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000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

72 JOSEPHINE CREAVE the shops showed better Avares, the men and women were of another type ; for the always poor and grinding, and the always poor and idle, were now in a minorit}7, and I felt with a sudden thrill of wonder that I no longer belonged to it. I looked at the gentleman beside me ; I reflected that by right of payment the cab we were in, the horse that drew it, and the man that drove it were at our disposal ; I glanced at the soft shade of the cloak I wore, and felt the fine texture of the shawl round my feet, and from each I gained a new sensation that plunged me deep in thought. At length my thoughts found a dim, uncertain vent in words. " Uncle Crewe, you said I should like to think that Mother's spirit is near me ; you said I can never get away from it, but I hate to think of it, and I will get away from it. Please, Uncle Crewe, don't ever talk to me about her, and don't tell anybody she's just dead." " I thought you would like to talk to me about her sometimes, but it shall be as you wish," he said, looking down at my anxious, uplifted face. I could see his expression plainly by the light from some shops Ave were passing, and I saw my words did not please him. I knew he thought me hard, and that I did not love her who was just dead — her, whom long years after I found had been as much, perhaps more, to him than even to me. "No, I never want to talk about her," I said

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREWE 73 conscious all the while of how I loved her. So many feelings were at Avork to bring about this determination that an explanation Avas impossible, and I did not try to explain; I rather left Uncle Crewe to misjudge my motives. " What is your Avife like ? " I asked presently. He disregarded my question. "I came up to London," he said, "as soon after receiving your letter as I could, Josephine, and brought an old servant with me to take care of you and get you all necessary clothes. I am obliged to go home to-night, and you will follow with her to-morrow. I hope you Avill give her as little trouble as possible." " If she is a servant, will she do Avhat I tell her ? " " On the contrary, you must do what she tells you." " It will be easiest the other way round," I answered reflectively. The cab stopped before a large hotel, and I sat still while my uncle got out and paid the fare. He then drew my hood forward, covered my legs carefully, and took me in his arms. My feelings were not in the least hurt that he showed so great an anxiety to hide me, for I was perfectly well aware how dirty I was. " How did you hurt your foot ? " he asked kindly. " The foot doesn't hurt you, so let it alone," I answered hoarsely, Avith a lump rising quickly in my throat.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

74 JOSEPHINE CREAVE He looked at me, and perhaps he partly under stood, for he whispered, " Poor little girl ! " and held me closer. Then he handed me over to a tall woman in black who advanced to meet us. " Here she is, Jane, and there is a sore foot for you to dress. — Mind you use plenty of soap before bed-time," he added, in a lower voice. " Lor' ! How small she is ! — and how very odd ! " A passing waiter peered into my dirty face under its delicate covering, and probably echoed the sentiment, for he turned to look at me again. A new sense of propriety, a dawning of what Avas incumbent upon me, prevented my grimacing at him, or uttering the saucy remark that had risen to my lips. My uncle looked a little uneasy as he stood there in public with me and the old servant ; probably he was on pins and needles lest some awkward remark should be made, some embarrassing circumstance arise. How could he tell what a street imp might feel moved to do under such very unusual circumstances ? He hastily assured himself that Jane had plenty of money for our needs, and that she understood his directions ; then he bade us a kind good-bye, saying that he should not have more than time to arrange his own affairs and catch his train. That was a strange evening for Jane and me. Jane did not know how to take Miss Josephine, — so poor and dirty, and yet the master's niece, and there fore a young lady ! And Miss Josephine Avas puzzled

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREAVE 75 how to take Jane. Obey her any farther than suited herself she certainly would not; she had never learnt to obey, and had no inclination for the lesson now. Yet how to obtain authority over one whose know ledge of this new life was so much greater than her own ? I began circumspectly, was very quiet, and watched closely, and even this Avas not without its effect : Jane grew fidgety under the silent scrutiny of a pair of eyes that had been trained in the severest of all schools to miss no detail of what they watched. I perceived that it was my dirtiness that lowered me most in her eyes, and as this could not be obliterated by a mere effort of will, I made the best of it, and took the matter calmly. I advised that she should procure a bar of yellow soap and some soda, and recommended that the greater part of my hair should be removed before Avashing, in fact took the whole thing in the most business-like manner, and my bath ended by Jane humbly asking permission to unbind and see the cut foot that I had keptcarefullysuspended above the water. So far so good, but mere compliance, mere civility, could not satisfy me. I began to talk to Jane while she battled with my fluffy light hair : I feared it would never look pretty and smooth like her own dark bands, that my cheeks would never be so round and red as hers, and when she bound up my foot, I politely requested that she would teach me to do it so neatly for myself. I assumed the best manner

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

76 JOSEPHINE CREAVE I had at command, and at last brought a pleasant smile to her lips. As she felt more genially towards me, so did I towards her, a tiny breath of content stirred Avithin me, and I listened with interest to the information she volunteered about my aunt Eliza and my cousins Pete and Mark. Being now Avashed and brushed and combed, the next thing to be done was to be clothed, and here I felt the advantage of the position I had assumed towards Jane, for a battle royal ensued betAveen the old servant and the shop-girl Avho had brought the things for selection, and my own small self. They sought for colours, I for grey or white, and I came off victorious, and paid this small tribute to my mother's memory. " What a little madam ! " muttered the shop-girl, and Jane sighed over what Aunt Eliza Avould say; but I could not bear the thought of gay colours at a time when the influence of the poor among whom I had lived had taught me that some show of mourning must be made, no matter at what cost. They had bound a bit of crape about my tattered sleeve, and could I now wear pink or blue ? I had wished to put the past far from me, yet at once I made a compromise between my old feelings and my new. So the matter of clothes was settled, the shop-girl dismissed, and I, in a dainty little night-gown, was tucked between clean white sheets for the first time in my life. A delicate supper Avas brought

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREAVE 77 me, and Jane sat on the bedside and tried in vain to tempt me to eat more than poverty had rendered sufficient for my needs. "Not enough to keep a chicken alive " sufficed me, and I grew hilarious over her distress. I got out of bed against her orders, hid her things, and teased and provoked her, then coaxed and fondled her, puzzled and perplexed her, but altogether won her heart, and ended the evening completely mistress of the situation. It was in a strange frame of mind that I lay in the dark that night beside snoring Jane. I longed for sleep, for I dared not think. Of what could I think ? Of the future ? How in my ignorance could I picture a country-house, an aunt who was a lady, or cousins who were gentlemen ? Was Aunt Eliza cast in the same mould as the women I had known ? Were my cousins like the boys I had played with by the river ? I could not picture them otherwise, and I dared not picture them so, for to do so was to call back an aching sorrow, and to bring up that past which Avas already becoming a nightmare to me. Cleanliness, decency, respect uoav ordered everything about me ; it was a difference that made itself instantly felt in all the little details of life, and I shuddered with loathing when I recalled those depths of blackness my mother had shown me so fully, while she had even then implanted the seeds of this hatred I felt for them. Surely the very knowledge of that dark side of life had left a stain, a shadow, on me.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

78 JOSEPHINE CREWE I Avould fain forget, but I could not drive away the thought of the spirit Uncle Crewe had told me would bear me company all my life long. In terror I fancied I could see the poor, thin, tattered ghost, hollow-cheeked, hollow-eyed, sitting beside me. In desperation I tried to divert my thoughts by recalling each tiniest incident since I had entered the hotel ; driving away the thought of my mother, stilling the anguish of my soul, by a half-mechanical contrivance ; forcing myself even into an attempt to count the strings and buttons on the clothes I had tried on, till at length sleep had compassion on me, aud soothed me with forgetfulness.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

IV " I wander'd from the noisy town, I found a wood with thorny boughs : I took the thorns to bind my brows, I wore them like a civic crown." — Tennyson. " Stop a minute, Jane ; I want to look out. What great trees, and how fresh and green ! And look at the white roses round the Avindow ! Pick some for me, Jane; I should like to wear them in my dress. — No, not that one, those three that are growing together. Yes, those are right. Now pin them in my dress. How sweet they are ! " So I spoke, seeking, to gain time, as I lingered with Jane by the low, broad window, with the cluster-roses growing round it. It Avas a window that lighted the passage near the drawing-room door. Like most of the passages in the Rookery this was long and broad ; the walls were panelled with dark oak, the low ceiling crossed by heavy beams, and the floor covered with matting. The whole was very cool and pleasant as the afternoon sun shone in through the open window, and the fresh country air entered, sweet with the scent of climbing roses. I held Jane by the hand, and would have detained her there, 7U

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

80 JOSEPHINE CREWE asking innumerable questions as a pretext for delay, for a great anxiety had laid hold of me now that we were on the threshold of the drawing-room, to cross which meant the real entrance on a new life for me. Old for my years, I understood something of the diffi culties that were before me, and knew that I had my own position to make in this household. I could not then have adequately expressed my feelings, but I know now that what I suffered from was the dread lest by ignorant and indiscreet words or actions I should injure myself at the outset, and be an alien from the very first. My mother had adored me, and by daring and dexterity I had made myself much thought of by my playfellows, but what if I were of no account here ? I would run away, I boldly argued, but that brought me no comfort, for it was for affection that I chiefly huugered, and where should I find it if not here ? I mistrusted myself in these new surroundings, and quaked. If it were a matter of wits I should not fear to trip, but this was a strange world of shows and externals ; I could not read their symbols, and did not know if I could thread my way aright without crash or misadventure. While I stood with Jane in the sunshine by the window, and doubted, and still held back, the draw ing-room door opened and Uncle Crewe came out. He brought with him a momentary sound of talking and laughter which was lost as the door closed behind him.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREWE 81 "Why, Josephine! Why, little fairy! Is this really you ? The very person of whom I was in search ! — You have done your work well, Jane," he added, as he glanced at my white frock ; and Jane retired with a fat, comfortable smile of satisfaction. " Uncle Crewe, I'm afraid to go in. I don't know your ways." " That is why I came myself to fetch you, Josephine. I have said that you are my brother Jo's daughter ; I have told them that your life has been a very sad one for a child, so sad that I never wish it referred to ; and so I have left it. Much is known or guessed, but it will remain with you in the future to verify their conjectures, or to leave the past for ever in silence. — Now, how is the foot ? Can you walk, or shall I carry you ? " " I would rather walk," I said, taking his hand and limping to the door. When we entered I smothered my pain, and walked erect. It was a large, low room, considerably longer than it was wide. Like the greater part of the interior of the Rookery, the walls were beautifully panelled, the floor was of shining dark oak, and the fireplace was wide and deep. Great stone-mullioned windows ran across the end of the room, and opened on to the most ornamental portion of the garden. The windows were shaded by curtains that had once been rich with gold and many-coloured Eastern embroidery, but were now faded to an almost uniformly sombre tone. On the floor, in place of carpet, there lay great G

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

82 JOSEPHINE CREWE Persian rugs that were worn and threadbare, and the coverings to the beautiful, carved furniture were in the same state of decay. It was a depressing room to a stranger, but home-like in the extreme to those who knew it. "Here she is," said Uncle Crewe, as he led me across the dark, slippery floor. " This is your aunt Eliza, Josephine." A stout, black-haired woman held out her hand to me, and kissed me. Her hair was smoothly parted, her face was fat and colourless, and her wide mouth wore a constant half-smile. She was dressed in black silk, and had on a lace cap with pink ribbons; a lace collar and pink ribbon were about her throat, and a large cameo brooch and gold watch chain completed her costume. " Oh, Edward," she said, "you've given me quite a turn ! How like she is to her mother ! She's very jiretty, Edward ; but she looks delicate, weak in the chest ! I could almost think," she continued, turning to a lady by her, " that she might go off in a sudden decline, and never live to grow up. Like a candle, with a puff, you know. Dear me ! Yes ! " Uncle Crewe led me hastily away, and presented me to Pete and Mark. To the lady by my aunt, and another boy who was studying some paper with Mark, he did not introduce me. Probably he thought discretion the better part of valour, for he left me sitting on a great couch, not too near any one, while he went to talk to the lady, whom, as she had her

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREWE 83 bonnet on, I concluded to be a visitor. He looked very fine and courtly, quite in keeping with the old room, as he stood by this lady's side. Left to myself, I began to study everything about me, and almost the first object my eye chanced to light on was the reflection in a mirror opposite of a little girl seated on a big couch. She was a little girl dressed all in white, with a bunch of white roses tucked into the front of her sash, with a grave little face surmounted by a wonderfully beautiful halo of pale golden, fluffy curls, soft and fine as silk. I shall never forget the effect that reflection had on me. I suddenly realized that there remained not a vestige of the street-arab in my appearance, that I was far from unprepossessing, that I looked a lady, that i was a lady, and from that moment I was again perfectly mistress of myself, and no longer feared my surroundings. I was natural, and at ease. I found myself the subject of general remark. Uncle Crewe and the bonneted lady were talking of me, and looked away when I turned towards them ; Aunt Eliza was watching me with her half-smile, and her head on one side, contemplating, I suppose, my premature decay ; Pete, sunk deep in an easy-chair, was lowering at me from under heavy brows, and Mark's blue eyes were fixed on me, for he and the third boy were studying me rather than the paper that lay before them. Which should I win first? Which of the three boys should I try to entice to friendliness with a first word and smile?

