The Barbadoes Girl | Page 4

very good; and when Missy pinch Zebby, and pricky with pin, then
good mississ she be angry; but massa say only--'Poo! poo! she be
child--naughty tricks wear off in time.' He be warm man himself."
The poor negro's defence affected the little circle, and Mr. Harewood
observing it, said--"You perceive, my dear children, that this child is in
fact far more an object of compassion than blame, for she has been
permitted to indulge every bad propensity of her nature, and their
growth has destroyed that which was good; of course, her life has been
unhappy in itself, yet punishment has not produced amendment. Poor
thing! how many of the sweetest pleasures of existence are unknown to
her! She is a stranger to the satisfaction of obliging others, and to the
consciousness of overcoming herself, which, I trust, you all know to be
an inestimable blessing. I truly pity her; but I am compelled to treat her
as if I blamed her only; I am obliged to be harsh, in order that I may be
useful, and give pain to produce ease."
In about an hour, finding that no one approached, and feeling the want
of the dinner her shameful rudeness and petulance had interrupted, and
which she had but just begun, Matilda came down stairs, with the air of
a person who is struggling to hide, by effrontery, the chagrin she is
conscious of deserving: no person took any notice of her entrance, and
all appearance of the good meal she wanted was removed. There was a
certain something in the usually-smiling faces of the heads of the
mansion that acted as a repellent to her, and she sat for some time silent;
but at length she spoke to Ellen, who, from her gentle meekness, was
ever easy of access, and whom, intending to mortify, she accosted
thus--"Nelly, did you eat my chicken?"
Charles burst into a loud laugh, as Ellen, who had never heard herself
thus addressed, for a moment looked rather foolish; on which he
answered for her, with a somewhat provoking sauciness of
countenance--"No, Matty, she did not eat your chicken."
"My name is not Matty--it is Matilda Sophia, and you are a great booby
for calling me so; but Nelly, or Nell, is short for Ellen, and by one of

those names I shall call her, whenever I choose, if it be only to vex
you."
"Perhaps, too, you will choose to prick her, and pinch her, Miss Matilda
Sophia Hanson?" answered Charles, sneeringly, drawing out her name
as long and as pompously as it was possible.
"Fie, Charles!" said Edmund; "I am sure you act as if you had forgotten
all that papa told us about Miss Hanson."
Charles, after a moment's thought, acknowledged that he was wrong,
very, very wrong.
Matilda was much struck with this; she was well aware that, under the
same circumstances, she should have said much more than he had, and
she was curious as to what had been said of her, which could have
produced this effect on a boy generally so vivacious and
warm-tempered as Charles. After cogitating upon it some time, she at
length concluded that Mr. Harewood had endeavoured to impress on
the minds of his family the consequence she possessed, as an only child
and a great heiress; and although he had appeared so lately to act under
a very different impression, yet it was very possible that he had only
done so because he was out of temper himself, and, now his mind was
become tranquil again, he had repented of his conduct, and been
anxious to prevent his children from following his example in this
respect.
The more Matilda thought of this, the more fully she fixed it in her
mind as an article of belief; but yet there was something in the calm,
firm tones of Mr. Harewood, when he spoke to her, and in his present
open, yet unbending countenance, when he happened to cast his eyes
towards her, which rendered her unsatisfied with the answer she thus
gave her own internal inquiries; and although she had been exceedingly
angry with him, for presuming to speak to her, she yet felt as if his
esteem, and indeed his forgiveness, were necessary for her happiness;
and her pride, thus strengthened, contended with her fears and
consciousness of guilt and folly; and while she resolved inwardly to
keep up her dignity with the young ones, she yet, from time to time,

cast an anxious eye towards her new monitor.
In a short time, to Matilda's great relief, Mr. Harewood stepped into the
library to get a book; and the children, in the hope that, when he
returned, he would kindly indulge them, either by reading to them, or
relating occasionally such anecdotes or observations