THE COMMONER'S DAUGHTER. By the Author of "A Few out of Thousands." CHAP. VIII, Dreaming that my mother still lived, and that we were walking together by the side of a bright stream, I was awakened by Miss Liscombe, who told me that it was six o'clock, and that I must rise and prepare for the morning walk before breakfast, which she told me it was the invariable custom of the young ladies at Mnemosyne House to take, weather permitting, and that Miss Margaret Partridge always accompanied us; deeming this matutinal exercise beneficial for her health, and likely to reduce her bulk within the limits of gentility. I rose directly, and after the morning ablutions, making the best toilet I could for my promenade, I joined my schoolfellows, who were by this time assembled in the hall, from whence, marshalled by the English and French teachers, and headed by Miss Margaret, who looked sleepy and cross, we all sallied forth into the square opposite, where, two-and-two, we paced about for an hour, during which time the conversation, as much at least as I could glean of it, was most unmitigated "bald disjointed chat," affording neither instruction nor amuse ment. Lady Laura Tarragon walked in the front of our procession, leaning familiarly on the arm of the parasite Bidkins, whose plain face was quite triumphant by reason of the great honour and dignity conferred on her. When we had achieved as much fatigue as as considered conducive to our health, we were marshalled home again to make fresh toilets, and then we descended to breakfast, most of the oung ladies radiant in elegant muslins and aces. As for myself, dressed simply in a plain mourning cambric, I found myself much looked down upon by the young elegantes, and certainly I wished that my dress had been more carefully selected. Breakfast was but a repetition of the previous evening's tea, the service being of plate, but the table sadly deficient in comestibles. The young ladies certainly ate very sparingly, an abstinence that surprised me less when I afterwards discovered that, at eleven o'clock after the morning studies were finished, Miss Bidkins brought in, for nearly all the pupils, a contraband supply of cold ham and jam tarts, this useful young person being in direct confidential communication with Betsy for that purpose. When school commenced, Miss Liscombe examined me in several branches of the knowledge taught at Mnemosyne House, and evidently to her surprise found me more advanced than she had supposed. She gave me a few moderate tasks for the next day, the afternoons at this elegant seminary of learning, being devoted wholly to needlework, of the order styled fancy; drawing, dancing, and music. It so occurred that this very afternoon was one of those dedicated to music; and Miss Partridge, in one of her set speeches, informed me she would personally introduce me as a pupil to Signor Benvolere. Accordingly after dinner I was presented to this gentleman in due form. Let me pause here! How, at that moment, would my child's heart have expanded, could I have foreseen, that, although it had pleased heaven I should not be blessed with a real parent's love, yet here, amidst the dreary solemnities of Mnemosyne House, its hollow finery, its tinsel accomplishments and limited knowledge, I should attract towards me the love of a father and a friend! Having no previsions on the subject, I meekly followed the dignified superior into the music-room, and made my curtsey to Mr. Benvolere, as I found afterwards he best liked to be called. I Shall I describe him, who I warn my readers will occupy some space in these pages? possess two portraits of him. One represents him in the prime of life, when he was certainly one of the handsomest men of his day. A fine face illuminated with kindness and good feeling, a pair of large dark liquid blue eyes fringed with black lashes, a tall fine form, were attractions, which even Miss Partridge succumbed to, for Mr. Benvolere had taught in her school for many years, and was distinguished by this lady's favour and patronage. I have another sketch, taken as I knew him when age and affliction had left only the moral beauty of that dear face, when silvery hair shaded the fine temples, whose indication of benevolence must have struck the most unintelligent observer. Sympathies and antipathies were strong in my nature, else why did I dislike Lady Laura Tarragon at first sight? and why did I love my music-master from the first moment I saw him, to the last, when-? But I will not anticipate. Expecting Mr. Benvolere to speak in broken English, I found, with the exception of a slight accent, that he spoke my mother-tongue like a native. He had indeed been brought to England when a youth by his parents, who dying, left the boy on the wide world to seek his bread and a place in society. How he might have achieved this seems now impossible to surmise, but like the nautical hero William, of "Black-eyed Susan" fame, he "played on the fiddle like an angel." This talent, and a good voice, gained him the favour of some musical celebrity of the day; Benvolere studied with this person, and revisiting his native country, returned a proficient in the science of sweet sounds. All his life he had taught music. Music, for many years his sole love, was to him a