"You evidently build on a great amount of faith from the public. How do
you induce them to believe--do you write in your own name?"
"No, it makes mamma unhappy. I was going to put R. C., but Grace said
people would think it meant Roman Catholic. Your sister thought I had
better put the initials of Female Union for Lacemaker's Employment."
"You don't mean that Bessie persuaded you to put that?" exclaimed Alick
Keith, more nearly starting up than Rachel had ever seen him.
"Yes. There is no objection, is there?"
"Oh, Rachel, Rachel, how could we have helped thinking of it?" cried
Grace, nearly in a state of suffocation.
Rachel held up her printed appeal, where subscriptions were invited to
the address of F. U. L. E., the Homestead, Avonmouth.
"Miss Curtis, though you are not Scottish, you ought to be well read in
Walter Scott."
"I have thought it waste of time to read incorrect pictures of
pseudo-chivalry since I have been grown up," said Rachel. "But that has
nothing to do with it."
"Ah, Rachel, if we had been more up in our Scotch, we should have known
what F. U. L. E. spells," sighed Grace.
A light broke in upon Rachel. "I am sure Bessie never could have
recollected it," was her first exclamation. "But there," she continued,
too earnest to see or stumble at straws, "never mind. It cannot be
helped, and I dare say not one person in ten will be struck by it."
"Stay," said Grace, "let it be Englishwoman's Employment. See, I can
very easily alter the L into an E."
Rachel would hardly have consented, but was forced to yield to her
mother's entreaties. However, the diligent transformation at L's did
not last long, for three days after a parcel was left at the Homestead
containing five thousand printed copies of the appeal, with the E
rightly inserted. Bessie laughed, and did not disavow the half reluctant
thanks for this compensation for her inadvertence or mischief,
whichever it might be, laughing the more at Rachel's somewhat ungrateful
confession that she had rather the cost had gone into a subscription for
the F. U. E. E. As Bessie said to herself, it was much better and
more agreeable for all parties that it should so stand, and she would
consider herself in debt to Alick for the amount. Indeed, she fully
expected him to send her in the bill, but in the meantime not one
word was uttered between the brother and sister on the subject. They
understood one another too well to spend useless words.
Contrary to most expectation, there was result enough from Rachel's
solicitations to serve as justification for the outlay in stamps. The
very number of such missives that fly about the world proves that
there must be a great amount of uninquiring benevolence to render the
speculation anything but desperate, and Rachel met with very tolerable
success. Mr. Mauleverer called about once a week to report progress on
his side, and, in his character of treasurer, to take charge of the sums
that began to accumulate. But Rachel had heard so much on all sides of
the need of caution in dealing with one so entirely a stranger, that
she resolved that no one should blame her for imprudence, and therefore
retained in her own name, in the Avoncester Bank, all the sums that
she received. Mr. Mauleverer declared himself quite contented with
this arrangement, and eagerly anticipated the apologies that Rachel was
ashamed even to make to him.