Mary of Marion Isle

After he had left her it suddenly occurred to Andrew that he ought not to have made his suggestion to Arabella without first consulting her father. Therefore when he met him, he told him what he had done and of the surprising way in which she had welcomed his quite random and casual idea.

The doctor was not in the least disturbed, indeed he laughed.

«It’s just one of her whimsies,» he said; «she is as full of them as a pod is of peas. If she takes the business on I expect she will be back in a week. But I agree with you that what she wants is work and an occupation in life, for though she was delicate once, her only real weakness now is her temper. If only she could marry some decent fellow and have half a dozen children she would be as right as rain.»

He reflected a little, then added:

«But I don’t know how she would get on in that flower garden at Red Hall, that is if Watson is fool enough to have anything to do with her as a nurse for his softies. Yet perhaps it is as well that she should become acquainted with —» then he checked himself suddenly and turned the subject by saying, «But let us leave Arabella to manage her own affairs, which she is quite old enough to do, and attend to ours. I have no doubt I shall hear plenty about them in due course.»

Laurie, an inquisitive and observant child, was fond of watching what went on in the street, which in summer she did from the doorstep, and in winter through the window of the room where Mrs. Josky carried on her somewhat mysterious commercial transactions. This habit of hers had a business side, since she kept the shop, noted the arrival of customers who often liked to call after dark, and if necessary, summoned her mother should she be cooking or otherwise employed. Presently from this coign of vantage she perceived the brougham with its fast, high-trotting horse which, after some hesitation and preliminary search by a footman, pulled up in front of their door, information that Laurie conveyed at the top of her voice to her mother in the kitchen below.

Mrs. Josky arrived in a hurry and peeped through the window just in time to see the tall and statuesque Arabella descend from the brougham of which the door was held open by the long-coated footman.

«My!» said Mrs. Josky, «I wonder what she is coming here for. To sell something on the sly, perhaps, but if it’s them sables she’s got on, they’re beyond me.»

Then she went to the door where a colloquy ensued, which resulted in her showing Arabella up to Andrew’s sitting-room, where she lighted the gas with a box of matches which she produced from her pocket.

«I’ll have the fire going in a minute, Ma’am, which in general I don’t do before half-past six, since Mr. West doesn’t ever eat before eight nowadays, and sometimes later, that’s trying enough to one who has to cook his meals. I understood you to say you wished to see him, Ma’am,» she added interrogatively, for curiosity burned within her like a fire.

«Yes,» replied Arabella. «I am Miss Somerville Black, and Doctor West arranged to meet me here at twenty minutes to six.»

«Then you will have ten minutes to wait, Miss, as it is only half- past five; or mayhap longer, as he isn’t a very punctual gentleman, which is awkward if it is a case of sudden sickness.»

«There is no sickness in the matter,» replied Arabella shortly. «Doctor West is going to take me to Red Hall.»

«Oh!» exclaimed Mrs. Josky, in the intervals of puffing at the fire, «to see Miss Rose, I suppose. But perhaps you know her already if you are Doctor Somerville Black’s daughter, Miss, since he goes there often enough.»

«Who is Miss Rose?» inquired Arabella, now as curious as Mrs. Josky herself.

«Why,» replied Mrs. Josky between her puffs, «who should she be, except Rose Watson, the Whitechapel Rose they call her because she’s such a beauty. It is a strange thing, Miss, if you haven’t heard of her, being Doctor Black’s daughter and Doctor West’s friend, seeing that according to all accounts they both worship the ground she walks on. But there, men are men and like to keep things to themselves, and small blame to them.»

«Do they?» answered Arabella rather vacuously, «and – is this young lady so very beautiful?»

«To be honest, Miss, there ain’t no doubt about that, so far as face and figure go, which is what men look to, though for the rest, to my mind as empty as a tin can with a hole in it.»

«You don’t seem to like her,» said Arabella.

«Who likes a young woman what leads a young gentleman that’s been her lodger for long and dragged her child out of the grave, a fool’s dance, meaning to shut the door in his face at the end of the room?» inquired Mrs. Josky enigmatically as she ceased from her fire-raising labours.

Arabella, more interested than she had been in anything for years, was about to ask what on earth she meant, when Mrs. Josky held up a warning finger and exclaimed in a stage whisper:

«Hush! he’s coming. I hear his step in the street and I’d know it among a thousand, since he don’t walk, he runs, being always in such a blooming hurry, and Laurie what loves him, will have the door open before he gets there. There, don’t you hear her kissing him, which sometimes I should like to do myself. And to think of his wasting himself on that there Rose what will come to pieces presently leaving nothing but a stalk in his hand and that full enough of prickles. But mum’s the word about her, Miss, of whom I’ve no doubt you’ll get to know plenty before all’s done,» she added with ominous emphasis.

In another moment Andrew rushed into the room, freeing himself from Laurie who was clinging to his hand, and began apologies.

