Two MOTHERS. Great was the gratification and delight of Miss Penelope Lyle, when she learnt from the lips of Mr. Brunton (for the warm-hearted lawyer would not entrust to a third person the pleasant task of imparting to her the munificent intentions of his client) that she was about to become so large a recipient of her step-brother's bounty. "It is not the money, my dear sir; it really is not the money;" she said, as she wiped away her fast-falling tears; "although I do not attempt to deny that so handsome an addition to my income will be most acceptable; it is the kindness, the affection of the gift, that overcomes me. I am sure I never dreamt of such a thing; and that I should be the first upon whom Mr. Lyle confers so great a service! Had it been one of my nephews I could have understood it, for no doubt the old gentleman must be proud of them when he sees the figure that they make in the world; but I am so differently situateda plain, elderly woman, who can add nothing to his consequence in any way. It is really quite extraordinary!" "By no means, my dear madam;" said Brunton, affected in his turn by the simplicity of the artless spinster; 'you must surely have remarked that even on the occasion of your first meeting at his house, he treated you with the most distinguished regard and respect." "So he did, sir; I am proud to say that he did indeed. You must remember, my dears," she added, addressing the two sisters who sat lost in astonishment at the marvellous tidings of the lawyer; "that I mentioned to you how politely Mr. Lyle desired me to do the honours of his tea-table, and how angry my two nieces appeared at the time, although of course they could not openly resent it; but still that was altogether a different affair; and I saw at once that it was merely a respect paid to my age; while this-but it is quite in vain for me to express what I feel, Mr. Brunton; and so I must beg of you to have the kindness to say all that is sincere and grateful for me to my gene rous brother." "You may depend upon my doing so;" replied the lawyer; "and now, farewell for the present, my dear Miss Lyle. I know that it will afford my client very sincere gratification to learn that you so fully appreciate his liberality." "It really seems like a dream;" said Miss Hallingford, as, forgetful of their usual decorum, the three ladies stood at a window watching the departure of their visitor. "Why, my dear Penelope, who would have expected such an event as this!" "Who, indeed!" echoed her sister. joinder: "perhaps I might anticipate that, in the "I am afraid that you will think Wood End very dull and humble now," said the younger sister timidly. "Clarissa!" exclaimed Miss Pen, in an accent of reproach; and in the next instant her arms were about the neck of her friend, and they were weeping together as though some very heavy disaster had befallen them. "Come, come;" said Miss Hallingford with assumed cheerfulness; "we are all too old to be sentimental, and this is a poor way of welcoming good fortune. Such a waste of time too, when we have so much to talk over; not to mention that we are standing in a draught, and that the fire is getting low. Put on some coals, Clarissa; and you, Penelope, sit down and wipe your eyes, and look your prosperity in the face boldly. It must be a great comfort to you, my dear, that your worth has been appreciated; and not overlooked, as it might have been, in the splendour of your fashionable relations." "And so it is, Agnes. You are quite right. You know I never coveted riches; but still it is very pleasant to have such a feeling of future independence." "No doubt of it. We are all mortal; and without envying the good fortune of others, we may well be excused for rejoicing in our own." All I trust is," said the punctilious old lady, as a sudden shadow passed over her countenance, "that this great kindness on the part of my brother will not offend his other relations. I should be so very sorry to be the cause of any ill-feeling; and perhaps, you know, they may consider Mr. Lyle's generosity to me as a wrong done to themselves. How strange it is, my dears, that every good in this life brings its own anxieties with it. I suppose it is intended to teach us not to exult too much in our prosperity, and to bring us back to a more sober and becoming frame of mind." scattered blessings under many an humble roof; there were pensioners to endow with a double benefaction; patients among the neighbouring poor to be nursed and nourished; idle children to be sent to school; and aged cripples to be housed and cared-for. It is true that self had first figured in the dream. When is it not so? but better and holier purposes succeeded; and well is it for those who can so promptly disengage themselves from the sordid spell. But this was not the only good effect produced by the merchant's liberality, for by some strange and occult magic it drew more closely together the ties of family affection and confidence. We have already shown that the fashionable wife of Mr. Percival Lyle and the stately Mrs. Stainton merely tolerated each other in or der to keep up appearances. The connexion had been, in fact, odious to both parties; as it always is