The Gold of Chickaree

by Susan Warner; Anna Bartlett Warner

CHAPTER XXVI.

AN ACCOUNT AT THE BANK.

'Duchess,' said Rollo the next morning at breakfast, 'which cabinet maker is to have the honour of your patronage?'

'I suppose it is not fair to do people good against their will,' said Hazel. 'If Prim would like the common oneand the money best, she must have that. But I shall let her know she chose it.'

'You would not like to be suspected of having practised economy?'

'Not unjustly.'

'How is that an unjust suspicion, which is founded on fact?'

'I am not practising economy a bit. Prim wants a secretaryand you say she would like that best.'

'Excuse me! I said she would like that and the hundred and fifty dollars best; and you will practise economy to give them to her. Nicht?'

'Not at all. Only self-denial. I never did buy ugly things, and I don't like it.'

'Self-denial is almost as good as economy, and one step towards it. But I would remark, that economy and ugly things have no necessary connection.'

'No,' said Hazel'my alternative would be destitution.'

'Economy has no connection whatever with destitution.'

'O there you are mistaken,' said the girl arching her brows. 'But for destitution, it need not exist. But I wish I could think of the right explosive materials to put in Prim's trunk! She wants waking up, Olaf,and you have just stroked her down for a nap.'

Dane's eyes snapped at the speaker across the table; and then he asked in a quiet business tone, 'what sort of lethargy Prim had fallen into?'

'I said nothing about lethargy. I must get a ream of paper initialed in blue and gold, and another in crimson, to help line the secretary. And three journal books in green bevelled antique, and fifty note- books in yellow Turkey morocco. Andhow many gold pens does Prim wear out in a year?'

'You made a profound remark just now on the origin of economy; I should like to have your definition of the thing. Would you favour me?'

'Mind,' said Hazel, laughing a little, 'it is an unproved definition, the word itself being but lately introduced; but at present it seems to me, the doing without what you want yourself, to give it to somebody who wants it more.'

A line of white made itself visible between Rollo's lips, and the curves of his mouth were unsteady. When they were reduced to order again, he asked,

'What more shall we do for New Year in the Hollow?'

Certain cloaks and dresses for women and children, it may be remarked, had already been sent up. Wych Hazel considered.

'Would it be possiblebut we shall not be at home to give them a night Festival. There went no books nor pictures into the Christmas work?'

'BooksI am afraidthey are not ready for. Picturespictures are harmonizing; I am going to get you some; I would like to put a picture in every house. What sort? I have thought about it and failed to decide.'

'Do I want harmonizing in that sense?' Hazel asked with a laugh.

'You want all sorts of things. Go on.'

'Wellfor the picturesI would not get them all alike. It destroys one's sense of possession.'

'True. But the more the variety, the greater the difficulty.'

'What are your nations?'

'Swedes and Germans, a few Irish, a sprinkling of Americans and
English.'

'Good pictures of animals, I should think,' said Hazel, going deep into the matter; 'and of ships,and of children. Englishmen would like King Alfred burning the cakes, and Canute at the sea, and I suppose the queen in her royal robes, and the battle of Trafalgar. Then there are bits of the Rhine, and Cathedrals, and Martin Luther, and a Madonna or two, for your Vaterland people,and mountains and ice and reindeer' Hazel broke off with a blush. 'How I run on!'

'We will have them all, for future use,' said Rollo smiling. 'The time will come, but I believe it is not yet. The people are hardly ready. It wouldn't be good economy. You do not understand that subject, I know, but you will excuse me for alluding to it. Now for business.'

Drawing Wych Hazel away from the breakfast table to another table which stood in the room, he opened a bank cheque book which lay there.

'Do you know what this is?'

'I see.'

'This is for your use and behoof. And this other little book containsor will containyour account with the bank. They will keep the account, and all you have to do is to send it to the bank every quarter to be written up. There, in your cheque book, opposite each cheque, you register the amount drawn by that cheque; so as to know where you are. Verstanden?'

'Yes,' said Wych Hazel, 'I have watched Mr. Falkirk often over his.'

'The capital which is represented by ten thousand a year,' Dane went on with business quietness, 'I have settled, absolutely and without reserve, upon you. That amount will be yearly paid in to your account, to be drawn out at your pleasure.'

'Why do you let me have more than I used to have?' she said quickly.

Rollo's lips played a little as he answered,'I think it is good for your health to be duchess in your own right somewhere.'

'What makes you say that?'

'Conviction.'

'Ah hush!I am talking business. Did Mr. Falkirk talk to you about it?'