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

84 JOSEPHINE CREWE Should it be the strange boy, — a youth whose face was neither plain nor handsome, whose hair was neither light nor dark, whose expression was neither clever nor altogether stupid ? Should it be this mediocre person, this person of no extremes, of whom one might predict that he would neither win nor lose, never reach heaven nor yet descend to hell ? No, it should not be he. Should it be blue-eyed Mark then ? Strong, and tall, and straight of limb, ruddy and yellow-haired, and with easy, buoyant smile ; should it be Mark ? No, the smile was just too easy, the light in the blue eyes not quite steady ; it should not be Mark. Theie remained then only Pete, dark, heavy limbed, heavy-browed Pete. I believe he was about seventeen (Mark was a year younger), but he hfoked older, and was more than ordinarily tall and broad for his age, — a great clumsy youth with large hands and feet, clothes not too well brushed, and hair that would have made Delilah's fingers itch to fetch the shears. He was altogether unlike any boy I have ever seen, either before or since. His face was remarkably clever, his brow low but very broad, the glance of his deep-set eyes extremely penetrating ; his well-shaped lips were mobile and could be all things in an hour, wavering or deter mined, cruel or as gentle as a woman's. The face was interesting, but by no means handsome, nor altogether pleasing. This last effect was due to his moody, restless expression when his face was in

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREWE 85 repose. It was rather that of a man who had drunk deep of life, and found it bitter, than that of a boy who had hardly put the cup to his lips, and could surely not have tasted more than the light, sweet froth on the surface. He attracted me, and I rose and limped to his side. He did not in any way rouse himself from his slouching position at my advance ; he still sat, or almost lay, deep in the easy-chair, his chin on his chest, the fingers of his left hand rumpling the thick dark hair that hung so heavily over his brow. His right hand he stretched lazily towards me, and told me to perch if I liked. I understood him, and climbed to his knee. " What is the matter with your foot ? I see you are lame, and are wearing only one shoe." " My foot is hurt. It was Jane who fastened it like this for me." " How did you hurt it ? " " It was cut, but I did not do it myself; at least it was not my fault." " No, little fool, I did not suppose you would take a knife and cut it, but I expect it was your own fault, and that you made a fine fuss about it." "No, I didn't. I tried to get away at first, but I couldn't, and then I was still and didn't cry." " Tell that to your grandmother ! You were a little fool if you let yourself be cooked without trying to get out of the frying-pan. But you did nothing of the kind ; you cried yourself almost into

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

86 JOSEmiNE CPEWE a fit; I can see you did, for you are a baby, nothing but a baby ! I know how you cried and squalled." "If I'm a little fool, you're a big one, and you don't know anything about it," I began fiercely, but stopped short, while the hot blood suffused my face, and for a moment I battled hard with myself. I wanted to tell him all and vindicate myself, but I mastered the impulse, and added — " And what's more, you never will know." This piqued his curiosity and vexed him, and I was pleased to find I could tease him so easily. He had really taken me for a baby, and could not understand my sudden pause and decision of secrecy. He tried to worry me into telling more, and teased me none too kindly, so that I was glad when Mark drew up his chair, and made a third in the conversa tion. " What's your name, little beggar ? " he asked, and showed his white teeth as he laughed with clumsy shyness. " Josephine Crewe." " Josephine ! What a mouthful ! Name this child. — Jo — Jo, I baptize thee." Taking a handful of dried peas from his pocket he scattered them over my head. I had no idea what ceremony he was imitating, but I watched with amusement how Aunt Eliza bounded up and pursued the peas as they sped rattling across the shining floor, and I noted a scoffing smile on Pete's lips, and heard him grunt scornfully at something.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREWE 87 I cared little whether I was called Jo or Josephine, Timothy or Titus ; but Pete interfered with decision. " Oh yes, mangle a beautiful name if you can, you Goth '—Never answer to anything but your name in full, little girl. It is one of the most beautiful of the women's names we have. Josephine ! Listen to the music of it, the rhythm ! It is almost liquid : each syllable runs softly into the next. One might sing such a name as that. — Josephine, Josephine." " What a nightingale ! " scoffed Mark, and I giggled. " Was that singing ? " I asked Mark, with an innocent air, and he roared his amusement. They neither of them in any way curbed their voices and behaviour, though there was a lady present. Pete was not vexed, indeed he looked entirely indifferent, as if he had not heard us. He turned to me rather more kindly, and asked me what I knew, and what I could do. " Oh, I can do everything, and I know most things. I was going to leave school soon." Mark again laughed nosily, but Pete was grave. " I beg your pardon, Josephine," he said. " A minute ago I called you a baby, but now I see you merit to be ranked with the foremost of your sex. In the absence of all superficiality, in the thorough grasp you possess of what knowledge means, I now admit that you have every right to the name of woman ! "

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

88 JOSEPHINE CREWE I did not understand him, but I did not like his mocking tone, and when a closer inquiry forced from me a reluctant no to the questions — Can you do this ? — Do you know that ? — I saw that he was laughing at me. " That's only book-learning," I said, " and I don't care about that." This time Pete laughed good naturedly. Uncle Crewe's voice broke in upon us, as he came towards the window. "Ah!" he cried, "here is my friend Marian! But where is the Squire, Marian ? I shall not call you friend again if you have not brought the Squire." A girl had appeared at the open window, and stepping in over the low sill, she answered — " He is just behind, Mr. Crewe. We met the new keeper by the tarn, and Humphrey stopped to ask him about one of Nell's pups: I think he has heard of somebody who wants it. I grew tired of their jabber, and came on." She did indeed, for at that moment she put her foot on one of Mark's peas which Aunt Eliza had overlooked, and slipped and fell heavily to the floor, and though she was up again in a moment, it was not before I had caught a stifled laugh from Mark, and Pete had openly guffawed in his uncouth, unmannerly way. Uncle Crewe had offered her his hand, but quicker than any one was Aunt Eliza. In a moment she was on her knees on the floor

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

89 JOSEPHINE CREWE before Marian, examining her dress, and when satis fied that that was uninjured, she began a careful search for more stray peas. She pushed the furniture aside, and raised the mats ; she disarranged her cap, and grew red and out of breath. I looked round and saw the corners of Pete's mouth had drooped unpleasantly, while Marian was openly sneering. Prompted by a sudden feeling of anger towards them both, I jumped from my perch on Pete's knee and limped to my aunt's help. " Let me look, Aunt Eliza ; I'm little and can get right under the tables." " Thank you, Josephine," said Uncle Crewe, " but I think we need not trouble further. — Come, my dear, all the peas are found," he added, as he gently helped Aunt Eliza from her hands and knees. " Now do you really think so, Edward ? They are such dangerous things. If only they'd been boiled they wouldn't have been so hard nor rolled so far." She folded her hands on her ample waist, and with head on one side and cap awry, she smiled placidly at her younger son. I soon noticed that it was towards bonny Mark with his sunny disposition that that little smile was most frequently directed. I had re-seated myself on Pete's knee, and hail seen how Marian turned away her head to hide her laugh at my aunt's expense. I now studied this young lady's appearance, and tried to decide how far I liked or disliked her. She was not more than

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

90 JOSEPHINE CREWE fourteen, as I learnt after a time, but in many points she was far in advance of that age. She presented more the appearance of a stunted young woman than of a child, for she was short in comparison with the breadth of her shoulders, and her figure was very fully developed. Her hands and feet were small but hit, her chin was double, and she carried her head a little back, and wore a self-satisfied smile. Her hair was loose, and she wore her petticoats short, rather in conformity with her age than with her appearance. Yet though unpleasing, she was far from ugly, but rather gave promise that when she had grown in height and lost a portion of her stoutness, she would develop into a very handsome woman. She had a great abundance of beautiful dark hair, fine black eyes, and well-cut, regular features. What age might do for her character I did not consider, but as she was then she did not please me : I liked her least of my new surroundings. Some confusion and movement arose in the room, caused by the departure of the bonneted lady, whom I now learned to be the Rector's wife, and mother of Giles Holland, the boy of no extremes. He declined to accompany his mother ; he would follow later, he said. She took her leave, and gave me a very sharp look as she passed, which hugely amused Pete. In the little bustle I alone noticed the entrance of a new person, whom, from his likeness to Marian, I judged could be none other than her brother. Ho also came in by the open window.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

JOSEPHINE CREWE 91 " There's the Squire," I said, laying my hand on Pete's cheek, and trying to turn his face towards the window. " Who is he, Pete ? " "How did you know he was the Squire, little sharper ? I will tell you who he is. He is one of the great gods of this world who yet consents to walk the earth as you and I do, only with a far daintier step. He condescends to walk and talk, etc., with the vilest of us, such as you and I, Miss Josephine, and great is the honour he does us. He is one of the lords of the earth, and he says to one man go, and he goeth, and to another man do this, and he doeth it. He tells one man, ' Give me your house where you were born, and where your father and your father's father lived before you ' ; to another he says, ' I will have your child ' ; from the third he takes the bread that was meant to satisfy his hunger ; a fourth he kicks from his path ; a fifth he bids lie down and make him a stepping-stone to help him through the mire. And we, we joyfully give our birthplace, and our child, and the bread out of our mouths, we kiss and fawn on the foot that spurns us, and we lie and wallow like swine in the mire, and then lift our eyes devoutly, and thank the great man that he has been pleased to make use of us and walk through dry foot. And why do we do it, Josephine ? Because he is not as other men ; his arm is longer, his grip tighter, his hand heavier than mine or yours can ever be, for he is two great, splendid, dazzling gods rolled into one ; in short, he is a landed

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

92 JOSEPHINE CREWE proprietor, born of a long line of such, and a rich man whose money-bags are full to the brim and running over." " Do you hate him ? " " Hate Humphrey ? By no means. We have quarrelled and been friends from our cradles. Once when we had a great battle, I struck him so very hard that I struck right through the gold and the deeds and parchment in which he is wrapped, and there, in the very centre, I found a tiny drop, just one drop, of red blood like my own, and for the sake of that one drop, I was so kind as to hold out my hand and call him friend." " I don't understand why you talk like that." " That is because you are an ignorant little girl." " No, I think you are an idiot not to be able to talk clear." " Where is your grammar? " " Gone for an airing with your wits.' "Heavens preserve us! The child will be the death of me ! " he cried. " You queer, cheeky little brat ! " " Whose brat is she ? " Marian asked " She is mine," said Pete ; " I adopted her, and she owned me as lord and master from the moment we met. She is my dog, my slave ; I count her among my goods and chattels. Let me introduce her to you : my niece, Miss Josephine Crewe — Miss Marian Wylde." " You big silly," I said, laughing and patting him

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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93 JOSEPHINE CREWE on the shoulder, while Marian arched her fine dark brows. " I wish you joy of the puppy," she said ; " she looks an uncertain-tempered little cur. I hope you will enjoy having her yapping at your heels. ' Peter had a little lamb ! ' Ha ! ha ! " " And a jolly little lamb, too ; I could not have a nicer — eh, little one ? " He pulled me backwards against his shoulder, and rubbed his face in mv curls, while I raised my hand and patted his cheek. I saw that Marian reddened furiously and turned im patiently away, and from the smothered laugh that shook Pete, I understood that this bean-stalk of affection for me, so suddenly reared, was but a spectral growth meant to annoy Marian Wylde. I freed myself from Pete's arm, and made my way across the room to where Uncle Crewe was talking to Humphrey, but as I sat down I cast a glance behind me. Pete had followed Marian, and was sitting by her. His face wore a mocking smile, and her expression was uncertain, annoyance and distrust fighting with pleasure and an inclination to laugh. Uncle Crewe and Humphrey Wylde were stand ing before a bank of flowering shrubs that filled the empty grate in summer. Uncle Crewe's hands were in his pockets, and Humphrey's right arm was raised and leaned against the mantel-piece. He was talk ing gravely, and Uncle Crewe was paying as much heed to his words as if it were a man to whom he was listening, instead of a boy of about Pete's age,

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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94 JOSEPHINE CREWE or perhaps a little older. He was talking about the prospect of the crops, and the advisability of lowering the rent of two farms. " Pity to be in a hurry," said Uncle Crewe. " Prices will go up this autumn. Why, I'm think ing of raising the rent of two of my farms." I heard of this subject again : these farms had never paid their present rent, but Uncle Crewe was wont to talk cheerily, and let things slide. " Then there is that man Johnson, who has my largest farm," said Humphrey ; " I don't know whether to turn him out. Of course Uncle Felix is responsible for matters till I am of age, but as you know, Mr. Crewe, he leaves everything to Bell and me, and Bell is a fool, and never lifts a finger unless I tell him. I shall have a new agent when I can settle things for myself." "Oh, let Johnson be, let him be," said Uncle Crewe ; " there is no harm in the fellow. Tell Bell to keep an eye on him. But I will tell you what it is, Humphrey, if you were my son I should be proud of you. A large property like yours is a great responsibility for any man, and yours are young shoulders to bear the burden. If you were not the boy you are, I should blame your guardian very severely — yes, very severely, for his neglect of his duty." " Oh, it is highly praiseworthy," he answered, laughing. " I am learning now what is to be the profession and occupation of my life, instead of

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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95 JOSEPHINE CREWE dropping into it by and by, a perfect ignoramus, probably with tastes pointing to something totally different. As it is, I am growing into it, and find it more interesting every day." " And yet you are going to college ? " " Yes, that I have also had to decide for myself. I don't want to merely own, and be owned by a fine house and estate; I should like a few ideas in common with other men besides the limited race of landlords. Some day I should like to be in Par liament." " What are you going to do with your shooting this autumn ? " " Well, Mr. Crewe, I have been thinking about that, and I have asked Uncle Felix if my aunt cannot come with him this year, and then I thought there might be a rather larger party than usual, and some ladies in the house. I am anxious about this on Marian's account. You see she is so much younger than I am that I feel quite fatherly, and yet I have not a grain of influence with her, nor has her governess. She is as rough as a colt ; she knows the points of a horse, and I would not mind letting her choose a dog for me, but that is not what one wants in a girl. She minds no one but Pete, and old Pete is not the fellow to help to polish a person. I thought that now that she is older my aunt might take a fancy to her, or make some fresh arrange ment for her ; or at any rate it would be well for her to sec what ladies are."