grave and onerous occupation. He was indeed a master too lofty and too classical to be either very fashionable or popular as a composer. He had reared professional pupils, and had seen inferior teachers secure all the merit and emolument of their subsequent success, while he, the real creator of their talent, escaped notice and remained in obscurity; in short Benvolere, at the age of fifty-five, had made the fortunes of many men and women, but had never forwarded his own. Temperate and simple in his habits, so that he could pay his way and help now and then the needy, he persuaded himself he was content. Once only in his life had he wished himself rich: that occasion passed away, and the humble musician was as well pleased to be poor; for gold afterwards could not have furthered his life's happiness, and so was unsought and uncared for. Mr. Benvolere received me kindly, and not distinctly hearing my name, he requested Miss Partridge to repeat it. He started and looked at me earnestly, as she complied with his request. "Her daughter," he said. "Do you know, my dear child, what was your mother's unmarried naine?" The ready tears, always flowing at that dear memory, came forth. Mamma," I sobbed, "is dead." 66 of the Parsonage house. I-I," his voice faltered, "was deeply interested in her beauty and accomplished mind." Miss Partridge bridled. Had any one, I wonder, ever been interested in her beauty? She merely bowed; and coldly desiring I would not encroach on Mr. Benvolere's time, a significant hint addressed to both of us, she requested me at once to commence my lesson. Although I had been but a very short time at Mnemosyne House, I appreciated Miss Partridge's character sufficiently to dry my eyes hastily, and swallowing my feelings as I best could, I commenced playing my very choicest piece. I have said that I had a natural talent for music, inherited from my mother, and, eager on this occasion to please my new friend, I played, I believe, con amore. He listened to the end of a long and somewhat elaborate piece in entire silence; but when the last chords were played, he uttered such expressions of praise and delight as convinced me he was unaffectedly pleased with his new pupil. They fell, I own, sweetly on my ears, unaccustomed as they were to any eulogies, but those of a fond and partial mother. I trembled and blushed with gratification, for here was one who was a judge and critic, pleased with my poor talent; and when next my voice was tested and declared excellent in quality and tone, I felt happier than I had been since my mother's death. The kind interest displayed by my master during this first lesson, his exhortations to persevere in the pursuit of an art loved by him with that intensity which many men display, who devote to it their lives, alike soothed and encouraged me. "I will excel in something," was my ardent resolution. The difficulty after that to my teachers was, not to induce me to practise, but to get me away from the instrument. The piano seemed a friend: friend it was indeed of my friend-the soother of his sorrows, the consoler of trouble, disappointments, and all the evils this flesh is heir to. To gain the esteem of this at once beloved master, was to me the most powerful of motives; therefore, urged by such an ambition, I speedily out-stripped the elder pupils, acquiring likewise, for my pains, a vast amount of envy, hatred, and malice. Such feelings were particularly manifested towards me by Lady Laura Tarragon. This unamiable young lady seemed indeed scarcely to possess a loveable trait in her disposition. She was the only daughter of a peer, whose ancient pedigree was of more consideration than his limited income, which, from the conversation of the teachers, I heard was taxed to the utmost in educating his daughter and paying her dressmaker's bills, as well as in giving a too liberal allowance to sons, who from the same authority I understood to be handsome, dashing young spendthrifts. Lady Laura too was fond of boasting of her brothers among her select friends. She herself throughout the school was reputed a beauty, though many might have denied her claim to such distinction. She, however, was under- A good deal of bustling and screaming nastood to be heiress to a considerable inheritance turally ensued, as well as fright among the from a godmother, a fact disseminated by her- most timid. Miss Phitts, alive only to selfself, and which in after-years I knew to be wholly preservation, jumped at last, in an agony of an invention; but which assertion, added to her title terror, on her bed; while I, convinced by the and Norman descent, caused her then to be tinkling sound of the bells, as to the real nature regarded as quite the leading person of Mnemo- of the intruder, crept under the bed, and catchsyne House. Any authority, but that of the ing the poor frightened animal, endeavoured to principal herself, this young lady entirely dis- apologize and explain. I was about to convey regarded, displaying an arrogance and contempt him to his proper quarters, when Lady Laura towards the inferior and working teachers, which caught hold of my arm, and imperiously desavoured extremely of hardheartedness, or, to manded to know who owned that "horrid cat." speak more correctly, of no heart at