'No. But Mr. Falkirk did go to Dr. Maryland; and urged that he should prevail with me, before I married you, to settle your fortuneor as much of it as possibleupon yourself. Dr. Maryland refused to urge me, and would do no more than represent to me Mr. Falkirk's wishes. So then Mr. Falkirk wrote to me himself, though as he said, with very little hope of doing any good. And I don't think he did any good'added Dane demurely.

'He did his best to vex me first.'

She stood looking down at the cheque book, her face a study of changing colours. No,this would have been done, though Mr. Falkirk had held his peace. 'Thank you!' she said, suddenly and softly.

'Thank me for what?' said Rollo gayly. 'For giving you back a little piece of your power, after you had lodged it all with me? How did Mr. Falkirk vex you?'

'I suppose really he wanted to vex you,' said Hazel. 'And he knew how to choose his words. Olaf'the soft intonation coming back again'you are very good! But what makes you think I want power?'

'Habit is said to be second nature.'

'Are you afraid of my missing what I used to have?'

'How should you miss it?' said he laughing. 'Are you less of a witch than you used to be?'

She shook her head thoughtfully. 'I do not quite know what I am.
Do you expect me to spend all this money wisely?'

'I shall never ask how you spend it, Wych. Only this I would say,spend it. We have far too much now to go on accumulating.'

'Ah,' she said with a breath of satisfaction, 'you are beginning to understand me!'

'What new token have I given of such sagacity?'

'So long as you and Mr. Falkirk had a monopoly of the wisdom, there was no use for my small supply,' said Wych Hazel. 'You never gave me an inch of line. And how you dare suddenly let so much out at once!'she laughed a little, breaking off.

There was infinite grave fondness in the way Dane drew her up to him and putting his hand under her chin, lifted the changeable face to study it. Then kissing her and letting her go, he remarked,

'The rest we hold together, subject to your demands, whenever this stock happens to be insufficient.'

'Yes,'she said, not looking at him,'the first demands, I think, will be to make myself into a business woman. How much of the time are you going to let me work with you in the Hollow?'

'Let you?There is unlimited room for work. I have bought the
Charteris mills, Hazel.'

'Have you!I thought he would not be willing.'

'He had stopped work, you know; the people were in terrible distress; the times might not encourage him to go on for some time; and he concluded to accept my offer. I got his answer only last night. I shall telegraph Arthur to-day to let the mills run again.'

'They will keep New Year,' was Hazel's comment.

'One of my new mills is a small one, doing very fine work in cottons, and employs only tow hundred and fifty hands; the woollen mills have eight hundred more. So you see, we have the whole community now to manage and nobody to interfere with us.'

'How many people?'

'Altogetherover two thousand five hundred. And everything to be done for them.'

'Then I can go over every day and busy myself with small matters while you attend to the great.'

'There is enough to do!' Rollo repeated with a smile, but a thoughtful one. 'How do you propose to manage on Sundays?'

'I do not know. As you manage.'

'I must be in the Hollow.'

'All day?'

'All day. I shall hold a service in the morning for the children, in the afternoon for the grown people. My schoolhouse is nearly finished now, quite enough for use. By and by we will have a church there, if all goes as I hope;or two, perhaps; but the people are not ready for that. They are half heathen, and will be less prejudiced against my preaching than any other. So I must give it to them for the present. I have sent up a load of Bibles and hymnbooks.'

Hazel sat thinking.

'I could not preach,' she said. 'I do not know what I could do. Only where there is so muchI suppose I could feel my way and do something.'

'I would be glad of your help in the Sunday-school. Arthur will be there; Prim has her own school at Crocus. Then we could lunch with Gyda, and you could drive back in time for Dr. Maryland's afternoon service. Hey?'

'Why should I drive back?' said Hazel.

'What a question! To go to church.'

'I can go to church in the Hollow.'

'Pardon me. There is no church there, visible or invisible.'

'There will be preachingand you know you always did like to preach to me,' said Hazel with a gleam.

'Dr. Maryland would like to preach to you too.'

'He will find other opportunities.'

'He would, I think, with reason, if you were absent from both services on Sundays. Speaking of work to doHow would you like to send one of the carriages several times a week to take Mrs. Coles to drive?'

'Whenever you likeif she can drive without me. But are you in earnest about Sunday afternoon?' said Hazel with a look that was certainly earnest.

'I am in earnest at present,' said Rollo. 'But we will see. It is something for you to sacrifice, and something for me! but whoever would follow the Lord "fully," Hazel, will find himself called to lay down his own will at every step.'

'So I must economize in you, first of all!' she said. The words slipped out rather too quick, and were followed by a shy blush which did not court notice.

Rollo half laughed and told her that 'economy always enhances enjoyment.'