"This is the new cousin whom Edward brought home from school to-day," said the lady, leading the boy into the little bedroom, where Elsie sat propped up in bed to receive this stranger. The two relatives so strangely brought together, looked at each other for a moment in silence, and then Herbert bowed his head, and lifted Elsie's hand and kissed it, saying, "I am very glad to see you, Cousin Elsie, and I hope you will soon be quite well."
"Thank you," said Elsie, with the air of a little queen receiving the homage of a sworn knight; and Mrs. Perceval was amused to see the quiet way in which the two met, when they had been so afraid of excitement. Herbert held her hand tenderly in his, looking into her white face with such pity, that Mrs. Perceval, standing near, saw the tears rise to his eyes, and thought it best to hurry him away.
Downstairs he was introduced to his cousin Tom, and was a great deal more free with him. "So you are taking care of your mother and sister," he said; "and you want something to take care of in your pocket, too, I think," and the contents of his own pocket was quickly transferred to that of Tom.
And then he asked if he might come and see them all again the next day. "You see, I am at school with Perceval, and I have to go back with him early on Monday morning, so I don't know when I may see you again."
"You shall come home again with Edward next Saturday," said Mrs. Perceval.
But Herbert still pressed to be allowed to come the next day; and it was arranged that he should come early in the afternoon, and stay to tea, and Edward was to come for him in the evening.
When he got back, he asked Dr. Perceval how soon a letter could be despatched to his mother, for, of course, he wanted to tell her all about his strange meeting with his aunt and cousin.
It was rather an incoherent letter, and whether Mrs. Milner would have understood it is doubtful, if Mr. Perceval had not supplemented it by one from himself, giving that lady an account of the dire poverty into which her sister had been plunged through no fault of her own.
It is possible that if Herbert's letter had gone unsupported by that of Dr. Perceval, Mrs. Milner might have scolded him for poking and prying into things that did not concern him, as she had done before. But she had heard from some friends of this clever and kindly doctor, and knew that he was not only clever, but wealthy too; and, therefore, his letter brought a prompt and satisfactory reply at once.
She was satisfied, from her son's description of the miniature, although it had been removed from its original setting, that the Mrs. Winn described in his letter was her sister; and she enclosed a ten pound note for immediate needs, and also a letter for her sister, in which she promised to come and see her as soon as she could travel; for she was suffering from a bad cold just then, and would not be able to undertake the journey to Fairfield for a day or two.