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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96 JOSEPHINE CREWE " I have a little niece come to live with us now. She is younger than Marian, but yet they may be companions, and it will be better for both than nuthing but boy society," said Uncle Crewe. " Ah, here she is ! This is Josephine, my little niece, Humphrey. You see she is much smaller than Marian, but she is not more than a couple of years younger." t) Humphrey shook hands with me, but looked a little embarrassed, as a big boy generally does with a strange little girl. He seemed glad to turn again to Uncle Crewe. " Of course, Mr. Crewe, we shall expect you at the Hall for the shooting : Uncle Felix always takes that for granted. And this year, as there will be ladies there, I hope we shall also often see Mrs. Crewe." " Thank you, my boy, thank you ; I shall enjoy some shooting, but as for Mrs. Crewe, she never goes out now. We live so quietly and never enter tain, and so we get out of the way of that kind of thing, and going out becomes an exertion. Don't trouble about us, my boy ; let mo have a little shooting, that is all. We shall find some good sport on my own land, too." A silence fell on both, a certain embarrassment, I thought, and I noticed that Uncle Crewe glanced towards Aunt Eliza. She was dozing at that moment, with a melancholy smile on her fat face. I glanced keenly at Humphrey while he was

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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97 JOSEPHINE CREWE watching a noisy dispute between Mark and Giles outside the window. I had been struck by the likeness between the brother and sister ; now the dissimilarity appeared far more striking than the resemblance. They had the same dark hair and eyes, and the same type of features, but his were cast in a larger, clearer mould, and expression made their faces altogether different. His glance was clear and straightforward, and calculated to inspire confidence and respect ; instinctively I felt that he stood far before his sister. He was tall, and did not appear to have an ounce of superfluous flesh on his bones ; not that he was thin, but that he was athletic and muscular, and all stoutness was worn down to muscle in his strong, slight frame. Aristo cratic was the epithet best applied to his appearance. His face was full of refinement ; his carriage and manners were pleasant and easy, with the ease that an assured position gives, aud if they were not without pride, it was yet a pride that was rather becoming to that handsome face. Pete had spoken truly when he called him one of the gods of the earth, and I thought how hunchbacked Bessie would have hated him. On Pete she might have looked favourably; great, clumsy Pete, so much a man of the people ; but on Humphrey, never ! My cogitations were suddenly broken in upon by Pete. He came quietly behind me, whisked me from the ground, and rubbed his cheek against mine. n

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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98 JOSEPHINE CREWE "My new little sweetheart," he said, laughing. "She is the queerest little fish imaginable, Hum phrey. She loves me dearly already, and I, why I have lost my heart to her." " Marian is not listening, nor looking, so put me down," I said, struggling to get loose; and both Uncle Crewe and Humphrey laughed. "You arc playing with edged tools, Pete," said Uncle Crewe. " You will cut your fingers with that razor." But Pete only laughed, kissed me, and ruffled my hair till it all stood on end; then once more laughed, and let me stand by him and hold his hand while he talked. " What is the Squire discussing ? The political aspect of the country ? A loan of a few millions to the Government ? The purchase of the small portion of the county which is not yet his own ?— I hope you are counselling a little extravagance, sir, whether in wild oats or what not ; he is too prudent by half." Uncle Crewe laughed. "We are hardly the people to recommend ex travagance, we who arc walking examples of what it brings men to. It has left my sons little more than a roof to shelter them, and the clothes on their backs." "And quite right too, sir," said Humphrey. " What more would you give Pete ? Nature gave him the brain cash of half-a-dozen families when she turned him out, and no man must have everything. I would almost change my wealth for his." " No, that you would not ! " cried Pete. " You

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 99 would sooner die a Wylde, and be buried in your musty, stinking vault, than live nameless and free of the whole world, a brother man among men, unhampered by that spectre of a name, unburdened by your cumbersome money-bags, loosed from the bands that bind you to a few miserable sods of earth. You fool ! " Humphrey was looking at me, and beckoned me to him, so I let go of Pete's hand, and took one of his between both mine. I looked up at him, and encountered the most cheery, genial smile I have ever seen. I noticed that his hands were not so large as Pete's, the finger-tips not so square, and his grasp, though firm, did not hurt my hand as Pete's grip had done. He took no notice of the last speech, but suggested a stroll to see if the fish were rising in the dam. I asked to go too, though I had not the remotest idea of what a dam might be, but they said it was too far for my lame foot, and Pete added that they did not want a lot of girls dangling after them. I made my way to Mark. "You are not a bit like Pete," I said. " He is just like a common man; I don't call him a bit of a gentleman, I don't." " He does his best not to appear one, and I agree with you in thinking that his efforts are crowned with success, Master Jo." He pinched my ear gently. "But you are a gentleman," I said, looking at him with my most winning smile. " And oh, you've got such beautiful blue eyes ! "

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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100 JOSEPHINE CREWE Thereupon Mark also showed his beautiful white teeth, and laughed as he called me "a funny little beggar," "an awful little humbug," and when I asked him to take me to the dam to see if the fish were rising, he at once assented, and I started with him and Giles. Giles did not talk much, but he kept up a constant, low chuckle of amusement, and appeared vastly entertained by the new bit of humanity that had fallen in his path. I had got my own way, and was therefore in the most cheerful mood as I limped along with a hand bestowed 011 either of the boys. They appeared as pleased as I was, and we none of us stopped very readily when a shout from behind bade us do so. " Where are you going ? " cried Humphrey. " Down to the dam." "That is too far to take the child." " Oh, it won't hurt her." "No, it won't hurt me, and I want to go very much. Please let me," I said imploringly. " Oh, all right, come if you like," he answered, "and I suppose we must carry you if you get tired." " She is not coming," said Pete angrily, standing in front of us. " I said she was not, and she is not." " I should like to know who made him lord and master of us all," muttered Mark, but I spoke up — " But I am," I said, nodding my head mockingly at him : " they all say I am, and I am." I stepped forward. He reddened furiously, and a hasty passion kindled

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 101 his deep-set eyes ; a sneer from Mark maddened him, and when I laughed boldly in his face, he grasped me by the shoulder, shook me, and then deliberately kicked my injured foot. The whole foot was sore and inflamed, and the kick caused acute pain. Never theless I bit my lip, and neither shed tear nor uttered cry, as I dropped on the grass, and taking my foot between my hands rocked myself silently to and fro. Mark and Giles knelt down by me, and awkwardly offered me their sympathy and help, but Humphrey stood up in my defence. " Cruel brute ! take that ! " he cried, as he struck Pete in the face with the back of his hand, and then struck him again, so that he staggered. He walked off with a harsh laugh, while Humphrey bent over me with a face as pale from passion as Pete's was red. " Yes," I said, " he's a cruel devil." A remark which seemed to surprise him not a little, and which greatly amused Mark and Giles. Humphrey was very kind to me. He took me in his arms as tenderly as if he had been a woman, and when I cried a little (I did not mind crying before Humphrey) he kissed me, and told me I had been a plucky little girl, and I felt my courage quite restored. I thought him splendid ; I decided that dark eyes were nicer than blue, and that he was in every way superior to my cousins. He carried mo into the drawing-room, and Aunt Eliza rose in a fluster.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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102 JOSEPHINE CREWE " It's an accident ! It's a blow on the head ! I always knew how it would be ! Lay her flat, Humphrey, so as to keep a rush of blood from the brain, for that's what brings on inflammation. Stop a minute, stop, stop ! I must put a dust-sheet under her shoes, or they'll dirty the sofa. Oh, dear, dear ! Oh, dear!" "It is only where my foot was hurt the other day ; it's sore," I interposed. " That's a plucky little girl!" whispered Humphrey. " Don't tell, whatever you do." " Of course I sha'n't," I answered, with some contempt. Aunt Eliza was hurt because I would not lie flat on my back, and to console her I had to sit on the sofa with my feet on a dust-sheet, while she collapsed into an arm-chair opposite me with a smelling-bottle in her hand. "It might have been her head," she said, looking pathetically at Humphrey. "The head is such a dangerous thing ! You don't feel sick now, do you, Josephine ? " " It is her foot, not her head, Mrs. Crewe,1 suggested Humphrey. " She is very pretty," she said sadly. " Don't you think so ? Just like what her mother was. She'd a bonnet with pink rosebuds, and Jo had white duck trousers; they made a sweet couple, so aristocratic. You know, Humphrey, we never thought how it would end ; it gave us such a turn ! I was putting

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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103 JOSEPHINE CREWE on my petticoat; I can see it now as plain as can be," and she looked fixedly at Humphrey's legs ; " it was pink with a little white edge, hand-worked ; and Sarah rushed in as white as a sheet. ' Oh,' says she, ' Miss Milly and Mr. Jo ' " " Aunt Eliza," I screamed, " shut your mouth this minute, or I'll find Uncle Crewe, and make him shut it for you." Aunt Eliza did not shut it. She opened it wider and gasped, and then forgot it and left it agape, while Humphrey, who, I believe, knew nothing of the old story, and was glad of the interruption, beat a hasty retreat, alleging that he expected the boys would be waiting for him. Aunt Eliza then brought her lips together, and fled, after directing an apprehensive glance towards me. No doubt Uncle Crewe had warned her to be silent, and she looked upon me as an avenging spirit ready to fall upon her and punish her for any lapse from obedience. I was glad she had gone, for my foot was painful, and I wanted to undo the bandages ; but as I was about to do so, Marian, whom I had not observed to be in the room, rose from the farther end and came towards me. " I am glad you have hurt your foot," she said, " for it may be a lesson to you not to be too fond of hanging on to the boys' coat-tails. They won't thank you if you are : they will vote you a nuisance." " Don't you go out with them ? " " I am different, but I don't go often enough to

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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104 JOSEPHINE CREWE make my company cheap, certainly not to be a bore : I know better." " They won't find me a bore," I answered. " They will want me to go with them, see if they don't." " See if they do ! Ha, ha ! Can you ride and drive ? " " No ; and I'm not as rough as a colt, and I don't know the points of a horse, and I couldn't choose a dog. I'm a girl ; but the boys will like to take me with them." She was puzzled, as her face showed. " Are you clever ? " she asked, and her voice and manner told that she was not. " I know where my nose goes I shall follow ; I can see what's on this side a stone wall ; and I don't want nobody to teach me to suck eggs," I answered glibly. She stared at me for a moment, and then threw back a question over her shoulder as she walked away — " What do you think of Pete ? Do you like him ? " " I think he is a cruel devil," I answered vehe mently, reverting to my late opinion of him. " Just let Humphrey hear you use bad language, and see what he says ! It makes him wild. He says it is horrid in girls and women." " But then you are his sister, and I am not." " Well, I'm going home now," she said. " I sha'n't wait till Humphrey chooses to come back." So

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 105 saying she disappeared through the window and was gone. I eased the pain of my foot by unbinding it, and then lay back among the sofa-cushions and watched how the long, dark room grew darker. Through the window I eould see the evening shadows lengthen in the garden, aud the sunshine leave the grass and travel up the elm trees. It seemed to linger there, as if unwilling to quit the great, wide-spreading branches, where the noisy rooks were busy talking over the affairs of the day, gossiping, preaching, scolding, and commanding; talking themselves as hoarse as could be, before they could make up their minds to settle down quietly for the night. But the sunlight might not linger among the green, waving tree-tops ; it fled away from their tall heads, up and up to the little cloudlets, who blushed rosy red from a kiss it stole as it sped past, and then were left to grow sad and pale, and fade away in the dusk. I sighed a long sigh when the brightness was gone, such a sigh as I had often sighed when sitting by the river at sundown. Was it only last night I had sat there at that very hour, a beggar-child ? Oh, how far away it seemed ! The shining waters had rolled far, far off into another life, bearing away not only the ships on their bosom, but all that I had known and loved, all that had meant life, and joy, and sorrow to me. Could it be that the river flowed past the steps just as yesterday ? Was Bessie there ? and the other children I knew ? Did any of

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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106 JOSEPHINE CREWE them think of me ? Tears filled my eyes, for surely my life was cut in twain, and I had lost much. I was lonely, and where was my mother ? Yes, I was very lonely ; a little barque tossed about on the great waves of the world, with no port for which to steer, and no light to guide me. There was no heart that loved me ; no eye that watched how I came and went. Much love might await me in my new home, but at present I had it not ; as yet I was of no account, no one heeded the new little inmate, and I was very lonely. Lonely, not because I was alone in the room or house, but because I was alone on the face of the earth. I turned my face to the wall and wept, and through my tears I saw a face looking down into mine — an angry, sullen face, with the dull red of passion disfiguring cheek and brow. It was Pete's face as he looked when he brutally kicked me, and it clearly indicated a wild, ill-regulated nature. It was a strange comforter, this shade of the storm}', ungovernable boy; but the sight of it took the sting from my grief and soothed me. All was not lonoli ness; there was a link here between my past and present. I had seen that brutality side by side with better, ay, even noble feelings ; I had seen it in my mother, and mere brutality alone did not revolt me. I understood something of the savage state, and that knowledge — sympathy, I might almost say — formed the first links of a close bond that was to unite Pete and me through many and many a long day. Now

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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107 JOSEPHINE CREWE the thought of him called up the image of my mother. I could trace the outline of her figure in the dusk by the open window ; I could distinguish her features, the fairness of her hair, the pale lilac shade of her gown. " Mother," I whispered, and a little breeze went past the window, and she turned and looked at me. A deep calm dwelt in her eyes, a still peacefulness rested on her face. But now the room was dark, save for a little streak of moonlight. Was it a dream ? I wondered, and wondering I fell asleep. When the boys came home, whom did I meet ? Into whose hand did I slip mine ? By whom did I sit at dinner ? It was Pete, of course. And after dinner I sat on his knee all evening, with my head on his shoulder and his arm about me, while he beat Mark again and again at chess. Humphrey stayed till late, watching, or talking politics with Uncle Crewe, and Aunt Eliza picked an old dress body to pieces, ready to be turned and made up afresh.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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V " I am not the man Who would deny a single of his actions ; What I have done, I did. Nor am I one Who would defend all he has done as right — Why be ashamed of sailing 1 Am I not Firmly resolved on better future conduct ? " Lessino. It was well that I had started life at the Rookery with no preconceived notions of what it was to be, that I had dreamed no dreams of pampered luxury, that I had pictured no state of spoiling and atten tion, that I had built no gay castles in the air; for had I spun any such fine webs of fancy, reality would have destroyed them with a ruthless hand, and the plain rafters over which the airy fabric had been thrown would, by contrast, have appeared poor, bare, and prosaic. As it was, I had expected nothing, or at least my expectations had been so vague that I could not be disappointed. There was no luxury at the Rookery. On one hand there was extravagance and waste with little to show for it ; on the other there was a petty, carp ing economy with no result. Uncle Crewe threw away the pounds, and Aunt Eliza saved the pennies : year by year he squandered the acres, while she luS

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 109 hoarded the household stuff: he bought and sold none too wisely, while she dropped here a penny and there a penny into the old stocking : he walked through the world with a kindly smile, and a gift for every beggar of what was scarcely his to give, while she, poor soul, was glad when a copper fell in her way or might be saved on the weekly bills; and, alas ! for her, her boys were liker to their father than to her in this respect. I never knew that household free from pecuniary troubles, though with no one were they of great account save with Aunt Eliza, and perhaps, in later years, with Mark. If Uncle Crewe brought good wine from his cellar, Aunt Eliza eked out her share with large additions of water, and it was drunk to a dinner of scraps ; if he invited a guest to his table, he told her of it fearfully, and visitor and hostess scarcely met, for she was busy behind the scenes planning and contriving to make a little go a long way, and during the meal had no thought for anything beyond the size and appearance of every little dish, or how many it would suffice to serve. She had neither the daring to cast prudence to the winds and enjoy the present reck lessly, nor the courage to boldly front and rebut Uncle Crowe's extravagance ; but for ever she would strive to save in little things, and so, like a thorn in the flesh, she would gall and irritate that easy-going household. As for spoiling, well, perhaps I was spoilt, but not as most children are. I was little more guarded and

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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110 JUSEPHINE CREWE cared for than I had been in my mother's attic ; in some ways I was even more neglected, for my edu cation was entirely overlooked. No one thought of my health ; I went out wet or fine, as the boys did, took my meals at irregular hours with the rest of the family, dined late, and was often up till mid night. There was no school-room nor play-room for me. True, I might have appropriated one of the large, unfurnished upper rooms had I wished ; but I spent the greater part of the day out of doors, and when I chanced to be in, I preferred society to soli tude, and would plague any one free to be plagued, from Uncle Crewe to the kitchen-maid, rather than play alone. I had a great, dark, half-furnished bedroom, where my toilet was supervised by Jane whenever she saw fit, and where I spent many a half-hour and hour dawdling and dreaming, when supposed to be in bed. I enjoyed the mystery of the half-lighted room, and the ghost-like gleam of the dim candle-light on the dark, polished walls and floor, or the still more ghostly moonlight that came in through the wide, uncurtained window. The room was lonely; none near it were occupied ; but I never recollect to have felt the least fear of its loneliness, though often I was waked by the moaning of the wind, and lay and listened to the dismal splash of the rain on the casement, the strange rustling of the creepers round the window, and the inexplicable sigh and whistle, creak and scamper that broke the silence of the empty rooms

