abigail her brush.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall love to have you attend me. Now talk, and brush away."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail's next question brought a pink flush to Heather's cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"And how goes your soul's health, Miss Heather? That is what I am
+longing to know. Are you as near heaven as you were when you left this?"</p>
+
+<p>"I would rather you told me first what I am longing to know."</p>
+
+<p>Heather's tone was dignity itself.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail gave a heavy sigh, but after a pause began telling her the
+village news.</p>
+
+<p>And Heather did not give her an opportunity again of any personal
+questions. She chatted and laughed, and then wished her good night. But
+seeing the grieved look on the old woman's face as she was taking her
+departure, she said with one of her flashing smiles that were so rare—</p>
+
+<p>"I am not quite so wicked as you think me, Abigail. You will see how
+good I mean to be now I am home again."</p>
+
+<p>A little time later, and Heather's face was buried in her pillow,
+choking sobs escaping her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bluebell, you cannot love me as I love you! Shall we never be
+together again? It is like death itself! How shall I be able to bear
+it?"</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_9">CHAPTER IX</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+THE VILLAGERS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Let it ever be thy pride<br>
+&nbsp;To linger by the labourer's side;<br>
+&nbsp;With words of sympathy or song<br>
+&nbsp;To cheer the dreary march along,<br>
+&nbsp;Of the great army of the poor."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>THE old servants hardly knew what to make of their young mistress
+the next morning. She came downstairs apparently in the best of
+spirits, but full of plans and innovations that sorely perplexed and
+disconcerted them.</p>
+
+<p>She told Rachael she would in future like afternoon tea in the
+drawing-room every afternoon at five o'clock, dinner not a minute
+sooner than half-past seven. She uncovered the drawing-room chairs
+and couches, and tossed the holland covers into the bottom of the
+linen cupboard. She brought in flowering plants from the greenhouse,
+and disposed of them in every corner of the room. Calling the small
+boy into her service, she wheeled out the round table into an empty
+bedroom, and by dint of banishing some articles of furniture and
+altering others, had soon completely transformed the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail looked on in silent horror. This masterful young woman, with
+bright careless smile and quick peremptory tones, was not the same
+girl that had trembled at her voice in bygone days! Heather worked on
+indifferent to her frown, and directly after her lunch, walked down to
+the farm to see George Thatcher and his wife.</p>
+
+<p>For a good two hours, she perambulated round the premises, talking
+business matters over with the farmer, and jotting down in her
+note-book the repairs that were absolutely necessary, those that could
+wait, and the respective cost of each.</p>
+
+<p>"Be you comin' in to see the missus?" asked George, shyly, after their
+talk was done. "She do be expectin' to see you, miss."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I will come."</p>
+
+<p>And Heather followed him into a spotlessly clean kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>Annie, a fair, gentle-faced young woman, rose up from some needlework
+with a blushing smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh, miss, 'tis nice to see you here again."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Heather, brightly, as she shook hands, and then stooped to
+kiss a bonny child of two years old playing at his mother's feet. "I
+feel as if I haven't been away so long, after all. And yet, when I see
+Tommy, it does seem strange; he was a baby in arms when I left."</p>
+
+<p>"How is Miss Bluebell? 'Tis a disappointment not to see her. Will she
+be coming home soon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not just yet. She is going to Norway with some friends in a yacht.
+Well, Annie, how do you think I look?"</p>
+
+<p>"Beautiful, miss."</p>
+
+<p>There was no mistaking the hearty admiration in Annie's face and tone.</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed lightly, and George, who had swung his little son upon
+his shoulder, now turned and looked at her.</p>
+
+<p>"We were hearing you went to see the Queen," he said a little
+doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we had the honour of kissing her hand, and making our curtsey to
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"There now," broke in Annie, "I knew it were true. Some said one thing
+and some another, and old Watty would have it that you must have a Lady
+before your name to go to Buckingham Palace. I says to him,—</p>
+
+<p>"'Our young ladies are as high as any other ladies in the land, though
+they have kept theirselves so quiet.'</p>
+
+<p>"And he was as obstinate as a donkey that the Queen's visitors were
+duchesses and countesses, and lords and ladies, and no plain misses
+could ever get near her. Did you have tea or dinner with her, miss? And
+how did she look? Did she ask you any questions?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather tried to explain. And her experience at her first drawing-room
+greatly raised her in the estimation of the farmer and his wife, though
+it all seemed very unreal and puzzling to them.</p>
+
+<p>She chatted on to them, and then, as milking-time came round, she took
+her leave and hastened homewards.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Heather! She was making valiant struggles to so occupy her time
+that she would have no room for thought. But now as she was walking
+through the green meadows, it all came back with a rush.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how I shall be able to bear it," she murmured to herself;
+"it seems so dreadful to be quite alone. Bluebell will be surrounded
+by friends; I am without a soul to speak to. I feel inclined to fly
+back to them all, and yet I will not. It is my duty to stay here, and I
+will. And I will try to be as cheerful as I can."</p>
+
+<p>She returned to the house, found some pleasure in showing Abigail how
+to place tea in the drawing-room, and then took her solitary cup in
+state, thinking idly how much she would like to see the door open and
+some of her London friends and acquaintances appear.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Half an hour after, she was out again, this time wending her step
+towards the village. She stopped first at a very small thatched cottage
+with a bright flower garden in front. She lifted the latch of the door
+quietly, and went in.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment, she thought that no one was in the tiny kitchen; then
+from behind an old settle popped a bright-eyed little woman. Very old
+and feeble she looked, and for a minute she peered up in alarm at her
+visitor. This young lady, in her dainty white dress and hat, seemed a
+stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Mary, don't you know me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay, bless your sweet voice; it can't be no other but Miss Heather!"</p>
+
+<p>And here the old woman seized hold of the delicately gloved hands, and
+tears dropped fast upon them.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought ye were swallowed up in the big town, and had forgotten us
+altogether. Ay, my dear, 'tis good to see you again. Abigail has come
+in with my bit o' money every Saturday, but she never seemed to have no
+tidings to tell of—leastways, not from you and Miss Bluebell. And 'twas
+only last Saturday she shakes her head and says,—</p>
+
+<p>"'Ye mustn't be surprised, Mrs. Scrivens, if ye gets no more siller for
+a bit. The young ladies are badly off, and times is not what they were,
+and maybe this is the last I can bring ye!'</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure, when she'd gone, ye could have knocked me down with a
+feather! For ye know my past, Miss Heather, dear, how with six children
+and a husband that died when the eldest were but seven, and one little
+one a cripple, and the other lost his sight through blastin', and one
+o' the girls takin' consummation and dwindlin' down to a skellikon, and
+me givin' of her a proper funeral, and then a helpin' my own sister who
+come to sad want, bein' one who couldn't help herself—well, I didn't
+put savin's by, 'tweren't to be expected, were it? And havin' had the
+help from your dear grandmother so many years, my faith was rather took
+aback, so to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"I sat in the corner here, and I thinks o' 'Lijah and the ravens, and
+then I asks my Father not to let me come to want, and I casts about
+in my mind what I could do without, and how I could earn a few pence.
+All this week I've give up my ha'porth o' milk, and the bit o' meat
+I has on the Wednesday, and I've kept half the bit o' drippin' Mrs.
+Styles from next door gives me, to go towards nex' week. 'Tis hard to
+be eckycomical with so little, but 'twas harder to tell old Ralph he
+might come to-morrer bein' Saturday, and strip my bit o' garden of
+all my bits o' flowers and take 'em and sell 'em in the market. And
+then he tells me Abigail had brought him the same message, and he and
+me had a good weep together, and then he said the Lord 'ud provide,
+and went away with a solemn shake o' his head, and he's goin' to try
+his cabbages in the market, but they be a poor lot. Ralph never was a
+gardener; he allays were so took up wi' books an' such like."</p>
+
+<p>Old Mary stopped for breath. She had poured out her story with smiles
+and tears, and Heather felt a little choke in her throat as she thought
+of the luxury in which she had been living, and the contrast of her
+life with this one.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall not want the money, Mary. I have brought it to you
+myself this afternoon. I did not think Abigail had told you of our
+difficulties, but she did not know last Saturday that I was coming
+home."</p>
+
+<p>"Praise the Lord! He has not failed me. Now, Miss Heather, just you
+kneel down and let us thank Him for His goodness. Ay, I have been
+mistrustin' of Him, and He just brought you back to us Hisself when He
+knew we couldn't a get on without you!"</p>
+
+<p>Down on the uneven stone floor knelt Heather, with the little woman
+sniffing and ejaculating beside her. But it was not Heather's voice
+broke the silence that fell on them, she felt too humiliated and
+ashamed to utter a word. It was Mary who sobbed out her thanksgiving
+with many tears, and when they got up from their knees, and the old
+woman poured forth blessings on her head, Heather rather sadly hushed
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"I am ashamed you should have had a day's anxiety about it, Mary. I
+must go and see Ralph. Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>She left her, after placing a little packet in her hand, and found
+the old man at his garden gate reading the local newspaper. Ralph
+was rather a character. He prided himself upon his knowledge of the
+world and its ways. He would quote noted politicians in his talk, and
+even crowned heads, as if they were intimate friends of his own. His
+geography was vague, his history and all general knowledge was taken
+from the papers. The more ignorant of the villagers gaped with open
+mouths at his utterances when he had his paper in his hand. Without it,
+he was as lost as a lame man without a stick, or a short-sighted man
+without his spectacles!</p>
+
+<p>"Let us see now," he would say with a wise shake of his head, "what the
+young Emperor of Germany has been saying to his ministers last Friday.
+I misdoubted his wisdom in that affair in Chiny, but he allays has been
+too precipitous with his tongue. He reminds me of his gran'-feyther in
+that affair of the war with the Frenchies. And here's trouble again
+in Indy. Well, well, if there's fightin't here, 'twill have to be the
+sailors this time. There be all our soldiers wanted for Africa, Lord
+Salisbury says, and they can't be fightin' on two sides of our island
+at once!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked up as Heather approached.</p>
+
+<p>"Good arternoon, miss," he cried joyously. "Well, there! I have a bin
+concerned about you! Right glad to see ye back, miss; and ye be lookin'
+up foine too! Missis Abigail she be so close and mournful like at your
+Lunnon visit, that I has high words with her on the subjec' last time
+she were round. I sez to her,—</p>
+
+<p>"'Missis,' I sez, 'the young birds allays leaves their nest. 'Tis the
+way of all nature; how else should they learn to fly?' I sez! 'And when
+they be took up by her gracious Majesty, and be brought to see her in
+the Palace,' I sez, 'they that knows 'em ought to be that joyful that
+they should have the honour of being invited, that they should be werry
+thankful they ever left their home.' I sez—</p>
+
+<p>"But there, miss, my tongue do run on! I was a just calculatin' from
+the paper what my bits o' vegetables might fetch in the market."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Heather, hastily, "I have heard, Ralph, but you needn't be
+afraid your money will stop. Now I am home again I will see that it
+does not."</p>
+
+<p>The old man looked at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Then 'twas only Missis Abigail's croaks? Well, I do be truly thankful!
+I never gives in, for 'tis a long lane that has no turnin', and there's
+many a slip 'twix the cup and the lip, but this mornin' I had a heerd
+how Mrs. Scrivens were a scrapin' together, and I felt if the choice
+lay betwixt my paper and the house, well, it must be the house I goes
+to, for a man is little better than a beast if he don't know the news
+of the day!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed, and stayed chatting to the old man for some time. They
+discussed politics, and Heather gave him many bits of information about
+London and its ways. Before she went, he asked her gravely—</p>
+
+<p>"And has Miss Bluebell got a husband? We heerd tell so. And haven't you
+a lover, miss? There allays are plenty dangling about town, they say."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I haven't one yet, Ralph, neither has Miss Bluebell a husband! Now
+I must go. Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>One more old friend she met on the way home, and this was Watty Clark,
+the postman. He was striding along, his long white beard reaching to
+his waist, and the post-bag swinging to and fro. He looked the picture
+of health and activity, though he had passed his seventy-fifth year.
+His chief characteristic was a great belief in himself and utter
+disbelief in every one and everything else. It was he who had thrown a
+doubt on "our young ladies going to see the Queen," and now he stopped
+to look rather queerly at Heather as she greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Watty, did you think we were never coming back?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never," he said with a shake of his head, "and there's only half of ye
+now without Miss Bluebell. I allays said she wouldn't never come back;
+she were too fond of excitement and such like."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you think better of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah well, I've heard say the reason, and I gives ye the credit of
+meanin' well, but ye won't keep it up. 'Tisn't to be expected ye will,
+and ye'll be pinin' for city life before many weeks be out! Lasses are
+the same all the world over. They be no good for hard grindin' work and
+duty; they just flitter flutters by and takes the cream, and leaves the
+skim for them who ain't so flighty as theirselves."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, if you are rude to me, I shall not come and see you, and bring
+you some medicine for your cough, as I used to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to start yer medicine-shop agen, miss?"</p>
+
+<p>The old man's tone was eager.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Heather. "Every Saturday morning I will see any one who
+comes up."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah then, I'll bring up my wife's nephew, Fred. He's had gatherin' on
+his thumb, poor little chap, and maybe ye'll be able to do somethin'.
+He's bin cryin' out at nights latterly. Not that I has faith in
+doctorin'. Natur' is our best doctor, but the missus is whinin' over
+him, and I can't abear to see women's tears. I reckon she'll cheer up,
+if she thinks you'll take him in hand; she's such a one for believin'
+in everybody!"</p>
+
+<p>He passed on chuckling and muttering to himself, and Heather, now that
+she was alone, lost her bright keen look, and wistful curves came to
+her lips.</p>
+
+<p>"I must keep busy, that is the only thing; if only I need not think!
+But now I shall have a long lonely evening and no one to speak to. If
+I feel it like this to-day, when everything is so fresh, what shall I
+do in a few weeks' time! Watty says I shan't keep it up. Well, I am
+determined I shall. I shall brace myself for duty, and let pleasure
+go. After all, I have had a good turn of enjoying myself. Now I will
+live for others, and leave myself out of the question. I must try and
+imagine I never had a sister; lots of girls live lonely lives, why
+should not I be able to do it? Or just supposing Bluebell were dead,
+how much more dreadful it would be!"</p>
+
+<p>Reasoning and philosophizing thus, Heather reached home, and filled
+up the rest of her time that evening by writing a long letter to her
+absent sister.</p>
+
+<p>When she went to her room, she took up her Bible thoughtfully, and
+commenced reading it, as she had not done for a long time. She had an
+uneasy feeling that her religion had not stood the test it had been
+subjected to. As she looked back and remembered the days when she
+realized the love and nearness of God, she now seemed far away, and her
+heart was lifeless and cold. She read a chapter with difficulty. It
+seemed dreary and uninteresting; she knelt in prayer, but her thoughts
+wandered away to Bluebell.</p>
+
+<p>Yet when she got up, she thought to herself, "I am sure I must be
+pleasing God by doing my duty and coming home."</p>
+
+<p>And feeling rather virtuous, and very miserable, she crept into bed,
+sleep coming to her aid, and taking her into its embrace very soon.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_10">CHAPTER X</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A SUMMER LODGER<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"A transient visit intervening,<br>
+&nbsp;And made almost without a meaning,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; *
+&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; *&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; *<br>
+&nbsp;Produced a friendship, then begun,<br>
+&nbsp;That has cemented us in one."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">COWPER.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>THE next month dragged very heavily. Heather brought all her pride and
+pluck into requisition, and never betrayed to those around how bitterly
+she bewailed her lot in private. Abigail looked on and wondered. She
+saw her young mistress taking a keener interest in all that concerned
+the villagers than ever before. She was always ready with a laugh and
+jest, and her spirit and energy never seemed to flag.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Abigail knew well that she was not really happy. The old servant
+had keen sight, and there were hard strained lines round the young
+girl's eyes that never used to be there. She watched her in silence.
+It had been a great shock to find how entirely her former rule was
+now cast lightly aside. Heather was always pleasant, but there was a
+reserve and dignity about her that forbade any familiarity on the part
+of Abigail. She was mistress of the household, and showed every one
+that she meant to be treated as such.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail waited on her for the most part in silence, but her old heart
+was full of love and pity for the lonely girl. And as Heather seemed
+to increase rather than diminish the distance between them, so did
+Abigail's affection rise proportionately.</p>
+
+<p>A few weeks after Heather's return, she had visitors.</p>
+
+<p>A Lady Monteith, living about four miles off, came to call with her
+daughters. Heather had met some connections of theirs in town, and she
+found to her amusement that she and Bluebell could no longer be buried
+in oblivion. Their season in town had made a great difference in their
+social status, and the county families who had ignored them before,
+now intended to stretch out a welcome to the bright young beauties of
+fashion. Lady Monteith was followed by others, and Heather was not
+surprised to receive soon the following letter from her cousin:—</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"MY DEAREST HEATHER,—I am getting distinctly anxious about you, and
+though you have cast me off for a time, I will not yet disclaim all
+responsibility of your actions. How long are you going to be in the
+country? All the winter? Because, if so, I think you ought to have some
+worthy duenna living with you. Lady Monteith is talking about you, and
+you know what that means. If you weren't so good-looking, it would not
+matter. But if the county is opening its arms to you, as I hear from
+her it intends doing, you must have some one to go about with you. I
+think I can find some one for you if you wish it, but I know of old
+what a decided little person you are, so won't do anything till I hear
+from you. I can't offer to come and stay with you myself, for your
+worthy handmaiden is too much for my temper. Hal sends love. He expects
+you back next spring, and says you will take London by storm. Cyril
+has gone off to a Scotch moor with a new friend of his whom I fear and
+dislike. He is deeply religious, and you don't suspect from his manners
+at first what traps he is laying for you. I fell into his clutches
+once, and keep a safe distance off now, I can assure you! I suppose you
+hear from Bluebell? I don't, but I am told matters are proceeding very
+smoothly between her and Sir Herbert.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"In haste, with love, your affectionate cousin,—<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 23.5em;">"IDA."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Her answer was brief and to the point:—</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"My DEAR IDA,—Do not distress yourself about me. If I intended to
+continue my gay life in the country, I should not have come. I may
+return a few calls, but beyond that I shall not mix in society. I have
+quite enough to do in attending to my home duties and the needs of our
+poor people to keep me occupied. I came home to retrench my expenses.
+That I am doing.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"With love, your affectionate cousin,—<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">"HEATHER."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"It sounds curt and cold," she mused, as she read it over before
+sending off. "But I fancy Cousin Ida is not so genial as she was. I
+can never forget what she has done for us, but I know she is vexed at
+my coming home, and disappointing some of her hopes. Her letter sounds
+uninterested. I have taken my choice, and she will soon forget me, I
+expect."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps Heather judged harshly, but she was not far from the truth.
+Mrs. Carter was getting a little tired of her chaperonage. Her views
+were that girls ought to become engaged in their first season. She had
+been gratified by her young cousins' favourable impression upon society
+when first introduced, and their growing popularity had been very
+pleasant to witness. But after a time, she grew a little tired of her
+responsibility regarding their movements. She found them more difficult
+to manage, and when Heather explained her motives for returning home,
+she resented them, and chose to consider they cast a reflection on her
+superintendence of dress and expenditure.</p>
+
+<p>When she received Heather's letter, she tossed it across to her husband
+with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"She is a cool young woman, isn't she? I cannot quite understand her. I
+think she has a puritanical vein in her nature—hereditary, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"She took to town life very easily," said Captain Carter.</p>
+
+<p>"As a duck takes to water! Well, I have relieved my conscience, and
+shall let her 'gang her ain gait.' I only wrote because I was smarting
+from Lady Monteith's scathing comments on 'girls of the present day,
+and the farce of chaperons.' I looked after her well as long as she was
+under my roof. She left it of her own accord, so I shall trouble no
+more about her."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>A little later than this, Heather was one day asked by George Thatcher
+if she would object to his wife taking in lodgers for a month or so. It
+appeared that a sister of his in service had written to ask him if he
+knew of any rooms in the neighbourhood that would suit an invalid lady.
+Times were rather bad; Annie had two or three spare rooms, and would
+like to accommodate the lady.</p>
+
+<p>"But we weren't certain if you'd like it, miss. 'Tis your farm, and we
+wouldn't do nothink to put you about."</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I don't object. Why should I? I envy the invalid such cosy
+quarters. I will come down and see Annie, and find out if I can do
+anything to help her in this new venture." Which she accordingly did.</p>
+
+<p>In her quiet, uneventful life, even the advent of a summer lodger
+brought interest and pleasure. And when the invalid finally arrived,
+Heather resolved to go and call upon her.</p>
+
+<p>So, one bright afternoon, she set out for the farm. On the way, she
+passed Watty and old Ralph in the midst of an animated discourse. They
+were leaning over the old stone bridge which arched the river, and
+which was called by many "The Idler's Corner."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Watty," said Heather, as she came up to them, "aren't you
+supposed to be on your afternoon rounds? Have you any letters for me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't I bring you three this mornin', miss?" said Watty, not
+attempting to move. "You couldn't go for to expec' any more to-day.
+We be havin' an argiment, Ralph and me, and he be such a one with his
+tongue that I can't get my innin's."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha, ha!" laughed Ralph, cheerily, as he spread out his beloved paper
+before him. "Well, Miss Heather, here be Watty shakin' his head over
+strangers a-comin' to lodge to your farm. I sez, the more we get, the
+better it be for trade; he sez, importation of any sort ruins our
+country. I sez, we want our village to grow; he sez, railways and
+telegraphs are a curse instead of a blessin'. I sez, they brings work
+to hundreds; he sez, increase o' poppylation means increase o' crime
+and taxes. I sez—"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, please stop," said Heather, laughingly putting her hands to her
+ears. "I never will discuss such questions. What does it matter? If you
+waste your time much longer, Watty, you will get into trouble. Good
+afternoon! I am too busy to stay gossiping here."</p>
+
+<p>She left them, and as her light steps sped on their way, Watty shook
+his head after her.</p>
+
+<p>"She have taken up grand airs since she have a bin in Lunnon; she rules
+as strong as a master, and it ought not to be! Women be sadly fallin'
+off, in these wicked days, and everything be turnin' topsy-turvy and
+inside out!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather reached the farm, and paused just before she went up the garden
+to look around her. The orchard close by was full of ripe and rosy
+fruit, the virginian creeper over the old porch was in its scarlet
+mantle; everything around seemed united in glowing gold and crimson.
