THE BERLIN WOOL ROOM
I ordered the carriage and set off, mother having declined to
accompany me. Miss Mullins's address was at Highgate; she lived in a
small, new-looking house, somewhere near the Archway. I daresay Jane
saw me from the window, for I had scarcely run up the little path to
her house, and had scarcely finished sounding the electric bell,
before the door was opened by no less a person than herself.
"Ah," she said, "I felt somehow that you would call; come in, Miss
Wickham."
Her manner was extremely cordial, there was not a trace of offence at
the way in which we had both treated her the day before. She ushered
me into a sort of little Berlin wool room, all looking as neat as a
new pin. There was Berlin wool everywhere, on the centre-table, on the
mantelpiece, on the little side-table. There were Berlin wool
antimacassars and a Berlin wool screen, in which impossible birds
disported themselves over impossible water, and there was a large
waxwork arrangement of fruit and flowers in the centre of the
mantelpiece, and there were six chairs, all with their backs
decorously placed against the wall, and not a single easy chair. But
the room was spick and span with cleanliness and brightness and the
due effects of soap and water and furniture-polish. The little room
even smelt clean.
Miss Mullins motioned me to one of the hard chairs.
"I must apologise for the absence of the rocking-chair," she said, "it
is being mended, but I dare say being young you won't mind using that
hard chair for a little."
"Certainly not," I replied.
"I observe that every one lounges dreadfully just now," she continued,
"but I myself hate easy chairs, and as this is my own house I do not
have them in it. The room is clean, but not according to your taste,
eh?"
"It is a nice room of its kind," I said, "but----"
"You need not add any buts, I know quite well what you are thinking
about," said Jane Mullins; then she stood right in front of me, facing
me.
"Won't you sit down?" I said.
"No, thank you, I prefer standing. I only sit when I have a good deal
on my mind. What is it you have come to say?"
I wished she would help me, but she had evidently no intention of
doing so. She stood there with her red face and her twinkling eyes,
and her broad, good-humoured mouth, the very personification of
homely strength, but she was not going to get me out of my difficulty.
"Well," I said, stammering and colouring, "I have been thinking over
your visit, and--and----"
"Yes, go on."
"Do you really mean it, Miss Mullins?" I said then. "Would you really
like to join two such ignorant people as mother and me?"
"Hark to her," said the good woman. "Look here, Miss Wickham, you have
reached quite the right frame of mind, and you're not a bit ignorant,
my dear, not a bit, only your knowledge and my knowledge are wide
apart. My dear Miss Wickham, knowledge is power, and when we join
forces and put our united knowledge into the same bag, we will have
huge results, huge results, my dear--yes, it is true."
"Let us talk it out," I said.
"Do you really mean, Miss Wickham, that you and your mother--your
aristocratic mother--are seriously thinking of entering into
partnership with me?"
"I don't know about mother, but I know that I am leaning very much
towards the idea," I said; "and I think I ought to apologise, both for
my mother and myself, for the rude way in which we treated you
yesterday."
"I expected it, love; I was not a bit surprised," said Jane Mullins.
"I thought it best to plump out the whole scheme and allow it to
simmer in your minds. Of course, at first, you were not likely to be
taken with it, but you were equally likely to come round. I stayed in
this morning on purpose; I was almost sure you would visit me."
"You were right," I said. "I see that you are a very wise woman, and I
am a silly girl."
"You are a very beautiful girl, Miss Wickham, and educated according
to your station. Your station and mine are far apart, but having got
capital and a certain amount of sense, it would be a very good
partnership, if you really think we could venture upon it."
"I am willing," I said suddenly.
"Then, that is right; here's my hand upon it; but don't be more
impulsive to-day, my dear, than you were yesterday. You must do things
properly. Here are different references of mine." She walked across
the room, took up a little packet, and opened it.
"This is a list of tradespeople," she said; "I should like you to
write to them all; they will explain to a certain extent my financial
position; they will assure you that I, Jane Mullins, have been dealing
with them for the things that I require for the last seven years--a
seven years' reference is long enough, is it not? But if it is not
quite long enough, here is the address of the dear old Rector in
Shropshire who confirmed me, and in whose Sunday-school I was
trained, and who knew my father, one of the best farmers in the
district.
"So much for my early life, but the most important reference of all is
the reference of the friend, who does not choose his or her name to be
mentioned, and who is helping me with capital; not helping you, Miss
Wickham, mind--not you nor Mrs. Wickham--but me _myself_, with capital
to the tune of seven thousand pounds. I could not do it but for that,
and as the person who is lending me this money to make this great
fortune happens to be a friend of Mr. Hardcastle's, I think he, Mr.
