the truest and most candid of friends; and, to begin as we mean to go
on, lay your instructions upon me now for my conduct during my absence.
You know my life--an idle one, unfortunately--living in my own place,
among my own tenants, in a sleepy little corner of the earth, which
affords no opportunity for adventure. I fear I shall come back with no
heroic deeds to recount!"
"`Do the work that's nearest,
Though it's dull at whiles,
Helping, when you meet them,
Lame dogs o'er the stiles!'"
quoted Nan impressively. "That's one of my pet verses, which I quote to
comfort myself when I am burning to do great deeds, and have to hem
dusters instead. Be thankful you are a man, and have not to hem
dusters; and try to take an interest in your tenants, and help them over
their stiles. I'm sure many of them are lame, and longing for you to
come to their aid; and really and truly it would do you all the good in
the world to think of something beside yourself!"
"I have never yet found any one who interested me so much; but I will
make the effort. And for yourself--look where you are going, think what
you are doing, be a trifle more circumspect in coming downstairs and
bicycling round corners, and I will hope to meet you again in health and
strength and with as few broken limbs as may be at the end of another
month. Goodbye, little friend! All good be with you!"
He held out his hand, and smiled upon her in the slow, kindly fashion
which already seemed familiar in her eyes, and Nan felt a sudden warmth
at her heart, as at the realisation of a new joy in life.
"Good-bye," she cried heartily; "and I'm glad I promised. I'm glad we
are going to be friends."
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
JIM RETURNS.
"In work, in work, in work alway, let my young days be passed, that I
may fade away and die, as I am doing f-ast!" sighed Kitty Maitland one
afternoon a month later, as she sat in the porch-room, surrounded with a
mountain of needlework, on which she was laboriously stitching labels,
while the elder girls consulted together as to prices, and Elsie plied
an iron at a side-table, smoothing away disfiguring creases and
crumples. It was amazing to see the quantity of work which had been
gathered together, and nobody was more surprised at the amount than the
workers themselves. When the contents of drawers, ottomans, and
cupboards had been gathered together and laid on the table, the girls
had gasped with amazement. Who could have believed that their little
efforts could have achieved such a whole? Who could have credited that
friends would have come forward with such generous and ready help?
During the last few days parcels had arrived by every post, and from the
most unexpected sources; while good, kind Maud had come home from Paris
with a box full of spoils from the Louvre and Bon Marche. Lilias
declared that her heart leapt within her when she reflected that she had
originated the beneficent scheme; but Nan vowed that it made her tired
even to look at the things, and reflect how hard-worked she must have
been; and Kitty, as has been seen, went in absolute fear of her life!
"I never want to see another pin-cushion so long as I live!" she
announced tragically, as she tacked the label on the last of these
useful articles, and tossed it impatiently to her companions. "If you
charge more than one and six for that beauty, it's a cheat, for it's a
regular museum of odds and ends. Heigho! this grows monotonous. Let me
go out into the garden and begin preparations there. My master mind is
wasted sitting here sewing on labels. I want scope--variety!"
"You can't get it then, until you have finished the work on hand. It
ought not to matter to you what you do, so long as you are helping
forward," said Lilias severely. "To-morrow morning will be plenty of
time to arrange the tables."
"If it is fine! I am sorry to discourage you, but it is raining
already. I see five drops on the window-pane," announced Elsie in a
tone of satisfaction, born of the remembrance that she had "told them
so!" months ago, and that they had refused to believe her; but her
triumph was short-lived, for the girls only laughed at her five drops,
called her their "faithful croaker," and altogether played such havoc
with her dignity that she retired within her shell in displeasure. Had
the occasion been less important, she would have flown to her room to
pour out her woes to the ever-sympathetic diary; but no personal slight
could be allowed to interfere with work to-day, for at four o'clock Jim
would arrive, and never should it be said that the Rendell girls were
engaged on their own devices when the one and only brother returned to
his home! The first few hours after Jim's arrival could be spent in no
other way than gazing upon him, in drinking in his words, and hanging
around him in adoring admiration.
