The Pillars of the House; Or, Under Wode, Under Rode, Vol. 1 (of 2)

d house, the

h the room

rts were dwe

ies full

y N

stay at home till after the Epiphany, that

with him on the great day; and Fulbert grinned, and nudged Lance at his crest-

with the chorus following, and nobody in the choir was available to execute the solo but Lance. He had sung it once or twice before; and if he had the music, and would practise at home, he need only come up by the

nvulsions of vexation; he 'bothered' the Dean, he 'bothered' the Precentor, he 'bothered' the Organist, he 'bothered' Shapcote's sore throat, he 'bother

off by an old fogey, when one most wants to be at

thedral just as Bill had got to sing the solo in "As pants the hart;" and there he stood staring with his mouth wide open-and no wonder, for it was sitting on the old stone-king's head! Wasn't Miles in a rage; a

ice boy, Lance?' aske

n our precincts; his private door just opposite ours, and 'tis the most delicio

, is he not?' said Felix. 'I have heard pe

ou last year, Lance,' asked Cherry, 'when you

ch a brick at cricket! I told him I'd show him the potteries, and your press, and our organ, and everything-and it is su

ering compliment, Wilmet?' sa

Lance, he must not stay the night, for t

in the evening. Meantime, he begged Clement to play the accompaniment for him on the old piano. Neither boy knew that it had been scarcely opened since their father's hand had last lingered fondly upon it. Music had been found to excite their mother to tears; Geraldine resembled Fulbert in unmusicalness, and Wilmet had depended on school, the brothers on their choir-practice, so that the sound was like a new thing in the house; nor was any one prepared either for the superiority of Clement's playing, or for the exceeding beauty and sweetness of

ormant senses was found? His eyes turned to the piano, and his finger pointed to it as soon as he found himself in the room with it, and the airs he heard were continually reproduced in his murmuring sounds; that 'How beautiful!' which had first awakened the gleam-his own birth-day anthem-being sure to recur at sight of Lance; while a doleful Irish croon, Sibby's regular lullaby, alway

avel from Centry, who would take charge of them to London, whence they would go down with Mr. Underwood. Poor Wilmet was much dismayed at leaving Geraldine to what they both regarded as the unprecedented invasion of a strange b

lement had insisted on their coming to hear Lance, Mr. Audley beckoned Felix

nderwood, and stood warming his hands in dread

have chosen this time, but that I think it may save Wilmet something to

elf. 'Was that what Tom Underwood meant? But yo

ening colour, 'it can't be denied that your si

,' said Felix, still unconvinced; 'but can't we lea

rs. You would not like to have my Lady remonstrating-nay

ople would mind their own business,' h

carefully heeded, and by you almost more than by any one. Your slowne

g away al

y old tutor, you know, and Fernan's, is nearly sure

ly repress

mise not to let it stand in the way of any other call. I fancied he had mission work in his mind, and it disp

good to us,' was all Fe

e time at home, and very like shall not be off till you are of age-certainly not if I find there is any difficulty in handing the manageme

You think we ought to give it up? I

no lodger but one of

ut it will be a great stroke on poor Cherry

her to have no old associa

eer up her life; but without your lessons

anxieties from her knowledge. She is very much of a woman, and if y

o shelter her; she never seems fit

child is the way to make her prey upon herself. I wish her talent could be more cultivated; but meantime nothing is be

t she will mis

, and I am not going to decamp from this house till s

d with a sigh, 'Yes, a smaller house, a

that she may have an answe

d, by calculations on the difference of expenditure. Again she tried to beg herself off from her visit, in the dread that Felix would go and take some impracticable house in her absence-some place with thin walls, no cupboards, and no coal-hole; and she was only pacified by his solemn

, Cherry?' said the Curate, as he s

she earn

that in t

Aud

and as to oppressing yourself with the determination to do the very thing she would have done under a

ld never walk stately in and say, "Now, boys

boys!" at this moment,' said Mr.

