aunt agatha’s cottage was very different from earlston. it was a woman’s house, and bore that character written all over it. the psyche and the venus would have been dreadfully out of place in it, it is true, but yet there was not a spot left vacant where an ornament could be; little fanciful shelves nestled in all the corners—which it was a great comfort to mary’s mind to see were just above her boys’ range—bearing little vases, and old teacups and curiosities of all kinds, not valuable like francis ochterlony’s, nor chosen with such refined taste, but yet dear to aunt agatha’s heart. nothing so precious as the ware of henri ii. had ever come in miss seton’s way; but she had one or two trifling articles that were real wedgewood, and she had some bits of genuine sèvres, and a great deal of pretty rubbish, which answered the purpose quite as well as if it had been worth countless sums of money; and then there were flowers, wherever flowers could find a place. the rooms all opened out with liberal windows upon the garden, and the doors stood open, and sun and air, sound and fragrance, went through and through the little house. it was the same house as that in which mary had felt the english leaves rustling, and the english breezes blowing, as she read aunt agatha’s letter in india, ages ago, before any of those great events had happened which had thrown such a shadow on her life. the two ladies of the cottage went to the railway to meet their visitors, and it was peggy, the real head of the establishment, who stood in her best cap, in a flutter of black ribbons and white apron, to receive “miss mary.” and the glowing colour of the flowers, and the sunshine and the open house, and the flutter of womanish welcome, made the difference still more marked. when mrs. ochterlony was placed in the easiest chair in the brightest corner in that atmosphere of sunshine and sweetness, and saw her forlorn little boys take their place in the foreground of the picture, elected autocrats over the household in general, the sense of relief and difference was so sweet to her that she no longer felt that yearning for some place of her own. the greatest infidel, the most hard-hearted cynic could not have felt otherwise than at home under such circumstances. the children were taken out of mary’s hands on the instant, she whose time had been entirely devoted to keeping them invisible and inaudible, and out of the way—and peggy took possession of the baby, and pretty winnie flashed away into the garden with the two boys, with floating curls and flying ribbons, and all the gay freedom of a country girl, taking the hearts of her little companions by storm. her sister, who had not “taken to her” at first, sat in aunt agatha’s chair, in the first moment of conscious repose she had known in england, and looked out at the fair young figure moving about among the flowers, and began to be in love with winnie. here she was safe at last, she and her fatherless children. life might be over for her in its fullest sense—but still she was here at peace among her own people, and again some meaning seemed to come back to the word home. she was lingering upon this thought in the unusual repose of the moment, and wiping some quiet tears from her cheeks, when aunt agatha came and sat down beside her and took mary’s hand. she had been partially incoherent with satisfaction and delight until now, but by this time any little tendency to hysterics which might be in aunt agatha’s nature, had been calmed down by the awe-inspiring presence of peggy, and the comfort of perceiving nothing but satisfaction in that difficult woman’s countenance. the baby had behaved himself like an angel, and had made no objections whatever to the cap or features of his new guardian; and peggy, too, was visible from the open windows walking up and down the garden with little wilfrid in her arms, in all the glory of content. this sight brought miss seton’s comfort to a climax, as it did mary’s. she came and took her niece’s hand, and sat down beside her with a tearful joy.
“ah, mary, this is what ought to have been from the very first,” she said; “this is different from francis ochterlony and his dreary house. the dear children will be happy here.”
“yes, it is very different,” said mary, returning the pressure of the soft little white hand; but her heart was full, and she could not find much more to say.
“and you, too, my dear love,” aunt agatha went on, who was not a wise woman, looking into the new-comer’s face—“you, too mary, my darling—you will try to be happy in your old home? well, dear, never mind answering me—i ought to know it is not the same for you as for us. i can’t help feeling so happy to have you and the dear children. look at winnie, how delighted she is—she is so fond of children, though you would not think so just at first. doesn’t it make you feel the difference, mary, to think you left her a baby, as one may say, and find her grown up into such a great girl?”
“i have so many things to make me feel the difference,” said mary—for miss seton was not one of those people who can do without an answer; and then aunt agatha was very sorry, and kissed her, with tears in her eyes.
“yes, my love—yes, my dear love;” she said, as if she were soothing a child. “it was very foolish of me to use that expression; but you must try not to mind me, mary. cry, my dear, or don’t answer me, or do just as you please. i never mean to say anything to recall—— look at the dear boys, how delighted they are. i know they will be fond of winnie—she has such a nice way with children. don’t you think she has a very nice way?”
