Gabrielle Vaughan

Front matter

"Chingford Old Church, at the summit, had great charms for Gabrielle." PageG3. GABRIELLE VAUGHAN. BY MARY E. SHIPLEY, AUTHOR OF "JESSIES WORK," "JANF.TTA," "LOFTY AIMS," ETC, ETC. " Ee guod, sweet maid, and let who will be clever ; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long And so make life, death, and that vast for ever, One grand, sweet song." -Charles Kingsley. SEELEY, JACKSON, & HALLIDAY, 54, FLEET STREET. LONDON. MDCCCLXXVI. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE i.— surrey place ----- i ii. — cousin margaret and gabrielle - - j hi.— "the trivial round" - - - 21 iv. — easter-tide - - - - 36 v. — brothers and sisters - - - 49 vi.— at chingford - - - -62 VII. — NEW ASPECTS OF LIFE - - - 79 VIII. — MOONING - - - - - 97 IX. — LEFT IN CHARGE - - - - 1 1 1 X. — CLOUDS - - - - - - I2l XI. — FOUR YEARS LATER - - - - 143 XII.— AT LAST - - - - - 175 XIII. — NEW FRIENDS - - - - - I72 XIV. — WHYTGATE - - - - - 186 XV. — DREAMS AND REALITIES - - - 201 XVI. — "SWEET BELLS JANGLED" - - - CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE XVII.— SYMPATHY ----- 237 XVIII.—" RESIGNATION" - 248 XIX.— AN INTERRUPTION - 264 XX. — GABRIELLE'S PICTURE - - - - 28 1 XXI.— CONFIDENCES ----- 3CO XXII.— RUTH - - - - - - 312 XXIII. — TOM ------ 323 XXIV.— A RAINY DAY ----- 339 XXV. — "WHAT'S IN A NAME?" - - GABRIELLE VAUGHAN.

Chapter I Surrey Place

Taventy years ago Surrey Place, N.E., Avas not so much built up as it is now, for though the rapidly spreading and encircling arms of London enclosed it on the south, east, and Avest, yet on the north side, just opposite Mr. Vaughan's surgery, which joined No. 12, his house in Surrey Place, there was a narroAv lane, knoAvn then as Love Lane, which Avas about a quarter of a mile long, and Avent across a large field Avhich had been a gravel-pit, and looked still rather unnaturally low in the ground, though it was covered Avith fresh green grass, and one or two worn-out old ponies, a costermonger's donkey, and noAv and then a few goats were to be seen grazing there. Beyond this field, only separated by a road, Avas a long desolate-looking piece of ground, already advertised to be sold for building purposes.

Across this dreary tract, AA-hich still possessed a few blackberry bushes, and was brightened in the spring with countless buttercups and daisies, Avas the nearest way to the river Lea, which Avas the great resort for amusement for Mr. Vaughan's boys for boating and fishing in summer, and for skating in the winter. Noav Love Lane has grown into Alma Road, and the old gravel-pit is a busy little district of houses and shops j while the green beyond is much more aspir ing, being covered Avith semi-detached villas, and known as Victoria New Town. There are four churches where then there were only two, and altogether the neighbour hood of Surrey Place is as different as it well can be from AA-hat it was twenty years ago. Surrey Place consisted of tAvelve substantially-built red brick, smoke-dried houses, built about sixty or seventy years ago.

Six houses were on one side of the road, and six on the other. The side facing the south was very pleasant and cheerful. No. i Avas inhabited by a mys terious invalid gentleman whom no one ever saw ; and at No. 2 lived a family in the enjoyment of a yearly income of ;£8oo, Avhich seemed to the younger members of the Vaughan family — who lived opposite — a most delight ful sum, and the possessors of it were to them objects of Avonder, and, it must be owned, occasionally of a little envy. In their front garden Avas a magnificent acacia ; Mr. Vaughan's third daughter, Gabrielle, was never tired of watching it, and had sketched it in all its varieties of beauty — from its spring dress of tender green Avith its gracefully drooping Avhite floAvers, and the lovely glimpses of the soft blue sky through its delicately-clad branches, to its perfect outline when Avinter had scattered all its leaves, and covered its fair proportions with a mantle of frost or snow.

