a I b RARY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 U N IVLR.S ITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 823 
 
 V.I
 
 latest Date stamped below. ^ ^ 
 
 lor dis.lpliM'y <««•<>" »"'' '"°'' 
 
 ,he University- enter, 333-8400 
 
 L161-O-1096
 
 NELLY BROOKE,
 
 NELLY BROOKE, 
 
 A HOMELY STORY. 
 
 BY 
 
 FLORENCE MARRYAT, 
 
 (MRS. ROSS CHURCH.) 
 " Love is strong as death." 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1868. 
 
 [A/i rights reserved. '\
 
 TO 
 
 J. J. M., AND E. C. M., 
 
 IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 MUCH SYMPATHY AND KINDNESS. 
 
 " True happiness 
 Consists not in a multitude of friends, 
 But in their worth and choice." 
 
 Ben Jonson.
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGI 
 
 I. NIGEL BEOOKE EINDS HIS WAY TO LITTLE 
 
 BICKTON 1 
 
 II. AND IS INTEODTJCED TO HIS NEW RELATIONS 15 
 
 III. IN WHICH THE COUSINS DISCUSS CERTAIN 
 
 FAMILY MATTERS 30 
 
 IV. NIGEL BROOKE FALLS IN LOVE WITH A COUN- 
 
 TRY LIEE 44 
 
 V. AN UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEW . . 59 
 
 VI. NELLY CONSENTS TO GO TO ORPINGTON . 76 
 
 VII. HOW NELLY SPENT HER FIVE POUNDS . 92 
 VIII. MRS. BROOKE GIVES HER OPINION OF THE 
 
 MATTER 109 
 
 IX. THE FIRST EVENING AT ORPINGTON CHASE 122 
 
 X. MRS. BROOKE CHANGES HER OPINION . 140 
 
 XI. NELLY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE . 156 
 XII. NELLY AND NIGEL HAVE OCCASION TO " MAKE 
 
 IT UP AGAIN." 177 
 
 XIII. THE WIND SHIFTS ROUND TO THE ORIGINAL 
 
 QUARTER 196 
 
 XIV. " WHAT COULD HE MEAN BY IT ?" . . 209
 
 VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGK 
 
 XY. nelly's welcome home .... 230 
 
 XYI. KoBEHT BttOOKE TELLS HIS SISTER HA-LF THE 
 
 TRUTH 244 
 
 XVII. NELLY HOLDS A. VIGIL WITH THE VICAE . 258 
 
 XVIII. NIGEL BROOKE WRITES 'A. LETTER TO HIS 
 
 COUSIN 278 
 
 XIX. AND RECEIVES A GRATEFUL ANSWER . . 295 
 
 XX. NELLY AND'bEETIE ARE LEFT TO THEMSELVES 308
 
 NELLY BEOOKE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NIGEL BROOKE FINDS HIS WAY TO LITTLE 
 BICKTON. 
 
 On a rainy night in August, some twenty 
 years ago, a jaded horse might have been seen 
 painfully attempting to drag the antiquated 
 vehicle, to which he was attached, up the 
 steep acclivity of an unfrequented road in 
 Kent. 
 
 The weather had been unusually sultry for 
 many weeks past, and a violent storm of 
 thunder and lightning had been succeeded by 
 an overwhelming shower of rain — rain, which, 
 having commenced by falling at distinct in- 
 tervals in large, warm, heavy drops, had cul- 
 minated in a downpour, which appeared un- 
 ceasing. 
 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 2 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 AlttLOugh but eight o'clock, the night was 
 already dark, for not a star was to be seen in 
 the frowning sky ; and the uncultivated coun- 
 try by which the road was bordered, served 
 to make the picture still more desolate. 
 
 The hill up which the tired horse was labour- 
 ing, was composed of clay, now ankle-deep 
 from the continued rain ; and the only signs 
 it bore of being frequented by man, were the 
 cart-ruts, into and over which the crazy coach 
 jolted every minute. The hedges, which on 
 either side enclosed plantations, belonging to 
 some far distant property, had been suffered to 
 grow tall and straggling, and the nut-bushes, of 
 which they were principally composed, waved 
 their unpruned branches fantastically under 
 the combined influence of wind and water. 
 
 Presently the wearied animal stopped of 
 his own accord, and his master, who had been 
 plodding patiently on foot, stopped also, and 
 patted his heaving sides. A cloud of steam 
 ascended from the horse's flanks, whilst his 
 loud breathing and distended nostrils wit- 
 nessed his distress. 
 
 " Poor fellow !" said the man, compassion- 
 ately, " youVe had a mortal tug of it, but it's 
 a'most over now." 
 
 And then he fell to throwing his arms about
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 3 
 
 and stamping his feet as lie endeavoured to 
 free himself from the clay and moisture with 
 which he was encumbered. 
 
 A tremendous rattling at the coach-window, 
 as some one from the inside tried to let it 
 down, presently diverted his attention, and he 
 joined his efforts to those of his passenger. 
 
 But the damp had caused the ill-fitting 
 window-pane to be more obstinate than usual, 
 and by the time his object was effected, the 
 passenger's face expressed, to say the least of 
 it, impatience. 
 
 " How much longer are we going to be on 
 this road ?" he demanded authoritatively ; " are 
 you sure that you know the way to Little 
 Bickton?" 
 
 Had the night not been so dark, or had the 
 dim oil-lantern which the coachman carried, 
 been a little nearer to his face, it might have 
 been seen that the question made him grin 
 from ear to ear. 
 
 " Be I sure as I knows the road to Little 
 Bickton, did you ask, sir ?" he replied in the 
 broadest Kentish dialect. " Well ! taking it 
 from boy to man, I suppose I've been along 
 this road, back'ards and for'ards for better nor 
 thirty years, and I should think " 
 
 But what the country coachman " should 
 
 1—2
 
 4 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 think," his passenger never ascertained, for at 
 that particular moment, a fresh gust of wind 
 blowing the rain into his face with aggravated 
 violence, caused him to pull up the window 
 again so summarily, that the leathern strap, 
 rendered rotten by age, came off in his hand. 
 
 " Well, he is impatient !" soliloquised the 
 coachman, whose vehicle, being the only one 
 on hire at the town of Eeddington, from which 
 he had come, was considered in those parts as 
 rather a rapid mode of progression than other- 
 wise. " I wonder how much faster he expects 
 one animal to take him along a road like this 
 here !" 
 
 And with a chirrup to his horse which had 
 less of cheerfulness in it than his former 
 tone, he set the conveyance once more in 
 motion. 
 
 Meantime, his passenger had thrown himself 
 back on the musty cushions, with an expression 
 of disgust. 
 
 " Three hours !" he said to himself, " three 
 hours, if I have been a minute, doing fourteen 
 miles in this rabbit-hutch. Had I but known 
 my way about this wilderness, I had better 
 have walked. How my mother would laugh 
 if she could see me at the outset of what she 
 termed my Quixotic expedition. Such a com-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 5 
 
 mencement of itself, is sufficient to damp the 
 ardour of any man, that is, if I were not sure, 
 whatever she may say, that it is a sense of 
 duty, and not mere curiosity which brings me 
 here. Yet it will take a more cordial recep- 
 tion from my grandfather than the last one 
 with which he greeted my poor father, to 
 enable me to forget the discomforts I have 
 experienced in seeking him." 
 
 And here the soliloquist, who, fresh from a 
 luxurious life in the East, had not been used 
 to " roughing " it, lighted another cigar, and 
 endeavoured under its influence to forget for a 
 while his unpleasant position. 
 
 A little more jolting and shaking, varied by 
 an occasional stoppage on the part of the 
 horse, brought them at last to the summit of 
 the hill, and then the coachman, slowly 
 mounting his box, and gathering up his reins 
 with the satisfied air of one who has accom- 
 plished a feat of skill, set ofl" at a sober jog- 
 trot along the level road. 
 
 " Thank Heaven !" was the in.voluntary ex- 
 clamation of the inside passenger, as he felt 
 the change in the motion. 
 
 He drew his gloved hand across the win- 
 dow-pane, which his breath and the smoke 
 from his cigar had completely clouded, but
 
 6 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 lie could make nothing of the surrounding 
 landscape. 
 
 The rain was still descending steadily ; the 
 reflection of the oil-lantern, which, hung by 
 the side of the coach-box, did duty for car- 
 riage lamps, glittered in the vast puddle 
 through which the wheels were splashing, 
 beyond which, strain his eyesight as he would, 
 he could discern nothing but a black mass of 
 space. 
 
 The hedges on either side, however, had 
 disappeared, and from this he concluded that 
 they were skirting a common or piece of waste 
 land. 
 
 Presently he could distinguish lights, which 
 seemed to gleam from cottage windows, al- 
 though the atmosphere caused everything to 
 appear misty and undefined. He became ex- 
 cited ; he shook the window strap which he 
 had not destroyed, with so much energy, that 
 the window, for a wonder, responded to his 
 efforts ; the glass came down with a rattle, 
 and the next moment his head was thrust 
 from the open space, and his voice rung on the 
 night air. 
 
 " Stop ! stop !" he shouted to the driver, 
 as the vehicle rolled opposite a few small 
 houses.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 7 
 
 "We're almost there, sir 1" said the man 
 encouragingly, thinking his fare's patience 
 was at length exhausted. 
 
 " Stop ! I tell you," was the only reply he 
 received : and he stopped accordingly. 
 
 *' I must make some enquiries for myself," 
 said the gentleman, as he quickly descended ; 
 "we may jog on at this rate all night, for 
 aught I know to the contrary ;" and he entered 
 the dwelling before him as he spoke. 
 
 " Well, I am blessed," remarked the coach- 
 man to the horse, " and we not a stone's 
 throw from the house itself." 
 
 But the gentleman did not hear this re- 
 mark. The open door which he had entered 
 belonged to a small village shop ; to one of 
 those wonderful shops which contain every- 
 thing from bacon and biting Dutch cheeses to 
 barege dresses and bonnet-ribbons. 
 
 The window, inefficiently lighted with oil, 
 was decorated with straw hats and children's 
 shoes at the top ; and pudding-eggs and 
 pickles at the bottom; whilst the doorway 
 had evidently been the resting-place of sundry 
 bales of coarse flannel and oil cloth, which 
 the proprietor was just engaged in packing 
 away. 
 
 Moreover a slit on one side of the door.
 
 8 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 with the words " Post Office" rudely painted 
 above it, showed that if not the onl}^, 
 this was the most important, shop in the 
 place. 
 
 The nostrils of the visitor involuntarily 
 closed themselves as he stooped his tall head 
 beneath the doorway, and became aware of 
 the mingled aromas by which they were 
 saluted, but although in general fastidious in 
 such things, to a degree, he was too eager on 
 the present occasion to prosecute his en- 
 quiries, to be deterred by so slight an an- 
 noyance. 
 
 The master of the shop, hearing the stop- 
 page of the fly, and noting the distinguished 
 appearance of the visitor, quickly left his 
 bales upon the counter, and advanced to know 
 with what he might have the pleasure to serve 
 him. But before the gentleman had had time 
 to open his mouth in answer, there was the 
 bustle of a second arrival, and a slight female 
 figure darting into the shop, stood just before 
 him. 
 
 With instinctive courtesy he immediately 
 drew back, to enable her to despatch her 
 business first, and she was so eager about it 
 that she did not appear to notice either the 
 action or himself.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 9 
 
 " Mr. Benson," slie said anxiously, " was 
 there no letter or parcel for ns by to-day's 
 post ?" 
 
 At the sound of lier voice, the stranger 
 started and regarded her with interest. At 
 first he had seen no more than that she w^as a 
 woman ; now, he perceived that she was young 
 and a lady. 
 
 But what should a delicate creature like 
 that have to do out on such a boisterous 
 night ? She was so lightly clad that her thin 
 shawl and ]3rint dress were wetted through 
 and through, and clung around her figure, 
 whilst the small black bonnet which she wore, 
 (hats not being in general use at that period), 
 and the soaking umbrella w^hich she carried, 
 seemed very inadequate protection for her 
 head. Yet she evidently was thinking of 
 nothing but the answer to her question. 
 
 " Well, Miss," replied the shopman, not 
 over pleased at the interruption, " if I remem- 
 ber rightly, there loas a summat come to-day. 
 Wife," he shouted to some one invisible, but 
 within hearing, " be there a letter or a parcel 
 for the Cottage ?" 
 
 " Hupper drawer ; left- 'and corner ; hoflice 
 side," was the mysterious reply. 
 
 The stranger smiled, but the young girl
 
 10 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 only looked anxiously at Mr. Benson as lie 
 examined the receptacle in question. 
 
 " Here it is, miss," lie said presently, as lie 
 delivered a small packet into her outstretched 
 hand. 
 
 • " Oh ! you should have sent it up," she re- 
 plied in a tone of annoyance, " you know of 
 what importance it is, and how seldom he can 
 get any sleep without it." 
 
 " Well, miss, I'm very sorry, I'm sure, you 
 should have had the trouble like of fetching 
 it," said the man civilly ; " but I've been out 
 on business myself to-day, and it ain't a night, 
 in my opinion, to send a dog out, let alone a 
 woman, or the wife should have took it up, 
 sooner than disappoint you." 
 
 *' Never mind, now !" she replied hastily, 
 " Good-night," and gathering up her damp 
 skirts and umbrella, she prepared to leave the 
 shop again. 
 
 But as she passed into the doorway, she 
 brushed against the stranger, which caused 
 her to raise her eyes to his, and a pair of large, 
 dark blue orbs, set in a wondering, innocent 
 face, for a moment met his own. 
 
 The next, she had darted out into the rain 
 and was gone, leaving him staring at the spot 
 where she had disappeared.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 11 
 
 " What may you please to want, sir ?" en- 
 quired the obsequious voice of the shopman, 
 rousing him from his brief reverie. 
 
 He was just going to say, " who is that 
 lady ?" when he remembered himself and his 
 errand. 
 
 " Oh ! I beg your pardon, I only wished to 
 ask how far it is from here to the village of 
 Little Bickton ?" 
 
 " Little Bickton, sir ? why this is the place," 
 replied the shopman in a tone of disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 " Indeed ! I am glad to hear it ; I am 
 much obliged to you ; we have been so long 
 on the road, that I was afraid the driver had 
 missed his way. Do you know a family of 
 the name of Brooke living here ?" 
 
 The shopman's disappointment could not 
 prevent his smiling at the question. 
 
 " What, Mr. Brooke of the Farm Cottage, 
 sir? You must be a stranger in these parts 
 to ask that. The old gentleman's been among 
 us for years. Why ! that was Miss Nelly as 
 just left the shop." 
 
 " Miss Nelly who ? not Miss Brooke !" de- 
 manded the stranger eagerly. 
 
 " To be sure it was, sir, and the Cottage 
 ain't more than three-quarter of a mile further
 
 12 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 on. If SO be you're going there, it won't take 
 you more than ten or fifteen minutes on the 
 road." 
 
 " Thank you ! thank you !" said the gen- 
 tleman quickly, as he left the shop, and re- 
 entered the coach. " Driver, go on as fast as 
 you can to the Farm Cottage." 
 
 But the driver did not appear disposed to 
 hurry himself. 
 
 " Oh ! you've found out as I do know 
 summat of the road, I suppose," he muttered 
 as he leisurely set off again. " Well, I never 
 thought I should come, after thirty years of it, 
 to see Benson's opinion taken over mine. 
 Don't hurry yourself," he added, apostro- 
 phising his horse with bitter irony ; " we 
 don't know our way and may be we might 
 miss it." 
 
 He had not enjoyed the luxury of grum- 
 bling, however, for more than a few minutes, 
 when he again heard the stranger's voice issu- 
 ing a command to stop. 
 
 " Well, I am blowed," said the coachman, 
 now thoroughly roused, as he dropped his 
 reins and his whip, and his passenger opened 
 the coach door for himself and stepped upon 
 the muddy road. 
 
 A well-clipped hedge now ran along one
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 13 
 
 side of' tlie higliway, whilst the open common 
 lay on the other. Beneath the hedge, picking 
 her way home in the dirt and the darkness, 
 the stranger's eyes had caught sight of the 
 youthful figure which had attracted him in 
 the little shop. He approached her readily, 
 thinking to introduce himself, and offer her a 
 seat in the coach which was conveying him to 
 the house of his grandfather and hers. He 
 meant to have commenced by telling her his 
 name, so as to account for his addressing her, 
 but in his nervousness, he put what is com- 
 monly called "the cart before the horse." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he said, " will you 
 take a seat in the fly, my name is " 
 
 She turned round as he spoke : he could 
 distinguish so much even in the gloom ; and 
 then with a sudden movement, for which he 
 was quite unprepared, silently leapt over a 
 stile near at hand, and began to run as fast 
 as she could through the grassy field on the 
 other side of the hedge. He leant over the 
 stile, scarcely knowing what he did, peering 
 after her into the darkness, but her form had 
 already disappeared, and the sound of her 
 footsteps even was lost in the yielding pas- 
 turage. 
 
 " Why the grass must be up to her ankles,"
 
 14 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 lie said aloud in his surprise, " it must be like 
 walking through a pond." 
 
 " 'Tis longish by this time/' remarked the 
 coachman, who had watched the discomfiture 
 of his fare with malicious pleasure, " for they'll 
 be taking the second crop off it shortly ; but 
 our Kentish lasses don't think twice about a 
 foot- wetting, I can tell you." 
 
 " This is a young lady," said the stranger, 
 loftily, not liking the familiar tone in which 
 the man had spoken of his unknown cousin. 
 
 " I don't know nothing about her," rejoined 
 the driver, *' for I didn't see her face ; but 
 whoever she is, she seems to like the wet 
 grass, as well as her own company." 
 
 *' Drive to the Farm Cottage," said the gen- 
 tleman, authoritatively, as he jumped into the 
 coach again and slammed the door. The man 
 grinned, and drove on.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 AND IS INTRODUCED TO HIS NEW RELATIONS. 
 
 Meanwhile Nelly Brooke was finding her 
 way to tlie Farm Cottage almost as fast as him- 
 self, although the road she had chosen was 
 the longer of the two. She had put 'down 
 her umbrella again, notwithstanding the 
 shower had not abated, and she literally ran 
 through the wet meadows, in a style which 
 most modern young ladies would find very 
 difficult of imitation, jumping over the ant- 
 hillocks and other small obstacles which occa- 
 sionally came in her way. As she ran, she 
 hardly knew why she was so energetic in her 
 flight; the stranger's address had certainly 
 not frightened her, for she had never been in- 
 sulted in her life, and knew no cause for fear ; 
 moreover, the tone of his voice had been too 
 courteous to provoke alarm ; but she felt per-
 
 16 KELLY BROOKE. 
 
 haps just a little angry that any one should 
 have taken advantage of her being alone in 
 the dark, to speak to her. She knew the way 
 too well to miss it, even at that time of night, 
 and after having traversed three meadows in 
 an incredibly short space of time, she stopped 
 beside a high barred gate, which communi- 
 cated with the road she had left. She listened 
 for a minute to hear if there was any sound 
 of wheels aj)proaching, but all was still, for 
 the coach had passed on some time before, and 
 was at that moment standing at the Farm 
 Cottage door. So, she clambered with the 
 agility of a cat to the topmost rail, threw her 
 light form over it, and descending thence into 
 the public road, crossed a corner of the com- 
 mon, which led her directly to the latched 
 gate which guarded her grandfather's garden. 
 As she essayed to open it, she stumbled up 
 against something wet and rough which stood 
 outside the wooden palings. It was only a 
 neighbour's donkey-foal, trying to get a little 
 shelter beneath the laurels which overhung 
 the garden boundaries. But the girl's sym- ' I 
 pathies were roused at once. With her soft 
 ungloved hand, she rubbed the hardy animal's 
 nose up and down, and drew his long wet 
 ears through her fingers.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 17 
 
 "Poor little Jack," slie said, kindly, 
 " couldn't they have put you in the shed on 
 such a night as this. Come ! let me see if I 
 cannot find a corner somewhere for you," and 
 twisting her fingers in the rough mane, she 
 tried to lead the creature through the garden 
 gate. But little Jack, not being aware of her 
 benevolent intentions in his behalf, resisted 
 all her efibrts to make him follow her, and she 
 was compelled to leave him, and pursue her 
 way alone. She ran lightly over the gra- 
 velled path which led to the back of the 
 house, and lifting a familiar latch, found her- 
 self at once in the kitchen, where an old wo- 
 man, in the dress of a servant, was busily 
 employed over the fire, with some culinary 
 operation. 
 
 " Nurse Aggie," exclaimed the girl, without 
 preface, " I want some oats, or some bread or 
 something." 
 
 The old woman nearly upset the contents 
 of her frying-pan into the fire, as she turned 
 and surveyed the dripping figure which stood 
 in the doorway. 
 
 " Now, where have you been, Miss Nelly, 
 and on a night like this ? we've been looking 
 for you high and low !" 
 
 VOL. I. 2
 
 18 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Never mind, nurse, I'll tell you presently. 
 I want some bread," 
 
 " And what may you want bread for ?" 
 
 "For Jem Locke's little donkey, it's such 
 a shame ; he's left it out in all the rain, and 
 it's not more than two months old." 
 
 " And you think I'm a going to let you run 
 back in wet like this, and you, drenched to 
 the skin already, to feed a nasty jackass that 
 won't as much as give you a thank you 
 when all's done. Then, you're very much 
 mistaken, Miss Nelly, you don't go out again 
 to-night, not for all the jackasses in the 
 world;" and so saying, the old woman, having 
 placed her pan on the hob, closed and locked the 
 kitchen door, and put the key in her pocket. 
 
 " What a shame !" laughed the girl, care- 
 lessly, as she stood before the fire, and the 
 steam ascended in a cloud from her damp 
 clothes. 
 
 " Now, where have you been ?" asked nurse 
 Aggie again, as she approached her and laid 
 her hands on her dress and shawl. " Grod 
 bless my soul. Miss Nelly, why you're drenched 
 through and through ; you must take off those 
 things directly, or you'll take your death of 
 cold. And what has it been all for, I should 
 like to know !"
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 19 
 
 " I went to fetch Bertie's drops/' was the 
 careless reply, "Benson had never sent them 
 up, and he would have passed another night 
 without them." 
 
 As she spoke, she took the small parcel 
 from her pocket, and placed it on the table. 
 
 " You* went all the way to Benson's, and in 
 weather like this, just to fetch those drops for 
 Master Eobert !" exclaimed the old nurse, 
 lifting her bands. '* Well, then I say it's a 
 shame you should throw away your health in 
 this fashion for such trumpery, and a shame 
 Master Eobert should let you do it. Why 
 you're wet to your skin, my dearie," she added 
 plaintively, as she placed her hand on the 
 front of the girl's print dress. 
 
 " Come, nurse, don't cry about it," said Nelly 
 Brooke impatiently, " but help me to take off 
 these things and get dry ones. Bertie didn't 
 even know that I was going, so it's my fault 
 if anyone's; besides, after all, what's a wetting 
 once in a way ?" 
 
 ''You make too much of Master Eobert, 
 Miss Nelly," grumbled the old servant, as rhe 
 proceeded to disencumber her young lady of 
 the wet clothes, " a good glass of brandy and 
 water at night would send him off to sleep 
 just as sure as any drops." 
 
 2—2
 
 20 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " No, no ! nurse," replied the girl quickly, 
 " don't tell him that, these drops are what the 
 doctor ordered for him." 
 
 " 'Tisn't a fit night for a dog to have been 
 out," was the pertinacious rejoinder, " I war- 
 rant you didn't take Thug with you, for fear 
 he should get his feet wet !" 
 
 " Certainly not !" laughed her young mis- 
 tress, " when a monster like Thug gets wet, 
 it is so much trouble to dry him again." 
 
 " Aye, aye," muttered the nurse as she left 
 the kitchen to procure a change of raiment, 
 " he was safe and snug enough in the stable, 
 I'll lay, like some others was in the parlour, 
 whilst you may take your death for love of 
 'em ; but it's always the way — it's always the 
 way." 
 
 As she disappeared, Nelly Brooke, partially 
 disrobed, stood gazing earnestly into the 
 kitchen fire. Did she believe the old woman's 
 statement, and credit herself with less selfish- 
 ness than those with whom she dwelt? Not 
 for a moment ! If her thoughts took any 
 distinct form, it was to wonder that nurse 
 Aggie could say anything so disagreeable. 
 
 " She always seems so cross about Bertie 
 now," she mused, " and to resent his helpless- 
 ness as if it were an injury to herself. My poor
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 21 
 
 darling ! as if any trouble could be too great 
 which has the power to make one moment of 
 your life easier than another." 
 
 "Why this dress, nurse?" she enquired a 
 minute later, as the old woman put a black 
 alpaca robe, which she usually wore on Sun- 
 days, into her hands. " You could air one of 
 my cotton frocks in no time by this fire." 
 
 " There now !" exclaimed nurse Aggie, as 
 she shook her head self-reproachfully, " if I 
 haven't clean forgot to tell you that there's 
 company in the parlour." 
 
 " Company ! who is it, Mr. Weston or the 
 vicar f 
 
 " The vicar !" replied the old woman dis- 
 dainfully ; " but there it is, Miss Nelly : your 
 coming in in that state is just enough to drive 
 everything out of a body's head. Why ! it's 
 your cousin from the Ingies, Miss, come in a 
 coach, and such a fine gentleman too ; you 
 must make haste and put on your frock, and 
 go in and see him." 
 
 " My cousin ! what cousin ?" said Nelly 
 Brooke, reddening under a sudden conscious- 
 ness that she had already met the stranger. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Nigel, the son of your uncle 
 what's dead in Calcutty," replied the nurse. 
 
 " I never heard of him," said the girl, " is 
 he a tall, fair man ?"
 
 22 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Yes, to be sure — tall, and fair, and every- 
 thing he should be, and travelled all this dis- 
 tance just to make your acquaintance. Come! 
 now Miss Nelly, make haste, and go and bid 
 him welcome." 
 
 ** I shan't go in at all," replied Miss Nelly 
 decisively. 
 
 *' Oh ! that's nonsense !" said the old nurse, 
 " why, I took tea in full five minutes ago, and 
 there's no one to make it for them, and I've 
 took in the cold beef, and was just frying up 
 a few sausages as you came home. We must 
 make him comfortable, 3^ou know, for he's just 
 come from the Ingies, where they rolls in 
 gold, and has everything of the best." 
 
 " I am not going in, I don't want to see 
 him," reiterated Nelly, " why has he come 
 here ? who asked him ?" 
 
 "Lor, Miss Nelly!" ejaculated the old ser- 
 vant, "I'm quite ashamed of you, why, he's 
 your grandpa's grandson, the same as Master 
 Eobert, and own cousin to 3^ourself, and what 
 more natural considering you've never met, 
 than he should wish to pay you all a visit. 
 Blood's thicker than water, ni}^ dear. Here's 
 the sausages quite ready, and I'm going to 
 take them in, you come now along of me." 
 
 " No ! thank you," said Nelly Brooke, seat-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 23 
 
 ing herself by the fire ; " I don't wish to see 
 him or to know him." 
 
 She felt shy at the prospect of meeting 
 the stranger again ; for visitors were so scarce 
 in Little Bickton, that she had no doubt as 
 to his being the same gentleman who had 
 accosted her in the road. If he were her 
 cousin, and knew her to be his, what must he 
 have thought of the abrupt manner in which 
 she had jumped over the stile and left him. 
 
 The nurse shrugged her shoulders, and 
 carried off her sausages. Soon she returned 
 with the message — 
 
 " Master Eobert wants you, Miss Nelly." 
 
 The girl started to her feet at once, and 
 commenced binding up her long thick hair. 
 " Then I must go," was all she said. She no 
 longer questioned the necessity of her appear- 
 ance in the sitting-room : she seemed to think 
 there could be no alternative to her brother's 
 request. As she left the kitchen, the old nurse 
 shrugged her shoulders again, but she made no 
 further comment. 
 
 The sitting-room, like all the rooms at the 
 Farm Cottage, was low-roofed and old-fas- 
 hioned ; it was substantially but dingily fur- 
 nished, and everything it contained had been 
 made more for use than ornament.
 
 24 NELLY BKOOKE. 
 
 As Nelly Brooke entered it on tliat paiii- 
 cular evening, she came into tlie presence of 
 three men. The first her grandfather, an 
 old stern-looking man, who, sitting apart from 
 the others at a small table of his own, leant his 
 head abstractedly upon his hand. He always 
 sat thus ; shading his eyes from the observa- 
 tion of the outer world ; never a change pass- 
 ing over his once handsome countenance, and 
 scarcely a word issuing from his lips, except 
 when he was addressed by one of his grand- 
 children. The second, her brother; a pale, 
 handsome youth, born in the same hour as 
 herself, but gifted with none of the super- 
 abundant life which flowed in her own veins ; 
 for having been afflicted from his earliest 
 years with a spinal weakness which rendered 
 him incapable of any exertion, Eobert Brooke 
 lay stretched upon a low couch which had now 
 been drawn to the tea-table. The third 
 inmate of the sitting-room was. as Nelly had 
 anticipated, the same gentleman whom she 
 had seen in the post-office, and been accosted 
 by in the road. 
 
 Nelly Brooke, although a lady in the high- 
 est sense of the word, was young and shy, 
 and very ignorant of the usages of society ; 
 and as she now stood blushing in the open
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 25 
 
 doorway, hardly knowing whether to advance 
 or retreat again, the stranger thought he had 
 never seen so attractive a spectacle before. 
 
 " This is my sister Helena," said Eobert 
 Brooke shortly. "Nelly, this is our cousin, 
 Nigel Brooke, the son of our uncle who died 
 last year in Calcutta." 
 
 At the sound of her brother's voice, Nelly 
 seemed to gain courage, and advancing 
 frankly, held out her hand to the stranger, 
 and Nigel Brooke as he took it, and gazed 
 into her open countenance, was struck again, 
 not so much by her beauty as by the quiet 
 innocence of her expression. She was won- 
 derfully like, and yet unlike her afflicted bro- 
 ther. Eobert was his sister struck down and 
 withered by sickness : Helena was her bro- 
 ther,\ glowing with health and strength ; but 
 the likeness extended only to their features, 
 for whilst the girl's expression was one of 
 cheerful content, the young man's face bore 
 signs of a fretful and self-absorbed exist- 
 ence. 
 
 " We have met before, I think," said Nigel 
 Brooke, as he held the dimpled hand for a 
 minute in his own. 
 
 " Yes," said Nelly, blushing, " but I could 
 not tell that it was you."
 
 26 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Why, when did that happen ?" enquired 
 Eobert Brooke. 
 
 "Just now at the post office," replied his 
 sister, " I only ran down for your drops, Ber- 
 tie." 
 
 " And I had stepped in to enquire if I was 
 in the right way," interposed Nigel Brooke ; 
 " but I am afraid you must have got 
 very wet," he added, addressing himself to 
 Nelly. 
 
 " A little," she answered shyly. 
 
 "Poor Nell!" said her brother fondly, 
 placing his hand upon her head as she sat 
 down beside him. " What a dear good child 
 you are to be always thinking of me. What 
 should I do without you ?" 
 
 She stooped and kissed him on the forehead 
 as he spoke, and took his wasted hand in hers, 
 and held it lovingly. It was a beautiful sight, 
 so thought Nigel Brooke, to see these two, 
 whom God had mysteriously endowed, with 
 one life, but with such different cajDabilities 
 for its enjoyment, wrapt up in each other. 
 Yet he could not help remarking even then 
 that Eobert Brooke did not raise the least 
 objection to his sister inconveniencing herself 
 on his account, or express any anxiety as 
 to whether she might suffer from the exposure.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 27 
 
 As to the grandfather, he did not appear to 
 have heard the subject of their discourse, or 
 even to have noticed his granddaughter's en- 
 trance into the room. 
 
 "Come now, Nelly," said young Brooke, 
 after a pause, " pour us out some tea, there's 
 a dear girl, and let our cousin go on with what 
 he was talking about when you came in and 
 interrupted him.'' 
 
 "I was only telling your brother," said 
 Nigel Brooke, as she took her place at the 
 tea-table, " that my mother and I have taken 
 a furnished house at a place called Orpington 
 for three years, which is, I am afraid, the ex- 
 tent of the holiday I must allow myself." 
 
 When she looked at him enquiringly, he 
 continued : — 
 
 "Perhaps you have heard that my father, 
 your uncle, was a merchant at Calcutta, and 
 on his death I was made a partner in the 
 house. There are two principals in the busi- 
 ness, and as we only consider it necessary for 
 one of us to be in Calcutta at a time, we have 
 agreed to take alternate leave to England. 
 I shall remain at home for the next three 
 years, and then I shall return to Bengal, and 
 my partner will take his holiday. You under- 
 stand me ?"
 
 28 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Yes," she answered quietly. 
 
 "Neither my father nor mother have been 
 to England for many years past, for — for 
 several reasons," he continued, lowering his 
 voice, as if not wishing his grandfather to hear 
 him, " but I persuaded my mother to accom- 
 pany me now, for I am her only child, as per- 
 haps you know — have you ever heard of your 
 aunt Eliza ?" 
 
 Nelly looked at her brother for an answer. 
 " Have I ?" she asked, and he replied — 
 
 "I don't know, but I think not." 
 
 "Never mind!" rejoined Nigel Brooke, 
 "it is of little consequence, but that is my 
 mother's name, and I should much like 3^ou 
 both to know her. You have no aunt but 
 herself, no cousin but me, so we should be 
 friends, should we not ?" 
 
 " We will be," replied Eobert, confidently, 
 but Nelly said nothing. 
 
 " When I arrived in England a month ago," 
 resumed their cousin, " my first thought was 
 to pay you a visit, but there has been so little 
 communication between our families of late 
 years," lowering his voice again, "that I had 
 some difiiculty in finding your address, and 
 still more in getting an answer to my letter to 
 my grandfather."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 29 
 
 " Did you write to him ?" enquired the 
 brother. 
 
 **To be sure I did, and asked his permission 
 to visit him here. I should not have ventured 
 to do so without." 
 
 " He never told us," said Eobert Brooke. 
 
 " He never tells us anything," said his sister. 
 
 " We might as well be dead, as buried here 
 alive with him," exclaimed the boy emphati- 
 cally. 
 
 Nelly looked at him reproachfully for a 
 minute, and then rising, took up her station 
 again by his sofa, and placed her hand caress- 
 ingly on his. He returned the caress, but 
 repeated his words. 
 
 " It is true, Nelly ! we might just as well 
 be dead or better; we hear nothing, and see 
 nothing, and know nothing; this place is a 
 living grave." 
 
 *' Hush, darling," she said tenderly. 
 
 Her brother was silenced, but he did not look 
 convinced, and Nigel Brooke, watching them 
 as they hung about each other, thought again 
 as he had thought before, that he had never 
 seen so beautiful a picture.
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 IN WHICH THE COUSINS DISCUSS CERTAIN 
 FAMILY MATTERS. 
 
 Meanwhile the old man remained in the 
 same position that he had maintained from the 
 commencement of the evening, moving his 
 head for a moment perhaps, to drink the tea 
 with which his granddaughter had provided 
 him, but quickly resting it on his hand again 
 with the appearance of becoming perfectly 
 unconscious of all that was passing around 
 him. He was not so entirely self-absorbed, 
 however, as he professed to be, for as soon as 
 the meal was finished and the table had been 
 cleared by old Aggie, he rose of his own accord, 
 and bidding the young men an abrupt " good 
 night," left the room ; and as his cousin Nelly 
 had disappeared some short time previously, 
 Nigel Brooke concluded that he should see 
 neither of them again that evening. As soon 
 as his grandfather's back was turned, Eobert
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 31 
 
 Brooke desired the old servant to set hot water 
 and spirits before them, and turning to his 
 cousin, demanded if he smoked. 
 
 "I do in general," was the reply, " but I 
 can dispense with it for one evening." 
 
 " But where's the necessity ?" said Robert, 
 " we'll smoke together." 
 
 " Are you permitted to smoke ?" exclaimed 
 Nigel, in astonishment, alluding to the delicacy 
 of his cousin's health, rather than his age. 
 
 " I don't know about being * permitted,' " 
 replied Eobert scornfully, " but I know that 
 no prohibition would deter me ; why, I could 
 not live without it ; there's nothing else to do 
 in this hole " 
 
 " Perhaps, if you didn't smoke so much, 
 Master Eobert," interposed the old nurse, as 
 she lingered for a moment beside his sofa, 
 "you'd be better able to do something." 
 
 " You go to your kitchen, Aggie, and learn 
 to speak when you're spoken to," exclaimed 
 the youth, half in earnest and half in play. 
 " That old woman brought both me and Nelly 
 up from our births, Nigel," he continued, as they 
 found themselves alone again, "and doesn't 
 know the meaning of taking a liberty." 
 
 " And I shouldn't try to teach it her, 
 Eobert," was his cousin's reply, " so faithful a
 
 32 XELLY BROOKE. 
 
 servant should be regarded in the light of a 
 friend. But I want to ask you if my grand- 
 father always maintains the silent mood we 
 have seen him in to-night, or has he assumed it 
 for my benefit. It is a cold welcome, although 
 I have no right to expect any other." 
 
 " I assure you it is not on your account," 
 replied Eobert Brooke, " for I never remember 
 him to have been otherwise. Aggie says he 
 was not like that when my grandmother was 
 alive ; but she died when I and my sister were 
 still in our swaddling clothes." 
 
 "I remember it well," said Nigel Brooke, 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 *' Ever since I have known him," continued 
 Eobert, " he has been the same silent, gloomy 
 nature ; and of late years he has become very 
 deaf, which increases his reserve. He sits as 
 you have seen him whenever he is at home ; 
 sometimes he will hold a book in his hand, 
 oftener, however, he appears to be simply 
 buried in thought." 
 
 '' And how does he employ himself in the 
 daytime ?" 
 
 " He takes long walks, sometimes for miles, 
 in search of fossils and stones ; the only thing 
 he cares for is geology, and the only books he 
 ever reads are such as treat of it."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 33 
 
 " It must be very dull for your sister and 
 yourself." 
 
 " Dull ? dull is no word for it ! It is much 
 more endurable for Nelly than for me, as you 
 may suppose ; she has health and her house- 
 hold occupations ; whilst I lie on this sofa 
 half the day, and crawl about the garden 
 the other half — my existence is scarcely bear- 
 able." 
 
 " But surely my grandfather takes some 
 interest in the property. I thought there was 
 a small farm attached to the cottage." 
 
 " There used to be, but he has long given 
 it over to some people of the name of Weston, 
 who own the large farm to which the house 
 belongs. No ! he takes no interest in any- 
 thing — everything is left to old Aggie and 
 Nelly. I suppose he gives the former money 
 occasionally, but I never see him do it. If 
 Nelly and I had any use for money in this 
 barren place, I expect we should find it hard 
 enough to get it out of him. I think he has 
 treated us very badly. We have been shel- 
 tered and clothed and fed by him, it is true, 
 but he could scarcely have done less. We 
 have received scarcely any education, and been 
 allowed to make no friends, and I want to 
 know the reason of it. I want to know what 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 34 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 right lie lias to keep us from infancy to matu- 
 rity in this out-of-the-way place, without an 
 advantage in life. I should like to call him to 
 account for it." 
 
 The youth's eye kindled, and his pale cheek 
 flushed as he uttered the words, and he looked 
 even more like his sister than he had done 
 before. 
 
 "Hush!'* said his cousin, cautiously, for 
 Kobert had raised his voice, " perhaps there are 
 more excuses for it than you are aware of. In 
 the first place, your grandfather is very poor." 
 
 ** Did my father leave no money behind 
 him then?" 
 
 " lie did not — that I am aware of," said 
 Nigel Brooke, but he uttered the words with 
 so much constraint, that his listener looked at 
 him with surprise. 
 
 " Yet your father was rich ?" he said, en- 
 quiringly. 
 
 " Not when he went to Calcutta. He made 
 almost all his money there." 
 
 " And my father was the younger son ?" ob- 
 served Robert. 
 
 " You are aware, I suppose, that our grand- 
 father was a clergyman," said Nigel, evading 
 an answer, " and that, when he resigned his 
 profession, he had little or nothing to live on."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 35 
 
 " What made him resign it then ?" 
 " I am no more in his secrets than you are," 
 replied the elder cousin, with an evident de- 
 sire to relinquish the subject ; " you forget 
 that to-night is the first time I have seen him 
 since I was a child myself." 
 
 " Ah ! secrets, that is the word," exclaimed 
 Eobert, eagerly, " my grandfather has a secret, 
 Nigel, which I would give worlds to discover. 
 We have often tried to make him tell us all 
 about our parents, but he is as taciturn on 
 that subject as he is on all others. The only 
 thing we do know is, that we are orphans, and 
 that our mother died when we were born. 
 But if a man's life has been innocent, why 
 should he bury himself from all his own family, 
 and refuse even to speak of them ? Why ! 
 will you believe me, when I tell you, that 
 until you walked into the cottage this even- 
 ing, neither I or Nelly knew that you so much 
 as existed? We heard last year that our 
 uncle in Calcutta was dead, because my grand- 
 father thought fit to invest himself and me 
 with hat-bands on the occasion, and Nelly 
 with a black frock ; otherwise, I daresay, he 
 would not have mentioned it. There's some- 
 thing beneath all this, Nigel, you may depend 
 upon it." 
 
 3—2
 
 36 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Perhaps so," replied his cousin, " but it is 
 not crime, Eobert, be assured of that ; what- 
 ever you choose to surmise, don't think that 
 your grandfather has led any but a blameless 
 life. Mistaken it may have been, and hard 
 and unforgiving I know it to have been ; but 
 he has done nothing which need prevent him 
 holding up his head before all the world. As 
 for your not hearing of myself, it is easily ac- 
 counted for. My father married early and 
 settled in England, but a bitter quarrel arising 
 between him and his father, when I was a lad 
 at school, caused him to leave this country for 
 Bengal, which he never again quitted. I was 
 his only child, and therefore he took me with 
 him, and I worked under him until I suc- 
 ceeded him in the business. At different 
 times I have visited the Cape, Australia, and 
 even Paris, but I have never set foot in my 
 native country since I left it, until a month ago. 
 Therefore, you see, it was impossible we could 
 have met, and unlikely that, under the cir- 
 cumstances, our grandfather should care to re- 
 vive unpleasant recollections by mentioning 
 my name to you. But I am old enough to 
 remember the circumstance of your birth, and 
 my father's quarrel with my grandfather, and 
 I have always resolved that when we had an
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 37 
 
 opportunity of meeting, it should not be my 
 fault if we were not friends." 
 
 And Nigel Brooke smiled kindly on his 
 young cousin as he spoke. 
 
 " You remember our birth !" exclaimed 
 Eobert, "why, what age are you?" 
 
 " I am thirty-five." 
 
 " Indeed ! you don't look like it !" 
 
 " Do I not — yet my hair is turning grey — 
 and you ?" 
 
 "I am just eighteen." 
 
 " Ah ! of course, so you must be," and 
 for a few minutes the cousins smoked in 
 silence. 
 
 " If you can remember our birth," resumed 
 Eobert Brooke, "you must remember our 
 father. What was he like ?" 
 
 " I do not remember him," replied the other, 
 with the same constraint he had exhibited be- 
 fore. 
 
 "How is that?" 
 
 " I was a boy at school, and seldom at 
 home." 
 
 " And he and your father were not good 
 friends, I suppose?" continued Eobert, in- 
 quiringly. 
 
 " They were not, Eobert, I regret to say," 
 replied Nigel Brooke, uneasily ; " but this
 
 38 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 questioning is becoming Yevy painful to me, 
 pray discontinue it." 
 
 " But at least you can tell me what my 
 father died of?" 
 
 " For Heaven's sake let us dismiss the sub- 
 ject," exclaimed Nigel Brooke, with strange 
 emphasis, as he rose from his seat and helped 
 himself to some of the spirits before him, " we 
 have had quite enough of it for one evening ; 
 besides, I am keeping you up, Eobert. Do you 
 know that it is past midnight ; rather a late 
 hour for an invalid, is it not ?" 
 
 '*' I don't consider myself an invalid," said 
 the other, pettishly ; " however, if you are 
 ready for bed, you have but to ring for Aggie 
 to show you to your room. I sit up till all 
 hours myself, so it makes no difference to 
 me." 
 
 " I should think it must make a difference 
 in your health ; do you experience much pain ?" 
 
 " 'No ! not unless I have been standing or 
 sitting up for too long, and then my back is 
 used to ache. I sometimes think if I were 
 away from this cursed hole that I should be as 
 strong as other men ; but the want of medical 
 advice is another of the benefits that I have to 
 thank my grandfather for." 
 
 " I thought your weakness had been
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 39 
 
 clironic," said liis cousin, " that you liad beea 
 born so." 
 
 " So they say'' replied Eobert Brooke, 
 roughly, " but I don't believe it any the more 
 for that. However, if you are really ready, we 
 will make a move." 
 
 " I am tired," admitted his cousin, " for I 
 found the journey here rather a fatiguing one. 
 Shall I ring the bell for you ?" 
 
 Knowing that the boy could not well walk 
 without assistance, he had expected that the 
 old nurse would appear to conduct him to his 
 room ; but what was his surprise, on the door 
 opening, to see his cousin Nelly on the thresh- 
 old. She came in with cheerful readiness, but 
 she looked pale, and dark rings about her eyes 
 shewed that she had waited for the summons 
 longer than she should have done. 
 
 " Eeady, Bertie ?" she asked, with a smile. 
 
 " Our cousin is, Nelly, so it's all the same 
 thing. I suppose his room is prepared for him. 
 Tell Aggie to bring us the candlesticks, and go 
 before to shew the way." 
 
 She flew to execute his bidding, and returned 
 bearing the lighted candles herself. 
 
 "I am so sorry to give you this trouble," 
 said Nigel Brooke, as he took the one she ten- 
 dered him. " I had no idea we were keeping
 
 40 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 you up, or I should have suggested to Eobert 
 that it was time to go to bed before." 
 
 " Oh ! it is of no consequence," she answered, 
 blushing, " I always sit up for Bertie, however 
 late he may be. Do I not ?" she continued, 
 addressing her brother as she placed one hand 
 beneath his shoulders, and raised him into a 
 sitting posture. 
 
 " Of course you do," he replied, " I couldn't 
 get on without this sister of mine, Nigel ! no 
 one can do for me what she can.'' 
 
 He was standing now, and the curvature in 
 the spine was very apparent, as he stooped for- 
 ward, supported by her strong young arms. 
 Yet it was evident that the burthen was too 
 heavy for her, for the colour in her face came 
 and went, painfully. 
 
 " You are happy in the possession of so ten- 
 der a nurse, Eobert," said Nigel Brooke, as he 
 bid the cousins good-night. But the word 
 seemed to grate upon the cripple's ears. 
 
 " You don't call yourself a ' nurse' yet, Nelly, 
 do you ?" he said, appealing to his sister. 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered, quickly, " only your 
 sister, Bertie." 
 
 " She is more than that, Nigel," said Eobert, 
 laughing, *' she is myself, without her I should 
 not be."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 41 
 
 At this tribute Nelly bent her eyes down- 
 wards, but not before her cousin had seen that 
 they sparkled with pleasure at the praise. 
 