By four o'clock the porch-room was abandoned, and each sister, attired
in her best blouse and freshest skirt, was craning her head out of the
dining-room window, while Kitty Maitland hovered in the background,
scarcely less excited than themselves. He came. He stepped out of the
fly, paid the cabman, and lounged up the path, lifting his head to nod
in patronising fashion to his adorers. He was no Apollo of beauty, no
Samson of strength, but just an ordinary-looking young man in an
ordinary grey suit, with ordinary irregular features redeemed from
plainness by an expression of quizzical good humour; yet each of the
eight beholders gave a gasp of adoration as she beheld him. His
mother's eyes swam with tears as she embraced her boy; Maud felt a ray
of pure, unselfish happiness; even Lilias overlooked the fact that his
collar was of an unfashionable shape in the delight of meeting. As for
the younger girls, they fell upon him, and hugged and kissed, and kissed
and hugged again, until he was obliged to beat them off with his long
grey arms.
"Now, then! Now, then! Leave a fellow alone! I won't stand being
mauled to death!" cried the ungrateful male, scrubbing his cheek with
his handkerchief, as if contaminated by the touch of so many feminine
lips. "Take it easy, and I'll speak to each in turn, but I can't tackle
the bundle together. Where's Maud? Where's my Maud? Come over here,
Maud, and don't let these youngsters keep you in the background!
Holloa, Nan, what's the matter with your back hair? Done it up, eh?
Doesn't look half so well, you know, but I suppose you take it out in
honour and glory. Best respects, Lilias; how's the young man? You
kiddies are getting too tall--that's what's the matter with you. I
shall feel quite an old man at this rate. Do you mean to say that is
`Cath-er-ine Maitland' I see before me? Kitty, my own! How _large_ you
have grown!"
"Jim, you rude man! Behave, if you can!" retorted Kitty with admirable
promptitude. It was an old habit of these two to converse in couplets,
though Kitty lived in chronic dread of an hour when she should fail to
invent an appropriate reply. Her present success filled her with
satisfaction, and evoked a burst of laughter from her companions; and
though Jim rolled his eyes at her in threatening manner as he entered
the drawing-room, he refrained from a further effort, and devoted his
attention to the admirable tea provided for his benefit. His sisters
waited upon him obsequiously, while his mother sat with folded hands
gloating over the sight of the tall, masculine figure seated in state on
the centre of the sofa. What joy to behold him again--her only son, her
pride, her darling! How she glorified him, and exulted in him, and
rejoiced in every evidence of his beautiful manhood! The sight of the
thick-soled boots gave her a positive thrill of joy; she looked unmoved
at the mud on the carpet, and did not even wince when he crumpled her
best silk cushion behind his back.
Jim looked across, caught her glance, and flashed back an answering
message which made her heart swell with joy. Her boy loved her, and had
no fear to meet his mother's eye! That was all she wanted to know, and
she knew it without further questioning. Jim was not given to words;
and even if he wished to speak, how could the poor boy _get_ a chance,
with seven excited girls all talking to him at the same moment?
Jim listened blankly for some moments before he could understand the
drift of the remarks, but gradually the words "Sale" and "Bazaar"
disentangled themselves from the clamour and awoke a dim remembrance.
"Oh, the sale for the Mission! You did tell me something about it!
Coming off to-morrow, is it? That's a bore! Why didn't you get it over
before I came?"
The girls shrieked aloud in dismay, and, under cover of their protests,
Maud whispered an eager--
"Take an interest in it, do! They have worked so hard, poor dears, and
they want you to help!"--which had the effect of rousing him to the
importance of the position.
"All right, girls, I'll see you through!" he announced, with the self-
confidence which a man assumes as if by instinct in discussions with his
womenkind. He had the vaguest ideas of what was expected, no knowledge
at all of the difficulties of the position; but it never occurred to him
to doubt his own ability to overcome these difficulties, and put the
final triumphant touch on the girls' labours.
"I'll see you through!" he repeated; and his sisters chorused their
thanks and murmured grateful acknowledgments, while Kitty Maitland kept
silent and eyed him askance through her spectacles, registering a vow to
speak faithfully on the subject of masculine vanity on the first
convenient opportunity.
