Mother and Son (6 page)

“He is a greedy puss,” said Emma, as though not repudiating truth.

“He is too kind to make differences between people,” said Hester. “But he knows them in his heart.”

“Now, Plautus, keep out of my way,” said Miss Burke, as she reached the kitchen. “I don't want you round my legs while I am at work.”

Plautus approached and rubbed himself against the limbs in question.

“You understand nothing. You have no thoughts and
no feelings. You are interested only in yourself, and you give me the shudders. You can remember it.”

Plautus raised his face towards her.

“You will get nothing more until you have finished your milk. I don't like wastefulness, and I will not have it in a cat. Milk is your food, unless you are a wild beast. That is the truth about you.”

“Does he really upset you, dear?” said Emma, on Miss Burke's return, as if she had divined this passage.

“No, of course he does not. He and I will be the best of friends. He is a beautiful cat.”

“Ah, the lady does not like you, Plautus. You must promise me not to worry her. Now look me in the face and promise.”

Emma held Plautus up before her, and he looked at nothing while he awaited his release, and on gaining it began to wash, as though to rid himself of some contamination.

“He is always licking himself,” said Miss Burke, in an equivocal tone.

“Yes, cats are the cleanest of creatures,” said Hester, in agreement.

“I know, dear, I know,” said Emma, leaning forward and laying her hand on Miss Burke's. “Your heart is given to dogs.”

“I do not like animals in the house at all,” said Miss Burke, who was true to herself, and therefore perhaps could not be false to any man. “They are in the way and they make extra work.”

“And you have had enough work, you poor, dear, useful one. You must be so proud, and think we should
be so ashamed. And now here is Hester threatening to rise to your level, and saying it is her duty, or her destiny or something puffed up. So tell her what you know about it, which must be all that is known, and spare her nothing.”

“Well, I know it is my destiny,” said Miss Burke.

“Well, tell her how nobly you fulfil it. Tell her what employers are like without meaning it, or even meaning it, which is quite unspeakable, though you have the courage to speak of it. And tell her how hurt Plautus is by the thought of her leaving him.”

Miss Burke was checked by the last suggestion.

“There is nothing heroic in losing the provision that was made for one,” said Hester, in a quiet, controlled tone, glancing at Miss Burke. “It does make me feel rather brave to be thrown on the world at forty-nine. But when courage is called for, what can we do but have it?”

“Well, what of me, bearing my loneliness with simple resolution?” said Emma, clasping her hands. “And what of this dear one, serving others all the days of her life? It seems quite common to be brave. There is no need to be eager about it.”

“I have not the courage to live on charity any more than Miss Burke has.”

“I have the courage but not the chance,” said the latter. “And I should call it not being above accepting generosity.”

“There, Hester, you can call it that, and accept it for my sake, and be living for others all the time. And if you work, you will be living for yourself, and how could
you dream of doing that? It is what I do myself, and I never dare to think of it. The very thought would drag one down, or perhaps make one see how low one is.”

“You would not say that Miss Burke lived for herself.”

“I should like to,” said the latter. “When my mind is not on my work, I daresay I do.”

“There, Hester, your mind might not be on your work. And think how dishonest that would be. Do tell her, Miss Burke, as you know about it.”

“Do you think Mrs. Hume would engage me?” said Hester. “I need not tell her I have never had a post before.”

“I think she might,” said Miss Burke. “You are better educated than I am, and of a different class. That is how she would see it. And not to have had other posts, not to have needed to have them, might make her respect you.”

“Scheming for respect,” said Emma. “It is very lowering, Hester. And I thought she wanted a companion. Or does she really want one?”

“She wants someone who will rise to emergencies,” said Miss Burke. “It may be a house where they occur.”

“I can do no manner of work,” said Hester. “I toil not, neither do I spin——”

“Yes, you can go on,” said Emma, looking at her clothes.

“I made the mistake of telling her that I left my last post, because they asked me to wash the dishes,” said Miss Burke.

