AND BECOMES A PERSONAGE.

The strange pair travelled in state. Comethup had been given such a sum of money by his aunt that the mere handling of the yellow and white coins in his pocket almost sufficed to take his breath away. The old lady was so jealous that the boy’s sovereignty should begin at once that she left the paying of porters and the purchase of first-class railway tickets entirely to him, merely telling him the amounts he was to pay, and being careful, in every instance, that the necessary homage in return for the coin was exacted from the man to whom it was given.

“Did he touch his cap to you? Was the rascal respectful?” These were her constant inquiries; and, to do her justice, it may be said that she held her head higher, as she walked with her hand on the boy’s shoulder, than she had been in the habit of doing. Indeed, her blindness seemed to affect her more than it had ever done before; she seemed anxious to know what was going on about her, and what notice they attracted. “Do people stare at us? Do they whisper? Why don’t you tell me everything, just as you would tell it to yourself? You must remember I’m walking in the dark; you are my eyes for the future.”

Again, when London was reached and he had helped her out of the railway carriage, she chuckled softly to herself as she leaned upon him, and nodded her head approvingly. “You walk well, boy; you carry yourself like a gentleman. A man always can, or a boy either, when he has money jingling in his pockets. And I swear that yours shall never be empty.”

A servant in livery approached them and touched his hat. He glanced with some surprise at the boy, and spoke to his mistress and offered his arm to her. But Miss Carlaw waved him scornfully aside. “You needn’t trouble, William; I can dispense with your help in the future. Where’s the carriage?”

The servant led the way across the station to where a fine carriage with two horses was drawn up; he opened the door, and Miss Carlaw got in, followed by Comethup, who began to realize that he had indeed entered upon a life of luxury. The noise and roar of the streets through which they drove surprised and startled him, after the sleepy quiet of the old town he had left. His aunt was eager with anticipations of all they were to do, and of all the changes she contemplated making in her own mode of life, for the boy’s comfort.

“Oh, we’ll do big things with you, Comethup; you shall be the best-known boy in London. By the Lord! I’ve never had a chance like this before. I’ll dress you like a prince, and let them see that I’ve got some one young and handsome—for you are handsome, you dog, there’s not a doubt of that—some one young and handsome about me, who loves me. Oh, I’ll be good to you, Comethup, if you keep to your part of the bargain, for I’m precious hungry for somebody’s love, I can assure you. I’ve waited a devilish long time for it.”

The carriage drew up at the door of a large house in a square, with a huge garden, protected by an iron railing, in the center of the square. As they alighted, Comethup felt that it must be a very grand neighbourhood indeed, for other carriages were stopping at other doors, and elegant ladies were getting in and out of them. Almost before his aunt had alighted from her carriage the wide door at the top of the steps was opened, and Comethup had a glimpse of a hall beautifully furnished and hung with old-fashioned armour, such as he had heard the captain describe in giving accounts of historic battles—a hall large enough, the boy thought, to be a room itself, and not a mere passageway to other rooms, as it proved to be when they had passed through it. There seemed to be servants everywhere, both male and female, opening doors, and coming in noiselessly with tea, and bringing letters and other things which had arrived for Miss Carlaw during her absence.

It appeared to have been the work of a confidential servant—an elderly, staid woman, who was apparently the housekeeper—to open and read these letters aloud to her mistress; but when she was about to do this now, Miss Carlaw stopped her and turned to Comethup. “Can you read?” she asked, sharply.

“A little,” replied Comethup. “The captain taught me.”

“Give me one of those letters,” said Miss Carlaw, holding out her hand to the housekeeper. A letter was handed to her, over the back of which she swiftly passed her hand; she appeared to know in an instant from whom it came, by the crest on the back, and even muttered the name. This she handed to Comethup. “Open it,” she said, “and read it.”

Comethup opened it tremblingly, and floundered about for a moment among the strange, cramped handwriting; then blushingly confessed that he had not been used to reading writing.

“No, of course not; very foolish of me to think you would be able to,” replied his aunt, taking the letter from him. “For the present we shall have to go on in the old way, until you’ve learned a little more, Comethup; and then we’ll dispense with everybody else for our private matters.”

