A Double Mistake

Front matter

"WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR OVERCOAT, COLIN?" <S« sage 46.) A Double Mistake. BY EDITH E. SMYTH, AUTHOR OF " Puzzles : A Christmas Story," " Who Can Say," dr'c. XonCon : MARSHALL, RUSSELL & CO., LTD., Paternoster Row, E.C. CONTENTS. I. A Registered Letter . . . i II. Winifred ..... g III. An Exchange ..... 18 IV. Comparisons .... 29 V. A Breach ..... 38 VI. Colin is Consulted ... 50 VII. Billy 62 VIII. A Start 72 IX. Why ? 83 X. Colin's Trouble ... 91 XL Winifred's Petition . . . 103 XII. A Move 118 XIII. Aunt Hester in a New Light . 133 XIV. Rubbed 145 XV. Consolation 158 XVI. Jealousy 169 XVII. Changed Circumstances . . 179 XVIII. United

Chapter I

A Registered Letter. U T_70R Miss Winifred, ma'am." J- This was not the usual order of things, the postman's wares were almost always for Aunt Hester, and not for her niece ; few and far between were the letters that came for Winifred. At fifteen years of age one's correspondence is not as a general rule voluminous, the number of one's friends depend ing very much on one's elders. Mrs. Mervyn, accustomed to appropriate to herself what the salver carried, had mechanically put out her hand to perform its usual function. Stayed by the words she heard, her hand went no further, but her eyes took up the business. They saw an envelope with its blue crossed lines proclaiming a registered letter. She felt curious, but she said nothing. She watched her niece as she opened and read it. She could not altogether conclude what it announced.

It evidently called forth some surprise, and told good rather than evil tidings. She observed that at the conclusion of the letter, c i two papers, which the envelope had likewise con tained, were looked at, one a cheque, the other a foolscap sheet with some printed matter on it. It was with no idle curiosity Aunt Hester was watching. She was accustomed, as Winifred's guardian, to observe and take note of all her con cerns. She did not approve of her engaging in any business without her cognisance, and now she ex pected, according to the ordinary course of things, to be put into possession of the news. To her great surprise, and decidedly to her mortification, letter, cheque, and foolscap were all shut up into their envelope, and were not handed to her for inspection. Her nerves had received a slight jar in the letter going on to Winifred instead of coming to herself.

They now received a more severe jar in her being excluded from a participation in the knowledge of its contents. To be a recipient of those contents, sooner or later, she resolved. There was evidently business in the letter, and what did the child know about business ? She would only, if left to herself, be making a mess of it. Still, she made no demand. A short time previously, even but a few months, she would at once have claimed the information she desired ; but she had lately been forced to realise that Winifred was passing out of childhood, and she was finding it advisable to slacken the reins with which she held her. Winifred could be very con trary, and she concluded she had a contrary fit upon her this morning. It might pass off quickly, she hoped it would, and that, when it disappeared, A REGISTERED

Letter. 3

she might be made a sharer in the news. Meanwhile Mrs. Mervyn found some consolation for herself in an excellent cup of tea, in which cream was not wanting, enjoying at the same time a very fresh egg, and toast spread with appetising butter ; home-made bread, ham, honey, and marmalade showed themselves as additional possibilities. The breakfast service was fine, though of old-fashioned shape and pattern, the napery was spotless, and the silver was shining. The room and its other contents corresponded with the breakfast table. There was all that comfort and refinement demanded, but nothing very new-fashioned ; the engravings on the wall did not represent the work of any living artist. A large bay window, through which the sun was shining, showed a lawn in the foreground and a country prospect beyond.