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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111 JOSEPHINE CREWE around me. The noises excited me, but not un pleasantly : I pictured the causes, but never pictured them as harmful. As a child I liked best to think of them as the spirits of the children who had lived and played in the old house before me. There was another spirit, too, that often visited me in the dark, silent hours of the night — the spirit of my mother. Uncle Crowe's words as to how that spirit would accompany me through life had made a deep im pression on me. Often I would fancy that I saw her looking in at me against the dark window-pane, or standing in the room in the patch of moonlight. I saw her clearly, but she never seemed to me as flesh and blood, but rather ctherealized and spirit like, though with mien and expression as variable as they had been in life — she was sweet and smiling ; an ungovernable passion possessed her ; she was actuated by low cunning — so that my old feelings of passionate love and passionate loathing were kept alive, and my memory of her was undimmed. I was not likely to forget her, though often during the bright hours of the day the thought of her would never cross my mind amidst these strange surround ings, unless called up by some scene or circumstance of which she had spoken to me. I was far happier thus uncared for than it was likely I should have been under careful supervision. The dreadful feeling of loneliness that at first op pressed me rapidly wore off as I made myself a place in the household, and usurped some sort of sway

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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112 JOSEPHINE CREWE over each one of its members. A child, unless it be a horrible anomaly, is sure of affection in a household of grown people ; thus all made much of me in their different ways, and I ruled despotically, owning no superior control save that of fate and Uncle Crewe, which latter was seldom or never exerted. Uncle, aunt, and servants I led by the nose ; I kissed and coaxed them, and went my own sweet way as happy as the day was long. With the boys it was a rather different matter, but the fact that I amused them, that they rarely found me in the way, that their first cry on entering the house was always for Jo, or Josephine, was enough to satisfy even my tyrannical little heart. Of all my new surroundings it was Pete who caused me the greatest difficulties, and awakened my keenest interest. He would tease and coax and play with me, and be pleasanter to me than to any other human being, and then suddenly he would put me aside like a broken toy to take up a book, to s;itirize Marian, to talk to Humphrey, or some times for no apparent reason at all. Now he was kind, now he was brutal ; so kind as to win my love, so brutal as to earn my hate and fear. Certain it is that during the next ten years of my life his wanton cruelty of deed and word cost me more bitter tears than all the other united sorrows and grievances comprised in that time. He would make me laugh and cry a dozen times in a day, and when he had nothing better to do he would spend hours

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 113 in alternately provoking and soothing my pain and anger. At times I could wish I had never seen him ; but then again a beautiful smile on that dark face, a gentle tone in that harsh voice, and my heart was Pete's, wholely and entirely. I was his play thing, and he showed no sort of consideration for me as a reasonable fellow-being, till one morning, when, against his strict orders, I stole into the old school-room, now converted into his study, and made forbidden ground for Mark and me. There was no comfort in this room. It was none too clean, and was poorly and scantily furnished. Pete's chair and table were of the plainest, and were not designed for comfort ; the window was uncleaned, and the floor was thick with dust, and strewn with books and papers. There was only one object of beauty and brightness there, and that was a slim old Venetian glass taken from the drawing-room, and which now stood in the midst of the litter on the table, and contained a few tastefully-arranged flowers. Pete sat at the table, a pen in his right hand, his left supporting his chin, and his eyes fixed with a dreamy, far-away expression on the window. His attitude was slouching, his appearance unkempt ; his hair was long and rough ; he wore no collar but the flannel one belonging to his shirt, showed no cuffs, and had kicked one of his untidy shoes from his feet. Neither the room nor its owner looked inviting, yet they had an immense attraction for me, for the owner was Pete, and the room was Pete's, i

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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114 JOSEPHINE CREWE and, moreover, its half-filled bookshelves offered me a mine of wealth that all the rest of the house could not afford. I had only once before ventured in there, and then it had been in company with Mark, when we knew that Pete was safely away at the Hall. Even then we had stolen in not without trepidation, had spoken in whispers, and trodden softly; and when I had started and clutched Mark's hand in a tighter grip, he had started too, for " conscience makes cowards of us all," and Pete was strong, his hand was heavy, his anger relentless, and when once roused, he would stick at nothing. Mark and I had been in hot water all that day for one thing or another, till at last we had reached a state of dare-devil wicked ness, and planned this revolt against our tyrant as the last convenient evil we had left undone. That it was unknown ground, and forbidden, was enough to make it tempting to me, but curiosity I found was not the motive that led Mark to trespass. I was content with a general survey, but he made for the table, and took up Pete's papers. A design on those was what had brought him there. " Are they lessons for school ? " I whispered " No, silly, they are some of Pete's writings. Have not you found out yet that he writes ? " "What?" " Oh, I don't know. A lot of silly rot most of it, but he goes in for being an author, and thinks he is awfully clever."

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 115 " I think he's clever, too, cleverer than you." " And you are such a good judge, aren't you ? But look here, Jo, you see these papers ? — well, I'm going to burn them. He killed my squirrel yesterday, the great brute ! and now I will make him suffer for it." " Let us look at them first," I said. Mark sat down, and together we looked through Pete's compositions. On one sheet there were several verses, which, though the language was in places rather strong than poetical, and the tone somewhat bloodthirsty, for it was a battle song, I yet thought, very splendid for the force and fire they contained. Of the rest of the papers I only recollect that one essay was called "The Necessity of Evil." As I did not understand a word of it, I concluded it to denote genius of the first water, and contrived to save it from Mark's incendiarism. In truth there was more in these papers which we were prepared to burn so gaily than we at all imagined. In these days of immense competition, boy as Pete was, he had yet found a market for his wares, and those who little dreamed of the author's age read with keen interest his daring theories and conclusions, told in strong, terse language that was not without a rough, wild beauty of its own. Yes, Pete was a genius, and perhaps it was little wonder that Aunt Eliza feared him, that indolent Uncle Crewe admired him and left his wild moods unopposed, and that we all yielded to him, even if reluctantly, and set him apart as not to be judged by common standards.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

116 JOSEPHINE CREWE I watched with a little thrill of pleasant fear while Mark lighted a candle and burnt the verses, but scarcely had he started on the other papers when we heard Pete's voice outside, and in an instant the papers were thrown aside, the candle was out, and we were both through the window, Mark dragging me, breathless and laughing, across the garden. That evening Pete asked who had been in his study. Only Mark and I were present, and neither of us answered. " Some one has been there, and it must have been one of you," he said. Mark was whistling while he unlaced his boots, and he only whistled the louder. I poked up a sleepy bumble-bee on the window with my finger, as if there was nothing else of interest in the room. "Josephine, have you been there, and burnt my poem, and thrown my papers about ? " "No, I haven't; of course not. I expect it was Carlo ; he can get in through the window." " Yes, and a dog can light a candle, can't it ! " But Mark interrupted him. He flung his unlaced boot across the room, and jumped up. " Little liar ! " he said to me ; then turned to Pete : " Jo and I have both been there, and I burnt your rotten old poetry to spite you for killing my squirrel, you cowardly brute ! " Pete took no notice of him, but looked at me, and I would gladly have sunk through the earth sooner than face the unutterable contempt that curled his

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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117 JOSEPHINE CREWE lip and hardened his glance. " Poor-spirited cur ! " he said, speaking through his teeth, and then he struck me on the cheek, and left me to shed scalding tears of remorse and rebellion. It was long before I told another lie. That morning when I entered his study for the second time, I did so boldly, and under the tyrant's very eye. I could submit to be shut out no longer ; I wanted books to read, and could find none to my mind elsewhere, but, still more, I wanted some special and peculiar bond that should unite me with Pete. Considering the matter, I had decided that could I gain free admittance to this holy of holies, and usurp a share in the interests of my deity, I should then have certain matters in common with him in which none other shared, not even Humphrey, nor Marian. So I walked in with an air of unconcern, closed the door quietly, folded my hands behind me, ami began a tour of inspection of the contents of the various book-cases. I was conscious that Pete was watching me, and therefore I was all the more assured and self-possessed. I proceeded quietly till au old friend among so many strange faces, or rather backs, upset my equilibrium, and with a cry of delight I promptly sat down on the floor, and began to devour Don Quixote in an edition that was strange to me, and with pictures that I did not know. I was entirely absorbed and entranced by this new aspect of my old love, so that I did not hear Pete's footstep behind me, and started in terror when he

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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118 JOSEPHINE CREWE pulled my hair sharply, and asked what I was about. I showed him the book, and he bade me bring it to the table, and then questioned me minutely as to the meaning of each picture, while I, fired by the excitement of knowledge, poured out such a stream of information that I grew almost incoherent in my volubility. His face lighted with a kindly smile, and he inquired what else I had read, and gave me an examination in Sou they 's Life of Nelson, Hobinson Crusoe, and the few other books of our attic library. " I had wondered where you had picked up some strange scraps of education," he said. "And so now y-ou want books, do you ? Well, you may come and read here sometimes, provided you are very good and quiet, and take care of the books. I had no idea I was really depriving you of anything when I kept you out. I suppose that was what you were after when you trespassed before ? " " Not altogether," I answered demurely ; " and it's not only books I have come for to-day." " What then ? " A sudden sense of shyness overcame me. I felt my colour rise as I climbed to his knee, and sat there with downcast eyes and fingers that trembled as they fumbled with his waistcoat buttons. " Well ? " he said interrogatively, and I raised my eyes and stole a furtive glance at him — there was something reassuring in his friendly, half-quizzical look, and, emboldened, I flung my arms about his neck, and whispered as I pressed my cheek to his —

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 119 Oh, Pete, I do love you so." "Hullo! What is the meaning of this humbug ? What do you want to get out of me ? " My voice failed me for a moment, and then I whispered shyly — " I very much want you to say you love me too." " Little fool ! " he said, and laughed loudly. " Why, Josephine, have you forgotten that I kicked you the very first day I saw you, and that I have ill-treated you ever since — ay, and shall to the end of the chapter ? Have you forgotten that ? " Yes, I have forgotten it all," I said, and kissed him. "Little fool, little fool," he repeated, but he did not repulse me. Rather he put his arm round me and let me nestle closer to him, my arms about his neck, my little fingers toying idly with his hair. " Josephine, if you love me tell me where you lived and what you did before you came here." " No, I won't tell you that now ; I don't think I ever shall." " All right, you don't love me, then." " Yes, but I do." He loosed my arms from his neck, took both my hands in one of his, and with the other turned my face up to meet his glance. "Perhaps," he said, "it was the mystery attached to you that first attracted me ; but yet, no, I don't think it was that." He looked at me with a far-reaching scrutiny, as

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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120 JOSEPHINE CREWE if he would read me through and through, tis if he would know the meaning of each crooked line in my character, as if he would reach down to the very springs of my nature, and master and govern those. And I in my turn looked into the depths of his dark eyes, and saw the passion and unrest that smouldered there, and deeper still I saw a dumb, ineffable sadness that filled me with feelings of wild, helpless pity. Tears filled my eyes, and I sobbed out — " Poor, poor Pete ! " as I stooped and kissed his hands. He took no notice of my agitation, but stroked my hair gently, and kissed my bent head. " Beautiful hair," he said, then drew himself up with a sigh, and added — " Now run away, little girl, and presently I will fetch you, and we will go for a walk together." I paused for a moment at the door to look back at Pete ; he had drawn the tall glass of flowers towards him, and with deft fingers was arranging them more to his mind. Then I slipped away with alacrity, the happiest of happy mortals, and scampered off to the dining-room where Aunt Eliza was busy at work. I threw the door wide open, and rushed tumultuously in ; I danced round the table till I came before Aunt Eliza, and then with one hand on the table edge and one on the back of a chair, I swung myself to and fro till the chair tilted over, and I fell prone at her feet. " Oh, Josephine, what a turn you've given me ! " she cried, putting her hand to her side and panting.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 121 " And I expect you've dinted the back of the chair," she added, and jumped up to diligently rub the hard polished oak with her handkerchief. I watched her for a moment, and then remarked teasingly — " And now I expect you have rubbed a hole in your handkerchief ! What a pity, and a bit of rag would have done just as well ! " She examined the hand kerchief anxiously, but no hole was to be seen. " It will soon wear through," I said reassuringly. " Wait until it is washed, and then you will see the difference." She sighed, and returned to her fine hemming of a coarse kitchen cloth, while I seated myself on the floor in the sunshine. " Are those cloths done, Mrs. Crewe ? " asked a housemaid, sauntering in. " Lor' ! where's the good of hemming them so neat ? Jane '11 do 'em in half the time in the machine." " But the machine cuts them out so." " Machining is good enough for them rough things," the girl answered in an off-hand manner, and with a sniff she took the work from Aunt Eliza's unwilling hands, and walked off with the whole lot. It was always so with the members of Aunt Eliza's house hold ; if she did not browbeat, and domineer over them, they did over her ; there were constant changes, and the work was done or neglected very much as the servants chose. I have heard Mrs. Holland say that six months at the Rookery would spoil the very best servant that ever swept a floor or cooked a dinner.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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122 JOSEPHINE CREWE Aunt Eliza tidied her work-box, and then, folding her hands and sighing, she sat and blinked at me and the sunshine round me, with her head on one side as usual, and the customary pathetic expression on her mindless face. " Aunt Eliza, what were you like when you were a little girl ? " She woke to a momentary animation. "I was thin, Josephine, as thin as a rasher of wind. I never thought I should be fat, no, never." " Were you a lady ? " " My father was a very worthy man," she answered, looking uneasily at her inquisitor. " But he wasn't a gentleman. I know where you lived, in that poky house over the Bank in W . Jane told me so, and she told cook he loved the bottle, and always kept the cellar key handy in his waistcoat pocket. I suppose you were very glad to marry a gentleman ? " " The Crewes are a very good family," she an swered with pride ; " almost as good as the Wyldes." " But the Wyldes are better ; yes, I know, and so I think perhaps I shall marry Humphrey." " Lor', no, Josephine ! They are so very aristocratic, and think a lot of blood. Now, Marian might think of Mark, but not Humphrey of you, for he's as proud as Lucifer, as they say, and you know your mother " " Now, what are you saying ? " I cried threaten ingly, and she gaped and was silent. "You want

