Aunt Jane's Nieces
"
"Oh!" said Beth, and stopped short.
"What do you mean by that?" enquired Aunt Jane, with a smile that was
rather malicious.
"I did not know I had a cousin," said the girl. "That is," correcting
herself, "I did not know whether Louise Merrick was alive or not.
Mother has mentioned her name once or twice in my presence; but not
lately."
"Well, she's alive. Very much alive, I believe. And she's coming to
visit me, while you are here. I expect you to be friends."
"To be sure," said Beth, nevertheless discomfited at the news.
"We dine at seven," said Aunt Jane. "I always lunch in my own room,
and you may do the same," and with a wave of her thin hand she
dismissed the girl, who thoughtfully followed the old housekeeper
through the halls.
It was not going to be an easy task to win this old woman's affection.
Already she rebelled at the necessity of undertaking so distasteful a
venture and wondered if she had not made a mistake in trying to curb
her natural frankness, and to conciliate a creature whose very nature
seemed antagonistic to her own. And this new cousin, Louise Merrick,
why was she coming to Elmhurst? To compete for the prize Beth had
already determined to win? In that case she must consider carefully
her line of action, that no rival might deprive her of this great
estate. Beth felt that she could fight savagely for an object she so
much desired. Her very muscles hardened and grew tense at the thought
of conflict as she walked down the corridor in the wake of old Misery
the housekeeper. She had always resented the sordid life at Cloverton.
She had been discontented with her lot since her earliest girlhood,
and longed to escape the constant bickerings of her parents and their
vain struggles to obtain enough money to "keep up appearances" and
drive the wolf from the door. And here was an opportunity to win a
fortune and a home beautiful enough for a royal princess. All that was
necessary was to gain the esteem of a crabbed, garrulous old woman,
who had doubtless but a few more weeks to live.
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There was once a king who was very powerful. He had great influence over the wild beasts and animals. Now the tortoise was looked upon as the wisest of all beasts and men. This king had a son named Ekpenyon, to whom he gave fifty young girls as wives, but the prince did not like any of them. The king was very angry at this, and made a law that if any man had a daughter who was finer than the prince's wives, and who found favour in his son's eyes, the girl herself and her father and mother should be killed.
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