Beryl and Pearl

The last syllable rose to a shout. Mr. Josiah Crosbie, a ruddy-complexioned old gentleman, benevolent as to his head, gouty as to his feet, and impatient as to his manners, paus...

These words smote ruthlessly upon the ears of Beryl Fordyce. Six seconds before she had been sleeping the placid and dreamless slumber of healthy childhood, and six seconds late...

"I—I—think not," hesitated Mr. Bishop, an elderly and shy man, who, having had no children of his own, was somewhat at a loss in dealing with them. "Pearl is very young. You are...

"THE sweetest little creature imaginable,—charming in every respect," Diana Fenwick declared next morning, as she sat sipping her coffee, Marian somewhat grimly knitting a sock...

Mr. Crosbie was not commonly visible before eleven o'clock in the day, but on this particular morning he had actually come down to eight o'clock breakfast. Certain ideas were al...

THE door was opened, not by Pearson, but by Diana Fenwick,—Diana in a white heat of rage. Beryl had been angry herself many a time, and many a time had seen Dixon angry; but she...

The house was tall and narrow, and it stood at the corner of a particularly dull side-street, with shops for near neighbours. Bath is a beautiful town, but even Bath has its una...

"You are within such easy distance of Bath," Diana had written to Millicent,—"could you not just manage, out of pity for me, to invite Beryl to your lodgings for a few days, and...

The girl came presently downstairs, and took a seat opposite the mother and son, with her back towards the window, her attention becoming speedily concentrated on a flat square...

"I think you would be wise not to make up your mind until you know her better," Millicent said kindly. "People who might be friends are often kept apart for years by preconceive...

The question came out bluntly next morning in family conclave. Diana was enjoying the sweets of idleness in an easy-chair, and Pearl was making believe to get through a little f...

THE four wended their way along the Kewstoke Road, turning after a while into a broad shady path which slanted upwards to the right, gradually widening its distance from the low...

LUNCHEON-TIME came, and Pearl and Ivor were absent still. Mr. Crosbie disliked unpunctuality, and grumbled heartily,—to little purpose, except that of making others uncomfortabl...

ANOTHER hour of waiting passed. Millicent was really growing anxious, and she found Diana's cool assurances that all was and must be right somewhat difficult to bear. Escott had...

FIVE years earlier, Mrs. Fenwick's house had faced a meadow lying just across the road, with a good open view beyond of fields and trees and uplands. But Hurst was a growing pla...

"WHY did you not go to the concert this evening?" asked Hester, not very prudently, when matters had advanced thus far, and Beryl had been talking freely of her five years' scho...

"I AM DREADFULLY tired this morning," said Mrs. Fenwick. "Really, the heat last night was quite appalling. Pearl, you are not eating any breakfast. I insist on your taking somet...

She had received Beryl with her frank cordiality of manner, giving a kiss of welcome, and at once making her visitor feel at home. Hester, who was present on Beryl's entrance, s...

IT seemed to Beryl that she had never known Diana Fenwick in so trying a mood as during the next few weeks. Probably the very fact that she was herself struggling to feel differ...

THE idea of the Engadine roused Pearl more than anything else had done since Ivor's death. She cried less, talked more, and waxed positively eager over the choice of dresses and...

THE Confirmation was to be on Monday, and the evening before was to Beryl a strangely happy time. She had seen Mr. Bishop in the course of the week, and had received her ticket...

She did not look pretty; nothing could make Beryl's plain face pretty; but her open and honest enjoyment was pleasant to behold. The constraint of her school-days seemed to have...

"I AM FEARFULLY tired,—don't bother, pray. Yes, you can pay the cabman,—oh, don't ask me how much. Pearson knows. Here, take my purse. Just get the parcels out of the fly, and t...

ON Friday morning, somewhat early, Miss Carmichael crossed the road, and sought admittance at Mrs. Fenwick's. "That child has not run in yet," she said to Hester. "I must go and...

MARIAN had promised Mr. Crosbie to return on the following day, and her visit was consequently a hurried one. She saw little of Diana, and sought in vain for a few minutes' conv...

MILLICENT CUMMING had taken refuge with her boy in a quiet little mountain village, somewhat out of the beaten track of Swiss tourists. The shadow of her recent loss lay heavily...

Winter drew on apace, and days grew short and nights grew long. The little mountain village no more sheltered Millicent and Escott. They had travelled to the south of France, ac...

NO reproaches awaited Beryl on reaching home. Miss Carmichael, seated still in the drawing-room, welcomed her affectionately. Mrs. Fenwick looked unusually bright, and when agai...

DIANA'S displeasure continued unabated during the next day, and the hours passed in uncomfortable silence. Beryl wondered how long this was to last. She had sudden liberty grant...

IT is easy to predict what people will say or do under particular forthcoming circumstances; but it is astonishing how seldom such predictions come exactly true. And perhaps it...

WINTER and early spring were over, and fairly warm weather had set in. The absentees were expected home at last—old Mr. Crosbie, and Millicent Cumming, and Escott with his young...

"I don't wish to hear what she says. It is no concern of mine now. But I expect an answer soon as to your plans. My own arrangements depend in some measure upon it."

MRS. ESCOTT CUMMING was much the same that Pearl Fordyce had been—sweetly pretty and winning, but indolent, easy, unpunctual, seemingly content to live an aimless life, pleased...

She had been working for some time at one of her favourite counterpanes. Not the same which she had had in hand when she left school: that had been long ago finished, and sent a...

They were happy years to Beryl. She found ceaseless delight in devoting herself to Miss Carmichael, and a full return of love and care was bestowed upon her. Beryl had not the u...