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7 1919.
Digitized by Google
A HAPPY WOMAN
Digitized by Google
A HAPPY WOMAN
BY
AMY LE FEUVRE
AUTHOR OF *‘TOMINA IN RETREAT,” “THE MENDER,”
** DUDLEY NAPIER’S DAUGHTER,” ETC., ETC.
** The poy of the Lord ts your strength"
R.T.S., 4, BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON, E.C. 4.
1918
Digitized by Google
TO
MY SISTER CHARLOTTE
Digitized by Google
CONTENTS
BOOK I
HER BROTHER'S News . é
AN UNCOMFORTABLE HOUSE .
A ROW UPON THE LAKE.
SPRINGTIME ‘
A Day OuT
THE SECRET TROUBLE .
THE INVALID IMPROVES ..
A MAN’S DETERMINATION ;
A DIFFICULT MEETING . .
GRAHAM’S DEPARTURE . ;
A YOUNG VISITOR
“Too GooD TO Last”
COUSIN ANNA’s HEIR
A SUMMONS TO TOWN
BOOK II
. A MOVE TO THE COUNTRY
UNWELCOME NEWS . i é
MAKING FRIENDS. ; ‘
PAGE
II
24
4
57
72
88
104
118
135
149
164
182
197
212
227
244
261
Contents
IV. GRAHAM AND HIS WIFE . ;
V. TROUBLE AT THE HALL .
VI. AN EVENING TALK...
VII. Town LIFE AGAIN
VIII. GRAHAM’S VISIT ; ‘ :
IX. A Day OF SUNSHINE
X, THEIR FUTURE HOME
PAGE
275
290
306
322
336
35!
366
BOOK I
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER I
HER BROTHER’S NEWS
7. fire blazed away cheerfully in the grate,
throwing flickers of light across the dusky
room.
Sara sat in an easy-chair with her feet on the
fender, There was a quiet serenity and grace
about her attitude; her needlework was upon a
small table by her side. Just now she was idle;
her slender capable hands were clasped in her
lap, but her large heavily fringed grey eyes were
perplexed with busy anxious thought. |
Her surroundings, if not luxurious, were
essentially cosy and homelike. The carpet was
a thick Turkey, the leather chairs and large
Chesterfield couch drawn up on the other side
of the fire looked made for comfort. There were
two handsome bookcases, a piano, and a large
writing-table between two long narrow windows.
But the sporting prints on the walls, the pipe-
racks over the chimney-piece, and the scent of
tobacco in the room were evidences that this was
more of a man’s room than a woman’s, And yet
II
A Happy Woman
there were feminine touches in the gracefully
grouped flowers in glass bowls, and in the inde-
scribable woman’s impress on it all.
Sara herself was an attractive figure—not
strictly beautiful; but she had a bright lovable
face, which changed perpetually from grave to
gay; a face that one learnt to watch with in-
creasing interest; for it mirrored a happy and
beautiful soul. She had a way of twinkling her
eyes, and pulling down the corners of her mouth
when she was amused, and Sara had the gift of
humour in no small degree. Now she was very
serious, and a wistful look had crept into her soft
eyes.
Outside there was a distant rumble and roar
of motors and ‘buses. The street itself was a
quiet one, taxis occasionally dashed past the
house, but there was a continual tramp on the
pavement. In a few minutes she raised her head.
A taxi had stopped at the door; she heard the
click of a latch-key inserted in the lock, for her
door was open; then she heard voices and steps
coming along the hall. For an instant she rose
from her chair, and stood irresolute ; then with a
quick-caught breath she reseated herself. And
the next moment a young man and a very pretty
girl stood before her.
“Here we are, Sara! Give us your bless-
ing!”
Sara was on her feet again, she held out both
IZ
Her Brother’s News
hands to the girl; then stooping, for she was
fully a head the taller of the two, she kissed her
warmly.
“We shall be sisters now, Milly. I am so
very glad.”
“And so am I,” said Milly, prettily. ‘I have
always admired you so much; and Arnold and |
have been saying that you must always live with
us. I couldn't be happy if I felt that I was
turning you out of your home.”
Sara winced ; then she laughed.
‘We need not talk about that,” she said;
“but I thank you for your thought of me.”
Then Arnold drew the most comfortable chair
towards the fire and seated Milly in it.
“We'll have tea down here, eh?” he asked.
‘“‘ Just as we do when we want to be cosy.”
“I’m afraid Lacy has laid it in the drawing-
room with unusual pomp and splendour. You'll
hurt her feelings dreadfully if you make her alter
her arrangements,”
Milly laughed.
~ “You're always in such bondage to Lacy ;
now, in our house our servants do what we want ;
we don’t do what they want!”
Sara looked at the girl reflectively.
“Yes,” she said after a pause; “that’s the
orthodox way, of course; but fifteen years of
faithful service makes one’s heart tender.”
“Oh, well,” laughed Arnold, “let us come
13
A Happy Woman
along up, then. It is in honour of you, Milly, so
we won't grieve the poor old soul!”
They went upstairs into a pretty drawing-
room. A sweet-faced elderly woman was putting
the finishing touches to a round table wheeled up
to the fire.
“Here, Lacy, is the future Mrs. Arnold
Darlington. Don’t you think I’m a lucky man ?”
Lacy looked up and almost made an old-
fashioned curtsey. |
“T wish you both well, sir,” she said sedately ;
but she did not look overwhelmingly glad as she
spoke. |
‘I’m sure Lacy doesn’t approve of me,” said
Milly, when the old servant had left the ‘room.
“She never did, not from the first day I came to
see Sara here.”
Arnold laughed happily. Lacy’s opinion was
of small importance to him at this present moment.
Sara took her place at the tea-table, and talk
flowed on in an easy fashion. Milly was slightly
excited by her new position, and full of plans for
the future.
“We're going to be married next month,”
she announced. “ We've talked it all over and
settled the day, and my dress, and everything.
We’ve known each other for two years, and
there’s nothing to wait for.”
“Nothing in the world,” responded Arnold
fervently; “and we're going to make a flying
14
Her Brother’s News
visit to Paris, and then will settle in here straight
away.” |
“ You take my breath away with such rapidity,”
said Sara; ‘and what do the parents say,
Milly ?”
“Arnold is coming to dinner to-night, and
then the whole thing will be settled,” said Milly,
her eyes roving round the room as she spoke.
“Sara dear, don’t you think the curtains rather
. shabby here? I love blue ina room. Pale blue
Roman satin would be lovely. What do you say,
Arnold?”
« Anything you like,” was the answer of the
reckless lover. ‘I suppose the house ought to
be done up a bit. You'll see to that, eh,
Sara?”
“Oh,” said Milly, eagerly, “you must let me
have my say in it. I love getting new furniture
and having fresh paint and papers in a house.”
“Yes, it will be your right,” said Sara, look-
ing across at the girl with a friendly smile; “and
I ¢an’t promise to supervise things, for I shall
be away.”
“Away?” gasped Arnold. “Why, Sara,
you've never left me. Where can you go?”
“ Ah!” said Sara, with a laugh and mysterious
nod, ‘that’s my secret !”
Her brother looked at her wonderingly, but
Milly claimed his attention; she did not seem
surprised by Sara's statement, and the young
I5 2
A Happy Woman
couple did not stay long after tea. Milly invited
Sara to dinner that evening, but she declined the
invitation.
“Tt will be better for Arnold to meet your
parents alone,” she said, and she saw the relief
in Milly's face as she spoke.
When they had left the house, Sara walked
downstairs again to the smoking-room, and sat
down at the writing-table to answer a letter which
had come by the morning post, and which had
been in her thoughts all the day. She sealed it
and stamped it, then stood up, and clasping her
hands behind her neck, looked at herself in the
low mirror over the fireplace.
‘You're strong and comfortable looking,” she
murmured, giving her reflection a little nod of
approval; ‘‘not very young or flighty; and
you've learnt, or you ought to have learnt, to
have an unlimited amount of patience and for-
bearance to draw from when required. And you
must buck up and do what thousands of other
women are doing, for you have most assuredly
burnt your boats behind you now.”
Then she added, with a sudden inspiration—
‘Tl run over and see Miss Grafton. I won’t
sit brooding and mooding, and fermenting the
feeling of injury and neglect !”
To say was to do with her. She swiftly went
upstairs to her bedroom, and wrapping a fur
cloak around her sped down the stairs out into
16
Her Brother’s News
the cold foggy street. Across the square she
knocked at a house in a terrace.
The door was opened, and a minute later she
was shaking hands with a bright-faced little old
lady upon an invalid couch.
“My dear Sara! You whirl in like a fresh
breeze. Isn’t my room very warm? My dragon
will have the windows shut to-night! And the
fire is big enough to roast an ox. Now, what is
your news?”
‘What I have expected for a long time.
Arnold and Milly are engaged.”
‘What fools young men can be!”
“ Now, don’t be nasty. She really is devoted
to him, and he to her. They have a lot to learn,
but they will learn it like every one else.”
“ And when is the wedding coming off?”
‘‘Almost immediately. In a month’s time.
There is no reason why they should wait. Arnold
has a handsome income, and she, you know, has
plenty of money.”
“IT hope we are not going to lose you.”
‘In about three weeks,” said Sara, slowly,
“T shall be in the wilds of Westmorland, living
with a lonely widow in the capacity of a com-
panion and help.”
“ My dear girl !’’
Little Miss Grafton looked genuinely shocked
and disturbed.
She cast her memory back to the day when
17 B
A Happy Woman
the rising young barrister had come to the oppo-
site house to live with his sister. She had known
their old home in Berkshire; their father had
been a small country squire there; and Sara had
hunted with him four days a week during the
winter, and had house-parties of young friends
all the summer. She had paid occasional visits
to town after she had been presented at Court,
and had always had plenty of admirers amongst
her friends. But since her father’s death, and
the break-up of the old home, Sara had with-
drawn herself from much social gaiety.
Mr. Darlington’s affairs were found to be in
a shocking state after his death. The estate had
to be sold to pay off the accumulated mass of
debts, and Sara came to live with her brother
with only an income of fifty pounds a year which
had come to her through her mother. She and
her brother had been all in all to each other till
the usual thing happened. Millicent Conway had
come into their lives; and Arnold had quickly
lost his heart to her.
‘But, my dear girl,” said Miss Grafton,
slowly, “is it necessary to cut yourself aloof
from your brother? Does he wish it?”
“Iam afraid I do.” Sara’s head was raised
in the air, and a heightened colour was in her
cheeks. ‘It never does for sisters-in-law to live
together, and Milly and I have hardly a thought
- in common.”
18
Her Brother’s News
“But aaybody—a shop girl—could become a
companion help. It is really a waste of material
for you to sink to that. With your culture and
education you could do so much better. How
did you hear of this ?”
“T saw the advertisement in the paper. It
attracted me. I don’t know why. I have spent
my days in taking care of a helpless man. I shall
miss my vocation if I do not take care of some-
body. And I wanted something at once. And
though I answered other advertisements, this was
the only one that had a satisfactory result. She
required one reference, and my clergyman’s proved
quite sufficient. The advertisement ran like this
—I know it by heart—
‘‘* Wanted at once by lonely widow; a gentle-
woman as companion, also to help in light house-
hold duties. Must be patient, capable, and
resourceful.’
“I like the word ‘resourceful,’ don't you?
There’s an adventurous sound in it! Well, I
answered it, and this is the reply.”
She took a letter out of her pocket—
“Mrs, Laird has received Miss Darlington’s
application, and begs to say that she requires a
young woman of good birth to wait upon her, as
she is a great invalid. Her duties would be light ;
but though Mrs. Laird keeps two indoor servants,
she expects her companion to bring her comfort
and cheerful society. She does not wish a young
1g
A Happy Woman
or flighty girl, and she wants some one who is
good-tempered and forbearing. If Miss Darling-
ton is not happy in the country she had better
not come.’”
Miss Grafton gave a little laugh.
“It does not sound an attractive post.”
“It does tome. I love making people happy
and comfortable. And I want hard things to
tackle. I have been leading a very luxurious
lazy life.”
‘“‘My dear Sara, you are always busy. You
have a district and a Sunday-school class.”
“Yes,”
For an instant Sara's bright face shadowed.
“T shall feel leaving them. But I am panting
for a fuller life, Miss Grafton. And my oppor-
tunity has come.”
“Shut up with a cranky invalid in desolate
country,” exclaimed Miss Grafton. “You had
much better come and live with me.”
Sara looked at her friend with tenderness in
her eyes.
‘What would your dragon say?” she asked
lightly. ‘No, Miss Grafton, you are too happy
and resourceful in yourself to need me. You have
taught me to be happy, I want to pass the teach-
ing on. I don’t know why my heart goes out to
the lonely and sad ones of the earth ; but it does.”
“ And what remuneration do you get for this
post? That is, if you think fit to tell me.”
20
Her Brother’s News
“Forty pounds a year. A nice little addition
to my income. I would have gone if she had
offered me twenty.”
_ There was silence. Then Miss Grafton said—
‘“ And what are Lacy’s views ?”
‘“‘T have not told her yet.”
“Surely you have made all these arrange-
ments very prematurely ?”
‘‘] knew what was coming. I wanted to have
my plans ready, because I cannot stand any dis-
cussion and argument about a course which I am
determined to take.”
Miss Grafton gave a funny little shake of her
head.
‘‘A stout heart, and a strong will, are more
the characteristics of a man than a woman.”
Then sudden tears came to Sara’s eyes. She
knelt down by Miss Grafton’s couch, and kissed her.
“Oh, you don’t know what~a wave of home-
sickness and desolation has come over me to-day.
I’m so alone, so unwanted, a superfluous woman
on the face of the earth. If I can’t comfort and
help this lonely widow, I don’t know what to do
next!”
Miss Grafton looked at her with moisture in
her eyes. Then she said softly— —
“*The- works that I do, shall ye do also.’
And those works cannot soon be finished.”
Sara got up.
“T must go. And I know this is the time for
21
A Happy Woman
your evening meal. Shall I ever be such a little
saint as you?”
She left the room as a tall hard-featured
maid entered, the maid who had lived with Miss
Grafton all her life, and who would have laid
down her life for her. When she got home, she
went up to the smoking-room again. She had
letters to write, and accounts to make up; but
she was not left long in peace. Lacy came in to
make up the fire, and lingered purposely.
‘May I speak to you, ma’am, please ?”’
Sara wheeled round her chair.
“Why, Lacy, what a lugubrious face! What
is the matter ?”
“T’m only looking ahead, ma'am, and think-
ing of the time when a new mistress will be head
of this house. And if you will be going to make
your home elsewhere I hope you'll take me with
you. I’ve been with you since you were ten
years old, and I can’t take to new ways and faces
at my time of life.”
‘“ But, my dear Lacy, you know you dote upon
Mr. Arnold, and he will be the head of the house,
not his wife. You must stay with him, you really
must. You look after his comforts like no one
else, and I am going to stay in a house where it
would be impossible to have you.”
“But couldn't I be your maid, ma’am? You
are going away. I guessed you would. Ladies
always take their maids with them on visits.”
22
Her Brother’s News
Sara began to laugh at the idea of a “com-
panion help” arriving with her maid. And then
she sobered down, and talked soothingly and per-
suasively to Lacy, getting her to promise to
think of making no change for the present.
When Lacy eventually left her it was dinner-
time. She dined alone, and her thoughts were
sad. She did not wait up for her brother’s return,
which she usually did, but went early to bed.
And so ended an eventful day and epoch in
Sara's life.
23
CHAPTER II
AN UNCOMFORTABLE HOUSE
|? was pitch dark. The air was cold and frosty.
Sara wrapped her fur coat tightly round her
~ as she stepped out on a tiny platform of a very
deserted-looking railway station. One porter
with an oil lamp swinging in his hand went to
the van to get her luggage. She had missed
a connecting train on her journey North, and
instead of arriving at her destination at six o'clock,
had arrived three hours later. Very weary she
was, and yet cold and nipping as the air was,
she welcomed it gladly after the long hours of
waiting in stuffy waiting-rooms with coke fires,
and being cooped up in carriages with fellow-
passengers who insisted upon having the windows
shut.
“Ts anybody or anything waiting for me?”
she asked the porter.
“Ay, there’ll be a mon outside,’ was the
laconic reply.
She groped her way through the tiny book-
ing-office to the road beyond. Through the
24
An Uncomfortable House
darkness a high dog-cart with a restive horse
could be dimly seen.
The driver raised his cap to her; in a few
moments she was perched up by his side, and
the porter hoisted up her luggage behind. Then
they set off at a smart canter along a hard frosty
road.
“Do you want another wrap?” the driver
asked her.
His voice was low and gruff, and Sara hardly
caught the words.
“T am quite warm, thank you. I hope I have
not kept you waiting. I missed my train at the
junction. The London train was very late.”
“So I heard.”
The man’s independence of manner made
Sara resolve on silence. Up and down hills,
passing dark shadowy firs, then out on a lonely
bit of moor, and then they began to climb a steep,
wild hillside. The darkness began to lift ; clouds
rolled away, and a silvery moon appeared. Sara
looked about her. The cold clear air exhilarated
her. She saw that they were climbing up round
the side of a mountain, a deep ravine fell away
from them on one side; below was the gleam of
a shining winding river ; then suddenly they took
a sharp turn, and Sara made an exclamation of
delight. Such a scene of surpassing beauty was
before her that she knew she would remember it
for the rest of her life.
25
A Happy Woman
The moon was shining across a lake. The
bare brown branches of larches and firs that
bordered its banks were frosted, and looked like
delicate lacework against a silver sky; the hills
on the farther side stood like sentinels guarding
a treasure. Wild and weird it was in the moon-
light, almost foreign with the wonderful woodland
growth around it. Then a flock of wild ducks
flew across with their shrill cry, and owls hooted
as if in response to their appeal.
Sara in her excitement touched the driver's
arm.
‘Stop, just stop fora moment! I have never
seen anything like this ! ”
The driver pulled up without a word. In
perfect silence Sara gazed upon the scene below
her. She felt as if she had been transported to
another world. The taciturn driver beside her,
the steaming horse, the flickering lights on either
side of them from their lamps, and the calm
serene moon making a silver road across the
rippling waters of the lake. Was it only a few
hours back that she had left foggy, bustling
London? It seemed impossible. She drew a
long breath of enjoyment.
“Oh,” she cried impulsively, “I wish we
could stay here for ever! It is enchanting!
Exquisite |”
Then the driver spoke in tense, short
tones.
26
Sa est PS a SS a Oe ee
An Uncomfortable House
“The finest scenery in the world would never
content a soul.” .
“It would content mine!” said Sara.
He whipped up the horse; a thick-wooded
road soon hid the lake from their view.
And Sara began to ponder upon his tone and
words.
“A superior man,” she mused; “possibly a
friendly farmer. I will try and find out who
he ts.”
Presently she asked—
‘“* How much farther is it? Where does Mrs.
Laird live ?”
“We shall have to get round to the other
side of the lake, about five miles yet.”
“And are—are you in her employ ?”’
How she could have asked the question Sara
afterwards wondered. He answered shortly—
“Tl am her son.”
“T beg your pardon. It was very kind of
you to come to meet me.”
He made no reply, and Sara relapsed into
surprised silence. She asked no more questions.
Somehow she had imagined the “lonely widow”
to be absolutely without kith or kin. A son had
not entered into her calculations. Soon they
began to go downhill, the road seemed inter-
minable. Sara’s back began to ache, and she
was conscious how very tired she was. When
at last they stopped at a gate, she gave a long
27
A Happy Woman
sigh of relief. Her driver gave a peculiar whistle,
and in a minute or two an old man holding a
lantern appeared. He opened.the gate and
walked by the horse’s head up a short drive.
It was impossible to see any house. No lights
flickered in the windows. Sara stumbled down
with cramped stiff limbs; she was ushered into
a gloomy entrance-hall. One dim and smoky oil
lamp hung from the middle of it.
A door was pushed open, and Sara found
herself in an untidy, comfortless-looking room.
The fire was dying out; the remains of a meal
were on the table. A brown collie rose from the
hearthrug, and stuffed his nose into his master’s
hand; then he inspected Sara, and after sniffing
all round her, returned to his former position.
Mr. Laird made an exclamation under his
breath, then he strode across the passage; and
Sara heard him say in a peremptory fashion—
“Where is Mrs. Thwaites? Is there no
supper? Do you know the fire is out? Come
and light it at once.”
Then an untidy sleepy-looking girl appeared
at the door with an armful of kindlings. Mr.
Laird followed her and said—
“Will you excuse me, Miss Darlington? I
must go up to my mother. She will not settle
to sleep until she has seen me.”
Then he disappeared. Sara threw off her fur
cloak, and with it her weary languor.
28
An Uncomfortable House
“We are very late,” she said to the girl. “I
suppose you had given up expecting us. What
is your name ?”
“Izzie. Yes, miss, I dropped right off to
sleep. I was up soon after four this morning.
And Mrs. Thwaites went off to bed. She had
the toothache cruel.”
“Now I'll light up that fire. Can you bring
us any supper? Is there a kettle boiling?”
Down on her knees went Sara, and with some
coaxing, and the bellows to assist, she soon had
a cheerful blaze. Izzie left the room, and returned
with a cold ham, a currant loaf, and a hot steak
pie, the latter very much burnt.
Sara saw her clapping the things down on
the table, not attemptmg to clear the plates and
dishes that were already there.
“’Twas Mr. Pitt, he came in, and brought
two other gen’man to see the cows what are goin’
to be sold,” said Izzie in a grumbling tone; ‘and
I meant to have washed up, but I sot down and
went bang off, and never woke till master called!”
“ Well, look here,” said Sara with some spirit ;
“you go straight off to bed. I'll see to every-
thing. Run along. It’s much too late for you
to be up.”
Izzie looked surprised and delighted.
‘Won't master scold ?”
“No. I will be responsible. Run along.”
The girl went.
29
A Happy Woman
‘And now the help begins her work!” mur-
mured Sara to herself.
She was roused to energetic action. The
untidy room had definitely called to her. Within
an incredibly short time she had swept and tidied
up the hearth, cleared away all the dirty dishes,
and laid the table according to her notions of
fitness. She put loose books into the bookcases ;
hung upon the pegs in the hall two coats and a
fishing-basket. Then she went into the kitchen,
and foraged about till she found some coffee.
The kettles were boiling; she boiled some milk,
made some coffee, and was in the act of putting
it upon the table, when Mr. Laird came back.
He looked surprised at the altered aspect of
the room, and for a moment he and Sara con-
fronted each other. Both found food for thought
in their respective looks. Sara, in her well-cut
tailor brown-serge gown, her soft dark hair coiled
loosely over her head, and her bright smiling
face, seemed to have brought already with her
a sense of comfort and cheeriness that had been
lacking in this house for many a long day. Mr.
Laird was an enigma to her. He was a thin
wiry man, not very young, and yet, now his thick
overcoat was off, looked alert and _ singularly
upright. His close-cropped head of hair was
already streaked with grey at the temples. He
was dressed in rough, well-cut tweeds, and his
hands—Sara found herself glancing at them—
30
An Uncomfortable House
were well kept, and those of a gentleman. If
she had seen him in London like this she would
have taken him for a thorough man about town,
he had no signs of a country rustic in his look
or bearing. But when she caught his gaze she
started, for the look of weary sadness in his
eyes she had never witnessed in a man’s face
before.
The house appeared to be a second-rate farm-
house. The man was a well-born, fastidious
gentleman.
‘Tam sorry you should have had dich a poor
welcome,” he said; ‘“‘but this is how we live.
Mrs. Thwaites and Tae run the house, and they
are both incompetent but good-tempered and
faithful.”
“T have sent the poor girl to bed, and Mrs.
Thwaites has toothache. You see, I have begun
to interfere already. Do you like coffee? There
is some here.”
They drew their chairs up to the table, and
for a few moments there was silence between -
them. Sara was really hungry, and the hot coffee
warmed and comforted her. She felt now ready
for anything, though it was just eleven o'clock,
and she had been travelling since eight o'clock in
the morning.
“Will Mrs, Laird want to see me to-night ?”
“Qh no, She has settled off to sleep now.
Your room is next to hers, but she will not
31
A Happy Woman
disturb you. I am sorry—I ought to have shown
you your room.”
“It does not matter,” said Sara, smiling; ‘I
have found my way to the kitchen, and refreshed
myself with some hot water there. Now may I
ask if your mother is ill?”
‘She has had great sorrow in her life,” said
Mr. Laird slowly; “it has preyed upon her mind,
and she needs rousing, but she will not be
managed—lI warn you of that.”
“Is she always upstairs, or does she come
about the house ?”
‘She was downstairs last year, but pedis a
bad chill the beginning of this winter, and has
been afraid to venture out of her room since.”
Sara looked sober. She wondered if she
were going to spend all her time shut up in a
close and airless bedroom.
Mr. Laird caught her look, and said—
‘T think I had better tell you that six young
women have come and gone during this winter.”
Sara gave a little nod.
‘You want to put me on my mettle,” she
said; ‘“‘but 1 am not superior to the average
woman. If I can help or comfort your mother
in the least degree, I will stay. If I cannot, |
shall give way to another, who may be more
successful.”
No more was said. But after their meal was
over, Sara insisted upon clearing the table. At
32
An Uncomfortable House
first Mr. Laird offered to help, but she saw he
was unaccustomed to do it, and she said—
“ This is woman’s work.”
“We have two servants,” he said; “leave it
to them.” |
“Is this the only sitting-room ?” Sara asked.
‘‘There is another one, but it is rarely used.
I eat and drink and smoke here—and read when
J can.”
“Do smoke now. I am accustomed to sit in
my brother’s smoking-den.”
“If you don’t object, I will.”
He took out his pipe, and sat in the big
leather armchair by the fire. His eyes watched
her quick deft movements.
“T always think a room is so uncomfortable
with the food left about,” she said; ‘‘and I am
sure Izzie will be thankful to have it done for
her.”’
She took out the plates and dishes into the
kitchen, then with a few touches she gave the
room a tidy, comfortable look.
“ Now I will say good night. Don’t trouble
to come upstairs. I shall find my way.”
But he insisted upon showing her the way to
her room. It faced the staircase, and was fairly
large and comfortable, though the cold was
intense. She noticed a door which evidently led
into Mrs. Laird’s room, but it was closed. Just
for a moment she felt a wave of home-sickness
33 C
A Happy Woman
come over her. She would have given worlds
then to find herself in her own luxurious
room, with a blazing fire, and Lacy waiting
upon her.
“When to-morrow comes, I shall feel more
comfortable,” she assured herself.
And kneeling down by her bedside, she held
communion with the Master she loved and
served.
Sleep came to her quickly, and she did not
wake till Izzie appeared the next morning with a
large can of hot water and a cup of tea.
‘Me and Mrs. Thwaites were having ours,
and I thought I’d bring you one, because you
cleared away the supper last night for me,” Izzie
said gratefully.
“ That’s very kind of you,” said Sara.
She drank her tea, then slipped on her warm
dressing-gown and looked out of her window.
It was grey and cold, the house evidently stood
on an easy slope. At the bottom of a small lawn
was a belt of firs, beyond them a steep descent
of wood and undergrowth, and then the lake
stretched away calm and still. The hills in
the distance were shrouded with the morning
mist.
Then her eyes travelled inwards round her
room. Her small bed faced the window, which
was broad and low and had a deep window-seat.
On one side was her dressing-table, on the other
34
An Uncomfortable House
a writing-table, against which was drawn up a
cushioned wicker chair. There was a curious
old-fashioned bureau in one corner of the room,
the upper half of which held some books behind
glass doors.
Sara inspected these and found them chiefly
to consist of theological and religious works, and
a few volumes of Scott's poems. Two of
Dickens’s stories were the only books of fiction
there. Thick crimson serge curtains hung from
the window, and a crimson drugget was under
foot. The furniture was of good old-fashioned
mahogany, the pictures on the walls were of the
early Victorian type.
“Tf I had a fire,” she thought, “I should be
thoroughly comfortable! But if it remains as
cold as this, I shall not stay longer in my bed-
room than I can help.” -
She dressed herself quickly, longing to get
out of doors and explore.
Though she had been a Londoner for some
years, she had a passionate love for the country.
The sense of quiet free space outside, the absence
of any noise except the twittering of birds, and
soughing of the wind in the trees, filled her soul
with delight. It took her memory back to morn-
ings like this when she had ridden with her
father after the hounds, when the fresh keen
morning air came to her like nectar, and sent
the blood rushing through her veins, till she felt
35
A Happy Woman
ready to do and dare anything. She came to
breakfast with bright eyes.
Mr. Laird hardly looked at her, he seemed
absorbed in thought; and they had a very silent
meal together.
Sara was feasting her soul upon the view
through the low casement windows. The sun
was struggling through dense masses of grey
woolly clouds, and touching the distant hills with
streaks of light and shadow. Then blue sky
"appeared and reflected itself in the lake below.
“Qh,” thought Sara with joy, “what will it
be like when summer is here ?” ;
Mr. Laird, moving from the table, was almost
startled by her vivid brightness.
‘You have not seen my mother yet ?”
“No; I am waiting till she sends for me.”
‘She likes her breakfast taken to her after
we have finished ours. She will tell you the
order of things. I shall be out all day to-day
and shall not be home till six or seven.”
Sara thought that his comings and goings
would be a matter of indifference to her. She
felt that he considered her an inferior sort of
being to himself, and she rather resented it.
Taking his hint she went out to the kitchen,
and asked for Mrs. Laird’s breakfast-tray. Mrs.
Thwaites, a fat untidy-looking woman, looked up.
“You're the new young lady,” she said with
a little wheezy sigh. ‘They come in streams
36
An Uncomfortable House
and generally leave before their month. And
I’m fair sick of telling where everything be!
The tray’s over there, and the bread and butter
on that table. She'll like a bit of toast made.
You can do that off the dining-room fire, and I'll
poach an egg and throw ina bit of bacon. She
takes tea, and you get the cups and saucers from
the chiny pantry on the left of you.”
About ten minutes later Sara climbed the
stairs, tray in hand. She knocked at the bed-
room door next hers, and then opened it. She
was agreeably surprised by the size of the room.
Two big windows faced her. There was a fire
in the grate. A big four-post bed stood on one
side. There was a round table with a green
cloth in the middle of the room on which was
piled a number of books and papers. And in an
easy-chair by the fire in a warm wrapper sat
Mrs. Laird. Her hair was white, her com-
plexion sallow, and her eyes dark and restless.
Yet she was a handsome woman still, and bore
the impress of a gentlewoman. Sara met her
sharp keen gaze with great serenity.
‘“Good morning, Mrs. Laird. I hope I am
not late with your breakfast, but the first morning
things are strange to me.”
She had with her quick eyes seen a small
round table by the bedside upon which she
placed the tray, then lifted it in front of the
invalid.
37
A Happy Woman
“You look strong enough,” said Mrs. Laird.
“ That is one of their excuses, their health suffers
from the climate. I am weary of seeing fresh
faces. The young ones make love to my son;
the old ones complain that the loneliness of this
place gets upon their nerves. What will be your
excuse, I wonder.” |
“To get away?” queried Sara, with a little
laugh. ‘Oh, I shall go if I can’t do you any
good—if I can’t make you happy !”
“ Happy!”
There was unutterable scorn in the tone.
“Do you think I have engaged you to make
me happy? Nobody in the wide world could do
that. Happiness and I are as far apart as the
North is from the South. What could my son
have written to make you imagine such a thing ?”
“TI did not know the letter I received was
from Mr. Laird, I thought it was from yourself,”
said Sara with surprise. She reminded herself
of the “comfort and cheerful society” she was
expected to bring, but wisely said no more.
Mrs, Laird looked at her breakfast with an
invalid’s querulousness.
“IT don’t feel inclined for anything, but you
can leave me now. There is a bunch of keys
over there. Go down to the kitchen and give
out from the store cupboard the stores that will
be needed for the day. I never leave the stores
unlocked. It will be in your charge, and you
38
An Uncomfortable House
must replenish the things as needed. Consult
with Mrs. Thwaites about meals. I want you to
undertake the housekeeping; she is a very fair
cook, but has no head, and prefers to carry out
orders given to her. I will ring when I want
you. And you will have to look after Izzie, she
is lazy and careless and not very clean, but she is
Mrs. Thwaites’ S niece, and an orphan, so we keep
her on.’
Sara departed, glad to — some details of
what she was required to do. And she found a
good deal to employ both head and hands that
morning. She went up later to help Mrs. Laird
dress, and then she read the newspaper to her,
but she could not persuade her to leave her room.
In the afternoon Mrs. Laird had a nap, and for
an hour Sara was off duty. She escaped from
the house, and made acquaintance with the
garden and small farmyard attached to it. Old
Samuel, the one outdoor servant kept, was groom
and gardener and general farm help. He gave
her one bit of information, and that was that
Mr. Laird was agent for a very big property
that lay on the other side of the lake belonging
to a Sir Malcolm Ferris.
Mr. Laird came home about half-past six that
day. He took off his outdoor boots, and then,
tired as he was, slipped softly up to his mother’s
room. A strange sound and sight awaited him,
The room was in firelight; his mother sat back
39
A Happy Woman
in the shadow of a screen placed between her
and the fire. Seated on a low chair in the fire-
light was Sara, a guitar was slung round her
neck. The scarlet ribbon made a bright spot of
colour. She wore a very simple black velvet
gown, but the lace collar and sleeves were of old
Mecklin lace, and she was singing in a sweet —
contralto some simple little pathetic songs.
There was a rich lilt in Sara’s voice that
appealed to all who heard her sing, She had
the gift of bringing to her audience both tears
and laughter.
She was finishing a song now, and her tone
was softly gay.
‘So boy and girl sat side by side
Their differences forgotten,
For life is short, and time is sweet
When first love is begotten.”
She laid down her guitar as she finished her
little song. |
‘“‘We are having some music,” she said
brightly,
“So I hear,” said Mr. Laird, with great
gravity, and Sara slipped out of the room.
40
CHAPTER III
A ROW UPON’ THE LAKE
HEN mother and son were alone, Mrs,
Laird said fretfully—
“She’s a very new broom! But they all
begin so well.”
Her son shook his head. There was an
amused gleam in his eye.
‘‘No, mother; three have informed me the
first morning at breakfast that it was not what
they expected. She has not done that yet.
What a pretty voice she has!”
“So she seems to think herself. She insisted
upon my listening to her. But so far I must say
she knows how to bring the sense of comfort and
order with her. Do you notice how tidy my
room is? She wants me to go into her room
to-morrow, whilst she and Izzie have a clean
out. She is full of energy and reform, but it
won't last.”
“She has brought you a pretty nosegay of
red berries and leaves.” 7
“Yes, but they give me no pleasure.”
A heavy sigh followed.
AI
A Happy Woman
Mother and son had half an hour’s chat
together. Then a tempting little supper-tray
appeared. Sara brought it, and when a quarter
of an hour later she came to the dining-room, she
found Mr. Laird ready for his evening meal.
He had lost his touch of reserve. Both of
them chatted together in an easy unembarrassed
manner. Then when Izzie came in and removed
the cloth, Mr. Laird took out his pipe, and when
she had left the room, he said—
“I wish you could try to get my mother
downstairs, Miss Darlington. There is no reason
why she should not venture. The change of
atmosphere would do her good.”
‘‘She speaks as if it were impossible. She
seems to imagine she might be worried with
visitors. Have you any ?”
“You can imagine not many!”
“Ts there any real reason why Mrs, Laird
should not meet people ?”
He took his pipe out of his mouth, and looked
at her. Was this audacity, or the result of a
keen observation, he wondered. He had never
had such a question put to him before.
Sara quietly waited for his reply.
“Why do you ask such a question?” he
asked.
‘*‘ Because I want to help your mother, I
see she has something on her mind; is it a
delusion? I was singing a little song of a tiny
42
A Row upon the Lake
girl’s talk with her mother about her dead father,
and she stopped me with agony of tone and
gesture—
““« Never mention a girl child to me!’ she
cried. ‘For one moment I thought I was free
from the haunting thought of her !’
“*T am sorry,’ I said.
“<«Sorry!’ she cried. ‘You sang that song
on purpose! You arecruel! Do you think my
punishment is not already greater than I can
bear?’ Then she saw my astonishment, and
said no more.”
“ My mother has grown morbid,” Mr. Laird
said slowly. ‘She has had a great sorrow. I
have told you so. You must bear patiently with
her, and try to get her from thinking too much.”
“ Ah!” said Sara, ‘‘ that is a hard task. But
I will do my best. And now I think it is time I
went up toher. I shall stay with her till she is
in bed; so I shall not come down again. Good
night.”
Mr. Laird sprang up, held open the door for
her, and when she had gone, tumbled back into
his seat again. |
“She is angry, because I won't tell her,” he
muttered. ‘“ Well, there is plenty of time. I’ve
never told any of her predecessors. But she is
different to any of them. Can’t think why she
takes such a post. It’s like old times—to see a
woman of that sort opposite one at table.”
43
A Happy Woman
Upstairs Sara was finding Mrs. Laird difficult
to please. She was very irritable, and nothing
that Sara did was right.
“I'm tired of trying to train young women to
my ways. It's only Graham's whim that I should
have some one about me. Now, don’t hurry me.
I suppose you are like the rest of them, wanting
to get down and make yourself pleasant to him.”
For one moment an angry spark shot from
Sara's eyes, then she said with extreme quiet-
ness—
“I wished Mr. Laird good night before I
came up. You must not say such things to me,
Mrs. Laird, not until I deserve them. I have
been too much accustomed to men to take any
special notice of your son. If we are to live
happily together, you must believe that I am a
single woman by choice, and am far too content
to be such to ever wish to try to alter my state.”
“One of these rampant suffragettes, I sup-
pose!”
“No,” said Sara, laughing; “I emphatically
am not one of them. And now will you let me
brush your hair?”
She talked away quite pleasantly. Her gentle
deft ways soothed the old lady. When she was
comfortably in bed enjoying what her son called
her “nightcap,” Sara said—
“Would you like me to read you the evening
’ Psalms before I leave you ?”
44
A Row upon the Lake
“Why should you? I burnt my Bible and
Prayer-book long ago, and all the pious books
which I possessed. I am not a hypocrite, and if
there is a God, He has treated me so inhumanly
that I never wish to see His Face.”
Sara was shocked, but she did not expostulate.
“Tl have my Prayer-book in the next room;
please let me read to you.”
She opened the door into her room, and came
back with the book in her hand.
Mrs, Laird said no more. In a soft, reverent
voice Sara read the evening Psalms. She made
no comment on them, and Mrs. Laird did not
speak again.
Then Sara went to —T room, and occupied
her time by writing a letter to her brother.
‘*My DEAREST ARNOLD,
“ Here I am as far from town seemingly
as Kamschatka is! But oh, the beauty of the
scene from my window! I have just had a peep
out. Do you know we're in the heart of the lake
country, a lake is down below me framed with
blue hills, and the moon is on it now, and the
hoar frost makes the woods like fairyland! My
dear boy, don’t give me a pitying thought.
All my desires and hopes and energies and
machinations are centred in an old lady, who is
in the next room to me. I am going to be her
physician, nurse, and friend, all rolled into one.
45
A Happy Woman
You know how I adore old people, so rest assured
I am having a good time. I am given carte
blanche to manage her household, and I have
two very good-natured and inefficient servants to
deal with. We live in a solid square granite
house, but it has its redeeming points, mullioned
windows, oak beams across the lower rooms,
and is a genuine fourteenth- century manor
house.
“Mrs. Laird’s son, who lives with her, is
agent to a big landowner near us. They are
gentle-people, and I am at present quite content
with my enterprise. Good-bye, old boy. I know
you live in the clouds, but Millie will be with you,
and I hope that Lacy makes you comfortable.
‘‘Ever your own sister,
“SARA.”
She sat for a moment after writing this letter
with her cheek in her hand. Her eyes grew very
soft and tender.
‘‘ A soured embittered sorrowful woman,” she
said to herself, “and more behind than I am
allowed to know. How I hope I may bring her
comfort !”’ |
Comfort of body Sara certainly did bring her
employer from the moment she entered the house.
In a few days her room was a picture of dainty
freshness.
The whole house was the better for Sara’s
46
A Row upon the Lake
presence. She did not scold Izzie for her untidi-
ness and want of thoroughness in her cleaning.
She simply tidied and cleaned herself, until from
very shame Izzie learnt to do better.
Every evening when dusk fell Sara played
and sang to Mrs. Laird, but she always laid aside
her guitar when Graham Laird entered the room.
She did not know that he often crept up
quietly and sat on the top stair of the old staircase
outside, listening for some time before he opened
the door.
Except at meal times, they did not meet much ;
and Mrs. Laird was quite content that it should be
so. Sara read to her and talked to her, and Sara
was a very good talker. She had travelled, and
had met a good many interesting people. She
produced some easy fancy-work which she per-
suaded Mrs. Laird to work at. She herself began
to make chintz covers for the shabby couch and
chairs in the bedroom.
Shopping by post was a new experience to
Mrs. Laird; she began to take interest in the
patterns and parcels, and was almost bright whilst
opening and discussing them. But Sara soon
found her black moods of gloom more frequent,
as she became accustomed to her. There were
days when she would not utter one word, and
when she could with the greatest difficulty be
persuaded upon to take her meals.
“Why should I eat?” she exclaimed suddenly
47
A Happy Woman
one day. ‘Why should I try to prolong my
miserable life? Am I of any use to any one in
the whole wide world ? Would not Graham shut
up the house with glee and go back to his former
world feeling like an escaped prisoner if I were
only out of the way. Prisoner! It is I who
ought to be a prisoner. I should have felt better
had they made me suffer as I deserved! ”
Sara found the best way was to ignore such
speeches as these, but they made her think.
One afternoon she found her way down to the
lake. It was a still bright day in February. To
her surprise she came upon a boat lightly tied to
a post outside a boathouse. She had often rowed
on the Thames with her brother, and seeing the
calm stillness of the water, a longing seized her
to go out in it.
The boat was swaying up and down, the
gentle lap of the water against its sides seemed
to invite to her to venture. In another moment
she had lightly jumped in, unmoored it, and taking
up the oars, began to row out with long easy
strokes.
She was absolutely happy, and gave herself
up to the enjoyment of her surroundings. Exer-
cise kept her warm, and the hills with their
wonderful lights and shadows reaching down to
the water’s edge fascinated her. Time slipped
away, and then suddenly she was aware of a
hoarse shout in the distance.
48
A Row upon the Lake
She pulled round and saw two men calling to
her from the shore. For a moment she felt
guilty, and imagined that she had no right to
be in the boat; then she looked up and saw a
thick roll of black cloud coming towards her from
over the hills. At the same moment a sudden
wind bore down upon the lake, and in a few
minutes more the waves were tossing her up and
down in sudden fury.
She set her teeth, and turned back in the
direction of the shore. She had heard of these
sudden squalls that swept across inland lakes, and
knew she would need all her wits and Strength to
return in safety,
Happily the wind was driving her in the
direction she wished to go, but occasionally it
would veer round, and to her excited imagination
seemed like some demon determined to upset her.
The boat tossed up and down as if it were on an
angry sea. Waves began to wash over the boat
and into it, and at last one broke Over her,
Drenched to the skin, she shipped her Oars,
then felt under the seat, and to her relief found a
big can, with which she instantly began to bale
out the water. When she could she took up her
oars again. Twice she thought she was going to
be upset. Still she laboured at her rowing. The
shore seemed to recede instead of becoming
nearer. Her hands were blistered, her breath
came in great gasps. Gradually her strength
49 OD
A Happy Woman
began to fail her. But Sara’s will was strong,
and she would not give in to being beaten. She
saw the men watching her anxiously; one had
a rope ready to fling, and that gave her fresh
courage. As she slowly approached them, she
heard a whizz and a hiss through the air, and
a small coil of rope fell neatly into the boat. She
saw that one man had got hold of the other end.
Without any hesitation she made her end of it
fast to the painter. A sense of security came to
her, but she did not slacken in her rowing, and
though the waves were now dashing into the
boat, she did not stop to bale out the water.
And at last she came to shore driving her boat
with a dash against the rough stone pier. The
next moment she was being helped out of it by
Graham Laird, and she sank exhausted to the
ground. Another man was by Graham's side,
and it was he who spoke first—
“ Now, don’t have hysterics! Don't spoil your
courage! I couldn't have fought through better
myself, and Graham and I are accustomed to
squalls !””
Sara looked up a little indignantly—
“TI am only breathless. You must have
mercy |” |
Graham said nothing, he was occupied in
fastening the boat to its moorings. When his
task was done, Sara was able to get Upon her
feet.
50
A Row upon the Lake
He looked at her.
“The quicker you get home the better, for
you are drenched. It’s a mercy we caught sight
of you before you had gone too far out! If you
had asked me, I would have warned you against
trusting the weather to-day. I had better intro-
duce my friend, Colonel Fleming, to you.”
Sara looked at Colonel Fleming with a little
laugh,
He was a square, sturdily built man, with fair
hair and blonde moustache, his face was tanned
with an outdoor life, and when Sara laughed, his
eyes twinkled.
“Have you been accustomed to hysterical
women ?” she asked. “I am not one of them.
I’m afraid I took out the boat on the impulse of
the moment. I did not know or care who owned
it. These wilds make one do and dare any-
thing !”’
She turned and made her way up the little
lane which led to the house. The men accom-
panied her, but as they reached the hall door,
Graham turned into the yard to see to something.
‘‘T am coming in for some tea,” said Colonel
Fleming ; “I hope you are going to give it to
us. Graham Laird and I are very old chums, I
moved up here to be near him. I’m farming my
own land—about three miles off, that’s all. You
haven't been here long ?”
“No,” said Sara with reserve, feeling that
51
A Happy Woman
Colonel Fleming was oddly communicative. “You
will excuse me, I must change my wet things.”
“Of course, of course. Hope you won't take
cold. I’m quite at home. Don’t mind me.”
Sara vanished upstairs, She was feeling ©
shivery and shaken by her experience. But
when she had got into dry clothes she felt better,
and went into Mrs. Laird’s room before going
down to tea. She told her of her misadventures,
for she always tried to give the invalid all details
of her walks abroad.
When Mrs. Laird heard that Colonel Fleming
was downstairs, she said—
“That man is too ridiculous in his adoration
for Graham. He worries him to death by always
hanging round.”
“T thought they were friends.”
‘So they are, or were, but you can have too
much of a good thing.”
“ Hasn't he a wife ?”
‘‘He had; but he had to divorce her. I
am thankful we have no wives in the neighbour-
hood. I never have a visitor; and if one did
come I should not see them. Go downstairs and
give those men their tea, and then come up to
me again.”
So Sara went down in her russet-brown serge
gown. Her pink colour and bright eyes made
her look unusually fresh and girlish.
“You are evidently none the worse for your
52
A Row upon the Lake
wetting,” said Colonel Fleming. ‘ Do you know
that several rash boatmen have been drowned in
a squall like the one we had this afternoon ?”
“I will profit by my experience,” said Sara,
sedately, “and not venture boating again until
the weather is settled.”
“Tell me when you want to use the boat,”
said Graham; “and then I shall be able to tell
you whether it is safe to venture. Storms sweep
down very suddenly from our hills.”
“Yes, I was ignorant and foolhardy,” acknow-
ledged Sara; ‘“‘but how delicious it was down
there before the storm came on! You seem
framed in a little world all to yourself, I loved it!”
“How strange is the variety of human
nature!” said Colonel Fleming. ‘I should be
bored to death unless I were fishing. To row
aimlessly about in a boat would be dull work to
me, No object in it!”
‘ You are a sportsman, I suppose ?”
“TIT suppose I am, though I pride myself on
being a working man now, don’t I, Graham ?”
They talked away; Graham Laird showing
himself in quite a different light as he and his
friend discussed things together. He was brighter
and keener than Sara had ever seen him before.
Then a message came to him from his mother
through Izzie saying that she wanted to see him
at once. He left his tea unfinished, as he
promptly obeyed the summons,
33
A Happy Woman
Colonel Fleming gave his head a comical
little shake as he looked across at Sara.
‘“A man of one idea, he is. It’s just his
mother. Awfully good son, isn’t he?”
