LA RUE ST. JOSEPH.
One afternoon, about a fortnight after Averil Willmot had paid her
visit to Lincoln's Inn, Mr. Harland stood on the deck of the small
steamer in the gay port of Dinan, looking with amused eyes on the
motley group collected on the quay. It was a lovely June day, and he
had thoroughly enjoyed his little pleasure trip--for such he insisted
on regarding it. He had earned a holiday, he had told Averil, and he
had always longed to explore the Rance--it was such a beautiful river.
It was his habit to combine pleasure with business, and he went to see
Dinan, as well as interview Annette Ramsay.
"How I wish I had brought Louie with me," he thought, regretfully,
as he looked at the bright scene before him; the blue river, the
green-wooded heights, the yellow and brown houses that lined the quay.
Some pigeons were fluttering in the sunshine; a black goat with a
collar round its neck was butting viciously at a yellow mongrel dog; a
knot of _gendarmes_, _ouvriers_ in blue blouses, and soldiers with red
shoulder-knots were drinking in front of a shabby little _auberge_;
some barefooted boys were sailing an old wooden tub in the river; a
small, brown-faced girl, in a borderless cap, scolded them from the
bank--the boys laughed merrily. "Chut! no one minds Babette. Where is
the mast, Pierre?" Mr. Harland heard one of them say.
"Business first, pleasure afterward--is not that the correct thing?"
thought Mr. Harland, as he climbed to the roof of a rickety little
omnibus. "First I will go to the Rue St. Joseph, afterward I will dine,
and reconnoitre the place. Perhaps it would be as well to secure my
bed at the hotel, and deposit my portmanteau; the _cocher_ will direct
me;" and Mr. Harland, who had a tolerable knowledge of French, was soon
engaged in a lively conversation with the black-mustached individual
who occupied the box.
La Rue St. Joseph was only a few hundred yards from the hotel; it
was in a narrow, winding street leading out of one of the principal
thoroughfares. He had no difficulty in finding the house; it was
a high, narrow house, wedged in between two picturesque-looking
buildings, with overhanging gables and broad latticed windows, and
looked dull and sunless; its neighbors' gables seemed to overshadow it.
As Mr. Harland rang the bell, a little, wiry-looking old woman, with
snow-white hair tucked under her coif, and a pair of black, bead-like
eyes, confronted him.
"What did monsieur desire?"
"Monsieur desired to know if Mademoiselle Ramsay were within."
"_Mais oui, certainement_; mademoiselle was always within. Mademoiselle
was forever at her lace-work. Would monsieur intrust her with his name?
Doubtless he was the English cousin to whom mademoiselle had confided
her troubles. Monsieur must pardon the seeming indiscretion, but it was
not curiosity that had prompted such a question."
"Madame, I grieve to tell you that Mr. Willmot is dead," began Mr.
Harland; but Clotilde, uttering a faint shriek, burst into voluble
lamentations which effectually prevented him from finishing his
sentence.
"What disappointment! what chagrin! Mademoiselle would be inconsolable!
She had raised her hopes so high, she had built her faith on this
unknown cousin. How many times had she said to her, 'Clotilde, _ma
bonne amie_, I have a presentiment that something pleasant is going
to happen; in the morning I wake and think, now my cousin has his
letter; he is considering how he can best help me. The English take
long to make up their minds; they do nothing in a hurry.' And now _la
petite_ will hear she has no cousin; it is _triste_ inconceivable: but
doubtless good will come out of evil."
"Madame," interposed Mr. Harland, as soon as he could make himself
heard, "will you permit me to put two or three questions?"
"With all the pleasure in life. Monsieur must follow her within.
Gaston's wife was at the market, buying herbs for the _pot au feu_;
no one would interrupt them." And Clotilde, still talking volubly,
ushered him into a dark little kitchen, with a red-brick floor, and
a few glittering brass utensils on the shelves. A yellow jug of blue
and white flowers stood on the closed stove; there were plants in
the narrow window, some strings of onions dangled from the ceiling.
Clotilde dusted a chair, and then folded her arms, and looked curiously
at her visitor.
"I want you to tell me first how long you have known Mrs. Ramsay and
her daughter."