The letters were opened by the housekeeper, and read aloud, Miss Charlotte Carlaw making audible comments upon them as the reading proceeded. Then a minute account was given of all that had occurred in her absence—the names of callers, and what they had said and what messages they had left. When all was finished, and Miss Carlaw had drunk her tea and had seen that Comethup was also provided with refreshment, she gave orders that all the servants in the place were to be brought to her.

“Every Jack and Jill of ’em,” she exclaimed, emphatically; “I’ve something to say to them.”

When they were all wonderingly and somewhat sheepishly assembled, she delivered herself, proudly and firmly, of what she had made up her mind to say.

“Now, just attend to me, all of you, for I’m in deadly earnest, and I mean to see that my orders are carried, out. You see this young gentleman”—she indicated Comethup, who was seated beside her—“this is Master Willis, my nephew. For the future he takes a place in this house, and wherever I may be, second only to mine. If he says a thing is to be done, understand that it is to be done; if he gives an order to any one of you, it must be obeyed, as swiftly as though I had given it myself. You needn’t be alarmed, any of you; he’s not the sort of fellow to give any of you any trouble. But, trouble or no trouble, you will understand he’s the young master here, and the Lord help the man or the woman that forgets it! You know me, or you should by this time, and you know that, although I can’t actually see you, I know what you’re doing, every one of you, by night or by day. I know your tricks, and your humours, and your little tempers, and all the rest of it; but we’ll have no tricks or humours or tempers with Master Willis. As I say, you won’t find him exacting; but what he wants he’s to have. That’s all; I’ve nothing more to say.”

They appeared to understand very perfectly. One of them—Comethup thought it was the butler—even stepped forward and murmured a little incoherent speech, intended to convey the loyalty of himself and his fellow-servants to the young master. Miss Charlotte Carlaw nodded approval, even punctuated the broken speech with nods, and dismissed them all with a wave of her hand.

“Now you understand, Comethup,” she said, turning to the boy when they had gone, and putting her hand on his shoulder, “what your power here is. You’ll find, although I don’t think you need the advice, that all the money in the world won’t enable you to hold that power if you don’t set about your life in the right way. If you’re peevish, or tyrannical, or unjust—well, you must expect to get sour looks and unwilling service; if you are a gentleman, and show that you only demand what is your right, and demand it courteously—for servants are human beings, and have their feelings—you’ll be served gladly and faithfully; at least that’s what I’ve found. Now come with me, and I’ll show you over the house, and I’ll show you your rooms.”

She appeared to know every inch of the great house, from the lowest floor to the garret, telling him instantly what each room was, even to the servants’ rooms. “I keep a butler and a housekeeper,” she explained, “but I like to know everything myself, and what everybody is doing. They used to think once they could cheat me because I couldn’t see ’em; but they found out their mistake long since.”

It was indeed a beautiful house, scrupulously kept, and very richly furnished. Rare pictures hung on the walls, and wonderful china stood on shelves in cabinets; and the tables and chairs and other articles of furniture were many of them richly inlaid with rare and precious woods. “I can’t see any of these things, you know, Comethup; I can only tell the shape of them, and I’m a pretty good judge in that way. But all these things are here because it pleases me to think that I can afford to buy them, and to delight other people’s eyes with them, perhaps even to make some of ’em a little envious. I was born to have eyes, if ever any creature was, for I love rich and beautiful things, even pictures. I’ve got a man who happens to be honest, and knows a good picture when he sees one. When you’ve grown older, and studied hard, you’ll know the value of all these things, Comethup, and you’ll be able to describe, in your own way, all the pictures to me; and that will please us both. Now come and look at your own rooms.”

The two rooms which had been allotted to him seemed, to his delighted eyes, the most beautiful in the house. They were quite high up, and quite simply furnished; but the windows of both looked out over the square, where all the life and bustle that were so fascinating went on; and each seemed to contain exactly everything that a boy could possibly need. In the sitting room were pictures of battle scenes, and deeds of daring generally, choice engravings and etchings for the most part; and on the tables and on shelves were numbers of books, beautifully bound, whose very titles, as he glanced at them, gave promise of the delights to be found within.

