by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER XXI.
HOW TO PAINT CHINA AND HOW TO FORM STYLE.
Mrs. Dove had a great many lodgers--she let rooms on each of herfloors, and she called her lodgers by the name of the floor theyoccupied--first floor, second floor, third floor came and went to 10,Eden Street. The girls were known as "the attics," and Jasmine feltvery indignant at the name.
"It's almost as bad as being a tare," she said to Primrose. "Dear,dear! I never thought I should turn into an attic! What an unpleasantplace London is! I begin to think Poppy is quite right in what shesays of it."
"I begin to suspect," said Primrose, "that London, like all places,has its shady side and its bright side. We are in the shady side atpresent, dear Jasmine--that is all."
Mrs. Dove had not only lodgers who seemed to worry her from morning tonight--for, unlike her name, she was always fretting or scoldingsomebody--but she also had a husband, and this husband made hispresence felt by every lodger in the house. He was often away for awhole week at a time, and then comparative peace reigned in No. 10;but he would come back at unexpected moments--he would enter thehouse, singing out, in a loud rasping voice--
"Mrs. Dove, My only love!"
And then poor Mrs. Dove would get flushed and uncomfortable and losewhat little self-possession she ever had, and would own in confidenceto the first floor, or the second floor, or the attics, just as theyhappened to be present, that Mr. Dove's honeyed phrases were onlywords after all, and meant quite the contrary.
The girls were not a week at No. 10, Eden Street, before it becamevery apparent to them that there was little of the real Eden to befound in the place. They kept themselves, however, quite apart fromthe other lodgers; they began to get out their books and theiremployments, and what with housekeeping, and what with cleaning theirrooms, and going out for long rambling walks in all directions, theywere busy from morning to night. Primrose said they would spend afortnight in the attics, and then the education which was by-and-by tolead to bread-winning must commence. Never did three more ignorantgirls gird themselves for the fray. Primrose had a natural love forpainting. She had none of the knowledge, none of the grounding, whichis essential for real success in all departments of art in the presentday; but she had a quick and correct eye for color, and all that MissMartineau knew she had imparted to her. Primrose looked in at the shopwindows, and saw the lovely painted china, and resolved to takelessons in this art. After some little difficulty, and afterquestioning first Mrs. Dove, and finally the much-dreaded Mr. Dove,she was directed to a teacher, who promised to instruct her at therate of three pounds three shillings for twelve lessons. Primrose didnot know whether her teacher was good or bad, or whether she waspaying too much or too little--she resolved to take the lessons and tospend some of her little capital in buying the necessary materials.
"After I've had my twelve lessons Mr. Jones thinks I may begin tooffer some of my plates and things for sale; he says he will be veryglad to put them up in his own shop window. He thinks," continuedPrimrose with her sweet, grave smile, "that I may be able to recoupmyself for the expense of learning at the end of a few months."
"And now," said Jasmine, "what am I to do? It's all settled for you,Primrose--you will be an artist--and you shall paint a breakfast setfor our nest in your odd moments, and I'll buy it from you when myship comes home. Oh! and we are both going to be very successful, arewe not, darling? and we won't have any trouble at all in supportingour pet Daisy and her kitty-cat. You know, Primrose, my gifts lie inthe poetic and novelistic line. I have really thought of a glowingplot for a story since I came to London, and Mr. Dove is to be theruffian of the piece. I'll introduce Mrs. Dredge and poor Miss Slowcumtoo, and, of course, you'll be the heroine, my beautiful sister. Imean to buy some paper, and work away at my novel in the evenings nextweek; but as we have come up to London expressly to have our educationperfected, and our gifts developed, don't you think I ought to behaving some lessons in English style? After all, Primrose, I do notthink Mrs. Flint's way of speaking was correct. Arthur Noel did nottalk in the least like her, nor did dear Mrs. Ellsworthy; and afterall, they are a real lady and gentleman. I wonder, Primrose, who wouldteach me proper style. I wish I could meet Arthur Noel again, that hemight tell me!"
"Oh, Jasmine, it is dreadful of you to speak of a perfect stranger byhis Christian name! Don't do it, dear--I know it is not right."
"He did not seem the least like a stranger," said Jasmine, pushingback her curling locks. "Well, Rose, who is to teach me style?--yousee, if I am to earn money by my pen I must be polished up. I have gota poem now in the back of my head which would exactly suit the ----_Review_. It's almost exactly on the lines of one they published notlong ago by Tennyson; but I'd rather not send it until I've had alesson or two from some gifted person here--who shall I go to,Primrose?"