+The old-fashioned border that went right round the smooth grass-plot
+was full of bright dahlias, sunflowers, and hollyhocks, and the foliage
+of the woods in the distance would have delighted any artist's eye, for
+every shade from gold to deep copper quivered in the autumn sunshine.
+Heather drew a deep breath as she gazed.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing in London like this," she said.</p>
+
+<p>And then feeling soothed and comforted, she entered the house.</p>
+
+<p>She was shown at once into the best parlour, a pretty old room with
+large bay window overlooking the orchard. In an easy chair drawn up to
+the window was the invalid, and Heather, who had quite expected to see
+a fragile old lady, almost started at the contrast to her expectation.
+Miss Vaughan was not a very young woman, but there was no sign of
+feebleness or of age about her, and Heather thought her face was the
+handsomest she had ever seen. Very dark eyes which flashed and glowed
+with intense feeling, rippling brown hair with hardly a streak of grey
+discernible, finely cut features, and a broad intellectual forehead,
+and, lastly, lips that parted in a most bewitching smile,—these were
+the points that Heather's quick glance took note of.</p>
+
+<p>She introduced herself very simply, and laid an exquisite bunch of
+tea-roses on the small table by the invalid's side.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you might like a few roses," she said. "It may be vain of
+me, but I never think any roses smell like ours!"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan looked delighted.</p>
+
+<p>"You have indeed given me a treat. I have heard a great deal about you,
+Miss Fotheringay. Mrs. Thatcher has a great affection for you and your
+sister."</p>
+
+<p>"She was one of our maids a few years ago. I hope she will make you
+comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite sure she will. This is such a delicious contrast to my
+London lodgings."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you live in London?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I have been staying there for the last six months. Not a very
+bright time, for I went up for treatment, and have been in the doctor's
+hands until now."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you are better," said Heather, sympathetically.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan answered brightly, "I am not worse, and I know now that
+nothing more can be done. Certainty is always preferable to doubt."</p>
+
+<p>Heather was silent. She did not like to appear too inquisitive.</p>
+
+<p>But Miss Vaughan, after a glance at her, said frankly, "It is my spine.
+I hurt it two years ago out hunting, and I have been living in the
+hopes of getting about on my feet again. I have had the best advice,
+and know now that that can never be."</p>
+
+<p>"How dreadful for you! How can you bear it?"</p>
+
+<p>Such a glad light shone out of Miss Vaughan's speaking eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I could have borne it two years ago, but I have had
+great happiness since I have been laid aside, and nothing seems to
+matter much now."</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked at her inquiringly, and Miss Vaughan responded to her
+look.</p>
+
+<p>"I only thought of earth and its pleasures before," she said softly. "I
+have had my eyes and heart opened to so much more since."</p>
+
+<p>Heather was silent, but there was a wistful look in her eyes that Miss
+Vaughan noticed at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know my receipt for happiness?" was the next question gently
+put.</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to know it, Miss Vaughan. I thought I did once, but I don't
+know it now. It is all unreal and far away."</p>
+
+<p>Encouraged by the sympathetic voice of the stranger, Heather was
+surprised afterwards to realize how fully she confided to her the
+events of her life for the past few years. She did not say much about
+her inner feelings, but what was omitted Miss Vaughan was able to fill
+in for herself. She had a very good idea of what the girl was passing
+through.</p>
+
+<p>"And now," said Heather, trying to speak gaily, "I am settling into a
+quiet country life, and am trying to do my duty in every respect. If I
+had my sister with me, I think I should be quite happy."</p>
+
+<p>Then, being a little afraid of Miss Vaughan's probing her too deeply,
+she deftly turned the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"I am wondering how you get about. Don't you go out at all? Do you
+drive?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am out a great deal. I have a wheelchair, and I have brought my
+little attendant with me. He is a small ugly boy with a shock of red
+hair, but with the warmest heart imaginable, and faithful to the last
+degree. I have sent him out to buy me some stamps. He wheels me out,
+and looks after me as an old nurse would. Can you tell me if there is
+good fishing in the neighbourhood?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; our river is splendid for trout."</p>
+
+<p>They talked a little longer, and then Heather took her leave, feeling
+keenly interested in this fresh-comer.</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>A LOVELY NOOK BY THE RIVER.</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_11">CHAPTER XI</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+BROUGHT INTO LIGHT<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Another called, another brought, dear Master, to Thy feet!<br>
+&nbsp;Oh, where are words to tell the joy so wonderful and sweet!<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;* &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; * &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; *
+&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; * &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; *&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; *<br>
+&nbsp;Another heart will own Thee, Lord, and worship Thee as King,<br>
+&nbsp;And grateful love and glowing praise and willing service bring."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">F. R. HAVERGAL.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>AS days went on, Heather spent a good deal of her time at the farm, and
+before long had become fast friends with Miss Vaughan.</p>
+
+<p>One afternoon, they were out-of-doors together in a lovely nook by the
+river. Dick, the red-haired boy, was farther down the river, trying to
+catch fish for his mistress's supper.</p>
+
+<p>"I think," said Heather, laughing, "if I had been a man, I should have
+fallen in love with you at first sight, and by this time, I should have
+proposed to you. Would you have had me, I wonder?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am certain I should not," was the amused reply. "Disparity of age
+would have been the chief obstacle."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you are not so very very much older than I am."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan rested her hand affectionately on Heather's shoulder, as
+she reclined on the grass at her side.</p>
+
+<p>"I am years older in experience, dear."</p>
+
+<p>"I feel I have had experience," said Heather, thoughtfully. "Society
+life in London makes one grow old very quickly. I learnt more in one
+year about the world, and—and people generally, than I would have done
+if I had lived on here for twenty years."</p>
+
+<p>"And did the knowledge do you good?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not; and yet how I did enjoy it! Miss Vaughan, don't think
+better of me than I deserve. I did not leave society because I was sick
+of it. I would go back to it to-morrow with joy, if I could with a
+clear conscience. If some one left me a fortune, I would. I am fretting
+and chafing my heart out here in this narrow groove."</p>
+
+<p>"You conceal it very well."</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I try to, of course. I should despise myself if I went crawling about
+and whining to everybody about my hard fate. And I am fond of our poor
+people. There are compensations. Still one is dreadfully cramped and
+stifled in such a life."</p>
+
+<p>"What must mine be, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you are different."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, I had ten years of what you call 'society life.' I
+suppose I enjoyed it after my own fashion, but comparing it with my
+present one, I shiver at the narrowness, the paucity, the emptiness of
+it all! If you want width—breadth—depth—you will never have it in all
+that. It cramps and chokes the soul as nothing else does! I can breathe
+now, parts of me live that were lying dead or dormant, and isn't it a
+grand thing to be able to defy all circumstances to mar or disturb your
+happiness and peace! There! I must not talk so much of myself and my
+feelings! It is a way invalids have!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked at the glowing eyes of her friend and sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"I often wonder if my religion was real at all," she said. "I think
+Bluebell and I grew up in a Christian atmosphere, took everything for
+granted, and just went through a routine of it. Yet I cannot remember
+the time when I did not realize that God loved me, was watching over
+me, and that I belonged to Him."</p>
+
+<p>"And when did you first lose the reality of it all?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose in London. There seemed so little time for thinking about
+such things. We seemed in such a whirl. And I think, when we found the
+things we had been brought up to consider as wicked were what every
+nice person seemed to be doing, it shook our faith in what we had been
+taught. Abigail would tell you that we have 'fallen from grace.' I
+hardly know where I am now. I try not to think of it."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan looked at Heather with much interest.</p>
+
+<p>"We have had a very different experience. Now, I was brought up to
+be a success in society. I never had a serious thought till after my
+accident. Perhaps that is the reason why my happiness is so great now.
+I always had an uneasy feeling at the bottom of my heart that I was not
+ready to meet death. To look forward now, and to be able to say with
+calm assurance, 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He
+is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day,'
+why, it does indeed bring one a peace that is not of this world!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather sighed again, and said after a few minutes' silence—</p>
+
+<p>"I have no love for God; I feel quite indifferent."</p>
+
+<p>"No love for your Saviour?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid not much."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you want to have love for Him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I—I—don't know. Yes, I think I do, but I have—to put it frankly—a fear
+if I were to become a very earnest Christian, I should think it right
+to give up all enjoyments of any kind, and I don't want to do that."</p>
+
+<p>"You feel you haven't had your fill yet of this world's pleasures?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; Abigail's religion is such a hard and narrow one."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, my dear Heather, don't take your religion from Abigail. She has
+naturally, I expect, an austere, severe nature. I find that since I
+have given myself to God as His servant, I have tenfold more pleasure
+in life. Grasp the fact that God loves you, and wants you to be
+happy. That He gives us this lovely country, the flowers, the birds,
+everything that sings His praises; that He is caring for us, shaping
+every circumstance for our good, and teaching and preparing us a little
+every day, for our glorious future by-and-by! If you can once believe
+this, will you be able to go about in gloom and depression? And add to
+this the wonderful fact of our redemption and the intense love of our
+Saviour for us, what ingrates we are, not to be bursting with praise
+all our lives long!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I wish I could feel as you do," said Heather, wistfully. "I
+think if I were really happy, I could be quite content not to go back
+to London again, but to live my life here. But I am restless and
+dissatisfied, and I find doing my duty every day is very irksome and
+disagreeable. Tell me how I can learn to love God as you do?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan was silent for a few minutes, her usually bright face
+softened into solemn reverence. Then she said quickly—</p>
+
+<p>"Do you like me, Heather?"</p>
+
+<p>"You know I do. I have never met any one before that I wanted so much
+to be my friend."</p>
+
+<p>"When you first heard I was coming to lodge here, you didn't care about
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did not know you."</p>
+
+<p>"I think, dear, that answer explains your lack of love for your
+Saviour; you do not know Him. Now, how did you get to know me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came over to see you, we had talks together, and every time I was
+with you, I liked you better."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. Now, the oftener you talk to Christ, the oftener you read His
+Word, His Life, His Sayings, the better you will get to know Him, the
+more you will love Him. And the first step towards loving Him comes
+when we gaze at Him on the cross."</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," said Heather, breathlessly; "tell me more!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you ever stood gazing up at the cross like Christian, with his
+burden on his back? Have you ever realized your sins nailed Him there?
+Have you heard His cry of agony when your sins were laid on Him, 'My
+God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' And then, have you heard the
+cry of triumph, 'It is finished'? And have you cast yourself at His
+feet, in humble gratitude for the pardon He obtained for you then?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan sank her voice to an impressive whisper.</p>
+
+<p>Heather shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked across the rippling
+water in front of her to the blue sky beyond. Her heart was stirred;
+light was creeping in, as it had never done before. She was intensely
+still, and Miss Vaughan did not break the silence that fell on them
+both. She had the consciousness of a soul groping after its Redeemer,
+and would not by word or look thrust herself in between.</p>
+
+<p>And then, after a long time, Heather turned round, and with misty eyes
+silently kissed her friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going home," she said very quietly. "I shall hope to see you
+to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan let her go without a word, and sat in her chair silently
+praying for her, till Dick came up excitedly with a fair-sized trout,
+and claimed his mistress's interest and attention for the time.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Miss Vaughan was not surprised the next afternoon, when Heather met her
+with a happy face.</p>
+
+<p>They talked long together of the subject uppermost in their minds.</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw it so before," said Heather, softly. "I don't think I ever
+realized that I had part in the Crucifixion. I have been thinking of it
+so much. Of course, all my life I have believed that Christ died for
+the sins of the whole world, but it never came home to me personally.
+I grew up trying to be good, but I never definitely took Him for my
+Saviour. Miss Vaughan, you have brought me into close touch with God at
+last. How can I thank you! I think I hardly deserve to have come into
+the light so suddenly. I wasn't properly seeking. I was only wanting it
+in a half-hearted way."</p>
+
+<p>"The Shepherd goes out to seek His sheep before they are conscious of
+seeking Him," responded Miss Vaughan. "You will find it make a great
+difference in your life, Heather."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I shall. I seem almost overwhelmed with God's goodness. I feel
+I shall never be unhappy again."</p>
+
+<p>It was not long before Abigail was aware of the change in her young
+mistress. She found her one evening with her Bible on her knees,
+marking some verses. Heather's first natural instinct was to close her
+Bible at once upon Abigail's approach. Though perfectly frank and open
+with Miss Vaughan, she could not conquer the reserve that had sprung up
+between herself and Abigail, but she thought better of it, and did not
+move her position.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad to see you reading that blessed Book," was Abigail's comment.</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked up gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said, "I hope I shall never neglect it again."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you back in the fold, Miss Heather?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I am, perhaps safer than I ever was before."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail turned round and abruptly left the room, to Heather's great
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>She would have been still more surprised if she had seen that good
+woman hasten downstairs and with radiant smile and streaming eyes fling
+open the kitchen door.</p>
+
+<p>"Rachael, give thanks with me. The Lord has answered my prayers. Miss
+Heather is restored to His favour!"</p>
+
+<p>And Abigail's solemn, rugged face seemed a good ten years younger for
+the next few days.</p>
+
+<p>Heather's friendship with Miss Vaughan, or "Ena," as she had learnt to
+call her, deepened day by day. Those days were intensely happy ones
+to her. She had been very lonely since she had left London. She could
+not even yet become reconciled to her separation from Bluebell, but
+her heart was satisfied as it had never been before, and the Christian
+life, instead of a monotonous round of duty, seemed to be one flooded
+with sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>She said something of this sort to Ena one afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know," was the quick response. "It is good to bask in the
+sunshine of God's great love; but, Heather, do not think there will
+never be any clouds in your life again."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you experienced any? You do not look as if you have."</p>
+
+<p>Ena laughed a little, then she said earnestly—"My experience has
+been this. I, like you, felt at first my heart and life flooded with
+sunshine, and wondered if it were possible that anything on earth
+could trouble me again. Very soon clouds came. Physical weakness and
+depression with me. I lost heart, and then was led to realize that
+the sun was shining still, and always would shine, behind the cloud.
+So I waited, believing the cloud would pass. It did. I have had many
+ups and downs; and I think the lesson one gradually learns is that
+one will never find sunshine in one's self—only in our Master. He is
+always the same. Our feelings may rise and fall, but we can rest on
+His faithfulness and unchangeableness, and this brings the settled
+brightness and peace into our souls. I wonder if I have explained
+myself clearly? I am not a very experienced Christian, you know, but I
+seem to have learnt this."</p>
+
+<p>"It must have been dreadful when the doctor told you that you would
+never walk again," said Heather, slowly, after a pause. "I don't
+think I could be as bright us you are, if I knew I was doomed to be a
+perpetual invalid."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you could," replied Ena, smiling. "It was a black cloud at first,
+but I don't feel it now. Religion is not real if it does not help you
+to rise above your circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been wanting to ask you, Ena, if you will take pity on my
+loneliness, and leave your lodgings for a week or two. It would be so
+delightful for me if you were my visitor. I could give you a bedroom
+on the ground floor, and Dick could come too. You don't know what
+miserable evenings I have. Of course, I have been happier lately, but I
+never shall get accustomed to living alone, it is dreadful! I generally
+spend my evenings in writing to Bluebell, and I cry over my letters,
+and go to bed in the depths of woe. It is very foolish of me, but I
+have never been away from her before. She is a bit of my life gone."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think you should be alone. You are too young."</p>
+
+<p>"That is what Cousin Ida says. She says I want a chaperon. Oh, Ena,
+will you come and act as one? I should love to have you."</p>
+
+<p>"And what about my brother?"</p>
+
+<p>"I keep forgetting you have one. Isn't he always abroad?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed. He has been in Scotland for the last month, but I heard
+from him this morning, and he is coming down in a few days' time to see
+what my quarters are like, and how soon I shall return home."</p>
+
+<p>Heather's face fell.</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't want you as much as I do. Do you always live together?"</p>
+
+<p>"Always. I don't know what I should do without him. He has been so
+good, so patient with me since my accident. I should like you to know
+him, Heather. He is one of those people who say little but do much. His
+whole life has been one long sacrifice for others. I never talk about
+him much, for I cannot bear brothers and sisters singing each other's
+praises in public. But it is only since I have been lying on a sick bed
+that I seem to have had glimpses of what he has given up and missed for
+our sakes."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that is the way of most men," said Heather, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I will tell you a little of our family life, if you like. We were
+very well off as long as my father lived. When he died, my mother and
+I had hardly enough to live upon. Bertram was in the 9th Lancers. He
+was just made captain, and was going abroad. I must tell you my father
+had left him and my eldest brother Frank a very comfortable allowance,
+and this was rather a sore point with my mother. The fact was, the
+investment that my father hoped would bring in a good bit to my mother
+failed almost directly after his death. It was not his fault.</p>
+
+<p>"Frank married at once, and went out to Australia. Bertram wrote to
+him to suggest that they should both make my mother a small allowance,
+and so enable her to have the same comforts she had always been
+accustomed to. He wrote back saying that as he was a married man, this
+was impossible. Then Bertram, after much thought, left his regiment,
+and exchanged into the Line. He felt this very keenly, but he did it
+without saying a word to us, for he could not afford to give my mother
+so much if he stayed on in the Cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>"I was just leaving school then, and I am afraid, wishing to please me,
+and give me a good time, my mother moved to London, and we soon were
+in the midst of a lot of gaiety, and consequently spent a good deal of
+money. Bertram came to our rescue more than once, but the more he gave
+us, the easier it seemed to us to spend, and we had no idea how rigidly
+he was denying himself. I heard through a girl then that he had been
+very nearly engaged to the colonel's daughter in the 9th Lancers, but
+when he left the regiment, he lost her as well. I remember wondering
+why he had done it. Of course, I did not understand then what I do now.</p>
+
+<p>"My mother died rather suddenly, when we were staying abroad, and then
+I wrote to Bertram asking him what I had better do. He came out and
+brought me back, and then told me that he could not bear the idea of
+barrack life for me, so he had resolved to leave the Service. If I
+would be content with a country life, and an occasional visit to town,
+he would take the offer he had had of an old priory that belonged to a
+cousin of ours, and farm his own land. It would give him occupation,
+and we could live very comfortably together. I was delighted at the
+idea, and we have lived there ever since. He gave me every comfort, and
+till I met with this accident, I used to hunt four days in every week
+in the season, and enjoyed myself immensely. But I see now how all my
+life I have been taking from him and giving nothing in return.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, I tell you this in the greatest confidence. I think we are
+very happy together. But he has still anxieties about money matters. My
+brother Frank seems in continual trouble. He helps him a great deal.
+Now, don't you see, dear, that I cannot leave him? Doesn't this make
+you understand how strongly I feel that my home is with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so," said Heather, with a sigh. "Still, you could come to me
+for a short visit, could you not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I could do that. I will talk it over when he comes."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_12">CHAPTER XII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A FISHERMAN<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"He was a man of honour, of noble and generous nature."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>HEATHER had been visiting in the village. She had just come out of Mary
+Scrivens's cottage, where she had been reading to her; for the poor
+old woman was confined to her bed with a bad cold. She was making her
+way across to the village post-office to get some stamps, when she was
+stopped by old Ralph, who was talking very eagerly to a stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Here be our young leddy, sir. She can tell you if she don't agree with
+me, for she's bin to Court herself, and knows the ways of royalty!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked up amused, and met the glance of a tall man in
+fisherman's garb, his basket slung over his shoulder, and rod in his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Ralph?" asked Heather, lightly. "You are not going to draw
+me into a political discussion, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>The stranger raised his hat, and Heather acknowledged it with a
+dignified little bow. She knew how little these old villagers stood on
+ceremony with any one. Strangers were few and far between; they saw no
+reason why "their young leddy" should not "pass the time of day" with a
+stranger, as well as with any of them. Ralph began at once—</p>
+
+<p>"Me and this gent has been discussin' the clack and fightin' that is
+just goin' on in the French assembly. I sez it is all for want of a
+king to keep 'em in order. He sez a president be just as good, but I
+sticks to what I sez! The countries go to the dogs where there ain't
+no kings or queens! 'Tis natural, like. Every one for their selves,
+and all wantin' to climb over each other's heads! He sez Americky is
+a grand country. I sez it allays has the biggest calamities that ever
+befalls a nation! The earthquakes, and floods, and fires, all gives
+it a turn, as if God Almighty shows His disapproval. And, in course,
+He made the first king—He didn't make a president or a parliament. I
+b'lieve, now I come to think on't, He tried judges, but they turned out
+a bad sort, and 'tis kings and queens the Almighty ordains to reign."</p>
+
+<p>"We are very loyal in this part of the country," said Heather, looking
+at the fisherman with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"So I perceive. I wonder if you can give me the information I was
+trying to obtain from our good friend here, before we touched on
+politics. I want to know if there is a cart track to Willow Pool,
+which, I am told, is the best spot for trout. They say there is no
+road, but would it be possible for a wheelchair to get there?"</p>
+
+<p>A light came into Heather's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you must be Captain Vaughan?" she said. And on receiving an
+assent, she added, "There is only one locked gate at the end of the
+large meadow, and I can get you the key of that, for it belongs to us.
+I hope Miss Vaughan may be able to go with you. Ralph, where is Ted
+Hind?"</p>
+
+<p>Ralph folded up his paper leisurely, and put it in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he's gone to market. Maybe he's in the Dragon's Arms."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you step across and ask his wife to give you the key of the water
+meadow gate? And then bring it to this gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe she's out in the fields."</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked at the unwilling old man rather sternly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph, you do nothing all day but read your paper, and gossip to
+everybody you see. Don't be disagreeable, but do what I ask you."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, Miss Heather, 'tis all very well, but you've interrupted an
+important discussion, and my old legs don't work so easy as my tongue!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a mercy they don't," said Heather, severely.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan looked on with a twinkle in his eye. He was a
+good-looking man, with rather rugged features, his moustache and hair
+Just tinged with grey, and a humorous, kindly look in his blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I am much obliged to you," he said, turning to Heather, who was just
+moving away; "I will go myself to get the key. My sister, as you know,
+has not many opportunities of getting about, and it will be a great
+pleasure to her, if she can accompany me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure it will," said Heather, warmly, "and I am so glad she has
+you to look after her. Please give her my love."</p>
+
+<p>They parted, and Heather went into the post-office. Mrs. Carpenter, who
+kept it, was a busy, talkative little woman. She had been a widow for
+twenty years, and was supposed to have saved a good bit of money.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Miss Heather, and what may you think of the captin? I have
+seed you a-makin' acquaintance with one another. Have he come a long
+while to stay? 'Tis a new thing—visitors a-comin' to this part o' the
+world. But so long as they pays their way, they be welcome. Do you
+know anythin' of their fam'ly? They seem the gentry, judgin' from the
+quantity of letters that do come and go!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think we need be alarmed, Mrs. Carpenter. They are most
+respectable, I believe. Now, I want half a crown's worth of stamps,
+please, for I am in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a good customer, Miss Heather. Time you was away, I was
+dreadful slack! But it seems to me you write more letters to Miss
+Bluebell than she do to you! When be she comin' back? That Norway that
+be on her letters be close to the North Pole, Ralph were tellin' me.
