“Not yet. I have been wondering whether it would be wiser to do so. Do you advise me to tell them soon?”
“I do, partly that it may comfort them, and partly that they may familiarise themselves with the idea. You have not the élite of the working-classes in your employment, and the change which is needed is more in themselves than in their circumstances, though when one thinks of the environment of the people it is little wonder that some of them are bad. I am glad they are to have a chance.”
She drove away with a pleasant smile, and Arthur Knight wished he could have talked with her for hours instead of minutes. He was determined to find out who she was, if possible, so he returned to Mrs. Smith and Sissie.
“I am sorry I frightened your friend away,” he said. “What is the lady’s name?”
“She is Miss Grace. She lives in the country, and sometimes she brings me fruit and flowers and vegetables, and she reads and sings to me. She has a beautiful voice,” said Mrs. Smith.
“She is a pretty lady,” added Sissie, “and I shall go and see her when I know where she lives.”
“Miss Grace? Is that her only name?” asked Knight.
“That was what she said we were to call her, and her home is in Kent, but I don’t know where.”
And that was all the information which Arthur Knight could gain.
In the evening of that day, after he had visited the classes, where, under the best tuition that he could provide for them, the boys and girls in his factories were being trained for their future lives, his thoughts recurred to the remark which Miss Grace had made respecting his people. It was quite true; he had not the élite of the working classes in his employment. The low wages, and the general system on which the works had been carried on, had not secured many of those men and women, who, because of their nobility of soul, their spotless character and high ability, belong truly to the upper classes of this country, although they are but artisans and labourers. There were a few of these, and Knight knew and honoured them; but most of his men and women were of the lower sort. He was not sorry for that, for he and his helpers, including Miss Wentworth, who superintended all sorts of pleasant endeavours for the girls, believed that these same people could, by kindness and firmness, be so brought under good influences that a change for the better would be effected. And much had already been accomplished. The language of the people had been purified (though not until several had been dismissed for swearing), and their behaviour and appearance had been greatly improved. Every Sunday afternoon Mr. Knight held a service for his own people in a tent which he had erected in his own grounds, and he was greatly encouraged because this effort helped considerably to bring master and men into more intimate relationship with each other. His pleasant, hearty addresses were appreciated, and as soon as the men understood that his life in all its bearings was in full accord with his words, many of them were prepared to give him a respectful hearing. He had not convinced all that he was their friend, but he was certainly going the right way to do so.