第23章

"Tee—hee！Tee—hee—ee！Dearyme！Thankee——thankee，mylady，"hetittered，andhegazedandblinkedatherbeautythroughheavenlytears。

"Nearlyahundredyearsold，andhehaslivedonsixteenshillingsaweekallhislife，andearneditbyworkingeveryhourbetweensunriseandsunset，"Bettysaidtohersister，whenshewenthome。"Amanhasonelife，andhishaspassedlikethat。Itisdonenow，andalltheyearsandworkhaveleftnothinginhisoldhandsbuthispipe。That’sall。I

shouldnotliketoputitoutforhim。WhoamIthatI

canbuyhimanewone，andkeepitfilledforhimuntiltheend？Howdidithappen？No，"suddenly，"Imustnotlosetimeinaskingmyselfthat。Imustgetthenewpipe。"

Shedidit——apipeofgreatmagnificence——suchasdrewtotheDobycottageasmanycallersasthevillagecouldprovide，eachcomingwithfeveredinterest，tolookatit——tobeallowedtoholdandexamineitforafewmoments，guessingatitsprobableenormouscost，andreturningitreverently，togazeatDobywithrespect——theincreaseofwhichcanbeimaginedwhenitwasknownthathewasnotonlypossessorofthepipe，butofanassurancethathewouldbesuppliedwithasmuchtobaccoashecoulduse，totheendofhisdays。Fromthetimeoftheadventofthepipe，GrandfatherDobybecameamanofmark，andhislifeinthechimneycornerachangedthing。Amanwhoownssplendoursandunlimited，excellentshagmaylikefriendstodropinandcrackjokes——andevensmokeapipewithhim——acommonpipe，which，however，isnotamisswhenexcellentshagcomesfree。

"Helivesinawildwhirlofgaiety——asocialvortex，"saidBettytoLadyAnstruthers，afteroneofhervisits。"Heisactuallyrejuvenated。Imustordersomenewwhitesmocksforhimtoreceivehisvisitorsin。SomeonebroughthimanoldcopyoftheIllustratedLondonNewslastnight。Wewillsendhimillustratedpaperseveryweek。"

Inthedulloldbrain，Godknowswhatsparkoflifehadbeenrelighted。YoungMrs。Dobyrelatedwithchucklesthatgranddadhadbeggedthathischairmightbedraggedtothewindow，thathemightsitandwatchthevillagestreet。Sittingthere，dayafterday，hesmokedandlookedathispictures，anddozedanddreamed，hispipeandtobaccojarbesidehimonthewindowledge。Atanysoundofwheelsorfootstepshisfacelighted，andif，bychance，hecaughtaglimpseofBetty，hetotteredtohisfeet，andstoodhurriedlytouchinghisbaldforeheadwithareverent，palsiedhand。

"’Tis’urr，"hewouldsay，enrapt。"Iseen’urr——Idid。"

AndyoungMrs。Dobyknewthatthiswashisjoy，andwhathewaitedforasonewaitsforthecomingofthesun。

"’Tis’urr！’Tis’urr！"

Thevicar’swife，Mrs。Brent，whosincetheaffairofJohnWilson’sfirehaddroppedintothebackgroundandfeltitindiscreettopresenttalesofdistressattheCourt，begantorecoverhercourage。Herperfunctoryvisitsassumedanewcharacter。Thevicaragehad，ofcourse，calledpromptlyuponMissVanderpoel，afterherarrival。Mrs。BrentadmiredMissVanderpoelhugely。

"YouseemsounlikeanAmerican，"shesaidonceinhermosttactful，ingratiatingmanner——whichwasveryingratiatingindeed。

"DoI？WhatisonelikewhenoneislikeanAmerican？

Iamone，youknow。"

"Icanscarcelybelieveit，"withsweetardour。

"Praytry，"saidBettywithsimplebrevity，andMrs。BrentfeltthatperhapsMissVanderpoelwasnotreallyveryeasytogetonwith。

"ShemeanttoimplythatIdidnotspeakthroughmynose，andtalktoomuch，andtoovivaciously，inashrillvoice，"

Bettysaidafterwards，intalkingtheinterviewoverwithRosy。

"Iliketoconvincemyselfthatisnotone’ssolenationalcharacteristic。AlsoitwasnotexactlyMrs。Brent’splacetokindlyencouragemewiththeinformationthatIdonotseemtobelongtomyowncountry。"

LadyAnstrutherslaughed，andBettylookedatherinquiringly。

"Yousaidthatjustlike——justlikeanEnglishwoman。"

"DidI？"saidBetty。

Mrs。BrenthadcometotalktoherbecauseshedidnotwishtotroubledearLadyAnstruthers。LadyAnstruthersalreadylookedmuchstronger，butshehadbeendelicatesolongthatonehesitatedtodistressherwithvillagematters。

