第22章 Erica's Resolve (6)
"If you will let me."
"That is a funny word to use," she replied, laughing."You see we are treated as outlaws generally.I don't think any one ever said 'will you let' to me before.This is our house; thank you for seeing me home." Then with a roguish look in her eyes, she added demurely, but with a slight emphasis on the last word, "Good bye, my friend."Brian turned away sadly enough; but he had not gone far when he heard flying footsteps, and looking back saw Erica once more.
"Oh, I just came to know whether by any chance you want a kitten,"she said; "I have a real beauty which I want to find a nice home for."Of course Brian wanted a kitten at once; one would have imagined by the eagerness of his manner that he was devoted to the whole feline tribe.
"Well, then, will you come in and see it?" said Erica."He really is a very nice kitten, and I shall go away much happier if I can see him settled in life first."She took him in, introduced him to her mother, and ran off in search of the cat, returning in a few minutes with a very playful-looking tabby.
"There he is," she said, putting the kitten on the table with an air of pride."I don't believe he has an equal in all London.
"What do you call him?" asked Brian.
"His name is St.Anthony," said Erica."Oh, I hope, by the bye, you won't object to that; it was no disrespect to St.Anthony at all, but only that he always will go and preach to my gold fish.
We'll make him do it now to show you.Come along Tony, and give them a sermon, there's a good little kit!"She put him on a side table, and he at once rested his front paws on a large glass bowl and peered down at the gold fish with great curiosity.
"I believe he would have drowned himself sooner or later, like Gray's cat, so I dare say it is a good thing for him to leave.You will be kind to him, won't you?"Brian promised that he should be well attended to, and, indeed there was little doubt that St.Anthony would from that day forth be lapped in luxury.He went away with his new master very contentedly, Erica following them to the door with farewell injunctions.
"And you'll be sure to butter his feet well or else he won't stay with you.Good bye, dear Tony.Be a good little cat!"Brian was pleased to have this token from his Undine, but at the same time he could not help seeing that she cared much more about parting with the kitten than about saying good bye to him.Well, it was something to have that lucky St.Anthony, who had been fondled and kissed.And after all it was Erica's very childishness and simplicity which made her so dear to him.
As soon as they were out of sight, Erica, with the thought of the separation beginning to weigh upon her, went back to her mother.
They knew that this was the last quiet time they would have together for many long months.But last days are not good days for talking.They spoke very little.Every now and then Mrs.Raeburn would make some inquiry about the packing or the journey, or would try to cheer the child by speaking of the house they would have at the end of the two years.But Erica was not to be comforted; a dull pain was gnawing at her heart, and the present was not to be displaced by any visions of a golden future."If it were not for leaving you alone, mother, I shouldn't mind so much," she said, in a choked voice."But it seems to me that you have the hardest part of all.""Aunt Jean will be here, and Tom," said Mrs.Raeburn.
"Aunt Jean is very kind," said Erica, doubtfully."But she doesn't know how to nurse people.Tom is the one hope, and he has promised always to tell me the whole truth about you; so if you get worse, I shall come home directly.""You mustn't grudge me my share of the work," said Mrs.Raeburn.
"It would make me very miserable if I did hinder you or your father."Erica sighed."You and father are so dreadfully public-spirited!
And yet, oh, mother! What does the whole world matter to me if Ithink you are uncomfortable, and wretched, and alone?""You will learn to think differently, dear, by and by," said her mother, kissing the eager, troubled face."And, when you fancy me lonely, you can picture me instead as proud and happy in thinking of my brave little daughter who has gone into exile of her own accord to help the cause of truth and liberty."They were inspiriting words, and they brought a glow to Erica's face; she choked down her own personal pain.No religious martyr went through the time of trial more bravely than Luke Raeburn's daughter lived through the next four and twenty hours.She never forgot even the most trivial incident of that day, it seemed burned in upon her brain.The dreary waking on the dark winter morning, the hurried farewells to her aunt and Tom, the last long embrace from her mother, the drive to the station, her father's recognition on the platform, the rude staring and ruder comments to which they were subjected, then the one supreme wrench of parting, the look of pain in her father's face, the trembling of his voice, the last long look as the train moved off, and the utter loneliness of all that followed.Then came dimmer recollections, not less real, but more confused; of a merry set of fellow passengers who were going to enjoy themselves in the south of France; of a certain little packet which her father had placed in her hand, and which proved to be "Mill on Liberty;" of her eager perusal of the first two or three chapters; of the many instances of the "tyranny of the majority" which she had been able to produce, not without a certain satisfaction.And afterward more vividly she could recall the last look at England, the dreary arrival at Boulogne, the long weary railway journey, and the friendly reception at Mme Lemercier's school.No one could deny that her new life had been bravely begun.