Richard, however, had no intention of placing his sister in such a position. He felt that she was too young to be looked up to by the girls nearest in age to herself, or to guide the reins of a large establishment like that at Mere Side, and he frankly told her so.
"If it were a matter of looking graceful and pouring out tea, or doing a host of feminine matters, I know of no one who would do better than yourself. But the housekeeping would be too heavy a weight for such young shoulders. Wait a moment, dear—" for Gertrude was about to protest that she was able for all, if he would trust her. "I am not old enough or wise enough to be father and mother. I can only be the big brother to you girls. We must have a good woman in the house for all our sakes."
Then Richard told her that he had thought of Miss Pease, their mother's friend, and of similar age, but he had not spoken to her as yet.
"I want you girls to think if there is any one whom we could all like better. You are the eldest, Gertrude, and so I have named this to you first, that you may talk it over with the rest. You know there must be some motherly lady to act as your chaperone and my friend, but I will not ask Miss Pease unless there is a unanimous vote in her favour."
There was such a vote. Miss Pease was invited to come to Mere Side, and, as Richard put it to herself, "to be as much of a mother to all of us as you possibly can."
The little lady almost said "No" to begin with, but she was persuaded to take time, and finally said "Yes."
Miss Sharp found plenty to occupy her in criticising this arrangement, since she could not alter it, and declared that she could now understand Miss Pease's persistent praise of Richard Whitmore. Mrs. Whitmore had long been delicate, and no doubt she had reckoned on being asked to fill her shoes after a fashion.
"She has fawned on Mrs. Whitmore and praised up Richard in the most bare-faced manner," said Miss Sharp. "What a pity it is that the owner of Mere Side is such a young man, and that Miss Pease is old enough to be his mother, or else she might perhaps have hung up her bonnet there once and for altogether."
There are always Miss Sharps in the world, ready to misjudge their neighbours, and to attribute motives for the conduct of those who are better than themselves, which would never have entered into the minds of those they criticise. The speaker was as unable to understand Miss Pease as she was to appreciate Richard Whitmore. Little did she guess that, so far from being eager to take such a responsibility on herself, it was with fear and trembling, and after much thought and many prayers, that she consented to live at Mere Side as a friend and companion to the family.
Gertrude consented to the arrangement, not because she wished it, but because she was convinced from Richard's manner that it would either be Miss Pease or somebody else, and she know of no one whom she would prefer to her mother's friend.