There are grades in all classes of life; and the young ladies’ seminary, to which Virginia went as a day scholar, had its distinctions of rank. The first in consequence among the young ladies were the two daughters of Mr Tippet, the haberdasher; then came the hatter’s daughter, Miss Beaver. The grades appeared to be as follows: manufactures held the first rank; then dry goods, as the tea-dealers, grocers, etcetera; the third class consisted of the daughters of the substantial butchers and pastrycooks. The squabbles between the young ladies about rank and precedence were continual; what then must have been the position of poor little Virginia, whose mother was a clear-starcher and getter-up of fine linen? At first they called her the washerwoman’s daughter, and would not associate with her, which made her very uncomfortable; and she used to tell me on the Sundays, when we walked out, how she had been treated during the week. But it was all for her advantage, and tended to correct the false pride and upstart ideas which in time must have been engendered by my mother’s folly. Neither, after a few weeks, was my sister unhappy; she was too meek in disposition to reply, so that she disarmed those who would assail her; and being, as she was, of the lowest rank in the school, there could be no contest with the others as to precedence. Her mildness, humility, and sweetness of temper soon won upon both the schoolmistress and the scholars; eventually the Miss Tippets took Virginia under their protection, and this magnanimity on their part silenced all opposition. My mother had desired my sister to take lessons in dancing. At first the girls would not stand up with her; but, when the elder Miss Tippet took her as a partner, my sister became quite the fashion, and, what was better, a great favourite and pet with everybody; and they all patronised her as “little Virginia.”
I very soon paid off my debt to old Nanny, without having to apply to Peter Anderson. I had assistance (but without asking for it) as follows:— The second Sunday after I had obtained my clothes, I called, with Virginia, upon the widow of St. Felix. She was in the back parlour, and the doctor, as usual, sitting with her. She received us very kindly, spoke a deal to Virginia, and told me that I looked very handsome for “Poor Jack.”
“You’ll be quite the fashion,” continued she; “and I presume, like most fashionable gentlemen, your clothes are not paid for.”
I replied, laughing, that they were not; but that they should be, if I lived and could work.
“I’ve heard the whole story from old Ben,” replied she. “Come in to-morrow, Jack; I want to speak with you.”
I did so in the forenoon, when she put a five-shilling piece in my hand, and said, “That’s from me, to help you to pay your debt to old Nanny. But that’s not all, Jack; I’ve coaxed the doctor (not that he required much coaxing, to do him justice), and here’s two half-crowns from him, which, I believe, will go about as far as my five shillings. Now, Jack, you look very happy; so, just out of gratitude, run as fast as you can, and make poor old Nanny happy, for she moans over her generous fit, and wonders all day long whether you will ever pay her again.”
I had listened all this while to Mrs St. Felix, but I was so moved by her kindness and generosity that I could not speak. I had received money for services performed, and I had obtained it from Nanny as a loan, to be repaid with interest; but so much money, as a gift, had never entered into my imagination. I could not restrain my feelings; I dropped my face on the counter, to conceal the tears which escaped.
“I can’t say ‘thank you,’ as I wish, indeed I can’t,” said I, as I looked up at her.
“Why, you foolish boy, you have said thank you,” replied the widow; “and now run away, for I must leave the shop a minute.”
This assistance made me redouble my exertions, and in three months I had repaid the whole: the last portion which was due I received from Virginia. She knew how much I paid off every week; and, when on Sunday I told her that I had only one and sixpence owing, she ran upstairs, and, when she came down again, put the sum into my hand. She had been saving up all she could coax out of my mother ever since I had first obtained the clothes; and great indeed was her delight when she gave me the money,—she kissed me, and began to dance, although it was Sunday, and then she proposed that we should walk together to old Nanny’s, and close the account. We found the old woman sitting on her steps; the door was open, but the shop shutters were up. On the Saturday night I had paid her two shillings, so that she did not expect to see me. Virginia put the one and sixpence in her hand, saying, “Now brother has paid you all.”