SHE'S BUT A LASSIE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1899, 13 April 1888, Page 33

SHE'S BUT A LASSIE.

Written for the Witness Ladies' Page by "Wych Elm."

Chaptee I. My Heroine and Her Mother.

" Adela, do practise your music, or occupy yourself usefully in some way ; it is quite disgraceful to see a young girl like you dawdling away her time so 1 " The speaker, a heavy-featured, heavilydiessed woman of abeut 45, with a querulous mouth, drawn down at the corners, and an undue preponderance of adipose tissue, glanced angrily at her daughter as she spoke, and, as if to emphasise her words, knitted ; away at the huge antimacassar on which she was engaged with extra vigour. Mrs Mortimer was naturally an indolent woman, but would not for worlds have allowed the fact to appear, even to herself. She was one of those women perpetually engaged in what someone has called " indus- ! trious idleness " — a variety of trifling occupations, of no use or profit whatever, with which some people contrive to fill up the vacuum of an otherwise idle existence and then flatter themselves they are patterns i of diligence. Being dimly conscious of the inherent dislike to anything like hard work or serious application, Mrs Mortimer was jealous over her reputation in this respect, and took care never to be seen idle. Her house was d'oyleyed and antimacassared to death, besides the number of those articles which she had packed away, the productions ! of her busy fingers during the long afternoons when she sat in her arm-chair and grew fat. . Having an idea that she was gifted with literary tastes (probably from the fact of her having been a nursery governess in her younger days, before James Mortimer, the prosperous young grocer, married her) she made a point of reading a portion of some | standard work every day, and this duty was always performed with an ostentatious severity and superiority of demeanour that duly impressed any lookers-on with a sense of their own utter frivolity and insignificance. Mts Mortimer was always most conscious of feeing a brilliant example to her aeighbours, and consequently most severe in her judgment and difficult to please, when this daily •duty had just been performed, On this particular occasion she had just , taken a large dose of Adam Smith's "Wealth <ff Nations," although as to whether she i

understood the sense of what she read this I deponent sayeth not ; but certain it is that the bulky volume had something to do with increasing the virtuous indignation which she felt on beholding the idle and aimless manner in which her sixteen-year-old daughter, Adela, continued to drum her fingers on the window and gaze absently at the sparrows in the lktle front garden, which was damp from a recent shower.

" Do come away from the window," she continued, " and find some employment. These wet days are the very opportunities which the Creator has beneficently afforded us of improving our minds. You cannot say, Adela, that I do not set you a good example in this respect; you never see me idling and dreaming away my time, and I thank Providence I never did. Had I been of that disposition do you think that your poor departed father would have been as successful in business as he was, and left you so comfortably provided for ? You should be thankful every hour of your life, Adela, for the circumstances in which the early struggles of your parents have placed you.

But you never had anything to do with the business, mamma ? " interjected Adela, with a rather rebellious light in her dark blue eyes, and twining her hair restlessly round her fingers ; " I thought you were always above going into the shop."

To say that Mrs Mortimer glared at her daughter on receiving this bold shaft would be no exaggeration, and there is no telling what annihilating answer Adela might have received had not a dropped stitch in the knitting demanded instant attention, in order to avert ruin from the antimacassar. Dropped stitches were serious disasters to Mrs Mortimer, for they worried her and gave her trouble, and anything that disturbed her monotonous routine of occupation was regarded by her as an injury and an outrage.

When this accident had been repaired — a process which made the good lady rather hot and flustered — she raised her hard grey eyes again and fixed them on her daughter with lofty severity.

" When you talk so lightly of being above going into the shop, Adela, I would have you know what you mean. I was never above doing my duty in that state of life to which it pleased the Almighty to call me, if that is what you wish to insinuate. But I did feel that I was gifted with tastes which might perhaps be termed out of the common" (glancing meaningly at Adam Smith, who trembled visibly, Adela thought), " tastes which I felt it to be my solemn duty not to leave uncultivated, both for your father's sake and my own; for, not being himself of an intellectual turn of mmd — and I fear much sometimes, Adela, that you take after him — I felt it doubly incumbent on me to preserve that atmosphere of culture in which you ought to be so deeply thankful you have been brought up ! "

This magnificent peroration completely routed Adela, who had seldom ventured on so pert a remark to her mother, of whose lectures she stood greatly in awe, notwithstanding a quietly humorous perception of many of her foibles.