 He stayed in the sitting-room from a feeling 
 of delicacy until the difficult business of get- 
 ting the invalid upstairs was accomplished, 
 and then the old nurse appeared, and offered 
 to conduct him to his sleeping apartment. 
 He followed her silently, thinking how strange 
 it was that after all that had happened, he 
 should be going to rest beneath the roof of 
 his grandfather. 
 
 " Is there anything more, sir ?" asked the 
 woman, respectfully, when she had deposited 
 the candlestick upon the table. 
 
 " Nothing, thank you," he exclaimed, start- 
 ing from the train of thought into which he 
 had fallen. 
 
 A little while later he opened his door, for 
 the night was close, notwithstanding the 
 storm, and the cottage ceilings were low. He 
 did so softly, for fear of disturbing his cousins 
 or grandfather, and he paused a few minutes 
 before he closed it again. On the opposite 
 side of the landing a bright light streamed 
 beneath the door of the room which he 
 knew to be occupied by Robert Brooke, and 
 the sweet tones of his cousin Nelly, as she
 
 42 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 read to her brother from the Bible, issued 
 thence in a continued murmur. 
 
 The sound seemed to chain him, and he 
 stood there listening, until a fretful voice in- 
 terrupted the reader with the words : — 
 
 " There now, Nelly, that vvill do for to- 
 night. Let me go to sleep, there's a good 
 girl," and the next moment the reading ceased, 
 and the light was extinguished. 
 
 Nigel Brooke could picture to himself the 
 afTectionate caress which followed, and had just 
 time to creep back into his own room, as Nelly 
 issued from that of her brother. 
 
 He threw himself on the bed, but it was 
 long before he could compose his thoughts 
 sufficiently to allow him to sleep. He could 
 not help wondering what it must feel like to 
 be loved and cared for, as Eobert Brooke was 
 loved and cared for by his sister; the sensa- 
 tion was one which he had never known, for 
 both his parents had been people of a most 
 prosaic turn of mind, w^ho thought time wasted 
 which was passed in fondling, and words 
 wasted which were only words of endearment. 
 And from his earliest years Nigel Brooke had 
 been taught that the true object of life was to 
 make a position for himself by means of his 
 wealth.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 43 
 
 So the idea was a new one to liim, and he 
 could not help questioning whether, had he 
 been reared in an atmosphere of love, he 
 should have been a different man to what' he 
 was. 
 
 And he had not solved the difficulty when 
 he fell asleep.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 NIGEL BROOKE FALLS IN LOVE WITH A 
 COUNTRY LIFE. 
 
 When lie waked the next morning, all traces 
 of tlie storm had disappeared, and the August 
 sun was streaming with so much for^e upon 
 his face through the thin blind which shaded 
 the window, that it reminded him of India, 
 and caused him to exclaim : " By Jove," be- 
 fore he was fully awake, as it flashed across 
 his dawning intellect that he must have over- 
 slept himself. But as soon as he had leapt 
 out of bed and thrown open the little lattice, 
 he guessed that he must be mistaken, and the 
 hands of his watch, which stood at half-past 
 six, corroborated the suspicion. The constant 
 crowing of the cock, answered by a quiet 
 chuckle from his hens ; the hissing of geese 
 and quacking of ducks ; in fact, all the babble 
 of the farm-yard, which seemed to arise from 
 just beneath his window, proved it was still 
 early morning.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 45- 
 
 His room, which was at the back of the 
 cottage, looked out upon a kitchen garden, 
 apparently well stocked with all the more 
 common fruits and vegetables, to one side of 
 which lay a meadow, and to the other a shady 
 and most inviting nut-walk, which appeared 
 to run right round the little enclosure, and at 
 the sight of which Nigel Brooke proceeded to 
 make a rapid toilet, in order that he might 
 the sooner inspect the quiet English beauties, 
 which had so much charm for him after his 
 lengthened residence in Bengal. 
 
 As soon as he was dressed, he left his bed- 
 room cautiously, and took his way downstairs, 
 not expecting to find any of the inmates of 
 the Cottage stirring at that hour, unless it 
 was the old woman whom they called nurse 
 Aggie, and until he saw the hall-door stand- 
 ing wide open to admit the sweet fresh air 
 into the lower rooms, he had hardly expected 
 even to meet her. Passing through, he found 
 himself in the front garden, if it could be 
 called by that name. A large oval piece of 
 grass, which had once been a lawn, surrounded 
 by a gravelled walk, and bordered by tall 
 straggling laurel bushes, was all that met his 
 eye. The grass was thick and rank from 
 want of attention ; the laurels here and there
 
 46 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 entwined in the embraces of a huge holly- 
 hock, almost lay on the ground, from the vio- 
 lence of the late storm, whilst a few of the 
 most ordinary seedlings, such as stocks, mig- 
 nonette, and balsam, which he guessed had 
 been put in by the women's hands to redeem 
 the place from a look of utter desolation, had 
 shed half their blossoms on the soil they could 
 scarcely be said to adorn. 
 
 Nothing that Nigel Brooke had yet seen or 
 heard of the internal economy of the Farm 
 Cottage, had struck him so forcibly as the 
 appearance of this untidy and neglected 
 garden. 
 
 " It is like the old man's life," he said to 
 himself; "aimless, sapless, and forlorn; and 
 that from the fault of others rather than him- 
 self. Well ! I wish I could do something to 
 make up for it, • to him ; if he will let me 
 make the attempt, it shall not be my fault if 
 I fail." 
 
 He turned from the scene, which under the 
 circumstances was really melancholy, notwith- 
 standing the sunshine with which it was 
 enveloped, and judging that the path by the 
 side of the house would lead him to the nut- 
 walk he had seen from his bedroom, bent his 
 steps in that direction. He had not gone far
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 47 
 
 before lie found lie would liave to pass the 
 kitclien'^door and window, but he thought no- 
 thing of that until he came opposite the latter, 
 which was thrown open, and saw leaning with 
 her bare dimpled arms upon the sill, his cousin 
 Nelly. . 
 
 Nigel Brooke started back, coloured, as if 
 he had been detected in a crime, and then 
 commenced to stammer some apologies for 
 what he termed his trespassing. 
 
 The girl coloured also, but simply at his 
 unexpected presence ; she would never have 
 dreamt of blushing for the situation, which 
 was an ever}^ day occurrence to her. 
 
 " You arc quite welcome, cousin," she said, 
 wishing with intuitive politeness, to set him 
 at his ease, " won't you come in ?" 
 
 The genuine request did all that it was in- 
 tended to do. Nigel Brooke refused the offer, 
 but seated himself on the window-sill instead. 
 
 "No thank you, the morning is too lovely 
 to spend in-doors ; besides, I might disturb 
 you." 
 
 " You would not do that," she artlessly 
 replied ; " but you might get a dust of flour 
 on your coat, because I am just going to 
 make the pastr}^" 
 
 And as she spoke, she took up her position
 
 48 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 beside a small deal table, wbich was placed in 
 front of the window, and laden with the ar- 
 ticles necessary to her occupation. 
 
 "Can you really make it?" asked Nigel 
 Brooke with surprise, for the ladies he had 
 been used to associate with had never been 
 able to do anything which was of use. 
 
 Nelly's big eyes opened to their fullest ex- 
 tent. 
 
 '' Beally I why no one ever touches it in 
 this house but myself. I make all the tarts, 
 and puddings, and pies, and all the bread into 
 the bargain. Aggie used to do that, but Ber- 
 tie thinks I have a lighter hand now, and I 
 ought to have, you know, because I'm so much 
 the younger. Do you like milk rolls ?" 
 
 " I think I should like anything which you 
 made," replied her cousin, looking at her with 
 genuine admiration. 
 
 If he had considered her charming on the 
 previous evening, when her shyness had made 
 her awkward, and her fatigue had made her 
 pale, what must he have thought of her as 
 she appeared, refreshed by a good night's rest, 
 and the restraint in her manners replaced by 
 an innocent confidence. Strictly speaking, 
 perhaps, Nelly Brooke was not beautiful ; her 
 twin brother who possessed the same features.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 49 
 
 sharpened and refined by sickness, might have 
 laid a stronger claim to the title, but she was 
 better calculated to attract a man (particularly- 
 such a one as Nigel Brooke, who, having seen 
 no English complexions for so many years, 
 was ready to fall down and worship " colour,") 
 than some of the most perfect faces that ever 
 gladdened this earth. She was tall ; a good 
 deal taller than her brother when they 
 stood together, and her figure, without being 
 large, was full. She had two dark-blue eyes, 
 set wide apart in a broad low forehead, which 
 would have been as white as her arms, had it 
 not been sunburnt ; a straight short nose ; 
 and an open mouth which displayed a set of 
 firm white teeth. Her hair, which in country 
 fashion had been cut short across her forehead, 
 where, from a natural tendency to curl, it hung 
 like little tendrils on a vine, was simply tied 
 with a broad black ribbon behind. In hue it 
 was neither fair nor dark, but of a nut-brown, 
 which exposure had turned rust-colour; and 
 her eyebrows and lashes were well marked, 
 and considerably darker than her hair. She 
 was a woman who might have been pro- 
 nounced either pretty or commonplace, accord- 
 ing as her judges liked or disliked her, but as 
 much may be said for every phase of beauty. 
 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Nigel Brooke had already passed Lis decision 
 in the case, and did not dream of questioning it. 
 He thought her simply charming. 
 As she commenced to dabble in the flour 
 and milk, and butter, apparently perfectly un- 
 conscious that her print dress, and her homely 
 occupation rendered her in the least different 
 from other young ladies, he asked her if she 
 were less afraid of him that morning than she 
 had been on the previous night. 
 
 "I was not afraid of you last night," she said, 
 blushing, " I am never afraid of anything." 
 
 " But you ran away very fast when I spoke 
 to you." 
 
 " Because you took me by surprise ; I was 
 sorry for it afterwards ; I thought you might 
 have wished to ask your way somewhere, but 
 it was too late then. Besides I hadn't Thug 
 with me." 
 
 "And who is Thug?" 
 
 "I will show you," and shaking the flour 
 off" her fingers, she ran to the open door, and 
 called the name in a strong clear voice. A 
 rustle was heard coming up the nut-walk, fol- 
 lowed by a crash through the privet hedge, 
 and then a large mastiff", of the true English 
 breed, rushed out, and without taking any 
 notice of the stranger, beyond a low growl.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 51 
 
 leapt up at the girl's figure, and laid his huge 
 paws on her shoulders. 
 
 " Oh ! he is so heavy !" she said as she bent 
 beneath the weight; "but he does love his 
 mistress so." 
 
 The fierce animars hanging jaw was thrust 
 against her face, and his tusks were close to 
 her white throat. Nigel Brooke actually- 
 shuddered as he looked at them and turned 
 his ej^es away. 
 
 " So that is Thug," he said, " he is a splen- 
 did fellow, but you shouldn't let him put his 
 teeth so close to you as that. A mastiff's tem- 
 per is very uncertain." 
 
 "You don't think Thug would hurt 7}ie, 
 
 cousin, do you ?" she said, amused at the mere 
 
 idea, "why, I brought him up from a little 
 
 thing of thai size," clasping her rosy palms 
 
 together ; " Mr. "Weston gave him to me when 
 
 he was only six days old, because the mother 
 
 had more puppies than she could rear, and 
 
 how do you think I fed him," she continued, 
 
 laughing girhshly, "with a bottle; like a 
 
 baby 1 ! He's a nice baby, isn't he ? go down, 
 
 Thug, I can't touch you ; don't you see that 
 
 I'm making the pastry ?" and shaking the huge 
 
 animal off her, she proceeded with her business. 
 
 " So now I suppose he rewards your care of 
 
 4—2 

 
 52 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 him by looking after you/' remarked Nigel 
 Brooke ; *•' but what I have told you is really 
 true. The nature of mastiffs is treacherous, 
 and I have heard of more than one case in 
 which they have unexpectedly turned upon 
 their own masters and killed them. So, do be 
 careful. I must allow, however, that your 
 " baby " does you credit, I never saw a more 
 splendid specimen. I should like to have had 
 him out shooting with me in India. Those 
 fangs of his would look more appropriate in 
 my mind at the throat of a wild beast, than at 
 that of a young lady." 
 
 "I couldn't distrust Thug, "replied Nelly, con- 
 fidently, " he would hurt himself sooner than 
 me ; but have you ever shot a tiger, cousin ?" 
 
 " Several." 
 
 " Not really ?" and her eyes sparkled with 
 excitement. 
 
 "Really and truly. I will send you the 
 skin of one, if you would like to have it." 
 
 " Oh ; should I not ? Fancy, Thug, the skin 
 of a real tiger, such as I used to pretend you 
 were. And how did you shoot them — do tell 
 me all about it ?" 
 
 The making of the pastry threatened to 
 come to a stand-still as she turned her glow- 
 ing, expectant face upon him.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 53 
 
 "I will tell you all about it another time, 
 Nelly," said lier cousin, quite refreshed by 
 this unexpected burst of enthusiasm, " but it 
 is too long a story to begin before breakfast. 
 I hope, however, that I shall have more than 
 one opportunity in which to tell it you. I 
 want particularly to have a little private con- 
 versation with my grandfather this morning, 
 do you think you can manage it for me ?" 
 
 *' Oh, yes ! I will tell him so, and you and 
 he can go into the front room and talk there. 
 It is of no use hinting a thing to grandpapa ; 
 you must tell him downright, or he doesn't 
 understand you." 
 
 The old servant had entered the kitchen by 
 this time, and was moving about it preparing 
 the breakfast. 
 
 " Nurse Aggie, has Bertie's bell rung yet ?" 
 demanded her young mistress. 
 
 " No, Miss Nelly, and I can answer it when 
 it do. Don't you disturb yourself.'* 
 
 *' How is your brother this morning ? Have 
 you seen him yet ?" asked Nigel Brooke. 
 
 " Yes ; I took him some tea an hour ago." 
 
 " She slaves herself to death for him, sir," 
 interposed the old woman. 
 
 " Hold your tongue, Nurse," said Nelly, 
 playfully, " Bertie is always at his best on first
 
 54 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 rising — it is the long day without occupation 
 which fatigues him so." 
 
 " Ah ! if he did something, mayhap he'd 
 feel better/' again put in old Aggie. 
 
 " Aggie ! how can you speak so ? you ought 
 to be ashamed of yourself ; and before a 
 stranger too. Nothing any one could do for 
 Bertie could be too much, cousin Nigel," she 
 said, turning towards him, " he is so helpless, 
 and his life is such a burthen to him. Oh !" 
 she continued, with an impatient gesture, 
 " sometimes when I see him beside me, and 
 feel what it is to be able to run about and 
 endure fatigue, I hate myself for being so 
 strong and so well — why should it have been 
 me and not him ?" and the blue eyes actually 
 filled with tears. 
 
 " 'Tis lucky for you, Miss Nelly," remarked 
 Aggie, " that you can't change places with him 
 at your will, or it's precious little waiting on 
 that you'd get, I fancy." 
 
 " Aggie ! I won't listen to you any more," 
 said the girl in a voice of offence, as she wiped 
 her hands and prepared to leave the kitchen, 
 " and you may finish the pastry by yourself ! 
 Come, Cousin Nigel, we will go down the nut- 
 walk, and I will shew you the fowls and the 
 ducks ; they don't belong to us, I am sorry to
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 55 
 
 say, because grandpapa has given up the mea- 
 dows to Mr. Weston again, but I take almost 
 as much pleasure in them as if they did." 
 
 She pulled down her sleeves, and, followed 
 by Thug, emerged into the open air without 
 any covering to her head. 
 
 " Will not the sun be too strong for you ?" 
 suggested her cousin. 
 
 She laughed merrily. 
 
 " Oh, no ! I never wear anything on my 
 head except on Sundays, or if it rains. If we 
 were to begin to wear bonnets all the year 
 round in Little Bickton, we should be obliged 
 to go to Reddington for them, and then what 
 would poor Benson say ?" 
 
 She led him through paths almost rendered 
 impassable by the currant and gooseberry 
 bushes which encroached upon them. 
 
 " Isn't it a pity," she said, " that grandpapa 
 won't even pay a man to prune these bushes ; 
 the fruit crops are getting less every year in 
 consequence. Aggie and I are obliged to cut 
 them sometimes, else we should not be able to 
 get down to the vegetables ; but our cutting 
 does more harm than good. Do you know 
 how to prune ?" 
 
 He was obliged to acknowledge that he did 
 not.
 
 56 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 *' That's a pity, or I should have asked you 
 to show me how. Mrs. Weston said her man 
 should teach me whenever I could go there ; 
 but Bertie can so seldom spare me — but I 
 really must not let them go beyond this sea- 
 son. 
 
 " Who plants and attends to the vegetables 
 then ?" asked Nigel Brooke. 
 
 " We do — that is, Aggie and I. Oh ! I can 
 do everything of that kind, my potatoes never 
 fail, nor do any of the other things, except the 
 celery, and I can't manage the celery, it 
 always turns brown at the heart. Here it is, 
 you see ; what is it, cousin ? Have I banked 
 it up too high, or not enough ?" 
 
 " I really can't tell you, Nelly. I am afraid 
 I am not sufficiently clever to give you any 
 advice." 
 
 " Ah ! perhaps you haven't celery in India. 
 I shall look at the vicar's next time I fetch the 
 papers. By-the-bye, to-day is Saturday, is it 
 not?" 
 
 "It is." 
 
 " Then I shall go this afternoon, and get 
 him to tell me all about it." 
 
 ** Who is your vicar? and where does he 
 live ?" 
 
 " Three miles from Bickton, but he often
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 57 
 
 comes over here, and we always have one ser- 
 vice on Sunday, unless it's very wet. His 
 name is Mr. Bay, and lie is so goodnatured. 
 He used to teach Bertie and me when we were 
 little children. Every week he lets Bertie have 
 his newspapers to read, and on Saturdays I go 
 and fetch them for him." 
 
 " And how do you go ?" 
 
 " On Mr. Weston's little pony. He lends 
 it me. The people about here are all so kind. 
 Cousin Nigel ! I've got my garden knife with 
 me, would you mind if I cut the vegetables 
 for dinner before we go to see the fowls ?" 
 
 " Not at all— why should I ?" 
 
 " Because you must help me to carry them 
 in. Let me see, we have Irish-stew to-day, so 
 we shall want onions and cabbages. We will 
 cut the cabbages first ; you can hold them as I 
 hand them to you." 
 
 Stooping down, she immediately set to work, 
 and severing three enormous heads of cabbage, 
 their leaves all glistening with the rain of the 
 previous evening, piled them one after another 
 in her cousin's arms. 
 
 " I don't think I can hold any more, Nelly!" 
 he observed as the topmost vegetable touched 
 his nose and wetted it. 
 
 " Well, that must do then," she said, " but
 
 58 NELLY BEOOKE. 
 
 cabbages go no way at this time of the year ; 
 they are almost all outside, you see." 
 
 At this moment there sounded the tinkle of 
 a bell. 
 
 " Oh ! there's Bertie's bell," exclaimed Nelly, 
 as she threw down her gardening knife and 
 wiped her wet hands on her apron. " I must 
 go. Please, Cousin Nigel, just carry them into 
 the kitchen for me, and give them to Aggie." 
 
 She preferred the request so imploringly, 
 that he would have had no heart to remon- 
 strate, even had she given him the opportunity, 
 but as she spoke she darted up the garden path 
 again, closely followed by the mastiff, and Nigel 
 Brooke, almost hidden behind his burthen, 
 carried the cabbages as she had entreated him 
 into the kitchen. 
 
 He only thought as he deposited them on 
 the table, what would some of his grand Cal- 
 cutta acquaintances have said if they could 
 have seen him then ! 
 
 And yet, he felt very much in love with a 
 country life and its surroundings, even as he 
 placed them there.
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 AN UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEW. 
 
 The morning meal passed much the same as 
 the evening one had done, for both brother and 
 sister lost their communicative powers beneath 
 the spell of silence which the presence of their 
 grandfather seemed to cast upon them, and 
 their cousin felt as little inclined to talk before 
 him as they did. 
 
 As soon as it was over, however, a glance of 
 intelligence between Nigel Brooke and Nelly, 
 caused the latter to follow the old man into 
 the passage, where he had just taken down his 
 hat and stick, preparatory to going out, and 
 prevent his design with the words : 
 
 "Tou mustn't go out just yet, grandpapa, 
 because our cousin wishes to speak to you first." 
 
 " What can your cousin have to say to me ?" 
 demanded her grandfather, turning his lack 
 lustre eyes upon her. 
 
 "I don't know, grandpapa, but you must 
 go into the study, until he comes to you," and
 
 60 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 as she spoke, tlie girl, wlio appeared to be the 
 ruling power in the house, although at times 
 so sorely taxed, took off the old man's hat • 
 again, replaced his stick in the stand, and led 
 him towards the door of the room she had 
 indicated. 
 
 There was nothing so modern as a drawing- 
 room at the Farm Cottage ; the dining-room 
 and the study were the only sitting-rooms it 
 possessed, and the latter was so seldom used 
 that it might have been dispensed with alto- 
 gether. 
 
 The next minute Nelly danced back into 
 the dining-room with the intelligence, 
 
 "I've caught grandpapa for you. Cousin 
 Nigel, and put him in the trap, so you had 
 better goto him quickly before he escapes again." 
 
 He took her advice, but as he laid his hand 
 on the study door, he felt anything but easy 
 at the prospect of the coming interview ; and 
 when he entered the room, and found that the 
 old man had placed himself motionless and 
 corpselike as usual in an easy chair, from which 
 he did not even raise his eyes at the sound of 
 his grandson's footsteps, his doubts enlarged to 
 certainties. 
 
 Nothing daunted, however, at all events, 
 outwardly, Nigel Brooke drew a seat in front
 
 NELLY BKOOKE. 61 
 
 of his grandfatlier, so that he could not fail to 
 see and hear him. 
 
 " I have asked for this interview, sir," he 
 commenced, " in order to speak to you of the 
 letter which I had the honour to address to 
 you here." 
 
 " I answered that letter," was the curt 
 reply. 
 
 " You did ; but in so cold and indifferent 
 a manner, that it was a hard thing for me to 
 make up my mind to accept the permission 
 which it so ungraciously extended to visit you 
 here. In my letter, however, I told you that 
 my dying father's message to yourself was an 
 entreaty that you would let * byegones be bye- 
 gones,' and not transmit to his son the indiffer- 
 ence which you had for so many years shewn 
 to himself" 
 
 "And from whose fault was that?" de- 
 manded the old man, suddenly roused into 
 something like life. 
 
 " I am not here, sir, to discuss my dead 
 father's failings. If in the circumstance to 
 which you allude he erred, it was on the side 
 of what he considered his duty, and he bitterly 
 repented the consequence of his rashness. 
 The present question is, whether you will now 
 do as he wished, and permit me to try and
 
 €2 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 rub out old scores, by making up to you for 
 what you lost in him/' 
 
 " What do you mean ?" said his grand- 
 father, " I do not follow you." 
 
 "I mean, sir, that I am rich, much richer 
 than I have any need to be, and that I cannot 
 enjoy the luxury with which my poor father 
 has left me surrounded, whilst his nearest rela- 
 tives and mine are living in obscurity. I mean 
 that if you and my cousins will share my pros- 
 perity, you vv^ill confer an obligation on me 
 instead of incurring one yourself, and that I 
 believe your son will rest quieter in his grave 
 for the knowledge that you and I are living 
 together in amity." 
 
 The old man appeared almost touched, but 
 he quickly repulsed the feeling. 
 
 " It is impossible !" he said shortly. " I 
 will neither receive money from you, nor allow 
 ihose children to do so. Had it not been for 
 your father, they might have been surrounded 
 by as many luxuries this day as yourself." 
 
 " But putting all questions of pecuniary 
 matters on one side, sir, surely you will not 
 refuse to visit us at Orpington. We have a 
 house large enough to contain us all, where 
 you shall enjoy as much quiet and seclusion 
 as you please, and where nothing could give
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 63 
 
 me greater pleasure than to see you and my 
 ' cousins for an indefinite period." 
 
 " I will not enter your house, Nigel Brooke," 
 said the old man, emphatically ; " were I to 
 sit smiling at your board, and pledge you in 
 your wine, the blood of three would rise up 
 and forbid it. You have not forgotten perhaps 
 that the blow of your father's conduct caused 
 his mother's death. He said let * byegones 
 be byegones.' It is because they are byegones, 
 and can never be remedied, that I cannot for- 
 get them, and I cannot forgive them." 
 
 And, rising from his seat, the old man 
 paced up and down the room, looking more 
 excited than any of his friends had seen him 
 for years. 
 
 " I am very sorry to hear you speak like 
 this, sir," said his grandson. " I had hoped 
 that eighteen years would have softened, if 
 not changed the feelings with which you re- 
 garded this unfortunate business." 
 
 " Eighteen years ! young man !" exclaimed 
 the grandfather, with shrill anger *' Can 
 eighteen years give me back those whom I 
 have lost ? can eighteen years restore to those 
 children their parents, or replace me in the 
 sacred profession which I followed ? Do you 
 come now with the offer of your gold and your
 
 64 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 silver, and think to pay me for what I have 
 suffered, and seen others suffer, for your 
 father's error ? Bah ! sir, you must be young 
 indeed to think it ! I will not eat at your 
 board, nor enrich myself at your expense, lest 
 the world say I took compensation at the last 
 for what I vowed never to forgive. Let me 
 hear no more of it ! no more of it !" and he 
 turned towards the door as though he would 
 close the interview by leaving the apartment. 
 But Nigel Brooke was there before him. 
 
 " Hear me for one moment, sir !" he said. 
 " If I am nothing else to you, at least I am 
 your son's son, and entirely guiltless myself 
 in this matter. In justice, listen to me one 
 moment longer." 
 
 The old man suffered himself to be led back 
 to the chair he had quitted, though he would 
 not re-seat himself, but remained standing by 
 the side. 
 
 " I came to England, grandfather," said 
 Nigel Brooke, using the name for the first 
 time, " with but one wish, and that was, to 
 find out my cousins, and try to make them (if 
 not yourself) some compensation for the injury 
 which my father inflicted on them. I was not 
 aware of the extent or nature of that injury 
 until he lay on his own death-bed, and told
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 65 
 
 me the story. I wrote to you — I came down 
 to this place — filled with the same desire — the 
 same idea — to make restitution. Tor your- 
 self, you refuse my aid, even my acquaintance 
 it seems to me, but surely you will not do so 
 on behalf of my cousins. Putting aside all 
 other considerations, they are my closest, and 
 on my father's side, my only relations. I wish 
 to be their friend, to see them grow to love me 
 and trust in me ; that some day, when they 
 hear the truth concerning themselves they 
 may acknowledge that whatever they lost by 
 the deed of the father, the son would have re- 
 paid them could he have done so ; even to the 
 shedding of his blood." 
 
 He paused, overcome by the force of his 
 own enthusiasm, and his grandfather even 
 appeared arrested, if not touched, by his argu- 
 ment. 
 
 " If you will not come yourself," he con- 
 tinued, " let my cousins come to me ; my 
 mother will give them a welcome, if only for 
 my sake — and she authorized me to make this 
 request to you. You must be an old man 
 now, grandfather, for I am thirty-five, and 
 my father was turned sixty when he died, you 
 cannot live many years longer, and who is to 
 befriend Eobert and Helena when you are 
 
 VOL. I. 5
 
 66 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 gone, if you separate them from my mother 
 and myself The boy's life is likely to be a 
 brief one, and how is a girl to fight the world 
 alone ? I will not again ask you to outrage 
 your own feelings by accepting my hospitality; 
 but let me have my cousins on a visit to Or- 
 pington, and they shall tell you themselves 
 what kind of reception they receive there !" 
 
 The old man was silent for a moment ; and 
 then he replied, slowly but firmly. 
 
 " You are right ; the children may want a 
 friend. So far then I will trust you ; if it is 
 their own wish to go to Orpington, thev shall 
 
 go." 
 
 Nigel Brooke seized his grandfather's un- 
 willing hand. 
 
 " I cannot tell you, sir, how much I thank 
 you for this permission; and as for trusting 
 me, I swear to you this moment, that as long 
 as I live, neither Eobert nor his sister shall 
 ever want a friend." 
 
 His grandfather looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " You seem in earnest, young man : but I 
 have heard your father say as much on behalf 
 of his own flesh and blood : and how did he 
 keep his vow ?" 
 
 " He thought he was keeping it, sir." 
 
 " Pshaw ! let us have no more of this. If
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 67 
 
 it is the wish of E-obert and Helena to visit 
 you and your mother at your fine place at 
 Orpington, they may do so. And I have no 
 more to say on the matter." 
 
 With which, old Mr. Brooke turned abruptly 
 on his heel, walked into the passage, regained 
 his hat and stick, and left the house without 
 another word. Whilst Nigel, thankful beyond 
 measure that the conference was over, returned 
 to the dining-room. 
 
 " You are alone ?" he said, as he found 
 Eertie lying on his couch with his eyes half- 
 closed and a pipe between his teeth. 
 
 " Yes, the women are always busy at this 
 time of the day, shaking beds, and making 
 puddings. What a life to lead, to be sure.'' 
 
 His cousin thought that Eobert's life for 
 one, must be less endurable, but he made no 
 comment on the remark. 
 
 " I have been talking to our grandfather,'' 
 he said, " and have gained his consent that 
 you and your sister shall pay us a visit at Or- 
 pington, if you feel so inclined." 
 
 " At your place ?" said Robert with aroused 
 interest. 
 
 " Yes, and I am sure 3^ou would enjoy it. 
 Orpington is not two miles from Hilstone in 
 Somerset, it is a pretty place ; but I chose it 
 
 5—2
 
 G8 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 (m account of its proximity to the meet, which 
 takes place close by three times a week. I 
 am exceedingly fond of hunting, indeed, of all 
 out of door sports ; but we shall have plenty 
 of amusement indoors. My mother, I know, 
 will do all she can to make you and Nelly 
 comfortable and happy, and it will be a change 
 for you, after Little Bickton. Do say that 
 you'll come, Eobert ?" 
 
 " My sister shall," he said. 
 
 " And not yourself?" 
 
 Eobert Brooke shook his head. 
 
 " Why not ? you shall be as quiet as pos- 
 sible if you prefer it ; and I am afraid your 
 sister will not come without you !" 
 
 "Yes, she will, but I can't go, Nigel, thank 
 you. You see I've been cooped up here in 
 solitary confinement all my life, accustomed to 
 one set of things and people, and I couldn't 
 bestir myself now after so many years, to go 
 amongst a lot of company, and have to sit up 
 and behave myself, and take a part in the 
 conversation ; I should be miserable — the mere 
 idea frightens me." 
 
 " But you shall do just as you like, Eobert," 
 said his cousin. " I will get you a wheeled 
 chair, with which to go about the house, and 
 I have a first-rate man, whom I have had for
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 69 
 
 years, wlio will attend to you as if 3^ou were 
 a baby, and " 
 
 " Thank you !" said the boy, looking rather 
 affronted, " but I don't think I quite require 
 the attention of a baby." 
 
 His cousin saw that he had made a mistake, 
 and hastened to remedy it. 
 
 " Anyway, I am sure we could make you 
 comfortable, Eobert, and the more you could 
 get about and amuse yourself, the better we 
 shall all be pleased. There need be no difficulty 
 about the travelling, because, whenever you 
 are ready, I will come and fetch you myself" 
 
 " Nelly shall go, thank you. I should wish 
 her to become acquainted with your mother ; 
 but I would rather not move myself, at all 
 events, this year. I may be stronger next, 
 and more inclined for exertion." 
 
 He often spoke in this manner, as if his 
 complaint were curable, and it was the fault 
 of those who had reared him, that he was as 
 he was. 
 
 " Perhaps your sister also, will object to my 
 proposal," said Nigel Brooke, in a disheartened 
 tone ; for he was really disappointed at the 
 boy's refusal, and did not perceive that it pro- 
 ceeded as much from a selfish dislike to trouble 
 as anything else.
 
 70 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 "Not if I speak to her," replied Robert, 
 confidentlj. " Would you call her for me ?" 
 
 " She may be busy," suggested the other. 
 
 " Well, if she is, it doesn't matter," was her 
 brother's reply. And so her cousin called her 
 name from the open door. 
 
 She came directly, all in a glow and a bustle 
 from the exertions she had been making in 
 turning the mattresses. But she had pulled a 
 little sprig of geranium from somewhere on 
 her way, and brought it to fasten into her 
 brother's buttonhole. 
 
 "Now, troublesome boy," she said, stooping 
 to kiss him, " what is it you want, make haste 
 and say, for I am terribly busy this morning?" 
 
 " I wish to speak to you, dearest," he re- 
 plied, "our cousin wants you to go and pay 
 Aunt Eliza a visit at Orpington this autumn, 
 and grandpapa has given his consent, so say 
 * thank you,' and tell him how soon you will 
 be ready." 
 
 All the colour flew out of Nelly's face. 
 
 " Me! — to go to Orpington — what all alone, 
 Bertie?" 
 
 " I wish your brother to come too, Nelly," 
 said Nigel Brooke, "and have been saying all 
 I can think of, to persuade him. Perhaps you 
 will be more successful, we want you both."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. . 7l 
 
 " Oh ! Bertie, you ivill come !" she said, 
 entreatingly. 
 
 " My dear Nelly, I wonder you can ask it ! 
 I am not so fond of parading my hump-back 
 before company as all that." 
 
 " Oh ! it isn't a ' hump-back,' " she ex- 
 claimed, almost forgetting the former subject, 
 in her anxiety lest her cousin should believe 
 this statement, " it is only his weakness 
 makes him stoop so much," and she looked at 
 the prostrate figure of her brother as a mother 
 might tenderly regard a stricken child. 
 
 " Well, it's next door to it then, thanks 
 to the two old fools who had the handling of 
 me; but that's nothing to the purpose. I 
 can't go for several reasons, but you must, 
 Nelly, for as many more." 
 
 "Without you, Bertie? all by myself. Oh! 
 I can't go away and leave you alone ! who is to 
 look after you, and attend to you, if I go away?" 
 
 " Nonsense, Nelly ! Aggie can do it all as 
 you well know ; besides it will only be for a 
 short time." 
 
 " But by myself, darling, and to go away 
 from Bickton and amongst strangers. Oh I I 
 can't do it," and regardless of the presence of 
 her cousin, Nelly began to cry. 
 
 The act was a childish one, but her brother's
 
 72 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 proposal had taken her by surprise, and she 
 had been reared in so secluded and simple a 
 manner, that at eighteen years of age she was 
 not much more than a child. 
 
 Nigel Brooke was shocked at the result of 
 his kind intentions. 
 
 "Pray don't distress yourself," he said, 
 visibly concerned at the sight of her emotion. 
 " I will not even ask you to go to Orpington, 
 JSTelly, if you don't wish it. I thought it 
 would be a pleasure ; I want so much that we 
 should all be friends, and enjoy ourselves 
 together, but perhaps you would rather delay 
 your visit until your brother can come also." 
 
 But Eobert Brooke was not at all anxious 
 that the invitation to Orpington should be 
 withdrawn. He was evidently annoyed with 
 his sister, although he affected to pass it off. 
 
 " This is all nonsense, Nelly," he said, " you 
 are only pretending you don't Hke it, because 
 you want to be pressed. The best thing you 
 can do is to go back to your bedroom, and re- 
 solve not to make a goose of yourself." 
 
 She swallowed her tears as he spoke to her, 
 and merely saying, " I am very sorry that I 
 have been so foolish," left the room according 
 to his suggestion. 
 
 As soon as she was gone, Nigel Brooke was
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 73 
 
 beginning to beg that sbe should not be wor- 
 ried any more upon the subject, when Eobert 
 forestalled him by begging that he would leave 
 the matter to himself. 
 
 " In reality she is as pleased as she can be/' 
 he said, " but girls think it is the right thing 
 to cry at everything. I will talk to her when 
 you are gone, and write to you about it. Did 
 I hear them say you were going to-day ?" 
 
 " Yes, I promised my mother that I would 
 be back this evening, and the fly I came in 
 from Reddington, has waited to take me to 
 the station again." 
 
 And he shuddered as he recalled the drive 
 he had had thence the evening before. Could 
 it have been only last evening ? What a lapse 
 of time appeared to lie between this and then ! 
 
 " You have a finer day for your return than 
 you had for coming here," remarked Eobert. 
 
 " I am glad of it," said the other briefly. 
 
 He observed at the early dinner that Nelly's 
 eyes were very red, but had no opportunity 
 of speaking to her alone, until the afternoon 
 when the tread of hoofs upon the gravel path 
 took him to the front door, and he saw her 
 standing beside a small rough pony which was 
 bridled and saddled much in the same fashion 
 as are donkeys at a watering place. 
 
 " Where are you going to, Nelly ?" he en-
 
 74 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 quired, forgetting their conversation of the 
 morning. 
 
 " I am going to our vicar's to fetch Bertie's 
 newspapers," she said shyly, for she thought 
 she must have offended him by her ungracious 
 reception of his invitation. 
 
 " And what papers does he lend him ?" 
 
 "The 'Times' of the week, and 'Public 
 Opinion,' and the ' G-uardian,' and sometimes 
 the ' Saturday Eeview.' " 
 
 '' Does he ever get ' Punch ?' " 
 
 " Oh ! no; Mr. Eay takes no comic papers." 
 
 " Would your brother like me to send him 
 a few papers sometimes, Nelly ?" 
 
 "■ Oh ! very much !" and into her eyes came 
 the old sparkle again. 
 
 "And I am to send you a real tiger-skin, am 
 I not, since you refuse to come and fetch it ?" 
 
 He had put her on her little steed by this 
 time, and was standing by the side looking up 
 into her face. 
 
 " You are not angry with me, cousin ?" she 
 asked softly, raising her long dark lashes. 
 
 " Angry ? what makes you think so ?" 
 
 "About not going to Orpington; but all 
 by myself you see, and amongst strangers. I 
 should feel so — so miserable !" And the mere 
 idea of her loneliness brought the tears again 
 into Nelly's eyes.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 75 
 
 " My dear little cousin !" said Nigel Brooke, 
 taking her hand, " you shall never be asked by 
 me to do a single thing that you don't like. 
 I have told your brother as much, and you 
 must decide for yourself. But I hope you 
 won't look upon me as a stranger, Nelly. You 
 must think of me as a friend. I want very 
 much to be your friend and Eobert's." 
 
 " Thank you !" she said gently. 
 
 " And now, as I shall be gone probably be- 
 fore you return, you must bid me a cheerful 
 farewell, or I shall take my departure reproach- 
 ing myself for those tears." 
 
 She raised her eyes to his face, and tried to 
 smile, and say she should be glad to see him 
 again. 
 
 " That is enough," he replied, " don't dis- 
 tress yourself to make fine speeches. Some 
 day I hope they will not be needed between 
 you and me. God. bless you !" 
 
 He released her hand, and the next minute 
 the hoofs of the little rough pony were clatter- 
 ing down the gravel path. He followed her to 
 the garden gate, and shading his eyes, looked 
 after her as she rode away at a canter, until a 
 turn in the road hid her slight swaying figure 
 from his sight. An hour afterwards, he was on 
 his way back to Orpington.
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 NELLY CONSENTS TO GO TO ORPINGTON. 
 
 The next day, Sunday, was exceedingly hot ; 
 Nelly Brooke had been to cliurch at Little 
 Bickton in the morning, and Mrs. Weston, the 
 farmer's wife, had offered to drive her over to 
 Cockthorp in her pony chaise for the afternoon 
 service, but she had preferred to stay with her 
 brother. It was now about three o'clock ; the 
 old grandfather, with a handkerchief over his 
 face to keep off the flies, was dozing in a corner 
 of the dining-room ; Eobert Brooke lay, as 
 usual, on his sofa ; as usual also with a pipe 
 between his teeth, and a tumbler of beer within 
 reach \ the mastiff Thug was stretched beside 
 him, and Nelly was sitting on the sill of the 
 door which opened into the back garden, play- 
 ing with little Tommy Dobbs. 
 
 Tommy Dobbs does not occupy an important 
 position in this story, but he was quite an im- 
 portant personage at that time in the uneventful 
 life of Nelly Brooke. He was the child of one
 
 K(-r 
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 77 
 
 of their poor neighbours, who had been blind 
 from his birth, and into whose sunless exist- 
 ence, Nelly had infused the only streak of joy 
 which had ever lightened it. For she had 
 conceived a great compassion for the poor 
 helpless little creature who sat day after day, 
 doing nothing but sun himself at his mother's 
 door, and she had led him so often to the Farm 
 Cottage, that he was able now to find his way 
 there alone, and there was scarcely a day in 
 which he did not present himself to ask for the 
 " good lady." 
 
 So the " good lady" and he sat side by side 
 on this Sunday afternoon, and the soft tones 
 of her voice, as she told the child Bible stories, 
 or a subdued exclamation of surprise or plea- 
 sure which occasionally burst from himself, 
 were all the sounds which disturbed the heavy 
 stillness of the day. But even so slight an in- 
 terruption appeared after awhile to irritate her 
 brother. 
 
 " I wish you'd send that brat away, Nelly, 
 and come and talk to me," he said, fretfully. 
 
 She rose at once and took the blind child by 
 the hand. 
 
 " Come, Tommy, let us go into the kitchen, 
 and see if nurse Aggie has anythiug good for 
 us."
 
 78 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Little Tommy was a favourite with old 
 Aggie, so she had no objection that he should 
 sit on the matted floor with the cat, whilst she, 
 with horn spectacles astride her nose, pursued 
 her weekly study of the Bible. 
 
 " Poor little fellow !" said Nelly, compassion- 
 ately, as she turned at the door, and saw the 
 boy's sightless eyes, albeit he held a huge 
 wedge of cake which she had given him, be- 
 tween his hands, moving in unison with her 
 footsteps, as though he watched her departure, 
 and then, smitten with a sudden impulse, she 
 ran back and kissed him. 
 
 The old woman peered above her spectacles 
 in surprise. 
 
 " Lor 1 Miss Nelly, my dear, are you sure 
 his face is clean ?" 
 
 " It is worse to be blind than to be lame," 
 said the girl with genuine feeling, as she left 
 the kitchen again. 
 
 *' That kiss wasn't for yourself, any way," 
 said the old woman, spitefully, to little Tommy, 
 as soon as Nelly had disappeared. 
 
 " Good lady gave it me," replied the child, 
 perfectly satisfied with the result. 
 
 " Ah ! but she was thinking of him all the 
 time," muttered the nurse, returning to her 
 Bible ; but Tommy consumed his cake, and 
 was quite happy.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 79 
 
 " Bertie, darling, what should I do if you 
 were blind ?" exclaimed his sister, as she re-en- 
 tered the dining-room, and sat down with Thug 
 on the carpet at her brother's feet. 
 
 "I might just as well be, for aught there is 
 to look at in this place," he replied. 
 
 " But think what it must be, dear, to be 
 shut out for ever from the light of the sun, 
 and the sight of the trees and flowers, and 
 never to see the faces you love even in your 
 dreams." 
 
 "It can't be much worse," he grumbled, 
 " than for a man to be chained by the leg as 
 I am, debarred from every amusement usual to 
 fellows of my age, and with the prospect of 
 ending my days without a creature to care 
 whether I live or die." 
 
 " Oh, Bertie," exclaimed his sister, " you will " 
 always have me !" 
 
 " I know that, Nelly, and that I couldn't 
 have a kinder or better sister ; but a man, as 
 he goes through life, wants something more 
 than a sister, you see." 
 
 " A wife," she said, sadly. He laughed bit- 
 terly. 
 
 " A wife ? fancy me with a wife ! No ! 
 that's what I shall never .have, and can never 
 hope to have, but I do not even possess access
 
 80 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 to such pleasures as might help me to forget 
 my position, and reconcile me to passing my 
 existence alone. I have not the advantage of 
 the veriest cur that limps through the village 
 on three legs. I have lived the life of a dog 
 in this forsaken hole, and I suppose I shall die 
 the death of a dog, and be lamented for about 
 as long a time l" 
 
 " Bertie ! pray don't talk in that dreadful 
 manner, remember Who sent you the trial, 
 dear, and that it might have been worse." 
 
 " I cannot see it T' he replied, " but perhaps 
 it may be bettered, Nelly. You 7nust go to 
 Orpington !" 
 
 " I thought — " she said, hesitating, " I 
 thought cousin Nigel said I could wait till you 
 went, Bertie !" 
 
 " What he said or did not say, has nothing 
 to do with it. You must go, for both our 
 sakes. Now, just listen to me quietly, and I 
 will tell you why. We have been kept in 
 this place all our lives, without a single ad- 
 vantage. Y^ou have had no society but that 
 of people beneath you in station, like the 
 Westons, and if you miss this opportunity of 
 leaving Little Bickton, we may both stick 
 here for ever. You don't suppose that old 
 man," indicating his unconscious grandfather,
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 81 
 
 " will live much longer, do you ? and what 
 chance have we of leaving this place after his 
 death, if we refuse to associate with our only 
 relatives. Nigel Brooke is the head of the 
 family, and it will be everything for us to keep 
 friends with him and his mother. Why, 
 Nelly, in another year or so we shall be alone 
 in the world !" 
 
 "Never alone whilst we are together, 
 Bertie !" she said, despondingly. " I don't 
 wish to leave Little Bickton. I thought you 
 and I would live together all our lives." 
 
 " And so we shall, I hope ; but the best 
 chance of it lies before us now. I know no- 
 thing of my grandfather's affairs ; he may 
 leave us penniless, and you may be obliged 
 to earn your bread, and I to go into the work- 
 house." 
 
 " Oh, Bertie ! Bertie !" with wide open eyes. 
 
 " It's true, Nell, although I never thought 
 of it so much as I have since our cousin came 
 here. He has all the mone}^ and all the in- 
 fluence of the family, and he wishes to befriend 
 us, and we shall be fools if we refuse his 
 offered kindness. He may be the making of 
 us both. In fact, darling, the plain truth is, 
 that you'll never marry as long as you stay 
 in Little Bickton ; for there's no one here to 
 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 fall in love with you, and you must marry, 
 Nell, some day, or I don't know what's to 
 become of us both after my grandfather's 
 death." 
 
 The girl started, and a sudden flush, half 
 of shame and half of anger, overspread her 
 features. 
 
 Nelly Brooke had, as yet, never thought of 
 marriage as connected with herself, which was 
 owing perhaps to the fact asserted by her bro- 
 ther, that there was no one in Little Bickton 
 to urge the matter on her consideration. 
 
 At the same time, the idea, thus rudely pre- 
 sented, wounded her modesty. She was 
 ashamed even before Bertie, that such an event 
 should be talked of as inevitable ; she felt as 
 though he had torn away the veil which 
 shrouded some sacred image, and added to 
 this feeling was a vague sense of dread, lest 
 what ''must be" should prove the signal of 
 parting between her twin brother and herself. 
 
 " It's nonsense to be affronted, Nell !" said 
 Eobert, after a pause, seeing that the colour 
 had mounted to her face. 
 
 " I am not affronted, dear," she answered 
 quietly, trying to speak in her usual voice. 
 " But I have never thought of marrying, Bertie. 
 I never wish to be married. I only want to be
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 83 
 
 allowed to live with you, and take care of you, 
 all my life !" 
 
