Jock's inheritance

IT was four o'clock in the afternoon in the beginning of January. The room was cosy and comfortable. Outside, there was a bitter north-east wind; the grey dusk hid the opposite row of houses, but the noise of the traffic in the next street was ceaseless, and the girl sitting before the blazing fire, her hands clasped loosely round her knees, was continually raising her head in a listening attitude. Then she heard the electric bell of her flat ring, and she rose to her feet expectantly.

The door opened, and a man was ushered in by a very trim maid.

The girl uttered an exclamation of dismay.

"'You,' Dugald!"

"Yes, it's myself," said the newcomer in brisk tones; "don't look so 'dour,' as we Scotch say."

The girl smiled. She was tall and slender, but she was not beautiful; only a pair of merry brown eyes and a humorously twisted mouth redeemed her from plainness, but she carried her inches with dignity, and she had an attractive personality.

"Sit down. I'm expecting my sister-in-law and my small niece to stay with me. It is all rather sudden. Here's her letter. What do you think of it?" She took a letter off her mantelpiece and handed it to him.

"MY DEAR ORRIS,—

"Calamity has overtaken me. I told you I was going to marry Captain Arteris. My wedding day was fixed for the tenth of next month, and we were to have been married in Cannes. I must tell you, about four months ago, he persuaded me to invest all my capital in an oil well of his; he said it would give me twelve per cent. right away. The oil has failed, and the company, which I rather gather is Frank himself, is insolvent. He came to me perfectly abject, saying he couldn't afford to marry, and is now on his way to try new fields of fortune in California. So that's off. The shock of it was too much for me, and I have been very ill. How are Pippa and I to live upon my small pension? I must come and talk over things with you, and I'm writing this just before leaving by the night express.

"Your affectionate sister,

"VENETIA."

"Calamity seems to be her portion," said the man coolly; "but I fail to see why you should be brought into it again. You set her up in a millinery venture, did you not?"

Orris nodded.

"She has neither the health nor capacity to earn," she said.

"Take my advice and don't offer her a home."

"I think," she remarked, "that you had better not stay. I hear a taxi, and you and she never hit it off."

"Hang her!" muttered the man under his breath. But he got up from his chair. "I came to suggest a dinner at the Carlton to-night. Marie is up in town, and wants to see you."

"I'm sorry."

She waved a rather impatient hand to him, and he left the room with a heavy frown.

"Venetia is a born parasite," he said to himself, "and Orris is a perfect fool in her hands."

Then, in a moment or two, the door opened, and Orris's sister-in-law appeared.

She shed her fur coat before she embraced. "Oh, what weather! And we've had such a rough crossing! I'm perished with cold!"

"Where's the child?" demanded Orris.

"Downstairs, chattering her head off to Dugald, who tumbled into us. Does he still live in your pockets, Orris?"

Orris flushed, then she laughed.

"You never will realize that our cousinship is a thing by itself. Ah, here comes Pippa!"

Venetia had taken off her hat and was standing over the fire; she had a pale golden bobbed head and a very short dress. She looked about seventeen in the firelight. The child who danced into the room and up to Orris was dark-eyed, with a mop of very curly fair hair. She had small features and a beautiful skin.

"Aunt Ollie—Aunt Ollie!" she cried, throwing her arms round her aunt. "Aren't you very glad to see me? I've grown yards, and mummy's shoes almost fit me if I stuff paper into the toes! And I walked all round the ship with the captain, and do you know I have a darling dove in a cage? And Cousin Dugald was saying a wicked word when he met us on the stairs, so I put my hand in his pocket quick like a thief, and picked his cigarette-case; and then he and me had a scrimmage, but he says there's a new bear at the Zoo wants to see me, and we think we'll go to-morrow."

She paused for breath. Her mother turned her head.

"Go and fetch me my handbag, Pippa. I left it in the cab, and Anita has got it."

The child instantly obeyed.

"You can put us up, Orris?"

"Of course. I have a big spare room."

"You're very comfortable in this flat. I suppose you realize that we're penniless. Pippa and I have both been in the doctor's hands. He advised a good healthy out-of-door life for us both. So ridiculous! But I couldn't stay on in Cannes."

"Pippa looks thin and white."

"She's never still; she tires me to death. I never ought to have been a mother. I haven't the health for it. Children are a never-ending care and responsibility. You'll have to take her off my hands for a bit. Have you still got your job at the club?"

"Yes, I'm still manageress."

"I should like a similar job if I could get it. You have a very good time and a good salary."

"It's good enough for one," said Orris, laughing, and her laugh was clear and ringing, "but it won't be very good for three. I'll do the best I can for you, Vennie dear. We must talk over this idea of a country life."

"Don't make me an item in it. But Pippa has a cough which ought to be cured. If I had the money, I would send her down to a country farmhouse with Anita, my maid. I suppose you can put her up too? I forgot to say I was bringing her over with us. She's half Italian, half French, and adores Pippa, and knows how to manage her."