To cut short a scolding which jarred dreadfully on her buoyant young spirit this dull morning she turned rather sulkily to the piano, and began to stumble through one of Sydney Smith's drawing room trifles in a way which would assuredly have given that graceful composer a colic had he been condemned to sit it out. While she is at the piano, dear reader, you may as well have a good look at her, which will, perhaps, be more satisfactory than listening to her strains.

You see a girl of middle height, slim, fairskined, with cheeks like peaches, sweet rosy lips, that are unfortunately pouting a little just as her photograph is being taken, but which you can easily picture in a merry laugh ; large, full, dark blue eyes, drooping languidly just now under their long lashes — but these eyes can light up, I promise you ; and a profusion of fluffy, golden-browri hair, which flows in curls to her waist, and is tied at the back with blue ribbon, schoolgirl fashion.

In fact, Adela is but an ex-schoolgirl, having not long returned from a fashionable seminary at Cheltenham, where her mother placed her three years ago with the laudable object of getting rid of the trouble of her. Not that Adela was a particularly troublesome child, either, but she was full of restless young life, and did not fit herself easily into the grooves of Mrs Mortimer's domestic machinery.

School life suited her admirably, and she was very happy at Cheltenham ; but with the perverseness of all schoolgirls who never know when they are well off, her one dream during the last 12 months at school was to leave it and live at home as a " grown-up young lady." Some may, in this change of life and circumstances, find all they desire ; but Adela soon discovered her delusion. She would not willing have returned to school, but she chafed at her narrow limits at home, and this chiefly inwardly, for all outward signs of such chafing her mother soon put down with a relentless hand.

Mrs Mortimer mixed very little in general society, for which she had no taste ; her comfortable little delusions in respect of her own superiority and virtue might have been rudely shaken and dispelled, and this thought was not to be tolerated for a moment. She was consequently very careful as to whom she admitted to her comfortable dwelling on terms of intimacy ; and as these were principally dolts, sycophants, or " old foggies," as Adela was apt to mutter irreverently under her breath, it is no wonder that the latter found life a little tedious.

The household circle consisted in fact of a triangle — Mrs Mortimer, Adela, and a little servant maid, Patty. The latter, though, little in person, was comparatively old in years, owning to 28 summers. She had been 12 yeara with Mrs Mortimer, and had become so habituated to her ways that her mistress would not have parted with her, and incurred the trouble and derangement of a new servant for a consideration. -

Patty therefore reigned supreme in the kitchen department, and a queer little elfin queen she was. Short, even stunted, in stature, with a thick set little body and a round face, distinguished by a muddy complexion, a preternaturally wide mouth, ,and a pair of .bright, .bird-like, black eyes, not guiltless of a squint j $ low forehead, surmounted

by coarse black hair, which, when not plastered down with an extravagant amount of grease formed a sooty halo round her head. Patty was indeed a character, although Mrs Mortimer never regarded hei in that light ; but simply as a necessary . adjunct to her comfort. Seen in repose, Patty's face was a study of sly demureness; in moments of merriment it appeared one universal rollicking laugh — her wide mouth displaying two rows of splendid teeth that constituted her sole personal charm.

To describe Patty mentally and morally would be a much more difficult task than the mere presentation before the reader of her personal appearance. She was such a strange mixture of good and bad, of low cunning and strong affections, of obliquity of moral vision and utter unselfishness, that her actions in the course of the narrative will afford the best clue to her character. She was an inveterate little gossip, taking that keen interest in the affairs of her neighbours, good and bad, which her mistress lacked. Towards that mistress she bore herself with the deference of a tame monkey, and was to a certain extent overawed by those deep studies and accomplishments which were so much beyond her ken; but she had no scruple in deceiving and outwitting her whenever an end was to be gained by it ; and good Mrs Mortimer was very often led by the nose without knowing it by her ignorant little servant wench.

Oa Adela the elfish Patty lavished all the affection and idolatry of her nature. Her pretty young mistress was the one bright pictured page in the dull prosaic volume of her daily life. Patty it was who blubbered and snivelled for long hours in the retirement of the scullery when Miss Adela was borne away to school after the holidays, the while her mistress resumed hei knitting in the parlour, with a fat sigh of relief. Patty it was who, in a spotlessly clean apron, and showing every tooth in her head, beamed — nay, blazed a welcome from the front door when that bewitching young fairy came home for good — Mrs M. remaining in the background for fear of draughts.

