Silverthorns

by Mrs. Molesworth

absolutely penniless, so that the poor thing, being delicate and nolonger young, died in great privation. And he left the property, whichwas not entailed, to a very distant cousin, hardly to be counted as acousin except that he had the same name. The legend is that his ghostwill never be at peace till Silverthorns comes to be the property of thedescendant of some female Osbert."

  "Do you know I never heard that story before? It is curious," said MrsWaldron thoughtfully.

  "But it's come all right now. Lady Mildred's a woman," said Ted, in hisusual hasty way.

  "On the contrary, it's very far wrong," said his father. "Lady Mildredis not an Osbert at all. Silverthorns was left her by Mr Osbert to dowhat she likes with, some people say. If she leaves it away, quite outof the Osbert line, it will be a hard punishment for the poor ghost,supposing he knows anything about it, as his regard for the family namewent so far as to make him treat his own child unjustly."

  "Is it certain that Lady Mildred has the power of doing what she likeswith it?" asked Mrs Waldron.

  "I'm sure I can't say. I suppose any one who cares to know can see MrOsbert's will by paying a shilling," said Mr Waldron lightly. "Though,by the bye, I have a vague remembrance of hearing that the will wasworded rather peculiarly, so that it did not tell as much as willsgenerally do. It referred to some other directions, or something ofthat kind. General Osbert and his family doubtless know all they can.It is not an enormous fortune after all. Lady Mildred has a smallincome of her own, and she spends a great deal on the place. It will bemuch better worth having after her reign than before it."

  "Any way she won't leave it to me, so I don't much care what she doeswith it," said Ted, rising from his seat, and stretching his long lankyarms over his head.

  "No, that she won't," said Mr Waldron, with rather unnecessaryemphasis.

  "My dear Ted," said his mother, "if you are so sleepy as all that youhad better go to bed. I'm not very rigorous, as you know, but I don'tlike people yawning and stretching themselves in the drawing-room."

  "All right, mother. I will go to bed," Ted replied. "Arthur and Noble,you'd better come too."

  "Thank you for nothing," said Noble, who as usual was buried in a book."I'm going to finish this chapter first. I'm not like some people Iknow, who have candles and matches at the side of their beds, in spiteof all mother says."

  Mrs Waldron turned to Ted uneasily.

  "Is that true, Ted," she said, "after all your promises?"

  Ted looked rather foolish.

  "Mother," he said, "it's only when I'm behind with my lessons, and Ithink that I'll wake early and give them a look over in the morning. Itisn't like reading for my own pleasure."

  Another laugh greeted this remark, Ted "reading for his own pleasure"would have been something new.

  "But indeed, mother, you needn't worry about it," said Arthurconsolingly. "I advise you to let Ted's candle and matches remainpeaceably at the side of his bed if it pleases him. There they willstay, none the worse, you may be sure. It satisfies his conscience anddoes no harm, for there is not the least fear of his ever waking early."

  Ted looked annoyed. It is not easy to take chaff pleasantly in public,especially in the public of one's own assembled family.

  "I don't see why you need all set on me like that," he muttered. "Ithink Noble might have held his tongue."

  "So do I," said Charlotte, half under her breath. Then she too got up."I'm going to bed. Good night, mamma," and she stooped to kiss hermother; and in a few minutes, Noble having shut up his book resolutelyat the end of the chapter, all the brothers had left the room, and thehusband and wife were alone.

  Mrs Waldron leant her pretty head on the arm of the sofa for a minuteor two without speaking. She was tired, as she well might be, andsomehow on Saturday night she felt as if she might allow herself to ownto it. Mr Waldron looked at her with a rather melancholy expression onhis own face.

  "Yes," he said aloud, though in reality speaking to himself, "we paypretty dear for our power of sympathising."

  "What did you say?" asked his wife, looking up.

  "Nothing, dear. I was only thinking of some talk I had with Charlotte--I was trying to show her the advantages of poverty," he said, smiling.

