George Meredith
The Egoist
A Comedy in Narrative
Prelude
A Chapter of which the Last Page Only Is of Any Importance
Comedy is a game played to throw reflections upon social life and it deals with
human nature in the drawingroom of civilized men and women where we have no
dust of the struggling outer world no mire no violent crashes to make the
correctness of the representation convincing Credulity is not wooed through the
impressionable senses nor have we recourse to the small circular glow of the
watchmakers eye to raise in bright relief minutest grains of evidence for the
routing of incredulity The Comic Spirit conceives a definite situation for a
number of characters and rejects all accessories in the exclusive pursuit of
them and their speech For being a spirit he hunts the spirit in men vision
and ardour constitute his merit he has not a thought of persuading you to
believe in him Follow and you will see But there is a question of the value of
a run at his heels
Now the world is possessed of a certain big book the biggest book on earth
that might indeed be called the Book of Earth whose title is the Book of
Egoism and it is a book full of the worlds wisdom So full of it and of such
dimensions is this book in which the generations have written ever since they
took to writing that to be profitable to us the Book needs a powerful
compression
Who says the notable humourist in allusion to this Book who can
studiously travel through sheets of leaves now capable of a stretch from the
Lizard to the last few poor pulmonary snips and shreds of leagues dancing on
their toes for cold explorers tell us and catching breath by good luck like
dogs at bones about a table on the edge of the Pole Inordinate unvaried
length sheer longinquity staggers the heart ages the very heart of us at a
view And how if we manage finally to print one of our pages on the crowscalp
of that solitary majestic outsider We may with effort get even him into the
Book yet the knowledge we want will not be more present with us than it was
when the chapters hung their end over the cliff you ken of at Dover where sits
our great lord and master contemplating the seas without upon the reflex of that
within
In other words as I venture to translate him humourists are difficult it
is a piece of their humour to puzzle our wits the inward mirror the embracing
and condensing spirit is required to give us those interminable milepost piles
of matter extending wellnigh to the very Pole in essence in chosen samples
digestibly I conceive him to indicate that the realistic method of a
conscientious transcription of all the visible and a repetition of all the
audible is mainly accountable for our present branfulness and for that
prolongation of the vasty and the noisy out of which as from an undrained fen
steams the malady of sameness our modern malady We have the malady whatever
may be the cure or the cause We drove in a body to Science the other day for an
antidote which was as if tired pedestrians should mount the enginebox of
headlong trains and Science introduced us to our oerhoary ancestry them in
the Oriental posture whereupon we set up a primæval chattering to rival the
Amazon forest nigh nightfall cured we fancied And before daybreak our disease
was hanging on to us again with the extension of a tail We had it fore and
aft We were the same and animals into the bargain That is all we got from
Science
Art is the specific We have little to learn of apes and they may be left
The chief consideration for us is what particular practice of Art in letters is
the best for the perusal of the Book of our common wisdom so that with clearer
minds and livelier manners we may escape as it were into daylight and song
from a land of foghorns Shall we read it by the watchmakers eye in luminous
rings eruptive of the infinitesimal or pointed with examples and types under
the broad Alpine survey of the spirit born of our united social intelligence
which is the Comic Spirit Wise men say the latter They tell us that there is a
constant tendency in the Book to accumulate excess of substance and such
repleteness obscuring the glass it holds to mankind renders us inexact in the
recognition of our individual countenances a perilous thing for civilization
And these wise men are strong in their opinion that we should encourage the
Comic Spirit who is after all our own offspring to relieve the Book Comedy
they say is the true diversion as it is likewise the key of the great Book
the music of the Book They tell us how it condenses whole sections of the Book
in a sentence volumes in a character so that a fair part of a book
outstripping thousands of leagues when unrolled may be compassed in one comic
sitting
For verily say they we must read what we can of it at least the page
before us if we would be men One with an index on the Book cries out in a
style pardonable to his fervency The remedy of your frightful affliction is
here through the stillatory of Comedy and not in Science nor yet in Speed
whose name is but another for voracity Why to be alive to be quick in the
soul there should be diversity in the companionthrobs of your pulses
Interrogate them They lump along like the old loblegs of Dobbin the horse or
do their business like cudgels of carpetthwackers expelling dust or the
cottageclock pendulum teaching the infant hour over midnight simple arithmetic
This too in spite of Bacchus And let them gallop let them gallop with the God
bestriding them gallop to Hymen gallop to Hades they strike the same note
Monstrous monotonousness has enfolded us as with the arms of Amphitrite We hear
a shout of war for a diversion Comedy he pronounces to be our means of
reading swiftly and comprehensively She it is who proposes the correcting of
pretentiousness of inflation of dulness and of the vestiges of rawness and
grossness to be found among us She is the ultimate civilizer the polisher a
sweet cook If he says she watches over sentimentalism with a birchrod she
is not opposed to romance You may love and warmly love so long as you are
honest Do not offend reason A lover pretending too much by one foots length
of pretence will have that foot caught in her trap In Comedy is the singular
scene of charity issuing of disdain under the stroke of honourable laughter an
Ariel released by Prosperos wand from the fetters of the damned witch Sycorax
And this laughter of reason refreshed is floriferous like the magical great
gale of the shifty Spring deciding for Summer You hear it giving the delicate
spirit his liberty Listen for comparison to an unleavened society a low as
of the udderful cow past milking hour O for a titled ecclesiastic to curse to
excommunication that unholy thing So far an enthusiast perhaps but he should
have a hearing
Concerning pathos no ship can now set sail without pathos and we are not
totally deficient of pathos which is I do not accurately know what if not the
ballast reducible to moisture by patent process on board our modern vessel
for it can hardly be the cargo and the general watersupply has other uses and
ships well charged with it seem to sail the stiffest there is a touch of
pathos The Egoist surely inspires pity He who would desire to clothe himself
at everybodys expense and is of that desire condemned to strip himself stark
naked he if pathos ever had a form might be taken for the actual person Only
he is not allowed to rush at you roll you over and squeeze your body for the
briny drops There is the innovation
You may as well know him out of hand as a gentleman of our time and
country of wealth and station a not flexile figure do what we may with him
the humour of whom scarcely dimples the surface and is distinguishable but by
very penetrative very wicked imps whose fits of roaring below at some
generally imperceptible stroke of his quality have first made the mild literary
angels aware of something comic in him when they were one and all about to
describe the gentleman on the heading of the records baldly where brevity is
most complimentary as a gentleman of family and property an idol of a decorous
island that admires the concrete Imps have their freakish wickedness in them to
kindle detective vision malignly do they love to uncover ridiculousness in
imposing figures Wherever they catch sight of Egoism they pitch their camps
they circle and squat and forthwith they trim their lanterns confident of the
ludicrous to come So confident that their grip of an English gentleman in whom
they have spied their game never relaxes until he begins insensibly to frolic
and antic unknown to himself and comes out in the native steam which is their
scent of the chase Instantly off they scour Egoist and imps They will it is
known of them dog a great House for centuries and be at the birth of all the
new heirs in succession diligently taking confirmatory notes to join hands and
chime their chorus in one of their merry rings round the tottering pillar of the
House when his turn arrives as if they had possibly they had smelt of old
date a doomed colossus of Egoism in that unborn unconceived inheritor of the
stuff of the family They dare not be chuckling while Egoism is valiant while
sober while socially valuable nationally serviceable They wait
Aforetime a grand old Egoism built the House It would appear that ever
finer essences of it are demanded to sustain the structure but especially would
it appear that a reversion to the gross original beneath a mask and in a vein
of fineness is an earthquake at the foundations of the House Better that it
should not have consented to motion and have held stubbornly to all ancestral
ways than have bred that anachronic spectre The sight however is one to make
our squatting imps in circle grow restless on their haunches as they bend eyes
instantly ears at full cock for the commencement of the comic drama of the
suicide If this line of verse be not yet in our literature
Through very love of self himself he slew
let it be admitted for his epitaph
Chapter I
A Minor Incident Showing an Hereditary Aptitude in the Use of the Knife
There was an ominously anxious watch of eyes visible and invisible over the
infancy of Willoughby fifth in descent from Simon Patterne of Patterne Hall
premier of this family a lawyer a man of solid acquirements and stout
ambition who well understood the foundationwork of a House and was endowed
with the power of saying No to those first agents of destruction besieging
relatives He said it with the resonant emphasis of death to younger sons For
if the oak is to become a stately tree we must provide against the crowding of
timber Also the tree beset with parasites prospers not A great House in its
beginning lives we may truly say by the knife Soil is easily got and so are
bricks and a wife and children come of wishing for them but the vigorous use
of the knife is a natural gift and points to growth Pauper Patternes were
numerous when the fifth head of the race was the hope of his county A Patterne
was in the Marines
The country and the chief of this family were simultaneously informed of the
existence of one Lieutenant Crossjay Patterne of the corps of the famous hard
fighters through an act of heroism of the unpretending cool sort which kindles
British blood on the part of the modest young officer in the storming of some
eastern riverain stronghold somewhere about the coast of China The officers
youth was assumed on the strength of his rank perhaps likewise from the tale of
his modesty »he had only done his duty« Our Willoughby was then at College
emulous of the generous enthusiasm of his years and strangely impressed by the
report and the printing of his name in the newspapers He thought over it for
several months when coming to his title and heritage he sent Lieutenant
Crossjay Patterne a cheque for a sum of money amounting to the gallant fellows
pay per annum at the same time showing his acquaintance with the first or
chemical principles of generosity in the remark to friends at home that
»blood is thicker than water« The man is a Marine but he is a Patterne How
any Patterne should have drifted into the Marines is of the order of questions
which are senselessly asked of the great dispensary In the complimentary letter
accompanying his cheque the lieutenant was invited to present himself at the
ancestral Hall when convenient to him and he was assured that he had given his
relative and friend a taste for a soldiers life Young Sir Willoughby was fond
of talking of his »military namesake and distant cousin young Patterne the
Marine« It was funny and not less laughable was the description of his
namesakes deed of valour with the rescued British sailor inebriate and the
hauling off to captivity of the three braves of the black dragon on a yellow
ground and the tying of them together back to back by their pigtails and
driving of them into our lines upon a newly devised dyingtop style of march
that inclined to the oblique like the astonished six eyes of the celestial
prisoners for straight they could not go The humour of gentlemen at home is
always highly excited by such cool feats We are a small island but you see
what we do The ladies at the Hall Sir Willoughbys mother and his aunts
Eleanor and Isabel were more affected than he by the circumstance of their
having a Patterne in the Marines But how then We English have ducal blood in
business we have genealogists tell us royal blood in common trades For all
our pride we are a queer people and you may be ordering butchers meat of a
Tudor sitting on the canebottom chairs of a Plantagenet By and by you may
but cherish your reverence Young Willoughby made a kind of shockhead or
football hero of his gallant distant cousin and wondered occasionally that the
fellow had been content to despatch a letter of effusive thanks without availing
himself of the invitation to partake of the hospitalities of Patterne
He was one afternoon parading between showers on the stately garden terrace
of the Hall in company with his affianced the beautiful and dashing Constantia
Durham followed by knots of ladies and gentlemen vowed to fresh air before
dinner while it was to be had Chancing with his usual happy fortune we call
these things dealt to us out of the great hidden dispensary chance to glance
up the avenue of limes as he was in the act of turning on his heel at the end
of the terrace and it should be added discoursing with passions privilege of
the passion of love to Miss Durham Sir Willoughby who was anything but obtuse
experienced a presentiment upon espying a thickset stumpy man crossing the
gravel space from the avenue to the front steps of the Hall decidedly not
bearing the stamp of the gentleman »on his hat his coat his feet or anything
that was his« Willoughby subsequently observed to the ladies of his family in
the Scriptural style of gentlemen who do bear the stamp His brief sketch of the
creature was repulsive The visitor carried a bag and his coatcollar was up
his hat was melancholy he had the appearance of a bankrupt tradesman
absconding no gloves no umbrella
As to the incident we have to note it was very slight The card of
Lieutenant Patterne was handed to Sir Willoughby who laid it on the salver
saying to the footman »Not at home«
He had been disappointed in the age grossly deceived in the appearance of
the man claiming to be his relative in this unseasonable fashion and his acute
instinct advised him swiftly of the absurdity of introducing to his friends a
heavy unpresentable senior as the celebrated gallant Lieutenant of Marines and
the same as a member of his family He had talked of the man too much too
enthusiastically to be able to do so A young subaltern even if passably
vulgar in figure can be shuffled through by the aid of the heroical story
humourously exaggerated in apology for his aspect Nothing can be done with a
mature and stumpy Marine of that rank Considerateness dismisses him on the
spot without parley It was performed by a gentleman supremely advanced at a
very early age in the art of cutting
Young Sir Willoughby spoke a word of the rejected visitor to Miss Durham in
response to her startled look »I shall drop him a cheque« he said for she
seemed personally wounded and had a face of crimson
The young lady did not reply
Dating from the humble departure of Lieutenant Crossjay Patterne up the
limesavenue under a gathering raincloud the ring of imps in attendance on Sir
Willoughby maintained their station with strict observation of his movements at
all hours and were comparisons in quest the sympathetic eagerness of the eyes
of caged monkeys for the hand about to feed them would supply one They
perceived in him a fresh development and very subtle manifestation of the very
old thing from which he had sprung
Chapter II
The Young Sir Willoughby
These little scoundrel imps who have attained to some respectability as the
dogs and pets of the Comic Spirit had been curiously attentive three years
earlier long before the public announcement of his engagement to the beautiful
Miss Durham on the day of Sir Willoughbys majority when Mrs Mountstuart
Jenkinson said her word of him Mrs Mountstuart was a lady certain to say the
remembered if not the right thing Again and again was it confirmed on days of
high celebration days of birth or bridal how sure she was to hit the mark that
rang the bell and away her word went over the county and had she been an
uncharitable woman she could have ruled the county with an iron rod of
caricature so sharp was her touch A grain of malice would have sent county
faces and characters awry into the currency She was wealthy and kindly and
resembled our mother Nature in her reasonable antipathies to one or two things
which none can defend and her decided preference of persons that shone in the
sun Her word sprang out of her She looked at you and forth it came and it
stuck to you as nothing laboured or literary could have adhered Her saying of
Lætitia Dale »Here she comes with a romantic tale on her eyelashes« was a
portrait of Lætitia And that of Vernon Whitford »He is a Phoebus Apollo turned
fasting friar« painted the sunken brilliancy of the lean longwalker and
scholar at a stroke
Of the young Sir Willoughby her word was brief and there was the merit of
it on a day when he was hearing from sunrise to the setting of the moon salutes
in his honour songs of praise and Ciceronian eulogy Rich handsome courteous
generous lord of the Hall the feast and the dance he excited his guests of
both sexes to a holiday of flattery And says Mrs Mountstuart while grand
phrases were mouthing round about him »You see he has a leg«
That you saw of course But after she had spoken you saw much more Mrs
Mountstuart said it just as others utter empty nothings with never a hint of a
stress Her word was taken up and very soon from the extreme end of the long
drawingroom the circulation of something of Mrs Mountstuarts was distinctly
perceptible Lady Patterne sent a little Hebe down skirting the dancers for an
accurate report of it and even the inappreciative lips of a very young lady
transmitting the word could not damp the impression of its weighty truthfulness
It was perfect Adulation of the young Sir Willoughbys beauty and wit and
aristocratic bearing and mien and of his moral virtues was common welcome if
you like as a form of homage but common almost vulgar beside Mrs
Mountstuarts quiet little touch of nature In seeming to say infinitely less
than others as Miss Isabel Patterne pointed out to Lady Busshe Mrs
Mountstuart comprised all that the others had said by showing the needlessness
of allusions to the saliently evident She was the aristocrat reproving the
provincial »He is everything you have had the goodness to remark ladies and
dear sirs he talks charmingly dances divinely rides with the air of a
commanderinchief has the most natural grand pose possible without ceasing for
a moment to be the young English gentleman he is Alcibiades fresh from a Louis
IV perruquier could not surpass him whatever you please I could outdo you in
sublime comparisons were I minded to pelt him Have you noticed that he has a
leg«
So might it be amplified A simpleseeming word of this import is the
triumph of the spiritual and where it passes for coin of value the society has
reached a high refinement Arcadian by the æsthetic route Observation of
Willoughby was not as Miss Eleanor Patterne pointed out to Lady Culmer drawn
down to the leg but directed to estimate him from the leg upward That
however is prosaic Dwell a short space on Mrs Mountstuarts word and
whither into what fair region and with how decorously voluptuous a sensation
do not we fly who have through mournful veneration of the Martyr Charles a
coy attachment to the Court of his Merrie Son where the leg was ribanded with
loveknots and reigned Oh it was a naughty Court Yet have we dreamed of it as
the period when an English cavalier was grace incarnate far from the boor now
hustling us in another sphere beautifully mannered every gesture dulcet And
if the ladies were we will hope they have been traduced But if they were
if they were too tender ah gentlemen were gentlemen then worth perishing
for There is this dream in the English country and it must be an aspiration
after some form of melodious gentlemanliness which is imagined to have inhabited
the island at one time as among our poets the dream of the period of a circle
of chivalry here is encouraged for the pleasure of the imagination
Mrs Mountstuart touched a thrilling chord »In spite of mens hateful
modern costume you see he has a leg«
That is the leg of the born cavalier is before you and obscure it as you
will dress degenerately there it is for ladies who have eyes You see it or
you see he has it Miss Isabel and Miss Eleanor disputed the incidence of the
emphasis but surely though a slight difference of meaning may be heard either
will do many with a good show of reason throw the accent upon leg And the
ladies knew for a fact that Willoughbys leg was exquisite he had a cavalier
courtsuit in his wardrobe Mrs Mountstuart signified that the leg was to be
seen because it was a burning leg There it is and it will shine through He
has the leg of Rochester Buckingham Dorset Suckling the leg that smiles
that winks is obsequious to you yet perforce of beauty selfsatisfied that
twinkles to a tender midway between imperiousness and seductiveness audacity
and discretion between »you shall worship me« and »I am devoted to you« is
your lord your slave alternately and in one It is a leg of ebb and flow and
hightide ripples Such a leg when it has done with pretending to retire will
walk straight into the hearts of women Nothing so fatal to them
Selfsatisfied it must be Humbleness does not win multitudes or the sex It
must be vain to have a sheen Captivating melodies to prove to you the
unavoidableness of selfsatisfaction when you know that you have hit
perfection listen to them closely have an inner pipe of that conceit almost
ludicrous when you detect the chirp
And you need not be reminded that he has the leg without the naughtiness
You see eminent in him what we would fain have brought about in a nation that
has lost its leg in gaining a possibly cleaner morality And that is often
contested but there is no doubt of the loss of the leg
Well footmen and courtiers and Scottish highlanders and the corps de
ballet draymen too have legs and staring legs shapely enough But what are
they not the modulated instrument we mean simply legs for legwork dumb as
the brutes Our cavaliers is the poetic leg a portent a valiance He has it
as Cicero had a tongue It is a lute to scatter songs to his mistress a rapier
is she obdurate In sooth a leg with brains in it soul
And its shadows are an ambush its lights a surprise It blushes it pales
can whisper exclaim It is a peep a part revelation just sufferable of the
Olympian god Jove playing carpetknight
For the young Sir Willoughbys family and his thoughtful admirers it is not
too much to say that Mrs Mountstuarts little word fetched an epoch of our
history to colour the evening of his arrival at mans estate He was all that
Merrie Charless Court should have been subtracting not a sparkle from what it
was Under this light he danced and you may consider the effect of it on his
company
He had received the domestic education of a prince Little princes abound in
a land of heaped riches Where they have not to yield military service to an
Imperial master they are necessarily here and there dainty during youth
sometimes unmanageable and as they are bound in no personal duty to the State
each is for himself with full present and what is more luxurious prospective
leisure for the practice of that allegiance They are sometimes enervated by it
that must be in continental countries Happily our climate and our brave blood
precipitate the greater number upon the huntingfield to do the public service
of heading the chase of the fox with benefit to their constitutions Hence a
manly as well as useful race of little princes and Willoughby was as manly as
any He cultivated himself he would not be outdone in popular accomplishments
Had the standard of the public taste been set in philosophy and the national
enthusiasm centred in philosophers he would at least have worked at books He
did work at science and had a laboratory His admirable passion to excel
however was chiefly directed in his youth upon sport and so great was the
passion in him that it was commonly the presence of rivals which led him to the
declaration of love
He knew himself nevertheless to be the most constant of men in his
attachment to the sex He had never discouraged Lætitia Dales devotion to him
and even when he followed in the sweeping tide of the beautiful Constantia
Durham whom Mrs Mountstuart called »The Racing Cutter« he thought of
Lætitia and looked at her She was a shy violet
Willoughbys comportment while the showers of adulation drenched him might
be likened to the composure of Indian Gods undergoing worship but unlike them
he reposed upon no seat of amplitude to preserve him from a betrayal of
intoxication he had to continue tripping dancing exactly balancing himself
head to right head to left addressing his idolaters in phrases of perfect
choiceness This is only to say that it is easier to be a wooden idol than one
in the flesh yet Willoughby was equal to his task The little princes
education teaches him that he is other than you and by virtue of the
instruction he receives and also something we know not what within he is
enabled to maintain his posture where you would be tottering Urchins upon whose
curly pates grey seniors lay their hands with conventional encomium and
speculation look older than they are immediately and Willoughby looked older
than his years not for want of freshness but because he felt that he had to
stand eminently and correctly poised
Hearing of Mrs Mountstuarts word on him he smiled and said »It is at her
service«
The speech was communicated to her and she proposed to attach a dedicatory
strip of silk And then they came together and there was wit and repartee
suitable to the electrical atmosphere of the dancingroom on the march to a
magical hall of supper Willoughby conducted Mrs Mountstuart to the
suppertable
»Were I« said she »twenty years younger I think I would marry you to
cure my infatuation«
»Then let me tell you in advance madam« said he »that I will do
everything to obtain a new lease of it except divorce you«
They were infinitely wittier but so much was heard and may be reported
»It makes the business of choosing a wife for him superhumanly difficult«
Mrs Mountstuart observed after listening to the praises she had set going
again when the ladies were weeded of us in Lady Patternes Indian room and
could converse unhampered upon their own ethereal themes
»Willoughby will choose a wife for himself« said his mother
Chapter III
Constantia Durham
The great question for the county was debated in many households
daughterthronged and daughterless long subsequent to the memorable day of
Willoughbys coming of age Lady Busshe was for Constantia Durham She laughed
at Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinsons notion of Lætitia Dale She was a little older
than Mrs Mountstuart and had known Willoughbys father whose marriage into
the wealthiest branch of the Whitford family had been strictly sagacious
»Patternes marry money they are not romantic people« she said Miss Durham had
money and she had health and beauty three mighty qualifications for a Patterne
bride Her father Sir John Durham was a large landowner in the western
division of the county a pompous gentleman the picture of a fatherinlaw for
Willoughby The father of Miss Dale was a battered army surgeon from India
tenant of one of Sir Willoughbys cottages bordering Patterne Park His girl was
portionless and a poetess Her writing of the song in celebration of the young
baronets birthday was thought a clever venture bold as only your timid
creatures can be bold She let the cat out of her bag of verse before the
multitude she almost proposed to her hero in her rhymes She was pretty her
eyelashes were long and dark her eyes dark blue and her soul was ready to
shoot like a rocket out of them at a look from Willoughby And he looked he
certainly looked though he did not dance with her once that night and danced
repeatedly with Miss Durham He gave Lætitia to Vernon Whitford for the final
dance of the night and he may have looked at her so much in pity of an elegant
girl allied to such a partner The »Phoebus Apollo turned fasting friar« had
entirely forgotten his musical gifts in motion He crossed himself and crossed
his bewildered lady and crossed everybody in the figure extorting shouts of
cordial laughter from his cousin Willoughby Be it said that the hour was four
in the morning when dancers must laugh at somebody if only to refresh their
feet and the wit of the hour administers to the wildest laughter Vernon was
likened to Theseus in the maze entirely dependent upon his Ariadne to a fly
released from a jampot to a salvage or green man caught in a web of nymphs
and made to go the paces Willoughby was inexhaustible in the happy similes he
poured out to Miss Durham across the lines of Sir Roger de Coverley and they
were not forgotten they procured him a reputation as a convivial sparkler
Rumour went the round that he intended to give Lætitia to Vernon for good when
he could decide to take Miss Durham to himself his generosity was famous but
that decision though the rope was in the form of a knot seemed reluctant for
the conclusive close haul it preferred the state of slackness and if he
courted Lætitia on behalf of his cousin his cousinly love must have been
greater than his passion one had to suppose He was generous enough for it or
for marrying the portionless girl himself
There was a story of a brilliant young widow of our aristocracy who had very
nearly snared him Why should he object to marry into our aristocracy Mrs
Mountstuart asked him and he replied that the girls of that class have no
money and he doubted the quality of their blood He had his eyes awake His
duty to his House was a foremost thought with him and for such a reason he may
have been more anxious to give the slim and not robust Lætitia to Vernon than
accede to his personal inclination The mention of the widow singularly offended
him notwithstanding the high rank of the lady named »A widow« he said »I«
He spoke to a widow an oldish one truly but his wrath at the suggestion of his
union with a widow led him to be for the moment oblivious of the minor shades
of good taste He desired Mrs Mountstuart to contradict the story in positive
terms He repeated his desire he was urgent to have it contradicted and said
again »A widow« straightening his whole figure to the erectness of the letter
I She was a widow unmarried a second time and it has been known of the
stedfast women who retain the name of their first husband or do not hamper his
title with a little new squire at their skirts that they can partially approve
the objections indicated by Sir Willoughby They are thinking of themselves when
they do so and they will rarely say »I might have married« rarely within them
will they avow that with their permission it might have been They can catch
an idea of a gentlemans view of the widows cap But a niceness that could feel
sharply wounded by the simple rumour of his alliance with the young relict of an
earl was mystifying Sir Willoughby unbent His military letter I took a
careless glance at itself lounging idly and proudly at ease in the glass of his
mind decked with a wanton wreath as he dropped a hint generously vague just
to show the origin of the rumour and the excellent basis it had for not being
credited He was chidden Mrs Mountstuart read him a lecture She was however
able to contradict the tale of the young countess »There is no fear of his
marrying her my dears«
Meanwhile there was a fear that he would lose his chance of marrying the
beautiful Miss Durham
The dilemmas of little princes are often grave They should be dwelt on now
and then for an example to poor struggling commoners of the slings and arrows
assailing fortunes most favoured men that we may preach contentment to the
wretch who cannot muster wherewithal to marry a wife or has done it and trots
the streets packladen to maintain the dame and troops of children painfully
reared to fill subordinate stations According to our reading a moral is always
welcome in a moral country and especially so when silly envy is to be chastised
by it the restless craving for change rebuked Young Sir Willoughby then
stood in this dilemma a lady was at either hand of him the only two that had
ever apart from metropolitan conquests not to be recited touched his
emotions Susceptible to beauty he had never seen so beautiful a girl as
Constantia Durham Equally susceptible to admiration of himself he considered
Lætitia Dale a paragon of cleverness He stood between the queenly rose and the
modest violet One he bowed to the other bowed to him He could not have both
it is the law governing princes and pedestrians alike But which could he
forfeit His growing acquaintance with the world taught him to put an increasing
price on the sentiments of Miss Dale Still Constantias beauty was of a kind to
send away beholders aching She had the glory of the racing cutter full sail on
a winning breeze and she did not court to win him she flew In his more
reflective hour the attractiveness of that lady which held the mirror to his
features was paramount But he had passionate snatches when the magnetism of the
flyer drew him in her wake Further to add to the complexity he loved his
liberty he was princelier free he had more subjects more slaves he ruled
arrogantly in the world of women he was more himself His metropolitan
experiences did not answer to his liking the particular question Do we bind the
woman down to us idolatrously by making a wife of her
In the midst of his deliberations a report of the hot pursuit of Miss
Durham casually mentioned to him by Lady Busshe drew an immediate proposal
from Sir Willoughby She accepted him and they were engaged She had been
nibbled at all but eaten up while he hung dubitative and though that was the
cause of his winning her it offended his niceness She had not come to him out
of cloistral purity out of perfect radiancy Spiritually likewise was he a
little prince a despotic prince He wished for her to have come to him out of
an eggshell somewhat more astonished at things than a chicken but as
completely enclosed before he tapped the shell and seeing him with her sexs
eyes first of all men She talked frankly of her cousins and friends young
males She could have replied to his bitter wish »Had you asked me on the night
of your twentyfirst birthday Willoughby« Since then she had been in the dust
of the world and he conceived his peculiar antipathy destined to be so fatal
to him from the earlier hours of his engagement He was quaintly incapable of a
jealousy of individuals A young Captain Oxford had been foremost in the swarm
pursuing Constantia Willoughby thought as little of Captain Oxford as he did of
Vernon Whitford His enemy was the world the mass which confounds us in a
lump which has breathed on her whom we have selected whom we cannot can
never rub quite clear of her contact with the abominated crowd The pleasure of
the world is to bowl down our soldierly letter I to encroach on our identity
soil our niceness To begin to think is the beginning of disgust of the world
As soon as the engagement was published all the county said that there had
not been a chance for Lætitia and Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson humbly remarked
in an attitude of penitence »Im not a witch« Lady Busshe could claim to be
one she had foretold the event Lætitia was of the same opinion as the county
She had looked up but not hopefully She had only looked up to the brightest
and as he was the highest how could she have hoped She was the solitary
companion of a sick father whose inveterate prognostic of her that she would
live to rule at Patterne Hall tortured the poor girl in proportion as he seemed
to derive comfort from it The noise of the engagement merely silenced him
recluse invalids cling obstinately to their ideas He had observed Sir
Willoughby in the society of his daughter when the young baronet revived to a
sprightly boyishness immediately Indeed as big boy and little girl they had
played together of old Willoughby had been a handsome fair boy The portrait of
him at the Hall in a hat leaning on his pony with crossed legs and long
flaxen curls over his shoulders was the image of her souls most present angel