“And you made the mistake of not telling us, dear?”
said Emma, in gentle question. “Because you have been doing it, haven't you? I thought I heard you.”

“The better ones; that is a part of companionship,” said Miss Burke, smiling. “And I had Plautus to support me.”

“Yes, make a mock of us, dear, if it is a help to you.”

“And you advertised for a working housekeeper. That was at any rate honest.”

“Oh, do we deserve that? Of course we are at our worst when we advertise and state our selfish needs; but it sounds as if we said what we thought, or meant what we said, or something else malicious; and perhaps we did mean it.”

Plautus walked to the door and stood in front of it.

“He is asking to be let out,” said Hester.

Plautus was doing this, and he meant what he said.

“He ought to learn to open the door himself,” said Miss Burke, as she returned from doing so for him.

“He would do it, if his will could help him,” said Hester. “He looked as if his eyes would bore through the wood. Oh, he all but opens it.”

“But not quite,” said Miss Burke, who had all but not done so.

“Oh, Plautus expects to be attended on.”

“Then he should have an attendant,” said Miss Burke, as if this were not at present the case.

“We ought to have done it, dear,” said Emma, “and we meant to in our hearts. You must take the will for the deed with all three of us.”

“Mrs. Hume will not do that,” said Miss Burke, with some vigour. “She wanted deeds and did not disguise it.”

“Does she think that actions speak louder than words? I never know if they do; I always hope not; and they do not often have the chance. But if she does, why does she advertise for a companion? She must know that she runs the risk of companionship.”

“I should not advise Miss Wolsey to depend on it. But she may fare better than I did. ‘To him that hath shall more be given,' and Mrs. Hume would act accordingly.”

“So you are a cynic, dear. I wonder if she knew that. She could not have failed to esteem you.”

“She did fail to. And cynicism would not help with washing the dishes.”

“Wouldn't it? I don't think I could wash them without it. And I don't think you could either. I am sure you always wash them with it.”

“I must pose as a helpless gentlewoman, who has never soiled her hands,” said Hester. “I am faced by sudden poverty and resolved to be a burden on no one.”

“Why is it a pose?” said Emma.

“Do you think Mrs. Hume will respect that?”

“Not the last part,” said Miss Burke. “She would have more respect for burdens.”

“Well, so should I,” said Emma. “I hope I should have the resolution to be one. It is the sort of courage I admire.”

“But not the sort that I do,” said Hester.

Plautus gave a yawn.

“Dear one!” said Hester. “He might be a human being.”

“There are other things he could have in common with one,” said Miss Burke.

“Can your cynicism be natural?” said Emma. “I hardly knew there was such a thing. We have no right to your services. But it will make us value them. Cynicism is never wasted, like effort or pity.”

“How did Plautus get back into the room?” said Miss Burke.

“The door is ajar,” said Hester. “Did you think he could open it?”

“No,” said Miss Burke, who knew he could not. “But it is only ajar about an inch.”

“That is enough for Plautus. He can make himself into air. I believe he could get underneath it.”

Plautus made himself into air and alighted on Miss Burke's shoulder, and she gave a start and shriek.

“Get away from me, cat, and keep away. I cannot bear the touch of you. And don't expect me to open the door. Get underneath it.”

“Oh, don't say more than you mean, dear,” said Emma. “And don't call Plautus ‘cat'.”

Plautus reached the floor without sign of inconvenience, and moved smoothly away.

“They always go to people who do not like them,” said Emma, voicing a current belief.

“So they do,” said Hester, welcoming Plautus into her lap with every sign of affection.

“He seems determined to settle on someone,” said Miss Burke, shuddering as she used the suggestive phrase.

“Now, Hester, you must stay at home to protect
Plautus and Miss Burke from each other. It would be cowardly to leave them undefended.”

“Does Mrs. Hume keep a cat?” said Hester. “It would help me to feel at home. I might be just reminded of Plautus.”

“I expect she does,” said Miss Burke. “She looks as if she would.”

