Mrs. Presty

“ Mrs. Presty disposed of this weak defense of her daughter’s conduct by waving her hand. “Read your telegram,” she repeated with dignity, “and judge for yourself.”
Mrs. Linley read:
“I have engaged a governess. She will travel in the same train with me. I think I ought to prepare you to receive a person whom you may be surprised to see. She is very young, and very inexperienced; quite unlike the ordinary run of governesses. When you hear how cruelly the poor girl has been used, I am sure you will sympathize with her as I do.”
Mrs. Linley laid down the message, with a smile. ”

“ Other old women, under similar circumstances, might have felt discouraged. This old woman believed in her own suspicions more devoutly than ever. When the breakfast-bell rang, Sydney found Mrs. Presty in the corridor, waiting to say good morning.
“I wonder what you were doing last night, when you ought to have been in bed?” the old lady began, with a treacherous amiability of manner. “Oh, I am not mistaken! your door was open, my dear, and I looked in.” ”

“ Presty descended to the schoolroom on the first floor.
No. Here again there was nothing to see but an empty room.
Where was Miss Westerfield?
Was it within the limits of probability that she had been bold enough to join the party in the smoking-room? The bare idea was absurd.
In another minute, nevertheless, Mrs. Presty was at the door, listening. The men’s voices were loud: they were talking politics. She peeped through the keyhole; the smokers had, beyond all doubt, been left to themselves. If the house had not been full of guests, Mrs. Presty would now have raised an alarm. ”

“ Any woman—I don’t care who she may be—might envy the home that’s waiting for you and your child, if you’re wise enough to hold your tongue. Upon my word, Catherine, I am ashamed of you. Have you no principles?”
She really meant it! The purely selfish considerations which she urged on her daughter were so many undeniable virtues in Mrs. Presty’s estimation. She took the highest moral ground, and stood up and crowed on it, with a pride in her own principles which the Primate of all England might have envied.
But Catherine’s rare resolution held as firm as ever. ”

“ Catherine quietly rose. “We won’t discuss it,” she said, with resignation. “I knew you would refuse me.” She approached the door. Her mother got up and resolutely stood in the way. “Before you commit an act of downright madness,” Mrs. Presty said, “I mean to try if I can stop you. Go back to your chair.”
Catherine refused.
“I know how it will end,” she answered; “and the sooner it ends the better. You will find that I am quite as determined as you are. A man who loves me as he loves me, is a man whom I refuse to deceive.” ”

“ Mrs. Linley lay prostrate in her chair. The excitement which had sustained her thus far seemed to have sunk with the sinking of her last hope. Pale, exhausted, yielding to hard necessity, she looked up when her mother said, “Consent to the Divorce,” and answered, “I have consented.”
“And trust me,” Mr. Sarrazin said fervently, “to see that Justice is done, and to protect you in the meanwhile.”
Mrs. Presty added her tribute of consolation.
“After all,” she asked, “what is there to terrify you in the prospect of a Divorce? You won’t hear what people say about it—for we see no society now. ”

“ People who only look at the surface of things might ask what we gain by investigating Miss Westerfield’s past life. We gain this: we know what to expect of Miss Westerfield in the future.”
“I for one,” Mrs. Linley interposed, “expect everything that is good and true.”
“Say she’s naturally an angel,” Mrs. Presty answered; “and I won’t contradict you. But do pray hear how my experience looks at it. I remember what a life she has led, and I ask myself if any human creature could have suffered as that girl has suffered without being damaged by it. ”

“ Captain Bennydeck approached to take leave. “Not just yet,” pleaded the most agreeable of women; “my luggage was ready two hours ago. Sit down again for a few minutes. You seem to like my little granddaughter.”
“If I had such a child as that,” the Captain answered, “I believe I should be the happiest man living.”
“Ah, my dear sir, all isn’t gold that glitters,” Mrs. Presty remarked. “That proverb must have been originally intended to apply to children. May I presume to make you the subject of a guess? I fancy you are not a married man.” ”