and as a man he had she did not suppose intentionally subjected her nature
to bow to him so submissive was she that it was fuller happiness for her to
think him right in all his actions than to imagine the circumstances different
This may appear to resemble the ecstasy of the devotee of Juggernaut It is a
form of the passion inspired by little princes and we need not marvel that a
conservative sex should assist to keep them in their lofty places What were
there otherwise to look up to We should have no dazzling beaconlights if they
were levelled and treated as clod earth and it is worth while for here and
there a woman to be burnt so long as womens general adoration of an ideal
young man shall be preserved Purity is our demand of them They may justly cry
for attraction They cannot have it brighter than in the universal bearing of
the eyes of their sisters upon a little prince one who has the ostensible
virtues in his pay and can practise them without injuring himself to make
himself unsightly Let the races of men be byandby astonished at their Gods
if they please Meantime they had better continue to worship
Lætitia did continue She saw Miss Durham at Patterne on several occasions
She admired the pair She had a wish to witness the bridal ceremony She was
looking forward to the day with that mixture of eagerness and withholding which
we have as we draw nigh the disenchanting termination of an enchanting romance
when Sir Willoughby met her on a Sunday morning as she crossed his park
solitarily to church They were within ten days of the appointed ceremony He
should have been away at Miss Durhams end of the county He had Lætitia knew
ridden over to her the day before but here he was and very unwontedly quite
surprisingly he presented his arm to conduct Lætitia to the churchdoor and
talked and laughed in a way that reminded her of a hunting gentleman she had
seen once rising to his feet staggering from an ugly fall across hedge and
fence into one of the lanes of her short winter walks »Alls well all sound
never better only a scratch« the gentleman had said as he reeled and pressed
a bleeding head Sir Willoughby chattered of his felicity in meeting her »I am
really wonderfully lucky« he said and he said that and other things over and
over incessantly talking and telling an anecdote of county occurrences and
laughing at it with a mouth that would not widen He went on talking in the
church porch and murmuring softly some steps up the aisle passing the pews of
Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson and Lady Busshe Of course he was entertaining but
what a strangeness it was to Lætitia His face would have been half under an
antique bonnet It came very close to hers and the scrutiny he bent on her was
most solicitous
After the service he avoided the great ladies by sauntering up to within a
yard or two of where she sat he craved her hand on his arm to lead her forth by
the park entrance to the church all the while bending to her discoursing
rapidly appearing radiantly interested in her quiet replies with fits of
intentness that stared itself out into dim abstraction She hazarded the
briefest replies for fear of not having understood him
One question she asked »Miss Durham is well I trust«
And he answered »Durham« and said »There is no Miss Durham to my
knowledge«
The impression he left with her was that he might yesterday during his ride
have had an accident and fallen on his head
She would have asked that if she had not known him for so thorough an
Englishman in his dislike to have it thought that accidents could hurt even
when they happened to him
He called the next day to claim her for a walk He assured her she had
promised it and he appealed to her father who could not testify to a promise
he had not heard but begged her to leave him to have her walk So once more she
was in the park with Sir Willoughby listening to his raptures over old days A
word of assent from her sufficed him »I am now myself« was one of the remarks
he repeated this day She dilated on the beauty of the Park and the Hall to
gratify him
He did not speak of Miss Durham and Lætitia became afraid to mention her
name
At their parting Willoughby promised Lætitia that he would call on the
morrow He did not come and she could well excuse him after her hearing of the
tale
It was a lamentable tale He had ridden to Sir John Durhams mansion a
distance of thirty miles to hear on his arrival that Constantia had quitted
her fathers house two days previously on a visit to an aunt in London and had
just sent word that she was the wife of Captain Oxford hussar and messmate of
one of her brothers A letter from the bride awaited Willoughby at the Hall He
had ridden back at night not caring how he used his horse in order to get
swiftly home so forgetful of himself was he under the terrible blow That was
the night of Saturday On the day following being Sunday he met Lætitia in his
park led her to church led her out of it and the day after that previous to
his disappearance for some weeks was walking with her in full view of the
carriages along the road
He had indeed you see been very fortunately if not considerately
liberated by Miss Durham He as a man of honour could not have taken the
initiative but the frenzy of a jealous girl might urge her to such a course
and how little he suffered from it had been shown to the world Miss Durham the
story went was his mothers choice for him against his hearts inclinations
which had finally subdued Lady Patterne Consequently there was no longer an
obstacle between Sir Willoughby and Miss Dale It was a pleasant and romantic
story and it put most people in good humour with the countys favourite as his
choice of a portionless girl of no position would not have done without the
shock of astonishment at the conduct of Miss Durham and the desire to feel that
so prevailing a gentleman was not in any degree pitiable Constantia was called
that mad thing Lætitia broke forth in novel and abundant merits and one of the
chief points of requisition in relation to Patterne a Lady Willoughby who
would entertain well and animate the deadness of the Hall became a certainty
when her gentleness and liveliness and exceeding cleverness were considered She
was often a visitor at the Hall by Lady Patternes express invitation and
sometimes on these occasions Willoughby was there too superintending the
fitting up of his laboratory though he was not at home to the county it was
not expected that he should be yet He had taken heartily to the pursuit of
science and spoke of little else Science he said was in our days the sole
object worth a devoted pursuit But the sweeping remark could hardly apply to
Lætitia of whom he was the courteous quiet wooer you behold when a man has
broken loose from an unhappy tangle to return to the lady of his first and
strongest affections
Some months of homely courtship ensued and then the decent interval
prescribed by the situation having elapsed Sir Willoughby Patterne left his
native land on a tour of the globe
Chapter IV
Lætitia Dale
That was another surprise to the county
Let us not inquire into the feelings of patiently starving women they must
obtain some sustenance of their own since as you perceive they live
evidently they are not in need of a great amount of nourishment and we may set
them down for creatures with a rushlight of animal fire to warm them They
cannot have much vitality who are so little exclamatory A corresponding
sentiment of patient compassion akin to scorn is provoked by persons having
the opportunity for pathos and declining to use it The public bosom was open to
Lætitia for several weeks and had she run to it to bewail herself she would
have been cherished in thankfulness for a country drama There would have been a
party against her cold people critical of her pretensions to rise from an
unrecognized sphere to be mistress of Patterne Hall but there would also have
been a party against Sir Willoughby composed of the two or three
revolutionists tired of the yoke which are to be found in England when there
is a stir a larger number of born sympathetics ever ready to yield the tear
for the tear and here and there a Samaritan soul prompt to succour poor
humanity in distress The opportunity passed undramatized Lætitia presented
herself at church with a face mildly devout according to her custom and she
accepted invitations to the Hall she assisted at the reading of Willoughbys
letters to his family and fed on dry husks of him wherein her name was not
mentioned never one note of the summoning call for pathos did this young lady
blow
So very soon the public bosom closed She had under the fresh
interpretation of affairs too small a spirit to be Lady Willoughby of Patterne
she could not have entertained becomingly he must have seen that the girl was
not the match for him in station and off he went to conquer the remainder of a
troublesome first attachment no longer extremely disturbing to judge from the
tenour of his letters really incomparable letters Lady Busshe and Mrs
Mountstuart Jenkinson enjoyed a perusal of them Sir Willoughby appeared as a
splendid young representative island lord in these letters to his family
despatched from the principal cities of the United States of America He would
give them a sketch of »our democratic cousins« he said Such cousins They
might all have been in the Marines He carried his English standard over that
Continent and by simply jotting down facts he left an idea of the results of
the measurement of his family and friends at home He was an adept in the irony
of incongruously grouping The nature of the Equality under the stars and
stripes was presented in this manner Equality Reflections came occasionally
»These cousins of ours are highly amusing I am among the descendants of the
Roundheads Now and then an allusion to old domestic differences in perfect
good temper We go on in our way they theirs in the apparent belief that
Republicanism operates remarkable changes in human nature Vernon tries hard to
think it does The upper ten of our cousins are the Infernal of Paris The rest
of them is Radical England as far as I am acquainted with that section of my
country« Where we compared they were absurd where we contrasted they were
monstrous The contrast of Vernons letters with Willoughbys was just as
extreme You could hardly have taken them for relatives travelling together or
Vernon Whitford for a born and bred Englishman The same scenes furnished by
these two pens might have been sketched in different hemispheres Vernon had no
irony He had nothing of Willoughbys epistolary creative power which causing
his family and friends to exclaim »How like him that is« conjured them across
the broad Atlantic to behold and clap hands at his lordliness
They saw him distinctly as with the naked eye a word a turn of the pen
or a word unsaid offered the picture of him in America Japan China
Australia nay the Continent of Europe holding an English review of his
Makers grotesques Vernon seemed a sheepish fellow without stature abroad
glad of a compliment grateful for a dinner endeavouring sadly to digest all he
saw and heard But one was a Patterne the other a Whitford One had genius the
other pottered after him with the title of student One was the English
gentleman wherever he went the other was a new kind of thing nondescript
produced in England of late and not likely to come to much good himself or do
much good to the country
Vernons dancing in America was capitally described by Willoughby »Adieu to
our cousins« the latter wrote on his voyage to Japan »I may possibly have had
some vogue in their ballrooms and in showing them an English seat on
horseback I must resign myself if I have not been popular among them I could
not sing their national song if a congery of States be a nation and I must
confess I listened with frigid politeness to their singing of it A great
people no doubt Adieu to them I have had to tear old Vernon away He had
serious thoughts of settling means to correspond with some of them« On the
whole forgetting two or more »traits of insolence« on the part of his hosts
which he cited Willoughby escaped pretty comfortably The President had been
consciously or not uncivil but one knew his origin Upon these interjections
placable flicks of the lionly tail addressed to Britannia the Ruler who
expected him in some mildish way to lash terga cauda in retiring Sir Willoughby
Patterne passed from a land of alien manners and ever after he spoke of America
respectfully and pensively with a tail tucked in as it were His travels were
profitable to himself The fact is that there are cousins who come to greatness
and must be pacified or they will prove annoying Heaven forefend a collision
between cousins
Willoughby returned to his England after an absence of three years On a
fair April morning the last of the month he drove along his park palings and
by the luck of things Lætitia was the first of his friends whom he met She was
crossing from field to field with a band of schoolchildren gathering wild
flowers for the morrow Mayday He sprang to the ground and seized her hand
»Lætitia Dale« he said He panted »Your name is sweet English music And you
are well« The anxious question permitted him to read deeply in her eyes He
found the man he sought there squeezed him passionately and let her go
saying »I could not have prayed for a lovelier homescene to welcome me than
you and these children flowergathering I dont believe in chance It was
decreed that we should meet Do not you think so«
Lætitia breathed faintly of her gladness
He begged her to distribute a gold coin among the little ones asked for the
names of some of them and repeated »Mary Susan Charlotte only the
Christian names pray Well my dears you will bring your garlands to the Hall
tomorrow morning and mind early no slugabeds tomorrow I suppose I am
browned Lætitia« He smiled in apology for the foreign sun and murmured with
rapture »The green of this English country is unsurpassed It is wonderful
Leave England and be baked if you would appreciate it You cant unless you
taste exile as I have done for how many years How many«
»Three« said Lætitia
»Thirty« said he »It seems to me that length At least I am immensely
older But looking at you I could think it less than three You have not
changed You are absolutely unchanged I am bound to hope so I shall see you
soon I have much to talk of much to tell you I shall hasten to call on your
father I have specially to speak with him I what happiness this is Lætitia
But I must not forget I have a mother Adieu for some hours not for many«
He pressed her hand again He was gone
She dismissed the children to their homes Plucking primroses was hard
labour now a dusty business She could have wished that her planet had not
descended to earth his presence agitated her so but his enthusiastic
patriotism was like a shower that in the Spring season of the year sweeps
against the hardbinding East and melts the air and brings out new colours
makes life flow and her thoughts recurred in wonderment to the behaviour of
Constantia Durham That was Lætitias manner of taking up her weakness once
more She could almost have reviled the woman who had given this beneficent
magician this pathetic exile of the aristocratic sunburnt visage and
deeplyscrutinizing eyes cause for grief How deeply his eyes could read The
starveling of patience awoke to the idea of a feast The sense of hunger came
with it and hope came and patience fled She would have rejected hope to keep
patience nigh her but surely it cannot always be Winter said her reasoning
blood and we must excuse her as best we can if she was assured by her restored
warmth that Willoughby came in the order of the revolving seasons marking a
long Winter past He had specially to speak with her father he had said What
could that mean What but She dared not phrase it or view it
At their next meeting she was Miss Dale
A week later he was closeted with her father
Mr Dale in the evening of that pregnant day eulogized Sir Willoughby as a
landlord A new lease of the cottage was to be granted him on the old terms he
said Except that Sir Willoughby had congratulated him in the possession of an
excellent daughter their interview was one of landlord and tenant it appeared
and Lætitia said »So we shall not have to leave the cottage« in a tone of
satisfaction while she quietly gave a wrench to the neck of the young hope in
her breast At night her diary received this line »This day I was a fool
Tomorrow«
Tomorrow and many days after there were dashes instead of words
Patience travelled back to her sullenly As we must have some kind of food
and she had nothing else she took to that and found it dryer than of yore It
is a composing but a lean dietary The dead are patient and we get a certain
likeness to them in feeding on it unintermittingly overlong Her hollowed cheeks
with the fallen leaf in them pleaded against herself to justify her idol for not
looking down on one like her She saw him when he was at the Hall He did not
notice any change He was exceedingly gentle and courteous More than once she
discovered his eyes dwelling on her and then he looked hurriedly at his mother
and Lætitia had to shut her mind from thinking lest thinking should be a sin
and hope a guilty spectre But had his mother objected to her She could not
avoid asking herself His tour of the globe had been undertaken at his mothers
desire she was an ambitious lady in failing health and she wished to have him
living with her at Patterne yet seemed to agree that he did wisely to reside in
London
One day Sir Willoughby in the quiet manner which was his humour informed
her that he had become a country gentleman he had abandoned London he loathed
it as the burialplace of the individual man He intended to sit down on his
estates and have his cousin Vernon Whitford to assist him in managing them he
said and very amusing was his description of his cousins shifts to live by
literature and add enough to a beggarly income to get his usual two months of
the year in the Alps Previous to his great tour Willoughby had spoken of
Vernons judgement with derision nor was it entirely unknown that Vernon had
offended his family pride by some extravagant act But after their return he
acknowledged Vernons talents and seemed unable to do without him
The new arrangement gave Lætitia a companion for her walks Pedestrianism
was a sour business to Willoughby whose exclamation of the word indicated a
willingness for any amount of exercise on horseback but she had no horse and
so while he hunted Lætitia and Vernon walked and the neighbourhood speculated
on the circumstances until the ladies Eleanor and Isabel Patterne engaged her
more frequently for carriage exercise and Sir Willoughby was observed riding
beside them
A real and sunny pleasure befell Lætitia in the establishment of young
Crossjay Patterne under her roof the son of the lieutenant now captain of
Marines a boy of twelve with the sprights of twelve boys in him for whose
board and lodgement Vernon provided by arrangement with her father Vernon was
one of your men that have no occupation for their money no bills to pay for
repair of their property and are insane to spend He had heard of Captain
Patternes large family and proposed to have his eldest boy at the Hall to
teach him but Willoughby declined to house the son of such a father predicting
that the boys hair would be red his skin eruptive and his practices
detestable So Vernon having obtained Mr Dales consent to accommodate this
youth stalked off to Devonport and brought back a rosycheeked roundbodied
rogue of a boy who fell upon meats and puddings and defeated them with a
captivating simplicity in his confession that he had never had enough to eat in
his life He had gone through a training for a plentiful table At first after
a number of helps young Crossjay would sit and sigh heavily in contemplation
of the unfinished dish Subsequently he told his host and hostess that he had
two sisters above his own age and three brothers and two sisters younger than
he »All hungry« said the boy
His pathos was most comical It was a good month before he could see pudding
taken away from table without a sigh of regret that he could not finish it as
deputy for the Devonport household The pranks of the little fellow and his
revel in a country life and muddy wildness in it amused Lætitia from morning
to night She when she had caught him taught him in the morning Vernon
favoured by the chase in the afternoon Young Crossjay would have enlivened any
household He was not only indolent he was opposed to the acquisition of
knowledge through the medium of books and would say »But I dont want to« in
a tone to make a logician thoughtful Nature was very strong in him He had on
each return of the hour for instruction to be plucked out of the earth rank of
the soil like a root for the exercise of his big round headpiece on those
tyrannous puzzles But the habits of birds and the place for their eggs and
the management of rabbits and the tickling of fish and poaching joys with
combative boys of the district and how to wheedle a cook for a luncheon for a
whole day in the rain he soon knew of his great nature His passion for our
naval service was a means of screwing his attention to lessons after he had
begun to understand that the desert had to be traversed to attain midshipmans
rank He boasted ardently of his fighting father and chancing to be near the
Hall as he was talking to Vernon and Lætitia of his father he propounded a
question close to his heart and he put it in these words following »My father
s the one to lead an army« when he paused »I say Mr Whitford Sir
Willoughby s kind to me and gives me crownpieces why wouldnt he see my
father and my father came here ten miles in the rain to see him and had to
walk ten miles back and sleep at an inn«
The only answer to be given was that Sir Willoughby could not have been at
home »Oh my father saw him and Sir Willoughby said he was not at home« the
boy replied producing an odd ring in the ear by his repetition of »not at home«
in the same voice as the apology plainly innocent of malice Vernon told
Lætitia however that the boy never asked an explanation of Sir Willoughby
Unlike the horse of the adage it was easier to compel young Crossjay to
drink of the waters of instruction than to get him to the brink His heart was
not so antagonistic as his nature and by degrees owing to a proper mixture of
discipline and cajolery he imbibed He was whistling at the cooks windows
after a day of wicked truancy on an April night and reported adventures over
the supper supplied to him Lætitia entered the kitchen with a reproving
forefinger He jumped to kiss her and went on chattering of a place fifteen
miles distant where he had seen Sir Willoughby riding with a young lady The
impossibility that the boy should have got so far on foot made Lætitia doubtful
of his veracity until she heard that a gentleman had taken him up on the road
in a gig and had driven him to a farm to show him strings of birds eggs and
stuffed birds of every English kind kingfishers yaffles black woodpeckers
goatsucker owls more mouth than head with dusty darkspotted wings like
moths all very circumstantial Still in spite of his tea at the farm and ride
back by rail at the gentlemans expense the tale seemed fictitious to Lætitia
until Crossjay related how that he had stood to salute on the road to the
railway and taken off his cap to Sir Willoughby and Sir Willoughby had passed
him not noticing him though the young lady did and looked back and nodded
The hue of truth was in that picture
Strange eclipse when the hue of truth comes shadowing over our bright ideal
planet It will not seem the planets fault but truths Reality is the
offender delusion our treasure that we are robbed of Then begins with us the
term of wilful delusion and its necessary accompaniment of the disgust of
reality exhausting the heart much more than patient endurance of starvation
Hints were dropping about the neighbourhood the hedgeways twittered the
treetops cawed Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson was loud on the subject »Patterne
is to have a mistress at last you say But there never was a doubt of his
marrying he must marry and so long as he does not marry a foreign woman we
have no cause to complain He met her at Cherriton Both were struck at the same
moment Her father is I hear some sort of learned man money no land No
house either I believe People who spend half their time on the Continent They
are now for a year at Upton Park The very girl to settle down and entertain
when she does think of settling Eighteen perfect manners you need not ask if
a beauty Sir Willoughby will have his dues We must teach her to make amends to
him but dont listen to Lady Busshe He was too young at twentythree or
twentyfour No young man is ever jilted he is allowed to escape A young man
married is a fireeater bound over to keep the peace if he keeps it he worries
it At thirtyone or thirtytwo he is ripe for his command because he knows how
to bend And Sir Willoughby is a splendid creature only wanting a wife to
complete him For a man like that to go on running about would never do Soberly
no It would soon be getting ridiculous He has been no worse than other men
probably better infinitely more excuseable but now we have him and it was
time we should I shall see her and study her sharply you may be sure though
I fancy I can rely on his judgement«
In confirmation of the swelling buzz the Rev Dr Middleton and his
daughter paid a flying visit to the Hall where they were seen only by the
members of the Patterne family Young Crossjay had a short conversation with
Miss Middleton and ran to the cottage full of her she loved the navy and had
a merry face She had a smile of very pleasant humour according to Vernon The
young lady was outlined to Lætitia as tall elegant lively and painted as
carrying youth like a flag With her smile of very pleasant humour she could
not but be winning
Vernon spoke more of her father a scholar of high repute happily a
scholar of an independent fortune His maturer recollection of Miss Middleton
grew poetic or he described her in an image to suit a poetic ear »She gives
you an idea of the Mountain Echo Dr Middleton has one of the grandest heads in
England«
»What is her Christian name« said Lætitia
He thought her Christian name was Clara
Lætitia went to bed and walked through the day conceiving the Mountain Echo
the swift wild spirit Clara by name sent fleeting on a far halfcircle by the
voice it is roused to subserve sweeter than beautiful high above drawingroom
beauties as the colours of the sky and if at the same time elegant and of
loveable smiling could a man resist her To inspire the title of Mountain Echo
in any mind a young lady must be singularly spiritualized Her father doated on
her Vernon said Who would not It seemed an additional cruelty that the grace
of a poetical attractiveness should be round her for this was robbing Lætitia
of some of her own little fortune mystical though that might be But a man like
Sir Willoughby had claims on poetry possessing as he did every manly grace and
to think that Miss Middleton had won him by virtue of something native to her
likewise though mystically touched Lætitia with a faint sense of relationship
to the chosen girl »What is in me he sees on her« It decked her pride to
think so as a wreath on the gravestone She encouraged her imagination to brood
over Clara and invested her designedly with romantic charms in spite of pain
the ascetic zealot hugs his share of heaven most bitter most blessed in his
hair shirt and scourge and Lætitias happiness was to glorify Clara Through
that chosen rival through her comprehension of the spirit of Sir Willoughbys
choice of one such as Clara she was linked to him yet
Her mood of ecstatic fidelity was a dangerous exaltation one that in a
desert will distort the brain and in the world where the idol dwells will put
him should he come nigh to its own furnacetest and get a clear brain out of
a burnt heart She was frequently at the Hall helping to nurse Lady Patterne
Sir Willoughby had hitherto treated her as a dear insignificant friend to whom
it was unnecessary that he should mention the object of his rides to Upton Park
He had however in the contemplation of what he was gaining fallen into
anxiety about what he might be losing She belonged to his brilliant youth her
devotion was the bride of his youth he was a man who lived backwards almost as
intensely as in the present and notwithstanding Lætitias praiseworthy zeal in
attending on his mother he suspected some unfaithfulness hardly without cause
she had not looked paler of late her eyes had not reproached him the secret of
the old days between them had been as little concealed as it was exposed She
might have buried it after the way of women whose bosoms can be tombs if we
and the world allow them to be absolutely sepulchres where you lie dead
ghastly Even if not dead and horrible to think of you may be lying cold
somewhere in a corner Even if embalmed you may not be much visited And how is
the world to know you are embalmed You are no better than a rotting wretch to
the world that does not have peeps of you in the womans breast and see lights
burning and an occasional exhibition of the services of worship There are women
tell us not of her of Ephesus that have embalmed you and have quitted the
world to keep the tapers alight and a stranger comes and they who have your
image before them will suddenly blow out the vestal flames and treat you as
dust to fatten the garden of their bosoms for a fresh flower of love Sir
Willoughby knew it he had experience of it in the form of the stranger and he
knew the strangers feelings toward his predecessor and the lady
He waylaid Lætitia to talk of himself and his plans the project of a run
to Italy Enviable Yes but in England you live the higher moral life Italy
boasts of sensual beauty the spiritual is yours »I know Italy well I have
often wished to act as cicerone to you there As it is I suppose I shall be
with those who know the land as well as I do and will not be particularly
enthusiastic if you are what you were« He was guilty of this perplexing
twist from one person to another in a sentence more than once While he talked
exclusively of himself it seemed to her a condescension In time he talked
principally of her beginning with her admirable care of his mother and he
wished to introduce a Miss Middleton to her he wanted her opinion of Miss
Middleton he relied on her intuition of character had never known it err
»If I supposed it could err Miss Dale I should not be so certain of
myself I am bound up in my good opinion of you you see and you must continue
the same or where shall I be« Thus he was led to dwell upon friendship and
the charm of the friendship of men and women Platonism as it was called »I
have laughed at it in the world but not in the depth of my heart The worlds
platonic attachments are laughable enough You have taught me that the ideal of
friendship is possible when we find two who are capable of a disinterested
esteem The rest of life is duty duty to parents duty to country But
friendship is the holiday of those who can be friends Wives are plentiful
friends are rare I know how rare«
Lætitia swallowed her thoughts as they sprang up Why was he torturing her
to give himself a holiday She could bear to lose him she was used to it
and bear his indifference but not that he should disfigure himself it made her
poor It was as if he required an oath of her when he said »Italy But I shall
never see a day in Italy to compare with the day of my return to England or
know a pleasure so exquisite as your welcome of me Will you be true to that
May I look forward to just another such meeting«
He pressed her for an answer She gave the best she could He was
dissatisfied and to her hearing it was hardly in the tone of manliness that he
entreated her to reassure him he womanized his language She had to say »I am
afraid I cannot undertake to make it an appointment Sir Willoughby« before he
recovered his alertness which he did for he was anything but obtuse with the
reply »You would keep it if you promised and freeze at your post So as
accidents happen we must leave it to fate The wills the thing You know my
detestation of changes At least I have you for my tenant and wherever I am I
see your light at the end of my park«
»Neither my father nor I would willingly quit Ivy Cottage« said Lætitia
»So far then« he murmured »You will give me a long notice and it must be
with my consent if you think of quitting«
»I could almost engage to do that« she said
»You love the place«
»Yes I am the most contented of cottagers«
»I believe Miss Dale it would be well for my happiness were I a cottager«
»That is the dream of the palace But to be one and not to wish to be
other is quiet sleep in comparison«
»You paint a cottage in colours that tempt one to run from big houses and
households«
»You would run back to them faster Sir Willoughby«
»You may know me« said he bowing and passing on contentedly He stopped
»But I am not ambitious«
»Perhaps you are too proud for ambition Sir Willoughby«
»You hit me to the life«
He passed on regretfully Clara Middleton did not study and know him like
Lætitia Dale
Lætitia was left to think it pleased him to play at cat and mouse She had
not »hit him to the life« or she would have marvelled in acknowledging how
sincere he was
At her next sitting by the bedside of Lady Patterne she received a certain
measure of insight that might have helped her to fathom him if only she could
have kept her feelings down The old lady was affectionately confidential in
talking of her one subject her son »And here is another dashing girl my dear
she has money and health and beauty and so has he and it appears a fortunate
union I hope and pray it may be but we begin to read the world when our eyes
grow dim because we read the plain lines and I ask myself whether money and
health and beauty on both sides have not been the mutual attraction We tried
it before and that girl Durham was honest whatever we may call her I should
have desired an appreciative thoughtful partner for him a woman of mind with
another sort of wealth and beauty She was honest she ran away in time there
was a worse thing possible than that And now we have the same chapter and the
same kind of person who may not be quite as honest and I shall not see the end
of it Promise me you will always be good to him be my sons friend his
Egeria he names you Be what you were to him when that girl broke his heart
and no one not even his mother was allowed to see that he suffered anything
Comfort him in his sensitiveness Willoughby has the most entire faith in you
Were that destroyed I shudder You are he says and he has often said his
image of the constant woman «
Lætitias hearing took in no more She repeated to herself for days »His
image of the constant woman« Now when he was a second time forsaking her his
praise of her constancy wore the painful ludicrousness of the look of a whimper
on the face
Chapter V
Clara Middleton
The great meeting of Sir Willoughby Patterne and Miss Middleton had taken place
at Cherriton Grange the seat of a county grandee where this young lady of
eighteen was first seen rising above the horizon She had money and health and
beauty the triune of perfect starriness which makes all men astronomers He
looked on her expecting her to look at him But as soon as he looked he found
that he must be in motion to win a look in return He was one of a pack many
were ahead of him the whole of them were eager He had to debate within himself
how best to communicate to her that he was Willoughby Patterne before her
gloves were too much soiled to flatter his niceness for here and there all
around she was yielding her hand to partners obscurant males whose touch
leaves a stain Far too generally gracious was Her Starriness to please him The
effect of it nevertheless was to hurry him with all his might into the heat of
the chase while yet he knew no more of her than that he was competing for a
prize and Willoughby Patterne only one of dozens to the young lady
A deeper student of Science than his rivals he appreciated Natures
compliment in the fair ones choice of you We now scientifically know that in
this department of the universal struggle success is awarded to the bettermost
You spread a handsomer tail than your fellows you dress a finer topknot you
pipe a newer note have a longer stride she reviews you in competition and
selects you The superlative is magnetic to her She may be looking elsewhere
and you will see the superlative will simply have to beckon away she glides
She cannot help herself it is her nature and her nature is the guarantee for
the noblest race of men to come of her In complimenting you she is a promise
of superior offspring Science thus or it is better to say an acquaintance
with science facilitates the cultivation of aristocracy Consequently a
successful pursuit and a wresting of her from a body of competitors tells you
that you are the best man What is more it tells the world so
Willoughby aired his amiable superlatives in the eye of Miss Middleton he
had a leg He was the heir of successful competitors He had a style a tone an
artist tailor an authority of manner he had in the hopeful ardour of the chase
among a multitude a freshness that gave him advantage and together with his
undeviating energy when there was a prize to be won and possessed these were
scarcely resistible He spared no pains for he was adust and athirst for the