"How long?"--and here Clotilde's beady eyes traveled to the
ceiling--"six, seven years; _tenez_, it must be seven years since the
English madame took her rooms. Oh, she remembered it well; that day she
was a trifle out of humor, she must confess that. Jean had put her out
of all patience with his grumbling. Men, even the best of them, were
so inconsiderate. I was standing at the door, monsieur, just turning
the heel of my stocking, and I saw Madame with her long crape veil, and
a thin slip of a girl with black ribbons in her hat. 'You have rooms
to let, madame?' she began. _Hélas_, the little black dog was on my
shoulders, and my answer was not as civil as usual, for I was still
thinking of Jean's grumbles. 'Oh, as to that, the rooms were there;
no one could deny the fact; but there were better to be had at Madame
Dubois's, lower down; folks were hard to please nowadays.' But she
interrupted me very gently: 'May we see your rooms? We could not afford
very grand ones.' 'Madame might please herself; I had no objection.' I
fear I was by no means gracious, for it had entered into my head all
of a sudden that I was tired of lodgers; but in the end madame managed
to conciliate me. The rooms did not please them much, for I heard
madame say, in a low voice, 'They are not dear, of course; but then
they are small and dark, almost oppressively so. I fear, Annette, that
you will find them very dull.' 'But it would be better to be dull and
keep out of debt, _chère maman_,' replied the girl; 'we are too poor
to consider trifles.' Ah, mademoiselle was always one to make light of
difficulties; so the rooms were taken, after all. That was seven years
ago, and now madame was in the cemetery."
"Was she ill long?"
"Yes, some months; but mademoiselle ever affirmed that she had changed
for the worse from the hour she had received news of her husband's
death. Grief does not always kill quickly, but all the same it was
heart sorrow, and too much work, that led to her illness. Ah, she
suffered much; but it was the death-bed of a saint--such resignation,
such sweetness, no complaints, no impatience. If she had only been
Catholic! but it was not for me to perplex myself with such questions;
doubtless _le bon Dieu_ took care of all that."
"But she grieved much at leaving her daughter?"
"Oh, yes, monsieur; but such grief in a mother is no sin. Sometimes
she would say to me, poor angel, 'Clotilde, my good friend, be kind
to Annette when I am gone. She will be all alone, my poor child; but I
must try and trust her to her Heavenly Father.' Many times she would
say some such words as these. It was edifying to listen to her; if one
could only assure one's self of such faith!"
"And Miss Ramsay has been with you ever since her mother's death?"
"Truly; where would _la petite_ go? At least she is safe with me. It
is a _triste_ life for so young a creature--always that everlasting
lace-work from morning to evening; no variety--hardly a gleam of
sunshine. 'Oh. I am so tired!' she would say sometimes, when she comes
down to the kitchen of an evening. 'Is it not sad, Clotilde, to be so
young and yet so tired? I thought it was only the old whose limbs ache,
who have such dull, weary feelings.' '_Chut, mon enfant_,' I would
reply; 'it is only the work and the stooping;' and I would coax her to
take a turn in the Promenade des Petits Fosses, or down by the river.
'It is for want of the sunshine,' I would say, in a scolding voice;
'the young need sunshine.' Then she would laugh, and put on her hat,
and when she came back there would be a tinge of color in her face; for
look you, my monsieur, the rooms are dark, and that makes the _petite_
have such pale cheeks."
Mr. Harland listened with much interest to this artless recital. He
had gleaned the few facts that he needed, and now he begged Clotilde
to show him to Mademoiselle's apartment. She complied with his request
willingly. As she opened the door, and preceded him up the steep
staircase, he could hear a sweet, though perfectly untrained voice
singing an old Huguenot hymn that he remembered. The solemn measure,
the soft girlish voice, affected him oddly. The next moment Clotilde's
shrill voice broke on the melody.
"Mademoiselle, an English monsieur desires to speak with thee."
"At last--thank God!" responded a clear voice. "My cousin, you are
welcome!" And a slim, dark-eyed girl glided out of the shadows to meet
him.
The room was so dark that for a moment Mr. Harland could not see her
features plainly, but he took her outstretched hands and pressed them
kindly, half drawing her to the one small window, that the evening
light might fall on her face.
"Oh, you find it dark?" she said, quickly. "Strangers always do; but I
am used to it. If I sit here," pointing to a tall wooden chair beside
her, "I can see perfectly; it is when one is unaccustomed that one
finds it oppressive--only when one goes out the sunshine is sometimes
too dazzling."
"That is why you are so pale, Miss Ramsay," observed Mr. Harland, with
a pitying look at her thin, drooping form and sallow complexion. The
girl was not pretty, certainly, but it was the absence of all coloring
that seemed to mar her good looks. She had well-cut features, a gentle,
mobile mouth, and large dark eyes. As he spoke, she looked at him
reproachfully.
"Why did you call me Miss Ramsay? Is that the English fashion, my
cousin? You know I have never lived in England, and its ways are
foreign to me. To a relative I am Annette--is it not so?"
"Yes, of course; you are perfectly right," replied Mr. Harland,
cheerfully; "you will soon be English enough, Miss Annette. The fact
is, you have made a mistake: I am not your cousin, though I shall hope
to be considered as a friend. Your cousin, Mr. Leonard Willmot, died
two years ago."