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 123 Mark and Marian to marry, but you know she thinks a lot the most of Pete." " That's only children's nonsense ; Mark will come first after a bit." " Aunt Eliza, you did well when you married, and so will I. If Humphrey won't have anything to say to me, I'll have Mark." She was visibly perturbed at such a prospect for her darling. " Oh, but, my dear, it is Pete you are fond of. You and Pete are always together, you mustn't forget that. And he so dark and you so fair, you'd make a sweet couple ! Yes, it's you and Pete. I told your uncle how it would be if he brought you here, but he wouldn't listen to common-sense, no, he wouldn't, no, no." " Pete ? That is only children's nonsense ; Mark will come first after a bit," I answered, quoting her own words gleefully. " Besides, Mark is cleaner than Pete, and handsomer." I shook my head at her till my curls danced golden in the sunlight round my face. And then I fell to laughing noisily as I basked in the sunshine, lying full length on the floor with my face turned up towards Aunt Eliza. She had reddened furiously till even her eyes were pink, as she looked appre hensively at me, and fumbled with her watch-chain. I laughed the longer at her confusion, till shamed into pitying her, I rose and kissed her, and then returned to my former position on the floor. Poor

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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124 JOSEPHINE CREWE soul ! she was one of those unfortunate people whose kind-hearted folly annoys or amuses by its very tactlessness. She seemed born to be laughed at, good-naturedly sometimes, but oftener with con tempt. She was one of those who themselves have never seen the humorous side of anything ; dull folks who can smile but not laugh, be placid but not happy, irritated but not angered, sad but not desperate; who admire without understanding, and blindly marvel at the mind of the arithmetician because they cannot understand how two and two make four. Such persons cannot but serve as a butt for the laughter of their quicker-witted, stronger natured brethren ; and though I had a tender spot of compassion reserved in my heart for Aunt Eliza, anil shielded her many times from the shafts of ridicule directed against her by another, I never theless did my own share of laughing at her, and if I kissed her, it was to soothe the smart I might have caused. Pete tarried, and it was Mark who joined us first, blithe, bonny Mark, " clean " as I had said, with his fresh, country colouring of red and brown, and his bright hair. Perhaps it was but natural that the mother's heart should cling to this her youngest, rather than to the dark, saturnine firstborn. He had all the bright, external sparkle that required no effort of mind to appreciate, while the other, if a gem at all, was very much in the rough, and so thickly en crusted that long and patient work would be required

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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125 JOSEPHINE CREWE before so unskilful a hand as Aunt Eliza's could reach to the hidden treasure. Needless to say, she never penetrated beneath the rude exterior. "Hullo, little serpent! little reptile wriggling on the floor ! " cried Mark, and taking a run he leaped high over me, though I raised my hand and tried to catch his flying legs. " What ! " he cried, " would you do the veritable serpent's work, and cause me to trip and fall ? " " Mark," said Aunt Eliza, pawing at him uncer tainly with her fat hand, " Mark ! I've made you a packet of toffee ; would you care to have it ? " and she looked wistfully at him. " I never refuse a good offer, Mother mine," he answered, and gave her an unfilial slap on the back, followed by a hearty kiss. She grew radiant with pleasure, and watched all his movements with a smile of pride, though while he remained in the room, he scarcely looked at her again. He turned towards me, and pointed a finger of mock horror. " Now I know you are the veritable serpent out of Eden. You beguiled the woman, and she gave me, and I did eat." So saying he put a piece of toffee into his mouth, but without offering any to me. It was a little way Mark had with the good things of this world. " Mark, listen to me," I cried, springing up and capering about ; " listen to me," and I took both his hands, and danced up and doAvn before him. " What do you think Aunt Eliza has settled ? Why,

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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126 JOSEPHINE CREWE she has settled that some day you and I are to be married, Mark ; and what do you say to that ? Handsome Mark and pretty Josephine ! Kiss me, Mark, and say you are glad, for I know you are as pleased as pleased can be." " Oh, Josephine, you naughty, naughty little girl, how can you tell such wicked lies?" cried Aunt Eliza, in horror. " Take care God doesn't strike you dumb, and never let you tell anything but lies again.1 But Aunt Eliza's morality was of no weight with me, and Mark, to whose censure I might have paid some heed, laughed heartily, and gave the required kiss, well knowing, I suspect, what were his mother's real matrimonial views for him. Pete joined us at length, and behind him came Giles Holland, and Humphrey, aud Marian. A great babel of tongues arose, for it was days since we had all met. Indeed of late the Wyldes had been rare visitors at the Rookery, for the shooting-party had arrived at the Hall, and they were seldom at liberty to quit the restraints of grown-up society for the lawless freedom of Rookery ways. Now, however, it had been decreed, as Humphrey had hoped, that Marian should return with her aunt, and they had come for a last day all together with Rookery friends. They appeared to revel in the absence of -restraint like prisoners after long confinement. Marian sat on the table swinging her legs, showing a vast expanse of substantial ankle, and talking as fast as she could

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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127 JOSEPHINE CREWE talk, and Humphrey sat astride a chair, and laughed peal after peal of hearty laughter at every foolish joke that was made. Their spirits were infectious ; Mark grew boisterously merry; Pete cast aside his preoccupied air ; Giles, if he did not contribute to the wit of the party, was at least no wet-blanket, for he giggled uninterruptedly, and grinned from ear to ear ; and I, if a little cloud was darkening my sun shine, gave no sign at present of its existence, but bore my part in the general merriment. Yet the little cloud was there ; the first slight shadow had arisen with Pete's first harsh laugh at Marian, and it grew with strange rapidity, fed from an unfailing source of rough repartee between the two, taunting words, noisy laughter, and what at times verged on horse-play. It was I who was to have gone for a walk with Pete, and now my very existence was forgotten ! We took provisions, and started for a rambling, aimless day among the sweet-smelling fir-woods, or out on the wild, lonely moor. I had the advantage of Marian now, for she tired of the long ramble across the broken ground and under a hot noontide sun. She lagged behind, while I, nearly as fresh as when we started, danced about, hither and thither, before, behind, over fallen fir trees, through knee-deep heather, up a rock, across a brook, now on this hand, now on that, till at last the boys cried out that I was bewitched, an elf, a sprite, a Flying Dutchman, a Wandering Jew, anything but every-day flesh and

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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128 JOSEPHINE CREWE blood, for even they were tired and ready to rest, while I was fresh and of unflagging energy. I knew the reason right well, knew that I had been hardened and inured to privations and hardships as they had never been, and moreover that this beautiful countrv air to which long use had made them insensible, was to me an intoxicating, strength-giving draught which alone was enough to buoy me up and carry me far. Yet what advantage after all were my merry health and energy, since they did not help me to lure Pete from Marian's side, as I had dreamed they would ? When she lagged, so did he, and her dragging steps seemed more to his mind than all my airy dancing. I was ready to cry with childish jealousy, but instead I only laughed and talked the more. The boys called a halt for lunch under a group of fir trees that stood, tall, and dark, and lonely, on a grassy knoll in the midst of a waste of heather and bracken. Close by a noisy brook wended its way through the broken ground towards the mill-stream, its brown, peaty waters gleaming clear and bright over its pebbly bed, and its ceaseless, drowsy babble falling like an endless lullaby on the warm noontide air. Now and again the crow of a grouse was heard, or a peewit rose and sent forth its mournful cry, while close at hand the little gnats trumpeted round us, and a bee droned heavily past. It was very still, very warm, very beautiful, and, lunch over, our noisy voices and laughter grew quiet ; we became silent, and watched, and listened, and dreamed.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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129 JOSEPHINE CREWE I turned my eyes from the blue sky and the soft, hazy distance, and looked at my companions. Pete alone I could not see, for he lay full length with folded arms, his head pillowed on them, and his face turned towards the ground. Giles sat near him with his back against a tree, his lips parted, and his gaze following intently the flight of the gnats and bees; I smiled as I looked at Giles. Next came Marian, lying at her ease down among the heather, in a position that was rather inelegant than grace ful ; yet there was much to be admired in the rich ness of her rounded cheek, her tumbled abundance of black hair, her dark eye, her strong red lips. She was a splendid bit of colouring, and I looked again to note her bold, free glance as it wandered amongst the dark fir boughs overhead. Mark next drew my attention as he lay with his merry blue eyes closed, fast asleep ; to him the warmth had been pleasantly soothing, but the beauty was of no account. Last my eye fell on Humphrey. He was at once more manly, and more simply childish than the other boys. In his face there was something of the quiet strength of the surrounding nature ; he, I am sure, of us all was most distinctly conscious of what a grand place the old world was, how mag nificently impassive as it lay before us. Yes, his was a firm, true face, and his smile was good and pleasant. And I, sitting there in their midst, look ing at the strange face of Nature, what did it mean to me ? I did not know ; only as I looked at the K

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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130 JOSEPHINE CREWE dreamy distance, I grew wistful, and once more felt all alone. Back came the thought of my past that must never be known ; it stood up as a wall between me and my companions. Suddenly Pete's voice broke upon the low murmur of the brook and the stillness of the summer after- noon. " Wake up ! " he cried, thrusting at Giles with his foot. " It is as dull as death here, so just stir yourself and amuse us." All moved, and turned to look at Pete and Giles. We were not sure what was coming, but there was to be something by way of variety after the stillness of the last half-hour. Marian sat up, and laughed in expectation. She wore some red about her dress, and that and her flushed cheeks formed a brilliant bit of colouring that attracted Pete's eye. I saw this instantly, and all my foolish jealousy awoke with redoubled strength. I wriggled about uncomfort ably, feeling wild and bitter, and longing for some vent for my feelings, no matter what it might be. " I told you to amuse us, you grinning Cheshire cat ! " continued Pete, who we now saw meant to make sport of Giles. " Make a joke, and look sharp about it, or I'll make one at your expense." Giles grinned still more, and even began to chuckle. Evidently he considered he had some joke about him, and was labouring to bring it forth. We all waited in silence to hear it, and Pete's face grew grave, nay, even solemn.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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131 JOSEPHINE CREWE " I know one," said Giles. " Go ahead then." It is very good," said Giles. " It had better be, or I'll make a joke of you." " Oh, it is awfully good," chuckled Giles. " Out with it, blockhead." Giles grew red, opened his mouth, and shut it again, opened it, and closed it once more with a paroxysm of chuckling. Again Pete thrust at him with his foot, and looked threatening. "Stop that infernal chuckling," he cried, "and make your joke, or " " Caw ! " shrieked Giles, and he sprang away apprehensively from Pete, and stood watching us with a silly, uncertain grin that wavered and almost died before the chilly silence and blank looks that greeted his odd remark. " What on earth does he mean ? " asked Pete, puzzled. " I told you to make a joke," he repeated. " Caw ! " said Giles again, and rubbed his hands, and laughed. " Caw, caw, caw ! " And then as Pete sprang to his feet, he started aside, and explained in bashful self-appreciation of his humour, and trepida tion as to its reception, "You know we come from the Rookery, so I could not make any other joke." We all laughed long and loudly, all but Pete, who watched Giles with an intent curiosity that dis turbed him, and made him shuffle his feet uneasily. " Giles has made a great mental effort," he said slowly. " I wonder what amount of excitement and

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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132 JOSEPHINE CREWE inflammation it has set up in the brain," he continued, in a ruminating manner. " I wonder, yes, I wonder whether cold water would allay it, whether the cool rippling of the brook over that gifted pate would prove a satisfactory remedial agent." "The brook? Are you going to put him in the brook ? Yes, Pete, duck him, do duck him ! I'll help you," I cried, with a desperate feeling that here would be an object of some sort on which I could vent my angry soreness and jealousy. " Ay, imp, you'd help me with any dirty work, I'll be bound," he said, as he dragged the struggling Giles towards the brook. The others jumped up, and stood by laughing, for Giles looked a sorry coward, and to see him ducked would amuse them, aud do him no harm. Marian stood at the water's edge in the bright glow of the sunshine. Her hair was tumbled, and her hat off and swinging in her hand. She looked at Pete and laughed, and I saw him look at her. Giles struggled and fought, but he was powerless in the iron grip of muscular Pete. Those large hands and broad shoulders did not belie their appear ance : he was immensely strong, and in a few seconds he had Giles full length on the ground, and keeping him down with the help of one knee on his back, he ducked his head well under the water. I clapped my hands, and shouted gleefully. But it was not enough to stand and watch ; I was wild and savage, and must hurt something to free myself from my

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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133 JOSEPHINE CREWE own pain. Kneeling beside Pete, I struck Giles with all my might with small clenched fists, while I fancy the evil spirit that possessed me must have been depicted on my face, for Humphrey saw me and interposed. " Shame ! " he cried, as he dragged me away, and I stood before him like a little wild beast ; " shame ! Josephine, shame ! You look more like a wild cat than a little girl. You are a coward to strike a man when he is down." "She is a cur," said Marian; " I always said she was, and now she has verified my opinion. Yes, she is a little, yapping, snarling cur for Pete to tease and bully." I could not stand those words from her, and I flew at her, as Humphrey had said, like a wild cat. She was a full head taller than I was, and at least of twice as heavy a build, but I was armed with fury, lightness, and agility, and she would have been at my mercy had no one interfered. As it was, the scream of rage with which I preluded my attack attracted Pete's attention; he released Giles, and turned in surprise towards this new diversion. " Help me, Pete ! " cried Marian, and before the other boys had time to interfere, he had lifted me from the ground as if I had been a baby, and with a dexterous turn, had landed me in the very centre of the stream. The shock of the cold water, and a rush of anger for a moment silenced me. I stood up, livid and

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

134 JOSEPHINE CREWE trembling with passion, and heard Pete ask Marian if she were hurt. He never heard her answer, for I found words then, words the very remembrance of which for years after brought the hot blood rushing to my cheeks, and caused me to hang my head in shame. I poured them forth in a torrent, such words as I had never spoken before, but which I had heard my mother use. They silenced my com panions ; even those rough, rude boys were silenced by such language coming from the lips of the little child who had found a place in their hearts. They were shocked, and not one of them, unless it were Giles, ever forgot my conduct on that summer's afternoon. Their silence and their grave faces maddened me. I took up stones from the brook to throw at them, I trembled with passion, I called them every evil name I knew, but nothing but their silence answered me, till Humphrey came forward and spoke. " Josephine, come here," he said, and his face was stern, though not without a look of pity. I could not bear to face him then, and turning, I fled from them. I fancied they were pursuing me, and ran far before I dared to look behind, but when I at length did so, they were still standing by the brook, and were drawn a little together, as if to talk of what had occurred. That hurt me far more than pursuit, and I still ran forward with eyes blinded by fast falling tears. The afternoon sun was hot, and the