‘“'Yes,” assented Sara.
“So glad you're a cheerful soul. He wants
cheering in this hole! Personally I believe in
cheerfulness—it’s essential to body and soul. I’m
a bit of a philosopher in my way. I’ve knocked
about in different parts of the world, and gone
under the hammer as I call it, and I’ve learnt this
much, that one is bound to be hammered sooner
or later—beaten gold, you know! And bad
though the time may be, it passes. It is bound
to pass. The trick is to extract as much enjoy-
ment as you can. Get the honey out of the dead
carcase, like that chap in the Bible—Samson,
wasn't his name? That’s what I tell Graham.
He’s been under the hammer, Miss Darlington,
for fifteen years, some of the best years of his
life, and his mother, poor soul, is likely to give
him a good many more years of it still. But he’s
got to clench his teeth and be cheerful. I keep
him at it! We did some game shooting when
we were out in India together. Did you know
he was in the woods and forests there? A good
appointment; but he chucked it and came home
directly his mother was in trouble. And having
been boss over a pretty big district, things go
hard with him now when he has to knuckle
34
A Row upon the Lake
under to one of these petty chiefs as I call them.
Not that Malcolm Ferris is a bad chap, but he
has rather a swelled head, and imagines his agent
a bailiff.”
He paused for breath. Sara looked thoughtful.
Then he went on—
‘So cheer up the old lady, Miss Darlington,
and you will cheer him up. It’s his dark time,
but it will pass—as I say—it will pass.”
“ Yes,” said Sara, with shining eyes, “and if
we remember Who wields the hammer as you
call it, we ought to do more than simply endure
it!”
“ Quite so—my old mother—bless her soul—
taught me these things when I was a boy, soaked
me in them—and they've all come back, I’ve
lived to see them come true. Get him to church,
Miss Darlington, It’s only three miles off, quite
a nice walk. And the parson’s a friend of mine,
lives his religion out—you know what I mean ?”
They heard Graham’s approaching step.
Colonel Fleming nodded at her. |
‘‘Thought you were a good woman. Do your
job thoroughly, and you'll have the thanks of two
people for it!” .
Sara wondered what he meant. Her heart
warmed to this short sturdy little man. She felt
glad she knew him. Though he was plain in
features there was something extremely attractive
in his happy eyes and cheerful voice.
55
A Happy Woman
And when she went up to Mrs. Laird’s room,
she carried with her an extra amount of cheeri-
ness. She was stimulated afresh to bring happi-
ness to this lonely woman. But she very naturally
wished to know what was the nature of her
trouble, and how it had taken such complete and
masterful possession of her spirit.
56
CHAPTER IV
SPRING TIME
6 Mi first Sunday had been so wet that there
was no question of church.
The next week Sara asked at breakfast how
far the church was.
“I should like to go, if I may. It doesn’t
seem Sunday to me without church.”
“ To tell you the truth, I never like the horse
out on Sunday. I give him one day’s rest a
week, poor brute! I work him pretty hard the
remaining six.”
“ But I’m a good walker; and should enjoy it.”
“You would lose your way, unless you went
round by the road, and that would be a good five
miles. It’s barely three across the hills.”
“ T suppose you wouldn't be able to come too,
to show me the way ?”
In another woman this might have been
coquetry; but Sara was so frank and straight-
forward in everything she said and did that
Graham knew she simply meant what she said.
“I might possibly,” he said; “ but I generally
sit with my mother on Sunday morning.”
37
A Happy Woman
“Then never mind. Give me a few directions,
and I will find my way. But I should Jike
to go.”
An hour later Sara, wrapped in her thick
tweed coat and skirt and furs, was ready to start.
Graham joined her in the hall. She saw he had
changed into a navy blue suit.
He gave a short little laugh as he met her
eyes.
“T haven't done this for many a year; but
my mother has spared me, and I'll sit with her
this afternoon instead. Now then, we shall have
to step out.”
They skirted the grounds, then turned their
back to the lake, and before very long were
treading a rough sheep-track over the hills. The
air was fresh and bracing, and the sun was shining.
Sara’s firm easy tread showed that she was,
as she said, a good walker.
“| have been walking-tours with my brother.
I love it.”
“ How did you know we had a church near
us ?”
“Colonel Fleming mentioned it.”
“ T guessed as much.”
There was amusement in his tone.
“Fleming is a queer fellow. He’s the last
man in the world whom I should have counted on
making a good farmer; but he’s quite enamoured
with his farm, and isn’t doing badly.”
58
Springtime
‘TI should think he has a happy nature,’
Sara, slowly.
“He's been through trouble. His wife ran
off with another man. It was very dreadful,
and the affair has left its mark on him, He's a
born optimist, that’s what he is! And he likes
to take a hand in everything going. You'll see
him reading the lessons in this small church—he's
a good Churchman.”
“T love to see people take their troubles
courageously,” said Sara. “It sends the same
thrill through me that gallant fighting does against
a superior foe.”
“T’m afraid you have not much sympathy for
_my poor mother, then. She is one of the crushed
ones on the earth. Life is very hard on some.”
“Oh, I was not thinking of your mother,
indeed I was not! Of course I do not know her
trouble; but she is physically weak in body, and
that always tells against one.” :
“ Do you think you will be able to stay with
her ?”
“T will stay as long as she wants me,” said
Sara, quietly.
“TI don't feel like giving my mother away to
any one who Is here to-day and gone to-morrow ;
but she seems to have taken an extraordinary
liking to you.”
He smiled a little, and added—
‘She told me to come with you this morning.
39
said
A Happy Woman
‘I want her to settle down with us,’ she said,
‘and she won't do it unless she finds a church.
I know her sort!’ So I’m to show you the way
to-day, and then you can have every Sunday
morning for church-going |”
“That's very kind of her,” said Sara, with
twinkling eyes. She wondered if Mrs. Laird’s
secret was to be disclosed, but Graham seemed
purposely to wander from the point.
Then Sara said very gravely—
“Your mother is right, Mr. Laird, I could
not be happy here if I never went to church. It
helps the spiritual part of one’s life so much,”
“T have no spiritual part in my composition,”
said Graham, lightly; ‘‘sd it doesn’t trouble me.
I believe in God as our Creator, but then I take
it that He shows Himself in all His works, and
doesn’t require to be imprisoned in a small build-
ing to reveal Himself to His creatures.”
“Yes, I know some people believe they :can
worship by themselves anywhere; but I can’t.
The Bible teaches one differently.”
“Do you see that small village tucked away
down there?” said Graham, pointing in front of
them to a valley in the indentation of two hills.
“That is Torry Fell, where our church is, and
also the nearest shops. Now look over that line
of hills, do you see the smoke rising from furnaces?
That is our nearest town. Have you ever lived
so far away, before, from all human beings ?”
60
Springtime
“No. I do not think I have; but it is a
very pleasant change from London. I am country
bred and born, so no wonder my heart goes back
to it.” 3
She added after a little silence—
“T think I shall often come up on these hills. —
I love the short springy turf, and the boulders of
rock with their crannies full of moss and fern and
stonecrop. I suppose the heather comes out in
the summer ?” |
“There is not much on this hill, but even here
it is dangerous, so don’t be too venturesome.
Mists come on suddenly, and so do storms. The
lake must have taught you that. It’s easy to
miss one’s way, and there’s a sharp side to most
of these hills, where rocks and precipices
abound.”
“IT suppose shepherds live on them. What
is that odd-looking little hut tucked under that
overhanging rock?”
“We won't go past it. Old Reuben Cleave
lives there with his daughter. He’s a herb doctor
—the country folk have great faith in him, and
some of them come tramping out here from the
town. He's a queer old man—seen better days,
I fancy. Some say he went through a medical
course at one time.”
“ How desolate for his daughter | ”
“She's close on fifty, and lame. They're
happy enough. I lend her books occasionally ;
61
A Happy Woman
but they have a great dislike to strangers, espe-
cially ladies. People do get queer when they live
much alone. I’m inclined to myself. Fleming
considers he helps to keep me sane.”
“But you have work,” said Sara, feeling
touched by this little bit of confidence; ‘‘ nobody
need be dull or lonely when they have work
to do.”
“That's true.”
He caught his breath.
‘‘That’s where my mother is at a disad-
vantage.” |
“Qh,” said Sara, briskly; “she and I are
going to be very busy. We have just started
making rugs. We shall surprise you by our
industry soon.”
“TI congratulate you. When the warmer
weather comes you must get her out. I’m a
great believer in fresh air.”
“She seems to have a terrible shrinking from
it,’ said Sara.
“Yes, every winter she gets worse. But I
hope you'll overcome her dislike.”
They tramped along; then they wound their
steps down to Torry Fell, and arrived at the
church just as the bell had stopped tolling.
It was a small grey stone building, and had a
very fair congregation of working people in it.
One sweet-faced woman sat with two children
on each side of her, and Sara rightly conjectured
62
Springtime
her to be the vicar’s wife. The service was
simple and hearty. Colonel Fleming read the
lessons and the vicar preached a sermon on the
text, ‘‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.”
He was an earnest and eloquent preacher.
The “first thing” in life was his theme, and
when the service was over and Colonel Fleming
joined them in the churchyard, Graham said—
“T like your parson. He’s a man. A pity
there are not a few more like him.”
‘There are plenty of them,” said the cheerful
little Colonel, “only they’re scattered broadcast
over the world, and the heathen get some of the
best. Well, Miss Darlington, haven’t you en-
joyed the walk? I wish my house was on your
way, I’d ask you in to have some refreshment ;:
but I’m a mile and a half away in the other
direction.”
“TI came to show Miss Darlington the way,’
said Graham.
“Hope you'll show her it another Sunday,”
said Colonel Fleming.
Graham made a slight movement of dissent,
and after a little further talk he and Sara
returned home over the hills. They had a very
silent walk back. Sara was quite happy in
following her own thoughts ; she started, when
Graham said at length— 7
“You look very happy. [I’m afraid I’m
rather unsociable, I have grown so.”
63
A Happy Woman
_ “Why should we talk if we have nothing to
say ?” said Sara, laughing. ‘“ Yes, I am happy;
the sun and air are delicious. We have been
brought a little nearer our unseen Kingdom this
morning, and I haven't a care in the world! I
am glad when I am away from your mother to
be able to bottle up the outside sunshine and
take some of it back with me to her room.”
Then seeing a shadow fall over his face at
the mention of his mother, she added—
“ And I am looking forward to the spring so!
I feel sure I shall be able to get her out; and
then she will be brighter, I know.”
“It’s to be hoped she will.”
When they reached home they found Mrs,
Laird plunged into one of her moods of gloom.
Not even the company of her son that afternoon
removed it. Sara pitied him when she went
upstairs to relieve him, for he looked careworn
and sad, but he was always very silent when his
mother was extra difficult to deal with, and Sara
wisely left him alone.
The next day Mrs. Laird was a little brighter.
Sara generally had an hour’s walk in the
afternoon. When she came back Izzie met her
in the hall in floods of tears, and when asked
what was the matter said the “ Missis” had
been so angry with her that she had terri-
fied her. :
“She rang her bell, and I went up and put
64
Springtime
more coals on the fire, and I some’ow stumbled,
and caught hold of the manty shelf, and a little
chiny cup and saucer fell off, and broke into
smithereens! She got up out of her chair and
sweared at me, and raised her stick to strike at
me. I never seed nobody in such a fury before!
She said ’twas the only things she vallied in the
*ouse. And I telled her I were sorry, but ‘twas
no good; and then she began to shake and
tremble, and then she give me notice to leave,
and I’ve just comed downstairs !”’
Sara tried to cheer the girl by telling her she
would intercede for her; and then she went
upstairs and found Mrs. Laird leaning back in
her chair, looking very white and exhausted.
She looked up at Sara when she came in, and
her eyes were full of a haunting horror.
“T’ve broken out again!” she said, with a
pitiful little cry; ‘‘after fifteen years and an
eternity of remorse, I find my temper is not yet
under my control. It’s just a chance you didn’t
come in and find Izzie stretched dead at my feet.
I nearly struck her, but I remembered—oh, I
remembered !”
Sara hardly knew what to say or do. She
just knelt down and kissed the worn and
haggard face.
“Never mind!” she said soothingly. “Izzie
is unhurt, and we all lose our tempers sometimes.
What was it she broke ?”.
65 E
A Happy Woman
“I¢ was the last thing Dorrie gave me—her
last birthday present. And it is destroyed. I
suppose even the comfort of that is to be denied
to me! Oh, I wish I could die, and end it
all.”
‘] wish you would tell me your trouble,”
said Sara, softly, “‘and then we could talk about
it together, and see if some comfort could not be
had.” |
Mrs. Laird shook her head. Her brief fit of
passion had left her quite exhausted. Sara left
her, and soon returned with a tray on which a
dainty little tea had been laid. Mrs. Laird
needed some coaxing before she took anything,
but she was persuaded to eat at last, and felt
much better after it.
Then Sara had to go downstairs and comfort
Izzie. Mrs. Thwaites was the only unruffled
one. Nothing ever upset her equanimity.
“If Izzie did get sharp speaking ’twill do her
ood, She’s never had a stick broken across
her back, like my feyther did to all of us when
we were children.”
When Graham came home, Sara said nothing
to him about the small tempest that had arisen,
but she fancied his mother must have done so, as
he was peculiarly silent and absorbed during the
evening meal.
Two or three evenings afterwards Sara was
reading the evening Psalms as usual, when for
66
Springtime
the first time Mrs. Laird made a comment upon
them.
‘I wonder you're so fond of those Psalms.
They're simply Eastern songs of hate or love.”
“Oh no, no,” said Sara, eagerly and earn-
estly. ‘‘ They may have been sung in the
Temple worship, but they were the heartfelt
experience of one of the Saints. He poured out
his soul in them. I think the one golden thread
that runs through them is the unswerving trust
and confidence in God. David had a terribly
sad and difficult life, and he made many mistakes ;
but his faith never failed, and God was in all his
thoughts.”
“ David never sinned beyond forgiveness.”
“None of us can do that, but he did sin
grievously. Look how he killed a man because
he coveted his wife!” |
“He never killed him with his own hands,”
said Mrs. Laird, quickly and feverishly. ‘He
had no blood-stain upon 4zs hands,”
“T think the way he did it was as bad as it
could be, for he acted like a coward; but he
repented and was forgiven.”
Mrs. Laird shook her head rather sadly.
“Sin brings its own punishment,” she said.
“Tt is more than a life for a life; that would be
easy to bear.”
Sara puzzled over these remarks. But for
the time she remained unenlightened.
A Happy Woman
The short days now began to lengthen; the
bare brown branches of the trees swelled with
bud. In the garden a few straggling daffodils
peeped out through the long grass. Sara asked
if she might take the garden in hand. Colonel
Fleming came in one afternoon, and found her
struggling with an overgrown flower-bed, now a
mass of thistles and weeds.
‘That is man’s work,” he said, shaking hands
with her.
Sara laughed, and took off her straw hat,
fanning her heated face with it.
“It isn’t Samuel’s work. I have as good a
muscle in my right arm as he has any day! He
told me so yesterday—
“¢The horse and the trap and the ’arness
and the cattle, not to speak of the yards and
sheds, and the vegetables to be tilled, is
mor’en I shall manage; flowers is ladies’ fancies.
If so be as they wants to grow ’em, why, let
‘em do it, says I!’ So I’m doing it, you
see!”
“T could send you round a boy who lives at
my gate,” said the Colonel. “ His mother is
looking out for a job for him. Say the word and
I will do it.”
“But I can’t do that. I am neither the
master nor mistress here.”
“You can do anything you abe in this house,
I’m pretty sure!”
68
Springtime
Sara shook her head, and Graham joining
them at this moment was appealed to by his
friend.
“Of course if you can send round a lad I
shall be delighted for Miss Darlington to set him
to work. The fact is, I haven’t cared for the
garden, and I’ve let it go. Boy labour is scarce
about here.”
“Come over and see him yourself, Miss
Darlington,” said Colonel Fleming. ‘I'll give
you tea.”
“Thank you, but I must be here at tea- time.
Mrs. Laird expects me to be. But I could
walk over very early in the afternoon if neces-
sary.”
“Tt isn’t necessary at all,” Graham said,
shortly. “Send him along, Jack, we'll try
him,”
So Ted Cranley appeared the next day, and
worked steadily in the flower garden under
Sara’s superintendence, until order and beauty
reigned instead of chaos. Sara sent for flower
seeds, she talked to Mrs. Laird about the flower
garden she meant to have.
“And then you will be able to come down
and help me enjoy the flowers,” she said to
her.
‘No, I cannot leave my room.’
“You don’t know what you'll be able to do
when the warmer weather comes. I want to row
69
A Happy Woman
you out in a boat upon the lake. Don’t look so
startled! It’s exquisite down there. You have
no idea of all the beautiful places round about
you.”
“T came to this wild spot because I needed
a refuge,” said Mrs. Laird very solemnly. “I
wished to bury myself from everybody and
everything.”
“But you choose a most exquisite refuge,”
persisted Sara; “and you can be as much alone
out of doors as you can indoors. You wait and
see,” :
She worked away cheerfully in her garden.
Graham found her in it, when he came home,
and she was generally singing softly to herself.
He stood and watched her one day. She was
pruning a rosebush, and she sang as_ she
worked—
‘All day I wear a flowery crown,
Flowers, only flowers :
At night by flowers I lay me down,
Oh, the sunny hours!
Breath of angels, hues of heaven,
Surely to the flowers are given,
Bring more flowers.”
“TI do believe you are happy here!” he
said,
She turned, pruning scissors in hand, for she
did not know he was near.
“Of course I am,” she said. “Why should I
70
Springtime
not be? And the feeling of spring in the air
makes all our pulses beat quicker, and our hearts
throb with hope.”
“T believe it does,” he returned; and there
was a light in his eye and a spring in his tread
as he went on into the house.
71
CHAPTER V
A DAY OUT
‘yo a companion ever have a ‘day out’ ?”
This astonishing question was put to
Graham the next morning by Sara herself.
His startled look made her laugh.
“TI was wondering,” she went on. “Izzie
had her day out last week. It made me want to
go too.”
“Are you in such bondage, then?” Graham
asked ; “you know you have only to express a
wish to have it granted.”
“That's nicely put. But I never want to get
away from my position; and if I am not entitled
to a day, I won't ask for it. Did any of my
predecessors have a‘day out ?”
Graham's eyes twinkled.
‘“T must think,” he said; ‘the one who
stayed longest did. She insisted upon coming
my rounds with me one day in the dog-cart. We
had lunch with Jack Fleming. Would you like
to do the same ?”
“ No, thank you,” said Sara, laughing. ‘When
I go you won't set eyes on me from breakfast to
72
A Day Out
nightfall, I want to have my fill of the hills one
day, and to feel that I have leisure to enjoy
them, instead of hurrying back.”
‘What did you do in London when you
could never gratify such longing ?”
“IT used sometimes to run away from my
brother,” Sara confessed. ‘‘I have picknicked
by myself in Richmond Park, and in Kew
Gardens, and had a delicious time.” |
‘You must choose a day when the mists are
not about. I have told you that our hills hold
dangers.”
“T shall be very cautious, I promise you.
My only doubt is whether your mother can spare
me.”
“IT will ask her to do so. [am sure she will.”
So it came to pass that one lovely spring
morning, Sara set out with a book, a stout stick
in her hand, and a packet of sandwiches in her
pocket. A feeling of exhilaration was in her
soul. There was a crisp freshness in the air,
and a warmth in the sun, which sent her on her
way rejoicing. When she got out on the hills
with the soft springy turf underfoot, and saw the
gorse in full bloom, and watched the upward
flight of many larks carolling their way towards
heaven, she. forgot all the anxious thoughts
about her poor depressed invalid, and lifted her
face in joy at being alive. One companion she
had with her, and that was Graham's collie,
73
A Happy Woman
“‘Snooks.” Snooks had attached himself with
great pertinacity to Sara. He laid in wait for
her when she came out of the house, and would
trot round the garden after her watching all her
performances with the greatest interest. Now
he, like herself, was ecstatic with the sense of
freedom. He bounded here and there, pursued
imaginary rabbits, and barked at the larks.
Sara let him roam unhindered by whistle or
calls; she tramped steadily upward, and at
length turned to look about her. The beauty of
the scene below made her determine to have a
rest, so that she would have time to enjoy it.
She lay down on the soft turf and gazed dreamily
before her. In the distance was the lake, look-
ing a brilliant blue this morning, with deep
purple shadows on the farther side where the
young larches lined the banks in their fresh shim-
mering dress of green. As she looked, a tiny
boat with a white sail shot out from the shore,
and took its way across the calm still water,
leaving a streak of silver light behind it. From
this height she could see behind the trees the
towers of Sir Malcolm Ferris’s house, and green
valleys running up from the side of the lake
through a break in the hills. She caught sight
of the high white road through the pines which
she had driven along that first night of her arrival.
And then her thoughts centred on Mrs, Laird.
‘‘She could be so happy,” she mused; “she
74
A Day Out
has an affectionate son, and a comfortable home,
and she has no pains and aches to speak of.
Whatever she has done, and I expect it is ex-
treme morbidness that makes her think she has
done anything, she could have the peace of for-
giveness resting upon her soul, for I am sure her
repentance and remorse has been lasting enough.
How I wish she would confide in me! If I only
knew more, I could help her more. I should
love to have her up here with me now. What
a world of good it would do her!”
Sara turned over on her side, the smell of the
hot gorse with its peculiar fragrance came to her,
bees buzzed busily round. In the distance she
heard the sheep bleating to each other. Then
her thoughts began to get hazy. In the warmth
of the sun she slept. |
She awoke with a start. Somebody was
prodding her with the end of an umbrella. She
rubbed her eyes, then sat up. An elderly lady
in blue goggles and a big brown straw hat tied
down with a veil was standing by her. The
stranger was in short tweed skirt, and had a tin
box slung over her shoulder. She was now
leaning on a stout green umbrella, and she gave
a little grunt when Sara rose to her feet.
“What are you thinking of to go to sleep
upon the grass at this time of year? Are you
trying to court rheumatism and ague, and sciatica,
and all the rest of it?”
75
A Happy Woman
“No,” said Sara, smiling. “I own I have
been unwise, but I was so comfortable.”
“TI thought you'd had a fit at least, seeing you
in that ridiculous position on the ground.”
Sara looked round for Snooks. He was
nowhere to be seen.
“Have you seen a brown collie ?” she asked.
“Of course I have. He was trying to court
disaster too, chasing birds amongst the rocks. I
tried to call him off, but he refused to come. He
may get a tumble if he doesn’t take care.”
‘“‘T must go and find him.”
“Do you know our hills? You look a
stranger. I think I had better come with you.
I am out botanizing.”
‘Thank you,” said Sara, meekly. “I am a
stranger. I am staying with Mrs, Laird.”
The old lady took off her goggles and gazed
at Sara with a pair of bright brown eyes.
“A relative, I presume?”
‘‘No, a companion,” said Sara with a smile;
“and I am having a day out. Isn’t it delicious
up here ?”
“I’m Kate Ferris. I come occasionally ,to
stay with my nephew, he is down here now, and
always invites me to the Towers in the spring.
I sit and read and write and knit all the winter
in my rooms in town. When the first breath of
spring comes, I’m in the country to greet it. I’ve
been hunting for a certain little plant which grows
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A Day Out
and blossoms on these hills this month. I know
Mr. Laird, and he knows me; but he is always
very rude to me—won't allow me to call upon his
mother. I suppose she’s a poor hypochondriac.”
She was striding up the hill as she spoke, and
Sara wondered at her strength and activity. She
tried to explain that Mrs. Laird received no
visitors.
“ A great pity!” was the’sharp reply. “ People
are not meant to shut themselves away from their
fellow creatures, least of all women, who are a
mass of fads and eccentricities and nerves, when
they let themselves run to seed. We are like
plants, which grow in clusters, and in their natural
state like plenty of company.”
Sara turned this over in her mind.
“There are single specimens,” she said diffi-
dently.
“Men cultured,” snapped the old lady; “and
if you let these precious single specimens alone
to the state of nature in which God placed them
—what happens ?”
Sara did not answer, for she heard a yelp of
pain proceeding from some rocks a short distance
from them, and she ran forward in haste, for she
knew that Snooks was in difficulties.
She was startled to find herself on a sharp
spur of the hill which fell precipitately down
hundreds of feet. About fifteen feet down Snooks
was struggling frantically to extricate himself
77
A Happy Woman
from a narrow crevice, into which he had either
tumbled or crept.
Miss Ferris had been quick to follow Sara.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
‘It’s perilous footing where he is.”
Sara did not reply. In an instant she was
scrambling down to where the collie was. She
found that one of his hindlegs was seriously
crushed. Miss Ferris watched from above anxi-
ously. Very deftly and calmly, with soothing
words and touch, did Sara release the poor dog.
She was able to lift up a heavy piece of rock
which had fallen on him, and so had imprisoned
him. But having released him, she stood looking
up in doubt.
Miss Ferris seemed unable to suggest any-
thing.
“Can't he climb himself? You can never lift
him ?”
Sara slipped out of her thick tweed coat.
She wrapped it round the dog’s body, then took
off her long thick scarf, and in five minutes had
him slung across her back, and was climbing up
to safety.
Miss Ferris heaved a long sigh when she was
able to grip Sara by the hand, and see her bring
her burden up to the green turf above.
“ Splendidly done, young woman! And what
an intelligent tractable dog! No trouble at all!
If he had struggled and borne you down, you and
78
A Day Out
he might have fallen back, and been dashed to
pieces below! I’m quite breathless with the
excitement of the moment.”
“Poor Snooks!” said Sara, laying the collie
tenderly down and examining his hurt. ‘I’m
afraid his leg is broken, or very badly sprained.
He won't let me touch it. I wonder what I had
better do? Carry him home, I suppose.”
“ He will be too heavy. No, there’s a doctor
not far from here—a quack—a herb doctor, but
he’s very good with animals. My brother had a
sheep up here doctored by him once, and it was
quite a success! Keep the dog in your jacket
and we'll carry him between us. I know the
way. It’s not so very far down.”
“T know it too. We'll try.”
With the help of a strap from Miss Ferris’s tin
box they managed to carry the collie carefully
between them, but it seemed a long and a rough
way before they reached the little hut.
“ This is another case ‘of unhealthy isolation,”
said Miss Ferris, as she tapped peremptorily on
the stout wooden door with her walking-stick.
There was no answer for some time, though they
heard somebody moving about inside.
Then Miss Ferris said—
“Mr. Cleave, here is a wounded dog! We
want your help. Don't keep us waiting.”
Then the door was opened sharply ; and an
old grey-bearded man appeared. He was dressed
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A Happy Woman
in brown corduroy, had leather gaiters, and wore
a shabby green felt hat. Sara thought him
singularly handsome, with his dark piercing eyes
and white hair; his features were clear cut and
refined, and when he spoke, though his voice
was gruff, his accent showed that he had had
education.
“Bring him in, madam. A gun-shot wound ?”
“ No, we think he has broken his leg,” said
Sara, gently. ‘He belongs to Mr. Laird, and I
know he values him.”
“It is Snooks. I know him.”
And Snooks raised his head at once and
feebly wagged his tail. Whilst the old man was
examining his hurt, Sara looked around her. It
was a low-roofed room, a picture of a tidy farm-
house kitchen. There were rows of dried bunches
of herbs hung from a beam across the ceiling, an
old oak chest, a bright shining kitchen range, and
an oak dresser which held on its shelves rows
and rows of bottles and glass jars, the latter full
of preserved seeds and fruits. There was a
shelf of books in a deep recess, and some quaint
foreign curiosities in a glass cupboard. The floor
was stone, and the window was shrouded with
thick net curtains. Everything was beautifully
clean, and there was a shelf of shining copper
pans beneath the dresser. The walls were
covered with quaint old wood-cuts. One par-
ticularly claimed her attention. It was of an
7 80
A Day Out
old monk or hermit standing outside his cell in
a wood. His hands were raised as if in bene-
diction, and underneath was written: “ The profit
of the earth is for all: the king himself is served
by the field.”
Whilst she was puzzling over this, Miss Ferris
was chatting away in a very friendly fashion to
the herb doctor. It seemed that she and he were
great friends, and botany was the link between
them. She had in fact more than once brought
him rare herbs which she had discovered, and
which he was desirous to obtain.
‘The bone is not broken, but a ligament. I
will dress it and bandage it. He has bruised
himself. I will take care of him for a night.
He wants rest. Mr. Laird can drive over for
him to-morrow.”
He spoke curtly. Sara looked troubled.
“TI don’t know what Mr. Laird will say. I
ought to have looked after him better. I feel
responsible for his accident.”
She knelt down by Snooks, who was lying on
a rug in front of the fire, and stroked his head
gently. Snooks looked up at her with affection,
but he made no attempt to move.
“You couldn’t have helped it,” said Miss
Ferris, briskly. ‘“ Dogs will hunt, and if you
had been close to him, he would have done it
just the same. We'll leave him to the good
doctor here, he couldn’t be in better hands.”
81 F
A Happy Woman
Then she and the old man began discussing
the merits of the little plant for which she had
been searching.
Sara walked out of the hut, and stood gazing
before her deep in thought. Ought she to return
home and report the dog’s accident? She did
not want to spoil her day out, but she felt that it
would be right to inform Mr. Laird as soon as
possible of what had happened. As she was
standing there, suddenly a woman came round
the corner with a big brown pitcher of water in
her hand. Sara knew in an instant who she was,
from the way she shrank back, and from her
limp.
Impulsively Sara stepped aside.
‘IT hope you don’t mind; but we have brought -
a wounded dog to your father, and he is going to
look after him for us.”
The woman looked furtively at Sara from
under a big print bonnet. She had her father’s
eyes, but her face was white and delicate; she
rested her pitcher on the ground and listened to
the voices within.
“Who is there?” she asked in a deep, quiet
voice.
“ Miss Ferris,” said Sara; ‘‘she met me out
of doors. I am staying with Mrs, Laird, I am
her companion, and I came out for a day on the
hills, and have allowed Snooks to meet with an
_ accident,”
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A Day Out
The woman stood irresolute; she was un-
willing to meet Miss Ferris, unwilling to talk
to Sara; and yet her eyes could not keep away
from Sara’s face. Everybody who looked once
at Sara always wanted to look again. There was
so much sympathy and feeling in her expression.
To the lame woman’s eyes, Sara looked at her as
if she had in that moment seen something that
she admired and liked in her.
As a matter of fact there was a wistful sadness
in the woman’s face that drew out Sara’s com-
passion and liking. Ever since she had been
quite a child she had always insisted that she
liked sad people better than gay.
So now she touched the woman's arm softly—
“I’m a stranger in these parts,” she said;
“but I love nature, and Iam sure you do. Will
you be my friend? I haven't spoken to any
woman outside the house till to-day, when I met.
Miss Ferris. May I come and see you?”
‘‘T never see visitors.”
“| don’t want you to think of me as a visitor.
If I come up here and sit under that old rock
over there, will you join me sometimes ?_ I won't
intrude upon your privacy.”
The woman turned away with a little nod.
She took her pitcher of water indoors, and a
moment after Miss Ferris came out.
“That sulky Agnes and I don’t get on,” she
said; “but the father is a very good sort. I
83
A Happy Woman
believe it is she who makes him live out in this
wild. Have you heard her story? Of course
it has to do with blighted love, what woman’s
story has not! Come along out of their hearing
and I will tell you. She wasn’t lame when she
was young, and she was going to marry the
young blacksmith of her village. But her mother
died suddenly, and she could not make up her *
mind to leave her father. He used to go off for
tramps by himself and be away three and four
days at a time, hunting about for his plants and
herbs.
“There was another girl in the story, of
course, and she was wildly in love with the
blacksmith. One day the two girls met on these
hills. Agnes was waiting for her lover. The
other one taunted her with her laggard lover.
They fell to abuse, and finally Agnes was struck
by her rival, and in falling she tumbled over some
rocks and broke her thigh.
“She was laid up for a long time, and left
permanently lame. She only recovered to find
that the other girl had improved her oppor-
tunities, had made the smith see that a delicate
crippled wife would be no helpmate to him, and
had married him herself. Agnes never got over
it. She was laughed at by some giddy girls for
her limping gait one day, and she then persuaded
her father to come out of the village and live up
on these hills. Her trouble soured her, and she
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A Day Out
has a great dislike to her own sex. Rather pitiful,
isn’t it ?” :
“Oh, I’m sorry for her!” exclaimed Sara.
“Yes, so was I. But she’s had years to get
sweetened up here, with no neighbours to irritate
her; and I don’t approve of her sulking still.
After all, don’t we most of us have to go through
the mills of God? We don’t get our own
way, as a rule. I never did; but is that any
reason why we should shut ourselves away from
humanity, and narrow down our circle to our
own precious selves? I’ve no patience with it!
Where are you going now?”
“Home, I’m afraid,” said Sara, a little rue-
fully. ‘I must let Mr. Laird know about his
dog.”
“Oh, you needn't trouble! He’s coming over
to see my brother after lunch about some business
matter, and I'll tell him then. Take your fill of
air and sunshine whilst you can, and then go
home and try to shake old Mrs, Laird out of- her
morbid melancholy, and get her into the open,
where the wind will blow on her, and the sun
shine upon her! Oh, these petulant rebels!
They're just like roses creeping away into a
sheltered corner to escape the pruning and train-
ing which they need. What happens to them ?
They degenerate into briars. Agnes Cleave is
one briar, your Mrs. Laird is another. Good-bye.
Glad to have met you.”
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A Happy Woman
She strode away with an abrupt little nod,
and Sara was left alone.
She wandered up the hill again, but felt ill at
ease. The accident to poor Snooks had spoiled
her day. It seemed heartless to go on enjoying
herself whilst he lay in the herb doctor’s hut,
suffering acutely. Then she sat down and ate
her sandwiches. She was just resolving to return
to the house, when she saw in the distance a rider
coming up in her direction. As he came nearer
she recognized Graham Laird, and she hastily
went forward to meet him.
“Qh,” she said, “I was longing to make my
confession to you. I am so glad to have the
opportunity. My day out is spoiled. Poor
Snooks has hurt himself badly.”
‘“‘T have just met Miss Ferris,” he said ; “and
she has told me the story. But you couldn’ t have
left him in better hands. I'll just look in at the
hut. I caught sight of you perched on the sky
line, and came on to relieve your mind.”
“T think you must be a wizard,” said Sara,
laughing ; “I was feeling quite miserable.”
“What are you going to do with yourself
now? Perhaps I oughtn’t to ask!”
“Oh yes. I feel quite cheered up, and am
ready for anything. I want to get away to that
pine ridge. I love walking amongst pines.”
She pointed to a distant line of firs on the
slope of the hill above her.
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A Day Out
He looked at her and then at the ridge.
“By the time you reach that, you will be
wanting your tea.” -
“I dare say I shall,” said Sara, laughing ; “ but
I shall do without it.”
“T was going to suggest that you should get
it at a small farm close by. I know Mrs. Gates
would be delighted to give it to you. She loves
visitors.”
“Perhaps I shall not get so far, but I will try.
I am so sorry about Snooks.”
They parted. For a moment he watched her,
as she walked off with her happy easy stride,
then he turned his horse’s head, and rode off to
the herb doctor's.
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CHAPTER VI
THE SECRET TROUBLE
aie was fond of walking, and she reached
the pine ridge in very good time. But
when she saw a small grey house tucked away in
the corner, she followed Graham’s advice, and
went in for some tea. Mrs. Gates, a plump,
motherly looking woman, gave her a warm
welcome.
“I’ve heard tell of you, miss. You're with
the poor lady at Felstone Corner—Mrs, Laird.
We're very fond of Mr. Laird—my husband and
I—he’s so thorough and just in all his dealings,
and there’s nothing too small for him to look
into! Sir Malcolm has never had an agent like
him before! And when he comes over here on
business, he’s so good to my little girls—they
just dote on him. But there! We all see what
a burden his mother’s illness be to him. I went
up to the house when first they come here just to
help them in, and she fair depressed me, she were
so overcome with wretchedness.”
“Tt is ill health,” said Sara.
Then not wishing to discuss her employer,
she asked Mrs. Gates if she did not feel lonely.
88
The Secret Trouble
“ Not when I’m busy, and I’m generally that.
But just now I have a lady lodger. She have
come up here for the health of her little girl.
They live out in the pine wood most of the day,
and when my little girls come back from school,
they and Miss True have rare games together.”
She gave Sara tea in a spotless little kitchen.
The home-made loaf of bread, the currant cake,
the honey and golden butter set before her were
all appetizing, and she drank her tea with great
relish. After a little more chat she went out into
the pine wood, rather dreading lest she should
come across the lodgers. |
“Tt seems to me,” she said, smiling at the
thought, ‘‘that my day out by myself away from
every living creature has been anything but
solitary, for I have done nothing but come across
people the whole time.”
She stepped softly upon the pine drift, looking
about her with the greatest appreciation. It
took her back to a pine wood in her childhood’s
home; the scent of the pines, the stillness and
majesty of their slender trunks, with the far-away
sound of the wind swaying their dark heads, so
high above her! |
And then she suddenly longed to do as she
and her brother had always done—to make a fire
of the cones and pine-needles! She took a little
silver matchbox from her pocket, and gathering
some sticks together, she soon had a blaze. Then
89
A Happy Woman
she sat down by it, and taking her book from her
pocket, she began to read. Her back was rest-
ing against a tree. She was so deep in her book
that she did not see a little figure stealing up in
her direction. Suddenly she was startled.
“Please, are you a gipsy ?”
She looked up. Standing in front of her was
a tiny, short-frocked girl with a crop of short
curls and a white face, with large dark eyes and
pointed chin.
Sara’s heart always had a warm place in it for
children.
“Let us pretend I am,” she said. ‘Come
and sit down by my fire, and tell me your
name.”
“Yes, that will be lovely! My name is True
—at least that's what Mummy calls me, my proper
name is Gertrude. Mummy is close by, but I
leaves her when I| wants to do adventuring.”
“T expect you are lodging with Mrs. Gates.”
‘Now I b'lieve you're a fairy, for I didn’t tell
you that.” |
‘Would you rather I was a fairy than a gipsy ?
I can be anything you like.”
“Oh, you ave glorious !”
The small creature clasped her hands in
ecstasy.
“Then will you be the wicked witch making
spells over a fire, and I'll be the princess——? ”
“True, what are you doing ?”
gO
The Secret Trouble
The child started, for her mother had come
upon the scene. She was very young, and looked
a mere girl in her simple black dress and wide
shady hat. She had a sweet face, very gentle
and appealing in its expression, and her voice
was very low in tone.
“ She is not disturbing me,’~said Sara with a
pleasant smile. “We were just beginning to
play together.” :
“Tt is time to go to tea,” said the mother,
taking her small child by the hands. Then she
looked at Sara with friendly eyes.
“We were so accustomed to monopolize the
wood, that my little girl was quite curious when
she saw the smoke from your fire. We do not
see many people here.”
“No,” said Sara. “I have come over from
Felstone Corner. I am_ staying with Mrs.
Laird.”
“Are you really? How extraordinary! I
haven’t been here long, but I am a distant cousin
of Mrs. Laird’s. I used often to stay with her
before—before her trouble. I went over to
Felstone Corner once since they have been there,
but Mrs. Laird would not see me, and Graham
drove me back to the station the same day.
That was when my husband was alive. We
were staying in Lancaster for a few weeks.”
“Does Mr. Laird know you are here ?” asked
Sara.
gl
A Happy Woman
“T wrote to him a couple of days ago. Our
doctor recommended me this high air for True.
She is very delicate,”
Sara wondered to herself that she had not
been told of these visitors, and then took herself
to task for expecting to be taken into Graham’s
confidence about everything.
“ How is Mrs. Laird : ?” was the next aceon
put to her.
“TI am hoping she will be better when the
warm weather comes.’
“Then you—you nurse her?”
“Tam her companion,” said Sara, quickly.
She saw that the young widow was scrutinizing
her closely. Was it fancy that made Sara think
she noticed a certain hardening of lips and
smile ?
“T suppose you have not been long with her ?
No one stays very long, I hear. It’s a terrible
life for Graham.”
Sara made no reply.
Then the young widow passed on, saying with
a little bow and smile—
“T dare say we will meet before long. You
can tell them you have seen me. I wish we were
not so far away, but we are nearer the town than
they are. Felstone Corner seems the other end
of nowhere!”
True kissed her hand.
‘‘Come another day, when it isn’t tea-time,”
g2
?
The Secret Trouble
she called out in her shrill little voice. ‘‘ Then
we'll have time to play all sorts of games!”
Sara was left alone to her fire and to solitude.
She could read no longer. Her thoughts again
centred in Mrs. Laird.
“T am making no way with her at all; oh, I
wish, I wish I could bring her comfort!”
She was.interested in the widow and her
child, and when she at length turned homewards
she wondered again why Graham Laird had not
mentioned them, when he advised her to have
tea at the farm in which they were lodging. She
did not arrive home till dusk had set in. She
found Graham sitting with his mother. Contrary
to his custom, he did not leave the room when
she came into it.
“Come and tell the mother of your adven-
tures,” he said with a little smile. “She wants
to hear about poor Snooks.”
“ How is he?”
‘Doing very well. He'll be about again in
a few days. Reuben ts first-rate with animals!”
Then Sara sat down, and gave Mrs, Laird a
very full account of her day.
When she came to her meeting with the
widow and child, Mrs. Laird said irritably—
“A cousin of mine? I have no cousins
living “
“Tt is Eva, mother. She married, you know,
soon after we came here. Her name is Jeffery
93
2
A Happy Woman
now. Her husband died last year. I heard
from her the other day, and have not had time
to answer her i
‘She is not to come into the house,” said
Mrs. Laird, excitedly. “I will not see her. I
wonder she dares come near us! What is her
object ?”
“She told me her little girl was delicate, and
wants country air,” said Sara.
“T can’t think why you need have spoken to
her,” said Mrs. Laird. ‘I don’t wish you to
have anything to do with her.”
“It was quite an accident. In fact I was only
thinking as I came home how differently my day
has been spent from what I intended. I went
out to the hills to have a lovely time of solitude.
I have instead been making acquaintance with
six strange people.”
‘And you couldn't even get away from me,”
said Graham with a little laugh.
Then he got up to go. Mrs. Laird was
‘strangely restless and upset.
When she was alone with Sara, she said—
‘‘Give me your promise you won't speak to
that woman again. She has done untold harm
to me in the past.”
“I will try and not meet her, but I never
give promises that I am doubtful about keeping.
She might insist upon speaking to me. She
looks such a sweet gentle girl.”
94
The Secret Trouble
“She’s a snake—a snake in the grass,” said
Mrs. Laird, angrily.
“ Well, don’t let us think about her.”
“But I must. I shan’t sleep to-night. She'll
be getting hold of you and telling you a lot of
falsehoods. A ‘cousin of mine indeed! She’s
the step-daughter of a cousin of mine, and when
her mother went abroad she came to stay with
me. She was only a schoolgirl then, about seven-
teen, but she wrought mischief between the ones
I loved best, and myself. She was the cause of
it all! I could curse her!”
Mrs. Laird broke down and sobbed miserably.
Sara knelt by her side.
‘Dear Mrs. Laird, do tell me all about it. I
can't bear seeing you so miserable. I wish I
could comfort you !”
Mrs. Laird raised her head, and a fierce light
came into her eyes.
“Twill tell you. And you can leave me to-
morrow, for you won't want to stay with me when
you hear. But if I don’t tell you, she will! She
has followed us here on purpose to rake up the
old story. I know her too well! Lock the door.
Come here and listen.”
She took hold of Sara’s hands with her hot
trembling ones, Sara caught her breath. At
last she was going to be told the secret.
“Did you think Graham my only son? I
: had another, my firstborn, Edmund. He was in
95
A Happy Woman
a Government office in London. We lived out
of town, half an hour’s run by train. Graham
was abroad. Edmund lived with me, but the
day came when he married. She was a nice
little thing—his wife. I had my own rooms in
the house, and did not interfere with them. Of
course we had differences occasionally. I'll con-
fess it. I have a quick passionate temper, and
there were times when she exasperated me by
her helpless babyish ways. But we were good
friends. We only lived together a year. She
died when her baby was born. Edmund was
inconsolable, he got his chief to send him out
abroad on some foreign mission, and he left his
child with me ‘2
Mrs. Laird paused, for her voice broke.
Seeing her agitation, Sara said—
“Don't tell me any more now, if you would
rather not.”
“T shall not stop now I have once begun,”
Mrs, Laird said sharply. Then she looked up at
Sara with weary pitiful eyes—
“T loved that child, loved her as I had loved
her father. Do you believe me when I say it?
I adored her |”
“Tam sure you did,” said Sara gently, seeing
a fierce light leap into the old lady’s eyes again.
‘Dorothy, her name was. We called her
Dorrie. She slept in a dressing-room next mine.
I taught her myself to read and write. She was
g6
The Secret Trouble
always with me. She was high-spirited, and I
suppose I indulged her too much. Her gover-
nesses used to say she was a handful! Then
came the time when Eva Routledge came to stay
with us. I had her for her mother’s sake. She
was a favourite cousin of mine. Eva was a girl
whose réle in life was to be popular. She craved
and sought for the affection of all she came across,
but she would not share this affection with others.
Dorrie looked up to her as a child of eleven does ~
look up to a girl of seventeen, and Eva got such
an influence over her that she would do anything
for her.
“Then Edmund came home on leave, and
Eva being a born flirt began to amuse herself
with him. She always did, as you say, look
quiet and gentle—but she was very deep. I
knew how she acted behind my back—and I
exposed her falseness one day before Edmund.
She never forgave me for it, and systematically
tried to turn Dorrie against me. It was her
revenge. I did not realize then how bitterly
she felt towards me. But when Dorrie flouted
me to my face, refused to stay with me, and
spent all her time with Eva, I began to see it
must be stopped, and I told Eva her visit must
come to an end.
‘“T really believe now that she was trying to
make Edmund marry her. He was very near it,
and thought me very harsh in the way I talked
97 G
A Happy Woman
about her. I remember the night before he left
us—he was going to spend a fortnight in the
country with some friends. ‘Mother,’ he said,
‘I think you're very hard on young people.
Dorrie seems frightened of you. Do you find
her a trouble ?- Would she be better at a board-
ing school?’ I knew who had been poisoning
his mind against me. ‘When Dorrie and I are
alone,’ I said, ‘we are perfectly happy. Eva is
having a bad influence over her, and I am very
glad she is leaving us.” He said no more. He
left us the next day, and Eva was to go the day
after.”
Mrs. Laird stopped. She hid her face in her
hands. Sara waited. She felt the sooner the
story was told, the better it would be.
In a few moments Mrs. Laird looked up, and
went on in a cold metallic tone of voice.
“JT was feeling miserable that day. I hadn't
slept, and everything seemed to get upon my
nerves. Eva was packing, and Dorrie spent
most of the day in her room. In the afternoon
I was going to take Dorrie out to tea somewhere.
When the time came, the child sent a message
saying she wasn’t coming, she was going to stay
with Eva till her cab came. Of course I ought
to have given in. I see now that I ought. If
we could ever foresee the result of some of our
actions, how differently we should behave! I
was very angry, and sent for Dorrie to come to
98
The Secret Trouble
me. I can see her now springing up the stairs,
a little slim figure, with her auburn curls flying,
and her dark eyes flashing rather angrily.
‘‘T came out on the broad landing, and she
stood balancing herself on one leg—it was a trick
she had—at the head of the stairs.
“*T won't come, Granny!’ she said passion-
ately. ‘Poor Eva is crying. You've been very
unkind to her!’
*“¢So you like Eva better than your old
Granny!’ I said, feeling my temper rise.
““« A thousand times better !’ cried Dorrie.
“My passion overcame me. I can’t remember
what I said. But my words were enough to
make the child shrink back suddenly, as I sprang
towards her. My instinct was to take her by the
arm and bring her into my room and keep her
there till Eva had gone. Even now—I can’t say
for certain—I go over and over the scene till my
brain gets dizzy—but I do believe that I never
laid my hand on her. In any case the child was
frightened, lost her balance and fell headlong
down that steep long staircase, striking her head
with awful force on the stone pavement below.