winningpost He courted her father aware that men likewise and parents
preeminently have their preference for the larger offer the deeper pocket the
broader lands the respectfuller consideration Men after their fashion as
well as women distinguish the bettermost and aid him to succeed as Dr
Middleton certainly did in the crisis of the memorable question proposed to his
daughter within a month of Willoughbys reception at Upton Park The young lady
was astonished at his whirlwind wooing of her and bent to it like a sapling
She begged for time Willoughby could barely wait She unhesitatingly owned that
she liked no one better and he consented A calm examination of his position
told him that it was unfair so long as he stood engaged and she did not She
pleaded a desire to see a little of the world before she plighted herself She
alarmed him he assumed the amazing God of Love under the subtlest guise of the
divinity Willingly would he obey her behests resignedly languish were it not
for his mothers desire to see the future lady of Patterne established there
before she died Love shone cunningly through the mask of filial duty but the
plea of urgency was reasonable Dr Middleton thought it reasonable supposing
his daughter to have an inclination She had no disinclination though she had a
maidenly desire to see a little of the world grace for one year she said
Willoughby reduced the year to six months and granted that term for which in
gratitude she submitted to stand engaged and that was no light whispering of a
word She was implored to enter the state of captivity by the pronunciation of
vows a private but a binding ceremonial She had health and beauty and money
to gild these gifts not that he stipulated for money with his bride but it
adds a lustre to dazzle the world and moreover the pack of rival pursuers
hung close behind yelping and raising their dolorous throats to the moon
Captive she must be
He made her engagement no light whispering matter It was a solemn plighting
of a troth Why not Having said I am yours she could say I am wholly yours
I am yours for ever I swear it I will never swerve from it I am your wife in
heart yours utterly our engagement is written above To this she considerately
appended »as far as I am concerned« a piece of somewhat chilling generosity
and he forced her to pass him through loves catechism in turn and came out
with fervent answers that bound him to her too indissolubly to let her doubt of
her being loved And I am loved she exclaimed to her hearts echoes in simple
faith and wonderment Hardly had she begun to think of love ere the apparition
arose in her path She had not thought of love with any warmth and here it was
She had only dreamed of love as one of the distant blessings of the mighty
world lying somewhere in the worlds forests across wild seas veiled
encompassed with beautiful perils a throbbing secresy but too remote to
quicken her bosoms throbs Her chief idea of it was the enrichment of the
world by love
Thus did Miss Middleton acquiesce in the principle of selection
And then did the best man of a host blow his triumphant horn and loudly
He looked the fittest he justified the dictum of Science The survival of
the Patternes was assured »I would« he said to his admirer Mrs Mountstuart
Jenkinson »have bargained for health above everything but she has everything
besides lineage beauty breeding is what they call an heiress and is the
most accomplished of her sex« With a delicate art he conveyed to the ladys
understanding that Miss Middleton had been snatched from a crowd without a
breath of the crowd having offended his niceness He did it through sarcasm at
your modern young women who run about the world nibbling and nibbled at until
they know one sex as well as the other and are not a whit less cognizant of the
market than men pure possibly it is not so easy to say innocent decidedly
not our feminine ideal Miss Middleton was different she was the true ideal
freshgathered morning fruit in a basket warranted by her bloom
Women do not defend their younger sisters for doing what they perhaps have
done lifting a veil to be seen and peeping at a world where innocence is as
poor a guarantee as a babes caul against shipwreck Women of the world never
think of attacking the sensual stipulation for perfect bloom silver purity
which is redolent of the Oriental origin of the lovepassion of their lords
Mrs Mountstuart congratulated Sir Willoughby on the prize he had won in the
fair westerneastern
»Let me see her« she said and Miss Middleton was introduced and critically
observed
She had the mouth that smiles in repose The lips met full on the centre of
the bow and thinned along to a lifting dimple the eyelids also lifted slightly
at the outer corners and seemed like the lip into the limpid cheek quickening
up the temples as with a run of light or the ascension indicated off a shoot
of colour Her features were playfellows of one another none of them pretending
to rigid correctness nor the nose to the ordinary dignity of governess among
merry girls despite which the nose was of a fair design not acutely
interrogative or inviting to gambols Aspens imaged in water waiting for the
breeze would offer a susceptible lover some suggestion of her face a pure
smoothwhite face tenderly flushed in the cheeks where the gentle dints were
faintly intermelting even during quietness Her eyes were brown set well
between mild lids often shadowed not unwakeful Her hair of lighter brown
swelling above her temples on the sweep to the knot imposed the triangle of the
fabulous wild woodland visage from brow to mouth and chin evidently in
agreement with her taste and the triangle suited her but her face was not
significant of a tameless wildness or of weakness her equable shut mouth threw
its long curve to guard the small round chin from that effect her eyes wavered
only in humour they were steady when thoughtfulness was awakened and at such
seasons the build of her winterbeechwood hair lost the touch of nymphlike and
whimsical and strangely by mere outline added to her appearance of studious
concentration Observe the hawk on stretched wings over the prey he spies for
an idea of this change in the look of a young lady whom Vernon Whitford could
liken to the Mountain Echo and Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson pronounced to be »a
dainty rogue in porcelain«
Vernons fancy of her must have sprung from her prompt and most musical
responsiveness He preferred the society of her learned father to that of a girl
under twenty engaged to his cousin but the charm of her ready tongue and her
voice was to his intelligent understanding wit natural wit crystal wit as
opposed to the pastesparkle of the wit of the town In his encomiums he did not
quote Miss Middletons wit nevertheless he ventured to speak of it to Mrs
Mountstuart causing that lady to say »Ah well I have not noticed the wit
You may have the art of drawing it out«
No one had noticed the wit The corrupted hearing of people required a
collision of sounds Vernon supposed For his part to prove their excellence
he recollected a great many of Miss Middletons remarks they came flying to
him and as long as he forbore to speak them aloud they had a curious wealth of
meaning It could not be all her manner however much his own manner might spoil
them It might be to a certain degree her quickness at catching the hue and
shade of evanescent conversation Possibly by remembering the whole of a
conversation wherein she had her place the wit was to be tested only how could
any one retain the heavy portion As there was no use in being argumentative on
a subject affording him personally and apparently solitarily refreshment and
enjoyment Vernon resolved to keep it to himself The eulogies of her beauty a
possession in which he did not consider her so very conspicuous irritated him
in consequence To flatter Sir Willoughby it was the fashion to exalt her as
one of the types of beauty the one providentially selected to set off his
masculine type She was compared to those delicate flowers the ladies of the
Court of China on ricepaper A little French dressing would make her at home
on the sward by the fountain among the lutes and whisperers of the bewitching
silken shepherdesses who live though they never were Lady Busshe was reminded
of the favourite lineaments of the women of Leonardo the angels of Luini Lady
Culmer had seen crayon sketches of demoiselles of the French aristocracy
resembling her Some one mentioned an antique statue of a figure breathing into
a flute and the mouth at the flutestop might have a distant semblance of the
bend of her mouth but this comparison was repelled as grotesque
For once Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson was unsuccessful Her dainty rogue in
porcelain displeased Sir Willoughby »Why rogue« he said The ladys fame for
hitting the mark fretted him and the grace of his brides fine bearing stood to
support him in his objection Clara was young healthy handsome she was
therefore fitted to be his wife the mother of his children his companion
picture Certainly they looked well side by side In walking with her in
drooping to her the whole man was made conscious of the female image of himself
by her exquisite unlikeness She completed him added the softer lines wanting
to his portrait before the world He had wooed her rageingly he courted her
becomingly with the manly selfpossession enlivened by watchful tact which is
pleasing to girls He never seemed to undervalue himself in valuing her a
secret priceless in the courtship of young women that have heads the lover
doubles their sense of personal worth through not forfeiting his own Those were
proud and happy days when he rode Black Norman over to Upton Park and his lady
looked forth for him and knew him coming by the faster beating of her heart
Her mind too was receptive She took impressions of his characteristics
and supplied him a feast She remembered his chance phrases noted his ways his
peculiarities as no one of her sex had done He thanked his cousin Vernon for
saying she had wit She had it and of so high a flavour that the more he
thought of the epigram launched at her the more he grew displeased With the
wit to understand him and the heart to worship she had a dignity rarely seen
in young ladies
»Why rogue« he insisted with Mrs Mountstuart
»I said in porcelain« she replied
»Rogue perplexes me«
»Porcelain explains it«
»She has the keenest sense of honour«
»I am sure she is a paragon of rectitude«
»She has a beautiful bearing«
»The carriage of a young princess«
»I find her perfect«
»And still she may be a dainty rogue in porcelain«
»Are you judging by the mind or the person maam«
»Both«
»And which is which«
»Theres no distinction«
»Rogue and mistress of Patterne do not go together«
»Why not She will be a novelty to our neighbourhood and an animation of the
Hall«
»To be frank rogue does not rightly match with me«
»Take her for a supplement«
»You like her«
»In love with her I can imagine lifelong amusement in her company Attend
to my advice prize the porcelain and play with the rogue«
Sir Willoughby nodded unilluminated There was nothing of rogue in himself
so there could be nothing of it in his bride Elfishness tricksiness
freakishness were antipathetic to his nature and he argued that it was
impossible he should have chosen for his complement a person deserving the
title It would not have been sanctioned by his guardian genius His closer
acquaintance with Miss Middleton squared with his first impressions you know
that this is convincing the common jury justifies the presentation of the case
to them by the grand jury and his original conclusion that she was essentially
feminine in other words a parasite and a chalice Claras conduct confirmed
from day to day He began to instruct her in the knowledge of himself without
reserve and she as she grew less timid with him became more reflective
»I judge by character« he said to Mrs Mountstuart
»If you have caught the character of a girl« said she
»I think I am not far off it«
»So it was thought by the man who dived for the moon in a well«
»How women despise their sex«
»Not a bit She has no character yet You are forming it and pray be
advised and be merry the solid is your safest guide physiognomy and manners
will give you more of a girls character than all the divings you can do She is
a charming young woman only she is one of that sort«
»Of what sort« Sir Willoughby asked impatiently
»Rogues in porcelain«
»I am persuaded I shall never comprehend it«
»I cannot help you one bit further«
»The word rogue«
»It was dainty rogue«
»Brittle would you say«
»I am quite unable to say«
»An innocent naughtiness«
»Prettily moulded in a delicate substance«
»You are thinking of some piece of Dresden you suppose her to resemble«
»I daresay«
»Artificial«
»You would not have her natural«
»I am heartily satisfied with her from head to foot my dear Mrs
Mountstuart«
»Nothing could be better And sometimes she will lead and generally you
will lead and everything will go well my dear Sir Willoughby«
Like all rapid phrasers Mrs Mountstuart detested the analysis of her
sentence It had an outline in vagueness and was flung out to be apprehended
not dissected Her directions for the reading of Miss Middletons character were
the same that she practised in reading Sir Willoughbys whose physiognomy and
manners bespoke him what she presumed him to be a splendidly proud gentleman
with good reason
Mrs Mountstuarts advice was wiser than her procedure for she stopped
short where he declined to begin He dived below the surface without studying
that indexpage He had won Miss Middletons hand he believed he had captured
her heart but he was not so certain of his possession of her soul and he went
after it Our enamoured gentleman had therefore no tally of Natures writing
above to set beside his discoveries in the deeps Now it is a dangerous
accompaniment of this habit of diving that where we do not light on the
discoveries we anticipate we fall to work sowing and planting which becomes a
disturbance of the gentle bosom Miss Middletons features were legible as to
the mainspring of her character He could have seen that she had a spirit with a
natural love of liberty and required the next thing to liberty spaciousness
if she was to own allegiance Those features unhappily instead of serving for
an introduction to the within were treated as the mirror of himself They were
indeed of an amiable sweetness to tempt an accepted lover to angle for the first
person in the second But he had made the discovery that their minds differed on
one or two points and a difference of view in his bride was obnoxious to his
repose He struck at it recurringly to show her error under various aspects He
desired to shape her character to the feminine of his own and betrayed the
surprise of a slight disappointment at her advocacy of her ideas She said
immediately »It is not too late Willoughby« and wounded him for he wanted
her simply to be material in his hands for him to mould her he had no other
thought He lectured her on the theme of the infinity of love How was it not
too late They were plighted they were one eternally they could not be parted
She listened gravely conceiving the infinity as a narrow dwelling where a voice
droned and ceased not However she listened She became an attentive listener
Chapter VI
His Courtship
The world was the principal topic of dissension between these lovers His
opinion of the world affected her like a creature threatened with a deprivation
of air He explained to his darling that lovers of necessity do loathe the
world They live in the world they accept its benefits and assist it as well
as they can In their hearts they must despise it shut it out that their love
for one another may pour in a clear channel and with all the force they have
They cannot enjoy the sense of security for their love unless they fence away
the world It is you will allow gross it is a beast Formally we thank it for
the good we get of it only we two have an inner temple where the worship we
conduct is actually if you would but see it an excommunication of the world
We abhor that beast to adore that divinity This gives us our oneness our
isolation our happiness This is to love with the soul Do you see darling
She shook her head she could not see it She would admit none of the
notorious errors of the world its backbiting selfishness coarseness
intrusiveness infectiousness She was young She might Willoughby thought
have let herself be led she was not docile She must be up in arms as a
champion of the world and one saw she was hugging her dream of a romantic
world nothing else She spoilt the secret bowersong he delighted to tell over
to her And how Powers of Love is lovemaking to be pursued if we may not kick
the world out of our bower and wash our hands of it Love that does not spurn
the world when lovers curtain themselves is a love is it not so that seems
to the unwhipped scoffing world to go slinking into basiations obscurity
instead of on a glorious march behind the screen Our hero had a strong
sentiment as to the policy of scorning the world for the sake of defending his
personal pride and to his honour be it said his ladys delicacy
The act of scorning put them both above the world said retro Sathanas So
much as a piece of tactics he was highly civilized in the second instance he
knew it to be the world which must furnish the dry sticks for the bonfire of a
womans worship He knew too that he was prescribing poetry to his betrothed
practicable poetry She had a liking for poetry and sometimes quoted the stuff
in defiance of his pursed mouth and pained murmur »I am no poet« but his
poetry of the enclosed and fortified bower without nonsensical rhymes to catch
the ears of women appeared incomprehensible to her if not adverse She would
not burn the world for him she would not though a purer poetry is little
imaginable reduce herself to ashes or incense or essence in honour of him
and so by loves transmutation literally be the man she was to marry She
preferred to be herself with the egoism of women She said it she said »I
must be myself to be of any value to you Willoughby« He was indefatigable in
his lectures on the æsthetics of love Frequently for an indemnification to her
he had no desire that she should be a loser by ceasing to admire the world he
dwelt on his own youthful ideas and his original fancies about the world were
presented to her as a substitute for the theme
Miss Middleton bore it well for she was sure that he meant well Bearing so
well what was distasteful to her she became less well able to bear what she had
merely noted in observation before his view of scholarship his manner toward
Mr Vernon Whitford of whom her father spoke warmly the rumour concerning his
treatment of a Miss Dale And the country tale of Constantia Durham sang itself
to her in a new key He had no contempt for the worlds praises Mr Whitford
wrote the letters to the county paper which gained him applause at various great
houses and he accepted it and betrayed a tingling fright lest he should be the
victim of a sneer of the world he contemned Recollecting his remarks her mind
was afflicted by the something illogical in him that we readily discover when
our natures are no longer running free and then at once we yearn for a
disputation She resolved that she would one day one distant day provoke it
upon what The special point eluded her The world is too huge a client and too
pervious too spotty for a girl to defend against a man That something
illogical had stirred her feelings more than her intellect to revolt She could
not constitute herself the advocate of Mr Whitford Still she marked the
disputation for an event to come
Meditating on it she fell to picturing Sir Willoughbys face at the first
accents of his brides decided disagreement with him The picture once conjured
up would not be laid He was handsome so correctly handsome that a slight
unfriendly touch precipitated him into caricature His habitual air of happy
pride of indignant contentment rather could easily be overdone Surprise when
he threw emphasis on it stretched him with the tall eyebrows of a mask
limitless under the spell of caricature and in time whenever she was not
pleased by her thoughts she had that and not his likeness for the vision of
him And it was unjust contrary to her deeper feelings she rebuked herself
and as much as her naughty spirit permitted she tried to look on him as the
world did an effort inducing reflections upon the blessings of ignorance She
seemed to herself beset by a circle of imps hardly responsible for her
thoughts
He outshone Mr Whitford in his behaviour to young Crossjay She had seen
him with the boy and he was amused indulgent almost frolicsome in
contradistinction to Mr Whitfords tutorly sharpness He had the English
fathers tone of a liberal allowance for boys tastes and pranks and he
ministered to the partiality of the genus for pocketmoney He did not play the
schoolmaster like bookworms who get poor little lads in their grasp
Mr Whitford avoided her very much He came to Upton Park on a visit to her
father and she was not particularly sorry that she saw him only at table He
treated her by fits to a level scrutiny of deepset eyes unpleasantly
penetrating She had liked his eyes They became unbearable they dwelt in the
memory as if they had left a phosphorescent line She had been taken by playmate
boys in her infancy to peep into hedgeleaves where the motherbird brooded on
the nest and the eyes of the bird in that marvellous dark thickset home had
sent her away with worlds of fancy Mr Whitfords gaze revived her
susceptibility but not the old happy wondering She was glad of his absence
after a certain hour that she passed with Willoughby a wretched hour to
remember Mr Whitford had left and Willoughby came bringing bad news of his
mothers health Lady Patterne was fast failing Her son spoke of the loss she
would be to him he spoke of the dreadfulness of death
He alluded to his own death to come carelessly with a philosophical air
»All of us must go our time is short«
»Very« she assented
It sounded like want of feeling
»If you lose me Clara«
»But you are strong Willoughby«
»I may be cut off tomorrow«
»Do not talk in such a manner«
»It is as well that it should be faced«
»I cannot see what purpose it serves«
»Should you lose me my love«
»Willoughby«
»Oh the bitter pang of leaving you«
»Dear Willoughby you are distressed your mother may recover let us hope
she will I will help to nurse her I have offered you know I am ready most
anxious I believe I am a good nurse«
»It is this belief that one does not die with death«
»That is our comfort«
»When we love«
»Does it not promise that we meet again«
»To walk the world and see you perhaps with another«
»See me Where Here«
»Wedded to another You my bride whom I call mine and you are You
would be still in that horror But all things are possible women are women
they swim in infidelity from wave to wave I know them«
»Willoughby do not torment yourself and me I beg you«
He meditated profoundly and asked her »Could you be such a saint among
women«
»I think I am a more than usually childish girl«
»Not to forget me«
»Oh no«
»Still to be mine«
»I am yours«
»To plight yourself«
»It is done«
»Be mine beyond death«
»Married is married I think«
»Clara to dedicate your life to our love Never one touch not one whisper
not a thought not a dream Could you it agonizes me to imagine be
inviolate mine above mine before all men though I am gone true to my
dust Tell me Give me that assurance True to my name Oh I hear them His
relict Buzzings about Lady Patterne The widow If you knew their talk of
widows Shut your ears my angel But if she holds them off and keeps her path
they are forced to respect her The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch
they fancied him because he was out of their way He lives in the heart of his
wife Clara my Clara as I live in yours whether here or away whether you are
a wife or widow there is no distinction for love I am your husband say it
eternally I must have peace I cannot endure the pain Depressed yes I have
cause to be But it has haunted me ever since we joined hands To have you to
lose you«
»Is it not possible that I may be the first to die« said Miss Middleton
»And lose you with the thought that you lovely as you are and the dogs of
the world barking round you might Is it any wonder that I have my feeling
for the world This hand the thought is horrible You would be surrounded
men are brutes the scent of unfaithfulness excites them overjoys them And I
helpless The thought is maddening I see a ring of monkeys grinning There is
your beauty and mans delight in desecrating You would be worried night and
day to quit my name to I feel the blow now You would have no rest for
them nothing to cling to without your oath«
»An oath« said Miss Middleton
»It is no delusion my love when I tell you that with this thought upon me
I see a ring of monkeyfaces grinning at me they haunt me But you do swear it
Once and I will never trouble you on the subject again My weakness if you
like You will learn that it is love a mans love stronger than death«
»An oath« she said and moved her lips to recall what she might have said
and forgotten »To what what oath«
»That you will be true to me dead as well as living Whisper it«
»Willoughby I shall be true to my vows at the altar«
»To me me«
»It will be to you«
»To my soul No heaven can be for me I see none only torture unless I
have your word Clara I trust it I will trust it implicitly My confidence in
you is absolute«
»Then you need not be troubled«
»It is for you my love that you may be armed and strong when I am not by
to protect you«
»Our views of the world are opposed Willoughby«
»Consent gratify me swear it Say Beyond death Whisper it I ask for
nothing more Women think the husbands grave breaks the bond cuts the tie
sets them loose They wed the flesh pah What I call on you for is nobility
the transcendant nobility of faithfulness beyond death His widow let them say
a saint in widowhood«
»My vows at the altar must suffice«
»You will not Clara«
»I am plighted to you«
»Not a word a simple promise But you love me«
»I have given you the best proof of it that I can«
»Consider how utterly I place confidence in you«
»I hope it is well placed«
»I could kneel to you to worship you if you would Clara«
»Kneel to heaven not to me Willoughby I am I wish I were able to tell
what I am I may be inconstant I do not know myself Think question yourself
whether I am really the person you should marry Your wife should have great
qualities of mind and soul I will consent to hear that I do not possess them
and abide by the verdict«
»You do you do possess them« Willoughby cried »When you know better what
the world is you will understand my anxiety Alive I am strong to shield you
from it dead helpless that is all You would be clad in mail steelproof
inviolable if you would But try to enter into my mind think with me feel
with me When you have once comprehended the intensity of the love of a man like
me you will not require asking It is the difference of the elect and the
vulgar of the ideal of love from the coupling of the herds We will let it
drop At least I have your hand As long as I live I have your hand Ought I
not to be satisfied I am only I see farther than most men and feel more
deeply And now I must ride to my mothers bedside She dies Lady Patterne It
might have been that she but she is a woman of women With a fatherinlaw
Just heaven Could I have stood by her then with the same feelings of reverence
A very little my love and everything gained for us by civilization crumbles
we fall back to the first mortarbowl we were bruised and stirred in My
thoughts when I take my stand to watch by her come to this conclusion that
especially in women distinction is the thing to be aimed at Otherwise we are a
weltering human mass Women must teach us to venerate them or we may as well be
bleating and barking and bellowing So now enough You have but to think a
little I must be off It may have happened during my absence I will write I
shall hear from you Come and see me mount Black Norman My respects to your
father I have no time to pay them in person One«
He took the one loves mystical number from which commonly spring
multitudes but on the present occasion it was a single one and cold She
watched him riding away on his gallant horse as handsome a cavalier as the
world could show and the contrast of his recent language and his fine figure
was a riddle that froze her blood Speech so foreign to her ears unnatural in
tone unmanlike even for a lover who is allowed a softer dialect set her
vainly sounding for the source and drift of it She was glad of not having to
encounter eyes like Mr Vernon Whitfords
On behalf of Sir Willoughby it is to be said that his mother without
infringing on the degree of respect for his decisions and sentiments exacted by
him had talked to him of Miss Middleton suggesting a volatility of temperament
in the young lady that struck him as consentaneous with Mrs Mountstuarts
rogue in porcelain and alarmed him as the independent observations of two
worldwise women Nor was it incumbent upon him personally to credit the
volatility in order as far as he could to effect the soulinsurance of his
bride that he might hold the security of the policy The desire for it was in
him his mother had merely tolled a warningbell that he had put in motion
before Clara was not a Constantia But she was a woman and he had been
deceived by women as a man fostering his high ideal of them will surely be The
strain he adopted was quite natural to his passion and his theme The language
of the primitive sentiments of men is of the same expression at all times minus
the primitive colours when a modern gentleman addresses his lady
Lady Patterne died in the Winter season of the new year In April Dr
Middleton had to quit Upton Park and he had not found a place of residence nor
did he quite know what to do with himself in the prospect of his daughters
marriage and desertion of him Sir Willoughby proposed to find him a house
within a circuit of the neighbourhood of Patterne Moreover he invited the Rev
Doctor and his daughter to come to Patterne from Upton for a month and make
acquaintance with his aunts the ladies Eleanor and Isabel Patterne so that it
might not be so strange to Clara to have them as her housemates after her
marriage Dr Middleton omitted to consult his daughter before accepting the
invitation and it appeared when he did speak to her that it should have been
done But she said mildly »Very well papa«
Sir Willoughby had to visit the metropolis and an estate in another county
whence he wrote to his betrothed daily He returned to Patterne in time to
arrange for the welcome of his guests too late however to ride over to them
and meanwhile during his absence Miss Middleton had bethought herself that
she ought to have given her last days of freedom to her friends After the weeks
to be passed at Patterne very few weeks were left to her and she had a wish to
run to Switzerland or Tyrol and see the Alps a quaint idea her father thought
She repeated it seriously and Dr Middleton perceived a feminine shuttle of
indecision at work in her head frightful to him considering that they
signified hesitation between the excellent library and capital winecellar of
Patterne Hall together with the society of that promising young scholar Mr
Vernon Whitford on the one side and a career of hotels equivalent to being
rammed into monster artillery with a crowd every night and shot off on a days
journey through space every morning on the other
»You will have your travelling and your Alps after the ceremony« he said
»I think I would rather stay at home« said she
Dr Middleton rejoined »I would«
»But I am not married yet papa«
»As good my dear«
»A little change of scene I thought «
»We have accepted Willoughbys invitation And he helps me to a house near
you«
»You wish to be near me papa«
»Proximate at a remove communicable«
»Why should we separate«
»For the reason my dear that you exchange a father for a husband«
»If I do not want to exchange«
»To purchase you must pay my child Husbands are not given for nothing«
»No But I should have you papa«
»Should«
»They have not yet parted us dear papa«
»What does that mean« he asked fussily He was in a gentle stew already
apprehensive of a disturbance of the serenity precious to scholars by
postponements of the ceremony and a prolongation of a fathers worries
»Oh the common meaning papa« she said seeing how it was with him
»Ah« said he nodding and blinking gradually back to a state of composure
glad to be appeased on any terms for mutability is but another name for the
sex and it is the enemy of the scholar
She suggested that two weeks at Patterne would offer plenty of time to
inspect the empty houses of the district and should be sufficient considering
the claims of friends and the necessity for going the round of London shops
»Two or three weeks« he agreed hurriedly by way of compromise with that
fearful prospect
Chapter VII
The Betrothed
During the drive from Upton to Patterne Miss Middleton hoped she partly
believed that there was to be a change in Sir Willoughbys manner of courtship
He had been so different a wooer She remembered with some halfconscious
desperation of fervour what she had thought of him at his first approaches and
in accepting him Had she seen him with the eyes of the world thinking they
were her own That look of his the look of indignant contentment had then been
a most noble conquering look splendid as a generals plume at the gallop It
could not have altered Was it that her eyes had altered
The spirit of those days rose up within her to reproach her and whisper of
their renewal she remembered her rosy dreams and the image she had of him her
throbbing pride in him her choking richness of happiness and also her vain
attempting to be very humble usually ending in a carol quaint to think of not
without charm but quaint puzzling
Now men whose incomes have been restricted to the extent that they must live
on their capital soon grow relieved of the forethoughtful anguish wasting them
by the hilarious comforts of the lap upon which they have sunk back insomuch
that they are apt to solace themselves for their intolerable anticipations of
famine in the household by giving loose to one fit or more of reckless
lavishness Lovers in like manner live on their capital from failure of income
they too for the sake of stifling apprehension and piping to the present hour
are lavish of their stock so as rapidly to attenuate it they have their fits
of intoxication in view of coming famine they force memory into play love
retrospectively enter the old house of the past and ravage the larder and
would gladly even resolutely continue in illusion if it were possible for the
broadest honeystore of reminiscences to hold out for a length of time against a
mortal appetite which in good sooth stands on the alternative of a consumption
of the hive or of the creature it is for nourishing Here do lovers show that
they are perishable More than the poor clay world they need fresh supplies
right wholesome juices as it were life in the burst of the bud fruits yet on
the tree rather than potted provender The latter is excellent for byandby
when there will be a vast deal more to remember and appetite shall have but one
tooth remaining Should their minds perchance have been saturated by their first
impressions and have retained them loving by the accountable light of reason
they may have fair harvests as in the early time but that case is rare In
other words love is an affair of two and is only for two that can be as quick
as constant in intercommunication as are sun and earth through the cloud or
face to face They take their breath of life from one another in signs of
affection proofs of faithfulness incentives to admiration Thus it is with men
and women in loves good season But a solitary soul dragging a log must make
the log a God to rejoice in the burden That is not love
Clara was the least fitted of all women to drag a log Few girls would be so
rapid in exhausting capital She was feminine indeed but she wanted
comradeship a living and frank exchange of the best in both with the deeper
feelings untroubled To be fixed at the mouth of a mine and to have to descend
it daily and not to discover great opulence below on the contrary to be
chilled in subterranean sunlessness without any substantial quality that she
could grasp only the mystery of inefficient tallowlight in those caverns of
the complacent talking man this appeared to her too extreme a probation for two
or three weeks How of a lifetime of it
She was compelled by her nature to hope expect and believe that Sir
Willoughby would again be the man she had known when she accepted him Very
singularly to show her simple spirit at the time she was unaware of any
physical coldness to him she knew of nothing but her mind at work objecting to
this and that desiring changes She did not dream of being on the giddy ridge
of the passive or negative sentiment of love where one step to the wrong side
precipitates us into the state of repulsion
Her eyes were lively at their meeting so were his She liked to see him on
the steps with young Crossjay under his arm Sir Willoughby told her in his
pleasantest humour of the boys having got into the laboratory that morning to
escape his taskmaster and blown out the windows She administered a chiding to
the delinquent in the same spirit while Sir Willoughby led her on his arm
