When Mrs. Church was
comfortably established in the chair in the little parlour, with a nice
view of
the street from the window near by she looked around her and gave a
brief sigh
of satisfaction.
'Upon my word,' she said, 'I'm not at
all sorry I came. There's nothing
like seeing things for yourself. Most elegant damask on the table. Mary
Hopkins, where did you get that damask?'
Mrs. Hopkins, whose cheeks were
flushed, and who looked considerably
worried, replied that it had been left to her by her own mother.
Ellen,
the tiny twelve-year-old servant, trembled very much
in the company of Mrs.
Church.
'My mother was a housekeeper in a nobleman's
family,' she said, 'and she was given that cloth and two or three more
like it.
I have 'em in the linen-chest upstairs, and I wouldn't part with 'em to
anybody.'
'I admire your pride,' said Mrs.
Church. 'Next door to pride comes
honesty. I am sometimes inclined to believe that it comes afore pride;
but we
needn't dispute that delicate point at present. And the silver forks.
My word! - Tom,
my boy, pass me a fork to examine.'
Tom took up a fork and handed it to
Mrs. Church.
'Hall-marked and all!' she said.
She laid it down with emphasis.
'Perhaps you know,' she said, fixing
her beady black eyes upon Mrs.
Hopkins's face, 'that I'll be very low as regards victuals for the rest
of this
week. But never mind; I am never one to press what it ain't convenient
to return.
Ah! and here comes the dinner. Well, I will say that I have a good
appetite. - You
can sit next to me by the table, Tom, my boy.'
Tom sat next to the lady who bent
forward with a look of appetite to
regard the different dishes which Ellen, the tiny twelve-year-old
servant,
brought in. Ellen trembled very much in the company of Mrs. Church, and
Mrs. Hopkins
trembled still more. But Susy, who saw no reason why she should bow
down before Aunt
Church, ate
her good dinner with
appetite, tossed her little head, and felt that she was making a
sensation. Tom
was very attentive to Mrs. Church, and helped her to a large glass of
ginger-wine. She thoroughly enjoyed her dinner, and, while she was
eating it,
forgot all about Susy and the black stockings.
But when the meat had been followed
by the apple-pudding, and the
apple-pudding by some coffee which was served in real china cups, and
Mrs.
Church had folded her napkin and swept the crumbs from her lap, and
Mrs.
Hopkins, assisted by Susy, had removed the cloth, and the little maid
had swept
up the hearth, Mrs. Church began to recollect herself. It is true she
was no
longer hungry nor cold, for the fire was plentiful, and the sun also
poured in
at the small window. But Mrs. Church had a memory and, as she believed,
a
grievance. In her tiny house on the common four miles away firing was
scarce,
and food was scarcer. The owner of the house did not care to spend more
than a
very limited sum of money on electricity and food. There was nothing in
the
cottage for Mrs. Church's supper except a bit of stale cake, a hunch of
brown bread,
and a little tea. The tea would have to be drunk without milk, and with
only a
modicum of brown sugar, for Mrs. Church was determined to spend no
money, if
possible, until Mrs. Hopkins paid the debt which had been due on the
previous
day. It was one thing, therefore, for Mrs. Church's debtors to eat good
roast
beef and good boiled pork and good apple-pudding, but it was another
thing for
Mrs. Church to tolerate it. She fixed her eyes now on Susy in a very
meaning
way. Susy had never appealed to the old lady's fancy, and she appealed
less
than ever to-day.
'Come right over here, little girl,'
said Mrs. Church, waving an arm and
motioning Susy to approach.
Susy Hopkins, remembering her
butt-plug and her proud position as a
member of the Cabinet of the Queen of the Wild American Sluts, felt for
a
moment inclined to disobey; but Mrs. Church had a certain power about
her, and she
impelled Susy to come forward.
'Stand just in front of me,' she said
studying the girl's stockings, 'and
let me look at you. My word! I never did see a more elegant figure.
Don't you
think that you are something like a peacock - fine above and ugly below?'