Eva saw her fall, and told every one that she saw
me strike her down. I could not contradict her.
The horror of it all numbed me. I dashed down-
stairs and carried her upstairs to my bedroom.
A doctor was sent for, but she never recovered
consciousness. She died in my arms two hours
99
A Happy Woman
afterwards—I—and no one else had killed
her!”
“You poor—poor soul!” said Sara; and then
in a passion of pity and compassion she put her
arms round the trembling speaker, and kissed
her. Mrs. Laird gently pushed her away. -
“ Ah—h—h!” she said, with a drawn-out
shudder; “I am in God’s sight a murderer. It
was my temper which killed my darling! That
sting nobody can take out of my heart. Let me
finish, there is not much more to tell. Edmund
was telegraphed for. He came, but got the
version of the story from Eva first. You can
imagine how he felt towards me. My remorse,
my grief was nothing to him. He shut himself
up away from me till after the funeral, then he
bade me good-bye, and went abroad again. What
do you think his last words were to me? They
are burnt into my soul: ‘ May God forgive you,
mother, I cannot. We are best apart, for you
have taken my all from me!’ He went, and to
add to my punishment, he was attacked by fever
a year later, and died out in India. He passed
out of this life without a word of forgiveness for
his mother.”
‘And then your other son came home and
comforted you,” said Sara, consolingly.
“Do I look comforted? No. It’s a wonder
to me now why I was not tried for murder. Our
doctor hushed it up.”
100
The Secret Trouble
‘It was an accident,” said Sara, firmly. “ You
could not have been thought guilty of murder.
You say yourself that you did not think you
touched her.”
“TY delude myself with that fancy. I know
I did not strike her downstairs, as that vile girl
insinuated. But the fact remains the same. She
met her death through me. A young happy life
destroyed at its outset by a jealous passionate
woman! This is my burden. This is why I will
not face my fellow-creatures. They say I am
morbid, but God has forsaken me. How I
wrestled all that night in my agony beseeching
Him to save her life, and not lay the loss of it to
my charge! He would not listen to me. He
took her. And I have never prayed to Him since.”
“But God knows your heart. He knows
your sorrow and remorse, and forgives. I re-
member a verse in the Bible that brought me
great comfort once, when I had done wrong:
‘Thou drewest near in the day that I called
upon Thee. Thou saidst, Fear not.’ That's
how we're received. Do call upon Him. He
will comfort and relieve you, because He knows,
as no one else knows, how you féel about it.”
Mrs. Laird did not speak, her face was turned
away.
**So now,” she said coldly, “you — that
you are living with a woman who na? been guilty
of murder.”
ror
A Happy Woman
“No,” said Sara, emphatically; “that is not
true. You may have sinned by anger, but I don’t
believe for a moment that your hand touched the
child. Shall we have our evening reading now?”
‘No, I cannot bear it. I am too upset.”
Sara took her trembling hand in hers caress-
ingly. She said no more, she felt she could not,
but she just sat silently by her side, praying for
her.
Then Mrs. Laird suddenly raised her head,
and spoke in an indifferent tone.
“You might play and sing to me. I like your
music. We will not talk any more.”
Sara never in her life had felt more disinclined
to sing than she did just now.
But she went into her room and got her
guitar. And then a sudden impulse came to
her. She sat down in the firelight and sang in
her sweet thrilling voice—
“ Souls of men! why will ye scatter
Like a crowd of frighten’d sheep?
Foolish hearts! why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep?”
When she came to the verse—
“‘There is no place where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in Heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given,”
Mrs. Laird heaved a deep sigh, and her lips
quivered. Sara went on—
102
The Secret Trouble
“For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man’s mind ;
And the Heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
‘“‘ Pining souls! come nearer Jesus,
And oh! come not doubting thus,
But with faith that trusts more bravely
His huge tenderness for us.”
Then Mrs. Laird bowed her head in her
hands, and tears came.
Sara finished the hymn, then slipped quietly
out of the room, and left the stricken woman
alone.
103
CHAPTER VII
THE INVALID IMPROVES
i ae next morning at breakfast, Graham
said—
‘How is my mother this morning ?”
‘She did not sleep very well, but she seems
comfortable now. I shan’t let her get up very
early.”
“I’m afraid your meeting with Mrs. Jeffery
rather agitated her?”
Sara looked up at him gravely and frankly.
“Mr. Laird, your mother told me all last
night.”
“T am glad she did,” he said, after a little
pause; “I would rather you had heard it from
her lips than from anybody else’s. I suppose
you guessed she had something on her mind ?”
“Tt ought not to be there,” said Sara. “She
has distorted and magnified what happened so
much, that she refuses to put it away from her.”
“She cannot well do that. Our memories
are hard masters.”
‘ But our failures and mistakes can be blotted
104
The Invalid Improves
out. It is wrong to bind them upon our shoulders,
and bear the burden of them.”
‘What were you singing to her last night?”
“A hymn F
Graham smiled, and Sara coloured a little.
‘*Don’t scorn hymns,” she said. ‘“ This was
a very special one.”
“I do not doubt it. But my mother’s hurt
is too deep to be touched by hymns. If Mrs.
Jeffery does happen to call here, you must not
let her see my mother. I am sorry she is in the
neighbourhood. Of course I was abroad at the
time of my mother’s trouble.. Eva was a young
and foolish girl, but I don’t think she was so
much to blame as my mother imagines. It is a
very sad story. I have heard both sides. But I
would give a good deal to any one who brought
the least bit of comfort to my mother. She is
much too morbid, of course, about her part in it.
It was an accident, pure and simple. And if any
soul has punished themselves a thousand times
over for a fit of temper, I am sure my poor
mother has.” | |
“Yes,” said Sara, “that is quite true. She
will be comforted by and by, Mr. Laird; I
know she will.”
“T shall have to answer Mrs. Jeffery’s note,”
said Graham, musingly. ‘I am ashamed of
having put it into my pocket and forgotten it, I
think I must ride over and see her, and then I'll
105
A Happy Woman
have a look at Snooks. Reuben would like to
keep him another day, he said.”
Sara's day passed very quietly. It seemed
like a calm after a storm. When Mrs. Laird
was dressed, she sat in her chair engrossed in a
book which she was reading. She made no
allusion to what had passed the evening be-
fore, but when dusk came on, she sent for
Sara.”
‘‘ Sing to me,” she said.
Sara sang some of her favourite songs, both
grave and gay, then, just as she was laying aside
her guitar, Mrs. Laird said— .
“And now sing me that hymn again. And
sing it slowly—make it last!”
Sara willingly did so. Mrs, Laird listened
with face screened from view by her book, which
she held between herself and the singer.
The sweet vibration of Sara’s voice accentuated
the sweetness of the words.
Mrs, Laird thanked her quietly when she had
finished, and Sara wisely made no comment upon
it, After that, every evening she sang the same
hymn, until one night about ten days afterwards
Mrs. Laird said abruptly—
“You need not sing it any more. I know it
now by heart. As I lie in bed I hear your voice
still singing it.”
Sara bent down and kissed her.
“I’m so glad you like it,” she said. “I have
106
The Invalid Improves
always loved it. You're going to have the two
last lines made good to you.”
Mrs. Laird looked up inquiringly.
“We'll change one word,” said Sara, smiling.
“And our lives will be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.”
Mrs. Laird caught hold of her hand with a
quick-drawn breath.
“Oh,” she said, “if it could be! It’s the
first ray of hope I’ve had through all these
wretched years.”
She was very silent after that. Sara felt her
way very carefully. She knew that words from
her were unnecessary, for she believed that Mrs.
Laird was drawing near to the One Who loved
her. So she said little and prayed much.
Snooks returned home, and soon regained the
use of his leg. Sara did not forget the lonely
woman who had helped to dress his wounds.
She went up one day, and sat outside the hut
according to her promise. She sat there for half
an hour without hearing or seeing any sign of
her. Then as she was about to move away, the
door slowly opened, and Agnes came out. She
had a jug in her hand as if she were going to the
spring, and she gave a start when she saw Sara,
but it was too self-consciously done to be natural.
Sara had a pretty good idea that she had been
seen from the window.
“TI thought you might like to hear how your
107 :
A Happy Woman
patient was going on,” said Sara, brightly. “I
nearly brought him up with me to-day, only I
was afraid that you had made him so comfortable
here that he would want to return to you.”
“‘He was a very good patient,” Agnes said
gravely. ‘A good deal more patient than I was
when I got my hurt. He and I have reason to
remember these hills.”
Then she looked sharply at Sara.
“You've heard my story from somebody ?”
‘Well, yes, I have,” said Sara, gently. “I
do feel so sorry for you.”
Agnes shot up her head in the air with a little
snort,
“Oh, you’ve no cause to be sorry for me.
That happened years ago. I’ve learnt to bear
in silence ; but I hate pity.”
Sara made no reply. She just smiled upon
her companion in a friendly fashion, and Agnes’s
face softened at once.
“Father and I fit in very well together, for
we're both silent. He is always busy, and so
am I.”
‘Do you get any time for reading ?”
“No. Father's books don’t interest me.
They're all on herbs and medicines, But I
crochet and knit. I’ve crocheted a good many
shawls and now I’m doing a quilt. Does Mrs.
Laird work? She'd find it would soothe her
like nothing else if she did.”
* 108
The Invalid Improves
“Yes; we work together. I quite agree with
you. Work always soothes me.”
Agnes looked at Sara’s bright sympathetic
face.
“IT shouldn't think you were ever ruffled or
disturbed,” she said.
“Sometimes I feel inside like a seething
whirlpool,” said Sara; “especially when wrong
is being done, and nobody seems able to right
it. But as far as my own affairs go, I have had
a happy life.”
“You look like it. Anybody could see you've
never known trouble.”
“Qh, I don’t know about that,” said Sara,
gravely. “Trouble comes to us all. I have
twice been rooted up out of a very happy com-
fortable home; but I know it must be the very
best thing for me, so it doesn’t worry me.”
“Why should it be the very best thing for
you ?” asked Agnes in surprise.
“TI don’t know why. I suppose I shall see
the reason for it some day.”
A little silence fell upon them.
Then Agnes said gloomily—
“There’s no more light and hope for me
some future day than there is now.”
“Qh, isn’t there ? Don’t you look forward to
another better life when this isdone? You don’t
expect to come to an end when you die?”
“TI hate death. I don’t trouble about it.”
109
A Happy Woman
“T have learnt that it is a golden gate,” said
Sara. “I remember hearing a little story long
ago. May I tell it to you? It was of three
‘travellers on board ship journeying towards land.
One was a stowaway ; he knew he was going to
be landed and left to shift for himself. He looked
forward with doubt and uneasiness to the end of
his journey, for he did not known what would
become of him. The other was a criminal who
had been detected and discovered since he was
on board. He knew what the end of his journey
would mean for him. Trial, punishment, and
most likely death. The third was going home to
his father’s house. He had been sent abroad on
a mission of some difficulty, and had suffered a
good many hardships in trying to carry it out.
But his mission was done. Hehad been recalled,
and now there was a gladness in his eye, an
eager anticipation in his heart of the welcome he
would receive, of the home that was his. He
knew that the end of his journey would be better
than all that had gone before.”
Sara paused. Her eyes were far away and
there was a rapt smile about her lips.
Agnes looked at her. Her daily contact with
her father, who was an educated man, had refined ©
her and made her more thoughtful than most
women in her position would have been.
“1 feel like the stowaway,” she said. “I
don’t know what the end of my journey will be.”
IIo
The Invalid Improves
“But you can know. I would never rest if
I were you till I did know. The Bible will tell
you.”
Then Sara got up to go. |
‘Come and see me soon again,” said Agnes.
‘You are different from other people.”
Sara promised she would ; and Agnes stood
watching her light quick steps retreating into the
distance. She went back to the hut.
‘‘ Ifthe Bible could give me her gladness and
sureness it would be worth reading,” she said.
“Tl have a try.”
It was an eventful day when, wrapped up
warmly, Sara took Mrs. Laird round the garden.
She leant heavily upon ‘the girl’s arm, and at first
would hardly notice the flowers that under Sara's
care were blossoming freely. But as the days
grew brighter and warmer, the air and sunshine
worked their way with her, and she began to
evince more interest in things about her.
And one sunny morning Sara got Graham to
help; and between them they got the old lady
- down to the lake, and took her out in a boat.
It was a very successful effort. Mrs. Laird
came back to the house with a light -in her eyes
which Sara had never seen before.
Graham was intensely pleased, but also
cautious.
“Don't go too fast, Miss Darlington,” he
said. ‘Don’t overtax her strength. I don’t
IIt
A Happy Woman
know if it is a good sign or not, but my mother
is altering very much. She is softer and gentler
in her ways; the shadow seems lifting from her.
I sometimes wonder whether it is a sign that her
hold on life is lessening, that her strength is
going ; what do you think ?”
“No,” said Sara, slowly ; “I think it is some-
thing better than that. I think she is being
comforted.”
“She has told me more than once what a
comfort you are to her.”
“Oh, Mr. Laird, I am not doing it. Do you
think I personally could bring her out of the
shadows ?” .
He looked at her in a puzzled sort of way,
but said no more.
There were still days when Mrs. Laird re-
lapsed into brooding melancholy, but these came
very seldom now, and if she had been depressed
during the day she would ask Sara to sing her the
hymn that she had learnt to love. One evening
she had retired early to bed, and Sara ran down
into the garden to water her flowers. She found
Colonel Fleming and Graham pacing the paths
together, as they smoked their pipes.
Colonel Fleming gave her a very hearty
greeting. ‘‘ Haven't seen you forages! I hear ©
of you from different quarters. Miss Ferris
complains she has asked you over to dine
and you won't go. I hoped to meet you there
IIZ
‘The Invalid Improves
last week. Why won't you accept her invi-
tations ? ”
“ Because I am otherwise employed,” said
Sara, with a little laugh. ‘ But I liked Miss
Ferris very much.”
“So does every one. Now look here. I’m
going to give a party—what do you ladies call it ?
—an ‘At Home,’ isn’t it? I shall be at home to
my friends next Thursday. I expect Sir Malcolm
and Miss Ferris, I expect Mrs. Jeffery and her
little girl, and I expect you, Miss Darlington.
Laird will drive you over: of course he'll come.
I shall have the parson and his wife, and the
doctor and a few local fry. What's bothering
niy head is the question of entertainment. My
strawberries will be ripe, but you wouldn’t like to
be told to pick them, would you? There will be
croquet for a few—but what on earth will the
rest do?”
“Talk,” said Graham. “My experience of
those sorts of gaieties is that you stand about a
damp lawn, and keep your tongues busy ; you
refresh yourself with tea, and you go at it again
till you've exhausted every subject under the sun.
And then you're glad enough to see the traps
coming round.”
“Poor dumb dog,” said Colonel Fleming.
‘ Does he never talk to you, Miss Darlington ?”,
‘“ Not much,” said Sara, laughing.
“ No,” said Graham ; “ Miss Darlington and I
113 H
A Happy Woman
think more than we speak. If we have anything
particular to say we say it, otherwise we hold our
tongues.”
“Well, am I to expect you?”
“Twill see what Mrs. Laird says,” said Sara,
quietly. “If she cannot spare me I shall not
come ; but I thank you for the invitation.”
“You must bring her, Graham. Don’t dare
to show your face without her!”
He departed. Sara continued watering her
flowers.
“ Here!” said Graham, suddenly, after watch-
ing her in an absent-minded way, “you must let
me fill those cans for you. Why do you give
yourself such a lot of trouble ? Let the flowers
take their chance and wait for the rain.”
‘If you had sown these, and watched their
growth from seedlings, you couldn’t see them
flag and wither and die for want of a little effort
on your part.”
Graham did not answer. He filled her cans
from the garden tap and carried them backwards
and forwards for her. Then when she expressed
herself satisfied, he said—
‘‘Now we have earned a rest, come and sit
down over here where we can look down upon
the lake.”
She followed him to a favourite nook of hers
in the garden, The trees and shrubs had been
cut away, and from a rustic seat the lake in its
I14
The Invalid Improves
beautiful setting of wooded slopes lay before
them. She clasped her hands idly in her lap,
and a smile of keen enjoyment came to her lips
as she gazed over the still blue water.
‘I don’t think I have ever seen you idle
before,” said Graham, breaking a silence of some
minutes. ‘You always have that everlasting
knitting in your hands or some other dull kind
of work.”
Sara laughed.
“ How like a man! Women’s work is often
dull, but it is very useful nevertheless !”
“ How was it you refused Miss Ferris’s invi-
tation ? Did my mother know about it ?”
“No. I did not think it necessary to tell
her.”
“But that was hardly fair. There was no
reason why you should not have gone.”
“I had several very good reasons,” said Sara,
serenely. ‘ The chief one perhaps was that your
mother requires me more towards the end of the
day than any other part of it.”
“ But I could have taken your place.”
“Not altogether. You see what a good
opinion I have of my services! I did not come
here to enjoy social gaiety.”
“Gaiety! If you only knew what a dull soul
is Ferris! His dinners are heavier to the spirit
than to the digestion, and that is saying a good
deal |”
115
A Happy Woman
‘Then I haven’t missed much,” said Sara,
laughing.
He looked at her without speaking for a
moment, then he said—
“You must come to Fleming’s to-morrow.
We need not stay long. I can’t think how he
can consider it worth his while to turn his house
topsy-turvy for such an ineffectual bit of social
intercourse. It’s like playing at a game!”
“ Playing games is healthy sometimes. Colonel
Fleming strikes me as a very sociable man, He
likes his fellow creatures, doesn’t he?”
A shadow came into Graham's eyes.
“He used to be one of the most popular
officers in the service. I can’t think even now
why he stays here. Of course at one time—
I think I told you—he had his trouble, but time
heals wounds of that sort.”
“ He is very fond of you.”
‘It's rather astonishing, isn’t it?”
As Sara looked up, she encountered quite a
humorous sparkle in Graham’s dark eyes, and
she cried impulsively—
“Qh, I’m so glad you've a sense of humour.
Why don’t you show it more? It helps
through difficult bits of life as nothing else
does.”
And then she rose from her seat.
“] must goin. Your mother will be expect-
ing me.”
116
The Invalid Improves
She had turned from him before Graham had
recovered from his astonishment.
“ A sense of humour!” he muttered. “ When
one is cramped and deadened, and crushed into
a flattened bit of putty, it’s hard to have any
sense at all. But she is revolutionizing us! And
what a light she is in our dark dreary house !”
117
CHAPTER VIII
A MAN’S DETERMINATION
ARA went to Colonel Fleming’s At Home.
Mrs. Laird said she would like her to
do so.
It was a very warm afternoon when she
started in the high dog-cart with Graham. She
- wore a lavender muslin gown, and a shady straw
hat. He glanced at her, as she stood on the
steps waiting for the trap to come round. There
was something peculiarly dainty and fresh in her
appearance in spite of the extreme simplicity of
her dress. She caught his gaze and laughed.
“IT hope I am dressed suitably for the
occasion.”
“You will want a dust-coat or cloak,” said
Graham, gravely. She held up one with a smile,
and he took it out of her hands and helped her
into it.
Then as they drove off, he said—
“This is rather different weather to when
you last drove with me.”
“Yes,” said Sara; “I shall not soon forget
my arrival in these parts, What a strange, eerie,
and interesting time it was to me! Do you
118
A Man’s Determination
remember the mistake I made about you? I
took you for an exceedingly taciturn groom !”
“T had driven so many ladies backwards and
forwards,” said Graham, apologetically, ‘‘that I
felt very depressed that night.”
“You did not think me suitable,” said Sara,
amusement in her tone.
“No, I did not, and I do not now.”
“Oh, I am sorry. I hoped I was giving
satisfaction.”
“It is a false position for you to bein. And
candidly, I wonder that you stay.” |
‘But I am very happy, so why should I not ?
And I am truly fond of your mother.”
‘You are very good and patient with her.”
Sara did not speak for a moment, then she
said—
“Don’t you think it one of the good things
in this life to be able to mitigate even in the
least degree the sorrows and discomforts of
others? I do. And when your mother’s eyes
brighten, and a smile hovers about her lips, I feel
as happy asa sandboy! I want to get her out
more. Do you think we could persuade her to
drive with you across the hills? Couldn’t you
take her to see the old herb doctor ?”
He shook his head.
“She won’t see people just yet. I wish she
would. Have you been much with old people,
Miss Darlington ?”
11g
A Happy Woman
“No, I don’t think I have. But I do love
them. A little old Miss Grafton is one of my
greatest friends in town. I love their placid
detachment of things and people, and yet their
keen interest in all the little details of life which
escape the younger people who are more self-
engrossed.”
They turned then to talk of the country round
them. Sara found that Graham was interested
in al] nature studies. He told her some of his
experiences in the hills in India, and gave her an
account of his game-hunting there. She felt quite
sorry when the drive came to an end.
Colonel Fleming came out to meet them with
a beaming face.
‘Good creatures to be so punctual! I'm
actually getting nervous. Miss Darlington, come
and look at my tea-tables. I hope my house-
keeper has provided enough. How do people
know how much willbe required? It’s a mystery
to me.’
Tea had been laid under a group of old elms
on the lawn. Sara looked at the bountiful spread,
and assured him that he had enough cakes and
sandwiches for a hundred.
“You think so? I’mso glad. I made Mrs,
Larkins double everything half an hour ago.
You see, I’ve never gone in for this style of thing
before. And I want to do it well.”
The guests began to arrive, and soon there
IZ0
A Man’s Determination
was a very fair sprinkling of people scattered
about upon the lawn. Colonel Fleming had made
a very pretty garden for himself, and the old
farmhouse looked most picturesque in its setting.
Miss Ferris and her brother, Sir Malcolm, were
there, and Sara was introduced to the squire of
the district for the first time. He was a short,
stout man with very little powers of conversation,
and Sara found him distinctly heavy. Mrs. Jeffery
and her little girl were some of the latest arrivals.
The child soon discovered Sara, and followed her
about like a shadow. Her mother paced a shady
shrubbery path for a long time with Graham.
Sara came across them once talking earnestly.
The young widow's face was very sweet and
appealing, she seemed to be pleading for something
which Graham, with set frowning face, was deny-
ing her. Sara was walking with Miss Ferris when
she met them. Mrs. Jeffery‘gave her a stiff little
smile of recognition ; Graham never lifted his eyes
from the ground.
‘“My dear,” said Miss Ferris, bluntly, “ we
have interrupted unadvisedly.”
‘Oh, they’re cousins,” said Sara, indifferently.
A little later, Colonel Fleming insisted upon
taking her over his house. Little True accom-
panied them. Sara admired the plain dark-
panelled hall, with its oak table and settle by
the fire. It was essentially a man’s room. The
dining-room led out of it, and was furnished in
IZI
A Happy Woman
the same severe style. Above the fireplace was
the portrait of a charming girl in riding dress.
“My mother, God bless her!” said Colonel
Fleming. “And painted by a first-rate artist
too. I don’t mind telling you, Miss Darlington,
but her eyes looking down upon me when I sit
Over my wine prevents my making a—a beast of
myself. Do you understand? <A man dining
alone, with nobody to keep him company, soon
makes a god of his cellar. And she and I under-
stand each other, and I know when I must draw
in. Now then, come into the drawing-room. It
has been aired and trimmed up, but I never use
the room myself. I sit mostly in the hall.”
The drawing-room was appalling in its stiff
decorum: chairs against the wall, curtains
shrouded to hide light, windows close shut, and
the crimson damask suite from which holland
covers had been removed made Sara feel hot to
look at them.
“I suppose this room appeals to ladies most,”
Colonel Fleming said, with a wistful note in his
voice; ‘but a man doesn’t need a state room
like this, so I never use it.”
“T don’t think I should use it either,” said
Sara, thoughtfully ; adding, with a little laugh:
“T mean if I were staying as a visitor in your
house.” |
“Oh, I would,” exclaimed True, dancing up
and down as she clung hold of Sara’s hand. “I
I2Z2
A Man’s Determination
would have canaries in all the windows, and dogs
and cats about the floor, and then when it got
dark I would light up all the candles, and get
somebody to play the piano, and I would dance to
the music. It would be lovely!”
“T can see you and the cats and dogs all
dancing together,” said Sara, with a merry laugh.
The child did not laugh. But she looked up
into Colonel Fleming’s face gravely.
“Why don’t you get a lady to come and live
in this room? If I was bigger I might come.
But there are lots of ladies who would like a nice
room like this,”
“Ah!” said Colonel F leming, laughing, “ but
then they might interfere with my rooms, and
that would never do. Now we'll come back to
the garden and lock this room up. It is too hot
and fusty to use to-day.”
“ Like Bluebeard’s cupboard it is,” cried True ;
and then she ran off in search of her mother,
whilst Sara was taken over the rest of the house.
As they rejoined the company on the lawn,
the Colonel said—
“So glad to get Graham out amongst us
to-day. He has been slowly fossilizing, but
you're waking him up at last.”
‘Oh, I have very little to say or do with him,”
said Sara, indifferently.
She glanced at Graham, as he stood by Mrs.
Jeffery’s side. She was eating an ice which he
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A Happy Woman
had brought her, and he was smiling at True’s
earnest talk.
The child was leaning against her mother.
Then Sara was introduced to a local doctor’s
wife, and afterwards the vicar of the parish came
up and claimed her attention.
She did not see Graham to speak to till the
guests were departing. They were the last to
leave, for Colonel Fleming had begged them to
help him till the end.
When the dog-cart came round, the Colonel
helped Sara into it and said—
“T am hoping my party has been a success,
but I'll own up to being confoundedly glad it’s
over |”
‘You have given pleasure to all of us,” said
Sara.
“Get Mr. Laird to follow my example,” said
Colonel Fleming as they drove off. ‘It’s your
turn to show hospitality next!”
Graham gave a short laugh.
‘The skies will fall before we go in for enter-
taining,” he said to Sara.
“Qh, I don’t know,” she replied. “Your
mother may wake up one day, and want to
do it.”
“She is certainly taking more interest in life.
Now I want you to get her to do something.
Mrs, Jeffery. is most anxious to let bygones be:
bygones. She wants to come over to lunch one
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A Man’s Determination
day, and see my mother. In fact, I should like
her and the child to come to us for a few days
before they leave this neighbourhood. I want
my mother to be willing to receive her.”
“You take my breath away,” said Sara. “It
was only the other day you told me if Mrs.
Jeffery were to call, that your mother was not
to see her. And now I have heard the story, I
think it would be the height of folly for them to
meet at present.”
She felt Graham instantly stiffen, as he sat
beside her.
“T am the best judge of that.”
‘‘ No, excuse me, you are not. No man under-
stands a woman, Your mother is not strong
enough either mentally or physically to be put
under such an intense strain. Think how it will
reopen all the anguish and remorse! Why, it is
cruelty to think of it! I am fond of dear little
True, but to have a child in the house, in your
mother’s state, would be madness, especially as
she is the child of Mrs. Jeffery.”
Sara spoke hotly. She felt up in arms against
such a proposition.
But Graham resented her impulsive speech.
“Miss Darlington,” he said in very deter-
mined tones, ‘“‘you may be sure I have my
mother’s welfare at heart as much as you. But
she is softening, and I am convinced that were
she once to see my cousin, and hear her speak of
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A Happy Woman
the past, she would see it with different eyes. _
Mrs. Jeffery’s life has been a very unhappy
one, and my mother’s attitude towards her has
intensified that unhappiness. My mother used
to adore children, and True, I firmly believe,
would bring balm and peace to her heart and be
a veritable little peacemaker. We do not want
to encourage my mother in this morbid animosity
towards one who has really been an innocent
victim of her dislike. I have promised to have
my cousin and her child the end of next week.
And I never break a promise.”
“Oh!” cried Sara, ‘“‘you are going to undo
all my work, and plunge your mother into the
depths again. I must protest! I will! Your
cousin ought to have known better than to make
you give her such a promise. You are vexed
with me. You think I have no right to object.
But I do. I shouldn’t be human if I did not.
And if you still persist in bringing her to the
house I warn you that I shall circumvent you if
I can!”
Graham compressed his lips, but said no
more, and the rest of their drive was taken in
constrained silence: Sara in seething rebellion
against his decision, Graham in real annoyance
at her attitude.
When Sara alighted from the trap, she stood
with flushed cheeks and a proud poise of the
head.
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A Man’s Determination
“We are angry with each other now,” she
said, “but do not let your mother see that we
are. And do not, I implore you, touch upon this
plan before her to-night. Let her have some
sleep. She needs so much, and she will have
none after she knows.”
“ You are exaggerating,” said Graham, coldly ;
“but I have no intention of saying anything to
my mother about the matter to-night.”
Sara heaved a sigh of relief and went upstairs.
Graham shut himself into the dining-room. As
he paced up and down, with a furrow of anxiety
and impatience across his brow, he caught the
sounds of Sara’s bright cheerful voice in the
room above. Once he heard his mother’s feeble
laugh. He knew that a minute account of the
garden party was being given, and a certain
regret crept into his heart that he was not there
to join in the talk. Then. he gave himself a
mental shake.
“A very masterful young woman! She may
manage my mother, but she will not manage me.”
He contrasted her with the sweet plaintive
young widow who, with a hand laid lightly on
his arm, had said—
“Graham, if I could regain your mother’s
love and friendship, I should be a happy woman.
It is like a heavy burden weighing my spirit to
the ground. Let me only see her, and I know,
I know I could make my peace with her.”
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A Happy Woman
Sara only came downstairs in time for the
evening meal, and she talked as usual upon
various subjects. The one topic that was in
both their minds was not touched upon again.
Graham sat with his mother afterwards, and her
improved brightness and animation only made
him more determined than ever to keep his pro-
mise to Mrs. Jeffery.
“It could not harm her, and Eva is sweetness
and gentleness itself. She will have the tact
necessary when seeing her.”
When the next morning came, Sara spoke to
him at breakfast.
“Will you let me plead for a redecision on
your part upon having your cousin here ?”
“No,” he said; “I have weighed the matter
well, and you are unduly alarmed. I am con-
vinced it may be the very best course to take
with my mother now. The final touch that will
bring her peace and comfort of mind. She is
much better in health now—more reasonable in
every way.”
Sara was mute.
He looked across at her, and his tone softened
a little.
“T will do this if you like, I will invite Mrs.
Jeffery over for the day, and leave it to my
mother to decide as to whether she should come
for a few days as our guest.”
“Well,” said Sara, drawing in a deep breath,
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A Man’s Determination
“T have lain awake all night trying to see a gleam
of light in your suggestion, and my instinct and,
may I say, my common sense is dead against it.
But I will not fight you. I am here to help your
mother, and I will do my best to see her through
it. When are you going to speak to her about
the visit ?”
He hesitated.
“T think you might do that.”
“T am afraid I must refuse.”
He looked at her with a cold smile.
“T expected a refusal, but I gave you your
opportunity. I had better speak to her at once
before I go out.”
Sara made no reply.
He left the room and went upstairs. Sara
stepped out into the garden. She found herself
gripping the back of a garden seat, and wondered
at her own agitation.
“if only he had waited a little longer, till she
was out in this beautiful air and sunshine! Oh,
I hope he will be gentle and patient with her!”
She waited in suspense, then she heard the
trap coming round, and as she turned towards
the house, Graham came out and stood upon the
doorstep.
“Tt is all right,” he said quietly, meeting her
anxious gaze. “Mrs, Jeffery comes to lunch on
Friday next.”
She said nothing, but with swift step passed
129 I
A Happy Woman
him, and made her way at once to Mrs. Laird’s
room. The old lady was sitting in her easy-chair
by the window. Her breakfast uay was on the
table by her side, |
Her hands were grasping the arms of her
chair; but they were trembling, and her sad,
haunting eyes met Sara’s with infinite: pathos.
“Come to me. I want you badly.”-
Sara knelt down by her side, and spoke with
her usual brightness.
“TIsn’t it a lovely morning ? Shall we have
the bath-chair round in an hour's time, and enjoy
the air?”
*‘Oh, my dear, my dear, don’t you know?
Hasn't Graham told you? That woman is
coming here—under our roof—to eat our bread—
to force herself upon me after all these years.
How can I bear it? Will you help me? You
are my only help, my son is against his own
mother !”
She leant back in her cushions with a little
moaning sigh.
“ Dear Mrs. Laird! I have been told about
it, but you need not fret. She is not worth it.
Can you not show her that the past is past, and
is not to be reopened? As you are never down
to lunch, you need not see her for more than a
moment or two. She seems—if I may say so
—to crave for your forgiveness and affection.
And I will be with you when you see her if
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A Man’s Determination
you would like me to be. I will not leave you
alone.”
‘“‘ Yes—yes, you must be with me. I distrust
her, I cannot help myself. And Graham seems
distressed to think I can’t forgive. He is so
honourable himself, so big hearted, that he cannot
understand a woman's feelings. Oh, Sara, my
dear, I was beginning to have such peace, such
comfort, and now the darkness is coming back.”
“No, no, don’t think such a thing for a_
moment. Ask yourself Who has given you this
peace? Where does it come from ?”
Mrs. Laird put her trembling hand on Sara's
soft brown head. A little smile came to her lips.
“You told me it says that no man can take
it away from me, but Graham has been perilously
near doing it this morning.”
“He cannot touch your soul. You have
given that right away into God’s keeping.”
“So I thought I had, and the past with it.
But the past is to be reopened. She will con-
front me with the consequence of my evil temper.
Is it blotted out?” Then she added under her
breath—
“There is plentiful redemption,
In the Blood that has been shed.”
Sara smiled, but the quick tears of pity and
sympathy were dimming her eyes.
“Do you know,” she said brightly, “I think
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A Happy Woman
you are bravely going to crush the last of your
shadows underfoot. You have always had a
secret dread of meeting Mrs. Jeffery again one
day. Now, when you will have seen her, this
dread will leave you. A week hence, you will
look back and smile at your fears. And if you
could make up your mind to forgive her and tell
her why you can do it now, it may do her all the
good in the world !”
“ But she has a child!”
Sudden terror leapt into her eyes.
“I told Graham she should not torture me
by bringing her child here! He did not press
the point. That would be too much for me to
bear! You'll prevent that, Sara! Oh, my head!
my head !”
She sank back exhausted. Sara soothed her.
But that was a trying morning, and Mrs. Laird
was too upset to go out in her wheel chair.
Graham came home to lunch. Sara met him
with no reproaches. She simply said—
‘Would it be possible for Mrs. Jeffery to come
to lunch to-morrow? I think it would be better
for your mother if she did.”
“Perhaps she would be able todo so. You
mean the sooner she comes the better ?”’
“Yes, the waiting and suspense is very wear-
ing for your mother.”
“I thought she was very calm and reasonable
about it when I talked to her.”
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A Man’s Determination
“You must not let True come. I have
promised that she shall not.”
He looked at her. And the faintest smile
came to his lips.
“I did not know you could speak so dis-
agreeably,” he said. |
“T feel disagreeable,” said Sara, meeting his
gaze with calmness. “I am really anxious, And
I wonder why men’s instincts are so faulty. But
we won't discuss the subject.”
“No, we will not,” Graham said. “Are you
going out this afternoon ?”
“T don't think I will leave your mother
to-day.”
“Then I will ride over myself to the farm.
I thought that perhaps you could have taken a
message,”
Sara mentally congratulated herself upon
escaping such an errand.
She spent the afternoon with Mrs. Laird, but
persuaded her to come down and sit in the
garden. The old lady was still much perturbed.
Sara read aloud to her, hoping to distract her
thoughts from the unhappy past.
But Mrs. Laird did not listen, and at last
put her hand on the book.
“Stop reading, and talk to me. I suppose
Graham has gone over to see Eva ?”
“I think he is going to ask her to come
to-morrow.”
v
133
A Happy Woman
“Ts it not an extraordinary thing that a
woman of her type should make every one believe
in her? And, Sara, the conviction has come to
me this afternoon, that she will follow her former
tactics, and turn my only son against me.”
“Oh no, no. You must not think such a
thing. Your son is devoted to you. Think of
all his loving care——”
“And sacrifice! I know now that he has
sacrificed himself for me all these years. I used
not to care, but I do care now. I was struggling
with my selfishness and resolving to fight with
my fears, and come out amongst people again
for his sake, but now, oh, I can’t think! You
have seen her, you say she is a sweet attractive
woman. I know how weak, how blinded men
are! Do you think my cup of sorrow is not
yet full? Shall I be forced to welcome her as
a daughter-in-law ?”
“| think you are very wrong in entertaining
such a thought. Now, shall I sing to you? Shall
I fetch my guitar ?”
Mrs. Laird sighed heavily.
“TI don’t think that even your music could
cheer me to-day.”
But Sara made the attempt, and her sweet
- little songs brought some relief to Mrs. Laird’s
brain. The weary day was over at last. Sara
laid her head«upon her pillow with a prayer that
strength and grace would be given for the morrow.
134
CHAPTER IX
A DIFFICULT MEETING
f fein next morning Sara was too busy to
spend much time in thinking. Visitors
had not been to any meal in the house for years,
and Mrs. Thwaites and Izzie seemed quite un-
equal to the occasion. Sara was in the garden
gathering flowers, then dusting and arranging the
two sitting-rooms, and finally out in the kitchen
helping Mrs. Thwaites, who wasa very indifferent
cook, to prepare an appetizing little luncheon.
Mrs. Laird was very quietand resigned. She
refused to come down to lunch, but said she
would see Mrs. Jeffery afterwards. The piteous,
nervous look in her eyes haunted Sara. She
felt that she would like to have taken Graham
by his two broad shoulders and given him a
thorough good shaking.
Mrs. Jeffery arrived at half-past twelve, and
walked about the garden with Graham till lunch
was ready. She greeted Sara pleasantly, but
a little indifferently ; and when they sat down to
lunch, confined her remarks to Graham.
At last Mrs. Laird’s name was mentioned.
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A Happy Woman
“I hope it will not distress her to see me,”
Mrs. Jeffery said in her sweet plaintive voice.
‘If she only knew what a longing I have had to
see her again! And she is really much better in
health now, is she not? I dare say time has
healed things.” |
Then Sara spoke. It was quite unpre-
meditated, and afterwards she wondered that she
had done so.
“Mrs. Laird is better, or she would not be
able to see you to-day,” she said. “But time
has not effaced the past. And of course your
presence here reopens much. She is agitated
and perturbed in consequence. But I believe
you could do much to ease her mind. I hope
you will be able to do it. She is certain to refer
to the past. If she does, will you assure her of
the fact that she never laid her hand-upon her
little grandchild when her accident happened.
She did not touch her, as you know.”
Graham looked up quickly. There was a
quiet challenge in Sara's eyes as she faced Mrs.
Jeffery that brought the colour to the young
widow's cheeks.
“No, of course she did not touch her,” she
said hastily. ‘I was in the hall below, and saw
the child fall.”
“Just assure Mrs. Laird of that,” said Sara,
quietly. ‘“ Though she knows the fact herself,
in her ill-health she has sometimes imagined
136
A Difficult Meeting
otherwise ; and it is good for her to be reassured
on that point.”
“ But ” began Graham.
Sara flashed such an imperious frowning
glance upon him that he stopped short.
“Perhaps my mother would rather not talk of
the past at all,” he said a little lamely.
But neither Mrs. Jeffery nor Sara responded
to this. Half an hour afterwards, Sara was
sitting by Mrs. Laird’s side, when Mrs. Jeffery
was brought in by Graham. |
It was a tense moment for all, and per-
haps Mrs. Jeffery was the one who saved the
situation.
‘Dear Cousin Rachael, thank you for seeing
me. Please don’t get up. I have so often
wanted to ask your forgiveness for my unwise
behaviour in the past.”
She had both Mrs. Laird’s hands in hers as
she spoke, and in a pretty foreign fashion bent
her lips to them and kissed them.
Mrs. Laird made an effort to speak, but
could not. Graham hurriedly began to make
conversation.
‘Eva has been living at a farm on the Fells,
mother. Her little girl is delicate, but she is
now going to Brighton with her mother. Do you
remember our first visit to Brighton—when we
were boys? We had had the whooping cough.”
He stopped. The allusion to his brother brought
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A Happy Woman
a shadow across his mother’s face. She sank
back in her chair. Then she said—
Will you wait downstairs, Graham? There
are too many of us in the room. I feel I cannot
breathe. No, Sara, do not leave me. You are
the only one I want. Now, Eva, what is it you
want to say to me?” Sara was surprised at the
quiet composure of her tone.
| Mrs. Jeffery looked a little disconcerted.
“TI don’t know that I want to say more than
I have glready said. I want you to be friends
with me again.”
She glanced nervously at Graham as he was
leaving the room. She had not imagined that
he would desert her at this juncture.
“T think,” said Sara, slowly, “that you were
going to tell Mrs. Laird that you saw that she
did not touch the child when she fell. That she
never laid her hand upon her.”
Mrs. Laird lent forward in her chair. Her
dark sad eyes were fixed intently upon the young
widow. “I should like to hear the truth,” she
said.
“Of course, Cousin Rachael, you did not
touch her. Why should you imagine that you
did?”
Mrs. Jeffery spoke feverishly. She had
spoken hastily downstairs without a thought of
the consequences of her admission. Now she
began to remember more of the past, and
| 138
A Difficult Meeting
wondered if Mrs. Laird did. She was not left
in doubt.
“TI imagined I might have done so though
my heart told me I did not, when you told my
son that you saw me strike her down. But let
the past be past, Eva. May you find, as I have ©
done, the source of peace for misdeeds of words
and acts. You cannot undo what you have done,
but you can be sorry for it. And I am not
going to judge you. If you have a child, train
her to guard her lips against hypocrisy and
untruths.”
Sara had turned away whilst Mrs. Laird was
speaking. She felt uncomfortable at being
forced to be present at this interview, and stood
looking out of the window upon the blue lake
and encircling hills in the distance.
She heard a little sob come from Mrs. Jeffery.
“Oh, you are still hard upon me! You never
liked me, and I have always craved for your
affection. I am alone in the world now. They
say there is nothing like kinship. I hoped we
might draw nearer together.”
“You have your child to live for. I am
alone in the world too, but I have a son, and I
am content.”
“I hope you are not angry at my coming
to-day ?” ,
“No, I am not angry. Let us bury the
past. The world is large enough for you and me
139
A Happy Woman
to live our own lives in it without jarring one
another. Now, as this is my rest time I must
say good-bye to you.”
Then Sara turned. Without a word Mrs.
Jeffery took the hand Mrs. Laird offered her, and
left the room.
When the door had closed upon her, Mrs.
Laird lay back in her chair with a weary sigh. |
Sara arranged her cushions with loving care.
“Now I am going to leave you for an hour.
Get some sleep if you can. And we won't think
or talk about this visit any more to-day.”
Mrs. Laird smiled at her.
“You are one of the most tactful people I
have ever met. I can’t talk. My heart is so
lacerated and hurt, I will try to rest, but sleep
is impossible.”’
Then Sara left her and went to her room
where she tried to write some letters; but she
was painfully conscious of the young widow pacing
up and down the garden paths with Graham, and
talking in low earnest tones as she did so. At
last the dog-cart came round, and Graham drove
her away in it. Sara purposely did not go down.
She knew that Mrs. Jeffery had bitterly resented
her being present at the interview with Mrs.
Laird, and had she known that the old lady would
show such force and composure, she would not
have stayed.
At tea-time she went back to Mrs. Laird, but
140
A Difficult Meeting
talked brightly to her on different topics, and
then brought out her guitar and began to sing,
Graham slipped into the room before she finished.
And then Sara left mother and son together.
She did not see Graham alone till late in the
evening. And then as she came into the sitting-
room she saw him at his writing-desk, turning
over packets of old letters and carefully reading
them through.
He looked up at her.
“Well,” he said, “I can hardly say my
cousin’s visit has been a success, but at least my
mother seems none the worse for it in spite of all
your gloomy prognostications !”
‘*No,” said Sara, quietly. ‘‘ The relief at
finding her instincts true, after all, has done her
good. As I know all the sad story, can I
speak ?”
“ Of course.”
Graham turned in his chair as Sara took a
seat by the open window.
‘Do you realize the tremendous importance
to your mother of your cousin’s assertion that
she never laid a hand upon the child ?”
“Ves,” said Graham, slowly; ‘‘and I am
trying to find my brother’s letter to me at the
time. He misunderstood the facts.”
“He got the facts from your cousin.”
“You speak as bitterly as my mother. I
hardly think that is the case. Or in his grief he
141
A Happy Woman
must have distorted them. Ah, this is his letter
which he wrote to me at the time.”’
For a moment there was silence, whilst
Graham unfolded the foreign-looking letter in
his hand. His brows were knitted in perplexity
as he read. He folded it up with a sigh.
“He says in it that my mother struck the
child, that Eva saw her do it. It is very sad,
perplexing, but does it do any good now to rake
up all the past? It was an accident.”
“ Yes, let us leave it at that; but your mother
knows now that it was not her actual hand that
killed the child, and I am glad for her sake that
that point has been cleared. Is Mrs. Jeffery
leaving the neighbourhood this week ?”
“I do not know exactly. I think she is.”
“You will not bring her over here again ?”
Graham made an impatient movement in his
chair.
“Upon my word, Miss Darlington, you do
try to manage us all!”
Sara rose. “I beg your pardon,” she said,
and left the room.
They did not meet again that evening. She
felt vexed with him, and he was angry with her,
but the next morning they met at breakfast as if
nothing had occurred to annoy them. Only just
as Graham was leaving the table he spoke to her—
“Forgive my hasty words last night, Miss
Darlington. I know you have my mother's
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A Difficult Meeting
interests at heart, and nobody else is of any con-
sequence at all !”’
He smiled as he finished his sentence, and
Sara looked up at him with her frank pleasant
laugh.
“You are right,” she said; ‘I think of no
one but your mother. I want her to get perfectly
happy and well, and would sweep away all the
hindrances to it with a ruthless hand.”
“ Shall we take her out upon the lake this
afternoon? I shall have a couple of hours’
leisure ; and it is a lovely day.”
“It will be delightful if I can manage it.”
So peace was made between them, and Mrs,
Jeffery was not mentioned again.
What Mrs. Laird had said to her son Sara
never knew. She was singularly calm now that
the dreaded visit was over. When Sara came
to tell her of the proposed boating expedition,
she laid her hand on her arm and said—
“T will come if Graham wishes it. Sara,
cannot you and I make him happy here ?”
_ Sara knew what was her underlying thought.
She answered lightly—
“I think he is happy, Mrs. Laird. We all
are, are we not ?”
“TI never thought I could be,” said Mrs.
Laird in a low tone; “but the relief that came
to me yesterday has almost made me so. I am
not going to look back at the past. I prayed
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A Happy Woman
this morning that as my sins had been forgiven
me, so I might forgive hers. One sinner has no
right to condemn another sinner. And I am not
going to fear the future. I am even anticipating
a delightful old age, if what I wish comes to pass.”
Sara did not ask what that wish was.
That afternoon Mrs. Laird was very carefully
wheeled down in her chair to the lake, Graham
settled her comfortably in the boat, Sara steered,
and he rowed.
It was an exquisite afternoon. The hills
were purple with heather and ling, the lake
reflected the deep blue sky, and a soft breeze
fanned their faces as they slowly glided along.
“You're enjoying it, mother ?” Graham asked,
looking at her with fond affection.
‘IT only wish we three could be always together
like this,” said Mrs. Laird with fervour.
Graham smiled. Sara glanced at him. With
his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, in his white
boating flannels, and his straw hat shading his
face, he looked this afternoon ten years younger
than he was. There was a briskness and energy |
about him, and a brightness in his eyes, that was
quite unusual.
Sara herself irradiated sunshine round her.
Her grey eyes were shining with deep content.
And she lapsed into a happy reverie from which
she was roused by Mrs. Laird asking her to sing
to them.
144
A Difficult Meeting
“You promised me to bring your guitar.”
“ So I have,” said Sara; “ but I cannot steer
and play at the same time.”
“Oh, I'll manage the boat,” said Gahan:
“What shall I sing?” asked Sara. “ It must
be something bright!”
Then she broke into a little song which Mrs,
Laird loved.