There Avere five houses side by side, but the sixth Avas at right angles with the others, and faced the east. It was inhabited by Mr. Richardson, the incumbent of the neighbouring church of St. Clement's. He was a very earnest, hard-working elderly man, and on very friendly terms Avith the Vaughans, for he had known the doctor more than five-and-tAventy years. Still they did not see much of each other, for there Avere so many poor and ignorant people to look after, that the clergy man saw very little of the educated members of his con gregation. The houses on the other side of Surrey Place Avere all very gloomy-looking. There Avere little square gardens in front, but the only things that would groAv in them Avere great box trees, one of Avhich filled the middle of each round bed. At No. n, three old maiden ladies lived, whom their neighbours only saAv occasionally, as one was a great invalid, and the others rarely Avent out.

No. 12, Mr. Vaughan's house, was the last of the toav, and double the size of the others. To stand at the garden gate facing it, to the right of the front door, were the large coach-house gates ; to the left the two front Avindows of the dining-room, above these Avas the drawing-room, and over the coach-house Avas Mrs. Vaughan's room, behind which was the doctor's study. Behind the draAA-ing-room and over the back dining-room Avas the children's schoolroom. On the floor above there were four rooms of the same size, and from the front AvindoAvs could be seen quite to the north- Avest a blue line of hills, and the two church spires of Highgate and Hampstead. The room over the school room was the servants' room ; there Avas a steep step ladder leading out of it to the garret above, Avhich Avas lighted by a skylight in the roof; it Avas full of lumber, old boxes and rubbish, and Avas seldom used except by Gabrielle, who had formed a snug nook among the boxes, and delighted in her retreat, for it was the only place where she could draAv in peace ; and as draAving and painting Avere the great delight of her life, any place i — Avhich came to her aid in the prosecution of these pur suits Avas valued accordingly.

It Avas a good comfortable house, Avith thick walls and capacious cupboards, but decidedly the favourite room was the dining-room, which Avent from front to back, and had the advantage of a large, south Avindow, Avhich made it cheerful all the year round. There was a beam across the middle of the ceiling, which, together with the ex istence of two doors and two fireplaces, made it appear that there had at some time been a division in the form of folding doors, or that such a partition had been in tended to be made at some future time ; but it had never been done, and the long, comfortably furnished room, its walls hungAvith pictures, and the deep arched recesses by the fireplaces filled Avith books, had plenty of space in it, and Avas never croAvded even in holiday-time, Avhen occupied by all the nine children as Avell as their parents.

There Avere good kitchens beloAv, Avhich (though being underground, they had a dismal look) Avere ahvays kept as clean and spotless as the energy of two servants could accomplish. The view from the south Avindow of the dining-room was not extensive. Across a narrow paved yard Avas a thick hedge of old lilacs, so deliciously sweet in spring that when the window was open the room Avas full of fra grance, and quite made one forget what a wilderness of bricks and mortar was nearly all around. Beyond the lilacs was an open gravelled space leading from the empty coach-house to the stables, where, instead of horses, were kept rabbits and pigeons, and the necessary appara tus for knife and boot cleaning. There was a roomy loft above, and as it just faced the windows both of dining-room and schoolroom, Gabrielle had many a fright, for the boys Avould sit in the open doorway with their legs dangling down, ready to fall or jump out at the least untoward moA'ement.

The high Avail of a large breAvery began at the left side of the house, and rising above the back of the stable, bent round to the right, and enclosed on one side a AA-ide bordered path which led to the garden. A great part of this Avail, near the stable, Avas covered Avith ivy ; but farther on, nearer the garden gate, it Avas hidden by a beautiful Avhite cluster rose, a far-spreading Avisteria, and a luxuriant grape-vine, Avhich, if it bore little fruit, Avas cool and pleasant to look upon. The black palings of the old ladies' garden shut in the other side, but the path and borders Avere so Avide, that if there had been nothing beyond, it might have been thought sufficient garden for a London house. The little gate at the end of this path opened into a long and tolerably Avide laAvn, Avhich, commencing at the end, ran the length of the Avhole of Surrey Place and a little be yond, and if croquet had been in fashion in those days, would have been an acquisition.