There was nothing nice or discriminating in her affection for her idol ; as a child, she would have spoiled her insufferably had she been allowed to do so ; as it was many were the surreptitious jam tarts and slices of sugared bread and butter smuggled into the nursery when Miss Adela had been sent to bed in disgrace, and presumably without her tea. And now that the little mistress had grown beyond whippings and jam tarts, Patty was equally prepared to spoil her in another fashion. Yet she was cunning enough to veil this spirit of idolatory from her mistress, who by no means approved of a system of over indulgence, except so far as concerned herself.

CHAPTEK 11. , From Piano to Piecrust.

Meanwhile Adela is practising and inflicting untold agonies upon her mother, who is blessed (or cursed, according to circumstances)] with an excellent ear for music. Since Adela returned from school with a few pieces in excellent playing order her music had gradually been degenerating into a muddle. Her mother, though perfectly well qualified, had not the energy to teach the girl herself; it would have bothered her too much.. Though once a fair musician, she no longer touched the piano, except to play a few stately sacred pieces on a Sunday evening as thepeople were going by to church, this compensating, as she imagined, for her indulgence in the luxury of staying at home on those occasions, as well as producing a due impression on the passers-by.

Presently Adela twirled round on the music-stool in the midst of a torturing passage.

" Oh, mamma, when are you going to let me pay that visit to Eva Blake ? She has been bothering me to go ever since we left school, and you promised I should, you know !"

Mrs Mortimer was not in a favourable frame of mind for this attack.

" Why, when, you play those pieces fit to be heard again I may think of it," she answered, crossly. "It is positively dreadful to sit and listen to you, Adela ! Either you are obstinately careless, or you have no more ear for music than your poor dear father had!"

Either inference was not very complimentary, so Adela looked snlky again, and kicked her heels against the music-stool in silence.

" I declare," her mother continued lugubriously, "it is so hard to get sympathetic companionship — intellectual companionship — even in one's own daughter, that one seems to long to fly to some desert wild."

This picture was too much for Adela's gravity. Bursting into a fit of laughter, she rolled in a most undignified manner off the music-stool into an arm-chair, covering her face with her bright curls in a vain endeavour to check her mirth.

" Oh, mamma, you fly [" she broke forth. '• And to a desert wild I— you and that antimacassar 1"

Mrs Mortimer failed to see any fun in the idea, but proceeded to lecture her daughter upon the inequality of her spirits, the folly and irreverance of her mirth, and the want of philosophy displayed in her despondency, holding herself up as an example of the happy mean between these two extremes. Having reduced Adela to a state of apathetic endurance, she returned to the subject of the music.

" I think I shall send you for lessons to Madame Bellairs," she declared. "I hear she is a very fair teacher, though perhaps nQt acquainted with the works of the great masters to the extent one would desire." (Mrs M. always spoke of the "great masters" as if they belonged to some particular and exclusive coterie of her own). " However, it will suffice to keep you from falling back so dreadfully, and I shall make arrangements for you to do most of your practising there too, for your continual discords quite unnerve me, and make me feel quite unequal to my duties. I shall endeavour," she continued, with the air of a person who has made up her mind to some strenuous undertaking, "to get as far as Madame Bellair's this afternoon, should I feel equal to it, to speak to her about terms and so on."

"Oh, how jolly 1" cried Adela, clapping her hands, pieased at the prospect of a novelty.. ."I'm sore I shall -like .learning under MadaniQ BeUaiis, mainm&. 'She, sits

two pewa in front cf us in church, you know, on the other side of the aisle, , and, she always looks, as if she wanted to laugh when old Mrs Chickenling drawls , out , the last notes of the hymn through her nose, long after everybody else has finished ; it made me quite take to her, for I declare I was almost ready " •. Here Adela checked herself, for Mrs Mortimer had drawn back her chair, as if in fear of coming in contact with the very mention of such a profanation. ;

"I hope you are mistaken, Adela," she said with great emphasis ; " I hope and trust that it was only your own frivolous mind which suggested such a thing I A woman who could be guilty of laughing in church would be the last person whom • I could entrust "