“she is very handsome,” said mary, looking out wistfully upon the young imperious creature, whose stage of existence seemed the very antipodes of her own.
“my dear love, she is beautiful,” said aunt agatha. “sir edward told me he had never, even at court—and you know he was a great deal about the court in his young days—seen any one that promised to be such a beautiful woman. and to think she should just be our winnie all the same! and so simple and sweet—such a perfect child with it all! you may wonder how i have kept her so long,” continued winnie’s adoring guardian, “when you were married, mary, before you were her age.”
mrs. ochterlony tried hard to look up with the look of inquiry and interest which was expected of her in aunt agatha’s face; but she could not. it was difficult enough to struggle with the recollections that hung about this place, without having them thrust continually in her face in this affectionately heartless way. thus the wheel turned softly round again, and the reality of the situation crept out in bare outline from under the cloak of flowers and tenderness, as hard and clear as at earlston. mary’s grief was her own concern, and not of very much consequence to anybody else in the world. she had no right to forget that fact, and yet she did forget it, not being used yet to stand alone. while aunt agatha, on her side, could not but think it was rather hard-hearted of mary to show so little interest in her own sister, and such a sister as winnie.
“it is not because she is not appreciated,” miss seton went on, feeling all the more bound to celebrate her favourite’s praises, “but i am so anxious she should make a good choice. she is not a girl that could marry anybody, you know. she has her own little ways, and such a great deal of character. i cannot tell you what a comfort it is to me, mary, my dear love, to think that now we shall have your experience to guide us,” aunt agatha added, melting into tenderness again.
“i am afraid experience is good for very little in such cases,” said mary, “but i hope there will be no guidance needed—she seems very happy now.”
“to tell the truth, there is somebody at the hall——” said aunt agatha, “and i want to have your opinion, my dear. oh, mary, you must not talk of no guidance being needed. i have watched over her ever since she was born. the wind has never blown roughly on her; and if my darling was to marry just an ordinary man, and be unhappy, perhaps—or no happier than the rest of us——” said aunt agatha, with a sigh. this last touch of nature went to mary’s heart.
“she is rich in having such love, whatever may happen to her,” said mrs. ochterlony, “and she looks as if, after all, she might yet have the perfect life. she is very, very handsome—and good, i am sure, and sweet—or she would not be your child, aunt agatha; but we must not be too ready with our guidance. she would not be happy if her choice did not come spontaneously, and of itself.”
“but oh, my dear love, the risk of marrying!” said miss seton, with a little sob—and she gave again a nervous pressure to mary’s hand, and did not restrain her tears. they sat thus in the twilight together, looking out upon the young little creatures for whom life was all brightly uncertain—one of them regarding with a pitiful flutter of dread and anxiety the world she had never ventured to enter into for herself. perhaps a vision of francis ochterlony mingled with miss seton’s thoughts, and a wistful backward glance at the life which might have been, but had not. the other sat very still, holding aunt agatha’s soft little fluttering hand in her own, which was steady, and did not tremble, with a strange pang of anguish and pity in her heart. mary looked at life through no such fanciful mists—she knew, as she thought, its deepest depth and profoundest calamity; but the fountain of her tears was all sealed up and closed, because nobody but herself had any longer anything to do with it. and she, too, yearned over the young creature whose existence was all to come, and felt that it was had to think that she might be “no happier than the rest of us.” it was these words which had arrested mary, who, perhaps, might have otherwise thought that her own unquestionable sorrows demanded more sympathy than winnie’s problematical future. thus the two elder ladies sat, until winnie and the children came in, bring life and commotion with them. the blackbird was still singing in the bushes, the soft northern twilight lingering, and the dew falling, and all the sweet evening odours coming in. as for aunt agatha, her heart, though it was old, fluttered with all the agitation and disturbance of a girl’s—while mary, in the calm and silence of her loneliness, felt herself put back as it were into history, along with ruth and rachel, and her own mother, and all the women whose lives had been and were over. this was how it felt to her in the presence of aunt agatha’s soft agitation—so that she half smiled at herself sitting there composed and tranquil, and soothing her companion into her usual calm.
“mary agrees with me that this is better than earlston, winnie,” said aunt agatha, when the children were all disposed of for the night, and the three who were so near to each other in blood, and who were henceforward to be close companions, yet who knew so little of each other in deed and truth, were left alone. the lamp was lighted, but the windows were still open, and the twilight still lingered, and a wistful blue-green sky looked in and put itself in swift comparison with the yellow lamplight. winnie stood in one of the open windows, half in and half out, looking across the garden, as if expecting some one, and with a little contraction in her forehead that marred her fine profile slightly—giving a kind of careless half-attention to what was said.
