The Tenant of Wildfell Hall | Page 6

a witch,' observed Fergus,
while carving his inch-thick slice of bread and butter.
'Nonsense, Fergus! But isn't it strange, mamma?'
'Strange! I can hardly believe it.'
'But you may believe it; for Jane Wilson has seen her. She went with
her mother, who, of course, when she heard of a stranger being in the
neighbourhood, would be on pins and needles till she had seen her and
got all she could out of her. She is called Mrs. Graham, and she is in
mourning - not widow's weeds, but slightish mourning - and she is
quite young, they say, - not above five or six and twenty, - but so
reserved! They tried all they could to find out who she was and where
she came from, and, all about her, but neither Mrs. Wilson, with her
pertinacious and impertinent home-thrusts, nor Miss Wilson, with her
skilful manoeuvring, could manage to elicit a single satisfactory answer,
or even a casual remark, or chance expression calculated to allay their
curiosity, or throw the faintest ray of light upon her history,
circumstances, or connections. Moreover, she was barely civil to them,
and evidently better pleased to say 'good-by,' than 'how do you do.' But
Eliza Millward says her father intends to call upon her soon, to offer
some pastoral advice, which he fears she needs, as, though she is
known to have entered the neighbourhood early last week, she did not
make her appearance at church on Sunday; and she - Eliza, that is - will
beg to accompany him, and is sure she can succeed in wheedling
something out of her - you know, Gilbert, she can do anything. And we
should call some time, mamma; it's only proper, you know.'
'Of course, my dear. Poor thing! How lonely she must feel!'
'And pray, be quick about it; and mind you bring me word how much
sugar she puts in her tea, and what sort of caps and aprons she wears,
and all about it; for I don't know how I can live till I know,' said Fergus,
very gravely.
But if he intended the speech to be hailed as a master-stroke of wit, he
signally failed, for nobody laughed. However, he was not much
disconcerted at that; for when he had taken a mouthful of bread and
butter and was about to swallow a gulp of tea, the humour of the thing
burst upon him with such irresistible force, that he was obliged to jump
up from the table, and rush snorting and choking from the room; and a

minute after, was heard screaming in fearful agony in the garden.
As for me, I was hungry, and contented myself with silently
demolishing the tea, ham, and toast, while my mother and sister went
on talking, and continued to discuss the apparent or non- apparent
circumstances, and probable or improbable history of the mysterious
lady; but I must confess that, after my brother's misadventure, I once or
twice raised the cup to my lips, and put it down again without daring to
taste the contents, lest I should injure my dignity by a similar
explosion.
The next day my mother and Rose hastened to pay their compliments to
the fair recluse; and came back but little wiser than they went; though
my mother declared she did not regret the journey, for if she had not
gained much good, she flattered herself she had imparted some, and
that was better: she had given some useful advice, which, she hoped,
would not be thrown away; for Mrs. Graham, though she said little to
any purpose, and appeared somewhat self-opinionated, seemed not
incapable of reflection, - though she did not know where she had been
all her life, poor thing, for she betrayed a lamentable ignorance on
certain points, and had not even the sense to be ashamed of it.
'On what points, mother?' asked I.
'On household matters, and all the little niceties of cookery, and such
things, that every lady ought to be familiar with, whether she be
required to make a practical use of her knowledge or not. I gave her
some useful pieces of information, however, and several excellent
receipts, the value of which she evidently could not appreciate, for she
begged I would not trouble myself, as she lived in such a plain, quiet
way, that she was sure she should never make use of them. "No matter,
my dear," said I; "it is what every respectable female ought to know; -
and besides, though you are alone now, you will not be always so; you
have been married, and probably - I might say almost certainly - will be
again." "You are mistaken there, ma'am," said she, almost haughtily; "I
am certain I never shall." - But I told