With the table offering plenty to eat, and the surroundings manifesting more than a sufficiency of other desirabilities, it might have been thought that the partakers of such good things would indeed be happy, but not to either one or other could this term just then have been applied. It would be outside the mark to say that Mrs. Mervyn was unhappy ; she was actively enjoying her good breakfast, and in a passive way she was enjoying all the other good things of which she was possessor. This room, with what it contained, was but a small part of them, there was all the rest of the house, made comfort able throughout with a no smaller degree of comfort. A drawing-room lay on the other side of a pretty hall ; two small sitting-rooms, one her own sanctum, the other assigned as a school-room to Winifred, were on the same level ; bedrooms above stairs provided all that was necessary to make the nights as happy as the days might have been.

Cut off by doors of communication, screened by curtains, lay pantries, and kitchen, and servants' accommodation. The bearer of the letter was coadjutrix to an excel lent cook ; these two, with a general man and his wife, who lived in a small lodge at the end of a short avenue, afforded the animate service which made the things inanimate all the more enjoyable. There was ground enough about the house to give it a large degree of privacy, but not enough to call for an excessive amount of labour. A small but productive fruit garden, and some flower beds on the lawn, supplied respectively what was sweet to the taste and pleasant to the eye. To keep house, and ground, and servants in the good condition in which they existed, Mrs. Mervyn possessed the necessary income, there was no need for stint, there was no obligation to make nice balancings of receipt and expenditure, there was always something over, always something available for giving away ; this ability to give was one of the pleasant possessions of her life.

The giving was in some respects managed rather curiously, there was no all round benefaction, those who wanted to get had to approach her in a manner which she approved of, did they fail in doing so, however worthy the cause which A REGISTERED

Letter. 5

they pleaded, they would receive nothing. Mrs. Mervyn had enjoyed a great deal of her own way in life. She had become mistress of her father's house at an early age, and had passed on from that position into married life, to be mistress of her husband's house. A short married life, during part of which her husband had led a semi-invalid existence, had ended in her becoming solely and absolutely her own mistress ; even the tie of children, pleasant fetter as it is, she had not experienced, she had been wife, she had never been mother. Her present home, near the village of Salbury, had been her husband's choice. He had been attracted to it when his health was failing, partly by reason of its offering just the kind of abode he wanted, and partly through its being in the neighbourhood of friends whose society he enjoyed.

Many years had passed since his death, and his widow had lived on through all these years in the house in which he had left her. The years had wrought greater changes in other homes, and most of the friends, whose society had proved attractive, had passed away ; some had died, some had gone, the houses were now filled with strangers in some instances, and with a younger generation in others. Mrs. Mervyn had come to the time of life in which she was rather out of the running for making new friends. She had some friends and more acquaint ances, and visits were exchanged with both orders. Indeed, frequently, especially in the summer time, when the inhabitants of the town more particularly value an open house in the country, guests came for short stays. From spring until far on into autumn, Holmside offered attractions.

It was situated in a shire of orchards. When these were vested in their robes of white and pink blossom, they were beautiful to behold, and though less radiant in the autumn, yet in then bestowing their plentiful and delicious fruit, thej' proved no less attractive. Though gaiety was not to be found in Holmside, comfort and abundance of good fare were enjoyable enough, and were gladly accepted in most cases where offered, and would have been in many more, if offered. But Mrs. Mervyn's invitations, like her other benefac tions, were not given in an all round fashion. In some cases they were not issued where they might have been gladly availed of, and in others, they were not re-issued because those who had once had them had failed to be, or to do what was pleasing in the eyes of their hostess.

The establishment was a very well-managed one in many of its details. The servants were eminently respectable, their mistress could afford to give liberal wages, and was in no way compelled to exact hard work. Richard Walldron, her general man, had as much outside assistance as ever he desired ; so though he fulfilled the double office of coachman and gardener, he was never overdone with work. His wife executed the laundry of the establishment. Catherine White presided in the kitchen, and her niece, Susan Anderson, acted as house and parlour maid. Aunt and niece in the kitchen got on very A REGISTERED

