The Fortunes of the Farrells | Page 9

and
he would comfort her, and take off his coat. Look here, Mollie--go to
bed! I've waited all the evening to have a talk with mother, and you are
the only impediment left. Take your book with you if you like,--but
go!"
Mollie rose, unwillingly enough.
"I know what you want to talk about," she said, looking into Ruth's face.

"I know; and it's not a mite of use. Mother won't let you leave home;
she needs you far too much. I shan't go to sleep, for I shall want to hear
every single word when you come upstairs. I'll snoodle up to the hot
bottle, and read till you come."
The programme sounded very attractive,--to snoodle up to the hot
bottle, and lie at ease reading an interesting book,--much more
attractive than to linger downstairs by the dying fire, and discuss
disagreeable problems with an anxious mother. But Ruth did not waver
in her decision, and a few moments later Mrs Connor was caught
paying a round of visits to the children's bedrooms--"just in time," as
Ruth thought whimsically, "to waken the poor souls from their first
sleep!"--and escorted back to the chair which Mollie had vacated.
"Is anything wrong, dear?" she asked nervously. Poor little woman, if a
surprise were in store, it seemed so much more likely that it should be
disagreeable rather than bright! "You don't feel feverish, or ill, or--"
"No, no, my dear; I just want to talk to you about my own affairs. I'm
quite well, and so strong and--and grown-up, don't you know, that it is
time I grew independent, and began life on my own account. You have
Mollie at home, and Trix and Betty growing up, and I think, mother
dear, that I ought not to be dependent on the pater any longer. He has
been very good and kind to us all these years; but, still--"
She hesitated, and Mrs Connor looked at her with anxious tenderness.
She had honestly considered the welfare of her two little girls as much
as her own when she decided to marry a second time, and it had been a
constant joy to feel that her expectations had been fulfilled; yet here
was Ruth, her firstborn darling, her right hand in household affairs,
actually talking of leaving home!
"Aren't you happy, Ruth? Have you not been happy all these years? I
thought you were quite content and satisfied."
She sighed; and Ruth gave an echoing sigh, and answered honestly--
"Quite happy, darling, as far as you and the pater are concerned. He

could not have been kinder to us if we had been his very own daughters.
But satisfied? Oh no, mother; never satisfied for a long time back! How
could I be? I don't want to seem ungrateful; but I'm only twenty- one,
and it has been all work and no play, and there are so many, many
things that I want to do, and see, and feel. I've never been to a proper
grown-up dance in my life, for if we have been asked we have not had
decent clothes to go in, and we never invite anyone here, so now people
have given over asking us even to quiet evenings. I hardly ever speak to
a soul outside this house, and I get so tired of it all;--and only fifteen
pounds a year for dress and pocket-money! Remember what your
allowance was when you were a girl, and all the jolly times you had,
and the parties, and the visits, and the trips abroad,--and then think of
our lives. It is dull for us, isn't it, dear?"
Mrs Connor's pale cheeks flushed with a touch of offence. Not having
sufficient insight into girls' natures to understand that there was nothing
either undutiful or unnatural in Ruth's lament, she felt herself
personally injured thereby.
"Mollie is happy--Mollie is content!" she said briefly.
And Ruth assented with a brief "Yes," and said no more.
If the difference between Mollie's nature and her own was not patent to
their own mother, it was useless to enlarge upon it. She waited a
moment or two to regain composure, then continued quietly--
"But that was not exactly the point. I did not mean to speak of my own
troubles. What I feel is that when business is so bad, it is not right for
two grown-up girls to stay at home. You could get on without me, with
a little extra help for sewing, and in time I might earn enough, not only
to keep myself but to help the others. Honestly, now, don't you think I
am right? In my place, would you not feel it your duty to the pater to be
independent, and lighten his responsibility, if even by a little?"
Mrs Connor sat