The schoolroom had been left undisturbed, for the sisters were otherwise occupied. By Mr. Fulmort’s will, the jewels, excepting certain Mervyn heirlooms, were to be divided between the daughters, and their two ladyships thought this the best time for their choice, though as yet they could not take possession. Phœbe would have given the world that the sets had been appropriated, so that Mervyn and Mr. Crabbe should not have had to make her miserable by fighting her battles, insisting on her choosing, and then overruling her choice as not of sufficiently valuable articles, while Bertha profited by the lesson in harpy-hood, and regarded all claimed by the others as so much taken from herself; and poor Maria clasped on every bracelet one by one, threaded every ring on her fingers, and caught the same lustre on every diamond, delighting in the grand exhibition, and in her own share, which by general consent included all that was clumsy and ill-set. No one had the heart to disturb her, but Phœbe felt that the poor thing was an eyesore to them all, and was hardly able to endure Augusta’s compliment, ‘After all, Phœbe, she is not so bad; you may make her tolerably presentable for the country.’
Lady Acton patronized Bertha, in opposition to Phœbe; and Sir Bevil was glad to have one sister to whom he could be good-natured without molestation. The young lady, heartily weary of the monotony of home, was much disappointed at the present arrangement; Phœbe had become the envied elder sister instead of the companion in misfortune, and Juliana was looked on as
the sympathizing friend who would fain have opened the prison doors that Phœbe closed against her by making all that disturbance about Maria.
‘It is all humbug about Maria,’ said Juliana. ‘Much Phœbe will let her stand in her way when she wants to come to London for the season—but I’ll not take her out, I promise her.’
‘But you will take me,’ cried Bertha. ‘You’ll not leave me in this dismal hole always.’
‘Never fear, Bertha. This plan won’t last six months. Mervyn and Phœbe will get sick of one another, and Augusta will be ready to take her in—she is pining for an errand girl.’
‘I’ll not go there to read cookery books and meet old fogies. You will have me, Juliana, and we will have such fun together.’
‘When you are come out, perhaps—and you must cure that stammer.’
‘I shall die of dulness before then! If I could only go to school!’
‘I wouldn’t be you with Maria for your most lively companion.’