across the threshold whispering »Soon for good« In reply to the whisper she
begged for more of the story of young Crossjay »Come into the laboratory« said
he a little less laughingly than softly and Clara begged her father to come
and see young Crossjays latest pranks Sir Willoughby whispered to her of the
length of their separation and his joy to welcome her to the house where she
would reign as mistress very soon He numbered the weeks He whispered »Come«
In the hurry of the moment she did not examine a lightning terror that shot
through her It passed and was no more than the shadow which bends the summer
grasses leaving a ruffle of her ideas in wonder of her having feared herself
for something Her father was with them She and Willoughby were not yet alone
Young Crossjay had not accomplished so fine a piece of destruction as Sir
Willoughbys humour proclaimed of him He had connected a battery with a train
of gunpowder shattering a windowframe and unsettling some bricks Dr
Middleton asked if the youth was excluded from the library and rejoiced to hear
that it was a sealed door to him Thither they went Vernon Whitford was away on
one of his long walks
»There papa you see he is not so very faithful to you« said Clara
Dr Middleton stood frowning over MS notes on the table in Vernons
handwriting He flung up the hair from his forehead and dropped into a seat to
inspect them closely He was now immoveable Clara was obliged to leave him
there She was led to think that Willoughby had drawn them to the library with
the design to be rid of her protector and she began to fear him She proposed
to pay her respects to the ladies Eleanor and Isabel They were not seen and a
footman reported in the drawingroom that they were out driving She grasped
young Crossjays hand Sir Willoughby despatched him to Mrs Montague the
housekeeper for a tea of cakes and jam
»Off« he said and the boy had to run
Clara saw herself without a shield
»And the garden« she cried »I love the garden I must go and see what
flowers are up with you In Spring I care most for wild flowers and if you will
show me daffodils and crocuses and anemones «
»My dearest Clara my bride« said he
»Because they are vulgar flowers« she asked him artlessly to account for
his detaining her
Why would he not wait to deserve her no not deserve to reconcile her
with her real position not reconcile but to repair the image of him in her
mind before he claimed his apparent right
He did not wait He pressed her to his bosom
»You are mine my Clara utterly mine every thought every feeling We are
one the world may do its worst I have been longing for you looking forward
You save me from a thousand vexations One is perpetually crossed That is all
outside us We two With you I am secure Soon I could not tell you whether the
world s alive or dead My dearest«
She came out of it with the sensations of the frightened child that has had
its dip in seawater sharpened to think that after all it was not so severe a
trial Such was her idea and she said to herself immediately What am I that I
should complain Two minutes earlier she would not have thought it but
humiliated pride falls lower than humbleness
She did not blame him she fell in her own esteem less because she was the
betrothed Clara Middleton which was now palpable as a shot in the breast of a
bird than that she was a captured woman of whom it is absolutely expected that
she must submit and when she would rather be gazing at flowers Clara had shame
of her sex They cannot take a step without becoming bondwomen into what a
slavery For herself her trial was over she thought As for herself she
merely complained of a prematureness and crudity best unanalyzed In truth she
could hardly be said to complain She did but criticize him and wonder that a
man was unable to perceive or was not arrested by perceiving unwillingness
discordance dull compliance the bondwomans due instead of the brides
consent Oh sharp distinction as between two spheres
She meted him justice she admitted that he had spoken in a loverlike tone
Had it not been for the iteration of the world she would not have objected
critically to his words though they were words of downright appropriation He
had the right to use them since she was to be married to him But if he had
only waited before playing the privileged lover
Sir Willoughby was enraptured with her Even so purely coldly statuelike
Dianlike would he have prescribed his brides reception of his caress The
suffusion of crimson coming over her subsequently showing her divinely feminine
in reflective bashfulness agreed with his highest definitions of female
character
»Let me conduct you to the garden my love« he said
She replied »I think I would rather go to my room«
»I will send you a wildflower posy«
»Flowers no I do not like them to be gathered«
»I will wait for you on the lawn«
»My head is rather heavy«
His deep concern and tenderness brought him close
She assured him sparklingly that she was well she was ready to accompany
him to the garden and stroll over the park
»Headache it is not« she said
But she had to pay the fee for inviting a solicitous accepted gentlemans
proximity
This time she blamed herself and him and the world he abused and destiny
into the bargain And she cared less about the probation but she craved for
liberty With a frigidity that astonished her she marvelled at the act of
kissing and at the obligation it forced upon an inanimate person to be an
accomplice Why was she not free By what strange right was it that she was
treated as a possession
»I will try to walk off the heaviness« she said
»My own girl must not fatigue herself«
»Oh no I shall not«
»Sit with me Your Willoughby is your devoted attendant«
»I have a desire for the air«
»Then we will walk out«
She was horrified to think how far she had drawn away from him and now
placed her hand on his arm to appease her selfaccusations and propitiate duty
He spoke as she had wished his manner was what she had wished she was his
bride almost his wife her conduct was a kind of madness she could not
understand it
Good sense and duty counselled her to control her wayward spirit
He fondled her hand and to that she grew accustomed her hand was at a
distance And what is a hand Leaving it where it was she treated it as a link
between herself and dutiful goodness Two months hence she was a bondwoman for
life She regretted that she had not gone to her room to strengthen herself with
a review of her situation and meet him thoroughly resigned to her fate She
fancied she would have come down to him amicably It was his present
respectfulness and easy conversation that tricked her burning nerves with the
fancy Five weeks of perfect liberty in the mountains she thought would have
prepared her for the day of bells All that she required was a separation
offering new scenes where she might reflect undisturbed feel clear again
He led her about the flowerbeds too much as if he were giving a
convalescent an airing She chafed at it and pricked herself with remorse In
contrition she expatiated on the beauty of the garden
»All is yours my Clara«
An oppressive load it seemed to her She passively yielded to the man in his
form of attentive courtier his mansion estates and wealth overwhelmed her
They suggested the price to be paid Yet she recollected that on her last
departure through the park she had been proud of the rolling green and spreading
trees Poison of some sort must be operating in her She had not come to him
today with this feeling of sullen antagonism she had caught it here
»You have been well my Clara«
»Quite«
»Not a hint of illness«
»None«
»My bride must have her health if all the doctors in the kingdom die for it
My darling«
»And tell me the dogs«
»Dogs and horses are in very good condition«
»I am glad Do you know I love those ancient French châteaux and farms in
one where salon windows look on poultryyard and stalls I like that homeliness
with beasts and peasants«
He bowed indulgently
»I am afraid we cant do it for you in England my Clara«
»No«
»And I like the farm« said he »But I think our drawingrooms have a better
atmosphere off the garden As to our peasantry we cannot I apprehend modify
our class demarcations without risk of disintegrating the social structure«
»Perhaps I proposed nothing«
»My love I would entreat you to propose if I were convinced that I could
obey«
»You are very good«
»I find my merit nowhere but in your satisfaction«
Although she was not thirsting for dulcet sayings the peacefulness of other
than invitations to the exposition of his mysteries and of their isolation in
oneness inspired her with such calm that she beat about in her brain as if it
were in the brain for the specific injury he had committed Sweeping from
sensation to sensation the young whom sensations impel and distract can
rarely date their disturbance from a particular one unless it be some great
villain injury that has been done and Clara had not felt an individual shame in
his caress the shame of her sex was but a passing protest that left no stamp
So she conceived she had been behaving cruelly and said »Willoughby« because
she was aware of the omission of his name in her previous remarks
His whole attention was given to her
She had to invent the sequel »I was going to beg you Willoughby do not
seek to spoil me You compliment me Compliments are not suited to me You think
too highly of me It is nearly as bad as to be slighted I am I am a «
But she could not follow his example even as far as she had gone her prim
little sketch of herself set beside her real ugly earnest feelings rang of a
mincing simplicity and was a step in falseness How could she display what she
was
»Do I not know you« he said
The melodious bass notes expressive of conviction on that point signified
as well as the words that no answer was the right answer She could not dissent
without turning his music to discord his complacency to amazement She held her
tongue knowing that he did not know her and speculating on the division made
bare by their degrees of the knowledge a deep cleft
He alluded to friends in her neighbourhood and his own The bridesmaids were
mentioned
»Miss Dale you will hear from my Aunt Eleanor declines on the plea of
indifferent health She is rather a morbid person with all her really estimable
qualities It will do no harm to have none but young ladies of your own age a
bouquet of young buds though one blowing flower among them However she has
decided My principal annoyance has been Vernons refusal to act as my best
man«
»Mr Whitford refuses«
»He half refuses I do not take no from him His pretext is a dislike to the
ceremony«
»I share it with him«
»I sympathize with you If we might say the words and pass from sight There
is a way of cutting off the world I have it at times completely I lose it
again as if it were a cabalistic phrase one had to utter But with you You
give it me for good It will be for ever eternally my Clara Nothing can harm
nothing touch us we are one anothers Let the world fight it out we have
nothing to do with it«
»If Mr Whitford should persist in refusing«
»So entirely one that there never can be question of external influences I
am we will say riding home from the hunt I see you awaiting me I read your
heart as though you were beside me And I know that I am coming to the one who
reads mine You have me you have me like an open book you and only you«
»I am to be always at home« Clara said unheeded and relieved by his not
hearing
»Have you realized it that we are invulnerable The world cannot hurt us
it cannot touch us Felicity is ours and we are impervious in the enjoyment of
it Something divine surely something divine on earth Clara being to one
another that between which the world can never interpose What I do is right
what you do is right Perfect to one another Each new day we rise to study and
delight in new secrets Away with the crowd We have not even to say it we are
in an atmosphere where the world cannot breathe«
»O the world« Clara partly carolled on a sigh that sank deep
Hearing him talk as one exulting on the mountain top when she knew him to
be in the abyss was very strange provocative of scorn
»My letters« he said incitingly
»I read them«
»Circumstances have imposed a long courtship on us my Clara and I perhaps
lamenting the laws of decorum I have done so still felt the benefit of the
gradual initiation It is not good for women to be surprised by a sudden
revelation of mans character We also have things to learn there is matter
for learning everywhere Some day you will tell me the difference of what you
think of me now from what you thought when we first «
An impulse of doubleminded acquiescence caused Clara to stammer as on a
sob
»I I daresay I shall«
She added »If it is necessary«
Then she cried out »Why do you attack the world You always make me pity
it«
He smiled at her youthfulness »I have passed through that stage It leads
to my sentiment Pity it by all means«
»No« said she »but pity it side with it not consider it so bad The
world has faults glaciers have crevasses mountains have chasms but is not the
effect of the whole sublime not to admire the mountain and the glacier because
they can be cruel seems to me And the world is beautiful«
»The world of nature yes The world of men«
»Yes«
»My love I suspect you to be thinking of the world of ballrooms«
»I am thinking of the world that contains real and great generosity true
heroism We see it round us«
»We read of it The world of the romancewriter«
»No the living world I am sure it is our duty to love it I am sure we
weaken ourselves if we do not If I did not I should be looking on mist
hearing a perpetual boom instead of music I remember hearing Mr Whitford say
that cynicism is intellectual dandyism without the coxcombs feathers and it
seems to me that cynics are only happy in making the world as barren to others
as they have made it for themselves«
»Old Vernon« ejaculated Sir Willoughby with a countenance rather uneasy
as if it had been flicked with a glove »He strings his phrases by the dozen«
»Papa contradicts that and says he is very clever and very simple«
»As to cynics my dear Clara oh certainly certainly you are right They
are laughable contemptible But understand me I mean we cannot feel or if we
feel we cannot so intensely feel our oneness except by dividing ourselves from
the world«
»Is it an art«
»If you like It is our poetry But does not love shun the world Two that
love must have their substance in isolation«
»No they will be eating themselves up«
»The purer the beauty the more it will be out of the world«
»But not opposed«
»Put it in this way« Willoughby condescended »Has experience the same
opinion of the world as ignorance«
»It should have more charity«
»Does virtue feel at home in the world«
»Where it should be an example to my idea«
»Is the world agreeable to holiness«
»Then are you in favour of monasteries«
He poured a little runlet of halflaughter over her head of the sound
assumed by genial compassion
It is irritating to hear that when we imagine we have spoken to the point
»Now in my letters Clara «
»I have no memory Willoughby«
»You will however have observed that I am not completely myself in my
letters «
»In your letters to men you may be«
The remark threw a pause across his thoughts He was of a sensitiveness
terribly tender A single stroke on it reverberated swellingly within the man
and most and infuriately searching at the spots where he had been wounded
especially where he feared the world might have guessed the wound Did she imply
that he had no hand for loveletters Was it her meaning that women would not
have much taste for his epistolary correspondence She had spoken in the plural
with an accent on men Had she heard of Constantia Had she formed her own
judgement about the creature The supernatural sensitiveness of Sir Willoughby
shrieked a peal of affirmatives He had often meditated on the moral obligation
of his unfolding to Clara the whole truth of his conduct to Constantia for
whom as for other suicides there were excuses He at least was bound to supply
them She had behaved badly but had he not given her some cause If so
manliness was bound to confess it
Supposing Clara heard the worlds version first Men whose pride is their
backbone suffer convulsions where other men are barely aware of a shock and Sir
Willoughby was taken with galvanic jumpings of the spirit within him at the
idea of the world whispering to Clara that he had been jilted
»My letters to men you say my love«
»Your letters of business«
»Completely myself in my letters of business« He stared indeed
She relaxed the tension of his figure by remarking »You are able to express
yourself to men as your meaning dictates In writing to to us it is I
suppose more difficult«
»True my love I will not exactly say difficult I can acknowledge no
difficulty Language I should say is not fitted to express emotion Passion
rejects it«
»For dumbshow and pantomime«
»No but the writing of it coldly«
»Ah coldly«
»My letters disappoint you«
»I have not implied that they do«
»My feelings dearest are too strong for transcription I feel pen in
hand like the mythological Titan at war with Jove strong enough to hurl
mountains and finding nothing but pebbles The simile is a good one You must
not judge of me by my letters«
»I do not I like them« said Clara
She blushed eyed him hurriedly and seeing him complacent resumed »I
prefer the pebble to the mountain but if you read poetry you would not think
human speech incapable of «
»My love I detest artifice Poetry is a profession«
»Our poets would prove to you «
»As I have often observed Clara I am no poet«
»I have not accused you Willoughby«
»No poet and with no wish to be a poet Were I one my life would supply
material I can assure you my love My conscience is not entirely at rest
Perhaps the heaviest matter troubling it is that in which I was least wilfully
guilty You have heard of a Miss Durham«
»I have heard yes of her«
»She may be happy I trust she is If she is not I cannot escape some
blame An instance of the difference between myself and the world now The
world charges it upon her I have interceded to exonerate her«
»That was generous Willoughby«
»Stay I fear I was the primary offender But I Clara I under a sense of
honour acting under a sense of honour would have carried my engagement
through«
»What had you done«
»The story is long dating from an early day in the downy antiquity of my
youth as Vernon says«
»Mr Whitford says that«
»One of old Vernons odd sayings Its a story of an early fascination«
»Papa tells me Mr Whitford speaks at times with wise humour«
»Family considerations the ladys health among other things her position
in the calculations of relatives intervened Still there was the fascination
I have to own it Grounds for feminine jealousy«
»Is it at an end«
»Now with you my darling Clara indeed at an end or could I have opened
my inmost heart to you Could I have spoken of myself so unreservedly that in
part you know me as I know myself Oh but would it have been possible to
enclose you with myself in that intimate union so secret unassailable«
»You did not speak to her as you speak to me«
»In no degree«
»What could have « Clara checked the murmured exclamation
Sir Willoughbys expoundings on his latest of texts would have poured forth
had not a footman stepped across the lawn to inform him that his builder was in
the laboratory and requested permission to consult with him
Claras plea of a horror of a talk of bricks and joists excused her from
accompanying him He had hardly been satisfied by her manner he knew not why
He left her convinced that he must do and say more to reach down to her female
intelligence
She saw young Crossjay springing with pots of jam in him join his patron
at a bound and taking a lift of arms fly aloft clapping heels Her
reflections were confused Sir Willoughby was admirable with the lad »Is he two
men« she thought and the thought ensued »Am I unjust« She headed a run with
young Crossjay to divert her mind
Chapter VIII
A Run with the Truant a Walk with the Master
The sight of Miss Middleton running inflamed young Crossjay with the passion of
the game of hare and hounds He shouted a viewhalloo and flung up his legs
She was fleet she ran as though a hundred little feet were bearing her onward
smooth as water over the lawn and the sweeps of grass of the park so swiftly
did the hidden pair multiply one another to speed her So sweet was she in her
flowing pace that the boy as became his age translated admiration into a
dogged frenzy of pursuit and continued pounding along when far outstripped
determined to run her down or die Suddenly her flight wound to an end in a
dozen twittering steps and she sank Young Crossjay attained her with just
breath enough to say »You are a runner«
»I forgot you had been having your tea my poor boy« said she
»And you dont pant a bit« was his encomium
»Dear me no not more than a bird You might as well try to catch a bird«
Young Crossjay gave a knowing nod »Wait till I get my second wind«
»Now you must confess that girls run faster than boys«
»They may at the start«
»They do everything better«
»Theyre flashinthepans«
»They learn their lessons«
»You cant make soldiers or sailors of them though«
»And that is untrue Have you never read of Mary Ambree and Mistress Hannah
Snell of Pondicherry And there was the bride of the celebrated William Taylor
And what do you say to Joan of Arc What do you say to Boadicea I suppose you
have never heard of the Amazons«
»They werent English«
»Then it is your own countrywomen you decry sir«
Young Crossjay betrayed anxiety about his false position and begged for the
stories of Mary Ambree and the others who were English
»See you will not read for yourself you hide and play truant with Mr
Whitford and the consequence is you are ignorant of your countrys history«
Miss Middleton rebuked him enjoying his wriggle between a perception of her fun
and an acknowledgement of his peccancy She commanded him to tell her which was
the glorious Valentines day of our naval annals the name of the hero of the
day and the name of his ship To these questions his answers were as ready as
the guns of the good ship Captain for the Spanish fourdecker
»And that you owe to Mr Whitford« said Miss Middleton
»He bought me the books« young Crossjay growled and plucked at
grassblades and bit them foreseeing dimly but certainly the termination of all
this
Miss Middleton lay back on the grass and said »Are you going to be fond of
me Crossjay«
The boy sat blinking His desire was to prove to her that he was
immoderately fond of her already and he might have flown at her neck had she
been sitting up but her recumbency and eyelids half closed excited wonder in
him and awe His young heart beat fast
»Because my dear boy« she said leaning on her elbow »you are a very nice
boy but an ungrateful boy and there is no telling whether you will not punish
any one who cares for you Come along with me pluck me some of these cowslips
and the speedwells near them I think we both love wildflowers« She rose and
took his arm
»You shall row me on the lake while I talk to you seriously«
It was she however who took the sculls at the boathouse for she had been
a playfellow with boys and knew that one of them engaged in a manly exercise is
not likely to listen to a woman
»Now Crossjay« she said Dense gloom overcame him like a cowl She bent
across her hands to laugh »As if I were going to lecture you you silly boy«
He began to brighten dubiously »I used to be as fond of birdsnesting as you
are I like brave boys and I like you for wanting to enter the Royal Navy
Only how can you if you do not learn You must get the captains to pass you
you know Somebody spoils you Miss Dale or Mr Whitford«
»Do they« sang out young Crossjay
»Sir Willoughby does«
»I dont know about spoil I can come round him«
»I am sure he is very kind to you I daresay you think Mr Whitford rather
severe You should remember he has to teach you so that you may pass for the
navy You must not dislike him because he makes you work Supposing you had
blown yourself up today You would have thought it better to have been working
with Mr Whitford«
»Sir Willoughby says when hes married you wont let me hide«
»Ah It is wrong to pet a big boy like you Does not he what you call tip
you Crossjay«
»Generally halfcrown pieces Ive had a crownpiece Ive had sovereigns«
»And for that you do as he bids you and he indulges you because you
Well but though Mr Whitford does not give you money he gives you his time he
tries to get you into the navy«
»He pays for me«
»What do you say«
»My keep And as for liking him if he were at the bottom of the water
here Id go down after him I mean to learn Were both of us here at six
oclock in the morning when its light and have a swim He taught me Only I
never cared for schoolbooks«
»Are you quite certain that Mr Whitford pays for you«
»My father told me he did and I must obey him He heard my father was poor
with a family He went down to see my father My father came here once and Sir
Willoughby wouldnt see him I know Mr Whitford does And Miss Dale told me he
did My mother says she thinks he does it to make up to us for my fathers long
walk in the rain and the cold he caught coming here to Patterne«
»So you see you should not vex him Crossjay He is a good friend to your
father and to you You ought to love him«
»I like him and I like his face«
»Why his face«
»Its not like those faces Miss Dale and I talk about him She thinks that
Sir Willoughby is the bestlooking man ever born«
»Were you not speaking of Mr Whitford«
»Yes old Vernon Thats what Sir Willoughby calls him« young Crossjay
excused himself to her look of surprise »Do you know what he makes me think of
his eyes I mean He makes me think of Robinson Crusoes old goat in the
cavern I like him because hes always the same and youre not positive about
some people Miss Middleton if you look on at cricket in comes a safe man for
ten runs He may get more and he never gets less and you should hear the old
farmers talk of him in the booth Thats just my feeling«
Miss Middleton understood that some illustration from the cricketingfield
was intended to throw light on the boys feeling for Mr Whitford Young
Crossjay was evidently warming to speak from his heart But the sun was low she
had to dress for the dinnertable and she landed him with regret as at a
holiday over Before they parted he offered to swim across the lake in his
clothes or dive to the bed for anything she pleased to throw declaring
solemnly that it should not be lost
She walked back at a slow pace and sang to herself above her darkerflowing
thoughts like the reedwarbler on the branch beside the nightstream a simple
song of a lighthearted sound independent of the shifting black and grey of the
flood underneath
A step was at her heels
»I see you have been petting my scapegrace«
»Mr Whitford Yes not petting I hope I tried to give him a lecture Hes
a dear lad but I fancy trying«
She was in fine sunset colour unable to arrest the mounting tide She had
been rowing she said and as he directed his eyes according to his wont
penetratingly she defended herself by fixing her mind on Robinson Crusoes old
goat in the recess of the cavern
»I must have him away from here very soon« said Vernon »Here hes quite
spoilt Speak of him to Willoughby I cant guess at his ideas of the boys
future but the chance of passing for the navy wont bear trifling with and if
ever there was a lad made for the navy its Crossjay«
The incident of the explosion in the laboratory was new to Vernon
»And Willoughby laughed« he said »There are seaport crammers who stuff
young fellows for examination and we shall have to pack off the boy at once to
the best one of the lot we can find I would rather have had him under me up to
the last three months and have made sure of some roots to what is knocked into
his head But hes ruined here And I am going So I shall not trouble him for
many weeks longer Dr Middleton is well«
»My father is well yes He pounced like a falcon on your notes in the
library«
Vernon came out with a chuckle
»They were left to attract him I am in for a controversy«
»Papa will not spare you to judge from his look«
»I know the look«
»Have you walked far today«
»Nine and a half hours My Flibbertigibbet is too much for me at times and
I had to walk off my temper«
She cast her eyes on him thinking of the pleasure of dealing with a temper
honestly coltish and manfully open to a specific
»All those hours were required«
»Not quite so long«
»You are training for your Alpine tour«
»Its doubtful whether I shall get to the Alps this year I leave the Hall
and shall probably be in London with a pen to sell«
»Willoughby knows that you leave him«
»As much as Mont Blanc knows that he is going to be climbed by a party
below He sees a spec or two in the valley«
»He has not spoken of it«
»He would attribute it to changes «
Vernon did not conclude the sentence
She became breathless without emotion but checked by the barrier
confronting an impulse to ask what changes She stooped to pluck a cowslip
»I saw daffodils lower down the park« she said »One or two theyre nearly
over«
»We are welloff for wildflowers here« he answered
»Do not leave him Mr Whitford«
»He will not want me«
»You are devoted to him«
»I cant pretend that«
»Then it is the changes you imagine you foresee If any occur why
should they drive you away«
»Well Im two and thirty and have never been in the fray a kind of
nondescript halfscholar and by nature half billman or bowman or musketeer if
Im worth anything London s the field for me But thats what I have to try«
»Papa will not like your serving with your pen in London he will say you
are worth too much for that«
»Good men are at it I should not care to be ranked above them«
»They are wasted he says«
»Error If they have their private ambition they may suppose they are
wasted But the value to the world of a private ambition I do not clearly
understand«
»You have not an evil opinion of the world« said Miss Middleton sick at
heart as she spoke with the sensation of having invited herself to take a drop
of poison
He replied »One might as well have an evil opinion of a river here its
muddy there its clear one day troubled another at rest We have to treat it
with common sense«
»Love it«
»In the sense of serving it«
»Not think it beautiful«
»Part of it is part of it the reverse«
»Papa would quote the mulier formosa«
»Except that fish is too good for the black extremity Woman is excellent
for the upper«
»How do you say that not cynically I believe Your view commends itself
to my reason«
She was grateful to him for not stating it in ideal contrast with Sir
Willoughbys view If he had so intensely did her youthful blood desire to be
enamoured of the world that she felt he would have lifted her off her feet For
a moment a gulf beneath had been threatening When she said »Love it« a little
enthusiasm would have wafted her into space fierily as wine but the sober »In
the sense of serving it« entered her brain and was matter for reflection upon
it and him
She could think of him in pleasant liberty uncorrected by her womans
instinct of peril He had neither arts nor graces nothing of his cousins easy
social frontface She had once witnessed the military precision of his dancing
and had to learn to like him before she ceased to pray that she might never be
the victim of it as his partner He walked heroically his pedestrian vigour
being famous but that means one who walks away from the sex not excelling in
the recreations where men and women join hands He was not much of a horseman
either Sir Willoughby enjoyed seeing him on horseback And he could scarcely be
said to shine in a drawingroom unless when seated beside a person ready for
real talk Even more than his merits his demerits pointed him out as a man to
be a friend to a young woman who wanted one His way of life pictured to her
troubled spirit an enviable smoothness and his having achieved that smooth way
she considered a sign of strength and she wished to lean in idea upon some
friendly strength His reputation for indifference to the frivolous charms of
girls clothed him with a noble coldness and gave him the distinction of a
farseen solitary iceberg in Southern waters The popular notion of hereditary
titled aristocracy resembles her sentiment for a man that would not flatter and
could not be flattered by her sex he appeared superior almost to awfulness She
was young but she had received much flattery in her ears and by it she had
been snared and he disdaining to practise the fowlers arts or to cast a
thought on small fowls appeared to her to have a pride founded on natural
loftiness
They had not spoken for a while when Vernon said abruptly »The boys
future rather depends on you Miss Middleton I mean to leave as soon as
possible and I do not like his being here without me though you will look
after him I have no doubt But you may not at first see where the spoiling
hurts him He should be packed off at once to the crammer before you are Lady
Patterne Use your influence Willoughby will support the lad at your request
The cost cannot be great There are strong grounds against my having him in
London even if I could manage it May I count on you«
»I will mention it I will do my best« said Miss Middleton strangely
dejected
They were now on the lawn where Sir Willoughby was walking with the ladies
Eleanor and Isabel his maiden aunts
»You seem to have coursed the hare and captured the hart« he said to his
bride
»Started the truant and run down the pædagogue« said Vernon
»Ay you wont listen to me about the management of that boy« Sir
Willoughby retorted
The ladies embraced Miss Middleton One offered up an ejaculation in eulogy
of her looks the other of her healthfulness then both remarked that with
indulgence young Crossjay could be induced to do anything Clara wondered
whether inclination or Sir Willoughby had disciplined their individuality out of
them and made them his shadows his echoes She gazed from them to him and
feared him But as yet she had not experienced the power in him which could
threaten and wrestle to subject the members of his household to the state of
satellites Though she had in fact been giving battle to it for several months
she had held her own too well to perceive definitely the character of the spirit
opposing her
She said to the ladies »Ah no Mr Whitford has chosen the only method for
teaching a boy like Crossjay«
»I propose to make a man of him« said Sir Willoughby
»What is to become of him if he learns nothing«
»If he pleases me he will be provided for I have never abandoned a
dependant«
Clara let her eyes rest on his and without turning or dropping shut them
The effect was discomforting to him He was very sensitive to the intentions
of eyes and tones which was one secret of his rigid grasp of the dwellers in
his household They were taught that they had to render agreement under sharp
scrutiny Studious eyes devoid of warmth devoid of the shyness of sex that
suddenly closed on their look signified a want of comprehension of some kind
it might be hostility of understanding Was it possible he did not possess her
utterly He frowned up
Clara saw the lift of his brows and thought »My mind is my own married or
not«
It was the point in dispute
Chapter IX
Clara and Lætitia Meet They Are Compared
An hour before the time for lessons next morning young Crossjay was on the lawn
with a big bunch of wildflowers He left them at the Halldoor for Miss
Middleton and vanished into bushes
These vulgar weeds were about to be dismissed to the dustheap by the great
officials of the household but as it happened that Miss Middleton had seen them
from the window in Crossjays hands the discovery was made that they were
indeed his presentationbouquet and a footman received orders to place them
before her She was very pleased The arrangement of the flowers bore witness to
fairer fingers than the boys own in the disposition of the rings of colour red
campion and anemone cowslip and speedwell primroses and woodhyacinths and
rising out of the blue was a branch bearing thick white blossom so thick and
of so pure a whiteness that Miss Middleton while praising Crossjay for
soliciting the aid of Miss Dale was at a loss to name the tree
»It is a gardeners improvement on the Vestal of the forest the wild
cherry« said Dr Middleton »and in this case we may admit the gardeners claim
to be valid though I believe that with his gift of doubleblossom he has
improved away the fruit Call this the Vestal of civilization then he has at
least done something to vindicate the beauty of the office as well as the
justness of the title«
»It is Vernons Holy Tree the young rascal has been despoiling« said Sir
Willoughby merrily
Miss Middleton was informed that this doubleblossom wild cherrytree was
worshipped by Mr Whitford
Sir Willoughby promised he would conduct her to it »You« he said to her
»can bear the trial few complexions can it is to most ladies a crueller test
than snow Miss Dale for example becomes old lace within a dozen yards of it
I should like to place her under the tree beside you«
»Dear me though but that is investing the hamadryad with novel and
terrible functions« exclaimed Dr Middleton
Clara said »Miss Dale could drag me into a superior Court to show me fading
beside her in gifts more valuable than a complexion«
»She has a fine ability« said Vernon
All the world knew so Clara knew of Miss Dales romantic admiration of Sir
Willoughby she was curious to see Miss Dale and study the nature of a devotion
that might be within reason imitable for a man who could speak with such
steely coldness of the poor lady he had fascinated Well perhaps it was good