. " Oh, it was only my nonsense, mamma ! " put in Adela, hastily, in mortal fear lest the maternal decree might be revoked. " I dare say the poor dear old frump never thought of such a thing. I beg your pardqn, mamma," (seeing her mother frown), " but those words will pop out now and then when I get a little excited. All the girls at Miss Knagg's used to talk like that, you know, and I suppose it's catching I " ' " You never hear iiie mcke use of such expressions as 'frump' and .' jolly' in my most animated moments " (Adela tittered behind her handkerchief); "I have always prided myself on an extensive vocabulary, but invariably confine myself to expressions authorised by the dictionary," waving her hand majestically as she spoke towards a ponderous volume in the bookcase, as if to effect an introduction. „ Adela evidently desired no further acquaintance, for she hastened to change the subject.

"Do you think you will take me with you this afternoon, mamma 1"

" H'm," coughed her mother, looking dubiously at the window; "I don't much like the look of the weather. My temperament is so susceptible to any dampness of the atmosphere "

" Oh, mamma ; it's a lovely day," expostulated Adela, half dying afc the prospect of a disappointment; "it just blows the least little bit, but that sends the clouds over, and I'm sure it won't rain."

" We shall see," replied Mrs Mortimer, in a wet-blanket sort of tone, and Adela started on a fresh tack.

"Wh&n I know those pieces perfectly, mamma, and I mean to work awfully — I mean very, very hard with Madame Bellairs, you'll let me go to the Blake's for a month, really ?"

" I always keep my word, Adela," was the stiff jeply ; and a pause ensued, during which Mrs Mortimer counted and recounted her stitches ; while her daughter absently opened a book, stared hard at the pages without seeiLg them, pinching her arms violently now and then to keep her restlessness under. Just as she was inflicting her fourteenth pinch a knock came at the door.

" Come in," said Mrs Mortimer, with an air of calm exasperation, having nearly counted to the end of the row when this interruption took place.

, The door was opened by Patty, a picture of stolidity, her eyes steadfastly contemplating the tip of her nose, which was pointed straight at her mistress.

" Please 'm, is Miss Adler comin' to the kitchen to lam how to make a beefstuck pie, 'ml I got all the in-greedy-uns ready on the table."

Both Mrs Mortimer and her daughter looked a little puzzled ; and Patty continued with great volubility, but the same blank stolidity of feature — " You know you was a-sayin' yesterday, 'm, what a pity Miss Adlcr had so much idle time on 'er 'ands, and you says, ' If she only 'ad a littery taste like me,' you says, 'm, ' what a blessing it would be ' ; and I says, ' Bless your 'art, 'm, we can't all 'aye a littery taste like you, 'm, and we can't all be born genuses, but if so be as you thinks a little more ockipation wouldn't do Miss Adler no 'arm, 'ow about a few lessons in cookery,' I says ; as I'm sure a little hextry trouble wouldn't be no objec' to me, since it's to oblige you, 'm ; and as I was a-sayin' to the butcher, when I just slipped down for the beefstu'ek, 'm ' what a blessin,' I says, 'when a young lady has got, ama with sensible idees to lam her domestic economy,' I says; 'not like them there Fetherby gals, as can't do nothin' but gad about and leer at the fellers,' I says, ' as 'ad much better be lamin' somethin' useful, as is my missis' idee,' I says. Says he, ' Ah, your missis is a sensible 'ooman, and it's a pity but what there was more of 'er ways of thinkin' '"

"That will ,do, Patty," interrupted Mrs Mortimer, holding up her hand as if sensitively shrinking from hearing her own praises. "What you say is perfectly true. I remember speaking with you on the subject yesterday, but among sundry other matters of contemplation it had slipped my mind. You perceive, Adela," she continued, turning majestically to her daughter, "that this scheme is intended for your life-long benefit, and I hope you will pay due attention to the course of lessons which I have instructed Patty to give you. I need not remind you, Patty, of what I said yesterday on the subject of onions."

" There shan't one come anear the pie, *m," responded patty briskly, pushing the <3oor wider open for the demure exit of her young mistress; and Mrs Mortimer and her antimacassar were left to each other's congenial companionship,

(To be continued.')