mr. preston's visits were now supposed to have ceased. but the next afternoon, when lydia was busy in the dairy, he came again to the farm.
he came now with both important and unpleasant tidings.
the heir in australia had telegraphed: "he was not coming back to england. everything was to be sold; farm and all belongings to it were to be got rid of as quickly as possible."
lydia clasped her hands in dismay at these tidings. no time for any more saving, no time for any more soft living, for the new owners of warren's grove would be very unlikely to need her services.
"and there is another thing, mrs. purcell," continued the lawyer, "which i confess grieves me even more than this. i have heard from france. i had a letter this morning."
"there was no check in it, i warrant," said lydia.
"no, i am sorry to tell you there was no check in it. the children's cousin in france refuses to pay any more money to them. he says their father is dead, and the children have no claim; besides, the vineyard has been doing badly the last two years, and he considers that he has given quite enough for it already; in short, he refuses to allow another penny to these poor little orphans."
"but my sister grace, the children's stepmother, said there was a regular deed for this money," said lydia. "she had it, and i believe it is in an old box of hers upstairs. if there is a deed, could not the man be forced to pay, mr. preston?"
"we could go to law with him, certainly; but the difficulty of a lawsuit between a frenchman and an english court would be immense; the issue would be doubtful, and the sum not worth the risk. the man owes four fifties, that is two hundred pounds; the whole of that sum would be expended on the lawsuit. no; i fear we shall gain nothing by that plan."
"well, of course i am sorry for the children," said lydia purcell, "but it is nothing to me. i must take steps to get them into the workhouse at once; as it is, i have been at considerable loss by them."
"mrs. purcell, believe me, that loss you will never feel; it will be something to your credit at the right side of the balance some day. and now tell me how much the support of the little ones costs you here."
lydia considered, resting her chin thoughtfully on her hand.
"they have the run of the place," she said. "in a big place like this 'tis impossible, however careful you may be, not to have odds and ends and a little waste; the children eat up the odds and ends. yes; i suppose they could be kept here for five shillings a week each."
"that is half a sovereign between them. mrs. purcell, you are sure to remain at warren's grove for another month; while you are here i will be answerable for the children; i will allow them five shillings a week each—you understand?"
"yes, i understand," said lydia, "and i'm sure they ought to be obliged to you, mr. preston. but should i not take steps about the workhouse?"
"i will take the necessary steps when the time comes. leave the matter to me."
that evening lydia called cecile to her side.
"look here, child, you have got a kind friend in mr. preston. he is going to support you both here for a month longer. it is very good of him, for you are nothing, either of you, but little beggar brats, as your cousin in france won't send any more money."
"our cousin in france won't send any more money!" repeated cecile. her face grew very pale, her eyes fell to the ground; in a moment she raised them.
"where are we to go at the end of the month, aunt lydia purcell?"
"to the workhouse."
"you said before it was to the union."
"yes, child, yes; 'tis all the same."
but here maurice, who had been busy playing with toby and apparently not listening to a single word, scrambled up hastily to his feet and came to cecile's side.
"but cecile and me aren't going into no union, wicked aunt lydia purcell!" he said.
"heity-teity!" said lydia, laughing at his little red face and excited manner.
the laugh enraged maurice, who had a very hot temper.
"i hate you, aunt lydia purcell!" he repeated, "i hate you! and i'm not going to be afraid of you. you said you'd give our toby a yard of rope; if you do you'll be a murderer. i think you're so wicked, you're one already."
those words, striking at some hidden, deep-seated pain in lydia's heart, caused her to wince and turn pale. she rose from her seat, shaking her apron as she did so. but before she left the room she cast a look of unutterable aversion on both the children.
cecile now knew what she had before her. she, maurice, and toby had just a month to prepare—just a month to get ready for the great task of cecile's life. at the end of a month they must set forth—three pilgrims without a guide. cecile felt that it was a pity this long journey which they must take in secret should begin in the winter. had she the power of choice, she would have put off so weary a pilgrimage until the days were long and the weather mild. but there was no choice in the matter now; just when the days were shortest and worst, just at christmas time, they must set out. cecile was a very wise child for her years. her father had called her dependable. she was dependable. she had thought, and prudence, and foresight. she made many schemes now. at night, as she lay awake in her attic bedroom, in the daytime, as she walked by maurice's side, she pondered them. she had two great anxieties,—first, how to find the way; second, how to make the money last. fifteen pounds her stepmother had given her to find lovedy with. fifteen pounds seemed to such an inexperienced head as cecile's a very large sum of money—indeed, quite an inexhaustible sum. but mrs. d'albert had assured her that it was not a large sum at all. it was not even a large sum for one, she said, even for cecile herself. to make it sufficient she must walk a great deal, and sleep at the smallest village inns, and eat the plainest food. and how much shorter, then, would the money go, if it had to supply two with food and the other necessities of the journey? cecile resolved that, if possible, they would not touch the money laid in the russia-leather purse until they really got into france. her present plan was to walk to london. london was not so very far out of kent, and once in london, the place where she had lived all, or almost all her life, she would feel at home. cecile even hoped she might be able to earn a little money in london, money enough to take maurice and toby and herself into france. she had not an idea how the money was to be earned, but even if she had to sweep a crossing, she thought she could do it. and, for their walk into london, there was that precious half sovereign, which kind mr. preston had given maurice, and which cecile had put by in the same box which held the leather purse. they might have to spend a shilling or two of that half sovereign, and for the rest, cecile began to consider what they could do to save now. it was useless to expect such foresight on maurice's part. but for herself, whenever she got an apple or a nut, she put it carefully aside. it was not that her little teeth did not long to close in the juicy fruit, or to crack the hard shell and secure the kernel. but far greater than these physical longings was her earnest desire to keep true to her solemn promise to the dead—to find, and give her mother's message and her mother's gift to the beautiful, wayward english girl who yet had broken that mother's heart.