"You must go to a school, of course," answered Primrose. "There is aseminary for young ladies just round the corner--we will call therethis afternoon, and find out if the lady can give you lessons."
Miss Egerton, the principal of the seminary in question, opened hereyes a good deal at Jasmine's modest request.
"I don't want French, nor German, nor music," quoth the young lady,"but I do want to be helped to make very smooth and flowing verses,and I want to have the plots of my novels cut up and criticised--for Idon't mind telling you," continued Jasmine, looking full into MissEgerton's deeply-lined and anxious face, "that I mean to live by mypen. My sister is to be an artist, and I am to be a novelist andpoet."
Miss Egerton owned to herself afterwards that she had never met suchextraordinary girls; but then they were so pretty, and so fresh, andthe times were hard, and the High Schools were carrying off all herpupils, so though she knew little or nothing of making up verses ordeveloping plots, she promised to receive Jasmine as a pupil, todirect her reading, and to help her to the best of her ability. Shewas a good and kind-hearted woman, and she made a further suggestion.
"What is to become of your little sister while you are both so busy,young ladies?" she said.
"Oh, Daisy promises to be very good," said Primrose with a tendersmile at the little one. "Daisy will stay at home, and take care ofthe Pink, and she is learning to sew very nicely. When Daisy is goodand stays quietly at home she helps our plan, and does as much for ourcause as any of us."
Miss Egerton looked straight into Daisy's eyes. Long ago this dry andhard-looking old maid had a little sister like Daisy--a pretty littlelass, who went away to play in the heavenly gardens many and many ayear ago. For the sake of little Constance Miss Egerton felt a greatkindness welling up in her heart towards Daisy Mainwaring.
"Your little sister must not stay at home by herself," she said. "Sheshall come to me. While I am teaching Miss Jasmine, Daisy can play orwork as she pleases, only not by herself in your lodgings, youngladies, but in the room with her sister."
So it was arranged, and the three girls might fairly have been said tocommence their work.
When Primrose had gone to Mr. Danesfield and asked him to allow her todraw their little capital out of his bank, he had made wonderfullyfew objections. Of all their friends, he was the one who had opposedPrimrose's scheme the least, and perhaps for that reason she was morewilling to take his advice, and to be guided by him, than by eitherMrs. Ellsworthy or Miss Martineau. Mr. Danesfield had said to her: "Mydear, you and your sisters are in some particulars in a very uniqueand unfortunate position. You are all three very young, yet you areabsolutely your own mistresses. No one in all the world has any realcontrol over you. If you ask me for your money, I cannot refuse you--Ihave absolutely no choice in the matter; the money is yours, and whenyou want it you must have it. Now I tell you plainly that Mrs.Ellsworthy and Miss Martineau are dreadfully shocked with your scheme.I may be wrong, but I confess I am not shocked. I fancy that you arethe kind of girls who will come out victorious, and that though youwill have rather a hard struggle, you will not be beaten; but there isone thing I am most anxious to do for you, and that is to keep
part ofyour money. You have exactly two hundred pounds. How much of thislittle capital do you propose to spend a year?"
"As little as ever we can," answered Primrose.
"Yes, my dear young lady, but you must have some sort of idea withregard to your expenses. I would counsel you on no account to spendmore of your capital than seventy pounds a year; by restrictingyourselves to this sum you will have a very tiny but certain, incomefor two years, and will have something to fall back on even in thethird year, if you are not then earning enough. Suppose I divide yourseventy pounds into four quarterly instalments, and send it to you asyou require it. You know nothing of keeping a banking accountyourself, and it will absolutely not be safe for you to live in Londonlodgings, and have a large sum of money with you. Take my advice inthis particular, Miss Primrose, and allow me still to be your banker."
"There is one little difficulty," said Primrose; "we really want to beindependent, and as we know that there will be difficulties anddiscouragements in the career we are marking out for ourselves, andthat we may often grow faint-hearted and lonely, Jasmine and I feelthat we had better put ourselves quite out of the way of temptation.We have, therefore, made up our minds not to give our address to anyone in Rosebury for at least two years. How can you send us the money,Mr. Danesfield, if you don't know where to send it?"
"My dear young lady, I fear you are a little bit too headstrong, andthough I admire your spirit, I cannot quite approve of your cuttingyourselves off from all communications with your friends. However, itis not for me to interfere. Will this satisfy you, MissPrimrose?--shall I give you my solemn promise only to use the addresswith which you favor me to forward your money each quarter, and neverto divulge your secret to anybody else?"
Finally this plan was adopted, and Primrose received her smallquarterly allowance with great regularity.