by Sophie May
CHAPTER XI.
AUNT MARY'S RETURN.
On the evening of the day after the juvenile party, a cab drove up tothe garden gate of Oak Villa, and Dora and Annie Maitland, who had beenon the look-out for some time at the window of an upper room, had thesatisfaction of seeing their kind preceptress, and her niece ClaraBeaumont, alight from it, receiving and giving at the same time thewelcome nod and smile of recognition. But here is the trusty Bridget,with her merry face beaming with gladness, and her voice almosttremulous with joy, for she has had rather a dull time of it while hermistress and Clara have been away; though Jane Somers, a young girlliving not far off from Oak Villa, came regularly to sleep at the house.
'Well, Bridget, and how have you been all this time? not idle, I can seeat the first glance,' said Aunt Mary, looking round at thebrightly-polished furniture and fire-irons.
'Oh no, ma'am, I don't think anybody can be idle at your house,' repliedBridget; 'and I have had plenty to do, for I have cleaned the house fromtop to bottom, and have taken care of the cat and the fowls. And oh,Miss Clara, the old hen has brought out such a beautiful set of chickensas you never seed afore; but I dare say you be too tired to come andlook at them now,' added Bridget.
'Yes, we are too tired now,' said Miss Livesay, answering for her niece;'we want to take off our wraps, and have some tea. Besides, you forget,my good woman,' added her mistress, 'that the chickens are now allhidden under their mother's wing, and she wouldn't suffer us to disturbthem.'
'Dear me, I quite forgot that,' said Bridget, as she busied herself inassisting in the removal of cloaks and shawls, and carrying off trunksand band-boxes; one of the latter of which her kind mistress told herwas for her, and contained a new cap and bonnet.
'Oh, ma'am, you are so kind,' said the pleased domestic; 'you neverforget anyone.' And she hurried away with her load, with a glad tearglistening in her eye.
It was quite true what Bridget had said about Aunt Mary--she was indeedkind-hearted and open-handed: but with all this she was not foolishlyindulgent. Her judgment was correct, and having made up her mind as towhat was the right course to pursue, she took pains to see her planscarried out. Often and often had she remonstrated with her sister, Mrs.Ellis, on her laxity of discipline, both with her children and servants;and sometimes she had ventured, though that perhaps was not very wise,to set their mutual friend Mrs. Maitland before her as a pattern formothers and mistresses. This, however, invariably produced some angryretort, or at least a flood of tears, and ended with a secretdetermination on the part of the elder sister to say no more on thesubject, but permit things to take their course; though she had made upher mind on coming home to do as Mr. Ellis had once suggested to her,that was, to receive Mabel as one of her pupils.
This was entirely with the idea of relieving her sister, and effecting areformation, if possible, in the character of her niece; though shealmost dreaded the introduction of such an element of discord into theirpeaceful and happy household. Mabel, we have seen, had a great disliketo her gentle cousin Clara, perhaps because she had heard her praisesoften sounded; and she disliked her Aunt Mary quite as much, though itwould have been difficult for her to have given a 'reason why,' if ithad been asked for.
'I shall hate them both, I know I shall,' said Mabel to her sisterJulia, on the morning of the day on which Miss Livesay was expected tocome to Camden Terrace. 'There will be lessons and work, lessons andwork, all the day long. I shall be miserable, I know I shall; and I'lltell mamma so, and beg of her not to let me go.'
'No, don't do that, Mabel; you will only make poor mamma unhappy, andpapa angry,' said the wise younger sister; and she added, 'I wish Icould go to Oak Villa. I like Cousin Clara very much, and Dora and AnnieMaitland too; I am sure you will find them very nice companions, all ofthem.'
'Oh yes, it's all very fine what you are saying,' said Mabel; 'but Iknow very well that you only want to get rid of me, and so does papa,for I heard him say so; and I think it's unkind and cruel of you both,'exclaimed the angry girl.
'Well, at any rate, you are not going very far away from us,' saidJulia; 'it is only a nice walk from Oak Villa to our house, so I andFreddy can come and see you often, and you can come to see us.'
Just then a cab was heard to stop at the door, and the dreaded lady andher niece Clara alighted, each with parcels in their hands; presents, nodoubt, to the small fry who had climbed up to the window to see who wascoming.