Miss Charlotte Carlaw stood perfectly still, with her hand upon his shoulder, until she heard his astonished gasps; then she chuckled with satisfaction and marched him through into the bedroom. Here a young man in a sober brown suit was unpacking his box and carefully arranging its contents in the wardrobe and in a huge press that stood at one side of the room. He was a round-faced, good-humoured-looking young man, and Comethup liked his appearance.

“Ah, is that you, Gwilt?” cried Miss Carlaw. “This is your young master, Master Willis.—Comethup, Gwilt will attend to you, and do everything you want—brush your clothes and keep them in order, and assist you to dress when necessary. He is your special servant, and will have no other duties. Now tell me; do you like these rooms?”

“I think they’re beautiful,” said Comethup.

“Well, just look round them, and tell me if you think there’s anything else you would like. What do you think of the pictures? I got a man specially to choose them, told him they must be bright, and just the sort of things a boy would like; no sickly love-making, or cottage interiors, or nonsense of that kind, but just a few with some blood in ’em—fighting, and chopping up, and highwaymen, and nice little delicacies of that kind. Like ’em, eh?”

“I don’t think I shall ever get tired of looking at them,” said Comethup. “And there are a heap of books here, too, aunt—quite the most beautiful books I’ve ever seen,” he added.

“Of course, I’d forgotten the books. I wrote to a bookseller to send me all he could think of that would be likely to appeal to you—same style as the pictures, you know. Now there isn’t much time before dinner, so just wash your hands, and come down to the drawing room when you hear the first bell. I’ll go and change my frock.”

She was going out of the room, with her stick moving before her, when Comethup sprang to her side. “Won’t you let me—let me take you——” he began.

She understood in a moment, and her face lighted up as she looked down at him. She did not merely put her hand on his shoulder, as she had done before; she drew it round his neck. “That’s my dear boy!” she said, almost in a whisper.

He conducted her safely to the door of her room, and then dashed upstairs again to his own. It was quite a new sensation to have some one to attend on him, to anticipate his smallest wants, and be ready silently and respectfully with each thing he required. The young man was deft and quick, and seemed really proud of his young charge; he even delicately turned him round for inspection at the last moment, and smiled and nodded approval.

“There’s a tailor, and a bootmaker, and other people a-coming to-morrow, sir; Miss Carlaw’s orders, you know. Miss Carlaw says as she’ll be present for the measurin’, sir, so as to tell the men what she wants you to have, sir. They’ll be here at eleven in the morning, sir.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Comethup, a little staggered by the intelligence.

He found his aunt in the drawing room, pacing up and down in her old fashion, with her black stick lightly touching the carpet before her. Her hand upon his shoulder, as they went into the dining room, reminded her of the subject of his clothes; she moved her fingers over the cloth impatiently.

“Yes, we’ll change all this, Comethup,” she said. “I told you we’d dress you like a prince; we’ll have a velvet dinner suit for you. Lord! I’ll make ’em stare at you; I’ll give ’em something to talk about. They talk of their brats to me, and the beauty of them, and the cleverness, and the devil knows what; we’ll outshine ’em all, Comethup.”

They dined in solemn state that evening, Comethup sitting near his aunt at one end of the long table, with the grave butler—who looked so very great and so awe-inspiring that Comethup had felt a sudden inclination, on entering the room, to bow to him—and some three or four gigantic footmen in attendance. There were many courses, and Comethup was considerably at a loss as to how to manage, until he began to watch his aunt and to do exactly as she did, after which he got on pretty well.

Soon after dinner she dismissed him, telling him that she knew he must be tired, and that she should go soon to bed herself. He kissed her, and, out of the fulness of his heart, murmured a few grateful words to her; she laughed and thrust him gently away, telling him, as he went out, to ring for his man if he wanted him. Comethup was too full of the joy of those wondrous rooms of his to want a stranger near him then; he rambled happily about the rooms for some time, looking at the pictures, and opening the books, and examining everything that was to be examined. Finally he undressed and got into bed and fell asleep, and dreamed that Gwilt had turned suddenly into an ogre and swallowed all his clothes, so that he could not get up, although his aunt was calling him from the bottom of the stairs, and a perfect army of servants were lined up and down the staircase, bowing and waiting for him to pass.

