CHAPTER XIII.

ENQUIRIES.

HERBERT MILNER kept to his resolution of making enquiries on his own account, if those made by Mr. Capon did not prove satisfactory.

A week after he returned to school, he received a letter from his mother, telling him that Mr. Capon had not only written, but sent a messenger to enquire about the girl named Elsie Winn. But he found that they had moved away from the neighbourhood, and no one seemed to know where they had gone, or cared to talk about them.

"Let this satisfy you now, my dear boy," wrote his mother in conclusion. "We have done what we could to find your aunt, and failed. We have done our duty, and we can do no more."

But Herbert was by no means satisfied that no more could be learned of his missing relatives; and so, after he had read this letter, he decided to write himself to the schoolmistress. And his letter caused no small surprise to the lady who knew Elsie and her mother so well. It was handed to her just as she was leaving school with a friend one day; and she sat down at once to know who had written to her in such a round schoolboy hand.

"Dear Madam,—I think I have a cousin, and her name would very likely be Elsie Winn; but I have never seen her, and we don't know where to find her. You used to have a girl in your school of that name, and she took a scholarship. That is how we heard about her; but I should like to know some more, for I have neither brother nor sister; but I hope Elsie Winn is my cousin, fox I think she did a plucky thing to give up that scholarship to help her mother. I think her mother and my mother are sisters, and we want to find her."

The lady smiled as she read the letter, and handed it to her friend.

"This is from a boy, I have no doubt; but it is rather strange that as soon as Mrs. Winn has moved away from the neighbourhood, there should be these enquiries about her. There was a man here, you know, a day or two ago, asking if I knew where the Winns lived."

"Poor things! I am sorry for them, for I quite believed that man came about some little debt they may have owed. I wonder how much it was, for I know it will be a dreadful worry to Elsie, and her mother too. If I could only find out, I would pay it and send them the receipt, and then they would not be bothered about it again."

"Oh, but this has nothing to do with it," said her friend, quickly. "I am sure it was a boy that wrote this; and he would not be likely to tell this story about a cousin if it was not true."

"Well, I don't know where they have gone to live, and I won't know if I can help it; and then I can tell people truly enough that 'I don't know.' I am sure of this, that if Mrs. Winn has got into debt, it has been through Tom having the scarlet fever, and that she could not help it; and as for helping people to find her, to worry her about it, I will not, whoever they may be!"

Elsie's governess spoke very firmly, and looked at her friend as she did so, as if mutely asking if she was going to betray this unfortunate family.

"I don't think this is about a debt," said the lady, when she had read Herbert's letter through a second time. "I think this is a genuine schoolboy letter. But still I should like to find out a little about the writer before I answer it, and I can do so, I think; for I have a cousin living at Firdale, and he shall find out who lives at the Old Manor House. It sounds all right, the 'Old Manor House,' but still there is no telling. I can soon learn where Mrs. Winn has gone, if we should think it wise to tell this boy where she may be found."

"Don't tell me the address, please," said the other, "for I want to be able to say, 'I don't know,' if we have any more visitors like the last, for I did not like his manner at all."

A day or two later a letter came to Miss Russell, saying that the Old Manor House, Firdale, was a very select gentleman's boarding-school; which so far relieved the teacher's fears, that it was agreed that Miss Russell should write and tell Herbert where a letter would find Mrs. Winn. It also added the information that it was feared she might be in straightened circumstances, as her son had caught scarlet fever a few months after his father's death, and that had compelled them to remove to another neighbourhood; and she enclosed the address which she had received from an intimate friend of Mrs. Winn's.

"There, I should think that would do," said Miss Russell, as she read over what she had written. "You see I have told him I am writing for you, as you don't know her address."

"No, it will be better altogether for me not to know it," said Elsie's former governess. "People are less likely to come to you for it, and I am sadly afraid the poor things will go down hill very fast through that boy catching the fever."

The lady said "that boy" as though she would like to shake him, for everybody knew it was through Tom's disobedience that his mother had lost her business, and been obliged to go away.

"But if this is really a cousin who writes, there may be better times in, store for the poor woman," said Miss Russell. However, her friend could not feel quite sure that they had not done more harm than good by replying to the schoolboy's letter.

Meanwhile Herbert Milner was delighted at the result of his application to the school, when, after waiting for a week, he received Miss Russell's letter. He did not know how dubious the ladies had been about writing to him; but he felt sure, from the wording of the letter, that this Mrs. Winn, whoever she might be, greatly needed help just now. And his mother, herself a widow, was well provided for, and therefore would be able to help and sympathise with Mrs. Winn. And if it should prove to be her long lost sister, how glad she would be to help her, and the brave girl who had given up the scholarship a year before.

This was how Herbert reasoned, as he sat down and wrote a rather incoherent letter to his mother, telling her he had written to the schoolmistress, and asked for Elsie Winn's address, and how they had sent it to him, though Capon's man could not find out anything about the people.

Now it must be confessed that Mrs. Milner was not too well pleased when she received her son's letter, vaunting his cleverness over "Capon's man." She was not without natural affection, and she often wished in a vague way for the little sister she had not seen for so long; but she was also a fashionable lady, and she was afraid now that she might feel ashamed to own the relationship with Elsie among the people she was now constantly meeting.

She wanted to do her duty, as she told herself, and Herbert too. But having done "all that people could expect of her—" having sent Capon's man in search of her lost sister—she thought she might settle down and make herself comfortable about the matter. But she did not feel really and truly sorry that the enquiries had failed, as Herbert did, but she was rather relieved, especially when Mrs. Stone called upon her, and talked about her new carriage, and diamonds, and the court that was paid to her husband by noblemen and other great people.