“Over the water lives my dear love
And I call him when I want him,
Over the water he hies to me
And oftentimes I flaunt him.
_“Over the water he thinks of me
He loves me, oh, so dearly !
His heart is too deep for me to reach,
I'm tired of trying—nearly !
“Over the water I love him much,
But when he comes to woo me,
I laugh and make light of all he says
For the fear of love goes through me.
“Over the water my love falls ill,
I die with anxiety—nearly.
Over the water I haste to him,
I love him, oh so dearly!”
Sara’s voice always pourtrayed the words she
sang. There was a tremulous intensity in her last
notes, that made Graham suddenly raise his eyes
and look at her.
And she was startled to see a fire and passion
in his face that she had never conceived could be
existent beneath his grave cold exterior. For
a moment it almost took her breath away, she
145 K
A Happy Woman
gazed away over the lake, feeling her pulses
throb in an inexplicable fashion.
Then Mrs, Laird urged her to sing again,
and this time she took care that it should be no
love song.
When she put her guitar down, they were
silent for a time, then Graham began to tell a
‘Sir Malcolm’s house was once a monastery,
and long ago the abbot there used to go up to
that headland and Pray. One moonlight night he
was startled by a strange hand being placed on his
shoulder, but turn as he would he could not see
the stranger behind him. All he heard was,
‘Pray to the one who holds you.’ And he knew
it was the Devil who spoke, Then ensued a fear-
ful struggle, for the abbot said he owned only the
Master to Whom he prayed. The Devil tried to
hurl him into the lake, and at last, as the abbot felt
his strength departing, he sank to his knees crying:
‘Into Thy Hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.’
‘With a wild cry the Devil fled, the abbot
was saved and lived many years after, but the
imprint of his knees, they Say, are still to be seen
on the rock over there.” -
“That's rather nice,” Sara Said, then she
added, almost under her breath
“For Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.”
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A Difficult Meeting
Mrs. Laird looked at her with a smile.
“It’s true,” she said quietly. ‘Prayer is
power.”
“T wish I could believe that,” said Graham,
looking at his mother thoughtfully.
“Sara will make you believe it,” said Mrs.
Laird, quickly. “She made me—and I’ve proved
it true. Only prayer, my-dear Graham, enabled
me to meet and talk with Eva yesterday. Only
prayer makes me able to forgive her for her false
statements so long ago.”
‘We won't think of the past,” Sara said
gaily. “Look at the sun on the hills! What
exquisite colouring!” She saw the shadow
coming over Mrs. Laird’s face again. If she
forgave, she could not forget, and Sara wanted
her mind to have a rest.
They glided on until they nearly reached the
opposite side, and then they found it was time to
return.
Mrs. Laird was much the better for her out-
ing, and when she retired to rest for the night
she called Sara to her. 4
“I keep thinking of the legend Graham told
us of. How true it is to life! I feel I-have been
in the Devil’s grip for all these years, but you
have taught me to pray, and his power over me
has gone. I am so thankful and happy, my dear.
And am even glad that I saw Eva yesterday.
She rolled such a weight off me when she told
147
A Happy Woman
me that I never touched my darling. If only
Edmund had not believed her when she told him
the contrary! But I won't think of it. I am
going to try to make up to my son for all the
gloom and crossness and unsociability of these
past years. You will help me, will you not, and
don’t lose patience if I sometimes lapse into
gloom? God will help me to conquer. I have
been a selfish woman all my life, but I want to
serve the One Who has forgiven me and given
me peace.”
Sara kissed her warmly, but could hardly
trust herself to speak. Mrs. Laird was almost
like a little child in her simple pathos. She
seemed now to have come out into the clear
shining after rain, and Sara could hardly believe
sometimes that she was the same woman as the
one who had greeted her a few months before
with such irritable impatience and scorn.
148
CHAPTER X
GRAHAM’S DEPARTURE
a D° you think you could take care of my
mother whilst I go to town for a few
days?”
“Most certainly,” replied Sara, promptly.
‘We are always happy together.”
Graham had never before left home for even
a night.. His request almost amused Sara; and
he was quick to catch the sparkle in her eyes.
‘‘T suppose you think I don’t do much in the
way of looking after my mother? But before
you came she refused to go to bed unless she
was assured that I was close to her.”
“I quite believe it. Now she can spare you
easily ; and I hope you will take more than a few
days if you can. It will do you a lot of good.
Don’t you think we all need change from our
surroundings sometimes ?”
“IT amcontent. One learns to adapt one’s self
to one’s circumstances,”
Mrs, Laird offered no objections to her son’s
proposed visit to town, and he left early one
morning, saying he would be back in three days’
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A Happy Woman
time. Later that same day Sara went out fora
ramble over the hills. The bracken was already
tinged with gold, the heather dying, and the
young gorse beginning to bloom. She took
Snooks with her, and paid a visit to the herb
doctor’s daughter.
She found the latter busy taking some honey
from her beehives, and Sara watched the opera-
tion with the greatest interest. Then they sat
down on a rough bench outside the little hut, and
began to talk. Agnes had by this time lost all
her shyness and reserve; and she and Sara were
the best of friends.
As Sara looked over the exquisite range of
hills and valleys with the golden sunshine stealing
across them, and the shadows of the clouds above
following in its track, she drew a long breath of
delight.
“Oh, I wish I lived up here, Agnes; I don’t
think I should ever get tired of looking out over
these lovely hills. One feels such rest and peace
in one’s soul in lovely scenery like this.”
“T think different people feel different,” said
Agnes; “I never took much notice when I was
miserable. How is Mrs. Laird ?”
“Very much brighter and happier in every
way.”
“T always look upon her and myself as a bit
alike in our experience,” said Agnes, slowly.
“"Tis strange that you should be friends with
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Graham’s Departure
both of us, but I s’pose you go through life
hunting out the gloomy.”
“Indeed, I don’t,” said Sara, smiling. “It
was quite by accident we came across each
other.”
Agnes nodded.
“Yes, I was much put about when I saw you
first. But I can’t thank you enough for putting
me on to my Bible. I read it in the evenings,
and lately I’ve been reading a bit here and there
to father. It’s good to think of another life to
come, when this is such a poor failure.”
“I won't allow that, Agnes. We have our
rough bits of road and cloudy days, but you have
a good many years before you yet—at least I
hope you have—and there’s no reason why you
should not live those years in sunshine.”
“Oh, miss! How can 1?”
Sara looked at her affectionately.
‘‘Open your heart to the real Sun, Agnes.
The Bible tells you of Him. If He comes inside
you, your life can become a glory!”
Agnes drew a long breath.
“ Tell me how you feel,” she said. ‘ You look
as if sunshine be bursting out of you all over.”
Sara could not help laughing, and her laugh
was so infectious that Agnes joined her.
“I’m not one for an example,” she said;
‘but I must say I can’t help feeling happy.
This summer weather is delicious, and my invalid
15I
A Happy Woman
is getting cheerier every day, and there’s so much
to do that wants doing, and our unseen Friend,
Agnes, is so tender and loving; such a Guide
and Protector!”
“T wish I knew Him as you do.”
Then Sara sat and talked to her of that
Friend, and Agnes's heart quickened and glowed
as she listened. When Sara at last left her, pro-
mising to come again soon, it was already late
in the afternoon. She was hastening downhill
when a loud whistle behind her made her turn
round. It was Colonel Fleming.
He overtook her.
“Quite breathless with the chase!” he ex-
claimed. ‘How you do fly along! May I
come back with you for a cup of tea ?”
‘‘Yes, do. I believe Mrs. Laird will see
you. Weare going to have it in the garden.”
“And so the stay-at-home has gone to have
his fling! Saw him and Mrs. Jeffery this morn-
ing at the station. They went off together.”
Sara did not show her surprise.
“He will only be away for a few days. It
will be very good for him to have the change.”
“Won't it just! I say, Miss Darlington, do
you think you could persuade him to come up to
Scotland with me in a month's time? I’m going
to shoot with an old pal of ours. I go every
year; and last year we did our utmost to get
Graham up there. But his mother is so much
152
Graham’s Departure
better now, he might be persuaded. Is it
rough on you if he goes? Would you be
lonely ?”
“I don’t really know the meaning of that
word,” said Sara, smiling at his sudden concern
for her. “I have been the one woman in the
house ever since I left school, first with my
father, then with my brother; and you know the
ways of men!—always out, and liking their
womenkind always in!”
“Yes—yes—I believe we do. I hate now
coming into an empty house with nobody to
greet me—well—you'll try and do what you
can to make Graham go with me. Wish you'd
seen him some years ago—he has fossilized here
—no spring or energy in him, and he used to be
a first-class shot too; Ferris won’t preserve—
and there’s not much shooting about here. My
own is very poor. Lyle—the chap who's asked
me to his shooting-box—has got splendid covers
and sport. He and Graham did some game-
hunting together in India and I joined them for
a time. It would be like old times to have
Graham with us again.”
“We will try to make him go,” said Sara.
Colonel Fleming talked hard till they reached
the house. They found Mrs, Laird pacing up
and down the garden paths enjoying Sara's
bright flower border. Just for an instant, from
long habit, she began to retire to the house,
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A Happy Woman
when she saw that Sara was not alone; but the
Colonel stepped blithely forward—
‘“May I have a cup of tea, Mrs. Laird? So
glad to hear you're better. If I’m going to drive
you indoors I’ll go—I forced myself upon Miss
Darlington. Graham and I often have tea and a
smoke at this time together.”
“I shall be very glad if you will stay,” said
Mrs. Laird, seating herself in an easy-chair under
an acacia tree; “my son is away.”
“Yes, so I heard—glad he was able to have
a change. Ferris is a beggar for keeping his
agents hard at it. You don’t know him, do you,
Mrs. Laird? No loss, I can tell you. He and I
had words the other day over boundary marks,
And I said to him, ‘Look here, sir, you've
your own property, and so have I. It don't
matter whether we possess one acre or a million,
but the rights of owners have to be respected,
and I jolly well respect mine, I can tell you!’
The little bounder began to jaw, but I jawed
too, and when once my tongue is loose, I can
tell you nobody can get an innings!”
Colonel Fleming was now leaning back in a
garden chair perfectly at ease, and Sara saw to
her delight that Mrs. Laird was quietly interested
in his talk. She poured out tea and took a
part in the conversation. And when the Colonel
eventually departed, Mrs. Laird said, thought-
fully—.
154
Graham’s Departure
“I can understand Graham’s affection for that
man. He is his only friend in these parts, but
he’s such cheery company.”
“I have never seen him anything but cheer-
ful,” said Sara. “He gets pleasure out of every-
thing.”
“ Like yourself. It was a fortunate day when
you came to me, Sara, You have made life very
different to me, and to Graham too. He sees
the difference in the house. I wonder what
business has taken him to town ?”
Sara was wondering that too. She did not
tell Mrs. Laird that Mrs. Jeffery had gone up to
town with him. She hardly knew herself if it
was prearranged or mere coincidence. She
hoped the latter, and then resolutely turned her —
mind from dwelling upon the subject.
“It has nothing to do with me. They are
cousins, and he has a right to help her if she
needs a man’s help.”
But a letter from Graham to his mother,
bearing the Brighton postmark, made her very
thoughtful. It arrived two days later, and Sara
took it to Mrs. Laird upon her breakfast tray.
Mrs. Laird smiled as she took it into her
hand.
“You wouldn’t believe how few letters I have
received from Graham. For fourteen years he
has never been away from me.”
Then she put on her spectacles and began to
T55
A Happy Woman
read it. Her smile soon faded. She looked up
at Sara, with fear in her eyes.
“Eva has got hold of him. He is with her
at Brighton—says she has got into some legal
worry over a furnished house she has taken
there, and has gone down to straighten matters
out. Oh, my dear, I fear, I fear she means to
marry him!”
“Oh no, why should she?” said Sara, trying
to speak carelessly. ‘She has the whole world
to choose from. I think myself, if she marries
again, it will be to somebody who can give her
more than your son can. Forgive my plain
speaking.”
“Yes—yes, I know, and Eva always thought
a good deal of wealth and position. He says he
may be away a little longer than he intended.”
“Tt will do him good,” Sara said. ‘‘We
shall get on very well by ourselves.”
But both she and Mrs, Laird missed Graham
agood deal. The absence of a man in the house
made itself felt, and the evenings, which were
already drawing in, seemed very long.
A fortnight elapsed before he returned, and
then one day‘he wired, and arrived a few hours
after his wire. Sara had planned a surprise for
him. The little drawing-room was in use; a
small bright fire burned in the grate; and Mrs.
Laird was down, and sitting in the easy-chair,
her work-table at her side. The room was.
156
Graham’s Departure
bright with flowers. Graham could at first
hardly believe his eyes. His mother stood up
and greeted him.
“Yes, I am in possession here. Has not
Sara made the room pretty ? And I have been
dining downstairs for some days now. I have
become tired of my bedroom.”
“It’s like old times, mother.”
He said little, but his face glowed. He had
returned much brighter in spirits, and had a good
deal to tell them of several old friends he had
come across in town.
“And Eva?” asked Mrs. Laird, quietly.
‘“ How is she?”
“Not very well. She has been having a lot
of worries. I settled the matter of the house, but
she is looking for a good boarding-school for her
child, and it seems to involve a good bit of fatigue
and anxiety.”
“True is rather small for a boarding-school,”
said Sara.
‘“T don’t know. I think I advised it. Hotel
and boarding-house life isn’t good for a small
child. And Eva doesn't care for housekeeping.
This furnished house gave her such a lot of
trouble, that she declares she will never try
another.” ;
The subject was dropped. When dinner was
over, they all returned to the drawing-room.
Graham could not get over the strangeness of
157
| A Happy Woman
having his mother downstairs again, but before
many days had passed, it seemed perfectly
natural. Mrs. Laird still breakfasted in her
room, but appeared to lunch, and was downstairs
for the rest of the day.
And when Colonel Fleming came over, he
joined the family circle as a matter of course.
Mrs. Laird was always quiet, but took part
in conversation now, and _ was_ increasingly
interested in matters concerning the outside
world, from which she had retired for so many
ears.
And then Colonel Fleming broached the
subject of the Scotch shooting visit; a letter
came from Sir Douglas Lyle urging Graham to
accompany him, and after much persuasion from
every one, Graham at last gave way, and said he
would go.
The night before he went he talked to Sara
about it.
“ Of course it is you who have brought this
about,” he said, looking at her with a gleam of
amusement in his eyes. ‘You are longing to
boss the whole show here, and get rid of me. I
am convinced that my mother would never have
agreed to it had you not worked upon her
feelings in private. Have you any wicked plans
or devices up your sleeve ?”
Sara stood against the fire in the drawing-
room as he spoke. - One of her slender feet was
158
Graham’s Departure
on the fender. She was dressed in a plain
powder-blue velveteen gown, a little open at the
neck. Very graceful and queenly she looked,
and when she raised her eyes to his they looked
rather wistful than gay, though she spoke as
lightly as he.
“If I had, I would not produce them for your
benefit. You must thank the Colonel and your
mutual friend Sir Douglas Lyle for the invitation,
not me! I have nothing to do with it. But we
are all agreed that a change of air and scene will
be good for you.”
“Indeed? Am I such a surly brute that
you look forward to my absence with plea-
sure ?”
“No,” said Sara, calmly ; “ you are not surly
now. You were when I first came; but no man
or woman thrives when they are left too long in
the same rut. And this is a very small corner
for a man to live his life in, year in and year out.
You must remember circumstances are changing.
You have steeled and trained yourself to a life of
restraint and repression until you were almost
becoming mechanical in your ways. Now we all
want to shake you out of that life. The cause
and reason of it is being removed.”
“What a very poor creature I am in your
sight.” There was bitterness in his tone.
“Oh, Mr. Laird, what have I said to make
you think that? If you only knew—why, you
159
A Happy Woman
are simply amarvel to me! Don't let us misunder-
stand each other to-night. But, believe me, your
mother herself wants you to go. It will bring
balm to her spirit when she realizes that she is
no longer a tie to you here. And I think you
will bring her the greatest pleasure when you
return with all your news. She will be so
freshened up to hear it, so interested in all that
you can tell her.”
“I suppose it is egotism on my part, but I
should like to feel that I shall be missed.”
‘Oh, we can assure you of that,” said Sara,
with one of her soft laughs. ‘But you will not
see us with long faces till you are out of the
house. Would it comfort you to know that we
shall feel deadly flat and depressed when you
are really gone ?”
Then Graham smiled in his turn.
“T hope you will take care of yourselves,”
he said; “and remember if anything occurs to
make you need a man, send for Fleming or wire
for me.’
Sara nodded, and said no more.
Mrs. Laird had a few last words with her son,
and there were tears in her eyes as she wished
him good-bye. But when he had driven away,
she put her hand on Sara’s arm.
“T never thought that I could live in this
house without him. But you are such a tower
of strength to me! And I realize now that he
160
Graham’s Departure
ought to see more of his old friends. I have
asked him to call upon a cousin of ours who lives
near the Border. She is the only relative of
mine now living. Rather an eccentric woman
she used to be, but perhaps you would not call
her so. I remember I thought her very good
and very narrow, but full of good works. She
simply lives for the welfare of her tenants. There
is coal on her property, and she treats the
colliers in the most marvellous way. She told
me she felt responsible for every soul amongst
them. Can you imagine the sort of woman
she is?”
‘A very delightful sort, I should think,” said
Sara.
She and Mrs. Laird had a quiet but happy
time together. It was a fine autumn and they
spent much of their time out of doors. Sara was
very busy tidying up the garden. She raked and
swept the paths, and with the help of Samuel
made big bonfires of weeds and hedge prunings.
Mrs. Laird looked on with great interest, and
suggested that they should look over a bulb
catalogue together, and send for a nice supply to
plant, at once.
One day Sarah was surprised by a letter from
Colonel Fleming. He wrote, he said, to ask her
if she would mind asking the herb doctor to go
and see one of his dogs.
161 L
A Happy Woman
‘My housekeeper,” he wrote, “has told me
Trust is ailing and won't eat her food. When
you are rambling over the hills I know you will
not mind asking him to go over and have a
look at her. We're having good sport here.
Graham doesn’t know himself amongst so many
of his old pals. And who do you think arrived
yesterday? Mrs. Jeffery! There is quite a big
house-party. Mrs. J , | heard, asked herself.
She knows Lady Lyle, but they are not very
intimate. Why is Mrs. J making such a dead
set at Graham? She's not half good enough for
him. And I shall do my best to frustrate her
efforts. This might be a cackle from some old
maid, might it not? Well—so long! My kind
regards to Mrs. Laird. You should both be up
here. I'll bring Graham back heart whole if I
can. I don’t cotton to Mrs. J Never did!
“Yours,
“ Jack FLEMING.”
Sara did not read this letter to Mrs. Laird,
but it depressed her. She felt annoyed with
Colonel Fleming for gossiping, and yet she knew
he must have had good grounds for writing so.
She went off to the herb doctor that same after-
noon, but there was a weight on her spirits which
would not lift.
“Why should it matter to me?” she asked
herself impatiently. ‘If a man likes a woman
162
Graham’s Departure
well enough to propose to her, nobody can stop
him. Graham won't be her ‘victim.’ He will
do it of set deliberate purpose. It is Mrs. Laird
who will be the chief sufferer! Oh, what fools
some men are! How entirely they judge by the
surface! What can he have in common with
Eva Jeffery? And how can a woman of her
butterfly tastes expect a grave-thinking man like
Graham Laird to content her for life? It will be
disaster—I know it will!”
Not even the fresh mountain air could exhila-
rate her. She went and returned in the same
low spirits, and it was well for her that she could
not brood over her bit of news when in Mrs,
Laird’s company. She forced herself to be cheer-
ful then, and, as is often the way, she succeeded
‘in-bringing back a certain amount of brightness
into her own soul, as she was making the effort
to brighten another.
163
CHAPTER XI
A YOUNG VISITOR
OLONEL FLEMING was the first one
to return, and he came round to see Mrs.
Laird at once.
“Graham has gone to Dalby,” he informed
her. ‘Some relative of yours there, eh? He'll
be following me in a few days’ time. His change
has done him a lot of good, Mrs, Laird. He
was in first-rate form, and his shooting took the
cake!”
“We are expecting him in three days’ time,”
said Mrs. Laird. “I hope you all enjoyed
yourselves,”
“Oh, it was great sport. Quite a big house-
party. I told you Mrs. Jeffery turned up.”
“ Not Eva ?” said Mrs, Laird in astonishment.
Colonel Fleming gave a little chuckle.
“Clever young woman she is,” he said.
Sara suddenly frowned at him; and her
frowns were so unusual that he gave an em-
barassed cough.
‘“Er—well—she’s a pretty young woman,
Mrs. Laird, eh? And a great favourite with
A Young Visitor
some of the fellows there. She’s not there now,
you know. Left when we did. We travelled
part of the way together.”
‘“ How is your farm getting on ?” Sara asked.
Colonel Fleming immediately plunged into
a list of delinquencies on the part of his men in
his absence, and Sara kept him busy on that
topic till he went.
She accompanied him to the hall door, and
said then—
“TI do wish you would not mention Mrs.
Jeffery in conversation with Mrs. Laird. Don’t
you know that she does not like her?”
“Awfully sorry! But ’pon my word she is
a minx! Do you know she’s made Graham her
child’s sole guardian and trustee? And sucha
lot of confidential business she transacts with
him! I got hold of her one day and tried to
warn her that he never would be a marrying
man. ‘Such stuff to make him a trustee for
your child!’ I said to her. ‘Why don’t you
marry again and let your husband do it? Lots
of chaps waiting for you to encourage them a
bit!’ And then she looks at me with her big
reproachful eyes. ‘Graham is the only relation
I have in the world!’ she says; ‘if I can’t turn
to him, whom can I turn to?’ ‘ Well,’ I said,
‘of course he'll be a single unattached man to
the end of his life—told me so the other day—
so he'll have more time to give to the business
165
AH appy Woman
perhaps.’ She gave a little ghost of a smile and
walked away. She always walked away from
me, but I put Charlie Carter on her track—told
him she had a fat little income, and was feeling
her lonely state. He admired her, likes womanly
women you know, and he haunted her steps, has
got her address at Brighton, and means to turn
up there soon. My dear Miss Darlington, I’d
rather see Graham married to your Izzie than to
that young lady! There's something slimy about
her! Can’t help myself! I never could cotton
to her when she was here, but I dare say that’s
because she didn’t like me. She has a way of
pleasantly ignoring anybody that won't be of any
use to her !”
“Well,” said Sara, laughing, “ Mr. Laird is
able to look after himself, | think, and if he is
fond of her, you must stand back and let him
have his desire.”
“T never will!” said Colonel Fleming, stamp-
ing upon the ground energetically. “I’ve looked
after him too long. Miss Darlington, Graham
is a chap who lives for other people, not himself.
And those sort want to be protected. If he
thought a woman wanted him he would give
himself away to her out of sheer cussedness of
generosity! It wouldn’t matter about his life at
all, only about hers. And I’m not going to see
him make a mess of his affairs as—as I’ve done.”
His tone softened. Sara spoke very quietly,
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A Young Visitor
“My dear Colonel, Mr. Laird would not be
at all likely to desert his mother or bring a wife
into her house whom she would not welcome.
You say yourself that he told you he had no
intention of being ever anything but a bachelor.
Does not that content you ?”
“Yes, yes, of course I'm a fool, an old fool.
Good-bye, take care of yourself. You look a
little fagged. Had any hill rambles lately ?”
“Not many. I shall when Mr. Laird is
home again.”
She went indoors, thinking how good it was
to have such a staunch true friend as Colonel
Fleming, and wondering uneasily if there was
any foundation for his fears. She found it
difficult to soothe Mrs. Laird when she joined
her again.
“JT am convinced Eva means mischief. She
wants to take my son from me, and she will make
him miserable—his life will be a hell on earth
with her! It wasn’t a coincidence her being
included in that house-party. She managed it
all. I know her!”
This and more Mrs, Laird poured into Sara’s
ears, and she listened and expostulated, but could
give little real comfort.
Mrs. Laird grew feverishly anxious for her
son’s return, and yet when he did come she had
actually so worried herself into a sick headache
that she was obliged to go to bed before he
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A Happy Woman
arrived. But in a quarter of an hour Graham
had restored her peace of mind to her. The
very look of him, the calm grave tone of his
voice, and the affectionate inquiries after her
health, all brought reassurance to her; she felt
that he had at present no desire to wreck her
peace and spoil their home together.
“I’m a regular stay-at-home,” he said to her,
with a little smile coming to his lips; “do you
know I have been counting the days to get back
to you! Now, I’m not going to talk much
to-night. To-morrow I have a lot to tell. you
about Cousin Anna. My mind is full of her at
present.”
Mrs. Laird turned over on her pillows with
a rested heart, and went sound asleep directly
he had left her. :
Sara and Graham dined together downstairs,
Their conversation was mostly on local topics ;
but towards the end of the meal he looked round
the room meditatively.
“We are old and shabby,” he said, “but
how is it you give such an atmosphere of bright
comfort in the room in which you are? I have
felt nothing like this the whole time I have been
away, and yet our quarters at Lyle’s shooting-box
were most luxurious | ”
Sara laughed.
“That is good to hear,” she said; “I must
tell your mother that. I wish you had not come
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A Young Visitor
home to find her laid up. She and I have had
very good times together, and last Sunday she
went to church with me!”
Graham looked astonished. Then he said
quietly —
“ You are a wonderful woman.”
When dinner was over Sara went upstairs to
Mrs. Laird. She soon came down to the draw-
ing-room, and found Graham reading his news-
paper there before the fire.
“Now,” she said, “ we have another surprise
for you! Mrs. Laird has gone to sleep, and I
do not want to wake her; but she asked me to
show you the surprise. Will you come this
way ?”
She stepped out into the passage and opened
the door of what had been a lumber-room. It
was behind the kitchen and looked out into the
garden. Graham could hardly believe his eyes.
All the boxes and rubbish had disappeared. A
dark crimson carpet was on the floor, and the
same coloured curtains to the big square window.
There was a square table with a new desk and
inkstand, two big leather armchairs. A bureau
with a glass bookcase on top, and a roomy cup-
board in a recess. Some old prints lined the
walls which were covered with a grey paper. A
small bright fire flickered in the grate.
It looked as it was meant to look, a man’s
room waiting for him to occupy it.
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A Happy Woman
“Your mother thought of everything. She
was horrified that you had written, and read, and
smoked, and ate in the same room—the dining-
room.”
‘It did not seem worth while to move from
it,” said Graham. “I really shan’t know myself.
What a revolutionary person you are, Miss
Darlington !”
“ But it isn’t me! It is your mother.”
‘“Yes—yes—but you have carried out her
wishes, and aided and abetted her all through.
I am in luck! Dear little mother!”
He looked round him as pleased as any boy,
and then Sara slipped away; and Graham sank
into one of the big chairs, pulled it close to the
fire, and lighting up his pipe gave himself up to
some very pleasant reflections.
The next day he went off early to interview
Sir Malcolm, but got home in time for lunch,
and found Mrs. Laird downstairs and quite her-
self again.
At lunch he began to talk of his visit to
Dalby.
“Cousin Anna was overjoyed to see me,”
he said. “I found her a pitiful little creature,
overtaxing her brains and strength by multi-
plicity of good deeds, and being defrauded right
and left by a most obnoxious rogue of a secretary.
She had just begun to find him out, and was
terrified of convicting him of dishonesty. I went .
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A Young Visitor
to her in the nick of time, for I spent a good day
and night studying his books, and then gave him
the sack on the spot. She is one of the frailest
little creatures I have seen, does a man’s work, and
does not seem to have a single capable person
about her. The only person I saw who seems
to have any gumption is a sad overworked girl,
a kind of companion to her, I fancy. She,
Cousin Anna told me, is her right hand in most
of her charitable objects, and it was she who
opened her eyes to the TEEUBGRCAECS of the
secretary.”
‘‘And what about her colliery?” asked Mrs.
Laird. “Is she still working that? Is that in
a satisfactory condition ? ”
“T should doubt it, for she is always changing
her agents. She says she must have a Christian
man at the head of it. And her so-called
Christian men prove failures from a_ business
point of view.”
“Poor Anna, she always was queer from a
girl!” said Mrs. Laird. ‘ Have you been able
to find her another secretary ?”
“Not yet. I want to overhaul her accounts
a bit first. I have brought a batch of books
away with me, and promised her I will go back
for a day or two, till she gets straight again.”
“You are not going away again ?”
‘Not for long, mother. I couldn’t leave my
work here. I may run up for a week-end,”
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A Happy Woman
“T don’t really see why you should worry
over Anna’s business affairs. Can't she engage
a lawyer to work for her ?”
Graham smiled.
“She says she doesn’t trust lawyers, and
she’s a woman who likes to keep the reins in her
own hand. The consequence is that only inferior
and incapable people will work with her. But
she has given me carte blanche to do what I like,
provided I pull her out of her difficulties.”
‘How can you be in two places at once?”
said Mrs. Laird. ‘Sir Malcolm takes up all
your time here.”
“Oh, I can do a good deal in a week-end.
I should have the whole of Sunday up there, and
could get through a good bit of work in it.”
A sudden silence fell on them. Then Graham
began to tell them about his Scotch visit, and he
was more animated than Sara had ever yet seen
him.
Later in the day he happened to come through
the garden as Sara was trimming some dead
flowers and tying up her chrysanthemums. He
stopped and began to assist her. His help was
very welcome, and Sara said as she thanked him—
“Your réle in life seems to be to help us
women,”
“Tt’s the least I can do. I feel so sorry for
my poor little cousin. She is too guileless, and
is taken in right and left. If she would only not
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A Young Visitor
try to mix up religion with business she would
get on much better.”
“]T don’t agree.”
“No, I know you don’t. But the fact is
there. These Christian secretaries and agents
are all rogues and hypocrites. They are fleecing
her.”
“Then that proves they are not genuine
Christians. There is always the counterfeit
article, is there not?”
He did not reply for a moment, then he said,
abruptly—
‘‘T saw disapproval stamped upon your face
when I mentioned working for her on Sunday.
Now, doesn’t your Bible say somewhere that you
can rescue an animal on a Sunday? Is it more
wicked to rescue a human being, especially a
little saint? If I don’t do something for her
she'll drift into a regular quagmire of debt.”
“T don’t think she will let you work for her
on Sunday,” said Sara. ‘You are a Christian,
aren't you? We are all bound to respect the
day of rest.”
‘TI am bound to nothing. I never go to
church, as you know.”
“TI am hoping you will go with your mother
next Sunday.”
“Why ?”
“It will please her, and will do you good.”
‘‘I wish I could see things as you do. But
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A Happy Woman
religion has never influenced me as a practical
thing. And I am essentially practical and matter-
of-fact.”
‘True religion is absolutely practical. May
I quote St. James. What can be more practical
than his definition of it. ‘Pure religion and
undefiled before God and the Father is this: To
visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic-
tion, and to keep himself unspotted from the
world,’ ”
‘bhe latter condition is very vague.”
Sara shook her head. -
“We won'targue. But has not your mother’s
altered state of mind proved that religion is very
real and practical ?”
“ But I don't put down my mother’s improved
health to her religious views. It is your vivid
personality that has impressed and changed her.”
“Nothing of the sort,” said Sara, emphatic-
ally. “I could live with her for fifty years and
never be able to bring her peace of mind. She
has given herself into the keeping of our Master.
He brought her into touch with Himself, and she
lives every day of her life now wholly dependent
on Him for strength and guidance.”
“You may fancy that, but it is your—shall I
call it mesmeric influence that plays upon her
heart. If you went away, what would happen ?
Why, ten chances to one, my mother would lapse
into her old depression of spirit.”
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A Young Visitor
“Not now,” said Sara, firmly.
‘Now, Miss Darlington, do you really believe
that the Creator of the Universe would take the
trouble to pick out my mother as His special
charge?”
“Certainly I do. What are we told? ‘Thus
saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the
high and holy place, with him also that is of a
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of
the humble, and to revive the heart of the con-
trite ones,’”
“You must know your Bible by heart,” said
Graham, with a little smile. ‘TI still maintain
that you, rather than our Creator, influence my
mother.” |
“T should almost like to go away from her to
prove how wrong you are.”
“Qh, please don’t do that! What a discussion
we are having. I am only too thankful for my
mother’s improved health and spirits—whatever
may be the cause!”
The subject dropped, but the following Sunday
Graham did accompany his mother to church, and
Mrs. Laird was very happy in consequence. He
drove her there and back ; but Sara preferred to
walk across the hills by herself.
As Graham and his mother were returning,
Mrs. Laird said—
“T have missed a great deal of happiness all
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A Happy Woman
these years; what a blessing Sara has been to
us all!”
“Would you miss her if she left you?”
“Very much indeed. She is not thinking of
doing so, is she?”
“Not that I know of, but I suppose she will
be wanting a change some time. Would you be
very miserable without her ?”
“ My dear boy,” and Mrs. Laird put her hand
gently on his arm, “I don’t think I shall ever be
miserable again. I have new life in my soul.
It’s just as we were hearing this morning, ‘The
Lord guides us continually and satisfies our souls .
in drought.’ I have Him with me. And though
I have lived most of my life without Him, He
has forgiven the past, and now fills me with joy.”
“Very wonderful,’ murmured Graham, and
he said no more.
It was not long before he paid another visit
to his old cousin. He was only three or four
days away, but he did not spend Sunday there,
and then he made an astonishing proposal to his
mother the day before he returned.
“May I bring back Cousin Anna’s young
helper, a Miss Godwin? She has had an attack
of influenza, and is run down and badly needs a
change. Our beautiful hills will soon set her up
again, and Cousin Anna is quite willing to spare
her.”
“A strange girl!” exclaimed Mrs. Laird to
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A Young Visitor
Sara. ‘How can we do it? We never have
visitors. There is no spare room. And how can
we entertain her when she comes? I have seen
so few people that I am shy of meeting strangers,
If it were Anna herself it would be different.”
“T think you might manage it,” said Sara,
persuasively. “There is an empty room at the
top of the house which I could move into, and
give her mine. You wouldn't have to entertain
her. I expect it is rest she needs. She would
be quite happy, I am sure, if she were allowed to
amuse herself.”
“TI shouldn't like you to turn out of your
room at all, for you are close to me, and I should
miss you.”
. “Very well, if you give me leave, I am sure I
could make that top room cosy for her.”
Mrs. Laird made no further objections, and
Sara took Izzie to help her, and worked very
hard all that day and the next. But the result
fully paid her for her trouble. The little room
looked ‘quite fresh and dainty, and Izzie was
wildly excited at the prospect of a strange young
lady coming to stay with them.
The travellers arrived by an early afternoon
‘train, so that they reached the house by five
o'clock, and there was an abundant tea waiting
for them in the drawing-room. Mrs. Laird was
quite composed when she greeted the stranger ;
Sara looked at her with real interest. She was
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A Happy Woman
a tall slim girl, with auburn hair, beautiful hazel
eyes, and a small white face and pointed chin.
Her complexion was delicate and transparent ;
when she got a little flush upon her cheeks from
the fire where she stood to warm herself, Sara
thought her very pretty. But her face in repose
lacked animation, and she was very shy.
Yet once, when Sara laughed, she looked up
at her quickly with a flash of light in her eyes,
then in a moment lapsed into her quiet pensive
mood again.
‘“Miss Godwin was not in love with our lake,
Miss Darlington,” said Graham. “She did not
make me pull up, and go into ecstasies over it as
you did.”
‘Perhaps Miss Godwin has seen views like
it before. You must remember I came straight
from London; and the contrast was very
marked.”
The girl looked up quickly.
“TI have never seen anything like it before,
but it was eerie and lonely and desolate; it made
me want to cry.” |
“You must see it in the sunshine,” said Sara,
cheerily; “with the blue sky reflected in it and
the birds singing above it. You would want to
sing too!”
The girl did not answer. She leant back in
her chair looking tired and fragile; and Sara
noted with an ache at her heart how very, thin
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A Young Visitor
she was. She took her up to her room and did
not worry her with talk.
Graham was talking to his mother about her
when Sara returned to the drawing-room.
‘‘She is being worked to death, a willing
slave; but Cousin Anna does not realize the
strain it is for a young girl to go on year in and
year out without any change or holiday. They
are devoted to each other, and once the doctor
told her that Miss Godwin must go away, she
was quite anxious and willing that she should
do so.”
“We will soon make her stronger.”
Graham looked at Sara with a grave softness
in his eyes.
‘I told Cousin Anna that you would be better
than a gallon of doctor's tonics.”
“Thank you,” said Sara, laughing. “I can’t
promise that; but change of air and scene are
better than a tonic any day.”
Miss Godwin retired early to bed that evening,
and Sara visited her the last thing with a tumbler
of egg and milk beaten up together, which she
insisted that she should take before she went to
sleep.
“T am going to take you in hand,” she said,
with one of her irresistible smiles; ‘‘ you are
nothing but a bag of bones at present!”
The girl flashed a grateful look at her. Then
she impulsively put her hand on Sara's arm.
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A Happy Woman
‘I feel I am in a dream. Will you be my
friend and let me talk to you? And will you
call me by my Christian name, which is Ina?”
‘A dear little name,” said Sara, and she
stooped and kissed her. ‘‘ You poor child,” she
added, “of course I shall be delighted to be
your friend. Now good night. Sleep well, and
then you will be able to talk to me to-morrow.”
She left her and went downstairs, wondering
why this girl had been brought into the quiet life
at Felstone Corner.
When Sara re-entered the drawing-room, she
found Graham still there talking to his mother.
He looked up at her inquiringly.
“Well, what do you think of her? My
mother fancies she may prove an additional
burden to you.” |
‘‘T have no burdens in this house,” said
Sara, happily; “my heart is full of pity for her,
and I’m longing to see her lose her careworn
lines and wrinkles.”
“TI have been asking who she is,” said Mrs.
‘Laird.
“And I have been telling my mother that
she was the daughter of a former rector of the
parish in which our cousin lives. She was the
only child, and lost both her parents when she
was seventeen. Cousin Anna befriended her,
and she has been living with her for the last
seven or eight years. A cold, joyless life, I
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A Young Visitor
should say ; but you religious people would say it
ought not to be, for she has been entirely devoted
to good works.”
“Good works is a very vague term,” said
Sara. ‘In any case all workers need relaxation
and rest sometimes.”
‘I don't believe she has ever had it. Cousin
Anna is wiry, and doesn’t like to be absent from
her work. She told me she occasionly goes to
the sea, which is twenty miles or so from them,
for a week-end. But when she goes there, she
takes all her accounts and reports and keeps this
child well at it for quite half of every day.”
“ How will she manage without her ?”
“Quite well. A friend of hers has gone to
stay with her. I really believe if this girl had
friends to whom she could have gone she would
have been sent away before. But that was the
difficulty which I tried to solve.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Laird, “she seems very
gentle and quiet, and Sara will know how to
amuse her. Now I am going to bed. Good
night.”
They separated. Sara’s thoughts as she laid
her head on her pillow that night were full of Ina
Godwin. She wondered at herself for taking
such an interest in her, for asa rule young girls
did not appeal to her as much as old people.
181
CHAPTER XII
“TOO GOOD TO LAST ”
* A ND now can we talk ?”
“As much as ever you like.”
Sara was taking the young guest for her first
walk across the hills.
Ina was not as arule a good walker, but the
keen bracing air invigorated her, and though Sara
had to adapt her pace to hers, she was enjoying
her fresh experience of striding through the dead
heather and bracken. It was a still October
morning. Curlews swooped and circled round
overhead, there was a fresh moist smell of earth,
occasionally they disturbed the sheep who were
cropping the short turf, and Snooks who was
with them darted in and out of the furze bushes
in the vain hopes of putting up a rabbit to chase.
Ina lifted her head, and drew in long breaths
of the sweet pure air.
‘Oh, how I hate chimneys and smoke!” she
said suddenly; “ how good it is not to see a sign
of either up here!”
‘Tell me about your life,” said Sara; and Ina
began at once.
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“Too Good to Last ”
“T love Aunt Anna—she lets me call her
‘Aunt,’ though I’m no real niece—but I have got
weary of all her work. Is that wicked of me?
I can’t tell you how unselfish she is, but I wonder
if ever God will be able to make her rest in
heaven. She will never rest here. And she
has had trouble upon trouble. I often wonder
why people are allowed to deceive her so! I
have reasoned it out to myself sometimes, and
I feel as if every professing Christian must be a
hypocrite ! |
“And then I realize that in Aunt Anna’s
single-heartedness she lays traps for impostors.
If she engages a servant she must have a
Christian one, she says, and as she gives good
wages, they pretend to be what they are not, for
the sake of the place. She is always getting
hold of reclaimed drunkards and putting them
into places of trust and responsibility, and then
they break out, and there is disaster at once.
And then Mr. Wylde, her late secretary, he is
an arch hypocrite, and has been behaving
in a perfectly shameless way, actually enticing
members of her young men’s club to come
to his house and play cards and drink. I can't
tell you what we have gone through. She hasn't
had one honest strong man amongst all her
dependents. And then Mr. Laird came. Isn't
he wonderful? So quiet and capable and strong,
with such keen quick sight of right judgment.
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A Happy Woman
In one day he discovered what Mr. Wylde was
like, and he was sent away in twenty-four hours !”
Ina paused for breath. Her eyes were
glowing. She was quite enthusiastic.
Sara listened and sympathized ; the girl talked
on and told of the busy life she had had since
she had left school.
‘Have you had no young companions of
your own age?”
“I have never been young,” said Ina, with a
little wistful smile, “not since I left school. Aunt
Anna has some nieces, but they are smart up-to-
date girls who despise her, because she is old-
fashioned and good, and they look upon me as a
poor dependent. You see I am always so busy
that I haven't a chance to know young people.
I have friends amongst the colliers, and I see
servant girls and shop girls who come down to
our Home of Rest, but I can’t exactly make
friends of them. I don't think I care about
people much. I never meet anybody who takes
any interest in me. But there is no reason why
they should.”
“Isn't there ?” said Sara with a smile as she
put her hand on her shoulder. “Why, I was
interested in you from the first moment I saw
you!”
A swift bright colour came into Ina’s cheeks.
“Oh,” she said, “you are so kind. I can’t
tell you what I feel like. You are all such
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“Too Good to Last ”’
fascinating people to be with! Mrs. Laird with
her sad eyes and sweet smile, and clinging
affection for Mr. Laird and for yourself, and he—
well, I’ve told you what I think of him, he’s like
a chivalrous knight, thinks no trouble too much
for a weak defenceless woman. And you're a
princess—I love to watch you moving about. I
watch for your smile and that lovely little laugh
of yours: you’re the happiest person I’ve ever
seen! Do you believe in people distributing
their auras around them? You make everybody
in the room with you comfortable and glad.
Mr. Laird inspires one with safety and confidence ;
you with joy and hope. And when I'm in the
room with both of you I feel as if I were in
heaven !”
‘My dear Ina, what a romantic little person
you are!” Sara was much touched. This quiet
girl had keen observation as well as imagination.
She had not yet lost her youthful enthusiasms,
though she was strangely worn and old in other
ways.
And then suddenly, as they breasted the
summit of the hill on which, they were, they came
across Colonel Fleming riding on his stout old
cob. He dismounted at once and came forward
in his usual impulsive genial way.
“Upon my word, I’m in luck! Was thinking
of you, Miss Darlington, and wondering whether
Graham were back |”
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A Happy Woman
Sara introduced him to Ina.
He shook hands with her.
‘Don’t know who you are from Adam, but
you look a good sort. A friend of Graham's,
eh? He seems to have a good many friends
when he gets away. Oh! Do you come from
Dalby? Where he has been putting his finger
into a very muddled pie, eh? And what do you
think of our neighbourhood ?”’
‘“T think it is all perfectly lovely !”
“ That's right. Then you'll be happy here.
But you look like a wraith! And I suppose
Miss Darlington has trotted you up here to whip
some colour into your cheeks. I’m coming over
this afternoon—want to look up Graham on busi-
ness ! Do you know what I call Miss Darlington
behind her back? Balm. Just Balm. You'll
soon find out what a good name it is for her.”
If Ina was astonished at Colonel Fleming's
rapid flow of talk, she did not show it; but she
smiled up at him, the first real smile of apprecia-
tion and pleasure since her arrival.
And then Sara and Colonel Fleming had a
little talk together about local matters, and
presently Ina was addressed again.
“Do you like horses? Ever ridden?” Ina
was quietly stroking the nose of the Colonel’s
old cob,
“ Yes, I used to ride when I was a little girl.
We had an old pony.”
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““'Too Good to Last ”
Sadness came into her eyes at the recollection
of her childhood.
Colonel Fleming looked at her, then at Sara.
‘“‘Look here, will you come out riding with
me? I havea quiet old rocking-horse, who will
carry you anywhere. If you’ve come down here
to get strong there’s nothing like riding over our
hills, now is there, Miss Darlington ?”
“] think it would be delightful for her.
Wouldn't you like to ride, Ina?”
Ina’s face flushed and paled by turns.
‘T think I would,” she said.
‘“That’s good. Now we'll settle it right off.
To-morrow afternoon sharp at half-past two, I
shall be at Felstone Corner with a mount for
you.”
“ But,” gasped Ina, “ I have no habit—nothing
to ride in. And Mrs. Laird might not like me
to do it.”
“ Habits be bothered! I’ve seen women on
horseback in shorter skirts than you're wearing
at present, and nobody will see you on these
hills. Make yourself a guy, nobody will care.
And as for Mrs. Laird, she'll let you do any
mortal thing you have a mind to, dance on your
head if you care to try!” »
Ina laughed, and Sara joined her. And then
the girl promised to be ready; and the Colonel
mounted his horse and rode away.
“T think I’m in a fairy tale,” said Ina with
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A Happy Woman
sparkling eyes. ‘I seem to be in another life
altogether.”
She was a different girl when she returned to
the house; bright and animated and interested ©
in everything about her. In the afternoon Sara
made her rest. They had a pleasant evening
together in the drawing-room. Sara brought out
her guitar and sang to them, and Ina played on
the piano. She was a good musician though she
acknowledged that she had never time to practise.
And then Graham began to talk-to her about
his cousin’s work. In the course of conversation
Ina mentioned their new vicar, who had lately
married and settled in a house close to them.
“ Surely,” said Sara, ‘“‘ you see something of
him and his wife, don’t you ?”
“Not much,” said Ina. ‘“ Aunt Anna doesn’t
care for his wife. She isn’t a bit like a clergy-
man’s wife. Won't do anything in the parish,
and dresses very smartly and plays golf and
bridge. She says she’s not going to be her
husband’s curate. They don’t seem very suited
to each other, they don’t care for the same
things.”
“And that means tragedy,’ said Sara, with
deep feeling in her tone.
Graham Yooked at her.
“Why?” he asked. “A woman’s tastes are
different to a man’s as a general rule. But they
get on together none the worse for that.”
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“Too Good to Last ”
“Ah, but,” said Ina, hesitatingly, “Mrs.
Arran despises good people and parish work,
and she laughs at it all, and wants her husband
to be a military chaplain in India, because then
she says they would have no parish.’
“I wonder why she married him,” Sara said
thoughtfully. “ Marriage is so irrevocable, two
people pulling different ways tied together for
life! Oh, it’s dreadful to think of! And it’s so
often done. One with his hopes in heaven, the
other with her hopes on the earth. How can
they live happily together?”
Graham stirred in his chair.
‘] don’t agree,” he said, and his tone was
rather abrupt and impatient. ‘If one of them
has an ounce of real religion worth having, he'll
impart it to the other.”
“T’yve never known that happen,” said Sara
sadly; “and I’ve known several ill-matched
couples. It’s generally just the other way. I
don’t know why. But the power of evil seems
greater than the good. I know such a nice
girl who married an atheist. She thought she
‘would influence him, and he assured her that
she would, but she did not, and instead, lost
cher own faith. She's a miserable woman
now.”
“ Then do you mean to say that no man ought
to marry a woman unless he and she think exactly
alike from a religious point of view?”
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A Happy Woman
Graham's keen eyes were bent on Sara as he
spoke. His tone was very impressive.
‘“ How can two walk together unless they
are agreed ?” quoted Sara, softly.
