Osberts, and she has always thought of the sonsas certain to succeed, as the General is an old man. But, do you see,Amy, as things are, there will be no Osbert to succeed?"
Mrs Waldron looked up bewilderedly.
"But it is all in Lady Mildred's hands, is it not?" she said. "She canleave Silverthorns to her own family, can she not?"
"She can _legally_ leave it to anybody, but she considers herselfabsolutely bound by her husband's expressed wishes; and those were thatit should never leave the family. Mr Miller says, that failing theOsberts, the Squire instructed Lady Mildred to look up all remoterconnections; but till now, it does really seem very strange, she did notknow, had no idea that we were the nearest. Mr Miller has been a goodfriend in the matter; he has, I suppose," and here Mr Waldron laughed alittle, "made inquiries about us and found all satisfactory. He hasremoved all Lady Mildred's prejudices against me, and what I care formost, against my poor grandmother. And,"--Mr Waldron hesitated,--"Amy,it seems impossible, her intention therefore is now to make _me_ thenext proprietor of the old place."
Mrs Waldron was silent for a moment.
"It seems too much," he said again. "I don't deserve it," her husbandwent on.
This gave her power to speak.
"You not deserve it!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Edward, could a man deserveit more? How you have toiled, how you have kept up your spirits throughall! If you said _I_ didn't deserve it--I have been often sofaint-hearted and depressed. I don't think--I _don't_ think we shall bespoilt by prosperity; we shall always know so well what a strugglinglife really is; it will be so delightful to help others. And oh,Edward! Arthur and Noble can go to college, and Ted into the army!That is to say if--will it make any difference at once?"
"Yes; Lady Mildred's idea is that we should at once, at least veryshortly, go to live on the estate, and that I should take charge ofthings. There is a very good house, at present occupied by one of thefarmers, which can easily be made a capital house for us. It is sopretty, I remember it well; how delightful it will be to see you there,Amy! Lady Mildred, of course, will have the big house for her life, butshe will be glad to feel free to come and go--the place has been growinga great charge to her. This is the rough sketch of her plan only. Ofcourse there are numberless details to be arranged, and for these shewishes to see me. Then again, _in case_ the General survives her hewould have a right to some provision for his life, though it is verycertain he would never wish now to be master of Silverthorns--he isquite broken down--and even had he inherited the place, he says he neverwould have come to live there. But Lady Mildred thinks it right to seehim, and she wishes me to see him too. Miller says she is determinedthat none of the old prejudice against me shall be left; she is not awoman to do things by halves, once she has made up her mind. So, thanksto Miss Meredon, the idea of offering to take Jerry for a time fits inwith my going to Cannes. And there we can talk all over."
Mrs Waldron sat gazing into the fire.
"Edward," she said, "I feel as if I were dreaming. Tell me--should wenot let the poor children know this wonderful news at once?"
"Arthur and Charlotte, perhaps,--they deserve it," he replied, gettingup as he spoke to summon them.
And then again the whole had to be told.
Arthur's pleasant face literally beamed with delight.
"Oh, papa!--oh, mother!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe it. It is likea fairy tale. Why did you never tell us before that we were halfOsberts?"
"I had meant to tell you before long," said Mr Waldron; "but I had ahorror of raising vague expectations. I knew too well what I hadsuffered from my false position as a child."
"Yes," said Arthur, thoughtfully; "I see." And then, as a sudden ideastruck him, "Fancy its coming after all through the female branch.Papa, the ghost will be laid."
"Yes," said Mr Waldron, smiling; "the ghost will be laid."
"I bet you anything,"--Arthur went on--"I bet you anything, that thefirst thing old Jerry will say when he quite understands it, will be,`I'm so glad for the poor ghost.'"
"And if we never hear anything more of the ghost," said Charlotte,speaking almost for the first time, "Jerry will be more than everconvinced that he _did_ hear it. Papa," she added with a littlehesitation, "won't Lady Mildred's niece, Miss Meredon, be dreadfullydisappointed when she knows all this? Perhaps she has heard all thetalk about Lady Mildred's intending to make her her heiress?"