Shedidnotaddthatsherealisedthatshewascomingtoheadquarters。Thevicarandherselfweremuchdisturbedaboutarathertiresomeoldwoman——oldMrs。Welden——wholivedinatinycottageinthevillage。Shewaseighty—threeyearsold，andarespectableoldperson——awidow，whohadrearedtenchildren。Thechildrenhadallgrownup，andscattered，andoldMrs。Weldenhadnothingwhatevertoliveon。Nooneknewhowshelived，andreallyshewouldbebetteroffintheworkhouse。ShecouldbesenttoBrexleyUnion，andcomfortablytakencareof，butshehadthatsingular，obstinatedisliketogoing，whichitwassodifficulttomanage。Shehadaskedforashillingaweekfromtheparish，butthatcouldnotbeallowedher，asitwouldmerelyupholdherinherobstinateintentionofremaininginhercottage，andtakingcareofherself——whichshecouldnotdo。Bettygatheredthattheshillingaweekwouldbeadrainontheparishfunds，andwouldsoraisetheoldcreaturetoaffluencethatshewouldfeelshecoulddefyfate。Andthecontumacityofoldmenandwomenshouldnotbestrengthenedbytherecklessbestowalofshillings。

KnowingthatMissVanderpoelhadalreadygainedinfluenceamongthevillagepeople，Mrs。Brentsaid，shehadcometoaskherifshewouldseeoldMrs。Weldenandarguewithherinsuchamanneraswouldconvinceherthattheworkhousewasthebestplaceforher。Itwas，ofcourse，somuchpleasanteriftheseoldpeoplecouldbeinducedtogotoBrexleywillingly。

"ShallIbeunderminingthewholePoliticalEconomyofStornhamifItakecareofhermyself？"suggestedBetty。

"You——youwillleadotherstoexpectthesamethingwillbedoneforthem。"

"Whenonehasresourcestodrawon，"MissVanderpoelcommented，"inthecaseofawomanwhohaslivedeighty—

threeyearsandbroughtuptenchildrenuntiltheywereoldandstrongenoughtoleavehertotakecareofherself，itisdifficultfortheweakofmindtoapplythelawsofPoliticalEconomics。IwillgoandseeoldMrs。Welden。"

IftheVanderpoelswouldprovideforalltheobstinateoldmenandwomenintheparish，thePoliticalEconomicsofStornhamwouldproffernomarkedobjections。"AgoodmanyAmericans，"Mrs。Brentreflected，"seemedtohavethoseodd，lavishways，"aswitnessLadyAnstruthersherself，onherfirstintroductiontovillagelife。MissVanderpoelwasevidentlyamuchstrongercharacter，andextremelyclever，andsomehowthestreamoftheAmericanfortunewasatlastbeingdirectedtowardsStornham——which，ofcourse，shouldhavehappenedlongago。Agooddealwas"beingdone，"andthewholesituationlookedmorepromising。Sowasthematterdiscussedandsummedup，thesameeveningafterdinner，atthevicarage。

BettyfoundoldMrs。Welden’scottage。Itwasinagreenlane，turningfromthevillagestreet——whichwasalmostagreenlaneitself。Atinyhedged—infrontgardenwasbeforethecottagedoor。Acrazy—lookingwicketgatewasinthehedge，andafuschiabushandafewoldroseswereinthefewyardsofgarden。Therewereactuallytwoorthreegeraniumsinthewindow，showingcheerfulscarletbetweentheshort，whitedimitycurtains。

"AhousethissizeandofthispovertyinanAmericanvillage，"wasBetty’sthought，"wouldbeabareandstragglinghideousness，witholdtomatocansinthefrontyard。Hereisoneofthethingswehavetolearnfromthem。"

Whensheknockedatthedooranoldwomanopenedit。

Shewasawell—preservedandmarkedlyrespectableoldperson，inadecentprintfrockandacap。Atthesightofhervisitorshebeamedandmadeasuggestionofcurtsey。

"Howdoyoudo，Mrs。Welden？"saidBetty。"IamLadyAnstruthers’sister，MissVanderpoel。IthoughtIwouldliketocomeandseeyou。"

"Thankyou，miss，Iamobligedforthekindness，miss。

Won’tyoucomeinandhaveachair？"

Therewerenosignsofdecrepitudeabouther，andshehadacheeryoldeye。Thetinyfrontroomwasneat，thoughtherewasscarcelyspaceenoughinittocontainthetablecoveredwithitsblue—checkedcottoncloth，thenarrowsofa，andtwoorthreechairs。Therewereafewsmallcolouredprints，andaframedphotographorsoonthewalls，andonthetablewasaBible，andabrownearthenwareteapot，andaplate。

"TomWood’swife，that’sneighbournextdoortome，"shesaid，"gavemeapincho’tea——an’I’vejustbeen’avinit。

TomWoods，miss，’asjustbeentookonbyMusterKedgersasoneofthenewundergardenersattheCourt。"

Bettyfoundherde

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