"Those girls that mother has invited to finish their education at Sunnyside. They came yesterday, and the teachers, Mademoiselle Omont and Miss Archer, arrived to-day. And the girls don"t suit me--I suppose I am so accustomed to being an only child. I cannot tell you exactly why, but I haven"t been a bit myself since they came."
"A little bit jealous, perhaps," said Aunt Susan, giving a quick glance at Lucy"s pouting face, then turning away with a sigh.
"You will be surprised, Lucy," she continued after a pause, "when I tell you that I used to be fearfully jealous when I was young. It was my besetting sin."
"Oh, Aunt Susy, I simply don"t believe it!"
"You don"t? Then I will show you some day, when you and I are having a snug evening at the old Rectory at Dartford, a letter I once received from my dear father. He took great pains to point out to me my special fault, as he called it; and his words had a wonderful effect, and I went straight to the only source of deliverance, and by slow degrees I lost that terrible feeling which took all the sunshine out of my life."
"Tell me more, please, Aunt Susan," said Lucy.
"Well, you see, dear, I was not like yourself an only child. I was one of several, and I was quite the plain one of the family. I am very plain now, as you perceive; but I had two beautiful little sisters. They were younger than I, and Florence had quite a beautiful little face, and so had Janet. Wherever they went they were admired and talked about, and I was thought nothing of. Then I had three brothers, and they were good-looking, too, and strong, and had excellent abilities, and people thought a great deal about them; but no one thought anything about me. I was the eldest, but I was never counted one way or the other as of the slightest consequence. My people were quite rich, and Florence and Janet were beautifully dressed, and taken down to the drawing-room to see visitors; but I was never noticed at all. I could go if I liked, but it did not gratify anybody, so by degrees I stayed away. You do not know what bitter feelings I had in my heart, for they really were undeniably some of the most attractive children you could possibly find; and Florence was so witty, and Janet so delicate and refined and sweet in all her ways! I could not be angry with them, but I did think it fearfully unfair that so many blessings should be poured on their heads and so few given to me, for I was not even specially clever.
"Then I thought I would make a friend of my brother Roger. He was a very fine fellow, and for a time I did get into his confidence, and I was fairly happy. But he went to Rugby, and at Christmas he brought some of his school-fellows back with him, and they paid the most absurd attentions to Florence and Janet, and they snubbed me; and I suppose Roger, poor dear! was weak enough to be influenced by them, for he took no notice of me either, so you can just imagine what a bad time I had.
"Well, my dear, one day there came a letter from an old cousin asking either of the two girls, Florence or Janet, or myself, to go to stay with her in the country. She had a very nice house, and a pony and trap, and she could take us about and give us a good time. My mother was exceedingly anxious that the twins--I forgot to tell you that they were twins--should go, and she said so to me. She said they wanted change of air, as they were looking quite cooped up in our poky town. But I said, "I am the eldest, and I don"t see why I shouldn"t have the pleasure of going, as I also have been invited. I mean it is only fair to give me the first chance."
"Then she said, "I think that is quite fair, and you shall have the first chance, Susan;" and so I went.
"Florence and Janet were not a bit angry, poor dears! They kissed me and helped me to pack my things, and Florence offered me one of her prettiest necklaces, and Janet some wonderful embroidered gloves which had been given to her by Roger at Christmas. But I was too jealous to accept any of their trinkets, and I went away with a sore feeling in my heart. Ah, Lucy! that was a long time ago."
Aunt Susan paused. A spasm of pain crossed her face. After a time she said slowly, "I enjoyed myself for a week or two. Then came news from home. The fever which had been lurking in the town for some time reached our house, and the two beautiful little twins were smitten with it. And before I could hear again they were both dead. Had I given up my own way, and let them go to see my old cousin, they might have been alive now."
"But you--you might have taken the fever. Oh! I think it is fearfully sad; but how could you know? And you could not be blamed--you could not really be blamed," said Lucy with great earnestness.
"Perhaps not," said Aunt Susan, recovering herself on the spot. "And I do not mean to be morbid about it; only, at the time, my conscience troubled me, and your poor aunty had a very bad time. It was soon afterwards that my dear father wrote to me, and I shall always keep his letter. Since then I have never been jealous of any one, and I would advise you to lay my story to heart, Lucy, and to do your utmost to keep down the seeds of jealousy, for they make a man or woman miserable, and they do no good in the world."
Lucy did not know why Aunt Susan"s talk affected her so much. She still kept her hand on the old lady"s arm, and they walked slowly up to the house. As they were approaching it she said suddenly, "Now that I have seen you, I mean to do my very best. I know it is remarkably brave of mother to have started the school and to have the girls here, and I know I ought to help her, and not to be cross because her ideas are not my ideas. And I will try, and I will remember your story and what you have said, for you always suit me, and you always understand me, Aunt Susan.
But may I ask you one thing, one great favor?"
"What is that, my dear?" asked her aunt.
"If I find matters quite intolerable, may I come to you for a week to the Rectory at Dartford--just for one week? Will you invite me?"
"You have a hearty welcome, child. You know what it is like: soup-kitchens, mothers" meeting, coal-tickets, reading aloud to the children, rushing about from this place to the other trying to help those who cannot help themselves. It will do you good, Lucy, and of course you shall come."
CHAPTER III.
A GYPSY TEA.