Letter. 7

well together, much better than the aunt and niece of the drawing-room, who were on somewhat curious terms with each other. Mrs. Mervyn managed her servants better than she managed her niece, or else the servants managed her better than the niece did. Yet aunt and niece loved each other after a fashion, if one had died the other would have mourned, but the blossom and beauty of love were wanting. As Mrs. Mervyn headed her breakfast table, she might have been guessed to be of rather unbending disposition, her bearing was extremely upright for one so far advanced in life. Her dark eyes did not evidence gentleness, and her mouth appeared one which would not object to shape itself to a refusal and persist in it. Still, her aspect was not un pleasing; pretty grey hair was surmounted by a becoming cap, and her dark eyes looked all the darker for their near neighbourhood to the bleached hair.

A slightly grim look pervaded her counten ance, indicative of feelings not the most agreeable animating her mind ; she was revolving sundry thoughts, the centre of which was that letter. How much did the cheque represent ? Why was Winifred shutting it up from her ? What had put her into a bad temper this morning? It must be a bad temper was making her so contrary. These thoughts were aggravating ; they presently resolved themselves into ideas and schemes as to how best to exact, if necessary, the information withheld. Nothing very satisfactory came out of these, they effected a slight increase of the grim expression on the face, and some hardness in the tone of the voice which replied in a short kind of way — " Certainly," to Winifred's petition for some more tea. During the rest of the breakfast time, a few remarks, con taining nothing at all interesting, were exchanged, the letter was still left unremarked upon.

When breakfast was ended, aunt and niece separated, Winifred left the room, Mrs. Mervyn took up the newspaper ; as she read it, there came curiously cropping up in her mind ideas concerning that letter ; she guessed it was a legal communica tion. What if it had brought to Winifred what would make her independent ? Hitherto she had been supplied by her with all that was wanting; it would be a great change in the relationship they bore to one another, if this tie of need and supply were severed. She did not like to contemplate this possibility, it contained something distinctly un pleasing to her, if Winifred had been rendered independent, she recognised the possibility of her going out of her life, and as this possibility dawned upon her, she recognised how much she loved the child, and how sorely she would miss her.

Chapter II

Winifred. FOR more than eight years Winifred Errington had formed a member of her Aunt Hester's household. As a child of six she had entered it ; her memory went back beyond that with no great clearness, people and things which it would have retained, if talked of and revived, had gradually faded. She was not sure now whether she remembered her mother, or not ; she had a mixed kind of idea of her, half made up of recollection and half of photograph. Her father, who had survived her mother two years, she did remember, he and the maid, who had been her caretaker during those two motherless years, were the only distinct survivals in her memory, all besides had passed away into the shadowland of the half-forgotten. Her recollection of her father held memories of kind words, and gifts, and making merry.

Ellen, the maid, too had some charms surrounding her, but there were little unhappy bits chequering some of the scenes in which she appeared, bits of suffering and vexation. Nothing of this kind darkened her recollections of her father ; that he had left her penniless was his misfortune rather than his fault, monetary losses had come upon him. Stricken down by sudden illness, in unconsciousness he had passed away, unable to leave any instructions concerning his child. Then Aunt Hester had come forward. Over all the time which Winifred had passed in her house, her mind had a clear survey ; in one's seventh year, memory, where it exists in force, becomes very retentive. Aunt Hester was the chief figure through all these years, where she had gone, Winifred had gone, and where she had stayed, Winifred had stayed.

But the two had not dove-tailed into one another ; the aunt was tolerably often displeased with the niece, and the niece was just as often, indeed rather oftener, displeased with the aunt. On this morning Winifred was entertaining a particular grudge, of which Aunt Hester was not aware. The seniors who cause displeasure much more easily forget it than the juniors who suffer from it, and Mrs. Mervyn, when puzzling over what could have upset Winifred, was entirely oblivious of having displeased her on the previous day. Winifred had, as it seemed to her, exhibited an undue amount of curiosity, which she thought it would be whole some to check. Winifred had not approved of the check ; she had not flamed up into a temper at the time, she preferred not to gratify her aunt by manifesting her annoyance, but she resolved, if Aunt Hester would not tell her what she wished to know, she would seek occasion to pay her out in her own coin.