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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135 JOSEPHINE CREWE ground rough and broken ; often the tough stalks of the heather caught about my feet, but I heeded nothing; I was in search of shelter, and nothing could stop me till I found it. Like a poor bird over whom a cruel hawk is hovering, I felt that my fast beating heart might burst before I dared pause there in the open. In the thick, dark pine-wood that lay before me there was shelter ; I must reach that, for surely no eye could follow me into its dark recesses. I could hide there for a while, and weep away some of my shame and remorse. It was the same wood of which my mother had spoken to me, and for her sake it was dearer to me than any other spot about the Rookery. As I entered its cool shade my feverish haste abated, and I passed slowly between the tall, bare tree trunks, and over the soft pine-needles and patches of mossy grass, whose cool, morning dampness was unabsorbed by the hot summer sun, for the sun's sway was but half allowed in this kingdom of dimness and shadows. I sobbed aloud, and my tears fell fast, as I wandered on, but I did not stop till I came in sight of the break in the trees above the mill-stream. Then I stood still, and thought how Mother had stood there as a little girl, and I remembered all she had told me to be, and how she had thought I should be good and happy at the Rookery. I was breathless, trembling, and exhausted as I stood there, I was filled with remorse and distress, and now a yet worse feeling took possession of me.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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136 JOSEPHINE CREWE A thick, dark terror settled down on my heart and brain ; a terrible fear of myself laid hold of me. How was I ever to be good ? Mother had been a little girl there such as I was, but without my terrible past, and yet in the time of temptation she had done evil ; then how was I to be good ? Surely I should be worse, far, far worse ! I was a child, and my terrors were large and vague, and took an almost physical hold of me, as I looked round the dusk, lonely wood, and listened to the dulled rush of the water I could not see. Evil was as a shadowy being ever following me, and from which I could not escape. I flung myself down on the ground, and covering my face with my hands, cried passionately. It was lonely there, and a great solemn silence of all animate nature filled the wood ; only the wondrous, soulless voice of the inanimate spoke ; the distant stream murmured, and little breezes sighed and whispered as they stole through the tree-tops far above my head. Gradually the silence soothed and awed me, rest conquered exhaustion, and the cold, damp moss on which I lay cooled my heated hands and face as I pressed my cheek against it, and stretched out my little hands. I half knelt up, and looked around me. Close by some brambles grew, and a slanting ray of sunshine caught the leaves and turned them to an emerald creen. Beyond were the ranks and ranks of fir trees, with their tall straight trunks and their crowns of sombre foliage, a dark, solemn array, save that here and

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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137 JOSEPHINE CREWE there the ruddy afternoon sun had penetrated slant wise and changed the brown trunks to a warm, dusky red. Suddenly above my head sounded* the soft cooing voice of the wood-pigeon, and I looked up and caught sight of the blue sky far away through the dark branches. I sighed a long, deep sigh, and then I moaned. I could not get away from my evil self here ; it was so lonely that there was nothing but myself, and I wished I was back in London, which I remembered Mother calling a pit wide enough and deep enough to hide us all. I thought I would run away, and go back to lose myself among its swarming children ; but I recalled the bitter tears I had shed in the old attic, and I felt I could never lose myself. I wondered what Humphrey, and Marian, and they all thought of me ; surely they must have guessed the life from which I had come ! I remembered my promise to Uncle Crewe that I would bring no evil into his home, and I thought remorsefully how ill I had kept my word. And it was my own fault, my own act, that was the bitterest part of it all. I had broken through the restraint I had laid upon myself, and which till then I had maintained with precocious tenacity. I would never go back to the Rookery, I said, but even while I said it, I felt I could not leave them all. I could not leave kind Uncle Crewe, and poor, foolish Aunt Eliza ; I could not leave any of them ; above all I could not leave Pete.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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138 JOSEPHINE CREWE I rose, and wandered to and fro in the wood like a little ghost ; I wandered with aimless steps hither and thither, coming again and again to where the trees ended abruptly at the edge of the rock by the mill-stream. I sat on the rocks and looked down at the brown, rushing water, and grew dreamy and half unconscious of what I watched, wholly uncon scious of the flight of time. Then again I rose, and wandered to and fro among the trees. I formed no resolutions, I made no good resolves for the future, yet the outbreak of that afternoon, and the long lonely hours that succeeded it formed an epoch in my life. I was different after that ; it was not merely that foul words never crossed my lips again, it was rather that I had taken a new view of life, a new hold on it. Perhaps I was less of a child. The sun set red and glowing, but unseen from the wood ; only the tops of the fir trees were ruddy and gilded for a time, then faded to dusky greens and browns, and the wood grew mournfully dark and silent. I was not afraid of its loneliness, nor was I startled by the, to me, inexplicable sounds that broke its stillness ; no, it was strange, and wonderful, and impressive, this scene of the peaceful world sinking to sleep. I had lost myself at last, and was conscious only of the all-pervading hush, as I trod softly and slowly on the thick pine-needles, and looked round into the growing mystery of the dark avenues of trees. The peace of Nature had entered into my heart, and I had lost myself so entirely that I ceased

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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139 JOSEPHINE CREWE to fear my return home. Mechanically my steps took that direction, and I left the wood and stole slowly and silently across the moor, and past the tarn, from which the last glow of sunset was fading. The scent of the heather was strong on the evening air, and the cool breeze that swept across lifted my hair and kissed my forehead refreshingly. I felt quiet and thoughtful, but not unhappy, as I took the nearest way to the Rookery. Leaning against an old gate through which I had to pass, I saw the figures of Uncle Crewe and Pete. I knew right well that they were there to meet me. They had missed me, and were there watching and waiting for me, perhaps uneasily, as they had come so far. Yet neither of them moved, nor took any notice of my approach, nor spoke to me when I stood beside them. They did not remark on my long absence, and said nothing to me, but continued their desultory talk about the Rookery lands and woods, and what might be done with them. After a time, and even while he spoke to Uncle Crewe, Pete held out his hands to me, and I took them and climbed to the top of the gate beside him. He put his arm round me, and I threw mine about his neck ; then he raised his face, and gravely kissed my lips. The talk flowed vaguely on. Uncle Crewe propounded visionary schemes and Pete assented. He was never rude or harsh to his father, whose heart was given to this clever son, and who admired him with an almost womanly simplicity and affection. They

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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140 JOSEPHINE CREWE talked till gradually the stillness and beauty of the evening affected both, and the conversation waned and died. Uncle Crewe smoked placidly, and Pete looked westward with intent gaze and furrowed brow. I was happy, perfectly happy in the shelter of Pete's arm. I had forgotten Marian, and only knew that I loved Pete with a passionate devotion, and that deep in his heart he cherished a feeling for me which no other shared. As a child I forgave his rough harshness, and believed those arms were meant to caress and protect me, mine to cling about his neck. " Are you tired, Joey ? " asked Uncle Crewe, with his slow, kind smile. " Yes, very tired, and so Pete shall carry me home." " Shall I indeed ! " he cried, with his loud, untamed laugh. " I'll be hanged if " " If you don't," I interposed, and again he laughed, and took me on his back with my legs under one arm. So he carried me home with my head against his shoulder, my hands clasped round his neck, and my waving curls fluttering softly against his cheek.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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141 VI " Very pressing, as the filberts said to the crackers." Theodore Hook. You are down on me, as the candle said to the extinguisher.' Ibid. At my feet flowed the deep, rapid mill-stream, my friend and companion of eight happy years. There it rushed and raged past impeding rocks, tearing at them as if to hurl them forward, and then falling heavily over them in sullen, disappointed rage ; here it sparkled and splashed in the sunshine, and there again it lay in still, deep pools, and reflected the overhanging rocks and pine trees. I stood on a little bank of grass and ferns, and looked in one of these dark, quiet pools. Behind me was a straight wall of rock, dank and black with the moisture that ceaselessly dripped from the wood above ; from its summit the pine trees stretched out straggling, half-bare branches, and far, far above them were the blue sky and the slowly-floating clouds. Something of all this was reflected in the pool in which I looked. It was not the landscape, though, that I studied there, but my own face and figure, as, bareheaded, I leaned forward with the deepest interest. My

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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142 JOSEPHINE CREWE appearance had suddenly become of vast importance to me, for I knew that before long its attractions were to be put to a severe test. I was critical, therefore, and my colouring was what I most severely criticized. Yet I was conscious that the pale, soft tones in which Nature had chosen to deck me had a peculiar beauty of their own, only how would they stand close juxtaposition with rich warmth of colouring? Would they look faded, colourless, in sipid, or would they gain by the contrast, making their foil appear loud, perhaps coarse and wanting in refinement? This was the vexed question that occupied my attention. Certainly the fairness of my skin almost amounted to paleness ; my blue eyes, though wondrous clear and soft, lacked colour, and my hair was of a bright, pale gold like a little child's. It was almost the face of a child still, though I had numbered twenty summers : childlike, too, was the curling abundance of my hair. My slight form was tall and softly rounded, and possessed that easy grace which is imparted by activity and freedom. Yes, I felt as I looked at that reflection, that though some might call it colourless, there were others who would say that its delicacy and grace were sufficient, and needed no deeper tones. One thing was certain, I was very like my mother. I had been like her as a child, but I was even more so now, though prettier, yes, far prettier than Milly Hamilton had ever been ; " more beautiful," some people told me ; they said " beautiful " was the word

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 143 that suited me best, but perhaps they flattered. I thought of my mother as I stood there, and the thought was sad. Then I sat down at the water's edge, and talked, and poured out all my heart in murmurs to the wild mill-stream. When the boys were away for months at a time, my life was very lonely at the Rookery. I cheered and brightened the lives of Uncle Crewe and Aunt Eliza, but I myself was solitary; and the mill-stream and the lonely tarn, the wide, sunny moor, and the dark pine-woods were my closest friends. I had floated very far away from the busy walks of life and the throngs of striving men and women, and had been cast aside, a wild, shy thing in this loneliness, with never a new face to cross my path. I could not sing : had I been able, had music had any part in me, perhaps I should have sung through the livelong day instead of wandering silent, or whispering to the loneliness. But music was mute in me ; I could not even whistle, and when at times a merry thought would drive me to laughter, the sound would startle me, and cause me to stand and tremble as if it were the voice of an unseen being that had rung out on the stillness. On the other hand, the silence or the sounds of the wild nature around me brought no sense of fear ; I learned to know and love them as if they were the voice of a friend talking to me. And how well I knew every tone of that voice ! I knew its soft, loving summer murmurs, when it could only smile and whisper ; I

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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144 JOSEPHINE CREWE knew it in the spring when it could laugh and sing ; I knew its autumn sighing and lamenting; and I knew its wild, angry winter's roar, when every tree flung itself this way and that, and lifted up its voice and shouted, when the sky was covered with driving clouds, and the voice of the rivers was sullen and angry. I made myself one with Nature, and had my days, and my nights too, when I was as wild and untamed as she. Like her I was unrestrained and free, Nature's child, snatched from a vagrant city life to an almost equally vagrant country existence. I lived as I liked at the Rookery, read, or idled, plagued Aunt Eliza, or was indolent with Uncle Crewe. No one ever said " you must " or " you must not " to me, but I learned the limitations of the daily life of my little world, and I suited myself to them, and was happy in my own way. Half the day I wandered as free and idle as the birds of the air, though far more lonely ; many hours of darkness, too, I spent in the woods or on the solitary moor, as happy and fearless under the dark or star-lit sky as in the sunshine. I loved the solemn quiet of the night, when strange, deep thoughts would come to me, and a sense of awe and wonder fill my dark soul as to what lay behind and beyond this curtain of night — as to what was the meaning of the world, and life, and death. I had read enough and talked enough with the boys to awaken dim thought and speculation, but not enough to bring light and clear ness of vision to disperse the clouds. So alone in

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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145 JOSEPHINE CREWE the night-time I wondered, and was silent, and when thought grew too great and oppressive, I fled from it, and left many a hard question for Pete or Humphrey to solve for me. As I sat that afternoon, and looked at myself in the mill-stream, thoughts flitted past me almost as fast as the rushing waters in which I bathed my hands. I moved uneasily, and turned to stretch my limbs on the grass; then with my chin resting on my hand, I looked down into the clear brown water, and smiled at the reflection of my furrowed brow and thoughtful eyes. But the smile faded as I thought of other water, and the days long ago when Bessie and I had sat and watched it flowing past us. Poor Bessie, perhaps dead long years ago ! I felt the blood course through my veins, felt all the health and strength of my strong young limbs, and suffering and death seemed strange and awful things. Why should she suffer and die, and I live ? Why should Mother have been wicked and sorrowful, and I happy ? Why had my little playfellows been left to misery and want, and I brought up in happi ness and plenty ? Why ? why ? There were so many whys, but the dawning of an answer came to some of them as I looked down at the water, and asked, " Am I pretty ? " The water answered me. A blackbird was singing up in the wood, and farther away, across the water, a thrush was carolling with might and main. It was the laughing time of year, when the sap was flowing vigorously, and every L

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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146 JOSEPHINE CREWE fresh green leaf was revelling in the sunshine. My heart was light, and I laughed aloud as I stretched down my hand for the water to ripple past it. The summer was all before us, life was meant for gladness, and I was glad. "What will the future bring me, river ? " I asked, and looked up the brown, tumbling water, and noted how it splashed and shook the tender green trails of an overhanging bush. I watched the water intently, but it was bringing me nothing, nothing but sparkling lights and smooth dark shadows. " Silly old river ! " 1 cried, and a cuckoo answered me from the other bank. Again I laughed, and standing up, I shook back my hair and looked around. " Will Aunt Eliza be watching for me, cuckoo ? " I asked ; but only the " Cuckoo ! cuckoo ! " answered me. " Silly old cuckoo ! " I cried, but the bird was hidden among the bushes, and went on with the monotonous music. " I am tired of you, river," I said, " and they will be looking for me at home." Yet I lingered, and turned reluctantly away from the free, rushing water and the wet rocks that were gilded in the sunshine. On all the banks of the stream there was no spot I loved so well as this at the foot of the pine-wood. Yet it was difficult and even dangerous of access, and now, for my return, I had to cross to the other side on the rocks and boulders that stood out above the swirling water. My head was steady, and my foot was sure, and I felt no kind of fear as I sprang from rock to rock till I reached the centre of the stream.

