Read Online Silverbeach Manor by Margaret S. Haycraft - Free Book Online Page B

mingles with the scent of the lilies in the balcony as
she replies with a falter that he attributes to her sense of
orphanhood, "My mother -- the daughter of an officer -- -died a
long, long time ago. I have never known the mother-tenderness of
which May sang just now."
    "But Mrs.
Adair of Silverbeach has filled a mother's place as far as she can,
I imagine?" he says in response. "Mrs. Thornden often speaks of
your aunt's affection for you, and her pride in your musical
talent."
    She reflects
how people often make the mistake of believing Mrs. Adair to be her
aunt, so why should she enlighten Marlow Holme? Why should she tell
him that Silverbeach Manor is only her home through its owner's
gracious adoption of a poor girl without education, money, or
prospects?
    "Oh, nobody
can be kinder than she is, and we are very fond of one another,"
answers Pansy. "Still, I often wonder what my mother was like. I
often envy May her cheery, sympathizing, tireless mother."
    "Yes, I have
heard Mrs. Adair is easily fatigued and very delicate," says Marlow
Holme. "Her weakness must be a tie to you who are bound to her by
so much love and duty. Else I was thinking of asking your aid in a
project one or two friends and I are just commencing."
    "Please
tell me about it," says Pansy, flushing with pleasure. It seems so
sweet to her that he wants her to share in a scheme that is dear to
his heart. " Mrs. Adair never minds my
coming out. She has always plenty of fancy work and sketching on
hand."
    But Pansy
knows that this very morning a voluntary proposal to stay at
Silverbeach would have been extremely welcome to the invalid.
Prosperity has not made her less selfish than in the days of need
at Polesheaton.
    "We are
starting a mission at Masden, about five miles from Silverbeach. It
would be a very short train journey for you, Miss Adair."
    "Oh, we often
drive to Masden. The river and canal views are so picturesque; but
those dreadful brickfields spoil the place, for the labourers are
just like rough savages."
    "They are hard
to deal with," says Marlow Holme, "but there is One with whom
nothing is too hard."
    Pansy looks up
at him a little wistfully. She knows that society thinks him "odd"
because he is not ashamed to be openly known as religious. "Please
continue," she says.
    " My friend, the Masden curate, and two or three
others are uniting to help those who seem most neglected, and to
teach their children, and the little ones that belong to the
barges," he tells her. "We are anxiously looking for lady helpers
in the Ragged School. Do you know anything of such work, Miss
Adair?"
    "I went to a
Sunday school when I was a child, Mr. Holme. I was fond of the old
place and the teachers."
    "I am glad to
hear it," he says heartily. "So many children belonging to the
upper classes can be carefully kept from mixing with the little
ones in Sunday schools. I am glad Mrs. Adair showed her sympathy
with the grand Sunday school movement by sending you there. You
will in that case be able, I feel sure, to gain her consent to
helping us as a teacher. I shall be at Masden Ragged School on
Monday. Might I hope to introduce you then to your little
scholars?"
    "If you think
I can do them any good," hesitates Pansy.
    "You can teach
them the three Rs at any rate, and explain the Bible stories we
have pictured on the walls. Do come to our aid, Miss Adair. I have
this mission deeply at heart. Give me the help of your influence in
the neighbourhood."
    The last words
are spoken softly, then he adds with a flush, "I ought not to put
such a work on personal grounds. A grander motive than kindness to
a friend is the thought that you will be doing something for Him
whose care and love and Divine compassion yearn over these
neglected little ones."
    " I will do what I can," says Pansy in a broken
voice. Nobody has spoken to her personally of the Master since she
bade farewell to Aunt Temperance. She goes back into the drawing
room with a heart ill at ease. She feels she is