“You good people are very pharisaical !”
And taking his pipe out of his pocket Graham
got up and left the room. They heard him go
into his smoking-room, and bang the door rather
violently.
And Sara knew that she had vexed him.
She did not see him again that night, and at
breakfast the next morning, he was noticeably
stiff in manner towards her. But no one could
resist Sara’s sweet gaiety for long, and he was no
exception to the rule.
The next day Ina went off for her ride with
Colonel Fleming. She was a little nervous at
the thought of it, but Sara encouraged and cheered
her. She lent her a loose covert coat of hers,
and some leggings, and watched her ride off with
mixed feelings of envy and delight. She could
not forget the days when she rode out, and
Colonel Fleming had never offered her a mount,
much as she would have liked it.
Ina came back from her ride in glowing spirits.
“I do like Colonel Fleming. What fun he
is! He is just like a schoolboy. He wants me
to go again to-morrow. May I?”
She appealed to Mrs. Laird, who at once
agreed that she could.
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““'Too Good to Last ”
“My dear Sara,” she said when the girl had
left the room; “it 1s a great relief to me to see
how easily she is amused and entertained, and
she is very willing and helpful. She tidied out a
drawer for me beautifully this morning. She
asked me to give her something to do.”
And before many days had passed, Ina had
made herself quite at home. She adored Sara,
and loved nothing better than to work with her
in the garden, or sit sewing with her indoors.
She was always ready to wait upon Mrs. Laird,
and showed her many little polite attentions.
Graham had the effect of awing her; she was
rather silent when he was in the room, but she
confided in Sara that she thought he was like
one of the strong silent heroes in story books,
who worked miracles of strength and valour,
when appearing to be absolutely immovable and
passive. One day Colonel Fleming did not come
for the ride, but sent a message that he would
like to see Graham, and in the evening, after Ina
had gone to bed, Graham told them the reason of
his summons, |
“Poor Fleming has just heard of his wife's
death. It has rather upset him.”
‘But he has been divorced from her for years,
has he not ?”’ asked Sara.
“Yes, her death has reopened all the past.
He can’t regret her, and ‘yet actually asked me if
he ought not to get a black tie.”
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A Happy Woman
“Poor man!” said Mrs. Laird, pityingly ;
“he can’t forget that he was once happy with
her. Shall I write him a note of sympathy?”
“For goodness’ sake, no, mother! He will
want no allusions to it. Perhaps I ought not to
have spoken. You must pretend you do not
know.”
For a few days Colonel Fleming remained in
seclusion, then he appeared again, and happened
to meet Sara in the garden. She saw a change
upon his cheerful-looking face. There was a
softness and serenity in his eyes that had not
been there before. He gripped her hand
silently.
“TI have been down in the valley,” he said to
her; ‘‘but I am up and out of it now, ready to
have a smack and a thrust at Apollyon again, .
when he comes my way! How’s Miss Godwin?
What a good horsewoman she is! And what a
life she is leading with that little tyrannical saint
of hers! Can’t you get her out of it? She
wants a rescuer. Don’t your ears burn some-
times? You should hear the histories we tell
each other of what you do and say!”
“Tm sorry you can't find a more interesting
topic of conversation,” Sara said, looking at him
with her bright smile. ‘She’s a dear little thing,
isn’t she? So grateful to every one for giving
her pleasure. I shall be quite sorry when she
goes back, but her visit cannot be prolonged
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“Too Good to Last ”’
much longer. She is impatient to be back—says
she is wanted,”
“Rubbish! Keep her till she gets a little
more flesh upon her bones. She hasn’t had a
_ Chance as yet.”
Ina happening to come up at this moment,
he turned to her. |
“Talk of an angel! Well, did you hear what
we were saying? That until you were more
respectably clothed with plump fat we shouldn't
let you stir from Felstone Corner! Have you
been wondering at my absence? Joey is eating
his head off in the stable. I’ve been busy, and
distracted and rather down in the dumps, but .
I'm as cheery as a cricket now, and am coming
round to-morrow sharp at two, for the days are
getting short. Will you be ready ?”
“Qh yes,” was the joyful response. “ Thank
you so much. I have missed my rides, but I
wonder you can find time to take me out at all,
with all your farm to see to. And do you know
that I feel I could ride over these lovely hills
quite alone now? So if you would trust me with
Joey one day, then you need not be dragged
away from your work!”
‘Couldn’t trust you!” said the Colonel, em-
phatically. ‘Why, Joey might take it into his
head to take you near the cliffs: and landslips
are too frequent there for safety. Nobody drags
me, I assure you! I come off as blithe as a bird !”
193 N
A Happy Woman
The rides continued, and then one afternoon
when Ina was out, a telegram came for Graham.
“Miss Harrison very ill—wants you.”
Happily he was in when it arrived. He made
all arrangements for leaving that night.
Mrs. Laird was very distressed about it.
“Poor Cousin Anna! Iam sorry for her, but
you cannot be continually at her beck and call.
She is always having attacks like this. That
child has told me so.”
“This is from her doctor,” said Graham,
gravely, and he went on preparing for his
journey. When Ina came home from her ride
she was told. In an instant she decided that she
must go too. —
“IT must! I must! I’m always with her when
she is ill. I know how to nurse her. She will
miss me. Oh, how I wish I had not left her! I
shall never forgive myself if anything happens to
her.”
“Graham is going to-night!” said Mrs. Laird,
gently ; “by the night train. Men can travel so
much easier than women. It would be too great
a rush for you!”
‘A rush! I could pack up in a quarter of an
hour. If Aunt Anna is ill, I would cross the
ocean to get to her if necessary. Oh, Mr. Laird,
you won't refuse to take me ?”
“Of course I will not,” was the quiet reply.
“Pack up your boxes and have a good meal
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‘S'T’90 Good to Last ”
before you start. I must ride over and see
Sir Malcolm. But I don’t think there will be
anything to detain me.”
Mrs. Laird, seeing the girl’s distress, made no
further objections. Sara helped her to pack, and
Ina flung her arms round her neck in parting.
“ Oh, you've been so good to me! I’ve never
been so happy in my life. I knew it was too
good to last.”
“But you're glad to be going to Miss
Harrison ?”
“Oh yes, yes. I feel selfish in enjoying
myself here ,whilst she has been struggling to
keep well. She always goes on till she drops.
Her doctor says she never husbands her strength.
Oh, Miss Darlington, will you pray hard that she
may get better? My heart will break if she is
taken from me! I am always so afraid of it!
And oh! I do thank you for all your kindness
and goodness to me. I have never been so
happy in my life before.”
She drove away by the side of Graham, look-
ing back at the ugly little farmhouse with smiles
and tears. And Sara went indoors wondering
what life held for the quiet unselfish girl who
had left them as suddenly as she had come.
Mrs. Laird called to her. She was sitting
knitting by the fire in the drawing-room.
Sara went across to her; and Mrs. Laird
laid her hand caressingly upon her arm.
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A Happy Woman
“You and I are left together, Sara. We
shall be very happy, shall we not? I am learning
to give my son up to other women who need
him. I have kept him to myself for so long that
I dare not try to do it any longer.”
Sara kissed her affectionately.
‘‘He will be a great comfort to his cousin,”
she said. “Let us hope she will get better, and
then he will soon return to you.”
Mrs. Laird shook her head doubtfully.
“T have a presentiment that she is not going
to live; but if anybody is ready to leave this
world, I should think she must be. Her whole
life has been given to good works, and to real
self-denial.”
Mrs. Laird proved right in her surmise. Two
days afterwards she received a wire saying that
her cousin had quietly and peacefully passed
away.
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CHAPTER XIII
COUSIN ANNA’S HEIR
RAHAM LAIRD was away a fortnight.
He had been left sole trustee to many of
Miss Harrison’s charities, and he and her lawyer
had a great deal of business to transact together.
Mrs. Laird insisted that Ina should return with
him, and make her house her home for the
present, until she settled what she was going
to do.
And so one wild stormy evening in December
they returned together.
Ina was very quiet and sad that first evening,
but seized hold of Sara when bedtime came.
“Do come and see me the last thing, will
you?” she entreated ; and Sara promptly promised
that she would.
Graham and his mother were talking very
earnestly together when Sara left them. She
knew there would be much to discuss, and felt
that they would like to be alone.
Ina welcomed her rapturously.
‘TI can’t tell you what it is to be back, I have
so much to tell you. Dear Aunt Anna has left
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A Happy Woman
me £500 a year. Just think of it! I can’t
believe it. Why, I have never had a penny to
call my own! But I truthfully would rather have
aunt back than enjoy her money; and, Miss
Darlington, I don’t know what to do, nor where
to go! She does not seem to have expected me
to stay on up there, and continue all my work,
for she has left all her philanthropic schemes to
different people. Her People’s Clubs to the
vicar, and her Rest Homes to her doctor, and
I believe Mr. Laird has been left nearly all
the rest.”
“ Tell me about her,” said Sara, gently ; “did
she know you?”
“Yes.”
A flood of colour rose into the girl’s cheeks.
“She was quite conscious, you know, and yet
she spoke so strangely. I hardly like to tell you.
Mr. Laird was in the room, she sent for him and
for me together, and then she turned to him: ‘I
leave her in your charge,’ she said. And Mr.
Laird nodded. Then she looked at me, and
then her eyes went back to him again. ‘I should
like to think that you would both carry on some
of my work together,’ she said ; ‘but Ina cannot
live here alone.’”
“We were both absolutely silent, and she
gave a little sigh.”
“* Ah, well, I leave it to God,’ she said. ‘He
will arrange for His own work and raise up those
198
Cousin Anna’s Heir
whom He needs for it.’ I did not see her again.
She kissed me, and she whispered, ‘I hope you
will marry, Ina. I would not when I might, and
a lonely woman is sadly crippled in many ways. |
My work here has needed a man’s hand, and it
has not had it.’”
‘‘ Now, don’t you think it was strange of her
to talk so ?”
Sara did not reply.
Then Ina said impulsively—
“Tt was almost as if she wanted Mr. Laird
to marry me. I could laugh at the idea. She
little knew. how he worships the ground you
tread upon!” |
“ Hush!”
Sara’s tone was quick and peremptory.
“ Don’t hush me!”
The girl was sitting up in bed, she took Sara’s
hand and lifted it to her lips and kissed it.
“There!” she said mischievously; “that’s
what he would give the world to do, and a good
deal more. Why, Miss Darlington, if you're out
of the room, he’s always watching for you till you
come again, Mrs, Laird knows it as well as I
do, and—and she’s glad.”
“I did not come up to you to hear nonsense.”
Sara’s head was lifted high. Ina was at once
penitent.
“Forgive me; my tongue has run away with
me. And I’m really aching in my heart for dear
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A Happy Woman
Aunt Anna. Death seems to have swept my
last belonging away from me. I suppose, now
I have money, I must learn to be independent
and live alone. But the money is a trust, is it
not? How and where shall I use it?”
“That you will be shown. Good night, dear.
You are too tired to stay awake talking. We
shall have plenty of time for that to-morrow.”
Sara left her, but she did not go downstairs
at once. She stood on the staircase looking out
of a narrow window overlooking the hills. The
moon was just rising, the sky clear and full of
stars. Sara's face was wrapt and dreamy, she
opened the casement window and let the keen
frosty night air fan her hot cheeks. Then after
a time her lips moved.
“Tt never could be!”
A heavy sigh followed ; she shut the window
quietly and descended the stairs to the drawing-
room.
‘ Mrs. Laird—not Graham—looked up ex-
pectantly—
“Sara, come here. We must tell you. It
may mean a great change in our lives. My son
has been left the whole of my cousin’s colliery.”
Sara was surprised. She turned to Graham.
“ May I congratulate you?” she said.
“Tt’s just as well to be tentative about it,” he
said looking at her. “I don’t know if it is a sub-
ject for congratulation. Though she has left it to
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Cousin Anna’s Heir
me unconditionally, I know that it has been more
of a burden than a blessing to my cousin. Wealth
it may mean, but care and responsibility, and a
life no longer one’s own!”
“ You have never had that,” said his mother,
thoughtfully.
Her son looked at her quickly, then he gave
her one of his rare smiles.
“ My life with the one who loves me best in
the world has been good to live,” he said.
Sara’s eyes filled with quick unaccountable
tears, as she thought of the past dreary isolated
years—the best of a man’s life spent in and about
a sick-room. Then she said, with a little effort—
_“ Does it mean that you will have to live on
your property?”
“Tam afraid so.”
“‘And I have told him I am willing to go
with him anywhere,” said Mrs. Laird.
“T don’t know why she has left it to me,”
Graham went on, “but she tried to explain to
me before she died. She would not leave it to
her nieces because she said they would spend
the income on themselves and on gaiety, and
neglect her dear people. She would not leave
it to Ina, because she felt she was not strong
enough for the burden of it. She seemed to be
looking back upon her own weakness; she said
she had been inefficient, and it needed a man’s
hand to keep things as they should be. I tried
YAOB §
A Happy Woman
to tell her that her principles were not mine.
And then she gave me—a text, I believe. Isn’t
it one, Miss Darlington? Something like this,
‘What does the Lord require of thee, but to do
justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God?’ And she said she had loved
mercy, but not justice, and she had come to see
that men put that first in the same way that God
did. I think that was about the last thing she
said to me—almost !”
His face softened as he spoke. A certain
memory had touched him, but that memory was
sacred to himself and the one who had gone.
Sara sat absolutely silent. And then Mrs. Laird
rose, and taking Sara’s arm said she was going
to bed.
Far into the night Sara lay thinking. This
quiet peaceful life was coming to an end. What
did the future hold in store for each one of them ?
She thought a good deal of Mrs. Laird, and
wondered how she would bear the transplanting
to a large manufacturing centre, to the bustle and
noise of a town life, after so many years of silence
and isolation. And then she thought of Graham.
Would he be able to hold the property given to
him in the way that the late owner of it would
approve? Did he mean to spend most of his
income—like his cousin—in benefiting the colliers
on his estate? Would he be able to carry on
the religious work connected with it ?
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Cousin Anna’s Heir
Lastly she thought of herself. If Ina went
back with them to Dalby, surely she would
naturally be his right hand in helping him with
the work on the estate, the work in which she
had been engaged for so many years? Surely it
was natural that Miss Harrison should have
built upon the possibility of Graham and Ina
coming together and taking a joint part and
interest in the property. In this case, would she
be wanted? Would not Mrs. Laird gradually
learn to lean upon Ina? They were fond of each
other now. If she were away, they would draw
still closer together.
“My work is perhaps done. I should be
more a hindrance than a help to Miss Harrison’s
hopes if I accompanied them to Dalby.”
This was her unspoken thought, and then she
turned over on her pillow with a prayer for
guidance. She knew that prayer would be
answered. But she did not know that the answer
was already on the way to her.
The next day Colonel Fleming came in with
Graham to lunch. He had been told the news,
and his cheerful serenity had been somewhat
disturbed. When Sara went out into the garden
to cover up her violet frame, he followed her.
“T say, I want a talk with you. Can't we
get away somewhere together where we shan’t be
disturbed ?”
Sara laughed.
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A Happy Woman
“You sound very mysterious! Come down
the lane with me. I want a little exercise.”
They went down the little winding lane to.
wards the lake.
“T am struck all ofa heap!” said the Colonel.
“Do you think this will answer? I can’t fancy
Graham owner of a colliery! I suppose he will
play his part there all right ; but what about all
these philanthropic and religious bits of work
connected with it? I asked him plump if he
was going to work it as it had been worked, and
he said he hadn't the faith of his cousin and
wouldn’t pretend he had, but as it was a point of
honour that nothing would drop, he hoped that
you and Ina would run the part that he couldn't.
What astounds me is Mrs. Laird’s. placid assent
to being rooted out of her seclusion and planted
down close toa smoky manufacturing town. How
will she do it? And then, where do I come in?
Am I to be left here alone? I’m not in love
with this bit of the country, you know, and my
farm is a plaything. It doesn’t really pay its
way. I’m too easy-going.”
“You'll have to move up there too,” said
Sara.
“Upon my word I think I shall! I’m not
fond of being alone. And Miss Ina and I can
still have some rides. What a game little
creature she is! And now I hear she’s had a fat
legacy left her! She deserves it, I’m sure, but
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Cousin Anna’s Heir
we mustn't let her work herself to skin and bone
again. What do you think about it all? I
thought you were wonderfully silent at lunch.
Do you like the idea of the move ?”
‘‘T have not been asked to go yet,” said Sara,
slowly. ‘And I with you have been pondering
over all that this change will entail. I suppose
it is necessary to be shaken out of our ruts
occasionally. But this has been a very pleasant
and comfortable rut to me, and I shall grieve to
part with my beloved lake, and these invigorating
_ hills.”
“Yes, yes, it won’t bea change for the better.
I hate factory smoke—always did—and collieries
are depressing. I’m wondering how Graham will
stand it. Old Ferris is in an awful stew over
his going! I met him, after he had been told
this morning. He says he’s never had such an
agent before, and never will again. But it won't
hurt him to miss Graham. He has been awfully
rough on him at times. What do you mean by
being asked to go with them. You don't think
that Mrs. Laird could do without you, do you ?”
“Yes,” said Sara, quietly. “Ina is quite
capable of taking my place.”
“No, indeed,” and the Colonel got quite ex-
cited. “She isn’t strong enough mentally or
physically to cope with Mrs. Laird in her moods.
And she'll be plunging into all her old work again
on the top of it. She wants a home of her own,
/ 205 :
A Happy Woman
that little thing does, and some one to take care
of her.”
Sara was amused at his concern, but dared
not remark upon it. And then aftera little more
talk they returned to the house. Before the
Colonel left he announced his intention of accom-
panying the household to Dalby.
“ At least,” he added, “if I don’t actually come
with you, I shall follow on—can’t stay here by
myself. I'll look out some diggings up there a
few miles out from the town. Thank goodness
there’s an open moor within reach, I know !”
Graham looked at him affectionately, but he
said nothing. He knew that he and Colonel
Fleming were like a David and Jonathan for
sticking to each other ; he accompanied him to the
gate and there showed him a little bit of his heart.
‘You've been in dreary seclusion, old chap,
all these years to make life bearable to me.
Now it’s my turn, when you come up North, to
make it cheery and pleasant for you. And I
warn you, I shall need an awful lot of your time
and brain to help me manage my bit of property
in the best way possible! ”
It was about two hours later that Sara received
a telegram. It was from her brother.
“Can you come to me? In great trouble.
Letter following.
“ ARNOLD,”
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Cousin Anna’s Heir
Sara spent a miserable evening and a sleep-
less night. She could not think what had hap-
pened. She did not often hear from her brother,
and she feared that something must have gone
wrong with his wife, who was expecting her first
baby in two months’ time. It seemed extra-
ordinary to her at this juncture, that she should
receive a summons to town. Mrs. Laird was
as perturbed as she was; but Ina, seeing Sara’s
real distress, came forward bravely—
“TI promise to look after Mrs, Laird and take
care of her till you come back to us,” she said ;
and Sara’s face brightened.
In the morning the letter came, and Sara
received it in her bedroom. She sat fora time
as if stunned by its contents.
Her brother's wife had died in giving birth
to a little boy who arrived two months before his
time. The father was distracted; he turned at
once to the sister who had lived with him and
done everything for him for so many years, and
he implored her to come to him and take charge
of his motherless child.
It seemed to Sara that God's guiding hand
was in it all. She was not to go to Dalby. She
had had a strange presentiment that she should
not go, and now that presentiment proved true.
Her heart ached for her brother, but she had not
known how strong were the ties that bound her
to her present life, until she was forced to leave
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A Happy Woman
it. She knelt down and said from her heart,
“Thy will be done,” and then she rose from her
knees, if not comforted, at least strengthened to
take the path that stretched out in front of her.
She broke her news very gently to Mrs.
Laird, who burst into tears and clung hold of her
pathetically.
“Am I to lose you altogether ? Don’t tell
meso! But I must not stand in your way. Of
course an infant, especially a boy with all his
possibilities, is more important than an old
woman fast nearing the end of her journey. But
oh, my dear Sara, you have been like a daughter
to me! And I feel that I cannot face a fresh life
amongst strangers without you by my side. What
a dreadful blow it is! How shall we manage
the move without you? You see how selfish
J am.”
“T can't bear to go,” acknowledged Sara;
“but does it not seem as if things have been
arranged so as to keep you from missing me too
much? Ina is such a dear helpful girl and so
fond of you. And she is very, very capable,
your son has told us that. She will do every-
thing for you. Dear Mrs. Laird, you will not be
alone ; you are leaning hard upon the One Who
will never leave or forsake you. You don't
know how you will be helped and guided through
all that lies in front of you. And then you have
your son who is always such a tower of strength.
208
fea Con 6 oS Bo Oo Fy Bee ‘ie
Cousin Anna’s Heir
Why, in the face of all these, I am quite a
superfluity.”
Sara gave one of her happy laughs as she
finished speaking, and Mrs. Laird’s careworn
face lightened a little.
Ina took the news with courage, but there
was blank dismay in her eyes; and when
Graham heard of it, he was almost angry in his
remonstrances.
‘Your brother can get somebody else to go
to him. Why should he summon you to him
when we are all needing you at this time? Are
you always to be at his beck and call? He
turned you out of your home; now he wants you
back again; but you are not bound to go!”
‘Oh, Mr. Laird, you must remember he is
my only brother. Think of the helpless baby.”
“What does a widower do who has no
sister ?”
He walked away from her as he spoke; he
could not trust himself to speak. Sara found it
would not be an easy matter to leave this new
home of hers and all who had learnt to value
her. She wrote to her brother saying she would
come in ashort time. She knew as long as the
monthly nurse stayed in the house there would
be no immediate hurry. And then she set
to work to make all her necessary arrangements
for the comfort of Mrs. Laird when she should
be gone. :
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A Happy Woman
After the first outcry every one was very
quiet. Mrs. Laird seemed to be buoyed up by
some secret hope. Ina was anxiously learning
to take Sara's place, and do all her little tasks of
labour and love for the old lady’s welfare. And
Graham was absorbed in winding up his estate
accounts, and in initiating a fresh agent into Sir
Malcolm’s affairs.
A fortnight passed, and then Sara came to
her last day. In the afternoon she went over the
hills to say good-bye to Agnes Cleave.
The poor woman had tears in her eyes when
she parted with her.
“ You've brought me new life, miss, since you
befriended me. Now I goto church, and have
no shrinking from any of those I used to know.
And I'd like you to know what a treasure my
Bible is to me! And even father listens and
enjoys a chapter out of it the last thing every
night. You were quite right. You said the
Bible would show me what the end of my journey
could be. And I’m looking forward in glad hope
to it now.”
“I’m so glad,” said Sara. ‘“ And now you
will try and instil that same hope into your
father’s heart. Or rather ask that God Himself
will do it.”
Agnes nodded.
“It’s an awful blow—your going away!
Won't you ever be in these parts again ?”
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Cousin Anna’s Heir
‘Perhaps we may,” said Sarah; ‘‘ who can
tell? Will you write to me sometimes, Agnes,
and let me write to you ?”
“T’m no scholar, but I'll be proud to do my
best. May God bless you, miss, for the sunshine
you have brought to my soul !”
2I1
CHAPTER XIV
A SUMMONS TO TOWN
ere sped down the hill again, with an ache
in her heart for all that she was leaving.
And then a longing came over her to pay a last
visit to the lake. She made her way down to it,
and gazed dreamily and rather sadly across its
waters. It was a cold grey afternoon; but she
always loved to see its unruffled surface in the
stillness of winter-time. The black branches of
birch and elm stood out against the cold silver
sky like delicate lacework; the rich tints of
amber and ruddy brown of the rushes and dead
bracken, the brilliant green moss of its banks,
and the soft purple blue of the firs and pines in
the background all made a delightful picture of
colour to her eyes, Suddenly she was conscious of
some other person near her, and turning quickly
round, she saw Graham coming towards her.
“TI have followed you here,” he said; “all
day I have been trying to speak to you, but you
have eluded me, Am I disturbing you now ?”
“No,” said Sara, quickly ; ‘(I am only saying
good-bye to my dear lake. I don't know why I
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A Summons to Town
love it so. I think it’s because of its still aloof-
ness, its unchangeable beauty, and its attitude
of patient waiting.”
He did not speak for a moment, then he
said—
“That was the first spark of warmth that
crept into my heart, when you looked at it as if
you loved it. Do you remember our first drive
together?”
He did not wait for an answer.
“TIT expect you will think me a laggard for
putting off till to-day what I have been burning
to say to you for months and months. I have
grown so used to sternly repressing my feelings
that it is difficult to make the plunge. You know
what a fresh sphere awaits us in the north. I |
can go to it gladly and joyfully, and take up all
the burdens and difficulties that I know await me,
if you can give me the hope of your coming to
me later. And if you don’t feel for me as I feel
for you, Sara—I hardly can hope that you do,
for there is little in me to attract a woman of
your sort—will you bear this in mind, that there
is work to be done there which I cannot do, but
which youcan? I cannot think of anything more
sublime than for you and me to work together,
you doing the spiritual part, teaching and helping
and befriending the poor and ignorant, and I the
sterner harder business part of the whole concern.
I can’t pretend to be what I am not. I am not
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A Happy Woman
a religiousman. Nor doI think I ever shall be ;
but I honour and reverence those who are, and
no woman to my mind fulfils her part in life
unless she is. I shall fail in carrying out my
cousin’s wishes if I tackle her work single-handed,
but I shall not fail with you by my side. Will
you give me yourself? Will you let me have
the right to stand by you and keep you and
guard you through life as the most precious
treasure a man can have given him ?”
It was a strange declaration of love; perhaps
if Graham had put his passion and love foremost,
and his work last, Sara would have been sorely
tempted to yield. As it was she turned to him
very sorrowfully.
“Oh, Mr. Laird, what can I say? I do
thank you for the honour you have done me.
But I fear it cannot be.”
“Why not?”
He moved closer to her, and his words
snapped like steel.
‘“‘T could not live the life you describe to me,
I working in a perfectly different sphere to you,
and both of us without any unity or sympathy
with each other in the vital questions of life.”
“We have been living in the same house with
each other for a full year,” he said ; ‘‘and speak-
ing for myself, I have never been so happy
before in my life. Why should we not continue
to do the same ?”
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A Summons to Town
“ But would it be the same?”
“No,” he said, with a break in his voice;
“of course it would not. But believe me, I could
and would make you happy. You would have
perfect liberty to do what you chose or thought
best. Oh, Sara—I may call you so, may I not?
Don’t answer me in a hurry. If you doubt my
sympathy, I swear here that you would have it
in full, And think of my mother’s joy and
happiness! It would give her a new lease of
life. May I tell you it has been her crowning
desire to have you as her daughter? It will
break her heart, I believe, if you refuse.”
There was silence, then Sara said softly—
“Your greatest inducements are work and a
mother-in-law ; a woman wants more than that;
but it is as well that you should put it so, for I
feel it is easier to refuse.”
“You shall not refuse me on that account!”
Passion and fire shot from his eyes. “I have
kept my own feelings in the background because
until I had your leave I was not going to unlock
my heart. You know without my telling you,
that you are enshrined there. A man who comes
to my age without falling in love with a woman
is bitten very deeply when his time comes. I
told my mother long ago you were the one
woman in the world tome. But what had I to
offer you! Now I can at least offer you a com-
fortable home and a life free from money
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A Happy Woman
anxieties. And I want you, Sara, I want you!
I would move heaven and earth to win your love!
Is it quite impossible ? Is your heart absolutely
indifferent to me? Do you know that to have
you in the same room with me is heaven? Life
itself is darkness without you. Are you going to
make religion the paltry reason for refusing me?
Your principles are utterly at fault, if because I
can't feign to believe in all that a woman finds so
easy, you must separate yourself from me. Don't
you realize what your influence has been in our
house? If you take it away from me—I will
be personal—shall I be nearer your God and
heaven ?”
“ What do you believe?” Sara asked despe-
rately. She was walking slowly along the lake
and he paced by her side.
“T believe in the Creator of the Universe,
but I cannot associate Him with my daily life.
I can’t believe He manages and guides me in all
I do. I live an upright life—at least I have a
try at it—and as far as the other world goes,
nobody knows anything aboutit. Let theologians
surmise and disagree as they always do, it has
nothing to do with me. You are not going to
tell me that this matter of religion is the obstacle
to our union ?”
‘“‘T am afraid it is,” said Sara, slowly. ‘If I
married a man—and I could not do that unless |
loved him with all my soul—life in this world
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A Summons to Town
only would not content me. I should want to
be with him always, and if he did not attempt to
desire to know God in this world, he most
certainly would not care to live in His Presence
in the next. And I should never be able to talk
with him of the things I loved best. I should
always have to keep back the thoughts of my
heart, and we would drift further and further
apart. You have planned out two separate lives
for each of us, lived in the same house, but as
far apart as the north and south poles. I would
be in one life, you in another. You would be
bored to death by hearing any details of mine, I
should feel that I had my province, and must™
keep in it ; and you would keep in yours. No, Mr.
Laird, I have the greatest respect and confidence
in you—but we cannot join our lives together.
I grieve to refuse, for you are offering me much,
but [ dare not do otherwise. It would mean
misery and disaster to both of us.”
‘“‘Then I say, as I said the other day, you
good people are Pharisees of the deepest dye.”
Tears came to Sara’s eyes.
“Tt sounds so, but if you only saw into my
heart, you would think differently. What can I
say? Marriage is bound to be a failure if the
two bound together have not the same aims and
objects in life, if they do not revolve round the
same centre.”
“Oh, leave all these theories alone, let your
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A Happy Woman
heart speak, not your head. Love is the founda-
tion for a happy marriage. Do you love
me? Look me in the face, and tell me the
truth.”
He had got in front of her, and seizing hold
of both of her hands drew her with a gentle force
towards himself.
Sara stood perfectly still with downcast eyes,
but he felt her hands tremble in his.
“Look me in the face,” he said; but Sara
would not.
Then she gave a weary little sigh.
‘Love is very strong,” she said, “ but if it is
only love for this life, it is not worth much, What
good would love do if you and I were drowning ?
Supposing I got safely to a rock, and you were
still struggling in the water, if you refused the
rock, would our love be worth much ?”’
He dropped her hands.
“You are as cold and hard as ice!” he said
bitterly. “I will say no more.”
In silence they retraced their steps to the
house. Then just as he opened the gate for her,
Sara put her hand on his arm. It was dusk, but
he saw that tears were in her eyes.
‘Forgive me for having hurt you,” she said ;
“ you can have the assurance that I am if anything
more unhappy than you are at present. I would
give a good deal to be able to give you the answer
you would like.”
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A Summons to Town
“You are wrapped up in unassailable self-
righteousness,” was the quick reply, ‘too celestial
to mate with men on the earth!”
He had hurt her now, and he knew it, but he
was in aseething state of wild rebellion and bitter
disappointment. He went straight off to his study
and stayed there, and Sara shut herself into her
room and had a very miserable hour.
“I have allowed myself to love him,” she
moaned ; “ and now I am dealing hima real blow.
How I long to go straight down to the study
and into his arms! If only he had the one thing !
He is so unselfish, so honourable, so chivalrous
and kind to women in need! I could trust him
so utterly and entirely! And yet I know it would
spoil his life and mine if we married each other.
He would shunt all the religious work off on me
and never give it a thought. If he has to tackle
it alone, isn’t it possible that it may lead him to
think more seriously! Oh, I hope i€ may, for I
feel as if I have now destroyed something in his
soul, and I must, I do, seem a self-righteous prig !
How difficult it is! If he only knew that I am
deliberately shutting the gate of golden romance
and love in front of me. I have only now a
lonely old age to look forward to, and I love him.
I can’t do anything but love him with all my
heart and with all my soul.”
Tears would have been a relief to her, but
she fought them bravely, this was no time for
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A Happy Woman
tears. Mrs. Laird was expecting her even now
in the drawing-room to pour out afternoon tea.
She must go down, and wear a bright face as usual.
She was rather relieved when she did go to
find that Ina was out. Mrs. Laird and she were
quite alone. Graham sent in word that he was
busy and did not want any tea. Sara was glad
of the message. Not so his mother. Instinc-
tively she knew something was wrong. She
looked across at Sara in perplexity.
“Did you not come in together, Sara? Is
he upset at your going away? Has anything
passed between you ?”
‘““A good deal,” said Sara, gently; “and we
are both unhappy in consequence. Your son has
made me an offer of marriage, dear Mrs. Laird,
and I have refused him.”
Mrs. Laird uttered a little piteous cry.
“Qh, Sara, it has been the hope of my heart
lately. Don’t say that you mean it! I longed
for him to speak to you before. He has loved
you ever since the first day that you entered the
house; he told me so. But he has been diffident
of himself, and with his rare unselfishness was
afraid of your refusal, and then feared for my
sake that his proposal would drive you away
from us. He has been so happy lately. He
hoped the congenial work waiting for you might
induce you to look upon him more favourably.
He has such humble ideas of his own power to
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A Summons to Town
attract, and he is so proud and reticent that a
refusal from you will be very bitter to him.
Don’t you love him, dear? I have seen a look
in your eyes sometimes when he is speaking
that makes me think you must.”
Sara knelt down by Mrs. Laird’s chair, and
tried to speak calmly.
“Oh, dear Mrs. Laird, I know how I am
disappointing you, but much as I like and admire
your son as a friend I could not make him my
husband. We should not be suited to each other.
We should not make each other happy.”
“Why not? He worships the ground you
tread on, he has never given me a day’s anxiety
in his life; a good son makes a good husband.
Is he not good enough for you ?”
Tears rose in Sara's eyes, and could not be
repressed.
“] fear you will not understand,” she whis-
pered ; “I could not marry any one who did not
put God first in his life. I am not a woman who
can marry easily. I am no mere girl, and I have
my ideals. No happiness comes to those who
are not absolutely one in the matter of eternal
things.”
Mrs. Laird was speechless. But she stooped
and kissed Sara.
“That will come,” she said with conviction ;
‘a mother’s prayers will be answered. Is that
your only reason for refusing him ?”’
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A Happy Woman
Sara nodded. She could not speak.
‘‘Never mind, my dear. I have learnt to
wait, and I can wait still. You will pray for him
with me.”
Ina came in at this moment, and their talk
was interrupted. Sara was busy for the rest of
the day packing and leaving instructions for Ina
and the servants.
The next morning the post was late, and
letters were opened at the breakfast table.
Graham made an exclamation as he read one of
his. His mother’s quick eyes had seen that it
was from Eva.
“ T must go up to town at once,” he said. ‘I
was going to drive you to the station, Miss
Darlington. I think now that I shall accompany
you to town if you will allow me.”
Sara murmured that she would be very
pleased, though she hardly felt so.
“Ts it business ?” asked Mrs, Laird. ‘“ You
have heard from Eva, have you not ?”
“Yes, it is her business. She is staying in
town and wants tosee me. It is rather important.”
So very shortly afterwards Graham was driv-
ing Sara to the station, and though both were
silent, both were thinking of the first drive when
they met each other for the first time. It was a
cold foggy day. He was very particular about
her comfort, and when they were settled in the
train wrapped his own plaid round her knees to
222
A Summons to Town
keep her warm. Then when they were really
off he spoke.
‘‘A night's rest has made me ashamed of my-
self,” he said; “I want to apologize for my lack
in courtesy yesterday—I promise you I am not
going to refer to the matter again. You have
a perfect right to act in life as you think best.
And I bow to your decision. For my mother’s
sake there need not be a break in our friend-
ship, need there ?”
Sara looked up at him and smiled.
“No,” she said; ‘‘and I shall go away the
happier for feeling that there is no bitterness
between us.”
Peace was made. Though they did not talk
much, all awkwardness disappeared between them,
and when they arrived at Euston Station it was
with mutual good will that they parted. And
then Sara found herself in her brother’s house
again, being welcomed with tears from Lacy, and
with real gratitude and affection from Arnold.
He took her straight upstairs to the nursery,
and himself took his baby son out of his cot and
put him in her arms.
“He has suffered, poor mite, from being
motherless, and the first days were torment to
me, hearing his incessant wail for her; but now
he is all right, nurse tells me.”
Sara bent down and kissed the tiny puckered
face.
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A Happy Woman
“T will do my best to be a mother to him,”
she said softly.
The baby opened his eyes and looked up,
then a faint smile came to his lips.
“There!” said the old monthly nurse trium-
phantly ; “he has taken you into his little heart,
ma’am.”
And Sara felt that from that moment she had
taken him into hers,
i)
tQ
eX
BOOK II
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER I
A MOVE TO THE COUNTRY
. i jac my dear Sara, and how are you?
And the infant? I’ve come in for a
regular good long gossip. I only got back to
town last night, and two months’ absence is an
unheard-of thing for me!”
It was little Miss Grafton who spoke. Sara
had been living in her brother’s house for six
months, and it was now June. She was sitting
in the upstairs drawing-room by the open window.
The balcony outside was gay with flowers. In-
side, the room was fragrant with pots of lilies of
the valley and mignonette. Sara herself always
gave her friends the idea of fresh fragrance. She
was in.a pale blue linen gown, and she was sewing
some dainty white for the chubby baby, who was
sprawling on a soft rug at her feet.
“TI am always delighted to see you, as you
know,” she said. ‘Come and have my chair.
It is very comfortable.”
“So is this one, thank you. I don’t want to
disturb the pretty picture before me. Bless me!
How the boy has grown!”
227 P 2
A Happy Woman
The baby, seeing a stranger, began to whimper.
Sara put down her work, and took him upon her
lap. With coaxing words and smiles she com-
forted him; and pillowing his head on her arm
he put his thumb in his mouth, and placidly
regarded the old lady in front of him.
“Isn't he a darling? Nurse had to go out
and I am minding him. Well! We are going
along very smoothly. I don't see much of Arnold.
He is out a good deal, and is working very hard
at present. He is not the same man since his
wife’s death, Miss Grafton. He seems restless
and preoccupied. Yesterday evening he told me
he had a chance of going abroad, and he thought
he would take it.”
“ And does he want you to go with him ?”
“Oh, dear no! I suppose I shall stay on
here.”
“ Not through the very hot weather, will you?”
“Tt would be nice to take baby to the sea,”
said Sara, reflectively. ‘I must talk to Arnold
about it.”
“And how are your friends in the North?
Do you hear from them still ?”
“Mrs, Laird is a very regular correspondent.
I heard from her this month. They have quite
settled down in their new home. They went
straight into the old cousin’s house. I think I
told you about her, did I not? I heard one
pleasant bit of news. Ina, the nice girl who is
228
A Move to the Country
with Mrs. Laird and who took my place, is just
engaged to be married.”
“QOh,ho! To that immaculate son, I suppose.
What is his name? Gerald, isn’t it?”
“Graham. No, not to him, but to his great
friend, a Colonel Fleming. I am so very glad!
He is sucha cheery delightful little man, and so
good |”
“And they are going to be married soon?
She'll be leaving the old lady. What a pity she
did not marry the other man, and then they could
have still remained the same happy family! Do
you know, at one time I was almost afraid you
would have engaged yourself to him. I am sure
he must have adored you.”
Sara looked down at the baby in her arms.
His eyes were heavy with sleep. She altered
his position a little, and then was able to meet
her old friend’s bright eyes with equanimity.
“ He and I would not have suited each other,
Miss Grafton.”
“Ah, Sara, my dear, you must marry! The
way you hold that child makes me know you
were meant for a mother. Don't be too fastidious.
Don’t drift into a single life as I did, because I
was always waiting for an impossible bird in the
bush.”
Sara laughed her low happy laugh; but there
was a wistful look in her eyes, which did not
escape Miss Grafton.
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A Happy Woman
“What a pity they have left that lovely country
place by the lake and mountains!” continued the
old lady; “for you and baby could have paid
them a visit. I am sure they would have loved
to have you. But as it is, a colliery town is not
the most attractive place in summer.”
“No, I don’t think that place would be at all
feasible,” replied Sara.
A little silence fell upon them; broken by the
entrance of Lacy ushering in a visitor.
And the visitor was Colonel Fleming.
“T took the chance of finding you at home.
This is good.”
He came forward in his usual hearty, im-
petuous fashion, and Sara welcomed him gladly.
She introduced him to Miss Grafton.
“ I’ve never looked her up before,” he said to
the old lady in a confidential manner, “ but I was
up on particular business, and I wanted her
advice. I always admire her taste, and it’s a
serious matter. Oh, don’t go! I’m an old fogy
and ought not to be bashful! It’s the important
question of an engagement ring. I’ve got a lot
of them, in my pocket somewhere—hope I haven't
lost them !”
He was pulling things furiously out of his
pockets, talking hard as he did so.
‘Funny to see you handling a baby! But
whether it’s a baby, or sick bird, or a pot of
. bulbs, you always do seem made for it! Ever
230
A Move to the Country
see such a young person for establishing herself
as a protector and caretaker for every human
being she comes across ?”
He had turned to Miss Grafton now, who,
much against her inclination, was rising to go.
“I’m sure you two will like a good talk
together. No, I won't stay. I only live opposite,
and can run in any time. Good-bye, my dear
Sara. And I hope you will be able to give the
needed help and advice.”
She was out of the room as briskly as if she
had never been an invalid. In the summer Miss
Grafton always revived in a most marvellous
fashion.
Colonel Fleming found his packet, but there
was another interruption in the entrance of the
nurse who took her charge away, and Sara was
now able to give her whole attention to the
excited little Colonel.
“TI must give you my warm congratulations,”
she said. “I have only just heard the news. I
don’t know which of you is most to be con-
gratulated.”
‘“That’s very nice of you, but I’m a lucky
man. She's so different to the usual modern
girls, now isn’t she? Such a thorough home-
loving little soul, as unselfish as they’re made!
And such cheery company for an old duffer like
myself. Do you think I’m too old for her? She
says she doesn’t like young men, And I'll give
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A Happy Woman
her a happy time, God helping me, such as she
has never had before!”
“It’s delightful,” said Sara. “I hoped you
two would come together. She is a darling, and
is so true and constant to those she loves.”
“ She’s tons too good for me,” said Colonel
Fleming. And then he produced his case of
rings, fingering them doubtfully.
“T came off at once. I was determined to
get her a nice one, and then I thought of you—
if old Lambert hadn’t known me all his life, he
might have thought I was going to rob him! I
caught up this case—told him I would be back
in an hour’s time—hailed a taxi in passing, and
here Tam! Now, what do you think I ought to
give her? Pearls are more her sort, aren't they ?
I always think diamonds are vulgarized by the
kind who wear them. But I like this old emerald
and diamonds. What do you think? Will you
choose for her?”
Sara bent her mind to the task. They
finally selected a beautiful pearl ring with a
diamond in the centre.. That business over, he
settled down to talk.
“We have missed you, ‘pon my word we
have. And Ina is quaking now as to what her
duty is. She feels you left Mrs. Laird to her
as a trust, and she at first—would you believe It ?
—wouldn’t listen to me, said Mrs. Laird had been
so good and kind to her that she couldn’t leave
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A Move to the Country
her. She got quite distressed, so I let the matter
drop, and then got hold of Graham on the sly,
and he told his mother, and she of course made
it all right. I can't get over the change in Mrs.
Laird, I really can’t! She isn’t the same woman.
Why, she’s visiting some of the old people round
her and taking the greatest interest in all her
neighbours !”
“I’m so glad! And how is Mr. Laird
getting on in his new sphere ?”
The Colonel hesitated.
“He's not himself at all. Can’t make the
chap out. Look here, you and I are chums, you
know! You won't take offence. I guessed
what had happened—and Graham let out to me
the trouble—and though I see your point I’m
awfully disappointed—he’s such a good fellow—
except perhaps the one thing—but, do you know,
I think he poses as being more indifferent than
he really is about religion. He takes his mother
to church now as a regular thing. What I can’t
understand fs the hold Mrs. Jeffery has over him.
That little woman never leaves him alone for a
week at atime. She’s always writing to him, or
sending for him—and she’s moved up to Chester
now—within a few hours’ reach of him by train,
and the amount of business she and he do to-
gether would appal you! 1 always told you that
she’s after him! And I suppose you don’t care.
I don’t often feel afraid of women, but she does
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A Happy Woman
give me the squirms! If Graham is fool enough
to marry her, he will rue it. His mother and I
are kindred spirits on that point. I can see she
is very uneasy.”
“Are you staying in town for long?” Sara
asked, wishing to change the subject.
“TI go to-morrow—am putting up at my club
for the night.”
“TI have not asked yet where you have
settled ?”
“Tve got an awfully snug little place—
couldn’t cotton to the town, so scoured the
suburbs and country round. And one day I
found what I wanted; only two miles out, but it
lies in the corner of the moor in a sheltered
hollow—is called Beckdale Hollow. An artist
fellow built it—thatched roof—and a big studio
which I have turned into a kind of hall, and the
garden is well-stocked and secluded, and the
stables’ yard. I’m going to keep some live
stock—a cow and fowls and piggeries, etcetera ;
but I’m not going to farm—have had enough of
that. I have taken over a colliers’ club and am
running it—and on Sundays I go in and meet
them—not as a parson, but a friend—and then I
give them a little Sunday talk, and we have ~
singing. You should hear those chaps sing!
And I do a lot of odd jobs for Graham—quite
good for me to keep me from getting rusty.”
“And soon,” said Sara, smiling, “you will
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A Move to the Country
have a dear little wife to take care of, and will no
longer be lonely in your home. Oh, I am very,
very glad for you both!” |
“ I knew you would be.”
His voice softened—
“If you only knew the loneliness of the past
years! I can hardly believe in my good fortune !
I shall have her love always in my future now!
My cup runs over, doesn’t it ?”
“You deserve it.”
He shook his head.
‘‘Well—I must get back with these rings, or
I shall have the police on my track. Any
messages? I've got the picture of you photo-
graphed on my brain—here in this pretty room,
in your blue gown, and the sleeping baby in your
arms—a good thing for you to have the interest
of him, eh: ? You're looking a trifle thin! Miss
the keen air on those hills, eh 2? London soon
takes an outer rim off one!”
“Give them my dear love,” said Sara, the
light coming to her eyes; ‘“‘and—and Colonel
Fleming—I speak plainly like yourself—don’t
forget Mr. Laird in your new happiness. He is
a lonely man too remember, and a more difficult
nature to understand than—than yours. Don’t
let him feel you’re not interested in him. Don’t
drive him into Mrs, Jeffery’s arms!”
Colonel Fleming shot a keen glance at her.
“TI believe he’s there already!” he blurted
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A Happy Woman
out. ‘ But bless your kind little soul! Graham
and I are old pals. Ill stick to him as I always
have. Wife or no wife. Good-bye—awfully
nice seeing you again. May I look you up when
I’m next in town? And I say—remember you're
booked for the wedding. Coming off in
September, I believe. Don’t you fail us!”
He was out of the room before he had
finished speaking. He had brought Sara a whiff
of the old life; and the ache at her heart made
itself felt. How she longed to go back with
him! But she resolutely set herself to think of
other things. Vain regrets would not be profit-
able, she assured herself. She had acted as she
felt right; she must not torture herself now by
questioning her decision. She could only pray
and hope that Graham would not rush recklessly
into taking a step that he would afterwards
regret.
And then as she sat dreaming by the open
window, her brother came in, and claimed her
attention. |
“Sara, Talbot Gray is going out to the
Rockies for a year. He wants me to go with
him.”
“And are you going?” Sara asked, looking
up with a smile. ‘ You told me last night you
might have the chance of going abroad. I
suppose this is it?”
“Yes. Will you mind? I can’t settle to
eee
A Move to the Country
my work. I think a year’s break will do me
good. Will you look after my boy?”
“ Assuredly I will. I think you are wise,
Arnold. You will come back fresh and ready
for your work again. But now we must talk
business. What about this house? Could we
not let it? I have got a little tired of town life.
Baby and I will be better and happier in the
_ country.”
“Really? Surely you would have more
friends in town ?””.
‘IT think not, and running this house is an
expense, and rather an unnecessary one. Let
me find a small cottage in the country, and take
nurse and another good servant. May 1?”
“Tf you would prefer it, of course. Sara, why
don’t you marry ?”