 *' And tbat*s just what I am trying to bring 
 about/' be said rudely, '* but you women are 
 so silly, you never seem to understand a man. 
 "Why ! which do you think will do me most 
 good ? Dragging out my miserable existence 
 in Little Bickton, with an old maid to coddle 
 me, or having a jolly married sister with lots 
 of money, and able to help me a little perhaps, 
 and to make my life more bearable ?" 
 
 " Oh ! not a little^ Bertie !" she exclaimed, 
 turning her loving eyes upon him, "if ever I 
 have money, it shall all be yours, dear, to do 
 just as you will with ; I should have no plea- 
 sure in it otherwise." 
 
 Eobert Brooke had an idea that the pro- 
 spective husband might raise a slight objection 
 to so wholesale a disposal of his property, but 
 to have made such a suggestion would have 
 spoilt the effect he was producing on his sister. 
 
 " Well, in that case, I might be able to have 
 a drive in your carriage occasionally perhaps, 
 Nelly, or you would give me a nice Bath chair 
 to be wheeled about in, or a spring couch to 
 lie on, and " 
 
 "And," she eagerly interposed, taking up 
 the thread of his day dreams, " and you should 
 
 6—2
 
 84 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 have the advice of the very best doctors in 
 London, Bertie, and we'd go to some of those 
 foreign watering-places, and try if the mineral 
 baths would strengthen your back, and you 
 should have all the new books to read, and 
 newspapers every day, and just whatever you 
 liked for dinner, and — and — oh ! my darling,'' 
 she concluded, in a burst of excited tears, 
 " you should have everything that I could 
 possibly give you." 
 
 He folded her in his arms and kissed her 
 fondly, for he dearly loved his sister, though 
 he loved himself the best. 
 
 " I know I should, Nelly, and that's wh}^ I 
 want you to go and spend a few weeks at Or- 
 pington. It may be the beginning of all this, 
 and you know none of these good things can 
 come to pass, unless you marry, and you'll 
 never have a chance of that, until you go into 
 society. I don't want to see my pretty sister 
 cooped up in Little Bickton all her life, with 
 no one to admire her but the plough boys. So 
 you'll go, for my sake, won't you ?" 
 
 His words warned poor Nelly that she had 
 been thinking too fast ; the end had seemed 
 so near; she had forgotten there was the 
 dreaded beginning to go through first. 
 
 " I will go then, Bertie, for your sake," she
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 85 
 
 said, drying her eyes; "but why can't you 
 come too ?" 
 
 " Partly, because I do not think it could do 
 me any good to move for so short a time, and 
 partly because I dread displaying my defor- 
 mities before strangers. You need have no 
 such fear, Nelly. When I am a little stronger, 
 perhaps, or when we come to know Nigel 
 better, I may lose my present objections ; but 
 meanwhile, you must be my ambassadress, and 
 prepare them to like me for your sake." 
 
 This was not his real reason for wishing his 
 sister to visit Orpington without him. The 
 idea that Nigel Brooke might fall in love with 
 Nelly, had struck him from the moment he 
 had seen them together, and he was quite 
 aware, that not only would matters proceed 
 much better without his presence, but that it 
 was as well his cousin should not be daily re- 
 minded of the encumbrance which Nelly would 
 bring with her. Added to which, was the 
 selfish laziness before mentioned, which pre- 
 vented his undergoing any inconvenience for 
 the sake of another. 
 
 Nelly quitted her position with a sigh. She 
 had promised to go to Orpington, therefore 
 she supposed the question was decided, and 
 that she really must leave home alone. She
 
 86 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 strolled into the kitchen, and confided her 
 trouble to Aggie with a face of woe, and was 
 surprised that the old nurse did not regard the 
 prospective visit in the same light as she did. 
 
 *' But I am to go by myself, nurse Aggie, 
 without either grandpapa or Bertie." 
 
 " Lor, Miss Nelly, and the very best thing 
 for you, I never was more pleased to hear of 
 anything in my life — never. What a dear 
 good gentleman now, to have come all this 
 way just to ask you. And to stay with your 
 aunt too. I remember her a bit in the old 
 days ; and I'll lay she's a real lady, as will 
 teach you >vhat it is to behave yourself in 
 company. We shall have you come home 
 with quite different manners. Miss Nelly. And 
 as for your grandpa' and your brother, why 
 you'd never wish, sure, to take those two help- 
 less creatures a trapesing after you everywhere. 
 I'll take good care of them, my dear, never you 
 fear; and you must just think of enjoying 
 yourself, and nothing else." 
 
 Nelly shook her head dejectedly. 
 
 " Oh yes, you will, when you've had a taste 
 of it, take my word for that. But when are 
 you going ? for you must have some new 
 dresses, and a bonnet, and ever so many 
 things."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 87 
 
 " Must I really ?" demanded Nelly. 
 
 " In course, you can't go to a grand liouse 
 like that with only the bits of things you run 
 about Bickton in. You are going amongst 
 gentlefolk, and you must be dressed according." 
 
 "Bertie, Aggie says I can't go to Orping- 
 ton without new dresses and things," whis- 
 pered Nelly, next time she saw her brother, 
 rather in hopes that the necessity would prove 
 a stumbling block to the carrying out of the 
 undertaking. 
 
 But Eobert said the same as Aggie. 
 
 " Of course not ; who ever thought it ? I 
 shall speak to my grandfather when he wakes, 
 and tell him you are going to Orpington, and 
 ask him for some money for you, and then you 
 must get the Westons to take you over to 
 Eeddington next market day, and just buy 
 what your require." 
 
 The magnificence of this speech inspired 
 poor Nelly with awe, which was further in- 
 creased the next morning by her grandfather 
 calling her after him into the passage, and 
 putting a bank note for five pounds into her 
 hands. 
 
 " Here ! my dear," he said, " your brother 
 tells me that you wish to go to Orpington, so 
 you will know what this is for, and when you
 
 88 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 have decided liow soon your preparations can 
 be completed, he will write to your cousin and 
 make the necessary arrangements for your 
 journey." 
 
 He was turning away without waiting for 
 her thanks, when she caught him by the 
 arm, and said a few grateful words. He 
 gazed at her earnest eyes for a moment, and 
 then stooped and kissed her broad, open 
 brow. 
 
 " Bless you, my dear !" he ejaculated in a 
 trembling voice, " you are very like your mo- 
 ther. I wish you could have been content 
 to stay here ; but perhaps 'tis all for the best. 
 Be good, my dear, and be happy — happier 
 than she was — happier than she was," and so 
 murmuring he left her. 
 
 She longed to tell him that she was quite 
 contented, and had always been so ; but she 
 feared to contradict what her brother might 
 have said. So she walked back into the 
 dining-room silently. 
 
 " Bertie ! only think," she said, as she 
 reached it, "a whole five pounds ! I have 
 never had so much money in my life before. 
 What shall I do with it all ?" 
 
 To her unsophisticated innocence, that 
 dirty, patched, and scribbled-over country
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 89 
 
 note appeared an almost exhaustless mine of 
 wealth. 
 
 " It's little enough," responded her brother, 
 " why didn't the old fellow make it ten ! I 
 wonder what he does with all his money. 
 Sleeps on it, I suppose, and we shall have the 
 trouble of ripping it out of his mattress after 
 he's dead. I wish he'd give me five pounds 
 though, I know what I should have done 
 with it." 
 
 " What ?" demanded his sister eagerly. 
 His manner of speaking of her grandfather 
 annoyed her, because she loved the old man, 
 and did not believe that he was any richer 
 than he appeared ; but she did not show her 
 annoyance. Nothing ever had the power to 
 come between her, and her love for her bro- 
 ther. 
 
 " What would you buy with it, Bertie ?" 
 
 " Scores of things ; first and foremost 
 though, half a dozen bottles of Cogniac to 
 keep my spirits up and some good tobacco. 
 This of Benson's is trash." 
 
 " But would it — would the Cogniac be good 
 for you, Bertie ?" she asked doubtfully. 
 
 "As good as anything else; a man must 
 have something to drink, and this beer is 
 poison ; and next, I'd get some pickles and
 
 90 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 sauces to make old Aggie's eternal hashes and 
 stews go down ; and after that I*m sure I 
 don't know — books perhaps or papers — any- 
 thing is acceptable in a place like this, where 
 there is nothing to do." 
 
 " Don't you think you could draw, Bertie, 
 if you tried ?" said his sister timidly, " you 
 often scribble faces on the margins of your 
 books." 
 
 " I don't wish to try," he answered with in- 
 difference. 
 
 " Or carve wood as Mr. Weston's sons do in 
 the winter evenings. Mrs. Weston has such 
 pretty brackets which they gave her last 
 Christmas. I wish I could think of some 
 occupation which would amuse you, Bertie." 
 
 "It's of no use thinking about it, Nelly, 
 it's part of the curse of not being within hail 
 of a town or any civilised place ; however, 
 what's the good of talking ? It would have 
 been very different if I had been born or 
 brought up like other men. Fetch me a glass 
 of beer, there's a good girl, and don't forget 
 to show nurse Aggie how I like mj bed made 
 before you go. It never feels the same when 
 she has had the handling of it, and by-the- 
 bye, have I had my usual number of pillows 
 the last few nights ?"
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 91 
 
 " Just the same, darling, because when, 
 cousin Nigel was here, he had the one off my 
 bed." 
 
 " Well, my head is much too low all the 
 same ; I suppose the feathers want repicking, 
 or something of the kind : however, never 
 mind ! I must endure it." 
 
 She fetched him the beer, and went and 
 pulled the only pillow off her own bed, and 
 added it to those on his, and sighed whilst she 
 did so, thinking what a hard lot her brother's 
 was, and how unfair it seemed that in this 
 world, some should have so many things to 
 make them happy, and others so few. 
 
 Her love blinded her to the fact that her 
 brother's disposition would have rendered him 
 a joyless and discontented creature, in any 
 station to which it might have pleased Grod to 
 call him.
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 HOW NELLY SPENT HER FIVE POUNDS. 
 
 As soon as Eobert Brooke had extracted his 
 sister's promise to go to Orpington, he wrote 
 to his cousin, and two days afterwards, there 
 arrived a letter for Nelly from her Aunt Eliza, 
 containing a very courteous if not a very cor- 
 dial repetition of her son's invitation : and at 
 the reception of which, the poor child lost her 
 last hope, if she yet entertained any, of escape 
 from the ordeal before her. 
 
 The only thing left to be done was to ask 
 Mrs. Weston to take her to Eeddington on the 
 next market-day, and help her to choose her 
 new things : a request which was no sooner 
 made than granted. 
 
 Mrs. Weston had occupied a better position 
 in the social scale than that from which far- 
 mer's wives are usually selected. Originally, 
 the daughter of a hard-working curate, she 
 had been sent forth into the world at an early 
 age to earn her own bread as a second-rate
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 93 
 
 governess, and after twenty or more years of 
 ceaseless drudgery, had been grateful at the 
 age of forty, to exchange the sparingly ex- 
 tended hospitalities of her employers for a 
 home of her own, although the warm circle, and 
 plentifully spread board, did belong to a bluff 
 and uneducated farmer. Mr. Weston was a 
 widower when she married him, with four 
 half-grown sons ; and although he had a vast 
 respect for *' learning " himself, he had enter- 
 tained some doubts at first, how a " lady " 
 would get on with his rough uncultivated boys. 
 The ^boys themselves may not have been free 
 from a similar fear ; but if so, it was soon dis- 
 pelled. Mrs. Weston entered her new home 
 with a full desire and intention to do her duty 
 there, and from the first day that she had 
 been mistress of Little Bickton Farm, she had 
 never betrayed that the manners or customs 
 of its inmates were different from such as she 
 had been used to see. Insensibly, her su- 
 perior education had refined and elevated the 
 little circle of which she was the acknowledged 
 head, until the neighbours wondered to see 
 Farmer Weston's boys so different to what 
 they used to be ; and even the boys them- 
 selves (not to mention their father) were sen- 
 sible of the improvement in their condition,
 
 94 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 although they were scarcely aware of how it 
 had come about. But, in their rude way, they 
 had grown to love their father's new wife 
 dearly, and " mother " was always sure of the 
 best fruit in summer, and the warmest nook 
 in winter, as well as the ready confidence and 
 sympathy of her husband and his children. 
 And ^so Mrs. Weston was hapjDy ; she had 
 suffered too much from neglect, privation, and 
 unkindness during her youth, not to appreci- 
 ate the love and comforts of home which were 
 showered upon her now, and she desired no 
 better lot than to be mistress of the farm, and 
 no higher pleasures than its multifarious 
 duties afforded [her. She had been an inva- 
 luable friend to Nelly Brooke, notwithstand- 
 ing that Eobert had mentioned her con- 
 temptuously as " beneath " them in station, for 
 until she had come to Little Bickton, the girl 
 had run about as wild and untamed as any 
 colt upon the common. It was Mrs. Weston 
 who had taught ^ellj how to embroider, and 
 do fine needle-w^ork : it was she who had 
 given her lessons upon the old cracked piano- 
 forte, which she had imported with herself to 
 the farm, and in w^hich she believed, as an 
 instrument of worth : it was she also \vho had 
 sent the girl such books as she possessed,
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 95 
 
 and encouraged her to read and remember 
 them. 
 
 It is quite true that Farmer Weston, too 
 shy to take courage from his wife's example, 
 still addressed her as " Miss " or " Miss Nelly,'* 
 and that his lads never spoke to her at all, but 
 sheepishly slunk away whenever she made her 
 appearance ; still, some of the happiest hours 
 that Nelly could remember, had been spent 
 at the farm, and she had become so ac- 
 customed to the state of things which reigned 
 there, that it seemed quite natural that Mrs. 
 Weston should address her as an equal, whilst 
 the farmer and his sons spoke to her as if she 
 were a superior. 
 
 On the morning on which her friend had 
 promised to take her to Eeddington, Nelly, 
 arrayed in her alpaca dress and little black 
 bonnet — her precious five pound note safely 
 stowed away in her pocket — tripped gaily over 
 the patch of common which divided the Farm 
 Cottage from ^the farm. She was not in the 
 least reconciled to the idea of going to Or- 
 pington ; but she greatly anticipated a whole 
 day spent at Eeddington, and especially a day 
 spent in the laying out of a five pound note, 
 for she was not free from her sex's inherent 
 love of shopping, and she had had too little
 
 96 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 money at her own disposal, during lier life- 
 time, not to feel the full independence, not to 
 say importance, which attached "to her now. 
 So she went singing on her way, and almost 
 forgetful of the purposes to which her pur- 
 chases were to be applied. 
 
 When she reached the farm, she found the 
 double-bodied phaeton which Mr. Weston had 
 bought in honour of his second bridals, with 
 its stout cob attached, ah-eady standing at the 
 door, and her friends waiting her on the 
 threshold. In a few minutes they were all 
 three snugly packed away, and going at a fast 
 trot down the hill to Eeddington. The farmer 
 and his wife were both seated in front, whilst 
 Nelly occupied the back seat, but Mrs. AVeston 
 managed to turn her figure round, so that 
 they could maintain a conversation all the 
 way. She had heard, of course, of the reason 
 for the intended purchases, and was almost as 
 interested in the subject as Nelly herself, par- 
 ticularly as the farmer and she had privately 
 agreed that the funds provided by old Mr. 
 Brooke, were quite inadequate to the probable 
 requirements. 
 
 " Now, Nelly dear," she said as soon as they 
 were fairly started, " we had better decide 
 upon what you intend to buy before we reach
 
 NELLY BEOOKE. 97 
 
 Eeddington, and then we shall know what 
 shop to go to, and lose no time." 
 
 Eeddington'had been the last place in which 
 Mrs. Weston had lived before her marriage, 
 and she was therefore well acquainted with all 
 its resources. Nelly coloured — 
 
 " I have hardly thought about it yet," she 
 answered, " but I know that I want a good 
 many things. Aggie says I must have a new 
 dress for Sundays, and a muslin one for the 
 evenings : and then she thinks I can wear this 
 one every day, if I get some nice collars and 
 cuffs. But I am afraid I can't do without an- 
 other bonnet, Mrs. Weston; and I have only 
 one pair of kid gloves." 
 
 She might have added, " And I need boots 
 and shoes, and under-linen ; and almost every- 
 thing necessary to a young lady's wardrobe ;" 
 but, with all her grand ideas concerning the 
 amount of goods to be purchased with a live 
 pound note, Nelly knew it would not buy 
 everything, and she had other uses for it float- 
 ing in her brain. 
 
 Mrs. Weston looked rather grave. 
 
 " That is a good deal, Nelly, to come out of 
 five pounds — but ■'* 
 
 " But surely it will buy more than t/iai," ex- 
 claimed the girl, with a look almost of alarm, 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 9 8 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 "because if not, I must do with only one 
 dress." 
 
 '' If it will purchase all you really want, my 
 dear, it will be sufficient," replied Mrs. Weston ; 
 " but we can hardly tell how far it will go until 
 we ask the price of the materials." 
 
 Yet Nelly did not appear satisfied; more 
 than once before they had reached Eeddington, 
 she asked her friend if she did not think a 
 single morning dress would be sufficient to take 
 with her ; or if she might not continue to wear 
 her print frocks if she bought some pretty 
 collars and cuffs to go with them. 
 
 " Mr. Weston — what is the price of a bottle of 
 Cogniac?" she suddenly demanded, as they were 
 nearirig their destination. The farmer laughed. 
 
 " You are not thinking of laying in a stock 
 of French brandy. Miss Nelly, to take with 
 you — are you now ? That's a queer article to 
 be found in a lady's trunk." 
 
 " Not exactly, but they want some at home." 
 
 " Well, the best is, as far as I know, about 
 seven-and-six the bottle ; not that we use much 
 of such up at the Farm." 
 
 "Seven-and-six!" exclaimed Nelly; "oh! 
 that's very dear." 
 
 " More than your grand-papa would like to 
 give for it, I am sure, Nelly," said Mrs. Weston.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 99 
 
 " But if he wants a little brandy to keep in the 
 house for medicinal uses, a good British answers 
 all the purpose, and is much cheaper/' 
 
 " I don't think ' good British' would do," 
 replied Nelly, shaking her head with an air of 
 disappointment. 
 
 The farmer and his wife wondered since 
 when old Mr. Brooke had grown so fastidious 
 about his brandy ; but they made no comment 
 on the remark. When they reached Eedding- 
 ton, and Mr. Weston having put up his horse 
 and phaeton at an inn, strolled off to the 
 market-place, leaving his wife and her young 
 friend to their own devices, Nelly grew terribly 
 restless. She asked the most frivolous of ques- 
 tions : wanted to know which was the best 
 grocer, and the best tobacconist in the town, 
 and stopped to gaze in at the window of every 
 bookseller's shop which they passed, appearing 
 altogether to be in so unsettled a state, that 
 Mrs. Weston was forced to remind her that an 
 important business like choosing dresses and 
 bonnets was not to be got over in a minute, 
 and that if she wished to discharge it properly, 
 she had better accompany her at once to the 
 draper's. But when there, Nelly Brooke did 
 not appear to know her own mind better than 
 before. First, she consented, on her friend's 
 
 7—2
 
 100 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 advice, to have a barege dress ; but as soon as 
 she heard that it was a material which required 
 trimmiDg, she changed her mind, and Hstened 
 to a suggestion from the shopman, that as black 
 silk could be worn perfectly plain, it would 
 certainly be the most suitable dress for her 
 purpose. But, to her dismay, the silks came 
 to four and five pounds a piece ; and when a 
 cheaper description was placed before her, she 
 tossed it on one side, declaring she would 
 rather have a good alpaca. The alpacas were 
 immediately on the counter : — 
 
 " Must I decide at once ?" said Nelly, with 
 a comical look of distress on her face. 
 
 Mrs. Weston smilingly replied that of course 
 she could do as she liked, but the morning was 
 going, and she must remember that she had 
 several other articles to look at. 
 
 " I want some collars and cuffs, if you 
 please," she said to the man in attendance. 
 The dress pieces were pushed to one side, and 
 boxes of collars and cufis produced. Nelly 
 chose half-a-dozen of the very plainest sets. 
 
 " Won't you have some a little more 
 * dressy ?' " whispered Mrs. Weston. But she 
 shook her head, with the rejoinder, " I hate 
 ' dressy' things." The shopman stared : he had 
 not been used to hear such sentiments from the
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 101 
 
 lips of the Eeddingfcon young ladies. At last, 
 after a good deal of persuasion and indecision, 
 and deep calculation, Nelly Brooke decided to 
 purchase a black alpaca dress for the morning, 
 and a white muslin for the evening, which, to- 
 gether with a few minor articles which were 
 urgently necessary, ran away with more than 
 two pounds of her money. 
 
 " But where are the trimmings, my dear ?" 
 said Mrs. Weston, with a look of surprise at 
 the omission. 
 
 " I do not wish for any trimmings," replied 
 Nelly. " I have never worn any in Bickton." 
 
 " But it will be so different where you are 
 going to, my dear," urged her friend. But the 
 girl was resolute ; she stowed away the change 
 of her five pound note in her little purse, and 
 declared that she had purchased all that was 
 needful. 
 
 " Remember, I have to buy a bonnet still," 
 she said, " and, I am afraid, a pair of boots — 
 oh, no ! I must do without the boots" (looking 
 down at her own). " These are pretty good, 
 and I shall only be there for a few weeks." 
 
 " But why should you not purchase yourself 
 boots j my dear," asked Mrs. Weston ; " your 
 grandpapa intended you to spend the money 
 on your clothes, and you have two pounds ten 
 left."
 
 102 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 *'Yes! but I want several other things," 
 was the mysterious reply. 
 
 The bonnet and a pair of shoes were chosen 
 and paid for ; and then Mrs. Weston announced 
 her intention of taking Nelly to dine at the inn 
 where the horse had been put up, and where 
 her husband promised to join them. The inn 
 was in the centre of the town. For a few 
 seconds before she reached it, her attention 
 had been diverted from her young friend by 
 some bustle in the street, and when she turned 
 to speak to her, she found, to her astonishment, 
 that Nelly was gone. At first she thought they 
 must have missed each other, and was hurry- 
 ing back the way she came, when the farmer 
 joined her, and set her mind at rest. 
 
 " So youVe lost Miss Nelly," he said, laugh- 
 ing. " I saw the little jade in a grocer's shop 
 hard by, and made sure you were close beside 
 her, but she told me she had given you the 
 slip, and that I was to hasten after you, and 
 say she wouldn't be more than ten minutes." 
 And accordingly in about that time she did 
 join them, laden with parcels, breathless and 
 brimming over with excuses. 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Weston ! I hope you won't be 
 angry at my leaving you ; but I saw something 
 in a shop which I so much wanted ; and I did
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 103 
 
 not think it would take me so long." And 
 having entered the inn with the farmer and 
 his wife, she deposited her parcels, five or six 
 in number, upon the table. 
 
 " Why, Nelly, what are these ?" demanded 
 Mrs. Weston, as she took them up and ex- 
 amined them. 
 
 " They are only pickles, Mrs. Weston, and 
 sardines, and some olives— Bertie is so fond of 
 olives — and I wanted to get him a few things 
 of this sort before I started : they are not to 
 be procured, you know, in Bickton. Now, I 
 have only the tobacco to buy, and I shall have 
 quite done." And the girl's face expressed 
 more pleasure as she contemplated her pickles 
 and sauces than it had done over any of the 
 ribbons and laces in the draper's shop. Mrs. 
 Weston, knowing how unselfish was her nature, 
 guessed the truth concerning what Nelly afiected 
 to term her commissions, yet she took an oppor- 
 tunity when the farmer was absent to say : 
 
 " If these things are for the housekeeping, 
 Nelly, you had better let me pay for them, my 
 dear, or your ready money will run short. Your 
 grandpapa can repay me at any time, you 
 know." But the deep colour which flew to the 
 girl's face, and the look of anxiety with which 
 she begged to be allowed to have her own way 
 in the matter, silenced whilst it convinced her.
 
 104 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Don't say anytliiDg about it, dear Mrs. 
 Weston," she entreated ; *' it is the only plea- 
 sure I have in the money, and I have bought 
 everything I want now — everything." 
 
 After dinner, they went into the town again, 
 and there Nelly really had her way ; first flying 
 into a shop to ask the cost of some new book, 
 and coming out with a look of disappointment 
 at its " unheard of price :" then discoursing 
 knowingly to the tobacconist on the proper 
 quantities and qualities which were needful to 
 make up the mixture which Bertie loved ; and 
 rashly investing seven and sixpence of her re- 
 maining coin on the " loveliest little briar-root 
 pipe " she had ever seen : anon, purchasing in 
 a moment of excitement an air pillow, which 
 she was sure was "just the thing" for her bro- 
 ther's back, and which completely swallowed 
 up the remnant of her little fortune. Not till 
 the air pillow and briar-root pipe were fairly 
 in her possession, did she remember that not 
 one book, or one bottle of cogniac, were num- 
 bered amongst her treasures. 
 
 " Oh ! I wish I had thought of that before," 
 she exclaimed, with a look of annoyance, to 
 Mrs. Weston. " This pillow is charming, and 
 so is the pipe, but I think perhaps dear Bertie 
 would have liked the brandy best."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 105 
 
 " If the brandy was for your brother, my 
 dear," was the grave reply, " I think it is just 
 as well you have not procured it. It would 
 soon be gone, you know, and the cushion and 
 pipe are much more useful, and will last for a 
 long time." And so Nelly was comforted with 
 respect to her presents for Bertie, and her only 
 remaining regret was, that she had been so un- 
 kind as to forget to keep a few shillings to ex- 
 pend on a keepsake for little Tommy Dobbs. 
 
 '-' Poor little Tommy," she said ; " he will 
 miss me so much : I should like to have left him 
 something to comfort him during my absence." 
 
 Even this want was supplied, for after the 
 phaeton had been laden with her treasures, and 
 she was once more jogging homewards, kind 
 Mrs. Weston put a small parcel into her hands. 
 
 " A musical toy for little Tommy, my dear, 
 which you must give him from yourself. He 
 cannot see, and so I thought the best present 
 for him was something he can hear'' And 
 Nelly thought, as she received it, that now 
 there was really nothing in the world that she 
 could possibly want. The farmer insisted upon 
 driving her up to the cottage door, and seeing 
 herself and her purchases safely deposited at 
 home — and never did a more radiant creature 
 burst into that dull parlour than did Nelly
 
 106 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Brooke on her return from Eeddington. She 
 carried in her parcels one after another, and 
 piled them on the table : she would not stop 
 to eat or drink or disrobe herself, before she 
 cut the strings asunder, and displayed all her 
 treasures before the admiring eyes of Bertie 
 and old Nurse Aggie. 
 
 " There ! Bertie — what do you think of that 
 — and that — and that," she exclaimed, as she 
 pulled the papers successively off bottles of 
 pickled onions, w^alnuts, and gherkins ; off the 
 olives and the sardines, and the Harvey's sauce ; 
 and produced the " lovely " briar-root pipe, and 
 the big packet of tobacco ; and blew out the 
 wonderful air cushion, till she made herself 
 look like an inflated cherubim. Her brother 
 was delighted, as he had reason to be, and, for- 
 tunately, forgot all about his wish for the cog- 
 niac, whilst he declared she was a darling, and 
 a ''jolly little briek," and they were the most 
 acceptable presents she could possibly have 
 bought him, etc. And she listened to his thanks 
 with sparkling eyes, and watched his undis- 
 guised pleasure with rapture. 
 
 "But where are your own things. Miss 
 Nelly ?" now demanded the old nurse, in tones 
 decidedly sour ; " what / want to see, is your 
 new dresses, and bonnets, and w^hat-nots, which
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 107 
 
 are to make you smart for your visit to Or- 
 pington." 
 
 "Patience, Nurse, patience V cried the girl 
 gaily; " you shall see everything in time." And 
 she proceeded to unpack the other parcels. 
 
 " Is them all ?" said old Aggie, in a dissatis- 
 fied tone, as the plain-looking pieces of alpaca 
 and book-muslin, and the linen collars and 
 cufis, and the sandalled shoes and the grey kid 
 gloves, came into view. 
 
 " No ! here's my bonnet, Nurse ! isn't it a 
 beauty ?" said Nelly, as she displayed a fragile 
 erection of tulle and flowers ; one of the stock 
 of the summer past, which had been left on 
 hand. 
 
 " Well ! I call it just trumpery," said the 
 old woman indignantly ; " and it appears to 
 me that you've spent all your money on jiickles 
 and such like trash, instead of on the articles 
 for which 'twas given you. But I might have 
 guessed 'twould be so, if I hadn't been a fool ;" 
 and grumbling to herself, she went back into 
 the kitchen. 
 
 " Never mind what she says, darling V said 
 Nelly, stooping to kiss her brother ; " I've got 
 everything that I want, and no one can have 
 more ; and I atn so glad you are pleased with 
 what I bought you."
 
 108 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 And for the next few days slie sat steadily 
 down to cut out and stitch and gather, feeling 
 all a woman's keen satisfaction, in making the 
 alpaca, and muslin, and other materials, answer 
 the purposes for which they had been bought, 
 and without one feminine regret for the ribbons 
 and laces which had transformed^ themselves 
 into briar-root pipes and pickles.
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 MRS. BROOKE GIVES HER OPINION OF THE 
 MATTER. 
 
 Orpington Chase was not a house which had 
 been taken and furnished with a view to being 
 re-let. It was part of the family property of a 
 gentleman whose wife, being^ threatened with 
 consumption, had been advised to take up her 
 residence abroad for the next few years, and 
 her husband had let the Chase sooner than 
 leave it in the hands of servants. He had ad- 
 vertised more for a tenant who would take 
 every care of the property, than for one who 
 would pay a high rental, and Nigel Brooke, 
 fresh from Calcutta, with his pockets full of 
 money and every intention, with all necessary 
 prudence, of spending it, seemed just the man 
 to take a pride in keeping up the appearance 
 of the Chase. So it had been handed over to 
 his charge for three years, certain, with the pro- 
 viso that a regulated number of gardeners and 
 game-keepers should be kept on the premises,
 
 110 NELLY BKOOKE. 
 
 to look after the plantations and preserves by 
 which they were surrounded. 
 
 The inside of the house was fully in keeping 
 with the outside ; it was everything, in fact, 
 that gentlepeople who wished to live in the 
 country and maintain a certain style could de- 
 sire ; although Mrs. Brooke, with her grand 
 Calcutta ideas, was wont to speak rather dis- 
 paragingly of it than otherwise, and hint that 
 it was nothing to what she had been accus- 
 tomed to in India. Kigel Brooke had more 
 than once, in conversation with his grand- 
 father, mentioned the house as his ; and al- 
 though it was not often that he so betrayed 
 himself, he spoke the truth. His mother had 
 been left very well off at his father's death, but 
 the bulk of the property had descended to him ; 
 and by this disposition of his wealth, the late 
 Mr. Brooke had shown a confidence in his son 
 which was well deserved. 
 
 Nisrel was not a man who would see his 
 mother want a single luxury which his money 
 could procure her. At the same time, he was 
 past the meridian of his youth ; if he ever mar- 
 ried, he felt it must be soon ; and he was grate- 
 ful to the foresight which had not left him de- 
 pendent, in such an event, upon the generosity 
 of a capricious woman, nor made his mother's
 
 NELLY BROOKE. Ill 
 
 death the signal of his own emancipation from 
 the necessity of work. It was he, then, who 
 had taken the Chase, and was responsible for 
 its maintenance ! but he would not have done 
 so, had Mrs. Brooke not promised to continue 
 to live with him there until he. should be mar- 
 ried or return to India. 
 
 On the afternoon on which Nelly Brooke 
 was expected at Orpington, her aunt was sit- 
 ting alone in the library, when her son entered 
 the room. 
 
 Nigel was a great contrast to his mother ; 
 in fact, he was so utterly unlike her, that no 
 stranger would have taken them to be even 
 related. He was a tall, slight man, with re- 
 markably fair hair, which he w^ore cut close to 
 his head ; and with the exception of an almost 
 colourless pair of moustaches, his face and chin 
 were clean-shorn. He had grey eyes, a well- 
 shaped nose, and a mouth which most people 
 at first sight pronounced cold, on account of 
 a propensity which it had of looking more sar- 
 castic than it felt, but which, in reality, hid a 
 greater depth of feeling than is possessed by 
 the owner of many a pouting rosebud pair 
 of lips. He was very like what his father had 
 been, and, through him, bore a family likeness 
 to the old man at Little Bickton.
 
 112 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 His motlier, on the contrary, was a very 
 small woman, active and light, with dark hair 
 and eyes, and Jewish features — a woman who, 
 beneath the ordeal of an Indian life, had be- 
 come perfectly incapable of doing anything for 
 herself, and only knew how to use her tongue 
 and her feet. Moreover she constantly offended 
 the fastidious eye of her son, by employing too 
 many colours in her dress, and these not well 
 assorted. On the present occasion she was 
 magnificently attired, but the fawn-coloured 
 silk, laden with purple velvet trimipings, which 
 her chilly nature had caused her already to 
 adopt, was not in unison with the point-lace 
 cap streaming with rose-coloured ribbons, nor 
 the set of malachite with which she had 
 adorned herself. Nigel had already seen her 
 in this costume, yet his brow contracted even 
 in his haste, as it again met his view. 
 
 '* Is the carriage round, mother ?" he asked 
 quickly. 
 
 " I suppose it is, Nigel, if you ordered it," 
 replied Mrs. Brooke, in a tone which did not 
 betoken pleasure at the question ; " but I 
 really cannot see the necessity for your going 
 to the station yourself to meet your cousin. 
 You have offered your escort once, and it has 
 been refused; surely that is sufficient."
 
 NELLY BEOOKE. 113 
 
 Nigel Brooke had volunteered to meet Nelly 
 at Reddington, and bring her the whole way 
 to Hilstone, but both she and her brother had 
 justly thought that this was too much to accept 
 from him, and had declined on the score that 
 Mr. Weston had promised to see Nelly into 
 the train, and put her under the care of any 
 lady who should be travelling the same road. 
 
 " This is quite different !" he said impa- 
 tiently ; "it would be a sorry welcome to let 
 the poor child arrive at the station and find 
 nothing but an empty carriage to meet her." 
 
 " Well, from all accounts, they did not even 
 pay you that compliment when you went to 
 see them," remarked his mother spitefully. 
 
 " Mother, you are ungenerous ! You know 
 that it is out of their power to show any one 
 such an attention : what they could do they 
 did." 
 
 " Aye ! and you call your grandfather's re- 
 ception of you doing what he could, I suppose ; 
 to say nothing of the reception he accorded 
 your oifer to help himself and your cousins — 
 if they are your cousins — the old savage ! But 
 in his best days he was as churlish as a bear." 
 
 " He has had great provocation to become 
 savage," said her son with a sigh ; " and though 
 no one could regret his decision more than I 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 did, I do not know whether, under similar cir- 
 cumstances, I should not have said the same 
 myself." 
 
 "You are infatuated about these people," 
 exclaimed Mrs. Brooke ; " I told you what you 
 need expect before you went to see them, but 
 you would not take my advice. Still, I should 
 have thought that having performed what 
 you considered a duty, and had your kind- 
 ness flung in your face again, you might 
 have been contented and let matters rest 
 there." 
 
 " T shall never be contented," replied her 
 son emphatically, " until I feel that I have in 
 some measure repaired the injury my father 
 caused them by his rashness. Had he left a 
 debt unpaid behind him, you would have been 
 the first, I hope, to urge me to do what was 
 right. Cannot you see that this is a higher, a 
 more sacred obligation than any mere money 
 matter could be ?" 
 
 " Oh ! that is very fine talking, and sounds 
 very well, my dear Nigel," replied his mother, 
 afiecting to smile at his enthusiasm, " but if 
 you thoroughly examine the case, you will find 
 that your sense of honour is a very quixotic 
 one, and leads you unnecessarily astray. 
 The real truth being that your poor dear
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 115 
 
 father, very far from injuring these young 
 people (who were not even in the world at the 
 time), was fighting in theh- mother's cause, 
 when he deprived them of a father who I am 
 quite sure was not worth having. It was just 
 a chance : either he or his opponent must have 
 fallen, and had it turned out otherwise you 
 would have been the sufferer. Besides, at that 
 time, no one thought anything of duels ; they 
 ^vere matters of daily occurrence, and the world 
 would as soon have thought of blaming the 
 survivor for surviving, as for not having missed 
 his man." 
 
 And Mrs. Brooke passed her cambric hand- 
 kerchief over her mouth as though living and 
 dying were subjects of equal indifference to 
 her. Her son bit his lip, but showed no other 
 sign of annoyance. 
 
 " Whether he were right or wrong, mother, 
 I have no wish to argue. I trust he thought 
 he was doing right for his own sake, but that 
 cannot atone for the great misfortune which 
 followed his act. The fact is indisputable ; 
 that he deprived those children at one blow, 
 of both their parents ; and that my firm inten- 
 tion is, as far as in me lies, to supply the loss 
 to them." 
 
 Mrs. Brooke started at the energy of her 
 
 8—2
 
 116 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 son's words, but she attempted to pass off the 
 action by saying, — 
 
 " I think you can hardly consider how much 
 your sentence seems to imply, Nigel." 
 
 " It cannot imply too much," he answered 
 readily, " and T should wish you entirely to 
 understand me on this point. I have sworn 
 before Grod, mother, and in my grandfather's 
 presence, that whilst I live, neither Hobert nor 
 Helena shall ever want a friend, and when I 
 took that oath, I fully meant, by the help of 
 Heaven, to keep it." 
 
 "Well, I confess I hardly thought your 
 sense of obligation would have carried you 
 quite so far as that, Nigel," remarked his mo- 
 ther, turning away to hide her chagrin. 
 
 " Wisely or not, it did so, and therefore I 
 have now no choice even if I wished it. The 
 question is, mother, will you receive this young 
 girl kindly, and as a lady should be received, 
 for my sake, or shall we have to quarrel about 
 it?" 
 
 He spoke gently, but his voice was very firm. 
 Mrs. Brooke tried to evade the main point of 
 the question. 
 
 " As to receiving her like a lady, Nigel, I 
 should think my worst enemy could never say 
 that I was ignorant of the rules of society. I
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 117 
 
 wlio have entertained at my table tlie wife of 
 the Grovenor-Greneral of India, to say nothing 
 of—" 
 
 " Yes ! mother," interposed her son, " but 
 the reception due to a Grovernor-General's wife 
 is just what I do not wish you to extend to my 
 poor little cousin. Eemember that she is 
 almost a child, fresh from the country : strange 
 to everything and body here, and that this is 
 the first time she has ever left her home. 
 Come, mother, promise me 3^ou'll welcome 
 Nelly kindly for my sake, and not frighten her 
 out of her wits with any grandeur or formality,'* 
 and as he spoke he stooped and kissed his mo- 
 ther on the forehead. Mrs. Brooke was molli- 
 fied at once : she was not an ill-natured woman, 
 she was only terribly jealous of, and up-in-arms 
 against anybody in whom her son appeared to 
 take an interest. 
 
 " Well ! well !" she said as she shook out 
 her streamers again, "if you are really bent 
 upon meeting the girl, you had better go at 
 once, for the train is due at five o'clock. But 
 don't forget, Nigel, that dinner is at seven, and 
 that the Johnstones are coming." 
 
 " I thought we were to be alone to-night," 
 he said with a look of vexation. 
 
 " It's only the two girls and their brother :
 
 118 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 I could not avoid asking them, for they almost 
 begged me to do so. If Helena should be very 
 tired after her journey, I can send up her dinner 
 into her own room." 
 
 " Oh ! I should not think she would require 
 that," was NigeFs remark as he left the room. 
 
 " Tiresome little creature !" ejaculated Mrs. 
 Brooke, as the door closed behind him, " I 
 daresay she will be more trouble than a dozen 
 fine ladies put together ; these rustics always 
 are, with their rawness and their ignorance, 
 and their eternal blushing. However, perhaps 
 Nigel himself will get sick of her after a time. 
 It's a new scheme of his, and he is always very 
 hot after the last idea." 
 
 Nigel Brooke did not spare his horses on the 
 way to Hilstone station, yet he did not arrive 
 there much too soon, for the expected train 
 came puffing alongside the platform a minute 
 after he had reached it. He had no difficulty 
 in discovering his cousin Nelly, for her ex- 
 pectant face was pressed against one of the 
 windows, filled with an expression which was 
 half fear and half curiosity, until she caught 
 sight of himself, and then it changed to un- 
 mitigated pleasure. 
 
 The poor child had cried so much, and seen 
 and thought so much since Farmer Weston
 
 NELLY BUOOKE. 119 
 
 had placed lier in the train at Eeddington that 
 morning, that Little Bickton already appeared 
 drifting far away from her, and the face of her 
 Cousin Nigel, till so lately that of a stranger, 
 was transformed into the face of a friend. 
 
 " How kind of you to come and meet me," 
 she said, when he handed her out upon the 
 platform. 
 
 " Did you think I would allow you to arrive 
 here all by yourself?" he answered, as he 
 drew her hand within his arm. Even then 
 he observed how many of the passengers, 
 busy with their own belongings, still found 
 time to turn round and gaze again at the 
 fresh, innocent face, which looked so grate- 
 fully into his. Her luggage having been ex- 
 tricated from the mass, Nigel drew her away 
 from the crowded station ; and in another 
 minute they were driving together towards 
 Orpington Chase. 
 
 " You have been crying, Nelly !" said her 
 cousin, as he scrutinised her features. The 
 girl blushed as if she had been detected in 
 something wrong. 
 
 "I couldn't help it," she said, humbly; "it 
 wasn't much, but I am very much obliged 
 to you, Cousin Nigel, and to Aunt Eliza, for 
 asking me to stay at Orpington."
 
 120 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Don't tell a story, child," lie answered, 
 playfully, "you are not obliged, at least at 
 present ; but I hope you may be, some day. 
 You must remember, it's for Bertie's good, as 
 well as for your own." 
 
 " I do remember it," she said, ingenuously, 
 " for Bertie told me so, and I mean to be very 
 happy, cousin," with a slight quiver in her 
 voice. 
 
 '' Whilst your heart is away at Little Bick- 
 ton ?" he said, laughing. 
 
 But the charge was not denied. 
 
 " I will try to do everything to make Aunt 
 Eliza like me," she continued, doubtfully, " and 
 if I am stupid, you must tell me how." 
 
 " You must try to do nothing, Nelly, but 
 just be yourself, and my mother will be sure 
 to love you for your own sake," and then he 
 turned the conversation, and spoke to her of 
 Thug and old Aggie, and anything which he 
 hoped would prevent her thoughts dwelling 
 upon the coming introduction. 
 
 But as the carriage drew up at the hall door 
 of the Chase, and he took her hand to help 
 her to alight, he felt how she was trem- 
 bling. 
 
 " Nelly, I thought you were never frightened 
 at anything," he said, reproachfully, as he lin-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 121 
 
 gered with her for a minute in the long cor- 
 ridor wl^ich led to the library. 
 
 " Only a little," she whispered. But she 
 seemed such a child in comparison with him- 
 self ; and so lonely, except for his countenance 
 and protection, that his whole heart went out 
 to her, and he felt as though her fears were a 
 reproach to him. 
 
 " But there is nothing to be frightened at, 
 my child, even for a moment," he said, earn- 
 estly. " Nelly, you are in my house now, and 
 if ever you have a fear unallayed or a desire 
 ungratified, it will be your own fault." 
 
 She looked up in surprise at the warmth and 
 energy of his assertion. But there was no 
 mistaking the sincerity of the gaze which met 
 her own, and a thrill of gratitude for her 
 cousin's kindness passed through her bosom 
 even as his hand was on the lock of the library 
 door.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FIRST EVENING AT ORPINGTON CHASE. 
 
 But tlie dreaded introduction was not so for- 
 midable after all. " Aunt Eliza " was alone, 
 and although she did commence the acquaint- 
 ance by dropping a curtsey to her orphan 
 niece, which would have been much more suit- 
 able to the reception of the wife of a Grovernor- 
 General, a look from her son caused her to 
 change her manner almost immediately, and 
 advancing to meet Nelly, she took her hand 
 and kissed her, and enquired how she had 
 borne the journe}^ in a fashion which, if not 
 very affectionate, was at least free from for- 
 mality. And Nelly, to her own surprise, felt 
 no intimidation after the first few seconds. 
 She had been reared in such obscurity, that 
 she had had no opportunity of testing her 
 powers of self-assurance, and was agreeably dis- 
 appointed, after a short time, to find that she 
 could answer her aunt's questions concerning 
 herself and her brother with as little shyness as
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 123 
 
 if she had been talking with her cousin Nigel. 
 The latter knowing that the two women would 
 become much more familiar if he were absent, 
 now rose saying — 
 
 " Well, mother, having delivered my cousin 
 Helena into your charge, I will take a little 
 stroll before dinner." 
 
 A slight look of alarm passed over Nelly's 
 face as she heard that the protection of Nigel's 
 presence was to be withdrawn from her ; but 
 as Mrs. Brooke took the opportunity also to 
 rise, and say, that in that case she would shew 
 her niece to her room, she had no time to 
 allow the feeling to gain ground. 
 
 She followed her aunt out of the library, 
 and up the wide, carpeted staircase with its 
 polished banisters, and along the upper cor- 
 ridor, which corresponded with that below, 
 and at one end of which was situated the bed- 
 room which had been prepared for her use. 
 
 " This is your room," said Mrs. Brooke, as 
 she ushered her into it, " and I trust you will 
 find everything comfortable. I did not order 
 a fire to be lighted, as people's ideas about heat 
 and cold in this climate, seem so to differ; but 
 if you have been used to one, my dear, pray 
 order it." 
 
 " I have not been used to one," said Nelly,
 
 124 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 simply, although she felt inclined to smile at 
 the notion of a fire in her bedroom in August. 
 
 " And I have given orders for Pinner, the 
 upper housemaid, to attend to your bell. Ah ! 
 here she is," as a smart and rather pert-look- 
 ing servant-maid entered the room. '* Pinner, 
 this is Miss Brooke, and you will see that she 
 has everything she requires during her stay 
 with us." 
 
 *' Certainly, mem," replied the maid. 
 
 "And as Pinner is here to look after you, 
 I don't think you will require me any longer ;" 
 and so saying, Mrs. Brooke left the large room 
 with the forlorn little girl sitting in the centre 
 of it, without having once bid her welcome to 
 her house, or expressed a wish that she would 
 be happy whilst there. 
 
 But though Nelly was forlorn, she no longer 
 felt any fear. This beautifully furnished room 
 was very different from what she had been 
 accustomed to ; and this smart attendant with 
 a lace cap on the back of her head, not at all 
 like old nurse A.ggie ; but her soul was not 
 one to be intimidated by the sight of fine fur- 
 niture, nor the pertness of servant-maids. 
 Although from her birth she had been poorly 
 clothed and surrounded, she had always main- 
 tained the inherent sense of being a gentle-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 125 
 
 woman ; and that Pinner should be better clad 
 than herself could only surprise her ; it had 
 no power to make her for a minute permit the 
 woman to address her but as a servant should 
 address a lady. 
 