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 147 There I paused for a moment on three boulders that formed a little natural bridge under which the swiftest portion of the current flowed. Years ago, on the night after I had first crossed those difficult stepping-stones, I had dreamed that I saw my mother sitting on that little bridge, crying and wringing her hands. The sight distressed me, and it was weeks before I ventured there again, but when I at last conquered my reluctance, the spot assumed a strange fascination for me, and I often spent hours seated like a lonely hern on my torrent begirt perch. Naturally in my wild country life I was not free from superstition, and I never ceased to wonder why my mother should have sat there to weep and wring her hands. Was I to be drowned in the mill-stream ? Maybe, but the thought did not deter me from visiting my favourite resort. I went my way up by the side of the little river, and across a foot-bridge; then I mounted a steep hillside, and entered one of the many little woods and copses whose rotting, uncared-for timber Uncle Crewe dreamed of selling, but never sold — perhaps for want of a purchaser. I lingered there, for the primroses were in bloom, the thrushes were singing gloriously, and the air was soft and warm, and full of sunshine. It was hard to go indoors, even though the thought that Aunt Eliza would be waiting uneasily for me and her tea called me home. I still lingered, and I heard a step behind me, and somebody brush through the bushes. I did not

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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148 JOSEPHINE CREWE turn my head, for who could it be but one of the keepers, or a labourer returning to his cottage ? I bent over the primroses, but the step did not pass me; it paused beside me, and I turned in surprise. I stood upright with the primroses I had gathered in my hand, and looked at the intruder. I looked him over from head to foot, and then I laughed long peals of merry laughter. "Oh, Giles," I cried, "oh, Giles! you'll be the death of me ! How Pete and Mark will laugh ! " " You are unkind, Josephine," he said, in a subdued voice; "I thought — I thought you would be kind." " Turn round," I cried ; " turn very slowly round, so that I can see you all over." Reluctantly Giles obeyed, while I criticized his altered appearance, and again gave way so freely to my merriment that the poor youth grew pink all over, and showed signs of kicking against my authority. " Must you always wear those frightful clothes ? " I asked. " Oh, Giles, they might have invented something better ! I'm very sorry for you." " Some girls like them," he said, with injured dignity. But I doubted my sex was not so foolish. When I had last seen Giles, he had worn loose tweed clothes, and had had a carefully-nurtured and curled moustache; now his fat face looked all the rounder and more rosy for being clean shaven, and the tweeds were replaced by the newest and neatest of clerical clothes.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 149 "Josephine," he said, "you know I have taken Holy Orders." " You have taken what ? " " Holy Orders." " Oh," I answered blankly, and turned away from him to look down at the primroses. I would have gathered them, only he would have offered to help. " May I carry your hat ? " he asked bashfully, looking at the hat I was swinging in my hand. " Thank you, it is not at all heavy, but since you are so willing, suppose you carry a primrose, they are such a weight for my poor arms," and I mock ingly held out a flower. To my disgust he coloured with evident pleasure, and put it in his buttonhole. It was not what I had meant. " I have been watching you for a long time," he said ; " I saw you come by the stream and over the bridge, and I thought how pretty it was down there, and — and — I thought you were the prettiest part of it all." He ended with a jerk, and reddened furiously. " I have been wondering all the afternoon whether I am pretty," I answered, and looked at him doubt fully. " Oh, how original you are ! " he cried, and rubbed his hands. " Most original, most ! Pretty, Josephine ? Why, you are beautiful ! Everybody says so." "Yes, or you would certainly not have ventured on such a statement unsupported," I scoffed. " In my eyes you are more beautiful than — than — a primrose, — than — than — spring," he assured me,

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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150 JOSEPHINE CREWE with nervous vehemence. " Oh, Josephine, you know how beautiful I think you. You know how I admire you. You know that to me you are more " "Giles, shall you have to preach sermons?" I inquired, as with an imperious little gesture I swept away the hand he had laid on my arm. Yes," he answered shortly. "Preach a nice one next Sunday, and I'll bring Uncle Crewe to listen." " I have one, Josephine," he said ; " one that I wrote after we said good-bye last time, and I have put finishing touches to it ever since. It is on the marriage in Cana in Galilee, and I should like to preach it, if you will let me. Do you understand, Josephine ? There is a meaning. If you will let me preach on marriage ; but it all depends on that." " You may preach on as many marriages as you like," I said, turning away from his hot, perturbed face to watch a blackbird as it flew low down through the bushes with a sharp, startled, chuckling cry. "Preach your sermon by all means, only I always get mixed about Cana, and Canaanites, and Hittites, and all the lost tribes." Then I changed O the subject quickly. "You came home last night, I suppose, and to-morrow Pete comes, and the other three will be back in a day or two. Think how long it is since we have all been together ! It is nearly eight years since Marian was at the Hall, and Pete has been

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 151 abroad a year last week. I wonder if it will seem like it used to do, or if we are all changed." "You and 1 are changed," Giles ventured. " You changed ! Not a bit ! " I cried. " You are just the same as the very first day I saw you." " You remember when we met, don't you, Josephine ? " he cried excitedly. " I do, and ever since then I have gone on thinking more and more about you. I am always thinking about you from morning to night. When the alarum wakes me in the morning and I see the sun shining, I think, ' How is Josephine ? ' " " When you shave you think, ' How is Josephine ? ' When you put on that hideous collar, and eat a nice hot breakfast, you think, ' How is Josephine ? ' And she is quite well, thank you, all the time," I inter rupted lightly. And then, as I swung my hat, the elastic broke and hurt my hand. It was my left hand, and Giles took it, and looked at it with an absurd amount of sympathy. I let him keep it as we strolled slowlv forward. I had forgotten Aunt Eliza ; I was amused ; the air was soft and balmy, and I was perfectly content to stroll there among the blackbirds and thrushes and the spring flowers. We were passing now through a straggling coppice of young birch trees, and all around us was a cloud of tender, fairy greenness, and primroses starred the ground. Giles looked at me, but I looked away through the sunny green mist of delicate leaves, only

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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152 JOSEPHINE CREWE turning now and again to raise my eyes laughingly to his, or with mock gravity. " It is the prettiest hand I have ever seen," said Giles fervently; "it's so little and white. It only wants one thing, Josephine " (I felt his hands grow hot as he approached his point) ; " it wants a wedding ring to make it perfect." " I should dearly like a ring," I said ; " I have never had one." " It should be such a thick gold one, Josephine ; the best that could be bought." " Oh, lovely ! " I cried. "My mother says I could marry almost any one, Josephine, for I shall step into my father's living, and have about a thousand a year." " A thousand pounds a year ! And I have never had more than one pound at a time ! Oh, I love money, Giles ! " "I shall keep a snug little establishment, and a carriage and pair, a really good pair." " A carriage and pair ! Oh, heavenly ! I love a really good pair, Giles ! " " Then you know I might get preferment. Suppose I were made a bishop some day ! " " A bishop ! Oh, Giles, a bishop ! " " Yes, I might, I really might. My mother quite thinks so ; but of course not just yet, perhaps not for a long time. But a bishop and a palace ! It is worth thinking about, isn't it, Josephine, eh ?" " A bishop and a palace ! " I cried, and words and

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 153 breath failed me before the stupendous prospect Giles was offering me, with only the slight drawback of himself into the bargain. " I don't talk about myself, Josephine, because you know me, but I think 1 have a good heart, and it is all yours, it is really." " Thank you," I murmured gratefully, " you are very generous, but what shall I do with it ? " " Do with it ? Oh, well — er— I don't know. What a strange girl you are, Josephine ! " " I don't know either," I said reflectively ; " I have never had such a present before." " No, that's just it," said Giles, pressing my hand tenderly; "that is one of your great attractions; you are so young, and fresh, and innocent. You are as innocent as — as — a little lamb " (" or a little pig," I interposed), " or — or — a snowdrop " (" or a daffy down-dilly," I murmured), " and I like you, yes, I love you for it, Josephine. I love you with my whole heart, I do indeed ; yes, I love you more than anything on earth. Promise me that you will love me and marry me, Josephine." " That's asking for two things at a time ; you are greedj." " Oh, don't joke and tease, please, Josephine, not now." " Very well, Giles, I'll speak soberly, and I promise you faithfully that if you like you shall marry me — to somebody else." With a peal of laughter I snatched my hand from

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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154 JOSEPHINE CREWE his, and ran away, only pausing an instant at a bend in the path to look back at him over my shoulder, standing solitary just as I had left him. Then I hastened on to the Rookery, laughing all the way, and with never a thought that I had deeply wounded a poor, foolish, human heart. " Oh, rooks," I cried, looking up at the black denizens of the tall elm trees, " how silly he was, and how foolish he looked ! Did you see us down there in the birchen coppice ? Did you laugh at him, rooks ? " The rooks cawed gravely, and I ran forward, laughing, to the garden where Aunt Eliza was awaiting me. The evening was growing cool, and she had put on an old great-coat of Uncle Crewe's; her pink ribbons were floating in the breeze, and her face wore an anxious, perturbed expression. She was watching for me, as I knew she would be, and she was worried because I lingered, though I was late for something every day of my life. Her silly face brightened when she saw me, and she smiled as I kissed her and walked towards the house with my hand on her shoulder. Her feeling for me was not unmixed ; she was fond of me, she feared me, and she admired me. She was fond of me rather as a hen is fomj of a young duckling she has reared, but of whose vagaries she is always in dread : she feared me because she knew I was the stronger: she admired me because I had no overweening respect for Crewcs or Wyldes, but took my place and held my own dauntlessly among them, content to be second to none, ready

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 155 rather to be first than equal. She even learnt a certain self-respect from me, for was not her birth better than mine ? Why then should not she hold up her head when I demanded equality and fraternity with her gods ? " I'm not a bit sorry I'm late, Aunt Eliza," I said, " for, thanks to my lateness, I have something to tell you. But first let us have tea." I helped her out of the overcoat, which, as it was made for a tall, thin man, was not the cut best suited to her figure, and then we went to our tea in the large, faded dining-room. A few slanting rays of sunshine enlivened its darkness at that hour, and showed the comfortless preparations for a meal. The whole long table was spread with a fine old damask table-cloth, patched, darned, and in holes (It didn't matter, Aunt Eliza said, just for we three); a few miscellaneous plates and dishes containing odds and ends of cake, bread, etc., were scattered like islands at long intervals, and our three plates were set at the greatest possible distance from each other. After this manner we took our tea in the dining-room, while luxury and comfort reigned in the kitchen. Once I told Aunt Eliza so, but she cried about it, so I did not mention the subject again. Now I placed plates for Uncle Crewe and me, one on either side the tray, drew up the fragments to within attainable distance, and sat down for a gossip with Aunt Eliza. " To-morrow Pete will be here," I said, and smiled

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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156 JOSEPHINE CREWE happily as I looked at the empty chair beside me. " I love Pete more than anything on earth." " How odd ! " said Aunt Eliza. " What ? " I cried sharply. " Odd ? And you are speaking of your own son ! " She reddened, and her hand shook as she held her cup. " I only meant odd, my dear — odd, you understand, odd!" "No, I don't understand at all," I said, and flurried her by my direct gaze. She poured herself out a fresh cup of tea before she ventured another remark. " I suppose we shall hear one of these days that you and Pete want to get married," she said, sitting back in her chair to look at me ; " I am sure your uncle will be pleased, and so shall I. I said from the first — ' Edward, that girl will marry one of our boys, and let it be Pete.' He said 'Nonsense.' I said, ' Yes, and they are sort of first cousins, and so it should not be.' Just like two brothers, farmers they were, who married two ladies, mother and daughter, and you wouldn't believe the confusion it made. But I shall be very glad, my dear. I don't know of anything better for Pete, so it seems right all round." " Thank you, Aunt Eliza, you are very kind. Yes, I hope I shall marry Pete," I answered without hesitation. "Aunt Eliza, somebody else asked me to marry him this afternoon. Giles Holland suggested I should go halves in the Rectory, and speculate in

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 157 bishoprics. What do you say ? Which shall I choose, the church or the world, a calf or a bear, you or Mrs. Holland for mother-in-law ? I wish I could pit you one against the other; I would stake my all on the winner." " What do you mean ? Did Giles really ask you to marry him, Josephine ? " asked Aunt Eliza, open mouthed and radiant with excitement over such a piece of news. " Yes, he wanted to marry me, and so he shall if he likes — to Pete." I broke into a peal of laughter as I sat looking at Aunt Eliza, and with my elbows on the table. "I laughed at him, and left him disconsolate in the wood to weep it out to the rabbits, the- 'big round tears' running down 'his innocent nose.' Poor fat Giles ! " " Mark my words, his mother will be here to arrange matters before another sunset." " What shall you say to her, Aunt Eliza ? You must put on a bold front." " Yet it would be a good match for you, Josephine, better than you could rightly expect ; and then Pete might do well for himself, too." She sat and rumi nated silently, then added — " But she took that Betsy as kitchen-maid, though I wouldn't give her any character, and Jane says that she said that no character from Mrs. Crewe was the best character my servants could have. It was a very vulgar thing to say, now don't you think so, Josephine ? " " Very," I answered, and smiled as I saw the

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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158 JOSEPHINE CREWE battle for and against the match that was beginning in Aunt Eliza's mind. It might rage long, but I did not doubt that injured pride would ultimately outweigh Pete's interests. Uncle Crewe came strolling past the window, and sauntered into the room. He was rather greyer, rather thinner, rather more indolent than he had been eight years ago, otherwise he was just the same Uncle Crewe who had fetched me from the old attic, and saved the rates my maintenance. He now sat down on Aunt Eliza's right hand. I wondered sometimes what Rookery meals would have been had I not been there. Those two would have sat one at each end of the long table, and Aunt Eliza would have babbled, and sighed, -and smiled, and I doubt Uncle Crewe would neither have heard nor spoken a word. Certainly in the wide world there seemed to have been left a special niche for me in this daughterless household. " Where have you been running wild all day, Joey ? What have you seen and done ? " he asked, as I went round to sit by his side and see that he was supplied with tea and cake. Before I could answer, Aunt Eliza burst in with the great news. " Is it so indeed ? " said Uncle Crewe slowly. " We will talk of this presently, Josephine." I stopped the merry laughter that was bubbling on my lips, and was silent, for I saw that he was deep in thought, and therefore I did not like to chatter to him as I usually did at tea-time. I

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 159 watched Aunt Eliza collect the driest bits of cake, which, with a blind fatuity, she thought they might finish in the kitchen, while she put the rest by for the morrow. " What ? and Pete is coming ! " I cried. " You are always ready to kill the fatted calf for Mark, but remember Pete is your eldest son." She dropped the bits in nervous haste, and then with a sigh put all together for the kitchen. She packed up the tea-things herself; she wandered round the table wondering whether the cloth would stand fresh darns and patches, and at last she sat down, and smiled at me. " You are very like your mother, Josephine. It will be strange if you go and live at the Rectory, too." " Very strange indeed !" I answered drily. " But I'll tell you something stranger still, strangest of all," she said impressively. "Yesterday I was turning out a drawer, and I found a bit of that very pink petticoat I had on when I heard about your mother and Jo Crewe. Then to-day comes Giles's offer ! Now isn't that odd ? I do call that odd ! Such a coincidence ! I was in my petticoat when Sarah came running in to say " " Suppose we change the subject, dear Aunt Eliza," I said quietly, and she blushed all over, and was silent. "Come, we will take a walk, Josephine," said Uncle Crewe, as he awoke from his reverie. I fetched my hat, and strolled away with him, slipping my hand