As it Avas, it Avas the scene of many a game of cricket in the summer, and afforded ample space for races and other boyish exploits. A floAver border ran parallel Avith the path, and was Avell stocked Avith old-fashioned plants, Avall-floAvers, SAveet-Avil liams, southernAvood, larkspur, lupins, and any amount of pinks. Overhanging the palings which separated it from the other gardens in Surrey Place Avere lilacs, laburnums, and guelder roses in abundance ; and as all the fruit-trees in these gardens Avere between it and the houses, the garden of No. 1 2 was comparatively secluded and quiet. Opposite these palings Avas a very high brick Avail, against which Avere trained three cherry-trees, Avhich duly blossomed every spring ; but, facing north, the fruit never ripened, though year after year the children confidently predieted it Avould.

At the end of the laAvn, just in the angle Avhere the tAvo Avails met, Avas an apple-tree, in Avhose branches AA'as a charming seat for any one venturesome enough to climb up to it ; but the chief use the boys made of it was to help themselves to a footing on the top of the long high wall on which the cherry-trees grew, it being their great amusement to run along at the top ; and as there Avas nothing beyond this Avail but a steep bank leading down to the North London Railway, there was con siderable danger in this feat, Avhich of course greatly added to its pleasure. So much for Surrey Place.

Chapter II. Cousin Margaret And Gabrielle

The family at No. 12 consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan, their two daughters, Grace and Agnes, aged respectively tAventy-three and nineteen, Avho were both governesses, and so far away that they could not come home for Christmas ; Richard, a tall studious youth of seventeen, a Grecian at Christ's Hospital, and looking forward to Cambridge before long; Leonard, a long-legged active boy of sixteen, a City of London scholar ; Gabrielle, one year younger ; Ruth, a domesticated prim little maiden of tAvelve ; Tom and Arthur, nine and eight ; and little Rosa, Avho was as bright and merry as an engaging child of five could well be. Mr. Vaughan Avas not well off, and Grace and Agnes had supported themselves for two years noAV, and Ruth was going in a fortnight's time to the school Avhere Agnes taught music, to finish the edu cation which had hitherto been carried on under her mother's care ; Gabrielle taught the two little boys and Rosa at home.

Ruth ahvays thought of Gabrielle as the black sheep of the family, and she, poor girl, feared it must really be so, as her drawing — the one thing which delighted her most — was altogether discouraged by the rest ; and an unmistakable and, as she felt, unfortunate likeness to her uncle Frank, of Avhom she kneAv very little, except that he had been a great trouble to his family, made her feel herself injured. She bore his name, too (at least with just such modification as was needed to make it feminine), and this, in the opinion of Gabrielle Frances Vaughan, Avas another grievance. The only two people Avho seemed to take any interest in her favourite pursuit were her brother Richard and her father's cousin, Margaret Wynn. "Ella! Gabrielle! Avhere are you?" called out Mr. Vaughan from the foot of the stairs.

" Here, papa. All right, I'm coming," shouted Gabrielle from her nest in the garret, where she was bending over her draAving-board, Avhich, in her start of surprise at her father's sudden call, she had pushed a little too near the bedroom candlestick, propped un steadily on the boxes which made her desk. Now, in her hurry to run doAvnstairs, she knocked over box, candle, and board, and scrambling hold of the tAvo latter, groped her way downstairs as AveU as she could, for it Avas nearly five, and a dark January day. " What is it, papa ?" she said, turning into the study, which was halfway down. '•' The lamp, Gabrielle. I have several letters to write ;" and here Mr. Vaughan began to stir the fire, making as he did it a good deal more noise than necessary, his daughter thought, who Avas groping on the mantelpiece for the match-box.

