“No you don’t, Honey! It is just morbid sorrow that’s fastened itself in your heart. The moment you change your entire present state of mind for a more harmonious one, you will feel like a new being. Now run along with your chums and have a real—r-e-e-l—happy time.” Miss Mason’s joyous nature was contagious, and smiles appeared where intense feelings had drawn faces awry. So it was with Natalie: as Miss Mason turned to go down the street, she stood smiling after her, with a lighter heart than she had carried for many days.
The five girls walked arm-in-arm along the city street regardless of inconvenienced pedestrians who had to give way for them. But four of the girls vied with each other in cheering Natalie into a happy mood, for they felt so sorry for her.
The five schoolmates had known each other for more than five years, and being very near an age and in the same class in school, naturally became intimates. Janet Wardell lived a few blocks from Belle Barlow and Norma Evaston; and Frances Lowden and her brothers boarded at a Family Apartment Hotel, two blocks west of Norma’s home. Natalie Averill, supposedly the wealthiest girl in school, lived on Riverside Drive, in one of the modern apartment houses.
A few years previous to the opening of this story, Natalie’s mother passed away, and Mr. Averill devoted all his love and spare time to his motherless daughter. She was past the age when so much attention could spoil her disposition, but since her father’s death it was all the harder for her to live without such love and pampering. Even the funds that used to provide everything she asked for had vanished, and henceforth she must go without the things that had made her life so pleasant for a few years.
Mrs. James, lovingly called “Jimmy” by Natalie, had accepted the position of companion and mother to the little girl, when Mr. Marvin explained the situation. As Mr. Marvin was one of Mr. Averill’s closest friends, as well as being his attorney, his recommendation of Mrs. James was sufficient.
As for Mrs. James, a lady in birth and training, she knew Mr. Marvin would never offer her the home and charge of anyone that was not her equal in life. Being penniless was no disgrace, but she had found it most unpleasant when she met her old-time friends and could not feel free to accept invitations because of her limited circumstances.
This lovely home with every luxury, and her freedom in time and ways, made the position an attractive one for her. So she had held the reins of government very successfully since Mrs. Averill’s passing, and Mr. Averill’s appreciation of it was shown in his last words.
From perfect health and happy hours with his little daughter, Mr. Averill had suddenly been taken with acute indigestion and in an hour was gone. It was all so unexpected and helpless, that Natalie had not grasped the meaning of it until the day of the funeral. Then she gave way to hysterics and daily became more morbid and despondent.
Mr. Marvin had confided to Mrs. Mason that, in spite of there being so much ready money on hand whenever it was asked for in Mr. Averill’s lifetime, there was nothing left for Natalie’s future. When the funeral expenses were paid not a dollar would be on hand for rent, or food, or clothing. There were some rare and expensive paintings, antiques, and rugs, but they would be the only things that could be turned into ready money.
The lawyer had not given a thought to the farm in the Westchester Hills that had belonged to Mrs. Averill’s mother, as it had always been mentioned in an apologetic manner. So, naturally, Mr. Marvin believed it to be a tiny patch of poor land with a cottage of some kind on it.