The next morning each of the six Rendell girls awoke with a start and a
shiver of dismay. What had happened? For a moment they could not tell,
yet a cloud of depression was there; and then, alas! in each case a
glance at the window answered the question. Down fell the rain,
splashing the panes, soaking the trees, turning the paths into pools of
water, weighing down the heads of flowers, and scattering blossoms over
the grass. Alas and alas! it was almost too dreadful to be believed,
that after weeks of fine weather such a downpour should time itself to
arrive on the very day of the long-expected sale.
"If Elsie says, `I told you so!' I shall do her an injury. I shall--I
know I shall! I sha'n't be able to help it!" protested Nan; but Elsie
made no such statement. To do her justice, she deeply regretted her
prophecy, and felt as much distressed as if she were to blame for its
fulfilment, while her morbid mind had much ado to countenance such
unreasonable behaviour on the part of Providence.
"I don't understand why it is allowed to rain when so much depended on
good weather! The work won't look half so well cramped up in the house,
and we can make no money on the river, and the people who live at a
distance will think it too wet to turn out, and it will all be a dead,
dismal failure. It seems to me very strange that we should try to do a
good deed only to be frustrated by something over which we have no
control," she lamented; and though the other girls snubbed her promptly,
it was difficult to banish the same thought from their minds. If only,
only it had kept fine, how different it would have been, and with what
glee and zest they would have set about their preparations! As it was,
they were all more or less depressed, and had it not been for Jim's
presence they would have been a sorry company; but Jim rose to the
occasion with such a succession of quips and jests, such schoolboy
tricks and merry whistlings, as could not fail to be infectious. He was
not much use, so far as arranging the work was concerned; but, as he
himself expressed it, he played the part of beast of burden, dragging
tables into the library, fitting them together to take the place of
stalls, and undertaking a dozen onerous duties. With the best will in
the world, however, it was impossible to make the room larger than it
was, or to prevent an amount of crowding which left many precious
treasures hidden from sight, instead of being displayed in the sunshine
of the garden. The girls sighed, and resolutely turned their eyes from
the window; and thus it happened that certain things took place which
they were far from suspecting. Whether the rain had spent its strength,
or was put to shame by the sight of the mischief it had already wrought,
it would be difficult to say; but certain it was that the downpour
changed gradually to a drizzle, the drizzle grew lighter and lighter
until it ceased altogether, the clouds rolled away to the east, and
through the grey of the sky there broke a feeble, struggling light.
Brighter and brighter it grew, stronger and stronger, until of a sudden
a ray of sunshine danced across the floor of the room, and electrified
its occupants in the midst of their work.
"What's that? What's that? The sun! The sun!" cried every one in
chorus, and a stampede was made to the door to see if the good omen
could possibly be true. The ground was soaking with moisture, but oh,
the freshness, the sweetness, the delightful earthiness of the scent
which greeted their nostrils!
"Mff!" cried Nan, opening her mouth wide to draw in deep breaths.
"Ouf!" gasped Agatha rapturously.
"Do my eyes deceive me? Has it actually stopped raining?" cried
Christabel elegantly; and Jim executed a jig of triumph on the doorstep.
"It has stopped indeed! The clouds have rolled away, the sun is coming
out; in another hour it will be beaming, and you will have such a day as
you have not had for weeks past. I told you so! If you had only
listened to me, you would have been spared all your misery. I told you
so--"
"Excuse me! You did nothing of the kind. You remarked to me on my
arrival that it looked `Jolly bad, and that it was going to be a brute
of a day,'" interrupted Kitty severely; but Jim affected a convenient
deafness.
"Now then," he cried, "all hands to the pumps! I'll set James to work
to mow the lawn, and by the time it is cut and swept and the sun has
shone on it for a couple of hours it will be as dry as tinder. We'll
have the paths swept too, and put a few planks across where the water
has settled, and all will be as right as a trivet. Put on thick boots,
and set to work to undo all you have done this morning. There is no
time to lose!"