«No need to be humble, Mr. West,» interposed Mrs. Josky severely. «Seeing that the young lady, your visitor, says you weren’t due till twenty to, which leaves you with a minute to spare by the clock, which I keep exactly to church time, as did Josky before me. And now, you’ll have your tea and an egg before you start wherever you may be going, since you won’t get nothing there, except —»

«No, no, Mrs. Josky,» broke in Andrew, «many thanks, but we must be getting on.»

«Ah! I thought you would be in a hurry and I hope you will find yourself well paid. May I expect to see you back to-night, Mr. West, for dinner, I mean, and will this lady be with you?»

«Yes, of course, Mrs. Josky – I mean No; I mean I shall be alone. Time? Oh! the same as usual. Come one, Miss Black, the horse is getting cold.»

«And so will the dinner be,» murmured Mrs. Josky, «before I see you again. If only this one would take you off that one, it might be a good job. But she hasn’t got the looks, at least of the right sort, and there ain’t the stuffing in her.»

«Mrs. Josky seems to be very fond of you, Doctor West,» remarked Arabella in the brougham.

«Yes, now you mention it, I suppose she is. She’s a dear soul, but she makes me eat too much,» replied Andrew, absently, for his mind was fixed upon the sure and certain hope of seeing Rose.

As in common in such cases, he was destined to disappointment, for when they reached Red Hall, Sister Angelica who opened the door informed them that Rose was out, adding vaguely that she had not the least idea where she had gone or when she would be in again.

The information seemed to strike Andrew like a blow, for he stood quite still, as though at a loss what to do next, then murmured something about «another time.»

«But,» suggested Arabella, «I thought that we came to see Doctor Watson. You did not tell me that this young lady managed the hospital.»

«Of course not, and of course we did – I mean, come to see Doctor Watson. Is he in, Sister Angelica?»

«Oh! yes,» replied Angelica. «You’ll find him having his tea about an hour late, as I know to my cost, having had to boil the water three times.»

So saying, she melted away nebulously into the darkness of the passage, leaving them to their own devices.

«Come on,» said Andrew to Arabella. «Perhaps you had better take my hand, as I know the steps and they haven’t lit the gas.»

Presently they found themselves in the sitting-room where Doctor Watson was seated at the Elizabethan table, a cup of cold tea before him, which his interest in the book he was reading had caused him to forget to drink. Looking up at the noise of their entry, he caught sight of a tall female form in the shadow, and concluded that it was that of his daughter.

«I’m glad you’re back, Rose,» he said, «for really this tea is undrinkable; I think it must have been made yesterday and stood ever since. Angelica’s gifts do not lie in the way of tea-making; I meant to speak about it before, but I so seldom see you now, for you are never down to breakfast —»

«It is I, Doctor Watson,» interrupted Andrew hurriedly, «and this lady is not Rose, but Miss Somerville Black, who has come to see you.»

«Didn’t know there was a Miss Somerville Black,» muttered the doctor to himself, then added aloud,

«Ah! a patient, I suppose. Will you like to go into the surgery, Miss Black?»

Then ensued explanations, and the end of it was that Dr. Watson said that if Arabella cared to make a trial of the hospital, he would be pleased; also, that she was very welcome to lodge at Red Hall as a paying guest, since he was sorry to say that he could not afford to put her up for nothing, that is if she was not fastidious and if she did not mind poisonous tea and erratic meals. He suggested, however, that first she had better come and see the hospital which was almost next door, at once if it suited her, before the patients went to bed.

To Andrew’s surprise Arabella answered firmly that it did suit her. Moreover, she proposed that he should return to Justice Street in the brougham, and send it back to take her home.

As Andrew saw no signs of Rose and, having had no lunch that day, suddenly began to think with affection of Mrs. Josky’s dinner, he went, leaving Dr. Watson and Arabella to settle things as they pleased. He did not care how they settled them, for Rose being absent, the world was empty to him, and void of interest.

Here it may be stated that, conducted by Dr. Watson, Arabella went over the hospital. She saw the patients, a number of miserable old women belonging to the rag-tag and bobtail of a certain class of female who, most of them, had seen better days and fallen under the bondage of moral weaknesses connected with their bodily plight.

They did not interest her very much, though being good-hearted, she pitied their woes. But suddenly, in a kind of flash, it came home to her that if she lost her money, under certain quite conceivable circumstances she might become just like one of these aimless and futile women, a thought that gave her a shock and ultimately an inspriation.

Now she had one talent; she was an admirable housewife. No establishment was better run than that of her father, and although he never realized it, she managed everything and at a minimum of expense, considering its costly scale. At once she observed that this hospital was not well run, and pointed out sundry details to Dr. Watson which struck him very much. Also she asked if she might see the books, only to find that there was none that could be produced. In the end she said:

«Well, I do not know whether I should be useful here as a nurse, but I think that I could do the housekeeping, if only I was told how much there is to spend.»

«Then for heaven’s sake try,» exclaimed the doctor, «for I am in despair about it and Rose gives me no help, although it is a woman’s business.»