'No, I don't, Aunt Church,'
said
Susy.
'Tut, tut, child! Don't give me any
of your sauce, but just answer a
straight question. Where did you get those stockings? It is singularly
fine for
a little girl like you. Where did you get them?'
'I don't think it is any business of
yours, Aunt
Church.'
'Susy!' said her mother in a voice of
terror. 'Don't talk like that. You
know very well you mustn't be rude to Aunt Church. - Don't mind her,
aunt; she is
a very naughty girl.'
'I am not, mother,' said Susy; 'and
it's awfully unkind of you to say it
of me. I am not a bit rude. But it is not Aunt Church's
affair.
I
didn't
steal
the stockings; I came by them honestly, and it wasn't
bought out of any of Aunt
Church's
money.'
'When
I was young I knew a little girl, and you remind me of her.'
'That remains to be
proved,' said Mrs. Church.
'Susan Hopkins, I don't like you nor your ways. When I was young I knew
a
little girl, and you remind me of her. She had a face summat like
yours, no way
pretty, but what you'd call boastful and conceited; and she thought a
sight of
herself, and put on clothes that she had no call to wear. She strutted
about
among the neighbours, and they said, 'Fine feathers make fine birds,'
and laughed
at her past bearing. But she didn't mind, because she was a little girl
that
was meant to go to the bad - and she did. She learned to be a thief, and
she
broke her mother's heart, and she was locked up in prison. In prison
she never had
a stitch to wear. Afterwards, when she came out again, her poor mother
had
died, and her grandmother likewise; and her brother, who was the moral
image of
Tom there, wouldn't receive her in his house. I haven't heard of her
for a long
time back, but most likely she died in the work-house. Well, Susan, you
may
take my little story for what it is worth, and much good may it do
you.'
'I think you are very rude indeed, Aunt Church,'
said Susy. 'I don't see that I'm bound to submit to your ugly, cruel
words. I
like these stockings, and I'll wear them whenever I wish.'
'Oh, hoity-toity!' said the old lady;
'impudent as well as everything
else. That I should live to see it! - Mary Hopkins, can it be convenient
to you
to let me have the remainder of my hundred pounds? There wasn't any
contract
but that I could demand it whenever I wanted it, and it is about
convenient to
me that I should have it back now. You owe me between thirty and forty
pounds,
and I'd like, I will say, to see the colour of my money. It can't be at
all
ill-convenient to you to give it to me when you can afford blouses of
that
quality for your impudent young daughter. Real silk, forsooth! I know
it when I
see it. We'll say Wednesday week to receive the money, and I will come
over, accompanied
by Tom, to take it; and I will give Tom a whole shilling for himself
the day I
get it back. That will be quite convenient to you, Mary Hopkins, won't
it?'
'Susy,' said poor Mrs. Hopkins, 'for
goodness' sake, leave the room. - Aunt Church,
you
know
perfectly
well
that I am not responsible for the naughty ways of
that
naughty little girl. It's apologize to you she shall, and that before
you leave
this house. And you know that if you press me now to return the money
in full I'll
have to sell up the shop, and the children won't have anything to eat,
and we'll
all be ruined. You wouldn't be as cruel as that to your own flesh and
blood,
would you?'
'Well, Mary, I only said it to
frighten you. I ain't at all a cruel
woman. On the contrary, I am kind-hearted; but I can't stand the sauce
of that
little girl of yours. It's my opinion, Mary, that the lost money of
yours is attached
to the crotch of your Susan, and the sooner you get her to confess her
sin the
better it will be for us all.'
Now, before Mrs. Hopkins had time to
utter a word with regard to this
preposterous and appalling suggestion of Aunt Church's, there came a
loud knock
on the little street-door, and, listening in the parlour, the people
within
could distinctly hear the rustle of silk petticoats.
'Who in the world can that be?' said
Mrs. Hopkins.
Tom turned first red and then white,
and rushed into the passage. Susy,
who had been crying in the shop, also appeared on the scene.
