Read Ebook: Silverthorns by Molesworth Mrs Paton J No L Joseph No L Sir Illustrator

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Ebook has 1241 lines and 59982 words, and 25 pages

Illustrator: J. Noel-Paton

Silverthorns, by Mrs Molesworth.

CHARLOTTE AND JERRY.

The school-room at Number 19, Norfolk Terrace, was not, it must be confessed, a particularly attractive room. To begin with, it looked out upon the little garden at the back of the house, and this same little garden was not much to look out upon. The modest, old-fashioned name of "green" would have suited it better. Some of the gardens of the neighbouring houses were really pretty and well cared for, but Mrs Waldron had long ago decided that to attempt making of "our garden" anything but a playground while the boys were still "such mere boys," so irrepressibly full of high spirits and mischief, would be but to add another and unnecessary care to the long list of household matters which she found already quite as much as she could manage. So the garden remained the green, and the school-room the plain, rather untidy-looking room it had always been. It was not really untidy--a radical foundation of order and arrangement was insisted upon. But any room which is the ordinary resort of four boys and a girl, not to speak of occasional inroads from two "nursery children," cannot be expected to look as if no one lived in it.

Whereupon would ensue a series of "Of course, dear Charlotte" cries, and "You are awfully good, we know" cries--for the three elder boys knew that it would be a very bad look-out indeed for them if their sister were to relax in her constant efforts in their behalf.

There were two tiny sisters up in the nursery, babies that hardly counted as yet in the restless, busy group of older ones. But they added their share, no doubt, to all that had to be done and thought of, though Charlotte often looked forward with prospective envy to the pleasant life that would be theirs when they came to her age.

"You are pretty sure to be out in the world by then, Jerry," she said to him one day, "and I, if I am not married, shall be quite an old maid--a sort of second mother to Amy and Marion. Think how nice and quiet and regular the house will be! I do think a large family is dreadful."

"But mamma says we don't know how dull it is to be an only child like she was," Jerry objected.

The two had the school-room to themselves for once, which was the more remarkable as it was Saturday afternoon, and not a summer Saturday afternoon, nor yet a mid-winter frosty day, when Arthur, Ted, and Noble would have been safe to be off skating. It was a late September afternoon, dull and gloomy and already chilly. The rain had held off, however, fortunately, for the elder boys had for some days been planning a long country walk, to finish up with tea at the house of a schoolfellow, who lived a couple of miles out of the town.

"What a dreary day it is!" Charlotte began again, looking up from her notes. "I wish we might have a fire," and she shivered a little.

"I dare say we might," said Jerry, starting up. "Shall I ask mamma?"

"No," Charlotte decided. "We shall be in the drawing-room all the evening. I've nearly done. I know mamma is glad not to give the servants anything extra to do on Saturdays. And they haven't got into the way of regular winter fires yet. I wonder if it isn't any brighter out in the country to-day than it is here."

"I wish you would not say that," said Charlotte, giving herself a little shake. "It makes me feel as if everything was all wrong for you not to have all you want, Jerry."

"Nobody has, I suppose," said the boy.

"I don't know about that," Charlotte replied. "But that reminds me. Jerry, you know that beautiful place out beyond Gretham. The place papa drove us out to once--he had some business there, I think."

"Silverthorns?" said Jerry. "Oh yes, I remember it. It is the prettiest place in the world, I think."

"And who is the girl?" asked Jerry.

"I don't know," Jerry replied philosophically. "You'd better ask her. Perhaps she's an orphan," he added.

"Charlotte!" Jerry ejaculated, surprised and even a little shocked.

But Charlotte's face half-belied her words. She was already laughing a little, though she reddened too, slightly, as she felt her brother's soft blue eyes fixed upon her.

"I shouldn't say it, I know," she said, shaking back the thick dark hair that she still wore loose on her shoulders. "But you might understand. We are all very comfortable at Miss Lloyd's, and I don't want any one to come and spoil it--an outsider, as it were, for the rest of us have been there so long, and she is too old to be in any but the highest class."

"Unless she's very stupid for her age," suggested Jerry. "Very likely she is--perhaps that's the thing she hasn't got, Charlotte. Cleverness, I mean. And I'm sure," he went on with brotherly frankness, "you wouldn't give up being clever for the sake of being pretty--now, would you?"

