Why didnt you tell all this when Alice was here? inquired his mother, seeming herself again, though very grave.
Ill tell you. I thought it over, and it seems to me itll be better if Alice and Arry wait a while before they know whatll come to them. They cant take anything till theyre twenty-one. Alice is a good girl, but
He hesitated, having caught his mothers eye. He felt that this prudential course justified in a measure her anxiety.
Shes a girl, he pursued, and we know that a girl with a lot o money gets run after by men who care nothing about her and a good deal about the money. Then its quite certain Arry wont be any the better for fancying himself rich. Hs going to give us trouble as it is, I can see that. We shall have to take another house, of course, and we cant keep them from knowing that theres money fallen to me. But theres no need to talk about the figures, and if we can make them think its only me thats better off, so much the better. Alice neednt go to work, and Im glad of it; a girls proper place is at home. You can tell her you want her to help in the new house. Arry had better keep his place awhile. I shouldnt wonder if I find work for him myself before long Ive got plans, but I shant talk about them just yet.
He spoke then of the legal duties which fell upon him as next-of-kin, explaining the necessity of finding two sureties on taking out letters of administration. Mr. Yottle had offered himself for one; the other Richard hoped to find in Mr. Westlake, a leader of the Socialist movement.
You want us to go into a big house? asked Mrs. Mutimer. She seemed to pay little attention to the wider aspects of the change, but to fix on the details she could best understand, those which put her fears in palpable shape.
I didnt say a big one, but a larger than this. Were not going to play the do-nothing gentlefolk; but all the same our life wont and cant be what it has been. Theres no choice. Youve worked hard all your life, mother, and its only fair you should come in for a bit of rest. Well find a house somewhere out Green Lanes way, or in Highbury or Holloway.
He laughed again.
So theres the best of itthe worst of it, as you say. Just take a night to turn it over. Most likely I shall go to Belwick again to-morrow afternoon.
He paused, and his mother, after bending her head to bite off an end of cotton, asked
Youll tell Emma?
I shall go round to-night.
A little later Richard left the house for this purpose. His step was firmer than ever, his head more upright Walking along the crowded streets, he saw nothing; there was a fixed smile on his lips, the smile of a man to whom the world pays tribute. Never having suffered actual want, and blessed with sanguine temperament, he knew nothing of that fierce exultation, that wrathful triumph over fate, which comes to men of passionate mood smitten by the lightning-flash of unhoped prosperity. At present he was well-disposed to all men; even against capitalists and profitmongers he could not have railed heartily Capitalists? Was he not one himself? Aye, but he would prove himself such a one as you do not meet with every day; and the foresight of deeds which should draw the eyes of men upon him, which should shout his name abroad, softened his judgments with the charity of satisfied ambition. He would be the glorified representative of his class. He would show the world how a self-taught working man conceived the duties and privileges of wealth. He would shame those dunder-headed, callous-hearted aristocrats, those ravening bourgeois. Opportunitywhat else had he wanted? No longer would his voice be lost in petty lecture-halls, answered only by the applause of a handful of mechanics. Ere many months had passed, crowds should throng to hear him; his gospel would be trumpeted over the land. To what might he not attain? The educated, the refined, men and women
He was at the entrance of a dark passage, where his feet stayed themselves by force of habit. He turned out of the street, and walked more slowly towards the house in which Emma Vine and her sisters lived. Having reached the door, he paused, but again took a few paces forward. Then he came back and rang the uppermost of five bells. In waiting, he looked vaguely up and down the street.
It was Emma herself who opened to him. The dim light showed a smile of pleasure and surprise.
Youve come to ask about Jane? she said. She hasnt been quite so bad since last night.
Im glad to hear it. Can I come up?
Will you?
He entered, and Emma closed the door. It was pitch dark.
I wish Id brought a candle down, Emma said, moving back along the passage. Mind theres a pram at the foot of the stairs.
The perambulator was avoided successfully by both, and they ascended the bare boards of the staircase. On each landing prevailed a distinct odour; first came the damp smell of newly-washed clothes, then the scent of fried onions, then the workroom of some small craftsman exhaled varnish. The topmost floor seemed the purest; it was only stuffy.