There was not, indeed; but willing hands made light work, and a more
cheery band of workers it would have been difficult to find. To see Nan
rushing in and out of the house, clad in a short bicycling skirt, with
snow-shoes covering her slippers, and Jim's cap stuck on the back of her
head, was a sight funny enough to have cheered the most melancholy of
patients; but when she executed a dance of triumph before her completed
stall, her sisters held their hands to their sides in convulsions of
laughter. A deeper laugh joined in with theirs, a lazy musical laugh,
which could only have come from one person; and Nan, hearing it, wheeled
round fully prepared to see Gervase Vanburgh standing before her. Not
one whit disconcerted did she appear at the sight; but, holding out her
skirt on either side, so as to display the huge cloth boots to the
fullest advantage, she dropped him a curtsey and cried, "Pleased to see
you, sir! I hope you admire me!"
"I do!" said Gervase in his soft drawl; and there was an accent of
sincerity in his voice which brought Jim's eyes upon him in curious
scrutiny. A word from Lilias had introduced him to this heir of the Mr
Vanburgh of whom he had heard so much, and now he eyed him narrowly,
forming his own swift conclusion.
"Dandified! Affected! Fine face, though; good expression! Decent
fellow, I should say, if the nonsense were knocked out of him.
Uncommonly pleased to see Nan, too. This must be looked into!" Then he
was obliged to laugh again at the downright fashion in which his sister
demanded the reason of the stranger's sudden appearance.
"What have I come for?" Gervase raised his hand deprecatingly. "To see
if I could be of any use, of course. My uncle was anxious to know if he
could lend anything in the way of tents or bunting, or if you would like
one of his gardeners to come across and help your man. A hamper of
strawberries is to be sent over presently, with the palms and plants,
and the cook is concocting something very special in the shape of ices,
but you are to ask for anything and everything you want. He is most
anxious to help."
"Bless him!" cried Nan devoutly. "Give him my love, and say that I
shall thank him on my bended knees the moment the rush is over. The
gardener would be most useful, for James has more than he can do, and we
are all taken up with our own special departments."
"And for myself? Can I do nothing to help you? I came last night on
purpose for this sale, so I hope you will make me of use." He looked at
Nan as he spoke, but it was Lilias who replied, taking him at his word,
with an assurance which virtually monopolised him for the entire
afternoon.
"Oh, thank you so much; then will you please help me in the punt? I am
going to take out small parties at sixpence a head, and intended to ask
Jim to help me; but as he knows the people, it would be better if he
were free to walk about, and make himself agreeable. Will you walk down
to the river with me now, and have a little practice? Jim will send
across for the gardener, and we ought to try how we get on together,
oughtn't we?"
"Certainly we ought. It is most necessary," replied Gervase, and his
face was absolutely devoid of expression. Whether he was disappointed
or pleased, annoyed or elated, it was impossible to guess, but he turned
aside without another word and followed Lilias down the path which led
riverwards.
By three o'clock preparations were completed, and everything done that
could be thought of to exhibit house and garden in their most favourable
light. In the drawing-room the best cushions and table-covers were
displayed in all their glory; in the dining-room the table was set out
with the precious china tea-service, which saw the light only on festive
occasions, while every silver article was polished up to reflecting
point. Seven girls robed in robes of spotless white flitted to and fro
in the garden, while Japanese umbrellas made picturesque splashes of
colour amongst the green. The visitors were polite enough to declare
that it was well worth paying the admission fee to see so pretty a
scene, and were altogether in such an affable frame of mind that they
were the easiest of preys. Nan's objects of "bigotry and virtue" were
speedily purchased, while Kitty and Christabel did a roaring trade in
toffee and confectionery. Agatha looked wistfully at their empty stalls
while she displayed pinafores and petticoats to the county visitors,
heard them murmur "Very useful!" and rustle on without dropping a
solitary sixpence into her box; but she consoled herself by the
reflection that her turn would come later, when the villagers arrived to
make their purchases, and meantime frequent doses of strawberries and
fruit salad helped to sustain drooping spirits.
Elsie smiled pensively across a mountain of fancy articles, Maud helped
her mother to receive the newcomers, Jim flirted violently with all the
prettiest girls, and Lilias was a vision of loveliness as she punted
admiring crews up and down the stream.