  "_Poverty_!" repeated his wife; "but nothing like _poverty_ comes nearher, or any of them,--at least it is not as bad as that."

  "No, no. I should not have used the word. I should rather have said,as I did to her, of not being rich."

  "Charlotte does not seem herself," said Mrs Waldron. "I wonder ifanything is troubling her."

  "She is waking up, perhaps," said the father, "and that is a painfulprocess sometimes. Though she is so clever, she is wonderfully youngfor her age too. Life has been smooth for her, even though we are sopoor--not rich," he corrected with a smile.

  "But is there anything special on her mind? What made you talk in thatway?"

  "She will be telling you herself of some report--oh, I dare say it istrue enough--that Lady Mildred Osbert is arranging to send this niece ofhers, this girl whom, as I told you, she is said to have adopted, toMiss Lloyd's. And of course they are all gossiping about it, chatteringabout the girl's beauty and magnificence, and all the rest of it. Afterall, Amy, I sometimes wish we had not sent Charlotte to school at all;there seems always to be silly chatter."

  "But what could we do? We could not possibly have afforded agoverness--for one girl alone; and I, even if I had the time, I am nothighly educated enough myself to carry on so very clever a girl asCharlotte."

  "No; I sometimes wish she were less clever. She might have been moreeasily satisfied."

  "But she is not dissatisfied," said Mrs Waldron. "On the contrary, shehas seemed more than content, she is full of interest and energy. Ihave been so _glad_ she was clever; it is so much easier for a girl withdecidedly intellectual tastes to be happy in a circumscribed life likeours."

  "Yes, in one sense. But Charlotte has other tastes too. She wouldenjoy the beauty, the completeness of life possible when people arericher, intensely. And at school she has been made a sort of pet andshow pupil of. It will be trying to a girl of fifteen to see a newqueen in her little world."

  "But--she need not interfere with Charlotte. It is not probable thatshe will be as talented."

  "That was one of Jerry's consolations," said Mr Waldron with a smile."It was rather a pity I happened to take Charlotte to Silverthornsto-night. It seems to have deepened the impression."

  "She only waited outside. My dear, we cannot keep the children incotton-wool."

  "No, of course not. It is perhaps because going to Silverthorns alwaysirritates me myself, though I am ashamed to own it, even to you. But toremember my happy boyhood there--when I was treated like a child of thehouse. It was false kindness of my grandmother and my grand-uncle. Butthey meant it well, and I never let _her_ know I felt it to have beenso."

  "Of course your uncle would have done something more securely for youhad he foreseen all your grandmother's losses. One must remember that."

  "Yes; but it isn't only the money, Amy. It is Lady Mildred's determinedavoidance of acknowledging us in any way. The cool way she treats meentirely as the local lawyer. She has no idea I feel it. I take goodcare of that. And then, to be sure, she never saw me there long ago!Grandmother never entered the doors after her brother's death."

  "No, so you have told me. I suppose Lady Mildred, if she ever gives athought to us at all, just thinks we are some distant poor relations ofa bygone generation of Osberts," said Mrs Waldron. "And after all itis pretty much the state of the case, except for your having been soassociated with the place as a child. I am always glad that thechildren have never heard of the connection. It would only have been asource of mortification to them."

  "Yes; and my long absence from the neighbourhood made it easy to saynothing about it. You will know how to speak to Charlotte when shetells you, as no doubt she will, about this new class-fellow. I wish ithad not happened, for even if
the girl is a very nice girl, I should notwish them to make friends," said Mr Waldron. "It would probably onlylead to complications more or less disagreeable. As Lady Mildred haschosen absolutely to ignore us as relations, I would not allow thechildren to receive anything at all, even the commonest hospitality,from her."

  "I wonder if the girl is nice," said Mrs Waldron. "She must be spoilt.I should be afraid, if Lady Mildred makes such a pet of her. Do youknow her name?" Mr Waldron shook his