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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160 JOSEPHINE CREWE into his as if I were still the little child I had been when I first joined his evening strolls under the old elm trees. We were often silent when we were alone together, and that evening we were even more than usually so, as we passed under the elm trees and across the grass. There was a sweet, fresh smell of spring in the air, and I wondered how Uncle Crewe could look so grave and abstracted when the world was such a bright and pleasant place. Several times I found him looking at me, but each time that I met his eyes, he merely smiled his customary, pleasant smile, and said nothing. We strolled on till we came to a gate leading to some pasture-land. Several wide fields were before us, and beyond them, a little to our right, at the edge of the moor, stood the Rectory, half concealed by trees and shrubs. It was a comfort able, irregularly-built house, and looked picturesque in the warm evening light. I saw that Uncle Crewe was looking at it. " This first field is for hay," he said. " Yes, the grass looks well," I answered, and once more we were silent, standing there against the gate, both looking towards the Rectory. " That was your mother's room, Josephine, that open window over the hawthorn." He had never mentioned my mother since that day when as a little child I had begged him not. The remembrance of the scene when he had spoken came rushing back upon me, and more clearly still

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 161 came the thought of that poor, tired soul. It swept across me like a cold shadow, the thought of how she, too, had wandered, as glad and happy as her child, in those fields round her old home, and then all the sin and the sorrow that had ruined her ! Poor Mother ! I turned away my face as I thought of her in the old attic, and of the low, coarse, unlovely close to a life that had once known happiness and purity in that very scene that lay before my eyes, seeming in the soft evening light to breathe of peace and goodness. Oh, poor Mother ! And my eyes were futl of tears. " She would have liked to think of you at the Rectory, Josephine, to know that her home was yours." " No, Uncle Crewe," I said, speaking with averted face ; " no, she would not wish me to marry Giles." " It must be as you yourself feel, and as you think she would have wished, little girl. You are old enough to judge." " She would rather I married Pete," I answered, " and so would I." " Pete ! Is it even so ? Ah, that would be a marriage after my own heart, Joey. God grant it may be so ! God grant you may have your wish, dear ! " But he sighed, and his eyes were sorrowful and clouded as he looked at me. Yet I knew he loved his eldest son more dearly than anything on earth, aud me, too, I knew he loved ; then it could not be M

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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162 JOSEPHINE CREWE the thought of our union that troubled him. Was it, perhaps, the thought of a love of long years ago, of a love-making fraught with sorrow, a heart that was never his own, a union without love for him, and then dark disaster for her ? It was of her he was thinking. " You have not forgotten her, Josephine ? " he asked, almost shyly, as if he feared even now to break the promise he had made. "Forgotten her!" and I turned and looked him earnestly in the face ; " I should as soon forget how to laugh and cry, how to move and breathe, as forget to think of her. The old life is so far away from this that I remember its blackness only like a bad dream out of which half the darkness has faded as soon as we wake ; but her I never forget. You told me her spirit would be with me all my life, and it is true. She comes to me at night, Uncle Crewe, and looks in through my window, or stands beside my bed. I have seen her crossing the moor in, the moonlight, or through the trees in the pine-wood, or down in the shadow by the mill-stream ; I have seen her by day as well as by night. She loved this place, the woods, and the moor, and the mill-stream, just as I do ; she knew every path and every pathless way, and now she follows me day and night, so that if I wanted to escape from her, it would be impossible. Sometimes I do want to escape and forget her for ever, sometimes when I see her as you saw her that day in the attic. Then I fear and hate her — ay, I

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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JOSEPHINE CREWE 163 loathe her, Uncle Crewe, and feel I would rather never have lived than have had such a mother. It makes me ashamed, though the shame was hers, not mine. But sometimes she is tender and good when she comes to me, and I love her — ay, and know that I always must love her, for she is my mother, Uncle Crewe ; with all her sins and all her sorrows she is my mother, and I love her." A burst of tears overtook me, and bending my head low, I leaned against the gate, and cried silently. "God bless you, dear, for your love to her," he said ; and his voice was low and shaken, and his hand trembled as he laid it on mine. We walked slowly and silently home as we had come; but Uncle Crewe no longer looked at me, and a deep melancholy now overshadowed the gravity of his face. Surely we had a great sorrow in common, a great bond in my dead mother. " Josephine," said Uncle Crewe, as we neared the house, " you say you see her, but it was no visible ghost I meant would haunt you ; I meant that her spirit, her influence, would never leave you." " Yes, I know," I answered ; " but I see her, too. Perhaps it is because we were so much to one another, so very near, that she cannot leave me now, and that I know she is there." " Ah, Joey," he said, with a smile, " I have done little for you since I brought you here. I have left you to run wild and fill your head with every idle, floating fancy that likes to settle there. For all

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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164 JOSEPHINE CREWE < your eyes look so clear, there is a strange haze behind them, I suspect." I bade him good-night at the door, and went for a lonely ramble round the old house, and past the Rectory. I was too restless and excited to think of sleep, for Pete was coming on the morrow, my whole little world was collecting round me, my solitude was almost over, and new thoughts, new hopes, new plans would change the face of my dreams. I should not be solitary again, for Pete was to stay at home; he would be my constant companion. Yes, we should certainly be much to one another in the coming years, and, loving him as I did, the thought of a close communion with him filled me with a wild, glad happiness. Darkness had come down around me, and there were none there but the swiftly darting bats to see the happy tears that filled my eyes. It was the childhood of the year, and it was sleeping childhood's deep, untroubled sleep ; I alone moved wakeful through the drowsy hours, and was glad to be alone to think. It was of Pete I thought. For weeks I had wondered if he would be altered, if in his year of foreign travel he would have outgrown his love for me, and I had comforted myself with the thought of the long letters he wrote me, beautiful letters telling me much of his inner life, and if at times they were strangely rambling, yet always breathing of his tender love for me. In one he told me that it was an almost greater pleasure thus to pour out

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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165 JOSEPHINE CREWE his heart to me, than even to receive my replies. Now as I walked beneath the rooks sleeping in the motionless trees, I needed nothing to reassure me. I felt, ay, and was certain that he would not be changed, that he would love me as I loved him. There were plenty I loved, and who loved me in my little world, but only towards Pete did my heart yearn with such a transcendently happy love, with such a boundless, utter devotion. Yet through the passionate gladness of such a feeling there ran an under-current of sadness, as there must through all great love in this life of incomplete communion ; and a tender, compassionate pity, such as a mother feels for her little weakly child, tempered my devotion for the strong man I worshipped. For was there not a something I could never reach, that my love could never satisfy, and did not his greatness but make his greater need ? I sought my couch happily, yet little sleep visited me that night, and again and again I awoke with the sense that my mother was by me, soothing me and watching me with pitiful eyes. " Oh, Mother," I cried at last, " the hours are dragging wearily, and I want the day to dawn that brings me Pete. I don't need your pity ; I am happy ; leave me and let me sleep." Then I slept a dreamless sleep, till morning waked me, and I knew that at last the day had broken for which I had looked and waited through twelve long months. My mind was too full of Pete to entertain a

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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166 JOSEPHINE CREWE thought of Giles, but Aunt Eliza had not for gotten him, and she grew mildly triumphant when early in the day her forecast was verified, and we saw Mrs. Holland crossing the garden, brimful of overtures of love. We were sitting at work in the drawing-room. Its faded glories were lighted at that hour of the day by a brilliant flood of spring sunshine, the window stood wide open, and our high-backed chairs were drawn up close to it, one on either side a stand of white, sweet-smelling hyacinths. Aunt Eliza sat busily babbling and darning oft-darned stockings, and I was making her as dainty a cap as was compatible with the size of her head, and the washed condition of the lace. When Mrs. Holland entered we both rose to meet her, and Aunt Eliza received her with an awkward embarrassment that spoke of the war raging in her mind with reference to Pete on the one hand, the kitchen-maid on the other. Mrs. Holland's manner was affable, and I was amused to find her civility directed mainly towards me, though hitherto she had been wont to overlook my presence when we chanced to be in the same room. She now came towards me with a winning smile. " Good-morning, dear child. — What ? may I not have a kiss ? We are very old friends, you know. Ah, Mrs. Crewe, I envy you ! You have always a ray of sunshine here, independent of the weather; but we want this sunshine at the Rectory now ; " and she gave a knowing little nod.

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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167 JOSEPHINE CREWE She laid her hand on my yellow hair, and I bent my head submissively as I resumed my work. She had called me child, and I would take a child's license and please myself, not my elders, as to when I spoke or was silent. I was very meek and simple that morning; I was tempted to put my finger in my mouth coyly, and try a blush. " Yes, we get more sun than you do," said literal Aunt Eliza. " I remember in old Mr. Hamilton's time the Rectory was always a dull place. But I do think Josephine lets in too much sun here; yes, I do. The things may be mostly faded already, but I don't know. There never was such a girl for sitting in the sun ; she is like a bit of bacon, she's so fond of broiling." " So careless with that pretty fair skin ! She wants somebody to take care of it for her," cried Mrs. Holland archly. " I think we know of somebody who would be willing, eh, Jose phine ? " " Yes, Mrs. Holland, there is Aunt Eliza." Aunt Eliza would as soon have thought of looking after the moon's complexion as mine. " What deft little fingers ! " cried Mrs. Holland. " I expect they save Mrs. Crewe a world of trouble. They are quick fingers at darning, and mending, and making, I am sure." " No, Mrs. Holland ; Aunt Eliza says I don't sew well enough." " Oh, fie ! you naughty puss ! But never mind,

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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168 JOSEPHINE CREWE dear, I am sure you will soon learn, and I am a good needlewoman." " Yes, Mrs. Holland, and so is Aunt Eliza," I said, as I looked up timidly, and then again bent over my work. I was determined Aunt Eliza should be spokeswoman, not I. " Yes, I'm fond of my needle," said Aunt Eliza, with a sad smile. " My father always wanted me to be at my books when I was a girl, but I said no, I've quick fingers, and so I'll learn to sew and dance. I'd a neat ankle, and I was a very light dancer when I was a girl." " Were you, Mrs. Crewe ? Yes, I am sure you were ; I am sure you danced beautifully, dear Mrs. Crewe. — But now you are wondering why I am paying you such an early visit — not Josephine ; I suspect she guesses, naughty puss ! — but I must tell you I have come on a little pleasant business." Aunt Eliza laid the stockings aside, folded her hands, arranged her head at an acute angle with her left shoulder, and smiled uneasily, now at Mrs. Holland, now at me. She did not attempt to help her visitor when she hesitated in bringing forward her business. " There — there — it always seems to me there has been a connection, a peculiar bond between the Rectory and the Rookery." — Aunt Eliza looked embarrassed, and blushed on my behalf. She watched me apprehensively, but I leaned back with the cap at arm's length, turned it slowly about, and

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

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169 JOSEPHINE CREWE looked at it critically, as if I had not heard a word. Mrs. Holland saw her mistake, shied at it, and plunged hastily forward. — "I mean that ever since the young people were children there has been constant intercourse between the two houses. My dear Giles has spent half his time here, for there has been au attraction; and now, dear Josephine, we want to transplant the attraction to the dull old Rectory. Mrs. Crewe, my Giles has made an offer of marriage to Josephine, and I am delighted, quite delighted ! He has been an excellent son, and my only wish is to see him happy. Isn't it charming ? " " I don't know," said Aunt Eliza. " For all Giles is so stout, he may be delicate. I am not the same now I'm stout that I was when I was a thin girl. Josephine was never stout. I used to think she would go into a decline, but she hasn't yet, though they do say it's infectious. I don't know, Mrs. Holland; no, I'm sure I don't know." " But it is a most advantageous offer for the girl," said Mrs. Holland, looking very vexed. " Considering all tilings " (and she looked askance at me), " she cannot possibly expect such another. She should consider herself exceptionally fortunate." " I don't know, I'm sure," murmured Aunt Eliza, and then she fell straight upon her grievance. " We shouldn't like her to marry into a family where there were bad characters, or at least, I mean, no characters at all. I mean to say it spreads. I knew

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Boulton, Helen M. [person]

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Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

170 JOSEPHINE CREWE a lady who drank, and they say not one of her servants was sober." " I must beg you to explain, Mrs. Crewe. Do you mean to imply that I drink ? " There was withering contempt in her voice, and her insulted sobriety bridled and looked vastly haughty. " I don't know that I ever heard that," said Aunt Eliza placidly. "There's the Rector, people — but no, I don't believe it, no ; he's a nice old gentleman. They do say it often goes with the cloth, but then it was a chapel gentleman that told me so, and he was always hard on the Church." " Mrs. Crewe, I believe — I know your insults are not intentional, and for my son's sake I overlook them. I came to tell you, Mrs. Crewe, that my son proposes to marry your husband's niece." " I don't know, I'm sure," said Aunt Eliza, who was growing perturbed before this reiteration of an idea that was not her own. " There's the for and against of the matter. I shouldn't like her to marry into a family where there are waste and extrava gance, and there can't be economy and bad servants. I knew a parlourmaid who wore white muslin on Sundays, clean every week, and you may say she threw all her wages into the wash-tub. But she waited beautifully, and her silver was a picture." " Mrs. Crewe, I cannot see what this has to do with my son and your niece. Have you anything to say against their marriage, that you thus persistently put the question aside ? "

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English

000431585

1895

Josephine Crewe. A novel

London

171 JOSEPHINE CREWE " I don't know, I'm sure ; but, as I say, if there's a for, there's an against, too, and perhaps it's safer to say against. It is not every marriage that is happy, and they might both of them be ill ; besides a robbery without characters." I dropped my work, and leaning back, laughed softly at the growing anger of the one, the increasing density of the other. It would need a sharp thrust to penetrate Aunt Eliza's thick head. " Josephine," cried Mrs. Holland, turning to me, "you hear; your aunt refuses a most eligible and complimentary offer for you." "Josephine," sadly murmured Aunt Eliza, "you know you said last night that you thought it was a vulgar thing to say." " Josephine," remonstrated the indignant visitor, " your aunt, with no reason whatever, is standing in the way of your advancement in life." "Josephine," complained the injured housewife, "you know it was Jane who told me, and I saw the girl in the Rectory pew on Sunday morning." " Josephine," cried the righteously-angered mother, " I must counsel you to disregard your aunt's opinion and act for yourself. Say boldly, dear child, that you love my Giles, and I will arrange all with your uncle." "Josephine," whispered anxious density, "you know Giles might be ill ; he's very stout." " Josephine," cried Mrs. Holland. " Josephine," murmured Aunt Eliza.

Boulton, Helen M.

Boulton, Helen M. [person]

Longmans

England

England

300 pages (8°)

English