Tiny Luttrell

“ Whatever else she may be, she's more or less original as she stands. She's not a copy now; but she will have to become one in Belgrave Square."
"She will have to become one!" cried Ruth, jumping at the change of mood. "Then you think that Tiny means it, too?"
"I am afraid she means to marry him," said Erskine, with a sigh. "I have visions of our Tiny ours no more, but my Lady Manister, and Countess Dromard in due course." ”

“ She has probably more influence over him than any other body in the world. I am prepared to bet that it [Pg 178] was she, and she alone, who whistled him back from Australia. Now though she did it partly by her singing—which, by the way, was rather cheap for our Tiny—there's no doubt at all about the impression Tiny has made upon Lady Dromard; and that's the worst of it."
"The worst of it! as if he was beneath her!" said Ruth mockingly. "Or is it that you think her too terribly beneath him?"
"Tiny," said Erskine, shaking his head, "is beneath no man that I have yet come across." ”

“ Then it was Tiny Luttrell who opened the door, and those sensations made good their escape from a bosom in which they had no business. In the living presence of the person one proposes to marry there are some misgivings that had need be impossible—Christina little suspected her privilege of shutting the door on Manister's with her own hand. ”

“ But I should rather like to sit out for once, though you needn't be sarcastic about my dancing."
"Well, then, where's a good place?"
"There's a famous corner in the conservatory; it should be empty now that a dance is just beginning."
It was. So it became occupied next moment by Tiny Luttrell and her partner, who allowed that the dimly illumined recess among the tree-ferns deserved its fame. Tiny's partner, however, was only her brother-in-law, Mr. Erskine Holland. ”

“ And that was how Tiny Luttrell opened her [Pg 262] heart a second time to Ruth, her sister, who was of less comfort to her even than before, because now her open heart was also the cradle of a waking soul. More things than one need name, for they must be obvious, had of late worked together toward this awakening, until now the soul tossed and struggled within a frivolous heart, and its cries were imperious, though ever inarticulate. ”

“ Luttrell would not hear of the plan, but the manager's opinion was not asked, and he carefully refrained from giving it, while Herbert [Pg 349] (who was about to be intrusted with a mob of wethers for the Melbourne market) took his sister's side. He pointed out with truth that any fool could drive a whim under ordinary circumstances, and that, as Tiny would hardly petition to sleep at the whim, the long ride morning and evening would do her no harm. Mr. Luttrell gave in then. He had tried in vain to drive the young girl from his side. ”

“ Christina smiled, for this was not news to her.
"My son will tell me nothing," continued Lady Dromard, "and I have, of course, the greatest curiosity to know everything. It is no idle curiosity, Miss Luttrell. I am his [Pg 206] mother, and he has never got over that attachment."
"Has he not?" said Tiny with dry satire.
"He has never got over it," repeated Lady Dromard in a tone which was a match for the other. "Has the girl?" ”

“ Ruth raised her eyes from the younger girl's face to the rain-spattered window. Tiny's tone was cold, but not so cold as Tiny's searching glance. This made Ruth uncomfortable. It did not incapacitate her, however.
"The Dromards!" she exclaimed rather well. "Had they taken the place then?"
"You say they bought it before Christmas; it was after Christmas that you first wrote and expressly invited me."
"Was it? Well, my dear, I suppose I never thought of them; that's all. They aren't the only nice people thereabouts." ”

“ And I don't believe his being my brother-in-law has anything to do with that," added the girl reflectively; "it would have been the same in any case. What's better still, he's the only man who ever understood me, my dear."
"He's very clever, you see," observed Ruth slyly, but also in all seriousness.
"That's the worst of him; he makes you feel your ignorance."
"I assure you, Tiny, he thinks you very clever."
"So you're crackin'!" laughed Tiny; and as the old bush slang filled her mouth unbidden, the smell of a hot wind at Wallandoon came into her nostrils ”