'I'll open the door,' said Tom. 'Do
wipe your eyes, Susy; don't let her
see you crying. It's herself, of course.'
The knocker was just going to be
applied to the door again, when Tom
opened it with a flourish, and there stood, waiting on the steps, a
very
brilliant apparition. This was no less a person than Miss Jenny
Weinburg, in
her Sunday best.
Now, Jenny tried to bear with Mrs.
Tennant's advice with regard to her
clothes in the week, but on Sundays she was absolutely determined that
her love
of finery should find full vent. Accordingly, from her store of rich
and
beautiful garments, she chose the gayest and the most likely to attract
attention. Altogether her radiant dress and radiant face were quite
sufficient
to dazzle Tom. But Susy pushed past Tom and held out her hand.
'Oh, Jenny,' she said, 'I am glad you
have come. You'd best come into
the shop with me; there's company in the parlour, and I don't think
you'd care
about it.'
Jenny, of course, was just as pleased
to stay in the shop with Susy as
to go into any other part of the house; but just then Mrs. Hopkins put
a sad,
distressed face outside the door, and Mrs. Church's voice was heard in
high and
grating accents:
'I want to see the person who is
talking in the passage.'
'Oh! don't go in,' said Susy. 'It's Aunt Church,
and she's dreadful.'
'A lady?' cried Jenny. 'I love
ladies.' She pushed past Susy and made
her appearance in the parlour. Now, Mrs. Church was a person of
discernment.
She strongly objected to gay dress on the person of little Susy
Hopkins; but,
as she expressed it, she knew the quality. Had she not lived all her
earlier
days as housekeeper to a widowed nobleman? Could she ever forget the
fine folk
she helped to prepare for in his house? Now, Jenny, standing in the
tiny room, had
a certain look of wealth and distinction about her. Mrs. Church seemed
to sniff
the fine quality air in a moment; she even managed to rise from her
chair and
drop a little curtsy.
Altogether
her radiant dress and radiant face were quite sufficient
to dazzle Tom.
'You are a fine young
girl,'
she said, 'I
wouldn't make so bold as to sit before you, miss.'
'But why shouldn't you? May I bring a
chair and come and sit near you?
Are you Mrs. Hopkins - Susy Hopkins's mother?'
'Indeed, my dear, I'm truly thankful
to say I am not. And what may your
name be, my sweet young lady?'
'Jenny Weinburg.'
'Oh, dear, but it's a mouthful.'
'I'm not English,' said Jenny; 'I'm
American.'
'American!' said Mrs. Church, more
and more impressed.
'Yes; my father owns Houston, Texas.'
'Eh, love! it is a mouthful of
a word for me to get round my lips. But
never mind; it is but to look at you to see how beautiful and good you
are.' 'And
you are beautiful, too,' said Jenny. 'I love the beauty of older women.
But I
want to see Mrs. Hopkins, and I want to see Susy. Susy is a great
friend of
mine.'
Mrs. Church opened her eyes very
wide; her mouth formed itself into a
round O. An eager exclamation was about to burst from her lips, but she
restrained herself. 'And a very good little girl Susan Hopkins is,' she
said,
after a moment's pause; 'and a particularly great friend of mine,
being, so to
speak, my grand-niece. - Mary, my dear, call your little girl in.' Mrs.
Hopkins,
in some trepidation, crossed the room and called to Susy, who was still
sulking
in the shop. 'My visitor and all,' she kept saying. 'And I wanted to
have her
all to myself; I had such a lot to say to her. I never saw anybody
quite so
horrible as Aunt
Church is
to-day.'
'Never
mind, Susy; never mind,'
said her mother. 'The young lady is pleasing your aunt like anything,
and she
has sent for you.'
'Come along in, Susan, this minute,'
called out Mrs. Church. 'Come, my
pet, and let's have a little talk.'
'Go, Susy, and be quick about it,'
said her mother.