Finding it at last, she lit the candle she had brought in her hand, and proceeded to draw down the blind. " Where is mamma?" asked Mr. Vaughan. " Gone to Mrs. Fisher's to see the baby that was hurt yesterday." " And Ruth ?" " Oh, she is with Rosa." " And Jane ?" " I don't knoAv ;" and Gabrielle began Avinding up the lamp. " Empty, of course," said Mr. Vaughan. •' Oh, hoAv cross papa is !" thought Gabrielle, as she rushed doAvnstairs to fetch the oil, meeting Jane, tired with Saturday's Avork, on her way upstairs to dress. " Oh, Avhat is that?" as something Avarm and soft rolled under her foot. " Pussy, pussy, you will be killed some day if you Avill seat yourself there." Two frights so near together, and papa's sharp tones in addition, Avere too much for Gabrielle, and the tears came into her eyes as she lighted a candle and got the oil-can.

Mr. Vaughan was busy Avriting Avhen she reached the study, so she filled the lamp and Avound it up, and swept up the hearth, making him fidget and frown as she did so. " Is not the lamp ready ?" "In a minute, papa." But Avhen she began to light it, behold a wick so long that it must be trimmed ! and in her haste she had for gotten the lamp scissors. These had to be fetched, and ten minutes had passed before the light was placed before her father. '■ Whose business is it to trim the lamps, Gabrielle ?" " Mine, papa." No answer. Feeling very sorrowful, Gabrielle took up her draAving -board j but, as the light fell on it, it revealed a long greasy, smudgy mark where the candle had fallen Avhen she started up from her work in the garret. At the sound of her smothered, " Oh dear !" Mr. Vaughan looked up.

" What is it ?" he said. " Oh, papa, look here ! My picture is quite spoilt." Mr. Vaughan looked at it critically for a minute, and said, as he returned to his Avriting, " The best thing that could happen to it." Gabrielle turned away disappointed and troubled. If there Avas one thing more than another that grieved her it was for papa to be cross Avith her, and now he was very decidedly so. But she did not Avish to make matters worse by displeasing mamma too, so she lighted the dining room lamp, closed the shutters, made the fire bright and the hearth clean, set a light in the hall, and then went beloAv to the kitchen to see about tea ; wishing Avith all her heart that cook had not gone home ill, and thinking how lazy it Avas of Jane to be so long upstairs. She repented of her thoughts ten minutes afterwards Avhen the tired housemaid (just now doing double duty) came doAA'n and thanked her for her help.

Presently the boys came in, then mamma ; and though papa still looked grave, and seemed rather vexed, Gabrielle felt her spirits revive a little as she listened to the boys' chatter, though the tears would rise every time she thought of her picture Avith its fright ful smear. After tea Richard and Leonard played chess, and the two restless little mortals, Tom and Arthur, beset Ga brielle to come and help them Avith their puzzles. It AA'as both kind and useful to amuse them, she knew, but, as she sat doAvn Avith a little brother on each side of her, it Avas not pleasant to see Ruth's look of virtuous satisfac tion as she brought out a large business-like looking Avork basket, containing several pairs of stockings. Gabrielle knew that Ruth would not have alloAved her to help in their mending even if she had offered ; but the look of calm self-consciousness which the younger sister gave to her three years' senior Avas not soothing to Gabrielle's already wounded spirit.

When seven o'clock came Gabrielle took little Rosa to bed. The child had only just recovered from a severe cold, and the unwonted luxury of a fire in her bedroom caused Gabrielle to sit down by it after singing her little sister to sleep. The room Avhich the iavo shared Avas the little back one over Mr. Vaughan's study, and a cosy little room it was, with the firelight flickering on the Avails and ceiling as Gabrielle reclined on the rug, resting her head and arms on the cushions of an old-fashioned easy-chair. She was absorbed in sorroAvful thoughts, and heard no thing distinctly till the door softly opened, and a gentle voice said, " May I come in, Ella ?" Gabrielle kneAv that voice Avell enough, and, springing up, she threAv her arms round Miss Wynn, and the close embrace Avith no Avord spoken would have told cousin Margaret (if she had not already knoAvn it) that she had a very warm place in the girl's heart.

