Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-01-24

/ knew the squire was Ike WAX III the
hands of his eldest daughter: he was one
Of those INDECENT, peace-loving men who
are governed by their womsnkind; his
wife had ruled him, and now his widowed
daughter held the reins. l think Gay
was like her father; she went on her own
way and shut her eyes to anything dis
agreeable 1t would never have done for
me to quarrel openly with Mrs Markham;
common sense and respect for my mis-
tress' sister kept me silent under great
provocatiou. | controlled my words, and
in some measure l controlled voice and
outward manner, but my inward antag-
onism must have revealed Itself nov and
then by an unguard"i tone.
My chief difficult. was TO prevent her
spelling Joyce After the first, she had
become very fond OF the child, and was
always seudiug for her 10 the drawing
room, and loading her with toys and
sweetmeats. Mr.. Morton's orders had
been very stringent about. sweetmeats.
ana again ana again 1 was obi ed to con-
fiscate poor Joyce's goodies as she called
them. had extracted from her promise
that she should eat nothing out of the
nursery, and nothing could induce the
child to disObey me.
"Nurse says ! mustn't, Aunt AIDA"
was her constant remark; and Mrs. Mark
ham chose to consider herself aggrieyed
at this childish obstlnacy. She spoke to
me once about it with marked displeas-
ure.
Il have had children of my own, and /
suppose | know what is good for them"
she said, with a touch of scOrn in her
voice: You have no right to enforce such
ridiculous rules on Joyce"
II have Mrs. MOrton's orders, " ] replied,
cuytIy Doctor Myrtle told me to be
very careful of Joyce's diet; | can not
allow her to eat things [ know will h urt
her." and | continued to conGscate the
goodies.
But though I was firm in all that con-
cerned the Children's health, there were
many occasions on which was Obliged to
submit to Mrs. Markham's interference.
Very often my plans for the day were
frustrated for no legitimate cause. / was
disposed to thi nix sometimes that she act
ed in this way just to veX me and make
me lose my temper. If we were starting
for the beach, Judson would bring us a
message that her mistress would prefer
my taking the children into the orchard;
and sometimes on hot afternoon, when
we were comfortably enscOnced on the
bench under the apple trees, Judson would
inform us that Mrs Markham thought we
had better 90 down to the sea. Some
times | yielded to these demands, if |
thought the children would not suffer by
them, but at other times | would tell judi
son that the sun was too hot or the chill
dren too tired, and that we had better re-
main as we were. If this was the case,
Mrs. Markham would sometimes come
out herself and argue the matter, but
always stood my ground boldly, though |
was perfectly aware that the afternoon S
most would convey letter to Princes Gate
complaining of my impertinence in dis
putting her orders.
My mistress letters were my chief COM
fort, and they generally came on the
morning after one of these disputes. She
would write to me so utfeCtonately, and
tell me how she missed me as well as the
children, and though she never alluded
openly to what had occurred, there was
always little sentence of half-veiled
meaning that set my mind at rest.
"Nlv sister Gay tells me that the chill
dren are getting SO brown ana strong
with the sea air" she wrote once, land
that dear little Joyce has quite a nice
color. Thank you 50 much for your cease
less care of them; you know | trust you
implicit, Merle, and have no fear that
you vii disappoint me; your good sense
will carry you safely through any little
difficulty that may arise. Write to me as
often as you can; your letters are so nice.
| am very busy and very tired, for this
ball has cntailed so much work and fuss,
la 1..tt r.,
Rolf was also serious impediment to
my enjoyment Ever since | had helped
him with his kite, he had attached him
self to me, aud insisted on joining us in
all our walks, aud in spending the greater
part of his day with us. | was tolerably
certain in my own mind that this childish
infatuation excited Mrs. Markham's jeal-
ousy Until we had arrived she had been
Rotfs sole companion; he had accom-
panied her in her drives, harussed her
from morning to night with his ceaseless
demands for amusrmeuts, and had been
the secretly dreaded torment of all the
visitors to MarshIauds. except Mr.. Uaw-
try who was rather good to him.
His precocity, his love of practical jokes,
and his rough impertiucuce, made him at
fcud with the whole household; the ser
wants djsliked him, and were always
bringing complaints Of Master Rolf. be
licyc Judsou WAS fond Of HIM in a way,
but then she had had charge of him from
baby.
When Rolf began 10 desert the draw
ing room tor he nursery, Mrs. Markham
used all her efforts to coax him back to
her side, but she IA; Ght as we'll have spok-
en- to the wind. Rolf played with Joyce
ON the beach: he raced ncr mp and down
the little nlIlocks ia the orchards, or hunt
wi with her for wild flower, in he lanes
surrounded M1rsIlauds When the
children were asleep, he invaded my quiet
with requests to mend his broken toys or
join him in some game. | grew quite eX-
pert in rigging his new boat, and dressed
toy soldiers and sailors by the dozen.
Sometimes | was inclined To rebel at such
waste of time, hut | remembered that
Rolf had no playfcllOwS; il was better for
him to be playing spilIilins or go-bang
with me n the nursery than loungiug
liStlessly about the drawing room, listen
ing 20 growu-up peoples talk; n chiid's
natural life was better for its health.
Miss Chcrjton told me more than once
that people who came to the house thought
Rolf SO much improved. Certainly he
was not SO pale and fretful after long
morning spent on the beach in wadiug
knce-deep 10 sail his boat or digging sand
wells which joyce filled out of her bucket.
When he grew too rough or hosterous |
nlwavs called joyce away. and with Han
nan aud myself to look after them no
harm could come to the children.
grew rather fond of Rolf after a time,
and his company would not have been irk-
some To me. but for his tireSume habit of
repeating the speeches he had heard in
the drawing-room lie always checked
himSel, when he remembered, or when l
held up my finger, but the half sentence
would liuger IN my memory.
But this was not the worst. | soon
found out that anything told him found
its way into the drawing room; in fact,
Rolf was an iuveterate ChatIer-boN. With
all his good intentions, he could not hold
his tongue, and mischief was often the
result.
Ii was my habit TO teach the children
little lessons under the guise of a story,
sometimes true. sometimes a mere inyen-
ton. Rolf called them "Fcnny's auec-
dotes,n but l had never discovered an
anccdote about crossncSs.
One day | found myself being severely
lcctured by Mrs. Markham for teaching
her son the doctrine of works. AS
though we should be saved by our works,
Miss Feutour she finished, virtuously.
was too much puzzled TO answer; l
remembered that had induced Rolf to