Aunt Jane's Nieces

by L. Frank Baum

  CHAPTER XIX.

  DUPLICITY.

  Aunt Jane had a bad night, as might have been expected after hertrials of the previous day.

  She sent for Patricia early in the forenoon, and when the girl arrivedshe was almost shocked by the change in her aunt's appearance. Theinvalid's face seemed drawn and gray, and she lay upon her cushionsbreathing heavily and without any appearance of vitality or strength.Even the sharpness and piercing quality of her hard gray eyes waslacking and the glance she cast at her niece was rather pleading thandefiant.

  "I want you to reconsider your decision of yesterday, Patricia," shebegun.

  "Don't ask me to do that, aunt," replied the girl, firmly. "My mind isfully made up."

  "I have made mistakes, I know," continued the woman feebly; "but Iwant to do the right thing, at last."

  "Then I will show you how," said Patricia, quickly. "You mustn't thinkme impertinent, aunt, for I don't mean to be so at all. But tell me;why did you wish to leave me your money?"

  "Because your nature is quite like my own, child, and I admire yourindependence and spirit."

  "But my cousins are much more deserving," said she, thoughtfully."Louise is very sweet and amiable, and loves you more than I do, whileBeth is the most sensible and practical girl I have ever known."

  "It may be so," returned Aunt Jane, impatiently; "but I have left eacha legacy, Patricia, and you alone are my choice for the mistress ofElmhurst. I told you yesterday I should not try to be just. I mean toleave my property according to my personal desire, and no one shallhinder me." This last with a spark of her old vigor.

  "But that is quite wrong, aunt, and if you desire me to inherit yourwealth you will be disappointed. A moment ago you said you wished todo the right thing, at last. Don't you know what that is?"

  "Perhaps you will tell me," said Aunt Jane, curiously.

  "With pleasure," returned Patsy. "Mr. Bradley left you this propertybecause he loved you, and love blinded him to all sense of justice.Such an estate should not have passed into the hands of aliens becauseof a lover's whim. He should have considered his own flesh and blood."

  "There was no one but his sister, who at that time was not married andhad no son," explained Aunt Jane, calmly. "But he did not forget herand asked me to look after Katherine Bradley in case she or her heirsever needed help. I have done so. When his mother died, I had the boybrought here, and he has lived here ever since."

  "But the property ought to be his," said Patricia, earnestly. "Itwould please me beyond measure to have you make your will in hisfavor, and you would be doing the right thing at last."

  "I won't," said Aunt Jane, angrily.

  "It would also be considerate and just to the memory of Mr. Bradley,"continued the girl. "What's going to became of Kenneth?"

  "I have left him five thousand," said the woman.

  "Not enough to educate him properly," replied Patsy, with a shake ofher head. "Why, the boy might become a famous artist, if he had goodmasters; and a person with an artistic temperament, such as his,should have enough money to be independent of his art."

  Aunt Jane coughed, unsympathetically.

  "The boy is nothing to me," she said.

  "But he ought to have Elmhurst, at least," pleaded the girl. "Won'tyou leave it to him, Aunt Jane?"

  "No."

  "Then do as you please," cried Patsy, flying angry in her turn. "As amatter of justice, the place should never have been yours, and I won'taccept a dollar of the money if I starve to death!"

  "Think of your father," suggested Aunt Jane, cunningly.

  "Ah, I've done that," said the girl, "and I know how many comforts Icould buy for the dear Major. Also I'd like to go to a girl's college,like Smith or Wellesley, and get a proper education. But not with yourmoney, Aunt Jane. It would burn my fingers. Always I would think thatif you had not been hard and miserly this same money would have savedmy mother's life. No! I loathe your money. Keep it or throw it to thedogs, if you won't give it to the boy it belongs to. But don't youdare to will your selfish hoard to me."

  "Let us change the subject, Patricia."

  "Will you change your will?"

  "No.".

  "Then I won't talk to you. I'm angry and hurt, and if I stay here I'llsay things I shall be sorry for."

  With these words she marched out of the room, her cheeks flaming, andAunt Jane looked after her with admiring eyes.

  "She's right," she whispered to herself. "It's just as I'd do underthe same circumstances!"

  This interview was but the beginning of a series that lasted duringthe next fortnight, during which time the invalid persisted in sendingfor Patricia and fighting the same fight over and over again. Alwaysthe girl pleaded for Kenneth to inherit, and declared she would notaccept the money and Elmhurst; and always Aunt Jane stubbornly refusedto consider the boy and tried to tempt the girl with pictures of theluxury and pleasure that riches would bring her.