all. With I quietly answered he was mine; but the young the utmost superficiality of education, she was lady's disgust had already given the cue to the too indolent to acquire, even in mediocrity, the whole school. accomplishments which formed the staple commodity of the school, or indeed to do much beyond adorning her elegant and aristocratic person; and, as no small time was devoted in that house to the worship of the graces, Lady Laura had ample opportunities for the display of her exquisite and elaborate wardrobe. Young unmarried ladies then had not been taught to dress with the elegant simplicity of present times, and Lady Laura Tarragon loved to overpower every beholder with a multiplicity of silks, satins, feathers, flowers, and jewels, which now would barely be tolerated in such profusion on a married dame of mature age. Dancing and music days, were the principal occasions for these grand displays. This young and splendid lady-for some reason, then, best known to herself-resented my appearance at Mnemosyne House, and at once established herself as my decided enemy and unflinching tormentor. Only Miss Liscombe, who was always treated by Lady Laura with a disdainful hauteur, interfered in my behalf, and, as she was mostly engrossed in the fagging duties of the school I had generally a pleasant life; for most of the girls (sycophants in that little world to rank and beauty, as are their elders in a wider sphere) laughed when Lady Laura laughed, and sneered when she sneered; between sneers and laughter, I well nigh, in this fashionable seminary, lost heart of grace altogether. It was not long before my tormentor found out a famous way of wounding me to the core. One day, while we were busily dressing for the barmecidal repast termed at Mnemosyne House dinner, my poor cat (who, after much coaxing, had submitted at last to be conquered and installed in the kitchen), surreptitiously crept upstairs in quest of me, who now could only pet him by stealth; and having ensconced himself under Miss Phitt's bed, in the small room which led out of my dormitory, he suddenly announced his presence by jingling his bells. Miss Phitts, who was occasionally inclined to have nerves, and who, in truth, now and then had them pretty severely tested, immediately decided that the noise must proceed from a large rat, unmindful that rats were not usually accustomed to wear bells. Under this persuasion, she engaged some of the most courageous of the girls to poke at the intruder with sticks and parasols. Tootsey was speedily denounced as a "beast," a "filthy creature,' a "horrid thing," and finally the poor brute was torn from my protecting arms by Lady Laura herself, secretly delighted that she had discovered a source of torment. In spite of my prayers and tears, the creature I loved was severely and cruelly beaten, running the gauntlet through two or three of Lady Laura's most devoted followers, and he was finally thrown headlong over the banisters to see-as the ringleader deridingly said-if he really possessed nine lives. I flew down-stairs, and found my pet motionless, bleeding, and helpless. With scalding tears, and a heart bursting with indignation and grief, I called Betsy; and the good-natured girl coming to my assistance, we took the poor cat into the kitchen, and, washing his wounds, gave him warm milk. When the dinner-bell rang, I was somewhat comforted to find, my old playfellow was likely to recover. My feelings, always keen, had however been deeply roused, and when the girls were all seated round the dinner-table, I walked up to Miss Partridge and demanded that justice should be done on the offender. "If Lady Laura Tarragon hates me," I concluded, after an indignant recital of her cruelty, "let her beat and pinch me, not my poor dumb helpless cat." Miss Partridge seemed embarrassed. She could not pretend to disbelieve my statement; for the teachers corroborated it. Lady Laura was the show-girl of her school, and to offend a pupil so attractive and well connected was, no doubt, in the eyes of the Superior, highly unadvisable. Still, even interest would not allow her to overlook such flagrant conduct, with the eyes of all the pupils wide open with eagerness to hear her adjudication. Lady Laura's aiders and abettors began to hang their heads; and Miss Partridge, even though the dinner was getting cold, examined and cross-examined me, hoping I would take her hints, and implicate some one of less consequence. But I was firm, and insisted that Lady Laura was the chief instigator and doer of this cruel conduct. At length, impelled by the force of conviction, the Oracle was obliged to speak. "I am really amazed, young ladies, at your quarrelsome and absurd behaviour. This comes entirely, Miss Castlebrook, through your unpre cedented conduct in bringing a cat to school the idea was preposterous." "But nevertheless, sister," said the generallysilent Miss Margaret, who, when she did speak, copied her elder sister's didactic mode of speech, "nevertheless, you accorded permission for Miss Castlebrook to keep the animal; and for my own part I must say, cruelty to dumb animals is the last trait I should have expected to result from the teachings of Mnemosyne House. Lady Laura," she continued, her florid countenance flushed to a peony