 Consequently when she pertly asked — 
 
 " Have you your keys, Miss ? for if so, I 
 had better lay out your things," Pinner was 
 amazed by the new comer, whom she had 
 rightly taken for a poor relation of her mis- 
 tress', turning round upon her calmly, with the 
 answer — 
 
 " If you have uncorded the box, that is 
 sufficient ; I can unpack it myself." 
 
 " But you had best let me do it, perhaps," 
 debated the maid, " for you've got your 'air to 
 dress, and it don't want more than half-an- 
 hour to the dinner-bell now." 
 
 Familiarly as Nelly Brooke had been brought 
 up with her old nurse, she had never been 
 spoken to b}^ Aggie in such a tone as she now 
 heard from the pert menial before her. She 
 turned her head, and regarded Pinner with 
 eyes full of solemn surprise. There was some- 
 thing in the look which awed the woman. 
 
 " Will you please to ring then. Miss, when 
 you wish me to fasten your dress ?" she added 
 more respectfully.
 
 126 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 *' I do not want you to do anything for me, 
 thank you," said Nelly. " I have been accus- 
 tomed to wait upon myself, so you can go ;" 
 and thereupon the housemaid departed in high 
 dudgeon to inform the servants' hall that she 
 *' never see such hairs as the rubbige giv' her 
 self — never." 
 
 Meanwhile Nelly unlocked her box, and 
 placed her modest wardrobe in the chest of 
 drawers, and shook out the folds of the mus- 
 lin dress she was about to wear. It looked 
 very fresh and simple, and pretty, on this first 
 occasion of its introduction to the world ; al- 
 most as much so as herself, although the only 
 ornaments she possessed to wear with it, were 
 a few black velvet bows. When she had well 
 brushed her luxuriant hair, and coiled it in 
 thick plaits round the back of her head, as 
 old Aggie had told her it would be right to 
 do when she got amongst the " gentlefolk," 
 and had further adorned herself with the new 
 dress, Nelly quite started to see her reflec- 
 tion in the long pier glass with which her bed- 
 room was provided. She had not thought she 
 could look so " nice ;" " pretty " would have 
 sounded too presumptuous a word to use 
 with regard to herself; but she certainly 
 looked "nice," or would do so, were she not
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 127 
 
 SO brown. She wished Bertie could see her ; 
 only just for a second ! And at that moment 
 the thought of her brother even had not the 
 power to bring more than a flash of pain with 
 it, for what with the bustle and novelty of the 
 situation, the girl was experiencing more ex- 
 citement than she had ever done before, and 
 as yet it left her no time for being miserable. 
 But with the clang of the dinner-bell came 
 the idea of fiading her way into the library 
 again, alone, and with it a slight return of her 
 first shyness. Still she knew it must be done, 
 and as a preliminary step peeped furtively out 
 of her bedroom door. What was her relief to 
 see the tall figure of her cousin Nigel at the 
 other end of the corridor, pacing up and down 
 like a patrol, and evidently waiting for some 
 one. She almost ran towards him, with the 
 request — 
 
 " Oh, cousin ! will you let me go downstairs 
 with you ?" which made him smile. 
 
 " Why — I was only waiting for you, Nelly ! 
 I thought you might be puzzled, at first, to 
 find your way about the house alone." 
 
 " How very kind you are to me !'* 
 
 The remark was made in perfect good faith 
 andwithoutthe leastidea of coquetry, and Nigel 
 Brooke thought, and truly, that in the whole
 
 128 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 course of his five-and-tliirty years of life he 
 had never met with such an unsophisticated bit 
 of innocence as his cousin Nelly, before. When 
 his mother saw him enter the library with the 
 girl upon his arm, she slightly frowned. 
 
 The dinner-bell had rung for more than five 
 minutes, and the Miss Johnstones, in pink 
 gauze dresses, had been eagerly watching for 
 his appearance three times as long, and he 
 had kept them all waiting in order to bring 
 in that country chit in book-muslin. But 
 Nigel Brooke cared nothing for his mother's 
 frowns — if he noticed them. He introduced 
 his cousin to the other young ladies, and then 
 without relinquishing his hold of her, pre- 
 sented his other arm to the elder Miss John- 
 stone, and begged the brother to take in his 
 younger sister with Mrs. Brooke. 
 
 " It is not quite the right thing, I know,'* 
 he laughingly said, as he led the way to the 
 dining-room ; " but as we are only two gentle- 
 men to four ladies, I can think of no better 
 arrangement." 
 
 His mother thought it would have been 
 better if he had taken both the sisters, and 
 left his cousin to go in with herself, but she 
 knew her son too well to say so. 
 
 As Nelly Brooke had not as yet been awed
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 129 
 
 by any of the unusual grandeur of the Chase, 
 neither had the appearance of a dinner, such 
 as she had never seen before, handed to her by 
 the most consequential of serving-men, any 
 power to affect her. 
 
 She had read of instances in which people 
 fresh from the country had been ready to sink 
 into the earth with confusion at the mistakes 
 they made when they found themselves sitting 
 for the first time at a well-appointed table, and 
 it was the recollection of some such tales that 
 had made her imagine that she should never 
 learn how to behave herself when she mixed 
 in society, and exaggerate the misery and 
 strangeness which she should feel on going 
 there. 
 
 But although she was very silent, and never 
 spoke except when she was spoken to, it was 
 of her equals she was shy, not of her inferiors. 
 With respect to the dinner and the domestics, 
 she was as perfectly at her ease as if she had 
 been carving a leg of mutton for Bertie and 
 her grandfather, and old Aggie had stood by 
 to hand the plates. She just took what she 
 fancied, and rejected what she did not require, 
 and when her aunt, thinking she was bashful, 
 remonstrated with her, on refusing so many 
 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 130 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 courses, she answered without the least hesita- 
 tion : 
 
 " Thank you, Aunt EHza, but I am no 
 longer hungry. I am not accustomed to eat 
 so much at dinner." 
 
 And although the Miss Johnstones, who 
 had partaken of everything which had been 
 handed to them, smiled visibly at such a 
 comical idea, Nelly did not perceive that the 
 smile had been provoked by what she had said, 
 and remained quite free from confusion. 
 
 The dessert was placed on the table ; and 
 after a while, Mrs. Brooke with a glance which 
 included the three young ladies, rose from her 
 seat. 
 
 Nelly had not comprehended the meaning 
 of the look, but of course she could not mis- 
 take the action, and she rose also, but before 
 she left the table she bent her head over it, 
 and with folded hands said a grace to herself ; 
 which ceremony had been gone through at the 
 commencement of the meal, but omitted at the 
 removal of the cloth. 
 
 The act was unusual : but it was scarcely 
 entitled to be called a breach of manners, and 
 the girl herself did it as a matter of habit, 
 without once thinking whether it was right or 
 wrong. But as she raised her head, she per-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 131 
 
 ceived that slie had made a mistake. The 
 Johnstones were audibly tittering ; and Mrs. 
 Brooke had her handkerchief to her mouth ; 
 though the two young men were simply re- 
 garding her with interest ; for it is prover- 
 bial that careless men have always more re- 
 spect for religion than careless women. This 
 time Nelly did colour ; but it was from fear 
 lest her aunt and cousin should be annoyed at 
 the display of her ignorance, and she glanced 
 towards Nigel imploringly. 
 
 '* Thank you, Nelly," he said, kindly, " you 
 have reminded us all of our duty : I will not 
 forget it to-morrow." 
 
 At these words the Miss Johnstones sud- 
 denly ceased their giggling, for they had a 
 great desire to please the master of the Chase. 
 
 " I didn't mean to do that," replied Nelly, 
 blushing still deeper at the idea that her aunt 
 might think she did, " but I am so used to it, 
 that I scarcely thought what I was doing — 
 was it very stupid of me, Aunt Eliza ?" she 
 whispered to Mrs. Brooke, as she found her- 
 self by her side in the drawing-room. 
 
 " Not stupid, my dear, exactly," replied her 
 aunt, rather touched by the anxiety displayed 
 in the childish appeal ; " but rather unusual, 
 perhaps : however; I have no doubt my son 
 
 9—2
 
 132 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 will pronounce tlie grace at its proper time, 
 to-morrow ;" and with this assurance, poor 
 Nelly was obliged to rest contented. 
 
 The Miss Johnstones were what is termed 
 "fine girls, who played and sang very bril- 
 liantly, and dressed very low, and set their 
 caps very decidedly at the son of their hostess. 
 They were loud in their admiration of every- 
 thing at the Chase, including its master, and 
 when the gentlemen entered the drawing- 
 room that evening, Nigel Brooke found them 
 seated on a sofa, one on either side of his 
 mother, loading her with caresses and flattery, 
 to which she appeared readily to respond. The 
 sight seemed to displease him, for he crossed 
 to the further end of the room, and sat down 
 by his cousin, with his back towards the group 
 on the sofa. 
 
 The short spell of loneliness to which Nelly 
 had been subjected between the time the ladies 
 had left the dining-room, and this when Nigel 
 joined her again, seemed already to have had 
 its effect on her spirits, for her cousin found 
 her more silent than before, and read her de- 
 jection in her looks. 
 
 In order to amuse her he fetched several 
 volumes of the " Art Union," and proceeded 
 to show her the plates. But though she ad-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 133 
 
 mired them very much, they did not divert 
 her melancholy. The slight ridicule which she 
 had incurred had sent her thoughts back to 
 Little Bickton, where everything she did was 
 right, and set them dwelling on the many 
 doubts and fears which she had entertained 
 about paying this very visit. She almost 
 broke down at a print of the " healing of the 
 cripple by the Apostles, at the gate called 
 Beautiful," because, she said, it so reminded 
 her of her brother. 
 
 " I wonder what dear Bertie is doing now," 
 she whispered, with a woe-begone face, to her 
 cousin, as something very like a tear glistened 
 in the corner of. her eye. 
 
 " Smoking his pipe, I daresay," he replied 
 cheerily, " or having his tea, or wondering, on 
 his part, what his silly little sister is doing to- 
 wards keeping her promise to try and enjoy 
 herself." 
 
 She smiled at his suggestion, but it was a 
 very sad smile. Nigel seemed afraid of what 
 might follow it, and looked about him in search 
 of a diversion. In another minute he had 
 jumped up and asked the elder Miss Johnstone 
 to sing. The young lady was only too eager 
 to oblige, and warbled " Why do I weep for 
 thee ?" with great emphasis, whilst he devoted
 
 134 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 himself to turning over ttie leaves of her music, 
 with a view to giving Nelly an opportunity to 
 recover herself. As soon as her sister had con- 
 cluded, the other Miss Johnstone sat down, 
 and rattled off the last new waltzes with con- 
 siderable brilliancy. The attention of Nelly 
 was diverted from Little Bickton; she was 
 really fond of music, and the pretty melody 
 attracted her, so that after a while she left her 
 seat, and drew nearer to the piano. As soon 
 as the waltzes were concluded the young 
 ladies both addressed her at once, begging that 
 she would " favour " them with a song. 
 
 " I do not sing," she replied, gently. 
 
 *' Then will you play something ?" 
 
 " I do not play either," she repeated. 
 
 "Grood gracious, child!" said her aunt, 
 sharply looking up from some netting, over 
 which she was considerably puzzling herself; 
 " what do you do ?" 
 
 The querulous tone nettled the girl, and 
 she answer bluntly, " Nothing." 
 
 " Oh ! indeed !" remarked Mrs. Brooke, 
 with her eyes still on her work ; whilst the 
 young ladies and their brother laughed ; and 
 Nigel said, with indignation, albeit he tried to 
 appear careless of the matter, 
 
 "That is not the case, Nelly; you can do
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 135 
 
 many more things than most young ladies — as 
 you know very well." 
 
 " Ah ! but not things to amuse people with," 
 she answered quickly. " I have told you that 
 I never play the piano before any one but Ber- 
 tie or Mrs. Weston." 
 
 " Oh ! never mind, it is not of the slight- 
 est consequence," said her aunt, " I have no 
 doubt that Miss Johnstone will be kind enough 
 to favour us with another song — You are both 
 so clever, my dears," addressing herself exclu- 
 sively to the sisters, " that I wish you would 
 see if you could help me with this netting — I 
 am afraid I have got it into a sad bungle ;" 
 and she pulled away at her silk as she spoke. 
 
 " Oh ! pray don't apply to me, dearest Mrs. 
 Brooke," exclaimed the elder, holding up her 
 hands in mock alarm ; *' I am the naughtiest, 
 laziest girl possible for needlework, and never 
 touch any ; just ask my sister if I am not 
 telling the truth." 
 
 "Well, you know I am just as bad!" re- 
 turned the other, as if the confession were 
 rather meritorious, " and really now-a-days, 
 what with one thing and another, I can't un- 
 derstand what time people find for needle- 
 work. And I never did any netting in my 
 life, dear Mrs. Brooke, or I should have been
 
 136 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 delighted, I'm sure." And slie skipped off to 
 the piano again without even enquiring into 
 the nature of the difficulty. 
 
 " It's very provoking," sighed poor Mrs. 
 Brooke, as she looked round with an air of 
 helpless distress. "I thought I was going 
 on so nicely, and then Mrs. Chamberlain 
 asked to have the foundation which she had 
 lent me, back again, and so I had to cut my 
 netting off it, and it has not looked right 
 since. I often think I will never Itry to do a 
 piece of fancy work again, for servants are so 
 provoking, they are of no use at all in a case 
 like this." 
 
 " May I try to help you, aunt?" said Nelly, 
 timidly. 
 
 " My dear ! I do not suppose that you can 
 understand anything about it — this is mere 
 idle work." 
 
 " I know how to net," she replied, quietly. 
 She took the tangled web from off her aunt's 
 foot, and examined it. "You have not yet 
 picked out the stitches which you cut off," she 
 said presently, as she proceeded to remedy the 
 mistake. 
 
 " But they won't come out ; the knots are 
 so hard," urged Mrs. Brooke. 
 
 " Not if you pull them, the right way, aunt !
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 137 
 
 — Look — -just as I do — if you touch tlie knot 
 on this side it loosens at once, hut if on the 
 other, you will only fray the silk and draw it 
 tighter." 
 
 " Well ! that's wonderful," exclaimed Mrs. 
 Brooke, peering at the operation through her 
 spectacles ; " and could you set it all right, 
 my dear, without a foundation ?" 
 
 " Oh ! yes !" replied Nelly,» smiling; " but 
 if you can spare me your mesh and needle, I 
 will make you a foundation in half an hour." 
 
 " And where did you learn this art ?" asked 
 her aunt, looking at the girl as she worked, 
 with almost as much curiosity as if she had 
 seen a donkey begin to net. 
 
 " Is it an art ?" said Nelly, laughing, the 
 first time Nigel had seen her laugh in his 
 mother's presence — " we don't call it so at 
 Little Bickton; for every child there can 
 make nets for the cherry trees, and that is the 
 only use I have seen it put to." 
 
 Mrs. Brooke was much more gracious in her 
 behaviour towards her niece after she disco- 
 vered that she had been accustomed to do all 
 kinds of needlework, both plain and fancy; 
 for she was an indolent useless creature her- 
 self, and she fancied it might be very conve- 
 nient — since she must entertain a raw girl
 
 138 NELLY BEOOKE. 
 
 from the country for so many weeks — to have 
 one who could occasionally help her in such 
 little difficulties. 
 
 She spoke nearly as often to Nelly as to the 
 Miss Johnstones during the rest of the even- 
 ing, and dismissed her to her bedroom, with 
 an embrace which was almost affectionate. 
 
 But neither the cordiality nor the kiss had 
 any power to cemfort IS|By when she foand 
 herself once more alone.^^he excitement was 
 over then, the novelt^^Bp fast dying away: 
 even the presence of/, IK officious Pinner had 
 been withdrawn ; and there was nothing left 
 in the middle of that big, luxurious bedroom, 
 but an apparently heart-broken girl, crying for 
 her home and the friends with whom she had 
 lived from her infancy. She told herself it 
 was foolish, and weak, and wrong ; she knelt 
 down and repeated her innocent prayers, and 
 prayed to be made contented and grateful; 
 still the tears would rise as she pictured her 
 darling Bertie toiling up the cottage staircase 
 with no one to help him but old Aggie, of his 
 going to bed without any one to read or talk to 
 him, and falling to sleep (if he could sleep, so 
 Nelly silently argued) without his sister's 
 good-night kiss. She imagined every contin- 
 gency that could possibly occur during her
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 139 
 
 absence from her home ; of how her grand- 
 father or old Aggie might be found dead in 
 their beds ; or Bertie — even Bertie — but no, 
 that thought was too dreadful even for a sur- 
 mise, and Nelly shuddered at, but could not 
 entertain it. So that, whilst her grandfather 
 and old Aggie were making " night hideous" 
 with their snores, and Bertie, under the in- 
 fluence of a. stronger potation than usual, which 
 he had taken advantage of his sister's absence 
 to procure, was also buried in a deep slumber, 
 poor little Nelly was crying herself to sleep 
 from a sheer sense of loneliness and fatigue, 
 and repeating again and again with an attempt 
 at self-comfort, " For your sake, Bertie ! it is 
 for your sake, darling. I will remember that 
 it is for your sake, and try to be contented." 
 She was sounding the key-note of her life.
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 MES. BUOOKE CHANGES HER OPINION. 
 
 When Nelly entered the breakfast-room on 
 tlie following morning and found that her 
 cousin Nigel had taken his breakfast an hour 
 before, and was gone out shooting for the day, 
 she thought him almost unkind. He knew 
 that he was the only person at Orpington wdth 
 whom she felt at all at her ease, and he had 
 promised if she would go and stay there, that 
 he would be a friend to her. And this was 
 what he called being a " friend," leaving her 
 the very first day all by herself with her Aunt 
 Eliza, who did not make her appearance until 
 it was nearly noon, and whose whole attention 
 from that time appeared to be occupied with 
 receiving her visitors, and trying to decide 
 how she should have her next dresses made 
 and trimmed. 
 
 But Nigel Brooke was neither unkind nor 
 unwise in pursuing the course which he had 
 chosen. He was very anxious that his mother
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 141 
 
 should take a fancy to his cousin Nelly ; and 
 he was aware that. Mrs. Brooke was a woman 
 of most capricious temper, who conceived vio- 
 lent likes and dislikes without any visible cause 
 for the people with whom she was thrown in 
 contact, and he knew that the less interest he 
 appeared to take in his cousin, and the less 
 anxiety he betrayed that she should make a 
 favourable impression at the Chase, the more 
 likely was her aunt to be gracious to her. So 
 he took especial care to absent himself from 
 home for the first few days after her arrival, 
 and leave her to make her way alone, and on 
 the fourth day he was rewarded for his cir- 
 cumspection by Mrs. Brooke waylaying him 
 in his private room of her own accord, to make 
 the following disclosure : — 
 
 " My dear Nigel, that little cousin of yours 
 is a perfect genius. I had no idea when I 
 first saw her what a deal ^of cleverness was 
 concealed beneath all that shyness. How 
 could I have guessed it, you know ? But she 
 can do everything. .Why, yesterday morning, 
 when that stupid maid of mine, Prout, was 
 fussing and fuming over the fit of my new 
 black velvet jacket, pulling it first this way 
 and then the other ; and I am sure the 
 amount of stu fi" that woman must have wasted
 
 142 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 in. the cutting out alone, no one could calcu- 
 late ; I'm sure, Nigel, short a time as I have 
 been in England, I have often and often re- 
 gretted the tailors in Calcutta, for they never 
 
 " Yes, yes, mother," impatiently interposed 
 her son, '* but never mind the Calcutta tailors 
 now ; finish your story about Prout." 
 
 " Well, let me see, where was I ? Oh ! yes, 
 to be sure — well — in comes your cousin to ask 
 me a question ; and positively she saw what 
 was wrong in a minute. I was just saying to 
 Prout, ' It will never come right, Prout ; per- 
 haps you'd better cut out another,' when * Oh ! 
 yes it will, aunt,' says Helena', ' if you will let 
 me make a little alteration here; it only wants 
 sloping at the shoulders ;' and she took the 
 scissors out of Prout's hand, unripped both 
 the seams, took in quite half an inch under 
 the arms, sloped the shoulder, and there was 
 the jacket, fitting as nicely as possible. * And 
 now Prout,' she said, * you have only got to 
 cut it down more in the throat, and I think you 
 will find it come right.' You should have 
 seen Prout's face, Nigel. I was so pleased, 
 because the creature's last place was with a 
 countess, and whenever I find fault with 
 her, she tells me how she gave her ladyship
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 143 
 
 entire satisfaction. Well, I have not finished 
 about your cousin's cleverness yet. In the 
 afternoon we drove to Hilstone, and I bought 
 some macaroons. You may remember how- 
 fond I used to be of macaroons in Calcutta. I 
 was telling Helena all about them, and how I 
 should never get any in England to taste like 
 those they used to have made at the mess of 
 the 110th; these confectioners' macaroons 
 seem always so dry and hard ; never imagining 
 that the child would remember it, and what do 
 you think ? This morning at luncheon time, 
 cook sent up some made just as I like them, so 
 soft and sticky, that I had to wash my hands 
 directly after eating them, and I should be 
 almost ashamed to tell you how many I did 
 eat. Of course I was delighted, and sent at 
 once to know where she had got the recipe ; 
 when your cousin told me that s/ie, that chit, 
 Nigel ! only fancy ! who has never been out 
 of Bickton (or whatever they call the place), 
 in her life before, s/ie had written it out and 
 sent it down by Pinner yesterday evening, 
 with a request that the cook would try it and 
 see how I liked it. Oh ! I was perfectly en- 
 chanted with the girl! Such thought, my 
 dear, such prudence ! there are very few girls 
 now-a-days who know what a macaroon is
 
 144 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 made of; but Helena tells me tliat she always 
 makes the pastry at home, and has tried her 
 hand at all kinds of recipes. Why didn't you 
 tell me she could do all this before, Nigel ? 
 I had no idea it was this kind of girl you 
 wished me to invite to the Chase ; but I really 
 don't think you men know or care what a 
 woman can do : it is all frippery, and finery, 
 and outside show with you, and if a girl has 
 not a pretty face, you ask no further about 
 her. And poor Helena is certainly not 'pretty : 
 that is to say, she has fine eyes and hair of 
 course, but no style, which is everything after 
 all. But we can't be perfect in this world, 
 that is positive t" 
 
 Perhaps Nigel Brooke was not entirely of 
 his mother's opinion respecting the amount of 
 beauty possessed by his cousin, but he ven- 
 tured no remark upon the subject. She had 
 been running on so fast and continuously in 
 her new-born enthusiasm for Nelly's merits in 
 the dress-making and cooking departments, 
 that she had given her son no opportunity 
 either to second or refute her assertions ; and 
 he would probably have chosen to remain 
 silent if she had. 
 
 He saw that the spell was w^orking, and 
 was satisfied to maintain neutral ground until
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 145 
 
 Lis mother's sudden fancy for his cousin should 
 have developed into something steadier and 
 stronger. So he only smiled and said : — 
 
 " I am very glad indeed to hear that you 
 are likely to find Nelly an agreeable com- 
 panion, mother : for I do not think any kind- 
 ness you may shew her will be thrown 
 away." 
 
 " Agreeable, my dear Nigel ! she is posi- 
 tively charming, and if she goes on at this 
 rate, I'm sure I don't know what I shall do 
 when she leaves the Chase. I have been 
 worrying myself about it all this morning, and 
 I was thinking just now, how delightful it 
 would be to have her to live with me alto- 
 gether. You are sure to marry, you know, 
 Nigel, before you return to Calcutta ; in fact, 
 you must marry, you should look upon it as a 
 sacred duty, and though I am sure your wife 
 will be everything that is desirable for the 
 station she will fill : beautiful and accom- 
 plished and of high birth, and so on ; yet she 
 can never be to me what a girl of this sort 
 could be ; it would not be suitable that she 
 should, and even if she were, you will soon be 
 off to Calcutta again and take her with you. 
 And in that case I feel I should like to have 
 Helena to live with me and be my companion, 
 
 VOL. I. 10
 
 146 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 you kuow. There she would be ; always 
 ready to look after my things, or to accom- 
 pany me anywhere : to take all trouble off my 
 hands in fact, so that when I have considered 
 about it a little longer, and seen a little more 
 of the girl's abilities, I shall just tell her of 
 my plan. It would be rather a change for 
 her, Nigel ! would it not, to leave Bickton for 
 good and take up her abode with me ? Poor 
 dear child !" and she looked at her son, evi- 
 dently expecting him to endorse her senti- 
 ments, and approve of them. 
 
 But Nigel Brooke was silent. He had 
 winced terribly under this last proposal of his 
 mother's, and when she had alluded to the 
 chance of his marriage, and spoken of Nelly 
 as a girl of this sort, he had felt as though 
 some one had suddenly run a knife into his 
 flesh. The thought of this contented, home- 
 loving, and free child of the country being 
 pent up for life as the companion of his frivo- 
 lous mother, would have struck him with dis- 
 may, had he not known that it could never be. 
 But he was anxious not to turn all Mrs. 
 Brooke's sympathies in the other direction, by 
 opposing her cherished plan. So after a pause 
 he replied : — 
 
 " I daresay such a companion, if she proved
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 147 
 
 all that you imagine, motlier, would be a great 
 comfort to you, but you must remember that 
 Nelly is very young, and that as yet you have 
 seen but little of her." 
 
 " Ah ! that is just the way with you men, 
 Nigel, you are one as suspicious as the other ; 
 however, I do not choose to share your doubts 
 about your poor little cousin. I am sure that 
 she would prove all that I could desire.'* 
 
 " But she has her grandfather and brother 
 to look after at home, remember ! What 
 would they do without her ?" 
 
 " Oh ! if it were absolutely necessary, I 
 might manage to wait until the old man is 
 dead : he can't live very much longer, surely ! 
 and as for the cripple, couldn't we get him put 
 into an asylum, or somewhere ? I am sure it 
 might be managed." 
 
 At the idea of Robert Brooke quietly con- 
 senting to be packed away in an asylum for 
 incurables, in order that his sister might be- 
 come companion to her aunt, Nigel laughed 
 outright ; but he only begged his mother not 
 to mention such a thing to her niece. 
 
 " Nelly scarcely believes that her brother is 
 incurable," he said, " and the twins are very 
 much attached to one another, so pray do not 
 hint at such an idea as an asylum for him. 
 
 10—2
 
 148 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 When my grandfatlier dies, I have no doubt 
 that we shall be able to make arrangements 
 for my cousins to leave Little Bickton, and 
 take up their abode near us ; but meanwhile, 
 mother, you leave me out of the question 
 altogether. You are determined that I shall 
 marry, or be got rid of in some way." 
 
 " Because you are sure to marry, my dear," 
 she replied. 
 
 " Perhaps I should be, if it depended wholly 
 on my own wishes, but how are you to control 
 those of the beautiful and accomplished young 
 ladies from amongst whom I am to choose a 
 wife. Such a girl as you desire to have for a 
 daughter-in-law may prefer somebody better 
 for a husband than a middle-aged Calcutta 
 merchant." 
 
 " What nonsense it is of you, Nigel, to 
 talk in that manner ! Middle age I why you 
 are hardly in your prime yet." 
 
 " What with grey hairs in my head ?" he 
 asked with a laugh. 
 
 " Grey hairs are nothing — all the young 
 people have grey hairs nowadays, and par- 
 ticularly such as have lived for any time in 
 India. You are only just thirty-five, and you 
 have an income which will justify you in pick- 
 ing and choosing as you will."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 149 
 
 " Yes ! if I wanted to buy a wife — but I 
 don't ; I would rather win one." 
 
 " And you would find no difficulty in that 
 either, Nigel. A handsome, sensible woman, 
 such as I trust you would choose, one not too 
 young, and who knows what the world' is, 
 would be the very first to appreciate the advan- 
 tages of a marriage with a man like yourself, 
 who is able not only to make a place for her 
 in society, but to keep it." 
 
 " Yes ! that all sounds very easy," said Nigel 
 Brooke, "but, unfortunately, mother, it too 
 often happens in marriage that what would be 
 most suitable for a man is not most pleasing ; 
 we old fellows on the road to forty are apt to 
 attach as much, if not more, charm to the inno- 
 cence and simplicity of very young girls than 
 we did at twenty ; and as the fancies of extreme 
 youth do not generally correspond with ours, 
 we are also apt to have our honourable pro- 
 posals rejected to our faces, which makes us 
 vow never to try our luck again. So I think 
 there is just as much chance of your having 
 me for a companion for life as Miss Helena 
 Brooke ; and I think I am entitled by birth 
 (not to mention several minor considerations,) 
 to the first preference." 
 
 He spoke so playfully, that his mother
 
 150 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 answered him in the same strain, and told him 
 he was a great goose, and it was of no use to 
 argue with him. And then she turned the 
 conversation back again to Nelly. 
 
 " But now do tell me, Nigel — what shall I 
 buy for her ? I want to make her a nice pre- 
 sent. I have given her two of my evening 
 dresses and the brown silk which Prout spoilt 
 in the making the week before last, and that 
 pair of carved bracelets which your poor father 
 sent for from China for me — (I never cared for 
 them, you know, they are so unbecoming,) but 
 I want now to get her something really useful 
 from Hilstone. What do you think she would 
 like best ?" 
 
 " Don't you think you have given her suffi- 
 cient for one day?" he answered quietly. 
 " Nelly is not used, I fancy, to receiving many 
 presents." 
 
 He could not bear the idea of his mother 
 having given her dresses which had been worn 
 for however short a time, and dreaded lest the 
 girl's pride should be hurt by such an offer- 
 ing. But Mrs. Brooke was in one of her 
 " giving" humours, and would not be reasoned 
 or persuaded out of a tithe of her intended 
 generosity. 
 
 " Dear me, no ! They were nothing — mere
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 151 
 
 trifles — I want to give tlie child something 
 much better — something that shall be really 
 serviceable. Now, Nigel, don't be disagree- 
 able, but tell me just what you imagine she 
 would prefer." 
 
 He was pleased with the marked change in 
 his mother's sentiments concerning his orphan 
 cousin, and although he knew by long experi- 
 ence that her fancies were as fickle as the 
 wind, he saw no good to be attained in the 
 future by checking her kind intentions in the 
 present. And so he considered for a moment, 
 and then said : 
 
 "If you are determined upon loading Nelly 
 with benefits, mother, I think a riding-habit 
 and hat would be the means of affording her 
 the greatest pleasure during her visit to us ; 
 for I know that she can ride, and I could 
 easily have a side-saddle put on the little grey, 
 and take her out sometimes with me. There 
 is to be a grand coursing match on the downs 
 on Friday week, and the meet will be a very 
 gay scene." 
 
 If he had proposed that his cousin should 
 take lessons on the tight-rope, Mrs. Brooke 
 would have acquiesced in his desire. She was 
 just in the humour to grant him, or Nelly 
 anyj:hing.
 
 152 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Of course, my dear boy, that will be just 
 tbe thing, and some gloves besides — and a neat 
 little riding- whip. I will order her a complete 
 riding outfit the very next time we go into 
 Hilstone. Indeed I see no reason that we 
 should not do so this very afternoon. It is 
 not four yet, and we shall be back in plenty of 
 time for dinner. Eing the bell, my dear, and 
 order the carriage at once. I will go and find 
 your cousin and desire her to get ready to 
 accompany us ." And accordingly Mrs. Brooke 
 did search out ISTelly, and take her ofi* to Hil- 
 stone there and then, and have her measure 
 taken for the most expensive riding-habit that 
 the town could furnish. 
 
 To say that ISTelly was indifferent to the 
 pretty things which her aunt now showered 
 upon her, would be to paint her as an imma- 
 culate creature, which she was very far from 
 being. She greatly admired the Chinese 
 bracelets which Mrs. Brooke thought so unbe- 
 coming ; she was in raptures* about the new 
 riding-habit and hat, and could scarcely be- 
 lieve that they were really to be hers ; and 
 her pride even was not offended by being 
 asked to accept the three dresses which had 
 been her aunt's — though in the latter case, 
 perhaps, the difference of age and the close
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 153 
 
 relationship which existed between the donor 
 and receiver, served to cover any little feeling 
 of annoyance which might otherwise have 
 arisen at such an olBTer. 
 
 But although she valued the gifts, and still 
 more the kindness which prompted their be- 
 stowal, Nelly was not happy at the Chase. 
 She appeared more cheerful and like herself 
 as the days went on, but it was because they 
 were going on, and each one brought the hour 
 of her return to Little Bickton nearer. Al- 
 though never formally agreed upon, it seemed 
 to be tacitly understood by all parties that the 
 term of her visit was to be a month, and when 
 nearly half of that time had elapsed and her 
 cousin Nigel ventured to rally her upon the 
 improvement in her spirits, and the falseness 
 of her prophecies with respect to her certain 
 misery at the Chase, she disappointed him 
 greatly by the open confession that she 
 couldn't help feeling happier now because 
 she should so soon see Bertie again. Indeed, 
 whatever they did to please or amuse her, 
 she appeared to Nigel visibly to pine after 
 her brother. She wrote to him every day : 
 she alluded to him in almost every other 
 sentence ; she never seemed to be able to 
 keep her thoughts away from her home for
 
 154 * NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 more than a few minutes at a time ; and it 
 was sufficient to mention the name of Little 
 Bickton to be certain of at once enchaining her 
 attention. 
 
 And the cheerfulness which she managed to 
 maintain was chiefly owing to the letters 
 which she constantly received from her bro- 
 ther, and in which he never failed to urge her 
 to do all she could to ingratiate herself with 
 her relatives, and to pave the way for the 
 ultimate comfort and respectability of herself 
 and him. And . so she toiled on, day after 
 day, to make herself agreeable and necessary 
 to her aunt, in hopes of securing his welfare, 
 as she would have cheerfully worked in the 
 mines or the galleys, with the same incentive. 
 
 She was quite a little slave to Mrs. Brooke 
 at this period, running her errands and un- 
 picking her work, although the elder lady 
 imagined she was bestowing a great benefit on 
 the girl by employing her thus honourably ; 
 and that all that Nelly did for her was amply 
 repaid by the many additions she had made 
 to her scanty wardrobe, and the amusements 
 to which she had taken her. And Nelly her- 
 self thought nothing of the little attentions 
 which she rendered ; for she had been used to 
 sacrifice herself for the good of others, anc*
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 155 
 
 cherished some very old-fashioned notions re- 
 specting the duties of relationship. 
 
 Yet her aunt never gave her any present 
 but she questioned whether Bertie would ad- 
 mire or care to possess it before she decided 
 to keep it for herself, and Mrs. Brooke never 
 lavished- caresses or praises upon her niece, 
 without Nelly reminding her that her twin 
 brother was far better worth loving, and far 
 better worth praising than herself. 
 
 And so vehement was Mrs. Brooke's short- 
 lived admiration, that she was almost prepared, 
 during its continuance, to believe, as well as 
 to affirm, that she was as ready to love Bertie 
 as she was his sister.
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 NELLY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 The new riding habit and hat were ready 
 some days before they were required, and 
 Nigel Brooke having had a side-saddle fitted 
 to the little grey, found that a few hints as to 
 the most approved method of mounting, and 
 holding her reins, were all that was required 
 to transform his cousin Nelly into a first-rate 
 horsewoman, for she already possessed the two 
 great requisites to that end, namely, courage 
 and a firm seat, and from the time that her 
 paraphernalia was complete, she accompanied 
 him daily in his rides. 
 
 The day of the coursing match, to be held 
 on the Downs, rose gloriously, and a gaj^er 
 assemblage than Nelly had ever been intro- 
 duced to before, met her view, as, mounted on 
 the little grey, and escorted by her cousin, 
 she arrived upon the scene of action. All the 
 •private carriages which Hilstone could boast 
 (Mrs. Brooke's amongst the number) were
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 15? 
 
 drawn up on either side of the starting point, 
 whilst equestrians of all sorts, from the burly 
 squire, followed by a train of boys and girls 
 mounted on rough ponies, and the farmer astride 
 his clumsy cob, to all the gentlemen of the 
 Hunt, accompanied by their wives and daugh- 
 ters, and most of the officers from Hilstone 
 Barracks, were scattered here and there in 
 groups upon the Downs. 
 
 The tenant of Orpington Chase, although 
 he had not been amongst them for more than 
 two months, was already well known, and as 
 he conducted his cousin to the spot from 
 which she could best watch the runninsr of 
 the greyhounds, greetings assailed him from 
 every side. The eye-glasses of the Hilstone 
 ladies were in great request as Nelly, her face 
 glowing with exercise and excitement, rode 
 past their carriage windows, and the surmises 
 which broke from them relative to the exact 
 connection which existed between Mr. Brooke 
 and the young lady to whom he seemed to be 
 paying so much attention, were as various as 
 the criticisms which they passed upon her 
 personal appearance. 
 
 There was no less curiosity manifested 
 amongst Nigel's male acquaintance with re- 
 gard to the name and residence of the attrac-
 
 158 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 tive-looking stranger ; but the more they gazed 
 after Nelly, and whispered to one another con- 
 cerning her, the naore pleasure did her cousin 
 appear to take in refusing to gratify them, 
 and he guided her in silence through the 
 groups of horsemen, and the battery of the 
 ladies' glances, until he brought both their 
 steeds to a standstill beside his mother's car- 
 riage. There he would have passed on, if he 
 could, but Mrs. Brooke had already caught 
 sight of them, and addressed her son by name. 
 She was reclining, a mass of feathers and 
 flowers, on the luxurious cushion of her 
 chariot, flirting, or making believe to flirt, 
 after the fashion of some old ladies, with a 
 good-looking man, who was resting both his 
 arms on the sill of the open window, and talk- 
 ing to her in an easy and confidential manner. 
 As he perceived who was his mother's com- 
 panion, Nigel Brooke's brow contracted, al- 
 though there was nothing in the gentleman's 
 appearance to justify such an action ; on the 
 contrary, with respect to looks, he was gifted 
 rather above than below the average, being a 
 handsome man of the middle height, with a 
 graceful figure, dark eyes and hair, and large 
 well-kept whiskers. As soon as Mrs. Brooke 
 ejaculated her son's name, he rose from the
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 159- 
 
 lounging attitude he had assumed, and stood 
 upright, and the next minute she had intro- 
 duced him to her niece. 
 
 " My niece, Doctor, Miss Brooke : Nelly, 
 my dear, Dr. Monk ton, of Hilstone. Nigel, 
 Dr. Monkton and I have come to the con- 
 clusion that we were very foolish not to bring 
 some * tiffin' with us on to the Downs, for if 
 they don't begin the coursing soon, we shall 
 be compelled to go without one or the other." 
 
 " The fresh air of so elevated a spot is cal- 
 culated to provoke a keener appetite than 
 usual 1" said Dr. Monkton, addressing himself 
 to Nelly. On being introduced to her, he 
 had left the side of her aunt's carriage, and 
 Approached her horse, and as he spoke, he laid 
 his hand upon the animal's neck in a manner 
 which struck Nigel Brooke as being far too 
 familiar on so short an acquaintance. 
 
 " Yes !" said the girl, shyly. 
 
 " You are new to Orpington, Miss Brooke, 
 are you not ?" 
 
 " Yes !" she replied again, and nothing more. 
 
 She had not liked the ordeal of glances 
 through which she had already passed ; for 
 she was unaccustomed to admiration, and was 
 too apt to imagine that people only looked at 
 her because she was awkward, or countrified.
 
 160 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 or in some manner diiFered from themselves. 
 But tha^i had been nothing to what her bash- 
 fulness now suffered as Mrs. Brooke's friend 
 fixed his large dark eyes upon her face, and 
 kept them there. 
 
 " Are you likely to make a long stay ?" he 
 enquired. 
 
 " No ! I am soon going home again !" 
 
 " Have you yet visited Hilstone ?" 
 
 " Yes ; with my aunt." 
 
 " But I mean, have you inspected its histo- 
 rical relics and antiquities. Perhaps you know 
 they are very numerous. There is the cathe- 
 dral, full of the bones of early Saxon kings ; 
 and the college, founded by the famous Bishop 
 Thomas of Tallow- wick, and the fortified gates, 
 which were held during a siege of several 
 months. You will not think of leaving Or- 
 pington, I hope, without paying a visit to spots 
 which possess so much interest.'* 
 
 " No !" said Nelly, mechanically. 
 
 She had never felt so stupid or so unable to 
 converse with any stranger before, for the 
 whole time he had been speaking of the kings' 
 bones and Thomas of Tallow-wick, Dr. Monk- 
 ton had not once removed his admiring gaze 
 from her features. She had twisted on her 
 saddle, and looked down on the ground, and
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 161 
 
 up into tlie clear blue autumn sky, but the 
 knowledge that those piercing eyes were still 
 occupied in scrutinising her, made the colour 
 in her face become deeper every moment, until 
 her cheeks were burning. Nigel Brooke, who 
 had also been attentively watching his cousin, 
 noticed her confusion, and approaching her in 
 the rear, managed, with great dexterity, to 
 tickle, unperceived, the flanks of the little 
 grey, which caused it immediately to step 
 about, to the imminent danger of the doctor's 
 toes. 
 
 " Excuse me. Dr. Monkton," he said, coldly, 
 " but you are fidgeting my cousin's horse by 
 coming so near. He does not always display 
 the best of tempers when he is touched by a 
 stranger. I think, to prevent accidents, that 
 I had better stand between you !" and, suiting 
 the action of the word, he brought his chestnut 
 alongside of the little grey. 
 
 Dr. Monkton may or may not have under- 
 stood the hint which had thus been given him, 
 but Mrs. Brooke took her son's word all in 
 good faith. 
 
 " Oh ! my dear Nigel," she exclaimed in a 
 voice of alarm, *' I hope there is no chance of 
 Nelly's horse becoming restive. Look there, 
 now : the dogs are just off, and everybody is 
 
 VOL. I. 11
 
 162 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 pressing to one point. Suppose tlie grey 
 should get fidgety at being kept standing, and 
 begin to kick or anything — so close to the 
 carriage, too — I should be terribly frightened, 
 I am sure I should scream — and then dear 
 Nelly might be thrown !" 
 
 Nelly smiled at the very uncertain prospect 
 which her aunt's fears had conjured up, and 
 was about to expostulate with her, concerning 
 it ; but her cousin Nigel at once took advan- 
 tage of the supposition — in order to get her 
 away from the proximity of Dr. Monkton. 
 
 " Well, so she might, mother ; and I think 
 we had better move on a little, and coi^ie back 
 to you by-and-bye. What do yoa say, Nelly?" 
 
 Nelly was quite agreeable ; for the idea of 
 moving on was as grateful to her as to him- 
 self; and so they soon left the carriage behind 
 them, and were cantering along the short turf 
 of the Downs together. 
 
 *' Such a sweet girl, doctor !" exclaimed 
 Mrs. Brooke, as that gentleman resumed his 
 original position at the window ; " very simple 
 and timid, and unaccustomed to society, you 
 see, but still such a sweet girl." 
 
 " I am sure of it !" said Dr. Monkton, fer- 
 vently, "your niece, I believe you said?" 
 
 " Yes ! — well, that is, my niece by marriage.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 163 
 
 but such little distinctions make no difference 
 to me. She is a charming creature — so clever 
 — you can have no idea of the cleverness of 
 that girl — and very much attached to me — 
 very grateful, I may say " and Mrs. Brooke 
 simpered behind her handkerchief as if the 
 benefits wherewith she had loaded Nelly, were 
 indeed subjects for gratitude. 
 
 " Miss Brooke does not live with you ?" said 
 Dr. Monkton, enquiringly. 
 
 " Well, not at present," replied the lady, 
 with an air of mystery; "but there is little 
 doubt that she ivill do so ; when I am alone 
 again, you know : when my son is — married." 
 
 '•' Is Mr. Brooke's marriage then a settled 
 thing?" said Dr. Monkton, with a look of 
 interest proper to the occasion, " may I be 
 allowed to offer my congratulations ?" 
 
 "Oh, no. Doctor!" exclaimed Mrs. Brooke, 
 flapping her handkerchief at him in playful 
 reproach, " you gentlemen run on much too 
 fast. It is not by any means a settled thing 
 yet, but I think we may confidently say that 
 it will be'' 
 
 " And then Miss Brooke will live with your- 
 self? She will be a charming companion, I 
 am sure, and have a charming home." 
 
 Mrs. Brooke sighed, and tried to look inte- 
 
 11—2
 
 164 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 resting and benevolent. " Of course there 
 "will be great advantages for tbe dear child, in 
 such an arrangement, but we do not intend 
 •even to guess which of us will have most rea- 
 son to rejoice at the change — we shall be like 
 mother and daughter, and that is all." 
 
 " Or like sisters, you should rather say," 
 exclaimed the doctor, gallantly, " I think there 
 are very few people who would not be only 
 too happy, under the circumstances, to ex~ 
 change places with Miss Brooke." 
 
 Meanwhile the cousins were talking together 
 in a very different style. 
 
 " Nelly, do you like that man ?" Nigel asked 
 abruptly, as soon as they were out of hearing 
 of his mother and Dr. Monkton. 
 
 "What, that gentleman who is with aunt?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " How could I like him, cousin, when I only 
 saw him for a minute ?" she asked, with sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " But his appearance, his way of talking ?" 
 
 " I hardly noticed either ; but I don't think 
 I quite like him altogether." 
 
 " Do you think you could come to like him?" 
 
 " No," she said, blushing. 
 
 " Do you want to see him again, Nelly ?" 
 
 At this question she laughed outright.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 165 
 
 " Oh, not at all, Cousin Mgel, I was so glad 
 when you asked me to come away." 
 
 " And so was I, when you consented. The 
 fact is, right or wrong, I hate that fellow, and 
 I think he knows it." 
 
 '' Who is he ?" 
 
 " One of the Hilstone doctors," replied her 
 cousin, " my mother 7niist have a doctor where- 
 ever she goes, she is never happy unless she 
 has a finger-ache or a tooth-ache, and some one 
 to walk in every afternoon and ask her how 
 it is going on. She would not let me settle 
 to take the Chase, until she had been intro- 
 duced to all the doctors in Hilstone, and found 
 if there was one to suit her. And Dr. Monk- 
 ton is just the sort of man she likes. He 
 knows how to flatter her, and will swallow any 
 amount of flattery in return ; so they spend 
 their time in mutually complimenting each 
 other." 
 
 "Is he clever ?" asked Nelly. 
 
 " I suppose he is, or he would no't be an 
 M.D. so soon. I know the Hilstone people 
 think a great deal of him, and he thinks a 
 great deal of himself ; but I am glad to say I 
 have had no occasion for his services. Look, 
 Nelly. There is the second couple of dogs ofi*. 
 Lord Eibstone's 'Zephyr,' and Mr. Brown's
 
 166 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Tly.' What splendid runners! They are 
 neck and neck. We must have a pair of 
 gloves on these. Which will you bet on ?'' 
 
