The Two Guardians: or, Home in This WorldYonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
General
The Two Guardians: or, Home in This World
Yonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Fiction
Edmund thought it right that both he and Gerald should attend her
funeral. Lord Marchmont, whose wife stood in the same relationship to
her, met them in London, and they all went together to Torquay, instead
of making the intended visit to Oakworthy. Gerald was obliged to return
to Eton on the following day, without coming to Oakworthy; but, to make
up for it, he wrote to his Writer from Torquay, and his letter ended
thus,--"Now I have a capital bit of news for you. Old aunt Jessie has
done what I shall venerate her for ever after--left every scrap of her
property to Edmund, except a legacy or two to her servants, a picture of
my father to me, and some queer old-fashioned jewels to you and Selina.
The will was made just after I was born; so it was to make up to Edmund
for my cutting him out of Fern Torr. You may suppose how Lord Marchmont
and I shook hands with him. It is somewhere about L20,000; there is
good news for you! He is executor, and has got to be here a day or two
longer; but Lord Marchmont and I set off by the first train to-morrow. I
shall look out for Lionel, tell him, in case he is too blind to see me.
Can't you come with him to the station, and have one moment's talk?"
This proved to be possible; and Marian, in the interval between the
coming of the post and the setting off, had time, all the hurry of her
dressing, to wonder if she ought to be very much rejoiced. She did not
believe, that even wealth could spoil Edmund, but she did not think all
this would be of much use to him. It did not give him a home, and in
fact she thought it rather a creditable thing to be as poor as he had
hitherto been. She had rather have heard of something to make him look
less like Tressilian, than he had done the last time she had seen him.
She had a pleasant drive with Lionel, who was very glad of any good luck
befalling Mr. Arundel, and presently, after some meditation, broke out
as follows:--"My eyes! what miles and miles it would buy in Australia"
and then proceeded to talk all the rest of the way about Australian
bulls.
The meeting at the station was a bright one, though so short, as
scarcely to be worth the journey, if the value of such moments were to
be reckoned by their number. There was Lord Marchmont to be spoken to,
as well as Gerald, which broke into the time. Gerald looked very happy
and pleasant. He said Edmund was the best fellow in the world, and that
he had been very happy--shot lots of things--he wished he could stop to
tell about it. Then Marian hurried what she had to say, while Lionel was
looking after his luggage. "Gerald, would you just try if you can do
anything to spare Lionel's eyes? When you have the same things to do,
could you not read to him, or something? they seem so much worse, and I
am so afraid."
"I'll try," said Gerald, "but I don't think I can do much, and he will
never give in."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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