“ Linley. In this interval Mrs. Presty saw her opportunity of setting Linley’s authority at defiance, by rousing the first jealous suspicion in the mind of his wife.
Innocent little Kitty became her grandmother’s accomplice on the spot. “I shall ask mamma to let me have my presents at breakfast-time,” she announced.
“And kind mamma will say Yes,” Mrs. Presty chimed in. “We will breakfast early, my precious child. Good-night.”
Kitty was half asleep when her governess entered the room afterward, much later than usual. ”

“ She was pleasantly reminded of the words of worldly wisdom which she had addressed to her daughter on the day of Sydney’s arrival at Mount Morven. “The good qualities of that unfortunate young creature” (she had said) “can not have always resisted the horrid temptations and contaminations about her. Hundreds of times she must have lied through ungovernable fear.” Elevated a little higher than ever in her own estimation, Mrs. Presty took Sydney’s arm, and led her down to breakfast with motherly familiarity. Linley met them at the foot of the stairs. ”

“ In the whole world there isn’t such a good child, such a sweet, lovable, pretty child as you are. Oh, how disappointed she looks—she’s crying. Don’t break my heart!—don’t cry!” Kitty held up her head, and cleared her eyes with a dash of her hand. “I won’t cry, mamma.” And child as she was, she was as good as her word. Her mother looked at her and burst into tears.
Perversely reluctant, the better nature that was in Mrs. Presty rose to the surface, forced to show itself. “Cry, Catherine,” she said kindly; “it will do you good. ”

“ Opening her door by a few inches, she placed a chair behind the opening in a position which commanded a view of Sydney’s room. Wherever the governess might be, her return to her bed-chamber, before the servants were astir in the morning, was a chance to be counted on. The night-lamp in the corridor was well alight; and a venerable person, animated by a sense of duty, was a person naturally superior to the seductions of sleep. Before taking the final precaution of extinguishing her candle, Mrs. Presty touched up her complexion, and resolutely turned her back on her nightcap. ”

“ By Wilkie Collins
CONTENTS
BEFORE THE STORY. THE STORY FIRST BOOK.
Chapter I. Mrs. Presty Presents Herself.
Chapter II. The Governess Enters.
Chapter III. Mrs. Presty Changes Her Mind.
Chapter IV. Randal Receives His Correspondence.
Chapter V. Randal Writes to New York.
Chapter VI. Sydney Teaches.
Chapter VII. Sydney Suffers.
Chapter VIII. Mrs. Presty Makes a Discovery. ”

“ What cared she for violets now when the one for whom she loved to gather them was no longer here to receive them? No, there was nothing in the world for her to care for—no one to whom she could give pleasure; and unheeding the pleading looks of her young brothers, she went to her own room. Ah, Prissy! There were hearts as loving as yours waiting for a look of sympathy, a word of kindness; they, too, miss a mother's welcome, a mother's interest in their simple pursuits, and turn away disappointed.
"Prissy might have come," muttered Archie.
"Oh! She does not care," said Lewis. ”

“ Preston, I've got to run away. I know I'm a good cook and a good nurse and a good manager and a good seamstress, and I know I could help out a lot in either family. But I'm tired of helping out. That sounds dreadful, I know. But it's the truth. I'm tired of helping out! The other day I read of a little girl who was asked what she was going to be when she grew up, and she answered, 'I'm going to be myself.' Mrs. Preston, that's what I want to be. I want to be myself. And I never have been. All my life I've been only Sister Sue. ”

“ Prezmyra said under her breath as if talking to herself, "I know a man, should not have miscarried it thus." The old nurse that loved not Lord Corund and his haughty fashions and rough speech and Wine-bibbing, and was besides jealous that so rude a stock should wear so rich a jewel as was her mistress, followed not her meaning. ”

“ Preston was more really true than many worthy men, who, seeking to be married, turn with careless facility from the unattainable to the attainable, and keep their feelings and fancy tolerably loose till they find a woman who consents to be their wife. But no one would ever be to Mr. Preston what Cynthia had been, and was; and yet he could have stabbed her in certain of his moods. So, Molly, who had come between him and the object of his desire, was not likely to find favour in his sight, or to obtain friendly actions from him. ”

“ She had received instructions from them both to deliver the letter which she had placed in my hands, having first been told by them that she would find me waiting in a coach at the end of the Rue Saint-André.
I inquired whether this was all they had said to her. She replied, with a blush, that they had led her to hope that I would take her to live with me as my mistress.
"Then," said I, "they deceived you, my poor girl, they deceived you cruelly. You are a woman, and being a woman, you cannot do without a lover. But you want a lover who is rich and happy, and you will not find him here. ”