+She must be dreadful cold. Is it all Polar bears and ice?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather could not get away from the old woman very quickly. But when
+she did, she found herself walking home with her thoughts full of Ena
+and her brother.</p>
+
+<p>"He is not a bit as I thought he would be. I pictured a grave, sad man.
+Life does not seem to have gone hardly with him. He does not look like
+a self-sacrificing hero at all. I know Ena thinks him very good. He
+does not show it in his appearance. But, then, neither does she. And I
+much prefer people who are perfectly natural, and don't look as if they
+were always mourning for their sins. Poor Abigail does not recommend
+her Christianity, and yet I dare say if she were not a Christian, she
+would be ten times more severe. How I envy Ena going across to Willow
+Pool! I wish they had asked me. I shall miss my afternoon talks with
+her, but she won't want me while her brother is here."</p>
+
+<p>A sigh followed, and Heather felt more than usually lonely for the rest
+of that day.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan obtained the key, and hastened back to his sister.</p>
+
+<p>"Now then, Dick!" he shouted. "Bring the chair round. We must be off at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>Dick grinned in pleased anticipation of an outing, as he tenderly
+assisted his mistress into her chair. He was a little bit of a
+character in his small way. Like an old woman for thoughtfulness and
+patient devotion, he attended on Ena as well as any trained nurse
+could have done. His manner to outsiders was at all times a trifle
+supercilious. "My family, my lady, my sitivation," were quoted
+constantly, and no one's opinion's or wishes were consulted in the
+least before his mistress's.</p>
+
+<p>He had not been two days at the farm before he marched into Annie's
+kitchen—</p>
+
+<p>"Here, missis," he said, his small nose well in the air, "we can't
+stand this state o' things. Them filthy pigs are a-gruntin' and
+a-walkin' past my lady's window, and are distractin' her h'observation
+from the view. They must be got rid of, missis, at once. Pigs is meant
+to be kept out o' sight, and certingly not to be marched past a lady's
+window all the mornin'!"</p>
+
+<p>Obliging Annie felt a great awe of this small boy, and promised that
+the pigs should be kept away. But when it came to the fowls being
+tabooed the orchard, she went to Ena in perturbation of mind, which was
+at once set at rest by that lady. Dick was called in, and admonished.
+But whenever he could get a chance of administering a snub to the
+farmer's wife, he quickly made use of it.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I have seen your young friend, Ena," said Captain Vaughan, as
+he leisurely walked by her chair across the green meadows smoking his
+pipe.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you? Where?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the village. It was she who told me of the locked gate, and got me
+this key."</p>
+
+<p>"And what did you think of her?"</p>
+
+<p>"She seemed a nice little girl."</p>
+
+<p>His tone was indifferent.</p>
+
+<p>"She is a dear child," said Ena, warmly. "It is not many girls who
+would give up a society life in town, and come and live alone in the
+country because the poor people needed her care."</p>
+
+<p>"A healthier life for her," said her brother. "I should not think there
+need be much self-denial in it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but you don't know her circumstances. She has a twin sister from
+whom she has never been separated before. It was a terrible wrench. The
+sister would not come with her."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it was a question of principle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes—or, rather, of duty. She was spending too much money, she told me,
+and if she had not come home, their charities here would have had to
+be stopped. It was very noble of her, I think, for she had no better
+motive to assist her, and was enjoying her life immensely. She wants me
+to stay with her a short time before I leave. What do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just as you like. I expected you to return with me, but if you're
+happy and well here, it would be a pity to leave."</p>
+
+<p>Ena looked at him a little wistfully, then she said with her bright
+laugh—</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would say sometimes that you miss me, Bertram. A woman
+loves to feel herself of importance. And though I am such a useless
+appendage to your household, I am company, am I not?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you are," he said quietly.</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a few minutes. Then he said, with a humorous
+gleam in his eye that his sister so loved to see—</p>
+
+<p>"You do not make such quick friendships as a rule. What is the
+fascination about this young person?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell you. I took an interest in her from the very first,
+before I saw her. My landlady was full of 'the young ladies,' and 'Miss
+Heather's wonderful business head.' She superintends all the business
+of the farm, and the farmer looks upon her decisions with the greatest
+respect. It is such a lonely life for a young girl. And she is so
+brave and natural about it. I like to see her little regal ways with
+the villagers; she comes to me like a sweet fresh sunbeam, and if you
+really get into deep conversation with her, you would be astonished
+at her powers of thought. Then, too, lately, well, I think I have
+helped her by my own experience these past two years. She was dazed and
+bewildered between the fashionable religion of London society and the
+austere and puritan belief of her two old servants, who are Quakers by
+persuasion."</p>
+
+<p>"And how long do you propose to stay with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought perhaps a fortnight. This air seems to give me fresh life,
+after London."</p>
+
+<p>"But the Priory is not London."</p>
+
+<p>"No; and I am longing to be home again, and settle down quietly for the
+winter."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, extend your stay to the fortnight. Then I have to go up to town,
+so it will suit me just as well to go now."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Heather was pleased the next day to receive a little note of invitation
+to tea at the farm. She went, and found that Captain Vaughan's being
+there did not diminish her enjoyment of her friend's society, though
+she had a feeling that he was only kindly tolerant of her presence.</p>
+
+<p>"The natives of this part are a constant entertainment," Captain
+Vaughan said presently. "The old postman told me this morning that he
+had lived for fifty years in one house, and considered that the bulk of
+his neighbours had very little good in them at all, but that outside
+Thornlea Vale they were absolutely and entirely evil."</p>
+
+<p>"That is Watty," said Heather, smiling. "He has had a sad life. He was
+brought up by a drunken stepmother, and was engaged to be married for
+ten years to a girl who jilted him in the end."</p>
+
+<p>"Could not wait any longer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and I hardly wonder; Watty will never hurry himself. However, he
+is married now to a very nice woman. He is a pessimist, and glories
+in it. He does not approve of your coming here at all, and told
+Mrs. Carpenter at the post-office that all diseases and crimes were
+introduced into country villages by wayside lodgers."</p>
+
+<p>Ena's rippling laugh rang out.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick came back from the post-office purple in the face yesterday.
+He said he had been 'giving information to ignorant folks as to the
+ways and h'ideas of their betters.' Can't you fancy him holding forth,
+Bertram?"</p>
+
+<p>"I back him to hold his own anywhere, young scamp!"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, I know the narrowness and bigotry of our village strikes
+every outsider," said Heather, thoughtfully. "But, after life in town,
+it is very refreshing to return to. We are like one big family here.
+Our interests, our doings and sayings, are all important to every one.
+I am always sure of sympathy if my usual letter from Bluebell does
+not come, from at least three or four of the villagers. In London, it
+struck me when first I went there, how far divided the classes were.
+How uninterested everybody was. I think if I were to be doomed to a
+lonely life, I would live it in the country and not in the town."</p>
+
+<p>"It is bad training," said Captain Vaughan, with a comical shake of his
+head. "We need to find our own level, and not be exalted into little
+popes, whose every word is of importance. Of all dogmatic, obstinate,
+narrow-minded beings on the face of the earth, give me a country
+squire!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," cried Heather, "I will not have you abuse us country-folk. I
+found the men in town infinitely more self-satisfied and egotistical
+than any I had seen near home. Of course," she added truthfully, "I
+have not seen very many in this part, but everybody in town gets to
+look and talk as if it is too much trouble to breathe, and they are
+great martyrs because they have to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"The best specimens of manhood do not frequent London drawing-rooms,"
+said Captain Vaughan, dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I will not have either of you begin running down our neighbours,"
+said Ena, briskly. "We will change the conversation. Let us remember we
+are in the country, and choose a fresh and breezy topic."</p>
+
+<p>Heather returned home that evening with a flush on her cheek and light
+in her eye. Ena had consented to come and pay her a visit.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_13">CHAPTER XIII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+BLUEBELL'S RETURN<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his
+home."—GOETHE.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>CAPTAIN VAUGHAN only stayed with his sister for a week. Heather was a
+little afraid of him. He was apt to be quietly sarcastic, and his eyes
+seemed to note everything—not a thing escaped his keen observation. Yet
+his sharpest speeches were always given with a kindly look in his eyes,
+and he had a fund of keen humour which made him a most entertaining
+companion. When he left, Ena, true to her promise, came to stay with
+Heather.</p>
+
+<p>Abigail was rather doubtful of these newcomers, but Heather ruled
+the old servants now with fearless firmness, and after a few days,
+Abigail's stern heart was quite won by Ena's sweet good nature.</p>
+
+<p>As the two old servants heard the merry talk and laughter proceeding
+from the drawing-room in the evening, Abigail, instead of shaking her
+head, would grimly smile—</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, 'tis not the unholy mirth that Mrs. Carter brought with her. That
+was the crackling of thorns under the pot. Miss Vaughan is a Christian
+woman, and 'tis she I find that has helped Miss Heather so. One likes
+to hear voices about. I've felt sorry for the poor child. And as to
+Miss Bluebell, I fear she's entirely lost to us and to all that's
+right. She seems sucked into the giddy stream of worldly gaiety!"</p>
+
+<p>The fortnight soon slipped away.</p>
+
+<p>And one afternoon, Heather returned to her home after bidding farewell
+to her friend. She felt doubly lonely now, and needed all her spirit to
+keep her from being depressed. But she was daily learning lessons from
+a Master who was becoming very near and dear to her, and though not
+always able to see bright sunshine, was able to draw all the comfort
+and strength she needed for her daily life from above.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a test now of how much I lean upon the Lord," she would say to
+herself. And the old servants never missed her bright smile and tones.</p>
+
+<p>Quietly and steadily, Heather was seeking to influence the villagers
+she visited for good. It was no unusual thing for her to read a few
+verses from her little Bible that she carried about with her, or have
+a few words of prayer with those who were sick or in trouble. And she
+found that, in seeking to help and comfort others, she obtained help
+and comfort herself.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>It was late autumn now; the days were drawing in, and the weather
+became damp and cold. Storms of wind and rain swept round the house,
+the leaves from the old elms lay on the ground sodden with the wet,
+and the canaries, instead of brightening the house with their song,
+crouched on their perches with ruffled feathers and disconsolate gaze.</p>
+
+<p>Heather tried hard to keep cheerful. She had learnt the secret of being
+always busy when she felt particularly lonely. But one wet afternoon,
+she laid down a book she had been reading, and abandoned herself to her
+thoughts. She seemed to see again that wet afternoon when she came in
+from her walk and found Bluebell reading "Ivanhoe" by the dining-room
+fire. How long ago it seemed! How differently she viewed life now,
+since that first burst of longing to see the world and widen her
+circle! Wrapped in her thoughts, she did not hear a fly drive up to
+the door, nor steps and voices in the hall. But in a moment, the door
+opened, and Bluebell flung herself into her arms.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come back, Heather! I can't live without you! I'm tired of them
+all, and have come home!"</p>
+
+<p>The sisters embraced each other, divided between tears and laughter.
+And it was some time before Bluebell could calm herself sufficiently to
+tell her story.</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>"I HAVE COME BACK, HEATHER!"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>After a cup of tea, which Abigail brought in with a dazed, bewildered
+face, Bluebell began at once—</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how good it is to be with you again! I've longed to say things
+in my letters, and then I felt I couldn't. I am afraid Cousin Ida is
+awfully vexed with me. Her last words were,—</p>
+
+<p>"'You have both thoroughly disappointed me!'</p>
+
+<p>"The fact is, Heather, I can't stand Sir Herbert! I used to fancy I was
+in love with him, but I never was quite sure. And our yachting trip
+settled it. By the time we had had a month of it, I was perfectly sick
+of him! Bored to death with his prosiness! He is as dull as ditchwater,
+and it would be dreadful to live with a husband who could never see or
+make a joke! Now, wouldn't it? I've simply run away from him. I sent
+him a note last night to say how sorry I was, but that I was sure we
+should never suit each other. You know I've been with Cousin Ida for
+a fortnight. Well, he has come round to the house every single day
+after me. I couldn't really stand it. Cousin Hal said he would be a
+good antidote to me. I told him it takes a fool to be always content
+with his own jokes. Oh, may I never see another serious man as long
+as I live! I am tired to death with his dulness and gravity. And so I
+thought the best thing I could do was to come straight home to you. I
+will stay in seclusion till all unpleasantness is over, and people will
+have found something else to talk about. Do you think me heartless,
+Heather? I am sorry for him. I think I have treated him shamefully,
+but isn't it better to stop now than go on pretending I care for him
+till it is too late to draw back? Oh, do comfort me, for I'm perfectly
+miserable!"</p>
+
+<p>Here Bluebell broke down and burst into floods of tears, and Heather
+was too glad and thankful to have her back again to scold her. She
+petted and caressed and sympathized with her. And by the time dinner
+came round, Bluebell had quite recovered her flow of high spirits, and
+was making Heather laugh at her naïve accounts of the yachting trip.</p>
+
+<p>She tripped down to dinner in a pale-blue silk dress, looking as fresh
+as a rose, and when she caught Abigail's disapproving eye in the hall,
+she danced up to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Abigail, aren't you glad to see me back again? Have you no
+welcome for me? For shame! Heather is the only one who is really
+delighted to see me."</p>
+
+<p>"What have you come back for, Miss Bluebell?" asked Abigail, severely.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did Heather come back? Is that how you greeted her? What a dismal
+time she must have had! Now, Abigail, you must be nice. I'm going to
+alarm you with my goodness. I have seen the error of my ways. That is
+why I have come back, of course! Can't you give me a tiny smile? Don't
+you like the idea of having both of us in your power for a little
+while?"</p>
+
+<p>"You have grown out of my power, Miss Bluebell, and you know it! More's
+the pity! I would fain see you in a more modest dress, and with a more
+sober demeanour!"</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter with my dress? Heather is in a white one. Oh, you
+don't like to see so much of my neck, do you? Well, don't look, then.
+And as to a sober demeanour, I wasn't born with one, Abigail, and you
+know I wasn't!"</p>
+
+<p>She left her, and joined Heather in the dining-room with a radiant face.</p>
+
+<p>"It is good to be at home again," she said; "and how you've improved
+the house, Heather! But there is a great deal more to be done. We
+must get some fresh carpets and chintz for the drawing-room, and have
+several of the rooms re-papered. I shall enjoy doing it. It will give
+me something to do."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Bluebell, we have no money to spare for that kind of thing. I
+have hardly got things straight yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't remind me of money. I shall have to borrow from you to pay my
+dressmaker's last bill. She is bothering me continually about it. Why
+can't every one have enough and to spare, I wonder!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked at her sister gravely. She saw she was talking
+recklessly to conceal her true feelings, and was sorry that Abigail,
+who was in the room, should hear her talk so. But Bluebell did not
+care. She chatted on, as if she had not a care or thought beyond
+herself and her own concerns, and Abigail left them at their dessert
+with a sore and anxious heart.</p>
+
+<p>"She has come back as frivolous and empty-headed as Mrs. Carter," she
+confided to Rachael. "Ay, 'tis sad to be her! I could sit down and
+weep. She'll be for trying to entice Miss Heather up to London soon
+again, that is what I fear. And she talks of her debts as gaily as if
+it was the usual thing to buy things and have no money to pay for them!"</p>
+
+<p>The twins had much to talk over, but it was not until they were
+upstairs in their bedroom over their fire that Bluebell began to soften.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at Heather's Bible dreamily.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you really become good, Heather? I couldn't quite understand from
+your letters?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Heather, smiling, "I am afraid I haven't. I should like to.
+I will tell you about it some other time. You look tired and sleepy. I
+have found that real religion makes you very happy. That is all I will
+say to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember Abigail's text?" said Bluebell, gazing into the fire
+thoughtfully. "'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth'?
+It has come true, in my case. I have lived in pleasure, and my soul is
+perfectly dead!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bluebell, don't say such shocking things!"</p>
+
+<p>"But it is true. I never read my Bible. Prayer is just an empty form to
+me. I have really no religion except going to church on Sunday. I went
+out for a walk with Cousin Cyril yesterday. He has been away, and came
+in for the first time. He asked me how my religion was getting on? He
+always asks that question, periodically, if you remember. I told him,
+it had left me entirely. He was silent for a whole minute! Then, what
+do you think he said?</p>
+
+<p>"'I've been with a fellow lately who has the real article, and I'm more
+than half inclined to try for it myself!'"</p>
+
+<p>"That does not sound like Cyril," said Heather, softly.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked at her quickly. Then she left her chair, and seating
+herself on the floor beside her sister, she leant her head against her
+knees. After a pause, she said quietly—</p>
+
+<p>"Heather, tell me, has there ever been anything between Cyril and you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Between Cyril and me!" Heather repeated in astonishment. "Why, of
+course not. I have always liked him, but I always bracket Cousin Hal
+and him together. He is like a brother, that is all. Why do you ask? I
+am sure neither he nor I ever did anything to set people talking!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no; I never heard any one mention your names," said Bluebell,
+yawning slightly. "I only used to wonder, sometimes, if that was the
+reason you never seemed to fancy any one else!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know," said Heather, and a faint flush came to her cheeks and
+a proud intonation into her voice, "that this is why I am thankful to
+be at home again? There is no question of marriage or of love. I got so
+tired of it. I feel I can breathe freely again. I don't think it is a
+nice atmosphere to spend one's life in. I never saw a single man that
+I would think twice about, and I always hated the chaff and talk about
+such things."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell sighed. "I have made a mess of my affair," she said, "but I
+was forced into it, and forced on. I think it was rather a shame."
+Then, almost under her breath, she added, "Why is it, that it is always
+the wrong man?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather heard, but answered nothing. She only pondered as she lay in
+bed that night: Who, then, was the right man?</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The sisters had much to talk over for the next few days. Bluebell
+was here, there, and everywhere, apparently as gay and light-hearted
+as ever. She bore the villagers' outspoken remarks with laughing
+equanimity. Watty told her that she "had aged considerable," Ralph that
+he "didn't expec' to see her without her bridegroom," Mrs. Carpenter
+that "folks were sayin' that Missis Abigail was shakin' her head over
+Miss Bluebell's carryin' on, and now she was to home agen, she meant to
+keep her there!"</p>
+
+<p>Yet Heather was keenly conscious that Bluebell's apparent levity was
+only on the surface. She told her soon about her own experience, and
+finished up by saying wistfully—</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you could see it as I do, Bluebell, or as we are meant to see
+it."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell shook her pretty head.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no; I'm afraid I shall never feel religious again. I love the
+world too much. I could never settle down here as you have done. I
+can't think how you can stand it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't I look happy? I am. I think happier than I have ever been in my
+life before!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, you're radiant. 'Brilliant' is what you were called in town.
+Cousin Ida is rather disgusted with you quitting a fashionable life so
+soon. And, by-the-by, she knows of a poor lady that she wants us to
+have here as a chaperon. I told her I didn't intend to bury myself here
+very long, but she is uneasy about you. She says this Mrs.—now what is
+her name?—Fish—Fisher, that's it—Mrs. Fisher would be glad of a home,
+and wouldn't require any salary, so you need not refuse her on that
+score. What do you think about it? We might have people to stay if she
+were here."</p>
+
+<p>"We have not the means to entertain at present, Bluebell. It is out of
+the question. Does Cousin Ida think I am settled here for good and all?"</p>
+
+<p>"She is afraid so."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not intend to be here altogether, when I first came back," said
+Heather, slowly, "but I think now that I shall be."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, you must have Mrs. Fisher. I will write and tell Cousin
+Ida to send her down."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bluebell! And we shall never be alone together again. It will be
+dreadful having a third person always with us. I cannot understand your
+wishing it."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it will be expedient; I want to have a little gaiety even here
+this winter. We can do nothing till she comes."</p>
+
+<p>Impetuous Bluebell had her way, and before another fortnight had
+elapsed, Mrs. Fisher arrived, and was soon a settled inmate of their
+home. She was a quiet, unpretentious little widow. "An ideal chaperon"
+she was called by girls whom she had taken about. She was the wife of a
+naval officer who had lately died, and had seen a good bit of life in
+her young days.</p>
+
+<p>She adapted herself to her vocation with easy complacency, and even
+Abigail found nothing to say against her.</p>
+
+<p>The twins did not find her in the way. They walked, and talked, and
+planned out their days together in the old style. But Heather felt that
+there was a chasm between them that could not be bridged over, and her
+heart ached over her bright young sister when she saw how uninterested
+she was in spiritual things. She did not say much, but she prayed night
+and morning for her, and dimly began to understand a little of the
+stern Abigail's sentiments about a society life for her nurslings.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell seemed entirely swallowed up in it. She was restless and
+discontented at the narrow sphere in which she found herself. She did
+not care to visit in the village; her talk, her aspirations, her hopes,
+were all in the gay world which she had left. Yet at times, she would
+sit looking at Heather with a sweet gravity that was out of keeping
+with her reckless chatter. And one evening, by their bedroom fire, she
+startled Heather by saying—</p>
+
+<p>"I think, when I am thirty, if I am not married, I will try to be good."</p>
+
+<p>Heather smiled at the childish sentence, then she said earnestly—</p>
+
+<p>"Bluebell, do you remember telling me before we went to London that you
+wanted your religion to be real, but that you had never had it tested?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it didn't stand the test, Heather, it failed me."</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't the right sort. Oh, Bluebell, how I wish you knew the Lord
+as your personal Friend! It makes such a difference. We went through
+our religion like machines; I don't think either of us had ever come
+into close touch with God. We had never accepted Christ's death for us,
+and come to Him as guilty sinners for forgiveness, and received the
+pardon He obtained for us."</p>
+
+<p>"You are getting out of my depth. I don't understand that kind of
+thing. It is mere words to me."</p>
+
+<p>"But you must think seriously sometimes. You say you will wait till you
+are thirty. You may not live so long."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell shivered.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't put me in the blues. I should like to feel as you do, but I
+can't. I tell you again, I think my soul is dead."</p>
+
+<p>"That is an awful thing to say. Do you realize what it means? Death of
+the soul means separation from God for ever. Can you look forward to an
+eternity spent without Him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now you're talking like Abigail. Well, I won't say it is dead. It is
+asleep for the present, and I would rather leave it so; it is more
+comfortable. Don't look shocked at me. I am getting very sleepy, so
+shall turn into bed."</p>
+
+<p>This was how all such discussions ended. But Heather did not lose
+heart, and she believed her prayers would be answered before long.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_14">CHAPTER XIV</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+"THE RIGHT MAN"<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Maid choosing man, remember this:<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;You take his nature with his name;<br>
+&nbsp;Ask, too, what his religion is,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For you will soon be of the same."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">COVENTRY PATMORE.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>IT was a bright frosty morning in December. Heather and Bluebell had
+just returned from a walk, and were standing over the study fire
+chatting to Mrs. Fisher, who, with her inevitable knitting, was seated
+in her easy chair.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell was just giving a laughable account of the village shop being
+thrown into the utmost confusion by her request for a reel of red silk,
+when the door opened, and Abigail said in tones of severity—</p>
+
+<p>"A gentleman has called, and is in the drawing-room. Here is his card."</p>
+
+<p>Heather took it, and she exclaimed in tones of delight, "It is Cyril!