"I hope not," said Mr Waldron; "she has certainly hitherto shown a mostfriendly spirit to us. I should be grieved for our good fortune tocause disappointment to any one."
"And then she must be so rich and grand already, I don't suppose itwould matter much to her," said Charlotte.
"I don't know about that: the Meredons are not a rich family by anymeans," said Mr Waldron.
"I shall always love that girl," said Mrs Waldron enthusiastically."It is her doing about Jerry. Oh, Charlotte, darling! to think that allour poor little plans for sending him abroad are to be so delightfullyreplaced."
"May I tell him, mamma?" said Charlotte eagerly; "to-morrow, notto-night, of course! I will take care not to startle him. But it wouldbe _so_ nice. And I will tell him how kind _she_ has been--he is veryfond of her," she added with a slightly reluctant honesty.
"You must be fond of her too, my dear child," said her father.
"I would like to be, at least I think so," said Charlotte, and a visionrose before her of Claudia's sweet, appealing face. "I have been horridto her, I know," she added to herself, "but she was rather queer atschool."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
CLAUDIA'S VICTORY.
It seemed more like a dream than ever the next day.
"I can't understand how I took it so quietly," Charlotte thought toherself as she was dressing. "I suppose I was half stunned. I feelthis morning as if I could just _scream_ with delight. To think of_Silverthorns_ coming to be our home--our own beautiful home. And how Ihave grumbled, and how jealous I have been of _her_. I don't supposeshe could ever quite understand--nobody who has never been poorthemselves can. But, oh, I shall try to be kind and sympathising toothers. It makes me feel as I used to when I was little, sometimes,when mamma saw I was cross and discontented, and instead of speakingsharply she would do some kind thing to make me feel happy. I wonder ifGod sometimes makes people good that way? For I know _I_ haven'tdeserved it, though dear papa, and mamma, and Arthur, and Jerry have.Oh, to think I may tell Jerry!"
The telling Jerry was more easily managed than she had anticipated. Theboy's instincts were sharpened by illness, and he had never forgottenthe impression of his strange experiences at Silverthorns.
"I knew it, Charlotte," he exclaimed, his blue eyes gleaming, "I knewit. When I was told that, about the ghost only coming to some of thefamily, and I remembered papa's having heard it too, something seemed totell me that we _had_ to do with Silverthorns, and that more would come:I knew it, Charlotte. And she will be so pleased--Claudia, I mean."
"You think she will be?" Charlotte said, rather surprised.
"Of course; I know she will be," he said confidently; "you'll see. And,of course, it will be ever so much nicer for her when she's there, tohave us living near. I'll get to know her so well this winter, stayingwith them at that place. Oh, I say, I'm awfully glad to think of goingthere, and to know it won't cost papa and mamma anything. I do so wantto get well, Charlotte. I may say it now--I've really felt as if Inever would lately, and almost as if I didn't somehow much care."
"Jerry!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"Yes; and that's the queerest feeling of all. I suppose people have itwhen they're really going to die, and that it's a good thing. It mustmake it not so bad," the boy went on.
"But you don't feel that way now?" Charlotte asked anxiously.
"No, I feel quite different. It was partly, you know--" and Jerryhesitated--"the horrible feeling of being such a worry and such anexpense to papa and mamma. I've thought often lately," and the boylooked before him wistfully--"Charlot
te," he broke off, "isn't it queerhow things bring things to your mind? There's a corner of one of thewindow-panes there that's cracked; I see it every morning when I wake,and I always wonder when it will break away, and there'll have to be anew pane. And then some proverb about cracked things lasting thelongest comes into my mind, and I begin thinking perhaps I shall last anawfully long time, and then I worry about what a lot I shall cost them,and perhaps never be able to earn anything.
Silverthorns Page 32