“ Never tell him, Ruth, for you don't know how I covet his good opinion. I like him, you know, dear, and I rather think he likes me—so far."
"Indeed he does," cried Ruth warmly; and [Pg 79] a good point in her character stood out through the genuine words. "Nothing ever made me happier than to see you become such friends."
"He laughs at me a good deal," Tiny remarked doubtfully.
"That's because you amuse him a good deal. I can't get him to laugh at me, my dear."
"He would laugh," said Christina, with her eyes on the fire again, "if you told him I had aspired to Lord Manister!" ”

“ It was rather rare for Christina to experience any difficulty of the kind. She rose, and stood in front of the fire, with her back to the room and Lord Manister. There, with her forehead resting on the rim of the mantelpiece (for Tiny that was not far to bend) , and while the hot fire scorched her plain gray skirt and gave a needed color to the downcast face, she heard what Manister had to say. Soon she knew that he was saying it with his elbow on one end of the mantelpiece; and liked him for facing her so, and compelling her to face him. ”

“ Ruth tried to follow her presumptive example, and to put aside the thought of Lord Manister for the time being. Her consolation meanwhile was the lively camaraderie between Christina and Erskine, wherein Erskine's wife took a delight for which we may forgive her much.
"How well you two get on!" she would say gladly to each of them.
"He's a man and a brother," Tiny would reply.
To which Ruth was sure to say tenderly: "It's sweet of you, dear, to look upon him as a brother.
"Ah, but don't you forget that he's a man, and not my brother really, but just the very best of pals!" Tiny said once. ”

“ Tiny informed her confidentially. "We had a governess."
"Ah, and she taught you to sing! I should like to meet that governess. She must be a very clever person."
Her ladyship's manner was delightfully blunt.
"Now, Lady Dromard, you're laughing at me! I know nothing—I have read nothing."
[Pg 191] "I rejoice to hear it!" cried the countess cordially. "I assure you, Miss Luttrell, that's a most refreshing confession in these days. Only it's too good to be true. I don't believe you, you know."
Christina made no great effort to establish the truth of her statement ”

“ Christina argued—it was curious how fond she was of arguing the matter, and how she allowed herself to be lectured by a stranger. But these two were not strangers now; the cheerful girl was the best friend Tiny had ever made among women. They parted with a wrench at Colombo, where Tiny saw the other safely into the arms of a gentleman of a suitably happy and ordinary appearance; and so one more friend passed in and out of the young girl's life, leaving a deeper mark in the three weeks than either of them suspected. ”

“ Tiny said lightly, "I am converted to your creed at last; I believe in Lord Manister!"
"But you are not engaged to him," Ruth said wearily; "I see you are not."
"I am not; but he insists on waiting. If only he wasn't so tame! But I can't help believing in him now; and that settles it."
[Pg 316] "Nothing is settled until you are engaged," said the matter-of-fact sister, with a sigh. ”

“ She had appreciated the other sights of Cintra even more than Pena (which had hardly been given a fair chance) , and most of all that gorgeous garden of Monserrat, where the trees of the world are grouped together, and among them the gum trees which were so dear to Christina. She had even been overcome by a bloodthirsty desire to witness the bullfight on the Sunday; and Erskine had taken her, because her present frame was not one to discourage; but it must be confessed that Tiny was disappointed by the tameness of this sport rather than revolted by its cruelty. ”

“ Luttrell as they drove off. "Whatever you do, don't worry about Tiny. Give her travelers' rations and send her to the travelers' hut. That's all she deserves, when she wasn't on the way-bill. She insisted on coming at the last moment; I told her it wasn't fair."
"But it's very jolly," said Swift gallantly.
"It was just like her," Mr. Luttrell chuckled; "she's as unreliable as ever."
The girl had been looking radiantly about her as they drove along the single broad, straggling street of the township. She now turned her head to Swift, and her eyes shot through her veil in a smile. ”

“ But, dear, the point is, not that Lord Manister has never mentioned your name, but that he can bear neither name nor sight of the girl he is expected to marry! Lady Almeric told me when—I couldn't help her."
"He is a nice young man, I must say!" remarked Christina grimly. "My fellow-victim has a title, no doubt?"
"Well, it's Miss Garth, and her father's Lord Acklam, so she's the honorable," said Ruth gravely. (Tiny smiled at her gravity.) "But I've seen her, and—he can't like her! And oh! ”