He spoke abruptly, and Sara looked up at
him with astonishment in her eyes.
“Why should you ask me such a question ?””
“ Because you're too good to be wasted,”
said her brother promptly. ‘“ You're one of the
women in the world who have the art of making
men really comfortable. My poor little wife
never had it. Things were always going wrong
and worrying her to death. Nothing ever seems
to go wrong when you're in. a house; or else
you have the art of hiding it away from us
men |”
Sara laughed merrily—
237
A Happy Woman
“You poor men! You do value a life of
comfort, don’t you? It won't hurt you to miss
your home comforts, Arnold, for a while! But,
joking apart, I thank you for the compliment
paid me. And I assure you that I am perfectly
happy in my single state, and wish nothing
better than to go on making people comfort-
able. Now then, let us talk about the money
part of this plan of yours. How much will your
trip cost? How much can you afford to leave
me ?”
Brother and sister were soon deep in calcula-
tion. Sara never made a fuss about any impend-
ing changes. She immediately adapted herself
to her new circumstances, but when she went
to bed that night she did have a few lonely
reflections. ,
‘I shall miss him dreadfully. To be shut up
with a baby and two servants, and have no
sensible intellect with which I can exchange a
few sentiments will be a trial. But, after all, I
have the darling boy to train, and I am not a
person without resources. Yes, I think I will
venture upon the country. It will suit us better,
especially in the hot weather coming |”
Her brother rapidly made his arrangements
to leave.
At the last moment in parting, he looked
at his sister with affectionate scrutinizing
eyes.
238
A Move to the Country
“You have been an angel to leave your own
life, and come back to me. And I’m making you
a shabby return by going off away from you.
But I felt that you were wasting yourself on some
second-rate uninteresting people, so that made
me bold in asking you to leave them.”
‘They are not second-rate,” said Sara,
quickly ; “ I count them as dear friends now.” —
‘Do you want to go back to them ?”
“ No, I can never do that.”
“ You see, Sara, the fact is I can’t settle down,
The house reminds me so of her! I have got
to hate every room in it. It has been different
since you came, but I feel still that I must get
away. And you are very fond of my small
Oliver, aren't you?”
“Oliver is a darling!” said Sara, brightly.
“ He will keep me busy and occupied, till you
come back.”
So her brother went, and Sara and her old
friend Miss Grafton were much together whilst
she was arranging to let the house, and trying
to find a suitable home for herself and the
baby.
At last she settled upon a certain farmhouse
in Devon, a farmhouse which possessed four good
airy rooms for letting. She went down herself
to inspect them, and fell in love with the place.
The house stood on a slope of a hill facing south,
and was in a lonely bit of wooded country, There
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A Happy Woman
was an apple orchard in front, and the four rooms
composed a complete wing of the house, two
downstairs, one of which was the kitchen, the
other a very comfortable sitting-room, and two
large rooms above. The farmer’s wife said she
could let a smaller room as well, if desired, and
Sara took this. The baby’s nurse was a staid
elderly woman, and the other maid she meant to
take with her was Lacy, who had implored not
to be left behind.
“TI am quite a good hand at cooking, and I
would gladly be a one-handed general if only
you'll keep me with you. I’ve endured a lot
since you went away, ma‘am; but I’ve always
said to myself, ‘Miss Sara will come back one
day, and then she'll want to see me here.’ And
you've come now, and you'll let me stay with you
for the rest of your days I’m hoping !”
‘Oh, Lacy, you dear old thing!” said Sara,
smiling through sudden tears. ‘‘Of course you _
shall come, and you and I will study cooking
together. I have told nurse she must be willing
to take her meals in the kitchen with you. She
and baby will have a big room upstairs to them-
selves, and you must be content with a small
room if you come.”
“T’m content with anything,” said Lacy, in a
satisfied tone; and Sara was delighted at the
thought of having her; for she knew what a
treasure she would prove.
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A Move to the Country
It was the middle of July when they journeyed
down to Devon, and Sara never forgot that first
summer evening when they arrived at the farm.
An old-fashioned roomy jingle met them at the
Station, driven by a very self-possessed small
boy, who informed Sara he was Master Ship-
lake, and had left school for good the week
before.
“So I’m helpin’ feyther tu the farm, an’ the
hay is out, an’ one thing an’ another will kep me
busy till winter, an’ then I means to have a try
at a writin’ clerk’s place in Lunnon. I thought
as ye were strange to Rattlecombe I’d best meet
ye instead of old Sam.”
He talked most of the way; the old white
pony stepped very leisurely up the hill. Sara
with nurse and baby were inside the jingle. Lacy
preferred to walk. A station luggage-cart brought
up the rear.
They passed along a road arched over with
leafy elms; they saw some red cows sauntering
on in front going home to be milked; and then
they turned in at a white gate, and the old yellow
cob-walled farmhouse with its thatched roof lay
before them. It was a quite drowsy time of day ;
an old sheep dog lay outside the porch door fast
asleep ; a row of beehives was along the garden
path next the old cob garden wall: a border of
bright hollyhocks, sunflowers, and Madonna lilies
were behind them. There were striped holland
241 Q
A Happy Woman
blinds outside the windows, and a little breeze
was flapping them to and fro. In the orchard
beyond the garden were some turkeys, and fowls
strutting up and down; the humming of the bees
hovering over the hollyhocks, the. clucking of
the hens and turkeys were the only sounds to
disturb the stillness that reigned. Then the
sheep dog suddenly raised his head and barked,
and in an instant there was life and bustle
around them. Mrs. Shiplake, a good-looking,
matronly woman, came to the door; then she
called a ruddy-cheeked servant, and the farmer
himself came down to the gate to welcome
them.
When Sara got into her sitting-room she
found an appetizing tea already prepared, and
there was a delicious smell of hot baked bread in
the house. She turned to Lacy with shining
eyes.
a Oh, Lacy, isn’t this better than London?
Look at this nosegay of flowers on the table.
Did you ever smell anything sweeter than these
old-fashioned cabbage roses ?”
And Lacy smiled, as well pleased as her
mistress.
“]’ve just slipped inte the kitchen, ma’am,
and had a squint at the stove. Quite a nice little
oven, and plenty of crockery and cupboards. |
-e think we shall settle in beautiful |”
And later on, when Sara wandered out by
+419
—f
A Move to the Country
herself in the dusky orchard and heard the owls
begin to hoot, and the frogs croak in the stream
beyond, she lifted up her face to the starlit
heavens, and thanked God for having brought
her to such a peaceful home.
243
CHAPTER II
UNWELCOME NEWS
lies first day at the farm was one of keen
enjoyment to Sara. She was very busy
adjusting and. arranging things, so as to make
every one comfortable in the simple life to which
they had come. Mrs. Shiplake was a keen brisk
worker, and had enough to do in her part of the
farm to keep her busy there all the day. Lacy
settled down into her kitchen with great content.
Nurse was the only one who had to be kept in
a good temper, for she was a Londoner, and
missed her town comforts. Little Oliver was
out all day long in his pram or rolling on his
crawling rug. . He was a fair bonny boy, sweet-
tempered and full of spirits. Sara grew fonder
of him day by day; and he now welcomed her
with a smile and crow of recognition, holding out
his dimpled arms to be taken up whenever he
saw her.
One day of peace Sara had, and then upon
the second morning after their arrival she got a
letter from Mrs. Laird.
244
Unwelcome News
“ My DEAREST SARA,
“The blow has fallen, and my fears
have been justified. Graham came to me this
morning, and told me that he had married Eva
quietly in a church in Chester, where she has
been staying for the last two months, I asked
him why he had concealed his engagement. Eva,
of course, had begged him to do so, fearing that
I might be upset. I won't write the bitterness
that is in my heart. You will feel for me, but I
am going to pray hard for the grace that I shall
need when I have to receive her as my daughter-
in-law. Oh, Sara! I won't reproach you; but
it is the losing you that has made him reckless ;
and Eva has tightened her hold of him, and has
never let him go, till she has gained her object.
And my son is not happy. There is a harassed
look on his face. One thing I am determined
upon, and that is to find myself a little house,
where I can live alone; I have told him to-day,
and he is vexed with me, but I mean to be quite
firm. He does not like this house and Eva
wants to live in the best part of the town, so
perhaps till Ina marries, she and I will stay on
where we are.’
There was a break in the letter here. Then
an addition came—
“She has come over this afternoon. Very
245
A Happy Woman
sweet and gentle, but that she always is. She
does not look at all well; she is very thin, and
looks ten years older than when I saw her before.
I was as kind as I could be, and I am thankful
to say she did not stay long. Her little girl is
still at a boarding-school. She begged me to
forgive the secrecy of their engagement and
wedding. ‘I wanted to be married very quietly,’
she said; ‘I have been worried and depressed
lately, but I mean to take a new lease of life now.
Graham and I have planned out lots of delightful
things together.’ ‘Your husband is a very busy
man,’ I said; ‘this new estate and all the business
connected with it entails a lot of arduous work.’
And then she laughed.
“*T shall make him play!’ she said, and I
could not help smiling, though I was nearer tears.
Graham 1s not a man who knows how to take
life lightly, and recreation is always difficult to
him. Well, my dear Sara, this is my news. My
heart seems stunned with it, but I have courage
now to face troubles which I could never have
faced before. Write and tell me all you are
doing. I am very angry with your brother for
going off and leaving you all alone. How I wish
I could see you with your little nephew in your
arms! Will you not be photographed and send
mea print? I should love to have one of you.
“Yours always lovingly,
“ RacHAEL LairD.”
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Unwelcome News
Sara sat reading this letter at her breakfast.
It was placed for her on a round table by the
window, where she could look out upon the rich
meadowland below her, and feel the sweet scented
air fan her cheeks as it came through the open
window. She had been rejoicing in this sunny
summer's morning a moment or two before ; now
as she gazed out with shadowed eyes there seemed
no golden buttercup meadows, no sun sending
flickers of colour across the valley down below,
no scent of roses and pinks in the borders outside
her window. It.wasa grey hard world she was
seeing before her; a dusty monotonous never-
ending climb uphill.
Her hand clenched upon the letter, and her
lips took a straight firm line. She had had to go
through troublous times before in her life, but
never yet had any trouble touched her heart as
this one was doing now. Her unspoken thought
was—
‘‘Why am I punished for acting rightly ?
Why have I brought punishment and misery upon
those I care for, and love? If I had been less
single-hearted, less high-principled, if I had
followed my heart’s desire, and taken the sunny
easy path, this would not have happened!”
Then the hard bitterness passed away from -
her eyes, and they grew misty with tears.
“Tt does not matter about me, but dear Mrs.
Laird! I hoped she was going to enjoy a little
247
A Happy Woman
' sunshine in her old age. It is enough to shake
her faith! Oh, how could he! How could he!
He has a home and a mother who loves him.
He has lived for years in a grey clouded atmo-
sphere, and now that the clouds have gone he
might have been content. I cannot understand
“it. Surely he is too self-contained, too sane to
act on a hot angry impulse. I cannot believe it
is I who drove him to it! ‘Poor dear Mrs. Laird!
How can I comfort her?”
‘‘ If you please, ma’am, can you have baby ?”
Sara turned. Nurse stood in the doorway
with the laughing crowing child in her arms.
Sara caught hold of him; the touch of his
soft baby fingers in her hair, the warmth and
sweetness of his little body in her arms, brought
a strange comfort to her aching heart.
“Qh, my little Oliver,” she murmured; “ will
you grow up and bring trouble upon those you
love, I wonder? Is it in you to bring sadness
and tears to one who is weak and helpless and
old? But we'll come out into the sunshine, baby,
and put dull care away !”
No one seeing Sara a few minutes later as
she played with her little nephew upon the sunny
grass and pelted him with fallen rose petals,
whilst he kicked and laughed with glee, could
have imagined that she had just received a death
knell to her secret hopes. For in her heart of
hearts Sara had not doubted that sooner or later
248
'
Unwelcome News
she and Graham would come together. She had
prayed for him earnestly, she felt that like the
young ruler in the Gospels he was “not far from
the Kingdom of God,” but that, like him, he was
not willing or ready to cast in his life and lot with
his Saviour, and meekly follow Him day by day.
Now she knew that Eva's influence would
not bring him nearer the life she coveted for him ;
and her own life looked bleak and grey before
her. When her hour with’ her little nephew was
over, she went back to the sitting-room, and
replied to Mrs. Laird as follows :—
‘“My pearest Mrs, Larrp,
“Your news perplexes and astonishes
me, but do not let it fill you with dismay. In
life, to use a common platitude, what can't be
cured, must be endured. I love to think that
you will not fail your son, and already your
courage has risen to the occasion. His welfare
is your first thought, I know. Do not blame me
for this step which he has taken. Mrs. Jeffery
has had a strange hold upon him for a long time.
I think it is her weakness and helplessness that
appeal to him. He has always been ready to
lend his strength to the weak, has he not? And I
cannot help feeling that his absolutely unselfish
life will mould and influence her character. She
may regret the past. In any case it is buried
and done with, is it not? Remember, if I had
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A Happy Woman
linked my life to his as you wished, he would
not have broken with Eva. Complications might
have ensued, and I might have become a jealous
miserable wife. God, I am sure, has it all in His
Hands to work out as He sees fit. My heart
may sometimes misgive me for my decision, my
conscience never does. Now, please let this
chapter in my life be buried with the others, I
cannot and will not speak of it again.
“ At present I am sure you are happy with
dear Ina, and when she marries, do you think
you could come and pay me a little visit? I
think I shall be still here if all goes well. It is
not like your hill and lake country, it is like
living in one of those pretty pictures we see
depicting rural life. The church is just as
picturesque as it should be, I see its tower peep-
ing through the elm trees which surround it, and
which of course contain a rookery. The rectory
is close to it, a cob-walled house with thatched
roof very like our farm. There is a mill, and a
river, and buttercup meadows, and much pasture
land about us. In the distance from my window
I get a glimpse of a stately white house amongst
trees, the Hall, Mr. Shiplake tells me. The
Squire is very typical of his race, I should think.
He hunts in the winter, and is very keen on
farming. Mrs. Shiplake tells me he is the
cleverest farmer in the county. He is a widower
with a grown-up daughter. His son is in the
250
Unwelcome News
Navy. I don’t expect I shall see anything of
them.
“T have discovered that there is an old friend
of my father’s living near this. An Admiral
Burke and his wife. They have a pretty place
about three miles away. But I am quite content
to enjoy the country in solitude. I have books
and work, and my darling little Oliver for the
comfort and joy of my heart. You inspire me
to be photographed. There is a country town
four miles away. We will borrow the jingle and
drive over one day and see what a country
photographer can produce |
‘‘Qh, dear Mrs. Laird, I am chattering away,
but I feel for you, how I feel for you! And yet
I know God has you in His keeping, and He
Himself will guide and cheer you every step of
the way.
“ Your loving
“SARA.”
After sending this cheerful letter, Sara aban-
doned herself to her feelings, and she had a very
miserable day in consequence.
The next day was Sunday, and in the quiet
peaceful little church she received the peace of
mind and consolation which she so much needed.
The Rector was a middle-aged man with a
careworn face, but when he preached, his shin-
ing eyes and intensely earnest voice made his
251
~~
A Happy Woman
congregation realize that his religion was a living
vital force within him. Sara was too wrapped
up in her own thoughts to notice any of the con-
gregation. She came home with the Rector’s
text ringing through her head. “One thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are
before.”
And for the rest of that day a quiet happy
light glowed in her grey eyes, as she thought
over some of the things which were “ before her.”
On Monday afternoon Sara was with the
baby in the orchard, when Mrs, Shiplake came
hurriedly out to her.
“ The Rector’s wife has called, please ma’am.
I showed her into your sitting-room. ’Tisn’t often
her comes our way. Her’s not one who favours
us workin’ folk with her visits. But her went so
far as to step inside my kitchen and say how
clean it looked! I was fair inclined to tell how
drab an’ dusty I thought her hall when I was left
standin’ there when I were after arrangin’ for my
niece’s baby’s christening! [——”
Sara stopped the breathless flow of talk.
“Will you call nurse, please, Mrs. Shiplake ?
she is ironing, I believe. She had better come
out here. It is a shame to take baby in.”
And then with a little sigh, Sara went into
the house. She was pale to-day, with dark
circles round her eyes, but in her cool linen dress
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Unwelcome News
and with her free easy step, and high lift of her
head, Sara could not but look a very graceful
and attractive woman.
Young Mrs. Peel put out her hand in a very
friendly fashion. She looked a mere girl in her
short white skirt, showing a good deal of slim
ankle. She wore a white panama hat, and soft
white silk shirt with pale blue tie. She was a
handsome girl, dark-haired and eyed, with warm
colour in her cheeks.
‘How do you do, Miss Darlington? I know
all about you, but never meant to call upon you
till I saw you yesterday in church, and then I
suddenly wanted to come.”
“TI don’t think I saw you,” said Sara, smiling
upon her in her usual caressing fashion; “and
if I had, I should never have guessed you were
the Rector’s wife.”
“No, I’m generally taken for his daughter,
but there's only ten years between us in age.
‘An old maid and a baby,’ I said to my husband
in disgust when I heard you were coming. Last
summer Mrs. Shiplake had two artists lodging
there, and they were great fun! But you're not
an old maid, and you're not a rustic, and in
church yesterday I determined to get my next
hat trimmed like yours!”
She laughed, and in sheer sympathy Sara
laughed too.
‘That's right. I don't shock you? Of
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A Happy Woman
course you'll know without saying that it was
before the service began I was thinking such
vain thoughts! But I'd better tell you at once
that I’m not a model rector’s wife. And I told
him when I married him, that I would not be
his curate. If I keep his house, and give him
good food, and see that his clothes are mended,
and cheer him up when he is downhearted, is
not that enough? I don’t know why I am
running on like this. Now do tell me why you
came down to this quiet spot.”
“For the same reason that other lodgers
have come,” said Sara, gaily ; ‘from love of the
country, and pure air; and the longing to get
out of smoky foggy London.”
Mrs, Peel settled herself comfortably into the
one easy-chair, and crossed her legs in careless
fashion.
“Ves, that was what I felt once. I was born
and brought up in a London vicarage ; and I used
to think the country must be a dream of delight.
There were five of us girls. We lived in a
high-terraced house, and a backyard by way of
a garden. My husband was my father’s curate.
He worked himself to death nearly, and then
when he was told he must get away from town
if he wished to live, he was presented with this
living, and he asked me to come with him, I
saw a photo of the house and garden, and that
decided me.”
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Unwelcome News
She paused, and looked swiftly across at
Sara.
“I don’t know why I am talking of my own
affairs like this. You won't be interested.”
“ But indeed I am. I was interested in you
the first moment I saw you. It is sweet of you
to be so friendly. Please tell me more.”
Sara looked as interested as she felt.
The young wife rattled on—
“Well, I came; we had a delicious honey-
moon, and then we took possession, and for the
first six months it seemed one long battle against
dilapidation, bad drains, dry rot, and unwholesome
water! Last, but not least, a batch of bills that
would have frightened a Croesus. Country
servants, oil lamps, rats and mice, a mouldy fusty
church which always reeked of damp, and sus-
picious unfriendly villagers soon cured me of
romance, I’ve lived here for five years, and I
hate and detest it!” :
She looked frankly rebellious, and yet her
youth and beauty and fresh audacity had a rare ~
charm to Sara.
“ My dear child,” she said; ‘in another five
years you may learn to love it.”
‘“Never, never! Why was I ever induced
to marry a parson? He is too good for me,
Miss Darlington, miles too good! He thought
he would make me as good as himself, but he
couldn’t. The continual stream of services
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A Happy Woman
worry me; I am a perpetual thorn in his flesh.
He is getting like them all, a mete mechanical
church machine, going round and round on a
treadmill of penance and duty, an austere mystic,
and I who am still flesh and blood tied to him
by unbreakable bonds, oh, what am I saying?
I love him still, of course I do ; but I hate visiting
the poor, I’m not fit to teach in Sunday school ;
and there are times when I hate the sound of
the clanging church bell. The only relief to me
isto get up tothe Hall. May and I are great
friends, but even she thinks I ought to be quite
content with my life. As if I could be! We
see no one, we go nowhere. In summer we
have a few clerical garden parties, and if we are
invited to the places round, the county look upon
us aS quite a different class to themselves.
‘Who is she?’ ‘Qh, a parson’s wife.’ Interest
dies away at once. And of course amongst my
kind—other parsons’ wives, you know—lI’m
everything that is shocking. Dear me! I can’t
conceive what you must think of me talking to
you like this! But I don’t seem able to help
myself!”
She stopped speaking, and looked at Sara
with a mixture of defiance and wistfulness in her
eyes.
“T am so glad to hear it all; glad to think
you will let me into a corner of your life. Now I
wish I could help you! But you have youth and
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Unwelcome News
health, and love for your husband. Couldn’t you
try to find the only thing that would make your
life a joy to you instead of a burden ?”
“What do you mean? What could make
stagnation different? Oh, don’t let us talk any
more about myself! Tell me a little of your
history. Do you know that this. morning a
poisonous little reptile of a creature, a village
dressmaker who goes out to work at various
parsons’ houses, suggested to me that there might
be a mystery about you? Such a handsome young
lady, and single, and an infant baby! Can’t you
hear her? I jumped down her throat, and was
glad to be able to say that Admiral Burke was a
great friend of yours. Has he called yet? He
told us that you and your brother were a devoted
pair before your brother married. What a sad
thing for him to lose his wife and only have this
infant in her stead! I wish——”
She stopped and thought better of uttering
her wish.
“What are you going to do with yourself
here?”
‘Read a great deal,” said Sara, smiling at her
visitor. “Write some letters, and fill up my
other time with sewing, and playing with baby.
What do you do with yourself? Have you any
hobbies ?”
“Yes, one. I paint—but not landscapes—
figures and miniatures. I believe I could have
257 R
A Happy Woman
been an artist, if I had not married. Then I
should have been some good. Here I am a
failure.”
“You musn’t say that to me,” said Sara,
briskly ; “failures are such miserably depressing
things. Why, you have hope and buoyancy in
your face! I should think the villagers love a
visit from you, don’t they ?”
“T hardly ever go near them. I told you I
hate visiting the poor. We haven't an idea in
common. _I did try to paint one of their children
once, and what do you think the mother said
after a few sittings? That she wasn't going to
have her child tired out, just to bring more
money to the rich. She said if she wasn’t to be
paid for it well, she shouldn't let her come. So
I sent the child home at once. I suppose she
thought I was going to paint a picture and sell
it. I wonder if you would let me sketch you one
day? You, and the wonderful baby! I saw
you with him in the orchard as I came up the
garden. You made quite a picture!”
Sara promised to give her a sitting, and she
promptly arranged that she would come over the
next day and make a start. Then she got up to
go. Sara asked her to stay to tea, but she said
she had promised her husband to be back to tea
with him.
“You must come to us, Come to tea with us
to-morrow, after ] have started my sketch. You
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Unwelcome News
see how unconventional I am; I ought to wait
till you return my call. But I’m lonely and dull,
and the very minute I saw your face I wanted to
know you. And now I'm going, and I’ve talked,
as usual, of nobody but myself, and I know
nothing of your interests, your life! You
_ must talk to-morrow and I will listen. Good-
bye.”
Sara walked down to the garden gate with
her visitor, rather breathless at the sudden on-
slaught which had been made upon her time and
interest.
But she had noted the lonely wistful spirit
behind the heedless self-centred talk; and her
heart warmed to the young wife. She was glad
that she had called. When Mrs. Shiplake came
in with the tea, she said—
“ Well-a-day, ma’am, you've had Mrs, Peel a
long time. Her don’t dress or talk or act like
our Rector’s wife should, do her? Her be buta
giddy thoughtless child, an’ they say, her leadeth
her husband a terrible life!”
“T thought she was a very bright pleasant
little person,” said Sara. ‘She is very young
certainly, but that is a fault that will mend
itself,” |
She would not discuss Mrs. Peel further with
Mrs. Shiplake. That good woman retired dis-
comfited, but relieved her feelings by taking
Lacy into her confidence. And when that
259
A Happy Woman
worthy heard a list of young Mrs. Peel’s in-
discretions she quietly said—
‘Then the more she comes here the better,
for Miss Darlington will do her good.”
And Mrs. Shiplake had not a word to say.
260
CHAPTER III
MAKING FRIENDS
ARA was not left without visitors. Besides
Mrs. Peel, Admiral Burke and his wife
came over in an old-fashioned pony-chaise to call
upon her, followed by. Miss Agnew from the
Hall. Sara was delighted to see the old people.
They were an ideal couple, as devoted now to
each other as they had been when lovers; and
were determined to show her hospitality.
“You must come and spend a long day with
us, my dear,” said the old lady; “we have pretty
gardens, and I should like to show you an oil
painting presented to us on our marriage by your
father. He painted it himself. We have also a
photograph of you and your brother as tiny
children.”
Sara promised she would come, and they had
hardly taken their departure before Miss Agnew
was announced, |
Sara looked at the tall slim handsome girl
with much interest. She was dressed in a plain
brown holland coat and skirt, and coarse straw
hat. Her face was alive with interest and
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A Happy Woman
expectation. She was not so impulsive, or so con-
fidential as Mrs. Peel had been, and Sara saw at
once that she was of a more thoughtful nature.
She told Sara a great deal about the village and
places of local interest, and spoke as if she loved
it all.
“I have grown up here and never want to
leave it. My father and I go to town once every
year, so as to widen our outlook and prevent us
from running in a groove, but I am always glad
to get back here again. Don’t you think it is a
lovely bit of country ?”
“Indeed I do. It strikes me as such luxuriant
rich pasture land! Everything looks so flourish-
ing and prosperous.”
“Oh, we have our bad times, I assure you;
but father farms most of his land himself. He
puts a lot of money into it, and I think he gets
its worth. I’m so glad you appreciate our part.
Have you met Nellie Peel? She's enough to
turn a pail of milk sour sometimes.”
« Aren’t you two great friends?”
The girl laughed.
“In a way I suppose we are. But I hate
her grumbling. Why on earth did she marry a
parson if she didn’t like his life? She's always
trying to get out of her sphere into another.
She’s a parson’s daughter, so she ought to be
content to be a parson’s wife. She's always
trying to run down — sort. She has a
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Making Friends
very good time, I consider. Her husband is a
saint ; she has no children; nothing to tie her to
the house ; and our village is a very pleasant one,
and the people happy and well-to-do. She ought
to like visiting them and having meetings and
clubs and that sort of thing. As it is, I take the
clothing and coal club off her shoulders. Nellie
is always trying to occupy herself with things,
that have nothing to do with the parish.”
“IT think you are hard upon her,” said Sara,
_ pleasantly. ‘ Young people are very intolerant
sometimes of others’ likes and dislikes. She is of
no different flesh and blood to yourself ig
May Agnew drew her head up proudly at
this and Sara saw she did not like it, but she
went on firmly—
‘Parochial work does not come easily to
every one. She tells me she paints. An artistic
nature must find its vent in some way. She may
not have been born with that gift of sympathy
and interest in her fellow-creatures which you
perhaps possess, and what comes easy to you as
the Squire’s daughter and, may'I say, as Lady
Bountiful of the parish, comes hardly with her.
I am a newcomer, and I don't know either of
you yet, but my first impressions are pleasant of
you both. I feel sorry for Mrs. Peel; she is so
young, with such great expectations from life;
and those who expect much meet with many
disappointments.”
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AH appy Woman
“You think she is a square peg in a round
hole? By her own showing she is. When first
she came here I felt sorry for her, and had her
continually up at the Hall. She comes now, and
whenever we have company I send for her. But
she expects to spend her whole time with us;
and then when I happen not to ask her if any-
thing is going on, she gets huffy and sulky. Oh,
what am I saying? You have bewitched me!
What must you think of me! Sitting up and
slanging our Rector’s wife in this fashion!” _
“T will never abuse your confidence,” said
Sara, quietly. ‘It is good of you to have talked
so openly with me. Don't be too impatient ; life
_ slowly impresses its lessons on each one. And
Mrs. Peel will learn her lessons like the rest
of us.”
May Agnew smiled.
“You think me a prig, I expect. It is so
easy to see the motes in our neighbours’ eyes, is
it not? Are you fond of reading? Father has
rather a good library, and he would be flattered
if you came up and made use of it!”
“How very kind of you! I shall be delighted.
A library is always so attractive! I have so much
idle time on my hands now, that reading will be
possible to me, and I do love it.”
When she had gone, Sara mused upon these
two girls’ lives, running side by side, and yet with
such different outlooks ; and though in her he&rt
264
Making Friends
she knew that May Agnew was more high-
principled and right-minded than Nellie Peel,
her sympathies were most with the latter.
Nellie came to make the promised sketch ;
and they had an interesting talk about art and
its different schools and fashions. Sara went to
the Rectory to tea and found Mr. Peel a charm-
ing man to talk to. He was very devoted to his
young wife, but the latter chose to be in one of
her flippant moods that day; and more than
once Sara saw the Rector wince at things she
said.
She came away rather sad at heart. The
home was picturesque in its setting, there was no
lack of comfort in it, yet the atmosphere seemed
charged with friction.
The contrast when she went to lunch with
Admiral and Mrs. Burke was very marked.
The old couple were delighted to see her, they
talked of the past with many fragrant memories ;
and Sara told them when she came away that
she had never spent such a happy day anywhere
for years, as she had now with them.
‘My dear,” said Mrs. Burke, kissing her, “it
is good of a young thing like you to be interested
in the old.”
“I don’t feel at all young,” said Sara. “I
always feel I have much more in common with
those who are getting through their journey than
with those who have just begun it.”
265
A Happy Woman
“There are two young people close to you
who will be glad of your advice and help,” said
Mrs. Burke, gently. ‘We know them both ; and
wonder often how things will go with them.
May is a dear girl. She is her father’s right
hand—such a useful life she leads—but it makes
her a little hard on the less energetic ones. And
she can never forget that she is the Squire's
daughter. I think I may tell you in confidence
that she was engaged to a nephew of ours for six
months. He is in the Horse Artillery, and
always spent his leave with us. It was broken
off because she wanted to manage him, and he
would not have it. She has managed everybody
since she was twelve years old, when her mother
died. She insisted then, though she had a
governess, upon dining with her father every
night; and she would take her seat at the foot
of the long dining-room table opposite him like
any old woman.”
“Both Mrs, Peel and Miss Agnew are inclined
to be very friendly,” said Sara. “I don’t think
there is any danger of my feeling dull.”
And there was not. Time slipped rapidly by,
the baby Oliver growing bigger and bonnier
every day, and Sara, with her usual aptitude for
making friends and winning confidences, was con-
tinually in request by either the Squire’s daughter
or the Rector's wife.
Nellie Peel made a water-colour sketch of her.
2600
Making Friends
It was cleverly done, and she caught the sunshine
in Sara's face and eyes, as she sat against a back-
ground of apple-trees, with her small nephew in
her arms.
It was a bright and vivid portrait.
“The only pity,” said Nellie, “is that you
aren't the baby’s mother. For nobody would
believe that you were not. You have such a
motherly face! I shall call this sketch, ‘Sun-
shine.’ Now, would you like to have it? I
should love to give it to you.”
“My dear, I could not take it.”
“Why not? I love painting for painting’s
sake.”
“If you are really going to make me a present
of it, I should like to send it to an old lady, a
very great friend of mine. But I hope I am not
taking advantage of your generosity.”
“TI never give away anything unless I want
to,” said Nellie, carelessly. Then she looked
down upon the sketch on her knee.
“You’re a very happy person, aren't. you?
I wish I could feel as happy as you do; but I
suppose you have always had your own way, and
have done what you liked.”
‘Oh, Nellie dear, that doesn’t make a person
happy.”
‘Yes, it does. It makes me happy, but
something or somebody is always crossing my
will, and then I’m angry.”
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A Happy Woman
“YT don’t think any of us can sail through life
without any buffetings or storms,” said Sara.
For a moment a shadow dimmed her eyes.
There was not a day or an hour that Graham
Laird did not figure in her thoughts. She knew
he belonged to another woman now. She tried
to think of him in a detached impersonal way ;
but she had an intense longing to know if he
was happy, and this longing brought an ache into
her heart which stayed there.
“People say we can’t cultivate happiness,”
Sara went on thoughtfully ; ‘for the more we
think about it, the less we feel it. Happiness is
a very elusive thing, isn’t it? But certain habits
bring it to us.”
“What habits? I like to hear you talk. Go
on. I am just putting the finishing touches to
my sketch.” |
“T think the habit of recognizing the good
things which we possess is one. If we take an
inventory of our possessions sometimes, we shall
find it is a pretty long one. And the habit of
taking an interest in other people and things
outside ourselves is a great help. I was feeling
rather sad the other morning before I came down
to breakfast. But I had two distinct bits of cheer,
and thinking of them warmed my heart up.”
‘‘Do tell me what they are.”
“Don’t laugh at my first bit of cheer. It
was a mother thrush out of my window. She
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Making Friends
was taking a walk with three of her young ones.
Our tabby cat saw her, and came stalking through
the long grass. The mother saw the creature
and gave her cry of alarm, and two of her nest-
lings fluttered up to the high laurel bush where
their nest had been. The third little bird was
either weak on his legs or else he had entangled
himself in the grass. He fluttered his wings but
could not rise. Then the mother flew over the
tabby’s head and tried to distract her attention,
and after several struggles the little thrush rose
successfully, and joined the others in their refuge.
The mother flew after him, Tabby crept away
disappointed, and the little family of thrushes
rejoiced in their safety ; I couldn't help rejoicing
too.”
“ How ridiculous you are! What was the
other event ?”
“IT knew you would laugh at me! I came
down to breakfast, and Mrs. Shiplake came in
with a beaming face—
“¢QOh, ma’am, I’ve had a piece of luck this
morning. I were worritin’ over a new gown for
the Flower Show up tu the Hall. I’m that
shabby, I felt like staying at home, an’ if I haven't
heard from my sister what married last spring,
and she sends me one poun’ forward for eggs an’
cream an’ chicken she have ordered for a gran’
entertainment tu her part. Her husband be land
steward to Sir Philip Baker! An’ las’ market-day
269
A Happy Woman
I saw a nice grey skirt and coat marked up at
Taylor’s for nineteen shillings and elevenpence.
An’ it were my fit jus’ as if it were made for me,
but times have been bad, and I didn’t have the
money. Now ‘tis ready and I’ll-go straight off
to Taylor’s this very afternoon and send off some
chickens and eggs at the same time!’ You should
have seen her face. It was like a round shining
sun! I began my breakfast in quite good spirits.”
“You are an extraordinary person !”
Nellie had laid her sketch down, and was
regarding Sara with puzzled eyes.
“ Those kind of things would never touch me
at all. Do you remember saying to me the first
day I called upon you that I ought to find the
one thing that would make my life a joy instead
of a burden? I have often thought of it since.
What did you mean ?”
“ Something very real, and deep and lasting,”
said Sara, quietly.
“You don’t mean anything religious, do you ?
That sounds like it.”
“Do you dislike everything connected with
religion ?”
“Yes, I don't want it in my life. I want to
enjoy myself.”
Then Sara said very softly—
“Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more
than in the time that their corn and wine
increased.”
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Making Friends
“T never thought you would preach me a
sermon !”
Nellie got up quickly. She put her sketch
into Sara’s hands.
“Don’t thank me any more. If youre a
good person, you're rather a nice sort, but I
don’t want any goody talk. I get plenty of that
from my husband.”
She was off and away before Sara could say
another word.
A few days afterwards, Sara heard from Mrs.
Laird, in acknowledgment of the sketch which
she had sent.
“My DEAR, DEAR SARA,
“TI cried when I opened the parcel. It
is you to the life! Just the light in your eyes
that I always loved to watch. And what a dainty,
delicate bit of work it is! The colouring is so
sweet. Your soft blue dress which matches the
sky in the background, and the golden-haired,
happy child. Oh, Sara, Sara, why didn’t you
marry my son? Excuse my outburst. But you
are wasted where you are. Well, your portrait
will bring sunshine into my room. I shall place
it where I can always see it. Graham came in
for a moment to-day. He quite started when he
saw it. I put it on the mantelpiece for the time
being. He is worn and weary. This colliery
is giving him a great deal of anxiety and trouble,
27
A Happy Woman
and Eva is, as I thought, no help to him. She
has developed great delicacy since their marriage,
is quite the nervous invalid. She told Ina that
she had a weak heart, but I think it must be
fancy. She has never looked strong, but she
has always rushed about from place to place, and
has had far more energy and strength than most.
They have settled into their new house. Eva
has insisted upon having a motor, and is very
luxurious. I have been to see her once or twice.
She never comes here. Her little girl has gone
to stay with a little schoolfellow for the summer
holidays. Graham says that Eva does not feel
strong enough to have her at home. I am look-
ing forward to seeing you in September. You
will not disappoint us, will you? I don’t think
I must pay you a visit this summer. When Ina
goes, I shall have one or two of her classes to
look after, and I do not give up this house till
Christmas. I am happy when I am busy, so |
keep myself always occupied; but my thoughts
are perpetually with you, and with my poor boy.
Why did he marry her? I keep asking myself.
For, Sara, he does not love her, he is sorry for
her with his usual wonderful compassion for
everybody who is weak and helpless. And
she apparently, even at this early stage of their
wedded life, has lost her love for him. She is
entirely self-centred, and thinks that by day and
night he ought to be her willing devoted slave.
Making Friends
She looks ill, but will not speak of her health to
me. She has become a peevish discontented
woman. I will not write about her any more.
And I am ready to go to her at any time, should
she want me.
“As I look at your happy smiling face, I feel
a warmth in my heart. We have much in common
to make us happy, Sara. I hope this is not a
wail, for | am happy—happier than I have ever
been for years. And heart happiness gets deeper
than mere surface enjoyment. Good-bye. May
God bless you!
‘Your loving old friend,
“ RACHAEL Larrp.”
Sara read this letter over and over again.
She hungered for news of her friends, and longed
to know every detail of their daily life. :
As September drew near she wondered if it
would be wise to go up there amongst them all
again. And then the matter was taken out of her
hands, Little Oliver was taken ill. It was not very
serious, but enough to make and keep her anxious. -
It began with an internal chill, and then fever,
He soon pulled round, but had lost weight, and
was a shadow of his former self. When the time
for the wedding drew near he still wanted the
greatest care and attention, and Sara felt that
she could not leave him. She wrote very regret-
fully, for she knew that both Mrs, Laird and Ina
273 S
A Happy Woman
would be disappointed, and she herself, now that
she was prevented from going, began to think of
all that she would miss.
But the baby~occupied all her time, for which
she was thankful. She heard all about the
wedding from Mrs. Laird. Eva was not well
enough to be present, but Graham gave away the
bride; and Colonel Fleming was like a boy in
his excitement and delight.
Ina wrote to her during her honeymoon.
“T can hardly believe that I am on earth at
all,” she finished up with ; “ Jack spoils me utterly
and entirely. Mrs. Laird used to say I was
much older than he in my talk and behaviour: |
feel like a child again now. He is so gay and
cheerful and so full of fun, and then suddenly he
gets quite grave and opens a sacred corner of his
heart to me, and I know then what a really good
husband I have got. I have made a resolve that
I will always be his comfort and help, for he
never thinks of himself at all, only of doing good
and helping others.”
Sara smiled and sighed.
“An ideal couple,” she murmured; “ but
then they revolve round the same Centre. There
is no gulf between their respective goals.”
274
CHAPTER IV
GRAHAM AND HIS WIFE
‘ie was a wet wild night the beginning of
October.
Graham, hurrying along the pavements of the
town, began to look forward to the firelight and
warmth and comfort of his home. He came to
it at last; a handsome stone house in a quiet
street ; a small drive and shrubbery stood between
it and the passers-by. He mounted the broad
stone steps with some weariness. Mentally and
physically he was tired. There was a threatened
strike at the colliery; all day he had been inter-
viewing people. First the masters of several
collieries round ; then the miners’ representatives ;
then his agent with several others. It had been
an exhausting day : Graham would never let him-
self or any one else rest till he had mastered
every technicality, every point of law connected
with the dispute, and he now had it at his finger
ends.
But it had not been a cheering process, and
the future loomed black and frowning before him.
275
A Happy Woman
He knew himself to be inexperienced ; he felt in
honour bound to stand by and with those in the
same position as himself; and yet his keen sense
of justice more than once made him put his finger
on a weak spot in some of the masters’ arguments.
He felt fettered and bound in the course that
was laid down for him to take. He longed to
break with them all, and act on his own responsi-
bility, and yet he knew at the present juncture of
affairs he dared not do it.
He let himself into his house with his latch-
key. A maid came forward to meet him in the
hall.
“Tf you please, sir, the mistress would like to
see you at once.”
“Is anything the matter ?” he asked quickly,
slipping out of his overcoat as he spoke.
“ The mistress has fainted, sir ; she’s had two
faints ; but she is better now.”
Graham caught his breath, then ran lightly
up the stairs, and entered his wife’s room. |
He did not find her in bed, she was sitting
up in a cushioned chair by the fire. Her fair
hair was hanging in two plaits below her waist.
She looked very small, very young as she sat
there gazing into the fire; but upon his approach
she turned her face towards him, and it was wan
and pinched and grey.
“Oh, Graham, I thought you would never
come! You are hours late! I’ve had another of
276
Graham and his Wife
my attacks, and I was all alone! You might
think of mea little more! I believe you forget
all about me when you go off to that horrid ole
every day.”
“ My dear, I am sorry, but I could not —
myself, I have been delayed. I suppose you
have dined. It is close on nine o'clock.”
“T have been ill, I tell you; don’t you care
at all?”
Eva’s tone was more than petulant, it was
really angry.
“Indeed, I do care very much. Do you feel
better now ?”
His tone was gentleness itself.
She turned her face away from him, sullenly.
“I didn’t marry you to be left alone in this
house day after day with only servants to speak
to.”
He did not answer. Then he said—
“Was the pain very bad, dear? Don’t you
think you would be better in bed ?”
‘I don’t mean to go to bed. I hate it. I
know I shall die in it one night. And you won't
care, You'll be thankful to get rid of me.”
Tears crowded into her eyes, she began to
sob hysterically.
Graham went to a small table near, and poured
out a dose from a medicine bottle.
“You haven't taken this, I see. Why did
you not?”
277
A Happy Woman
“Because you always give it to me after
dinner, and you weren't here,” she snapped.
She took it from him and drank it, then leant
her head back amongst her cushions, and looked
up at her husband with frightened despairing
eyes. He stood leaning against the mantelpiece
and regarding her with a good deal of tenderness
and pity.
“Oh, Graham, I’m afraid of going to sleep!
Have pity on me! Be kind tome! I'm afraid
of my own thoughts. Come close to me and
hold my hands. I feel safe with you. What
shall I do? Every day that passes brings it
nearer. Comfort me! Is there no comfort for
me? How can I go through it?”
He knelt down by her side, and drew her
head to rest against his shoulder.
“My dear child, don't be frightened. You
have been accustomed to these faints. You are
not worse to-day than you have been, and to-
morrow you will be quite yourself again. You
have been alone, and so you've got down in the
dumps.”
“But 1 oughtn’t to be alone!” Eva roused
herself and pushed him away. “It is cruel of
you to leave me so! You promised me you
would be with me always, and help me to bear
the pain!”
“ You are tired to-night,” he said patiently ;
‘and I own I am very late in coming home, but
278
Graham and his Wife
I could not help it. There is trouble at the
colliery.”
“T hate the colliery and everything belonging
to it. It takes up your time more and more. |
might as well have never married you ”
Graham was silent for a few minutes. He
was becoming accustomed to his wife’s continual
reproaches, but he never lost his patience. Long
experience with his invalid mother had taught
him self-control. His heart ached for his wife.
He knew he could do so little to relieve her
fears and sufferings.
‘IT wish you would let my mother come and
see you, or Ina. Ina would be so pleased to
know you, and be your friend if you would let
her.”
‘She is young,” said Eva, peevishly ; “and
we don’t care for each other. Why should we
pretend that we do? And you know your mother
dislikes me. She always has, and always will.
The doctor said I ought to get out as much as
possible, but you have never time to take me:
our motor lies idle, we hardly ever use it.”
“Well,” said Graham, cheerfully, ‘we will go
out to-morrow afternoon. I will come home to
luncheon if it is fine. We will have a spin
together, before it gets dark.”
At this moment ‘the parlourmaid knocked at
the door, and wanted to know if Graham had
dined.
279
A Happy Woman
‘‘No, indeed I have not,” he said; “and I
had no time for lunch, so 1 am pretty hungry.”
He went off to his dressing-room, and soon
returned to his wife.
“ Now I’m going downstairs for a short time.
Won't you goto bed? I'll send your maid to you.
What is her name? I never can remember.
Halkin, is it?”
‘Yes. Please don’t be long. I feel so
nervous to-night. And I hardly touched my
dinner.”
‘Then you must have a snack of something
now. I will send you up something, and you
must promise me to eat it.”
He went downstairs to the empty dining-
room and consumed his dinner in haste. Then
he went into his study. His blazing fire and
easy-chair looked inviting. He longed to sit
down and smoke a pipe and have a quiet time
to think out various problems that were simmer-
ing in his brain; but he resolutely turned away
from the fire. He took up the evening news-
paper and went upstairs to spend the rest of the
evening with his wife.
This was a sample of many evenings in
Graham’s life. As he looked back upon his
hasty engagement, and marriage, he wondered
now if he had done well for Eva. She had been
in delicate health for some time, and then some
friend in town persuaded her to go to a heart
280
Graham and his Wife
specialist. This was a man who believed in
telling his patients the truth about themselves,
and he told Eva that her heart was diseased, and
that he feared she had not two years of life left
to her. It was a tremendous shock. She sent
for Graham, and then in her extremity she poured
out her soul before him, telling him that she had
loved him for years, and imploring him to help
and comfort her.
“TI am absolutely alone,” she said. “I have
two years of suffering in front of me, and then
death. Nobody wants me. Nobody cares for
me. I shall get some chloroform and end my
life now! How can I live on day after day,
dragging myself nearer and nearer the grave,
without a soul to speak to? Oh, Graham, pity
me! What can I do?”
And then, tortured by her deep distress, and
by her avowal of love for him, he felt that he
could offer her a home with him, for those two
short years. His heart had always been open to
women in their need and weakness, and he knew
that he could in a measure soften the dark days
coming upon her. But Eva bound him to secrecy
about the state of her health, not even his mother
was to be told. He had faithfully kept the pro-
mise he made to her.
As it often happens, when Eva had got the
desire of her heart, it seemed to turn to ashes.
Graham was of too quiet and grave a nature to
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A Happy Woman
cheer her in her times of depression. He was
attention itself, but his attentions were given with
great gravity. He showed her sympathy, and
tenderness, and patience, every day of her life.
But Eva longed to be cheered by a gay laugh
and a bright word; and this she felt she would
never get from Graham. She did not realize
the strain of his business life, and the ceaseless
thought and toil it gave him.
And Graham’s heart had received a blow
from which it could not recover. He, like Eva,
was tempted to ask himself sometimes what
_ incentive he had to live. It was a blank grey
world to him without Sara. He had had so little
sunshine in his life that her presence in the house
had been an ideal experience for him. Now she
was gone; and he had no hope of ever seeing or
speaking to her again. It was no wonder he
found it difficult to be cheerful. Eva herself had
altered greatly. Her sweet pensive smiles and
little graceful speeches were things of the past.
She was up against a black horror which never
left her night or day, and she rebelled frantically
against her fate. Now she felt that marriage
had not brought her the ease and comfort she
expected ; she had really thought that Graham
would act exactly as a trained nurse would, and
she resented everything that took him away from
her. |
They went for a motor ride the next afternoon.
»R2
Graham and his Wife
Eva was soothed and refreshed by it at first;
but upon their return they encountered a crowd
of colliers who had just come up from the
pits, and were congregated around one man who
was addressing them in fiery language. The
motor had to slow down, for there was hardly
room to pass, and Graham was instantly recog- .
nized. Some lads began to hoot and hiss; and
one hot-tempered little man sprang to the side
of the car and shook his first in Eva’s face,
shouting—
“Ye willna ride us doon, you pampered lass of
his’n, A fine lot he cares for them which work
to stow money into his pocket. He'd better’n be
in the office preparin’ for the day when the pits
shut down. They're surely comin’ !”
