With Clive in India | Page 7

their arms.
"My dear mother, my dear girls, this is an unexpected pleasure, indeed!
Why, what has brought you here?"
"Didn't you know we were coming, Charlie? Didn't Uncle tell you?"
they exclaimed.
"Not a word," Charlie said. "I never dreamt of such a thing. What, has
he called you up here to stay till I go?"

"Oh, my dear, he has been so kind," his mother said; "and so funny! He
wrote me such a scolding letter, just as if I had been a very naughty
little girl. He said he wasn't going to allow me to bring disgrace upon
him, by living in wretched lodgings at Yarmouth, nor by his
grandnieces being sent out as governesses. So he ordered me at
once--ordered me Charlie, as if I had no will of my own--to give up the
lodgings, and to take our places in the coach, yesterday morning. He
said we were not to shame him by appearing here in rags, and he sent
me a hundred pounds, every penny of which, he said, was to be laid out
in clothes. As to the future, he said it would be his duty to see that I
brought no further disgrace upon the family."
"Yes, and he's been just as kind to me, Mother. As I told you when I
wrote, he had ordered an enormous outfit, which will, I am sure, cost
hundreds of pounds. He makes me go to the playhouses, and all sorts of
amusements; and all the time he has been so kind he scolds, and
grumbles, and predicts that I shall be hanged."
"I'm sure you won't," Kate, his youngest sister, said indignantly. "How
can he say such a thing?"
"He doesn't mean it," Charlie laughed. "It's only his way. He will go on
just the same way with you, I have no doubt; but you mustn't mind, you
know, and mustn't laugh, but must look quite grave and serious.
"Ah! Here he is.
"Oh, Uncle, this is kind of you!"
"Hold your tongue, sir," said his uncle, "and try and learn not to speak
to your elders, unless you are addressed.
"Niece Mary," he said, kissing her upon the forehead, "I am glad to see
you again. You are not so much changed as I expected.
"And these are my grandnieces, Elizabeth and Kate, though why Kate I
don't know. It is a fanciful name, and new to the family, and I am
surprised that you didn't call her Susanna, after your grandmother."

Kate made a little face at the thought of being called Susanna. However,
a warning glance from Charlie closed her lips, just as she was about to
express her decided preference for her own name. Mr. Tufton kissed
them both, muttering to himself:
"I suppose I ought to kiss them. Girls always expect to be kissed at
every opportunity.
"What are you laughing at, grandniece?"
"I don't think girls expect to be kissed, except by people they like,"
Kate said; "but we do like kissing you, Uncle," throwing her arms
round his neck, and kissing him heartily; "because you have been so
kind to Charlie, and have brought us up to see him again."
"You have disarranged my white tie, Niece," Mr. Tufton said,
extricating himself from Kate's embrace.
"Niece Mary, I fear that you have not taught your daughters to restrain
their emotions, and there is nothing so dreadful as emotional women."
"Perhaps I have not taken so much pains with their education, in that
way, as in some others," Mrs. Marryat said, smiling. "But of course,
Uncle, if you object to be kissed, the girls will abstain from doing so."
"No," Mr. Tufton said, thoughtfully. "It is the duty of nieces to kiss
their uncles, in moderation--in moderation, mind--and it is the duty of
the uncles to receive those salutations, and I do not know that the duty
is altogether an unpleasant one. I am, myself, unaccustomed to be
kissed, but it is an operation to which I may accustom myself, in time."
"I never heard it called an operation, Uncle," Lizzie said demurely; "but
I now understand the meaning of the phrase of a man's undergoing a
painful operation. I used to think it meant cutting off a leg, or
something of that sort, but I see it's much worse."
Her uncle looked at her steadily.

"I am afraid, Grandniece, that you intend to be sarcastic. This is a
hateful habit in a man, worse in a woman. Cure yourself of it as
speedily as possible, or Heaven help the unhappy man who may some
day be your husband.
"And now," he said, "ring the bell. The housekeeper will show you to
your rooms. My nephew will tell you what are the hours for meals. Of
course, you will want to