red-"Lady Laura Tarragon, leave the table, retire to your own apartment, and consider yourself under punishment, till Miss Partridge or myself shall accord permission for you to come forth." Lady Laura paused a second before she obeyed. She gave one glance towards the elder sister, who cast her eyes on the table-cloth; and then the young lady, finding Miss Margaret's command uncontradicted, rose up, and with a look of rage and vindictiveness which altered her lovely features to the semblance of a demon's, she quitted the dining-room, banging the door with a reverberation that shook the plates and dishes on the table. I do not think the wondering pupils of Mnemosyne were more astonished at the passive Margaret's sudden assumption of authority than was that usually-placid and portly lady herself at her own unwonted energy. It was pretty well known in the school that the sisters' rights of partnership were equal, and that Miss Margaret was merely put down by the authority of usurpation. Our dinner passed in a frozen silence. Before the whole school, Miss Partridge could not contravene her sister's decree. The Superior had sufficient self-control to perceive that a scene of recrimination between the heads of the establishment would by no means tend to preserve the dignity so necessary to overawe its élèves; but her annoyance at what had passed was very visible; and when dinner was over, as it was dancing-day, Miss Phitts was deputed chaperone, and the sisters retired to their own apartments to hold a cabinet council. In the interval preparatory to the dancinglesson this matter was thoroughly discussed by the elder pupils. Margaret Partridge had been so universally considered by the whole school as a nonentity, that everyone had come to regard her as an under-teacher; but many were of opinion now, that her unlooked-for tone of authority gave evident tokens that she not only knew her rights, but was even prepared to vindicate them. Only those who have experienced school-life know how stirring such events are considered; how they are talked over, exaggerated into vast importance, and what excitement they afford to the monotony, that too often generates the worst faults of women-small talk, scandal, and a love of bickering. After the dancing-lesson, I whispered my distress to Susan Liscombe, and that kind-hearted young lady went with me into the kitchen to visit the invalid, who, stretched out on an old chair-cushion, was now as comfortable as his injuries permitted him to be; for Betsy, having that important person the cook, on her side, held fast to the rights of her territories, and declared she should resent any affront to Miss Castlebrook's cat. After tea, Lady Laura was liberated by a joint order from the Misses Partridge; and this short and mild punishment was, I believe, the only one inflicted. My readers may deem me weak for dwelling thus on my childish pets-my juvenile distresses; but my aim is, if possible, by these traits of character, to enable them to judge of the dispositions of Lady Laura Tarragon and myself, whose fates, thus early brought together, were destined to be interwoven throughout life. A few days after this occurrence I took a resolution, the result of some deliberation, and I must say of self-conquest: I informed Betsy that, sooner than have my favourite tortured or distressed, I would give him away; "provided," I said, "I could find a kind and humane owner for him." The honest girl's eyes sparkled with joy. "Oh Miss," she cried, "do let mother have him. I know she'll be so fond of him, and I've lots of little brothers and sisters-worse luck-who will pet him, poor dumb beast, like anything." Knowing Tootsy to be unaccustomed to children, I said I feared that might be an ob jection. But she assured me, with such an air of truth, that there was not one among them who would willingly hurt a fly's leg, that I at last consented to transfer the cat to this worthy family. It was therefore agreed that the next time Betsy was sent out for a relay of tarts or novels, she should take Tootsy, in the covered basket which brought him to Mnemosyne House, and bestow him on her grateful family. Kissing my little pet's glossy coat, and sorrowful enough to think how seldom, if ever again, I should hear his merry bells, I gave him a parting hug, and placed half-a-crown in Betsy's hands, to enable her mother to purchase nourishing rations for Tootsy until he should be thoroughly convalescent. Betsy contrived next day, as I was crossing the hall, to inform me that the cat was safe in his new abode, and apparently well contented; that he was an object of great admiration to the whole family, especially to the baby; to whom, her mother said, he was quite as good as a real coral and bells. I rejoiced in my determination the morning after this news was told, when I accidentally encountered Lady Laura ascending the kitchen stairs-regions which were especially forbidden to the young ladies. She held a small china jug in her hand, and, as she tripped up-stairs, some of the contents were spilt. The liquid was milk. I took no notice of her, but when I had passed, and she thought me out of sight, I saw her go into the footman's pantry, and pour all that was contained in the jug into the small sink which was there. |