CHAPTER THREE.
AUNT MARIA.
Among the crowd of relations near and far most families possess onerelation _par excellence_, who stands out from all the rest by reasoneither of generosity, aggravatingness, or strength of character.Sometimes this relation is an uncle; more often it is an aunt; almostinvariably he or she is unmarried or widowed, because the single statenaturally allows more time and energy for interests beyond the personalhousehold.
The Garnetts' relation _par excellence_ was Aunt Maria--_Lady_ Maria asthey erroneously called her, being unsophisticated in the niceties ofthe peerage. Her rightful cognomen was Lady Hayes, and she was theelderly, very elderly, widow of an estimable gentleman who had beencreated a Baronet in recognition of services rendered to his politicalparty. The Garnetts felt that it was very stylish to possess an auntwith a title, and introduced her name with an air when the Vernons grewsuperior on the subject of "the grounds." Lady Hayes was an eccentricindividual who inhabited a beautiful old country house in the Midlands,from which base she was given to suddenly swooping down upon herrelations, choosing by preference for these visits the times whencarpets had been sent away to be cleaned, or the maids granted days offto visit relations in the country. Then Lady Hayes would appear,announce her intention of staying a couple of nights, declare herunwillingness to give the slightest trouble, and proceed to request thather maid should be accommodated with a room next to her own, and thatthey should both be supplied with a vegetarian diet, supplemented byglasses of sterilised milk at intervals of every two hours. Sometimesthe vegetarianism gave place to a diet of minced beef, but whatevermight be the diet of the moment it was invariably something which no oneelse wanted to eat, and which took about three times as long to prepareas the entire rations for the household dinner of ten.
It was at the close of the Midsummer term, when the Garnett family wereblissfully preparing for the yearly migration to the sea, that a letterfrom Aunt Maria fell like a bombshell upon the peaceful scene. Thisyear the holiday promised to be even more blissful than usual, for theVernons had secured a second farmhouse, not ten minutes' walk from theirown, and connected with the sea by the same fascinating field-paths. Afarm and the sea! Could there possibly exist a more fascinatingcombination? The young people sniffed in advance the two dear,distinctive odours which, more than anything else, presented the scenesbefore them--the soft, cowy-milky scent of the farm, the salt, sharpwhiff of the brine. From morn till night, at every available moment,they discussed the day's programme--feeding animals, calling the cows,bathing, picnicking on the sands, crab-hunting, mountain climbing.Excitement grew until it really seemed impossible to exist through theintervening days, and then the bombshell fell! A letter arrived by anevening post, when Mr and Mrs Garnett were enjoying the oneundisturbed hour of the day. It bore the Hayes crest, and was writtenin Aunt Maria's small, crabbed handwriting--
"My dear Emily,--
"I propose, all being well, to pay you a short visit from Tuesday toThursday next, twelfth to fifteenth instant. Please let me have thesame rooms as on my last visit. I am at present living on Benger'sfood, and must ask you to see that it is made freshly for each meal, ina _perfectly clean, enamelled saucepan_.
"The chief object of my visit is to bring back one of your threedaughters to stay with me during the summer vacation. I have beenfeeling somewhat lonely of late, and my doctor recommends young society,so it has occurred to me that in obeying his instructions I might at thesame time afford pleasure and benefit to one of your family. Should Ibecome interested in the child it might be to her advantage hereafter,but it must be understood that I can make no promises on this point.
"The eighteen months which have elapsed since my last visit havesomewhat dimmed my remembrance of your girls, so that I must see themagain before deciding as to which of the three I should prefer as acompanion.
"With love to William and yourself,--
"Believe me, my dear Emily,--
"Your affectionate Aunt,--
"Maria Hayes."
Mrs Garnett read this communication in silence, handed it to herhusband, and watched him flush and frown over the perusal.
"Does not even go through the form of asking our consent!"
"No! That's Aunt Maria all over. You could hardly imagine that shewould. Oh dear! Oh dear! I'm afraid, Will--I'm _afraid_ she will haveto go!"
"Poor little kiddie, yes! How she will hate it! Just at this momentwhen they are all wild with joy at the thought of their holiday with theVernons. It seems positively brutal!"
"Oh, it does. I am so sorry for her--whichever it may be--but one mustsometimes be cruel to be kind. We can't afford--I am not mercenary, asyou know--but with our means we _can't_ afford to refuse any possibleadvantage for our girls! The sacrifice of a summer holiday ought not toweigh against that."
"No, you're right, quite right. So be it then. Write and tell her tocome, only I tell you plainly my holiday's spoiled... With Darsiegone--"
"Dear! she has not chosen yet."