She was, as Herbert said, decidedly vulgar; but then she was also enormously rich, and Mrs. Milner shivered at the thought of letting Mrs. Stone know that she had poor relations; so poor, that their children went to a board school!

The lawyer's report was therefore a relief, rather than a disappointment to her, when she read that a messenger had been sent to the school named in her letter, and had ascertained that children bearing the name of Winn used to attend the school, but that they had now removed to another neighbourhood, and left no address behind them.

"It is possible these people went away in debt," added the lawyer.

Mrs. Milner was an honourable woman, and proud, too, and that her sister should be spoken of as having left a neighbourhood because she would not pay her debts, was very painful to her feelings; and she sat down at once and wrote a short note, saying that from the information he had gained, she felt sure this Mrs. Winn was not her sister, and that it was not necessary to pursue the enquiry any further. She had done her duty, and should let the matter drop for the future.

This was how she had written to Mr. Capon, and then shortly afterwards came Herbert's letter, saying he had been making independent enquiry, and had found his aunt's address, and begged her to go and see her, and not send Capon's man again.

But it happened that Mrs. Milner had a bad cold just then; and so she made the most of this, and told Herbert that it would be quite impossible for her to travel so far, until there was a change in the weather; and as they were now in the autumn season of the year, this meant a postponement for some months at least.

She did not let Herbert know how angry she really felt at his having written to the school about these people. He was her only son, and had always had a good deal of his own way in most things that concerned his own comfort and pleasure; and if this matter had been for his own benefit to find out his lost aunt, she could have understood and excused it. But this anxiety to find out a person who might prove to be a source of embarrassment and vexation to them, if ever she was found, she could not understand; and she was annoyed that he should be so persistent in a matter which he must know by this time was not pleasing to her.

Still, as far as she could, she kept these thoughts and feelings out of the letter she wrote to him, merely saying she could not take such a journey in her present state of health, and while the weather was so cold and unsettled. She said once more that she had done all that could be required of her, to try and find her sister, and if anything more was to be done, it must wait until she is in better health, and could take up the enquiry personally.

This long letter was anything but pleasant reading for Herbert, who was impatient to hear more about his only relatives,—especially his cousin Elsie, whom he had began to idealise in a fashion that would greatly have surprised that modest little maiden.

All sorts of conjectures and fears pressed upon his thoughts whenever he had a minute to himself. Suppose they should move to some other place, and he should lose trace of them again! Suppose his aunt should fall ill, and be unable to work for her children! In short, he supposed all sorts of contingencies, likely and unlikely, to befall Mrs. Winn, before the winter was over, and his mother able to go in search of her.

When he wrote to his mother again, he suggested some of these as very real dangers, that the money left by his father for her benefit might easily avert. If they could only make sure that this Mrs. Winn, the widow, and mother of the scholarship girl, was his aunt Elsie, then some of the money at least might be sent on to her.

This letter really hurt his mother's feelings, for he said nothing whatever about her bad cold, but the whole letter was about this missing aunt, and what he deemed the necessity of finding her without delay. And she wrote and told him he seemed to be forgetting his duty to his mother, in his anxiety to befriend strangers, who might not thank him for the trouble he had taken when they were found.

Herbert loved his mother dearly, and the thought that she was hurt at his seeming want of feeling hurt him in turn. And he wrote, as soon as he could, a very penitent letter, but could not help adding a postscript, begging she would write, if she could not go, to the address he had sent to her, for there was no telling what might happen if they had to wait until the spring before any further enquiries were made.

To this Mrs. Milner replied that she would not fail to do her duty; and she would consider whether she would send to Mr. Capon again, if she could not go herself.

This letter satisfied Herbert for the time; and just then he had to give more attention to his lessons, and less thought to his unknown aunt, for he had fallen into arrears with some of his exercises; and if he was to take home a prize at Christmas, he would have to apply himself with a good deal more energy to the work in hand, or his mother would suffer another disappointment when the holidays arrived—and he loved her too dearly to do this, if it could possibly be avoided.

So the boy turned to his books once more, and for a week or two no one had reason to complain of his want of application. He won extra marks for the care and neatness with which his exercises were written and lessons prepared. But he was still hoping that each letter from his mother would tell him that Mr. Capon had sent his messenger again in search of Mrs. Winn. No such news, however, came.

He had given up mentioning the matter, as his mother had desired him, and Mrs. Milner did the same, hoping by that means to make Herbert forget all about it. For she saw in the future all sorts of difficulties and complications, and she wanted time to settle how these could be met and overcome, before she took any further step towards seeking these poor relations.

This was what she told herself, and it satisfied her conscience for the time being. But, not feeling sure that Herbert would feel satisfied, she did not mention the matter to him at all. On the other hand, she carefully abstained from all mention of his supposed aunt. She enlarged a good deal upon her continued weakness from the cold, and the social engagements that pressed upon, and took up so much of her time; and also how busy she was, making garments for the poor old people in the almhouses. With all these things to do, she could hardly find time to write his letters (she told him); and this she thought ought to satisfy him, that she had no time to take a long journey just now, or even to worry about Mr. Capon sending a messenger.

She did not for one moment suppose that her sister was in any great need. Of course she had got used to living in a mean little house, on straitened means, when she married; and she did not suppose she was much worse off now she was a widow. Mrs. Milner honestly thought this, and that next spring would do just as well to make enquiries about her, as to make a fuss just now.

So Herbert looked in vain for news of this aunt; and Mrs. Milner went on making garments for strangers, never dreaming that she was neglecting her duty while she did so—that her true duty was to search for her sister, and befriend her. This was the duty that lay nearest to her, and no kindness to strangers could atone for the neglect of this.