where there is a desire to patronise on one side, and a resolution not to be patronised on the other. But the news of Miss Penelope's good fortune at once reconciled all differences; each of the ladies felt herself aggrieved; and re "No doubt, Penelope, no doubt;" replied the gentle Miss Hallingford; "and it is well that we should regard every drawback in that light; but still I confess that on this occasion I cannot but consider your apprehension to be somewhat morbid. If Mr. Lyle had given you all his property, then indeed I could understand that the other members of his family might feel sore, and even consider themselves aggrieved, although in point of fact your brother has an undoubted right to dispose of his fortune as he thinks proper; but after all, my dear, you must remember that, noble as his gift to you has been, it forms but a very small portion of his actual wealth, and that you do not know howmembering the old adage that Union is Force, he may bestow the remainder." Very true;" acquiesced Miss Penelope, in a more cheerful accent; "there is still, as you say, enough and to spare; and I have, in fact, no excuse for so uncharitable a suspicion. So now let us turn again to the bright side of the picture; though, to tell the truth, my heart is so full, and I am still in such a state of astonishment, that I feel as though I could scarcely talk rationally upon the subject." The door was closed; the fire mended, and for a few minutes the three ladies sat round the hearth in silence, each lost in her own reflections; but this state of things could not last long; and accordingly the conversation was soon resumed by Miss Penelope. "What do you suppose I was thinking about, Agnes?" she asked. "Nay, my dear, I am no conjuror." "Why, about those velvet dresses that we cheapened, and could not afford to buy. We can have them now." "But, my dear Penelope, I must not allow you to forget" "Nonsense." I know what you are going to say; and instead of listening to it, I tell you that Clarissa and I will have a Fly to-morrow, and go to town to purchase them. Should you, and can you believe, that we can ever again have a divided interest, after the sacrifice that you have volunteered to make for my poor Octavius? And, by-the-bye, talking of Flys, what do you say, my dears, to a Brougham? a plain, dark Brougham? It would be so respectable; and I really see nothing else that we require to make us thoroughly comfortable." Modest, but pleasant, was the picture presented by that simple and happy party as they thus savoured a foretaste of the coming good. Repine not, Reginald Lyle; the work which you have in hand is worthily commenced. As the hours flew by, your long-hoarded gold already they at once resolved to make common cause. As may be readily anticipated, it was Mrs. Percival who took the initiative. "You have ordered the carriage early," remarked her husband, whose temper had been considerably soured by the unwelcome intelligence of what he was pleased to call Mr. Lyle's absurdity: "woman-like, nothing can check your love of pleasure. I verily believe that if you were to hear that the house had broke, you would not remain at home for a single day." "I am obliged to you for your good opinion;" said the lady, arranging more becomingly the curls which clustered beneath her bonnet; "and if you are anxious to know where I am going, I am quite ready to satisfy your curiosity. I am about to pay a visit to Mrs. Stainton." "For what purpose?" "You are dull to-day, my dear. Do you not think it is quite time that the different members of your family should come to an understanding, before that odious old maid undermines us altogether? For my part I will not be guilty of the weakness of sitting idly with my hands in my lap, and seeing my children wronged, when by a little good management I may perhaps succeed in preventing their being made the victims of a contemptible intrigue." "There is some sense in that." 66 I am glad you think so; and it strikes me that you would do better if you were, in your turn, to call upon your cousin Lancaster, and hear what he has to say upon the subject, than to remain quietly by the fireside, moaning over an evil that you should be endeavouring to repair." "How can it be repaired? Everything was concluded before I heard a word of it.” "But is it possible you do not see that this may be only the beginning of worse? Really, Mr. Percival, you are a perfect child on occasions of this sort! Let this horrible old woman once gain an ascendancy over the mind of your uncle, and good bye to all your prospects.' "And how am I to prevent it?" "In a hundred ways. It is of no use to discuss the matter in your present temper, but the thing must be done, and done at once, before her professions of gratitude, and her fulsome flatteries, cajole the old man into receiving her into his house; for I see clearly that, if we do not in some way contrive to weaken her hold upon him, she will prove a dangerous enemy. She never liked us, you well know; and I am quite sure that she never will. How, indeed, was it likely that she should, moving in so different a sphere of society? And to reflect that so insignificant a person as Miss Lyle should stand