 But Nelly had no pleasure in the sight be- 
 fore her. There was no affectation in the 
 feeling which made her turn her eyes the 
 other way, and refuse to watch the poor hare 
 as it doubled again and again to evade its 
 pursuers, and made frantic leaps in the air in 
 its wild endeavours to escape the doom before 
 it. It was not affectation which caused her 
 to close her eyes and bite her lips to prevent 
 an exclamation of horror bursting from them, 
 as the shrill scream of the captured animal, so 
 like that of an infant, rung upon the air, and 
 the sigh of relief with which she welcomed the 
 announcement that it was all over, was pure 
 and genuine "as herself. Nigel Brooke could 
 not Jail to remark, that from a burning red, his 
 cousin's cheeks had turned quite pale ; and he 
 asked her if watching the sport was unplea- 
 sant to her, and if she would rather go home. 
 
 " Oh ! would you take me ?" she said, quietly. 
 " Are you sure you would not mind it, cousin 
 Nigel, and that you won't think me very 
 foolish ; but to tell the truth, it makes me feel 
 quite sick." 
 
 He looked at her as she spoke, with as
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 167 
 
 much admiration as Dr. Monkton had done, 
 but there was nothing in the gaze of his calm, 
 grey eyes, to call an extra blush into her face. 
 
 " We will go at once, Nelly," he replied, 
 " I am glad you don't like to watch it, I should 
 have thought less of your kindness of heart if 
 you had ; I hardly know what I was about to 
 bring you here." 
 
 And they turned their horses' heads towards 
 the spot where they had left Mrs. Brooke's 
 carriage, with the intention of telling her they 
 were about to leave the Downs. But before 
 they reached it, they were met by Dr. Monk- 
 ton, who was mounted on his own steed, a 
 showy hunter. As he approached Nelly 
 Brooke, he raised his hat to her. 
 
 " Pardon me. Miss Brooke, but I am com- 
 missioned by 3^our aunt to tell you that she 
 has already returned home. She found the 
 air so cold, and the time between the matches 
 so prolonged, that she became tired of waiting. 
 She hoped that you and Mr. Brooke would 
 join her at luncheon." 
 
 Nelly made no answer to this address, but 
 looked at her cousin Nigel. 
 
 " Thank you," he said, curtly, "we will do 
 
 SO. 
 
 "Are you returning to the Chase now?"
 
 168 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 continued Dr. Monkton, still looking at the 
 young lady. 
 
 " I believe so," slie replied. 
 
 " Then, perhaps, you will allow me the plea- 
 sure of riding by your side so far,'* he said, 
 turning his horse's head, and bringing it 
 alongside of the little grey. 
 
 She blushed, and half bowed acquiescence, 
 for she scarcely knew what else to do, although 
 she felt that the proposal was not calculated to 
 please her cousin. 
 
 Nigel Brooke reined up his chestnut fiercely 
 on the other side, as though questioning the 
 doctor's right to accompany them ; but as he 
 could think of no possible objection to the 
 arrangement, he could only shew his disappro- 
 bation by his silence. 
 
 Thus, the conversation on the way was not 
 a lively one, as Nigel took no part in it, and 
 Nelly's answers were chiefly monosyllabic, and 
 as soon as the gates of the Chase came in 
 view, Dr. Monkton, again raising his hat, gal- 
 loped off in the direction of Hilstone. 
 
 The cousins found Mrs. Brooke rather tired 
 and rather cross from having waited too long 
 for her luncheon, for she was a lad}^ who was 
 easily put out, if anything went wrong in the 
 gastronomic arrangements, so Nigel walked
 
 NELLY BROOKE. ' 169 
 
 off again as soon as the meal was over, and did 
 not make his reappearance until the dinner was 
 on the table. 
 
 The next afternoon they were all three walk- 
 ing abreast in the garden, when he thus ad- 
 dressed his cousin: — 
 
 " Nelly, did you not have a letter from your 
 brother, this morning ?" 
 
 "Yes," she replied, with a sudden glow 
 which always rose to her face at the mention 
 of her brother. "Yes, cousin Nigel, and he 
 says grandpapa has not been so well as usual 
 lately, and that if he does not get better soon, 
 he would wish me to return home." And the 
 girl -smiled at the anticipation, even whilst she 
 sighed for the cause. Nigel looked grave. 
 
 " I am sorry for that," he said, " but it is 
 probably only the change in the season which 
 has affected him. Old people generally feel 
 the setting-in of autumn and spring." 
 
 " Oh ! my dear, it is most likely nothing at 
 
 all," exclaimed her aunt. " Don't think twice 
 
 about it, just an old man's fid-fads ; we are not 
 
 going to lose you any the sooner for that, I 
 
 *can tell you." 
 
 Here Nigel interposed, as though to cover 
 the heartlessness of his mother's speech. 
 
 "Why I mentioned Robert, Nelly, was.
 
 170 NELLY BKOOKE. 
 
 because I wish to make him a present, and to 
 consult you about it. What should you say 
 to a Bath chair, in which he might easily be 
 wheeled about. Would it not enable him to 
 take a great deal more exercise in the open 
 air r 
 
 How the girl's eyes sparkled at the mere 
 idea. 
 
 " Oh ! cousin, it would be just the thing, it 
 is the very thing we have always longed for. 
 I could wheel Bertie out in it, could I not ? 
 He would be able to go with me in all my 
 walks. I could wheel him up to the Farm, or 
 to the vicar's. You don't know how strong I 
 am. Oh ! cousin !" and in her gratitude and 
 pleasure, Nelly seized the hand of Nigel 
 Brooke in both her own, and then dropped it 
 as if it had been a hot stone, as the impro- 
 priety of the proceeding broke upon her mind. 
 
 Mrs. Brooke could not see the girl's delight 
 without some degree of interest ; but she 
 thought a present that was to cost forty or 
 fifty guineas was rather too lavish to be ex- 
 pended upon a place like Little Bickton. 
 
 " You to wheel a gentleman about out of 
 doors, my dear ?" she said to Nelly with 
 well acted surprise. " I am afraid that is 
 scarcely the occupation for a young lady.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 171 
 
 Has your brother never tried walking on 
 crutches ? I should have thought a nice pair 
 of crutches, Nigel, the best thing to send to 
 your poor cousin ?" 
 
 Nelly's brief enchantment seemed to be 
 dissolving. 
 
 "Bertie is so — so — sensitive," she said 
 timidly. " I could hardly explain to you 
 what he feels about himself-— but he has 
 always had such a horror of walking about on 
 crutches." 
 
 " A horror ! my dear ? well I call that sinful 
 in any one who has not been blest with the 
 use of his legs. However, here comes the 
 doctor! and we'll just ask him what he 
 thinks about it." 
 
 And to the disgust of Nigel — and the dis- 
 may of poor little Nelly, who greatly disliked 
 having her brother's affliction spoken of before 
 strangers — Dr. Monkton was really to be 
 seen advancing to meet them on the gravel 
 path. 
 
 " Doctor, you have just come in time," ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Brooke as he saluted the party, 
 " though what made you guess we should want 
 you this afternoon I can't think." 
 
 " Sympathy, my dear Mrs. Brooke, sym- 
 pathy," replied the handsome doctor, shewing
 
 172 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 all his teeth : " but for whom may I be re< 
 quired — not for yourself, I am sure; nor for 
 Miss Brooke, if I may judge from her bloom ?" 
 bowing towards Nelly as he spoke. 
 
 " Now be quiet, you naughty man," said the 
 lady of the house with infantine vivacity, " you 
 are here, not to pay compliments, but to give 
 us your advice ; my niece, here, has a brother : 
 a twin brother, who is greatly afflicted — de- 
 formed in fact — " 
 
 " Aunt," said Nelly imploringly. 
 
 " Well, my dear child, it is the case, and my 
 son wishes — very properly I am sure — to make 
 his poor cousin some sort of a present, a re- 
 membrance ! didn't you say so, Nigel ?" 
 
 " Have it your own way, mother," he said, 
 carelessly, but with a look of intense annoy- 
 ance. 
 
 " But we differ slightly as to the species of 
 offering which would be most acceptable — • 
 most useful I should rather say — to a cripple. 
 Nigel proposes a wheel chair — but in my 
 opinion, as he has no one to push him about 
 in it, a good pair of crutches would set the 
 young gentleman more at liberty. They, make 
 crutches so beautifully now, doctor, don't 
 they?" 
 
 " But my brother is not a cripple," said
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 173 
 
 Nelly boldly, although she felt very much 
 inclined to cry, " he can walk about alone, 
 though not for any distance, and I am afraid 
 he would not use crutches." 
 
 " But they would enable him to walk far," 
 persisted Mrs. Brooke. " There was a man, I 
 remember, who — " 
 
 " May I enquire the nature of your brother's 
 eomplaint ?" said the doctor, interrupting Mrs. 
 Brooke without any ceremony, and addressing 
 himself to Nelly. 
 
 " He was born so," she began in a very low 
 voice, " we are twins ; and he was born a 
 weakly baby, and I a strong one. He could 
 not sit upright until he was four or five 
 years old — and he has laid on the sofa half 
 his life since then. His back is very weak — 
 and so is his health altogether, but he is not 
 deformed— no more than I am," she concluded 
 indignantly. 
 
 " A spinal complaint, I presume ? Is there 
 no curvature?" enquired Dr. Monkton with 
 increased interest. 
 
 " I suppose there is, but he stoops, so we 
 can hardly tell. If he tries to hold himself 
 upright it hurts him." 
 
 " From what Miss Brooke tells you," now 
 interposed Nigel, " you may suppose that an
 
 174 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 easy Bath chair would be the most appropriate 
 conveyance for my cousin. He has not as 
 yet possessed one, and in consequence, has 
 taken very little out-door exercise." 
 
 " I should think you could scarcely choose 
 anything more useful," replied the doctor, 
 " but perhaps you know that there are several 
 varieties of invalid chairs, some are made 
 expressly for — " 
 
 *' What, doctor, and don't you approve of 
 crutches then?" came as a last appeal from 
 Mrs. Brooke ; but he went on with his sentence. 
 
 " Some are made expressly for the con- 
 venience of persons suffering from the weak- 
 ness under which, I conjecture from the account 
 Miss Brooke has favoured me with, her brother 
 labours. It would be a pity, if you decide 
 upon purchasing such an article, that you 
 should not procure the best and easiest of its 
 kind. There are several hand-carriages of 
 the sort you require, now in use at Hilstone, 
 most of which I have myself chosen for my 
 patients, and I shall be most happy to shew 
 them to you whenever you like to come over 
 for that purpose." 
 
 "You are very obliging," replied Nigel 
 Brooke, who did not like to receive coldly an 
 oifer which was apparently made in good faith.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 17^ 
 
 " Why should you not all drive over to- 
 gether?" continued Dr. Monkton, turning to 
 Mrs. Brooke. "If you and Miss Brooke will 
 only consent to overlook the discrepancies of a 
 bachelor's establishment, and to take luncheon 
 at my house, I shall be charmed to entertain 
 you there.'' 
 
 At this, Mrs. Brooke, who had been rather 
 hurt at her favourite's disregard of her 
 opinions, plucked up her spirits again, and 
 readily agreed to the proposal. 
 
 " Why not, indeed ! I think it would be 
 delightful, and can answer for Nelly, as well as 
 myself, only you can never call yours a bachelor 
 establishment, doctor, whilst you have your 
 good sister to live with you and look after 
 you. 
 
 Dr. Monkton bowed. 
 
 •' But just at present," he said, " my sister 
 happens to be away, and therefore it will really 
 be the meal of an anchorite to which I must 
 invite you — what day may I hope to have the 
 pleasure of seeing you ?" 
 
 " Will the day after to-morrow suit you ?" 
 asked Mrs. Brooke, quite eager for the promised 
 visit. 
 
 " Any one day which suits yourself," he 
 said, " therefore we may consider that a settled
 
 176 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 thing," and tlien the conversation turned upon 
 other subjects, and no more was said about the 
 Bath chair, or Nelly's absent brother. 
 
 Nigel Brooke did not half like the prospect 
 of a luncheon under Dr. Monkton's roof, but 
 he could think of no possible objection to raise 
 against it. Nelly never gave the matter a 
 thought after it was once settled ; but she could 
 not so easily drive that other old familiar sub- 
 ject out of her loving little heart. 
 
 " He is not deformed, is he ?" she asked 
 anxiously of Nigel, as soon as they found 
 themselves alone again. 
 
 " Deformed ! — who ? — Bertie ? — of course 
 not !" exclaimed her cousin, starting out of a 
 reverie, *' but I say, Nelly, do you care much 
 about going to this luncheon at Hilstone ?"
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 NELLY AND NIGEL HAVE OCCASION TO " MAKE 
 IT UP AGAIN." 
 
 But whetlier Nelly cared, or did not care, or 
 Nigel approved or did not approve, made no 
 alteration in the fact tliat the plan of the 
 luncheon was a settled thing, for Mrs. Brooke 
 had decided that it should be so, and when 
 she had set her heart upon an object she was 
 apt to make it disagreeable for such as did not 
 readily adopt the same views concerning it as 
 herself. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding that she had encoun- 
 tered no opposition to her wishes in the pre- 
 sent case, she was not in her best humour on 
 the day she had engaged that they should visit 
 Dr. Monkton at Hilstone. And the circum- 
 stance which had had the power to ruffle her 
 temper was a very slight one. On the morn- 
 ing in question, she had been lavishly praising 
 her niece, as was her wont at that period, in 
 the apparently dull ear of her son. He had 
 VOL. I. 12
 
 178 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 listened patiently to a lengthy tirade on 
 Nelly's abilities and tact, from his mother, 
 wondering to himself the while how much 
 longer her enthusiasm on the subject would 
 last, when he was roused by Mrs. Brooke 
 giving an impatient stamp with her foot as 
 she exclaimed : 
 
 " Eeally, Nigel ! you are beyond all bearing. 
 Here haye I been telling you that this 
 sweet creature is of the greatest comfort and 
 use possible to me, and that I want you to 
 bestir yourself and make some arrangement 
 for her living here altogether, and you sit 
 with your eyes on the ground as if you did 
 not hear a word I said, and look almost as 
 interested as if I had been speaking of a 
 cookmaid. I really don't believe you. ever 
 give a thought to your cousin or me, or any 
 one but yourself !" 
 
 The injustice of the accusation stung Nigel 
 Erooke into answering with greater warmth 
 than he would otherwise have done. 
 
 *' You are quite mistaken, mother," he said 
 quickly, " if you imagine that I am blind to 
 Nelly's merits, or rate her virtues any lower 
 than you do. Perhaps it were better for me 
 if I did. But I simply think she is one of 
 the most charming and loveable little crea-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 179 
 
 tares I ever came across, and tliat she is far 
 too good to become a mere companion to you 
 or anyone. I hope we shall live to see her 
 happily married, and above the necessity of 
 earning her bread in that capacity or any 
 other." And without waiting for an answer, 
 Nigel Brooke had hastily left the room. 
 
 His reply had taken his mother completely 
 by surprise. That she should praise her niece 
 to him, however extravagantly, was nothing, 
 in her own opinion, but that her son should so 
 fully and openly acquiesce in all she said, was 
 quite a different thing. 
 
 And she felt it the more because she could 
 not reasonably find fault with it even to her- 
 self. She had invited, nay, urged Nigel to 
 join her in pronouncing a verdict upon his 
 cousin, and his ideas had merely corresponded 
 with those which she professed to hold. He 
 may have agreed simply from a desire to 
 please her, and yet the remembrance of his 
 kindling eye and energetic manner seemed to 
 deny the supposition. She could not forget 
 also that he had called Nelly " the most 
 charming and loveable creature " he had ever 
 come across, and that sentence alone was suf- 
 ficient to rouse Mrs. Brooke's jealous temper 
 for the rest of the day. 
 
 12—2
 
 180 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 So that the drive to Hilstone was not a 
 very lively one, and Nelly feared that her 
 aunt could not be feeling well, she was so un- 
 usually silent and undemonstrative. 
 
 Hilstone was a " city built on a hill, which 
 could not be hid," but it was approached from 
 Orpington on its highest side, so that Nelly 
 had thought, when she first drove down its 
 principal street, that it was almost as perilous 
 a descent as that of one of her own Kentish 
 hills. It was a very old town, with intricate 
 .thoroughfares, and many of the upper stories 
 of the shops and houses projected so far be- 
 yond the houses that they darkened the street 
 and suggested the unpleasant idea to a stranger 
 that they were about to tumble over. Some- 
 times the pavements were so narrow that two 
 persons could not walk abreast 6n them, and 
 more than once the car'riage left daylight be- 
 hind it altogether as it passed through an 
 archway formed by connected buildings. 
 
 Nigel spoke to his cousin of everything they 
 passed which he thought might interest her, 
 because his mother lay back on the other side 
 of the carriage with her eyes shut, and refused 
 to make any remark of her own accord. But 
 soon after they had entered the town, they 
 turned into the street in which Dr. Monkton
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 181 
 
 lived. All tlie streets in Hilstone were named 
 after old saints, and this one was called St. 
 Bartholomew's. It was so narrow that two 
 vehicles meeting there, could not have passed 
 each other; and when after skirting a dead 
 waU, the carriage finally stopped before the 
 front of a tall red-brick house, which stood on 
 the pavement, and had all its windows closed 
 with shutters, Nelly thought that she had 
 never seen a dwelling before which looked so 
 cheerless and uninviting. But the outside of 
 Dr. Monkton's house was only a proof of the 
 old saying, that " appearances are deceitful." 
 As soon as the wheels were heard to stop, the 
 door with its quaint knocker and handle was 
 thrown open, and there stood their host, bow- 
 ing and smiling in a hall which for size and 
 decorations might have vied with that of the 
 Chase. 
 
 Mrs. Brooke recovered her equanimity at 
 once ; she skipped down the carriage -steps 
 and into the house like a girl, and immedi- 
 ately fell into raptures with everything she saw 
 there. As soon as Nelly, followed by her 
 cousin, had joined her aunt. Dr. Monkton 
 led them through the hall into the dining- 
 room, where luncheon was already spread, and 
 which opened with glass doors on to the lawn
 
 182 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 of a garden STich as is seldom seen in the midst 
 of any town but a cathedral one. A grassy 
 lawn, bright, smooth, and even as it could be, 
 surrounded by a wall of fifteen or sixteen 
 feet in height and completely covered with 
 ivy. Three or four ancient walnut and mul- 
 berry trees stood at various intervals about 
 the grass ; and everything was so solemn and 
 so still, the place seemed so shut in from the 
 outside bustle of trafiic, that the few gay ge- 
 raniums and other flowers which brightened it, 
 appeared almost out of place, like knots of 
 coloured ribbon on the serge dress of a nun. 
 
 "It is like a church," said Nelly, as she 
 stepped outside the dining-room window and 
 stood on the gravelled terrace, and listened to 
 the cawing of the rooks in the cathedral yard ; 
 " it is all so quiet — it almost makes me hoM 
 my breath : I feel as if I were in the garden 
 of a cloister." 
 
 " And so you are. Miss Brooke," exclaimed 
 the doctor, who had heard the remark, " or 
 rather, in what was so ! My place was not 
 exactly a nunnery, but it was a sort of dower- 
 house for the aged and infirm nuns who had 
 become past their work.'* 
 
 *' What a number of them must have died 
 here," said Nelly ; " I should always fancy I
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 183 
 
 saw their ghosts flitting about in the moon- 
 light." 
 
 " What absurd nonsense you do talk, 
 child!" said Mrs. Brooke, testily. "I am. 
 sure there is nothing about Dr. Monkton's 
 house to remind one of anything so unpleasant. 
 You quite give me the shivers with your 
 fancies." 
 
 " Let us go into the dining-room, my dear 
 madam," interposed the doctor, gaily, " and see 
 if luncheon cannot dispel them. Miss Brooke 
 is not the only person who has pronounced my 
 house gloomy on a first acquaintance ; but I 
 cannot permit it to be thought so to-day, at 
 any rate. It is a festival for a lonely bachelor 
 when two such ladies as yourselves condescend 
 to grace my humble board," and conducting 
 his guests to the table, he set them down to a 
 capital repast, at which they were waited 
 upon by two men servants. Dr. ^Monkton 
 always chose to speak disparagingly of himself 
 and his belongings, but in reality, he was re- 
 markably well ofil had an excellent practice, 
 a comfortably furnished house, and everything 
 about him conducted in good style. The only 
 thing required to complete his establishment 
 was a wife ; but as he was known to be on the 
 look-out for one, it was supposed that the
 
 184 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 deficiency would before long be supplied, and 
 meanwhile it afforded an immense deal of in- 
 nocent excitement to the young ladies of 
 Hilstone. 
 
 But although the luncheon was excellent, 
 it did not soothe the troubled spirit of Mrs. 
 Brooke as it should have done ; tor as soon 
 as the doctor was satisfied that her temporal 
 wants had been attended to, he devoted him- 
 self to her niece, and the fact that Nelly did 
 not seem to. appreciate his attentions, was no 
 alleviation to her aunt*s sense of neglect. Dr. 
 Monkton had to speak more than once before 
 he could recall the girl's wandering thoughts 
 to the dainties which he placed before her : 
 her eyes were oftener fixed upon the paintings 
 with which the walls of the room were adorned, 
 than on the face of her host : and her mind 
 occupied with the luxurious couches and arm 
 chairs which furnished it, than with the topics 
 which he urged on her consideration. 
 
 But before the meal was ended. Dr. Monk- 
 ton by chance, hit upon the magnet which 
 should hold the attention of his young guest. 
 He was speaking of the carving of a little 
 frame which had attracted her notice. 
 
 " It is the work,'* he said', " of a young man 
 who has lost the use of his legs. By-the-bye,
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 185 
 
 Miss Brooke, has your brother a fancy for any 
 employment of the sort ?" 
 
 She turned towards him directly, and began 
 to speak of Bertie, and what he did, and did 
 not do, and how distasteful occupation ap- 
 peared to be to him, on account of his weak 
 health, his sister fondly surmised. The doctor 
 took advantage of the point he had thus 
 gained. He commenced to speak earnestly to 
 her on the subject of her brother's affliction, 
 told her of similar cases in which he had seen 
 the sufferers completely restored : asked whe- 
 ther galvanism had yet been tried with him, 
 or chemical baths, or several other means, by 
 which he said that spinal disease had been 
 arrested or cured. Nelly became excited on 
 the subject, ip her of greater interest than 
 any other in the world : she talked faster and 
 better than either her aunt or her cousin had 
 heard her do before : she gave Dr. Monkton 
 every particular she could think of, her eyes 
 danced and her cheeks grew rosy, and her 
 mouth was wreathed with smiles, as he an- 
 swered almost everything she told him with 
 the renewed assurance that he saw no reason 
 that her brother should not eventually be re- 
 stored to health. 
 
 " Time will be needed of course/' he said.
 
 186 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " and all the more because the attempt has 
 been delayed, but I should have no doubt my- 
 self of the ultimate issue. I wish I had him 
 here," he added, leaning back in his chair, and 
 slapping his hand upon his knee. " What 
 advice has he had did you say, Miss Brooke ?" 
 
 Then she repeated the name of the old vil- 
 lage doctor, who was not bound by the parish 
 to visit Little Bickton more than twice a week, 
 unless he were urgently summoned, and to 
 whom alone had the sight of poor Bertie's 
 crooked back ever been submitted. 
 
 Dr. Monkton was too politic to make any 
 remark upon what he heard : he did not even 
 shake his head, but he reiterated his wish to 
 have Mr. Eobert Brooke under his own care, 
 which after all was saying as mjich as he could. 
 But this animated conversation between the 
 doctor and Nelly did not appear to possess 
 much interest for either Nigel Brooke or his 
 mother. The latter fidgeted about on her 
 chair, and coughed audibly, and leant her 
 elbow on the table, and looked up at the ceil- 
 ing or anywhere in order to shew that she was 
 bored. 
 
 Nigel pursued a different course. He 
 was only too eager to watch the inter- 
 change of looks which was going on between
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 187 
 
 his cousin and their host ; it did not bore him, 
 but it made him angry. He chose to mistake 
 Nelly's bright flashing eyes, and glowing 
 cheeks, which his reason might have told him 
 . only flashed and glowed for Bertie, for the 
 signs of an incipient flirtation ; for a flirtation 
 with the doctor, with the man he so much 
 disliked, and a mixed feeling of jealousy and 
 malice made him interrupt her once, when she 
 was describing her brother's lassitude, to 
 say :— 
 
 " I think you can hardly attribute all Eo- 
 bert's helplessness to his ill -health, Nelly. 
 You should tell the doctor that he refuses to 
 do even what he can." 
 
 " But in cases of this sort," remarked Dr. 
 Monkton blandly, " the patient is often op- 
 pressed with a sense of such perfect incapa- 
 bility, that it almost amounts to the pos- 
 session." 
 
 " That may be," replied Nigel Brooke ; " but 
 it is not the case with my cousin. He is able 
 to undergo slight exertion, and he knows it, 
 but his disposition is naturally indolent, and 
 the best thing that could happen to him in my 
 opinion would be to h^ forced to do things for 
 himself. You must not believe quite all that 
 Miss Brooke tells you of him."
 
 188 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Nelly looked at her cousin in surprise. 
 Hitherto, he had always spoken so kindly, so 
 affectionately of Bertie, that she could hardly 
 believe that the words she had heard had 
 fallen from his lips. But there was no mistake • 
 about it. Nigel was looking more sternly at 
 her than she had ever seen him look before, 
 and his mother was smiling furtively as though 
 to second his opinion. 
 
 For the first time, the little country girl 
 dared to feel angry with them both : she turned 
 away quickly, and re-directed her attention to 
 her host, whilst he, perceiving that her cousin's 
 remark had not pleased her, hastened to deny 
 his belief in it. 
 
 " It requires a professional knowledge of 
 such complaints, Mr. Brooke, to be qualified to 
 pass an opinion on them. No one but a me- 
 dical man can be prepared to judge how far 
 the brain and capability of action may be af- 
 fected by such a weakness as Mr. Eobert 
 Brooke suffers from. However, as we appear 
 to have finished luncheon, I propose, if agree- 
 able to all parties, that we take a little stroll 
 round my premises, when I shall be able to 
 shew you one or two specimens of the wheeled 
 chairs to which you alluded during my last 
 visit to the Chase."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 189^ 
 
 He rose as lie spoke, and conducted his 
 guests into the garden, where he exhibited all 
 his floral treasures to them, as well as the in- 
 valid carriages which they had expressly come 
 to see. Nigel Brooke and Dr. Monkton spoke 
 further together concerning the convenience 
 of this, or the lightness or durability of that 
 make ; but all that they said was uttered in a 
 very business-like and formal manner, whilst 
 Nelly and her aunt lingering behind or beside 
 them, never exchanged so much as a single 
 word. The girl was brooding, not sullenly, 
 but with deep pain, on the careless way in 
 which her cousin Nigel had spoken of her be- 
 loved brother ; and the elder lady was reflect- 
 ing on the terms her son had used concerning 
 her niece, that morning ; and what he could 
 possibly have meant by them. As soon as the 
 gentlemen had said all they had to say to one 
 another, Dr. Monkton returned with his old 
 assiduity to Nelly's side, and she almost wel- 
 comed him there. He was the only one who 
 had made excuses for Bertie's foibles : the 
 only one who could trace his faults, as she did, 
 to his inherent weakness. Besides, he had 
 suggested the hope that her brother might 
 even now be ^ured ; and Nigel — cousin Nigel, 
 whom she had begun to look upon as so dear
 
 190 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 a friend, had treated the idea with indiffer- 
 ence; had even seemed as though it were 
 distasteful to him. Nelly's eyes grew dim 
 with unshed tears, as this latter thought 
 struck her mind, and brought keen disappoint- 
 ment with it. Even then she would have 
 gratefully returned to her old faith had her 
 cousin showed the least sign that he regretted 
 what he had said. But Nigel Brooke, on the 
 contrary, held quite aloof from Nelly during 
 the rest of the afternoon, permitting Dr. 
 Monkton to monopolize her attention, whilst 
 the few syllables which he uttered were solely 
 addressed to his mother, and he took an early 
 opportunity to suggest that it was time they 
 returned to the Chase. Mrs. Brooke was not 
 unwilling to gratify her son; she also had been 
 disappointed of her day of pleasure, and wel- 
 comed the prospect of its close. The drive 
 back to Orpington was even less lively than 
 the one from it had been. The elder lady ap- 
 peared still more gloomy and dissatisfied than 
 she had been in the morning. Nigel Brooke 
 preferred to return on the box of the carriage, 
 and Nelly was silent and utterly miserable, 
 though she could hardly say why. She could 
 hardly define which of the day's incidents had 
 so greatly disappointed her ; everything had
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 191 
 
 happened just as she had anticipated, and the 
 hope which Dr. Monkton had communicated to 
 her respecting her brother, should have raised 
 rather than depressed her spirits. And yet 
 she sat crouched in her corner of the carriage, 
 only longing for the hour of bedtime, and still 
 more for the day when she should return to 
 Little Bickton and try to forget her visit to 
 Orpington, and everything connected with it. 
 After such an afternoon, and with such com- 
 panions, dinner could be nothing but a solemn 
 ceremonial, and the quiet evening which fol- 
 lowed it something worse. N«lly would have 
 given anything to be able to creep away in 
 silence to her bed, but she was still too shy 
 to suggest anything so opposed to the ordi- 
 nary routine of the Chase, so she sat still, 
 busied with some work for her aunt, and sigh- 
 ing over her disappointment the while. At 
 last, however, the legitimate hour arrived, and 
 she rose to bid Mrs. Brooke " Good night." 
 Usually the latter preceded her along the cor- 
 ridors, but on this occasion she presented her 
 cheek to Nelly in ominous silence, and let her 
 
 Nigel was oiit of the room at the time, and 
 Nelly was congratulating herself that she 
 should escape a second formal leave-taking,
 
 192 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 when, as she placed her foot upon the upper 
 corridor, she met him about to descend. 
 
 " Where are you going to, Nelly ?" he in- 
 quired. 
 
 " Bed !" she said, laconically. 
 
 " Already I is it so late as that ?" and he 
 looked at his watch. "Just ten o'clock! well, 
 you have lost no time — where is my mother ?" 
 
 " Down-stairs in the drawing-room. Grood 
 night, cousin Nigel T' and Nelly essayed to 
 pass on. 
 
 " Stop a moment, Nelly- — are you in so great 
 a hurry? Or are you ill?" as he caught a 
 fuller view of her face. 
 
 " I am not ill, thank you ; I am only tired," 
 she repHed. 
 
 " Tired ; what not with that fascinating 
 doctor's talk, I hope. I think it would take a 
 great deal of that to tire you, Nelly ? 
 
 " You know nothing about it !" 
 
 " You appeared wonderfully pleased with it, 
 to-day, any way." 
 
 " Did I, cousin ? It is more than I was 
 with everyone's!" she answered with a flash of 
 spirit. 
 
 " I could have told you that — only it is not^ 
 generally considered polite to neglect one's 
 friends for a stranger."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 193 
 
 " I was not aware that I had neglected 
 anybody." 
 
 " You gave no one else a chance to say a 
 word to you." 
 
 "You had a chance, cousin, and good use 
 you made of it; speaking against my poor 
 Bertie." She moved on a little further as she 
 said this, for the tears had risen to her eyes, 
 and she did not wish him to see them. But 
 he followed her until she stopped before her 
 own bed-room door. 
 
 " Nelly ! don't be angry with me ! I didn't 
 mean to vex you, but the truth is, I cannot 
 stand the impertinence of that fellow Monk- 
 ton, and it drove me mad to see him monopo- 
 lise you so. As for speaking against poor dear 
 Eobert, you know I am almost as anxious to 
 serve him as you are. Make it up again, dear 
 child — will you not ? Remember what an old 
 fellow I am, almost old enough to be your 
 father, and don't be hard upon me 1" 
 
 She was only too glad; too thankful to 
 make it up. She had a lighted candle in one 
 hand, but she placed the other confidingly in 
 his, and shewed him a countenance which was 
 bright as ever, under the influence of his 
 words. At the same time, another figure had 
 
 VOL. I. 13
 
 194 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 appeared at the further end of the corridor, and 
 stopped on perceiving them. 
 
 " You old enough to be my father, cousin 
 Niorel ! Oh ! what nonsense !" 
 
 The girlish surprise which accompanied this 
 remark was better calculated to soothe his 
 ruffled feelings than any tribute to his worth 
 or intellect could have been, and as he answered 
 it, his face became almost as radiant as her own. 
 
 "But it is true, Nelly, nevertheless — I am 
 so much older than you are, that you must for- 
 give me if I do not always make myself so 
 agreeable to you as a younger fellow might do." 
 
 " I should not like you younger, cousin 
 Nigel !" she said, ingenuously. 
 
 "Ah! I am all very well as a guardian or an 
 adviser, but what would you say if a man as old 
 as I am were to ask you to be his wife, Nelly, 
 eh?" 
 
 The words were playful, but the tone was so 
 earnest, that it belied the words, and as he 
 waited for her answer, his breath came short 
 and quick. 
 
 But he waited in vain; Nelly made no reply, 
 unless the blood which mounted to the very 
 parting of her hair, could be taken for 
 one. 
 
 " You would tell him to go about his busi-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 195 
 
 ness, and look out for a woman of twice your 
 age, wouldn't you, Nelly ?" he urged. 
 
 " I don't know," she said slowly. 
 
 " Well, good-night, my little cousin, then ; 
 go to bed and dream of your answer." 
 
 " Grood-night, Cousin Nigel !" 
 
 He took her hand again, and then the im- 
 pulse seemed irresistible; he stooped down 
 and kissed the innocent face which she had 
 turned towards him. 
 
 It was the first kiss that any man, except 
 her brother and grandfather, had presumed to 
 offer her since her childhood. Nelly Kngered 
 a moment from sheer surprise, and then, with- 
 out a word, darted into her room, and closed 
 the door behind her. 
 
 Nigel Brooke just ejaculated her name, as 
 if it were an entreaty for pardon, and then 
 saying to himself " Grod bless her !" turned to 
 retrace his steps. 
 
 Advancing to meet him, with an air of in- 
 describable injury, he beheld his mother ! 
 
 13—2
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE WIND SHIFTS ROUND TO THE ORIGINAL 
 QUARTER. 
 
 Midway in the corridor they encountered one 
 another. Mrs. Brooke's spare figure was 
 shaking with her rage, and her sallow com- 
 plexion looked livid by the light which she 
 carried. Her son at once guessed the reason 
 of her perturbation, but he refused to appear 
 to notice it. 
 
 " Well! Mr. Brooke !" she ejaculated, with 
 trembling lips. 
 
 " Well, Mrs. Brooke !" he repeated, profes- 
 sing to take her words in jest, " I suppose you 
 are going to bed ?" 
 
 " I am going into my bed-room" she replied 
 sternly, " where I request you will give me a 
 few minutes' conversation." 
 
 Nigel smiled grimly, and shrugged his 
 shoulders, but he followed her, nevertheless. 
 
 The bed-room was well lighted and warmed, 
 and Prout, the lady's maid, was in attendance.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 197 
 
 But Mrs. Brooke dismissed her at once witli 
 an order to wait until the bell should recall 
 her. The woman noticed the dark look of 
 her mistress, and the haughty bearing of her 
 master, and departed to inform her fellow ser- 
 vants that they were going to have a " row " 
 in the house, as sure as her name was Prout. 
 As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Brooke threw 
 herself into a chair, and cast her piercing eyes 
 upon her son, who remained standing, leaning 
 with one arm upon the mantlepiece. 
 
 " Pray what is the meaning of all this ?" 
 she at length demanded, finding that Nigel 
 would not be the first to speak. 
 
 "Of all what?" he repeated. "I have fol- 
 lowed you here, mother, at your own request, 
 but you can scarcely expect me to provide the 
 conversation as well as the company. Please 
 to be more explicit." 
 
 His coolness irritated her. 
 
 " You know what I mean as well as I do," 
 she said. " I wish to learn what is the mean- 
 ing of the endearment which I have just seen 
 pass between your cousin and yourself?" 
 
 " The meaniff^ /" said Nigel, with a smile. 
 "Well, I suppose the meaning is that Nelly 
 has a sweet little face, and I kissed it. No- 
 thing so wonderful in that, is there ? We are
 
 198 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 cousins, after all ; and it is rather hard upon a 
 man if lie cannot sometimes take a kiss from 
 a pretty girl without being brought to book 
 about it. It's what everyone does who has 
 the chance." 
 
 " But are you like * everyone ' in this re- 
 spect, Nigel ? Tell me that,'' said his mother. 
 " 1 have known you as long as anybody, I 
 suppose, and it is the last thing I should have 
 expected of you. Are you a * kissing ' man ? 
 are you one of those who will run after any 
 woman, be she barmaid, chambermaid, or lady, 
 so long as she has a face which happens to 
 coincide with your idea of what is pretty ?" 
 
 " No ! indeed ! I hope not," replied her son, 
 laughing. " I have never been accused of 
 being ^catholic in my attachments yet, and I 
 am afraid it is too late to begin now, even had 
 I the wish to do so." 
 
 " Then, if such is your true opinion," re- 
 joined Mrs. Brooke, with renewed asperity ; 
 " what, I again ask, is the meaning of the kiss 
 which I saw you give your cousin Helena? 
 On your own confession, such an act from you 
 means more than it would from another man." 
 
 "You are putting very home questions, 
 mother," replied Nigel gravely, " and such 
 as I should be quite justified in refusing to
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 199 
 
 answer, and you are, moreover, if I mistake 
 not, doing the worst thing you can for your 
 cause. You are forcing me to search my 
 heart for the solution of a question which 
 otherwise I might have been content to leave 
 unanswered altogether. What, if after self- 
 examination, I should tell you that the feeling 
 which prompted me to kiss Nelly when I 
 wished her good-night, is likely to prove a 
 stronger one than I had yet given it credit 
 for?" 
 
 " I should say you were a fool !" exclaimed 
 Mrs. Erooke, quickly. 
 
 " Thank you," was the quiet reply. 
 
 " I should say you were mad, Nigel — idiotic 
 — insane. It would be the act of a madman 
 to permit yourself to fall in love with a girl 
 whom you can never marry." 
 
 *' And why not? I am independent, I be- 
 lieve, and my own master !" At these words 
 Mrs. Erooke's jaw dropped, as if she had been 
 suddenly smitten with paralysis. 
 
 "Why' — should you — not marry — Helena 
 Erooke ? Good Heavens ! you must be mad 
 already to ask the question. Have you for- 
 gotten her birth, her parentage, everything 
 connected with the misfortune of her being ?" 
 
 "I have forgotten nothing, I wish I had.
 
 200 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Not her birth, or her parentage, they are 
 atoms in the scale ; but the miserable fact as 
 yet unknown to her, that my father caused the 
 death of hers." 
 
 " Atoms in the scale !" repeated Mrs. 
 Brooke, who always tried to emphasize her 
 arguments by echoing her opponent's words. 
 " Those are what you call ' atoms,' are they ? 
 You, who might marry anybody, who have a 
 right to expect blood and beauty and intellect 
 in exchange for the noble fortune your poor 
 dear father left you ! to think of- throwing 
 yourself away upon a girl from the country, 
 uneducated, unrefined, and " 
 
 '' Hush, mother," said Nigel Brooke, firmly, 
 " take my advice, and do not say a word of 
 Nelly that you may have reason hereafter to 
 repent. As to the want of formation in her 
 character, and education in her herself, I think 
 it is not man}^ days since I heard you affirm, 
 that her natural cleverness more than atoned 
 for all deficiencies of that sort. Her beauty is 
 undeniable, at all events in my eyes ; and her 
 blood is the same as my own." 
 
 "It is not the same as your own," com- 
 menced his mother. " / brought no taint of 
 shame with me to " 
 
 "I choose to consider it so," said her son.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 201 
 
 coolly interrupting lier, " and could my cousin 
 be induced to accept me for her husband, it 
 would prove no obstacle to our marriage. But 
 I greatly fear, that not only have her thoughts 
 never turned in that direction, but that I am 
 far too old to succeed in guiding them there. 
 Nelly is a child compared to me." 
 
 " Of course^ she is," replied Mrs. Brooke, 
 only too glad to take up another line of rea- 
 soning, " why she is young enough to be your 
 daughter. You will be thirty-six on your 
 next birthday, and she is just turned seven- 
 teen. The mere idea is preposterous !" 
 
 Nigel smiled again, almost contemptuously. 
 
 " I was thirty-five last month, mother, and 
 Nelly was eighteen a short time previously, 
 though it certainly makes little difference to 
 our argument. T am too old for her, there is 
 no doubt of that." 
 
 " Seventeen years between you," said his 
 mother, in a voice of ridicule, " a well-assorted 
 pair truly. Why you would be an old man, 
 whilst she was still a young woman, with all 
 the idlers of her acquaintance dangling after 
 her. An enviable position to be placed in, 
 certainly." 
 
 " I should not be afraid of that," he re- 
 turned, warmly, " if Nelly accepted me of her
 
 202 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 own free will, she would be as staunch and 
 true as myself. If perfect sincerity is not 
 written upon her face, the world does not con- 
 tain it. But I would not take the promise of 
 any woman, unless I thought the happiness of 
 her life depended on it, and I have no hope 
 that I should be able to make that of so young 
 and innocent a creature. Were I to ask her 
 she would only refuse me, and then I should 
 have broken up the sweet friendship which I 
 may hope to claim from her now," and Nigel 
 Brooke sighed, for he had come to think, 
 during the last half hour, that to be friends 
 with his cousin Nelly, was not enough to 
 satisfy him. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! if you are bent upon the matter, 
 I don't think you need in the least fear a 
 refusal," sneered his mother, from her arm- 
 chair. " I have no doubt Miss Helena would 
 be ready enough to take you for the sake of 
 your money alone, and you could scarcely ex- 
 pect a girl of that age to marry you for any- 
 thing else. It would be a fair barter, you 
 know ; youth and (what you consider) beauty 
 on one side, and a good establishment on the 
 other ; ' exchange is no robbery ;' and I have 
 little doubt but that her brother, and even her 
 amiable old grandfather, who is too proud to
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 203 
 
 eat a dinner at your expense, would be the 
 first to urge her not to neglect so eligible an 
 opportunity of settling herself. Why, the 
 girl's fortune would be made by it ; she would 
 be a fool indeed to refuse such an offer only 
 on account of the vast difference in your ages, 
 when she may reasonably hope to outlive you 
 and marry a second time. She would never 
 be so absurd," and Mrs. Brooke leant back in 
 her chair, and affected to laugh heartily at the 
 mere notion of such a contingency. 
 
 Nigel bit his lips until the blood started to 
 the surface. His mother (and she knew it 
 well) could not have chosen a better method 
 to turn him from his contemplated purpose, 
 than impressing on him the idea, that in the 
 event of Nelly accepting him as a husband, 
 he could never feel quite sure whether she 
 had done so for himself or for his money. He 
 could not believe that the reasoning which 
 Mrs. Brooke had used, held good with respect 
 to his cousin; he could not think, but that, 
 were he so bold as to ask her if she loved him, 
 he must be able to read the truth in her eyes 
 — and yet — he knew that women were born 
 actresses, that the most simple of their sex 
 were able, on occasions, effectually to hide 
 their feelings ; and that wealth, and all the
 
 204 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 luxuries which wealth brings with it, were a 
 great temptation to the poor. And as he re- 
 membered this, his spirit fell, and he almost 
 wished his money bags were at the bottom of 
 the sea. 
 
 Mrs. Brooke perceived the change that was 
 taking place in his feelings ; he was viewing 
 the prospect of such a marriage in a new light, 
 the light she had placed before him, and she 
 rejoiced at her success. It did seem to 
 strike her, although the fact had not escaped 
 the notice of her son, that, in her anxiety to 
 prove to him the absurdity of his present 
 wishes, she had advanced as evidence, a reason 
 exactly opposite to that which, but a few days 
 before, she had tried to instil into his mind. 
 Yet, in this she was not unlike many female 
 casuists who are not, on the whole, remarkable 
 for the perspicuity of their arguments. 
 
 "Well, my dear, I hope you are thinking 
 better of it," she said, more amiably, after a 
 pause, during which Nigel had remained with 
 his head leaning on his hand, gazing thought- 
 fully into the fire. 
 
 " Thinking better of what," he said, rousing 
 himself, " of the probability of Nelly ever 
 growing to love me ? No, I am thinking worse 
 of it, thanks to your suggestions."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 205 
 
 " You will think still worse of it if you do 
 not act upon them, Nigel," was the reply. 
 
 " I should like to ask, in my turn," he said, 
 looking his mother full in the face, " what has 
 happened to alter so entirely your opinion of 
 my cousin. Ever since she has been under 
 this roof, 3^ou have done little else than assail 
 me with stories of her incredible talent, use- 
 fulness, and sweetness of disposition. Two 
 days ago, she was, in every respect, so charm- 
 ing, that you were quite upset because I could 
 not immediately write to ask my grandfather 
 to permit her to take up her permanent abode 
 with you ; to-day, when an opportunity pre- 
 sents itself, by which you might legitimately 
 keep her always by your side, you cannot find 
 terms sufiiciently strong in which to couch 
 your disapprobation of a closer connection with 
 her. What does it mean ? What has Nelly 
 done ? or in what respect is she difierent from 
 what she was the day before yesterday ? Can 
 you answer me that ?" 
 
 Mrs. Brooke's faded cheeks grew quite rosy 
 under the fixed gaze with which her son now 
 regarded her ; she saw that she had got into 
 a difficulty from which she could scarcely be 
 extricated with credit to herself; and it was 
 unpleasant to have those searching grey eyes
 
 206 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 of Nigel's bent so scrutinisingly upon her 
 features whilst she was thinking of a good 
 reason to give him for the change which 
 her sentiments had undergone. But the case 
 was a hopeless one, and she was compelled 
 to be contented with telling the truth. 
 
 " She has done nothing particular, that I 
 know of, Nigel, except that I scarcely ap- 
 proved of the very forward manner in which 
 she went on with the doctor this afternoon, 
 but that is not, perhaps, to the point. She is 
 a very good girl in many respects, very useful 
 and obliging, and so on ; but she is anything 
 but what I should have expected my son to 
 choose for a wife." 
 
 " In fact, the poor child would make a very 
 good companion for yourself, a species of slave 
 to fetch and carry, and be bullied whenever 
 you had no one else to vent your temper on ; 
 but she is not good enough, with all her clever 
 and affectionate and guileless disposition, for 
 me to love, and cherish, and protect from all 
 tyranny. She would be too independent, in 
 such a position, to please you or serve your 
 purposes." 
 
 Mrs. Brooke's quick temper could not stand 
 the tone of sarcasm with which these words
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 207 
 
 were uttered ; she fired up again, and spoke as 
 angrily as she had done at first. 
 
 " I decline to argue with you any more on 
 the subject. I am not qualified to refute 
 coarseness, or untruth.'* 
 
 " So be it," said her son carelessly, changing 
 his position as if to leave the room. " I was 
 not the one to commence the argument, please 
 to remember." 
 
 " And you will please to remember on your 
 part," she retorted fiercely, "that I totally 
 decline to lend my countenance to the con- 
 tinuance of any such familiarities as I witnessed 
 this evening between your cousin and yourself. 
 If you choose to fly in my face ; to refuse to 
 give up the absurd notion you appear to have 
 conceived ; or to permit Helena Brooke to 
 return to her proper home and associates, I 
 shall leave the house, and then you will be 
 compelled to part with her." 
 
