About a week after her arrival at the Priory, Felicia passed a very happy day in the society of her relations at the Vicarage; and she was delighted to hear of an arrangement which her aunt informed her was likely to be made for her education, which was that she should be taught with her cousins by their governess.
"In which case you will come here every morning, dine with us, and return to the Priory at four o'clock," Mrs. Pring explained. "It is not quite settled, because we have not yet consulted Miss Barton about it, but I imagine she will raise no objection to our plan. She will be back next week, for her mother, whom she went home to nurse, is much better and able to do without her now. I see you like the idea of studying with your cousins, my dear."
"Oh, yes," Felicia replied earnestly. "I—I went to the Board School in Bristol before mother grew very ill. Mother said I must be educated and she had no money to pay school fees for me. It was different before her bad illness. Oh, if it had not been for that, I believe she would be living still! Oh, Aunt Mary, you don't know how people suffer when they are very, very poor!" And the tears fell whilst Mrs. Pring realised that there were memories from her little niece's past which nothing would ever blot out.
[CHAPTER X]
A Great Surprise
DORIS and Molly Pring found their cousin very reserved at first, and disinclined to exchange confidences with them, but after a little while she became more communicative. She refrained from mentioning her mother to them, however, and kept silence respecting the two years she had spent in Bristol, for it was easy to see Doris and Molly knew nothing of trouble, and she shrank sensitively from allowing them an insight into that time which had been so fraught with poverty and sickness.
Felicia soon discovered that there were no poor people in N—; that is to say, there were none who lacked the necessaries of life. The heads of the families in the village were mostly farm labourers, and men employed in the clay works which were situated half-a-mile distant, and if they did not get large wages they earned sufficient for their needs, and their wives and children were comfortably clothed and well-fed. Most of the cottage homes belonged to Mr. Renford, who was an excellent landlord, and kept his property in good repair, and if sickness visited any of his tenants he was always ready to lend them a helping hand. When Felicia came to understand how much her grandfather was liked and respected by all who were brought in contact with him, she grew more and more indignant with him on her mother's account. Why had he allowed her to die in that Bristol garret when he might have done so much to help her? She did not reflect that he had been in total ignorance of her mother's whereabouts, or that Mrs. Renford—fearful of being parted from her child—had purposely kept him in the dark concerning her circumstances. Felicia only saw that he was kind to outsiders, to people who had no real claim upon him, and the remembrance that he had shown himself hard and unsympathetic to her mother—his own son's wife—was very, very bitter.
The little girl had been at the Priory fully a fortnight, when one day Molly Pring brought the news that Miss Barton had returned, and had consented to take a third pupil under her charge; therefore Felicia would be expected at the Vicarage on the following morning.
"Mother told me to tell you to be sure to be in good time," said Molly, "for we begin lessons at the tick of ten o'clock. Why, how pleased you look! You're much more eager to get to work than I am; for my part, I wish it was holidays always. But we're very glad to get Miss Barton back, for we're all very fond of her. You'll like her, Felicia."
When Felicia appeared at the Vicarage at the hour appointed next morning, she was met at the door by her aunt, who immediately took her upstairs to the schoolroom, where her cousins and their governess were awaiting her. The instant Felicia was introduced to Miss Barton she knew she had seen her before. The swift, observant glance the governess cast upon her seemed quite familiar, as was the smile which lit up her pretty face, and Felicia uttered a glad cry of recognition, whilst her countenance glowed with pleasure.