in the way of my girls is enough to drive one insane. But I will not sit tamely by, and suffer such an injustice-upon that, at least, I am resolved." "Well, do as you please." "I intend it; and without loss of time. As a matter of course, Mrs. Stainton must be as indignant as myself, for if I have two daughters to think of, she, on her side, has two sons; and it would be monstrous to suppose that she does not resent such an injustice. No mother could command her feelings on an occasion like this. To her, indeed, with those odious, half-witted young men to push forward in the world, the question is a vital one. Our girls will marry as a natural consequence, educated as they have been; and, to speak the truth, I look upon Anastasia to be as good as married already to Mr. Forester, for I do not see that she could do better." "Nor I either." said the merchant dryly. "But what Mrs. Stainton can hope to make of those boys, I really can't conceive;" continued the lady emphatically; "Poor thing! I want words to express what I feel for her." and secured the honour of the family name, if it had been given, or even bequeathed in bulk as it should have been, to one who knew how to use it, will be frittered away among half-a-dozen individuals; and all to satisfy the paltry vanity of a doting old man, who is anxious to be looked upon as the general benefactor of his family. However, her idea is sensible enough. I will see Lancaster. He is a long-headed fellow; and we may strike out something between us." Merrily sped on the well-appointed chariot, through crowded streets alive with the buzz and bustle of human life, over the noble bridge spanning the still more noble river, and along the pleasant highway, where the weary monotony of bricks and mortar was relieved by the occasional groups of stately trees, which although leafless at that season, arrested the eye as it fell upon the delicate tracery of their slender branches gracefully pencilled against the cold clear sky; by clusters of evergreen shrubs; by occasional glimpses of green fields; and by trim gardens, and well-kept lawns. But the sole occupant of the luxurious equipage saw none of these things, as she sat enveloped in her fur wrappings, in a corner of the vehicle, absorbed in her own thoughts. Even her vanity slumbered. She forgot to wonder what effect her amiable condescension and her Parisian bonnet would produce upon the lady whom she was about to visit; she neither rearranged her curls nor smoothed her flounces; she was, indeed, to use her own expression, 66 perfectly unhinged." Not nervous; no-Mrs. Percival Lyle scorned a weakness of that description; but excited, angered, and indignant; as people sometimes are at occurrences with which they have no possible right to intermeddle. She was by no means inclined to concur in the opinion of the noble individual who declared that every man had a right to do as he pleased with his own;" she had more extended and philanthropic views; and she considered that Mr. Reginald Lyle, by disposing of his property according to his inclination, was guilty of an atrocious wrong towards those who had looked upon it as their undoubted and rightful inheritance. Was she singular in taking this view of the "No doubt you do." muttered Mr. Percival. "Well, I shall very frankly tell her my view of the case;" pursued his wife volubly;" and if she refuses to view it as I do, she must take the consequences. I am, moreover, bent upon inducing her to make the first move in the business, in order that in the event of your uncle thinking proper to take offence at the inter-case? We are afraid not. ference of the family, his displeasure may not fall upon us." "Quite right." conceded the merchant. Ha!" said the lady, drawing a deep breath; "it is well for men that their wives are occa sionally more quick-witted than themselves; and from the resentment which Mr. Lyle evidently feels against Octavius for a much less matter, it is clear to me that should I succeed in making Mrs. Stainton the spokeswoman on this occasion, we are very likely to kill two birds with one stone. But here is the carriage; and perhaps during my absence you will reflect on what I have said." The visit of Mrs. Percival did not create the surprise which she had anticipated. Rare as were her apparitions at Minerva Lodge, it was evident, even to her pre-occupied mind, that her appearance there on this occasion elicited neither curiosity nor speculation; nor had she previously to the appearance of the lady herself her accustomed opportunity of investigating all the details of the drawing-room arrangements, and ascertaining how many new ornaments had been added to the decoration of the tables and consoles by the "young friends" of Mrs. Stainton since her last visit; for as she traversed the hall, she heard her name announced, and found herself, when she had crossed the threshold of the apartment, in the presence of her hostess. 66 the Welcome, my dear Mrs. Lyle, welcome;" said the mistress of the house, as her visitor en "Reflect, indeed.” muttered the merchant, as his wife disappeared; "a pleasant subject for reflection truly. I foresee how it will be; noble fortune that would have saved my credit, |