Sink or Swim? , Volume I by Matilda Charlotte Houstoun

It would be hard to say whether gratified maternal pride or a perhaps / natural jealousy was uppermost in Mrs. Beacham's mind when she saw from / her parlour window the uproarious advent of her belongings. It was / delightful to think how popular John was, -- for what but the respect and / affection in which he was universally held could, in her opinion, / account for the great amount of bodily exertion attendant on dragging a / heavy carriage a mile and upwards to the very door of the Paddocks? It / was pleasant also to reflect that she was the mother of one whom the / world delighted to honour; but with that reflection came the alloying / thought that another, _id est_, the "Irish gel" sitting / complacently -- for so Mrs. Beacham pictured her -- by the side of the / infatuated John, was to come in for far more than her merited share of / popular attention.

The house from which the stern old lady watched the return of her son / from his first lengthened absence was a long, rambling, one-storied / abode, built of brick whose hue was mellowed by age, and with its south / front covered almost to the roof with two centenarian pear-trees, the / fruit of which was renowned for its size and flavour throughout the / whole country-side, and to which, moreover, was owing the name of / "Pear-tree House," that had, time out of mind, been the appropriate / designation of John Beacham's home. From the elevated site of that home, / those within, who chanced to be gazing from the south windows, could / obtain an excellent view of what was passing in the Paddocks outside. / They could trace the well-kept private road winding through the bright / green meadows, which were portioned off from each other by shade-giving / hedgerows, and dotted with white freshly-painted gates. Many a time had / Mrs. Beacham, knitting in hand -- she could make a stocking blindfold, as / the good woman had been heard to boast -- sat at the window of the small / low-roofed parlour (the parlour with the heavy beams across the ceiling, / which she never would allow to be modernised and made smooth), watching / the coming of her son -- listening for the sound of his well-hung / dog-cart, or the swift footsteps of the weight-carrying thoroughbred / bearing his owner home, after a hard day's exercise, to his evening / meal.

The news that "the master" was on the road, that the Wild Woman had been / left behind at Switcham, and that the carriage was being _drawed_ home / by the boys from the village, was not long in reaching Pear-tree House. / It was through the means of Letty the parlour-maid, a young woman given / to holding evening converse with smart serving-men over out-of-sight / palings, that the intelligence arrived at Mrs. Beacham's expectant ears.

"Coming home without the horse? Stuff and nonsense! " exclaimed the old / lady, rising from her seat, however, with considerable alacrity, to / ascertain the truth or falsehood of Letty's report. She was not kept / long in suspense. Round the thick screen of laurel-bushes there was / heard a confused sound of human voices, shouting, laughing, and / _hooraying_, -- then the carriage, with John and Honor inside, was drawn / up with a rush to the door, and "the master," much moved with happiness / and gleeful excitement, sprang out upon the hall steps.

"Well, mother," he said, kissing her cheek with warm affection, while / his arm was thrown round the old woman's waist, "what do you think of / this start? Jolly, ain't it? " And in the exceeding delight of the moment / he forgot his precious Honor altogether!

She was well content, poor child, to be overlooked. It had required a / strong effort on her part not to mar her husband's enjoyment by any / display of foolish womanly weakness. She felt faint and nervous, and the / painful shrinking from her first interview with the dreaded autocrat of / Pear-tree House had returned with redoubled force as the crisis of / arrival drew nearer and more near. She had made no sign, however, of her / distress, and had even contrived, in the fear that John might make the / uncomfortable discovery that she was less happy than himself, to summon / the ghost of a smile to her pale and quivering lip.

They were standing together -- those three who fully expected that all the / years of their future lives would be passed together -- on the broad, / well-worn stone steps leading to the entrance-door of the house. Mrs. / Beacham had returned her son's embrace with interest. There was for the / moment unmixed pleasure in seeing his well-loved face again; but, / because of that very pleasure, her welcome to Honor was stiff and / ceremonious. A touch of the small cold hand with her unbending fingers, / and a kiss on the pale cheek that grew paler still under the infliction, / was all the greeting bestowed by John's mother on the daughter he had / brought home to her.

"Three cheers for the missus! " shouted John's volunteer team, whereupon / the air rang with the loud hurrah that only British throats can give. / Inspired by the near prospect of the strong ale which they foresaw would / be forthcoming from the far-famed Pear-tree cellar, not a boy or man / amongst them spared his lungs, and twice and again, each time more / deafening than the last, burst forth the ringing cheer, till even John / was fain to put his fingers to his ears, and to cry, with a laugh, / "Hold, my friends; enough!"