She let her place her in the easy-chair, and then, after giving the fire a gentle stir, Gabrielle knelt by her side. The firelight revealed a middle-aged lady, tall and rather thin, Avarmly clad in furs. She Avas an old maid, and had had her share of trouble ; but she did not see that there was any reason Avhy she should attract notice by singularity of attire ; and as she loosened the fasten ing of her cloak, and let it fall over the back of the chair, there appeared a dress of soft fawn colour, relieved by a Avhite collar and blue boAV at the throat, quite suitable to her years, and yet Avearing an air of freshness Avhich it was pleasant to see, for it was the outward token of a heart young and Avarm still, Avhich many sorrows had been powerless to Avither. " What is the matter, Ella ?" she said, looking into the young face upturned to hers ; " your papa told me you Avere in trouble."

" Oh dear ! so I am," sighed Gabrielle. " Tell me about it." Then followed a list of disasters ending with the lamps. " What picture Avere you doing, Ella ?" " Oh, the little boy and the dove, you knoAV, cousin Margaret, — ' There used to come a little dove Before his window small.' I have had it in my mind for an age, and Avhen I Avatched Rosa as she began to get better I felt I must do it." " May I see it ?" " Oh yes ;" and Gabrielle brought her draAving-board and set it on Miss Wynn's lap. It Avas a sketch in crayon, artistically designed and very boldly executed. The sick child lay back on his pilloAvs AA'ith the Avan, wistful look of one hardly escaped from death, and the droop of the head and the folding of the Avasted little hands Avere Avonderfully natural. Cousin Margaret looked at it attentively and held it in different lights, as Gabrielle had lit the lamp again for the pur pose.

" You have done it exceedingly Avell, Ella ; it is per fectly lifelike." " But what is the good ? Look at that dreadful smear ; and oh, do you know, cousin Margaret, papa said it was the best thing that could happen to it !" and Gabrielle laid her head down on Miss Wynn's lap, and the tears, kept back so long, dropped thick and fast. " It is always so," she went on, as Miss Wynn's hand smoothed the light shining curls, "it is ahvays so; every one but you and Richard acts as if it were a sin that I should like to draAV. And it's too bad. It's just as much my nature to draw as it is Ruth's nature to like mending stockings and making puddings, and everything else, horrid; and yet she is ahA'ays praised and I am blamed. Oh, cousin Margaret, it does seem so unjust — it does indeed !" There was too much truth in Avhat Gabrielle said for her friend to contradict her ; she only bent doAvn and kissed her forehead.

" I believe they think if they encouraged it I should be vain ; and I'm sure I never should. If I try ever so much I can't make a thing look real. I am sure I should never be vain." "That is not the reason, darling," said Miss Wynn soothingly ; " they don't think you vain." " Well, then, it must be because I'm like uncle Frank ; and I can't help being like him. I know he did paint, because of the pictures in the dining-room, and I suppose I am like him, because I saAv a little miniature once, and there was a resemblance. But then I can't help that. I can remember long ago," she Avent on, "I was only seven. Old Mr. Martin came up from Norfolk one Christmas, and he took me on his knee, and after looking at me a long time, he said, ' Mr. Vaughan, this child Avill be Frank over again' ; and papa said, ' God forbid.' I have so often thought about it ; but if I am like him I can't help it, and it seems so hard."

" Shall I tell you about your uncle Frank, Ella ?" "Yes, do; I knoAV nothing about him." " Then you must not mind if, first of all, I tell you that you are like him, darling. When I first saw him, thirty years ago, he was just your age, and as full of bright pro mise as you are, Gabrielle. He used to draAV beautifully ■ — Avonderfully indeed, and he always declared he would be an artist; but your grandfather had a prejudice against art, and articled him to an attorney. You can fancy an excitable youth, Avith the artist passion strong Avithin him, did not settle down easily to his desk and the dry study of laAV. Your grandfather meant it for the best, but it Avas ill-judged, and, at last, the gentleman he was with said he Avould never do any good, and offered to take your uncle EdAvin instead, and advised Frank's having his Avish.