Hardcastle, will let us have the house."
"Now this is all very startling and amazing," I said. "You ought to
tell us your friend's name and all about it; that is, if we are to go
properly into partnership."
"It can't be done, my dear. The friend is a very old friend and a very
true one, and Mr. Hardcastle is the one to be satisfied. The friend
knows that for years I have wanted to start a boarding-house, but the
friend always thought there were difficulties in the way. I was too
homely, and people are grand in these days, and want some society airs
and manners, which you, my dear, possess. So if we put our fortunes
into one bag everything will come right, and you must trust me, that's
all."
I was quite silent, thinking very hard.
"When I saw 17 Graham Square yesterday," continued Miss Mullins, "I
said to myself, if there is a suitable house for our purpose in the
whole W.C. district it is that house. What a splendid drawing-room
there is, or rather two drawing-rooms; just the very rooms to
entertain people in in the evening. Now if we put all our fortunes
into one bag, you, my dear Miss Wickham, shall have the social part of
the establishment under your wing. I will arrange all about the
servants, and will see that the cooking is right, and will carve the
joints at dinner; and your beautiful, graceful, aristocratic lady
mother must take the head of the table. She won't have a great deal to
do, but her presence will work wonders."
"And do you think we shall make any money with this thing?" I said.
"It is my impression that we will; indeed I am almost sure of it, but
the house must be furnished suitably."
"But what is your taste with regard to furniture, Miss Mullins?" I
asked, and now I looked apprehensively round the little Berlin wool
room.
"Well, I always did incline to the primitive colours. I will be frank
with you, and say honestly that I never pass by that awful shop,
Liberty's in Regent Street, without shuddering. Their greens and their
greys and their pinks are not my taste, love--no, and never will be;
but I shall leave the furnishing to you, Miss Wickham, for I see by
the tone of that dress you are now wearing that you adhere to
Liberty, and like his style of decoration."
"Oh, I certainly do," I replied.
"Very well then, you shall furnish in Liberty style, or in any style
you fancy; it does not matter to me. You know the tastes of your own
set, and I hope we'll have plenty of them at No. 17, my dear. As a
matter of fact, all I care about in a room is that it should be
absolutely clean, free from dust, tidily arranged, and not too much
furniture in it. For the rest--well, I never notice pretty things when
they are about, so you need not bother about that as far as I am
concerned. The house is a very large one, and although you have some
furniture to meet its requirements, and what I have in this little
room will do for my own sitting-room, still I have not the slightest
doubt we shall have to spend about a thousand pounds in putting the
house into apple-pie order; not a penny less will do the job, of that
I am convinced."
As I had no knowledge whatever on the subject I could neither gainsay
Miss Mullins nor agree with her.
"The house must be the envy of all the neighbours," she said, and a
twinkle came into her eyes and a look of satisfaction round her mouth.
"Oh, it shall be. How delightful you are!" I cried.
"What I propose is this," said Jane Mullins; "we--your mother, you
and I--sign the lease, and we three are responsible. I take one third
of the profits, you a third, and your mother a third."
"But surely that is not fair, for you are putting capital into it."
"Not at all, it is my friend's capital, and that is the arrangement my
friend would like. Come, I cannot work on any other terms. I take a
third, you a third, and your mother a third. I, having experience, do
the housekeeping. Having experience, I order the servants. You arrange
the decorations for the table, you have the charge of the flowers and
the drawing-room in the evenings. As funds permit and paying guests
arrive you inaugurate amusements in the drawing-room, you make
everything as sociable and as pleasant as possible. Your mother gives
tone and distinction to the entire establishment."
"You seem to be leaving very little for mother and me to do," I said.
"Your mother cannot have much to do, for I do not think she is
strong," said Miss Mullins. "She is older than I am too, and has seen
a great deal of sorrow; but what she does, remember no one else can
do, she gives _the tone_. It's a fact, Miss Wickham, that you may try
all your life, but unless Providence has bestowed tone upon you, you
cannot acquire it. Now I have no tone, and will only obtrude myself
into the social circle to carve the joints at dinner; otherwise I
shall be busy, extremely busy in my own domain."
"Well, as far as I am concerned, I am abundantly willing to enter into
this partnership," I said. "I like you very much, and I am sure you
are honest and true. I will tell mother what you have said to me, and
we will let you know immediately."
"All I ask is that you prove me, my dear," said the little woman, and
then she took my hand and gave it a firm grip.