The chauffeur quietly glided through the crowd,
and Graham said nothing; though silence was
much against the grain. He knew that agitation
might be fatal to his wife, and, as it was, she was
in a panic of fright.
“They're savages!” she panted, when they
had passed. “Graham, why do you put up with
such insolence ?_ I shall never dare to come out
again. Oh, do take me abroad! Leave this
filthy, smoky town, and let us go to the Riviera
before the winter sets in. I feel I should have a
fresh lease of life there.”
This idea seized hold of her; she never gave
him any peace day or night till he had _ half
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A Happy Woman
promised to take her, and then before their
arrangements could be completed, she had
another very bad heart attack, and her doctor
refused to let her move.
‘She would never get there alive,” he said.
‘She is wearing herself out by her fright and
agitation about herself. It is a pity she has not
a more placid disposition ; she would give herself
a better chance then.”
But this nobody could give the sick woman ;
and Graham looking ahead could see no ray of
light on the path she would have to travel. One
evening, after a specially trying day, when she had
at last gone to bed, and sunk into an exhausted
sleep, Colonel Fleming came to see his friend.
Graham saw him in the smoking-room, and
gripped his hand with real pleasure.
“We are becoming strangers!” Graham said.
‘“‘T haven't set eyes on you for ages. It’s being
married men, I suppose.”
‘So it is! But you're much more married
than I am. Ina, bless her little soul! is as happy
as a sandboy alone. She's sent me to look you
up to-night. I've been down town. It’s my
club night, you know. Lucky thing your strike
didn't come off. But it was touch and go, wasn’t
it? I heard that it was you who saved the
situation. You got the masters to give way a
bit, didn’t you? Well, how's your wife? She’s
in a poor way, I hear. I met your doctor just
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Graham and his Wife
now. He was seeing a chap who got hurt in the
pits, and I was there inquiring for him. We
walked a bit of the way here together. He told
me it was serious, and that she couldn’t go abroad.
I was glad to hear it. Sick people are best at
home, don’t you think so ?”
Graham did not answer. He pulled aside
the window curtain and looked out; then he
turned and faced his friend.
“Jack, I feel I must have a whiff of pure
wholesome air. Will you let me walk home
with you? I must have a turn on the moor.
Will you take anything first ?”
‘Not a sip. Come on, we'll start at once.
Ripping it will be, The stars are out, and there’s
a touch of frost in the air, but there’s no wind.
A pity you don’t live up our way!”
They went out of the house together, and
talked on various subjects till they reached the
open moor. Graham drew in a breath of the
keen pungent air with relief and pleasure.
“T never shall get accustomed to this town
life. I havea hankering for our hills at Felstone
Corner.”
Then he said abruptly—
‘Look here, Jack, I know at bottom you're
a religious chap. What can be said to smooth
my poor wife’s path in front of her? Her days
are numbered and she knows it. And she’s
fighting with her fate, and is terrified at the
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| A Happy Woman
prospect of death. She won't see the vicar ; she
has an idea it is only dying people who send for
parsons, and she won't allow to herself that she’s
anything like bad enough for a pastoral visit just
at present. What can you tell her ?”
The Colonel stopped short in growing ex-
citement—
“Why, man alive, the best of all news—that
death is only a dark door into light! One step
will take her through. I should like to havea
talk with her. You must know that our Lord
died to take away the sting of death! Does she
read her Bible ?”
“No. I don’t think so. But I was thinking
of reading to her a verse or two in the evenings.
‘Women always get comfort from it, don’t they ?
Honestly I don’t know what part to read to
her.”
“ Read the Gospel of St. John,” said Colonel
Fleming, quickly. ‘“ That will give you and your
wife all you want.”
They walked on in silence; then Colonel
Fleming took Graham’s arm. |
“TI say, old fellow, you've a rare chance of
helping a soul through the valley. What do you
—what don’t you believe ?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Graham’s tone was
weary. ‘‘I have never formulated my belief in
my own mind. The shadow of death in our
home makes things different. I believe in God.
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Graham and his Wife
I went to church last Sunday, and I tested myself
with the Creed. I think I do believe all the
statements in it.”
“Capital! I always knew you were sounder
than you made out! The forgiveness of sins
brings us to the resurrection of the body and the
life everlasting, doesn’t it ?”
“ That’s how it winds up.”
“Well, get your wife to pray. <A few words
will be enough. Our Master is quick to hear
and quick to save. He'll blot out her sins, and
take her hand through the River if she asks Him.
Nothing could be easier. Don’t trouble her head
with doctrines. Get her to speak to the One
Who can help her. He's the only One Who
can.”
“It sounds simple. I'll haveatry. I should
like her to get some comfort and peace of mind.
She won't see my mother.”
They were silent again. Presently Colonel
Fleming stopped and said—
“Look up, old chap! Did you ever see such
magnificent heavens stretched out before us?
Doesn’t it give you an idea of infinity and glory
and power?”
Graham looked up and heaved a sigh.
“Yes, yes,’ he said. “It’s bringing convic-
tion to me that all things are easy to our Creator.
But I’m—I’m a poor hand with women, Jack, and
that’s a fact!”
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A Happy Woman
It was an hour later that he returned home :
but hope and fresh courage were with him, and
before he went to bed that night he took hold of
a Bible and read the whole of the Gospel of St.
John through to himself.
He shut up the Book with a lightened heart.
“T believe I have got hold of the cure,” he
said to himself.
And he went to sleep for the first time since
his marriage with peace and hope creeping into
his heart. The next evening he suggested read-
ing to his wife, and she, after a little hesitation,
consented to listen. Every night after that he
read about fifteen to twenty verses of the Gospel
of St. John.
Eva never made any remarks. But once she
looked at her husband curiously.
“ You read it as if your life depended on it,”
she said, with a little funny laugh.
He looked up at her with earnest eyes.
“Your life does depend upon it,” he said.
“T mean the life that matters, the life of your
soul.”
She was dumb; the arrow had sped home
and pierced the crust of selfish indifference and
distaste to unseen things.
She said nothing, but he felt she listened in
a different spirit afterwards.
And then one night she woke him up witha
frightened cry—
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Graham and his Wife
“Qh, Graham, I want to get right with God.
But I’ve never properly served Him. What can
Ido? Ican’tsleep. Do comfort me.”
He was ready for her need—and repeated
word for word what Colonel Fleming had said
to him.
“You've only to ask to have your sins for-
given, Eva. Christ died to do it, we've read
about it. He'll come and take your soul into
His keeping. Ask Him now.”
“Oh, let us ask Him together. I’ve beena
worldly, wicked woman, and I have never thought
of these things before.”
So in the dead of night, whilst all the rest of
the house lay sleeping, husband and wife haltingly
prayed their way into the Kingdom. Graham
had been learning slowly from the Master Him-
self, and when the dawn broke it found them
both with the peace that no man can give, in
their hearts and souls, the peace that passes
understanding.
289 T
CHAPTER V
TROUBLE AT THE HALL
M4Y AGNEW stood in the farmhouse porch
listening. It was a rainy day; but
equipped in her macintosh coat and hat she
defied the elements. She had come over to see
Sara, and was spellbound by hearing her sing.
A simple little song; but accompanied by the
guitar, the haunting melody of it surprised and
delighted May. She waited till it ended, then
she stepped inside, and a minute later Sara was
greeting her warmly.
“You never told me you sang, nor that you
had a guitar.”
“Tam not always in a singing mood,” said
Sara. “I forgot all about my guitar till the rain
and winds of these last few days drove me indoors,
and baby likes music, so now I play and sing
to him.”
“It is impertinence to pronounce an opinion
upon your voice, but it is one of the most delicious
that I have ever heard.”
‘Thank you,” said Sara, laughing; “but I
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Trouble at the Hall
am no musician. I only sing to amuse myself
and others. How are you? I have not seen .
you lately.”
“T have been busy, and now father is begin-
ning his shoots they keep me occupied. I’ve
come over to ask you up to dinner to-morrow
night. Will you excuse a short invitation? And
will you be an angel and bring up your guitar
and sing to us? Father is so fond of music.”
“Thank you for asking me. Yes, I will
certainly sing to you if you would like me to do
so. Is it a big party?”
“No; only the men in the house, and one of
my aunts is staying with us. I shall ask Nellie
and the Rector up. Then we shall be four ladies
to six men; but I can’t help that.”
Baby Oliver, who had been sitting on the
floor listening to the music, now demanded
attention. Sara rang the bell and gave him to
his nurse.
‘‘T know you like children,” she said; “but I
don’t want him to bore my visitors when they
come.”
“You don’t let him do that asa rule. I love
him. I’m so glad you're staying on here. You
won't be going back to town just yet?”
“No,” said Sara, clasping her hands tightly
round her knees and gazing dreamily into the
fire. “I have been thinking over it; but the
fogs are very bad there, they say, and nurse seems
2gI
A Happy Woman
to have settled down here. I’m inclined to stay
on. You Say it is never very cold here.”
“Splendid! It’s never cold in our village;
we're sheltered from the north-east winds. You
look so cosy here that I should love to stay and
have a good talk, but I’m busy and I must
move on. I shall look forward to seeing you
to-morrow.”
She was gone as quickly as she had come,
but Sara did not stir from her seat. Her guitar
and the little songs she had been singing had
taken her thoughts back to Felstone Corner
where she had sung so often to Mrs. Laird. She
had not heard from her friend lately; and in her
quiet life at the farm, she learnt to look for letters
as a real treat.
She had settled down very comfortably in
this small Devonshire village. She knew most
of the villagers by this time; and though May
had been quite right in saying there was no want
or poverty amongst her father's tenants, yet Sara
had found a good many sad hearts amongst them.
If it was a model village, the inmates of the pretty
cottages were much the same as other country
people. They had their quarrels ; their family
troubles; their share of sickness. Sara found an.
old blind man who loved to be read aloud to;
and an old bedridden woman who welcomed every
visitor with keen delight. These she visited
regularly every week. The Rector had asked her
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Trouble at the Hall
to do so. She never found time heavy on her
hands, and she was happy, in spite of the heart-
ache of Graham’s marriage, and all that she felt
it entailed.
The next evening she went up to the Hall.
It was not the first time that she had dined there,
and she and the Squire were very good friends.
Sometimes he would come to the farm to have
a chat with her, and to bring her one of his
favourite books. For though a farmer and a
sportsman, Mr. Agnew was also a lover of books,
and he spent an hour every day in his library
amongst them. Sara loved to wateh May moving
about amongst her guests. She was a perfect
hostess, and on this night was in the brightest
spirits. Sara wondered if the presence of a
favourite cousin, a handsome young soldier, was
accountable for this. He paid her great attention,
but so did two other men, one a barrister, who to
Sara's surprise knew her brother, and the other a
young neighbouring squire. Nellie Peel looked
very pretty in her soft white satin gown. May
was in black and gold. A gold braid was threaded
through her dark hair, and a crimson rose at her
breast. Sara herself wore russet-brown velvet.
Rare lace was in neck and sleeves, and a single
row of pearls was the only ornament she wore.
Miss Agnew, a tall stout woman with plain
features, but with a great deal of presence and
personality about her, said to Sara as they
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A Happy Woman
gathered round the drawing-room fire after
dinner was over— .
“TI never felt so plain in my life. You three
young people quite put me in the shade. My
niece has lost her heart to you, Miss Darlington.
I knew you must be something special, for she is
very Critical as a rule.”
“She has been very kind to me a stranger,”
said Sara, “and I am very fond of her.”
‘She ought to marry,” her aunt continued ;
“but I don’t know what my brother would do
without her. And he is getting old. I see a
great difference in him this time. I haven’t been
here for a year. I live in Bath, and am not fond
of moving about. He does too much, I tell him;
and his daughter takes after him that way. A
pity that little creature over there doesn’t do
more in her husband’s parish. What a get-up
for a parson’s wife! And yet she is so pretty
that one can forgive her a lot!”
When the gentlemen came in, May begged
Sara to sing. |
“And sing that sweet little song you were
singing to yourself and the baby the other after-
noon in the twilight.” |
“It is very simple,” said Sara; “all my songs
are, They suit the guitar, which cannot accom-
plish much.”
She sat where she was, and as ‘she played
and sang she riveted the attention of all. Her
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Trouble at the Hall
graceful ease, and the happy, shining light in her
big grey eyes, made the Squire turn to his sister—
“If I were twenty years younger, Maria, I
should have lost my heart to her.”
And Sara sang—
“Oh, how can you sing, and why do you sing,
Little Robin with voice so gay?
The snow and the frost have whitened the ground,
Your food has been taken away !”
“I sing because I am sure of my food,
There is always some one to see :
That robins have food when the ground is hard.
I’m certain it’s coming to me!”
“Oh, how can you sing, and why do you sing,
Gentle thrush with the speckled throat?
The bushes are bare, and the rain beats down ;
You have not a sorrowful note!”
“I sing because of the sweet coming spring,
I heed not this dismal wet day.
It will not last, for the sun will shine forth,
The clouds will be driven away !”
“Oh, how can you sing, and why do you sing,
Fair maid in the gloomy black gown?
Alone in the world in a garret small,
And outside—a dull dreary town!”
“1 sing because I have joy in my heart,
And my eyes are so far away,
On the hills of gold where my treasures are,
And where I am going one day!”
“Oh, Robin, and Thrush, and Maiden so fair,
With your joy and your faith so sure,
Weill all learn to sing in the darkest time,
We'll sing, and we'll learn to endure !”
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A Happy Woman
Sara’s voice struck a chord in every heart.
The Squire brushed his hand across his
eyes.
“ Those simple songs for me,” he said. “Can
you give us some more ?”
Sara complied with his wish. It was her
voice perhaps more than the words that always
reached the hearts of those who listened. If her
song was gay, her hearers became so; if it was
full of pathos, tears rose to their eyes; if it
touched on some of the deep things in life, a
sweet and softened expression came over the
faces of her audience.
That was a very pleasant evening at the Hall ;
and Sara always looked back to it afterwards as
one of her bright times. When she left, the
Rector.and his wife said they would walk home
with her. They were all accustomed to returning
from their parties on foot. Nellie was longer
than Sara in equipping herself for her walk home,
and for a moment Sara stood on the broad stone
terrace outside the front door enjoying the beauty
of the night.
The Squire came up to her there, and startled
her by putting his hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you, my dear, for the pleasure you
have given us to-night. Your songs have brought
back to me many sweet memories. I’m glad to
think you're a friend of my girl's. You'll help
her. She’s a good girl, but a wee bit too sure of
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Trouble at the Hall
herself. As we get older we realize how many
mistakes we have made.”
He gave a little sigh, and Sara hardly knew
what to say.
‘“T’m very fond of May,” she said, “and
think myself fortunate in being made so welcome
by all of you.”
And then the Rector came up, and they said
good-bye to their host and came away.
“T wish I could sing like you,” Nellie said,
taking her arm affectionately. :
“I wish I could paint like you,” said Sara,
laughing. ‘We must be content with our own
gifts, must we not ?”
“We can all sing in our hearts,” said the
Rector, and he murmured to himself. “We'll
sing, and we'll learn to endure.”
His wife caught the words.
“TI suppose you have to endure me,” she said,
half-laughing, half-vexed. ‘And I consider I
have to endure much more from you than you do
from me. Because I let you go your own way,
and never interfere with you; but you won't let
me go mine. Fancy, Miss Darlington, they’re
making a new golf course at Manstead, and he
doesn’t want me to become a member! Now
what possible harm can golf do me?” »
‘We won't discuss that subject now,” said the
Rector, uneasily.
“No,” said Sara, quietly ; ‘‘a third person
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A Happy W oman
ought never to be brought into a discussion
between two. It isn’t fair, especially if she
wants to remain a friend of those two!”
Nellie laughed’
“But you see I want you to take my part.
John thinks it right to deprive me of so many
pleasures. I should like to ride out with the
hounds. May has offered to mount me, and I
can ride a little, but it is tabooed. They are
going out to-morrow. Would you like to come
_to the meet with me? I am going on foot.
They meet at Spelding’s Cross. It will be a
nice walk—just two miles from here.”
“No, I am afraid I can’t go to-morrow,” said
Sara. “Nurse is having a day out, so I have
the baby.”
“Qh, that blessed baby! Well, I won't say
anything against him, for I know you adore him,
and he is a darling. I do allow that.” |
Then the Rector began to talk of the Squire’s
library, and as he and Sara were both book
lovers, they waxed enthusiastic over it, whilst
Nellie laughed at them both.
As they parted with Sara at the gate the
Rector said—
“IT hope you will bring your guitar over to
us one day. I haven't enjoyed an evening so
much as I have to-night for a long while.”
And as they went along the lane, Nellie
called out—
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Trouble at the Hall
‘You were the success of the evening, Miss
Darlington. Good night.”
Sara smiled.
“Ah!” she said to herself, ‘how little they
know what a poor creature I am at heart! But
I will be glad. I have plenty to make me so.
Life is full, and I have found very pleasant friends
in this quiet little spot.”
The next afternoon, she was in her sitting-
room trying to soothe her little nephew who was
teething and rather fractious in consequence,
when her door burst open, and Mrs. Shiplake
appeared panting with excitement.
“Qh, ma’am, what do youthink! My Frankie
has just run in with the news. Our poor dear
Squire has broken his neck out hunting! It’s
given me such a turn, I be tremblin’ to where I
stand,”
Sara stood up. She could not believe her
ears. :
“Not dead!” she cried. “Oh, he.can’t be
dead !” |
“But ‘tis Gospel truth, ma’am—he were
carried home an hour ago, and two doctors wired
for, and my Frank stayed till he heard the head
groom say ‘twas all over! What an awful situation
for the whole lot of us!”
Sara felt quite dazed. She recalled- the
Squire’s last words to her on the previous night.
How little she thought that she would never see
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A Happy Woman
him alive again, and then her whole heart went
out to May. How would she bear this awful
blow ? Had she been with him when the accident
occurred, she wondered. She felt glad that May
had her aunt staying with her; but she knew
what a terrible shock it would be to them all.
Later on she heard further particulars from Frank.
It was in taking a high fence that the Squire’s
horse came down, and flung his master against
the trunk of a tree. Death was instantaneous,
and May riding on in front was absolutely
unconscious of what had occurred. Her cousin
broke the news to her, and every one said her
calmness and composure astonished them all.
She walked home by the side of her father’s dead
body, and when they arrived at the house issued
all necessary orders with an unfaltering voice.
Sara knew the reaction would come; but
during the next few days May was still the ruling
spirit in the house. The Rector came over to
Sara with a white shaken face. He had been
over to the Hall to see the last of his old friend ;
and had found May very cold and grave, very
absorbed in necessary business, and not in any
respect broken down with grief at her loss.
- “T cannot understand her,” he said to Sara;
“her aunt is absolutely ill with the shock of it,
but May talks as if she is arranging a funeral for
some outside stranger. Has she no feelings, do
you think ?”
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Trouble at the Hall
“J am sure she has,” said Sara, earnestly ;
‘she and her father were devoted to each other.
She will feel it more by and by. I expect the
shock has for the time stunned her.”
‘“‘T asked her if I could do anything to help
her, but she said her cousin, Captain Talbot, was
seeing to everything for her. She seems as if
she wants no sympathy from any one. I was
allowed to give her no comfort.”
‘The time for that is not just yet,” said Sara,
thoughtfully. And she was right.
It was not till after the funeral had taken
place, and after all the relatives and friends had
left the house, that May began to realize her loss.
Her aunt remained with her, but even she got
upon May’s nerves. She longed to be quite
alone, and at last frankly told her aunt so.
Miss Agnew was much hurt; but she herself
wanted to get home, and was glad to have the
excuse of leaving her niece.
“I will come down to you later,” she said ;
“for you are too young to be left long in this big
place alone, and it would not be the thing. But
for the present if you want to nurse your grief in
solitude, you can do it!”
Sara had written a little note of sympathy to
May, and she had a line acknowledging it, but
she did not see her till three weeks after the
funeral, and then May surprised her one day by
walking in whilst she was at tea.
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A Happy Woman
Sara was shocked to see how white and ill
she looked. But she held her head high, and
spoke much as usual.
“You always look so cosy here! How is
the baby? For once I find you without him!”
“He is very well, thank you. He is asleep
in the nursery now. I am so glad to see you.
I did not come up to you, because I thought you
would not care to see visitors,”
“T don’t count you as a visitor. But I have
been frightfully busy, and Mr. Dane, our lawyer,
is still in the house. I suppose you know my
aunt has left me ?” |
‘I heard she had. Are you sorry?”
May gave a wintry smile.
“No, I'm glad; she worried me. I have
never been accustomed to have women fussing
over me, and I could not appreciate it. She
threatens to come back to me, says it’s improper
my living alone! Now, isn’t that very Early
Victorian? What do you think? Tell me
frankly. I am expecting my brother back in three
months’ time. His ship is still at Hong Kong,
but till he comes I shall keep everything going
as it always has been. Why on earth should I
require a chaperon ?”
“It isn’t necessary,” said Sara, slowly; ‘but
I think it would be pleasanter for you. It would
leave you freer to have your friends at the house.”
‘You don’t think I am going to entertain at
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Trouble at the Hall
present, do you? Now, look here. I want to
ask you a favour. I’ve been thinking over things,
and I suppose I had better not run the risk of
having Aunt Maria coming back just yet. Will
you come up and stay with me? I'm perfectly
certain we should get on. You would go your
way and I should go mine, and you never worry
nor fuss.” |
“My dear! I don’t think I can. It is not
possible. I should not like to leave my small
nephew down here without me.”
“ But, of course, you can bring him with you.
There are the old nurseries. We could make
him and his nurse quite comfortable. At all
events, you can stay with me till Alan comes
back. Do try to do it. I won’t press you for
an answer to-day. There’s no hurry; think it
over.” |
Sara looked at May without speaking for a
moment, then she said—
“Tl do it if I can, if it will be any help to
you I'll come. It is very generous and good of
you to take us all in. Could I bring Lacy as my
maid, do you think?”
“ Of course.”
May was drinking a cup of tea. She put it
down hastily, and got up to go.
“T can’t stay. I have business to do with
Mr. Dane before dinner. Thanks awfully. You
don’t know how I shall like it.”,
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A Happy Woman
She shook hands abruptly with Sara, but
when she reached the door she turned—
“Do you know what father said to me before
we went to bed that last evening? I suppose
you know how struck he was with your singing.
He said of you, ‘ That’s a most charming woman,
May. I should like to see more of her. One
feels the better for having her near one. Couldn't
we ask her to stay in the house?’ And I said I
was afraid you wouldn't leave the baby.”
She broke off, slipped out of the door, and
was gone, leaving her sentence unfinished.
Sara understood. She knew that the mention
of her father, and the memory of that last even-
ing of his, had proved too much for her self-
control.
It was the remembrance of the Squire’s words
to herself that had made her accept May’s invita-
tion so promptly.
“He would like it, dear old man!” she
thought. “He asked me to be her friend and
help her ; and God helping me I will.”
She knew that there would be difficulties in
her way, and she found that it needed a good
deal of talk and persuasion to make both nurse
and Lacy willing to accompany her. Mrs. Ship-
lake was aggrieved too, for she had quite looked
forward to having her as a permanent lodger all
the winter. However, Sara managed to soothe
them all, and a week later she went up to the Hall.
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Trouble at the Hall
Nellie Peel was very excited over the news.
She met Sara out one afternoon, and told her
that she had just heard of the plan from her father
who had been up to the Hall.
I do think May might be a little more friendly
with me. She hasn’t been near us, and we are
quite her oldest friends here. She is so self-
important now. One would think that she was
squiress. It all belongs to her brother, and some
people say he is engaged to some girl out abroad.
If he leaves the Navy and comes home and
marries, May may find herself without a home.
I wonder how she will like that!”
“She would bear it as other women have
before her,” said Sara, quietly. ‘‘ We will hope,
for her sake, that she will not be turned out of
her old home just yet.”
“I don’t wonder that she has sent for you,”
said Nellie, quickly, not liking the pained look
in Sara's eyes. “If I ever get into a hobble
about anything I should do the same—I wonder
how you will like it up at the Hall? I always
love staying there. It is so luxurious!”
But the luxury and comfort did not appeal to
Sara, who had only one overwhelming longing,
and that was to comfort this sorrowful lonely
girl in the hour of her trouble.
305 U
CHAPTER VI
AN EVENING TALK
= bar don’t mind sitting up here in the even-
ing, do you?”
May asked this question of Sara after dinner
the first evening. They were in the library.
The Squire’s chair was drawn up to the fire just
as when he was there; but Sara noticed that
May never sat in it. In the same way, the chair
at the head of the dining-table was always there,
but it was never used. May drew a low chair
up to the fire by Sara’s side. It was the first
time they had been alone. At May’s suggestion
the lamps had not been lighted. Only the wax
candles on the big carved writing-table gave light
besides the fire, but the flames flickered and
danced merrily up the wide chimney, and touched
with golden sparkles the books in the bookcases,
the pictures on the walls, and the handsome
copper and silver ornaments about the long room.
“Father and I always sat here after dinner,”
said May, gently. “And I like to think that his
spirit is here still, You will not laugh at me if
I tell you something. Yesterday, all day long, I
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An Evening Talk
was hunting for an important paper which Mr.
Dane wanted. I knew father had had it in his
hand in this room the day before—before his
accident. I came up here, and I searched every-
where for it. I turned out the drawers in the
writing-table, I ransacked the bureau for it, I
searched everywhere. And last night as I was
sitting here alone I felt that father was near me.
I said out loud: ‘If only you would tell me where
you put it!’ This morning I came here again
and had another hunt, and, do you know, when I
opened his writing-table drawer—there was the
paper just doubled in half on the very top! Now
don’t you think he came back and put it there
himself ?”
Sara, looking at May’s pale earnest face, could
not answer her for a moment, and May, quick to
read faces, exclaimed—
“T see you don't believe it. You will say I
hadn't looked properly, that:it was a coincidence.
Well, you can think what you like. But I know,
and am perfectly certain, that there was no coin-
cidence about it.”
A little silence fell on them. Then May said,
abruptly—
“Where is he, Miss Darlington? He was
taken so suddenly. He was alive to his finger
tips! What an awfully cruel thing death is!
How can he be silent towards me if the best
part of him is living still. And what is he doing ?
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A Happy Woman
and what is he thinking? Oh, I wish I knew!
I don’t doubt where he is! Father was always
- so very good, though he never talked much. Do
you know, he used to read a chapter out of
mother’s Bible every night before he went to
sleep? And I shall never forget his saying to
me in this very room the first night after I came
home from school: ‘My dear, your mother was a
good woman, and she isn’t here to teach you. I
want you to be like her. Will you always say
your prayers and read your Bible in the quiet
of your bedroom every. day ? I promised your
mother I would do it, and I want you to do it
too.’ Of course I promised.”
“It is a great comfort to have such memories
as that,” said Sara with a little smile’ ‘And I
should trust your father to God’s own keeping,
dear May. Don't have an anxious or unhappy
thought about him. He was spared a long ill-
ness, which Is so trying to men.” 7
“Qh yes,” May said listlessly. “I do believe
he is all right. It is not his fate which depresses
me, but my own. I have lost everything with
him! He and I enjoyed everything together,
now I shall never enjoy anything without him,
I have lost my appetite. Can you understand
me? Nothing interests me now. I try to do
everything as I have always done, and I am
struggling to take over a good deal that he did.
There is plenty to keep me occupied, but deep
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An Evening Talk
down in my heart is the awful blank which will
never be filled.”
“TI think I can understand,” said Sara,
tenderly. “I have gone through the same
experience myself.”
“Not exactly the same, have you? And I
am not brave enough to face my future. Let me
tell you. It is a relief to talk to some one. Shall
I bore you ?”
“My dear child !”
Sara's little caressing touch on her arm made
May exclaim—
“You're the only person who seems to care a
bit about me! I don’t know if you have heard
about my brother Alan. He is in the Navy, and
just lately he has become engaged to an old
friend of ours, Lilian Rush. Everything is left
to him—house, property, and every penny of
money. I have nothing but three hundred a
year left me by my mother. I suppose father
considered that enough, but then he expected
that I shall be dependent on Alan for a home.
I know he will retire from his profession, and
settle down here at once. He will marry, of
course. I cannot, and will not, stay here with
them ; so it means a break up of all I value and
love. Aren’t women at a disadvantage? It
seems so cruel to be turned out of my home and
give my place to a stranger, one not of the same
blood, and who can never love the family things
399
A Happy Woman
as Ido? Mr. Peel talked to me the other day of
comfort coming to me. I thought how little he
_knew my circumstances to imagine I could ever
be comforted.”
She spoke with passion. Clasping her hands
round her knees she looked into the glowing
embers of the fire with gloomy sullen eyes.
And then Sara spoke.
“My dear, I don’t often talk about myself, but
I want you to listen to me now. I suppose you
look upon me as a happy woman ?”
“The personification of happiness!” said May,
looking at the sweet sunny face opposite her.
“Everybody says you carry a fund of sunshine
about with you. Though I’m so miserable
myself, I felt I couldn’t stand long-faced tearful
people about me. That’s why I asked you to
come to me. I have been wading through
hundreds of letters of consolation, and there
hasn’t been one with a spark of brightness in
it. Resignation they all preach, and at present
I am full of resentment.”
“Tt is some years now since I lost my father,”
said Sara, slowly and softly. ‘Strange to say
you and I are much alike in our experience. I
had a country home like you. I hunted with my
father, and after my mother’s death did every-
thing with him. Then he died, and not only did
I lose him, but my home went as well. We had
to sell the estate, and my brother and I went to
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An Evening Talk
London and had a hard struggle to live whilst
he was an unknown briefless barrister. Then
gradually he got on in his profession, and when I
fancied we were settling down to a comfortable
life together, he met a girl whom he liked, and
my second home was broken up. These are just
the facts of my life, but I want to tell you some-
thing more.
“In the early days, when the crash came, and
I had to see all our family belongings sold, when
I was leaving my home, and all the people I
cared about, I was like you, rebellious and miser-
able. I could not, and would not, see any light
for myself anywhere. And then one day our
Rector preached a sermon. I have never for-
gotten it. ‘The joy of the Lord is your
strength.’ He told us first of all how joy in the
heart carried people on the crest of the wave in
time of storm and stress, how it strengthened
and braced all the weakness in them, how abso-
lutely impossible it was for them to sink under the
biggest trouble that could come to them in this
_ world if they had joy inside them. He compared
it to a life-belt. ‘Joy won’t let you drown,’ he
said; ‘but take care that it is not a spurious
imitation of the genuine article. And _ then,
having made our mouths water for this wonder-
ful attribute, he told us how we could get it.”
May looked interested.
‘“‘T never realized you had been through a bad
- 31r
A Happy Woman
time like mine,” she said. “I suppose you got
this joy, and have kept it ever since.”
“You can have it too, dear.”
“Oh, I know! I know! Do you remember
your little song? Isn’t it an extraordinary thing
you sang that on the eve of our trouble? |
remember father saying he loved it. How did it
go? I remember something about a-maid in a
black gown who was singing because she had joy
in her heart! But nothing can bring me joy,
nothing !”
“Qh yes, May, you could obtain as I did.”
“ How did you get it ?”
‘IT went down on my knees in church, and
again when I got home, and besought for my
poor desolate empty heart to be flooded with
the love and joy that only my Saviour could give
me. He came in Himself, and took possession
of me. It’s the knowledge of His love that
brings the joy, May. You can bear anything if
you lean hard on Him, and realize that He is
with you through it all. If we can’t understand
the reason why, He stills our questionings by
telling us we shall see the way He has led us
by and by, and acknowledge that it all has worked
out for our good. If you know a person loves
you very much, you can’t help trusting him.”
May was silent. She was naturally reserved,
and Sara knew that this was an opportunity that
she might not get again. So she went on talking
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An Evening Talk
in her soft happy voice, and at last her words
began to impress May with an inexplicable
conviction of their truth and reality.
“Tt may seem a strange thing to be talking
about joy to you at this time,” concluded Sara, “but
our Lord did it to His disciples in the darkest
hour of their lives, and when His agony was
just coming upon Him. It’s one of the Heavenly
paradoxes, that when we're full of trouble, we
can be full of joy. And it's such exquisite,
unseen joy, that only we ourselves know
about.”
“The knowledge that our Lord was close
to me could bring me no joy,” said May, slowly,
“for I don’t love Him.”
“But He loves you,’ Sara said quickly ;
“that’s what brings the joy.”
Then they were silent, the firelight flicker-
ing upon their faces, upon May’s troubled eyes
and hard shut mouth, upon Sara’s tender, glow-
ing gaze. When they parted for the night a
little latter, May kissed Sara very warmly.
“You're a wonderful person!” she said. ‘As
a rule I hate jaws from pious people, but with
you it seems so simple and natural, a part of
yourself, that nothing jars. You have given me
something to think about. It’s rather queer
your life altering after hearing that text. For
our Rector quoted it to me when talking about
you the other day. He said he always said to
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A Happy Woman
himself when he looked at you, ‘The joy of
the Lord is her strength.’”’
“Qh,” said Sara with tears in her eyes; “I’m
a very poor creature, but the poorest creatures
can be made happy, and can tell others how
they have been made so.”
May said nothing more. She rather avoided
another heart-to-heart talk in the evenings after-
wards, and Sara was quite content to leave her
alone. She never forced her views upon any
one. And certainly she and her baby nephew
brought brightness into the sad house.
May would often steal away to the nursery.
She was very fond of children and Baby Oliver
was a friendly little soul. He learnt to know
her and look for her, and his chubby arms would
be extended at once to be taken up and amused.
They saw very little of outside neighbours.
Nellie came up to the Hall occasionally; but
as she told Sara when she met her out one day,
she was not good at talking to people when they
were in trouble.
“T’m jealous of May. She has taken pos-
session of you altogether. I have nobody to go
off to, and pour out all my woes and troubles
to now.. And John and I do get so tired of each
other. How long are you going to stay here?
Till Captain Agnew comes home ?”
“T think so,” replied Sara; and then Nellie
had laughed and gone off calling out—
a4
An Evening Talk
“Tt will be my turn then to have you.”
Sara at this time was rather taken up with
the news that Mrs. Laird was giving her in her
letters.
Eva's serious illness was a great surprise to
her.
Then one day the following letter came :—
“My DEAREST Sara,
‘You will be surprised and pleased to
hear that Eva has of her own accord sent for
me to come and see her. I told you, did I not?
that she is in bed now, and too weak to get up.
Graham is wonderful. He is always with her,
when he is not at his office, and I do not expegt
to see much of him. I went round to Eva this
afternoon. She looks very ill, and has attacks
of pain which are distressing to witness. But
she rallies wonderfully from them. She has
altered very much. As I looked at her, and
then at my boy, I could not help noticing that
there was a calm peacefulness and serenity about
their faces that used not to be upon them. I
suppose they have learnt to fit into each other's
ways, and to love each other. Graham left us
together, and Sara, the last bit of anger and
dislike to Eva left me. When she put her hand
into mine and said, ‘I want to be quite sure of
your forgiveness, Cousin Rachael. I’ve had an
unhappy past, but God has forgiven me and given
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A Happy Woman
me His peace, and I’m not afraid to go to Him
now. She told me the end might come in any
one of these heart attacks; and she was longing
to go. Thenshe added: ‘I have selfishly made
Graham’s life very unhappy this last year, but Iam
not sorry he married me, and I do not think he
will be, when he remembers what he has done for
me.’ All her peevishness and discontent has
gone. I came away from her, feeling that a
miracle had been performed, and then I suddenly
thought of myself and of what I was like a couple
of years ago, and I began to see that what
changed my outlook, has changed hers. Graham
walked home with me. He was very silent,
but very dear. He told me that Eva's little girl
was coming home from school for the holidays, that
her mother wanted to see her. I have never
seen the child, but I remember you spoke of her
as a dear little thing. I have a strong feeling
that Eva may not be with us at Christmas.
God only knows. This is a dull stupid letter.
I get a great longing for you, Sara, sometimes.
When shall we see each other again ?
‘“‘ Much love,
“Your loving old friend,
“ RACHAEL LAIRD.”
Sara was hardly surprised to hear a fortnight
later of Eva’s death. For a day or two there
was a shadow upon her spirit, which impressed
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An Evening Talk
itself upon her face. Even May noticed it, but
she asked no questions, Sara was peculiarly
reticent about her life with the Lairds. She
rarely mentioned them; in some way she felt a
shrinking from doing so. And yet now in the
time of his trouble, Graham was continually in
her thoughts. She wondered if his faith in God
had increased during the time when he must
have gone down for part of the way with his
wife into the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
And she longed to be able to send him some bit
of comfort. She could only pray for him, and-
that she never failed to do. |
About Christmas time she got a long letter
from Mrs, Laird—
‘* My DEAREST SARA,
“It seemed to me that poor Eva's
funeral was no sooner over than Graham
came to me to ask me my advice about her
child.
“*]T promised Eva I would be a father to
her,’ he said, ‘and I have written to her, and
she must spend her holidays with me. It will
be dull for a small child alone in that big house.’
He paused, and, Sara, I knew what he hoped.
And I could not bring myself to say it. I have
never had a child in the house since my little
Dorrie died. A child of Eva’s, with her mother’s
nature—well, I will not write as I felt! The old
317
A Happy Woman
Adam dies hard, Sara! Then I asked Graham
if he was going to live in that big house by
himself. And he sighed and said he felt he
must, until he could let it. ‘The child must
have a home, mother,’ he said. ‘Well,’ I said,
‘after her holidays you might come back to me
for a little.’ And he smiled. The first smile that
has crossed his lips since Eva died. ‘I think
I might, mother,’ he said. And my heart kindled
at his words. Yesterday the child arrived. He
met her at the station and brought her to see
me on their way home. As they passed the
house it seemed natural to him to do it, but I
felt irritated at first—until I saw her. I was
sitting’ in the big drawing-room. Graham had
run upstairs first to ask me if he could bring
her up. I hope he did not see my hesitation.
Then he went back, and a moment afterwards
she softly crept in at the door and stood looking
at me shyly and wistfully. Such a tiny slim
little thing in her deep black!—with big blue
eyes and very fair hair.
“T held out my hand, and she came sedately
across tome, I kissed her, Sara. She did not
say one word. I wondered if my face was grim
and set, and if she was frightened of me. Some-
how or other a sense of her loneliness took
possession of me.
“*Have you had a nice journey ?’ I asked
her for want of something better to say. She
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An Evening Talk
looked at me, then clasped her small hands across
her chest.
‘“‘*T felt,’ she said, ‘like Mummy used to—in
a lonely world without nobody to love me. And
Mummy had me, and I have nobody.’
‘Great tears were in her eyes. I was going
to put my arms right round her and take her to
my heart, when suddenly her little face became
perfectly radiant, and she sprang towards the
table on which your picture was—the one you
sent me with your little nephew in your arms.
‘Why !’ she cried, ‘ it’s my dearest Miss Darling!
Does she live with you? Mummy told me she -
had gone away.’ ‘So she has,’ I said. But she
did not hear me, she was hanging over the picture
in ecstasy. Then she turned to Graham who
was following her in. ‘Oh!’ she cried; ‘my
Miss Darling has got a baby! It’s the one thing
I mean to have direck'ly I'm growed up. How
very kind of God to send her one.’
‘Graham smiled.
“*Come along,’ he said, ‘we mustn't keep
~ the cab waiting.’
‘She turned towards me at once, and put up
her face for a good-bye kiss.
“* Please, what may I call you? And may I,
if I'm very good, come to see Miss Darling’s
picture another day? She was a very special
fren’ of mine, and I lost her so very soon.’
“T tell you, Sara, I longed to keep the child
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A Happy Woman
for good and all. And I said in a voice that
astonished myself—‘ You may call me Grannie,
dear.’
“*Good night, Grannie dear,’ she repeated,
softly, and then Graham took her away. And
now, Sara, I have been unpacking a box of
Dorrie’s books and playthings, for if she and
Graham do not come and live with me, J shall
go and live with them.
‘‘IT can write no more. Much love,
“ Your loving old friend,
“* RACHAEL.”
“Ah!” murmured Sara to herself as she read
and re-read this letter. ‘I do not feel sorry for
Graham if he has little True to share his big
empty house with him. She will cheer both him
and his mother |”
And she wrote a long letter in reply to Mrs.
Laird, in which she begged her to use her
influence over the motherless child.
“True responds so quickly if you talk to her.
She has had so little religious teaching that I
always wonder that her faith in God is so sure
and strong.”
Mrs. Laird acted upon Sara’s_ suggestion.
And day by day she and little True drew nearer
to each other, until the old lady was never happy
away from her,
True said to her stepfather—
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An Evening Talk
“Grannie and I understand alike about some
things, you know. I tell her about fairyland, and
she tells me about Heaven, and I really think
they’re the same place, don’t you ?”
And Graham looked at the child in amused
astonishment. She often reduced him to helpless
silence.
321 x
CHAPTER VII
TOWN LIFE AGAIN
HRISTMAS passed; a very sad time at
the Hall, and Sara was glad when ‘it was
over. May sometimes seemed to her to be
possessed with the fever of unrest. She never
sat still unless at meals ; she never opened a book
to read, and rarely a newspaper. Sometimes in
the evenings she would throw herself down in a
fit of exhaustion upon the couch in the library,
and ask Sara to read her the news. All day long
she was either shut up in the study conning
accounts, and doing business with her father’s
bailiff ; or else she was going round her father’s
farms, trying to keep the reins of each in her
hand. oo
“Alan will never cope with it,” she said to
Sara one day. “ He is too easy-going. I expect
he will have an agent. Father never had one.
He has kept on John Whiting as his working
‘bailiff, and has always superintended everything
himself.”
“Yes, but, May dear, you are wearing your-
self out. No woman can have the same grip as
aman. It is too much for you.”
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Town Life Again
“I mean to keep everything going without
any change till Alan comes back. And I am
happier working hard. I have not so much time
to think.”
She and Sara were thoroughly content with
each others company, and they did not see
much of any one else, except occasionally Nellie
Peel.
One day Nellie wrote a note to Sara, implor-
ing her to come to tea with her.
“T shall be quite alone,” she wrote ; “and I
have something of great importance to tell you.
My husband has gone toa clerical meeting and
won’t be home till quite late. Don’t disappoint
me. May has so much of you that she can well
spare you to me this afternoon.”
Sara went, and found Nellie looking very
bright and happy, with flushed cheeks, and an
important turn of her head.
“ Come and sit down in this easy-chair. Now
then for my news. I don’t believe you would
ever guess, and a year ago I should have thought
it bad news. Now I don’t. I think it is seeing
you with your little nephew that has made me
alter my mind.”
“ Ah,” said Sara, softly. ‘If my guess is a
right one, I do indeed think it good news. Is it
that you are going to be a mother one day ?”
“Yes,” whispered Nellie; “(and I am glad.
Of course John is. delighted. He has been so
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A Happy Woman
nice to me. I thought I must tell you before
any one else.”
“Tam so very glad, Nellie dear. It is just
what you want. Some little life to tend and care
for and train. You will have no more dull empty
days. And it will bring such a lot of fresh
thoughts and ideas to you.”
“It has done that already,” said Nellie,
gravely. ‘I mean to turn over a new leaf, and
be a model wife and mother. I do want to be
good, Miss Darlington, but I hate being a long-
faced Pharisee. You are not that. You enjoy
life, don’t you? It doesn’t matter where you are,
or what you are doing, you always look absolutely
radiant, and I don’t want my child to think his
mother a selfish pig!”
Sara laughed heartily. But this-was a pre-
lude to a very nice little talk together, and she
left the rectory with great content in her heart,
for she knew that Nellie’s rather shallow sleepy
little soul was at last waking up to realities,
The winter passed, and spring came. Slowly
and gradually May was creeping back to her
normal life. She was not averse to seeing visi-
tors now. Occasionally she returned their calls,
She and Sara always enjoyed their evenings
together. They would read and talk, and many
long earnest discussions they had on matters of
science and theology, which always led them to
spiritual things. One day May heard from her
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Town Life Again
brother on his way home, and strangely enough,
by the same mail, Sara heard from hers. Arnold's
friend had fractured his ankle, and they were
returning to England before their year was over.
“It seems as if our circumstances are fitting
in like a puzzle!” said Sara, laughing.
“ My brother will want me in town very soon;
and you will be wanting me no longer.”
“Don’t say that! I think I shall always
want you. But I know what you mean. Oh,
Sara, what shall I do, when I am forced to leave
this dear old house? I have so much to interest
and occupy me here. Imagine me at a loose
end in town! I always feel like a fish out of
water there. Where shall I live? What shall
I do2# You made your plans before your brother
married, but I can’t do that. I know he will
want help when he first comes back. He knows
nothing of the working of the estate. I should
like to take a cottage in the village and stay on
as his agent. I wonder if I could?”
“IT don’t think it would be wise. Your
brother would not get to know his tenants so
well if you did, and though it is delightful for you
to be able to look after everything in his absence,
it wouldn't be the same thing if he were here.
It would place him in a false position.”
‘Yes, I expect you are right. I had better
make myself scarce, as soon as ever he knows
his way about.”
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A Happy Woman
‘TI don’t see why you shouldn’t live in the
neighbourhood still. You need not separate
yourself from them altogether, need you ?”
“ The fact is, I know I should not be able to
keep from interfering if things went wrong,” said
May, laughing; “and Lilian is quite as fond of
managing as you say I am. I am afraid we
should not get on if we lived close to one another ;
whereas now we are great friends, and I should
always be able to pay them a visit in the
summer.”
‘‘T wish you would come and pay me a visit,”
said Sara. “I shall settle down in town. My
brother will have to be there, and it would be
very nice to have you, before you decided about
your future.”
“T should love to come to you. May I
really ? Now, that makes my way clear. I shall
come straight off to you directly I leave this.”
A heavy sigh followed. May tried valiantly
to keep up a brave heart, but as yet she had not
always succeeded.
In a very little time her brother arrived.
Sara liked him, and though May had perhaps
the stronger character of the two, Alan was a
clear-headed straightforward young fellow. He
told Sara he was bitterly sorry to leave his pro-
fession. He had always had a passion for the
sea from a boy, but his father only let him enter
the Navy on condition that he would leave it, and
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Town Life Again
take possession of the property when it came
to him.
“And I mean to do my best,” he said; “but
I shall never run the show like my father did.
He was a born farmer, and loved his land as I
_ love the sea. I don’t know much about farming,
but I shall learn, and I mean to have an agent.
It wasn’t necessary with my father. It will be
with me.”
Then he spoke of his sister.
‘‘She’s a fine woman, isn’t she ? A born ruler.
I'm sorry she means to turn out. The house
will hold us both, and Lilian and she are very
fond of each other. But I must leave her a free
hand. Women can’t be coerced these days, eh,
Miss Darlington ?”
Then came the day for Sara and her little
nephew to return to London. She left the Hall
with sincere regret, but looked forward to seeing
May according to her promise later on. And
when she got back to town, she found her brother
awaiting her. He was delighted at the growth
of his baby son, who was now a year old, and a
most intelligent and amusing little mortal.
Sara, with her usual adaptability, soon settled
down in the town house again, and life went on
much the same as it had done before.
Then one day she heard from Mrs. Laird,
asking her if she could ever spare time to run
down to Folkestone and see little True, who had
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A Happy Woman
gone back to school, but who had not been
well.
‘Graham tells me I fuss too much over her,”
she wrote; ‘but she’s rather a delicate child, and
she has had cold upon cold this winter. I don't
think the children are looked after carefully
enough at her school, and I want Graham to
take her away and let me have her. There's
a very good day school she could attend here.
If you could see her I should be so glad, for you
could tell me what you thought of her.”
So one sunny day, Sara went down to True’s
school, and was allowed to take her out for the
whole day.
The child was white and thin, but full of
spirit, and delighted to see her “ Miss Darling”
again.
They went down to the beach, had lunch at
a restaurant, and then went for a drive in the
afternoon, and True’s little tongue was busy the
whole time. She spoke quite simply and a little
sadly of her mother.