for the hearts of women to be beneath a frost to be schooled restrained
turned inward on their dreams Yes then his coldness was desireable it
encouraged an ideal of him It suggested and seemed to propose to Claras mind
the divineness of separation instead of the deadly accuracy of an intimate
perusal She tried to look on him as Miss Dale might look and while partly
despising her for the dupery she envied and more than criticizing him for the
inhuman numbness of sentiment which offered up his worshipper to point a
complimentary comparison she was able to imagine a distance whence it would be
possible to observe him uncritically kindly admiringly as the moon a handsome
mortal for example
In the midst of her thoughts she surprised herself by saying »I certainly
was difficult to instruct I might see things clearer if I had a fine ability I
never remember to have been perfectly pleased with my immediate lesson «
She stopped wondering whither her tongue was leading her then added to
save herself »And that may be why I feel for poor Crossjay«
Mr Whitford apparently did not think it remarkable that she should have
been set off gabbling of »a fine ability« though the eulogistic phrase had been
pronounced by him with an impressiveness to make his ear aware of an echo
Sir Willoughby dispersed her vapourish confusion »Exactly« he said »I
have insisted with Vernon I dont know how often that you must have the lad by
his affections He wont bear driving It had no effect on me Boys of spirit
kick at it I think I know boys Clara«
He found himself addressing eyes that regarded him as though he were a small
speck a pins head in the circle of their remote contemplation They were
wide they closed
She opened them to gaze elsewhere
He was very sensitive
Even then when knowingly wounding him or because of it she was trying to
climb back to that altitude of the thin division of neutral ground from which
we see a lovers faults and are above them pure surveyors She climbed
unsuccessfully it is true soon despairing and using the effort as a pretext to
fall back lower
Dr Middleton withdrew Sir Willoughbys attention from the imperceptible
annoyance
»No sir no the birch the birch Boys of spirit commonly turn into solid
men and the solider the men the more surely do they vote for Busby For me I
pray he may be immortal in Great Britain Seaair nor mountainair is half so
bracing I venture to say that the power to take a licking is better worth
having than the power to administer one Horse him and birch him if Crossjay
runs from his books«
»It is your opinion sir« his host bowed to him affably shocked on behalf
of the ladies
»So positively so sir that I will undertake without knowledge of their
antecedents to lay my finger on the men in public life who have not had early
Busby They are illbalanced men Their seat of reason is not a concrete They
wont take rough and smooth as they come They make bad blood cant forgive
sniff right and left for approbation and are excited to anger if an East wind
does not flatter them Why sir when they have grown to be seniors you find
these men mixed up with the nonsense of their youth you see they are
unthreshed We English beat the world because we take a licking well I hold it
for a surety of a proper sweetness of blood«
The smile of Sir Willoughby waxed ever softer as the shakes of his head
increased in contradictoriness »And yet« said he with the air of conceding a
little after having answered the Rev Doctor and convicted him of error »Jack
requires it to keep him in order On board ship your argument may apply Not I
suspect among gentlemen No«
»Good night to your gentlemen« said Dr Middleton
Clara heard Miss Eleanor and Miss Isabel interchange remarks
»Willoughby would not have suffered it«
»It would entirely have altered him«
She sighed and put a tooth on her underlip The gift of humourous fancy is
in women fenced round with forbidding placards they have to choke it if they
perceive a piece of humour for instance the young Willoughby grasped by his
master and his horrified relatives rigid at the sight of preparations for the
deed of sacrilege they have to blindfold the minds eye They are societys
harddrilled soldiery Prussians that must both march and think in step It is
for the advantage of the civilized world if you like since men have decreed
it or matrons have so read the decree but here and there a younger woman
haply an uncorrected insurgent of the sex matured here and there feels that her
lot was cast with her head in a narrower pit than her limbs
Clara speculated as to whether Miss Dale might be perchance a person of a
certain liberty of mind She asked for some little only some little free play
of mind in a house that seemed to wear as it were a cap of iron Sir
Willoughby not merely ruled he throned he inspired and how She had noticed
an irascible sensitiveness in him alert against a shadow of disagreement and as
he was kind when perfectly appeased the sop was offered by him for submission
She noticed that even Mr Whitford forebore to alarm the sentiment of authority
in his cousin If he did not breathe Sir Willoughby like the ladies Eleanor and
Isabel he would either acquiesce in a syllable or be silent He never strongly
dissented The habit of the house with its iron cap was on him as it was on
the servants and would be Oh shudders of the shipwrecked that see their end
in drowning on the wife
»When do I meet Miss Dale« she inquired
»This very evening at dinner« replied Sir Willoughby
Then thought she there is that to look forward to
She indulged her morbid fit and shut up her senses that she might live in
the anticipation of meeting Miss Dale and long before the approach of the
hour her hope of encountering any other than another dull adherent of Sir
Willoughby had fled So she was languid for two of the three minutes when she
sat alone with Lætitia in the drawingroom before the ladies had assembled
»It is Miss Middleton« Lætitia said advancing to her
»My jealousy tells me for you have won my boy Crossjays heart and done
more to bring him to obedience in a few minutes than we have been able to do in
months«
»His wildflowers were so welcome to me« said Clara
»He was very modest over them And I mention it because boys of his age
usually thrust their gifts in our faces fresh as they pluck them and you were
to be treated quite differently«
»We saw his good fairys hand«
»She resigns her office but I pray you not to love him too well in return
for he ought to be away reading with one of those men who get boys through their
examinations He is we all think a born sailor and his place is in the navy«
»But Miss Dale I love him so well that I shall consult his interests and
not my own selfishness And if I have influence he will not be a week with you
longer It should have been spoken of today I must have been in some dream I
thought of it I know I will not forget to do what may be in my power«
Claras heart sank at the renewed engagement and plighting of herself
involved in her asking a favour urging any sort of petition The cause was
good Besides she was plighted already
»Sir Willoughby is really fond of the boy« she said
»He is fond of exciting fondness in the boy« said Miss Dale »He has not
dealt much with children I am sure he likes Crossjay he could not otherwise be
so forbearing it is wonderful what he endures and laughs at«
Sir Willoughby entered The presence of Miss Dale illuminated him as the
burning taper lights up consecrated plate Deeply respecting her for her
constancy esteeming her for a model of taste he was never in her society
without that happy consciousness of shining which calls forth the treasures of
the man and these it is no exaggeration to term unbounded when all that comes
from him is taken for gold
The effect of the evening on Clara was to render her distrustful of her
later antagonism She had unknowingly passed into the spirit of Miss Dale Sir
Willoughby aiding for she could sympathize with the view of his constant
admirer on seeing him so cordially and smoothly gay as one may say
domestically witty the most agreeable form of wit Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson
discerned that he had a leg of physical perfection Miss Dale distinguished it
in him in the vital essence and before either of these ladies he was not simply
a radiant he was a productive creature so true it is that praise is our
fructifying sun He had even a touch of the romantic air which Clara remembered
as her first impression of the favourite of the county and strange she found it
to observe this resuscitated idea confronting her experience What if she had
been captious inconsiderate O blissful revival of the sense of peace The
happiness of pain departing was all that she looked for and her conception of
liberty was to learn to love her chains provided that he would spare her the
caress In this mood she sternly condemned Constantia »We must try to do good
we must not be thinking of ourselves we must make the best of our path in
life« She revolved these infantile precepts with humble earnestness and not to
be tardy in her striving to do good with a remote but pleasurable glimpse of
Mr Whitford hearing of it she took the opportunity to speak to Sir Willoughby
on the subject of young Crossjay at a moment when alighting from horseback he
had shown himself to advantage among a gallant cantering company He showed to
great advantage on horseback among men being invariably the best mounted and
he had a cavalierly style possibly cultivated but effective On foot his
raised head and halfdropped eyelids too palpably assumed superiority
»Willoughby I want to speak« she said and shrank as she spoke lest he should
immediately grant everything in the mood of courtship and invade her respite
»I want to speak of that dear boy Crossjay You are fond of him He is rather an
idle boy here and wasting time «
»Now you are here and when you are here for good my love for good « he
fluted away in loverliness forgetful of Crossjay whom he presently took up
»The boy recognizes his most sovereign lady and will do your bidding though
you should order him to learn his lessons Who would not obey Your beauty alone
commands But what is there beyond a grace a hue divine that sets you not
so much above as apart severed from the world«
Clara produced an active smile in duty and pursued »If Crossjay were sent
at once to some house where men prepare boys to pass for the navy he would have
his chance and the navy is distinctly his profession His father is a brave
man and he inherits bravery and he has a passion for a sailors life only he
must be able to pass his examination and he has not much time«
Sir Willoughby gave a slight laugh in sad amusement
»My dear Clara you adore the world and I suppose you have to learn that
there is not a question in this wrangling world about which we have not disputes
and contests ad nauseam I have my notions concerning Crossjay Vernon has his
I should wish to make a gentleman of him Vernon marks him for a sailor But
Vernon is the lads protector I am not Vernon took him from his father to
instruct him and he has a right to say what shall be done with him I do not
interfere Only I cant prevent the lad from liking me Old Vernon seems to feel
it I assure you I hold entirely aloof If I am asked in spite of my
disapproval of Vernons plans for the boy to subscribe to his departure I can
but shrug because as you see I have never opposed Old Vernon pays for him
he is the master he decides and if Crossjay is blown from the masthead in a
gale the blame does not fall on me These my dear are matters of reason«
»I would not venture to intrude on them« said Clara »if I had not
suspected that money «
»Yes« cried Willoughby »and it is a part And let old Vernon surrender the
boy to me I will immediately relieve him of the burden on his purse Can I do
that my dear for the furtherance of a scheme I condemn The point is this
latterly I have invited Captain Patterne to visit me just previous to his
departure for the African Coast where Government despatches Marines when there
is no other way of killing them I sent him a special invitation He thanked me
and curtly declined The man I may almost say is my pensioner Well he calls
himself a Patterne he is undoubtedly a man of courage he has elements of our
blood and the name I think I am to be approved for desiring to make a better
gentleman of the son than I behold in the father and seeing that life from an
early age on board ship has anything but made a gentleman of the father I hold
that I am right in shaping another course for the son«
»Naval officers « Clara suggested
»Some« said Willoughby »But they must be men of birth coming out of homes
of good breeding Strip them of the halo of the title of naval officers and I
fear you would not often say gentlemen when they step into a drawingroom I
went so far as to fancy I had some claim to make young Crossjay something
different It can be done the Patterne comes out in his behaviour to you my
love it can be done But if I take him I claim undisputed sway over him I
cannot make a gentleman of the fellow if I am to compete with this person and
that In fine he must look up to me he must have one model«
»Would you then provide for him subsequently«
»According to his behaviour«
»Would not that be precarious for him«
»More so than the profession you appear inclined to choose for him«
»But there he would be under clear regulations«
»With me he would have to respond to affection«
»Would you secure to him a settled income For an idle gentleman is bad
enough a penniless gentleman «
»He has only to please me my dear and he will be launched and protected«
»But if he does not succeed in pleasing you«
»Is it so difficult«
»Oh« Clara fretted
»You see my love I answer you« said Sir Willoughby
He resumed »But let old Vernon have his trial with the lad He has his own
ideas Let him carry them out I shall watch the experiment«
Clara was for abandoning her task in sheer faintness
»Is not the question one of money« she said shyly knowing Mr Whitford to
be poor
»Old Vernon chooses to spend his money that way« replied Sir Willoughby
»If it saves him from breaking his shins and risking his neck on his Alps we
may consider it well employed«
»Yes« Claras voice occupied a pause
She seized her languor as it were a curling snake and cast it off »But I
understand that Mr Whitford wants your assistance Is he not not rich When
he leaves the Hall to try his fortune in literature in London he may not be so
well able to support Crossjay and obtain the instruction necessary for the boy
and it would be generous to help him«
»Leaves the Hall« exclaimed Willoughby »I have not heard a word of it He
made a bad start at the beginning and I should have thought that would have
tamed him had to throw over his Fellowship ahem Then he received a small
legacy some time back and wanted to be off to push his luck in Literature rank
gambling as I told him Londonizing can do him no good I thought that nonsense
of his was over years ago What is it he has from me about a hundred and
fifty a year and it might be doubled for the asking and all the books he
requires and these writers and scholars no sooner think of a book than they
must have it And do not suppose me to complain I am a man who will not have a
single shilling expended by those who serve immediately about my person I
confess to exacting that kind of dependancy Feudalism is not an objectionable
thing if you can be sure of the lord You know Clara and you should know me in
my weakness too I do not claim servitude I stipulate for affection I claim to
be surrounded by persons loving me And with one dearest So that we two
can shut out the world we live what is the dream of others Nothing imaginable
can be sweeter It is a veritable heaven on earth To be the possessor of the
whole of you Your thoughts hopes all«
Sir Willoughby intensified his imagination to conceive more he could not
or could not express it and pursued »But what is this talk of Vernons leaving
me He cannot leave He has barely a hundred a year of his own You see I
consider him I do not speak of the ingratitude of the wish to leave You know
my dear I have a deadly abhorrence of partings and such like As far as I can
I surround myself with healthy people specially to guard myself from having my
feelings wrung and excepting Miss Dale whom you like my darling does like
her« the answer satisfied him »with that one exception I am not aware of a
case that threatens to torment me And here is a man under no compulsion
talking of leaving the Hall In the name of goodness why But why Am I to
imagine that the sight of perfect felicity distresses him We are told that the
world is desperately wicked I do not like to think it of my friends yet
otherwise their conduct is often hard to account for«
»If it were true you would not punish Crossjay« Clara feebly interposed
»I should certainly take Crossjay and make a man of him after my own model
my dear But who spoke to you of this«
»Mr Whitford himself And let me give you my opinion Willoughby that he
will take Crossjay with him rather than leave him if there is a fear of the
boys missing his chance of the navy«
»Marines appear to be in the ascendant« said Sir Willoughby astonished at
the locution and pleading in the interests of a son of one »Then Crossjay he
must take I cannot accept half the boy I am« he laughed »the legitimate
claimant in the application for judgement before the wise King Besides the boy
has a dose of my blood in him he has none of Vernons not one drop«
»Ah«
»You see my love«
»Oh I do see yes«
»I put forth no pretensions to perfection« Sir Willoughby continued »I can
bear a considerable amount of provocation still I can be offended and I am
unforgiving when I have been offended Speak to Vernon if a natural occasion
should spring up I shall of course have to speak to him You may Clara have
observed a man who passed me on the road as we were cantering home without a
hint of a touch to his hat That man is a tenant of mine farming six hundred
acres Hoppner by name a man bound to remember that I have independently of my
position obliged him frequently His lease of my ground has five years to run
I must say I detest the churlishness of our country population and where it
comes across me I chastise it Vernon is a different matter he will only
require to be spoken to One would fancy the old fellow laboured now and then
under a magnetic attraction to beggary My love« he bent to her and checked
their pacing up and down »you are tired«
»I am very tired today« said Clara
His arm was offered She laid two fingers on it and they dropped when he
attempted to press them to his rib
He did not insist To walk beside her was to share in the stateliness of her
walking
He placed himself at a corner of the doorway for her to pass him into the
house and doated on her cheek her ear and the softly dusky nape of her neck
where this way and that the little lightercoloured irreclaimable curls running
truant from the comb and the knot curls halfcurls rootcurls
vineringlets weddingrings fledgeling feathers tufts of down blown wisps
waved or fell waved over or up or involutedly or strayed loose and downward
in the form of small silken paws hardly any of them much thicker than a crayon
shading cunninger than long round locks of gold to trick the heart
Lætitia had nothing to show resembling such beauty
Chapter X
In which Sir Willoughby Chances to Supply the Title for Himself
Now Vernon was useful to his cousin he was the accomplished secretary of a man
who governed his estates shrewdly and diligently but had been once or twice
unlucky in his judgements pronounced from the magisterial bench as a Justice of
the Peace on which occasions a halfcolumn of trenchant English supported by an
apposite classical quotation impressed Sir Willoughby with the value of such a
secretary in a controversy He had no fear of that fiery dragon of scorching
breath the newspaper Press while Vernon was his righthand man and as he
intended to enter Parliament he foresaw the greater need of him Furthermore
he liked his cousin to date his own controversial writings on classical
subjects from Patterne Hall It caused his house to shine in a foreign field
proved the service of scholarship by giving it a flavour of a bookish
aristocracy that though not so well worth having and indeed in itself
contemptible is above the material and titular one cannot quite say how
There however is the flavour Dainty sauces are the life the nobility of
famous dishes taken alone the former would be nauseating the latter plebeian
It is thus or somewhat so when you have a poet still better a scholar
attached to your household Sir Willoughby deserved to have him for he was
above his county friends in his apprehension of the flavour bestowed by the man
and having him he had made them conscious of their deficiency His cook M
Dehors pupil of the great Godefroy was not the only French cook in the county
but his cousin and secretary the rising scholar the elegant essayist was an
unparalleled decoration of his kind of course Personally we laugh at him
you had better not unless you are fain to show that the higher world of polite
literature is unknown to you Sir Willoughby could create an abject silence at a
county dinnertable by an allusion to Vernon »at work at home upon his Etruscans
or his Dorians« and he paused a moment to let the allusion sink laughed
audibly to himself over his eccentric cousin and let him rest
In addition Sir Willoughby abhorred the loss of a familiar face in his
domestic circle He thought ill of servants who could accept their dismissal
without petitioning to stay with him A servant that gave warning partook of a
certain fiendishness Vernons project of leaving the Hall offended and alarmed
the sensitive gentleman »I shall have to hand Letty Dale to him at last« he
thought yielding in bitter generosity to the conditions imposed on him by the
ungenerousness of another For since his engagement to Miss Middleton his
electrically forethoughtful mind had seen in Miss Dale if she stayed in the
neighbourhood and remained unmarried the governess of his infant children
often consulting with him But here was a prospect dashed out The two then
may marry and live in a cottage on the borders of his park and Vernon can
retain his post and Lætitia her devotion The risk of her casting it off had to
be faced Marriage has been known to have such an effect on the most faithful of
women that a great passion fades to naught in their volatile bosoms when they
have taken a husband We see in women especially the triumph of the animal over
the spiritual Nevertheless risks must be run for a purpose in view
Having no taste for a discussion with Vernon whom it was his habit to
confound by breaking away from him abruptly when he had delivered his opinion
he left it to both the persons interesting themselves in young Crossjay to
imagine that he was meditating on the question of the lad and to imagine that
it would be wise to leave him to meditate for he could be preternaturally acute
in reading any of his fellowcreatures if they crossed the current of his
feelings And meanwhile he instructed the ladies Eleanor and Isabel to bring
Lætitia Dale on a visit to the Hall where dinnerparties were soon to be given
and a pleasing talker would be wanted where also a woman of intellect steeped
in a splendid sentiment hitherto a miracle of female constancy might stir a
younger woman to some emulation Definitely to resolve to bestow Lætitia upon
Vernon was more than he could do enough that he held the card
Regarding Clara his genius for perusing the heart which was not in perfect
harmony with him through the series of responsive movements to his own informed
him of a something in her character that might have suggested to Mrs
Mountstuart Jenkinson her indefensible absurd »rogue in porcelain« Idea there
was none in that phrase yet if you looked on Clara as a delicately inimitable
porcelain beauty the suspicion of a delicately inimitable ripple over her
features touched a thought of innocent roguery wildwood roguery the likeness
to the costly and lovely substance appeared to admit a fitness in the dubious
epithet He detested but was haunted by the phrase
She certainly had at times the look of the nymph that has gazed too long on
the faun and has unwittingly copied his lurking lip and long sliding eye Her
play with young Crossjay resembled a return of the lady to the cat she flung
herself into it as if her real vitality had been in suspense till she saw the
boy Sir Willoughby by no means disapproved of a physical liveliness that
promised him health in his mate but he began to feel in their conversations
that she did not sufficiently think of making herself a nest for him Steely
points were opposed to him when he figuratively bared his bosom to be taken to
the softest and fairest She reasoned in other words armed her ignorance She
reasoned against him publicly and lured Vernon to support her Influence is to
be counted for power and her influence over Vernon was displayed in her
persuading him to dance one evening at Lady Culmers after his melancholy
exhibitions of himself in the art and not only did she persuade him to stand up
fronting her she manoeuvred him through the dance like a clever boy cajoling a
top to come to him without reeling both to Vernons contentment and to Sir
Willoughbys for he was the last man to object to a manifestation of power in
his bride Considering her influence with Vernon he renewed the discourse upon
young Crossjay and as he was addicted to system he took her into his
confidence that she might be taught to look to him and act for him
»Old Vernon has not spoken to you again of that lad« he said
»Yes Mr Whitford has asked me«
»He does not ask me my dear«
»He may fancy me of greater aid than I am«
»You see my love if he puts Crossjay on me he will be off He has this
craze for enlisting his pen in London as he calls it and I am accustomed to
him I dont like to think of him as a hack scribe writing nonsense from
dictation to earn a pitiful subsistence I want him here and supposing he
goes he offends me he loses a friend and it will not be the first time that a
friend has tried me too far but if he offends me he is extinct«
»Is what« cried Clara with a look of fright
»He becomes to me at once as if he had never been He is extinct«
»In spite of your affection«
»On account of it I might say Our nature is mysterious and mine as much
so as any Whatever my regrets he goes out This is not a language I talk to
the world I do the man no harm I am not to be named unchristian But «
Sir Willoughby mildly shrugged and indicated a spreading out of the arms
»But do do talk to me as you talk to the world Willoughby give me some
relief«
»My own Clara we are one You should know me at my worst we will say if
you like as well as at my best«
»Should I speak too«
»What could you have to confess«
She hung silent the wave of an insane resolution swelled in her bosom and
subsided before she said »Cowardice incapacity to speak«
»Women« said he
We do not expect so much of women the heroic virtues as little as the
vices They have not to unfold the scroll of character
He resumed and by his tone she understood that she was now in the inner
temple of him »I tell you these things I quite acknowledge they do not elevate
me They help to constitute my character I tell you most humbly that I have in
me much too much of the fallen archangels pride«
Clara bowed her head over a sustained indrawn breath
»It must be pride« he said in a reverie superinduced by her thoughtfulness
over the revelation and glorying in the black flames demoniacal wherewith he
crowned himself
»Can you not correct it« said she
He replied profoundly vexed by disappointment »I am what I am It might be
demonstrated to you mathematically that it is corrected by equivalents or
substitutions in my character If it be a failing assuming that«
»It seems one to me so cruelly to punish Mr Whitford for seeking to
improve his fortunes«
»He reflects on my share in his fortunes He has had but to apply to me for
his honorarium to be doubled«
»He wishes for independence«
»Independence of me«
»Liberty«
»At my expense«
»Oh Willoughby«
»Ay but this is the world and I know it my love and beautiful as your
incredulity may be you will find it more comforting to confide in my knowledge
of the selfishness of the world My sweetest you will you do For a breath
of difference between us is intolerable Do you not feel how it breaks our magic
ring One small fissure and we have the world with its muddy deluge But my
subject was old Vernon Yes I pay for Crossjay if Vernon consents to stay I
waive my own scheme for the lad though I think it the better one Now then to
induce Vernon to stay He has his ideas about staying under a mistress of the
household and therefore not to contest it he is a man of no argument a sort
of lunatic determination takes the place of it with old Vernon let him settle
close by me in one of my cottages very well and to settle him we must marry
him«
»Who is there« said Clara beating for the lady in her mind
»Women« said Willoughby »are born matchmakers and the most persuasive is
a young bride With a man and a man like old Vernon she is irresistible It
is my wish and that arms you It is your wish that subjugates him If he goes
he goes for good If he stays he is my friend I deal simply with him as with
every one It is the secret of authority Now Miss Dale will soon lose her
father He exists on a pension she has the prospect of having to leave the
neighbourhood of the Hall unless she is established near us Her whole heart is
in this region it is the poor souls passion Count on her agreeing But she
will require a little wooing and old Vernon wooing Picture the scene to
yourself my love His notion of wooing I suspect will be to treat the lady
like a lexicon and turn over the leaves for the word and fly through the
leaves for another word and so get a sentence Dont frown at the poor old
fellow my Clara some have the language on their tongues and some have not
Some are very dry sticks manly men honest fellows but so cut away so
polished away from the sex that they are in absolute want of outsiders to
supply the silken filaments to attach them Actually« Sir Willoughby laughed in
Claras face to relax the dreamy stoniness of her look »But I can assure you
my dearest I have seen it Vernon does not know how to speak as we speak He
has or he had what is called a sneaking affection for Miss Dale It was the
most amusing thing possible his courtship the air of a dog with an uneasy
conscience trying to reconcile himself with his master We were all in fits of
laughter Of course it came to nothing«
»Will Mr Whitford« said Clara »offend you to extinction if he declines«
Willoughby breathed an affectionate »Tush« to her silliness
»We bring them together as we best can You see Clara I desire and I
will make some sacrifices to detain him«
»But what do you sacrifice a cottage« said Clara combative at all
points
»An ideal perhaps I lay no stress on sacrifice I strongly object to
separations And therefore you will say I prepare the ground for unions Put
your influence to good service my love I believe you could persuade him to
give us the Highland fling on the drawingroom table«
»There is nothing to say to him of Crossjay«
»We hold Crossjay in reserve«
»It is urgent«
»Trust me I have my ideas I am not idle That boy bids fair for a capital
horseman Eventualities might « Sir Willoughby murmured to himself and
addressing his bride »The cavalry If we put him into the cavalry we might
make a gentleman of him not be ashamed of him Or under certain
eventualities the Guards Think it over my love De Craye who will I assume
act best man for me supposing old Vernon to pull at the collar is a
LieutenantColonel in the Guards a thorough gentleman of the brainless class
if you like but an elegant fellow an Irishman you will see him and I should
like to set a naval lieutenant beside him in a drawingroom for you to compare
them and consider the model you would choose for a boy you are interested in
Horace is grace and gallantry incarnate fatuous probably I have always been
too friendly with him to examine closely He made himself one of my dogs though
my elder and seemed to like to be at my heels One of the few mens faces I can
call admirably handsome with nothing behind it perhaps As Vernon says a
nothing picked by the vultures and bleached by the desert Not a bad talker if
you are satisfied with keeping up the ball He will amuse you Old Horace does
not know how amusing he is«
»Did Mr Whitford say that of Colonel De Craye«
»I forget the person of whom he said it So you have noticed old Vernons
foible Quote him one of his epigrams and he is in motion head and heels It is
an infallible receipt for tuneing him If I want to have him in good temper I
have only to remark as you said I straighten his back instantly«
»I« said Clara »have noticed chiefly his anxiety concerning the boy for
which I admire him«
»Creditable if not particularly farsighted and sagacious Well then my
dear attack him at once lead him to the subject of our fair neighbour She is
to be our guest for a week or so and the whole affair might be concluded far
enough to fix him before she leaves She is at present awaiting the arrival of a
cousin to attend on her father A little gentle pushing will precipitate old
Vernon on his knees as far as he ever can unbend them but when a lady is made
ready to expect a declaration you know why she does not does she demand
the entire formula though some beautiful fortresses «
He enfolded her Clara was growing hardened to it To this she was fated
and not seeing any way of escape she invoked a friendly frost to strike her
blood and passed through the minute unfeelingly Having passed it she
reproached herself for making so much of it thinking it a lesser endurance than
to listen to him What could she do she was caged by her word of honour as
she at one time thought by her cowardice at another and dimly sensible that
the latter was a stronger lock than the former she mused on the abstract
question whether a womans cowardice can be so absolute as to cast her into the
jaws of her aversion Is it to be conceived Is there not a moment when it
stands at bay But haggardvisaged Honour then starts up claiming to be dealt
with in turn for having courage restored to her she must have the courage to
break with honour she must dare to be faithless and not merely say I will be
brave but be brave enough to be dishonourable The cage of a plighted woman
hungering for her disengagement has two keepers a noble and a vile where on
earth is creature so dreadfully enclosed It lies with her to overcome what
degrades her that she may win to liberty by overcoming what exalts
Contemplating her situation this idea or vapour of youth taking the
godlike semblance of an idea sprang born of her present sickness in Claras
mind that it must be an illconstructed tumbling world where the hour of
ignorance is made the creator of our destiny by being forced to the decisive
elections upon which lifes main issues hang Her teacher had brought her to
contemplate his view of the world
She thought likewise how must a man despise women who can expose himself
as he does to me
Miss Middleton owed it to Sir Willoughby Patterne that she ceased to think
like a girl When had the great change begun Glancing back she could imagine
that it was near the period we call in love the first almost from the first
And she was led to imagine it through having become barred from imagining her
own emotions of that season They were so dead as not to arise even under the
forms of shadows in fancy Without imputing blame to him for she was reasonable
so far she deemed herself a person entrapped In a dream somehow she had
committed herself to a lifelong imprisonment and oh terror not in a quiet
dungeon the barren walls closed round her talked called for ardour expected
admiration
She was unable to say why she could not give it why she retreated more and
more inwardly why she invoked the frost to kill her tenderest feelings She was
in revolt until a whisper of the day of bells reduced her to blank submission
out of which a breath of peace drew her to revolt again in gradual rapid stages
and once more the aspect of that singular day of merry blackness felled her to
earth It was alive it advanced it had a mouth it had a song She received
letters of bridesmaids writing of it and felt them as waves that hurl a log of
wreck to shore Following which afflicting sense of antagonism to the whole
circle sweeping on with her she considered the possibility of her being in a
commencement of madness Otherwise might she not be accused of a capriciousness
quite as deplorable to consider She had written to certain of those young
ladies not very long since of this gentleman how in what tone And was it
her madness then her recovery now It seemed to her that to have written of
him enthusiastically resembled madness more than to shudder away from the union
but standing alone opposing all she has consented to set in motion is too
strange to a girl for perfect justification to be found in reason when she seeks
it
Sir Willoughby was destined himself to supply her with that key of special
insight which revealed and stamped him in a title to fortify her spirit of
revolt consecrate it almost
The popular physician of the county and famous anecdotal wit Dr Corney
had been a guest at dinner overnight and the next day there was talk of him
and of the resources of his art displayed by Armand Dehors on his hearing that
he was to minister to the tastes of a gathering of hommes desprit Sir
