CHAPTER VII.
EVERY YOUNG GIRL WOULD LIKE A LOVER. AND WHY NOT? FOR LOVE IS THEGRANDEST GIFT THE GODS CAN GIVE.
A thunder-bolt falling from a clear sky could not have startled theproud Mrs. Varrick more than those crushing words that fell from thelips of her handsome son--"Mother, if you turn Jessie Bain from yourdoor, I go with her!"
Mrs. Varrick drew herself up to her full height and advanced into theroom like an angry queen.
"Hubert," she cried, in a tone that he had never heard from his mother'slips before, "I can make all due allowance for the follies of a youngman, but I say this to you: you should never have permitted this girl tocross your mother's threshold."
"Give me a chance to speak a few words, mother," he interrupted. "Let meset matters straight. The whole fault is mine, because I have notexplained this affair to you before. I put it off from day to day."
In a few brief words he explained.
In her own mind, quick as a flash, a sudden thought came to her thatthere was more behind this than had been told to her.
She had wondered why Gerelda Northrup, the beauty and the heiress, fledfrom her handsome son at the very altar. Now she began to think thatshe might have had a reason for it other than that which the worldknew.
She was diplomatic; she was too worldly wise to seek to separate themthen and there. She said to herself it must be done by strategy.
"This puts the matter in quite a different light, Hubert," she said;"and while I am slightly incensed at your not telling me about thisaffair, I can readily understand the kindly impulse which prompted youto protect this young girl. But I can not allow _you_ to outdo me;Jessie must consider _me_ quite as much her friend as you. She shallfind a home here with us, and it will be pleasant, after all, to see abright, girlish face in these dull old rooms, and hear the sound ofmerry laughter."
This remark threw Hubert off his guard.
"That is spoken like my noble-hearted mother!" he cried,enthusiastically. "I knew you could not be angry with me when youunderstood it."
The girl stepped hesitatingly forward. From the first instant that shebeheld her standing on the threshold, she had conceived a great dislikeand fear of Hubert's haughty lady-mother. Even the conversation andexplanation which she had just listened to did not change her firstimpression.
Thus it happened that Jessie Bain took up her abode in the magnificenthome of the Varricks.
But Hubert's mother made it the one object of her life to see that herson and this attractive girl were never left alone together for amoment.
He had seemed heart-broken over the loss of Gerelda Northrup up to thetime that Jessie had entered the house; now there was a perceptiblechange in him.
He no longer brooded for hours over his cigars, pacing up and down underthe trees; now he would enter the library of an evening, or linger inthe drawing-room, especially if Jessie was there.
Had it not been for her son, and the terror from day to day in her heartthat Hubert was learning to care for the girl, proud Mrs. Varrick wouldhave liked Jessie Bain, she was so bright, so merry, so artless.
She lost no opportunity in impressing upon Jessie's mind, when she wasalone with the girl, that Hubert would never marry, eagerly noticingwhat effect these words would have upon the girl.
"Wouldn't that be a pity, Mrs. Varrick?" she had answered once. "Itwould be so cruel for him to stay single always."
"Not at all," returned Mrs. Varrick, sharply. "If a man does not get theone that is intended for him, he should never marry any one else."
"And you think that he was intended for Miss Northrup?" questionedJessie.
"Decidedly; and for no one else."
"Then I wonder Heaven did not give her to him," said Jessie.
Mrs. Varrick looked at her keenly.
"A man never has but one love in a life-time," she said, impressively.
A fortnight had barely passed since Jessie had been under that roof, andyet every one of the household noticed the difference in handsome HubertVarrick, and spoke about it. He was growing gayer and more debonairthan in the old days, when he was paying court to the beautiful GereldaNorthrup. Of all subjects, the only one which he would not discuss withhis mother was the future of Jessie Bain.
She had on one occasion asked him, with seeming carelessness, how longhe intended to care for this girl who was an utter stranger to him, andsuggested that, since she would not go to school, his responsibilityought to cease.
"I have bound myself to look after her until she is eighteen," heanswered.
"I want to have a little talk with you, Hubert, on that subject," shesaid. "Will you listen to me a few moments?"
"As many as you like, mother," he answered.
"I want to ask you if you have ever thought over what a wrong step youare taking in giving this girl a taste of a life she can never expect tocontinue after she leaves here?"
"You should be glad that she has a little sunshine, mother."
"It is wrong to place a girl in a brilliant sunshine for a few briefdays, and then plunge her into gloom for the rest of her life."
"She has not been plunged into gloom yet, mother."
"If she could marry well while she is with us, it would be a great thingfor her," went on Mrs. Varrick.
"Don't you think she is rather young yet? What is your opinion aboutthat, mother?"
"It is best for a poor girl to marry as soon as a good offer presentsitself, I believe. I have been thinking deeply upon this subject, for Ihave noticed that there is a young man who seems to be quite smittenwith the charms of Jessie Bain."
Her handsome son flushed to the roots of his dark-brown hair, and helaughed confusedly as he said:
"Why, how very sharp you are, mother! I did not know that you noticedit."
"Of course he is not rich," continued Mrs. Varrick, "but still, even astruggling young architect would be a good match for her. She might doworse."
"Why, what in the world do you mean, mother?" cried Hubert Varrick."What are you talking about?"
"Why, my dear son, have you been blind to what has been going on for thelast fortnight?" she returned, with seeming carelessness. "Haven't younoticed that the young architect who is drawing the plans for the newwestern wing of our house is in love with your _protegee_?"
She never forgot the expression of her son's face; it was livid andwhite as death. This betrayed his secret. He loved Jessie Bain himself!