ighed Geraldine, almost turning pale. Then, trying to cheer u

a chap' appeared, as Mr. Audley said, to mean all ends of shock hair, and freckles up to the eyes; but when Fulbert and Lance had whirled him out again to see the lions of Bexley, Robina and Angela were overheard respe

; and no wonder, for the organist had employed them to climb, sweep fashion, into the biggest organ-pipe to investigat

leau, where a pen-wiper doll in nun's costume was enacting t

ire; and Geraldine, to whom Edgar had lent some

she found that Robina had been swept off in the torrent of boyhood. Clement, pitying her despair and self-reproach, magnanimously offered to follow, and ei

y wants to know whether you don't think something must have happened.' And going upstairs, he found the poor young deputy in a nervous agony of despair at

day Wilmet had g

lity that the whole party were convoying him to the station, and would appear when he was gone; but time confuted this pleas

erry, these waiting times are often hard, no doubt; but, as I fear you are one of those destined to "a

wrong, but how can I not care?' And verily the ne

answered Mr. Audley. 'I see that does not tell you how not to be afraid; but I imagine that a few tr

a half seemed an immense period of time to her imagination, the dread of losing him was not so immediate as to damp her enthusiasm. They had discussed his plans for nearly an hour before Cherry started at the sound of the do

rwoods had made common cause against him, and had dragged him to a cottage, where he had the pleasing alternative of an old woman's blankets and petticoats while his garments were drying. He was as nearly angry as a Harewood could be, Lance observed, declaring that they should never have got him into the cottage without fighting him, if Tina had not been so tall, and if Robin had not nearly cried; while he, throwing off all responsibility, ascribed all his lateness to his friend's 'mag

of half-suppressed merriment. The boy had come in, prepared to be grave and quiet, as knowing how lately affliction had come to the fa

ciance in the household whither care had come only too early-some infection seized on the young Underwoods, and before the end

ement made a horrified protest; and Geraldine looked alarmed at her eldest

do assure you t

pice of anything the Archbishop of Canter

Audley says we may?' Felix and Cherry both consented; and Lance rushed off to make the appeal, and returned not only with full sanction, but with Mr. Audley himself, come to see the operation. This perfectly satisfied Felix, who even consented, on the entreaty of his brothers, to become the first s

s concerned; but his victim, standing meekly good-natured and unconscious, was seen by the ecstatic audience to be, at each pass, painting his own face with the soot from a flame over which his plate had been previously held. The shrieks of amusement redoubled at the perplexity they occasioned him, till they penetrated the upper rooms; and suddenly a cry of horror made all turn to the door and see a little white bare-footed figure standing there, transfixed with fright, which increased tenfold when Felix hurried towards it, not yet aware of the conditio

ttle girls, and preventing them from following the example of their valiant pioneer. Felix, now thoroughly entering into the spirit of the joke, entertained for a moment the hope of

-and she reared up to kiss him, and stroke t

ick?' said Clement slow

Felix; 'could not

s are very lax, and it h

t. Matthew's. Come down now, don't let us disturb the little ones any longer.-Go

s was going on; and Clement, who really was used to a great deal of mirth among the staff of St. Matthew's, absolutely unbent, and gloried in showing that even more conundrums were known there than by the house of Harewood. He was not strong in guessing them; but then Will Harewood made such unda

ing her upstairs, 'she is quite spent with laughing; indeed my

d into it to-night; but I only wish for her sake-for

heavier. However, he did not forget; and when Cherry again breathed a little sigh as to what Wilmet would think of their first day, he stout

ned it

had spent as the companion of her mother's mournful widowho

eties, communicated to him their own scheme of taking up their residence at a village named Marshlands, about two miles from Bexley, where they already spent great part of the summer in a pleasant cottage and garden which they had bought and adorned. Mr. Froggatt would drive in to attend to the business every day, but the charge of the house was the difficulty, as they did not wish to let the rooms; and