Willoughby glanced at Dehors with his customary benevolent irony in speaking of
the persons great in their way who served him »Why he cannot give us daily so
good a dinner one must I suppose go to French nature to learn The French are
in the habit of making up for all their deficiencies with enthusiasm They have
no reverence if I had said to him I want something particularly excellent
Dehors I should have had a commonplace dinner But they have enthusiasm on
draught and that is what we must pull at Know one Frenchman and you know
France I have had Dehors under my eye two years and I can mount his enthusiasm
at a word He took hommes desprit to denote men of letters Frenchmen have
destroyed their nobility so for the sake of excitement they put up the
literary man not to worship him that they cant do its to put themselves in
a state of effervescence They will not have real greatness above them so they
have sham That they may justly call it equality perhaps Ay for all your
shake of the head my good Vernon You see human nature comes round again try
as we may to upset it and the French only differ from us in wading through
blood to discover that they are at their old trick once more I am your equal
sir your born equal Oh you are a man of letters Allow me to be in a bubble
about you Yes Vernon and I believe the fellow looks up to you as the head of
the establishment I am not jealous Provided he attends to his functions
Theres a French philosopher whos for naming the days of the year after the
birthdays of French men of letters Voltaireday Rousseauday Racineday so
on Perhaps Vernon will inform us who takes April 1st«
»A few trifling errors are of no consequence when you are in the vein of
satire« said Vernon »Be satisfied with knowing a nation in the person of a
cook«
»They may be reading us English off in a jockey« said Dr Middleton »I
believe that jockeys are the exchange we make for cooks and our neighbours do
not get the best of the bargain«
»No but my dear good Vernon its nonsensical« said Sir Willoughby »why
be bawling every day the names of men of letters«
»Philosophers«
»Well philosophers«
»Of all countries and times And they are the benefactors of humanity«
»Bene « Sir Willoughbys derisive laugh broke the word »Theres a
pretension in all that irreconcilable with English sound sense Surely you see
it«
»We might« said Vernon »if you like give alternative titles to the days
or have alternating days devoted to our great families that performed
meritorious deeds upon such a day«
The rebel Clara delighting in his banter was heard »Can we furnish
sufficient«
»A poet or two could help us«
»Perhaps a statesman« she suggested
»A pugilist if wanted«
»For blowy days« observed Dr Middleton and hastily in penitence picked up
the conversation he had unintentionally prostrated with a general remark on
newfangled notions and a word aside to Vernon which created the blissful
suspicion in Clara that her father was indisposed to second Sir Willoughbys
opinions even when sharing them
Sir Willoughby had led the conversation Displeased that the lead should be
withdrawn from him he turned to Clara and related one of the afterdinner
anecdotes of Dr Corney and another with a vast deal of human nature in it
concerning a valetudinarian gentleman whose wife chanced to be desperately ill
and he went to the physicians assembled in consultation outside the sickroom
imploring them by all he valued and in tears to save the poor patient for him
saying »She is everything to me everything and if she dies I am compelled to
run the risks of marrying again I must marry again for she has accustomed me
so to the little attentions of a wife that in truth I cant I cant lose her
She must be saved« And the loving husband of any devoted wife wrung his hands
»Now there Clara there you have the Egoist« added Sir Willoughby »That
is the perfect Egoist You see what he comes to and his wife The man was
utterly unconscious of giving vent to the grossest selfishness«
»An Egoist« said Clara
»Beware of marrying an Egoist my dear« He bowed gallantly and so blindly
fatuous did he appear to her that she could hardly believe him guilty of
uttering the words she had heard from him and kept her eyes on him vacantly
till she came to a sudden full stop in the thoughts directing her gaze She
looked at Vernon she looked at her father and at the ladies Eleanor and
Isabel None of them saw the man in the word none noticed the word yet this
word was her medical herb her illuminating lamp the key of him and alas but
she thought it by feeling her need of one the advocate pleading in apology for
her Egoist She beheld him unfortunate selfdesignated man that he was in
his good qualities as well as bad under the implacable lamp and his good were
drenched in his first person singular His generosity roared of I louder than
the rest Conceive him at the age of Dr Corneys hero »Pray save my wife for
me I shall positively have to get another if I lose her and one who may not
love me half so well or understand the peculiarities of my character and
appreciate my attitudes« He was in his thirtysecond year therefore a young
man strong and healthy yet his garrulous return to his principal theme his
emphasis on I and me lent him the seeming of an old man spotted with decaying
youth
»Beware of marrying an Egoist«
Would he help her to escape The idea of the scene ensuing upon her petition
for release and the being dragged round the walls of his egoism and having her
head knocked against the corners alarmed her with sensations of sickness
There was the example of Constantia But that desperate young lady had been
assisted by a gallant loving gentleman she had met a Captain Oxford
Clara brooded on those two until they seemed heroic She questioned herself
Could she were one to come She shut her eyes in languor leaning the wrong
way of her wishes yet unable to say No
Sir Willoughby had positively said beware Marrying him would be a deed
committed in spite of his express warning She went so far as to conceive him
subsequently saying »I warned you« She conceived the state of marriage with
him as that of a woman tied not to a man of heart but to an obelisk lettered
all over with hieroglyphics and everlastingly hearing him expound them
relishingly renewing his lectures on them
Full surely this immoveable stoneman would not release her This
petrifaction of egoism would from amazedly to austerely refuse the petition His
pride would debar him from understanding her desire to be released And if she
resolved on it without doing it straightway in Constantias manner the
miserable bewilderment of her father for whom such a complication would be a
tragic dilemma had to be thought of Her father with all his tenderness for
his child would make a stand on a point of honour though certain to yield to
her he would be distressed in a tempest of worry and Dr Middleton thus
afflicted threw up his arms he shunned books shunned speech and resembled a
castaway on the ocean with nothing between himself and his calamity As for the
world if would be barking at her heels She might call the man she wrenched her
hand from Egoist jilt the world would call her She dwelt bitterly on her
agreement with Sir Willoughby regarding the world laying it to his charge that
her garden had become a place of nettles her horizon an unlighted fourth side
of a square
Clara passed from person to person visiting the Hall There was universal
and as she was compelled to see honest admiration of the host Not a soul had a
suspicion of his cloaked nature Her agony of hypocrisy in accepting their
compliments as the bride of Sir Willoughby Patterne was poorly moderated by
contempt of them for their infatuation She tried to cheat herself with the
thought that they were right and that she was the foolish and wicked inconstant
In her anxiety to strangle the rebelliousness which had been communicated from
her mind to her blood and was present with her whether her mind was in action
or not she encouraged the ladies Eleanor and Isabel to magnify the fictitious
man of their idolatry hoping that she might enter into them imaginatively that
she might to some degree subdue herself to the necessity of her position If she
partly succeeded in stupefying her antagonism five minutes of him undid the
work
He requested her to wear the Patterne Pearls for a dinnerparty of grand
ladies telling her that he would commission Miss Isabel to take them to her
Clara begged leave to decline them on the plea of having no right to wear them
He laughed at her modish modesty »But really it might almost be classed with
affectation« said he »I give you the right Virtually you are my wife«
»No«
»Before heaven«
»No We are not married«
»As my betrothed will you wear them to please me«
»I would rather not I cannot wear borrowed jewels These I cannot wear
Forgive me I cannot And Willoughby« she said scorning herself for want of
fortitude in not keeping to the simply blunt provocative refusal »does one not
look like a victim decked for the sacrifice the garlanded heifer you see on
Greek vases in that array of jewelry«
»My dear Clara« exclaimed the astonished lover »how can you term them
borrowed when they are the Patterne jewels our family heirloom pearls
unmatched I venture to affirm decidedly in my county and many others and
passing to the use of the mistress of the house in the natural course of
things«
»They are yours they are not mine«
»Prospectively they are yours«
»It would be to anticipate the fact to wear them«
»With my consent my approval at my request«
»I am not yet I never may be «
»My wife« He laughed triumphantly and silenced her by manly smothering
Her scruple was perhaps an honourable one he said Perhaps the jewels were
safer in their iron box He had merely intended a surprise and gratification to
her
Courage was coming to enable her to speak more plainly when his
discontinuing to insist on her wearing the jewels under an appearance of
deference to her wishes disarmed her by touching her sympathies
She said however »I fear we do not often agree Willoughby«
»When you are a little older« was the irritating answer
»It would then be too late to make the discovery«
»The discovery I apprehend is not imperative my love«
»It seems to me that our minds are opposed«
»I should« said he »have been awake to it at a single indication be
sure«
»But I know« she pursued »I have learnt that the ideal of conduct for
women is to subject their minds to the part of an accompaniment«
»For women my love my wife will be in natural harmony with me«
»Ah« She compressed her lips The yawn would come »I am sleepier here than
anywhere«
»Ours my Clara is the finest air of the kingdom It has the effect of
seaair«
»But if I am always asleep here«
»We shall have to make a public exhibition of the Beauty«
This dash of his liveliness defeated her
She left him feeling the contempt of the brain feverishly quickened and
finepointed for the brain chewing the cud in the happy pastures of
unawakenedness So violent was the fever so keen her introspection that she
spared few and Vernon was not among them Young Crossjay whom she considered
the least able of all to act as an ally was the only one she courted with a
real desire to please him he was the one she affectionately envied he was the
youngest the freest he had the world before him and he did not know how
horrible the world was or could be made to look She loved the boy from
expecting nothing of him Others Vernon Whitford for instance could help and
moved no hand He read her case A scrutiny so penetrating under its air of
abstract thoughtfulness though his eyes did but rest on her a second or two
signified that he read her line by line and to the end excepting what she
thought of him for probing her with that sharp steel of insight without a
purpose
She knew her minds injustice It was her case her lamentable case the
impatient panicstricken nerves of a captured wild creature which cried for
help She exaggerated her sufferings to get strength to throw them off and lost
it in the recognition that they were exaggerated and out of the conflict issued
recklessness with a cry as wild as any coming of madness for she did not blush
in saying to herself »If some one loved me« Before hearing of Constantia she
had mused upon liberty as a virgin Goddess men were out of her thoughts even
the figure of a rescuer if one dawned in her mind was more angel than hero
That fair childish maidenliness had ceased With her body straining in her
dragons grasp with the savour of loathing unable to contend unable to speak
aloud she began to speak to herself and all the health of her nature made her
outcry womanly »If I were loved« not for the sake of love but for free
breathing and her utterance of it was to ensure life and enduringness to the
wish as the yearning of a mother on a drowning ship is to get her infant to
shore »If some noble gentleman could see me as I am and not disdain to aid me
Oh to be caught up out of this prison of thorns and brambles I cannot tear my
own way out I am a coward My cry for help confesses that A beckoning of a
finger would change me I believe I could fly bleeding and through hootings to
a comrade Oh a comrade I do not want a lover I should find another Egoist
not so bad but enough to make me take a breath like death I could follow a
soldier like poor Sally or Molly He stakes his life for his country and a
woman may be proud of the worst of men who do that Constantia met a soldier
Perhaps she prayed and her prayer was altered She did ill But oh how I love
her for it His name was Harry Oxford Papa would call him her Perseus She must
have felt that there was no explaining what she suffered She had only to act
to plunge First she fixed her mind on Harry Oxford To be able to speak his
name and see him awaiting her must have been relief a reprieve She did not
waver she cut the links she signed herself over O brave girl what do you
think of me But I have no Harry Whitford I am alone Let anything be said
against women we must be very bad to have such bad things written of us only
say this that to ask them to sign themselves over by oath and ceremony because
of an ignorant promise to the man they have been mistaken in is it is «
the sudden consciousness that she had put another name for Oxford struck her a
buffet drowning her in crimson
Chapter XI
The DoubleBlossom Wild CherryTree
Sir Willoughby chose a moment when Clara was with him and he had a good retreat
through foldingwindows to the lawn in case of cogency on the enemys part to
attack his cousin regarding the preposterous plot to upset the family by a
scamper to London »By the way Vernon what is this youve been mumbling to
everybody save me about leaving us to pitch yourself into the stewpot and be
made broth of London is no better and you are fit for considerably better
Dont I beg you continue to annoy me Take a run abroad if you are restless
Take two or three months and join us as we are travelling home and then think
of settling pray Follow my example if you like You can have one of my
cottages or a place built for you Anything to keep a man from destroying the
sense of stability about one In London my dear old fellow you lose your
identity What are you there I ask you what One has the feeling of the house
crumbling when a man is perpetually for shifting and cannot fix himself Here
you are known you can study at your ease up in London you are nobody I tell
you honestly I feel it myself a week of London literally drives me home to
discover the individual where I left him Be advised You dont mean to go«
»I have the intention« said Vernon
»Why«
»Ive mentioned it to you«
»To my face«
»Over your shoulder is generally the only chance you give me«
»You have not mentioned it to me to my knowledge As to the reason I might
hear a dozen of your reasons and I should not understand one Its against your
interests and against my wishes Come friend I am not the only one you
distress Why Vernon you yourself have said that the English would be very
perfect Jews if they could manage to live on the patriarchal system You said
it yes you said it but I recollect it clearly Oh as for your
doublemeanings you said the thing and you jeered at the incapacity of English
families to live together on account of bad temper and now you are the first
to break up our union I decidedly do not profess to be perfect Jew but I do
«
Sir Willoughby caught signs of a probably smiling commerce between his bride
and his cousin He raised his face appeared to be consulting his eyelids and
resolved to laugh »Well I own it I do like the idea of living patriarchally«
He turned to Clara »The Rev Doctor one of us«
»My father« she said
»Why not«
»Papas habits are those of a scholar«
»That you might not be separated from him my dear«
Clara thanked Sir Willoughby for the kindness of thinking of her father
mentally analyzing the kindness in which at least she found no unkindness
scarcely egoism though she knew it to be there
»We might propose it« said he
»As a compliment«
»If he would condescend to accept it as a compliment These great scholars
And if Vernon goes our inducement for Dr Middleton to stay But it is
too absurd for discussion Oh Vernon about Master Crossjay I will see to it«
He was about to give Vernon his shoulder and step into the garden when
Clara said »You will have Crossjay trained for the navy Willoughby There is
not a day to lose«
»Yes yes I will see to it Depend on me for holding the young rascal in
view«
He presented his hand to her to lead her over the step to the gravel
surprised to behold how flushed she was
She responded to the invitation by putting her hand forth from a bent elbow
with hesitating fingers »It should not be postponed Willoughby«
Her attitude suggested a stipulation before she touched him
»Its an affair of money as you know Willoughby« said Vernon »If Im in
London I cant well provide for the boy for some time to come or its not
certain that I can«
»Why on earth should you go«
»Thats another matter I want you to take my place with him«
»In which case the circumstances are changed I am responsible for him and
I have a right to bring him up according to my own prescription«
»We are likely to have one idle lout the more«
»I guarantee to make a gentleman of him«
»We have too many of your gentlemen already«
»You cant have enough my good Vernon«
»Theyre the national apology for indolence Training a penniless boy to be
one of them is nearly as bad as an education in a thieves den he will be just
as much at war with society if not game for the police«
»Vernon have you seen Crossjays father the now Captain of Marines I
think you have«
»Hes a good man and a very gallant officer«
»And in spite of his qualities hes a cub and an old cub He is a captain
now but he takes that rank very late you will own There you have what you
call a good man undoubtedly a gallant officer neutralized by the fact that he
is not a gentleman Holding intercourse with him is out of the question No
wonder Government declines to advance him rapidly Young Crossjay does not bear
your name He bears mine and on that point alone I should have a voice in the
settlement of his career And I say emphatically that a drawingroom approval of
a young man is the best certificate for his general chances in life I know of a
City of London merchant of some sort and I know a firm of lawyers who will
have none but University men in their office at least they have the
preference«
»Crossjay has a bullet head fit neither for the University nor the
drawingroom« said Vernon »equal to fighting and dying for you and thats
all«
Sir Willoughby contented himself with replying »The lad is a favourite of
mine«
His anxiety to escape a rejoinder caused him to step into the garden
leaving Clara behind him »My love« said he in apology as he turned to her
She could not look stern but she had a look without a dimple to soften it and
her eyes shone For she had wagered in her heart that the dialogue she provoked
upon Crossjay would expose the Egoist And there were other motives wrapped up
and intertwisted unrecognizable sufficient to strike her with worse than the
flush of her selfknowledge of wickedness when she detained him to speak of
Crossjay before Vernon
At last it had been seen that she was conscious of suffering in her
association with this Egoist Vernon stood for the world taken into her
confidence The world then would not think so ill of her she thought
hopefully at the same time that she thought most evilly of herself But
selfaccusations were for the day of reckoning she would and must have the
world with her or the belief that it was coming to her in the terrible
struggle she foresaw within her horizon of self now her utter boundary She
needed it for the inevitable conflict Little sacrifices of her honesty might be
made Considering how weak she was how solitary how dismally entangled daily
disgraced beyond the power of any veiling to conceal from her fiery sensations
a little hypocrisy was a poor girls natural weapon She crushed her
conscientious mind with the assurance that it was magnifying trifles not
entirely unaware that she was magnifying trifles not entirely unaware that she
was thereby preparing it for a convenient blindness in the presence of dread
alternatives but the pride of laying such stress on small sins gave her purity
a blush of pleasure and overcame the inner warning In truth she dared not think
evilly of herself for long sailing into battle as she was Nuns and anchorites
may they have leisure She regretted the forfeits she had to pay for
selfassistance and if it might be won the worlds regretted felt the peril
of the loss and took them up and flung them
»You see old Vernon has no argument« Willoughby said to her
He drew her hand more securely on his arm to make her sensible that she
leaned on a pillar of strength
»Whenever the little brain is in doubt perplexed undecided which course to
adopt she will come to me will she not I shall always listen« he resumed
soothingly »My own and I to you when the world vexes me So we round our
completeness You will know me you will know me in good time I am not a
mystery to those to whom I unfold myself I do not pretend to mystery yet I
will confess your home your hearts Willoughby is not exactly identical
with the Willoughby before the world One must be armed against that rough
beast«
Certain is the vengeance of the young upon monotony nothing more certain
They do not scheme it but sameness is a poison to their systems and vengeance
is their heartier breathing their stretch of the limbs run in the fields
nature avenges them
»When does Colonel De Craye arrive« said Clara
»Horace In two or three days You wish him to be on the spot to learn his
part my love«
She had not flown forward to the thought of Colonel De Crayes arrival she
knew not why she had mentioned him but now she flew back shocked first into
shadowy subterfuge and then into the criminals dock
»I do not wish him to be here I do not know that he has a part to learn I
have no wish Willoughby did you not say I should come to you and you would
listen will you listen I am so commonplace that I shall not be understood by
you unless you take my words for the very meaning of the words I am unworthy I
am volatile I love my liberty I want to be free «
»Flitch« he called
It sounded necromantic
»Pardon me my love« he said »The man you see yonder violates my express
injunction that he is not to come on my grounds and here I find him on the
borders of my garden«
Sir Willoughby waved his hand to the abject figure of a man standing to
intercept him
»Volatile unworthy liberty my dearest« he bent to her when the man had
appeased him by departing »you are at liberty within the law like all good
women I shall control and direct your volatility and your sense of worthiness
must be reestablished when we are more intimate it is timidity The sense of
unworthiness is a guarantee of worthiness ensuing I believe I am in the vein of
a sermon Whose the fault The sight of that man was annoying Flitch was a
stableboy groom and coachman like his father before him at the Hall thirty
years his father died in our service Mr Flitch had not a single grievance
here only one day the demon seizes him with the notion of bettering himself he
wants his independence and he presents himself to me with a story of a shop in
our county town Flitch remember if you go you go for good Oh he quite
comprehended Very well goodbye Flitch The man was respectful he looked
the fool he was very soon to turn out to be Since then within a period of
several years I have had him against my express injunctions ten times on my
grounds Its curious to calculate Of course the shop failed and Flitchs
independence consists in walking about with his hands in his empty pockets and
looking at the Hall from some elevation near«
»Is he married Has he children« said Clara
»Nine and a wife that cannot cook or sew or wash linen«
»You could not give him employment«
»After his having dismissed himself«
»It might be overlooked«
»Here he was happy He decided to go elsewhere to be free of course of
my yoke He quitted my service against my warning Flitch we will say
emigrated with his wife and nine children and the ship foundered He returns
but his place is filled he is a ghost here and I object to ghosts«
»Some work might be found for him«
»It will be the same with old Vernon my dear If he goes he goes for good
It is the vital principle of my authority to insist on that A dead leaf might
as reasonably demand to return to the tree Once off off for all eternity I am
sorry but such was your decision my friend I have you see Clara elements
in me «
»Dreadful«
»Exert your persuasive powers with Vernon You can do wellnigh what you
will with the old fellow We have Miss Dale this evening for a week or two Lead
him to some ideas of her Elements in me I was remarking which will no more
bear to be handled carelessly than gunpowder At the same time there is no
reason why they should not be respected managed with some degree of regard for
me and attention to consequences Those who have not done so have repented«
»You do not speak to others of the elements in you« said Clara
»I certainly do not I have but one bride« was his handsome reply
»Is it fair to me that you should show me the worst of you«
»All myself my own«
His ingratiating droop and familiar smile rendered »All myself« so
affectionately meaningful in its happy reliance upon her excess of love that at
last she understood she was expected to worship him and uphold him for
whatsoever he might be without any estimation of qualities as indeed love
does or young love does as she perhaps did once before he chilled her senses
That was before her little brain had become active and had turned her senses to
revolt
It was on the full river of love that Sir Willoughby supposed the whole
floating bulk of his personality to be securely sustained and therefore it was
that believing himself swimming at his ease he discoursed of himself
She went straight away from that idea with her mental exclamation »Why does
he not paint himself in brighter colours to me« and the question »Has he no
ideal of generosity and chivalry«
But the unfortunate gentleman imagined himself to be loved on Loves very
bosom He fancied that everything relating to himself excited maidenly
curiosity womanly reverence ardours to know more of him which he was ever
willing to satisfy by repeating the same things His notion of women was the
primitive black and white there are good women bad women and he possessed a
good one His high opinion of himself fortified the belief that Providence as a
matter of justice and fitness must necessarily select a good one for him or
what are we to think of Providence And this female shaped by that informing
hand would naturally be in harmony with him from the centre of his profound
identity to the raying circle of his variations Know the centre you know the
circle and you discover that the variations are simply characteristics but you
must travel on the rays from the circle to get to the centre Consequently Sir
Willoughby put Miss Middleton on one or other of these converging lines from
time to time Us too he drags into the deeps but when we have harpooned a
whale and are attached to the rope down we must go the miracle is to see us
rise again
Women of mixed essences shading off the divine to the considerably lower
were outside his vision of woman His mind could as little admit an angel in
pottery as a rogue in porcelain For him they were what they were when fashioned
at the beginning many cracked many stained here and there a perfect specimen
designed for the elect of men At a whisper of the world he shut the prudes
door on them with a slam himself would have branded them with the letters in
the hue of fire Privately he did so and he was constituted by his extreme
sensitiveness and taste for ultrafeminine refinement to be a severe critic of
them during the carnival of egoism the loveseason Constantia can it be
told She had been be it said a fair and frank young merchant with him in that
season she was of a nature to be a mother of heroes she met the salute almost
halfway ingenuously unlike the coming mothers of the regiments of
marionnettes who retire in vapours downcast as by convention ladies most
flattering to the egoistical gentleman for they proclaim him the first
Constantias offence had been no greater but it was not that dramatic
performance of purity which he desired of an affianced lady and so the offence
was great
The loveseason is the carnival of egoism and it brings the touchstone to
our natures I speak of love not the mask and not of the flutings upon the
theme of love but of the passion a flame having like our mortality death in
it as well as life that may or may not be lasting Applied to Sir Willoughby
as to thousands of civilized males the touchstone found him requiring to be
dealt with by his betrothed as an original savage She was required to play
incessantly on the first reclaiming chord which led our ancestral satyr to the
measures of the dance the threading of the maze and the setting conformably to
his partner before it was accorded to him to spin her with both hands and a
chirrup of his frisky heels To keep him in awe and hold him enchained there
are things she must never do dare never say must not think She must be
cloistral Now strange and awful though it be to hear women perceive this
requirement of them in the spirit of the man they perceive too and it may be
gratefully that they address their performances less to the taming of the green
and prankish monsieur of the forest than to the pacification of a voracious
æsthetic gluttony craving them insatiably through all the tenses with shrieks
of the lamentable letter I for their purity Whether they see that it has its
foundation in the sensual and distinguish the ultrarefined but lineally
greatgrandson of the Hoof in this vast and dainty exacting appetite is
uncertain They probably do not the more the damage for in the appeasement of
the glutton they have to practise much simulation they are in their way losers
like their ancient mothers It is the palpable and material of them still which
they are tempted to flourish wherewith to invite and allay pursuit a condition
under which the spiritual wherein their hope lies languishes The capaciously
strong in soul among women will ultimately detect an infinite grossness in the
demand for purity infinite spotless bloom Earlier or later they see they have
been victims of the singular Egoist have worn a mask of ignorance to be named
innocent have turned themselves into market produce for his delight and have
really abandoned the commodity in ministering to the lust for it suffered
themselves to be dragged ages back in playing upon the fleshly innocence of
happy accident to gratify his jealous greed of possession when it should have
been their task to set the soul above the fairest fortune and the gift of
strength in women beyond ornamental whiteness Are they not of a nature
warriors like men mens mates to bear them heroes instead of puppets But
the devouring male Egoist prefers them as inanimate overwrought polished
puremetal precious vessels fresh from the hands of the artificer for him to
walk away with hugging call all his own drink of and fill and drink of and
forget that he stole them
This running off on a byroad is no deviation from Sir Willoughby Patterne
and Miss Clara Middleton He a fairly intelligent man and very sensitive was
blinded to what was going on within her visibly enough by her production of the
article he demanded of her sex He had to leave the fair young lady to ride to
his countytown and his design was to conduct her through the covert of a group
of laurels there to revel in her soft confusion She resisted nay resolutely
returned to the lawnsward He contrasted her with Constantia in the amorous
time and rejoiced in his disappointment He saw the Goddess Modesty guarding
Purity and one would be bold to say that he did not hear the Precepts Puritys
aged grannams maternal and paternal cawing approval of her over their munching
gums And if you ask whether a man sensitive and a lover can be so blinded
you are condemned to reperuse the foregoing paragraph
Miss Middleton was not sufficiently instructed in the position of her sex to
know that she had plunged herself in the thick of the strife of one of their
great battles Her personal position however was instilling knowledge rapidly
as a disease in the frame teaches us what we are and have to contend with Could
she marry this man He was evidently manageable Could she condescend to the use
of arts in managing him to obtain a placable life a horror of swampy
flatness So vividly did the sight of that dead heaven over an unvarying level
earth swim on her fancy that she shut her eyes in angry exclusion of it as if
it were outside assailing her and she nearly stumbled upon young Crossjay
»Oh have I hurt you« he cried
»No« said she »it was my fault Lead me somewhere away from everybody«
The boy took her hand and she resumed her thoughts and pressing his
fingers and feeling warm to him both for his presence and silence so does the
blood in youth lead the mind even cool and innocent blood even with a touch
that she said to herself »And if I marry and then Where will honour be
then I marry him to be true to my word of honour and if then « An
intolerable languor caused her to sigh profoundly It is written as she thought
it she thought in blanks as girls do and some women A shadow of the male
Egoist is in the chamber of their brains overawing them
»Were I to marry and to run« There is the thought she is offered up to
your mercy We are dealing with a girl feeling herself desperately situated and
not a fool
»Im sure youre dead tired though« said Crossjay
»No I am not what makes you think so« said Clara
»I do think so«
»But why do you think so«
»Youre so hot«
»What makes you think that«
»Youre so red«
»So are you Crossjay«
»Im only red in the middle of the cheeks except when Ive been running
And then you talk to yourself just as boys do when they are blown«
»Do they«
»They say I know I could have kept up longer or my buckle broke all to
themselves when they break down running«
»And you have noticed that«
»And Miss Middleton I dont wish you were a boy but I should like to live
near you all my life and be a gentleman Im coming with Miss Dale this evening
to stay at the Hall and be looked after instead of stopping with her cousin
who takes care of her father Perhaps you and Ill play chess at night«
»At night you will go to bed Crossjay«
»Not if I have Sir Willoughby to catch hold of He says Im an authority on
birds eggs I can manage rabbits and poultry Isnt a farmer a happy man But
he doesnt marry ladies A cavalry officer has the best chance«
»But you are going to be a naval officer«
»I dont know Its not positive I shall bring my two dormice and make
them perform gymnastics on the dinnertable Theyre such dear little things
Naval officers are not like Sir Willoughby«
»No they are not« said Clara »they give their lives to their country«
»And then theyre dead« said Crossjay
Clara wished Sir Willoughby were confronting her she could have spoken
She asked the boy where Mr Whitford was Crossjay pointed very secretly in
the direction of the doubleblossom wildcherry Coming within gaze of the stem
she beheld Vernon stretched at length reading she supposed asleep she
discovered his finger in the leaves of a book and what book She had a
curiosity to know the title of the book he would read beneath these boughs and
grasping Crossjays hand fast she craned her neck as one timorous of a fall in
peeping over chasms for a glimpse of the page but immediately and still with
a bent head she turned her face to where the load of virginal blossom whiter
than summercloud on the sky showered and drooped and clustered so thick as to
claim colour and seem like higher Alpine snows in noonsunlight a flush of
white From deep to deeper heavens of white her eyes perched and soared Wonder
lived in her Happiness in the beauty of the tree pressed to supplant it and
was more mortal and narrower Reflection came contracting her vision and
weighing her to earth Her reflection was »He must be good who loves to lie and
sleep beneath the branches of this tree« She would rather have clung to her
first impression wonder so divine so unbounded was like soaring into homes of
angelcrowded space sweeping through folded and on to folded white fountainbow
of wings in innumerable columns but the thought of it was no recovery of it
she might as well have striven to be a child The sensation of happiness