She had never imagined that such a splendid opportunity would arrive on the following day as WINIFRED. 11 the advent of the registered letter, such an opportunity must not be lost, so, with a wicked little satisfaction, she had shut up into the envelope all that she had brought forth out of it. She did not intend to withhold a revelation altogether, but only to postpone it for such time as she deemed desirable. What she had sought to discover, would be revealed to her sooner or later, for in the force of circum stances it could not be kept from her, so a temporary delay in what she had to make known was quite sufficient to satisfy the claims of her grudge ; more over, she had conceived a plan by which she might put herself into the way of getting the information which had been withheld. This plan was shortly to be put into execution, and in pursuance of it, very soon after quitting the breakfast table, she put on her hat and went out of doors.

She spent a good deal of time out of doors. Now, provided with a German grammar, she directed her steps to a rustic seat ; it was not a favourite one with her, but it was in a very sheltered spot, and for its shelter's sake, she had on some occasions sought it. Thus she had been made aware that it vas a vantage post for hearing what was talked about in the kitchen ; an intervening hedge shut it off from view, but sound could travel through and over the hedge, and on more than one occasion sound had travelled so to her. She had never hitherto cared about its doing so, nor spent any attention on what had so reached her, now she had a purpose, in seek ing to make a discovery. Soon after breakfast, Mrs. Mervyn was wont to visit her kitchen, and give her orders for the day, From these orders, Winifred was pretty sure on this occasion she might glean the information which had been withheld.

Someone was coming to make a tolerably long stay; so much she had heard, but this was all ; it was the refusal to give her further in formation had whetted her curiosity. She was not generally curious about what people might come or go. No one she much cared about seemed to come ; all who came were much more her aunt's friends than hers. The mischief of out-doing Aunt Hester, and carving for herself a road where she had been forbidden an advance, animated her to make the discovery. Her German verbs received a very qualified attention. The sound of Aunt Hester's voice was watched for ; in due time it came — " I should like a nice dinner to-day." These words were no sooner spoken, showing Winifred she was on the brink of her discovery, when, most inopportunely, Richard put his mowing machine into action.

It sadly interfered with her comfort in hearing ; only in broken bits could she catch what otherwise would have fallen uninter ruptedly upon her ear. " He will arrive shortly before dinner It was a he then. " I should like a choice of things, he has been ill, and cannot be at all strong yet." "Some old, crippledy man," thought Winifred. If a name was said, she missed it. Sundry other WINIFRED. 13 scraps she heard, but nothing which added much to her fund of information. She could not settle to whom the items she had secured might refer. One other she had previously heard in the single rejoinder Aunt Hester had vouchsafed to her enquiries — " Some one who, I hope, will do you good." This had not awakened in her any pleasurable anticipation. She did not like the thought of any one who would do her good.

She determined that whoever it was, should not do her good ; he, whoever he might be, should find himself defeated. It was evident Aunt Hester had finished her business ; silence reigned in the kitchen, except for the occasional noises which showed somebody's hands to be at work. Winifred decided to change her situation, Aunt Hester might take a turn round her premises, she frequently did so when her indoor inspection had been concluded. Winifred was not in the humour to meet her. To the seat where she was least likely to be visited by her, she betook herself. This was her favourite spot for more than one reason, very specially for the view it afforded ; a long stretch of country was visible from it, and she liked looking out over it ; the world seemed to open out before her in that far-away view.