Richard entered an uncarpeted room which had to serve too many distinct purposes to allow of its being orderly in appearance. In one corner was a bed, where two little children lay asleep; before the window stood a sewing-machine, about which was heaped a quantity of linen; a table in the midst was half covered with a cloth, on which was placed a loaf and butter, the other half being piled with several dresses requiring the needle. Two black patches on the low ceiling showed in what positions the lamp stood by turns.
Emmas eldest sister was moving about the room. Hers were the children; her husband had been dead a year or more. She was about thirty years of age, and had a slatternly appearance; her face was peevish, and seemed to grudge the half-smile with which it received the visitor.
Youve no need to look round you, she said. Were in & regular pig-stye, and likely to be. Wheres there a chair?
She shook some miscellaneous articles on to the floor to provide a seat.
For mercys sake dont speak too loud, and wake them children. Berties had the earache; hes been crying all day. What with him and Jane weve had a blessing, I can tell you. Can I put these supper things away, Emma?
Ill do it, was the others reply. Wont you have a bit more, Kate?
Ive got no mind for eating. Well, you may cut a slice and put it on the mantelpiece. Ill go and sit with Jane.
Richard sat and looked about the room absently. The circumstances of his own family had never fallen below the point at which it is possible to have regard for decency; the growing up of himself and of his brothers and sister had brought additional resources to meet extended needs, and the Mutimer characteristics had formed a safeguard against improvidence. He was never quite at his ease in this poverty-cumbered room, which he seldom visited.
You ought to have a fire, he said.
Theres one in the other room, replied Kate. One has to serve us.
But you cant cook there.
Cook? We can boil a potato, and thats about all the cooking we can do now-a-days.
She moved to the door as she spoke, and, before leaving the room, took advantage of Richards back being turned to make certain exhortatory signs to her sister. Emma averted her head.
Kate closed the door behind her. Emma, having removed the eatables to the cupboard, came near to Richard and placed her arm gently upon his shoulders. He looked at her kindly.
Kates been so put about with Bertie, she said, in a tone of excuse. And she was up nearly all last night.
Kates been so put about with Bertie, she said, in a tone of excuse. And she was up nearly all last night.
She never takes things like you do, Richard remarked.
Shes got more to bear. Theres the children always making her anxious. She took Alf to the hospital this afternoon, and the doctor says he must haveI forget the name, somebodys food. But its two-and-ninepence for ever such a little tin. They dont think as his teeth ll ever come.
Oh, I daresay they will, said Richard encouragingly.
He had put his arm about her. Emma knelt down by him, and rested her head against his shoulder.
Im tired, she whispered. Ive had to go twice to the Minories to-day. Im so afraid I shant be able to hold my eyes open with Jane, and Kates tireder still.
She did not speak as if seeking for sympathy it was only the natural utterance of her thoughts in a moment of restful confidence. Uttermost weariness was a condition too familiar to the girl to be spoken of in any but a patient, matter-of-fact tone. But it was priceless soothing to let her forehead repose against the heart whose love was the one and sufficient blessing of her life. Her brown hair was very soft and fine; a lover of another kind would have pressed his lips upon it. Richard was thinking of matters more practical. At another time his indignationin such a case right good and manfulwould have boiled over at the thought of these poor women crushed in slavery to feed the worlds dastard selfishness; this evening his mood was more complaisant, and he smiled as one at ease.
Hadnt you better give up your work? he said.
Emma raised her head. In the few moments of repose her eyelids had drooped with growing heaviness; she looked at him as if she had just been awakened to some great surprise.
Give up work? How can I?
I think I would. Youd have more time to give to Jane, and you could sleep in the day. And Jane had better not begin again after this. Dont you think it would be better if you left these lodgings and took a house, where thered be plenty of room and fresh air?
Richard, what are you talking about?
He laughed, quietly, on account of the sleeping children.