“does she?” she answered, indifferently; “i should have thought earlston was a much handsomer house.”
“it was not of handsome houses we were thinking, my darling,” said aunt agatha, with soft reproof; “it was of love and welcome like what we are so glad as to give her here.”
“wasn’t mr. ochterlony kind?” said winnie, with half contempt. “perhaps he does not fancy children. i don’t wonder so very much at that. if they were not my own nephews, very likely i should think them dreadful little wretches. i suppose mary won’t mind me saying what i think. i always have been brought up to speak out.”
“they are dear children,” said poor aunt agatha, promptly. “i wish you would come in, my love. it is a great deal too late now to go out.”
and at that moment mary, who was the spectator, and could observe what was going on, had her attention attracted by a little jar and rattle of the window at which winnie was standing. it was the girl’s impatient movement which had done it; and whether it was in obedience to miss seton’s mild command, or something more urgent, winnie came in instantly with a lowering brow, and shut the window with some noise and sharpness. probably aunt agatha was used to it, for she took no notice; but even her patient spirit seemed moved to astonishment by the sudden clang of the shutters, which the hasty young woman began to close.
“leave that to peggy, my darling,” she said; “besides, it was nice to have the air, and you know how i like the last of the gloaming. that is the window where one can always see poor sir edward’s light when he is at home. i suppose they are sure to be at home, since they have not come here to-night.”
“shall i open the window again, and let you look at the light, since you like it so much?” said the undutiful winnie. “i closed it for that. i don’t like to have anybody staring down at us in that superior sort of way—as if we cared; and i am sure nobody here was looking for them to-night.”
“no, my dear, of course not,” said miss seton. “sir edward is far too much of a gentleman to think of coming the night that mary was expected home.”
and then winnie involuntarily turned half-round, and darted upon mary an inquiring defiant look out of her stormy eyes. the look seemed to say, “so it was you who were the cause of it!” and then she swept past her sister with her streaming ribbons, and pulled out an embroidery frame which stood in a corner, and sat down to it in an irritated restless way. in that pretty room, in the soft evening atmosphere, beside the gentle old aunt, who was folding her soft hands in the sweet leisure that became her age, and the fair, mature, but saddened presence of the elder sister, who was resting in the calm of her exhaustion, a beautiful girl bending over an embroidery frame was just the last touch of perfection needed by the scene; but nobody would have thought so to see how winnie threw herself down to her work, and dashed at it, all because of the innocent light that had been lighted in sir edward’s window. aunt agatha did her best, by impressive looks and coughs, and little gestures, and transparently significant words, to subdue the spoilt child into good behaviour; and then, in despair, she thought herself called upon to explain.
“sir edward very often walks over of an evening,” she said, edging herself as it were between mary and her sister. “we are always glad to see him you know. it is a little change; and then he has some nice young friends who stay with him occasionally,” said the deceitful woman. “but to be sure, he has too much feeling to think of making his appearance on the night of your coming home.”
“i hope you will make no difference for me,” said mary.
“my love, i hope i know what is proper,” said aunt agatha, with her little air of decision. and once more winnie gave her sister a defiant accusing glance. “it is i that will be the sufferer, and it is all on your account,” this look said, and the beautiful profile marked itself out upon the wall with that contraction across the forehead which took away half its loveliness. and then an uncomfortable silence ensued. mrs. ochterlony could say nothing more in a matter of which she knew so little, and aunt agatha, though she was the most yielding of guardians, still came to a point of propriety now and then on which she would not give way. this was how mary discovered that instead of the arcadian calm and retirement of which the cottage seemed an ideal resting place, she had come into another little centre of agitated human life, where her presence made a jar and discord without any fault of hers.
but it would have been worse than ungrateful, it would have been heartless and unkind, to have expressed such a feeling. so she, who was the stranger, had to put force on herself, and talk and lead her two companions back, so far as that was possible, from their pre-occupation; but at the best it was an unsatisfactory and forced conversation, and mrs. ochterlony was but too glad to own herself tired, and to leave her aunt and sister to themselves. they had given her their best room, with the fresh chintz and the pictures. they had made every arrangement for her comfort that affection and thoughtful care could suggest. what they had not been able to do was to let her come into their life without disturbing it, without introducing forced restrictions and new rules, without, in short, making her, all innocently and unwittingly on both sides, the discord in the house. thus mary found that, without changing her position, she had simply changed the scene; and the thought made her heart sick.
