LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 606, 29 May 1876, Page 3

LITERATURE.

LOCHVIEW.

( Concluded .) I was on the point of saying— * Come with me, Miss Carew, and I’ll take you to my cousin Jessie ; she will take care of you, for my sake;’ but I recollected there were reasons why that could not be done, till I had first consulted Jessie herself on the subject. * Will you remain here till you see me tomorrow morning ?’ I at length said. ‘ i r es, if you wish me to do so; I need not go to Mrs West’s till the afternoon. I hope she will like me, and take me in, for I have nowhere else in the wide world to go.’ The eyes were full of quick tears now, and she turned away to hide them. The situation was exceedingly trying, but I still strove hard to retain my self-possession. ‘ i)o not be discouraged,' I implored; ‘try and keep up your spirits for another day, Miss Carew. itemember you did me a great service once, and it is my turn to serve you now. Will you trust to me ?’ 4 0 yes ; I will trust you.’ * * * I resolved to consult Jessie without delay. So, after bidding a tempory adieu to Hester, 1 reached Mrs Grey’s house, and told my cousin the whole tale ; and, as I expected, her womanly heart was deeply interested, the came to the rescue in her own prompt way. 4 Poor little creature ! Only think or her deserted in such a way. Of course she shall come here. I’ll tell Mrs Stephen Grey the whole story, and I am sure she will send her an invitation at once. ’

4 I knew I could reckon on you, Jessie,’ I said, deeply touched. 4 Of course, silly boy, you could. But Alec, what do you propose for Miss Carew’s future ? 1 know lots of people who have troops of child re i. Shall I try and get her a more profitable situation than nurserygoverness to the little Wests?’ Jessie looked straight into my eyes, and what she saw there I can’t say, but she pressed my hand, and whispered gravely : 4 Conquered at last; poor boy ! so you really care about her, do you ? Then your Hester shall not take any situation at all, but shall come and stay with me as long as ever she likes.’

‘ How kind of you, Jessie! you overwhelm me with obligations,’ I exclaimed, in a voice that I think was rather husky, for I was moved—despite my once boasted stoicism. ‘Obligations! Indeed, they are all on my side, Alec,’ retorted my cousin, with one of her bright smiles. ‘ How can that be ?' I asked.

‘ Didn’t you leave all the nut-picking for Harry Western last autumn ? And wasn’t it during those very picnics that I first found out how much he cared for me ? When you and Hester are married, you and I shall be quitI*, 1 *, but not till then.’ ‘I can never expect so great a happiness as marriage with Miss threw,’ I said, feeling half dizzy with Jessie’s rapid glance at such a possible future Jor me—for, in truth, the

sketch seemed rather visionary, conairlnring 1 had never yet spoken one word of love to the young lady. The next morning—bearing Mrs Stephen Grey’s invitation to Miss Carew —we all three drove to Liverpool—Jessie, Harry, and myself; and poor Hester looked pale and half-frightened as we all stood before her. But Jessie, with her usual impetuosity, soon banished restraint. She caught the poor girl in her arms, and embraced her as she would a long-lost sister. Then Hester brightened up, warmed by the influence of my cousin’s manner ; and it was a happy face, not a frightened one, that was presently turned towards me. ‘ How good you all are to me !’ said tho dear girl; ‘ what have I done to deserve such kindness ?’ ‘ If it is a burden to you, you can easily return it, Miss Carew.’ I spoke softly, bending down to her, for just then Jessie had called her husband into the front drawing room, where they were making a critical examination of a portrait of Sandy Forbes. Jessie was perhaps admiring this painting, or perhaps she was giving me the chance of being for a moment alone with Hester. So I drew nearer to her, as I whispered again : ‘ You can return the kindness a thousandfold, Miss Carew.’ ‘ How can I do that, Mr Allen ? lam poor, and —and ’ But I had caught her hand in mine, and was passionately pleading my cause —pleading it in a low, rapid whisper. * You can return my love. You can promise that some day you will be my ife. You will learn to love me—won’t you, Hester?’ The little hand was not withdrawn; the soft eyes were for a moment lifted to mine, and then instantly cast down, as a quick, glow rose to her cheeks ; but that one glance was enough; it told me all I wished to know, for I saw my pleading had not been in vain. Jessie and Harry returned to the back drawing room. The invitation was given, and joyfully accepted. A polite declinature was penned to Mrs West—the last letter ever written by H ester in the hated house. Then she gathered up her few scanty belongings, and we prepared to go. The bailiffs had grown wonderfully respectful, for the sight of a carriage like Mrs Stephen Grey’s will impress even bailiffs sometimes. Hester and 1 both looked back at the old house as long as it was in sight. What her thoughts were I cannot tell; but when the carriage drove out of tne square she glanced up shyly and wonderingly at me. Ho doubt it was difficult for her to realise the present state of things ; so I whispered softly in her ear ; * The old life has ended now, Hester, and a brighter and happier one has begun, I hope. Can you trust me fully ?’ 4 0 yes. I have never doubted you.’ * * * * *

