The Rebellion of Margaret | Page 5

1.30
they dined. The afternoon programme varied according to the seasons
and the weather. In summer they worked from three to five and went
out afterwards, while in winter the order of things was reversed and
they went out first and worked afterwards. After tea Margaret practised
again, prepared her lessons for the next day, and went to bed at nine.
And that had been her daily life year in year out until a few months
before the day on which this story opens. And then, greatly to Mr.
Anstruther's annoyance, an event had occurred which upset all his
carefully laid plans. Miss Bidwell, whose sight had never been very
strong, was threatened with cataract in both eyes, and acting on the
advice of a clever little doctor who had lately come to the
neighbourhood, she had decided to go to her mother's relatives in
France and to take a complete rest until her eyes should be ready for
operation. The news that Miss Bidwell's sight had been failing for some
time came as no surprise to her pupil, who had perceived for some time
past that her governess could scarcely see to read even with the aid of
her strongest glasses, and Margaret, without allowing her to know that
she knew--for she divined that Miss Bidwell had striven desperately to
conceal the truth not only from those around her, but from herself
too--had done the little that lay in her power to save her governess's
eyes as much as possible.
But to Mr. Anstruther the news came as a very disagreeable shock. He
had not intended to part with Miss Bidwell for at least three or four
years to come. Other people might perhaps have considered that
Margaret was already growing too old to be subject to the control of a
governess, and that if her character were to be properly developed she
must now be allowed to think and act independently. But if any one had
ventured to express these sentiments to Mr. Anstruther, they would
have been requested, not over politely, to mind their own business. He
had grown used to Miss Bidwell, and he disliked the idea either of
replacing her by a stranger, or of letting Margaret do without another
governess.
Margaret parted with her governess with very real regret. Although

through all the years they had been together their relations had always
been those of mistress and pupil only, never that of friends and
companions, still in losing her Margaret at least lost the company of
another fellow-being. For Mr. Anstruther had decided not to engage
another governess, at any rate not until he saw if he could possibly do
without one. His dislike for his fellow creatures became intensified
every year, and had it not been that his occupation of farming took him
out of doors all day long and brought him into contact with all sorts and
conditions of people, he would long ago have turned into the recluse
that he wished his granddaughter to be.
For the existence that he planned for her now was one of the most
extraordinary that a girl of her age was ever called upon to live. She
was, he decreed, to go on exactly as if her governess was still with her,
to read for so many hours a day, to practise for so many more, and to
take regular exercise in the garden. For out of the confines of the
grounds she was now strictly forbidden to go. But as Margaret listened
to the rules that were being laid down for her she never dreamed of
questioning them, but in the shy voice that was habitual to her in her
grandfather's presence promised obedience to them. And as she left the
room her grandfather looked after her with an expression of great
satisfaction on his face. But the satisfaction was for himself, and not for
her. How well he had brought her up! How wise his treatment of her
had been! What a commendable difference between her manner to him,
and her mother's! He had vowed that he would bring up Margaret's
daughter to respect and obey him in the smallest particular, and he had
accomplished the task he had set himself.
It had, after all, been quite an easy one. The great secret was, he
reflected to maintain an attitude of judicious firmness, and never to
relax it. Not once had Margaret ever ventured to argue with him or to
question his right to order her every action. And so very well pleased
with himself Mr. Anstruther dismissed her from his mind and went
about his own affairs. It had been a matter of some surprise to Margaret
to find how soon she not only got accustomed to Miss Bidwell's
absence, but ceased to