 " Not for long, though, unless by her own 
 desire," returned her son, with eyes which 
 flashed almost as much as her own. " Don't 
 you try any tricks of that kind, mother, unless 
 you wish to see me married, and my house 
 closed against you as a home within the next 
 month."
 
 208 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Then will you promise to give up making 
 love to this girl ?" 
 
 " I will promise nothing ! I shall do just 
 as I think fit," replied Nigel Brooke haughtily. 
 
 "You defy me, Nigell" exclaimed his 
 mother. 
 
 " Not at all, mother ! but I claim at thirty- 
 iive to act on my own responsibility, and par- 
 ticularly in a matter of this kind. You have 
 driven me to speak my mind to you, so you 
 may as well understand at once, that from this 
 night the conduct I may pursue towards my 
 cousin Helena will be regulated solely by her 
 own wishes." 
 
 And without further parley he left the bed- 
 room. Mrs. Brooke looked after him for a 
 moment, and then burst into tears. 
 
 She had been defeated. She knew that 
 whether her son proposed to Nelly or not, 
 thenceforth her own reign in Nigel's house was 
 over.
 
 CHAPTEE XIY. 
 
 "WHAT COULD HE MEAN BY IT?" 
 
 But meanwhile, what interpretation did 
 Nelly put upon the [kiss which she had so 
 unexpectedly received ? The rest of the poor 
 little country girl was sadly disturbed by it. 
 At first she had felt nothing but astonishment 
 at the liberty which had been taken with her : 
 then remembering her own age and that of 
 her cousin, she grew terribly ashamed of the 
 proceeding as she questioned what Nigel him- 
 self would think of her for having permitted 
 him to embrace her so quietly : but when the 
 latter feeling had had time to subside, and 
 her cheeks had somewhat cooled down, under 
 the consoling thought that she could not 
 possibly have prevented it, she began to 
 wonder what on earth could have made him 
 dream of doing such a thing ! 
 
 What could he mean by it ? — he had said 
 he was old enough to be her father, but he 
 had no right on that account (so Nelly argued 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 210 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 with herself) to treat her like a child. But 
 next, the doubt, whether, after all, it was 
 treating her " like a child " crept into the girl's 
 heart, and freshly suffused her cheeks with 
 crimson. 
 
 Some may say it was a great deal of fuss 
 to make about a very slight thing, and had 
 Nelly Brooke been reared in a town, or lived 
 twenty years later, she might not have 
 thought so much about taking a kiss from her 
 cousin. But it has been mentioned before, 
 that from her childhood until that time, no 
 man except her grandfather or brother had 
 ever offered to do more than shake hands 
 with her, and the strangeness of the pro- 
 ceeding startled her almost as much as the 
 proceeding itself. She did not conceive it 
 possible that her sex could ever give or accept 
 kisses without bestowing a second thought 
 upon the action. To her, it bore far too deep 
 a significance for that. For a woman — a real 
 grown-up woman — to accept such an attention 
 from a man without remonstrance — appeared 
 in Nelly's unsophisticated eyes almost like 
 confessing that she cared for him. And why 
 on his part should a man offer such a tribute 
 to any girl on whom he had no natural claim, 
 unless he wished to tell her that she was dear 
 to him ?
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 211 
 
 These questions puzzled the simple little 
 heart, and wearied the unphilosophical brain, 
 long after both should have been hushed to 
 rest beneath the influence of sleep. It was 
 not often that Nelly's healthy vitaUty refused 
 to submit itself to nature's nurse, but in the 
 present instance it was many hours before she 
 could compose herself, and with the first 
 beams of the morning she was wide awake 
 again, with that tormenting question still 
 rapping at her heart; — " What could cousin 
 Nigel have meant by it ?" 
 
 Had cousin Nigel himself been appealed to 
 in the matter at the time of its occurrence, he 
 would probably have answered, that he didn't 
 know ; but the interview he had subsequently 
 had with his mother had considerably altered 
 his feelings concerning it. Her searching 
 questions and premature opposition, had acted 
 as a forcing-glass to his budding affection, and 
 what over night had appeared but as the 
 tenderest of plants, was a. full grown tree in 
 the morning. He also had lain awake, think- 
 ing over each trait which he had observed in 
 Nelly's character, during the four weeks of 
 their acquaintance ; of the unselfishness, the 
 candour, and the generosity of her disposition ; 
 and had arrived at the conclusion that if he 
 
 14—2
 
 212 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 could really win such a loving, innocent heart 
 for himself, he would be the very luckiest of 
 men. Not that he had forgotten or over- 
 looked the horrible suggestions which his 
 mother had made relative to the great attrac- 
 tion he possessed in his fortune; but Nigel 
 Brooke was a sensible man; he was not one 
 to be deceived, or blinded, or led completely 
 astray, by the assertions of anyone. He could 
 see that his mother's surmises might have 
 some truth in them ; but he determined that 
 he would himself be the judge of his cousin's 
 motives, by her actions. A woman who cared 
 only for the wealth of the man she consented 
 to marry, might conceal her real feelings, and 
 feign affection for him so long as he did not 
 put the question openly to her; but there 
 were few faces so brazen, Nigel fancied — and 
 Nelly's certainly was not one of them — that 
 they would permit their owners to tell a 
 direct falsehood on so important a subject, 
 and not betray themselves. So he resolved 
 that Nelly should decide the matter ; and he 
 would regulate his own actions by her future 
 conduct towards him. 
 
 But though he had settled all this very 
 comfortably with himself, and though he was 
 thirty-five years of age instead of eighteen,
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 213 
 
 Nigel Brooke did not feel much more brave at 
 the idea of facing his little cousin at the break- 
 fast table that morning, than she did at that of 
 meeting him. 
 
 Whilst Nelly was blushing at her own re- 
 flection in the looking-glass, and failing at 
 least half a dozen times in dressing her hair to 
 her satisfaction, as she wondered what cousin 
 Nigel would say when he first saw her, or 
 whether he would remind her by his looks of 
 the dreadful thing which had happened over- 
 night — he was recklessly casting aside collar 
 after collar, which he had spoilt by attempting 
 to fasten with his hot nervous hands, whilst 
 he hoped, by Jove ! he hadn't frightened the 
 dear little girl by what he had done, and 
 wished, by George ! that he had thought of 
 asking her permission first. 
 
 Meanwhile Mrs. Brooke, who appeared at 
 that time to be the one of the three who most 
 needed pity, lay in her bed and refused to rise 
 at all, declaring she was ill. She was very 
 apt to be taken ill when she was in a bad 
 temper, and to keep all the curtains drawn 
 and her face from the light, and to refuse to 
 speak to anyone. This ruse of hers was rather 
 a convenient one for her friends, and it would 
 be a happy thing for all families, if their ill-
 
 214 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 tempered members would follow her example, 
 and make a point of retiring to their rooms 
 directly they found a fit coming on. 
 
 So Mrs. Brooke, smothered in bed-clothes, 
 and sulky as she could be, ordered buttered 
 toast and tea into her own apartment, and 
 sent a message to her son, to the effect that 
 she was too unwell to appear at the breakfast- 
 table ; a piece of news which he was suffi- 
 ciently unfilial to be rather glad to receive than 
 otherwise. 
 
 The first morning-bell had sounded, and 
 Nelly, who had just commenced to pull down 
 her hair again, hastily stuck in the remaining 
 hair-pins, and knew that, right or wrong, it 
 must remain as it was, for she had still to 
 complete her dressing ; and her aunt Eliza, 
 although very unpunctual herself, was ex- 
 tremely particular that no one else in the 
 house should be so. 
 
 At that moment, Pinner's tap sounded at 
 her door. 
 
 " Come in !" cried Nelly, and the woman 
 entered with a letter in her hand. 
 
 " Just come for you. Miss, by the morning's 
 post. Let me fasten up your dress whilst you 
 open it." 
 
 Pinner had become very attentive, not to
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 215 
 
 say servile, in her behaviour towards Nelly 
 lately ; but it is not to be supposed that the 
 favour in which the young lady appeared to be 
 with Mrs. Brooke, and the prospect of her soon 
 quitting the Chase and leaving half-crowns 
 behind her, had anything to do with the change. 
 
 " Thank you !" said Nelly, taking advantage 
 of the servant's offer. 
 
 The letter was from Bertie, and she was 
 more anxious to read it than usual, because 
 she had expected to receive it the morning 
 before. As she glanced down the sheet of 
 paper, she was surprised at its brevity ; but by 
 the time she had mastered its contents she 
 was both surprised and miserable. It ran 
 thus : — 
 
 "My dearest Nelly, 
 
 " You must return home at once ; 
 my grandfather is no better, and nurse Aggie 
 cannot attend to both of us. Start as soon as 
 you receive this letter, and come alone; re- 
 member you are not to accept the escort of 
 Nigel Brooke, or any other Brooke. Had I 
 known half what I do now, about them, you 
 should never have entered their house. 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 " Bertie."
 
 216 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 And then he seemed to have thought better 
 of sending her so curt and unsatisfactory a 
 letter, for he had added a postscript to say : 
 
 "Don't worry yourself about what I have 
 written, and don't tell anybody about this letter; 
 it is nothing concerning you, and you shall 
 know all when we meet. But do not lose an 
 hour after you receive this. You will travel 
 home very well, the same way you went ; and 
 when you arrive at Eeddington, if there is no 
 fly to be seen at the station, go to the George 
 Inn and tell them to turn out theirs for you." 
 
 Nelly read the short epistle over ajid over 
 again, but she could make nothing of it ex- 
 cepting that Bertie had heard something 
 dreadful of her aunt and cousin, and was very 
 angry about it. 
 
 But what could he have heard ? 
 
 Pinner reminded her that the second bell 
 had rung, but her head was swimming with 
 the shock and surprise, and even her aunt's 
 probable anger seemed] to dwindle into a thing 
 of no consequence beside it. 
 
 " Aren't you well, Miss ?" enquired the 
 maid, as Nelly with scared and puzzled features 
 sat down upon the bed.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 217 
 
 " I feel rather giddy, Pinner. I think the 
 morning must be close. Please open the win- 
 dow and leave me alone for a minute, and I 
 shall soon be able to go down stairs." 
 
 When she was by herself she took her bro- 
 ther's letter from the envelope, and read it 
 over again. " Had I known half what I do 
 about them, you should never have entered 
 their house." What could Bertie have heard, 
 and who could have told him ? Surely, no one 
 had been so cruel as to set him against cousin 
 Nigel, who had been so kind and generous to 
 her and him ! 
 
 And then the girl turned sick with the sud- 
 den but absurd fancy that in some miraculous 
 way her brother had come to the knowledge 
 of what had passed between Nigel and herself 
 the night before, and smiled at her own folly 
 before the sickly feeling had died away. Yet 
 what could it be ? and how was she, when the 
 news of her sudden departure had been broken 
 to her aunt and cousin, effectually to reject 
 the offers of assistance by which she felt sure 
 it would be followed, without betraying the 
 reason for her refusal ? She felt so frightened 
 at the mere idea of the task before her, that 
 had Nigel not waited for her appearance, 
 breakfast would have been half over before
 
 218 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 she descended to tlie breakfast -room ; and 
 still she had not learned her lesson. Yet 
 she did not dream either of betraying her 
 brother's confidence, or neglecting to comply 
 with his wishes, for from their infancy Bertie, 
 though in a loving way, had been her tyrant 
 and ruler, and as she had come to Orpington 
 obediently at his command, she would leave it 
 in like manner. 
 
 Nigel Brooke, who, on finding that Nelly 
 was so unusually late in making her appear- 
 ance, had attributed her unpunctuality to a 
 distaste to meeting him again, was still walk- 
 ing up and down the room when she entered 
 it, looking out of the windows and into the 
 fireplace, and wishing he had been shot before 
 he had scared her with his impetuosity. But 
 there was something besides fear in Nelly's 
 face, and her cousin perceived it at the first 
 glance. It was the indecision as to what she 
 should say to him, mingled with the constraint 
 natural to anyone with such a task in pros- 
 pect, which imparted to her the appearance of 
 coldness, for which her cousin gave her credit. 
 But so far from feeling cold towards him for 
 his conduct of the evening before, the news 
 she had just received occupied her thoughts 
 almost to the exclusion of that which had so
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 219 
 
 troubled them previously, but wbicb, under 
 present circumstances, sbe would hardly have 
 had the heart even to resent. 
 
 " Is Aunt Eliza not down yet ?" was her 
 first enquiry as she timidly dropped the hand 
 he proffered her. 
 
 " No !" replied her cousin, the expectations 
 with which he had anticipated her entrance 
 being considerably damped by the formality 
 of her salutation, " she is not well this morn- 
 ing, I am sorry to say, so we must go to break- 
 fast without her." 
 
 They sat down, one on each side of a large 
 round table : and when the servants had 
 solemnly provided them with tea and coffee 
 from the side-board, and the dumb-waiter 
 laden with a relay of dishes had been 
 wheeled to Nigel's side, they found themselves 
 alone. 
 
 Nelly finished one piece of toast, and then 
 another, resolving within herself each time 
 that the disappearance of the next morsel 
 should be the signal for her to tell her cousin 
 of the letter she had received, but at the end 
 of her breakfast she was no nearer the comple- 
 tion of her object. A few commonplace 
 remarks had passed between them, but no- 
 thing more, and then Nigel Brooke rose from
 
 220 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 the table and stood with his back to the fire- 
 place. 
 
 It was always the first move towards break- 
 ing up the breakfast party. Nelly saw that 
 the moment was come for her to speak, and 
 after all, it was easier to tell him than his mo- 
 ther. So in a very dry husky voice she com- 
 menced. 
 
 " Cousin Nigel !" 
 
 " Well ! Nelly," he said expectantly. 
 
 " I am going home to-day." 
 
 " Groing home ! what do you mean ?" 
 
 " I have had a letter from Bertie by this 
 morning's post, and he wishes me to return at 
 once : grandpapa is ill and I am wanted." 
 
 " Oh ! my poor child, I am so sorry," ex- 
 claimed her cousin with genuine concern, " not 
 only that the old man is suffering, but that 
 your visit is to be cut short by it. But is it 
 so very urgent, Nelly ? are you sure that they 
 cannot spare you for a few days longer ?" 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " Bertie says I am to go at once^^ she re- 
 peated, " that I am not to lose an hour, I am 
 afraid poor grandpapa must be worse than 
 when he last wrote." 
 
 " But it is a long journey for you to take on 
 so short a notice, Nelly. Surely to-morrow 
 will be time enough."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 221 
 
 " I must go to-day if I can," she replied, 
 "I have very little to pack, you know, and 
 Pinner promised to put up my things whilst 
 we were at breakfast. Which is the earliest 
 train by which I could start ?" 
 
 " If you must go to-day (though I cannot see 
 the necessity for it, Nelly,) there is a train 
 leaves Hilstone for Eeddington at noon. But 
 I cannot let you go alone : I shall take you 
 home myself, so you had best see my mother 
 and ask her advice on the subject." 
 
 But at the mention of his providing himself 
 as escort, although she had fully expected it, 
 Nelly turned quite pale. 
 
 " Oh, no ! Cousin Nigel ! indeed you must 
 not go with me, I can very well go alone. I 
 came here all by myself, you know; and if 
 you will only let me have the carriage to go 
 to the Hilstone station in, I shall get on very 
 well." 
 
 " What nonsense !" he exclaimed, " I will 
 not hear of such a thing. Your coming here 
 was a very different affair. We expected you 
 and sent to meet you, and Orpington is only 
 two miles from the station, but your brother 
 cannot even be certain that you will start to- 
 day, and if he were, who has he to send to 
 Eeddington to wait for you ? You will arrive
 
 222 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 there late in the evening, and be stranded, 
 fourteen miles from your home, and perhaps 
 unable to get a conveyance to go on in. It 
 would be madness, Nelly : perfect folly ! what 
 could you do by yourself at night, in a strange 
 town ? I consider that you are under my care, 
 and I cannot permit such a thing ! so pray do 
 not propose it again. Whenever you go back 
 to Little Bickton, I go with you." 
 
 Nelly leant back in her seat in despair. 
 What could she say which should appear at all 
 reasonable, to turn him from his purpose. 
 
 After a moment's thought, she rose, and 
 going up to her cousin's side, said firmly : — 
 
 " Cousin Nigel, you cannot go with me to- 
 day, I do not wish it." 
 
 " And why not, Nelly ?" he asked quickly ; 
 " tell me the truth." 
 
 " There is nothing to tell," she replied ner- 
 vously, " excepting that I do not wish you to 
 go with me, I must go home to-day, but I 
 must go alone." 
 
 " Will you let me send a servant with you 
 as far as Eeddington?" he asked, a sudden 
 suspicion flashing on his mind. She, on her 
 part, imagining that if she agreed to this pro- 
 posal, the other would be dropped, acquiesced 
 eagerly.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 223 
 
 "Then it is my presence whichis unpleasant 
 to you, Nelly ?" 
 
 She drooped lier head. 
 
 " Tell me the truth, child," he repeated al- 
 most fiercely as he seized her hand, " tell me 
 the real truth, and put me out of pain. Is it 
 I only to whom you object as a travelling com- 
 panion ?" 
 
 " Yes !" she answered, in a very low tone, 
 but the one word was enough for him. 
 
 At that moment, notwithstanding his belief 
 in her sincerity, he was almost ready to sus- 
 pect that the story of her having received a 
 summons to Little Bickton was merely an ex- 
 cuse to rid herself the sooner of his presence. 
 As the idea struck his mind, a chill ran through 
 his frame, and he released the hand which he 
 had taken. 
 
 " I have made a fool of myself," he said in 
 a pained voice. " Forget what has passed 
 between us, Nelly, and let us be friends still." 
 And then with affected indifference he con- 
 tinued : — •" I might have guessed that my pre- 
 sence at Little Bickton would be inconvenient 
 just now, when my grandfather is so ill ; I 
 should be stranded at Eeddington myself, and 
 have no more idea what to do than you would, 
 but the maid Pinner shall travel with you,
 
 224 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 and see that you procure a proper conveyance 
 to Bickton. She can sleep at Eeddington her- 
 self, and return to Hilstone to-morrow. Would 
 you mind seeing my mother about it at once, 
 or shall I pave the way for you ?" 
 
 " I can do it, thank you," she said, sadly. 
 After having given her cousin Nigel such a 
 wrong impression of her feeling respecting him- 
 self, the wrath of her aunt Eliza seemed a very 
 little trouble, yet she hardly knew what else 
 she could have said to him. 
 
 But to Nelly's surprise, Mrs. Brooke did not 
 appear to be half so angry or put out at her 
 news as she had anticipated. It still wanted 
 ten days of the date when she had always in- 
 tended to return home, and her aunt had re- 
 peatedly informed her that she should never 
 be able to part with her when the time came. 
 Instead of which, she listened to her niece's 
 faltering narrative of the letter she had re- 
 ceived, and the necessity for her immediate 
 return, without once interrupting her with ob- 
 jections or regrets. The fact being that Mrs. 
 Brooke, who was conscious that she had not 
 deserved much in this instance at the hands 
 of Providence, was wondering to herself by 
 what lucky chance her wishes for Nelly's de- 
 parture should have been so miraculously 
 granted.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 225 
 
 "I shall take home the lace jacket and the 
 muslin cuffs, and collars I am embroidering for 
 you, Aunt Eliza ;" poor Nelly said, with quiver- 
 ing lips, " and send them you as soon as they 
 are finished ; and I am very much obliged to 
 you for all the kindness you have shown me, 
 and I shall never — never forget it," concluded 
 the girl, in a burst of tears. 
 
 " There, there ! my dear !" said her aunt, 
 with an affected attempt at comfort, " I am 
 quite sure you will not ; and any time will do 
 for the collars and sleeves. You needn't hurry 
 yourself over them, for I daresay you will have 
 enough to do with your poor sick grandpapa." 
 
 " Yes," sobbed Nelly, " and if it wasn't that 
 grandpapa is ill, and poor Bertie is so helpless, 
 I wouldn't have thought of leaving you so 
 suddenly — particularly as I am of use to you ; 
 but they have no one to do anything for them 
 but old Aggie, you see — and Bertie wants so 
 much attention, and " 
 
 *' Oh ! yes ! my dear; I understand it all, 
 perfectly," replied her aunt ; " of course you 
 could do nothing else but go to them, it would 
 be very wrong if you did not. Old people are 
 soon gone, this weather — the least thing will 
 take them off — and you might never see^your 
 
 TOL. I. 15
 
 226 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 poor grandfather again, if you delayed to re- 
 turn." 
 
 At this supposition Nelly's fears gained the 
 upper hand of her distress. 
 
 " Do you really think he can be so ill as 
 that ?" she asked, with frightened eyes ; 
 " Have you heard anything, aunt Eliza ? Did 
 they write to you as well ?" 
 
 " Write to me, my dear !" said Mrs. Brooke, 
 pettishly ; '* who should write to me ? I 
 thought you said, yourself, that the old man 
 was worse." 
 
 " Well, I think he must be worse," said 
 truthful Nelly, her sudden alarm allayed by 
 her aunt's reply, " else Bertie would have given 
 me a day or two to prepare for my journey in, 
 but he particularly begs me not to lose a 
 moment." 
 
 " Of course ; and you would be very wrong 
 to do so : and perhaps I had best say good-bye 
 to you at once, as you must have some arrange- 
 ments to make before starting, and my head 
 aches sadly. Grood-bye, my dear ; you can 
 write to me after a few days, and let me know 
 how your grandfather goes on — and please tell 
 one of the servants, as you go out, to send my 
 son to me." 
 
 The news of Nelly's intended departure
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 227 
 
 had almost cured Mrs. Brooke of her ill-tem- 
 per, particularly as she guessed from the girl's 
 dejection, that nothing satisfactory could have 
 passed between her and Nigel. She even felt 
 equal to seeing the latter, and trying to patch 
 up their quarrel of the night before. 
 
 Nelly, on the contrary, left the bedroom 
 sobbing bitterly. She was glad to go home — 
 poor little soul — but she was very grateful for 
 all the kindness which she had experienced at 
 Orpington, and it went to her heart to think 
 she was about to leave her friends in so sudden 
 a manner, and that it would not be long, per- 
 haps, before they knew what her brother had 
 told her in his letter. What would they think 
 of her ? how ungrateful her aunt Eliza would 
 say she was, and how unworthy of all the 
 pretty presents which she had given her ; and 
 cousin Nigel, who had taken her out on horse- 
 back, and done all he could to give her plea- 
 sure — what kind of return would he consider 
 this, for the kindness he had shown her ? 
 
 When she reached her bedroom, she found 
 that Pinner had already been informed that 
 she was to accompany her to Reddington ; and 
 that another servant was employed in packing 
 and cording her box. Nothing was left for 
 Nelly to do but to bathe her swollen eyes, and 
 
 15—2
 
 228 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 put on her walking apparel ; and her arrange- 
 ments had not long been completed when a 
 single knock at her door, and the words in her 
 cousin's voice — '' Nelly, the train starts at ten 
 minutes to twelve, and the carriage will be 
 round in five minutes " — told her that her con- 
 nection with Orpington Chase would soon be 
 severed. 
 
 She followed her luggage downstairs, and 
 took her seat mechanically upon one of the 
 hall chairs. As soon as the carriage wheels 
 sounded on the gravel drive, the door of the 
 breakfast room, which was just opposite, 
 opened, and her cousin Nigel appeared 
 
 " What ! are you here, Nelly ?" he said, re- 
 proachfully. " You need not have grudged me 
 the last five minutes !" and holding out his 
 hand, he led her to the vehicle. 
 
 She was to travel as far as Hilstone station, 
 alone, for the trunk was in the rumble, and the 
 maid preferred to sifc on the box with the 
 coachman, so the cousins' farewell was ex- 
 changed in privacy. 
 
 " God bless you, child," said Nigel Brooke, 
 even more paternally than usual ; "I would 
 have gone as far as the station with you, only 
 I know you would rather I did not." 
 
 She tried to murmur something about being
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 229 
 
 " obliged " and not " being ungrateful," but he 
 scarcely caught the meaning of her words. 
 
 " Don't cry, Nelly !" he said, entreatingly ; 
 "it's over now, and I didn't mean to vex you. 
 Bemember me to Bertie and to the old man, 
 and let us know of your safe arrival — and — 
 we shall meet again some day soon, shan't we ? 
 — Drive on, Saunders !" 
 
 Then, as the carriage commenced to move, 
 he ran by the side of it, for a few yards, as he 
 hotly repeated, "don't cry, my darling, for 
 heaven's sake." 
 
 And though Nelly did not take his advice in 
 so far that she cried quite as much on the way 
 home as she had done on the way there, she 
 could not help recalling to herself the strange 
 expressions that her cousin Nigel had used to 
 her that morning, and wondering what they 
 meant.
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 nelly's welcome home. 
 
 But thougli Nelly Brooke both distressed and 
 perplexed herself about what had occurred at 
 Orpington Chase, all the way to Reddington, 
 as soon as she arrived at that very dull and 
 second-rate country town, which, on account of 
 various changes and delays, was not until six 
 o'clock the same evening, she forgot her trou- 
 ble in the magical thought that she was so 
 near her home again. The solitary fly was 
 luckily in waiting, and as she was the only 
 passenger who had to travel beyond the town, 
 she had no difficulty in procuring it ; and Pin- 
 ner, finding that she could return to Hilstone 
 by a night train, prepared, after a good tea at 
 the George Inn, to take advantage of it, as she 
 had received orders to do. 
 
 So Nelly set off, as her cousin Nigel had 
 done some weeks previously, to traverse the 
 fourteen miles of hilly country which lay be- 
 tween Eeddington and Little Bickton, in a
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 231 
 
 vehicle whicli never exceeded its five miles an 
 hour even on level ground. But the girl's feel- 
 ings with respect to the necessary inconvenience 
 and delay greatly differed from what his had 
 been. She was as impatient, it is true, indeed 
 far more so, but it was the impatience of love 
 and not of temper. 
 
 Her feet once more upon Kentish soil, and 
 her face set in the direction of home, her 
 eagerness to gain it became almost beyond her 
 powers of endurance, and her only wonder was 
 how she had managed to live so long away 
 from it. She grew sick with her longing, as 
 she sat a prisoner in solitary confinement in 
 the Eeddington fly ; and as soon as they came 
 to the first hill, and the driver descended from 
 his box in order to ease the horse, his passenger 
 jumped out also, and expressed her intention of 
 walking by his side. 
 
 "Don't you do that, miss," said the man, 
 thinking the act was prompted by compassion 
 for his animal, " he'd carry half-a-dozen of such 
 as you, and not feel it. I shouldn't do it 
 myself on a dry night like this , but I likes to 
 stretch my legs occasionally." 
 
 *' And I like to stretch my legs, too, Thomp- 
 son," replied Nelly, who knew the driver by 
 name, " and I am so impatient to get to Bick-
 
 232 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 ton, that I feel as if I couldn't sit in the fly 
 whilst it goes so slowly." 
 
 "You've been away for a goodish spell, 
 Miss." 
 
 " Three weeks last Thursday, Thompson, and 
 it has seemed like three months to me. I 
 should never be contented away from Bickton. 
 Have you been there lately ?" 
 
 " To Bickton, Miss ? well, no ! I can't say I 
 have, not since I drove that strange gentleman 
 back from the Farm Cottage to Eeddington. 
 He was a quick-tempered one, to be sure." 
 
 " Was he ?" said Nelly, timidly. 
 
 " Well, I put him down as such, Miss, least- 
 ways on the road there. But there was a 
 mortal sight of wet that night, there's no deny- 
 ing. He was a deal more sociable as we re- 
 turned, and asked a mint o' questions about 
 the place and people." 
 
 " Have you heard any news from the Cottage 
 lately, Thompson?" was her next inquiry. 
 " My grandpapa has not been well. That is 
 the reason I am returning home to-day." 
 
 "Well, now," exclaimed the man, "that's 
 strange, sure-ly, I'm a talking to the grand- 
 daughter of old Mr. Brooke, ain't I, Miss ?" 
 
 Nelly replied in the affirmative. 
 
 " I did hear a summat about him last
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 233 
 
 market-day, though 'twas a mere chance that 
 it reached me. I was cleaning my horse in 
 the stable-yard, when in come farmer Weston 
 and another gentleman. ' How's the old gen- 
 tleman at the Farm Cottage ?' says one. 
 ' Mortal bad,' says the other ; (that was farmer 
 Weston you know, Miss) ; * we all think he's 
 a-going.' " 
 
 The man looked round at Nelly as he made 
 this communication, as though he had said the 
 most ordinary thing possible, and was startled 
 by the expression in her face. 
 
 " Oh ! Thompson, can it really be true ? 
 They never told me he was so ill as that ! 
 Pray drive me home as fast as ever you can, 
 and I'll give you half-a-crown for yourself." 
 
 Nelly was in a position at the moment to 
 make this offer, for her cousin had taken care 
 that his mother should supply her little purse 
 with money before she started. But the 
 genuine distress so visibly pictured in her face 
 touched Thompson to that degree, that he 
 shook his head to intimate that he refused to 
 take the bribe. 
 
 " I'll take you to Bickton as quick as ever 
 one horse can do it. Miss, and I don't want 
 nothing over my fare for it. I'm real sorry I 
 told you anything to make you uneasy, and I
 
 234 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 daresay it was only the gentleman's talk after 
 all." 
 
 But this latter consideration had little effect 
 in soothing poor Nelly's fears, and she spent 
 the rest of the journey in miserable suspense, 
 conjuring up so much evil that might have 
 happened to each of the beloved inmates of the 
 Farm Cottage during her absence, that she 
 forgot everything but her ardent desire to 
 meet her brother and grandfather and old 
 Aggie again, and assure herself that they 
 existed to welcome her. 
 
 Orpington Chase, its inhabitants and its 
 troubles faded away in the distance, and home 
 filled her thoughts to the exclusion of all 
 else. In fancy she ran a dozen times into 
 the old familiar passage, and burst into the 
 sitting-room, and threw herself into the arms 
 of Bertie, lying on his sofa, and saw her old 
 grandfather dozing in his arm-chair, only look- 
 ing a little paler than usual, and presently 
 waking up to assure her it was her absence 
 which had affected him, and that now she had 
 returned he was himself once more ; or the 
 scene darkened, and she thought she might 
 have to knock again and again for admission 
 at the Cottage, and that at last old nurse 
 Aggie would come down to the door, with
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 235 
 
 stealthy tread and a solemn face, and slie 
 would hear that her grandfather was lying 
 upstairs dead and stretched out upon his bier. 
 How would such fanciful fears affect an ex- 
 citable and affectionate girl as she sat alone in 
 a fly in the dark for nearly three hours, for it 
 was nine o'clock before she reached Little 
 Bickton ? Joined to the slowness of her pro- 
 gression, and the solitude and suspense she 
 was enduring, they affected Nelly to such a 
 degree, that she seemed to turn to stone 
 beneath their influence, and by the time the 
 wheels of the fly grated before the Cottage 
 door, she had scarcely strength to leave it. 
 But, as they invariably do in such cases, events 
 turned out very differently from what she had 
 anticipated. The front door was opened simul- 
 taneously with that of the fly, and Bertie 
 making sure of her arrival, had crept into the 
 passage, followed by nurse Aggie with a 
 lighted candle. With a cry of exceeding joy, 
 the girl sprung to the ground, and took her 
 brother's wasted form into her arms, and 
 pressed it to her bosom. Although in reality 
 not altered from the moment when they 
 parted, how pale and thin he looked in her 
 loving eyes. She thought he must have 
 shrunk to half his size since she had seen him
 
 236 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 last. But lie was there, her Bertie, her 
 brother, her second self; the face she had 
 loved from infancy was pressed against her 
 own, and the powerful reaction could only end 
 in tears. 
 
 " Oh, Bertie 1 Bertie !" she sobbed, as they 
 clung to each other, " how glad I am to see 
 you, darling, how thankful I am to be at home 
 again!" 
 
 Bertie was not altogether unaffected on his 
 part, for his dependence on his sister had made 
 him strangely feel her unaccustomed absence, 
 though the mysterious clinging sympathy 
 which is supposed to connect most twin chil- 
 dren, seemed in this case to exist on her side 
 alone. He kissed her fondly, and did not 
 seem impatient of her tears, though he tried 
 to draw her away from the scrutiny of the 
 coachman and the nurse. 
 
 " Come with me, dear !" he whispered, as he 
 led her into the dining-room. " I felt sure 
 that you would come to-night. We ought 
 never to be separated, Nell, we can't do with- 
 out each other ; we should have been born 
 with a ligature between us, like the famous 
 Siamese twins." 
 
 " Oh, I wish we had," said the foolish girl, 
 smiling in the midst of her tears ; then as
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 237 
 
 they entered the sitting-room, and she caught 
 sight of her grandfather's empty chair, she 
 continued anxiously, " But how is grandpapa, 
 Bertie ?" 
 
 " Oh, he's all right," said her brother care- 
 lessly. 
 
 "All right, darling?" 
 
 The tone of surprise recalled Robert's won- 
 dering fancy, he remembered the letter he had 
 written to summon his sister home, and in a 
 different tone, continued, " That is to say, he 
 has had a bad cold, and not been well other- 
 wise for the last fortnight, but he is no worse 
 than he was. His illness was not the real 
 reason of my desire for your return, Nelly, as 
 you must have seen." 
 
 " Yes, but let us talk of that presently, 
 darling," she said, with a sigh, as she prepared 
 to lay aside her walking things, and help old 
 Aggie in the disposal of her luggage. The 
 next ten minutes passed very boisterously. 
 The mastiff Thug nearly went frantic when he 
 was made aware of his mistress's arrival, and 
 leapt at her with sufficient violence to throw 
 her down, in his clumsy endeavours to give 
 her a hearty welcome ; and the old nurse, 
 although much less vehement, was hardly less 
 demonstrative in her delight at regaining " her
 
 238 NELLY BUOOKE. 
 
 child," as slie always called Nelly, in contra- 
 distinction to lier brother, 
 
 " Ah ! it's a sight for sore eyes to see you 
 again. Miss Nelly, for we've had a bitter time 
 of it since you been away, I can tell you," 
 she said, as the girl followed her into the 
 kitchen. 
 
 " That I'm sure you must, nursey, and there 
 hasn't been a day that I haven't wished I were 
 back again to help you. It will be quite a 
 treat to shake up the beds again, and to make 
 pies and puddings as I used to do, and to leave 
 off playing at being a fine lady. Being a fine 
 lady, and doing nothing but sit in the draw- 
 ing-room or drive in a carriage, doesn't suit me 
 at all, Aggie, I have often and often longed to 
 be back again amongst the cabbages, at dear 
 old Bickton." 
 
 " Well, youVe got your wish then, you see," 
 replied the old woman with a touch of discon- 
 tent in her voice, " not that but what I think 
 sitting in a drawing-room fitter for you than 
 helping such as me with the house and kitchen 
 work. But 'tisn't the work, Miss Nelly, as I 
 complain of, IVe worked hard all my life, and 
 that you know, but I like to have a bit of 
 thanks when aU's done, and that's what I've
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 239 
 
 never got from anyone since I lost sight of 
 your bonny face, my bird." 
 
 "Do you think grandpapa is really ill, 
 Aggie?" said Nelly, anxious to change the 
 subject. 
 
 " I don't think nothing about it, I am sure 
 on't," replied the old woman. " When a gen- 
 tleman of that age takes to his bed, it isn't a 
 good sign ; and he's been close to his for the 
 last week." 
 
 "Hasn't the doctor been sent for?" ex- 
 claimed Nelly, in alarm. 
 
 " No, he haven't," replied Aggie, sturdily. 
 
 " But why not, Aggie ?" 
 
 " That's more than I know. Miss Nelly ; all 
 I can say is, now that you've come home, I 
 hope you'll have things your own way, for 
 they have been in a queer way since you left. 
 Quarrelling here, and loud words there, and 
 bad language used ; I never heard the like of 
 it since I lived in this house afore, and I don't 
 wish to hear it again. If you want the doctor 
 for to see your grandpa. Miss, you'd best ask 
 Master Eobert's leave, for he's master here 
 now, or I'm quite mistaken." 
 
 " I'm grieved to hear you speak like this, 
 nursey," said Nelly, sorrowfully, as she laid 
 her hand on the old woman's withered arm.
 
 240 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " You know that I have always loved you and 
 been grateful to you/' 
 
 " Bless you, my darling," replied Aggie, as 
 she turned and kissed the blooming cheek of 
 her nurseling, " you've always been everything 
 that's good to all of us, and that we know well 
 enough. But now, go you into the parlour 
 again, or perhaps Master Eobert may be put 
 out ; and I'll send you up supper as soon as 
 ever it is ready." 
 
 " Let me help you, nursey." 
 
 " Not I — not on this first night, Miss Nelly 
 — for all the world. It will be up in five 
 minutes at the latest." 
 
 " Can't I see grandpapa this evening ?" 
 
 " Well, I don't see the use, my dear ; he's 
 fast asleep, and your going in might rouse him. 
 Best leave that till to-morrow morning." 
 
 " I think we should send for Mr. Bumble to 
 see grandpapa, Bertie," said Nelly, as she re- 
 entered the dining-room. 
 
 "Very well, dear," he replied, "do what 
 you please, I have waited for your return to 
 settle everything of that sort. If the old 
 man wants looking to, you had better write to 
 Bumble." 
 
 The supper tray now made its appearance, 
 and Nelly, with Thug close beside her — with
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 241 
 
 his huge head thrust lovingly into her lap, sat 
 down to it in solitary state. " Won't you have 
 some supper, Bertie ?" she said to her brother. 
 
 " jSTo, thanks ; for I am not used to eating 
 at this hour, you know." 
 
 " Nor I," replied his sister, smiling, " and I 
 feel too happy to be hungry, though I ought 
 to be." 
 
 But as she pronounced the words, " Nor /,'* 
 which brought back the habits of the Chase 
 to her recollection, she suddenly remembered 
 that the reason for which she found herself at 
 home, was as yet a mystery to her ; and the 
 expression of her face changed so rapidly, that 
 her brother exclaimed : — " How now ! what's 
 the matter, Nell ?" 
 
 She had forgotten it till that moment, she 
 had been so occupied wdth Thug and old Aggie, 
 with her grandfather's illness, and the delight 
 of meeting her brother again, that she had 
 entirely forgotten to ask him why she had 
 been so unexpectedly recalled ; and what it 
 was so dreadful that he had heard against 
 their aunt and cousin, that he regretted she 
 had ever entered their house. 
 
 " Bertie !" she gasped in her eagerness. 
 " You have not yet told me why you sent for 
 me to come home. Oh ! I was so astonished 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 and surprised, and I didn't in the least know 
 what to say to them at the Chase about it. I 
 think — I am afraid," she continued, falteringlj, 
 " that I quite offended cousin Nigel this morn- 
 ing byrefusing his offer to accompanyme home." 
 
 " All the better if you did !" replied Eobert 
 Erooke, rudely. 
 
 "But, darling, tell me what it is, what can 
 have changed all your feelings regarding them, 
 and made you so angry about my going there. 
 I did so for your sake, Bertie." 
 
 "You had better take your supper first, 
 Nelly, for you will have no appetite after- 
 wards, I can tell you." 
 
 " Oh ! but I must know," said the girl in a 
 piteous tone, as she left the table and knelt by 
 her brother's side. "Bertie, dear, do tell me, 
 for they have been so kind to me all the time, 
 and your letter made me so unha^^py." 
 
 " Kind to you," repeated Bertie in a voice 
 of contempt. " Yes ! and well they may be. 
 But if Mr. Nigel Brooke, or his fine lady of a 
 mother, imagines that a few palavering words 
 and a few old rags, from them now, will wipe 
 out the irreparable injury their father and 
 husband did us, they are vastly mistaken. I 
 hope you said good-bye to them once and for 
 ever, Nell, for you will never see them again."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 243 
 
 At this she called out vSO loudly that old 
 Aggie ran from the kitchen to see what was 
 the matter with '' /ler child," but trotted back 
 again upon hearing the plaintive words which 
 followed the exclamation. 
 
 "Never see them again, Bertie — never see 
 Aunt Eliza, who has been so very kind to me 
 — or cou — cou-^cousin Nigel again ? Oh ! 
 you cannot be in earnest : you have heard 
 something that is not true. It is all a mis- 
 take, dear: depend upon it — and when you 
 find it out you will be sorry you spoke of 
 them like this." 
 
 " It is not a mistake," said the young man 
 excitedly, "it is as true, Nelly — as that I wish 
 to God, we had never been born." 
 
 "Bertie, Bertie, darling, don't look like 
 that : speak to me — tell me what it is — you 
 cannot think how horrible is this suspense !" 
 
 He had risen from the sofa now, and was 
 standing whilst she still clung about his knees. 
 
 "Well! if you will know it," he exclaimed 
 loudly, " here it is, and if you can tell me 
 afterwards that you still care to sit at the 
 board of Nigel Brooke and eat his bread, and 
 accept his favours, you are not my sister, and 
 I will not own you as such. Mis father mur- 
 dered ours r 
 
 16—2
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 ROBERT BROOKE TELLS HIS SISTER HALF THE 
 TRUTH. 
 
 The sound of tlie word " murder," is suffi- 
 ciently awful at any time, but particularly 
 when it is used in connection with anyone be- 
 longing to ourselves. 
 
 Nelly Brooke, as she heard it, rose slowly 
 from her kneeling position, and dropped, white 
 and trembling, on the sofa, which her brother 
 had just vacated. For a moment neither of 
 the twins spoke to each other. 
 
 "Well! what do you think of it?" then 
 demanded Eobert, breaking the silence. 
 
 " I cannot believe it !" she answered, in an 
 awe-struck tone. 
 
 " But it is true, I tell you; true as gospel." 
 
 ^'Murdered him," repeated Nelly wonder- 
 ingly, " murdered his own brother ! it is im- 
 possible." 
 
 " You may call it what you please," said 
 Eobert Brooke, " / call it murder. It is suf-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 245 
 
 ficient for me to know that Nigel Brooke's 
 father challenged mine, and shot him down 
 like a dog, whilst his opponent fired in the air. 
 I wish he hadn't : I wish he had shot him 
 through the heart, the cowardly cur." 
 
 "But why did they fight?" asked Nelly, 
 " for what reason ?" 
 
 At this question, the face of her brother 
 changed. He visibly showed his discomfiture; 
 and it was not until she had repeated it that 
 he sulkily replied : — 
 
 '' The cause signifies little : the fact re- 
 mains." 
 
 " And does he, does Cousin Nigel, you think, 
 know of this ?" 
 
 " The name of the man you speak of, Nelly, 
 is Nigel Brooke, and don't let me hear you call 
 him anything else again: he is not your cousin 
 nor mine, and never shall be." 
 
 " We are the children of brothers," she said 
 in refutation of Eobert's assertion, but he did 
 not appear to hear her words. " We must be 
 cousins since our fathers were brothers," she 
 repeated after a short pause. 
 
 " Men who call each other out for the pur- 
 pose of being shot at, are not entitled to the 
 name of brothers," he at length replied, " but 
 it little matters what our actual relationship
 
 246 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 to this man may be — were it twice as near, 
 we never could be otherwise than strangers." 
 
 " But who told you of this dreadful* story, 
 Bertie?" she demanded, half hoping that her 
 brother might have gathered it from some 
 questionable authority. 
 
 " My grandfather/' he said curtly. 
 
 " What, grandpapa ! He says that one of 
 his sons killed the other. Then it must be 
 true ! Oh ! how shocking, how terrible — " 
 and overcome with the idea of her unknown 
 father lying bleeding and dead by the act ot 
 his own brother, the girl covered her face with 
 her hands. 
 
 " Now ! what would you say to going back 
 to Orpington Chase, and joining in their plea- 
 sures, and partaking of their luxuries, Nelly ?" 
 enquired Robert in a voice which was almost 
 trumphant. 
 
 " I don't wish to go back," she said shud- 
 dering, " I never wish to leave home again, 
 but,.J3ertie, it was not our cousin — I mean, it 
 was not Nigel Brooke's fault that his father 
 behaved so cruelly. Surely he had nothing 
 to do with it. Is it always to prevent his 
 being kind to us, or caring for us ?" 
 
 She thought afterwards that -she had never 
 seen her brother look so angrily at her in his
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 247 
 
 life, as he did when he turned towards her 
 now. 
 
 " Are you regretting the leeks and garlic of 
 Egypt?" he cried. " Do you wish to keep up 
 the acquaintance of the son of your father's 
 murderer ; the son of the man who made us 
 what we are — orphans, aye ! and worse than 
 orphans ; looked down upon, poverty-stricken, 
 obscure : who feathered his own nest and left 
 his child independent, whilst the children of 
 the man he murdered, remain without a friend 
 in the world?" 
 
 " But he tries to make it up to us, and you 
 refuse to let him," she said, bold in her at- 
 tempted defence of those who had been kind 
 to her, though timid as a dove, generally 
 speaking, in opposing any assertion of her 
 brother's. 
 
 Robert Brooke looked at her with the 
 greatest contempt. 
 
 "Bah !" he said, " it is of no use talking to 
 a girl ; they have no ideas beyond their dresses 
 and bonnets ! Have you no sense of honour, 
 Nelly, no sense of justice, no sense of what is 
 right and consistent to do ?" 
 
 " Oh ! I hope I have, Bertie," she said, 
 earnestly, " but perhaps you have not ex- 
 plained it sufficiently to me. Tell me all, the
 
 248 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 whole truth, just as it happened, and I shall 
 better understand it." 
 
 " The whole truth, as you call it, is simply 
 that my grandfather and I, being left alone 
 together for the first time in my remembrance, 
 have talked more to each other than we ever 
 did before. We have had one or two very 
 stiff arguments, I can tell you, Nelly, and the 
 old gentleman made himself more disagreeable 
 than I had given him credit for being able to do." 
 
 • " You didn't vex him, Bertie darling, did 
 you ?" said his sister anxiously. 
 
 " I didn't give him any cause to be vexed, 
 which is as much as I can answer for. I only 
 told him what I had intended to do for some 
 time past, that I insisted upon hearing the 
 whole story of the circumstances attending our 
 birth, and the death of our parents. I asked 
 him to account for his having kept us in this 
 place all our lives, without proper associates 
 or advantages ; and I asked him what provi- 
 sion he had made for us. and what he intended 
 to become of us after his death.'' 
 
 " And what did he tell you, Bertie ?" she 
 demanded breathlessly. 
 
 " He told me that which I wish I had died 
 before I had ever heard," returned the young 
 man gloomily.
 
 NELLY" BEOOKE. 249 
 
 " Don't say so, dear, it can't be as bad as 
 that," she said caressingly, as she moved nearer 
 to his side. "If we are orphans, Bertie, we 
 have each other." 
 
 He turned at the loving words, and kissed 
 her eagerly. 
 
 " My dearest sister,'' he exclaimed, " if I 
 hadn't known you were coming back to Little 
 Bickton and would miss me, I would have 
 cut my throat the day I heard it !" 
 
 " Berfcie, you frighten me ! tell me the 
 whole story." 
 
