England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Short stories, English
Mrs. Cale told us another item of news; that is, she recounted it amidst
the rest, little thinking what it was to us. That Sir G. C. is married,
and living with his wife at the Grange with Lady C. You have been
keeping the fact back, dear mother; either through not choosing to
mention their names, or out of consideration to Mary. But I can assure
you she was _thankful_ to hear of it; it has removed a little of the
abiding sting from her life. You cannot imagine how unselfish she is:
she looks upon herself as the sole cause of all that occurred. I mean
that she says it was through her going to the Grange. Had she not gone,
the peace of mother and son would never have been disturbed. _I_ think
Lady C. was _selfish_ and _wrong_; that she ought to have allowed Sir G.
to do as he wished. Mary says no; that Lady C.'s comfort and her
lifelong feelings were above every other consideration. She admires Lady
C. more than I do. However, she is truly glad to hear that the marriage
took place. Events have fallen now into their original course, and she
trusts that the bitter episode in which she took part may be gradually
forgotten at the Grange. The day we first heard of his marriage, I went
hastily--and I fear you will say rudely--into Mary's room at night when
she was preparing for rest, having omitted to tell her something I
wished changed in Nelly's studies for the morning. She was on her knees,
and rose up; the tears were literally streaming down her sweet face,
"Oh, Mary, what is the matter?" I asked, in dismay. "I was only praying
for God to bless them," she answered simply. Is she not a good,
unselfish girl?
I could fill pages with her praises. What she has been to my children,
during these two years she has had them in charge, I can never tell. She
insisted upon being regarded and treated wholly as a governess; but,
as my husband says, no real governess could be half so painstaking,
untiring, and conscientious. She has earned the respect of all Calcutta,
and she shrinks from it as if it were something to be shunned, saying,
"If people did but know!" Nelly, from being the only girl, and perhaps
also because she was the eldest and her papa loved her so, was the
most tiresome, spoiled little animal in the world; and the boys were
boisterous, and I am afraid frightfully impudent to the native
servants: but since Mary took them in hand they are altogether
different, fit to be loved. Richard often says he wishes he could
recompense her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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