As she so feasted her sight now, her face grew brighter and happier looking, her brown eyes softened, her lips parted and then met in a smile. She had some charms which her expression did not affect ; her colouring was beautiful, the hair a wavy yellow brown, eyes and eye-lashes dark, complexion, a fair brunette with a red glow in the cheeks, rosy lips exhibiting the brightest tint of all ; a pretty brow, a delicately shaped nose, and a well-set head added beauty of form to the wealth of colour. She was passing by rapid strides from childhood into womanhood, and though in her perverse fits she oddly seemed like a child, now, when a better spirit had possession of her, she looked a girl thoughtful beyond her years, a distinctly different being to the one who had sat at the breakfast table, maliciously hiding from her aunt what she guessed she would like to know.

When her eyes had regaled them selves on what they could see in the outer world, they assumed an air of abstraction which told that the inner world of thought was occupied. But very quickly a change was made. The German grammar was opened again, and on it the dark eyes spent their energies. In time to be ready for her daily governess, Winifred re-entered the house, and a couple of hours passed in her company. With this governess she ranked amongst her favourite pupils. Miss Carpenter had come as such an improvement on her predecessor, that Winifred, discerning her superiority, had duly appreciated her. No such complaints came before Aunt Hester, as had once been of frequent occurrence. Miss Carpenter was well qualified for her work, and had modern and interesting methods of imparting instruction.

The WINIFRED. 15 two hours spent with her were for Winifred rather the happiest in each day. None of the rustiness which manifested itself against Aunt Hester came out to Miss Carpenter. Had she been Aunt Hester's age, and Aunt Hester been hers, each might have experienced a corresponding change of treatment. Miss Carpenter's age was five-and twenty; Aunt Hester's was five-and-fifty. When Miss Carpenter had gone, Winifred ran out once more to her favourite seat, not now with a German grammar in her hand ; another matter was to occupy her mind. From out of her pocket, where it had safely resided, she drew forth her registered letter — Miss Isabella Petrie, Deceased. Dear Madam, By the will of this lady you were bequeathed a legacy of £100. The legacy duty thereon, payable Xo the Government, was £S- The executrices of Miss Petrie have paid this duty, and have now instructed us to pay you the amount of the legaey, less the payment so made.

We therefore enclose a draft in your favour for the amount of ,£95, and a receipt for signature. Kindly sign and return us the receipt. We add also the receipt for the Government duty, in order to vouch the payment. Please also return the latter with the receipt. We are, Yours truly, Stanley & Son. Miss Winifred Errington, Holmside. The business was rather perplexing, Winifred was not exactly sure as to the right place for the bestowal of her signature, nor was she sure what kind of letter she should write for answer. She knew money should have an immediate acknowledgment, and she thought she had heard her aunt say that some cheques did not bear delay, and should be taken to a bank, she feared this one might be of that class. For so far, no harm had been done by delay, a drive into Severnton, to the bank, could be accomplished immediately after lunch, and there would also be abundant time for the writing and despatch of a letter for that night's mail.

But to provide for both, Aunt Hester must be made a sharer of her news at lunch time, she regretted now that she had withheld it from her at breakfast ; it had been pleasing to her to satisfy her grudge, but she would have waited for some other opportunity had she foreseen her dilemma. She felt that she could not expect her aunt to be particularly pleasant about the matter ; to be sure, if she referred to her not exhibiting her letter, she could reply with truth, " You did not ask for it." Fortifying herself with this idea, and really trusting in Aunt Hester's readiness to help in trouble, she resolved to brave any reproaches she might meet. Assuming as great an amount of coolness as she could, and not in anyway presenting herself as a penitent, she displayed all she had received. Mrs. Mervyn's eyes at once sought the cheque to discover what amount it represented ; her appre- WINIFRED. 17 hensions were at rest, what seemed to Winifred a large amount, to her seemed a small one, there was no fear of £95 bestowing independence.

