The master of St. Benedict's, Vol. 1 (of 2) — John Shaqi
The master of St. Benedict's, Vol. 1 (of 2)St. Aubyn, Alan
General
The master of St. Benedict's, Vol. 1 (of 2)
St. Aubyn, Alan
Cambridge (England) -- Fiction; School principals -- Fiction; Students -- Fiction
'Yes,' he said, 'I remember your cousin, Richard Rae, very well; he was
one of my pupils. He disappointed me, and he disappointed your uncle;
he ought to have taken a first class. He went into the Church, and we
gave him a college living, I remember--a very small living--and he
married, I believe, directly after.'
'He married, and he had a large family and a sickly wife, and very
small means. It must have been a hard struggle for him, poor Dick! He
lost his wife, and his children died one after the other; there is only
one left. And now he is dead, and the girl is left quite alone.'
'Oh, it is a girl,' said the Tutor in a tone of disappointment; 'if it
had been a boy we could have done something with him here.'
'Yes,' said Mary, with a sigh; 'pity it's a girl; it would have been
so much easier if it had been a boy. She must come here, of course;
there is nowhere else for her to go.'
'What will you do with her when she comes?'
The Senior Tutor looked grave; the question had come into his head as
he stood speaking to Mary, what should he do with this girl of Cousin
Dick's when he occupied the Master's place? Of course Mary would stay,
and Mrs. Rae--he could not separate the old woman from her niece during
her few declining years; she would certainly remain an inmate of the
lodge; but this girl? he could not make the college lodge an asylum for
all the female members of the Rae family.
It was an idiotic question to arise; he was ashamed of it the next
moment.
'I think you ought to go to Thorpe Regis,' he said, 'and be with your
poor young cousin at this trying time. I will look after the Master
while you are away, if that will make the going easier.'
'Ye--es,' said Mary slowly, 'it will make it easier. You really think I
ought to go?'
There was a hesitation in her tone he could not but note; he put it
down at once to her reluctance to leave the old Master.
'Most certainly you ought to go,' he said promptly. 'I will come over
to the lodge every day. I will fill your place as far as I can. You are
not afraid to leave the Master with me?'
'Oh, no, no! I am sure you will do all, more than all, that I do for
him. I was not thinking about him. You are quite sure it is right to
bring this girl back here? She is very young, not twenty, and--and she
may be----'
'She may be attractive,' said the Senior Tutor with a laugh, 'and turn
all our heads. I think, in spite of her attractions, her place is here
with you and under her uncle's roof. We must protect ourselves against
the wiles of this siren. We must not wear our hearts on our sleeves for
Cousin Dick's little daughter to peck at.'
CHAPTER II.
DICK'S LITTLE DAUGHTER.
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