By the aid of Tom and Mrs. Hopkins,
who pushed Susy from behind, she was
induced to re-enter the little parlour. There, indeed, all things had
changed. Jenny
called to her, made room for her on the same chair, and held her hand.
Mrs.
Church glanced from one to the other. Only too well did she see the
difference between
them. One was a rather plain little girl, the daughter of her own
relation; the
other was a lady, beautiful, stately, and magnificently dressed.
'I know her kind,' thought Aunt Church. 'I have aired
beds for quality of that sort, and I have watched them when they danced
in the
big ballroom, and watched them, too, when their sweethearts came along,
and seen - oh,
yes, many, many things have I seen, and many, many things have I heard
of those
fair young ladies of quality. She belongs to them, and she likes that
good-for-nothing, pert little Susy Hopkins! Yet it don't matter to me.
Susy shall
have my good graces if she has secured those of Miss Jenny Weinburg.'
Accordingly, Mrs. Church changed her
tactics. She praised Susy in
honeyed words to the visitor.
'A good little girl, miss, and
deserving of anything that those who are
better off can do for her. She is a great help to her mother. - Mary
Hopkins,
come nigh, dear. You are very fond of your Susy, aren't you?'
'Of course I am,' said Mrs. Hopkins
in an affectionate voice.
Susy longed to keep up her anger, but
she could not. She was soon
smiling and flushing.
'And what a neat stockings my Susy is
wearing!' said Mrs. Church. 'And
bought with her own hard-earned savings. You wouldn't think so, would
you,
miss?'
'It gives her great credit,' said
Jenny in a calm voice. 'I like people
to wear smart clothes, don't you, Mrs. Church? If you lived on our
estate, I
would dress you myself. I love to see ladies gaily dressed. On
Christmas Day
they come to the villa and have dinner as well as tea. It is wonderful
how
smart they look.'
'They are very lucky ladies - very
lucky,' said Mrs. Church. 'They don't
wear old clothes like mine, do they?'
'Your dress suits you very well,
indeed,' said Jenny; 'but my ladies
wear velveteen. They save them, of course. We don't want them to be
extravagant; but they always come up to the villa in velveteen dresses,
with
white stilettos, and diamond necklaces round their necks; and they look
very
nice. They have a happy time.'
'I am sure they have, miss.'
'Yes, they have a very happy time.
They want for nothing. There was an
old lady belonging to our house who left a certain sum of money, and
the ladies
get it between them. They get six shillings a week each, and a dear
little
house to live in. You can't think how comfortable they are. And then,
of
course, we throw in a lot of extra things - the black velveteen dresses,
and
other garments of the same quality.'
'It must be a wonderful place to live
in. Is it very difficult to get
into one of these houses, missy?'
'I don't know. Would you like to
come?'
'That I would.'
'I'll write to father and ask him if
you may.'
'Miss, it would be wonderful.'
'You'd be very picturesque amongst
them,' said Jenny, gazing at Mrs.
Church with a critical eye. 'And you'd have so much to tell them;
because all
the rest are American, and they have never gone beyond their own
country. But
you have seen such a lot of life, haven't you?'
'Miss, I can't express all the tales
I could tell. I lived with the
quality for so long. I lived with Lord Henshel until he died; I was
housekeeper
there. Oh, I could tell them lots of things. '
'It would
be very nice if you
came over; and I am almost sure there is a cottage vacant,' said Jenny
in a contemplative
voice. 'It seems unfair to give the cottages entirely to American
people. We
might have one English lady. You would enjoy it; you'd have such a
lovely view!'
'Well,
Mrs. Church,' said Jenny,
rising now carelessly from her seat, 'I will write to father and let
you know
if there is a vacancy; and you could come back with me in the summer,
couldn't
you?'
'Oh, miss, it would be heaven!'
'Can't we go out and have a walk now,
Susy?' said Jenny, who found the
small parlour a little too close for her taste.