+Ask him to come in here, Abigail; it is so much more cosy."</p>
+
+<p>Abigail's face was a study, but she withdrew in silence.</p>
+
+<p>And a moment after, Cyril was ushered in.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you surprised to see me?" he said, after the first greetings
+had been exchanged. "The fact is, I remembered your station, and as I
+have to go twenty miles beyond it on business, I thought I would have
+a break, and come and see how you were getting on. Why, Minnehaha,
+you look perfectly blooming, and not a bit conscience-stricken for
+your—ahem—shall I say discreet retreat!"</p>
+
+<p>"The past is past, if you please," said Bluebell, trying to copy
+Heather's dignified air, but failing to impress her audience. "We only
+live in the present. That was what I was taught in good society."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril looked at her quizzically, then turned to Heather.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Regina, don't you think it was time for her to return to you?
+How have you been occupying your time in this secluded spot? I must
+tell you, I have walked from the station. It's a good three miles, I
+suppose, but I wanted to stretch my legs. And on the way, I overtook
+your country postman. We began to compare notes upon our boots, and
+agreed that leather and humanity were sadly deteriorating. When he
+heard whither I was bound, he became most interested, asked me some
+searching questions, and took stock of me from head to foot. Then he
+began to give me his views upon 'our young leddies.' I can tell you,
+I've heard more about your ways and doings from his lips than I should
+ever have learnt from your own!"</p>
+
+<p>"Watty doesn't think much of us," said Heather, laughing. "In fact, he
+has a very poor idea of the world in general."</p>
+
+<p>"So I gathered; but he holds one person in great esteem!"</p>
+
+<p>"Himself? Yes, one soon discovers that."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril stayed to lunch, and it was a cheery, pleasant meal, in spite of
+Abigail's increased severity of face and tone as she moved in and out.</p>
+
+<p>Afterwards, the girls took him round the garden, which, in spite of its
+wintry appearance, charmed the critical visitor.</p>
+
+<p>"It has an old-world atmosphere, and so has your house. I understand
+you both better, now I have seen the home in which you have been
+brought up."</p>
+
+<p>"I always thought our home had none of the picturesque beauty of most
+old-fashioned places," said Bluebell, slowly. "But now I have been away
+from it, in spite of much that is hideous, I like it better than I did."</p>
+
+<p>"You think you could be reconciled to a country life?" said Cyril, with
+a quick glance at her.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Bluebell, laughing and tossing her head; "I can't vegetate.
+It wants great minds or little minds to live contented in the country,
+and I have just a medium commonplace one, which must be taken out of
+itself, and amused and interested by external circumstances. There! I
+am talking like an old wiseacre! Come down to our farm. It will be a
+nice walk before tea."</p>
+
+<p>"I must write letters," said Heather, hesitatingly; "I'm afraid I shall
+not have time to do both."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be back for a cup of tea," said Bluebell.</p>
+
+<p>And she walked off with Cyril, talking and laughing with him in the
+freest and most careless way.</p>
+
+<p>For a minute, Heather stood at the garden gate and watched them. Then
+she resolutely hastened to the house, and tackled some business letters
+with a divided mind.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Fisher had retired to her room for her usual afternoon nap. An
+hour passed, and Heather rose from her writing-table, her business
+done. She took a seat by the study window, which overlooked the
+meadows. Something in Bluebell's manner, since Cyril had arrived, gave
+her uneasiness. Was it only from seeing an old friend again that gave
+her eyes such brightness, and brought such soft flushes to her checks?
+She remembered how Cyril and she had always chaffed and laughed with
+one another; how more than usually reckless and audacious Bluebell had
+always been in his company; and she laughed at herself for imagining
+anything different now.</p>
+
+<p>Presently, from the window she saw two figures crossing the meadows,
+and she watched them as they came nearer.</p>
+
+<p>There was a little droop and softness in the poise of Bluebell's
+figure that again awoke misgiving in Heather's heart. She saw her
+stop and pick something from a hedge, she saw Cyril spring eagerly
+to her assistance, two heads very close together, and a pause in the
+gathering. Then she turned away, ashamed of overlooking them, and
+wondering if this was for her sister's good.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later, and she heard voices in the hall. Still, she did
+not go to meet them. And when the door opened and Bluebell came in
+search of her, she did not move from her seat.</p>
+
+<p>Was this the right man, after all?</p>
+
+<p>A moment later, and she was told. With arms clinging round her neck,
+her soft cheeks pressed against hers, Bluebell told her story. And it
+was enough to look at her softened, radiant face to know that she was
+happy.</p>
+
+<p>"He came on purpose, Heather. I never thought he cared, and he never
+thought I did. And when Sir Herbert was pestering me, he kept back.
+And if I had married him, I should never have known what I had missed!
+Aren't men stupid! I used to think you were fond of him, and so I
+wouldn't let myself think of him. But it is all right now, and oh,
+isn't it delicious to have a right to let your feelings go, instead of
+bottling them all up, and thinking them wicked!"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell rattled this off incoherently, then subsided into tears.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to be good, Heather. He has been talking quite differently from
+what he did. He says he never really scoffed at real religion, only at
+shams, and he has been with some friend who has made him see things
+quite differently. I told him I was a butterfly, but he seems to think
+I shall steady down. Do you think I shall? Oh! Here is Abigail—what a
+nuisance! Tea is in, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell dashed away to her room, and Heather went into the
+drawing-room, feeling almost bewildered at this sudden confirmation of
+her fears.</p>
+
+<p>She found Cyril alone, standing on the hearthrug, his back to the fire.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her with a queer smile. "Well, Regina?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't congratulate either of you yet," said Heather, trying to speak
+calmly. "It has been such a surprise to me that I cannot get accustomed
+to the thought of it. It never entered my head till I saw you together
+to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you averse to me as a brother-in-law?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a silence, then Heather spoke with kindling eyes—</p>
+
+<p>"I would rather have you as a brother-in-law—than—than many others in
+town. But, Cyril, frankly I tell you, I see things differently now from
+what I did. And I long for Bluebell to have some one to help her on
+the upward path. Not to drag her down to a dead level of stagnation,
+and—and mere pleasure-seeking!"</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image009" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image009.jpg" alt="image009"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>"WELL, REGINA?"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>"Is that my life?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was ours in London."</p>
+
+<p>Cyril looked at her with his keen eyes, in silence, for a minute.</p>
+
+<p>"The old influences have been at work with you, then, and have
+prejudiced you against society life?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I think it is quite a new influence that has crept into my life,"
+said Heather, smiling—"an influence that has brought me real happiness
+at last."</p>
+
+<p>There was another pause, then Cyril said—</p>
+
+<p>"You know that I never consider myself a society man, as you term it.
+I have too much to do when in town, and Minnehaha is quite willing to
+spend most of the year in the country. We shall not be butterflies of
+fashion."</p>
+
+<p>Heather was silent, then he said in a lighter tone, "Your venture back
+here has been a success, then? You do not regret it? Won't you be
+pining for more life soon?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have got as much as I can hold here," said Heather, turning upon him
+such a radiant look of happiness that Cyril wondered, and said no more.</p>
+
+<p>He had to leave very soon, but promised to come down again before long.
+His last words to Heather were—</p>
+
+<p>"I will try and be to Minnehaha what you desire. I, too, like yourself,
+have had a new influence creeping into my life. It has made a great
+difference to me."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell insisted upon Heather accompanying her to the station to see
+Cyril off. As the two girls were walking back, they met Watty, who was
+generally to be found loitering along the high-road. His wife was a
+good laundress, and was always well supplied with work, so he did not
+see any necessity for doing anything besides his letter-carrying.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," he said, with a knowing look, as the girls stopped to speak to
+him, "and which is it of you he be after?"</p>
+
+<p>"Which do you think?" asked Bluebell, with twinkling eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Watty rubbed his left ear reflectively.</p>
+
+<p>"I said to him, as we be a-joggin' along this mornin',—</p>
+
+<p>"'And what be your business in these parts? 'Tis to be hoped ye're an
+honest man if ye be after the young leddies, for them Londoners are
+mostly thieves and vagabonds, and the gentry a wild lot, I've heerd
+tell!'</p>
+
+<p>"And he were bound to agree, for he wished me to think well of 'un. I
+sez to him,—</p>
+
+<p>"'If 'tis Miss Bluebell ye've come after, ye can have 'en, and welcome,
+I sez, but she'll lead a sober man a dance, and want tight reins and a
+strong hand wi' 'er. But if 'tis Miss Heather,' I sez, 'well, there be
+several parties in this 'ere village that will have a word to say on
+that p'int. And ye won't earn their goodwill by carryin' of her off;
+not but what she be rather a haughty-headed young wiman with a will o'
+her own, and needs a deal o' managin', but her heart and purse goes
+well together, and she have a care for the poor and destitoot.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And what did he say?" asked Bluebell, quite unabashed by the old man's
+speech.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he appeared to be a-considerin', and I gave 'un a bit more
+profitable talk, for which he thanked me, and us went our ways. I sez,—</p>
+
+<p>"'I wish you well, sir, but b'lieve me, a maid is a risky treasure, and
+'tis them that is single that is blest!'"</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Watty," said Heather, severely,
+"with such a good wife at home, to speak so! Where would you be without
+her?"</p>
+
+<p>Watty chuckled dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, well. Her does her best. And I will allow she might be worse, but
+I have 'er well in hand. Which be it, young leddies, which be it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You had the honour, Watty," said Bluebell, drawing herself up with
+great assumption of dignity, "to speak to my affianced husband this
+morning. Miss Heather is still going to remain amongst you to manage
+you all. I don't wish her joy of it; good afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>They passed rapidly on, and Watty gazed after them for a moment in
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my reckonin' were not far out! So there 'll be weddin'-bells
+soon, and a good hearty supper after, if Miss Heather does her part
+well. I must just step into the office and tell Mrs. Carpenter. She
+allays thinks she's first hand for news, but this 'll take the feather
+out o' her cap, I reckon!"</p>
+
+<p>Abigail received the news in grim silence.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell was content to have her silent, and she did not ask her for
+congratulations.</p>
+
+<p>But when Heather happened to go into the kitchen late in the evening,
+Abigail came forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this match to your likin', Miss Heather?" she asked sternly.</p>
+
+<p>"My opinion has not been asked, Abigail," Heather answered gently.
+"Bluebell must please herself. She will not stand dictation from me.
+Mr. Carter is an upright, honourable gentleman; we have known him
+intimately for a long time, and he will make a good husband."</p>
+
+<p>"And is this all you can say? Have you no thought for their immortal
+souls? Is he a servant of the Lord, Miss Heather? One that my late
+departed mistress would have approved of? Will he be for following
+righteousness, or the wicked ways of the world? Is Miss Bluebell to be
+allowed to yoke herself to an unbeliever, I ask you?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked a little troubled.</p>
+
+<p>"I know all you feel, Abigail, and wish I could reassure you. You must
+remember, Bluebell does not see things in the light that we do. But
+from what I know of Mr. Carter, I feel sure he will lead her right, and
+not wrong. This is in confidence to you. Some time ago, Mrs. Carter
+wrote to me saying that Mr. Carter was in Scotland with a friend who
+was very religious. I am sure he must have influenced him, for Mr.
+Carter seems graver, and talks differently about serious things now. In
+fact, he told me as much when I spoke to him, and I am hoping very much
+that he will lead Bluebell to think differently too. We must pray for
+them both."</p>
+
+<p>She left the kitchen, and Abigail said no more. Just before going to
+bed, Heather put her arm round her twin sister affectionately.</p>
+
+<p>"And are you perfectly happy now, Bluebell?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly!" said Bluebell, with emphasis. "Oh," she added impetuously,
+"I can't tell what a nightmare Sir Herbert was to me! The feeling that
+he could not and would not see a joke, the heavy stolid conversation he
+tried to make, and the awful oppression I always felt in his company!
+Now, with Cyril, it is all sunshine; I always felt I could go to the
+wilds of Africa and be happy with him. You need have no fears about
+us, Heather. We shall be a well-matched couple, without being a too
+sentimental one!"</p>
+
+<p>"And what do you intend your married life to be?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be? I don't quite understand you. We shall be up in town a good
+part of the year, so I shall see plenty of society, and the rest of the
+year, we shall be in the country, and I shall have nice people staying
+with us. And if I feel very good, I shall visit our tenants and look
+after their welfare."</p>
+
+<p>"It sounds delightful," said Heather, earnestly. "But, Bluebell dear,
+you can never be really happy living only for your own pleasure and
+amusement. Don't start a married life without God. You will only drift
+farther away. I don't say much to you, but I do long that you should
+know what real religion is!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want Abigail's religion!" said Bluebell, flippantly.</p>
+
+<p>"No one wants you to have her religion. Your nature is quite a
+different one from hers. I don't want you to have any one's religion
+but Christ's."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I will some day," she said, "when I get tired of life. But I
+want to enjoy it at present."</p>
+
+<p>"You will never, never enjoy it until you are a true Christian," said
+Heather, with kindling eyes. "I couldn't have believed the difference
+it makes in one's heart. Do I seem unhappy, Bluebell?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I can't say you do; I've never seen you so bright. But don't worry
+me any more. I told you my soul was asleep, and I want it to stay
+asleep for a little. I hate feeling uncomfortable. I mean to be really
+good later on, but not just now."</p>
+
+<p>She changed the subject as she always did, and Heather only prayed the
+more.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_15">CHAPTER XV</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+THE OLD PRIORY<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"The thread of our life would be dark, Heaven knows,<br>
+&nbsp;If it were not with friendship and love intertwined."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 26.5em;">MOORE.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>SPRING again. We find Heather still in her country home. But Bluebell
+has married, and is travelling abroad with her husband. The wedding
+was a quiet one. Mrs. Carter wished it to be in town, but both girls
+decided that it must be in their old home. And so Captain and Mrs.
+Carter, and a few friends, came to be present at it, and Mrs. Carter
+enjoyed a battle of words again with the inexorable Abigail.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Heather must marry next, and if she is not quick about it, I
+shall carry her off to London again. She is not going to be an old
+maid, if I can help it!"</p>
+
+<p>"She is going to be what the Lord means her to be, mem," retorted
+Abigail. "He is her Keeper, and not those that tempted her astray from
+His paths for a time! Miss Heather has thoughts above marryin' and
+givin' in marriage!"</p>
+
+<p>"Her time hasn't come yet. Wait till the right man turns up, and then
+away she will go like all the rest of us! She is very much admired
+in town, Abigail. A certain major in my husband's battalion has not
+forgotten her yet. I think I shall give him a hint to follow Mr.
+Carter's example, and come and see how the land lies now. She would
+make a good soldier's wife!"</p>
+
+<p>"A soldier, mem! A paid murderer, we would consider him! And Miss
+Heather has not been nurtured and brought up by a member of the Society
+of Friends, to fling herself away on one with the lowest calling in our
+nation!"</p>
+
+<p>The wedding over, Heather settled down to her quiet life, having Mrs.
+Fisher to enliven her solitude, and her poor people to interest her.
+She steadfastly refused Mrs. Carter's invitation to pay her a visit,
+and, though missing her sister daily, preserved a bright and sunshiny
+spirit.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, she received a letter from Ena Vaughan, in which she asked
+her to come and stay with her for a short time.</p>
+
+<p>She sat with this letter in her hand for some time considering, and
+then consulted Mrs. Fisher.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of seeing her friend again filled her with delight. It was
+a visit that would not only give her intense pleasure, but would, she
+felt sure, be beneficial to her in many ways. And when Mrs. Fisher and
+Abigail both said that a change would do her good, Heather wrote off,
+and joyfully accepted the invitation.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image010" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image010.jpg" alt="image010"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>TURNING ROUND, SHE ENCOUNTERED DICK.</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>It was a lovely spring evening when she reached the small country
+station that was her destination. She alighted on the platform, and
+looked about her. There were very few passengers by the same train,
+and the old porter seemed half asleep. She was trying to make him
+understand where she wanted to go, when turning round, she encountered
+Dick, who had arrived rather warm and breathless after a sharp run.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, miss, the missus said as I were to take charge of your
+luggage and see it packed in the trap. Mr. Spike, he can't leave the
+horse, and I were kept waiting on a message or I should have been here
+before, and the master, he is away on business or he would have come to
+meet you himself. The trap is this way, if you please, miss."</p>
+
+<p>Dick was struggling with his dignity and breathlessness, but Heather
+smiled, and understood. She followed him out, and found the trap
+waiting for her. In a few minutes, she was being driven swiftly through
+sweet-smelling lanes, eventually stopping at an old stone gateway with
+a rustic lodge at one side. Then up a rhododendron drive, where the
+flowers were in masses of bloom. They eventually drew up before an
+ivy-clad turreted stone house with old-fashioned casement windows, and
+a weather-beaten porch, over which was sculptured in stone the Latin
+device, "Sic vos non vobis."</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked around her with a keen sense of pleasure and refreshment
+in everything she saw. Just inside the door, waiting in her wheelchair
+to receive her, was Ena. Great bowls of golden daffodils stood on the
+old oak sideboards in the square wainscoted hall. The stairs with their
+crimson carpets wound round and upwards, past a richly stained window,
+and all inside the house seemed to give an atmosphere of warmth and
+comfort, which contrasted delightfully with the dark oak panelling and
+dusky corners that abounded in the old Priory.</p>
+
+<p>The first greetings over, Dick gently wheeled his mistress into the
+drawing-room, and Heather followed her. It was a quaint low room,
+panelled in oak; old china and beautiful paintings adorned the walls,
+thick oriental rugs covered the polished floor; books, music, spring
+flowers in abundance, and a dozen other nameless trifles, showed that
+it was a room for use and comfort, and not for show.</p>
+
+<p>A bright wood fire was burning in the grate; the evening sun shone in,
+and played upon the silver tea-service and flowers that were on the
+afternoon tea-table drawn up to Ena's couch. Dick assisted his mistress
+there, then noiselessly left the room, and Heather sank into an easy
+chair feeling that her lines had fallen in pleasant places.</p>
+
+<p>"It is delicious to be here," she said. "I feel rather tired of being
+mistress, and managing every one."</p>
+
+<p>"You are looking tired and pale," said Ena, affectionately. "I have
+felt so sorry for you since your sister's marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Heather said, with a little sigh, "it is a dreadful experience
+to go through, for I feel that she will never be quite the same again.
+But I was prepared for it when she was away from me before. That was
+the worst wrench, I think, for it was our first parting."</p>
+
+<p>"Now I am going to give you some tea, and then you would like to go
+to your room. I hope you will be comfortable, but I can trust my maid
+to see after you. It is one of my trials that I cannot look to my
+visitors' comfort, but I never go upstairs at all. I have my bedroom on
+the ground floor. What do you think of our home?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is sweet," said Heather, enthusiastically. "It must be very
+old, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very old. The monks lived here in the time of Henry VIII., but were
+turned out by the king, who gave it to one of his court favourites—a
+certain baron, Sir Bertram Havish. The Havishes were ancestors of my
+mothers, and the Priory has belonged to them ever since. A cousin of
+ours lived here up to the time we came into it. He handed it over to my
+brother because he wanted to go off to the Colonies. I think I told you
+about it. Of course the best part of the Priory is in ruins; this is
+quite a small bit of it, but it is the only part of it that has always
+been lived in, and it is quite large enough for us. Did you notice the
+doorway as you came in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I did, and the carved motto above. What is the exact meaning of
+it? Something about labour or work, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Thus you do not labour for yourselves.' Rather nice, isn't it? A
+gentle reminder to all who live here that selfishness and indolence
+will not be tolerated. I like to put with it that verse, 'that they
+which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him
+which died for them.'"</p>
+
+<p>Heather's eyes shone.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said; "it isn't only living and labouring for other people,
+but for Him!"</p>
+
+<p>Ena nodded smilingly.</p>
+
+<p>They drank their tea and chatted together, and then Heather was taken
+upstairs to her room. It was as quaint as the rest of the house, with
+its deep recesses and low window-seat, overlooking a range of wooded
+hills and a winding river. All the rooms were panelled in oak, but
+light chintz curtains and hangings relieved the bedrooms of any gloom.