 " The whole is very little, Nelly, but it is 
 painful enough to tell — when I have finished 
 it, don't ask for it again. Nigel Brooke's 
 father was a merchant — ours was an ofiicer in 
 the army. They had a serious cause for 
 quarrel, but one which might have been in 
 some measure atoned for, if it had been settled 
 in the right way. Instead of which, Nigel 
 Brooke's father followed ours to Malta, where 
 he had gone with his regiment, and when 
 there insulted him so grossly that he had no 
 choice but to accept the challenge with which 
 the indignity was accompanied. They met : 
 and as I have told you, the one was shot like . 
 a dog, whilst the other escaped without injury. 
 We were not born at that time, Nelly, but
 
 250 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 two months ' afterwards we entered the world, 
 worse luck, and our poor mother, who had 
 drooped ever since the shock of our father's 
 death, quitted it. And that's the whole 
 aJBfair." 
 
 " Poor mother," sighed Nelly, " and she 
 was so young too, Aggie says, only eighteen, 
 just our age now/' 
 
 " E'ever mind that," replied her brother, 
 " she's far better where she is, and I for one 
 feel glad to think she is quit of all her trouble. 
 But had our father lived, things might have 
 been very different. I could never have 
 forgiven the hand which took his life." 
 
 " Nor I," said Nelly softly, " but he is dead 
 too now." 
 
 " But his wife — do you imagine that his 
 wife might not have exerted her influence 
 over him, had she so chosen ? why ! even his 
 son was nearly a man at that time." 
 
 " Men do not often consult their wives and 
 children when they are going to do a wrong 
 thing, Bertie." 
 
 He stamped his foot impatiently. 
 
 " You aggravate me, Nelly — you are trying 
 to defend this man and his mother, when you 
 should feel the same loathing for them that I 
 do."
 
 NELLY BBOOKE. 251 
 
 " I am sorry I aggravate you, dear Bertie. 
 'No one could feel more shocked and horrified 
 at wbat you have told me than myself; and 
 were our uncle still alive, I — " 
 
 " Were he alive," interrupted her brother 
 eagerly, " lame as I am, I would not rest 
 night or day until I had searched him out 
 and called him to account for my father's 
 death ; but since he is passed my reach, I will 
 not admit his son, the man who is reaping the 
 benefit of a murderer's success, to my friend- 
 ship, not even to my acquaintance. I will 
 not receive him here, nor 'go to see him there : 
 nor will you either, Nelly, if you wish to 
 keep my afiection. Had I known the other 
 day, when he entered these doors with his 
 hypocritical palaver about the ties of relation- 
 ship, and his wish that we should all go and 
 live with him at Orpington, who he was, and 
 what he was, I would have struck him in the 
 face before I had taken his hand in friendship. 
 And do you think I would have permitted 
 you to go and visit at the Chase, and accept 
 their presents and their flattery, an& their fine 
 dinners, and horses and company, if I had 
 th ught that they came from the wife and the 
 son of your father's murderer ? Of course, I 
 would not ! I hope you've not brought any
 
 252 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 of the fine things they gave you home with 
 you, for I will burn and destroy every one of 
 them if you have. They are the price of blood, 
 the handsome reparation which they are trying 
 to make in exchange for your father's life. 
 Have you many of them ? tell me the truth, for 
 I'll cut up your whole wardrobe if you don't." 
 
 " Very few, dear Bertie, really very few, and 
 I will send them out of the house to-morrow 
 if you wish it." 
 
 " I do wish it ; I had rather you went in 
 rags all your days, than wore that woman's 
 gifts. Grive them away or throw them away, 
 as you choose, but don't let me see or hear of 
 them again." 
 
 " And don't let me hear that man's name 
 either," he continued after a slight pause,- as 
 exhausted with the excitement he had under- 
 gone, he threw himself upon his sofa, '* or a 
 word about the Chase or your doings there : 
 it is a sufiiciently sore thought for me that 
 you have ever been in their house. What 
 could my grandfather have been about to con- 
 sent to it ? He must be in his dotage." 
 
 " But if they write ?" said Nelly nervously. 
 
 ''If w/iowiite?" 
 
 " Aunt Eliza or cousin Nigel." 
 
 " Let them write."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 253 
 
 " But the last thing they said, Bertie, was 
 to beg me to let them know of my safe arrival, 
 and they sent a servant with me, all the way 
 to Eeddington, and it will seem so very — so 
 very ungrateful — after all they've done for me, 
 particularly if they don't know the reason." 
 
 " Leave me to tell them the reason," replied 
 Eobert, ominously. " If a letter comes for you, 
 / will answer it, and I'll warrant you do not 
 receive a second." 
 
 Then he perceived that his sister was crying, 
 and made an impatient gesture at the discovery. 
 
 " It is all so very, very miserable," she said 
 apologetically, " it has been such a dreadful 
 mistake from beginning to end." 
 
 " It is not too late to remedy it," returned 
 Eobert, " unless you are sorry to come home 
 again." 
 
 This suspicion from Bertie was agony to her ; 
 she cast herself by his side and implored him 
 not to think so for a single moment. 
 
 *' Darling," she exclaimed, with all the fer- 
 vour of her nature, " you are everything to 
 me, and you know it. You cannot think how 
 often, since I have, been away, I have lain 
 awake and cried because I had not bid you 
 good-night, and could not go to sleep without 
 it. I could not live without you, brother. I
 
 254 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 did not like to appear ungrateful and indifferent 
 to them ; but nothing is anything to me in 
 comparison with you." 
 
 " I know that, Nelly/' he replied, as he re • 
 turned her caresses, " and we must continue to 
 be everything to each other now. All my fine 
 dreams of leaving Bickton for a more lively 
 place, have passed away, and here we will re- 
 main for the rest of our lives ; won't we ? A 
 loving old maid and bachelor, if not a very jolly 
 one. But I think I have stayed up as long as 
 is good for me, dear, for I feel quite tired. 
 Will you help me up to bed ? It will be hea- 
 ven to feel your soft hands abont me, after old 
 Aggie's bits of horn." 
 
 All idea of supper had been long repudiated ; 
 and the chops and potatoes which the old nurse 
 had laid in, expressly for the welcome of " her 
 child," were as cold as they had been before 
 she placed them on the fire ; and so Nelly rose, 
 and winding her arm round Bertie, the}'' passed 
 in the old, loving fashion, out into the passage, 
 and up the narrow staircase. 
 
 At the sound of their footsteps, Aggie came 
 out from the kitchen. 
 
 " Well, you've been a long time making up 
 your minds for bed, I'm thinking ; and it's a 
 pity. Master Eobert, that you didn't let your
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 255 
 
 sister go before this, for she must be main tired 
 with ber journey. Let me tend your brother, 
 this evening, my dear. I've done it often 
 enough lately, and go you to your own room, 
 for you must be nigh worn out." 
 
 But Eobert would not hear of an exchange, 
 and his sister seconded his refusal. 
 
 " I've had more than enough of your hand- 
 ling, thank you, nurse," he said, laughing, 
 " not to be thankful for a chauge when I can 
 get it, and Nelly wishes to go with me, don't 
 you, Nell?" 
 
 " Of course I do, darling. Do you think I 
 would let anyone attend to you to-night but 
 myself. I am too happy to be able to do it." 
 
 "He's a selfish creature," soliloquised the 
 old nurse, as she returned to the kitchen, " and 
 always were, for I mind when they were babes 
 together, he'd invariable take the cake or the 
 sweety from her mouth and put it in his own. 
 And she smiling at him all the while. As she 
 always have smiled. Bless her ! There's more 
 good in her little finger than there is in his 
 whole body." 
 
 Poor Nelly, what with her varied emotion, 
 and her long journey, was indeed, sadly tired, 
 but her afiection hardly permitted her to feel 
 so. Her eyes were swollen and painful, and
 
 256 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 her head ached, and so did her legs, but she 
 would not omit one single minutia of her bro- 
 ther's toilet. She even took the trouble to do 
 many little things for him that he was quite 
 able to do for himself, but for which he gene- 
 rally, when he could, enlisted his sister's ser- 
 vices ; and when at length he stretched him- 
 self upon his bed and said : " I haven't felt so 
 comfortable since you left me, Nell," she was 
 amply repaid for all her fatigue. 
 
 " I must read to you, Bertie, before I go," 
 she said, taking up his Bible, " I suppose you 
 have been obliged to do that for yourself since 
 we have been parted ?" 
 
 " Yes," he replied, rather hesitatingly. 
 
 " But you have not moved the marker, dear !" 
 she exclaimed, as she opened the book. " I 
 know that because I have been reading the 
 same chapter every night, as we agreed to do ; 
 oh ! Bertie, you don't mean to say you have 
 not read it at all ?" 
 
 " Well, if you must know the truth, Nell, I 
 am afraid I haven't," he said, though reluct- 
 antly ; " but it's such a bore you see — and — 
 don't look so vexed, puss, because I couldn't 
 help it." 
 
 "Never mind, darling," she answered, 
 quietly. " I will read to you now."
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 257 
 
 She finished the portion and then rose to 
 bid. him good-night. As she took him in her 
 arms, he seemed so dear to her, and so fragile 
 a creature to be everything she possessed in 
 the world, that a sudden impulse moved her to 
 exclaim : 
 
 " Bertie, let me say my prayers here for to- 
 night, let me kneel by the side of your bed ; 
 and put your hand in mine, and we will say 
 our prayers together," and as she spoke, she 
 sunk upon her knees, and buried her face upon 
 her brother's hand. 
 
 What Robert Brooke prayed for, was best 
 known to himself, but Nelly's prayer was all 
 for patience under the trial which had come 
 upon her. For it was a trial, and destined to 
 be a heavy on^?— though as yet, she guessed it 
 not. 
 
 But when her prayer was concluded, she was 
 enabled to gp quietly to her own room and 
 compose herself to rest without shedding any 
 more tears for the estrangement which must 
 thenceforth exist between herself and her friends 
 at Orpington Chase. 
 
 VOL. I. 17
 
 CHAPTEE XYIL 
 
 NELLY HOLDS A VIGIL WITH THE VICAR. 
 
 Nelly's first thoughts upon waking the next 
 morning, were for her grandfather, and her 
 first visit was paid to his room, where she 
 was shocked to find him strangely altered from 
 what she had seen him last. Mr. Brooke, 
 within the memory of his granddaughter, had 
 always been a spare, withered old man ; but 
 his skin had not worn the appearance of parch- 
 ment which it did now, nor had he ever, with 
 all his taciturn and unsociable habits, dis- 
 played such extreme languor as seemed to 
 have come over him with his illness. Nelly 
 would not have been surprised to find him 
 very irritable and unpleasant ; but it startled 
 her to see that neither the fact of her unex- 
 pected return, nor anything she said, had the 
 power to rouse the least spark of interest in 
 the old man's breast. He was lying on his 
 side when she entered the room, vacantly
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 259 
 
 gazing at the streaks of light which the morn- 
 ing sun was painting across his window-blind, 
 and appeared to notice neither her entrance 
 nor the kiss with which she saluted his " un^ 
 lifelike cheek, unless raising his dim eyes 
 for a moment to her face might be termed 
 such. 
 
 " Well, grandpapa '/' said the girl, cheerfully, 
 as she drew a chair towards him, and sat down 
 by the bedside, " are you not surprised to see 
 me home again ?" 
 
 The old man looked at her for a moment, 
 and then said enquiringly ; 
 
 " You've been away, my dear ?" 
 
 " ISTow, I do think you might have invented 
 a better compliment to pay me on my return 
 than that, grandpapa," replied Nelly, pretend- 
 ing to pout. " Here have I been flattering 
 myself all the time that you missed me terribly, 
 and I can see that you are not quite sure 
 whether I have been in the house or not." 
 
 But the pleasant tones did not provoke any 
 corresponding cheerfulness from Mr. Brooke. 
 He sighed once or twice, and then turned his 
 eyes away from Nelly's face in the direction of 
 the window blind. 
 
 " Will you have the blind drawn up ?" she 
 asked, observing his action. " It is a beautiful 
 
 17—2
 
 260 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 bright momiDg, and it will make your room 
 less gloomy." 
 
 But he only shook his head with an air of 
 complete indifference. 
 
 " I was sorry to hear you had caught so bad 
 a cold, grandpapa," recommenced Nelly. " How 
 did you manage it ?" 
 
 "I don't know," said the invalid languidly. 
 
 " You are so used to getting wet when you 
 are out for one of your long walks, that it could 
 scarcely be that," continued the girl. *' You 
 don't mind a wetting at all, do you, grandpapa ? 
 Where do you feel it most, in your throat or 
 your chest?" 
 
 He did not answer, and she repeated the 
 question. 
 
 " Were you speaking, my dear ?" he said, at 
 length. 
 
 Nelly's patience was nearly exhausted, but 
 she managed to make him understand that she 
 was asking for particulars of his illness. 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know," was all the satis- 
 faction she gained from her perseverance, and 
 with a face of alarm she flew down to seek old 
 Aggie in the kitchen. 
 
 " Aggie ! I am certain that grandpapa is 
 very ill indeed ; I never saw anyone so changed 
 in my life. His skin is as yellow as a guinea,
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 261 
 
 and he doesn't seem to understand anything '^ 
 say to him. How long has he been like 
 this?" 
 
 " He has been ailing on and off ever since 
 you left Bickton, Miss Nelly, and before that 
 too, though you young ones didn't see it. But 
 I don't think he is so very changed in appear- 
 ance, poor gentleman, as you seem to imagine. 
 You must remember that you haven't seen him 
 for better than three weeks, and we notice a 
 deal after absence, that we think little of when 
 it's going on in the same house with us. But 
 your grandpa is ill. Miss Nelly, as I told you 
 last night, and what's more, it's my belief he'll 
 never be any better." 
 
 " Oh ! don't say that, nurse !" exclaimed the 
 girl with a look of genuine distress. " What 
 would become of Bertie and me if poor grand- 
 papa was to die and leave us alone ? I will 
 write a note to Mr. Bumble at once, and when 
 Jem Locke comes round with the milk, you 
 must tell him to take it to Mrs. Weston, and 
 ask with my love if she will send it to Cock- 
 thorpe for me. I am sure she will if she pos- 
 sibly can." 
 
 " And why don't you run up to the Farm 
 yourself with it, Miss Nelly ? It's a rare fine 
 morning, and I guess Mrs. Weston will be
 
 262 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 longing to have a siglit of you, and to hear all 
 you've been about." 
 
 For a moment Nelly looked undecided, but 
 then she shook her head : 
 
 " No, nursey, don't tempt me ; Jem will 
 carry the note quite safely, and there's more 
 than enough to be done in the house as it is. 
 I am sure grandpapa should not be left alone, 
 either you or I must sit in his room. As soon 
 as I have written the note for the doctor, I will 
 go up and see after Bertie and him." 
 
 " You've a thought for everybody before 
 yourself," said old Aggie, as she looked after 
 her with an admiring gaze. " Alone, aye ! 
 that's what you'll both be before long, sure 
 enough ; but whilst there's a bit or a sup re- 
 maining, you'll not let the other want, / 
 know." 
 
 Nelly wrote her note ; let out Thug for a 
 scamper, to accompany him in which, down 
 the dear old nut^walk, was a sore temptation 
 to her ; and then, filling her apron with wood 
 and paper, seized a scuttle of coals in the other 
 hand, and proceeded upstairs to lay and light 
 a fire in her grandfather's bedroom. 
 
 " The days are chilly now, Aggie, although 
 they are so bright," she said as she did so, 
 " and I am sure grandpapa will be more com-
 
 NELLY 1BR00KE. 263 
 
 fortable with a good big fire. It will cheer 
 him up and make the room look less dull." 
 
 "Let me do it for him then, my dear," 
 interposed the nurse, trying to wrest the 
 scuttle from her hands, " you'll blacken your 
 fingers so." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," said Nelly, successfully 
 resisting the attempt, "you mind your own 
 business, Aggie, and get ready a nice cup of 
 chocolate for him. Why! I wonder how many 
 times in my life before my fingers have been 
 black. But, nursey," as a sense of humour 
 struck her, " only fancy ! suppose Aunt Eliza 
 could see me now, what loould she say ?" 
 
 And Nelly laughed, although the laugh 
 was turned into a sigh before she was half 
 way up the stairs, as she remembered how 
 little chance there was of her ever shocking or 
 pleasing " Aunt Eliza " again. 
 
 Soon the new-made, fire was crackling and 
 burning up the wide chimney of Mr. Brooke's 
 old-fashioned grate ; and the invalid actually 
 turned his eyes towards the bright flame with 
 something like interest at the unusually cheer- 
 ful sight and sound which had found its way 
 into his dreary room. 
 
 Then Nelly examined both the patient and 
 his bedclothes, and came to the conclusion 'that
 
 264 NELLY brooe:e. 
 
 a couple more blankets would be very accept- 
 able to bim, and that it was absolutely neces- 
 sary that bot-water bottles were at once ap- 
 plied to bis clay-cold feet. When she bad 
 flown up and down stairs a few times more, 
 in order to make the necessary arrangements 
 to carry out her design, she asked the old 
 nurse if the cup of chocolate was yet 
 ready. 
 
 " It is ready, Miss Nelly, and a nice -piece 
 of toast besides ; but I'm afraid you won't get 
 him to take it. That's the worst sign about 
 your grandpa, Miss, to my mind. He has 
 hardly eaten anything for the last week. 
 However, it won't be wasted, for Master 
 Eobert likes a cup of chocolate in the morn- 
 ings, better than tea." 
 
 " Does he ?" exclaimed Nelly ; " then make 
 another, please, nurse, for I mean grandpapa 
 to take this one, whether he likes it or no ! — 
 I've warmed him outside, and this will warm 
 him inside, and then, you shall see, he'll be all 
 right again." 
 
 " The sight of you is enough to warm any- 
 one, without fires, my bird," said the old ser- 
 vant, as she prepared the second cup of choco- 
 late according to her young lady's bidding. 
 When it was ready, she placed it on a tray,
 
 NELLY BEOOKE. 265 
 
 and went to seek Nelly in her grandfather's 
 bedroom. 
 
 "Not that it will be needed for Master 
 Eobert," she thought, as she did so ; " but 
 Miss Nelly shall drink it instead. T don't see 
 why everyone is to be waited on, saving 
 herself." 
 
 But what was Aggie's astonishment on get- 
 ting upstairs to find that old Mr. Brooke had 
 suffered himself to be raised upon his pillows, 
 and had already consumed half of the cup of 
 tempting hot chocolate and several of the thin 
 strips of crisp, brown toast, with which his 
 granddaughter had served him. 
 
 " Bless my soul," exclaimed old Aggie, as 
 she entered the doorway and set down her 
 tray upon the nearest table from sheer sur- 
 prise ; " here's a transfiguration — ■ I never 
 could have believed it, if I hadn't seen it, not 
 upon a Bible oath." 
 
 The room certainly did appear to have 
 undergone a considerable change, although it 
 was but a touch which it had received here 
 and there, from Nelly's affectionate fingers. 
 The blind was now drawn completely up, and 
 the October sun, bright but subdued, streamed 
 mildly in at the window before which had been 
 placed a small table from the sitting-room,
 
 266 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 with a vase of variously- coloured clirysantlie- 
 mums on it, and a few of the old man's favourite 
 books and fossils. In the grate, the crack- 
 ling flame had given place to a warm, glowing 
 fire, and what was of more importance a faint 
 colour from renewed heat already tinged the 
 face of the dying man. For Mr. Brooke was 
 dying, and the two women who tended him 
 knew it, although they had not done more 
 than hint the truth to one another. 
 
 Leaving the nurse to attend to her grand- 
 father's wants, Nelly took Bertie's chocolate 
 into his room with her own hands, and waked 
 him from sleep with a warm, loving caress. 
 
 The day wore on ; but the parish doctor 
 did not make his appearance. Old Mr. Brooke, 
 though certainly revived for a time by the 
 prompt attention of his granddaughter, had 
 again sunk into a languid, half-waking, half- 
 sleeping condition, which was evidently be- 
 gotten of extreme weakness. The afternoon 
 had alreatly reached its prime, when Nelly 
 suddenly entered the dining-room, and ad- 
 dressed her brother : 
 
 " Bertie, darling, could you spare me for an 
 hour or two ?" 
 
 " What for?" he demanded. " You are not 
 going out, Nelly, surely. It is very cold this
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 267 
 
 afternoon ; more like December than Oc- 
 tober." 
 
 She walked over to the fire-place, and com- 
 menced making up the fire. 
 
 " It is cold, darling, and you feel it all the 
 more from taking no exercise. I cannot say 
 I anticipate going out myself, but I think 
 it is necessary. Charley Weston has just 
 brought me a note from his mother. Mr. 
 Bumble was out when the messenger reached 
 Cockthorpe this morning, and no one knew 
 where he had gone, or how long he would be : 
 they could only promise to give it to him 
 when he returned. But Charley says that 
 Locke is going to drive the tax-cart over to 
 Eeddington this afternoon, and if you can 
 spare me, I will get a seat in it as far as 
 Bickton Proper, and go and speak to Mr. 
 Eay about grandpapa. I am really very 
 much- frightened about him, Bertie ; I am 
 sure he is very ill indeed, and so is 
 Aggie." 
 
 " I don't believe it," replied her brother ; 
 "a heavy cold always makes a person feel 
 drowsy. And what good can Mr. Bay possi- 
 bly do him ?" 
 
 " He will come over here, and talk to him, 
 and comfort him. I am sure he will if he is
 
 268 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 not otherwise engaged, and you know he is 
 grandpapa's greatest friend." 
 
 "And how are you to get back again, 
 Nell?" 
 
 " I shall walk." 
 
 "Walk three miles, on an afternoon like 
 this ; why it will be dark before you return." 
 
 "So it has often been before, dear Bertie, 
 when necessity has taken me from home. One 
 cannot think of such little things as cold and 
 darkness, when sickness is in the case." 
 
 He had often and often known her to go on 
 far less important errands for himself, in far 
 worse weather, but Eobert Brooke was apt to 
 overlook sacrifices which were made for his 
 own benefit. 
 
 " Why can't you go on Mrs. Weston's pony 
 — if you must go ?" he next demanded. 
 
 " I asked if I could have the pony, but he 
 has gone with the cart for firewood." 
 
 " Would not a note to Mr. Eay answer all 
 your purpose, Nelly? Locke could easily 
 leave it at the vicarage." 
 
 " I don't think it would, dear, or I should 
 have proposed it. In the first place Locke 
 does not pass the vicarage — it would be quite 
 a quarter of a mile out of his way ; and se- 
 condly, I do not wish to give Mr. Eay the
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 269 
 
 trouble of coming here to-night, unless he 
 thinks it necessary himself; and I am afraid I 
 could not explain everything to him in a note 
 as I could by word of mouth — I'd better go 
 and see him. May I not go, darling ? — Won't 
 you let me?" she concluded, as she leaned 
 over her brother's couch, and looked coaxingly 
 in his face. 
 
 " I suppose I must, if you are bent on it," 
 he answered, rather sulkily. 
 
 " I will not stay a minute longer than is ne- 
 cessary, Bertie. I shall not be gone more than 
 two hours, I hope." 
 
 " I think it is rather hard I should have to 
 give you up the very first day," he grumbled. 
 
 " Oh, Bertie ! and it is hard to go," she 
 said, flying back to the sofa she had quitted. 
 ** But Mr. Bumble may not be here, you 
 know, even, by to-morrow morning, and the 
 vicar may be able to tell us what is best to 
 give grandpapa, or to do for him. He is very 
 clever about sickness, and the poor people say 
 they would as soon take his physic as the 
 doctor's. And I would leave you for nothing 
 less, dear, would I ?" 
 
 And she smiled at him, trying fondly to 
 provoke a smile in return. But in vain ; none 
 appeared.
 
 270 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " Well, if you are going, you had better go 
 at once," said Eobert Brooke. " I hope you'll 
 enjoy a drive in an open tax cart, on a day 
 like this — it's more than I should." And he 
 shrugged his shoulders, expressive of the cold, 
 and his wonder at his sister's determination. 
 
 But Nelly, sending Charley Weston as an 
 advance messenger to the farm, wrapped her- 
 self up as warmly as she could, and ran across 
 the common to her friend's house. The drive 
 in the tax cart was certainly a very cold one ; 
 to say nothing of its being exceedingly dull, 
 for of course Jem Locke was not in a position 
 to speak to the young lady he was driving, 
 unless he was spoken to ; and his only idea 
 of politeness was to edge himself as far away 
 from her, on the seat, as he could, so that 
 there should be no possibility of his velveteen 
 suit coming in contact with her woollen dress. 
 He had received strict orders from his mistress 
 to drive Miss Brooke right up to the vicarage 
 gates, therefore she was spared the quarter- 
 mile whi^h she had intended to walk. 
 
 Mr. Ray, fortunately, was at home ; and his 
 wife and daughters were delighted, as they 
 always were, to see Nelly, and would have 
 kept her at the vicarage for the evening had 
 she not looked alarmed at the mere proposal.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 271 
 
 But as soon as she had made the state of her 
 grandfather known to him, the vicar expressed 
 his determination to walk back with her, to 
 the Farm Cottage, at once. He had heard 
 nothing of Mr. Brooke's illness ; and re- 
 proached himself bitterly for having permitted 
 business, during the previous week, to inter- 
 fere with his usual visit to Little Bickton. 
 He looked very grave as Nelly detailed the old 
 man's symptoms, and said that the doctor had 
 not yet seen him. 
 
 " But how is that, Nelly ?" he asked as they 
 walked quickly together in the direction of 
 her home (for the vicar's stable was a very 
 modest one, and he only kept one horse for 
 his own riding). *' What were your brother 
 and old Aggie about, not to let Bumble know 
 sooner of your grandfather's illness ?" 
 
 " I hardly know,'' replied the girl, " I saw 
 the change in him at the first glance, but 
 Aggie says it would be more apparent to me 
 after an absence, than to those who watched 
 him daily. But she knew that grandpapa was 
 not well, for she told me so as soon as I 
 arrived." 
 
 " She waited, I suppose, for the ruling power 
 of the house to return before she ventured to 
 do anything ; eh, Nelly ?"
 
 :272 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " I don't know, sir, I'm sure ; but they are 
 Tery foolish if they wait for me in a case like 
 this — grandpapa might have died before I 
 came back." 
 
 " Ah ! you should never leave them, Nelly ; 
 that's the truth : the Cottage is like a boat 
 without its rudder, when you are away." 
 
 " I never wished to go," she replied, " my 
 .brother and grandfather settled it all for me." 
 
 " And how did you enjoy your visit ?" 
 
 At this question and several which followed 
 it, poor Nelly was sorely discomfited ; she 
 would have dearly liked to have told Mr. Eay, 
 who was her earliest friend and teacher, all her 
 perplexity concerning Orpington Chase, and its 
 inmates, and to have asked his advice on the 
 subject, but she dared not, without first con- 
 sul tin sr Bertie. So her answers were con- 
 strained and given with hesitation, and the 
 vicar came to the conclusion that the country 
 girl's visit to her grand relations had been 
 anything but a pleasure to her. 
 
 "They looked down upon her, I suppose, 
 poor little soul !" he mused. " Well, it's only 
 a foretaste of what the world will give her 
 by-and b3^e.'* 
 
 When they arrived at the Farm Cottage, and 
 Mr. Kay had seen his old friend, he liked his
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 273 
 
 appearance so little that lie expressed his wish, 
 if they could give him a bed, to remain at 
 Little Bickton all night, or at all events until 
 the doctor had been and given his opinion of 
 the case, and dispatched a message to the 
 vicarage to that effect, and a second note to 
 Cockthorpe to urge Mr. Bumble at all hazards 
 to come as soon as he received it. He di- 
 rected Nurse Aggie to feed her sinking master 
 with small portions of arrowroot and brandy 
 whenever she could get it down his throat, 
 and to keep up the animal heat as much as 
 lay in her power. But it was almost too late 
 even for these last offices ; no amount of 
 flannel and hot water now appeared capable 
 of restoring the circulation to those death- cold 
 extremities : and the drops of arrowroot and 
 brandy oftener trickled down the outside than 
 the inside of that fixed and passive mouth. 
 
 After the first bustle of their arrival, Mr. 
 Brooke did not appear to know either Mr. 
 Eay or his granddaughter ; and by the time 
 that night had again closed in, he did not un- 
 close his eyes when spoken to, and his breath 
 could scarcely be discerned with the aid of a 
 looking-glass. 
 
 " He is much worse since this morning," 
 VOL. I. 18
 
 274 NELLY BROOKE, 
 
 whispered Nelly in a tone of alarm to tlie 
 vicar. 
 
 " I fear lie will not live to see another," was 
 the ominous reply. 
 
 Meanwhile, old Aggie having been made 
 cognisant of Mr. Eay's opinion of her master's 
 condition, wandered listlessly up and down 
 the staircase, wringing her hands and whim- 
 pering as she thought it right to do, although 
 she did not feel any great concern at the im- 
 pending event, for " after all," as she said to 
 herself in the kitchen, " 'tis only what may be 
 expected when folks have nearly lived to count 
 their ninety year." 
 
 And Eobett Brooke smoked his pipe in the 
 dining-room, giving it as his opinion that they 
 were making a great fuss about nothing ; 
 that in all probability his grandfather would 
 be walking about as well as ever that day 
 week, and it was a great bore that Nelly 
 couldn't sit quietly with' him for a minute 
 together, but she must run upstairs again to 
 ask how the old man was going on. 
 
 Yet, long after Eobert's pipe had been put 
 out, and he had had his supper and been at- 
 tended to his bed, and nurse Aggie, although 
 she professed to keep a watch by her dying 
 master, had sunk, back in her cosy armchair
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 275 
 
 by tlie kitclieii fire, and fallen fast asleep, 
 Nelly and the vicar sat together in the old 
 man's room, holding a vigil which would have 
 been altogether silent, except for the light 
 sound of the girl's footfall as she occasionally 
 crept up on tiptoe to the side of the bed, or 
 for Mr. Eay's whispered enquiry as she re- 
 turned, " How is he going on ?" 
 
 The friendly vicar sat on one side of the 
 fireplace with his bible in his hand, sometimes 
 trying to read a few verses by the dim light 
 of the shaded lamp : oftener, gazing thought- 
 fully into the fire as he mused upon the life 
 which was fast ebbing away without giving a 
 sign that it had any hope of befcg eternally 
 renewed, whilst Nelly, seated on a stool upon 
 the hearthrug, leaned her head upon her hand 
 and tried to picture the earthly future which 
 was looming for Bertie and herself. 
 
 The long night passed at length, and the 
 grey autumn dawn broke coldly. Nelly shud- 
 dered as she attempted to build up the 
 waning fire without making a noise, and the 
 vicar rose from his seat and stretched himself 
 silently and shivered in unison. Then he 
 blew out the candle which burned yellow in 
 the morning light, and stepped up to the bed- 
 
 18—2
 
 276 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 side and examined the invalid long and ear- 
 nestly. 
 
 " Shall I warm up the arrow-root again ?" 
 asked Nelly, 'presently. " Do you think it 
 will be of any use ?" 
 
 He did not answer, but went to the win- 
 dow and pulled up the blind in the sick man's 
 face. 
 
 " Will not that disturb him ?" inquired 
 the girl, anxiously. " I wish the doctor would 
 come — how is he going on, Mr. Bay?" 
 
 He was not going on at all. He was 
 gone ! 
 
 Eobert Brooke did not awake that morning 
 till after his usual time. He yawned, and 
 turned himself in his bed, until he was so 
 fully roused that he felt certain it must be 
 past his hour of rising, and rang his bell im- 
 patiently, to ask the reason of the delay in 
 his sister's appearance. 
 
 She answered the summons at once, with 
 eyes that bore evidence of weeping, but with 
 the same sweet smile on her mouth with which 
 she always welcomed her brother. 
 
 " Can't I have my tea, Nell ?" he inquired, 
 with an air of injury. 
 
 "Yes, dear! of course — directly. •! had 
 not forgotten it — but poor grandpapa "
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 277 
 
 " What of him— is he worse ?" 
 
 " Oh ! Bertie," she exclaimed, with her 
 arms about her brother's neck, " he is dead 
 — he died this morning, and we have only 
 each other, darling, to love and live for now ! 
 But I wish," added Nelly, — ^her thoughts na- 
 turally falling back into the channel which 
 they had occupied for the last two hours,- — 
 " I do wish he had seen the doctor first."
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 NIGEL BROOKE WHITES A LETTER TO HIS 
 COUSIN. 
 
 It was on a Tuesday evening that Nelly liad 
 returned to her home. Old Mr. Brooke died 
 on the Thursday morning, and the vicar re- 
 mained at the Farm Cottage, with the brother 
 and ^sister, until the doctor had called and 
 given his opinion respecting the cause of their 
 grandfather's death. Mr. Bumble was a 
 cheery, rosy little man, who had slapped 
 Nelly and Eobert as often as he had kissed 
 them, and given them sugar-plums with one 
 hand while he pulled out their teeth with the 
 other. But he had always taken a sincere 
 interest in the twin children and their grand- 
 father, as did everyone who knew them, and 
 he was greatly shocked and annoyed on ar- 
 riving at Little Bickton at nine o'clock that 
 morning, to find there was no longer any need 
 for his advice or services. 
 
 " It was not my fault, I can assure you," he
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 279 
 
 said apologetically to Mr. Eay, who met him 
 with the news. " I was called out fifteen 
 miles the other side of Cockthorpe, yesterday 
 morning, to a premature labour ; and I had 
 two messengers sent after me before I could 
 leave that place, to summon me to a couple 
 more cases of the same description going on 
 in my own village. It's always the way with 
 women ; they are the most provoking creatures 
 in the world : as soon as one of them falls ill 
 every female in the same condition follows 
 suit. I never come in from a labour, but I 
 expect to hear that the cat's kittened during 
 my absence, and the dog has got another litter 
 of puppies. But, Grod bless my soul, sir ! this 
 has been very sudden, surely ; very sudden, 
 indeed. I never entered my own house from 
 the time I left it, till this morning, and the 
 first thing I saw was your note, and that of 
 Miss Nelly; and I just swallowed a mouthful 
 of breakfast, and was ofi* again immediately. 
 But I had no idea it was so serious as this. 
 How long had the poor old gentleman been 
 ill ? What has Miss Nelly been about not to 
 send for me before ?" 
 
 " Nelly has been away from home," replied 
 the vicar, " and the boy is as you know rather 
 careless on such points, and I fancy that the
 
 280 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 old woman is getting past her work. It is an 
 unfortunate thing that it should have hap- 
 pened just when the girl was absent. The only 
 fact of any consequence, which I can gather 
 concerning Mr. Brooke's illness, is, that he 
 appears to have caught a violent cold when 
 the weather changed about a fortnight since, 
 and that after a few days he took to his bed 
 and gradtially sunk. But no one seems to have 
 thought him seriously ill, until Nelly returned 
 and saw him." 
 
 " Ah ! I understand," said the doctor, sig- 
 nificantly ; " inflammation of the bronchial 
 tubes and rapid decrease of the vital power in 
 consequence — it's a common cause of death in 
 old people : I daresay I could not have pro- 
 longed his life beyond a few days, even had T 
 been called in at once ; but that is no excuse 
 for the neglect — no excuse whatever." 
 
 On viewing the corpse, Mr. Bumble saw no- 
 reason to alter his opinion ; and after Mr. Eay 
 had said a few affectionate words of comfort 
 to Nelly and her brother, he left the cottage 
 in company with the doctor, promising to see 
 them again on the following Sunday, when he 
 would make all the necessary arrangements for 
 the interment. 
 
 Consequently, for the next two days, the
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 281 
 
 orphans were left alone, and very sad days 
 they were, at least for one of them. Dull and 
 monotonous they must have been in any case, 
 but since the conversation which they had held 
 on the night of her return, there had sprung 
 up a slight barrier to that perfect sympathy 
 which hitherto had existed between Nelly and 
 her brother, which, without decreasing her 
 idolatrous love for Bertie, had power to mar 
 the pleasure of their intercourse. During the 
 short period of her grandfather's illness, she 
 had not had time to give more than a passing 
 shudder to the dreadful history she had then 
 learned, or a regret to the coming quarrel 
 which she saw her brother was determined 
 to have with Nigel Brooke. But, now that 
 the motive for action was withdrawn, and there 
 was nothing to do but to sit beside Bertie's 
 couch in the darkened room, her first opinion 
 regarding what he had told her, returned in 
 full force. 
 
 It was not that Nelly thought less than 
 Eobert did of the terrible way by which their 
 father had met his death ; on the contrary, 
 her feminine nature recoiled from the mere 
 mention of blood; and she was fully aware 
 that the fact that Nigel's parent had shed 
 that of hers, must and ought to make a
 
 282 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 difference in the intercourse between their 
 children. Whether this necessity would 
 blight her future happiness, the girl as yet 
 knew too little of her own heart to stop, or 
 wish to stop to inquire. What most troubled 
 her affectionate nature was that Bertie should 
 act ungratefully, and wish to make her appear 
 to do the same, towards the people who had 
 been kind to both of them. It might not 
 have been judicious or right of her cousin 
 Nigel, under the circumstances, to attempt to 
 renew a connexion which had been dissolved 
 for years ; but Nelly was sure that he had 
 done it for the best, that he had wished to do 
 them good and not evil, by coming down to 
 Little Bickton, and inviting them to Orpington 
 Chase. She did not desire, or, at least, she 
 knew that she ought not to desire (which 
 seemed all the same thing) to hold any further 
 communication with her aunt and cousin ; but 
 she did wish (and in this she felt there could 
 be no wrong) that the resolution at which 
 Bertie and she had arrived, might be told 
 them with as little offence as possible. 
 
 She had little, during these two days, to 
 divert her mind from this topic. Her friend 
 Mrs. Weston would have been only too pleased 
 to have come and spent part of that lonely
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 283 
 
 time with her young favourite ; but although 
 she loved Nelly dearly, there had always ex- 
 isted a species of silent antagonism between 
 Eobert Brooke and the mistress of the Farm, 
 and she feared lest an offer which the sister 
 might have gratefully accepted, would be re- 
 sented by the brother as an act of interference. 
 So she contented herself with writing Nelly 
 little sympathetic notes, which Charley daily 
 delivered, and in which she earnestly begged 
 her to let her know if there was anything in 
 which she could be of use to her in the present 
 emergency. 
 
 Nelly answered the notes kindly, denying 
 the want of any assistance, and then returned 
 to her seat beside her brother's sofa, to ponder 
 in what words she could best bring him round 
 to think about Nigel Brooke as she did her- 
 self. She was no coward ; with all her sweet- 
 ness of disposition and fear to offend those 
 she loved, she was brave where the truth was 
 concerned, and she would rather have made 
 Bertie angry than have permitted him without 
 remonstrance to act in a manner which was 
 unbecoming. Many people in this world get 
 the credit of having very sweet dispositions, 
 because they are simply too indolent or too
 
 284 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 craven to stand up for the right when they 
 both know and see it. 
 
 Nelly Brooke was not one of these ; had 
 she been, the whole tenour of her life would 
 have been changed. Her spirit was naturally 
 high, and her soul rebelled against anything 
 which was unjust or ungenerous. She could 
 see her own faults and those of others plainly 
 enough, and the reason why she succumbed in 
 everything to a brother so infinitely inferior 
 to herself, was because her overwhelming love, 
 whilst it could not entirely blind her to his 
 failings, made her willing to bear all things 
 from him and for him. 
 
 Love ruled her spirit, and through love 
 Bertie ruled herself; and a few months back 
 she would probably have submitted without a 
 murmur to his decree touching her future 
 treatment of her aunt and cousin. 
 
 But, for the first time in her life, there was 
 rising in her heart (though unconfessed) a tiny 
 rival in her affection for her brother, and the 
 infant feeling had sufiicient strength to . cast 
 out fear. 
 
 And so, as time went on, and no mention 
 was made of the necessity of letting Nigel 
 Brooke know of his grandfather's death, Nelly 
 determined that she would remonstrate with
 
 NELLY BUOOKE. 285 
 
 Eobert, however cross lie miglit be with her, 
 before she let him offer such an indignity to 
 one who was now the head of the family, as 
 to permit him to learn the news from a foreign 
 source. An opportunity for broaching the 
 subject soon presented itself to her, for on 
 the Saturday morning old Aggie put a letter 
 into her hands, in the address of which she had 
 no difficulty in recognising the bold firm writ- 
 ing of her cousin Nigel. It was dated from 
 London, and had been written two days 
 previously. 
 
 " My Dear Cousin Nelly, 
 
 "I only waited in Hilstone long enough 
 to see Pinner return, and to hear the news 
 that she had safely started you on your road 
 to Little Bickton, before I came up to town 
 to see about Bertie's bath chair. I hope 
 that the fly did not break down before it 
 reached the Farm Cottage, but if it did I am 
 quite sure that your loving little self would 
 have walked all the rest of the way, and felt 
 no fatigue until you were in Bertie's arms 
 again. However, doubtless before this you 
 have sent my mother the whole account of 
 your journey, and I shall hear it from her on 
 my return. I trust you found your grand-
 
 286 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 father better, and that lie will soon be well 
 enough to spare you to come back and pay 
 the Chase another visit, and bring Bertie with 
 you. The little grey will fall sick else, for 
 want of exercise, for no one is to be allowed 
 to ride him until you return. I call him 
 * Miss Nelly's horse' now, and have told the 
 groom to get him a new set of clothing for the 
 winter, that he may not disgrace his mistress. 
 But I am forgetting the chair, which is really 
 a great beauty, and which started by rail for 
 Eeddington to-day. I could not ascertain at 
 this end by what means it is to be transported 
 from Eeddington to Bickton, or I should have 
 given orders for its being forwarded, but 
 doubtless there is a carrier between the places 
 who will call for it if you desire him to do so. 
 Give it, with my love, to Bertie, and tell him 
 I trust it may aiford him a few, if not many 
 pleasant hours. I think he will approve of 
 it. It is like the one lined with blue cloth, 
 which you so much admired the day we 
 lunched at Dr. Monkton's, and has a hood, 
 and glasses to shut down in front in case of 
 rain. Let me know of its safe arrival. I had 
 it carefully packed, and hope it will not get 
 scratched in the transit.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 287 
 
 " Good-bye, my dear Nelly, with love to 
 you all, not forgetting Aggie and Thug. 
 " Believe me, your affectionate Cousin, 
 
 " Nigel Brooke." 
 
 On the perusal of this letter, so friendly 
 and informal, Nelly reddened with alternate 
 pain and pleasure. Her heart melted at the 
 knowledge of her cousin's promptitude and 
 generosity, and at the thought that it must 
 all be wasted ; but] it quailed at the remem- 
 brance of what Bertie had said, that he would 
 try by his presents to pay them for their 
 father's blood. Had Nelly been a coward she 
 would have thrust away this letter or des- 
 troyed it, or at all events delayed the con- 
 fession that she had received it until a few 
 days later. She might easily have done either 
 of the three, for it had arrived early in the 
 morning, and before Bertie had risen from his 
 bed. But her justice told her that, in what- 
 ever spirit, it should be answered, and with 
 the intention of urging that fact upon his con- 
 sideration, she carried it straight into her 
 brother's room. 
 
 " Bertie, I have just received this letter 
 from Nigel Brooke, it concerns you more than 
 myself: shall I read it to you?"
 
 288 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " No ! put it in the fire : I have no wish to 
 hear it !" 
 
 " But you must hear it, darling," she said 
 firmly, as she seated herself on the edge of 
 the bed, "it is a letter which requires an 
 answer and deserves one." 
 
 And without further parley she read it 
 aloud from beginning to end, during 
 which proceeding her brother made no re- 
 mark. 
 
 " Now, Bertie ! what answer am I to 
 send ?" she asked as she refolded the paper. 
 
 " I will have no answer sent at all.'' 
 
 " But the bath chair will be at Eeddington 
 by this time, Bertie, and we must take some 
 notice of its arrival : such a beautiful chair, 
 too (if it is like the one he mentions) with 
 the easiest springs, and cushions, and all lined 
 with cloth : it cost forty -five guineas, I know, 
 at the very least ; and if you choose, you can 
 unscrew the handle, and fix in shafts for a 
 pony or donkey. It was just the thing for 
 you, Bertie, and it would be such a comfort : 
 and it must be lying at the station at Eed- 
 dington now." 
 
 " Let it lie there then !" he said angrily, 
 " it shall rot there before I will lift a finger 
 towards its removal. Have I not told you
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 289 
 
 already, Nelly, that I will accept nothing from 
 the hands of this man, and neither shall you." 
 
 " But, surely I must let him know of your 
 determination, Bertie. You see that this 
 letter was written in perfect ignorance of your 
 feelings respecting him." 
 
 " Not of your own, I suppose ?" said 
 Eobert sneeringly. 
 
 " Of our feelings, darling, I meant," replied 
 Nelly, reddening under the inference. " You 
 know we always think together, and I trust it 
 will never be otherwise; but it would be worse 
 than ungracious, it would be really unfair not 
 to let Nigel Brooke know that we have no 
 intention of using his gift, we must give him 
 the option of sending for it again, Bertie: it 
 is too valuable a thing to be left to spoil 
 unclaimed at a railway station." 
 
 " He has no lack of money," said her 
 brother curtly. " He can well afford the loss." 
 
 " But, dearest, if you do not wish to make 
 use of it yourself," she continued, but stopped 
 short on seeing Eobert rise into a sitting pos- 
 ture on the bed. 
 
 " Do you want to keep up a correspondence 
 with this man ?" he asked, eyeing her suspi- 
 ciously, whilst his lips turned pale with 
 passion. 
 
 VOL. I. 19
 
 290 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 The idea that had once before crossed his 
 mind that his cousin might take a fancy to his 
 sister, returned upon it in that moment. 
 
 " You don't mean to tell me," he added 
 quickly, " that he has had the shame, the 
 audacity to make love to you ?" but the look 
 of offended pride which Nelly turned upon 
 him, forbade his continuation of the subject. 
 
 "You needn't look at me in that way, 
 Nell," he said more quietly, " I hardly sup- 
 posed he had, but why do you think it neces- 
 sary to plead his cause in this fashion ? Do 
 you wish me to accept his gift — the mere 
 offer of which I now feel to be an insult — . 
 and to say ' thank you,' to him prettily, and to 
 remember each time I use it, that it is a love 
 token from the son of my father's murderer ? 
 You seem to me to think vastly little of what 
 I told you the other night. What right has 
 that fellow to address you in those familiar 
 terms, or indeed to address you at all ? You 
 appear altogether to overlook the fact, that at 
 the tinie Nigel Brooke visited us, and ex- 
 tracted a promise from me that you should go 
 to Orpington, he was cognizant of what we 
 have only just learned. He had no right, 
 being in possession of the truth, to take that 
 promise from me. I consider that he inveigled
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 291 
 
 you to the Chase under false pretences, and 
 were he to enter here this moment, I should 
 have no hesitation in telling him so. Not- 
 withstanding his fine speeches, he looks down 
 upon us like the rest of the world, and thinks, 
 I suppose, that anything from his hand is good 
 enough to throw to such paupers as we are. 
 But I'll have none of his charity or his com- 
 miseration, and he shall find that out before 
 long," and seizing the letter which his sister 
 held in' her hand he tore it into pieces, and 
 passionately threw it away. 
 