“ Then they're proud of themselves. They never do it twice running."
"That's because there are so many here."
"There are far too many here—that's what's the matter! And I'm a nice person to tell you so," added Tiny penitently, "when it's you and Ruth who have brought me here. But you know I don't mean that I'm not enjoying it, Erskine; I'm enjoying it immensely, and I'm very proud of myself for being here at all. I can't quite explain myself—I don't much like trying to—but there's a something about everything that makes it seem better than anything of the kind that we can do in Melbourne. ”

“ Just before leaving London she had experienced the fulfillment of a prophecy, by receiving from Countess Dromard a stare as stony as the pavement they met on, which was near enough to Piccadilly to inspire a superstitious respect for sibylline Mrs. Willoughby. In the disagreeable moment following Tiny's thoughts had flown straight to that lady—indeed her only remark at the time had been "Good old Mrs. Willoughby!" to which Ruth (who suffered at Tiny's side, and for her part turned positively faint with mortification) had been in no condition to reply. ”

“ Yet I like him for his pride. That was what she needed, and what Manister lacked. It is very curious."
"I wonder if you really would like him," said Ruth, who no longer cared for the sound of Lord Manister's name. "I don't remember much about him, except that we all thought a good deal of him; but somehow I don't fancy he's your sort."
"I wasn't aware that I had a sort," Erskine said, smiling.
"Oh, but you have. I am not your sort. But Tiny was!"
He laughed heartily.
"Then we four have chosen sides most excellently! It is quite fatal to marry your own sort. ”

“ Now there was no merit in this speech, but to those who understood it the comparison was apt, and Erskine knew enough of Australia to understand. Moreover, he had taught Tiny to listen for his laugh. So when he made neither sound nor sign the girl felt injured, but remembered that he had been extremely silent on the way home. And he was the first to go upstairs.
"It has bored him," observed Christina.
"He don't like dancing," said Herbert. "He's no sportsman."
"I am afraid he cares for nothing but lawn tennis when he's here," sighed Ruth, who looked a little troubled. ”

“ The storekeeper, who came in before more was said, was the unconscious witness of a well-acted interlude of which he was also the cause. He approved of Miss Luttrell at the tea tray, and was to some extent recompensed for the hard day's work he had not done. He left her with Swift on the back veranda, and they might have been grateful to him, for not only had his advent been a boon to them both at a very awkward moment, but, in going, he supplied them with a topic.
"What has happened to my little Englishman?" Christina asked at once. "I hoped to find him here still." ”

“ Christina was not the girl for interests that gallop and have not legs. Not the least of her attractions, in the eyes of a male relative of middle age, was a certain solid sanity that showed through [Pg 91] every crevice of her wayward nature. It was sanity of the cynical sort, which men appreciate most. And it was least apparent in her own actions, which is the weak point of the cynically sane.
"At all events, Tiny, you can't find the country a tight fit, like London," said Erskine once, during the first few days. ”

“ At other times she would herself rush into the subject without warning, and out of it the moment it wearied or annoyed her; to follow her closely in and out required a nimble tact indeed. Nor was it easy to know [Pg 249] always the right thing to say, or at all delightful to feel that the right thing to-day might be the wrong thing to-morrow. But into this one subject Ruth was as ready to enter at a hint from Tiny as she was now contented to quit it at her caprice. The elder sister's patience and good temper were alike wonderful, but still more wonderful was her faith. ”

“ We do our best to treat him as though he were merely a gentleman, you know," said Erskine, smiling, but giving, as he felt, an informing hint.
[Pg 96] "Ah, you try!" said Christina. "You do your best!"
"Our best may be very bad," laughed Erskine; "if so, you must show us how to better it, Tiny."
"I should get Tiny to teach you how to treat a lord, dear," said Ruth, who saw nothing to laugh at, and seemed likely to lend her husband a severer support than the occasion needed.
"Say Lord Manister!" suggested Erskine. "Will you show me on him?" ”