“ Indeed I will not.
Michael Perez
I shall love you dearly,
And 'tis a sin to fling away affection,
I have no Mistress, no desire to honour
Any but you, will not this Oyster open?
I know not, you have struck me with your modesty;
She will draw sure; so deep, and taken from me
All the desire I might bestow on others,
Quickly before they come.
Estifania
Indeed I dare not:
But since I see you are so desirous, Sir,
To view a poor face that can merit nothing
But your Repentance.
Michael Perez
It must needs be excellent. ”

“ They have had a grandmother and a governess as well as their father."
"I think grandmothers often spoil boys," Prissy answered, with her customary air of decision. "Ours does; I don't much like when she comes. She is often quite rude to me, and doesn't listen to what I say; but she pets Bertie, and gives him things, and lets him talk to her as much as he likes. I call that showing favoritism; I don't approve of it at all. In the parish mother never lets that sort of thing be."
"Who was that funny man in spectacles sitting in Mr. Trelawny's pew?" ”

“ Every hour since her arrival at Aunt Prissy’s had been so filled with new and strange happenings that the little girl had not had time to be lonely.
“What is the name of the shoemaker’s little girl, Aunt Prissy?” she asked, as they came in sight of home, with Donald and Philip, closely followed by “Scotchie,” coming to meet them.
“Her name is Louise Trent, and she is lame. She is older than you, several years older,” answered Aunt Prissy, “and I fear she is a mischievous child. But the poor girl has not had a mother to care for her for several years. She and her father live alone.” ”

“ The master is dead: the mistress is an old woman, hardened and repulsive, the embodiment of all that is evil, who is counting coppers in a room filled with bush, skulls, sacrifices, and charms. A number of half-starved cowed women and girls covered with dirt and sores are quarrelling over a pipe. The shrill voice and long arms of the mistress settle the matter, and make them fly helter- skelter. They call on Mary to speak, and after many interruptions she subdues and controls them, and leaves them, for the moment, impressed. ”

“ When Elizabeth saw the mischief she had done, her contrition and humility were unbounded. "No, Miss Hilary, you can't make nothin' of me. I be too stupid, I'll give it up."
"Nonsense!" And the bright active little lady looked steadily into the heavy face of this undeveloped girl, half child, half woman, until some of her own spirit seemed to be reflected there. Whether the excitement of the morning had roused her, or her mistresses' kindness had touched Elizabeth's heart, and—as in most women—the heart was the key to the intellect ”

“ The boys were already in bed; Mr. Scott was attending to the evening chores, and Aunt Prissy was alone in the sitting-room when Faith appeared in the doorway.
“Aunt Prissy, look! I tore my dress coming home to-day, and I was afraid to tell you! Oh, Aunt Prissy!” for her aunt had taken Faith and the blue dress into her arms, and held the little girl closely as she said:
“Why, dear child! How could you ever be afraid of me? About a dress, indeed! A torn dress is nothing. Nothing at all.” ”

“ A younger child, Mary, was no exception to the rest of the family in her ambition to obtain knowledge, and, after she became a devoted wife and mother, always found time in the midst of her busy household cares to aid materially, spiritually, and intellectually those dependent upon her. She was blessed with a sweet Christian character, and commanded the respect and love of all who knew her. About the year 1837 she married Josiah S. Prescott, of Meredith, N.H., whose occupation was that of farmer and carpenter. ”

“ The yellow boy, Ally, was heaping wood on the fire.
'How do you do, aunty?' said Preston, as we drew up at the rickety gate.
'Right smart, massa, right smart,' replied the woman; then turning round and recognizing the Squire, she added: 'Oh, massa Preston, am dat 'ou? Oh! I'se so 'joiced 'ou got Ally; I'se so 'joiced! De Lord hear my prayer, massa—de Lord hear my prayer. I feel like I die wid joy, de Lord so good ter me. Oh, He'm so good ter me!'
'The Lord is good to all who love Him; He never fails those that trust in Him,' said Preston, solemnly. ”