+A small wood fire was burning in her grate, and bowls of daffodils and
+primroses stood on her dressing-table.</p>
+
+<p>Heather felt as she sat down on her cushioned window-seat, and surveyed
+the scene within and without, that her room would be a pleasant resort
+for rest and enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>Later on, she came down to the drawing-room in her dinner-dress, and
+found Ena and her brother together.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan apologized, as he shook hands with her, for not meeting
+her at the station.</p>
+
+<p>"My sister and I have so few guests now that I feel we ought to welcome
+warmly any who do come to us. But I was obliged to attend a committee
+meeting at the very hour your train arrived."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not mind at all," Heather responded. "We have been so used to
+manage for ourselves lately that I feel quite independent. At home, no
+one ever meets us. You see, we have no trap, so we always take a fly
+and drive straight back with no difficulty."</p>
+
+<p>"Bertram thinks that no woman ought to be able to do anything for
+herself," said Ena, laughing. "He can't understand the up-to-date
+girls, who are so well accustomed to take care of themselves."</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed as she turned frankly to Captain Vaughan.</p>
+
+<p>"It is pleasant to be taken care of," she said, "but if you have no
+father or brothers, it naturally makes you independent."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," he said, with a little smile; "and the independence is very
+pleasant, is it not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is. I know Bluebell and I gloried in it a year ago, but I
+fancy after a time, one tires of it."</p>
+
+<p>There was unconscious wistfulness in her eyes. Ena said quickly—</p>
+
+<p>"You have left all leadership and responsibility behind you now, and
+have sunk into a commonplace country visitor. I am going to treat you
+as such, and I am sure you are longing for some dinner. There is the
+gong, so let us go in. Do congratulate me upon my improvement. I can
+join you at dinner in my wheelchair. I have only managed this for the
+last month, so am still proud of my achievement."</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was a pleasant meal. Heather thoroughly enjoyed the cheerful,
+cultivated society of her friends. Captain Vaughan had a good deal of
+quiet humour, but he was also a well-read and well-informed man with
+literary tastes. And both he and his sister took a keen interest in the
+current literature of the day.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel very ignorant when I hear you and your brother talk," Heather
+said to Ena as they sat in the drawing-room afterwards, leaving Captain
+Vaughan to his smoke. "But you don't know how I like hearing you!
+We are so shut up at home to our housekeeping, and the wants of the
+village, that I sometimes forget the great world outside us."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what I should do without outside interests," said Ena,
+thoughtfully. "It takes one out of one's self so, and I dread falling
+into an invalid's self-centred life. Bertram is such a help in that
+way. I always think men are like a fresh breeze through a house,
+especially those who are out-of-doors a good deal, and are in the way
+of meeting other men. Bertram is a keen sportsman, though he looks upon
+sport only as a recreation. And then he very often goes up to town, and
+I hear the latest news in that way."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to have had a brother," said Heather, as she gazed into
+the fire, making a pretty picture as she sat in an old oak chair, her
+slender little figure, in its white dress, thrown into full relief by
+the dark wood background.</p>
+
+<p>Ena looked at her and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you will be given a husband instead," she said playfully.</p>
+
+<p>Heather shook her head, and changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan soon came in, and Ena asked him what engagements he had
+for the next day?</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to show Heather the church, and the dripping well. I cannot
+manage it because of the steps."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be busy all the morni<a href="#image003"></a><a href="#Chapter_1"></a><a href="#image002"></a>ng," he said, "but after luncheon, I can
+take Miss Fotheringay anywhere. We can do the church and well and go on
+to St. Margaret's. I think those are all the antiquities to be seen.
+Are you fond of ruins, Miss Fotheringay?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if they're picturesque," said Heather, smiling. "It reminds me
+of old Ralph at home, who met a wandering artist one day. He asked if
+there were any ruins to be seen, and Ralph led him off with alacrity to
+a half-burnt pigstye of Farmer White's.</p>
+
+<p>"'There,' he said, ''tis a newer ruin than those old ruins at Rome my
+paper tells me of, for 'twas only burnt last Toosday week, so you've
+come to the right man for showin' the right sort!'"</p>
+
+<p>"One never quite understands whether it is simplicity or shrewdness in
+many of these rustics," said Captain Vaughan. "I always feel they're
+having a quiet laugh at my expense when I talk with them. Well, St.
+Margaret's is worth seeing. It used to be an old convent, and the good
+people in those days knew how to pitch their retreats in the most
+exquisite parts of our country."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it solaced them for what they had forsaken," said Heather.
+"And after all, there is nothing like Nature to soothe and calm, and
+help meditation."</p>
+
+<p>"For the tired and weary spirits," put in Ena, "but hardly for the
+young restless ones. There must have been many who, like caged birds,
+beat their wings against their prison walls, and pined away in the
+narrow sphere in which they found themselves. Their energies must have
+been cramped, their lives dwarfed, and their tempers soured by the
+constant restrictions and supervision over them."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet I fancy it was easier in those days to act, when contrasts were
+so strongly defined," said Heather, thoughtfully. "If one wanted to be
+good, there was always the convent. You weren't supposed to be half in
+the world and half out of it; it was one thing or the other."</p>
+
+<p>"Not taken out of the world, but kept from the evil. In the world, but
+not of it."</p>
+
+<p>Ena spoke softly, and Heather looked up with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I think the world has always approved of Christians taking themselves
+right out of the way so as not to be objectionable and give offence,"
+said Captain Vaughan, strolling to the window and looking out on the
+dusky garden. "It always has been fashionable to enter convents and
+sisterhoods, but not fashionable to be introducing one's religious
+opinions to society in general."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Heather, "and I suppose if a Christian bottles up his
+religion, he becomes like a stagnant pool. He must be a worker of some
+sort. So there is nothing for it but to separate himself at once."</p>
+
+<p>"But he need not hide himself away in a monastery," said Ena, brightly.
+"Do you think so, Bertram?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan turned round from the window with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I consider if ever we are in doubt about the kind of life we should
+lead, whether we should mix with our fellows in society to show them
+that Christians are not narrow and bigoted, and are able to take part
+in all their pleasures, we have our guidance in Nehemiah, and a very
+good reason given for our withdrawal from much of it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked Heather, with interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose each one of us is helping to build the walls of the church.
+If we are, this is Nehemiah's excuse:</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the
+work cease whilst I leave it, and come down to you?'"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"I like that," exclaimed Heather, with a flash of gladness in her eye.
+"But of course it can only apply to busy Christians."</p>
+
+<p>"Ought we not all to be busy about our Father's business?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a little silence, broken by Dick's appearance with a message.</p>
+
+<p>But Heather had enough for plenty of thought that evening, and she lay
+her head on her pillow a little later with a happy, restful heart.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_16">CHAPTER XVI</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A CALAMITY<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise
+above it."—WASHINGTON IRVING.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>THE days slipped by very quickly to Heather. She enjoyed the walks with
+Captain Vaughan, the talks with Ena, and the wonderful beauty of her
+picturesque surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>She lost a little of her imperious manner; she was no longer the
+mistress of house and farm, "the young leddy" of the village. There was
+no one to keep in order, no business matters to be taken in hand, and
+the relaxation of her life brought out all the light-hearted gaiety of
+her nature, and made her gain in girlish grace what she lost in dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Ena watched her flitting about with a happy ringing laugh, and listened
+to her bright humorous speeches with delight.</p>
+
+<p>"I am making you younger," she said to her, laughingly, one morning, as
+they sat in the sunshine under the old stone porch.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you are," Heather replied, with twinkling eyes. "I feel very
+old at home, especially when I am trying to manage Abigail. And since
+Bluebell has married, I have been lonely. It isn't good to live alone,
+now, is it? What would you feel like if you had no brother in and out?"</p>
+
+<p>Ena shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I fail to imagine. And yet, of course, he may marry, and I may have to
+seek a home elsewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you could come and live with me. That would be delightful."</p>
+
+<p>Ena laughed.</p>
+
+<p>Heather went on more seriously. "It is a great comfort to feel that
+one's future is already planned by God, and out of our own hands. I
+like to think of it. I wish I had realized it before; it would have
+saved me from a good deal of fret. I don't think I should have tried to
+change our lives so. I often think now that it has not been good for
+Bluebell. She seems to love nothing better than a whirl of excitement.
+I hope she will be different now that she is married, but I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>A little sigh followed her words.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew your sister. I have never seen her."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I should like you to know her. She always has taken life
+brightly, much more so than I. I used to be much more discontented
+with our quiet life than she was. I incited her to want a change, and
+it seems strange that it should be I who have been brought back to the
+quiet life again, and she who is away from it."</p>
+
+<p>"But I think you must be the happier of the two."</p>
+
+<p>"I really think I am. But, Ena, I am wondering if I ought to do more
+definite work for God."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you do? I mean outside your home duties."</p>
+
+<p>"I visit the villagers, and since I have—well, since I have seen the
+reality of it all, I have tried to speak to them about it. I have
+started a little working-party amongst the mothers, it is a kind of a
+mothers' meeting. And then I have Bluebell's Band of Hope, and I have
+my Sunday class on Sunday. I don't think I do anything else. I go to
+the Union once a week, that is four miles away. But in a small village,
+there is not much to be done. I have been wondering, as I have no
+home-ties, whether I ought not to go into some distinct work, perhaps
+abroad as a missionary. I feel I should like to give my life right up
+for God."</p>
+
+<p>"That we can do at home as well as abroad," said Ena, quietly. "I know
+when first I became a true Christian I thought the same, and grumbled a
+little because my accident prevented all such ideas. But I have come to
+see that a Christian's work is close to them, all round them, and that
+a soul is worth winning, whether it is a fashionable member of society,
+or a cannibal in heathen lands. If we each did our part in soul-winning
+from our own home-centre, the world would be a different place.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, I know the needs of missions are great, and many are right
+to obey the call and go. For myself, I have been placed here, and my
+brother and I both try to quietly influence our neighbours. You have
+not seen many of our friends yet. There are one or two that, judging
+from appearances and life, would have been the last persons you would
+imagine had any religious cravings. Yet three of them come to me for
+real downright earnest talk; and one has quite lately seen with us,
+that life is not life till one gets linked on to the Living One. I am
+only telling you this to encourage you. Get to know young girls in your
+neighbourhood and try to influence them. Ask them to stay with you—oh,
+there is a great deal of work close to one's hand always, if we would
+only see it."</p>
+
+<p>"But," said Heather, hesitating a little, "I can speak to the poor
+people about these things, but not to those in my own class. It would
+be so difficult."</p>
+
+<p>"Why? Is our Lord's service only for the poor? Are the rich to be
+excluded from it? Don't their very temptations and difficulties appeal
+to us from having known them ourselves?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it is cowardice," said Heather. "One knows the poor do not
+sneer at one or shrug their shoulders at 'such fanaticism' as it is
+termed. There is no cross to bear when working among the poor. But I am
+afraid of girls of my own class. And the fact is, there are very few
+about our neighbourhood. We have never had any girl-friends. I met a
+good many when staying with Cousin Ida in town, but they would be bored
+to death if I asked them to stay with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I know a good many here," said Ena, thoughtfully. "I think I must have
+some of them over to tea, and let you get acquainted with them."</p>
+
+<p>But this plan was not carried into action.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The very next morning, Heather received a letter from her lawyer, Mr.
+Brody, asking her for an immediate interview.</p>
+
+<p>"It is something disagreeable about our money affairs, I know," said
+Heather, with a perplexed face.</p>
+
+<p>It was after breakfast. Captain Vaughan had just brought his sister
+some early tomatoes from the greenhouse, and he stood in the French
+window of his sister's morning-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Cannot he come and see you here?" asked Ena. "You have only been with
+us a fortnight, and you promised me a month."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I must go home. Mr. Brody has written me several long
+letters lately. Some of our dividends have not come in, and grandmother
+left us nearly all her money in shares that are very shaky now, I am
+afraid. I cannot quite follow his letters, but I must see him, and I
+think I would rather see him at home."</p>
+
+<p>"When do you want to go?" asked Captain Vaughan, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"He wants to see me to-morrow. I ought to leave this afternoon. Would
+it be possible?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, if you wish it. I will drive you to the station myself.
+There is a train leaving at three, which will get you home before dark.
+Will that do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, thank you, very nicely."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan walked away without another word, and Heather turned to
+her friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ena, I am so sorry. I have been enjoying myself so!"</p>
+
+<p>The tears were in Heather's eyes as she stooped to kiss her friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I sometimes think," she went on, trying to speak bravely, "that I am
+not meant to have much pleasure in my life; duty is always stepping in
+and spoiling it. Aren't there some plants that thrive best in the shade
+and not in the sunshine? I think I must be one of them."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," said Ena, shaking her head, "my dear child, that is a gloomy
+theory. This is a great disappointment to both of us, but I hope after
+your interview, you will come back to us and finish your visit. Don't
+you think that could be managed?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to," said Heather, somewhat wistfully, "but I don't feel
+as if I shall."</p>
+
+<p>Then, brightening up a little, she added, "It is ungrateful of me to
+talk so. I shall have enough pleasant memories of this dear old Priory
+to last me till I come again. And you have promised me a visit later
+on, so I shall look forward to that. I must go to pack my trunk now. I
+shall not be long."</p>
+
+<p>And for the rest of the time before she went, Heather was her bright,
+brave self. She talked cheerily to Captain Vaughan on the way to the
+station, and asked his advice about one or two things connected with
+the farm.</p>
+
+<p>Though perfectly at ease with him, she felt a strange shyness sometimes
+when in his company. He was an extremely reticent and undemonstrative
+man, and though always courteous and pleasant to her, and occasionally
+humorous, he never seemed to invite any one's confidence, and had an
+absent distrait manner that was not flattering to the one with whom he
+was conversing.</p>
+
+<p>Just before they came to the station, Heather asked him, a little
+diffidently, "Do you know anything about these shares of ours, Captain
+Vaughan? Do you think I need be uneasy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you most of your income from them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, nearly all of it."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan was silent, then he said, "I expect your lawyer can
+give you better information about them than I can. Sometimes the tide
+turns, and things look up when they've been about as bad as they can
+be."</p>
+
+<p>"I can see you think badly of them."</p>
+
+<p>"If you want the truth, I do. But do not worry yourself unnecessarily.
+Wait until you have had a good talk with your lawyer. Are you coming
+back to us?"</p>
+
+<p>"If—if things are satisfactory," said Heather, with knitted brow.</p>
+
+<p>They were at the station. Captain Vaughan saw to her comforts, and, as
+she shook hands the last thing, said—</p>
+
+<p>"My best wishes, Miss Fotheringay. And, after all, remember money is
+not happiness. There are other things left."</p>
+
+<p>"It is an anxiety," said Heather, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>And as she was borne away by the express, her thoughts went back to the
+day she had first separated from Bluebell, nearly a twelvemonth ago.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it was want of money took me home. Now it is the same thing. I
+almost wish I had none to lose!"</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>A week after, Ena received the following letter from Heather:—</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAREST ENA,—I sent you such a hasty line, telling you of my safe
+arrival, that I am ashamed I have not written since. Truth to tell, I
+have been so worried and uncertain about our affairs, that I felt I
+could tell you nothing. I have had several interviews with Mr. Brody,
+and now I can tell you definitely that Bluebell and I have lost nearly
+the whole of our income. I can hardly realize it, even as I write it.
+This house must be sold. I shall have barely forty pounds a year to
+live upon, but I must be thankful for that.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Of course, Bluebell wants me to go and live with her, but I feel I
+cannot do it—Abigail and Rachael have been so kind—so has everybody. I
+think I feel most for our poor people. How I should love to have you to
+talk to about things! At first, I thought I could live on in our farm,
+but it is not paying as it ought, and we shall have to sell that too.
+I have no light at present upon my future. I lie awake at night and
+wonder, and try to believe that it is all right.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Don't you think this may be God's way of preparing me for some special
+work? He has taken my home away from me. I am trying to discover what I
+am fit for. My education has not been a modern one. A governess is out
+of the question. A companion or mother's help may be more in my line,
+but I don't know. Can you give me any advice? Remember, I must earn my
+living. I cannot help telling you of an interview I have just had with
+Watty.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'Ay, well, Miss Heather, 'tis a proper breakdown to ye, but us will
+hope some un will come along and patch ye up a bit. Some of your fine
+Lunnon folks might do somethin' for ye!'<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'Thank you, Watty,' I said, with all the dignity I could assume, 'but
+I don't feel at all broken down. I have health and strength, and hands
+and feet to work, and I shall soon be earning my living like most of
+you.'<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"'Well, to be sure!' he ejaculated. 'And what may you be thinkin'
+of?' Then, with a burst of generosity, he added, 'Tell you what, Miss
+Heather—ye can't be spared from this 'ere village. If ye'll put up
+with my wife's tantrums, and like a humble lodgin' wi' us, I'll let
+you do turn-about with me of a carryin' them letters, for since this
+'ere Lunnon post-master has given the public leave to send such vollims
+of their trashy writin's for a penny, my old back just cracks wi' the
+weight on 'em! Turn-about wi' the carryin'—turn-about wi' the pay! And
+it'll keep you from the Union, Miss Heather, so let us settle it right
+away!'<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I think I hurt him by my laughter, but I was very near tears! No more
+for now. Cyril is so good. He is coming down to see about the sale of
+everything for me, and I am going to lodge at the farm for the present,
+for I think Annie and her husband will be allowed to keep it on under
+their fresh landlord. Sir Thomas Black is going to buy it. Much love,
+and kind regards to Captain Vaughan.<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">"Your loving—</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 20.5em;">"HEATHER."</span><br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This is a dull letter, but don't think I am perfectly hopeless. I feel
+any troubles that come now will be light compared with what they would
+have been a year ago."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"She is a dear child," said Ena to her brother, after she had told him
+the contents of the letter. "I always think happiness will come to her;
+she tries to do her duty so bravely. It does seem as if her sister has
+had all the sunshine and she the shade. She is such a lonely little
+thing with no relatives to look after her. What would you say, Bertram,
+to her coming to live with us?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan looked at his sister gravely. "I scarcely think she
+would do it," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? I should love to have her. She makes me forget my
+helplessness so. She has such a quick, quiet way of seeing what I want,
+and doing it before I have time to express the wish."</p>
+
+<p>"You would ask her as a paid companion?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Bertram, do you think I would? She is too proud, I fear, for
+that. I should like her to come back to finish her visit, and then
+drift on into staying with us altogether. You are so silent. Would you
+dislike her here?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan gave a short laugh that seemed to his sister rather
+constrained.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Ena, if you would like her, that is quite enough. I am out so
+much that her presence really hardly affects me. You can ask her if you
+like, but I am of the opinion that she will decline the invitation."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan was right. Ena begged Heather to come to them directly
+the sale was over, but she wrote saying it was impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"I promise to come to you before I start my independent life," she
+wrote, "but I must settle my future before paying any visits."</p>
+
+<p>And with this, Ena had to be content.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>A month passed, and then Heather wrote again:—</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You will be glad to hear that, through the exertions of Cousin Ida,
+I have found a berth. An old lady, a friend of hers, is going abroad
+for the winter in September, and wants a companion. I have been up to
+London to see her, and she has approved of me. She is a thorough woman
+of the world, and a little irascible in temper. Do you think I am right
+in accepting this post? I shall not be plunged into society, for she
+told me she liked her companions to keep themselves in the background!<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"But I cannot help hoping I may be a comfort to her, and perhaps may be
+given opportunities of work amongst those in my own class, as you have
+so often suggested. Bluebell is a little vexed about it, but I cannot
+be dependent upon any one. I do not feel at my age that it is right. I
+am going to stay with Bluebell for a month now, and then, if you will
+have me, I should like to come to you before going abroad."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"Well," remarked Ena, as she folded up the letter, "I suppose she is
+right to go, but I cannot bear to think of her in such a position. She
+is too young, too pretty, and too refined, to be turned into an old
+woman's slave."</p>
+
+<p>Her brother made no reply. He seemed absorbed in his newspaper.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_17">CHAPTER XVII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+IN THE OLD GARDEN<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"My poverty, but not my will, consents."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">SHAKESPEARE.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>IT was Heather's last day in her native village. She stood in the
+deserted garden of her home, and her heart ached at the thought of
+leaving it all. The sale was over. Straw and paper littered the gravel
+paths, the shutters were closed, and the house lay in the shadows of
+the old elms, dark and silent, having finished a long chapter of its
+life. The family that had moved within its walls for over sixty years
+had left it for ever, and a new era had already begun.</p>
+
+<p>Heather had been saying good-bye to the villagers, and it was hard work
+preserving her bright demeanour. Now she felt she could let herself go,
+and leaning her head down on the old sun-dial, she sobbed as if her
+heart would break.</p>
+
+<p>The sun shone down, the blackbird in the laurels sang as sweetly as
+in days gone by, the bees hummed lazily over the roses and peonies,
+and Nature seemed supremely indifferent to the grief in its vicinity.
+Heather was not the only one in her sorrow that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image011" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image011.jpg" alt="image011"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>SHE SOBBED AS IF HER HEART WOULD BREAK.</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Along the narrow cinder path that led through the kitchen garden walked
+Abigail. She was picking bits of lavender and sweet herbs with many a
+sniff, and muttering to herself in an audible undertone—</p>
+
+<p>"The Lord will comfort His own. 'Tis good to be afflicted, and He will
+care for her. My life is nearly over. I could not have gone on in
+service much longer. Me and Rachael have saved, and we will make our
+home together, please God. But my heart aches over that child. 'Twas
+here she used to run, and Miss Bluebell with her, when they were little
+trots, and liked to pick the parsley for Rachael. I can see them now,
+and the mistress watchin' them from the window. Ay well, she would be
+sorely grieved if she were to see us now, and 'tis to be hoped she does
+not. But she would be glad to see Miss Heather growin' into a good and
+sober woman. I daren't think of Miss Bluebell. She has chosen the broad
+road, and her heart is full of vanity. May the Lord in His mercy bring
+her to a right mind and show her her sins and wickedness!"</p>
+
+<p>Heather's thoughts were with Bluebell, too. She felt it keenly that
+her sister had left her to break up their home alone. Cyril had indeed
+been a help, but he had only stayed a couple of days, and the bulk
+of the work had fallen on Heather's shoulders. Bluebell had written
+sympathizingly, but said she would be in town the week of the sale, or
+she would have tried to go to her.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I am sure," she wrote, "it can be no grief to you to shut up that
+house. It never has had happy associations to me, though of course it
+has been our home. My only memories are of always being pounced upon by
+Abigail, and lectured, if ever we were trying to enjoy ourselves. You
+will be far happier away from it. You must come and live with me, and
+perhaps after another season in town, you will meet your fate. I am not
+at all anxious about your future, so don't worry about it."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Wise advice, perhaps, but Heather felt her sister understood her
+less than ever since her marriage. Even Cyril seemed to guess at her
+feelings better. Just before he left, he said—</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would come right away with me instead of staying on here.