"Dear! you know perfectly well--"
They looked at each other, smiling, rueful, half-ashamed. It seemedlike treason to the other girls, this mutual acknowledgment that Darsiewas the flower of the flock, the child of the six to whom all strangerswere attracted as by a magnet. Clarence and Lavender were equally asdear to the parents' hearts, but there was no denying the existence of aspecial and individual pride in the fascinations of Darsie.
Mr Garnett turned aside with an impatient shrug.
"There's one thing, Emily, _you_ must tell her when it is settled!There'll be a tremendous scene. I flatly refuse--"
"Very well, dear, very well; I'll do it. But it's not decided yet,remember, and one can never be sure. I'd better break the idea to thegirls before Aunt Maria comes, and let them get over the firstexcitement. To-night would be a good opportunity. You will be outlate, so would be spared the scene!"
"Bless you, Emily! I'm a coward, I know, but I _should_ be grateful. Ican't answer for what I should do if Darsie cried, and begged myprotection. Women have twice the pluck of men in these affairs!"
Nevertheless it was with a quaking heart that Mrs Garnett broached theobject of Aunt Maria's proposition over the schoolroom tea thatafternoon, and her nervousness was not decreased by the smilinglyunperturbed manner in which it was received. Never, never for a momentdid it appear possible to the three girls that such a proposition couldbe seriously discussed.
"_So_ likely!" sneered Clemence with a fine disdain. "Give up all thefun and excitement of the sea with the Vernons, to _browse_ with AuntMaria. _So_ likely, to be sure!"
"Poor dear old love! She _is_ deluded. Thinks it would be a pleasureand benefit, does she. I wouldn't take a thousand pounds--"
Thus Lavender. Darsie went a step farther in tragic declamation.
"I'd drown myself first! To sit there--panting, in hot rooms, onBenger's food, and know that all the others were bathing and runningwild on the shore--I'd burst! I'd run away in an hour--"
"Dears, it's a beautiful old place. There are gardens, and lawns, andhorses, and dogs. Cows, too! I am sure there are cows--she used tokeep a herd of Jerseys. You could see them being milked."
"Welsh cows are good enough for me. I don't need Jerseys. _Or_ lawns!Give me the free, untrammelled countryside!
"`And to see it reflected in eyes that I love.'"
Darsie paraphrased a line of the sweet old ballad, singing it in aclear, bell-like voice to a pantomime of clasped hands and rolling eyes."It would be bad enough in an ordinary year, but to rend us apart fromthe Vernons--oh, no, it's unthinkable!"
"You have the Vernons near you all the year, dear. Aunt Maria only asksfor eight weeks. There are occasions in life when it does not do tothink only of our own pleasure."
Silence. A note in the mother's voice had startled her hearers into theconviction that the invitation must be regarded seriously, and nottossed aside as a joke. A lacerating suspicion that
the authoritieswere in favour of an acceptance pierced like a dart.
"Mother! What do you mean? You couldn't _possibly_ be so cruel--"
"Mother, you don't mean--."
"Mother, what _do_ you mean?"
"I mean that you ought to go, dears, which ever one of you is asked.Aunt Maria is an old lady, and she is lonely. Her doctor has orderedcheerful companionship. Moreover, she has been a kind friend to fatherin the past, and has a right to expect some consideration in return. Ifyou went in the right spirit, you could be of real use and comfort, andwould have the satisfaction of doing a kind deed."
Darsie set her lips in a straight line, and tilted her chin in the air.
"Couldn't pretend to go in the right spirit! I'd be in a tearing rage.Somebody else can have the `satisfaction,' and I'll go to the sea."
"Darsie, dear, that's naughty!"
"I _feel_ naughty, mother. `Naughty' is a mild word. _Savage_! I feelsavage. It's too appalling. What does father say? I'm sure he wouldnever--"
"Father feels as I do; very disappointed for our own sakes and for yoursthat our happy party should be disturbed, but he never shirks adisagreeable duty himself, and he expects his children to follow hisexample."
Lavender instantly burst into tears.
"It's always the way--always the way! It was too good to be true. Wemight have known that it was. She'll choose me, and Hannah will gowithout me. We'd planned every day--fishing, and bathing, and makinghay, and I shall be mewed up in a close carriage, and have meals ofnuts--and n-n-nobody to talk to. Oh, I can't--I can't bear it! I wishI could die and be buried--I _cannot_ bear it--"
"You won't have to bear it. She'll choose me. I'm the eldest, and themost of a companion." Clemence spoke with the calmness of despair, herplump cheeks whitening visibly, her pale eyes showing a flush of redaround the lids. "Of course, if it's my duty, I must go--but I'd assoon be sent to prison! I'm feeling _very_ tired, and thought theholiday would set me up. Now, of course, I shall be worse. Eight weeksalone with Aunt Maria would try anybody's nerves. I shall be a wreckall winter, and have neuralgia till I'm nearly mad."