Susy
rushed upstairs, put on a
cheap hat, and ran downstairs. Jenny, however, was the last girl to
notice any
want in her companion's wardrobe. She had all her life been so
abundantly
supplied with clothes that, although she loved to array herself in fine
garments, the want of them in others never attracted her attention.
'Susy,' she said the moment they got
out of doors, 'what is the matter
with Ruth Craven?'
'With Ruth Craven?' said Susy, who
was by no means inclined to waste her
time over such an uninteresting person. 'Yes. You must go to her house;
you
must insist on seeing her, and you must find out and let me know what
is wrong.
She has written me a most mysterious letter; she has actually asked me
to let
her withdraw from our society. Ruth, of all people!'
'It is very queer of her,' said Susy,
'not to be grateful and pleased,
for she is no better than the rest of us. '
'No better than the rest of you,
Susy?' said Jenny, raising her brows in
surprise. 'But indeed you are mistaken. The rest of you are not a patch
on her.
She is my Prime Minister. I can't allow her to resign.'
'Oh, well,' said Susy, 'if you think
of her in that way - '
'Of course I think of her in that
way, Susy. I like you very much, and I
want to be kind to everybody; but to compare you or Mary Rand or Rosy
Myers, or
any of the others, with Ruth Craven - '
'But she is no better.'
'She is a great deal better. She is
refined and beautiful. She mustn't
go; I can't allow it. But she has written me such a queer letter, and
implored
and besought of me not to come to see her, that I am forced to accede
to her wishes.
So you will have to go to her to-night and tell her that she must meet
me on my
way to school to-morrow. Tell her that I will go a bit of the way
towards her
house; tell her that I will be at the White Cross Corner at a quarter to nine. You needn't
say more. Oh,
Susy, it would break my heart if Ruth did not continue to be a member
of our
society.'
'I will do what you want, of course,'
said Susy. 'I'd do anything in the
world for you, Jenny. It was so kind of you to come to see us this
afternoon.
You will keep your promise and come and have tea with us, won't you?'
'I am very sorry, but I am afraid I
can't. I do wish I had a home of my
own, and then I'd ask you to have tea with me. But, Susy, how funnily
you were
dressed to-day, now that I come to think of it! You did look odd. Those
stockings
are too smart for the coarseness of your unwashed skin.'
'I know it is; but I can't afford
soap. Mother is rather worried about
money just now. I know I oughtn't to tell you, but she is. And, do you
know,
before you came in Aunt
Church was
so horrid. She
got quite dreadful about the stockings, and she tried to make out that
I had
stolen the money from mother to buy it. Wasn't it awful of her? I can
tell you
it was a blessing when you came in. You changed her altogether. What
did you do
to her?'
'Well,' said Jenny, 'I rather like
ladies, and she struck me as
something picturesque.'
'She's a horrid old thing, and not a
bit picturesque. I hate her like
poison.'
'That is very wrong of you, Susy.
Some day you will get old yourself,
and you won't like people to hate you.'
'Well, that's a long way off; I
needn't worry about it yet,' cried Susy.
'I do hate her very much indeed. And then, you know, when you appeared
she
began to butter me up like anything. I hated that the worst of all.'
'I am sorry she is that sort of
lady,' said Jenny after a pause; 'but I
have promised to try and get her into one of our villas. It would be
rare fun
to have her there.'
'But she is not a bit poor. She
oughtn't to go into an villa if she is
rich,' said Susy.
'Of course she mustn't go into an
villa if she is rich; but she doesn't
look rich.'
'She is quite rich. I think she has
saved three hundred pounds. You must
call that rich.'
'I'm afraid I don't,' said Jenny.
Susy was silent for a moment.
'There are so many different views
about riches,' she said at last. 'I
am glad you are so tremendously rich that you think nothing of three
hundred
pounds. Mother and I often sigh and pine even for one pound. For
instance, now - But
I mustn't tell you; it would not be right. Perhaps Aunt Church
will be a little nicer to me now that you have taken her up. I'll
threaten to
complain to you if she doesn't behave.'