+It is not fit work for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot leave it. It is impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"Why have you all the grit, I wonder, and Minnehaha none? She takes
+life as easily as you do seriously."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't spoil her, Cyril," Heather said rather earnestly. "Bluebell has
+depths in her that can only be stirred by emergencies or trouble, and
+I hope she will not have that. She has not a butterfly heart, whatever
+her manner may lead you to believe. I sometimes wish life had not been
+made so easy to her."</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"'Wayward as the Minnehaha,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;With her moods of shade and sunshine,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Eyes that smiled and frowned alternate,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Feet as rapid as the river,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Tresses flowing like the water<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;And as musical a laughter.'<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"I find she bears out that description exactly, and I am very well
+satisfied with my wife as she is."</p>
+
+<p>"That is only as you ought to be," said Heather, smiling. "But if you
+want her to show more grit, as you express it, you must let her share
+some of your responsibility."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, well, that will come in time." Then with change of tone he added,
+"I hope things may turn out better than you expect. You are very plucky
+over it. I suppose you hardly realize your misfortune with so much to
+do and to see to."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I can ever forget it," said Heather, with gravity. Then
+she added with a smile, "You must remember earthly comforts are not so
+much to me as they used to be. I have something now that I cannot lose."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah yes, I know. Well, I thought some months ago I had got hold of
+life differently, but it was a passing emotion, I fancy. We are
+impressionable creatures sometimes, even we men."</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather looked him straight in the face.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell me how you saw life differently, Cyril? Did you come
+into real touch with God? Did you take Christ to be your Saviour and
+Master?"</p>
+
+<p>Cyril stroked his moustache consideringly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you put it so crudely. I hardly got to those lengths. But I
+seemed to see we were not meant to live mere animal lives, and ought to
+bring glory to our Creator."</p>
+
+<p>"And you never got any further?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I meant to look into the matter, but Minnehaha came into my
+life, and we—well, we haven't the time, you know, for quiet meditation.
+Are you going to preach to me, Regina?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I pray a good deal that you and Bluebell may be out and out
+for Christ. You will never bring glory to your Creator till you accept
+the work of His Son, and own Him as your Saviour, and take Him to be
+your King. It is dishonouring to God to refuse allegiance to the One
+He sent into the world to be our King. Forgive my plain speaking, but
+you do not know how I long that those I care for should experience the
+peace and happiness in their souls that have been given to me."</p>
+
+<p>She said no more, but Cyril Carter went away more impressed by her
+words than he would care to allow.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as Heather, with tearful eyes, raised her head from the dial and
+looked at the empty, deserted house for the last time, her thoughts
+were still with Bluebell.</p>
+
+<p>"She and I will never be the same again to each other as we have been
+in this old garden. Our girlhood seems a thing of the past. I feel a
+woman now in experience, and I dread seeing how changed she is, when I
+stay with her. Oh, why need changes come so fast? Nothing will ever be
+the same to me again now I have lost my home!"</p>
+
+<p>She started when Abigail touched her elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Heather, don't take on so. 'Tis the Lord's doin', and ye'll be
+givin' Him praise one day for this very trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked up with a tearful smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be hard on me," she added. "I came here to have my cry out
+alone. I did not know you would be here, Abigail."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah well, I was havin' a look round, and the old times had come up and
+near overwhelmed me. Miss Heather, my words may have been hard to you
+at times, but my heart has always held you tight, and it will to my
+dyin' day!"</p>
+
+<p>A choke in her voice made Heather glance at her astonished, and then in
+a moment, the faithful old servant had gathered her into her arms like
+a little child, and was sobbing her heart out over her.</p>
+
+<p>At last, ashamed of her display of feeling, she turned gruffly away.
+But Heather kissed the worn old cheek very tenderly before she let her
+go.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall never have another faithful friend like you, Abigail," she
+said; "it is nice to feel you care so. There are times lately when I
+have felt that there is no one left to care what becomes of me."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>A few days afterwards, and Heather was in Bluebell's country home. The
+sisters were glad to be together, but the house was so full of guests
+that they had little opportunity for talk alone. Heather watched her
+sister dispensing her hospitality and entertaining all her husband's
+friends with her pretty graciousness, and wondered if she had ever a
+thought beyond the present. Sometimes she fancied Bluebell eluded close
+talk with her, and she could only pray, and try not to withhold her
+testimony if opportunity favoured it.</p>
+
+<p>One evening after dinner, as the ladies were in the drawing-room by
+themselves, conversation turned upon old Mrs. Macintyre, with whom
+Heather was going abroad.</p>
+
+<p>"I am told she is an awful old tartar," said Lady Robertson, a
+vivacious young bride, who seemed to carry with her plenty of society
+gossip, "and she gambles dreadfully. I knew a girl who lived with her
+for a time. She gives her companions a handsome allowance, but compels
+them to play cards with her every evening; she always manages to win,
+and the poor creatures find their salary making its way back into the
+old lady's pockets. I am told she meditates going to Monte Carlo this
+year. I pity the slavey who goes with her."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell gave a little sign to Heather not to speak, but she ignored
+it, and said frankly—</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for your pity, Lady Robertson. I am going with her, I
+believe."</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious! You don't say so! But not as her companion?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. You know we have lost a good bit of our money."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a freak of hers," said Bluebell, a little crossly. "I want her
+to stay with me, but she will be independent. I am sure a month of old
+Mrs. Macintyre will send her back to us."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you take my advice, you will get out of that card-playing,"
+said Lady Robertson.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think there is any fear of her doing that," said Bluebell,
+laughing; "is there, Heather?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, certainly not. If such a thing had been mentioned to me, I should
+have declined going with her," said Heather, with decision.</p>
+
+<p>"Why? Do you object to card-playing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Heather is a good person," said Bluebell, laughing; "of course she
+does. I think she considers all amusements wrong. I should enjoy seeing
+her tackle Mrs. Macintyre on the subject."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you good?" asked a girl, Laura Kent by name. "I remember you were
+not at all prudish in your first season?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I am not prudish now," said Heather, with a rising colour. "I
+don't feel so."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't look it," said Lady Robertson, good naturedly. "I have an
+aunt who is dreadfully good. She drags religion into every sentence,
+until she sickens every one with it. Now, I am not against religion
+myself, but it is not a thing to be talked about."</p>
+
+<p>"I think there are times," said Heather, "when it is desirable to
+mention it. But it depends upon circumstances. I used to think all
+mention of religion was out of place, but if it is the most real thing
+in our lives, why should it be?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a very shadowy thing to me," said Laura, thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't be, if you got hold of the real thing," said Heather,
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"But what is the real thing? Nothing seems real nowadays. Everything is
+just a mere hobby, which gets ridden to death, until a fresh one comes
+along."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose real Christianity is living our lives in touch with Christ,
+and having the consciousness of His presence in everything that we do
+or say."</p>
+
+<p>"No one could live like that, unless you were always in church or
+retired to a convent," said Lady Robertson, with a slight yawn.</p>
+
+<p>"And how can any one arrive at such a stage, even then?" queried Laura,
+turning her honest grey eyes upon Heather with interest.</p>
+
+<p>But at this moment, the gentlemen entered, and Bluebell gave a sigh of
+relief.</p>
+
+<p>"Come along," she said gaily; "we were just forgetting that we were
+a set of frivolous women whose after dinner talk always consists in
+picking one another to pieces. We were actually getting into deep
+theology. Let us have some music."</p>
+
+<p>That short conversation brought Heather into close contact with Laura
+Kent. She came to her bedroom afterwards, and had a long talk with her.
+And before Heather left her sister's, one restless, dissatisfied soul
+had found its way into the true path of peace.</p>
+
+<p>She began to see now that even in society there are many who need a
+helping hand and word.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_18">CHAPTER XVIII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+WITH FRIENDS AGAIN<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Friendship! Mysterious cement of the soul!<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sweet'ner of life, and solder of society,<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">I owe thee much."</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 21.5em;">BLAIR.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>AGAIN Heather found herself at the Priory, for a farewell visit before
+she went abroad. It was autumn, and the roses and dahlias brightened
+the old house with their rich colouring. As she stood on the lawn by
+Ena's side the first morning after her arrival, she gave a little sigh
+of happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"It is good to be here," she said, "and I am going to enjoy my time
+with you to the full, so that I shall look back with pleasure to this
+visit when I am abroad this coming winter."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you were not going," said Ena.</p>
+
+<p>"Please don't make me dissatisfied. I have decided that it is right to
+go, so we will not talk about it."</p>
+
+<p>"That is Regina's tone," said Ena, laughing, for she had heard of
+Cyril's nickname, and sometimes used it herself.</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed with her, then said a little wistfully—</p>
+
+<p>"Don't think me headstrong. I have had to decide things myself, and no
+one else can judge for me. I think I am being taught more and more that
+I must stand alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Never alone, Heather."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Heather, colouring, "not in the sense you mean, and that is
+my greatest comfort."</p>
+
+<p>She changed the subject, and began asking Ena about her friends.
+Presently Captain Vaughan came up.</p>
+
+<p>"I am off on a fishing expedition, Miss Fotheringay. Won't you bring
+Ena out this afternoon, and meet me at the pool below St. Margaret's? I
+shall work down the river that way."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to very much, if you feel up to it, Ena."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I shall manage very well, and we will take the kettle in the
+bottom of my chair, and have tea down there. It is an exquisite day."</p>
+
+<p>So it was settled, and soon after lunch they started, Dick in high
+feather at having the "charge of the h'expedition," as he expressed it.</p>
+
+<p>St. Margaret's was a ruined convent beneath a wooded hillside, and in
+a most exquisite hollow close to the river, which dashed over grey
+boulders of rock, arched in by overhanging trees. Ferns of the rarest
+kind grew in profusion along its banks, and Ena's chair was drawn up
+into a mossy glade, a little way from the rush of the water. There was
+no sign of Captain Vaughan when they got there, and Heather flitted
+about, gathering fir cones and dry sticks to kindle the fire, with
+girlish delight. Jack helped her with his usual dignity, and amused her
+with his remarks:</p>
+
+<p>"It h'appears too damp a h'atmosphere to h'ignite as it should," he
+said, watching her unavailing efforts to create the flame.</p>
+
+<p>But Heather persevered, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing the
+flames curl and crackle round the kettle.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it delicious here?" she said presently, throwing herself down on
+the grass by Ena's side. "It makes one feel at peace with all mankind."</p>
+
+<p>Ena was busy with her sketching block. She was a clever artist, and was
+rapidly filling in the nook in front of her.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Heather dear, go a little farther away, and I will put you in.
+There—just so! I will not trouble you long."</p>
+
+<p>"You must give it to me as a memento, only I should like your figure in
+it, not mine."</p>
+
+<p>Just as the sketch was being finished, Captain Vaughan appeared. He had
+had a successful day, and turned out his fish with some pride before
+his sister's eyes. Then, lounging on the grass by her side, he looked
+at her sketch, and Heather, springing up, busied herself about the tea.</p>
+
+<p>"I have told Ena," she said to Captain Vaughan, "that if I am to keep
+that sketch I would rather she figured in it than I. Her own position
+and background is quite a picture, and I long to sketch it myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you sketch at all?" asked Captain Vaughan, a little lazily.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I have no talents—except, perhaps, music. But I got disheartened
+when I was in town over that. Bluebell and I were brought up in
+the old-fashioned style, and my harp-playing seemed to most very
+extraordinary, I know."</p>
+
+<p>"I will try my hand at a sketch," said Captain Vaughan, taking block
+and pencil out of his sister's possession, in his slow deliberate way.</p>
+
+<p>And by the time tea was served round, he had sketched Ena in her chair,
+with the background of rocks and overhanging green, with such a true
+and skilful touch that Heather was delighted.</p>
+
+<p>"It is you exactly, isn't it, Ena? It is for me? Oh, thank you. When I
+am on the Mediterranean with my old lady I shall often look at it."</p>
+
+<p>A little sigh escaped her, but she changed it into a laugh as she went
+on—</p>
+
+<p>"Bluebell advises me to keep a diary, and call it 'Views of Riviera
+Life by one in the Background.' She says if I was very racy in my
+description of people and things, I could get it printed, and Mudie
+would take it. I am afraid it would be a strong temptation to present
+my charge in a ludicrous light. Her very appearance is awe-inspiring.
+She is a conglomeration of colour and scent, and always wears white kid
+gloves."</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to have some people to dinner this week, Ena," said Captain
+Vaughan, rather abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>Heather often fancied her friends and interests bored him, and she was
+always sorry when she became communicative in his presence.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are they?" asked Ena.</p>
+
+<p>"He is a friend I met in Rome some years ago. He is a dabbler in
+archaeology and antiquities, and he married a Miss Phillips. Her father
+is the noted sculptor. They are staying with the Gregorys; of course
+you must ask them too."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. How would Friday suit you? Or is it too short notice?"</p>
+
+<p>As brother and sister were discussing the subject, Heather wandered off
+by herself along the river-side. She had a keen love of all that was
+beautiful in nature, and this quiet, peaceful spot seemed to soothe
+and quiet her anxious spirit. For though outwardly brave over her
+future, she had many qualms and fears about it. She could not forget
+the conversation at her sister's over the eccentric old lady who was
+to give her a home, and she viewed her gambling propensity with the
+greatest horror. Would she be able to stand her ground and refuse to
+participate in the nightly play? Ought she to acquaint the old lady
+with her principles, and let her know she could not oblige her on this
+point? Yet, as nothing had been said to her about it when she was
+engaged, it might after all be merely exaggerated gossip. Weighing the
+matter to and fro in her mind, Heather walked on.</p>
+
+<p>She crossed the river by a slender plank, and then climbed up into the
+fir-woods above, thinking she would catch sight of the others below.
+But she had miscalculated the distance, and when she turned to retrace
+her steps, the many winding paths in the wood confused her, and she
+missed her bearings altogether. For some time she struggled to reach
+the river, but the dense foliage below prevented her from seeing it,
+and she at last stopped in despair.</p>
+
+<p>"It is ridiculous to think that I am lost," she said, half laughing,
+half vexed; "they will wonder where I am. I shall not trust to these
+paths any longer. If I clamber straight down, I must come to the river,
+and then I shall find my way."</p>
+
+<p>With this resolve, she started her downward path through brambles and
+undergrowth, and then suddenly, without a warning, the slippery soil
+below her feet gave way, and down she rolled, over and over, with
+increased force and swiftness, till unconsciousness came to her aid,
+and she knew no more. When she at length opened her eyes, she found
+herself lying against a fallen tree about twenty feet above the river,
+which dashed along as merrily as ever. Her head felt bruised and
+aching, and, when she tried to raise herself, she found her left arm
+doubled under her, and giving her exquisite pain when she moved it.
+After several struggles, she succeeded in getting to her feet, and then
+she found she had cut her forehead in her fall.</p>
+
+<p>With one hand she tried to stop the bleeding and bandage it, but she
+became so faint that she was obliged to reseat herself on the ground
+and wait for assistance. She tried to call out, but she was still too
+dazed with her fall to put much energy into her cries.</p>
+
+<p>It was a happy moment when in the distance she heard the sound of
+footsteps, and the crackling of the dead twigs underfoot told her that
+some one was approaching. And when she saw the brown fishing-suit of
+Captain Vaughan through the trees, she called out for help with fresh
+vigour.</p>
+
+<p>In another moment he was by her side. "I have been scouring the wood
+for you," he said cheerily. "Have you lost yourself? Ena has gone on. I
+persuaded her to go, though she was loth to do it; but it was getting
+late. Not hurt, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>He was leaning over her now.</p>
+
+<p>And weak and unnerved, Heather was struggling against tears. "I've had
+a tumble," she said with quivering lip, "and I've hurt my arm. I almost
+think it must be broken."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image012" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image012.jpg" alt="image012"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>CAPTAIN VAUGHAN MADE AN IMPROMPTU SLING.</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>"Let me see it. Ah! Don't move. We must put it in a sling till it can
+be seen to."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan was not easily nonplussed. He slipped out of his pocket
+a large silk handkerchief, and in two minutes had made an impromptu
+sling. Then, as deftly and quietly as a woman, he took her own
+handkerchief and bound up her forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"Now sit still," he said quietly, "and drink this. And then we will see
+about getting home."</p>
+
+<p>He produced his flask, and Heather did as she was told, and the colour
+crept back into her lips and cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>In a short time she was able to walk, though in great pain. Captain
+Vaughan took good care of her, and though talking cheerily all the
+time, made her take his arm, and led her as gently as possible along
+the river bank.</p>
+
+<p>Heather strove to be cheerful, and when they at last reached the
+Priory, she turned to him with tears in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't thank you, Captain Vaughan. You have been so good to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nonsense," he said, laughing; "it is not much I have been able to
+do. Come in and lie down. I will send that young scamp Dick for the
+doctor. Here, Ena, we have a patient on our hands, but I hope it is
+nothing serious."</p>
+
+<p>It was not serious. She was bruised and shaken by the fall, and had
+broken a small bone in her arm; but quiet and complete rest for a few
+days did wonders, and she was almost herself again in ten days' time.</p>
+
+<p>"You are too good to me, Ena," she said to her friend one afternoon,
+when she insisted upon her resting on the sofa in her morning-room, and
+brought her some grapes and a book to amuse herself with. "Think how I
+shall miss all this attention soon."</p>
+
+<p>"The more reason you should have a little of it now," said Ena,
+playfully. Then she added seriously, "I would give anything to have you
+here altogether. I have become so dependent on your society, that when
+you are away I feel inexpressibly lonely."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have your brother."</p>
+
+<p>"He is out a great deal. Oh, I know I ought not to complain, and I am
+never unhappy, only I think having you about me has made me feel not
+quite such a hopeless and incurable invalid."</p>
+
+<p>It was seldom Ena touched upon her infirmity. Heather looked wistfully
+at her.</p>
+
+<p>"If I come back with my old lady next spring, perhaps you would let me
+come to you for another visit."</p>
+
+<p>"You know how delighted I shall be. Oh, Heather dear, why don't you
+throw it all up and be my companion instead?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather smiled and shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"We have argued that out many times. I am afraid I am too proud, for
+one thing. I must and will be independent of my friends, even of my
+sister, who is only too anxious I should make my home with her."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe we were brought together to be separated so soon," Ena
+went on, leaning back in her chair and looking out upon the lawn with
+dreamy eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"We were brought together that you might be the means of bringing me a
+big blessing," said Heather, stretching out her hand to her friend. "If
+we drift apart on earth, we shall have eternity together."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but I have a strong feeling that we shall not be allowed to drift
+apart," was the quick response.</p>
+
+<p>"We will hope not. At all events, we can write to each other. I often
+think how good God has been to me, Ena. Just at the time when I was
+missing Bluebell so intensely, He sent you into our neighbourhood. It
+does look as if you were meant to take her place. I don't think I could
+have borne her being gradually taken away from me if I had not found a
+friend in you. I feel Bluebell will never be the same to me again now
+as she was before she married."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," repeated Ena, smiling, "and I still believe we are meant to live
+together, and I am waiting God's time for that pleasure to come."</p>
+
+<p>Heather shook her head, and changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_19">CHAPTER XIX</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+AN UNEXPECTED OFFER<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Whither my heart has gone, there follows<br>
+&nbsp;My hand, and not elsewhere."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>IT was a stormy day. Wind and rain fought for predominance, and lashed
+the old trees on the lawn in their fury. The casement windows rattled,
+and the wind howled down the chimneys, making even Ena shiver. It
+was very near the end of Heather's visit, and she had just received
+instructions from Mrs. Macintyre as to where and when she was to meet
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Ena listened and advised, but soon after breakfast got such a violent
+headache that she was forced to go to her room to lie down.</p>
+
+<p>"Storms always affect me," she said; "if I can manage to get to sleep,
+I shall be better. Make yourself comfortable over the fire, Heather. I
+think you will hear the wind less in the drawing-room."</p>
+
+<p>So to the drawing-room Heather went, trying to battle with her
+depression of spirits. She took out Mrs. Macintyre's letter and re-read
+it, trying to imagine herself in familiar and friendly relations with
+that good lady. The postscript did not reassure her.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not bring fancy work of any sort with you. I have found it
+engrosses the thoughts too much, and your time is mine whilst you are
+with me. I wish you from the first to understand this."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be slavery," was Heather's thought, as, leaning back in an
+easy chair, she looked into the glowing coals in front of her, and
+tried to banish the sounds of the storm without.</p>
+
+<p>She remained there deep in thought until, with a start, she was roused
+by Captain Vaughan's voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you in a brown study?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather laughed a little unsteadily.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan came and leant against the old oak mantel-piece,
+looking down upon her, and pulling out the ends of his moustache
+thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"This kind of day always seems to send you women into the blues. Ena
+has collapsed, and you—excuse me for the remark—look as if you are
+going to drown yourself!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no thoughts in that direction," said Heather, looking up at him
+with a little laugh. "I think I was dreaming. I am sorry to be leaving
+Ena. I have enjoyed my visit so much here, and only regret that it is
+coming to an end."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you go?"</p>
+
+<p>"I must."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence. Captain Vaughan walked to the window and looked out,
+then came back to the fire and took up his former position.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why you need go," he persisted. "Ena enjoys having you
+with her, and you do her a world of good."</p>
+
+<p>"I could not stay on with her indefinitely," said Heather, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you could."</p>
+
+<p>Something in his tone made Heather look up. There was purpose and
+determination in it, such as she had never heard him use before.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you not like to make this your home?" was his next question.</p>
+
+<p>Heather felt a little puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I might," she said, "if I felt it right to do so. But I see
+my way lies differently."</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to reconsider your decision. It is not too late. I want you
+to stay here altogether, and stay here as my wife!"</p>
+
+<p>If a thunderbolt had dropped at Heather's feet, she could not have felt
+more astonished. She had been accustomed to a great deal of attention
+and admiration when in London, and the very quietness and polite
+indifference with which Captain Vaughan had treated her made her regard
+him entirely as her friend's brother, and in no other light.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him now in complete bewilderment, and his quiet, steady
+gaze did not help her.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you joking?" she asked, trying to smile.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he said; "I am in sober earnest."</p>
+
+<p>Heather's head felt in a whirl.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this for your sister's sake?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"For my own as well."</p>
+
+<p>And then mustering courage, Heather rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so utterly unprepared for this, Captain Vaughan, that I feel I
+cannot give you an answer at present. Forgive me, but even now I am
+wondering if you are in earnest."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot do more than give you my word as a gentleman that I am."</p>
+
+<p>His tone was a little stiff. He added more gently—</p>
+
+<p>"Don't act in a hurry. Think it over. I believe you would be happy with
+us. We would try to make you so. I know I am much older than yourself,
+but you like our home, and are sorry to leave us. Isn't this a way out
+of your difficulty?"</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather looked up, and as simply as a child placed her hand in his.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe in your kindness of heart," she said. "Let me think it over."</p>
+
+<p>She left the room softly, and after she had gone, Captain Vaughan paced
+up and down with knitted brows.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Heather fled to her room, locked the door, and with a tumult of feeling
+threw herself into the easy chair by the window. Her thoughts were
+these.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a word of love! It was like offering me another situation. What
+does he mean by it? If I did not know his past history, and how
+self-sacrificing and unselfish he is, I would not fear so much. It
+must be pity for me, love for his sister, that is making him act so!