"Nonsense, darling! If you are so tired, the rest and quiet of TheTowers will be just what you need; and as we don't know yet which one ofyou Aunt Maria will wish as a companion, it is a pity for you all tomake yourselves miserable at once. Why not try to forget, and hope forthe best! Surely that would be the wiser plan."
The three girls looked at each other in eloquent silence. Easy to talk.Forget, indeed. As if they _could_! Mother didn't really believe whatshe said. She was making the best of it, and there were occasions whenmaking the best of it seemed just the most aggravating thing one coulddo.
It was a relief to the girls when Mrs Garnett was summoned from theroom on household business, and they were left to themselves. A cravingfor sympathy was the predominant sensation, and prompted the suggestion,"Let's wire to the Vernons," which was followed by a stampede upstairs.The telegraph was a sufficiently new institution to appear a pleasurerather than a toil, even though a message thus dispatched was aninfinitely longer and more laborious effort than a run round theterrace, so to-day a leaf was torn from the note-book, a dramaticannouncement penned and placed in the hanging-bag, with its jinglingbell of warning, and the three girls took it in turns to pull at thecord till the missive arrived at its destination. Attracted by thesound of the bell, Vie and plain Hannah stood at the window awaiting thecommunication, read over its contents, and stood silent and dismayed.The Garnetts, watching from afar, realised the dramatic nature of thatpause, and thrilled in sympathy.
"_One of us is going to be sent to prison instead of to the country_!"
"_Prison_!" Vie and plain Hannah wagged their heads over the cipher,hesitated long, pencil in hand, and, finally, in a frenzy of impatience,which refused to be curbed even by loyalty to the telegraph itself,dispatched an urgent summons to speech--
"_Come round and talk_!"
The Garnetts flew. The Vernons, waiting upon the doorstep, escortedthem upstairs to the scantily furnished room which had first been anursery, then promoted to playroom, and, ultimately, when the morejuvenile name wounded the susceptibilities of its inmates, had becomedefinitely and proudly "the study." The bureau in the corner was Dan'sspecial property, and might not be touched by so much as a finger-tip.The oak table with three sound legs and a halting fourth, supported byan ancient volume of _Good Words_, was Vie's property; John and plainHannah shared the dining-table, covered with the shabby green baizecloth, which stood in the centre of the room. There were a variety ofuncomfortable chairs, an ink-splashed drugget, and red walls coveredwith pictures which had been banished from other rooms as they acquiredthe requisite stage of decrepitude and grime.
The five girls surged into the room, faced each other, and burst intoeager speech--
"_Who's_ going to prison?"
"We don't know. Wish we did!"
"What do you mean by prison?"
"Aunt Maria's!"
"Lady Maria's?"
"Lady Maria's! One of us has to go and stay with her for eight weeksinstead of going with you to the sea."
Vie Vernon collapsed on to the nearest chair, and gasped for breath."Stu-pendous!" she murmured beneath her breath. Vie had a new word eachseason which she used to describe every situation, good and bad. Theseason before it had been "Weird!" this season it was "Stupendous," andshe was thankful for the extra syllable in this moment of emotion."It's really true? You mean it in earnest? _Why_?"
"Thinks it would be a pleasure to us, and that we should be cheerycompanions. _So_ likely, isn't it?"
"But--but surely your mother-- What does she say?"
"Preaches! Oughtn't to think of ourselves. Ought to show a rightspirit and go."
"Stu-pendous!" cried Vie once again. Plain Hannah hoisted herself on tothe corner of the table, and hunched herself in thought. She really wasextraordinarily plain. Looking at her critically, it seemed thateverything that should have been a line had turned into a curve, andeverything that should have been a curve into a line; she was thick-set,clumsy, awkward in gait, her eyes were small, her mouth was large, shehad a meagre wisp of putty-coloured hair, and preposterously thickeyebrows several shades darker in hue, and no eyelashes at all. Friendsand relations lavished much pity on poor dear Hannah's unfortunatelooks, but never a sigh did Hannah breathe for herself. She was strongand healthy, her sturdy limbs stood her in good stead in the variousgames and sports in which she delighted, and she would not haveexchanged her prowess therein for all the pink cheeks and golden locksin the world. Hannah's manner, like her appearance, lacked grace andcharm; it was abrupt, forceful, and to the point. She spoke now, chinsunk in her grey flannel blouse, arms wrapped round her knees--
"Is she coming to see you before she chooses, or will it be done bypost?"