promised to be less shortlived in memory and would have been had not her
present disease of the longing for happiness ravaged every corner of it for the
secret of its existence The reflection took root »He must be good « That
reflection vowed to endure Poor by comparison with what it displaced it
presented itself to her as conferring something on him and she would not have
had it absent though it robbed her
She looked down Vernon was dreamily looking up
She plucked Crossjay hurriedly away whispering that he had better not wake
Mr Whitford and then she proposed to reverse their previous chase and she be
the hound and he the hare Crossjay fetched a magnificent start On his glancing
behind he saw Miss Middleton walking listlessly with a hand at her side
»Theres a regular girl« said he in some disgust for his theory was that
girls always have something the matter with them to spoil a game
Chapter XII
Miss Middleton and Mr Vernon Whitford
Looking upward not quite awakened out of a transient doze at a fair head
circled in dazzling blossom one may temporize awhile with common sense and
take it for a vision after the eyes have regained direction of the mind Vernon
did so until the plastic vision interwound with reality alarmingly This is the
embrace of a Melusine who will soon have the brain if she is encouraged Slight
dalliance with her makes the very diminutive seem as big as life He jumped to
his feet rattled his throat planted firmness on his brows and mouth and
attacked the dreamgiving earth with tremendous long strides that his blood
might be lively at the throne of understanding Miss Middleton and young
Crossjay were within hail it was her face he had seen and still the idea of a
vision chased from his reasonable wits knocked hard and again for readmission
There was little for a man of humble mind toward the sex to think of in the fact
of a young ladys bending rather low to peep at him asleep except that the
poise of her slender figure between an air of spying and of listening vividly
recalled his likening of her to the Mountain Echo Man or maid sleeping in the
open air provokes your tiptoe curiosity Men it is known have in that state
cruelly been kissed and no rights are bestowed on them they are teased by a
vapourish rapture what has happened to them the poor fellows barely divine
they have a crazy step from that day But a vision is not so distracting it is
our own we can put it aside and return to it play at rich and poor with it
and are not to be summoned before your laws and rules for secreting it in our
treasury Besides it is the golden key of all the possible new worlds expand
beneath the dawn it brings us Just outside reality it illumines enriches and
softens real things and to desire it in preference to the simple fact is a
damning proof of enervation
Such was Vernons winding up of his brief drama of fantasy He was aware of
the fantastical element in him and soon had it under Which of us who is of any
worth is without it He had not much vanity to trouble him and passion was
quiet so his task was not gigantic Especially be it remarked that he was a
man of quick pace the sovereign remedy for the dispersing of the mental
fenmist He had tried it and knew that nonsense is to be walked off
Near the end of the park young Crossjay overtook him and after acting the
pumped one a trifle more than needful cried »I say Mr Whitford theres Miss
Middleton with her handkerchief out«
»What for my lad« said Vernon
»Im sure I dont know All of a sudden she bumped down And look what
fellows girls are here she comes as if nothing had happened and I saw her
feel at her side«
Clara was shaking her head to express a denial »I am not at all unwell«
she said when she came near »I guessed Crossjays business in running up to
you hes a goodfornothing officious boy I was tired and rested for a
moment«
Crossjay peered at her eyelids Vernon looked away and said »Are you too
tired for a stroll«
»Not now«
»Shall it be brisk«
»You have the lead«
He led at a swing of the legs that accelerated young Crossjays to the
double but she with her short swift equal steps glided along easily on a line
by his shoulder and he groaned to think that of all the girls of earth this one
should have been chosen for the position of fine lady
»You wont tire me« said she in answer to his look
»You remind me of the little Piedmontese Bersaglieri on the march«
»I have seen them trotting into Como from Milan«
»They cover a quantity of ground in a day if the grounds flat You want
another sort of step for the mountains«
»I should not attempt to dance up«
»They soon tame romantic notions of them«
»The mountains tame luxurious dreams you mean I see how they are
conquered I can plod Anything to be high up«
»Well there you have the secret of good work to plod on and still keep the
passion fresh«
»Yes when we have an aim in view«
»We always have one«
»Captives have«
»More than the rest of us«
Ignorant man What of wives miserably wedded What aim in view have these
most woeful captives Horror shrouds it and shame reddens through the folds to
tell of innermost horror
»Take me back to the mountains if you please Mr Whitford« Miss Middleton
said fallen out of sympathy with him »Captives have death in view but that is
not an aim«
»Why may not captives expect a release«
»Hardly from a tyrant«
»If you are thinking of tyrants it may be so Say the tyrant dies«
»The prisongates are unlocked and out comes a skeleton But why will you
talk of skeletons The very name of mountain seems life in comparison with any
other subject«
»I assure you« said Vernon with the fervour of a man lighting on an actual
truth in his conversation with a young lady »its not the first time I have
thought you would be at home in the Alps You would walk and climb as well as
you dance«
She liked to hear Clara Middleton talked of and of her having been thought
of and giving him friendly eyes barely noticing that he was in a glow she
said »If you speak so encouragingly I shall fancy we are near an ascent«
»I wish we were« said he
»We can realize it by dwelling on it dont you think«
»We can begin climbing«
»Oh« she squeezed herself shadowily
»Which mountain shall it be« said Vernon in the right real earnest tone
Miss Middleton suggested a ladys mountain first for a trial »And then if
you think well enough of me if I have not stumbled more than twice or asked
more than ten times how far it is from the top I should like to be promoted to
scale a giant«
They went up some of the lesser heights of Switzerland and Styria and
settled in South Tyrol the young lady preferring this district for the
strenuous exercise of her climbing powers because she loved Italian colour and
it seemed an exceedingly good reason to the genial imagination she had awakened
in Mr Whitford »Though« said he abruptly »you are not so much Italian as
French«
She hoped she was English she remarked
»Of course you are English yes« He moderated his assent with the
halting affirmative
She inquired wonderingly why he spoke in apparent hesitation
»Well you have French feet for example French wits French impatience«
he lowered his voice »and charm«
»And love of compliments«
»Possibly I was not conscious of paying them«
»And a disposition to rebel«
»To challenge authority at least«
»That is a dreadful character«
»At all events it is a character«
»Fit for an Alpine comrade«
»For the best of comrades anywhere«
»It is not a piece of drawingroom sculpture that is the most one can say
for it« she dropped a dramatic sigh
Had he been willing she would have continued the theme for the pleasure a
poor creature long gnawing her sensations finds in seeing herself from the
outside It fell away After a silence she could not renew it and he was
evidently indifferent having to his own satisfaction dissected and stamped her
a foreigner With it passed her holiday She had forgotten Sir Willoughby she
remembered him and said »You knew Miss Durham Mr Whitford«
He answered briefly »I did«
»Was she « some hotfaced inquiry peered forth and withdrew
»Very handsome« said Vernon
»English«
»Yes the dashing style of English«
»Very courageous«
»I daresay she had a kind of courage«
»She did very wrong«
»I wont say no She discovered a man more of a match with herself luckily
not too late Were at the mercy «
»Was she not unpardonable«
»I should be sorry to think that of any one«
»But you agree that she did wrong«
»I suppose I do She made a mistake and she corrected it If she had not
she would have made a greater mistake«
»The manner «
»That was bad as far as we know The world has not much right to judge A
false start must now and then be made Its better not to take notice of it I
think«
»What is it we are at the mercy of«
»Currents of feeling our natures I am the last man to preach on the
subject young ladies are enigmas to me I fancy they must have a natural
perception of the husband suitable to them and the reverse and if they have a
certain degree of courage it follows that they please themselves«
»They are not to reflect on the harm they do« said Miss Middleton
»By all means let them reflect they hurt nobody by doing that«
»But a breach of faith«
»If the faith can be kept through life all s well«
»And then there is the cruelty the injury«
»I really think that if a young lady came to me to inform me she must break
our engagement I have never been put to the proof but to suppose it I
should not think her cruel«
»Then she would not be much of a loss«
»And I should not think so for this reason that it is impossible for a girl
to come to such a resolution without previously showing signs of it to her
the man she is engaged to I think it unfair to engage a girl for longer than a
week or two just time enough for her preparations and publications«
»If he is always intent on himself signs are likely to be unheeded by him«
said Miss Middleton
He did not answer and she said quickly
»It must always be a cruelty The world will think so It is an act of
inconstancy«
»If they knew one another well before they were engaged«
»Are you not singularly tolerant« said she
To which Vernon replied with airy cordiality
»In some cases it is right to judge by results well leave severity to the
historian who is bound to be a professional moralist and put pleas of human
nature out of the scales The lady in question may have been to blame but no
hearts were broken and here we have four happy instead of two miserable«
His persecuting geniality of countenance appealed to her to confirm this
judgement by results and she nodded and said »Four« as the awestricken
speak
From that moment until young Crossjay fell into the greenrutted lane from a
tree and was got on his legs halfstunned with a hanging lip and a face like
the inside of a flayed eelskin she might have been walking in the desert and
alone for the pleasure she had in society
They led the fated lad home between them singularly drawn together by their
joint ministrations to him in which her delicacy had to stand fire and sweet
good nature made naught of any trial They were hand in hand with the little
fellow as physician and professional nurse
Chapter XIII
The First Effort After Freedom
Crossjays accident was only another proof as Vernon told Miss Dale that the
boy was but half monkey
»Something fresh« she exclaimed on seeing him brought into the Hall where
she had just arrived
»Simply a continuation« said Vernon »He is not so prehensile as he should
be He probably in extremity relies on the tail that has been docked Are you a
man Crossjay«
»I should think I was« Crossjay replied with an old mans voice and a
ghastly twitch for a smile overwhelmed the compassionate ladies
Miss Dale took possession of him »You err in the other direction« she
remarked to Vernon
»But a little bracing roughness is better than spoiling him« said Miss
Middleton
She did not receive an answer and she thought »Whatever Willoughby does is
right to this lady«
Claras impression was renewed when Sir Willoughby sat beside Miss Dale in
the evening and certainly she had never seen him shine so picturesquely as in
his bearing with Miss Dale The sprightly sallies of the two their rallyings
their laughter and her fine eyes and his handsome gestures won attention like
a fencing match of a couple keen with the foils to display the mutual skill And
it was his design that she should admire the display he was anything but
obtuse enjoying the match as he did and necessarily did to act so excellent a
part in it he meant the observer to see the man he was with a lady not of raw
understanding So it went on from day to day for three days
She fancied once that she detected the agreeable stirring of the brood of
jealousy and found it neither in her heart nor in her mind but in the book of
wishes well known to the young where they write matter which may sometimes be
independent of both those volcanic albums Jealousy would have been a relief to
her a dear devils aid She studied the complexion of jealousy to delude
herself with the sense of the spirit being in her and all the while she
laughed as at a vile theatre whereof the imperfection of the stage machinery
rather than the performance is the wretched source of amusement
Vernon had deeply depressed her She was hunted by the figure 4 Four happy
instead of two miserable He had said it involving her among the four and so
it must be she considered and she must be as happy as she could for not only
was he incapable of perceiving her state he was unable to imagine other
circumstances to surround her How to be just to him were they imaginable by
him or any one
Her horrible isolation of secresy in a world amiable in unsuspectingness
frightened her To fling away her secret to conform to be unrebellious
uncritical submissive became an impatient desire and the task did not appear
so difficult since Miss Dales arrival Endearments had been rarer more formal
living bodily untroubled and unashamed and as she phrased it having no one to
care for her she turned insensibly in the direction where she was due she
slightly imitated Miss Dales colloquial responsiveness To tell truth she felt
vivacious in a moderate way with Willoughby after seeing him with Miss Dale
Liberty wore the aspect of a towering prisonwall the desperate undertaking of
climbing one side and dropping to the other was more than she unaided could
resolve on consequently as no one cared for her a worthless creature might as
well cease dreaming and stipulating for the fulfilment of her dreams she might
as well yield to her fate nay make the best of it
Sir Willoughby was flattered and satisfied Claras adopted vivacity proved
his thorough knowledge of feminine nature nor did her feebleness in sustaining
it displease him A steady look of hers had of late perplexed the man and he
was comforted by signs of her inefficiency where he excelled The effort and the
failure were both of good omen
But she could not continue the effort He had overweighted her too much for
the mimicry of a sentiment to harden and have an apparently natural place among
her impulses and now an idea came to her that he might it might be hoped
possibly see in Miss Dale by present contrast the mate he sought by contrast
with an unanswering creature like herself he might perhaps realize in Miss
Dales greater accomplishments and her devotion to him the merit of suitability
he might be induced to do her justice Dim as the loophole was Clara fixed her
mind on it till it gathered light And as a prelude to action she plunged
herself into a state of such profound humility that to accuse it of being
simulated would be venturesome though it was not positive The tempers of the
young are liquid fires in isles of quicksand the precious metals not yet cooled
in a solid earth Her compassion for Lætitia was less forced but really she was
almost as earnest in her selfabasement for she had not latterly been
brilliant not even adequate to the ordinary requirements of conversation She
had no courage no wit no diligence nothing that she could distinguish save
discontentment like a corroding acid and she went so far in sincerity as with a
curious shift of feeling to pity the man plighted to her If it suited her
purpose to pity Sir Willoughby she was not moved by policy be assured her
needs were her nature her moods her mind she had the capacity to make anything
serve her by passing into it with the glance which discerned its usefulness and
this is how it is that the young when they are in trouble without approaching
the elevation of scientific hypocrites can teach that able class lessons in
hypocrisy
»Why should not Willoughby be happy« she said and the explanation was
pushed forth by the second thought »Then I shall be free« Still that thought
came second
The desire for the happiness of Willoughby was fervent on his behalf and
wafted her far from friends and letters to a narrow Tyrolean valley where a
shallow river ran with the indentations of a remotelyseen army of winding
ranks in column topaz over the pebbles to hollows of ravishing emerald There
sat Liberty after her fearful leap over the prisonwall at peace to watch the
water and the falls of sunshine on the mountain above between descending
pinestem shadows Claras wish for his happiness as soon as she had housed
herself in the imagination of her freedom was of a purity that made it seem
exceedingly easy for her to speak to him
The opportunity was offered by Sir Willoughby Every morning after
breakfast Miss Dale walked across the park to see her father and on this
occasion Sir Willoughby and Miss Middleton went with her as far as the lake all
three discoursing of the beauty of various trees birches aspens poplars
beeches then in their new green Miss Dale loved the aspen Miss Middleton the
beech Sir Willoughby the birch and pretty things were said by each in praise
of the favoured object particularly by Miss Dale So much so that when she had
gone on he recalled one of her remarks and said »I believe if the whole place
were swept away tomorrow Lætitia Dale could reconstruct it and put those
aspens on the north of the lake in number and situation correctly where you have
them now I would guarantee her description of it in absence correct«
»Why should she be absent« said Clara palpitating
»Well why« returned Sir Willoughby »As you say there is no reason why
The art of life and mine will be principally a country life town is not life
but a tornado whirling atoms the art is to associate a group of sympathetic
friends in our neighbourhood and it is a fact worth noting that if ever I feel
tired of the place a short talk with Lætitia Dale refreshes it more than a
month or two on the Continent She has the well of enthusiasm And there is a
great advantage in having a cultivated person at command with whom one can chat
of any topic under the sun I repeat you have no need of town if you have
friends like Lætitia Dale within call My mother esteemed her highly«
»Willoughby she is not obliged to go«
»I hope not And my love I rejoice that you have taken to her Her
fathers health is poor She would be a young spinster to live alone in a
country cottage«
»What of your scheme«
»Old Vernon is a very foolish fellow«
»He has declined«
»Not a word on the subject I have only to propose it to be snubbed I
know«
»You may not be aware how you throw him into the shade with her«
»Nothing seems to teach him the art of dialogue with ladies«
»Are not gentlemen shy when they see themselves outshone«
»He hasnt it my love Vernon is deficient in the ladys tongue«
»I respect him for that«
»Outshone you say I do not know of any shining save to one who lights
me path and person«
The identity of the one was conveyed to her in a bow and a soft pressure
»Not only has he not the ladys tongue which I hold to be a mans proper
accomplishment« continued Sir Willoughby »he cannot turn his advantages to
account Here has Miss Dale been with him now four days in the house They are
exactly on the same footing as when she entered it You ask I will tell you It
is this it is want of warmth Old Vernon is a scholar and a fish Well
perhaps he has cause to be shy of matrimony but he is a fish«
»You are reconciled to his leaving you«
»False alarm The resolution to do anything unaccustomed is quite beyond old
Vernon«
»But if Mr Oxford Whitford your swans coming sailing up the lake how
beautiful they look when they are indignant I was going to ask you surely men
witnessing a marked admiration for some one else will naturally be discouraged«
Sir Willoughby stiffened with sudden enlightenment Though the word jealousy
had not been spoken the drift of her observations was clear Smiling inwardly
he said and the sentences were not enigmas to her »Surely too young ladies
a little Too far But an old friendship About the same as the fitting of
an old glove to a hand Hand and glove have only to meet Where there is natural
harmony you would not have discord Ay but you have it if you check the
harmony My dear girl You child«
He had actually in this parabolic and commendable obscureness for which
she thanked him in her soul struck the very point she had not named and did not
wish to hear named but wished him to strike His exultation of the compressed
sort was extreme on hearing her cry out
»Young ladies may be Oh not I not I I can convince you Not that
Believe me Willoughby I do not know what it is to feel that or anything like
it I cannot conceive a claim on any ones life as a claim or the
continuation of an engagement not founded on perfect perfect sympathy How
should I feel it then It is as you say of Mr Ox Whitford beyond me«
Sir Willoughby caught up the Ox Whitford
Bursting with laughter in his joyful pride he called it a portrait of old
Vernon in society For she thought a trifle too highly of Vernon as here and
there a raw young lady does think of the friends of her plighted man which is
waste of substance properly belonging to him as it were in the loftier sense
an expenditure in genuflexions to wayside idols of the reverence she should
bring intact to the temple Derision instructs her
Of the other subject her jealousy he had no desire to hear more She had
winced the woman had been touched to smarting in the girl enough She
attempted the subject once but faintly and his careless parrying threw her
out Clara could have bitten her tongue for that reiterated stupid slip on the
name of Whitford and because she was innocent at heart she persisted in asking
herself how she could be guilty of it
»You both know the botanic titles of these wildflowers« she said
»Who« he inquired
»You and Miss Dale«
Sir Willoughby shrugged He was amused
»No woman on earth will grace a barouche so exquisitely as my Clara«
»Where« said she
»During our annual two months in London I drive a barouche there and
venture to prophecy that my equipage will create the greatest excitement of any
in London I see old Horace De Craye gazing«
She sighed She could not drag him to the word or a hint of it necessary to
her subject
But there it was she saw it She had nearly let it go and blushed at being
obliged to name it
»Jealousy do you mean Willoughby the people in London would be jealous
Colonel De Craye How strange That is a sentiment I cannot understand«
Sir Willoughby gesticulated the »Of course not« of an established assurance
to the contrary
»Indeed Willoughby I do not«
»Certainly not«
He was now in her trap And he was imagining himself to be anatomizing her
feminine nature
»Can I give you a proof Willoughby I am so utterly incapable of it that
listen to me were you to come to me to tell me as you might how much better
suited to you Miss Dale has appeared than I am and I fear I am not it should
be spoken plainly unsuited altogether perhaps I would I beseech you to
believe you must believe me give you give you your freedom instantly
most truly and engage to speak of you as I should think of you Willoughby you
would have no one to praise you in public and in private as I should for you
would be to me the most honest truthful chivalrous gentleman alive And in
that case I would undertake to declare that she would not admire you more than
I Miss Dale would not she would not admire you more than I not even Miss
Dale«
This her first direct leap for liberty set Clara panting and so much had
she to say that the nervous and the intellectual halves of her clashed like
cymbals dazing and stunning her with the appositeness of things to be said and
dividing her in indecision as to the cunningest to move him of the many
pressing
The condition of feminine jealousy stood revealed
He had driven her farther than he intended
»Come let me allay these « he soothed her with hand and voice while
seeking for his phrase »these magnified pinpoints Now my Clara on my
honour and when I put it forward in attestation my honour has the most serious
meaning speech can have ordinarily my word has to suffice for bonds promises
or asseverations on my honour not merely is there my poor child no ground of
suspicion I assure you I declare to you the fact of the case is the very
reverse Now mark me of her sentiments I cannot pretend to speak I did not
to my knowledge originate I am not responsible for them and I am before the
law as we will say ignorant of them that is I have never heard a declaration
of them and I am therefore under pain of the stigma of excessive fatuity
bound to be noncognizant But as to myself I can speak for myself and on my
honour Clara to be as direct as possible even to baldness and you know I
loathe it I could not I repeat I could not marry Lætitia Dale Let me
impress it on you No flatteries we are all susceptible more or less no
conceivable condition could bring it about no amount of admiration She and I
are excellent friends we cannot be more When you see us together the natural
concord of our minds is of course misleading She is a woman of genius I do not
conceal I profess my admiration of her There are times when I confess I
require a Lætitia Dale to bring me out give and take I am indebted to her for
the enjoyment of the duet few know few can accord with fewer still are allowed
the privilege of playing with a human being I am indebted I own and I feel
deep gratitude I own to a lively friendship for Miss Dale but if she is
displeasing in the sight of my bride by by the breadth of an eyelash then
«
Sir Willoughbys arm waved Miss Dale off away into outer darkness in the
wilderness
Clara shut her eyes and rolled her eyeballs in a frenzy of unuttered revolt
But she was not engaged in the colloquy to be an advocate of Miss Dale or of
common humanity
»Ah« she said simply determining that the subject should not drop
»And ah« he mocked her tenderly »True though And who knows better than
my Clara that I require youth health beauty and the other undefinable
attributes fitting with mine and beseeming the station of the lady called to
preside over my household and represent me What says my other self my fairer
But you are my love you are Understand my nature rightly and you «
»I do I do« interposed Clara »if I did not by this time I should be
idiotic Let me assure you I understand it Oh listen to me one moment Miss
Dale regards me as the happiest woman on earth Willoughby if I possessed her
good qualities her heart and mind no doubt I should be It is my wish you
must hear me hear me out my wish my earnest wish my burning prayer my wish
to make way for her She appreciates you I do not to my shame I do not She
worships you I do not I cannot You are the rising sun to her It has been so
for years No one can account for love I daresay not for the impossibility of
loving loving where we should all love bewilders me I was not created to
understand it But she loves you she has pined I believe it has destroyed the
health you demand as one item in your list But you Willoughby can restore
that Travelling and and your society the pleasure of your society would
certainly restore it You look so handsome together She has unbounded devotion
as for me I cannot idolize I see faults I see them daily They astonish and
wound me Your pride would not bear to hear them spoken of least of all by your
wife You warned me to beware that is you said you said something«
Her busy brain missed the subterfuge to cover her slip of the tongue
Sir Willoughby struck in »And when I say that the entire concatenation is
based on an erroneous observation of facts and an erroneous deduction from that
erroneous observation No no Have confidence in me I propose it to you in
this instance purely to save you from deception You are cold my love you
shivered«
»I am not cold« said Clara »Some one I suppose was walking over my
grave«
The gulf of a caress hove in view like an enormous billow hollowing under
the curled ridge
She stooped to a buttercup the monster swept by
»Your grave« he exclaimed over her head »my own girl«
»Is not the orchis naturally a stranger in ground so far away from the
chalk Willoughby«
»I am incompetent to pronounce an opinion on such important matters My
mother had a passion for every description of flower I fancy I have some
recollection of her scattering the flower you mention over the park«
»If she were living now«
»We should be happy in the blessing of the most estimable of women my
Clara«
»She would have listened to me She would have realized what I mean«
»Indeed Clara poor soul« he murmured to himself aloud »indeed you are
absolutely in error If I have seemed but I repeat you are deceived The idea
of fitness is a total hallucination Supposing you I do it even in play
painfully entirely out of the way unthought of «
»Extinct« Clara said low
»Nonexistent for me« he selected a preferable term »Suppose it I should
still in spite of an admiration I have never thought it incumbent on me to
conceal still be I speak emphatically utterly incapable of the offer of my
hand to Miss Dale It may be that she is embedded in my mind as a friend and
nothing but a friend I received the stamp in early youth People have noticed
it we do it seems bring one another out reflecting counterreflecting«
She glanced up at him with a shrewd satisfaction to see that her wicked
shaft had stuck
»You do it is a common remark« she said »The instantaneous difference
when she comes near any one might notice«
»My love« he opened the iron gate into the garden »you encourage the
naughty little suspicion«
»But it is a beautiful sight Willoughby I like to see you together I like
it as I like to see colours match«
»Very well There is no harm then We shall often be together I like my
fair friend But the instant you have only to express a sentiment of
disapprobation«
»And you dismiss her«
»I dismiss her That is as to the word I constitute myself your echo to
clear any vestige of suspicion She goes«
»That is a case of a person doomed to extinction without offending«
»Not without for whoever offends my bride my wife my sovereign lady
offends me very deeply offends me«
»Then the caprices of your wife « Clara stamped her foot imperceptibly on
the lawnsward which was irresponsibly soft to her fretfulness She broke from
the inconsequent meaningless mild tone of irony and said »Willoughby women
have their honour to swear by equally with men girls have they have to swear
an oath at the altar may I to you now Take it for uttered when I tell you that
nothing would make me happier than your union with Miss Dale I have spoken as
much as I can Tell me you release me«
With the wellknown screwsmile of duty upholding weariness worn to
inanition he rejoined »Allow me once more to reiterate that it is repulsive
inconceivable that I should ever under any mortal conditions bring myself to
the point of taking Miss Dale for my wife You reduce me to this perfectly
childish protestation pitiably childish But my love have I to remind you
that you and I are plighted and that I am an honourable man«
»I know it I feel it release me« cried Clara
Sir Willoughby severely reprehended his shortsightedness for seeing but the
one proximate object in the particular attention he had bestowed on Miss Dale
He could not disavow that they had been marked and with an object and he was
distressed by the unwonted want of wisdom through which he had been drawn to
overshoot his object His design to excite a touch of the insane emotion in
Claras bosom was too successful and »I was not thinking of her« he said to
himself in his candour contrite
She cried again »Will you not Willoughby release me«
He begged her to take his arm
To consent to touch him while petitioning for a detachment appeared
discordant to Clara but if she expected him to accede it was right that she
should do as much as she could and she surrendered her hand at arms length
disdaining the imprisoned fingers He pressed them and said »Dr Middleton is
in the library I see Vernon is at work with Crossjay in the Westroom the boy
has had sufficient for the day Now is it not like old Vernon to drive his
books at a cracked head before its half mended«
He signalled to young Crossjay who was up and out through the folding
windows in a twinkling
»And you will go in and talk to Vernon of the lady in question« Sir
Willoughby whispered to Clara »Use your best persuasions in our joint names
You have my warrant for saying that money is no consideration house and income
are assured You can hardly have taken me seriously when I requested you to
undertake Vernon before I was quite in earnest then as now I prepare Miss
Dale I will not have a wedding on our weddingday but either before or after
it I gladly speed their alliance I think now I give you the best proof
possible and though I know that with women a delusion may be seen to be
groundless and still be cherished I rely on your good sense«
Vernon was at the window and stood aside for her to enter Sir Willoughby
used a gentle insistance with her She bent her head as if she were stepping
into a cave So frigid was she that a ridiculous dread of calling Mr Whitford
Mr Oxford was her only present anxiety when Sir Willoughby had closed the
window on them
Chapter XIV
Sir Willoughby and Lætitia
»I Prepare Miss Dale«
Sir Willoughby thought of his promise to Clara He trifled awhile with young
Crossjay and then sent the boy flying and wrapped himself in meditation So
shall you see standing many a statue of statesmen who have died in harness for
their country
In the hundred and fourth chapter of the thirteenth volume of the BOOK OF
EGOISM it is written Possession without obligation to the object possessed
approaches felicity
It is the rarest condition of ownership For example the possession of land
is not without obligation both to the soil and the taxcollector the possession
of fine clothing is oppressed by obligation gold jewelry works of art
enviable household furniture are positive fetters the possession of a wife we
find surcharged with obligation In all these cases possession is a gentle term
for enslavement bestowing the sort of felicity attained to by the helot drunk
You can have the joy the pride the intoxication of possession you can have no
free soul
But there is one instance of possession and that the most perfect which
leaves us free under not a shadow of obligation receiving ever never giving
or if giving giving only of our waste as it were sauf votre respect by form
of perspiration radiation if you like unconscious poral bountifulness and it
is a beneficial process for the system Our possession of an adoring females
worship is this instance
The soft cherishable Parsee is hardly at any season other than prostrate
She craves nothing save that you continue in being her sun which is your firm
constitutional endeavour and thus you have a most exact alliance she supplying
spirit to your matter while at the same time presenting matter to your spirit
verily a comfortable apposition The Gods do bless it
That they do so indeed is evident in the men they select for such a
felicitous crown and aureole Weak men would be rendered nervous by the flattery
of a womans worship or they would be for returning it at least partially as
though it could be bandied to and fro without emulgence of the poetry or they
would be pitiful and quite spoil the thing Some would be for transforming the
beautiful solitary vestal flame by the first effort of the multiplicationtable
into your hearthfire of slippered affection So these men are not they whom the
Gods have ever selected but rather men of a pattern with themselves very high
and very solid men who maintain the crown by holding divinely independent of
the great emotion they have sown
Even for them a pass of danger is ahead as we shall see in our sample of
one among the highest of them
A clear approach to felicity had long been the portion of Sir Willoughby
Patterne in his relations with Lætitia Dale She belonged to him he was quite
unshackled by her She was everything that is good in a parasite nothing that
is bad His dedicated critic she was reviewing him with a favour equal to
perfect efficiency in her office and whatever the world might say of him to
her the happy gentleman could constantly turn for his refreshing balsamic bath
She flew to the soul in him pleasingly arousing sensations of that inhabitant
and he allowed her the right to fly in the manner of kings as we have heard
consenting to the privileges acted on by cats These may not address their
Majesties but they may stare nor will it be contested that the attentive
circular eyes of the humble domestic creatures are an embellishment to Royal
pomp and grandeur such truly as should one day gain for them an inweaving and
figurement in the place of bees ermine tufts and their various present
decorations upon the august great robes backflowing and foaming over the
gaspy pageboys
Further to quote from the same volume of THE BOOK There is pain in the
surrendering of that we are fain to relinquish