How would you like, he continued, to go and live in the country? Kate and Jane could have a house of their own, you knowin London, I mean, a house like ours; they could let a room or two if they chose. Then you and I could go where we liked. I was down in the Midland Counties yesterday; had to go on business; and I saw a house that would just suit us. Its a bit large; I daresay theres sixteen or twenty rooms. And theres trees growing all about it; a big garden
Emma dropped her head again and laughed, happy that Richard should jest with her so good-humouredly; for he did not often talk in the lighter way. She had read of such houses in the weekly story-papers. It must be nice to live in them; it must be nice to be a denizen of Paradise.
Im in earnest, Emma.
His voice caused her to gaze at him again.
Bring a chair, he said, and Ill tell you something thatllkeep you awake.
The insensible fellow! Her sweet, pale, wondering face was so close to his, the warmth of her drooping frame was against his heartand he bade her sit apart to listen.
She placed herself as he desired, sitting with her hands together in her lap, her countenance troubled a little, wishing to smile, yet not quite venturing. And he told his story, told it in all details, with figures that filled the mouth, that rolled forth like gold upon the bank-scales.
This is mine, he said, mine and yours.
Have you seen a child listening to a long fairy tale, every page a new adventure of wizardry, a story of elf, or mermaid, or gnome, of treasures underground guarded by enchanted monsters, of bells heard silverly in the depth of old forests, of castles against the sunset, of lakes beneath the quiet moon? Know you how light gathers in the eyes dreaming on vision after vision, ever more intensely realised, yet ever of an unknown world? How, when at length the readers voice is silent, the eyes still see, the ears still hear, until a movement breaks the spell, and with a deep, involuntary sigh the little one gazes here and there, wondering?
So Emma listened, and so she came back to consciousness, looking about the room, incredulous. Had she been overcome with weariness? Had she slept and dreamt?
One of the children stirred and uttered a little wailing sound. She stepped lightly to the bedside, bent for a moment, saw that all was well again, and came back on tip-toe. The simple duty had quieted her throbbing heart. She seated herself as before.
What about the country house now? said Richard.
I dont know what to say. Its more than I can take into my head.
Youre not going to say, like mother did, that it was the worst piece of news shed ever heard?
Your mother said that?
Emma was startled. Had her thought passed lightly over some danger? She examined her mind rapidly.
I suppose she said it, Richard explained, just because she didnt know what else to say, thats about the truth. But there certainly is one thing Im a little anxious about, myself. I dont care for either Alice or Arry to know the details of this windfall. They wont come in for their share till theyre of age, and its just as well they should think its only a moderate little sum. So dont talk about it, Emma.
The girl was still musing on Mrs. Mutimers remark; she merely shook her head.
You didnt think you were going to marry a man with his thousands and be a lady? Well, I shall have more to say in a day or two. But at present my idea is that mother and the rest of them shall go into a larger house, and that you and Kate and Jane shall take our place. I dont know how long itll be before those Eldon people can get out of Wanley Manor, but as soon as they do, why then theres nothing to prevent you and me going into it. Will that suit you, Em?
We shall really live in that big house?
Certainly we shall. Ive got a lifes work before me there, as far as I can see at present. The furniture belongs to Mrs. Eldon, I believe; well furnish the place to suit ourselves.
May I tell my sisters, Richard?
Just tell them that Ive come in for some money and a house, perhaps thats enough. And look here, Ill leave you this five-pound note to go on with. You must get Jane whatever the doctor says. And throw all that sewing out of the windows; well have no more convict labour. Tell Jane to get well just as soon as it suits her.
Butall this money?
Ive plenty. The lawyer advanced me some for present needs. Now its getting late, I must go. Ill write and tell you when I shall be home again.
He held out his hand, but the girl embraced him with the restrained tenderness which in her spoke so eloquently.
Are you glad, Emma? he asked.
Very glad, for your sake.
And just a bit for your own, eh?
I never thought about money, she answered. It was quite enough to be your wife.
It was the simple truth.
CHAPTER VI
At eleven oclock the next morning Richard presented himself at the door of a house in Avenue Road, St. Johns Wood, and expressed a desire to see Mr. Westlake. That gentleman was at home; he received the visitor in his studya spacious room luxuriously furnished, with a large window looking upon a lawn. The day was sunny and warm, but a clear fire equalised the temperature of the room. There was an odour of good tobacco, always most delightful when it blends with the scent of rich bindings.