"She's coming! Two days next week. Isn't it too awful? We were sohappy--the telegraph up, and the weather jolly, and holidays nearlyhere. `All unsuspecting of their doom the little victims played.' Andthen--_this_! Holidays with Aunt Maria! Even the third of a chanceturns me cold with dismay. I couldn't bear--"
"You won't need to. She won't have you. She'll choose Darsie."
Darsie squealed in shrillest protest--
"No, no! It's not fair. She won't! She can't! It's always the eldestor the youngest. I'm the middle--the insignificant middle. Why shouldshe choose me?"
"You are not so modest as a rule! You know perfectly well thatstrangers always _do_ take more notice of you than any one else. Youare always the one who is fussed over and praised."
"Because I want to be! This time I shan't. I'll be just as sulky andhorrid as I can for the whole blessed time."
"You'll be there anyway, and you can't alter your face."
"My fatal beauty!" wailed Darsie, and wrung her hands in impassionedfashion. Then she looked critically from one sister to another, andproceeded to candid criticisms of their charms.
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"Clemence is not pretty, but she's _nice_! If she did her hair better,and sat up, and had a colour, and didn't poke her chin, she'd look quitedecent. I should think it would be interesting to take some one who_needed_ improving, and see what you could do. Lavender's gawky, ofcourse, girls _are_ gawky at her age, but I shouldn't wonder if she grewquite decent-looking in time. Rest and quiet would do wonders!"
"Thank you, indeed! You _are_ kind!" The sisters bridled and tossedtheir heads, by no means appeased by such prognostications of theirfuture charms. "Certainly if she took _you_, she might teach you to bemodest!"
"Oh, dear, oh, dear, I don't want _any_ of you to go!" Vie, thepeacemaker, rushed to the rescue. She was just sixteen, younger thanClemence, older than Darsie, attached almost equally to the two.Lavender, of course, was quite too young for a companion, but thenLavender and Hannah paired together; if she were absent, Hannah at aloose end would demand entrance into those three-sided conferences whichmade the joy of life. The fear of such an incursion made Lavender atthat moment seem even more precious than her sisters. Vie continued herlament with bitter emphasis--
"_Too_ bad--_too_ hard--stupendous! Spoil everything. Horridinterfering old thing! If I were your parents I wouldn't--not for allthe money in the world, I wouldn't sacrifice a child to an old ogre likethat! I'd keep my own children and let them be happy while they could,but, of course, if she talks of duty...! If there's one thing morestupendous than another it's being put on one's honour! It gives one_no_ chance. Well, you'll have to go, I suppose, and our holiday isspoiled. I've never been so disappointed in my life."
"Think of how _we_ feel!" croaked Clemence tragically, but this time thetragedy did not ring so true, for since plain Hannah's verdict herspirits had risen considerably. Hannah was the shrewdest and cleverestof all five girls, and her prophecies were proverbially correct.Clemence felt sufficiently reassured to reflect that as the eldest inyears, she would do well to show an example of resignation. Shelengthened her face, and added solemnly--
"I don't think you ought to talk like that about honour, Vie! It oughtto be an incentive. If I go, the only thing that will console me mostis the feeling that I am doing my duty!"
Vie stared, and the younger girls coughed in derisive chorus.
"Isn't it easy to be resigned for somebody else?" demanded plain Hannahof the ceiling. "You are _not_ going, my dear, and you know it. Darsielikes well enough to queen it as a rule, and now she's got to pay theprice. That's the cost of good looks. Thank goodness no one will everwant to run off with _me_!--not even a staid old aunt. Tell us aboutyour aunt, by the way--you've talked enough about yourselves. Wheredoes she live, and what is she like, and what does she do, and what will_you_ do when you're there? Have any of you ever seen the place?"
"Not since we were old enough to remember, but mother has been and toldus all about it. It's big, with a lodge, two lodges, and a park allround, very rich, and grand, and respectable, and dull. There are men-servants to wait at table, and the windows are never open, and shedrives out every day in a closed carriage, and plays patience at night,and wears two wigs, turn about, a week at a time. Her cheeks are red,the sort of red that is made up of little red lines, and never getsbrighter or darker, and she likes to be quiet and avoid excitement. Oh,imagine what it would be like to _choose_ to be quiet, and deliberatelyrun away from a fuss! Can you imagine if you lived a thousand yearsever reaching such a pitch as that?"
Darsie held out both hands in dramatic appeal, and her hearers groanedwith unction. It was impossible, absolutely beyond the power ofimagination to picture such a plight. Each girl hugged to herself theconviction that with her at least would remain immortal youth; thathappen what might to the rest of mankind, no length of years could numbher own splendid vitality and _joie de vivre_.
Not even, and at the thought the three Garnetts sighed in concert, noteven Aunt Maria!