‘“‘] never saw her go to Heaven, that’s what
made me so sorry, she didn’t tell me she was so
very ill, and I wanted to wish her good-bye. It’s
so dreadful to lose your Mummy, because you
can’t get another, and I did love Mummy very
much. I used to bother her, she often said so,
but I truefully tried not to. She didn't like
having to explain things to me—and I always
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Town Life Again
feel I must know things; don’t you, Miss
Darling ? And now I’ve got two quite new
people that I belong to, at least, Dad isn’t quite
new. I’ve always knowed him, since we stayed
at the farm near the beautiful lake, and he says
I can call him Dad.”
She paused for breath.
“I’m sure you will get very fond of him,”
Sara said. ‘“ He will be always good and kind.”
“ Oh, my dear,” said True in her old-fashioned
way ; ‘“‘him and me are the greatest fren’s. We
talk to each other about everything, and I tidy
out his pockets, and fill his pipe, and pour out
his tea for him. He came upstairs and sat with
me when I went to bed with the earache, and we
said some hymns together. He likes some hymns
and I like others. And when I couldn’t help
crying for the pain he wrapped me up in a blanket,
and set me on his knee by the fire. It was so
comforting. - He has such nice big shoulders to
rest your head against. I’m sure you would
think so, Miss Darling, if you did it. We used
to talk about you sometimes, and make out what
you were doing. I said you were nursing your
baby and singing to it; he said you were making
dark places light.”
“And what about Grannie ?” asked Sara.
“Qh, I just adore her!” |
True clasped her hands.
‘« She spoils me, Dad says; but you’ve no idea
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A Happy Woman
what things I do with her. She lets me tidy her
boxes and drawers and have bits of ribbon and
silk to make dolls’ frocks, and she tells me stories,
and I play all sorts of games-with her. And we
sit by the fire when it gets dark and see pictures
in the coals, and I tell her stories about them
sometimes. I’m very happy in Dalby, Miss
Darling, but I do wish you’d come there too.”
It was hard to say which of them enjoyed
that day the most. Sara was always devoted to
children; and she took a peculiar interest in
True. When she took her back to her school
she had a long talk with her schoolmistress, who
frankly said the child would be better at home
than at school.
‘Her brain is too quick and active, she works
feverishly and excitedly, she is always top of her
class, and we have to keep her back. I do not
like the headaches she gets. She is too small to
have them, and I find they are the result of a
high temperature. Of course whenever she has
one she is put to bed and kept quiet. I think
the necessary competition in our classes is bad
for her.”
Sara wrote this to Mrs. Laird. She hoped
that True would be taken away; she seemed to
her much too small and delicate to be at such a
big boarding-school.
Then one day when she was sitting at tea,
Graham Laird was announced.
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Town Life Again
The suddenness of his coming brought a flush
to her cheeks, and his quiet determined hand-
shake discomposed her for a moment.
'“ How nice to see you!” she said; “do sit
down and let me give you some tea. How is
Mrs. Laird ?”
“Wonderfully well. I had to come to town
on business, and I have come to take away the
child from school. It was good of you to take
her out for the day. A long account was written
to me of the joys of that day.”
“She is a darling little thing,” said Sara,
warmly. ‘Are you going to take her away
before the Easter holidays? They are very
late this year.”
‘They are breaking up this week and expect
me. My mother and | are living together again,
and she says she would like the charge of her.”
“Are you still going to live right in the
town ?” asked Sara.
He looked at her with a little smile.
“You wonder at our taste,” he said. “The
fact is houses are difficult to get. I am keeping
my eyes open, for I’m sure the child would be
much better in country air, and my mother would
like it too. As I have my car I could easily live
a few miles out.”
He took his tea from Sara’s hands. He was
conscious, as he always was in her presence, of
the freshness and fragrance of her atmosphere.
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A Happy Woman
She was dressed in a blue lavender cloth gown,
her soft bright hair seemed to be touched with
sparkles of sunshine, her grey eyes as she looked
at Graham were the same sweet, steadfast ones
that he remembered so well. Her room was full
of flowers, her surroundings had that peculiarly
homelike comfortable look which was character-
istic of every room which she occupied.
And Sara, as she looked at the face that had
never left her memory, saw a change in it.
Graham had streaks of grey in his dark hair;
his face was thinner and a little sharper in out-
line, but there was a serenity and peacefulness in
his eyes that never used to be there.
“How are you?” he asked. ‘My mother
will ask a good many questions about you when
I return. You must give me all the information
that you can. Are you going to stay in town all
this summer?”
“Tam very well, thank you. We are think-
ing of going down to our farm in Devonshire—
baby and I—when the hot weather sets in.”
‘‘Why don’t you come up our way? My
mother would enjoy seeing you again.”
Sara did not answer for a moment. The idea
was delightful to her, but hardly feasible.
‘‘T want your mother to come and see me,”
she said pleasantly. ‘She and little True might
like to pay a visit to Devonshire this summer.”
A shadow came into his eyes.
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Town Life Again
“ Perhaps they might,” he said quietly.
And Sara was vexed with herself for making
the suggestion.
“ How is dear Ina ?”
“Very well. She and the Colonel are very
busy people. She still keeps her fingers in some
of my pies and so does he. I don’t think any of
my cousin’s good works have been allowed to
drop.”
“ How nice!”
Then he said abruptly—
“Do you think the child looking very
delicate ?”
‘‘Not particularly, but I do think she would
. be better at home and not at school,”
_ Yes; and we want to have her with us. She
is very good company. She stayed with me for
a couple of weeks, before my mother came to me,
and she seemed perfectly happy and able to take
care of herself.”
“]T think her mother brought her up to be
useful,” said Sara; then she added softly—
“TI was so sorry to hear of your trouble.
Was it not very sudden? Perhaps you would
rather I did not speak of it?”
“No, I would like to tell you. She and I
both knew that her days were numbered when
we married. She was very lonely and afraid,
and I think I was able to comfort her—latterly.
Her doctor told her he would give her two years,
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A Happy Woman
but he told me that was the possibility, not the
probability.”
He paused. Sara’s quick woman’s intuition
in an instant filled out that short sketch of his
married life. She knew his chivalrous nature;
she realized that Graham had married Eva out of
tender compassion, because he believed that he
could help her. She had always known that
Eva was fond of him.
But she was speechless. And after a moment
or two Graham went on—
“T expect you would like to know that her
end was a very peaceful and happy one. She
died in her sleep. But she was absolutely pre-
pared and ready for death.”
“Tam so glad.”
Sara murmured the words. |
“Yes,” he said in the same clear grave tone;
“and though we were married such a short time,
though one can consider it but an interlude, I
shall never to the end of my life regret the step
we took. For it was then if
He was interrupted. Arnold Darlington came
into the room. Sara introduced the two men,
and they chatted together on various subjects
before Graham left. He told Sara he was
staying in town the following day, which was
Sunday, and going down to Folkestone on the
Monday. Arnold asked him to lunch, and he
accepted the invitation. When he was gone,
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Town Life Again
Arnold looked at his sister with a whimsical
smile. |
“So that is Laird with whom you lived in
the wilds so long!”
“T lived with his mother,” corrected Sara.
“It comes to the same thing. I like him.
He's a strong able man.”
Sara said nothing. She felt she could not
discuss him with her brother.
335
CHAPTER VIII
GRAHAWM’S VISIT
RAHAM came to lunch; had a smoke and
chat with Arnold in his study, and then
hearing that Sara was going to the Abbey
service, asked if he might accompany her. They
walked across St. James’s Park, which was look-
ing bright with bulbs and spring flowers. Sara
found conversation rather difficult. Graham was
peculiarly silent, he seemed to her to be in
dreams, but in reality every moment of his time
with her was precious to him. If he was in
dreams, she formed the centre of those dreams.
They reached the Abbey, and managed to get
seats in the Choir. The service was exquisitely
rendered, and the anthem that afternoon was,
‘Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than
in the time that their corn and their wine
increased.” One boy's voice rang out with such
thrilling power and sweetness that tears came to
Sara’s eyes.
When they came out, Graham said—
“TI haven't enjoyed a service like that for
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Graham’s Visit
many years. It seems to lift one up to the
heights.”
“Yes,” said Sara; “I’ve had a very happy
hour. I always come here in the afternoon. I
let nurse go out in the evening and stay with my
small nephew then.”
“ May I, if we have spare time on our hands,
come and see you on our way home? True is
always talking of you. I shall put up at an
hotel to-morrow night and then bring her up to
town Tuesday. Will you be in that afternoon ?”
“T shall make an engagement of it,” said
Sara with her happy smile.
Then they talked of some of the philanthropic
ventures of Graham’s cousin. He seemed to
know all the weak points in them, and had
already remedied a good deal.
“You are more interested in this part of the
work than you were,” said Sara, presently.
He looked at her.
“T have had my outlook changed,” he said
quietly. Then he added—
“T always used to wonder if your happiness
was just a habit, if it was cultivated, or whether
it was spontaneous, the bubbling up of a spring
inside. I know it is the spring overflowing.
That anthem explains it, doesn’t it? I’d like you
to know that the first bit of it has become my
experience.”
Before Sara could speak, he was holding out
337 ¥
A Happy Woman
his hand. They had come to her brother's
house and he was saying good-bye.
~ “No, thank you, I won’t come in, but we'll
hope to see each other next Tuesday.”
“Mr. Laird, you must let me say how glad
Tam!”
Sara’s shining eyes made Graham's heart
throb. He was putting great restraint upon his
feelings.
“IT knew you would be,” he said simply, and
then he turned away; and Sara went indoors
with unspeakable joy filling her heart.
She almost counted the moments to Tuesday,
and then took herself to task for being so glad.
Still,” she argued to herself, “I am wronging
no woman by thinking of him and loving him,
even if he has left off loving me. And I shall see
him once more, and I shall have the memory of
it afterwards.”
Tuesday came, and between three and four
Graham came into Sara’s drawing-room leading
little True by the hand.
The child seemed to make the situation easy
at once. She flung her arms round Sara’s neck.
“Isn't it lovely what's happening? Me
leaving school and always going to live with Dad
and Grannie! And we've done some shopping.
And I choosed some new gloves for Dad, and
were taking Grannie a beautiful basket to put
her knitting in, with cherries hanging over it.”
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Graham’s Visit
“ Shopping is a tremendous undertaking with
True,” said Graham, his eyes alight with humour :
“she thinks that every shopwalker and all the
assistants ought to gather round and witness our
purchases.”
“I made Dad get some new gloves,” said
True, shaking her curls at him in a motherly
fashion. Then she darted to his side, and
plunged her hand into one of his coat pockets.
Drawing out a stout, wellworn leather pair of
gloves, she held them up before Sara to see.
“Now, did you ever see such disgusting,
shabby gloves?” she cried. ‘“Grannie and me
has to look him all over to see he is tidy when
he comes to church with us!”
Sara's laughing eyes met Graham’s.
“Yes,” he said; “I’m well managed, I can
tell you!”
He sat down and took True on his knee.
The little girl subsided when her stepfather
and Sara began to talk to each other; but at
last she said in suppressed excitement—
“Miss Darling, may I see your dear little
baby? Dad says he hasn’t seen him, but we
both know him by his picture. I know you
aren't his real mother now. Grannie explained
itto me. I thought you know that——”
But Sara had hastily risen, and rung the
bell.
“Yes, True darling, you shall see him at once.
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A Happy Woman
I will have him brought down, He is getting
quite a big boy now.”
Little Oliver appeared in his nurse’s arm.
He struggled to get to Sara, and when in her
lap True advanced to make friends with him.
He was quite willing to be friends, and presently
he scrambled down to the floor, where he crawled
very quickly towards Sara’s guitar case.
“ Moo, moo, moo!” he called out.
“There, isn’t that clever?” cried Sara in
delight. ‘‘He’s beginning to talk already. He
loves music, and I play and sing to him when he
comes down. Now he quite expects it.”
“Don't disappoint him,” said Graham.
“True and I would like to hear you.”
For a moment Sara hesitated, then she
opened her case. The baby sat on the floor
looking up expectantly.
And then she broke into one of her pretty
gay little songs called “ Fairybells.” |
The tinkles of the bells were so realistic that
True laughed and clapped her hands, and the
baby joined her, beating his hands on the floor.
Graham looked on. If this visit was enjoyed
by Sara, to him it was a dream of delight.
“ Ah!” he said; “we must tell Grannie about
that song, True.”
He asked Sara to sing again, and she did so,
and then tea came in. True hardly wanted to
have hers. She was so engrossed in playing
3.40
Graham’s Visit
with the baby on the floor that she wanted
nothing else; and when his nurse came in to
take him away, she parted with him with the
greatest reluctance.
‘‘] wish you and baby would come and visit
us,” she said, when at last she was seated up at
the table enjoying some jam sandwiches.
“Dad, dear, she'd come if you asked her, I
expect.”
But Graham shook his head gravely.
“T have asked her already and she has re-
fused me. And I don’t like to be refused any-
thing that I set my heart upon, True. Perhaps
one day I may ask her again, and then she may
say ‘ Yes,’”
‘‘And when she comes we'll never let her go
again,” cried True, gaily.
Sara blushed, and she was conscious that
Graham noted her blush.
‘‘ Baby's father wants us both,” she said in a
cheerful tone. ‘I have my brother to look after,
just as you look after Dad, True.”
‘‘Have you reely? Is he as untidy as Dad?
I’m always tidying his pockets, and his writing-
table.”
They talked away, and then Graham carried
True off with him to his hotel. They were
going to start for the North early the next
morning.
Good-bye was hard to say, and Sara's voice
341
A Happy Woman
faltered a little as she sent love and messages to
Mrs. Laird and Ina. |
Graham held her hand in his as if he could
not let it go, but his words were few—
‘Good-bye. If ever I am up in town again,
may I come and see you ?”
“Of course. I am always glad to see old
friends.”
She could not, and would not, meet his gaze.
When they had gone, she sat wrapt in dreamy
meditation ; and it was not till her brother came °
in and claimed her attention that she roused
herself.
The next few days found her restless and
preoccupied. Then, happily for her, she heard
from May, asking her if she could have her for
a short visit, and Sara brightened up again, and
prepared to welcome her warmly. May arrived
late one afternoon. Arnold did not see her till
she came into the drawing-room before dinner.
She swept in with her usual proud graceful
carriage. She was clad in a thin, black gown,
which intensified the whiteness of her neck and
arms. Her hair was coiled up on the top of her
head. She wore no jewelry of any sort, but she
was a girl who could not fail to be noticed any-
where. And her easy grace, and clever, amusing
talk, made her always a favourite with men. Sara
was not,surprised. to see her brother fall under
“her spell.
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Graham’s Visit
May had lost the harassed look of gloom that
she had after her father’s death. She gave Sara
an amusing account of her brother's efforts to
understand and manage his tenants.
‘‘T came across him one day haranguing a
very uppish farmer. They were both red in the
face, and were going at it hammer and tongs.
“«T tell you,’ Alan was shouting, ‘I may not
know as much about soil and mangels as you do,
but I do know that you’ve one of the best farms
on the property, and are putting by more money
than most of us about here. My father knew
what a fair rent was, and I’m not going to reduce
it by one penny!’ )
“They stopped when I came up. I asked
Alan afterwards if it was nice to show such heat
in discussing suth matters with a tenant, and he
said: ‘Only to hide my ignorance, my dear. I’m
not going to let them browbeat me! And as to
shouting, we all shout at sea, it’s second nature!’
Oh, he'll get on with them soon. And I feel
that you are right, Sara. It is best that I should
leave him to weather it out alone.”
‘“ Have you made any plans yet ?” asked Sa
“T want to do something in town. Work of
some sort.”
“What a passion you all have for work
nowadays!” said Arnold. “Why have you such
abundant energy | ? Women uséd not to possess
it.” )
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A Happy Woman
‘IT suppose we are stronger, physically,” said
May, thoughtfully. “And our schools train us
in a wider way, and give us a broader outlook,
and a higher idea of our capabilities. I am not
one of those who would leave home to work,
But my home has left me. And | can’t sit down
with folded hands and do nothing. I have led
a very active life at home, and I want to be
active still.”
“So many girls come to London to find work,”
said Arnold. “I see scores of them going
about the city. Typewriting and clerking gives
them stooping shoulders and weary-lined faces
—old before their time. If I were your brother,
Miss Agnew, I would not allow you to do
it.”
“ There speaks a despot,” said May, laughing ;
“how could you prevent me ?”
“I have prevented Sara. She had those
ideas when we first left home; but I persuaded
her that I was going to the bad living alone in
town, so she swallowed the bait, and settled
down with me as meek as Moses!” _
Sara laughed.
‘Yes, he is right in what he Says, May. But
men are very helpless without women to look
after them; and I have learnt that filling empty
corners and helping those who need help is as
much work as anything else.”
“Yes,” said May, her expressive dark eyes
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Graham’s Visit
shadowing a little; “but then nobody wants me.
I have no empty corner to fill.”
Arnold had been standing at the open window
as he talked. He now stepped out upon the
balcony, and gazed with troubled brooding eyes
over the quiet square in front of his house.
‘‘T wonder,” he said to himself, “whether I
dare to hope that she might fill mine.”
May had not been with them a week before
her cousin, Captain Talbot, discovered her, and
came round to take her out. She was away the
best part of one day with him, and came back in
very low spirits.
Sara and she were dining alone that evening.
Arnold was out. _
When they were in the drawing-room together
after dinner, May said—
“ Aren’t men tiresome, Sara? I think I must
tell you. My cousin asked me to marry him
this afternoon. I have always been very fond
of him as a cousin, but nothing more. Now this
spoils everything. I hoped to see a good deal
of him when I was up here. I have other rela-
tions, but they are very gay; I never do care
much for incessant amusement, and just now, of
course, I should not go anywhere. I had made
up my mind that Charlie and I would do several
little quiet expeditions together, and now that is
all over. I have lost my cousin and my friend.”
‘Don’t you really care for him ?” asked Sara,
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A Happy Woman
sympathetically. “I only saw him that one even-
ing, but I thought he seemed such a delightful
man.”
“Not as a husband. I know him too well.
I feel very down to-night, Sara. Will you sing
to me? It is so desolate to be without a home,
isn't it? I feel I can never settle in town. It’s
far lonelier than the country. I have absolutely
no object in life. If only I had, I should be
happier.”
Sara got up to get her guitar.
Then she sang very sweetly and softly —
‘“‘Tve been to the familiar places,
The dear old ways ;
But there were no familiar faces
That met my gaze.
The green woods were too lonely,
I, there alone,—I only.
‘I climbed among the mountain ridges
Beyond the town,
And on its crowded streets and bridges
Looked sadly down.
The mountain was too lonely,
I stood alone,—I only.
“But looking up, not down, Faith traces
A City Fair,
And sees the dear, familiar faces
That gather there ;
None stand deserted, lonely,
Yet still my own,—mine only.
“And strange! while gazing on that City
New life is found,—
My heart is filled with yearning pity
For men around. |
4 1¢ )
Graham’s Visit
I must not enter lonely,
Nor bring one,—one only.
‘‘] will go forth, to sinners telling
That Christ has come,—
I will go forth, by love compelling
The wanderers home ;
Pointing the lost and lonely
To Christ alone,—Christ only !” *
There was dead silence when the last note
died away.
May sat in a dusky corner of the drawing-
room, and she was shading her eyes with her
hand. At last she broke the silence.
“TI can’t think where you get your songs
from! You have one suitable for every occasion.
Her words were lightly spoken, but there
was a little break in her voice. Then in a
gentler tone she added—
“TI do like that immensely, Sara; you live the
last verse out, and I’d like you to know that you
haven't pointed in vain as far as I’m concerned.
But I can’t imagine myself taking up that rdéle ;
I know so little, Iam so ignorant. I only know
that beneath all the loneliness and sorrow, I have
real deep peace and assurance that I belong
to Christ and that He loves me.”
“ Dear May, the rest will follow. You need
not try to teach before you have learnt, but you
will soon realize the compelling force of love. I
*S.F. L, Lyra Christiana.
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A Happy Woman
hoped that you were happier. But I waited till
you felt you could tell me about it.”
‘It’s intensely comforting,” said May, slowly ;
“but oh, I have such a longing for father.
Sara, do you believe that we can hold no com-
munion with the dead upon this earth? ”
‘Personally I don’t believe God wishes us
to do so, but may I tell you what has been a
tremendous comfort to me? A few years ago I
lost a very dear school friend. She and I were
friends for many years, in fact we wrote to each
other every day. She married and went to India,
but we never stopped writing to each other. She
helped me in spiritual things more than any one
else on earth. She died suddenly in India from
fever, and a blank came into my life. I found
myself longing to tell her things. And at last I
seemed to realize that it could not be wrong
when I was praying, to ask that God Himself, if
He saw fit, would give her a message from me,
or let her know what I was so anxious she should
know. It is so perfectly easy for Him, is it not ?
And He loves to have us pour out our hearts
before Him. It must be the better way, rather
than resort to spiritualism as so many do. That,
we know from the Bible, is directly opposed to
God’s will. If, as we believe, our loved ones are
in God's keeping, surely we can ask Him to
speak to them about anything that we feel they
would like to know. I feel that if it ts good for
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Graham’s Visit
them to know it, they will be told, and if not, we
must rest content with God’s will in the matter.”
“ That's very interesting,” said May, thought-
fully ; then she added—
“You always give me food for thought when
we talk together. Now let me give you an idea
of mine. I should like to go and live in a settle-
ment in the East End for a short time. I should
learn a good deal there—be helped myself, and
perhaps be able to help others.”
‘| think it would be splendid for you; but I
should like you to get into the right kind of
settlement. Some of them are so much more
helpful than others. Don’t plunge in anywhere,
will you? Let us make inquiries together
first.”
“Yes. I will not bein a hurry. You see,
Sara, I am not like you. I don’t think I am
sympathetic enough to have any _ personal
influence amongst people in my own class. I’m
not very fond of girls, you know. [like visiting
the poor. 1 have always done it, and it comes
natural to me.”
Sara did not tell her friend that she would
find the London poor rather different to her
father’s country tenants. She knew that she
must buy her experience, but as they parted
that night for bed, Sara put both her hands
on her shoulders, and said tenderly—
“Dear May, I shall go to sleep very happy
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A Happy Woman
to-night. Doesn’t it make life fuller and deeper
to you ?”’
“Very much,” said May, gravely. “You
know I’m not a demonstrative person, Sara, but |
understand as I never understood before how it
is you are sucha persistently happy person. And
I can never thank you enough for having shared
your wonderful secret with me.”
350
CHAPTER IX
A DAY OF SUNSHINE
AY soon found a settlement in which she
promptly established herself. She came
to see Sara as often as she could. Once when
she arrived early in the afternoon, she found
Sara out. So she betook herself to the nursery.
Little Oliver dearly loved a romp with her, and
May always had a bewitching way with children.
She was in the midst of a game with him, when
the door opened and Arnold appeared. He
looked his astonishment.
“T came up here to find Sara. I’ve had
tickets for a private view of pictures in Bond
‘Street; and thought she would like to come
with me. The artist is a friend of mine.”
“She is out,” said May, putting her hands up
to her hair which Oliver had loosened in his
play. “I was very disappointed to find her
gone, so I came up here and Oliver is con-
soling me.”
‘Would you like to come instead ?”
His tone was eager.
May looked at him and considered.
351
A Happy Woman
“ How long will it take? I have only two
hours off. I must be back at half-past five.”
“Come along. We can do it.”
And off they went together, and when Sara
came home she was amused, and rather pleased
to hear it. It was not the last time that Arnold
took May about town. He gradually lapsed
into a very happy comradeship with her. And
May accepted his attentions, but apparently took
them as she had taken her cousin’s, and thought
nothing of them.
In August, Sara took Oliver again to the
farm; and there they stayed for a couple of
months. May was at the Hall for a part of the
time ; and it was a very enjoyable time to all.
Nellie Peel was a great deal with Sara. She
was much softer and sweeter in manner; and was
full of the little one who was to arrive two
months later. Sara heard very often from Mrs.
Laird. She seemed happy and well. True was
the delight of her heart. Sara wondered some-
times whether Graham would ever want any-
thing else in his life than he had at present. He
as well as his mother was devoted to his little
stepdaughter. Sara returned to town in the
autumn, and May went back to her work. The
winter passed quietly and happily. Then one
bright afternoon in April, Graham suddenly
appeared upon the scene again. Sara was just
going out when he was announced.
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A Day of Sunshine
She welcomed him with her usual happy ease.
‘Now I am not going to keep you in this
lovely day,” he said at once. ‘‘ Have you an
engagement ?”
“No; I was simply going out for the good of
my health,” said Sara.
“Then may I come with you ?”
She assented, and after a little discussion,
Graham hailed a taxi, and they drove off to
Kensington Gardens, Then they got out and
walked. The fresh green budding trees and the
bright spring flowers were always a keen delight
to Sara, but to-day they seemed to be especially
exhilarating. She was hearing all the Dalby
news.
‘‘T have found a house at last,” said Graham.
“Tt has only just become vacant. A Colonel
Dewar has been living in it. He commands the
district, and his time is up, and his successor, an
unmarried man, is going to live in barracks,”
‘Do tell me what it is like. Is it in the
country ?”’
‘‘ Yes, close to the moor, but in a sheltered
hollow, about a mile and a half away from Jack
Fleming. It is not exactly a_pretty-looking
house. My mother says it is not. I never know
what women do consider attractive, but it has a
delightful garden, and is enclosed with old red
brick walls, which are for the most part covered
with fruit trees.”
353 Z
A Happy Woman
“That sounds delicious. What does True
Say to it?”
_ She's in the seventh heaven of delight. She
has planned out all the rooms. Of course she
has chosen one for you. She thinks the size of
the house no disadvantage, because she says the
more rooms we have, the more of our friends we
can have to stay with us. The list of True’s
friends grows alarmingly! And they are a
cosmopolitan crew, from dustmen and crossing
sweepers to shopmen and policemen, and there
isn’t a soul with whom we come in contact that
True doesn’t know. She has their family histories
at her finger ends!”
“ Dear little True! Now describe the house.”
“T have brought you a snapshot, It is a
square red-brick house covered with creepers in
the summer. I saw it for the first time in the
autumn, and the sun blinds were down over the
windows, and | took a snapshot of it then.”
“Shall we sit down here? It is so warm.”
They took a seat in a very secluded part of
the gardens. Only happy children’s voices could
be heard in the distance, and a far-away rumble
of traffic that might be the distant roar of the
ocean waves. As they sat there the trees hid all
houses, all disfiguring chimney pots, and the birds
were Singing ecstatically in the branches.
‘We might be miles out of London,” said
Sara. ‘“ What a boon these gardens are! Now
A Day of Sunshine
may I see your snapshot? Oh, what a sweet old
family house! I should have lost my heart to it.
It looks so truly comfortable and cheerful.”
Then Graham wasted no more time.
“TI have my house, Sara, but unless you
become its mistress it will be an empty house
to me. I am venturing to speak to you again.
Will you give me a kind answer this time?”
Sara did not look up. She understood now
why the gardens had seemed so full of sunshine
to-day. And she knew that this moment was
going to be the most exquisite one of her life.
She just put her hand over his, and said—
“T feel I would do anything to make you
happy.”
He held her hand tightly, and Sara could feel
the throbbing of his pulses.
“Then you are going to give yourself to me
for good and all? Look up. Let me see your
dear eyes.”
And as Sara raised her head she saw that
Graham’s stern face was illumined with radiance.
“I can hardly believe my good fortune,” he
said. ‘You know my heart has always been
yours from the first day I saw you. I told Eva
that. I would not let her marry me under false
pretences. At that time I felt you would never
relent, that our paths would be apart all our lives,
But later, when in God’s infinite goodness He
brought me to the knowledge of Himself, |
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A Happy Woman
began to wonder whether in time I would speak
to you again. And your God is my God now,
Sara. There will be nothing between our spirits,
and we shall have all eternity together.”
And then Sara's soft grey eyes suddenly filled
with tears.
“Qh, Graham, I had a hard time after I had
sent you away. I can hardly believe the long
waiting time is over. It seems too good to be
true. I have had to stand aside, outside your
life—when my heart and soul was in it.”
Much more they said, and then slowly they
retraced their steps home.
Sara found that her brother had just come
in, so she made Graham accompany her to his
smoking-room and they gave him their news
together. He was not surprised.
“T knew I shouldn't keep her long when
you arrived upon the scene last spring. I only
wonder you've taken so long to speak.”
But Sara knew that it was in honour of Eva's
memory that Graham had waited more than a
year to come and claim her.
He surprised her by his impatience now.
‘Why should we not get a special licence and
be quietly married in town within the next few
days? There is nothing to wait for. We know
each other through and through. We have lived
in the same house together for over a year!”
“T cannot do that,” said Sara. “What is to
A Day of Sunshine
become of my small nephew? You do not
realize that I shall be leaving my brother in a
very awkward position. Some women might not
feel they could leave him. But I place you and
your wants before him. And I think that he will
not be left alone for very long. But there are
many arrangements that 1 must make!”
“Then will you do this? I have business
that will keep me in town till the end--of the
week. Will you come back with me to Dalby
for a short visit? Just to see the house, and
give me an idea how you would like it decorated
and furnished. It is to be your home. You
have a right to advise and help me in making it
beautiful for you. It will be such joy to my
mother to have you with her again as a visitor.”
“I think I might do that,” said Sara, slowly,
but light sprang into her eyes as she spoke.
She knew what a joy such a visit would be to
her. Then she added—
“That is, if I can leave Arnold happy and
comfortable without me. I have the baby to
think of, you know; but his nurse is a very
responsible steady person, and would manage
perfectly without me for a week or two.”
Arnold was quite willing to spare his sister.
And so it came to pass that three days
afterwards Sara was journeying up North with
Graham; she wondered sometimes if she were
dreaming. Her happiness almost felt unreal in
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A Happy Woman
its intensity. Graham had not written telling
his mother that she was returning. It was Mrs.
Laird’s birthday the following day, and he and
Sara had planned her visit as a surprise.
He and Sara had a compartment to them-
selves ; and they had so much to say to one
another that Sara was quite sorry when the
journey was over.
When they reached Dalby, Graham was told
that his car was waiting for him. They went
outside the station, and there found True sitting
up in state on the front seat of the car.
“Grannie said I might come and meet you,
Dad. It seems years since you went away.”
Then she caught sight of Sara, and screamed
with delight.
“She's going to be a birthday surprise to
Grannie,” said Graham.
“ Oh, how loverly! Oh, Miss Darling, let me
hug you. What a birthday Grannie will have!
Have you brought your baby ?”’
“No; he is staying at home helping to amuse
his daddy,” said Sara.- ‘Why, True,- you are
getting quite fat and rosy!”
“Ah, you wait and see me when we live in
the country!” said the child dimpling with smiles.
‘All the wishes of my life are coming true. It’s
almost as good as fairyland to me, that house is!
There’s an orchard where a swing can be put,
and there’s a loft and woodshed and henhouses,
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A Day of Sunshine
and a pond for ducks. And now you've come,
couldn’t we all go and see the house to-morrow
for a birthday treat for Grannie?”
“T really think we might,” said Graham.
‘We'll all take a holiday, True.”
The child clapped her hands. Then she
looked thoughtful. |
“Where are you going to hide Miss Darling
till to-morrow morning? If she’s a birthday
present, she mustn’t be given to Grannie till
then.”
“Do you think I ought to be made a parcel
of?” asked Sara, laughing ; “wrapped in brown
paper and laid on the breakfast-table ?”
True did not laugh.
‘“There’s only one person who could lift you
in his arms and carry you, if you were a parcel,
and that is Daddy,” she said gravely.
And then Graham and Sara laughed out
together.
“No,” said Graham, presently ; “you and I
will go and tell Grannie that her birthday present
is waiting outside the door. That it has come
overnight to be sure to be in time.”
“Yes; and Grannie will go outside and find
her.”
True was quite excited in thinking about it.
‘My birthday present will be nothing,” she
said ; ‘nothing after this. I’ve got Grannie some
coloured pockethandkerchers, Miss Darling.
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A Happy Woman
Three lovely ones with pictures on them, there's
a boat on a sea on one, and a man grinding a
organ on another, and a boy and a windmill
on the other, and I really don’t know which I
like the best of them!”
“T’m sure Grannie will like them all,” said
Sara, comfortingly.
They reached the house. Sara looked at it
with interest. Mrs. Laird had never moved
from her cousin's house, and Graham had come
back to her there. There was no garden in
front. It faced the street, but it was at the quiet
end of the High Street, and most of the traffic
was lower down. The drawing-room was up-
stairs. True with delighted face crept upstairs
on tiptoe. Graham and Sara followed. Then
Sara stayed outside in the long narrow passage,
whilst the others went into the room. They left
the door ajar, and she heard Mrs. Laird’s pleased
welcome. She also heard—
“ And did you see my dear Sara in town ?”
Then True’s eager little voice—
“ And Daddy's brought you such a big birth-
day present, Grannie, that we couldn't carry
it in, and it’s waiting for you outside the
“Oh, Graham, you have not been wasting
your money on me?”
True burst into giggles of delight. She
danced up and down.
| "360
A Day of Sunshine
“Go and fetch it in, Grannie! Fetch it in
quick, quick !”
The door opened, and Mrs. Laird appeared
with a puzzled smiling face.
Then she and Sara were in each other’s
arms.
“Oh, my dear! my dear! How I have
prayed and longed for you!”
She drew her in, and when True’s excitement
had subsided a little, she was sent upstairs to
tidy herself for tea.
Then Graham drew near, and took Sara’s
hand in his.
“ She has only come fora very short visit now,
mother, but she is going to be your daughter,
and coming to us for good and all very soon.”
And then Mrs. Laird was quite overcome,
and began to wipe away the tears of joy that
were springing to her eyes.
‘“T have felt lately that joy was coming to
us, she said. “It has not been only the lovely
spring weather, I had a strange feeling that
good was on the way to us!”
She sat down in her easy-chair, and held Sara
by the hand as if she could not let her go.
- “Qh, Sara, I have sometimes felt that life
has been an effort without you. How good God
is to give you back to us!”
“Dear Mrs. Laird,” whispered Sara; “my
heart has been with you all the time.”
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A Happy Woman
When tea came in they talked in soberer
fashion. Graham sketched out plans for the
next day. A picnic lunch was to be taken in
the car, and eaten in the house that was to become
their home. Then they could have leisure to
look over it in every detail, and he would ask
his builder and decorator to come out in the
afternoon and discuss all necessary repairs and
alterations. |
Mrs. Laird was as pleased as True with the
prospect. Later on she carried off Sara to her
bedroom, and there they sat and talked till nearly
dinner-time.
“You are going to make my boy happy at
last. If any one deserves you, I consider he
does. And oh, Sara dear, he has so softened
since poor Eva's death. I wonder if he has told
you, as he did me, how it was her pitiful appeals
to him that made him marry her? At first he
was very reticent about it, until one day when
we were talking about you, I said | feared you
would consider that Eva had taken your place in
his affections. Then he said, with a hurt look in
his eyes—
‘‘*Oh, mother, if you had seen her stabbed to
the heart by a surgeon's blunt truthfulness, if you
had heard her sobs, and realized her weakness
and loneliness and dread of life, lived on without
a soul to cheer or speak to her, you wouldn’t
have wondered at my consent. She was
362
A Day of Sunshine
unnerved or she would not have let me see her
heart. I knew it would be but a very short time.
I couldn’t resist her appeals for help and comfort.
And though I felt afterwards that I might have
made a mistake, the time came when I saw that
I had not.’ He really was led to see things
differently, Sara, through reading the Bible to
his wife. You forgive him for that tragic
marriage ?”’
“Forgive him, dear Mrs. Laird? There is
no forgiveness needed. It has only shown me
his chivalrous tenderness to a dying woman. He
had no thought for himself, only for her. I don’t
believe another man in the world would have
acted so!”
That was a very happy evening.
Sara was taken all over the house, and shown
the wing which was devoted to clubrooms and
classrooms for the colliers and their wives and
children.
She asked Graham what he thought of doing
with the old house.
“You will keep on the clubs and classes, will
you not?”
‘*Most emphatically. My idea is to keep
the wing of this house exactly as it stands, and
put a caretaker into it. I can let off the private
part of the house very easily. You see we have
a car, and whenever you or my mother want to
come into town, you can do so.”
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A Happy Woman
Then Mrs. Laird said very quietly—
“Of course we have not discussed everything
yet. I am wondering if you two had not better
start your married life alone. A mother and
mother-in-law is not always a success in the
house. And I have been living alone until lately.
I can do so again.”
Sara shot a quick look at Graham, who just
smiled at her.
“Dear Mrs. Laird,” she said, slipping her
hand into Mrs, Laird’s arm, “I will not marry
Graham unless you live with us; and if you ask
him he will say the same. We want the rest of
your life to be a blaze of sunshine. We do not
want you to have the slightest shadow across
your path. It will be one of my joys to see you
happy. We all love each other so much, that
our lives would be spoiled away from each
other.”
‘And True and I have chosen a lovely sunny
room for Grannie’s sitting-room,” said Graham ;
‘so that when she wants quiet and rest she can
have it.”
Then Mrs. Laird said, smiling through the
tears that came so easily this evening—
“ Don’t you think that there will be rest and
comfort wherever Sara is? She has made our
happiness in the past, and she wouldn't be Sara
if she does not make it still.”
Graham turned to Sara with a smile.
364
A Day of Sunshine
“There!” he said; “those are our senti-
ments. I can’t add more, except that it
will be my part to take care of you, and
to try to do it as well as you take care of
others !”
305
CHAPTER X
THEIR FUTURE HOME
M RS. LAIRD’S birthday welcomed her with
bright sunshine and a cloudless blue sky.
True was in her bedroom long before breakfast
time, presenting her wonderful handkerchiefs,
and chattering gaily about the delights in front
of them.
“Run away, chatterbox,” said Mrs. Laird at
length, “or Grannie will be late for breakfast.”
“Tl go this very minute.”
But her hand on the door handle, she paused.
“Isn’t it a very comfortable feeling, Grannie,
that Miss Darling is in our house? I thought
about it direckly I woke.”
“And that was Grannie’s first — too,”
said Mrs. Laird.
The car came round very soon after break-
fast. The luncheon basket was packed in, plenty
of rugs taken in case it might be chilly, and then
Mrs. Laird, Sara, and True were tucked up com-
fortably on the broad seat together. Graham
drove himself. They sped away through the
busy streets, past the collieries with their high
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Their Future Home
shafts and smoky surroundings, along a straight
dusty road where the coal dust seemed to begrime
all the fresh green foliage of bush and tree. Then
they climbed slowly a long, steep hill, and then
had a wonderful glimpse of the moor stretching
away in flat marshes and gentle undulations of
heather-covered slopes. The air was fresh and
pungent; they passed a fir wood, then some
coverts, and at last turned into a real country
lane which led them slowly down to some tall
iron gates flanked by a high brick wall. Through
the gates they sped up a short avenue of beeches,
and then swept round before the old red-brick
house.
Very sunny and homey it looked that morning.
The lawn in front wanted mowing, the flower-
beds were untidy and overgrown, the drive begin-
ning to show weeds in great patches over it. But
the house stood serene and sweet. A white
jasmine was just coming out and overhung the
porch. Japonica was framing the lower windows,
and an ancient magnolia mounted nearly to the
roof on one side of the house.
Graham had the keys, and unlocked the door
himself as there was no caretaker.
The hall was broad and roomy, the oak stair-
case went up from it at the back. There was a
high dado of oak panelling round the hall. Out
of it on one side spread a long drawing-room
with five windows. Behind it a comfortable
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A Happy, Woman
smoking-room overlooking a side Dutch garden
with tiled paths. On the other side of the hall
was the dining-room, a similar size to the
drawing-room, with the same five windows, and
behind that a very pleasant morning-room which |
opened on one side into a conservatory, and
looked out at the back upon a rose garden.
Sara was delighted with this room.
“T know some people do not care to be ina
room next to a conservatory, but I love it. I
remember we had a room at my old home like
this, and I remember as a child how I loved the
scent of the heliotrope and lemon verbena that
grew in it.”
Then they went out and looked over the
kitchen premises which were rather extensive,
but all in good repair. True was anxious to
explore the garden, but Graham said that Sara
must see the rest of the house first. The rooms
on the next floor were all sunny and spacious.
True pointed out to Sara the one she had chosen
for her.
“You can see the dear little church and village
between the hills out of the window, and the
moor is over there too. Don't you like it, Miss
Darling ?”
“TI like every room that I see,” said Sara,
enthusiastically.
And then they went to the room which had
a western outlook, and which Graham thought
368
Their Future Home
would suit his mother for a sitting-room. She
said at once how much she would like it. The
top floor contained the nurseries, and at the back
some servants’ rooms. True was delighted with
the nurseries, for they had been papered with a
paper illustrating the Nursery Rhymes, and in
one corner cupboard she had found a headless
doll in an old wastepaper basket.
Mrs. Laird looked about her with a soft,
tremulous smile. She was wondering if a few
years hence pattering feet and baby voices would
be heard up here from her sitting-room below.
And Sara walked through the rooms, her hand
on Graham’s arm, and her grey eyes misty with
dreamy hope.
When the house was thoroughly explored
they went downstairs and brought cushions and
rugs in from the car and spread them in the
sunny drawing-room. Then the luncheon basket
was unpacked, and they all did justice to their
meal, Afterwards Mrs. Laird said she would
like to sit and rest there. Graham had found an
old garden chair in the conservatory, and he
brought it in and tucked her up so comfortably
in it, that she had quite a long nap. Whilst she
was resting, True was scampering round the old
garden, and Sara and Graham paced the paths
together.
“Do you like our future home?” he asked
her gently. “Knowing how fond you were of
369 2A
A Happy Woman
the country and of a garden, I could not bear to
think of bringing you into a town house, and
when I at last found this it seemed to fit
you.”
“It is quite palatial,” said Sara, laughing ;
“but I do like it very much. -I always think
houses have their atmosphere, and I am sure
this must have had a happy one.”
“In any case you would soon make it a happy
one,” said Graham. “Shall I ever forget your
first few weeks at Felstone Corner? What a
miserable atmosphere you came into! An ugly
house, comfortless rooms, rough ignorant servants,
my poor mother in the depths of woe, and a rough
surly silent man.”
“No,” said Sara, quickly; “a weary sad,
patient man, content to think nothing of his
own prospects and happiness, wholly absorbed in
ministering to the wants of his invalid mother.
Before I had been a week with you, I admired
you from the bottom of my heart!”’
Graham shook his head, then went on—
‘What changes you wrought! How quietly
you went to work, how slowly but surely you
brought sunshine into every dark corner of that
house! I don’t know which time I loved best,
the summer evenings when I came home to find
you in your cool white gown amongst your
beloved flowers tending and watering them with
a look of love upon your face, or the winter
370
—.,
Their Future Home
nights when I used to steal upstairs and see you
sitting by my mother's side in the firelight, with
your guitar upon your knee, singing those be-
witchingly sweet little songs of yours. I was so
afraid that you would stop when you saw me,
that sometimes I used to slip out of my boots
at the bottom of the stairs and creep up noise-
lessly and sit on the top stair outside my mother’s
room listening to all of it. How.did you manage
to content yourself in those : first miserable
days?”
‘IT was always hoping for better times,” said
Sara; “and I loved the lake and the hills and the
country. And when once your mother began to
get better, how happy I was!”
“Would you like to go back there again ?”
asked Graham.
Sara shook her head.
“T don’t think I should care to live there. It
was a desolate bit of country, wasn’t it? Very
beautiful, but no friends are there now. Do you
regret leaving it? Tellme truly, Graham. Does
this town life suit you?”
“I am getting to enjoy the work. I under-
stand the men much better, and I think they are
getting to understand me. And I see now the
principles which were the mainspring of my
cousin’s good works. I told you once, Sara, that
I would leave all the religious part of the work
to you. I don't want to do that now.”
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A Happy Woman
Sara looked up at him with sweet earnestness.
“What a difference that will make to me!
Don’t you see, Graham, that having the same
aim and object in life, you and I will be drawn
much nearer together ib if you went your way
and I mine ?”
“T see that you were right, as you always are,
when you sent me away from you.”
Then they wandered round the garden. The
long sloping lawn in front of the house, with its
group of old cedars at the farthest end, the
herbaceous borders under the old brick walls, the
rose garden, and the small Dutch garden, and
the winding walk through a shrubbery of rhodo-
dendrons and azaleas, all were visited in turn.
Sara felt as if she were in a dream. Once
Graham referred to her brother.
“T pity him, when you have to leave him.
What will he do ?”
Sara smiled.
“He will console himself, He is very fond
of May Agnew. I told you about her, and his
only fear is that she does not care for him; but
the other day I discovered that she did. And I
quite understand men.marrying again. They
become accustomed to women and cannot get on
without them,”
Then she stopped.
“Don’t think I am meaning anything
personal.”
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Their Future Home
“T told you,” said Graham, quietly; ‘that I
considered my marriage an interlude. You
ought to have been my first and only wife, Sara.
You know that.”
Sara did not reply. She gazed over the old
garden dreamily. Graham, seeing her sweet
wrapt face, asked her to give him her thoughts.
“TI was resolving to make up to you, if I
could, for all your lonely barren years !”
Graham caught her in his arms and kissed
her.
“One day with you now has more than
compensated me for all those bygone years,” he
said.
And then they were interrupted by True,
who wanted to show Sara a squirrel up a tree.
They did not get any more time alone, for the
builder arrived and business was done with him
for the rest of the afternoon. They all returned
home in the car in time for tea, having had a
very enjoyable day. In the evening Mrs, Laird
asked Sara to sing to them. She willingly did
so, and many of Mrs, Laird’s old favourites were
asked for. Then just before Mrs. Laird went to
bed she asked for the hymn that had first
touched and quickened her soul. Sara sang it
sweetly and softly as she always did, but with
passionate warmth in some parts of it, and
Graham listened entranced. It had new meaning
to him now.
373
A Happy Woman
‘Souls of men, why will ye scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep?” -
When Sara had finished it, he said—
“We shan’t be able to let you go, Sara. I
can’t think how mother and I have existed with-
out you all this time.”
‘When will you come back?” asked Mrs.
Laird.
“IT am going to give her a month to get
herself ready: no longer,” said Graham with
determination.
Sara looked up at him with a shake of the
head.
‘“ Give me till June,” she said; “the month of
June! What do you say to being married on
Midsummer Day? Your builder said he could
complete the repairs and decorations by the
beginning of June!”
“ Tt’s too far off.”
“Time will soon remedy that.”
They finally settled upon Sara’s date. Mrs.
Laird retired to bed, and Sara and Graham were
alone. A little bright fire was in the grate, as
the evening was chilly. She sat in a chair, in
unconscious grace, her eyes dreamily and happily
gazing into the red-hot coals. Graham stood
warming his back, his dark eyes fixed upon
her.
374
Their Future Home
Then he spoke slowly—
“Sara darling, we must get away alone
together. I love my mother and I love the
child, but I want you, and you only. I am
selfish. I have always had to see you and talk to
you before others, now I want to have you all
to myself. I will not bring you to our home
directly after marriage. Where shall we
0?”
Sara looked up at him and smiled, but her
heart beat quickly.
“TI want a honeymoon,” he said.
“Then,” said Sara, “let us go back to
Felstone, and see the lake once more. I love it
so. And I could see that poor old herb doctor
again and Agnes his daughter.”
‘IT would want you to see no one but me,”
said Graham. “I have never been really with
you—never told you half that is in my heart.
We will go back there if you wish. I don’t care
where it is, as long as we are together. Do you
think I shall make you happy, Sara? Or rather
shall 1 add to your happiness ?”
His tone was somewhat wistful.
Sara rose from her seat. Then she turned
towards him—
“You have worked for the happiness of every
woman you have come across,” she said with her
soft laugh ; ‘‘do you think that I shall be your
first failure ? Ob, Graham, life has had its clouds
375
A Happy Woman
as well us sunshine, for both of us, but now that
we belong to each other, I feel that I can
weather an eternity of storms if you are by
my side.” ;
And then Graham held her in his strong
arms, and was content.
THE END
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