Lessons were not to begin until the following morning, and the six boarders were feeling in consequence a trifle disconsolate. They did not know what to do with themselves. They had explored the place the day before. They had visited the kitchen-garden and the flower-garden, and the paddocks and the shrubberies and the lawns, and they had wandered down towards the river. There seemed to be nothing special to do. The tennis-lawn was not properly mowed for tennis, and anyhow the net was not out, and there seemed to be no croquet-ground anywhere. In consequence, there was nothing whatever to do but to pace up and down under the shadow of the trees a little way from the house.
Rosamund Cunliffe walked with Phyllis Flower, Jane Denton with Agnes Sparkes, and Laura Everett with her special friend and factotum, Annie Millar. They were all good-natured, kind-hearted girls, ready to make the best of things; but as they walked now, pacing up and down, Rosamund suddenly stopped, faced round, and addressed the rest of her companions.
"Well, girls," she said, "I must say that I think we are placed in a rather disagreeable position at Sunnyside."
"What do you mean?" asked Laura, opening her wide blue eyes to their fullest extent.
"Why, can"t you judge for yourself? That little Lucy Merriman is determined to be disagreeable to us. We cannot get her to make herself the least pleasant; whatever we do she interprets in the wrong manner, and how we are to keep the peace I don"t know. I am sure I don"t want to dislike her or be disagreeable to her; but she is at home, and we are strangers. She is exceedingly ill-bred, there is no doubt of that. Why should we put up with it? Ought we not at once to declare our independence, and to let her know that as we pay--or, rather, our parents pay for us--a very good sum for our education, she is bound at least not to make herself obnoxious?"
"Oh, I don"t think she is obnoxious," said Agnes Sparkes. "She is just a little bit jealous. I used to be jealous of a girl once. It is a horrid sensation."
"Oh, my dear!" said Rosamund slowly, stamping her foot in her endeavor to speak with emphasis, "it is absolutely ridiculous for any one to give way to those morbid feelings in these days. If her mother wished us to come here to be educated, I suppose she had her good reasons for it, and that Lucy should be such a goose is really past enduring."
"I quite agree with what you say," replied Laura in her quiet voice, "and my only remedy is this: don"t take the least notice of her."
"But that is not so easy when she pokes her disagreeable little face in at every turn."
"And her still more disagreeable little words," said Phyllis Flower.
"Now, Phyllis, don"t you make mischief," said Annie Millar. "You know perfectly well that you are cleverer than the whole lot of us put together, whether you like to acknowledge it or not."
"I am not a bit clever, and I always say so," was Phyllis"s response. "I have got far less than most people: no looks, no stature, no abilities.
No one need ever come to me for anything, for I have nothing to give, having got nothing for myself."
"You have one gift, dear," said Rosamund, looking at her kindly; "you are an excellent listener, and you can make as pertinent a remark as any one in the school. I maintain that I consider you clever, and you will prove my words before many terms are over."
"But the point now," said Laura, "is Lucy. We begin lessons to-morrow. I should say that Miss Archer is an exceedingly nice woman--in fact, she is vastly superior to most--and the French governess is very good, too.
They are both busy arranging our work for us; and of course we shall have masters innumerable, and several mistresses also, and we shall go to Dartford twice a week for lessons, so we shall be just as busy as bees. I think the only plan is to let Lucy alone."
It was while this conversation was going on, and the girls were standing together in a group, that Mrs. Brett, accompanied by no less a person than Lucy herself, appeared in view. Lucy shrank from the six girls who stood together under one of the big elm-trees, and she was about to loosen her hold of Mrs. Brett"s arm, but that good lady drew her forward.
"Now come, Lucy; don"t be silly. Now is your chance. I want to be introduced to those nice girls. Exceedingly nice they look, and pleasant companions they will be for you. Come and do your duty, my love."
"Oh, if only mother had such dignified manners!" thought the girl. She found herself yielding to Mrs. Brett"s commands, and in a minute was standing amongst the other girls, introducing one after another to the wife of the rector of Dartford.
"My dears, I am heartily glad to see you," said Aunt Susan in her cheerful voice. "I am Aunt Susan, or Aunty Susy, to all the world, and any one who comes to Dartford finds his or her way to my cosy little bower sooner or later. Lucy is a special friend of mine.--Aren"t you, Lucy?"
"You are my aunt, remember," said Lucy in a choking voice.
"She is her aunt, remember," said Phyllis Flower in a sort of mocking tone.
The other girls t.i.ttered. Mrs. Brett"s calm voice continued: "I am a very plain old woman; I have no youth to boast of, and no looks to boast of; but I think I have got a somewhat capacious heart, and it is amply willing to take you all in if you wish to come. Now, let me see. This is Wednesday. I think you will come to Dartford on Sat.u.r.day for lessons.
Will you all come and have tea with me? You shall meet my husband, who is a very jolly sort of man, and we can show you some of our curiosities, which we have collected from time to time in our scanty travels. We are precious poor, so you mustn"t expect anything but a very plain tea--bread and b.u.t.ter and jam; but you will have enough, and that is something, and you will see the inside of a plain working-man"s house."
"Oh, Aunt Susy! Not a working-man!" said Lucy.
"Yes, a working-man, my dear," persisted Aunt Susy. "He is a minister of the Gospel, and he works hard for his Lord; and he is very proud of his Master, and very proud of the service among his Master"s work-men.--So, girls, you can come if you like, or stay away if you like. We can all be very jolly together. Do you accept my invitation?"
"Indeed, we shall be delighted," said Agnes Sparkes eagerly. "What do you say, Jane?" she continued, turning to Jane Denton.
Jane Denton signified her approval with sparkling eyes, and the other girls followed suit.
"Well, that is settled," said Mrs. Brett. "You may call me Aunt Susy, those of you who like."