 Nelly's blue eyes had opened wider and wider 
 with astonishment as her brother proceeded 
 with this outburst, but at his last assertion 
 which she knew to be so utterly unfounded, 
 and the violent act which accompanied it, the 
 surprise in her face faded away and gave place 
 to a look of indignation. 
 
 " For shame, Bertie," she said warmly. 
 "You are very unjust. Nigel Brooke has 
 given neither of us any cause to say that he 
 looks down upon us. Besides, why should he ? 
 and what do you mean by saying ' like the rest 
 of the world.' We are very poor, I know, but 
 that is no reason we should be despised." 
 At these words her brother appeared to 
 
 19—2
 
 292 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 think he had made a mistake, for he coloured 
 as he replied : — 
 
 " You may consider it no reason, Nelly, but 
 the longer you live, the more you will be con- 
 vinced that it is. However, Mr. Nigel Brooke 
 shall not be the one to give you your first 
 lesson. No wonder we never heard his name 
 mentioned before we saw him ! My only sur- 
 prise now is, how my grandfather could ever 
 have given him permission to enter these doors. 
 If he hadn't been an old fool, he " 
 
 " Oh ! hush, hush, darling," cried Nelly, no 
 less shocked than alarmed at her brother's con- 
 tinued vehemence, for agitation was at all 
 times hurtful to him, " remember that he lies 
 dead in the next room to us, and, poor old 
 man, I daresay he did it for the best. We are 
 commanded to forgive, Bertie, as we hope to be 
 forgiven." 
 
 "I shall never be forgiven at that rate," 
 he muttered, sinking down again upon his 
 pillows. 
 
 " Yes, you will, dear ; you will come, some 
 day, to see all things in a different light. 
 Meanwhile, don't think I desire to oppose your 
 wishes, Bertie, in any way. I never have yet, 
 you know, and it is not likely I should begin
 
 NELLY BI100K:E. 293 
 
 now. Not that I tliink you are acting right 
 or fairly in this matter, but " 
 
 "1 don't care what you think," he inter- 
 posed, rudely. 
 
 " But as a question of business. Is it not 
 your part to let Nigel Brooke know of poor 
 grandpapa's death? He was his grandfather, 
 remember, as well as ours." 
 
 " It is nothing to me whose grandfather he 
 was," replied her brother. "Nigel Brooke 
 doesn't hear it from me. 
 
 " Then may I not write a little note, Bertie," 
 she said, persuasively, "not to cousin Nigel, 
 but only to aunt Eliza, just to tell her the 
 bare fact of grandpapa's death and the reso- 
 lution to which we have come, and nothing 
 more ? You can read it, darling, of course, and 
 see all that I say, and I will make it as cold 
 and formal as you please," and she twined her 
 arms about Bertie's neck, and laid her soft 
 cheek coaxingly against his own. But he 
 shook her off with a denial and an oath, such 
 as she had seldom heard from his lips before. 
 Nelly was frightened, not so much at her 
 brother's violence, as at what it might portend. 
 A vague dread began to assail her mind. Tor 
 the first time in her life, she asked her heart 
 if it were possible that there could ever be
 
 294 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 less love betw een Bertie and herself than had 
 existed since their infancy ; less perfect sym- 
 pathy between her soul and the twin soul (so 
 much dearer to her than her own), which had 
 left Heaven at one breath together. 
 
 " Oh, God ! forbid it !" she cried, when she 
 had regained the sanctuary of her own room. 
 "Anything but that, anything in the world 
 rather • than coldness, or distrust, or blame, 
 should come between my darling and myself." 
 
 So nothing more was said at that time about 
 the letter or about the words which it had 
 caused; though all Nelly's affectionate assi- 
 duity failed to rouse her brother from the sullen 
 silence into which he fell after their discussion 
 of the morning.
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 AND RECEIVES A GRATEFUL ANSWER. 
 
 On the following day, however, which was 
 Sunday, the subject was renewed, though not 
 between themselves. It was the turn for 
 afternoon Church at Little Bickton, and when 
 the service was over, Mr. Eay walked into the 
 dining-room at the Farm Cottage, where he 
 found the twins sitting together in the dusk 
 and talking by the firelight. 
 
 The vicar had kindly taken it upon himself 
 to make all the necessary arrangements for 
 Mr. Brooke's funeral; not only because he 
 was an old friend of the family, and knew 
 Eobert to be too helpless to take any part in 
 business, but because he was aware of the 
 contents of the will of their late grandfather, 
 and that he had been named guardian to the 
 brother and sister, in case of their not being 
 of age at the time of the old man's death. He 
 now came to inform them that he had fixed the 
 funeral to take place on the following Wednes-
 
 296 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 day, and that all tliat was needful should be 
 ready by the same time. 
 
 "You are so kind to us, Mr. Eay," said 
 Nelly, placing her little hand in the vicar's ; 
 "I don't know what we should have done 
 without you." 
 
 " Don't begin to praise me too soon, Nelly," 
 he replied, smiling, **' you don't know how stern 
 I can be, when I choose ; perhaps you are not 
 aware that your poor grandfather has named 
 me in his will, as your guardian." 
 
 " Has he ? I am so glad," she said, quietly, 
 leaving her hand in his. Though, had there 
 been a better light in the room than that 
 afforded by the fire, it would have been seen 
 that Bertie's features did not show the same 
 contentment at the news that hers did. 
 
 " Besides," continued Mr. Eay, " I have not 
 done everything for you, Nelly, as you seem to 
 imagine. There is still much to employ both 
 Eobert and yourself, and there will be still 
 more after the funeral. You must let your 
 friends know of the date on which it is fixed to 
 take place. Of course you have already apprised 
 your cousin, Mr. Nigel Brooke, of his grand- 
 father's death ?" 
 
 He glanced towards both the young people 
 as he put the question, but neither of them
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 297 
 
 answered. Eobert kept his sullen eyes fixed 
 upon the fire, and Nelly's cheeks grew hot, 
 and she dared not raise her face. 
 
 "Have you yet heard from your cousin, 
 Eobert ?'' then enquired the vicar, addressing 
 the boy more particularly. " Will he be down 
 to the funeral ?" 
 
 " I don't know," rephed Eobert Brooke. 
 
 But Nelly could not bear an evasion, even 
 from her brother, and she added softly : " We 
 have not told him of it, Mr. Eay." 
 
 " Not told him of it !" echoed the vicar, in 
 his astonishment ; " why, my dear children, 
 what have you been thinking about? — here 
 is Sunday already, and no post out until to- 
 morrow afternoon. Did you forget it, Eo- 
 bert?" 
 
 " No ! I did not forget it," was the unwil- 
 ling reply. 
 
 Mr. Eay was annoyed at the boy's uncom- 
 municative manner, and when he next spoke, 
 it was, for him, rather sharply — 
 
 "Then you have been very wrong to neg- 
 lect such a duty ; for Mr. Nigel Brooke is the 
 first person who should have been informed of 
 the event. I doubt now whether a letter will 
 reach him in time. The idea of the funeral 
 taking place without the presence of the head
 
 298 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 of the family ! It is extremely irregular : he 
 ought to be the chief mourner." 
 
 "I daresay it will take place just as well 
 without him," said Eobert Brooke. 
 
 But Mr. Eay could not forget the negligence 
 of which, as he imagined, the brother and 
 sister had been guilty, and reverted to it seve- 
 ral times during the remainder of his visit. 
 When he rose to go, he said to Eobert — 
 
 " You will be sure and write to your cousin, 
 to-morrow, if you please, and beg him, if pos- 
 sible, to be here by Wednesday. I wish now 
 we could put it ojff till Thursday, but I am 
 afraid we shall not be able to do so, as the 
 men come from Eeddington. If you cannot 
 write yourself, Eobert, mind that your sister 
 does so. Nelly ! I depend upon you that this 
 is not forgotten again." 
 
 Eobert Brooke grumbled out something in 
 reply to this friendly injunction, but it ap- 
 peared so unsatisfactory to the vicar that when 
 he had gained the dark passage, whither Nelly 
 had followed to help him on with his great 
 coat, he turned towards her, and searchingly 
 asked : 
 
 " Nelly, my dear, will Eobert write that 
 letter to your cousin ?" 
 
 She answered him in so low a tone, and
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 299 
 
 witli SO mucli trepidation in her voice that his 
 suspicions of something wrong were confirmed. 
 
 " I don't know, Mr. Eay — indeed I don't 
 know, but I hope he will." 
 
 " But what makes your brother so unwil- 
 ling, Nelly ? Is it obstinacy, or does he dis- 
 like his cousin ? Some one must write, and if 
 he does not, I will." 
 
 " Oh ! I wish you would, Mr. Eay," she 
 whispered, anxiously. " I am afraid Bertie 
 won't ; and that's the truth. There's a quar- 
 rel between them ; not exactly a quarrel, 
 though — a kind of misunderstanding — and I 
 fear it will never be set straight. It is not 
 right, is it, to be hard and unforgiving, and 
 especially at a time like this ?" 
 
 " It is never right, my dear child ; it is 
 wrong at all times, and in this case, as far as 
 I can see, it is absurd and most impolitic. 
 But cannot you write to your cousin, since 
 Eobert will not?" 
 
 " He won't let me," she answered in the 
 same low voice, " and I can't vex him, Mr. 
 Eay — I would rather do anything than vex 
 him." 
 
 " You spoil him altogether, Nelly," said the 
 vicar : " however, I will write myself. Let 
 me see„ what is the " address — Orpington,
 
 300 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 Somerset — is it not? It would be of little 
 use speaking to your brother now ; I can see 
 lie is in no fit state to be argued with, but if 
 Mr. Brooke cannot attend the funeral (which I 
 fear is impossible), he will be sure to come to 
 Bickton afterwards, and then I will enquire 
 more particularly into the quarrel, and see that 
 matters are explained between them." 
 
 And without waiting for Nelly's thanks, 
 Mr. Eay hurried out of the front door into the 
 fog and mist of the autumn evening. 
 
 The vicar's communication left Bickton 
 Proper on the Monday afternoon, and did not 
 reach the Chase until the same time on Wed- 
 nesday, for it was two days' post between the 
 places. 
 
 Mrs. Brooke, who was daily expecting her 
 son back from London, tossed the letter on 
 one side amongst several others which were 
 awaiting his return, and was startled by the 
 exclamation which burst from his lips as he 
 opened it, sitting by her side on the following 
 day. 
 
 He had not been home many minutes, but 
 she had already treated him to a dissertation 
 upon the wicked ingratitude of her late guest, 
 in not having written to properly announce 
 her arrival at Little Bickton, or to thank
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 301 
 
 them for tlie hospitality she had experienced 
 at the Chase : and had been considerably net- 
 tled by Nigel attempting to excuse his cousin's 
 apparent neglect, on the supposition that her 
 grandfather's illness might be more serious 
 ,than she had anticipated, and have fully occu- 
 pied her time. 
 
 " Nonsense ! I .don't believe it in the least," 
 Mrs. Brooke was in the act of saying ; "I 
 always thought there was something sly and 
 artful about that girl ; she made so many pro- 
 fessions " when she was interrupted by her 
 
 son holding up an envelope for her inspection, 
 as he exclaimed : — 
 
 " Good gracious, mother ! when did this 
 arrive r 
 
 Mrs. Brooke did not at all like being dis- 
 turbed in the midst of her speech, and she 
 answered in a tone of offence : — 
 
 " I am sure I do not know, Nigel : yester- 
 day afternoon, most likely, or the day before, 
 but Henderson can tell you better than my- 
 self. Why is it of importance to ascertain ?" 
 
 " Because it is from the clergyman at Bick- 
 ton, and contains an explanation of poor 
 Nelly's misdemeanours. He tells me that my 
 grandfather died last Thursday, and was to be 
 buried yesterday ; so perhaps you'll forgive
 
 302 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 the poor child for not writing now. But, only 
 fancy my not being at the funeral. I am so 
 sorry ; I wish I had been at home when this 
 arrived." 
 
 " You could not have reached there in time, 
 if you had been," replied his mother, without 
 expressing the least concern at the news, " so 
 it is just as well you were not. It was a 
 wretched day, and those country churchyards 
 are the most dreadful places for catching cold. • 
 Shall we have to go into mourning, Nigel ?" 
 
 He looked at her with disgusted surprise. 
 
 " Of course we shall ; what are you think- 
 ing of? Not only ourselves, but the whole 
 household — do you forget he was your hus- 
 band's father? And please see about it at 
 once, for I shall go to Bickton myself, to-mor- 
 row, and probably bring back my cousins with 
 me !" 
 
 At this intelligence Mrs. Brooke looked 
 aghast, but after the discussions which she 
 and her son had already held on the subject, 
 she dared do no more than look. All she ven- 
 tured to remark, was, — 
 
 " You cannot possibly go to-morrow, Nigel, 
 because you have arranged to meet Mr. Pooley 
 here on Saturday." 
 
 This was true, and, moreover, Mr. Pooley
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 303 
 
 was a man of business connected with the 
 house at Calcutta, for Nigel Brooke to speak 
 with whom at that particular juncture was of 
 the utmost importance to the firm. Remem- 
 bering which, he admitted at once the neces- 
 sity of the delay, but chafed under it much 
 more than his mother liked to see. 
 
 " So I have !" he exclaimed, in a tone of 
 annoyance, " and I cannot put him off either, 
 or I would write and do so by to-night's post. 
 I could run down to Bickton by the last train 
 on Saturda}?-, after I have spoken to Pooley, 
 but I particularly asked him to stay with us 
 until Monday, and it won't do to ofiend him. 
 How extremely annoying — -I would give a 
 hundred pounds it should not have happened 
 so." 
 
 " I really think you are making rather too 
 much of it," said Mrs. Brooke. " The funeral 
 is over, you see, and it is not your fault that 
 you did not attend it. You can write to the 
 parson, and to your cousins, if you think it ne- 
 cessary, and tell them so ; and appoint a time 
 to visit them next week. Your presence there 
 now can be of no use, and might be thought 
 an intrusion." 
 
 " I am not afraid of that," replied Nigel, 
 " but I cannot bear to think of those poor chil-
 
 304 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 dren left there by themselves. I want to hear 
 what the will said, too, and how my grand- 
 father has left them ; they may be penniless 
 for aught I know; and lamenting together 
 over their prospects, not half believing all that 
 I have said, respecting my desire and ability 
 to help them." 
 
 " You can surely communicate your disin- 
 terested intentions by letter, Nigel, as effectu- 
 ally as by word of mouth. I have no doubt 
 that your cousins, (from what I have seen at 
 least of Helena's disposition) will be ready 
 enough both to believe and accept them." 
 
 " So I will," he answered, as, roused by her 
 sarcastic tone, and the slur cast on poor Nelly, 
 he rose to leave the room ; "I will write at 
 once, and assure Eobert and his sister that I 
 am ready to share my fortune with them to 
 the last penny." 
 
 Eull of this generous intention, Nigel 
 Brooke penned a letter to his cousin Eobert, 
 in which after expressing his regret at not 
 having seen his grandfather again, or even 
 been able to pay him the last respect of being 
 present at his funeral, he proceeded to oflPer 
 him and his sister all that he had told his mo- 
 ther he should do. He gave him his rea- 
 sons for not being able to go to Little Bickton
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 305 
 
 till the following week: asked him to ap- 
 point the day most convenient to themselves 
 for receiving him there, and begged him, if in 
 want of money before that time, to draw on 
 himself to any amount. He trusted that both 
 he and Nelly would thenceforward look upon 
 him as their elder brother and best friend, and 
 concluded his letter in these words : — 
 
 " Were all the circumstances of our lives, 
 my dear Eoberfc, as fully known to you as 
 some day they must be, you would acknow- 
 ledge that I, of all men, have the best right 
 to offer you assistance, and you to accept it 
 from me.'' 
 
 It was a letter calculated to melt the heart, 
 and soften the rancour of most people, even 
 had the writer been a personal enemy, and it 
 reached the one to whom it was addressed, at 
 a moment when he should have been most open 
 to conviction. 
 
 It reached Eobert Brooke, so short a time 
 after the earth had closed over the last survi- 
 vor of the principal actors in the great quar- 
 rel of which he chose to call himself the 
 avenger, that he might have consented, with- 
 out any great humiliation in his own eyes, to 
 bury the hatchet with his grandfather. But 
 his mind had sunk into so morbid a state, that 
 
 VOL. L 20
 
 306 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 the reception of Nigel's letter only seemed to 
 liave tlie effect of hardening him. He chose 
 to mistake the offers of kindness which it 
 contained for charity : the expressions of sym- 
 pathy for pity ; and the insolent pride of his 
 warped understanding prompted him to make 
 a bitter requital for his cousin's generosity. 
 
 He never shewed Nelly this letter, and al- 
 though she knew that he had received it, their 
 last words upon the subject of Nigel Brooke 
 and the cutting suspicion by which Robert had 
 then wounded her sensibility by ascribing her 
 interest to a warmer feeling, were fresh in her 
 memory, and her pride forbade her to revive 
 anything so unpleasant. 
 
 Knowing how much kindness the writer 
 had always expressed towards them both, she 
 guessed what the letter contained, and trusted 
 that Bertie's good sense and good feeling (in 
 which she, of all the world, alone believed) 
 would lead him to answer it as he should. 
 
 But she trusted too much. 
 
 The youth sat down with a pen dipped in 
 gall, and obeying no dictates, but such as the 
 obstinate enmity he had conceived for Nigel 
 Brooke dictated to him, wrote back such a 
 reply as no man would have dared to send 
 another.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 307 
 
 It was a letter, so utterly unjust, so inso- 
 lent and defiant, that it needed to be seen to 
 be believed. In it, he recapitulated all that 
 he had said to Nelly, with the addition of 
 much which he had purposely avoided telling 
 her ; he informed his cousin that he knew all ; 
 accused him of attempting to deceive and 
 wishing to insult them, and told him that if 
 he ever presumed to offer them money and 
 presents again, he would find both flung back 
 into his face. 
 
 He heaped abuse upon the memory of his 
 dead uncle and grandfather, and finished by 
 desiring never to meet his correspondent again, 
 in terms such as few men could forgive or over- 
 look. 
 
 It was not only the letter of a headstrong 
 and irascible boy, although the writer might 
 well have been termed such ; but it contained 
 so much bitter truth mixed up with its ex- 
 aggerated grandiloquence, that it became too 
 serious a matter to be passed over with a mere 
 smile of contempt. 
 
 20—2
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 NELLY AND BEBTIE ARE LEFT TO THEMSELVES. 
 
 When Eobert Brooke had finished the com- 
 position of this letter, he took good care that 
 it should not meet his sister's eye. He was 
 afraid of Nelly : afraid, not of her angry re- 
 monstrance or blame, but of her coaxing 
 caresses and tearful persuasion. So he bribed 
 a little village boy to carry it to the post-office ; 
 and never even mentioned the fact of its 
 having been written. But Nelly knew all 
 about it, just as well as he did, and giving her 
 brother credit for a virtue which he did not 
 possess, ascribed his reticence on the subject 
 to the fact that the letter he had received had 
 altered his opinion concerning his cousin, and 
 that he was shy of confessing so sudden a 
 change of mind even to herself. 
 
 His answer reached Nigel Brooke just as 
 he was making preparations for starting on his 
 journey to Little Bickton. To accurately de- 
 scribe the effect which it had upon him, glow-
 
 NELLY BROOKE, 809 
 
 ing as lie was with the most ardent generosity, 
 is next to impossible. Iced water poured, 
 without warning, on a heated and feverish 
 frame is the nearest simile which physical 
 nature can produce. At first, he could scarcely 
 believe but that his eyes were playing him 
 false, but when after many a perusal, he was 
 convinced it was no trick that had been served 
 him, his spirit shudderingly recoiled from the 
 ingratitude contained in every line. For a 
 moment he asked himself if it were possible 
 that Nelly, who looked so innocent, and ap- 
 peared so affectionate and true, could be acces- 
 sary to such a cruel insult, but in the next, he 
 had acquitted her. He thought he had reason 
 to believe that she would be averse to any ten- 
 derer attentions from himself than such as a 
 cousin might ofier, but he could not distrust 
 the guilelessness of the nature which she had 
 so frankly displayed to him, or believe her 
 capable of countenancing any unworthy method 
 of rejecting the friendly aid which he had prof- 
 fered her brother. 
 
 And then, after the first shock and disap- 
 pointment were over, the natural sequence to 
 such feelings under such circumstances set in, 
 and Nigel Brooke grew terribly angry; he 
 forgot how often he had himself maintained
 
 310 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 that the brother and sister had more reason 
 to shrink from than cultivate his acquaintance ; 
 he forgot that if his own sense of the injury 
 his father had inflicted on them was deep, 
 theirs must needs be much deeper; every- 
 one is thus apt to forget his former assertions 
 and resolutions when he is wounded to the 
 quick. Eight and wrong seemed suddenly to 
 change places in his opinion as he gazed on 
 the written insult which Robert Brooke had 
 sent him. 
 
 It would have been hard to bear such truths 
 from anyone with equanimity, but it became 
 doubly so when they proceeded from the lips 
 of a mere lad, whom he had designed to lift 
 from a lowly and obscure position to one of 
 luxury, if not distinction. His offer had been, 
 indeed, as his cousin expressed it, flung back 
 in his face again, and with a violence which 
 almost stunned him. " Who is this insolent 
 boy after all ?" he angrily asked himself, " that 
 I should care two straws whether he lives and 
 dies at the expense of his parish, or not. My 
 sense of honour and duty must really be as 
 chimeric as my mother tells me, if an ignorant 
 youth like this can see through the vain ab- 
 surdity of my offers, and threaten to strike me 
 in return. I will concern myself no longer
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 311 
 
 about either of them. From this hour we will 
 remain as unknown to each other as we were 
 three months ago." 
 
 But even whilst this thought passed through 
 the mind of Nigel Brooke, he knew that it 
 could not be. He knew, let others scoff as 
 they would, that he had voluntarily imposed a 
 sacred duty upon himself, and that no ingrati- 
 tude, or insult, or rebuff could justify him to 
 his own conscience in altogether deserting his 
 orphan cousins. He remembered that he had 
 registered an oath before high Heaven, that as 
 long as he lived, neither Eobert or Helena 
 should ever want a friend in time of need ; and 
 he felt that that time, sooner or later, must 
 come. As Nigel Brooke recalled this, all that 
 was best and loftiest in his noble nature came 
 back to his aid, and the anger of which the 
 wayward epistle before him, was really un- 
 worthy, dispersed before it like the morning 
 dew. He rose from his seat, (he had been 
 alone when he received the letter,) and wiping 
 off the cold sweat which passion had caused to 
 gather on his brow, felt that his better self 
 had conquered, and that he could treat Eobert 
 Brooke's insulting missive with the contempt 
 which it deserved. 
 
 " After all, I am certain Nelly has had
 
 312 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 nothing to do with this," so ran his thoughts, 
 " and I could not be so ungenerous as to let her 
 suffer for her brother's faults . She will have 
 enough to bear, as it is, poor dear child ! Ah ! 
 if I had been but a few years younger ; but I 
 have made a vow not to think of that again. 
 It is just as well I saw no more of her, for 
 this business would have put a stop to it, if 
 nothing else had ;" and with a deep sigh Nigel 
 Brooke resumed his seat and began to consider 
 what was the best step for him to take in the 
 matter. But the first thing he did was to tear 
 Eobert's letter into fragments and throw them 
 into the fire. 
 
 " I am not likely to forget it," he thought, 
 as he moodily watched them burn ; " but I 
 will not keep it before me as a constant re- 
 minder of the lad's folly. He will come to 
 see it in that light himself before long, and 
 then he will be thankful to learn that I de- 
 stroyed the mad effusion the same day I re- 
 ceived it." His next idea was, not to postpone 
 his contemplated journey, but to go to Bickton 
 Proper, and speak to the vicar about his cousin's 
 extraordinary behaviour. But a few minutes' 
 consideration made him reject this project as 
 useless. Nothing that Mr. Bay could say to 
 convince Eobert Brooke of his want of reason
 
 NELLY BKOOKE. 313 
 
 in attempting to visit the sins of tlie father 
 upon the son could undo the insult which he 
 had voluntarily written. He might yield to 
 persuasion so far as making an unwilling and 
 humiliating apology for his rudeness was con- 
 cerned, but such a concession was not what 
 Nigel required. He had wished and asked for 
 the free and confiding affection of both his 
 young cousins, and it had been refused him on 
 the part at least of one of them, with so much 
 contempt and abuse, that a formal reparation, 
 founded on no conviction of the injustice of 
 such a proceeding, could never heal the wound 
 which it had inflicted. 
 
 Besides, Nigel Brooke was not aware if the 
 vicar of Bickton knew of the cause for quarrel 
 between Eobert and himself. He thought 
 most probably that he did not, for he had 
 written to him simply in the character of a 
 friend of his late grandfather, and the stories 
 discreditable to the fame of a family are 
 usually the last to be discussed beyond its 
 immediate circle. All that he did know con- 
 cerning Mr. Eay, was that by old Mr. Brooke's 
 will he had been nominated guardian to the 
 brother and sister, for Eobert had mentioned 
 this circumstance in his letter, adding, as proof 
 that they needed neither protection nor assist-
 
 314 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 ance at their cousin's hands, that by the same 
 will, Nelly and he had been left very com- 
 fortably off, and were perfectly able to main- 
 tain themselves. 
 
 To seek an interview with Eobert Brooke 
 after the indignity which his father's name 
 and his own had so lately suffered at his 
 hands, was out of the question. Nigel was 
 ready enough to forgive his cousin, but he 
 felt that when a reconciliation took place 
 between them, the first advances must come 
 from the other side. Whenever the hand of 
 friendship was extended, however late, how- 
 ever unwillingly, he would not be slow to 
 accept it. Meanwhile the only course to be 
 pursued, consistent with his dignity, was 
 to hold aloof from the inmates of the Farm 
 Cottage. 
 
 And he hardly knew what he could say on 
 the subject, even to Mr. Eay. The vicar 
 might be, probably was, a most estimable 
 man, but he was a stranger to him, and with- 
 out entering into all the miserable and dis- 
 graceful details of the case, it was impossible 
 that Nigel Brooke should make him under- 
 stand how far his cousin Eobert was justified, 
 not only in rejecting his offered kindness, but 
 in insultiug him into the bargain. And this
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 315 
 
 he had no intention of doing. He sickened to 
 recall the rude handling which his father's 
 misdeeds had already undergone in the letter, 
 the contents of which, though now reduced to 
 a few white ashes in the grate, were still 
 vividly impressed upon his mind; and he 
 resolved, that since no discussion could do 
 away with the fact of their committal, or the 
 consequences they had left behind them, he 
 would thenceforth preserve a filial silence on 
 the subject. The only conclusion at which he 
 arrived, was that he could do no better than 
 rest quiet until the following morning, before 
 which time he should have decided in what 
 terms to address the guardian of his cousins. 
 
 But when, at length, after much thought 
 and battling with himself, Nigel Brooke rose 
 to leave the study, his face was so pale from 
 the annoyance he had passed through, that 
 his mother at once noticed the alteration in 
 his appearance. 
 
 " Good gracious, Nigel !" she exclaimed, as 
 he entered her presence, " what have you been 
 doing to yourself ? Are you ill?" 
 
 " No ! Do I look so ?" he enquired, with 
 a ghastly smile. 
 
 ' ' Look so ! I should think you did. Why ! 
 you are as white as a ghost.''
 
 316 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 " I have a headache !" he said, wearily, " I 
 have had much to worry me this afternoon, 
 and I feel tired." 
 
 "Nothing wrong in Calcutta, I hope, is 
 there, Nigel?" asked Mrs. Brooke, anxiously, 
 as her son threw himself into a chair. 
 
 " Nothing in the world, mother ! in fact, 
 the house is in a more flourishing state than 
 usual." 
 
 " Then what has annoyed you? Do you 
 still intend to go to Bickton by the early 
 train? You had better put off your journey 
 for a day or two, if you do not feel well." 
 
 " I intend to put it ofiP, mother. I think it 
 is not improbable that I may do so altogether. 
 I find that my grandfather has appointed a 
 guardian for my cousins in the person of the 
 vicar of the parish, Mr. Eay, the same gen- 
 tleman who wrote to me to announce the 
 death ; and he appears quite capable of doing 
 all that is required in looking after their in- 
 terests." 
 
 " You have heard from Bickton, then, 
 which of them wrote, the brother or Helena ? 
 I think it is most extraordinary that I have 
 not received a letter from that girl ! How 
 has the old man left them off?" 
 
 "Very comfortably — so Eobert writes —
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 317 
 
 and quite independent, but he does not men- 
 tion if tliey will continue to live in the Farm 
 Cottage or not." As Nigel said this he tried 
 to speak unconcernedly, but the sound of his 
 voice betrayed that he was acting. 
 
 " You are keeping something from me/' 
 said Mrs. Brooke, curiously, " there is more 
 in the letter than that. What answer do 
 your cousins send to your grand offer of 
 sharing house and home with them ?" 
 
 " Why, what answer could they send ?" he 
 said, with a careless laugh, as he attempted 
 to evade her question. But the next moment 
 he felt it would be useless to try to do so. 
 Before long, his mother must learn the de- 
 cision to which Eobert Brooke had arrived, 
 and it was not worth his while even tempora- 
 rily to deceive her. She would be sure to 
 speak her mind about it at any time, and he 
 might as well hear all she had to say at once, 
 and have it over. 
 
 And so, changing his tone to one more 
 serious, he continued — 
 
 " It is vain to attempt to hide anything 
 from you, mother : it is true that there was 
 a great deal more in my cousin's letter, and 
 much to vex me. He must be a very head- 
 strong and unthinking lad, or he would not
 
 318 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 venture to commit his first impulse to paper 
 as he evidently has done." 
 
 Mrs. Brooke laid down her work upon her 
 lap, and extended her hand. 
 
 " Let me see the letter !" she said eagerly. 
 But her son only smiled at her in a curious 
 manner in reply. 
 
 " Let me read it, won't you ?" she repeated, 
 and then he said : 
 
 "It is out of my power, for I have already 
 destroyed it." 
 
 " Then I am sure it must have been some- 
 thing very had indeed /" exclaimed his mother, 
 with an air of disappointment, as she returned 
 to her employment, "if you could not even 
 shew it to me. What did the boy say ? He 
 surely does not think little of the ofier you 
 made him ?" 
 
 " So little, mother, that he refuses it alto- 
 gether both for Nelly and himself. He rejects 
 both my assistance and my friendship \ and 
 can you guess for what reason ?" 
 
 At this intelligence, Mrs. Brooke was secretly 
 overjoyed, for the thought that her son might 
 bring both his cousins to live at the Chase had 
 been a sore trouble to her. She had no more 
 desire now to receive Helena than she had 
 Eobert. The flimsy enthusiasm which she
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 319 
 
 had conceived for the girl when she found she 
 was useful to her, had all evaporated directly 
 she had occasion to fear that she might prove 
 a rival in the affection of her son. Mrs. 
 Brooke wished Nigel to marry ; but not to fall 
 in love. Many mothers advocate the one 
 idea, who cannot bear even the thought of the 
 other. And she had dreaded the return of 
 Nelly to the Chase, and the love scenes which 
 she foresaw would ensue, and the thought that 
 the little country girl would be mistress then, 
 and her crippled brother a life pensioner on 
 Nigel's bounty, and she — herself — would be 
 nothing ! So she was greatly pleased to learn 
 that there was the prospect of a coolness be- 
 tween her son and Robert Brooke ; and though 
 she had grown too politic to shew her pleasure 
 openly, there was an expression of content 
 mingled with the serious look which she im- 
 mediately affected, which did not escape the 
 notice of the man who sat opposite to her. 
 
 *' Can you guess for what reason ?" were the 
 last words which Nigel had addressed to his 
 mother, and as he pronounced them he looked 
 her in the face. 
 
 It had been part of Mrs. Brooke's later 
 scheme to magnify rather than ignore the 
 cause of quarrel between her husband and his
 
 320 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 father, and maintain that it was an insuperable 
 barrier to anything like a thought of marriage 
 between the cousins. So, true to the line of 
 argument which for convenience' sake she had 
 temporarily adopted, she would not permit 
 herself to express any curiosity at her son's 
 question, but languidly replied ; 
 
 " For wldcli reason, you should rather say, 
 Nigel ! No ! I really cannot. There are 
 dozens, as I have always maintained, against 
 anything like an intimacy between ourselves 
 and that unfortunate branch of the family." 
 
 Her son's lip curled visibly. 
 
 " You have a wonderful facility for chang- 
 ing your opinions, mother ; one for which, at 
 this moment, I could almost envy you. I 
 wish I could forget some of my own as easily ! 
 My cousin's avowed reason for refusing to 
 accept any assistance at my hands, is because 
 my father's were stained with his father's 
 blood. He has learnt his own history, and 
 this is the result." 
 
 "And a very proper result, too," affirmed 
 Mrs. Brooke. " I did not give the young man 
 credit for so much sense and right feeling. 
 There is no doubt that the unfortunate cir- 
 cumstances under which his father met his 
 death oncjht to make a complete gulph between
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 321 
 
 you; it is not natural 'that you should be 
 friendly together, and I don't think that the 
 world would think it decent." 
 
 "Hang 'the world,'" was the quick re- 
 joinder. " Do you mean to tell me that that 
 fact is to raise up so high a barrier between 
 my cousins and myself, that we shall never be 
 able to grasp hands over it ; that because the 
 fathers sinned against each other, the children 
 are to carry on the feud, and that we are to be 
 strangers from generation to generation ?" 
 
 Here Nigel Brooke left his seat, and as he 
 hurriedly paced the floor, continued : 
 
 " No ! I do not believe in such a creed, and 
 I will not sanction it. If Eobert chooses to 
 think so, and time does not open his eyes to 
 the folly of which he is guilty, I suppose that 
 our future intercourse must, of necessity, be 
 limited; but my opinions are unchangeable, 
 and whenever he alters his, he shall not find 
 me backward in fulfilling the promises I have 
 made him,. If not for his own sake, I would 
 do it for Nelly's, and my dead father's." 
 
 " Well, I think you are perfectly infatuated, 
 Nigel, as I have often told you before," replied 
 his mother, " it was all well enough, perhaps, 
 when the young people were willing to carry 
 out your design, but now that the}^ have in- 
 VOL. I. 21
 
 322 NEI4LY BROOKE. 
 
 suited you by actually refusing your friend- 
 ship, I think you might hold yourself higher 
 than " 
 
 "Don't say they, mother," he exclaimed, in- 
 terrupting her, " this letter is Eobert's work ; 
 Nelly has had nothing to do with it, of that I 
 am assured." ' 
 
 " Of course you are if you wish to be," re- 
 plied Mrs. Brooke, with a sneer, " but that is 
 no proof of the assertion. You have always 
 said yourself, that Helena is everything to her 
 brother ; that she can advise, or direct, or per- 
 suade him, as she will, and yet you consider 
 it likely that he would write an important let- 
 ter like that without her knowledge. The idea 
 is absurd. If the boy knows his own history, 
 you may be sure the girl knows it too, and it 
 is not one calculated to please a woman, I sup- 
 pose, more than a man. Depend on it, that 
 Helena wrote that letter. I do not mean with 
 her own hand, but that her brother wrote it 
 from her dictation ; and, in my opinion, it is 
 no more than you need have expected." 
 
 " I never thought of that," said Nigel, ar- 
 resting his footsteps for a moment, whilst a 
 look of keen distress passed over his face. " I 
 hope she didn'tc But, no ! I won't believe it ! 
 Nelly is too amiable to cherish any such vin-
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 323 
 
 dictive feelings as that letter displayed ; still 
 less to counsel their being written with the 
 purpose of wounding one who has been kind 
 to her." 
 
 His mother smiled incredulously. 
 
 " Believe and hope what you choose, my 
 dear Nigel ; but I fancy I know a little more 
 about Miss Helena's amiability than you do. 
 It is very easy to appear amiable when you are 
 pleased ; but I have always thought there was 
 something very strange and underhand about 
 the sudden manner in which she left us, and 
 the excuses she made, and " 
 
 " Mother, pray let us talk no more upon this 
 subject," said Nigel, moving towards the door. 
 " I daresay I may never see Nelly again, but I 
 will not believe that she is anything but what 
 is perfectly sincere, and if I did," he added, in 
 rather a lower tone, " I would not hear it, even 
 from you." 
 
 This suspicion of his mother's had the power 
 to wound him deeply, for a doubt of his girl- 
 cousin seemed to him worse to bear than all 
 that had gone before it ; not because he enter- 
 tained any hope of winning her love, or even 
 of having the opportunity of trying to do so ; 
 but simply because he had considered her the 
 freshest and most innocent creature that had 
 
 21—2
 
 324 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 ever crossed his path, and he could not bear 
 to part with his ideal. The next morning's 
 post took his letter to the vicar of Bickton. 
 It was curt and formal, but after a long night 
 of painful consideration, Nigel could think 
 of no means by which to make it otherwise. 
 After thanking Mr. Ray for letting him know 
 of his grandfather's death, and detailing his 
 reasons for not having been present at the 
 funeral, he went on to state that, as he con- 
 cluded the vicar was aware of the sentiments 
 which his cousin, Mr. Eobert Brooke, had ex- 
 pressed towards himself, he would not be sur- 
 prised at his declining to visit Little Bickton, 
 now that the occasion for his presence was over. 
 But as he understood that Mr. Eay had been 
 legally appointed guardian to his cousins, and 
 that, as head of the family, he considered him- 
 self naturally so, he trusted that the vicar 
 would let him know, should any occasion arise 
 for which his assistance might be required for 
 them, and would not be refused. Which, being 
 followed by a few commonplace civilities, closed 
 the epistle. 
 
 It reached Mr. Ray at a time when he was 
 anxiously expecting to hear from this rich 
 cousin of his orphan wards ; for having been 
 told of his grand promises on their behalf, by
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 325 
 
 the late Mr. Brooke, he waited to know what 
 intentions he might have regarding them, be- 
 fore he bestirred himself to make any arrange- 
 ments for the future. 
 
 When Eobert Brooke had written that his 
 sister and himself were left comfortably off, 
 and needed assistance from no one, his pride 
 had led him to greatly exaggerate the truth. 
 His grandfather had had nothing to bequeath 
 them beyond a couple of thousand in the 
 funds, which produced an income of about 
 seventy pounds a year for their mutual sup- 
 port. 
 
 The cottage in which they had lived, had 
 not even been his own,. although the furniture 
 was ; and poorly as the twins had been fed 
 and clothed, and educated, the necessity of 
 doing so, had made many a hole, since their 
 birth, in the old man's principal. 
 
 But there were still some years of the lease 
 under which Mr. Brooke had rented the Farm 
 Cottage, to run, and as soon as Mr. Bay 
 thought it advisable that they should try and 
 dispose of it, the Westons came forward with 
 an offer which seemed as though it would suit 
 all parties. 
 
 Mr. Weston's eldest son James, who was 
 engaged to be married, had been trying for
 
 326 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 some time to get a house near his father's farm, 
 in which he held an interest, and the cottage 
 was said to be the very thing he wanted. 
 
 " And then, as. he would take his brother 
 Tom to live with him," Mrs. Weston eagerly 
 explained to the vicar, " I could let Nelly and 
 Mr. Eobert have the three rooms which the 
 young men used to occupy at the other side 
 of the Farm. They are part of the old house, 
 you may remember ; and are divided from 'the 
 kitchen and parlour by a passage, so that they 
 can be quite private if they wish it; Nelly 
 could put her own furniture in there ; and 
 Aggie would, of course, have every use of my 
 kitchen. And as to the rent, Mr. Eay," said 
 the kind matron, whilst a tear twinkled in 
 her eye, " I don't think either Mr. Weston or 
 myself are likely to come down very hard 
 upon such young creatures, left alone in the 
 world." 
 
 For since, up to that period, nothing had 
 been seen of the rich cousin from Orpington, 
 and neither Nelly nor her brother would give 
 any reason for his non-appearance, it had 
 already begun to be indignantly rumoured 
 about Little Bickton, that his grand promises 
 had all been moonshine, and that the orphans 
 were to be left to depend on themselves.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 327 
 
 *' I am sure of tliat, Mrs. Weston," replied 
 the vicar, " and if nothing turns up to prevent 
 it, I do not see, since they refuse to take up 
 their abode at the vicarage, that Eobert and 
 Helena could do better than accept your kind 
 proposal." 
 
 The something floating in Mr. Eay's brain, 
 as likely to " turn up," was, of course, an ofler 
 on the part of Nigel Brooke to provide a home 
 for his orphan cousins, for this parley took 
 place before his letter had been received. 
 
 The vicar had suggested that in case of 
 their remaining in Bickton, the twins should 
 go. and live with himself, but Eobert had 
 emphatically refused to be dependent on any 
 one, and notwithstanding his sincere desire to 
 act generously towards the grandchildren of 
 his deceased friend, Mr. Eay thought of his 
 own large family, small house, and limited 
 income, and was very thankful that his offer 
 had been* declined. 
 
 As soon as NigeFs letter arrived, the vicar 
 carried it over to the Farm Cottage, and in 
 his capacity of guardian begged Eobert 
 Brooke to afford him an explanation of its 
 contents. 
 
 Then ensued a somewhat stormy scene, 
 during which Nelly learned for the first time
 
 328 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 of the correspondence between her brother 
 and cousin, and its results. It was in vain 
 that Mr. Eay argued and remonstrated : he 
 had no authority to do more, and nothing that 
 he could say had power to shake the young 
 man's dogged resolution, or to cause his 
 opinion to . swerve one inch towards his guar- 
 dian's. The whole miserable history of the 
 duel and its consequence (which it appeared 
 the ^dcar had known for years) was recapitu- 
 lated, and various dark hints were thrown 
 out, respecting some other mystery which 
 Nelly could not understand, but the mere 
 allusion to which made her brother's brow 
 lower, and his fist clench. 
 
 She was a passive hearer and spectator of 
 all this : she could not lift her voice against 
 Bertie's argument, and in favour of the 
 descendant of the man who had so cruelly slain 
 her father ; especially, since the one was poor 
 and had no one to love him but heTself, and 
 the other was rich and surrounded by friends 
 and luxury. She could not know in what 
 bitter language Bertie had insulted his cousin 
 before he called forth that cold refusal to see 
 them again, which the vicar held in his hand. 
 She had thought her cousin Nigel would have 
 been more generous and forgiving, but
 
 NELLY . BROOKE. 329 
 
 whether disappointed in this particular or not, 
 it mattered little : there was but one course 
 open to her for the future : to cling to her 
 brother. 
 
 What could she say when appealed to by 
 her guardian to reason with Bertie on the 
 folly and ingratitude of his conduct, but that, 
 whether right or wrong, she must abide by 
 his opinion? 
 
 What could she do, when Bertie himself, 
 enraged by the continued discussion, and her 
 silent disapprobation of his sentiments, dared 
 her to choose at once between him and his 
 wealthy cousin, who would doubtless dress and 
 feed her as well as his mother's lady's maid if 
 she asked for it humblj^: but throw herself 
 into his arms and beg him in a voice choked 
 with tears, never again to speak of her preferring 
 anyone before himself? 
 
 When the vicar rose to leave the brother and 
 sister on that occasion, he had come to the 
 conclusion that the sooner he saw their furni- 
 ture moved into Mrs. Weston's rooms, and 
 themselves comfortably settled there, the better. 
 He wrote a short answer back to Nigel Brooke, 
 in which he informed him that having had an 
 interview with his wards concerning the letter 
 which he had the honour to receive from him.
 
 330 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 and found that they were as resolute as 
 himself in desiring that no further communi- 
 cation should take place between Orpington 
 Chase and Bickton, he supposed there was 
 nothing more to be done but to thank Mr. 
 Brooke for his offers of assistance, and to 
 express regret that anything unpleasant should 
 have occurred between his young relations and 
 himself. 
 
 It was a very polite note, and intended -to 
 be harmless, but it terribly upset Nigel Brooke, 
 absurdly so, indeed, when the tenour of its 
 predecessor is taken into consideration. The 
 use of the pronoun " they," which the writer 
 had so natui-ally adopted, was sufficient effec- 
 tually to destroy the rest of his correspondent 
 for many nights after he had first seen it stare 
 upon him from the paper. 
 
 It was true then, his mother's surmise was 
 correct, and Nelly had closed her warm heart 
 against him as soon as ever she heard the 
 story of his father's error. But though the 
 knowledge affected him more deeply than all 
 that had preceded it, it could not make Nigel 
 think less of the girl with whom he had 
 passed so many pleasant hours ; with whom 
 (he could not help confessing it) it would have 
 been better if he had never met.
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 331 
 
 It made the crime of his father *s revengeful 
 act swell in magnitude, and assume more 
 glaring colours than it had done before, for 
 how great (he argued) must it have appeared 
 in that poor child's eyes, if the mere recital 
 could at once change all her feelings towards 
 those whom she had been ready to love. 
 
 But Nelly's self did not suffer for what 
 her supposed resolution cost her cousin. Un- 
 consciously, he had set up her image on the 
 highest pedestal of his heart, and Nigel 
 Brooke's nature was of that lofty kind, that 
 nothing his idol could thereafter do, would 
 depose her from her place. He might mourn, 
 in her, the fallacy of human nature, but she 
 would still remain for him the most worship- 
 ful of created beings ; for he was a man to 
 love once and for ever. But the pain which 
 he experienced at the reception of the vicar's 
 letter, containing that obnoxious pronoun, was 
 not sufficient enlightenment to make him 
 seriously own that his affections were entangled 
 by the attractive qualities of his little, country- 
 bred cousin. He knew that he had been on 
 the brink of danger : but, as yet he believed, 
 that the pain he felt in parting with her, how- 
 ever sharp, would prove as brief as their in-
 
 332 NELLY BROOKE. 
 
 timacy tad been. So lie only said to himself 
 with a sigh : 
 
 " I suppose it was inevitable that estrange- 
 ment should arise between me and that man's 
 children, and it has only happened a little 
 sooner than it would otherwise have done. 
 And if I had gone on associating with Nelly 
 much longer, there might have been great 
 sorrow in parting for both of us. How the 
 dear little girl blushed the last evening she 
 was here, when I questioned her as to what 
 answer she should give if a man as old as 
 I am, asked her to be his wife. My wife ! that 
 fresh, wondering-eyed creature, the world would 
 laugh I suppose, and justly, at the idea of such 
 a marriage. Well, my oath remains, whatever 
 has passed away, and I feel it as binding on 
 me now as when I took it." And then he 
 added, slowly and musingly : " Poor little 
 Nelly, fancy, our not meeting again ! Well," 
 rousing himself with an effort, as he experienced 
 an unaccountable burning sensation rising be- 
 hind his eyeballs, " God bless her sunny fac e, 
 wherever it be ; and help me to forget it as 
 best I may." 
 
 And, at the same hour, in that far off country 
 village, Nelly was doing the only thing for 
 those who had been kind to her, which she
 
 NELLY BROOKE. 333 
 
 felt she could do, without violating the sacred 
 duty she owed her brother. 
 
 She was kneeling with folded hands beside 
 her simple bed, and praying for her aunt and 
 for her cousin Nigel. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 BILLING, PBI^-TiiB, GUILRFOBD.
 
 UNIVERSmr OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
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