"You strong-minded woman! You want to emulate the Rachel."

"You have brought her," laughed Ermine at the sound of the well-known

knock, and Rachel entered bag in hand.

"I was in hopes of meeting you," she said to the Colonel. "I wanted to

ask you to take charge of some of these;" and she produced a packet of

prospectuses of a "Journal of Female Industry," an illustrated monthly

magazine, destined to contain essays, correspondence, reviews, history,

tales, etc., to be printed and illustrated in the F. U. E. E.

"I hoped," said Rachel, "to have begun with the year, but we are not

forward enough, and indeed some of the expenses require a subscription

in advance. A subscriber in advance will have the year's numbers for ten

shillings, instead of twelve; and I should be much obliged if you would

distribute a few of these at Bath, and ask Bessie to do the same. I

shall set her name down at the head of the list, as soon as she has

qualified it for a decoy."

"Are these printed at the F. U. E. E.?"

"No, we have not funds as yet. Mr. Mauleverer had them done at Bristol,

where he has a large connexion as a lecturer, and expects to get many

subscribers. I brought these down as soon as he had left them with me,

in hopes that you would kindly distribute them at the wedding. And I

wished," added she to Ermine, "to ask you to contribute to our first

number."

"Thank you," and the doubtful tone induced Rachel to encourage her

diffidence.

"I know you write a great deal, and I am sure you must produce something

worthy to see the light. I have no scruple in making the request, as

I know Colonel Keith agrees with me that womanhood need not be an

extinguisher for talent."

"I am not afraid of him," Ermine managed to say without more smile than

Rachel took for gratification.

"Then if you would only entrust me with some of your fugitive

reflections, I have no doubt that something might be made of them. A

practised hand," she added with a certain editorial dignity, "can always

polish away any little roughnesses from inexperience."

Ermine was choking with laughter at the savage pulls that Colin was

inflicting on his moustache, and feeling silence no longer honest, she

answered in an odd under tone, "I can't plead inexperience."

"No!" cried Rachel. "You have written; you have not published!"

"I was forced to do whatever brought grist to the mill," said Ermine.

"Indeed," she added, with a look as if to ask pardon; "our secrets have

been hardly fair towards you, but we made it a rule not to spoil our

breadwinner's trade by confessing my enormities."

"I assure you," said the Colonel, touched by Rachel's appalled look, "I

don't know how long this cautious person would have kept me in the dark

if she had not betrayed herself in the paper we discussed the first day

I met you."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024