"'Cynthia Westwood'--is that your name?" said Mrs. Rumbold. "Dear me, I
always thought that it was just 'Jane' or 'Jenny!' Wouldn't it be better
to change it, and call her something more appropriate to her station?"
"Perhaps," said the injudicious Rector, "she may not like to be called
by a name that does not belong to her."
He was looking at Jenny--or Cynthia, as she had just informed them that
she was called--a transformed and greatly altered Cynthia under Mrs.
Rumbold's management--Cynthia with hair cut short, hands and face
scrupulously clean, a neat but ugly print frock, and a coarse holland
pinafore--a perfectly subdued and uninteresting Cynthia--uninteresting
save for the melancholy beauty of her great dark wistful eyes.
"What she likes has nothing to do with it," said Mrs. Rumbold, rather
sharply. "Besides, she has another name--she told me so
herself--'Cynthia Janet'--that's what she was christened, she tells me.
She can be called 'Jane Wood' at Winstead."
The Rector looked up in mild surprise.
"Why not 'Jane Westwood,' my dear? 'Westwood' is her name."
"She had much better not be known as Westwood's daughter," said Mrs.
Rumbold, with decision, quite heedless of Cynthia's presence. "It will
be against her all her life. I have told Sister Louisa about her, and
she asked me to let her be called 'Wood.' 'Jane Wood' is a nice sensible
name."
"Well, as you please. You will not mind being called 'Jane,' will you,
my dear?" said the Rector, mindful of the red flush that was creeping
into the little pale cheeks.
He was a kindly old gentleman, in spite of his slow, absent-minded ways;
and there was a very benevolent light in his eyes as he sat in his
elbow-chair, newspaper on knee, spectacles on nose, and surveyed the
child who had been brought to his study for inspection.
Mrs. Rumbold fairly lost her patience at the question.
"How can you ask her such a thing, Alfred? As if it was her business to
mind one way or another! She ought to be thankful that she is so well
taken care of without troubling about her name. 'Jane Wood' is a very
good name indeed, much better than that silly-sounding 'Cynthia'!"--and
Mrs. Rumbold swept the child before her out of the room in a state of
high indignation at the stupidity of all men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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