In her satisfaction, she, for the moment, forgot Winifred's waywardness, and readily granted all the information required. Accustomed for many years to manage her own affairs, she was acquainted with the proper location for signatures, and many other little business details in which some women come to grief. Winifred's anxieties were ended, a visit to the bank was arranged, and instructions were given for the terms of the letter to be written. Winifred thought how surprisingly pleasant Aunt Hester had been over it all ; she never guessed what had brought this about, how the fear of losing her had made her additionally precious. Aunt Hester knew, as she did not, that the cheque might have represented a large amount. Winifred had not only Aunt Hester, who was very comfortably off, on her father's side, she had also relatives, more than very comfortably off, on her mother's side. c

Chapter III

An Exchange. T TE " was to arrive before dinner. In the -*• -*- interest of the visit to the bank, and the writing of her letter of acknowledgment, Winifred had given him only some very passing thoughts. As the afternoon wore on, all her business having been settled, he appeared again on her horizon. With the anticipation of his arrival, her rustiness returned, the thought of this person who was to do her good rubbed her the wrong way, she felt certain she would not like him, she debated the question of where she would first meet him, bent upon as quickly as possible acquainting him with the fact that she did not care twopence about him. She decided to be out of the way when he arrived — that would show him she was in no hurry to see him. " Aunt Hester, shall I take that book to Mrs. Vicars you promised to lend to her ?

" " Yes, you may." So Winifred carried out her purpose. She was welcomed by Mrs. Vicars, who was one of the people privileged with seeing her best side. She had always words of admiration and gratitude for her. Winifred immensely enjoyed these. Slowly she pursued her road home, she was in no hurry to get there, Aunt Hester and her old man might have the place to themselves ; she would not intrude upon them until she was forced to do so. She slipped quietly into the house, neither seeing nor being seen. Dressed in dark green velveteen, with some white lace for its adornment, she descended to the drawing room just in time not to be too late, Aunt Hester was punctilious about manners, and insisted on an appearance in the drawing-room before the dinner gong sounded, otherwise she would, on this occasion, have rushed down at the last moment.

She opened the door abruptly ; she shut it slowly ; astonishment partially paralysed her. The" old, crippledy man " of her imagination was nowhere to be seen. Instead of him she saw a boy — a big boy, not a child. She could guess he was older than herself. No guessing was necessary to settle the question that he was taller, this was very evident as he rose from his chair. Winifred's astonishment could not be altogether concealed, but she herself only knew how great it was. Aunt Hester had quite forgotten that she had not told who was coming, her mind had been occupied with Winifred's business concerns, and when it left them, Winifred had put herself out of the way. "Winifred, this is your cousin, Colin Shaw." "Could there be a mistake ? " was the idea that shot through Winifred's mind, "had there been an exchange of guests ?

" This boy was surely not the person expected to do her good, one of Aunt Hester's pet theories seemed to be that there was little or no good to be found in the young, goodness and wisdom dwelt with age. He was a bright-faced boy, with fair hair and blue eyes, and a pleasant ease of manner, he performed his share of the greeting more creditably than Winifred performed hers. She was handicapped by feelings which were not fettering him, the surprise and perplexity which she had not yet got over, and, in conjunction with these, a touch of displeasure at the idea that this boy should be supposed to be gifted with the power to do her good. She felt now as if the " old, crippledy man " of her expectation would have been a more likely instrument for such a purpose. She was acquainted with this cousin and his family by hearsay, they were poor people, their father was dead, she knew all their names, there were three boys in the family and three girls, and this boy was the eldest of the six.

They were not handsome, she concluded, if they were all like him, she did not admire him ; and, as for his doing her good, she was perfectly certain that Aunt Hester would be entirely disappointed in this notion. Mrs. Mervyn little knew the impression these words of hers had made on Winifred, she had never since recalled them, and, in fact, they had slipped from her memory ; she had not at all intended them to have the amount of meaning which Winifred had put into them. Like other elderly people, she frequently said words the effect of which she very much underrated ; forgetting them herself, she did not think how tenaciously the younger memory of her niece retained them. If Winifred had not been prejudiced against the young guest she would have enjoyed him, his being her contemporary made him pleasant company.