So your grandfather, sorely disappointed, gave him the necessary means for studying art, and for tAvo or three years he did very well. He went to Munich, and then to Paris to the Louvre, and certainly he painted some beautiful pictures. But he had no perseverance if obsta cles Avere to be surmounted ; and he was utterly reckless about money and Avhere it came from ; but, no matter at Avhose expense, he always dressed Avell and had every comfort." Gabrielle felt a little twinge of conscience here. Deli cately nice in her dress she ahvays Avas, but so long as she had her ruffles and laces ready to Avear, she never troubled her head about how they came so. " Then Avhen he got a large sum for a picture he spent it at once. One time I remember he made a tour of the English cathedrals, and came home Avithout a penny, to be a burden to his father till he sold another picture.

" And that AA'as the way he went on. Nothing seemed to steady him. He spent money faster than he earned it, and got sadly into debt. Then he took to gambling, and became involved more and more. At last — and that seemed saddest of all — he began to take too much Avine to drown care, as he said, and Avhen he had Avork to do he Avas not fit to do it. " Oh, it is a sad, sad story, Ella. At last he got so deeply into debt, and was altogether such a trial, it broke your poor grandmamma's heart, Ella, it did indeed. He seemed rather steadier after this (for he Avas of a most affectionate nature), and a friend of your father's offered him a post in his office ; but he said he could not take up anything so dry as that, and then he took to his old habits again. Then his father died, but Frank made no difference in his Avay of living.

Last of all, Avhen he had brought as much trouble on his family as he well could, he Avent to Australia, and there he died three years ago. And this is the reason Avhy your papa is so poor. He took upon himself to pay all his debts, and he did in time ; and a hard struggle it Avas for him, and for your mamma too, Ella, for she Avas not strong, and with only one ser vant and a large family it Avas not easy for her. But it is better now : your papa has ahvays held his head above Avater bravely, and now that you can afford two servants your mamma can have more rest. It was only last sum mer that the last debt was paid off. " But, Gabrielle," she continued, gravely, " can you wonder they should tremble when they see you so like him ?" " No, perhaps not. But then does it follow I am to go wrong because uncle Frank did ?

I should never gamble, nor get into debt." " No, dear ; but think of the misery and discomfort there would be in the house if every one did just what he liked, and nothing else. God has given you your talent, Gabrielle, and a valuable one it is ; but, if in cul tivating it you neglect your duties as a daughter and a sister (which should be your first consideration), you AA-aste time and temper, and abuse, instead of improving your gift." " But I do so hate all the little Avorrying duties — teaching the boys, and making frocks, and plain Avork, and everything ! Then, on washing days, washing up the breakfast things, and making the beds — I hate it all." " But, Gabrielle dear, God gave you your talent ; Avell, if you rejoice in His gift, the least you can do is to attend cheerfully to all the little duties that fall in your way.

Put your heart into them ; put principle into them, dearest,— that would help you more than anything : — ' Teach me, my God and King, In all things Thee to see, And Avhat I do in anything, To do it as for Thee. ' A servant Avith this clause Makes drudgery divine ; Who SAveeps a room as for Thy laAVS Makes that and the action fine.' You remember those lines ?" Gabrielle nodded. " Oh, my darling, don't let another life be Avrecked for Avant of steady guidance. God will help you to love His Avill if only you ask Him." " And about the drawing," said Gabrielle presently, " must I give it up ?" " I will give you a rule. If you can draw Avithout neglecting your duties, do so. Let me hear what they are." " Oh, this is winter, and holidays, and in winter one can do nothing before breakfast, so I had better begin as it is Avhen the holidays are over.

Well, from breakfast to ten I have to see to the lamps and practise. Then I have the three in the schoolroom till twelve. Then we Avalk till half-past one. From half-past tAvo till five les sons again. From five to six Rosa generally Avants me to play with her, and I light up. Then after tea I amuse the children till seven, when I put Rosa to bed, and then there is needlework and reading aloud.'' " Then there is no time for draAving in the Avinter ?" " Not unless I crib the time from something else." " Well, I think your duty is plain. Your mind Avants bracing and strengthening, Gabrielle ; it runs to Avaste now in day-dreams and fanciful creations, Avhich you fret yourself about because you cannot embody them Avith your-pencil. Now all these duties, if you put your heart into them, Avould help to form you into a brave, sensible Avoman, instead of leaving you weak and driven about by feeling only.