when mrs. ochterlony had retired, the two ladies of the cottage said nothing to each other for some time. winnie continued her work in the same restless way as she had begun, and poor aunt agatha took up a book, which trembled in her hand. the impetuous girl had thrown open the window when she was reproved for closing it, and the light in sir edward’s window shone far off on the tree tops, shedding an irritating influence upon winnie when she looked up; and at the same time she could see the book shaking in aunt agatha’s hand. winnie was very fond of the guardian of her youth, and would have indignantly declared herself incapable of doing anything to vex her; but at the same time there could be no doubt that aunt agatha’s nervousness gave a certain satisfaction to the young tyrant who ruled over her. winnie saw that she was suffering, and could not help feeling pleased, for had not she too suffered all the evening? and she made no attempt to speak, or to take any initiative, so that it was only after miss seton had borne it as long as she was capable of bearing it, that the silence was broken at last.
“dear winnie,” said aunt agatha, with a faltering voice, “i think, when you think of it, that you will not think you have been quite considerate in making poor mary uncomfortable the first night.”
“mary feel uncomfortable?” cried winnie. “good gracious, aunt agatha, is one never to hear of anything but mary? what has anybody done? i have been sitting working all the evening, like—like a dressmaker or poor needlewoman; does she object to that, i wonder?” and the young rebel put her frame back into its corner, and rose to the fray. sir edward’s window still threw its distant light over the tree tops, and the sight of it made her smouldering passion blaze.
“oh, my dear, you know that was not what i meant,” said the disturbed and agitated aunt.
“i wish then, please, you would say what you mean,” said winnie. “she would not come with us at first, when we were all ready for her, and then she would not stay at earlston after going there of her own free will. i dare say she made mr. ochterlony’s life wretched with her trouble and widow’s cap. why didn’t she be burnt with her major, and be done with it?” said winnie. “i am sure it would be by far the most comfortable way.”
“oh, winnie, i thought you would have had a little sympathy for your sister,” said aunt agatha, with tears.
“everybody has sympathy for my sister,” said winnie, “from peggy up to sir edward. i don’t see why she should have it all. hasn’t she had her day? nobody came in upon her, when she was my age, to put the house in mourning, and banish all one’s friends. i hate injustice,” cried the young revolutionary. “it is the injustice that makes me angry. i tell you, aunt agatha, she has had her day.”
“oh, winnie,” cried miss seton, weeping—“oh, my darling child! don’t be so hard upon poor mary. when she was your age she had not half nor quarter the pleasures you have; and it was i that said she ought to come among her own friends.”
“i am sure she would be a great deal better in some place of her own,” said winnie, with a little violence. “i wonder how she can go to other people’s houses with all that lot of little children. if i should ever come home a widow from india, or anywhere else——”
“winnie!” cried aunt agatha, with a little scream, “for heaven’s sake, don’t say such things. sorrow comes soon enough, without going to meet it; and if we can give her a little repose, poor dear—— and what do a few pleasant evenings signify to you at your time of life?”
“a few pleasant evenings!” said winnie; and she gave a kind of gasp, and threw herself into a chair, and cried too, for passion, and vexation, and disgust—perhaps, a little, too, out of self-disgust, though she would not acknowledge it. “as if that were all! and nobody thinks how the days are flying, and how it may all come to an end!” cried the passionate girl. after having given vent to such words, shame and remorse seized upon winnie. her cheeks blazed so that the scorching heat dried up her tears, and she sprang up again and flew at the shutters, on which her feelings had already expended themselves more than once, and brought down the bar with a clang that startled the whole house. as for aunt agatha, she sat aghast, and gazed, and could not believe her eyes or ears. what were the days that were flying, or the things that might come to an end? could this wild exclamation have anything to do with the fact that captain percival was only on a visit at the hall, and that his days were, so to speak, numbered? miss seton was not so old as to have forgotten what it was to be thus on the eve of losing sight of some one who had, as she would herself have said, “interested you.” but aunt agatha had never in her life been guilty of violence or passion, and the idea of committing such a sin against all propriety and good taste as to have her usual visitors while the family was in affliction, was something which she could not take into her mind. it looked a breach of morals to miss seton; and for the moment it actually seemed as if winnie, for the first time in her life, was not to have her way.