+Oh, I couldn't, I couldn't! If I am not wanted for my own sake, I
+will not give myself away. He does not seem to reckon love or liking
+at all in the question, nor care to know if I like him well enough to
+link my life to his for good and all. And do I like him? Oh, I don't
+know. I honour and respect him immensely, but I don't feel I know him.
+He has depths that he will reveal to no one. He has seemed so calmly
+indifferent to all I do or say, that I can't believe he means what he
+says.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I could be happy, oh, I know I could, if—if he really cared
+for me. If he was even as tender and gentle as I have sometimes seen
+him with Ena. Yet he was that the other day when he found me down by
+the river after my accident. I felt then how good it was to have some
+one to take care of one. He seemed so strong, so reliable. Oh, what
+shall I do? It is such a temptation. The right to stay on here in
+this dear old place, the right to make it my home and be shielded and
+cared for all my life. He could not make an unkind husband. Need all
+marriages be love ones? And how happy Ena would be! I know she would be
+pleased. I could look after her and make her life a brighter one, I am
+sure I could.</p>
+
+<p>"If only he seemed to care a little. If it is simply his unselfish
+kindness in taking pity on my homeless condition, if it is done
+entirely for his sister's sake, how could I place myself in such a
+humiliating position? Oh, I don't know what to do! I wish I had a
+mother to talk it over with. I cannot argue it out with Ena. I wonder
+if she knows. I don't believe she has any idea of it."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Heather soon got on her knees to ask for the guidance and help
+which she felt she so much needed at this crisis.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great temptation to her. She felt unutterably lonely when away
+from her friend, and the prospect of the winter before her was not
+cheering. Yet marriage had not lost its sacredness to her; she knew too
+well what misery so many marriages "de convenance" brought, and her
+pride recoiled from giving herself away unloved.</p>
+
+<p>The luncheon bell rang, and she reluctantly left her room, hoping that
+she would not be condemned to a "tête-à-tête" meal with the one so much
+in her thoughts. This was spared her. Ena's head was better, and she
+was able to come to the table. Captain Vaughan was out, the maid told
+them, and would not return till dinner-time.</p>
+
+<p>"Where can he have gone in this storm?" said Ena. "He told me he would
+be indoors most of the day."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is going to clear," Heather said, looking out of the
+window, where great masses of dark clouds rolled by, and gleams of
+light appeared on the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is. We must hope so. You look pale and worried, Heather
+dear. What have you been doing with yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have been in my room most of the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Not packing?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not yet. I have still two days before me."</p>
+
+<p>Ena saw she was troubled, but thought it was at the idea of her near
+departure, and Heather still felt her mind in such chaos that she could
+not mention what had passed.</p>
+
+<p>"He is the person to tell her, not I," she thought.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon passed. Ena was at all times a pleasant companion, and
+Heather was enough versed in self-control to set her feelings aside and
+enter into her friend's interests.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan made his appearance just as they were finishing
+afternoon tea, and Heather slipped quietly out of the room, leaving him
+telling his sister where he had been.</p>
+
+<p>When she had closed the door behind her, Captain Vaughan said abruptly—</p>
+
+<p>"Have you been told anything, Ena?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; what?"</p>
+
+<p>He did not answer for a moment, then he said slowly—</p>
+
+<p>"I asked your little friend to stay on with us indefinitely."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you really? I'm afraid you did not succeed in persuading her to do
+so."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>Something in his voice made his sister look up.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Bertram, what is it? You're keeping something back."</p>
+
+<p>"I offered her an extra inducement to stay," was the dry response.</p>
+
+<p>Ena caught her breath. Her woman's quick wit guessed the truth at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bertram!" she exclaimed. "If you care for her, I shall have
+obtained my heart's desire!"</p>
+
+<p>"How about her side?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she must, she will say Yes. I have secretly longed to be a
+match-maker. You don't know how I have wished to bring you together.
+But you are so silent, and have been particularly so in reference to
+her, that I hardly dared to hope it. What did she say?"</p>
+
+<p>"She has postponed her reply."</p>
+
+<p>"No wonder she has looked so absorbed. Why didn't she confide in me? I
+must see her at once. Oh, Bertram, I can't tell you what I feel about
+it! It is more than I hoped, and now this dreadful visit abroad must be
+put an end to. But why have you left it so late in the day? It might
+have been too late altogether. Will you ring for Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>Ena was quite excited.</p>
+
+<p>Her brother listened to her apparently quite unmoved, then, with his
+hand upon the bell, he said quietly—</p>
+
+<p>"I must ask you, as a special favour, not to allude to this matter
+until after dinner. It will be an awkward time for all of us if you do.
+I am going out afterwards, so you will have the whole evening to talk
+over it."</p>
+
+<p>Ena's face fell, but she saw the wisdom of her brother's words.</p>
+
+<p>As it was, there was a certain constraint upon them all when they met
+in the dining-room. Captain Vaughan was perhaps the least discomposed,
+and Heather talked away to Ena rather more rapidly than usual, as if
+she dreaded any pauses in the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>It was afterwards in the drawing-room that Ena touched upon the
+subject, and her intense delight in the possibility of the engagement
+made it very difficult for Heather to express her real sentiments.</p>
+
+<p>She could not let his sister know that she doubted his reality of
+feeling about it. And she sighed to think that at such a time as this,
+her friend could not give her an unbiassed opinion, for Ena felt that
+no one could refuse her brother. And Heather wondered, if she were to
+refuse him, whether it would bring a break in her friendship with his
+sister.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image013" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image013.jpg" alt="image013"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>"DO YOU REALLY WANT ME TO SAY 'YES'?"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>She went to bed that night still restless and undecided, wondering if
+the dictates of her heart would play her false.</p>
+
+<p>For by this time she had come to this conclusion. Life with Captain
+Vaughan at her side wore a very roseate hue; without him, it would
+be a blank. And if she had been convinced that he reciprocated these
+sentiments, there would have been no cloud upon her horizon. There was
+little or no sleep for her. The storm that still swept on its wild way
+outside was a picture of the storm within her soul, but at length, as
+another day dawned soft and fair, with no signs of the wild weather
+that had preceded it, Heather's resolve was made. The dawning of a
+love which now surprised herself overcame the pride that had battled
+fiercely for predominance.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>It was after breakfast in the garden that Heather gave her answer. She
+was gathering dahlias in an old-fashioned winding walk that led round
+the outskirts of the grounds, when a step behind her sent a quick flush
+to her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>It was Captain Vaughan, and he spoke with his usual simple directness.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come for my answer, Miss Fotheringay."</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather faced him, and her eyes held his for a moment as she tried
+to read him through and through.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really want me to say Yes?" she asked, a little unsteadily.</p>
+
+<p>"I do, indeed," was the grave reply.</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes dropped. With a pretty grace, she put both her hands in his.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I say it."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless you."</p>
+
+<p>That was all, but it was enough.</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_20">CHAPTER XX</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+ABROAD<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Let nothing disturb thee,<br>
+&nbsp;Nothing affright thee;<br>
+&nbsp;All things are passing,<br>
+&nbsp;God never changeth,<br>
+&nbsp;Patient endurance<br>
+&nbsp;Attaineth to all things."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">LONGFELLOW.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"SEND her a telegram, and tell her a letter will follow."</p>
+
+<p>"I could not do it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you propose, then?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan and Heather were speaking, and they were out on the
+lawn after breakfast the next morning. Ena was there, too, in her
+chair, superintending a little gardening done by Dick. Captain Vaughan
+was going to his farm, but stayed to discuss Heather's intended trip
+abroad.</p>
+
+<p>"It would not be right to throw her over at the last minute," said
+Heather, looking at Captain Vaughan rather pleadingly.</p>
+
+<p>He had a little frown between his eyes, for he was strongly averse to
+her keeping to her engagement, and Heather still felt strangely shy of
+him. She turned to Ena.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ena, help me; you know I could not do it. What would she say, when
+all her preparations are made, and she is relying upon me to join her
+to-morrow at Victoria Station?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what to say," said Ena, with a smile. The future of the
+two she loved best in the world looked so bright to her that nothing
+else seemed to matter. "I am sure," she went on, "we shall not consent
+to your being abroad with her till next spring. But I confess it is
+very late now for you to refuse to go to her."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Captain Vaughan, with a shrug of his shoulders, "you must
+talk it over together, and settle it your own way, as you will not have
+my advice. My proposal is that she should be written to at once. She
+could very soon find another companion; it would only delay her trip
+for a week or two."</p>
+
+<p>He walked off. Heather looked after him for a minute, then with light
+steps rejoined him before he reached the garden gate.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't be vexed with me if I go?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, and laid his hand on her shoulder. His tone was grave, but
+his eyes had that kindly humour in them that was one of his attractions
+to women.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't take care of yourself," he said, "and now I consider I have
+the right to take care of you."</p>
+
+<p>"You would not like me to do anything dishonourable?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather was smiling now, but she watched his face a little anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think you could," was the reply; "but settle it as you will
+with Ena."</p>
+
+<p>"I think the best way for me to act is to go with Mrs. Macintyre, and
+stay with her until she finds some one else to take my place. I will
+tell her what you wish. And a month abroad will not hurt me. Please say
+you approve of this."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't approve, but I will try and be content with it."</p>
+
+<p>He went off, and Heather returned to Ena, feeling lighter hearted at
+his consent.</p>
+
+<p>Both he and his sister wished to prolong her stay with them, but
+Heather never flinched where she saw her duty lay.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, the next day found her making her departure, but not with
+the sad heart-sinkings that she had anticipated a short time before.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image014" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image014.jpg" alt="image014"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>"YOU WON'T BE VEXED WITH ME IF I GO?"</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>As she looked round the old Priory, and gazed at it lying still and
+peaceful in the autumn sunshine, as she mounted the trap and let her
+eyes rest on the old stone porch with its quaint inscription, now
+almost hidden under the flaming creepers surrounding it, and waved a
+misty farewell to Ena in her wheeled chair, and her important attendant
+standing by her side, her heart was throbbing with bright hope and
+gladness.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall come back to it again, and it will be my home."</p>
+
+<p>And if a little shadow lay on her path, if a little doubt of the strong
+figure by her side seemed to rise in her heart, she stifled and stilled
+it instantly.</p>
+
+<p>"He is a good, a noble man; an unselfish son and brother; and he will
+be as good to me as he has been to every one else."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan was very silent during the drive, and Heather was quite
+content to follow his example. He looked after her comforts, and when
+the train was just moving off gave her a warm hand-grip.</p>
+
+<p>"God bless and keep you! Write to us soon. And remember that we expect
+you back before Christmas."</p>
+
+<p>Heather leant back in her seat, and wondered if any girl had such an
+undemonstrative lover as she. Yet she assured herself that she would
+rather have one such hand-grip from him than dozens of flattering
+protestations of admiration and love from any one else, and for the
+rest of her journey she lived in a dream.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>She met Mrs. Macintyre, as arranged, at Victoria Station, and then,
+indeed, she had her hands full. An exacting, nervous, and irritable
+companion on a long railway journey is always a trial. It was doubly so
+to Heather in her present position, and before three or four days had
+elapsed, she felt nearly worn out.</p>
+
+<p>Yet her patience and good nature never flagged, and even Mrs. Macintyre
+owned after a fortnight's time that she suited her very well.</p>
+
+<p>But Heather could not leave her long in ignorance of her own plans, and
+when, as gently as possible, she told her that her circumstances had
+changed, and that her friends wished her to return to them as soon as
+she could be spared, there was trouble at once. Mrs. Macintyre was a
+woman who had never controlled her temper or restrained her tongue, and
+she was furious at this change of purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"You have deliberately deceived me; I engaged you for the winter,
+and you are trying to leave me stranded in a foreign place amongst
+strangers. But I will not have it. You are bound to me, and stay with
+me you shall, for the time we agreed upon! Have I not given way to
+your nasty narrow cranks? When you told me you never played for money
+on principle, did I not generously concede to your request that you
+should be allowed to read to me instead? Have I not denied myself the
+pleasure of my usual recreation in order to gratify your Pharisaical
+nature? It is only the pious people like yourself who can stoop to
+such mean actions, and you are with the wrong person, let me tell you,
+Miss Fotheringay, if you think you can act so! There would have been
+hundreds only too glad and thankful to step into your shoes!"</p>
+
+<p>"I would not leave you, Mrs. Macintyre, until you have some one to
+take my place. I think you will not find it difficult, as you say, to
+find some one else. I am truly sorry. It would have been better not to
+come with you at all, but I could not bear to put you off at the last
+minute!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will not hear a word more from you," and Mrs. Macintyre literally
+stamped her foot. "I forbid you to mention the subject again. You dare
+not break your agreement with me, for I should simply take it into the
+law courts rather than give way. Pack our trunks to-night for Monte
+Carlo, and not another word!"</p>
+
+<p>So to Monte Carlo they went, and the old lady solaced herself for the
+want of a congenial companion, by frequenting the gaming tables day by
+day. It was a time of unspeakable wretchedness to Heather, for though
+she never took part, she was dragged there against her will; and the
+very atmosphere seemed degrading.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>But the end came in an unexpected way.</p>
+
+<p>Ena received a letter a fortnight after, which made her cheeks blanch.
+She handed it to her brother without a word.</p>
+
+<p>And he sat for a moment after reading, as if considering his course of
+action.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"DEAREST ENA,—I write to you because I feel I can give you fuller
+details than Captain Vaughan. I have gone through such a dreadful
+time this last twenty-four hours that I hardly know how to describe
+it. I told you how infatuated poor Mrs. Macintyre has been over these
+dreadful tables. She first won a great deal, but this last week has
+been losing steadily every day. The night before last she came to my
+room and implored me to lend her some money. She told me she had lost
+everything she possessed, and must win it back. I did not know whether
+to believe her or not, but we had a dreadful scene. I steadily refused
+to lend her one franc, and then—I could not help it—I think she wrought
+upon my feelings so that I felt I must speak plainly. And I spoke
+straight to her about her soul and the life she was leading.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I am thankful I did now, but I shall never forget her look of
+astonishment when I first began. Of course, she was very angry, but I
+begged her to listen to me. I told her I knew I was only a young girl,
+with not a quarter of her experience of the world, but that I had seen
+a little of it, and compared with my present life it was as chaff to
+wheat. And at last she grew calmer, and finally, to my perplexity and
+distress, she burst into tears, and said that there was no one in the
+wide world who cared for her. She was a ruined woman, and would die
+in the workhouse, and life was a tangle and hideous disappointment
+from beginning to end. She let me talk to her for over an hour. I felt
+utterly inexperienced and helpless, and yet when I got my Bible, and
+she let me give her a verse or two, I felt quite at rest about it.
+She said no one had ever spoken to her about such things before. I
+think she was utterly crushed by her losings, and so was more ready to
+listen. Then I begged her to come away from Monte Carlo, and when she
+said she had no ready money, I told her I would willingly lend her some
+for that purpose.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"So the next morning we left, and came straight on to Nice. We were
+nearly there, when there was the most awful shock I have ever felt in
+my life. I shall never forget the horror of it. It was a collision. You
+will perhaps see it in the papers before this reaches you. I remember
+nothing after the first shock. When I came to myself, I found myself
+with a number of others on the railway bank, doctors and officials
+rushing frantically about, and gesticulating and chattering as only
+Frenchmen can. I felt dreadfully queer and shaken, but found I was not
+injured in any way, and my first thought was for Mrs. Macintyre. I
+can't tell you what a shock it was to come across her poor body. She
+had been killed instantaneously, the doctors said, her skull fractured.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I cannot tell you all I have been through. They seem abroad as if
+their one idea is to bury their dead instantaneously, and they hardly
+gave me time to telegraph to her lawyer before they were making
+arrangements for the burial. I am staying at this quiet hotel, and have
+just received a telegram from her lawyer saying he and a cousin of hers
+will be with me to-night. I feel almost as if it were my doing that we
+were in the accident. If I had not hurried her away from Monte Carlo
+she might have been alive and well now; and yet, would you not have
+acted in the same way if you had been in my place? I can't believe she
+is really gone, it seems so awful. Pray for me, won't you? I am quite
+unnerved. Your loving—<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">"HEATHER."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"I shall go out to her and fetch her back at once," he said briefly.</p>
+
+<p>"She may have started home before you can reach her."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall wire."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor dear child. What an awful experience! How little we thought by
+what means she would be brought back to us!"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan sent his telegram, but received one before he could
+start.</p>
+
+<p>"Cyril here. Am returning with him."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>And so, a few days after, Heather found herself with her sister in her
+London house. Bluebell received her affectionately. She was pleased
+with her engagement, and begged Captain Vaughan to come up and stay
+with them for a short time. This he was unable to do, and Heather
+almost felt it a relief when she heard he was not coming.</p>
+
+<p>She had suffered more than she at first thought in the collision, and
+for days she did not leave her room. The doctor said it had been a
+great shock to her nerves, and she must be kept very quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Heather felt that in such a gay house, and with the roar and
+bustle of the London streets so close to her, this was a difficult
+prescription to follow. But Bluebell was not very well herself, and
+determined to spend a quiet Christmas in the country, so in a few
+weeks' time, they went to their country house, and Heather's health and
+spirits began to improve at once.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the middle of February that Bluebell became the happy mother
+of a little son, and her joy and pride in her baby was intense.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Heather," she said one evening, as they were in the nursery seeing
+him put into his little cot, "I never thought I should be so foolish
+over a child. I think he will be my idol now. If anything could wean me
+from society and the gay life you condemn, he will. I believe I could
+be happy in a cottage with him in my arms."</p>
+
+<p>"He has been sent to you in love," responded Heather, gravely; "let him
+draw you to the One who has given him to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I really mean to be a good mother. He is such a charge to train.
+I should never like him to grow up and find anything in his mother to
+condemn. I mean to be everything that is good and noble now that I am a
+mother."</p>
+
+<p>She spoke in the full joy and confidence of her mother's love, and for
+a time was very softened. Yet when her vigorous health and spirits
+returned to her, she plunged afresh into gaiety, and laughed at her
+sister's pleadings.</p>
+
+<p>Her love for her child seemed almost a passion, and Cyril shared in the
+adoration. But, like many others, Bluebell cast all serious thoughts
+away from her, and refused to recognize that the gift was from God, and
+that she might be called upon to relinquish it.</p>
+
+<p>About this time Captain Vaughan came to pay his long-promised visit.</p>
+
+<p>Heather met him with mingled feelings of shyness and delight. She had
+not seen him since she had been abroad, and her correspondence with him
+was rather constrained. She still had the feeling that she did not know
+him, and that his heart was not hers.</p>
+
+<p>She was alone in her sister's sunny drawing-room when he arrived. He
+came in with his kindly smile and cheery voice, and, for the first time
+since they had been engaged, stooped and kissed her. It brought the
+blood with a rush to her cheeks, and almost overpowered her, but asking
+after Ena and hearing the Priory news soon put her at ease.</p>
+
+<p>"And when are you coming back to us for good?" he asked presently.
+"There is no need to wait much longer, is there?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked at him with startled eyes, and he did not press the
+question.</p>
+
+<p>But before many days passed Bluebell asked Heather the same question.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you want to get rid of me?" Heather asked with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to be happy in a home of your own like I am. Why should you
+wait? I always think long engagements are a mistake. When you have once
+made up your mind to marry a man, the sooner it is done the better. I
+suppose your mind is made up?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is. Why do you ask?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sometimes I think you are a queer couple, so dreadfully
+matter-of-fact and undemonstrative! And then there is the sister.
+I wish you were not going to be saddled with her. An invalid
+sister-in-law is rather trying. I think she ought to live elsewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"If Ena were not there, I wouldn't marry at all," said Heather, with
+some heat.</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell leant back in her chair and looked at her sister, half amused,
+half perplexed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the sister you are going to marry, then, not him? I thought so."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bluebell, don't tease so. You know I wouldn't marry a man if I did
+not care for him."</p>
+
+<p>And Heather walked away, with her head a little bit uplifted, whilst
+Bluebell called after her mischievously—</p>
+
+<p>"He ought to take you to a desert island for your honeymoon, to find
+out whether it is he or his sister who has won your affections."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_21">CHAPTER XXI</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+A TREASURE TAKEN<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Her little child hath gone to sleep,<br>
+&nbsp;Why should a mother watch and weep?<br>
+&nbsp;Earth's ills were gathering round his nest.<br>
+&nbsp;He crept into a Father's breast."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>ANOTHER lovely spring afternoon, reminding Heather strangely of the
+first day she saw the Priory. But now she was coming to it as a bride,
+and as she entered the old stone porch, leaning on her husband's arm,
+she looked up with a happy smile. "'Sic vos non vobis,'" she repeated;
+"you must remind me of that, sometimes, Bertram. I hope I shall not be
+tempted to forget it."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan knew his young wife too well to think that would be
+possible, and later in the evening, when they stood together watching
+the sun set in all its golden beauty, he drew her gently to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Will an old man make you happy?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Heather's doubts and fears had long gone now. She raised her face
+trustingly to his.</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought I could be so happy," she said.</p>
+
+<p>And then he laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Your sister had her doubts of me. She told me I was too
+undemonstrative. But I cannot wear my heart on my sleeve. From the
+first day that you set your foot inside this house, I knew that if I
+were to have a wife at all, it must be you. I was afraid our life would
+be too quiet for you, and the disparity in our ages made me waver."</p>
+
+<p>"But you ventured at last," Heather said, laughingly, "and I think I
+was never so astonished in my life. If you ever do such a thing again,
+let me advise you to show a little more warmth of feeling before you
+propose; you were always like an iceberg to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I think one venture will be enough," Captain Vaughan replied
+humorously. "I will see how this one turns out first."</p>
+
+<p>And then, secure in each other's trust and love, they settled down as
+husband and wife, and Ena's cup of happiness was full.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>One evening towards the end of June, they were again in the garden.
