CHAPTER x.x.xI.
THE UNWELCOME RELATIVE.
Now that Jasper has found a place we can venture to leave him for a time and go back to the home which he had felt compelled to leave.
His step-mother felt relieved by his departure. It left her mistress of the situation, with no one to interfere with or question her authority.
How Jasper fared she cared little, or not at all. How he was likely to get along without money she never inquired, nor did she feel a twinge of remorse for her treatment of one who had been her late husband"s sole care and hope. It was enough for her that she had Nicholas with her.
Stern as she generally was toward him, she was weakly indulgent.
Whatever he wanted she gave him, if it were not utterly unreasonable.
She was afraid he would tire of the country and want to go away, and this led her to gratify him in his wishes, in order that she might retain him at her side.
Nicholas was not slow in finding out his power and in using it. He asked and obtained a horse for his own use, and later an elegant little carriage was ordered from the city, in which he used to drive around the neighborhood with the airs of a young prince. To others he might seem arrogant and conceited--to his mother he was only possessed of the proper spirit of a gentleman. In her eyes he was handsome, though in the eyes of no one else.
But perfect happiness is short-lived. In her new prosperity Mrs. Kent forgot that she had a brother who was not likely to reflect credit upon the family. She had not heard from him for years, and supposed he did not know where she was. But in this, as we know, she was mistaken.
One day Nicholas was standing on the lawn in front of the house, waiting for his carriage to be brought around from the stable, when his attention was drawn to a common-looking man who was standing by the fence and looking at him in what he considered an impudently familiar way.
Since Nicholas had become a young aristocrat he was easily made angry by such familiarity on the part of anyone of the lower orders, and he resented it at once.
"Why are you standing there, fellow?" he demanded, frowning.
The man neither seemed overawed nor angry. He only looked amused.
"Because I am tired of walking," he said.
"Then go somewhere else."
"Thank you, this suits me very well," said the man, smiling provokingly.
"It doesn"t suit me, though," said Nicholas, bristling up.
"Who are you?" inquired d.i.c.k, for it was he, with provoking nonchalance.
"Who am I? I"ll let you know!" retorted Nicholas, now very angry.
"I wish you would. That"s what I just asked you."
"I"m the owner of this place, and I warn you off."
"Oh, you"re the owner of this place!" said the stranger, laughing. "Do you own the road, too?"
"Yes," said Nicholas, "I own the road in front of my place."
d.i.c.k laughed again.
"You"re a young man, ain"t you, to be a landed proprietor. How about your mother? Doesn"t she own anything?"
"What do you know about my mother?" demanded Nicholas, a little nonplussed.
"More than you think for, young man," said d.i.c.k. "She used to go to school with me."
"Did she? Well, I suppose she couldn"t help it if there were low persons in the school with her."
"That"s good!" said the stranger, laughing heartily. "So I am a low person, am I?"
"You look like it," said Nicholas, insolently.
He expected the man would be angry, but instead he laughed more heartily than before.
Nicholas began to think he was crazy.
"Well, boy," he said, after a pause, "just remember that appearances are sometimes deceitful."
"I don"t think they are so in this case," said Nicholas, "but I can"t waste anymore time with you. There"s my horse coming around. I"m going to ride."
"Is that your team? It"s very neat, "pon my word."
"That"s nothing to you."
"Won"t you give me a seat? I"ve never been in this town before, and I should like to take a drive."
"Look here, fellow, you"ve got cheek!" exclaimed Nicholas.
"Have I?"
"Do you think I would be seen in such low company?"
"Why not? I"m a gentleman. If you are a gentleman, then I am, too."
"What do you mean? What have I to do with you?"
"A good deal," said the stranger. "I am your uncle!"
Nicholas gasped for breath. What! this low, common person his uncle? He would not credit it.
"That"s a lie!" he said. "You are trying to humbug me."
"Not so fast, nephew Nicholas," said d.i.c.k. "You can"t alter facts. I"m your mother"s brother. Didn"t she ever tell you of your Uncle d.i.c.k?"
Uncle d.i.c.k! Nicholas did remember that his mother had named such a person, and the uncomfortable apprehension dawned upon him that the stranger"s claim was well founded, after all. He kept silent, but flared at the stranger in a state of mental disturbance.
"I see you"ve heard of me," said d.i.c.k, with a short laugh. "Is your mother at home?"
"I believe so," said Nicholas, sullenly.
"I"ve come a long way to see her. Will you go in and tell her I am here?"