第86章 A REALIZED HOPE(3)

Mr.Evringham mounted his horse."We'll take a sedate walk through the woods,"he said."Zeke,you might lead her a little way.""No,no,please,"begged the child."I know how to ride.I do.""Well,let her go then,"smiled the broker,and Essex Maid trotted slowly,noting with haughty bright eyes the little black companion,who might have stepped out of a picture book,but whose easy canter was tossing Jewel at every step.

"I haven't--any--whip!"The words were bounced out of the child's lips,and Mr.Evringham's laugh resounded along the avenue.

"I believe she'd use it,"he said to Zeke,who was running along beside the black pony.

"I guess she would,sir,"grinned the young fellow responsively.

It was not many days before Jewel had learned to stay in the saddle.

She had an efficient teacher who worked with her con amore,and the sight of the erect,gray-haired man on his famous mare,always accompanied by the rosy little girl on a black pony,came to be a familiar sight in Bel-Air,and one which people always turned to follow with their eyes.

Eloise had her talk with Mr.Evringham one evening when Jewel was excluded from the library,and she emerged from the interview with a more contented heart than she had known for a year.

She endeavored to convey the situation to her mother in detail,but when that lady had learned that there were no happy surprises,she declined to listen.

"Tastes differ,Eloise,"she said."I am one who believes that where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise."Mrs.Evringham had regained a quite light-hearted appearance in the interest of expending a portion of her windfall on her own and Eloise's summer wardrobe.

"Well,you shan't be bothered then,"returned her daughter."You have me to take care of our money matters.""I prefer to let father do it,"returned Mrs.Evringham decidedly."He is a changed being of late,and we are as well situated as we could hope to be.I don't feel quite satisfied with the lining of the brougham,but some day I mean to speak of it."Eloise threw up both hands,but she laughed.She and her grandfather had an excellent understanding,and she knew that the mills of the gods were about to grind.

One evening the broker called his daughter-in-law into the library.

"I hope it isn't on business,"she remarked flippantly as she entered.

"I tell you right at the start,father,I can't understand it."Her eyes wandered about the room curiously.It was strange to her.She took up a woman's picture from the desk."Who is this?"she asked.

"How do you like the face?"he returned.

The dark eyes and sweet mouth looked back at her.She frowned slightly.She did not like the situation in which she had found the photograph.It was far too intimate for a stranger,and made her a little nervous.

"If he is going to marry again,then good-by indeed!"she thought.

"I think it is rather sentimental,"she returned,with an air of engaging candor,"don't you?Just my first impression,you know;but it's a face I shouldn't trust.Who is it?""It is Jewel's mother,"returned the broker quietly,"my daughter Julia.Jewel brought it down last night,also a lot of little letters her mother had put in the pockets of the child's dresses when she packed them.""Ah!"exclaimed Mrs.Evringham triumphantly."Didn't I say she was sentimental?About that sort of thing my perceptions are always so keen.""H'm.I read the letters,and I judged from them that one can trust her.Will you be seated?"He placed a chair."I should like to ask your plans for the summer."Mrs.Evringham looked up quickly,startled."Oh,I haven't any.Have you?""Yes.I always seek some cool spot.You have an invitation to View Point,I understand.You could scarcely do better.""I have reasons,father,"impressively,"reasons for declining that.""Then where are you going?"

"I would just as lief stay here and take care of your house as not,"declared the lady magnanimously.

"Ha!Without any servants?"

"Why,what do you mean?"

"They are going away for a vacation.I am intending to have the house wired,and Mrs.Forbes and Zeke will hold sway in the barn.She doesn't wish to leave him."Mrs.Evringham was silenced and dismayed.She felt herself being firmly and inexorably pushed out of this well-lined nest.

Her eyes fell before the impenetrable ones regarding her.

"How did Jewel ever win him?"she thought.The picturesque pony,with his arched neck and expensive trappings,had outraged her feelings for days.

"About the View Point plan,"continued Mr.Evringham deliberately."Ithink there are influences waiting for you there that will be of benefit.There is a new philosophy percolating in these days through our worldly rubbish which you and I would be the better for grasping.

Your chances are better than mine,for you are young still.Your daughter is expanding like a flower already,in the first rays of her understanding of it.This young man whom you fancy you can avoid is a help to her.Mr.Reeves was talking to me about him last night.He says that so far as his business is concerned,young Bonnell is proving the square peg in the square hole.I don't know what Eloise's sentiments are toward him,but I do know that she shall be independent of any one's financial help but mine."Mrs.Evringham lifted her eyes hopefully.

"I shall eke out the little income which is left to you with sufficient for you to live--not as you have done--but comfortably."The eager light faded from his listener's eyes.

"Eloise and I have arranged that,"he continued,"and she is satisfied.Take my advice,Madge.Go to View Point.""I suppose Eloise doesn't need horses so long as Jewel has them,"said Mrs.Evringham rising.

Her host followed her example."She thinks not,"he returned concisely;then he opened the library door,and his daughter-in-law swept from his presence with all the dignity she could muster.