and was further allowed to inspect the working of a good school, her stay was extended, by Miss Pearson's entreaty, a full fortnight beyond what had been intended. Nor had anything gone wrong in her absence. Even the overlooking of the boys' linen, which she had believed impossible without her, was safely carried on by Cherry, and all were sent off in sound condition. No catastrophe occurred; and the continual occupation and responsibility drove away all the low spirits that so of

treet just now. Really, he is the

m, and if he had realised what a beautiful and majestic young lady you were, he shou

ith Alda,' said Wilmet merrily; 'but

of anything in my life,

ouse, and know what to do abou

. is herself aga

Geraldine. 'She talked of leaving us the lar

how much of ours will survive th

m Vale Leston are quite solid

found that though the pattern of rose-leaves is a tradition, no one

t; for indeed her mother's needle and her own were too well ac

eir mistress had come home again; and Cherry was the first to

te understood how I missed everybody and everything; and at last, one day, when I was wis

hasn't

d woman! and when she heard what I wanted, she got leave for me to come every day to study the working of the school. I d

ations, and prepare the scholars, and should receive half a sovereign a half year from each girl whom she thus instructed, being the moiety of 'extra.' Moreover,

wo sofas, which, with the carpet and curtains, would remain well covered up. Folding-doors led into a smaller room, with a south window towards the little garden, where Mrs. Froggatt generally sat, and which had been used for the dining-room. There were two bedrooms besides on the same floor, one of which would remain untouched for Mr. Froggatt; and above these, there was a large nursery, and more rooms than had been ever furnished. Rent, rates, taxes, and repairs, all off her mind! Wilmet felt as if prospe

s in time to admire his hyacinths and sow his annuals. Mr. Audley would take rooms at the Fortinbras Arms for the remainder of his stay at Bexley; and indeed, there was a good deal to break the old habit of constantly depe

in and seeing his own parlour intact, and with a cheerful fire, he pursued his way upstairs, and there found the sitting-room bare except for a

y the bo

or Stella to drag by strin

the Last Man, or the

Cherry, smiling, but with effort. 'Do

's-tat brother's-tat Angel,' and so on, the word foolish was not directed to the little one, but to the grey eye

ook which it

not; I hate

there is not

Do you expect me to stand discussing superstition in this horrible

et down by myself; he canno

a, and take

oose, and cabbage. Please give me my crutch; Wilmet put i

tired t

udley winding up a musical-box, which Theodore was greeting with its own tunes, and Stella with a dance and chant of 'Sing box-

a silence while Mr. Audley read the letters that had come for him in his absence, and Cherry's face became more and more pen

he Curate, who had quit

e about

times necessary; to look out for them

essary?' said

preparation is sent not so much to lead to anticipations, as to bring

may be constantly types

ry, I said no

, there was the knell ringing overhead, and a funeral coming up the street. She knew it was a token, and burst out cr

our fa

arried Mamma, with the baby (that was Fulbert) in her arms, over the threshold, and smiled at her, sayin

nse," but reminding her that there are worse things than death. Have

fancy to have a boat for each of us, when she was launching them; and I could

not a very p

nd one poor crooked ill-made thing fell over, and was left at home because hindering all the rest, and even Stella knew that was me, and-' her voice quivered, '

it is a rougher one, there's a better Guiding Star than Stella Eudora to lead them, and they have compasses of their own-ay, and a Pilot. And if there are times when

not been that wr

ay be the very way of returning to the right course. And by and by

to see the inauguration. St. Oswald's Buildings were left behind, and she was drawn up to the green private door, beside the shop window; Wilmet hurried down and took Theodore from her; Felix helped her out, and up the narrow steep staircase, which certainly was not a gain, but when landed in the drawing-room, t

!' cried Cherry, delighted, as sh

rocuses; and when she looked out from the back room into the little garden, where Mr. Froggatt's horticultural tastes had long