'Now don't look so cross, Mabel; don't let Aunt Mary see that you don'tlike to go to Oak Villa,' entreated Julia.
'But I shall let her see!' replied the perverse girl; 'and I _shall_tell her so, too--see if I don't,' she added, nodding her head; though,when she came into the presence of that good lady, she had not a word tosay for herself, such a charm is there in the manner of some people tooverawe presumption.
Mabel and Julia made their appearance in the dining-room, just after thefirst kindly greetings and affectionate salutations of the sisters hadbeen exchanged, and the same process had to be gone over with cousinsand aunt, the latter showing no difference whatever in the warm embraceof Mabel and Julia, though we well know the great difference there wasin her estimate of the character of the two girls.
'Well, my dear Mabel,' said Miss Livesay, after a little conference hadbeen held, 'so it appears your papa and mamma wish that we should becomebetter acquainted with each other. Shall you like to pay me a visit atOak Villa?'
Here was a grand opportunity for Mabel to display her boasted courage,and to speak her mind; instead of which, she only looked very sad, hungdown her head, and, rudely enough, made no reply; while her aunt said,with a smile:
'That is well; silence gives consent. So you had better go, my dear, andget ready, for I do not wish to keep the cabman waiting; and I have justa few words to say to your mamma. Clara and Julia will therefore goupstairs with you.'
All this was said kindly, but very decidedly: it was evident that therewas no appeal to be made, no authority to be questioned; and with hardlysuppressed passion and tears, the vanquished girl quitted the room withher sister and cousin.
'And now, my dear Ada,' said Miss Livesay to her sister, 'see what arethe fruits of your over-indulgence, or want of firmness! They are notvery lovely, are they? Will you not take your good husband's advice, andstrive against this constitutional weakness, which is so detrimental toyour happiness, to your husband's comfort, and to your children'swelfare?'
'I can't be always scolding the children, Mary,' replied Mrs. Ellis,peevishly. 'It isn't my fault, surely, that Mabel is so ill-tempered anddisobedient, and yet you and Arthur just talk to me as if it were.'
'And in a great measure, I think, it is your fault, my sister,' said thekind monitor. 'Children should be watched from infancy; tenderly caredfor in mind as well as body. Good seed must be sown then, and the littleweeds which we are apt to disregard, or what is worse, cherish, in ourfolly, must be rooted out while the soil is moist, and the root is notdeep in the ground. Never laugh at childish exhibitions of temper, norfor the sake of _peace_ give way to the doctrine of _expediency_,injurious alike to nations and to families.'
Here poor Mrs. Ellis interposed; she could never sit out a long sermon,especially one that she really could not understand. So she interruptedAunt Mary's profitable discourse by promising to try, when Mabel hadgone away, to be more careful for the future, though she candidlyadmitted that she did not know how to begin to make any change, as Mabelwas the only one of the children who gave her any trouble. And yet theweeds were growing up thick and strong in Master Freddy, who just thenput his head in at the door, the little ones being behind him, and allrunning to salute their aunt, and receiving from her a loving embrace,as well as the very pretty playthings which were spread out on the tablefor their acceptance and admiration. Nor had Mabel and Julia beenforgotten by their aunt; both a workbox and a writing-case were laidaside for the latter: those intended for her sister Miss Livesay had notbrought, thinking it unnecessary, as Mabel was to return with her to
OakVilla.
'Well, my dear Mabel,' said Aunt Mary, as the two girls entered theroom; 'so you are equipped and ready for a start, I see. I do hope youwill like your new mode of life, and your young companion's society.Clara, I know, will be delighted to have a companion in her visits toour poor people: and you, I trust, will soon learn to take an interestin them.'
There was no response to this kind speech from the unamiable girl; andwith the somewhat painful feeling on the part of Miss Livesay that shewas going to introduce into her hitherto peaceful household the apple ofdiscord, she rose to take leave, with the promise, however, of renewingher visit in the next week if all things went on well.
Mabel was quick enough to notice this speech: she would have known thatit had reference to herself, even if it had not been accompanied by asmile and a nod from her aunt; and the naughty pride in her heart madeher resent it, though she felt obliged to submit.
There were loving adieus from all but Master Freddy, who said to hissister, as she shook hands with him:
'Good-bye, Mabel; I'm glad you're going, you are always so cross withus.'