"_Il est mort!_" with a sudden relapse into French. "Oh, _mon Dieu, mon
Dieu_!" clasping her hands, with a gesture of despair, "is it my fate
that every one belonging to me must die? Then I am desolate indeed!"
Mr. Harland found it necessary to clear his throat; that young,
despairing face was too much for him.
"My dear Miss Ramsay," he exclaimed, "things are not as bad as you
think. It is true that poor Willmot has gone--a good fellow he was,
too, in spite of one or two mistakes--but his daughter is ready to be
your friend. She is your cousin, too, so you have one relative, and she
has commissioned me, as her oldest friend, to find you out, and offer
you a home."
Annette's eyes filled with tears.
"A home! do you really mean it? Monsieur, will you tell me the name of
this unknown cousin? Is she a girl like myself?"
"How old are you, Miss Ramsay?"
"I am nineteen."
"Well, your cousin Averil is seven-and-twenty; so she is older, you
see, though she is hardly tall enough to reach to your shoulder."
"But I am not big myself--not what you call tall; my cousin must be
a very little person; she is quite old, too--seven-and-twenty." And
Annette looked perplexed.
"You are not as tall as my daughter Louie, but you are a fair height.
Averil has never grown properly, but she is the nicest little person in
the world when you come to know her. You are lucky, Miss Ramsay; you
are, indeed, to have made such a friend; for Averil is true as steel,
and I ought to be a good judge, for I have known her from a baby."
"She must be very good. It is kind, it is more than kind, to offer me
a home. I do not seem to believe it yet. Are you sure--are you quite
sure, monsieur, that this is what my cousin intends?"
"Oh, I am not without proofs," returned Mr. Harland, touched by the
girl's gentle wistfulness and anxiety. "I have brought you a note from
Averil herself; it is written in a great hurry, but I dare say you will
find the invitation all right."
Annette's eyes brightened. She stretched out her hand eagerly for the
letter.
"MY DEAR COUSIN ANNETTE," it began, "your letter to my father has made
me feel very sad. When my good friend, Mr. Harland, gives you this,
you will have heard of my dear father's death. Had he been living, I
know well how his kind heart would have longed to help you, you poor,
lonely child! But, Annette, you must allow me to act in his place.
Remember, I am your cousin, too. While I live you shall not want a
home. Mr. Harland will explain everything, and make things easy for
you. Do not hesitate to trust him. He will guard you as he would his
own daughter. I go to him in all my troubles, and he is so wise and
helpful. His time is valuable, so if you will please us both you will
make as much haste as you can in packing up your possessions, and then
come to your English home. I will do all I can to make you happy, and
to console you for past troubles. I do so love taking care of people.
I have no time to add more.
"Your affectionate cousin,
"AVERIL WILLMOT."
"How kind! how good!" murmured Annette, as she put down the note; "it
seems to me as though I love her already, this Averil."
"You will love her more by and by," returned Mr. Harland, in his cheery
manner. "I expect you two will get on first rate. Now, Miss Ramsay, I
am a practical sort of a person. How long do you think it would take
you to pack up your things, eh?"
"It is so few that I have," she answered, seriously. "Indeed, monsieur,
I have only one other gown."
"So much the better--so much the better; then we can be off the day
after to-morrow. Well, what is it?" as the girl glanced at him rather
appealingly.
"It is only that there must be one or two things that I must do," she
returned, timidly, "that is, if you will permit me, monsieur. There
is the lace-work to carry back to Madame Grevey; also I must make my
adieus to old Manon Duclos--she is my good friend, although she is only
a peasant; and"--hesitating still more--"there is the cemetery, and it
is the last time, and I must take fresh flowers for my mother's grave."
And here Annette's eyes brimmed over with tears, and one or two rolled
down her cheek. "Monsieur, we were everything to each other, mamma and
I."
"My dear child," replied Mr. Harland, hastily, "you shall have time to
fulfill all your little duties. You are a good girl not to forget your
friends. Would you like me to stay another day?"
"Indeed, no!" in a shocked voice. "How could I be so inconsiderate
after my cousin's letter? Monsieur, you are too good. There is no need
of so much time; by to-morrow afternoon it will be all done."
"If you are sure of that, I might call for you about four, and we would
have a stroll together along the banks of the river. Shall you be
tired? Would you rather that I left you alone?"
"I would rather come with you, monsieur--I ought to say sir; but since
my mamma died I have spoken no English, not a word--always it is the
French."
"Very well, we will have our walk," trying not to smile at her childish
naïveté. "I will call for you at four; and after our walk we will dine
together. Good-bye, Miss Ramsay, or, better still, _au revoir_."
"_Au revoir_--that pleases me best," she said, gently. "Take care of
that step, monsieur; the staircase is so dark."
"Now I must go to my Clotilde," she said to herself, "and tell her this
wonderful thing that has happened."