"GOOD-BYE, AVE!"
Frank had a whole budget of news that evening. He had seen Mr. Townley,
who was recovering fast, and had made him handsome apologies on
Rodney's part.
"They say there is good in every one," observed Frank, sententiously,
looking round a little patronizingly on his listeners. "There is
often a touch of good in what seems most evil. Evidently, Townley's
conscience has been giving him a twinge or two, for he won't ruin us
in the way of damages; in fact, we have come to terms without his
solicitor. You are to pay the doctor's bill, and that is about all,
Seymour. And now let us go into the Canada question. My father wishes
to know if you will take the berth."
There was no hesitation on Rodney's part this time; his grateful
acceptance was annotated very tearfully by his mother. Rodney's
repentance was too real to haggle over terms, to desire delay; if they
wanted him, he would go at once--the sooner the better. His outfit
could be managed in a couple of days. And to all this Averil assented.
She left them still in full conclave, and went up to tell Maud the
news. As she did so she was struck with the melancholy wistfulness in
her beautiful eyes.
"Oh, how I envy him!" she sighed.
Averil looked at her in surprise: "You envy Rodney?"
"Yes; not because he has sinned so deeply, and has been pardoned so
generously--for I might almost say the same of myself--but because he
is going to a new place, to begin afresh, to make another commencement.
It will be like a different world to him; no one will remember his past
follies, or cast a slur on him."
Maud spoke with intense earnestness and passion; and as she paused,
a sudden thought flashed into Averil's mind--one of those quick
intuitions that made Frank now and then call her a woman of genius.
"Should you like to go, too, Maud?" she asked, very slowly.
"I!" with a quick start and flush. "What is the use of putting such a
question?"
"I mean, should you care to go and make a home for Rodney?"
"I should love it of all things. But mamma--you know she could not do
without me. Georgina is not thoughtful, and somehow she has always
depended on me."
"Yes, I know that; but why should you not all go? It would be better
for Rodney, and his mother can not bear to part with him. I would help
you to form a comfortable home, though, perhaps, not an extravagant
one. Rodney will keep himself. After all, it is not a bad idea. I have
often heard you and Georgie long for a Canadian winter. What do you
say, Maud?"
"Oh, Averil, do you really mean it?" And now Maud's eyes were full of
tears, and she could hardly speak.
"Tell me exactly what you think of it, dear," went on Averil, in an
encouraging voice. "I know your mother will agree to anything you
propose. She has never been selfish with regard to her children, except
in that one instance--her refusal to part with Rodney."
"And that was more my fault than hers," returned Maud, remorsefully.
"Do not blame poor mamma--she has her faults. We have none of us
treated you well, but she has always been good to us. I know she is so
fond of Rodney that it will almost break her heart to be separated from
him; and it does seem so lonely for him out there without any of us.
Rodney is so unlike other young men of his age--he never seems to want
to leave us."
"I think he would love to have you."
"I know he would; and a home would be so comfortable--he would come to
us every evening. Averil"--dropping her voice--"if you only knew what
it would be to me to get away, so that I should not be obliged to meet
them everywhere. I am afraid," speaking with great dejection, "that you
will think me very weak, but I feel as though I should never get over
it if I stay here, doing just the same things, and going to just the
same places, and having no heart for anything."
"My poor child"--caressing her--"do you think I do not understand? Do
you imagine that I am sending you away from me for my own good?"
"Ah, that is the only sad part--that I should have to leave you,
Averil, and just as I was beginning to love you so. It is all my
selfishness to plan this, and leave you alone."
"But I shall not be alone," returned Averil, brightly. "I do not mean
you to take Lottie, so you may as well make up your mind to that.
Besides, Ned Chesterton wants her, and I intend him to have her, by and
by, when Lottie is a little older and wiser. Then I shall have Annette,
and Mother Midge, and a host of belongings. Never was a little woman
richer in friends than I am."
"You deserve every one of them," replied Maud; and then a shade passed
over her lovely face "You will be better without us, Averil. Mamma,
Georgina, and I have only spoiled your home and made it wretched. You
will be able to lead your own life, follow your own tastes as you have
never done yet. Do you think I do not see it all plainly now? how
it has been all duty and self-sacrifice on your part, and grasping
selfishness on ours? I wonder you do not hate us by this time, instead
of being our good angel!"