+Heather was picking some roses; Captain Vaughan resting in a lounge
+chair under one of the old elms, for he had been away from home on
+business all day, and had returned very tired; and Ena reading an
+article in the "Times" by his side. Heather hovered about, occasionally
+putting in a remark, and presently her husband called her.</p>
+
+<p>"Come here," he said, for he was watching her every movement; "you are
+looking quite pale; why are you so restless? Leave the roses in peace,
+and listen to this article."</p>
+
+<p>She came and stood over him, with her hand lightly resting on his
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"I am listening," she said; "but I don't care for the subject. I am
+afraid I am too insular to care about quarrels in the French senate."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan drew another chair to his side, and made her sit down.
+But directly Ena had finished, she got up, and wandered away by herself
+again.</p>
+
+<p>This time Captain Vaughan followed her, and found her leaning over a
+stone wall at the end of the flower garden, which overlooked the valley
+and river below.</p>
+
+<p>When she turned round and saw him, she smiled, but the creases in her
+forehead did not disappear.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, taking out his pipe, and leaning against the wall
+rather lazily, "what is the matter with you this evening? Why are you
+so perturbed?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I am perturbed," Heather replied evasively; "it is very
+close to-night. Do you think we are going to have a storm?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should not say so."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a minute, then he said lightly, watching her
+keenly the while—</p>
+
+<p>"I am not to be honoured with your confidence then?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather flushed up at once. Then turning round in her pretty, graceful
+way, she laid her hand on his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't laugh at me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I ever?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, with your eyes, if not with your mouth."</p>
+
+<p>"I will shut them."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I will tell you."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan was a wise man. He said nothing, only waited.</p>
+
+<p>And then, with a little sigh, Heather looked away to some dark grey
+clouds rolling by in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel oppressed," she said. "I have felt so all day. I can't describe
+it to you, but I'm sure there's trouble coming, and—and Bluebell's in
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan did not laugh, but he raised his eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>Heather went on with knitted brow—</p>
+
+<p>"I dreamt of her all last night, and I haven't had her out of my
+thoughts all day. I feel as if she is in trouble, and it makes me
+uneasy."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan put his arm round her, and drew her to him gently.</p>
+
+<p>"You mustn't get fanciful, little woman. I thought you were too
+sensible to be so swayed by your imagination."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I shall hear some bad news," Heather said, in a troubled
+voice, as she tightened her hold of his coat-sleeve. "We are twins,
+Bertram. People may laugh at it, but I remember, when we were quite
+children, I always knew if Bluebell were in trouble, even when she was
+quite away from me."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get into the way of anticipating trouble. You will make yourself
+more miserable than you are intended to be."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't believe in it? Do you think I am mistaken?"</p>
+
+<p>Heather raised her face so wistfully that her husband had not the heart
+to laugh at her.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child," he said gently, "if you are anxious about her, pray
+for her and leave it. What do you think could happen to her? She was
+quite well when you heard last, was she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; she is in town. I will try and think it fancy. Talk to me about
+other things to take my mind off."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Vaughan did his best to comply with this request, but Heather
+was not at all herself that evening.</p>
+
+<p>And she had unconsciously so impressed her husband with her sense of
+impending trouble that he was not in the least surprised the next
+morning when a telegram was brought up to the house for her. Its
+contents were brief.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Come to me at once."<br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 12.5em;">"BLUEBELL."</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Yes, after eighteen months of happy married life, Bluebell was called
+to go through her first crushing trouble.</p>
+
+<p>She had come up for the season in town, without a shadow on her path.
+Her boy was growing into a most lovely and engaging child, and when she
+was not enjoying the society of her friends, she was always to be found
+in his nursery. She had been fortunate enough to secure the services of
+a very trustworthy and experienced nurse, so had no anxiety about his
+welfare.</p>
+
+<p>One afternoon, her husband came into the drawing-room, and found
+mother and son in the midst of a regular gambol on the hearthrug. He
+remonstrated with a smile on his wife's undignified position, and she
+rose to her feet, tossing her boy in the air with all a mother's pride
+in his bonny beauty.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't he a kill-joy, my sweet! Your mother shall crawl on all fours
+with you if she pleases, and you shall satisfy her craving for a romp,
+as her cynical old husband never can!"</p>
+
+<p>Baby Percival chuckled with delight at this thrust at his father, and
+diving amongst his mother's curly tresses, wrought such havoc there
+with his chubby fingers that Cyril had to come to the rescue. And then,
+with wife on one knee and son on the other, he proceeded to deliver a
+mild harangue on a time and season for all things.</p>
+
+<p>It was a pretty family scene, and one that lingered in the parents'
+memories for long afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Only the next day, the nurse remarked on baby's listlessness. It was
+the heat, his mother said.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be going out of town soon. He is looking pale; the country
+will soon set him up again."</p>
+
+<p>She went out to dinner that night, and when she and her husband
+returned, were met on their door-step by their doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Your nurse has called me in," he said gravely; "I think the child has
+had a touch of the sun—"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell's cheeks blanched at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing serious, is it?" asked her husband, quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"We will hope not. I will come again to-morrow early. I have given your
+nurse all necessary instructions."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell had dashed upstairs with her usual impetuosity, and her
+husband found her a few minutes later leaning over her child's cot with
+agonized anxiety, the nurse trying in vain to soothe her.</p>
+
+<p>She turned her eyes up to her husband's face as he drew near, and her
+expression was like that of some wounded animal brought to bay.</p>
+
+<p>"She won't let me touch him, Cyril! I'm his mother. He is ill; and he
+shall be ill in his mother's arms!"</p>
+
+<p>With difficulty, she was persuaded to let her child alone. But an hour
+after, her husband came again into the nursery, and found her in a low
+rocking-chair, with her baby in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>"I have him fast," she said, "and—" lowering her voice to one of
+intense determination—"I shall let no one—no, not death itself, take
+him from me!"</p>
+
+<p>Cyril wondered if she were losing her senses. He noted the fever spots
+on her cheeks, the dark circles round her eyes, and the anguish that
+shone out of them.</p>
+
+<p>"You are exciting yourself needlessly, darling," he said. "Dr. Hope did
+not say he was in danger."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell looked at her husband, then at her child.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Hope is not a mother," she said. "I know! I can tell! He hardly
+knows his mother, my bonny baby boy!"</p>
+
+<p>And all through the silent hours of the night, she sat with her child
+in her lap, prepared to wrestle with the unseen foe, so close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>At early dawn the doctor was sent for, and he came in haste, but a look
+at the baby's figure, with his curly golden head hanging like a dead
+weight upon his mother's arm, told him the truth.</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head sadly. "I am afraid it is only a question of time."</p>
+
+<p>"You 'must' save him, doctor; you 'must.' He shall not be taken from
+me. He hasn't yet learnt to call me mother; his life is only beginning;
+it is all in front of him. I tell you, he 'shall' not die!"</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Hope stood silently by. He had witnessed too many of these scenes
+to be very deeply moved; and yet something in the pitiable defiance of
+this young mother, the hopeless fight against a power that was going to
+crush her in spite of all her struggles, brought a huskiness into his
+voice as he replied—</p>
+
+<p>"Life and death are in higher hands than mine. God alone can save your
+child."</p>
+
+<p>"Then pray, oh, Cyril, pray, all of you pray!"</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell's voice rang out, and it was shrill and metallic in tone. Her
+husband stood by her side, working his moustache up and down fiercely
+to hide his emotion. The nurse stood behind her mistress's chair,
+and the doctor on his knees felt the tiny pulse that was beating so
+fitfully, so feebly.</p>
+
+<p>There was no response to Bluebell's appeal, only silence.</p>
+
+<p>She talked recklessly on, hardly knowing what she said. "Only God
+can save him. Well, He will, He 'must,' He gave him to me. I used to
+love God once; He remembers; He won't be so cruel as to take him. If
+He takes him, I shall go too, I shall! I will not live without him.
+Oh, pray, Cyril, pray! Be quick, the minutes are flying! I am like a
+stone; I can't do it; some one must. Will you see him die for want of a
+prayer?"</p>
+
+<p>A sob rose in Cyril's throat. He turned despairing eyes towards the
+doctor.</p>
+
+<p>And he did not fail them.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"O God Almighty, we beseech Thee to save this child's life, for
+Christ's sake. Amen."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>There was stillness. The angel of death hovered above as if awaiting
+God's command.</p>
+
+<p>But in love and pity the word was given, and the angel softly descended.</p>
+
+<p>Baby opened his blue eyes, and the sweetest smile hovered over his
+lips. But his look and smile were not at his mother, and she saw and
+understood.</p>
+
+<p>Only the ticking of the doctor's watch in his hand was heard, and then
+a little child's tired sigh and a sharp agonizing cry from a mother's
+breaking heart.</p>
+
+<p>One more baby spirit gathered in all its fresh innocence and beauty
+above, one more empty cot and childless home.</p>
+
+<p>An hour after, the telegram was sent to Heather, and she reached her
+sister that same evening. She was met in the hall by Cyril.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the boy," he said huskily; "he has been taken from us. Go to
+his mother, and get her to eat something if you can; she has touched
+nothing for twenty-four hours."</p>
+
+<p>Without a word, Heather sped up the stairs, and was shown into her
+sister's darkened bedroom. She found her seated in her easy chair, her
+hands locked tightly together, but lying listlessly upon her lap. She
+looked up, and Heather almost started. Could this white-strained face,
+with vacant, hard stare and grim-set mouth, belong to her bright and
+sunny sister? She seemed to have aged ten years.</p>
+
+<p>And then in a moment Heather had her arms round her, and was sobbing
+out—</p>
+
+<p>"My darling, I knew of your trouble yesterday. I would have come to
+you, even if I had received no telegram, for I felt you would need me.
+How did it happen? Can you tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Bluebell, in an unmoved tone. "I can tell you every
+detail. God has struck hard at last. He couldn't have sent me a worse
+punishment, could He? He knew better than you can, what my baby was to
+me. I suppose He gave me my chance of serving Him in my prosperity, and
+as I didn't do it, has begun to take away from me! Begun! He has taken
+my all, and it will not draw me heavenwards. Cruelty will not draw me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, hush, hush, dear. God is never cruel. He only wounds to heal. Tell
+me about your darling."</p>
+
+<p>Bluebell gave her all the details in a hard, dry voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Come and see him," she said; "I have only just come away. Nurse won't
+let me stay longer."</p>
+
+<p>She led the way into the nursery, and the sight of the little clothes,
+the toys, and all the child's belongings, brought the tears with
+another rush to Heather's eyes. The mother drew aside the curtains of
+the little cot, and gazed with tearless eyes upon her boy.</p>
+
+<p>Like a little waxen image he lay, nestled in a bed of white flowers.
+His little hands were clasped across his breast, and the long lashes,
+resting on his cheek, looked as if they ought to lift and show his
+mischievous blue eyes beneath them.</p>
+
+<p>Heather bent and kissed the white, fair brow, and softly stroked the
+golden curls.</p>
+
+<p>"Happy baby," she murmured. "He will never give you a heartache now—an
+anxious thought."</p>
+
+<p>"He never would have done that had he lived," said Bluebell, coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"How can you tell? You would have brought him up for the world, and
+think of some of the men we have met, who have had just such careful
+love from their mothers as you would have given him."</p>
+
+<p>"I would have taught him to be good," said Bluebell, gazing with
+thoughtfulness on the silent little form. "I think I might have been
+given another chance."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose God felt He could train him better Himself," said Heather,
+softly. "Don't think of him as dead, darling; he has been moved into
+God's garden. You will thank God one day that He took him before he
+knew either sorrow or sin."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image015" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image015.jpg" alt="image015"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>HEATHER KNELT QUIETLY BY HER AND PRAYED.</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>Bluebell made no reply, she continued to gaze upon her child with stony
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I keep thinking he may wake up," she said drearily; "it's the awful
+stillness that appals one so. And yet I wish I could be lying dead
+beside him. I have nothing to live for now."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bluebell, not your husband?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am sick of everybody and everything. Oh, my boy, my boy!" She flung
+herself on her knees by the cot, and bowed her head upon the little
+form.</p>
+
+<p>Heather knelt quietly by her and prayed. She felt it was the only thing
+she could do. Who could comfort a mother but the Comforter Himself?</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"O God, have pity upon us. Thou hast done it in love, let Bluebell feel
+this. Comfort her; draw her to Thyself, and let her realize that the
+same arm that is round her child is round her. And comfort Cyril too,
+and make this heavy trial into a real blessing to them both. For Jesus
+Christ's sake. Amen."<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Then sobs shook Bluebell's frame—dry, choking sobs at first, but soon
+the tears came, and proved a real relief to her heated brain. And then,
+by the side of her dead child, Bluebell crept back to the feet of that
+Saviour whom she had left.</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Have pity on me!" she sobbed. "I want him to be mine still, though
+Thou hast taken him. Help me to meet him again. Forgive my worldliness,
+my love of everything but Thee. Take me back, receive me, pardon me.
+Make me believe Thou hast done it in love. Keep me from getting more
+hardened."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<h2><a id="Chapter_22">CHAPTER XXII</a></h2>
+
+<p class="t3">
+DUTY A GOOD MISTRESS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"Calmly we look behind us, on joys and sorrows past,<br>
+&nbsp;We know that all is mercy now, and shall be well at last.<br>
+&nbsp;Calmly we look before us—we fear no future ill:<br>
+&nbsp;Enough for safety and for peace, if Thou art with us still."<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 25em;">H. L. L.</span><br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>HEATHER stayed with her sister till after the funeral. And Bluebell,
+after the first violence of her grief was over, was strangely calm and
+self-controlled. Only once, when her husband called her by his pet
+name, "Minnehaha," did she turn upon him almost fiercely—</p>
+
+<p>"Never call me that again, for there will be no more laughter for me."</p>
+
+<p>Heather was urged to stay with them longer, but she felt that husband
+and wife would draw the closer together after she left.</p>
+
+<p>"I have my husband to think of," she said to Bluebell, as they were
+talking in Heather's room one evening.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I always think you are only half married," said Bluebell, with a
+little of her old impetuosity; "he has his sister."</p>
+
+<p>"But his sister is not his wife."</p>
+
+<p>And Heather's tone was regal.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really love him?" asked Bluebell.</p>
+
+<p>But when she saw the light that sparkled in Heather's eyes, she sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we must part. Cyril wants to take me abroad; I suppose I must
+go. Do you know, I have been thinking about our two selves a great
+deal. I suppose we were children of many prayers. We never had a
+temptation to speak of, until we forsook our quiet nest and plunged
+into gaiety. I think I had more qualms about it at first than you had,
+but it was strange how we drifted apart. I suppose God was calling us
+both back; you listened, and I shut my ears."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Heather; "I often wonder at it myself. I only went home
+because I thought it was my duty, not because I thought our gay life
+was wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I shut my eyes to duty. I tell you honestly, Heather, I have
+been quietly fighting against God ever since our first season in town.
+I knew in my heart, before that year was over, that the world was
+swallowing up all my ambitions, my desires, and my affections. I knew I
+could not serve two masters, and I deliberately chose the world. When I
+was going to be married, you impressed me tremendously. I felt I ought
+to be different, but I put it off. When my darling came to me, I almost
+prayed I might be given the strength to change my life. But I still
+clung on to everything that made life pleasant to me. And I have found
+out this for myself, Heather, I am not judging any one else. I suppose
+I am too impetuous. I must throw myself heart and soul into everything
+I do. But—I cannot live a society life and be at peace with God. The
+two things don't go together. Some people say they can. I think they
+must be satisfied with a very little religion, not the sort that goes
+deep down into your soul, and affects every fibre of your being. I have
+been fighting, as I say, against God all this time, and I knew it."</p>
+
+<p>"I think your religion must have been more than a mere form in our
+girlish days," said Heather, looking at her sister thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"It was. I often used to wonder if you felt it as deeply as I did."</p>
+
+<p>"No; it seemed to come upon me quite as a fresh revelation."</p>
+
+<p>"I was watching yesterday morning a few sheep being turned into an
+enclosure in the Park," said Bluebell, gently. "I noticed the ones who
+had to be driven and beaten before they would enter, and those who ran
+in without any trouble."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence.</p>
+
+<p>Then Heather said—"You think I have run in without any trouble?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and I have had to be driven. I am seeing the love of it dimly.
+Prosperity would never have drawn me, I am afraid."</p>
+
+<p>Tears filled Heather's eyes at the quiet pathos of it. She kissed her
+sister, saying in a whisper—</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God we are both inside. May we keep there."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>The next day, Captain Vaughan came to fetch his wife.</p>
+
+<p>They were at Paddington Station, just starting, when he asked her
+rather abruptly—</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to go round and have a look at your old home again? It
+would be a little trip, and would not take us much out of our way."</p>
+
+<p>"I should love it," she exclaimed enthusiastically, "I should like to
+call at the farm and see Annie and her husband."</p>
+
+<p>"And some of the old village characters, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Heather said, a pink colour coming into her cheeks; "I should
+like to have Watty's opinion of my husband."</p>
+
+<p>So, that afternoon, in the sweet summer sunshine, Heather and her
+husband walked up the old village street.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems one of the strangest things in life," said Heather,
+thoughtfully, "that if you go away from a place for ages, you come
+back to it and find the people doing exactly the same things at the
+same time with a clockwork regularity that makes you almost start.
+You wonder if all your life since has been a dream. Look, there are
+Watty and Ralph gossiping on the old bridge. Watty has still got his
+letter-bag, and Ralph his paper."</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter" id="image016" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image016.jpg" alt="image016"></figure>
+<p class="t4">
+<b>"SAKE'S ALIVE! 'TIS MISS HEATHER."</b><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>They walked up to them, and much disturbed their equanimity.</p>
+
+<p>"Sakes alive!" ejaculated Ralph. "'Tis Miss Heather and her man! Well,
+to be sure, what a sight!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, here we are," said Heather, in her old bright tone, and with the
+little imperious toss of her head; "and what do you think of us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember me?" asked Captain Vaughan, with his cheery smile.
+"The wayside lodger who came down to fish one summer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay," said Watty, shaking his head knowingly, "us knowed ye was
+after a bigger fish nor ye could drag out o' this 'ere bit o' river! An
+I sez to Ralph here, when you was a-gone, that ye had the looks of a
+adventurer after matrimony!"</p>
+
+<p>How they laughed! And then Watty seized his bag, more eager to spread
+the news of Heather's appearance than to stay and see her himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Time is flyin'. 'Tis only folks like Ralph here that can afford to
+dawdle with leisurable people holiday makin'. Good arternoon to ye,
+sir. Good arternoon, Miss Heather."</p>
+
+<p>He lounged off, his bag swinging from side to side.</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>And after a little chat with Ralph, Heather made her way to the farm.</p>
+
+<p>Annie and George were delighted to see them, and insisted upon their
+having a cup of tea before they left.</p>
+
+<p>Then they went to the old house, which was still empty, looking more
+desolate and forsaken than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Heather's thoughts went back to that dreadful day when she had sobbed
+out her heart upon the old dial, and Captain Vaughan guessed a little
+what was passing through her mind.</p>
+
+<p>"We mustn't let this be a sad day," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Heather looked up at him with misty eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said, smiling, "it is not going to be. God has been too good
+to me for me to be sad."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if you will love the Priory as much as you do this?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I do more. The associations with this one are not altogether
+happy ones. We used to look upon it almost like a prison when Abigail
+was cross. Now let us come and see her."</p>
+
+<p>So to the cosy little thatched cottage they went, and Abigail opened
+the door herself. Rachael was away visiting a friend. Abigail was
+delighted and tearful, which made Heather wonder if she were getting
+softer with increasing age. She had heard of Bluebell's trouble, and
+turned to Captain Vaughan with fervour—</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, sir, you have the best of the two, but I'm thankful Miss Bluebell
+has seen the error of her ways. I never forget to pray for them, both
+night and morn. And Miss Heather has chosen well, for we've heard you
+are on the Lord's side yourself, sir. We always hoped—Rachael and
+me—that Miss Heather would meet with a sober, God-fearing man. She
+always from a child had a stern idea of duty, and would go straight on
+without a falter, as I hope she will to the end of her life. The only
+crooked turn she took was when her poor, misguided cousin persuaded her
+to go to London. But she saw her mistake, and came back to us, and I
+wish her and yourself happiness, sir, with all my heart!"</p>
+
+<p>When they had said good-bye to the faithful old servant, and were
+walking through the quiet lanes to the station, Captain Vaughan turned
+to his wife and drew her hand through his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you take your husband from a sense of duty, little woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was once afraid duty had led you to propose to me," said Heather,
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, duty is a good mistress."</p>
+
+<p>"But love is better," urged Heather.</p>
+
+<p>"We will have a combination of them in our life. It was your following
+duty so conscientiously that first made me wish to have you always by
+my side. I have found the old saying true—</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<br>
+"'Duty only frowns when you flee from it.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;Follow it, and it smiles upon you.'"<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>They walked on. The evening sun was setting across the meadows in front
+of them, and presently they stood still and watched it slowly fade
+away. Heather's face was soft and wistful as she watched its glowing
+rays. Then her eyes met her husband's, and she smiled in perfect trust.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose all earthly joys fade sooner or later," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"And then we shall be gathered into the land where our sun shall rise
+to set no more."</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+THE END<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+——————————————————————————————————————————<br>
+LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED<br>
+DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78661 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
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+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
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+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #78661
+(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78661)
author	www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org>	2026-05-11 22:45:34 -0700
committer	www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org>	2026-05-11 22:45:34 -0700
commit	7c3b84c9df4f732dcd8e8a7288c793f5bd510d04 (patch)
tree	d1ae877a61906e1a44460d34501156de0e95d29f