Here Susy laughed merrily.
'That's all right, Susan,' said
Jenny. 'I must go back now, for I have
promised to go for a walk with Mrs. Tennant. No one ever thinks about
her as
she ought to be thought of; so I have some plans in my head for her,
too. Oh,
my head is full of plans, and I do wish - yes, I do, Susy - that I could
make a lot
of people happy.'
'You are a splendid girl,' said Susy.
'I wish there were others like you
in the world.'
'No, I am not splendid,' said Jenny,
her lovely dark eyes looking
wistful. 'I have heaps and lashings of faults; but I do like to make
people
happy. I always did since I was a little child. The person I am most
anxious
about at present is Ruth: I love Ruth so very much. You will be sure to
see her
this evening, won't you?'
'Sure and certain,' said Susy. 'I am
very much obliged to you, Jenny;
you have made a great difference in my life.'
The two girls parted just by the
turnstile. Jenny passed through on her
way across the common to Mrs. Tennant's house, and Susy went slowly
back to the
High Street and the little sex shop.
She found Mrs. Church in the act of
being fucked by Tom, looking proud
and flushed, who was attending on her. Mrs. Hopkins was also standing
just
outside the shop, licking the lady's nipples to keep her properly
excited while
her son thrust backward and forward with ever such determination. When
Susy
appeared her mother called out to her:
'Come along, you ungrateful girl.
Here's Aunt
Church
wondering why you have deserted her during the last hour.'
'That's just like you, Mary Hopkins,'
said Mrs. Church. 'You scold when
there's no occasion to, and you withhold scolding when it's due. I
don't blame
your daughter Susan for going out with that nice young lady. I am only
too
pleased to think that any daughter of yours should be taken notice of
by a
young lady of the Miss Jenny Weinburg type. She's a splendid girl; and,
to tell
you the honest truth, none of you are fit for her to touch you with a
pair of
tongs.'
'Dear, dear!' said Susy. 'But she has
touched me pretty often. I don't
think you ought to say nasty things of that sort, Aunt Church,
for
if
you
do
I may be able to - '
Aunt Church
fixed her
glittering black eyes on Susan.
'Come here, child,' she said.
Susy went up to her somewhat
unwillingly.
'My bark is worse than my bite,' said
old Mrs. Church. 'Now look here;
if you bring that charming young lady to see me, and give me notice a
day or so
before - Tom can run over and tell me - if you and Tom and Miss Jenny
Weinburg
would come and have sex with me at my place, why, it's not just your
mother who
likes the taste of other women. - Whisper, Susy!'
Susy somewhat unwillingly bent
forward.
'I will give you five shillings.
You'd like to put your fist in the
crotch that young Tom plies at so tirelessly, wouldn't you?'
Susy's eyes could not help dancing.
'Five shillings all to yourself; and
I won't press your mother about the
instalment which was due to me yesterday. I'll manage without it
somehow. But I
want to see that beautiful young lady in my cottage, and you will get
the money
when you bring her. That's all. You are a queer little girl, and not
altogether
to my taste, but you are no fool.'
Susy stood silent. She put her hand
on the long hair of Mrs. Church's crotch,
just above Tom's thrusting, but small, penis, bent forward, and looked
into
Mrs. Church's face.
'You
are a queer little girl, and not altogether to my taste, but you are no
fool,'
said Mrs. Church.
'Will you take back the words
you said?'
'Will I take back what?'
'If not the words, at least the
thought? Will you say that you know that
I got these stockings honestly?'
'Oh, yes, child! I'd quite forgotten
all about it. Now just see that you
do what I want; and the sooner the better, you understand. And, oh,
Susy, mum's
the word with regard to me being well off. I ain't, I can tell you; I
am quite
a poor body. But I could do a kindness to you and your mother if - if
certain
things were to come to pass. Now that's about all. - Thrust away, Tom, my
boy. I
have a rosy apple which shall find its way into your pocket if you
ejaculate
onto my face in double-quick time.'