Charlotte laughed.

"Surely I'm not so ugly as all that," she said. "Do you really think I am, Jerry?"

She lifted her face and looked across the table at the boy. Ugly she certainly was not, but though her features were good, her complexion was some degrees browner than "by rights" it should have been to match the very blue eyes common to all the Waldrons. And her hair was short as well as thick and curly, and in consequence rather unmanageable. But it was a bright and kindly and pleasant face, and Jerry felt vaguely as he looked at it that there were things, even in faces, better than strict beauty.

"I don't know," he said bluntly. "Your face is you, and so I like it. I don't want it changed, except that in a bit, I suppose, you'll have to do your hair up somehow."

"Yes, I suppose I shall," replied Charlotte, glancing sideways and somewhat ruefully at the dark brown curly locks in question; "but how I shall do it, I'm sure I can't tell. I wonder if I should begin to try soon. I think I'll ask mamma. I wonder how she did hers when she was my age--but hers could never have been difficult to do. It's so beautifully soft and never gets in a mess."

"No--I couldn't fancy anything to do with mamma in a mess," said Jerry. "You'll never be anything like as pretty as her, Charlotte."

Jerry grunted approval and agreement. He had got to a very delicate point in his occupation, which was that of taking out some stamps which Ted in a hurry had gummed into a wrong place in his album. All such difficult operations, settings right of other people's puttings wrong, were sure to fall to Jerry--his thin dexterous fingers seemed to have a genius for work that baffled every one else. Charlotte went on with her writing, and for a few minutes there was silence in the room.

Suddenly she looked up again.

"Jerry," she said, "I'm so glad you think that that girl is sure to be stupid."

But Jerry's sympathy on the subject was rather exhausted.

"I wish you'd leave off thinking about her," he said. "You'll work yourself up to fancying all sorts of things, and making yourself dislike a person that perhaps you'll never see. Possibly she won't come after all."

Charlotte sighed.

"I dare say you're right," she said. "It's only that I tell you everything, you see, Jerry."

"Hadn't you better tell mamma about it?" he said. "She generally finds out what gives one wrong sorts of feelings. She's put me to rights lots of times when I'd got horrid about--" and he hesitated.

"About what, Jerry dear?"

In his turn Jerry's face flushed.

"About being lame," he said. "You know we did hope for a good while that it was going to get almost quite well, so that it would hardly be noticed. But there's no chance of that now. I shall always be pretty much the same. And it did make me feel as if everything was wrong for a while."

"Dear Jerry," said Charlotte. "And you are so good about it. Nobody would know you minded."

Charlotte looked a good deal impressed. It was not often that Jerry said so much.

"Yes," she agreed, "I can fancy it would be a very good plan. But, you see, Jerry, I've very seldom had anything that it was better not to think of. Perhaps it is that my head has been so full of lessons, and the lots of things that are nice to think of."

"Well," said Jerry, "you can go on keeping your head full of sensible things instead of fussing about a stupid girl you've never seen!"

His calm philosophy made Charlotte laugh.

"I'm sure I don't want to think about her," she said, as she jumped up and began to put away her books. "What are you going to do now, Jerry? I'm sure you've been long enough over Arthur's stamps. When one has a holiday, I think one should have some of it at least to oneself."

"Will you play with me, then?" said Jerry. "I really like that better than anything, only it isn't much fun for you."

For Jerry was doing his best to learn the violin. He really loved music, and had already mastered the first difficulties, though his teaching had been but some irregular lessons from a friend who had also lent him his fiddle. And Charlotte, who played the piano well, though with less natural taste for music than her brother, could not please him better than by accompanying him. It called for some patience, no doubt, but harder things would have seemed easy to the girl for Jerry's sake. So the two spent the rest of the dull autumn afternoon happily and contentedly, though the old school-room piano had long ago seen its best days, and the sounds that Jerry extracted from his violin were not always those of the most harmonious sweetness.

At six o'clock Charlotte started up.

"There is the first dinner-bell," she said. "We must get dressed at once, Jerry. There is to be no school-room tea to-night, for mamma said it wasn't worth while, as Noble was out. You and I are to dine with her and papa, and dinner is to be half-an-hour earlier than usual."

"Where are the boys?" asked Mr Waldron, putting his head in at the door at that moment.

"All out, papa, except me," Jerry replied.

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