  The interviews were generally short and spirited, however, and duringthe intervals Patsy associated more than ever with her cousins, bothof whom grew really fond of her.

  They fully believed Patricia when she declared she would never acceptthe inheritance, and although neither Beth nor Louise could understandsuch foolish sentimentality they were equally overjoyed at the girl'sstand and the firmness with which she maintained it. With Patsy out ofthe field it was quite possible the estate would be divided betweenher cousins, or even go entire to one or the other of them; and thishope constantly buoyed their spirits and filled their days withinterest as they watched the fight between their aunt and theircousin.

  Patricia never told them she was pleading so hard for the boy. Itwould only pain her cousins and make them think she was disloyal totheir interests; but she lost no opportunity when with her Aunt Janeof praising Kenneth and proving his ability, and finally she seemed towin her point.

  Aunt Jane was really worn out with the constant squabbling with herfavorite niece. She had taken a turn for the worse, too, and began todecline rapidly. So, her natural cunning and determination to have herown way enhanced by her illness, the woman decided to deceive Patriciaand enjoy her few remaining days in peace.

  "Suppose," she said to Mr. Watson, "my present will stands, and aftermy death the estate becomes the property of Patricia. Can she refuseit?"

  "Not legally," returned the lawyer. "It would remain in her name,but under my control, during her minority. When she became of age,however, she could transfer it as she might choose."

  "By that time she will have gained more sense," declared Aunt Jane,much pleased with this aspect of the case, "and it isn't reasonablethat having enjoyed a fortune for a time any girl would throw it away.I'll stick to my point, Silas, but I'll try to make Patricia believeshe has won me over."

  Therefore, the very next time that the girl pleaded with her to makeKenneth her heir, she said, with a clever assumption of resignation:

  "Very well, Patricia; you shall have your way. My only desire, child,is to please you, as you well know, and if you long to see Kenneth theowner of Elmhurst I will have a new will drawn in his favor."

  Patricia could scarcely believe her ears.

  "Do you really mean it, aunt?" she asked, flushing red with pleasure.

  "I mean exactly what I say, and now let us cease all bickerings, mydear, and my few remaining days will be peaceful and happy."

  Patricia thanked her aunt with eager words, and said, as indeed shefelt, that she could almost love Aunt Jane for her final, if dilatory,act of justice.

  Mr. Watson chanced to enter the room at that moment, and the girlcried out:

  "Tell him, aunt! Let him get the paper ready at once."

  "There is no reason for haste," said Aunt Jane, meeting; the lawyer'squestioning gaze with some embarrassment.

  Silas Watson was an honorable and upright man, and his client'sfrequent doubtful methods had in past years met his severe censure.Yet he had once promised his dead friend, Tom Bradley, that he wouldserve Jane Merrick faith
fully. He had striven to do so, bearing withher faults of character when he found that he could not correct them.His influence over her had never been very strong, however, and he hadlearned that it was the most easy as well as satisfactory method tobow to her iron will.

  Her recent questionings had prepared him for some act of duplicity,but he had by no means understood her present object, nor did she meanthat he should. So she answered his questioning look by saying:

  "I have promised Patricia that you shall draw a new will, leavingall my estate to Kenneth Forbes, except for the bequests that arementioned in the present paper."

  The lawyer regarded her with amazement. Then his brow darkened, for hethought she was playing with the girl, and was not sincere.

  "Tell him to draw up the paper right away, aunt!" begged Patricia,with sparkling eyes.

  "As soon as you can, Silas," said the invalid.

  "And, aunt, can't you spare a little more to Louise and Beth? It wouldmake them so happy."

  "Double the amount I had allowed to each of them," the woman commandedher lawyer.

  "Can it all be ready to sign tonight?" asked Patsy, excitedly.

  "I'll try, my dear," replied the old lawyer, gravely. Then he turnedto Jane Merrick.

  "Are you in earnest?" he asked.

  Patsy's heart suddenly sank.

  "Yes," was the reply. "I am tired of opposing this child's wishes.What do I care what becomes of my money, when I am gone? All that Idesire is to have my remaining days peaceful."

  The girl spring forward and kissed her rapturously.

  "They shall be, aunt!" she cried. "I promise it."