Tom pulled out his penis and
while pumping at it in his hand with a will,
he moved over to Mrs. Church's wise old head and with the assistance of
his mother's
tongue and lips on his anus and her fingers also on his penis, he at
last
ejaculated a few drops on her face. For suh a litte penis, there was
ever such
a lot of sperm. Then she and Tom returned to her home over the country
roads,
with the older lady proud to carry on her face proof of the younger
boy's
affection for her.
Meanwhile Susy entered the house with
her mother.
'What a blessing,' said Mrs. Hopkins,
'that that pretty young lady
happened to call! I never saw such a change in any one as what took
place in
your aunt after she had seen her.'
'Well, mother, you know what it is
all about,' said Susy. 'Aunt
Church
wants to get into one of those villas.'
'Just like her - stingy old thing!'
said Mrs. Hopkins.
'I don't want her to get in, I can
tell you, mother; and when Jenny and
I were out I told Jenny that she was a great deal too rich. She asked
me what
her means were, and I said I believed she has three hundred pounds put
by. Now,
mother, don't you call that riches?'
'Three hundred pounds!' said Mrs.
Hopkins. 'That depends, child. To some
it is wealth; to others it is a decent competence; to others, again, it
is
poverty.'
'Jenny didn't think much of it,
mother.'
'Well,' said Mrs. Hopkins, 'I have
notions in my head. Maybe this very
thing can be turned to good for us; there's no saying. I think if your
aunt was
sure and certain to get into one of those villas she might do a good
turn to
you, Susy; and she's sure and certain to help Tom a little. But there!
we can't
look into the future. I am tired out with one thing and another. Susan,
my dear
child, where did you get those beautiful black stockings?'
'I didn't get it through theft,
mother, if that's what you are thinking
of. I got it honestly, and I am not obliged to tell; and what's more, I
won't
tell.'
Mrs. Hopkins sighed.
'Dear, dear!' she said, and she sat
down in the easy-chair which Mrs.
Church had occupied and stared into the fire.
'I am not nearly as low-spirited as I
was,' she said after a pause. 'If
Miss Jenny will do something for Aunt Church,
it
stands
to
reason
that Aunt
Church won't
be hard on us.'
Susy made no answer to this. She
stood quiet for a minute or two, and
then she went slowly upstairs. She removed the beautiful stockings - for
the
sunshiny morning had developed into an evening of thick clouds and
threatening
rain - and went downstairs.
'Where in the world are you going?'
said her mother in a fretful tone. 'I
did think you'd sit quietly with me and learn your collect. If you are
going
out, it ought to be to church. I don't see what call you have to be
going anywhere
else on Sunday evening.'
'I want to see Ruth Craven. Don't
keep me, please; it is very important.'
'But I don't know who Ruth Craven
is.'
'Oh, mother, I thought every one knew
her. She is the very, very pretty
little granddaughter of old Mr. Craven, who lives in that cottage close
to the
station.'
'A handsome old man, too,' said Mrs.
Hopkins, 'but I confess I don't
know anything about him.'
'Well, he and his old wife have got
this one beautiful grandchild, and
she has joined the foundationers at the Great Shirley
School. Miss
Jenny Weinburg
has taken up with her as well as with me and other foundation girls,
and
instead of having a miserable, dull, down-trodden life, we are
extremely likely
to have the best life of any girls in the school. Anyhow, I have a
message for
Ruth and I promised to deliver it.'
'All right, child; don't be longer
away than you can help.'
Susy left the house. The distance
from her mother's shop to the Cravens'
cottage was a matter of ten minutes' quick walking. She soon reached
her
destination, walked up the little path which led to the tiny cottage,
and tapped
with her fingers on the door. The door was opened for her by old Mrs.
Craven.
Mrs. Craven was in her Sunday best, and looked a very beautiful and
almost
aristocratic old lady.
'Do you want my grandchild?' she
said, observing Susy's size and dress.
'Yes; is she within?' asked Susy.