Gervase Vanburgh had attired himself for his work in the most immaculate
of flannels, and as he stood behind his companion plying his long pole,
it is safe to say that every feminine beholder remarked to her own heart
that the young people were made for each other, and that it would be a
sin to divide such a beautiful couple! It was true that there was some
talk of an engagement to an old family friend, but as it was not
officially announced it could not be binding, and dear Lilias would do
well to reconsider her position, now that this charming stranger had
appeared upon the scene!
Dear Lilias smiled back with sweet unconsciousness as she met her
friends' glances, but she was at no difficulty to read their meaning,
and heaved a sigh for the contrariety of fate. If only, only, it had
been Gervase instead of Ned--or rather, if the positions of the two men
could be reversed! It would be delightful to float along the stream of
life as they were even now floating down this sheltered river, a
charming companion by her side, the eyes of friends turned admiringly
upon her. How different from the life before her in the bleak North-
country town, with poverty and anxiety for daily guests, and Ned's worn
face looking sadly at her from across the table!
Lilias shivered for all the blazing sunshine, and her heart swelled with
anger. It was not fair, it was not right that her future should be
blighted in this fashion. Ned should realise that she was not bound by
a promise given in completely different circumstances! It was some days
since she had heard from him, for his letters had been less frequent of
late; and though at the bottom of her heart she knew that her own chilly
replies were to blame for this diminution of her lover's ardour, she
chose to count his silence as still another offence. He was neglecting
her, and she would not stand it. Like a flash of inspiration it darted
into her head that she would free herself from this entanglement while
there was still time. It would seem unwomanly to desert a man in the
hour of misfortune, but she would act at once, and not wait until the
worst happened. She would tell her mother that she was not happy; and
though Mrs Rendell might disapprove her past promise, she would never
persuade her to keep it in the circumstances. Yes, yes! she would be
free, she must be free, and then--who could say what would happen then?
The long summer lay before her, with its intimate friendship with one of
the richest and most charming of his sex. Lilias raised her head with a
gesture of determination, and met Gervase Vanburgh's eyes fixed steadily
upon her. His glance did not waver as it met hers, and she blushed
beneath it with a new and strange feeling of discomfiture. It was as
though that steady gaze had pierced beneath the surface, and read her
poor, unworthy thoughts.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
THE GARDEN SALE.
"Forty-three pounds seven and twopence, nearly fifty pounds, my
darlings, in solid coin of the realm, and all of our amassing!" cried
Nan three hours later, as the last visitor drove away from the door of
Thurston House, and the contents of the cash-boxes were counted over by
half a dozen eager workers. "Here's a triumph for us, for our hopes
never soared above a modest twenty pounds, and where it has all come
from, I don't know! A great deal of work is left, so that, I fear me,
our friends must have wasted their substance on eating and drinking and
riotous living, as exemplified by sails in the punt. I could have sold
my carvings three times over, and the compliments which were showered
upon me I would blush to repeat! My cheeks ache with smiling polite
acknowledgments, and indeed I'm nothing but a mass of aches from head to
foot. How on earth do poor girls manage to stand behind a counter all
day, and not snap off the customers' heads? My poor feet are in a
lamentable condition!"
"I'm sorry to hear it; but they look, if you will allow me to say so,
considerably better than they did a few hours ago," said Gervase,
glancing at the white shoes with an approving smile. "Why don't you sit
down, if you are so tired? There is a delightful seat waiting under
that tree, and no more work to do, so that I should say the sooner you
take possession of it the better!"
"Oh yes, yes. Let's all go!" gushed Agatha, leading the way onward,
unconscious of Gervase's look of dismay. "Let's go and rest, and talk
it all over! The best part of an entertainment is when the people go,
and you can quiz them, and make remarks, and--"
"Eat up the scraps!" concluded Kitty aptly, seizing a plate of cakes
from a table as she passed, and illustrating her words with the aid of
the daintiest morsel she could select. Christabel ejaculated "Kittay!"
in a tone of dignified remonstrance; but the protest was for form's sake
merely, for hers were the next pair of hands to rob the dish, and it was
neither _one_ macaroon, nor two, which satisfied her appetite.