"You shall not talk so," returned Averil, kissing her. "You are my dear
sister, and sisters always bear with one another's faults. Well, it is
settled; and now I shall leave you to talk it over with your mother,
while I give a hint to Rodney and Frank. Then there is Georgina; she
must come home at once; and you must get well, Maud; for your mother
will do nothing without you."
"I feel well already," replied Maud; and indeed she looked like a
different creature; something of her old energy and spirit had returned
at the notion of the change.
Averil knew her suggestion had been a wise one; it was a "splendid
fluke," as Frank observed when he heard it.
If a bomb had exploded at Mrs. Willmot's feet she could not have been
more utterly aghast than when the idea was jointly propounded by Maud
and Rodney. "Preposterous! Impossible!" she repeated over and over
again. "A more impracticable scheme had never been heard. Cross the
sea! Never! She was a wretched sailor. She would rather die than cross
the Atlantic. Live out of England, where her two good husbands were
buried! How could any one ask such a thing of a widow? Averil just
wanted to get rid of them; it was a deep-laid plot to set herself free."
Rodney was too indignant at this charge to utter another word. He
took himself off in a huff, leaving his mother dissolved in tears. He
had been so charmed with the idea; the Canadian home had so warmed
his fancy; but, if his mother chose to feel aggrieved, he would have
nothing more to say to it--and as Maud was too weary to carry on the
discussion, the matter dropped.
But a night's sleep effected wonders, for, lo and behold! the next
morning Mrs. Willmot was in a different mood--the only impossibility
now would be to bid good-bye to Rodney. "Sooner than be separated from
that dear boy, she would cross a dozen Atlantics! Maud had evidently
taken a fancy to the scheme, and the thing should be done."
"Thank you, mother," returned Rodney, gratefully; and Mrs. Willmot
heaved a deep sigh.
"It was a sacrifice," she said, a little pompously; "but she had always
thought more of her children than herself; and the change would be good
for the dear girls. Young people were very gay in Canada, she heard.
They had nice sledging-parties, and there were a good many dances;" and
here she coughed, and looked significant.
In spite of her troubles, Mrs. Willmot would always be true to her own
nature; her pleasure-loving instincts would always crave indulgence.
She was neither stronger nor better for all her trials.
But as Averil looked at Maud she did not fear the mother's influence.
Maud's character was strong, for good or evil. With all her faults,
there was nothing small or mean about her. If she had erred, she had
also repented; and though hers might be a weary, uphill fight, Averil
felt there would be no weak tampering with temptation. Maud would be
a little hard in her judgment of herself and others--a little prone
to hold the reins too tightly. She would discipline herself sternly,
and exact the same scrupulous honesty from others; but Averil knew she
could be safely trusted to do her best for her mother's and Rodney's
comfort. To her strong nature, their very dependence on her would bring
out her best points.
Her present position in the household had never suited Maud. She had
grudged Averil her power; and though this might have been checked in
the future, her life at Redfern House did not afford her sufficient
scope.
"She will be far more her own mistress out there," observed Mr.
Harland, as he joined the family circle the night before Rodney
sailed. It had been arranged that Rodney should start alone, and that
his mother and sisters should follow him in a month's time. Their
preparations were much more extensive than his, and they had to bid
good-bye to their friends. Besides, Averil was not willing to part
with them quite so soon. Strange to say, she felt fonder even of her
step-mother now she knew they were to be separated. There had never
been anything in common between them, and yet Averil discovered, or
thought she had discovered, a dozen new virtues.
"Maud will be very much admired out there," went on Mr. Harland, in the
same aside.
But Averil scarcely answered. She was not thinking of Maud that night,
but only of Rodney. Her eyes seemed to follow him everywhere. Had she
realized how she would miss him? How quiet the house would be without
his boyish laugh, his merry whistle! From the very first he had taken
the place of a young brother to her. Frank had been her great big
brother, but Rodney was a sort of Benjamin. His very faults, his moral
weakness, had kept her closer to him. It is impossible to be anxious
about people and not to grow to love them.
He saw her looking at him at last, and came and sat beside her, with a
very sober face.
"I do hate good-byes; don't you, Ave?" he said, in rather a melancholy
tone.