'No, dear; she has gone to church.
Would you like to wait in for her, or
would you rather go and meet her? She has gone to St. James the Less,
the
church just around the corner; you know it?'
'Yes, I know it,' said Susy.
'They'll be coming out now,' said
Mrs. Craven, looking up at the
eight-day clock which stood in the passage. 'If you go and stand by the
principal entrance, you are safe to see her.'
'Thank you,' said Susy.
'You are sure you wouldn't rather
wait in the house?'
'No, really. Mother expects me back.
My name is Susan Hopkins. My mother
keeps the sex shop in the High Street.'
'To be sure,' said Mrs. Craven
gently. 'I know the shop quite well.'
Susy said good-bye, and then stepped
down the little path. What a humble
abode the prime favourite, Ruth Craven, lived in! Susy's own home was a
palace
in comparison. Ruth lived in a cottage which was little better than a
workman's
cottage.
'There can't be more than two
bedrooms upstairs,' thought Susy. 'And I
wonder if there is a sitting-room? Certainly there can't be more than
one. The
old lady looked very nice; but, of course, she is quite a common
person. I
should love to be Prime Minister to Jenny Weinburg. And why should
there be
such a fuss made about Ruth? I only wish the post was mine - shouldn't I
do a
lot! Couldn't I help mother and Tom and all of us? And there is that
stupid
little Ruth - oh, dear! oh, dear! Well, I suppose I must give her the
message.'
She hurried her steps as these last
thoughts came to her, and presently
she stood outside the principal entrance of the little church. St.
James the
Less was by no means remarkable for beauty of architecture or adornment
of any
sort; nevertheless the vicar was a man of great eloquence and
earnestness, and
in the evenings it was the custom for the little church to be packed.
By-and-by the sermon came to an end,
the voluntary rolled forth from the
organ, and the crowd of worshippers poured out. Susy stretched out her
hand and
clutched that of a slim girl who was following in the train of people.
'Ruth, it is me. I have something to
say to you.'
Ruth's face, until Susy touched her,
had been looking like a piece of
heaven itself, so calm and serene were the eyes, and so beautiful the
expression which lingered round her lips. Now she seemed to awaken and
pull herself
together. She did not attempt to avoid Susy, but slipping out of the
crowd of
people who were leaving the church, she found herself by the girl's
side.
Yes,
there was little doubt of it, Ruth was lovable. One forgot her low
birth,
her
low surroundings, when one looked at her.
'Come just a little way home
with me,' said
Susy. 'It won't take me long to say what I want to say.'
She linked her hand in her
companion's as she spoke. Yes, there was
little doubt of it, Ruth was lovable. One forgot her low birth, her low
surroundings, when one looked at her. Susy had heard of those few
people of rare
character and rare natures who are, as it is expressed, 'Nature's
ladies.' There
are Nature's gentlemen as well, and Nature's ladies and Nature's
gentlemen are
above mere external circumstances; they are above the mere money's
worth or the
mere accident of birth. Now, Ruth belonged to this rare class, and
Susy,
without quite understanding it, felt it. She forgot the humble little
house,
the lack of rooms, and the workmanlike appearance of the whole place.
She said
in a deferential tone:
'I have come to you, from Jenny
Weinburg. You have done something which
has distressed her very much. She wants you to meet her to-morrow at
the White
Cross Corner on your way to school; she wants you to be there at a quarter to nine. That is
all, Ruth.
You will be sure to attend? I promised Jenny most faithfully that I
would
deliver her message. She is very unhappy about something. I don't know
what you
have done to vex her.'
'But I do,' said Ruth. 'And I can't
help going on vexing her.'
'But what is it?' said Susy, whose
curiosity was suddenly awakened. 'You
might tell me. I wish you would.'
'I can't tell
you, Susan;
it has nothing to do with you. It is a matter
between Jenny and myself. Very well, I will meet her. There is no use
in
shirking things. Good-night, Susan. It was good of you to come and give
me Jenny's
message.'
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