“Yes, insult us, dear,” said Emma. “It will be an outlet for you. You have had a shock. Plautus is so ashamed. He cannot lift his head or look you in the face.”

“I daresay not, as he is going to sleep. It is the best thing he can do.”

“Oh, but we do not see the changing expressions on his face,” said Hester.

“And he does not see those on ours,” said Miss Burke. “Mine would be new to him.”

“Oh, I don't think he looks at us,” said Hester, as if this exalted Plautus.

“I am sure he does not,” said Miss Burke, as if it did not do so.

“It is an impressive thing, a cat's complete self-absorption,” said Emma, dreamily. “There is nothing human that compares to it.”

“I hope not,” said Miss Burke. “We should not like it in each other.”

“No, it would lack a cat's aloofness and distance.”

“Plautus, did you ask me a question?” said Hester.

“Perhaps silence is consent,” said Miss Burke.

“Tell me what you said, Plautus.”

Silence did not serve this time, and Hester turned to Emma.

“I must write to Mrs. Hume. I shall not say I have heard about her. I shall simply answer her advertisement. I decided how to describe myself.”

“You should ask for an interview. Then she will think you are a woman of the world. You can judge of each other when you meet. That is, you can judge as well as she.”

“So I proved I was not one,” said Miss Burke. “I let her suggest the interview. That was my first mistake.”

“You should not behave like a companion, when you are going to be one. You should assume they could not think of you in that way. If there is any hint of that, Hester, come straight home, and Miss Burke will comfort you, as only she can know how.”

“What sort of a family is it?” said Hester.

“Five people beside Mrs. Hume,” said Miss Burke. “A husband, a son, and three tall children.”

“Do the interviews take place in public?”

“They take place where Mrs. Hume happens to be.”

“And she wants a companion!” said Emma. “She must have a passion for companionship. And I think you said she has a cat as well. She must have an over-social nature.”

“Yes, Plautus, it is a privilege to put a cushion for you, is it?” said Hester. “And to see you settle on it, as if no thanks were needed?”

“A cat is at once more and less than a human being,” said Emma.

“Now why did he ask for a cushion, if he did not want it? What was in his mind?”

“We shall never know. To think we shall never know! You will not tread on him, dear, will you?”

“No, I will not indeed.”

“She does not love you enough even to tread on you Plautus,” said Hester. “Now I am not going to read my letter aloud. No one can apply for a situation and be at her best, and Plautus likes me to be that. I said I had to earn my living, which was anyhow dignified and honest.”

“And still was not your best?” said Emma. “Ought not Mrs. Hume to know that? Though it is never dignified for a woman to say such things. And it is not really honest, when everything I have is yours.”

Plautus signified a wish to leave the room, but met with no response.

“If he came in by that crack, he can go out by it,” said Miss Burke.

Hester rose in silence and opened the door, and Plautus hastened forward and paused in the doorway.

“There is such a draught,” said Emma. “Does he want to go in or out?”

Plautus wished to do neither.

“How he knows his own mind!” said Hester.

“We might take the other view,” said Miss Burke.

“You are almost too far above us, dear,” said Emma.

“Not above Plautus,” said Hester. “He lives in a world apart. He knows things that we do not, all manner of things of his own. I expect he knows the way the stars go round.”

“Then he has not paid much attention to the earth,” said Miss Burke. “Now, Plautus, this way or that!”
She made a sound with her hands and feet, and Plautus gave a start and a glance and fled.

“How resolute of you, dear!” said Emma. “To do a thing that threw light on you. I should not have had the courage. There will never be any light on me.”

“Well, not that sort of courage,” said Hester. “Poor Plautus, has he gone away to cry by himself? I must go and comfort him.”

She went out with this purpose, but found it was not Plautus who needed comfort. He was sitting on the grass behind the house, with an air of doing something deeply congenial, his eyes on some birds, who were fluttering and crying under his openly sinister scrutiny. It was true that he knew things that they did not, and he was engaged with them at the moment.