He was awakened in the morning by Gwilt, who looked anything but an ogre, with his fresh, cheerful, smiling face, with the information that his bath was ready. He was getting a little used by now to this wondrous change in his fortunes, and to the fact that grown men and women seemed to take a delight in ministering to the needs of such a small and insignificant boy as himself. He got through the day very well, passing through the ordeal of being measured for an enormous quantity of clothing, which he felt he should never under any circumstances wear out, and noting with surprise how completely his aunt seemed to understand exactly what she wanted him to wear, and how unerringly she knew the texture of cloth and velvet and laces by the mere touch of those quick fingers of hers.

On this second day there were again no visitors, a fact which Miss Carlaw explained to Comethup after the servants had been dismissed and while she was drinking her wine after dinner. “You see, Comethup, I don’t believe in half-measures. I’ve made up my mind to spring you on them all at once, as it were, to show you forth in all your glory. I’m quite sure you’re a handsome boy, even as you are in your country clothes; but I’m going to make you look handsomer yet. By the Lord, I’ll dazzle ’em!”

The clothes began to arrive in an incredibly short space of time, and in about a week from Comethup’s first appearance in London his aunt informed him one morning that a big dinner party was to be given that night at which he was to be present. She was evidently very anxious about the matter—so much so that she communicated some of her anxiety to him, and it was an exciting day for both of them.

“The people who are coming are chatterers, fools, every one of ’em; but they’re just the people we want to give you a send-off and to blazon the whole thing right and left. You shall be dressed like a prince to-night, indeed; I’ve given Gwilt his orders. And understand that when you’ve taken me to my set, you are to take the one at the other end of the table; don’t forget that. You’ve nothing to be frightened at, child; they’ll rally you, and tease you, some of ’em, but you’ve only got to be yourself, and to be quite simple and natural, and I’m sure I sha’n’t blush for you. There are two golden rules for any one of the male sex entering society: one is, that every man he meets is a fine fellow, worthy of his admiration; and the other, that every woman, even if she’s ninety, and ugly as the devil, is a goddess to be bowed before. Let him remember that always, and, by the Lord! he’ll be popular.”

Comethup was dressed early that night, by his aunt’s instructions, in a soft, loose suit of brown velvet, with a wide lace collar on his shoulders—lace of a value which had made Comethup blink at the mere naming of the price in his hearing. Deep lace ruffles fell over his small hands, and he looked altogether a captivating little figure as he joined his aunt in the drawing room, where she was awaiting the arrival of her guests. She drew him toward her and ran her hands quickly all over him, to assure herself that everything was right.

“I wish I had eyes to-night, child,” she said, with a little sigh. “But I shall know what you look like by the impression you create.”

Comethup only dimly remembered that evening afterward. He knew that a great number of people came, all very richly dressed, and most of the ladies blazing with diamonds; that a number of the ladies went into raptures over him, and that one of the gentlemen, who chuckled tremendously at everything any one said, dubbed him “Prince Charming”; that, seated at his end of the table, with a gigantic footman standing behind him, he sent every one within hearing into paroxysms of laughter by returning what he thought were perfectly polite and natural answers to questions which were asked him; that Miss Carlaw leaned her head sideways to catch what was said, and nodded and smiled, and was altogether immensely delighted with the success her nephew was achieving.

Indeed, the astute old lady made quite a mystery of him; hinted at a romantic parentage, and refused to say where she had discovered him, or anything about him. She called him to her, as the ladies were leaving the room, and put her arm about his neck and bent down and whispered: “You’re a wonder, Comethup; I’m very well pleased with you, Prince Charming.”

His last sleepy recollection of that night was of standing with his aunt in the hall, where she was bidding her guests good-night, with the summer-night wind blowing in upon them through the open door, and the lights of the carriages outside, while every man gravely shook hands with him, and every woman insisted on kissing him. He wondered then what they would have thought if he had suddenly saluted in the fashion the captain had taught him. And with that thought he wondered what the captain was doing then, and whether he had missed his small boy friend.