I lay down my pen for a while, and leaning back in my arm chair, look out on the grounds of Lochview, and see a picture calm and beautiful, and dear above all earthly things to me. I note the gambols of a youngster, with soft brown eyes and curly locks, who flits about among the flower-beds like a butterfly. He is my son Murdoc ; and the lady in white near him is my wife—once Hester Carew. A letter has just been received with the news of Sandy’s death and Alice’s marriage to Willie Dykes. I pity the latter.

Our beautiful house, Lochview, is no longer under a cloud. It is free from all debt. Improvements on a large scale are going on ; dilapidations are all cleared away; there is a stir of life and action about the place, and there is not a brighter, better kept domain in the county. ‘ But how was all this brought about ?’ asks one. All in a very simple way, my friend. When I returned home from < Liverpool, no better in fortune than I was when I went away, my parents did not reproach or twit me, or say they knew it would be so, so I was not discouraged. And when I told them I was betrothed to a girl no richer than myself, they did not storm and rage, as some people would have done. My father recollected Fanny Stewart, Hester’s mother. ‘ A sweet, pretty creature she was I only hope the daughter will resemble her,’ he said.

And when I brought home my bride from Jessie Western’s house, where at my cousin’s urgent request we had been married, she was received with open arms ; and my father and mother took the darling co their hearts. Ere long, Sir Dugald gave mo up most of the management of the place, and told me to steer the bark out of the shallows if I could. I have tried my best ever since. Though I made no mark in the world of business, yet I brought home with me some business habits, that served me a goed turn in after days. I looked into the accounts of I ochview myself, and soon found the steward had been cheating my father frightfully for years past; the man was dismissed. Then the hounds and hunters were disposed of ; and a splendid price they made. Also, the large staff of lazy, over-fed, rapacious servants were paid off; creatures who lounged about the place, turned up their noses at economy, and thought only of doing as little as they could for their wages. The tradition in our family had ever been that we must keep * open house,’ where all sorts of extravagance might go on unchecked and unrestrained. With our new set of domestics, this tradition vanished. Janet ruled the nursery, and Mrs Wills was the housekeeper under our new regime. My wife, my own Hester, was neither too lofty nor too silly to help me in my efforts. She regulates the household expenditure, and thus untold sums of money have been saved. Acres of pasture land we did not require have been ploughed up, and rich harvests of oats, wheat, and barley are now waving in the summer breeze in our fertile delds. Large portions of waste ground have been let to good tenants, and two or three capital farms have thereby sprung up on the coniines of the Lochview estate. But I should weary you were I to tell of all the draining and reclaiming of land that has been going on. With all this retrenchment, not one whit of comfort is lessened. Our wants are amply supplied, thanks to a good Providence, and we are far happier than we were in those wasteful, riotous, scrambling of old.

This, then, is the only magic that has been used. We have studied frugality, industry, watchfulness, and care, and a blessing has rested on our efforts. We have not lost one atom of true dignity, nor abated one particle of real nobility, nor sacrificed one fraction of self-respect. Happiness and peace reign in our house like a perpetual sunshine. The hateful shadows of debt and dishonour are driven away from Lochview for ever; it is now ours in deed and truth, and can no longer be called an encumbered estate.