Her own Way by Eglanton Thorne

IN a quiet little watering-place on the breezy coast of Lancashire there stood, some years ago, a pretty gabled cottage which had long lacked a tenant. It stood in a good-sized garden, well stocked with shrubs; it could boast a small stable and outhouse, and a charming little conservatory opened out of the drawing-room. It was indeed a "desirable residence," as the advertisements proclaimed it; but, owing probably to the extreme quietude of its situation, and the lack of society in the little place, save for its brief invasion by strangers during the months of July and August, the house had remained unlet from one year to another.

Quite a sensation was created at St. Anne's when it was known that the gabled cottage had found a tenant. A widow lady was coming to reside there with her daughter. In due time, they arrived and took possession of their new home. Such information as could be gleaned concerning them rapidly circulated amongst the inhabitants of the little place. The lady's name was Tracy; she came from London. The daughter who lived with her was young and very pretty; but Mrs. Tracy had also two elder daughters, the children of a former marriage, who kept a school at Leeds. The cottage was simply but tastefully furnished. Its occupants did not seem to mind the dulness of the situation, though it was strange that a bright young girl should be content with the quiet life she must lead at St. Anne's.

As time passed on, the most eager of the gossips did not find much to add to these early discovered facts. They became familiar with the appearance of Mrs. Tracy and her daughter, as they saw them driving about the country in a little basket-chaise drawn by a smart young pony, Juliet handling the reins very skilfully, and with much pleasure in the novel diversion. The girl's bright hair, vivid complexion, and violet eyes, the taste with which she dressed, the spirit and energy which marked even her slightest actions, called forth much admiring comment.

The clergyman's wife, Mrs. Staines, who early called on the new-comers, proclaimed her "a sweet girl," and spoke of Mrs. Tracy as the "dearest little woman imaginable. " The doctor's wife, who also called, was less discreet, and opined that there must be some extraordinary reason why such people buried themselves alive in a dull little hole like St. Anne's. It was all very well to say that it was on account of Mrs. Tracy's health, but there were numbers of places ten thousand times livelier than St. Anne's, equally sheltered and favoured with sunshine and sea air.

Mrs. Tracy and her daughter, however, far from complaining of dulness, showed no wish to avail themselves of such society as the little town could offer. They received every overture courteously and pleasantly, but made no attempt to advance to terms of intimacy with any of their new acquaintances. Thus it came to pass, that when they had lived a year at St. Anne's, their neighbours knew little more about them than they did when they arrived.

One mild April afternoon, Mrs. Tracy was sitting alone in the pretty drawing-room of the gabled cottage. Juliet had gone by rail to a large and flourishing watering-place a few miles distant, which boasted a good circulating library, to which she was a subscriber. She had become a great reader, and was developing quite a critical taste for the "solid" literature which she had formerly spurned.

Mrs. Tracy had not long been alone. A visitor had just left her, the object of whose visit was now causing Mrs. Tracy serious reflection, and leading her mentally to review the tranquil, unvarying course of the last year's life. Not so long ago she would have thought it impossible that Juliet could be content with so quiet and uneventful a life; but the girl seemed calmly happy, as she read and studied and took long walks and drives. Only the mother felt sure that a time must come when she would yearn for a fuller life.

"Let us go to a place as unlike London as possible," Juliet had said, when they began to discuss their plans for the future; and certainly St. Anne's seemed to fulfil this condition.

The home at The Poplars had been broken up when Hannah obtained the post at Leeds for which she had applied, and Salome accompanied her thither. Mrs. Tracy and Juliet had wandered about for a while. It had been suggested to them that they should go abroad, but the very sound of that word was like a nightmare to Juliet, conjuring up visions of crimson velvet furniture and lavish gilding, sensations of stifling heat and sickening odours, and painful memories of the shame and misery of which these had been the dreary accompaniments.

It was Mrs. Tracy who had thought of St. Anne's. She had known it as a girl, and felt inclined to renew her acquaintance with the quiet, quaint, out-of-the-world place. Moreover, it was sufficiently near to Leeds to make it possible for her elder daughters to visit her once or twice during the year.

When Juliet saw that the idea of St. Anne's had an attraction for her mother, she was bent upon going there. A visit was paid to the little town; the gabled cottage was seen and approved; as promptly as might be all preliminaries were settled, and the quiet, pretty spot became their home.