Magnum Bonum; Or, Mother Carey's Brood Part 22

"That is my fault. We will set to work at once steadily."

"But my cla.s.ses and my lectures!"

"You are not so far on but that our reading together will teach you quite as much as lectures."

Janet looked both sulky and scornful, and her mother continued--

"It is not as if we had not modern books, and I think I know how to read them so as to be useful to you."

"I don't like getting behindhand with the world."

"You can't keep up even with the world without a sound foundation.

Besides, even if it were more desirable, the Rays cannot afford to keep you, nor I to board you there."

"I am to pay them by helping Miss Ray in her copying."

"Poor Miss Ray!" exclaimed Carey, laughing. "Does she know your handwriting?"

"You do not know what I can do," said Janet, with dignity.

"Yes, I hope to see it for myself, for you must put this notion of going to London out of your head. I am sure Miss Ray did not give the invitation--no, nor second it. Did she, Janet?"

Janet blushed a little, and muttered something about Miss Ray being afraid of stuck-up people.

"I thought so! She is a good, sensible person, whom grandmamma esteemed very much; but she has never been able to keep her sister in order; and as to trusting you to their care, or letting you live in their set, neither papa nor grandmamma would ever have thought of it."

"You only say so because her Serene Highness turns up her nose at everything artistic and original."

"Janet, you forget yourself," Caroline exclaimed, in a tone which quelled the girl, who went muttering away; and no more was ever heard of the Ray proposal, which no doubt the elder sister at least had never regarded as anything but an airy castle.

However, Caroline was convinced that the warnings against the intimacy had not been so uncalled for as she had believed; for she found, when she tried to tighten the reins, that her daughter was restive, and had come to think herself a free agent, as good as grown up. Spirit was not, however, lacking to Caroline, and when she had roused herself, she made Janet understand that she was not to be disregarded or disobeyed.

Regular hours were inst.i.tuted, and the difficulty of getting broken into them again was sufficient proof to her that she had done wrong in neglecting them. Armine yawned portentously, and declared that he could not learn except at his own times; and Babie was absolutely naughty more than once, when her mother suffered doubly in punis.h.i.+ng her from the knowledge of whose fault it was. However, they were good little things, and it was not hard to re-establish discipline with them. After a little breaking in, Babie gave it to her dolls as her deliberate opinion that "Wegulawity settles one's mind. One knows when to do what."

Janet could not well complain of the regularity in itself, though she did cavil at the actual arrangements, and they were altered all round to please her, and she showed a certain contempt for her teacher in the studies she resumed with her mother; but after the dictionary, encyclopaedia and other authorities, including Mr. Ogilvie, proved almost uniformly to be against her whenever there was a difference of opinion, she had sense enough to perceive that she could still learn something at home.

Moreover, after one or two of these references, Mr. Ogilvie offered to look over her Latin and Greek exercises, and hear her construe on his Sat.u.r.day half-holidays, declaring that it would be quite a refreshment.

Caroline was shocked at the sacrifice, but she could not bear to affront her daughter, so she consented; but as she thought Janet was not old enough to need a chaperon, and as her boys did want her, she was hardly ever present at the lessons.

Moreover, Mr. Ogilvie had a lecturer from London to give weekly lectures on physical science to his boys, and opened the doors to ladies. This was a great satisfaction, chiefly for the sake of Bobus and Jock, but also for Janet's and her mother's. The difficulty was to beat up for ladies enough to keep one another in countenance; but happily two families in the country, and one bright little bride in the town, were found glad to open their ears, so that Ellen had no just cause of disapproval of the attendance of her sister and niece.

Ellen had more cause to sigh when Michaelmas came, and for the first time taught poor Carey what money matters really meant. Throughout her married life, her only stewards.h.i.+p had concerned her own dress and the children's; Mrs. Brownlow's occasional plans of teaching her housekeeping had always fallen through, Janet being always her grandmamma's deputy.

Thus Janet and nurse had succeeded to the management when poor Carey was too ill and wretched to attend to it; and it had gone on in their hands at the PaG.o.da. Janet was pleased to be respected accordingly by her aunt, who always liked her the best, in spite of her much worse behaviour, for were not her virtues her own, and her vices her mother's?

Caroline had paid the weekly books, and asked no questions, until the winding up of the executor's business; and the quarterly settlement of accounts made startling revelations that the balance at her bankers was just eleven s.h.i.+llings and fourpence halfpenny, and what was nearly as bad, the discovery was made in the presence of her fellow executor, who could not help giving a low whistle. She turned pale, and gasped for breath, in absolute amazement, for she was quite sure they were living at much less expense than in London, and there had been no outgoings worth mentioning for dress or journeys. What were they to do? Surely they could not live upon less! Was it her fault?

She was so much distressed, that the good-natured Colonel pitied her, and answered kindly--

"My good little sister, you were inexperienced. You will do better another year."

"But there's nothing to go on upon!"

He reminded her of the rent for the London house, and the dividends that must soon come in.

"Then it will be as bad as ever! How can we live more cheaply than we do?"

"Ellen is an excellent manager, and you had better consult her on the scale of your expenditure."

Caroline's spirit writhed, but before she had time to say anything, or talk to Janet, the Colonel had heard his excellent housewife's voice, and called her into the council. She was as good as possible, too serenely kind to manifest surprise or elation at the fulfilment of her forebodings. To be convicted of want of economy would have been so dreadful and disgraceful, that she deeply felt for poor Caroline, and dealt with her tenderly and delicately, even when the weekly household books were opened, and disclosed how much had been spent every week in items, the head and front of which were oft repeated in old nurse's self-taught writing--

"Man...... Glas of beare. 1d.

Creme........... 3d."

For had not the Colonel's wife warned against the endless hospitality of gla.s.ses of beer to all messengers; and had not unlimited cream with strawberries and apple-tarts been treated as a kind of spontaneous luxury produced at the Belforest farm agent's? To these, and many other small matters, Caroline was quite relieved to plead guilty, and to promise to do her best by personal supervision; and Ellen set herself to devise further ways of reduction, not realising how hopeless it is to prescribe for another person's household difficulties. It is not in the nature of things that such advice should be palatable, and the proverb about the pinching of the shoe is sure to be realised.

"Too many servants," said prudence. "If old nurse must be provided for--and she ought to have saved enough to do without--it would be much better to pension her off, or get her into an almshouse."

Caroline tried to endure, as she made known that she viewed nurse as a sacred charge, about whom there must be no question.

Ellen quietly said--

"Then it is no use to argue, but she must be allowed no more discretion in the housekeeping."

"No, I shall do that myself," said Caroline.

"An extravagant cook."

"That may be my fault. I will try to judge of that."

"Irregular hours."

"They shall end with the holidays."

There was still another maid, whom Ellen said was only kept to wait on nurse, but who, Caroline said, did all their needlework, both making and mending.

"That," said Ellen, "I should have thought you and Janet could do. I do nearly all our work with the girls' help; I am happy to say that Jessie is an excellent needlewoman, and Essie and Ellie can do something. I only direct the nursery maid; I never trust anything to servants."

"I could never bear not to trust people," said Caroline.

Ellen sighed, believing that she would soon be cured of that; and Carey added--

"On true principles of economy, surely it is better that Emma, who knows how, should mend the clothes, than that I should botch them up in any way, when I can earn more than she costs me!"

"Earn!"

"Yes; I can model, and I can teach. Was I not brought up to it?"

"Yes, but now it is impossible! It is not a larger income that you want, but proper attention to details in the spending of it, as I will show you."