"Why, no," she said, trying to speak cheerfully. "I think the word the
most beautiful word in our language. 'Good-bye--God be with you.' That
is what it means, Rodney."
"Oh, yes, of course; but I was not meaning the word itself. It is only
that I do hate leaving you, Ave." But she would not let him say that,
either. Though her own heart was aching, she would send him away
brightly.
"It is a grand thing you are doing," she said, in her sweetest and most
serious voice. "You are going out to do a man's work in the world; to
carve out your own career; to make a home for your mother and sisters."
"It is you who are doing that," he returned. "You have been far too
liberal; we could have managed with much less."
"I do not need it," was all her answer; and then she went on with a few
words of sisterly advice--not many words. Averil did not believe in
much speaking; but she knew that Rodney loved her well enough to hear
her patiently.
Of the two he seemed more affected when the time of parting came. There
were no tears in Averil's eyes as there were in his--only something of
solemnity.
"God bless you, my darling!" was all she whispered, as he kissed her
again and again; and his "Good-bye, Ave," was dreadfully husky; but, as
she smiled and waved to him, no one knew how her heart ached. "Shall I
ever see him again?" she said to herself as she turned away. But she
left that, as she left everything else, to the wise and loving will of
her Heavenly Father.
The month that followed Rodney's departure was rather an ordeal for
Averil. Georgina had rushed home at the first news of the flitting,
and her exuberant spirits and abundant energy seemed to turn the house
upside down.
If the Seymour family had contemplated a move into the wilds of
Africa, to a spot most remote from civilization, there could not have
been greater excitement. Friends crowded round them; dress-makers and
milliners held mysterious interviews at all hours; huge traveling-boxes
filled up the passages; and Lottie and Annette had their work cut out
for them. It was "Lottie, will you do this for me?" or "Lottie, you
must really find time to finish this," from morning to night.
Lottie was quite equal to the occasion. Her affectionate mind was
brimming over with good-will to every one. Lottie's magnanimity had
long ago overlooked the past. She had forgotten the minor miseries, the
petty tyrannies, the small denials, that had harassed her youth; she
only remembered gratefully that her aunt and cousins had given her a
home. She must do everything she could for them in return. Lottie even
chided herself secretly for her hardness of heart; she could not be as
sorry as she wished. The thought of being alone with Averil and her
dear Fairy Order was too delicious altogether; and as she found Annette
held a similar opinion, the two girls indulged privately in many a
delightful day-dream.
Averil was thankful when the ordeal was over, and the last parting
words had been said. Her real "Good-bye" to Maud had been said
overnight. Maud had come to her room, and they had had a long, long
talk. Maud had been very much overcome, and Averil had found it
difficult to soothe her; but just at the last she said hurriedly--and
Averil loved to remember her words:
"Don't think I shall ever forget your goodness, Averil. If I ever
become a better woman, it will be all owing to you; because you trusted
me, and I dare not disappoint you. All these years you have set me an
example, though I did not choose to take it; but I shall remember it
when I am away from you. I must not promise--indeed, I dare not trust
myself; but, Averil, you shall see--you shall see how I will try to do
better!" And Maud nobly kept her word.
It was the end of October when the Seymours left Redfern House, and
Averil, who was weary, and had long needed rest and change of scene,
took her two girls the very next day to Brighton, where they spent the
greater part of November.
It was a glorious time for Annette and Lottie; and even Averil, in
spite of her fatigue, enjoyed the long, sunshiny mornings, the pleasant
drives, and the cozy evenings, when they worked and read aloud; and
during the pauses of their conversation they could hear the water
lapping on the stones in the starlight.
It was a little strange settling into Redfern House again. The rooms
looked large and empty, and for a long time a pang crossed Averil each
time she passed the door of Rodney's room. But she would not give way
to these feelings of depression. She devoted herself more than ever to
her girls' interest. She had found a music-master for Annette, and a
drawing-master soon followed; lectures on English literature, concerts
and oratorios, social evenings with a few congenial friends, soon
filled up the busy day.
In the spring, Louie Harland came for a long visit, and remained for
some weeks, joining the girls in all their studies and amusements, and
setting Averil free for a lengthy visit to Mother Midge; and when she
left them it was with the full understanding that the first fortnight
in June was to be spent by the trio at Grey-Mount House.