The idea is too exquisitely attenuate as are those of the whole bodyguard
of the heart of Egoism and will slip through you unless you shall have made a
study of the gross of volumes of the first and second sections of THE BOOK and
that will take you up to senility or you must make a personal entry into the
pages perchance or an escape out of them There was once a venerable gentleman
for whom a white hair grew on the cop of his nose laughing at removals He
resigned himself to it in the end and lastingly contemplated the apparition It
does not concern us what effect was produced on his countenance and his mind
enough that he saw a fine thing but not so fine as the idea cited above which
has been between the two eyes of humanity ever since women were sought in
marriage With yonder old gentleman it may have been a ghostly hair or a disease
of the optic nerves but for us it is a real growth and humanity might
profitably imitate him in his patient speculation upon it
Sir Willoughby Patterne though ready in the pursuit of duty and policy an
oftunited couple to cast Miss Dale away had to consider that he was not
simply so to speak casting her over a hedge he was casting her for a man to
catch her and this was a much greater trial than it had been on the previous
occasion when she went over bump to the ground In the arms of a husband there
was no knowing how soon she might forget her souls fidelity It had not hurt
him to sketch the project of the conjunction benevolence assisted him but he
winced and smarted on seeing it take shape It sullied his idea of Lætitia
Still if in spite of so great a change in her fortune her spirit could be
guaranteed changeless he for the sake of pacifying his bride and to keep two
serviceable persons near him at command might resolve to join them The vision
of his resolution brought with it a certain pallid contempt of the physically
faithless woman no wonder he betook himself to THE BOOK and opened it on the
scorching chapters treating of the sex and the execrable wiles of that foremost
creature of the chase who runs for life She is not spared in the Biggest of
Books But close it
The writing in it having been done chiefly by men men naturally receive
their fortification from its wisdom and half a dozen of the popular sentences
for the confusion of women cut in brass worn to a polish like sombre gold
refreshed Sir Willoughby for his undertaking
An examination of Lætitias faded complexion braced him very cordially
His Clara jealous of this poor leaf
He could have desired the transfusion of a quality or two from Lætitia to
his bride but you cannot as in cookery obtain a mixture of the essences of
these creatures and if as it is possible to do and as he had been doing
recently with the pair of them at the Hall you stew them in one pot you are
far likelier to intensify their little birthmarks of individuality Had they a
tendency to excellence it might be otherwise they might then make the
exchanges we wish for or scientifically concocted in a harem for a sufficient
length of time by a sultan anything but obtuse they might It is however
fruitless to dwell on what was only a glimpse of a wild regret like the
crossing of two express trains along the rails in Sir Willoughbys head
The ladies Eleanor and Isabel were sitting with Miss Dale all three at work
on embroideries He had merely to look at Miss Eleanor She rose She looked at
Miss Isabel and rattled her châtelaine to account for her departure After a
decent interval Miss Isabel glided out Such was the perfect discipline of the
household
Sir Willoughby played an air on the knee of his crossed leg
Lætitia grew conscious of a meaning in the silence She said »You have not
been vexed by affairs to
»Affairs« he replied »must be peculiarly vexatious to trouble me
Concerning the country or my personal affairs«
»I fancy I was alluding to the country«
»I trust I am as good a patriot as any man living« said he »but I am used
to the follies of my countrymen and we are on board a stout ship At the worst
its no worse than a rise in rates and taxes soup at the Hallgates perhaps
licence to fell timber in one of the outer copses or some dozen loads of coal
You hit my feudalism«
»The knight in armour has gone« said Lætitia »and the castle with the
drawbridge Immunity for our island has gone too since we took to commerce«
»We bartered independence for commerce You hit our old controversy Ay but
we do not want this overgrown population However we will put politics and
sociology and the pack of their modern barbarous words aside You read me
intuitively I have been I will not say annoyed but ruffled I have much to
do and going into Parliament would make me almost helpless if I lose Vernon
You know of some absurd notion he has literary fame and bachelors chambers
and a chophouse and the rest of it«
She knew and thinking differently in the matter of literary fame she
flushed and ashamed of the flush frowned
He bent over to her with the perusing earnestness of a gentleman about to
trifle
»You cannot intend that frown«
»Did I frown«
»You do«
»Now«
»Fiercely«
»Oh«
»Will you smile to reassure me«
»Willingly as well as I can«
A gloom overcame him With no woman on earth did he shine so as to recall to
himself seigneur and dame of the old French Court as he did with Lætitia Dale
He did not wish the period revived but reserved it as a garden to stray into
when he was in the mood for displaying elegance and brightness in the society of
a lady and in speech Lætitia helped him to the nice delusion She was not
devoid of grace of bearing either
Would she preserve her beautiful responsiveness to his ascendancy Hitherto
she had and for years and quite fresh But how of her as a married woman Our
souls are hideously subject to the conditions of our animal nature A wife
possibly mother it was within sober calculation that there would be great
changes in her And the hint of any change appeared a total change to one of the
lofty order who when they are called on to relinquish possession instead of
aspiring to it say All or nothing
Well but if there was danger of the marriagetie effecting the slightest
alteration of her character or habit of mind wherefore press it upon a
tolerably hardened spinster
Besides though he did once put her hand in Vernons for the dance he
remembered acutely that the injury then done by his generosity to his tender
sensitiveness had sickened and tarnished the effulgence of two or three
successive anniversaries of his coming of age Nor had he altogether yet got
over the passion of greed for the whole group of the wellfavoured of the fair
sex which in his early youth had made it bitter for him to submit to the
fickleness not to say immodest fickleness of any handsome one of them in
yielding her hand to a man and suffering herself to be led away Ladies whom he
had only heard of as ladies of some beauty incurred his wrath for having lovers
or taking husbands He was of a vast embrace and do not exclaim in
covetousness for well he knew that even under Moslem law he could not have
them all but as the enamoured custodian of the sexs purity that blushes at
such big spots as lovers and husbands and it was unbearable to see it
sacrificed for others Without their purity what are they what are
fruiterers plums unsaleable O for the bloom on them
»As I said I lose my right hand in Vernon« he resumed »and I am it
seems inevitably to lose him unless we contrive to fasten him down here I
think my dear Miss Dale you have my character At least I should recommend my
future biographer to you with a caution of course You would have to write
selfishness with a dash under it I cannot endure to lose a member of my
household not under any circumstances and a change of feeling to me on the
part of any of my friends because of marriage I think hard I would ask you
how can it be for Vernons good to quit an easy pleasant home for the wretched
profession of Literature wretchedly paying I mean« he bowed to the
authoress »Let him leave the house if he imagines he will not harmonize with
its young mistress He is queer though a good fellow But he ought in that
event to have an establishment And my scheme for Vernon men Miss Dale do
not change to their old friends when they marry my scheme which would cause
the alteration in his system of life to be barely perceptible is to build him a
poetical little cottage large enough for a couple on the borders of my park I
have the spot in my eye The point is can he live alone there Men I say do
not change How is it that we cannot say the same of women«
Lætitia remarked »The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary
faculty for swallowing the individual«
»As to the individual as to a particular person I may be wrong Precisely
because it is her case I think of my strong friendship inspires the fear
unworthy of both no doubt but trace it to the source Even pure friendship
such is the taint in us knows a kind of jealousy though I would gladly see her
established and near me happy and contributing to my happiness with her
incomparable social charm Her I do not estimate generically be sure«
»If you do me the honour to allude to me Sir Willoughby« said Lætitia »I
am my fathers housemate«
»What wooer would take that for a refusal He would beg to be a third in the
house and a sharer of your affectionate burden Honestly why not And I may be
arguing against my own happiness it may be the end of me«
»The end«
»Old friends are captious exacting No not the end Yet if my friend is
not the same to me it is the end to that form of friendship not to the degree
possibly But when one is used to the form And do you in its application to
friendship scorn the word use We are creatures of custom I am I confess a
poltroon in my affections I dread changes The shadow of the tenth of an inch
in the customary elevation of an eyelid to give you an idea of my
susceptibility And my dear Miss Dale I throw myself on your charity with all
my weakness bare let me add as I could do to none but you Consider then if
I lose you The fear is due to my pusillanimity entirely Highsouled women may
be wives mothers and still reserve that home for their friend They can and
will conquer the viler conditions of human life Our states I have always
contended our various phases have to be passed through and there is no
disgrace in it so long as they do not levy toll on the quintessential the
spiritual element You understand me I am no adept in these abstract
elucidations«
»You explain yourself clearly« said Lætitia
»I have never pretended that psychology was my forte« said he feeling
overshadowed by her cold commendation he was not less acutely sensitive to the
fractional divisions of tones than of eyelids being as it were a melody with
which everything was out of tune that did not modestly or mutely accord and to
bear about a melody in your person is incomparably more searching than the best
of touchstones and talismans ever invented »Your fathers health has improved
latterly«
»He did not complain of his health when I saw him this morning My cousin
Amelia is with him and she is an excellent nurse«
»He has a liking for Vernon«
»He has a great respect for Mr Whitford«
»You have«
»Oh yes I have it equally«
»For a foundation that is the surest I would have the friends dearest to
me begin on that The headlong match is how can we describe it By its
finale I am afraid Vernons abilities are really to be respected His shyness
is his malady I suppose he reflected that he was not a capitalist He might
one would think have addressed himself to me my purse is not locked«
»No Sir Willoughby« Lætitia said warmly for his donations in charity were
famous
Her eyes gave him the food he enjoyed and basking in them he continued
»Vernons income would at once have been regulated commensurately with a new
position requiring an increase This money money money But the world will
have it so Happily I have inherited habits of business and personal economy
Vernon is a man who would do fifty times more with a companion appreciating his
abilities and making light of his little deficiencies They are palpable small
enough He has always been aware of my wishes when perhaps the fulfilment
might have sent me off on another tour of the world homebird though I am When
was it that our friendship commenced In my boyhood I know Very many years
back«
»I am in my thirtieth year« said Lætitia
Surprised and pained by a baldness resembling the deeds of ladies they have
been known either through absence of mind or mania to displace a wig in the
deadly intimacy which slaughters poetic admiration Sir Willoughby punished her
by deliberately reckoning that she did not look less
»Genius« he observed »is unacquainted with wrinkles« hardly one of his
prettiest speeches but he had been wounded and he never could recover
immediately Coming on him in a mood of sentiment the wound was sharp He could
very well have calculated the ladys age It was the jarring clash of her brazen
declaration of it upon his low rich flutenotes that shocked him
He glanced at the gold cathedralclock on the mantelpiece and proposed a
stroll on the lawn before dinner Lætitia gathered up her embroidery work
»As a rule« he said »authoresses are not needlewomen«
»I shall resign the needle or the pen if it stamps me an exception« she
replied
He attempted a compliment on her truly exceptional character As when the
players finger rests in distraction on the organ it was without measure and
disgusted his own hearing Nevertheless she had been so good as to diminish his
apprehension that the marriage of a lady in her thirtieth year with his cousin
Vernon would be so much of a loss to him hence while parading the lawn now
and then casting an eye at the window of the room where his Clara and Vernon
were in council the schemes he indulged for his prospective comfort and his
feelings of the moment were in such striving harmony as that to which we hear
orchestral musicians bringing their instruments under the process called
tuneing It is not perfect but it promises to be so soon We are not angels
which have their dulcimers ever on the choral pitch We are mortals attaining
the celestial accord with effort through a stage of pain Some degree of pain
was necessary to Sir Willoughby otherwise he would not have seen his generosity
confronting him He grew therefore tenderly inclined to Lætitia once more so
far as to say within himself »For conversation she would be a valuable wife«
And this valuable wife he was presenting to his cousin
Apparently considering the duration of the conference of his Clara and
Vernon his cousin required strong persuasion to accept the present
Chapter XV
The Petition for a Release
Neither Clara nor Vernon appeared at the midday table Dr Middleton talked
with Miss Dale on classical matters like a goodnatured giant giving a child
the jump from stone to stone across a brawling mountain ford so that an
unedified audience might really suppose upon seeing her over the difficulty
she had done something for herself Sir Willoughby was proud of her and
therefore anxious to settle her business while he was in the humour to lose her
He hoped to finish it by shooting a word or two at Vernon before dinner Claras
petition to be set free released from him had vaguely frightened even more
than it offended his pride
Miss Isabel quitted the room
She came back saying »They decline to lunch«
»Then we may rise« remarked Sir Willoughby
»She was weeping« Miss Isabel murmured to him
»Girlish enough« he said
The two elderly ladies went away together Miss Dale pursuing her theme
with the Rev Doctor was invited by him to a course in the library Sir
Willoughby walked up and down the lawn taking a glance at the Westroom as he
swung round on the turn of his leg Growing impatient he looked in at the window
and found the room vacant
Nothing was to be seen of Clara and Vernon during the afternoon Near the
dinnerhour the ladies were informed by Miss Middletons maid that her mistress
was lying down on her bed too unwell with headache to be present Young
Crossjay brought a message from Vernon delayed by birds eggs in the delivery
to say that he was off over the hills and thought of dining with Dr Corney
Sir Willoughby despatched condolences to his bride He was not well able to
employ his mind on its customary topic being like the dome of a bell a man of
so pervading a ring within himself concerning himself that the recollection of
a doubtful speech or unpleasant circumstance touching him closely deranged his
inward peace and as dubious and unpleasant things will often occur he had
great need of a worshipper and was often compelled to appeal to her for signs
of antidotal idolatry In this instance when the need of a worshipper was
sharply felt he obtained no signs at all The Rev Doctor had fascinated Miss
Dale so that both within and without Sir Willoughby was uncomforted His
themes in public were those of an English gentleman horses dogs game sport
intrigue scandal politics wines the manly themes with a condescension to
ladies tattle and approbation of a racy anecdote What interest could he
possibly take in the Athenian Theatre and the girl whose fluteplaying behind
the scenes imitating the nightingale enraptured a Greek audience He would
have suspected a motive in Miss Dales eager attentiveness if the motive could
have been conceived Besides the ancients were not decorous they did not as
we make our moderns do write for ladies He ventured at the dinnertable to
interrupt Dr Middleton once
»Miss Dale will do wisely I think sir by confining herself to your
present edition of the classics«
»That« replied Middleton »is the observation of a student of the
dictionary of classical mythology in the English tongue«
»The Theatre is a matter of climate sir You will grant me that«
»If quick wits come of climate it is as you say sir«
»With us it seems a matter of painful fostering or the need of it« said
Miss Dale with a question to Dr Middleton excluding Sir Willoughby as though
he had been a temporary disturbance of the flow of their dialogue
The ladies Eleanor and Isabel previously excellent listeners to the learned
talk saw the necessity of coming to his rescue but you cannot converse with
your aunts inmates of your house on general subjects at table the attempt
increased his discomposure he considered that he had illchosen his
fatherinlaw that scholars are an impolite race that young or youngish women
are devotees of power in any form and will be absorbed by a scholar for a
variation of a man concluding that he must have a round of dinnerparties to
friends especially ladies appreciating him during the Doctors visit Claras
headache above and Dr Middletons unmannerliness below affected his instincts
in a way to make him apprehend that a stroke of misfortune was impending
thunder was in the air Still he learnt something by which he was to profit
subsequently The topic of Wine withdrew the Doctor from his classics it was
magical on him A strong fraternity of taste was discovered in the sentiments of
host and guest upon particular wines and vintages they kindled one another by
naming great years of the grape and if Sir Willoughby had to sacrifice the
ladies to the topic he much regretted a condition of things that compelled him
to sin against his habit for the sake of being in the conversation and probing
an elderly gentlemans foible
Late at night he heard the housebell and meeting Vernon in the hall
invited him to enter the laboratory and tell him Dr Corneys last Vernon was
brief Corney had not let fly a single anecdote he said and lighted his
candle
»By the way Vernon you had a talk with Miss Middleton«
»She will speak to you tomorrow at twelve«
»Tomorrow at twelve«
»It gives her four and twenty hours«
Sir Willoughby determined that his perplexity should be seen but Vernon
said goodnight to him and was shooting up the stairs before the dramatic
exhibition of surprise had yielded to speech
Thunder was in the air and a blow coming Sir Willoughbys instincts were
awake to the many signs nor though silenced were they hushed by his harping
on the frantic excesses to which women are driven by the passion of jealousy He
believed in Claras jealousy because he really had intended to rouse it under
the form of emulation feebly He could not suppose she had spoken of it to
Vernon But as for the seriousness of her desire to be released from her
engagement that was little credible Still the fixing of an hour for her to
speak to him after an interval of four and twenty hours left an opening for the
incredible to add its weight to the suspicious mass and who would have fancied
Clara Middleton so wild a victim of the intemperate passion He muttered to
himself several assuageing observations to excuse a young lady halfdemented
and rejected them in a lump for their nonsensical inapplicability to Clara In
order to obtain some sleep he consented to blame himself slightly in the style
of the enamoured historian of erring Beauties alluding to their peccadilloes He
had done it to edify her Sleep however failed him That an inordinate
jealousy argued an overpowering love solved his problem until he tried to fit
the proposition to Claras character He had discerned nothing southern in her
Latterly with the blushing Day in prospect she had contracted and frozen
There was no reading either of her or the mystery
In the morning at the breakfasttable a confession of sleeplessness was
general Excepting Miss Dale and Dr Middleton none had slept a wink »I sir«
the Doctor replied to Sir Willoughby »slept like a lexicon in your library when
Mr Whitford and I are out of it«
Vernon incidentally mentioned that he had been writing through the night
»You fellows kill yourselves« Sir Willoughby reproved him »For my part I
make it a principle to get through my work without selfslaughter«
Clara watched her father for a symptom of ridicule He gazed mildly on the
systematic worker She was unable to guess whether she would have in him an ally
or a judge The latter she feared Now that she had embraced the strife she
saw the division of the line where she stood from that one where the world
places girls who are affianced wives her father could hardly be with her it
had gone too far He loved her but he would certainly take her to be moved by a
maddish whim he would not try to understand her case The scholars detestation
of a disarrangement of human affairs that had been by miracle contrived to run
smoothly would of itself rank him against her and with the world to back his
view of her he might behave like a despotic father How could she defend
herself before him At one thought of Sir Willoughby her tongue made ready and
feminine craft was alert to prompt it but to her father she could imagine
herself opposing only dumbness and obstinacy
»It is not exactly the same kind of work« she said
Dr Middleton rewarded her with a bushy eyebrows beam of his revolving
humour at the baronets notion of work
So little was needed to quicken her that she sunned herself in the beam
coaxing her fathers eyes to stay with hers as long as she could and beginning
to hope he might be won to her side if she confessed she had been more in the
wrong than she felt owned to him that is her error in not earlier disturbing
his peace
»I do not say it is the same« observed Sir Willoughby bowing to their
alliance of opinion »My poor work is for the day and Vernons no doubt for
the day to come I contend nevertheless for the preservation of health as the
chief implement of work«
»Of continued work there I agree with you« said Dr Middleton cordially
Claras heart sank so little was needed to deaden her
Accuse her of an overweening antagonism to her betrothed yet remember that
though the words had not been uttered to give her good reason for it nature
reads nature captives may be stript of everything save that power to read their
tyrant remember also that she was not as she well knew blameless her rage at
him was partly against herself
The rising from table left her to Sir Willoughby She swam away after Miss
Dale exclaiming »The laboratory Will you have me for a companion on your walk
to see your father One breathes earth and heaven today out of doors Isnt it
Summer with a Springbreeze I will wander about your garden and not hurry your
visit I promise«
»I shall be very happy indeed But I am going immediately« said Lætitia
seeing Sir Willoughby hovering to snap up his bride
»Yes and a gardenhat and I am on the march«
»I will wait for you on the terrace«
»You will not have to wait«
»Five minutes at the most« Sir Willoughby said to Lætitia and she passed
out leaving them alone together
»Well and my love« he addressed his bride almost huggingly »and what is
the story and how did you succeed with old Vernon yesterday He will and he
wont Hes a very woman in these affairs I cant forgive him for giving you a
headache You were found weeping«
»Yes I cried« said Clara
»And now tell me about it You know my dear girl whether he does or
doesnt our keeping him somewhere in the neighbourhood perhaps not in the
house that is the material point It can hardly be necessary in these days to
urge marriages on Im sure the country is over Most marriages ought to be
celebrated with the funeral knell«
»I think so« said Clara
»It will come to this that marriages of consequence and none but those
will be hailed with joyful peals«
»Do not say such things in public Willoughby«
»Only to you to you Dont think me likely to expose myself to the world
Well and I sounded Miss Dale and there will be no violent obstacle And now
about Vernon«
»I will speak to you Willoughby when I return from my walk with Miss Dale
soon after twelve«
»Twelve« said he
»I name an hour It seems childish I can explain it But it is named I
cannot deny because I am a rather childish person perhaps and have it
prescribed to me to delay my speaking for a certain length of time I may tell
you at once that Mr Whitford is not to be persuaded by me and the breaking of
our engagement would not induce him to remain«
»Vernon used those words«
»It was I«
»The breaking of our engagement Come into the laboratory my love«
»I shall not have time«
»Time shall stop rather than interfere with our conversation The breaking
but its a sort of sacrilege to speak of it«
»That I feel yet it has to be spoken of«
»Sometimes Why I cant conceive the occasion You know to me Clara
plighted faith the affiancing of two lovers is a piece of religion I rank it
as holy as marriage nay to me it is holier I really cannot tell you how I
can only appeal to you in your bosom to understand me We read of divorces with
comparative indifference They occur between couples who have rubbed off all
romance«
She could have asked him in her fit of ironic iciness on hearing him thus
blindly challenge her to speak out whether the romance might be his piece of
religion
He propitiated the more unwarlike sentiments in her by ejaculating »Poor
souls let them go their several ways Married people no longer lovers are in
the category of the unnameable But the hint of the breaking of an engagement
our engagement between us Oh«
»Oh« Clara came out with a swans note swelling over mechanical imitation
of him to dolorousness illimitable »Oh« she breathed short »let it be now Do
not speak till you have heard me My head may not be clear byandby And two
scenes twice will be beyond my endurance I am penitent for the wrong I have
done you I grieve for you All the blame is mine Willoughby you must release
me Do not let me hear a word of that word jealousy is unknown to me Happy
if I could call you friend and see you with a worthier than I who might
byandby call me friend You have my plighted troth given in ignorance of
my feelings Reprobate a weak and foolish girls ignorance I have thought of
it and I cannot see wickedness though the blame is great shameful You have
none You are without any blame You will not suffer as I do You will be
generous to me I have no respect for myself when I beg you to be generous and
release me«
»But this was the « Willoughby preserved his calmness »this then the
subject of your interview with Vernon«
»I have spoken to him I did my commission and I spoke to him«
»Of me«
»Of myself I see how I hurt you I could not avoid it Yes of you as far
as we are related I said I believed you would release me I said I could be
true to my plighted word but that you would not insist Could a gentleman
insist But not a step beyond not love I have none And Willoughby treat me
as one perfectly worthless I am I should have known it a year back I was
deceived in myself There should be love«
»Should be« Willoughbys tone was a pungent comment on her
»Love then I find I have not I think I am antagonistic to it What people
say of it I have not experienced I find I was mistaken It is lightly said but
very painful You understand me that my prayer is for liberty that I may not
be tied If you can release and pardon me or promise ultimately to pardon me
or say some kind word I shall know it is because I am beneath you utterly that
I have been unable to give you the love you should have with a wife Only say to
me go It is you who break the match discovering my want of a heart What
people think of me matters little My anxiety will be to save you annoyance«
She waited for him he seemed on the verge of speaking
He perceived her expectation he had nothing but clownish tumult within and
his dignity counselled him to disappoint her
Swaying his head like the oriental palm whose shade is a blessing to the
perfervid wanderer below smiling gravely he was indirectly asking his dignity
what he could say to maintain it and deal this mad young woman a bitterly
compassionate rebuke What to think hung remoter The thing to do struck him
first
He squeezed both her hands threw the door wide open and said with
countless blinkings »In the laboratory we are uninterrupted I was at a loss to
guess where that most unpleasant effect on the senses came from They are always
guessing through the nose I mean the remainder of breakfast here Perhaps I
satirized them too smartly if you know the letters When they are not
calculating More offensive than débris of a midnight banquet An American tour
is instructive though not so romantic Not so romantic as Italy I mean Let us
escape«
She held back from his arm She had scattered his brains it was pitiable
but she was in the torrent and could not suffer a pause or a change of place
»It must be here one minute more I cannot go elsewhere to begin again
Speak to me here answer my request Once one word If you forgive me it will
be superhuman But release me«
»Seriously« he rejoined »teacups and coffeecups breadcrumbs
eggshells caviare butter beef bacon Can we The room reeks«
»Then I will go for my walk with Miss Dale And you will speak to me when I
return«
»At all seasons You shall go with Miss Dale But my dear my love
Seriously where are we One hears of lovers quarrels Now I never quarrel It
is a characteristic of mine And you speak of me to my cousin Vernon Seriously
plighted faith signifies plighted faith as much as an ironcable is iron to
hold by Some little twist of the mind To Vernon of all men Tush she has
been dreaming of a hero of perfection and the comparison is unfavourable to her
Willoughby But my Clara when I say to you that bride is bride and you are
mine mine«
»Willoughby you mentioned them those separations of two married You
said if they do not love Oh say is it not better instead of later«
He took advantage of her modesty in speaking to exclaim »Where are we now
Bride is bride and wife is wife and affianced is in honour wedded You
cannot be released We are united Recognize it united There is no possibility
of releasing a wife«
»Not if she ran «
This was too direct to be histrionically misunderstood He had driven her to
the extremity of more distinctly imagining the circumstance she had cited and
with that cleared view the desperate creature gloried in launching such a bolt
at the mans real or assumed insensibility as must by shivering it waken him
But in a moment she stood in burning rose with dimmed eyesight She saw his
horror and seeing shared it shared just then only by seeing it which led her
to rejoice with the deepest of sighs that some shame was left in her
»Ran ran ran« he said as rapidly as he blinked »How where what idea
«
Close was he upon an explosion that would have sullied his conception of the
purity of the younger members of the sex hauntingly
That she a young lady maiden of strictest education should and without
his teaching know that wives ran know that by running they compelled their
husbands to abandon pursuit surrender possession and that she should suggest
it of herself as a wife that she should speak of running
His ideal the common male Egoist ideal of a waxwork sex would have been
shocked to fragments had she spoken further to fill in the outlines of these
awful interjections
She was tempted for during the last few minutes the fire of her situation
had enlightened her understanding upon a subject far from her as the icefields
of the North a short while before and the prospect offered to her courage if
she would only outstare shame and seem at home in the doings of wickedness was
his loathing and dreading so vile a young woman She restrained herself
chiefly after the first bridling of maidenly timidity because she could not
bear to lower the idea of her sex even in his esteem
The door was open She had thoughts of flying out to breathe in an interval
of truce
She reflected on her situation hurriedly askance
»If one must go through this to be disentangled from an engagement what
must it be to poor women seeking to be free of a marriage«
Had she spoken it Sir Willoughby might have learnt that she was not so
iniquitously wise of the things of this world as her mere sexs instinct roused
to the intemperateness of a creature struggling with fetters had made her
appear in her dash to seize a weapon indicated moreover by him
Clara took up the old broken vow of women to vow it afresh »Never to any
man will I give my hand«
She replied to Sir Willoughby »I have said all I cannot explain what I
have said«
She had heard a step in the passage Vernon entered
Perceiving them he stated his mission in apology »Dr Middleton left a
book in this room I see it its a Heinsius«
»Ha by the way a book books would not be left here if they were not
brought here with my compliments to Dr Middleton who may do as he pleases
though seriously order is order« said Sir Willoughby »Come away to the
laboratory Clara Its a comment on human beings that wherever they have been
theres a mess and you admirers of them« he divided a sickly nod between
Vernon and the stale breakfasttable »must make what you can of it Come
Clara«
Clara protested that she was engaged to walk with Miss Dale
»Miss Dale is waiting in the hall« said Vernon
»Miss Dale is waiting« said Clara
»Walk with Miss Dale walk with Miss Dale« Sir Willoughby remarked
pressingly »I will beg her to wait another two minutes You shall find her in
the hall when you come down«
He rang the bell and went out
»Take Miss Dale into your confidence she is quite trustworthy« Vernon said
to Clara
»I have not advanced one step« she replied
»Recollect that you are in a position of your own choosing and if after
thinking over it you mean to escape you must make up your mind to pitched
battles and not be dejected if you are beaten in all of them there is your
only chance«
»Not my choosing do not say choosing Mr Whitford I did not choose I was
incapable of really choosing I consented«
»Its the same in fact But be sure of what you wish«
»Yes« she assented taking it for her just punishment that she should be
supposed not quite to know her wishes »Your advice has helped me today«
»Did I advise«
»Do you regret advising«
»I should certainly regret a word that intruded between you and him«
»But you will not leave the Hall yet You will not leave me without a
friend If papa and I were to leave tomorrow I foresee endless correspondence
I have to stay at least some days and wear through it and then if I have to
speak to my poor father you can imagine the effect on him«
Sir Willoughby came striding in to correct the error of his going out
»Miss Dale awaits you my dear You have bonnet hat No Have you
forgotten your appointment to walk with her«
»I am ready« said Clara departing
The two gentlemen behind her separated in the passage They had not spoken
She had read of the reproach upon women that they divide the friendships of
men She reproached herself but she was in action driven by necessity between
sea and rock Dreadful to think of she was one of the creatures who are written
about
Chapter XVI
Clara and Lætitia
In spite of his honourable caution Vernon had said things to render Miss
Middleton more angrily determined than she had been in the scene with Sir
Willoughby His counting on pitched battles and a defeat for her in all of them
made her previous feelings appear slack in comparison with the energy of combat
now animating her And she could vehemently declare that she had not chosen she
was too young too ignorant to choose He had wrongly used that word it sounded
malicious and to call consenting the same in fact as choosing was wilfully
unjust Mr Whitford meant well he was conscientious very conscientious But
he was not the hero descending from heaven brightsworded to smite a womans
fetters off her limbs and deliver her from the yawning mouthabyss
His logical coolness of expostulation with her when she cast aside the silly
mission entrusted to her by Sir Willoughby and wept for herself was unheroic in
proportion to its praiseworthiness He had left it to her to do everything she
wished done stipulating simply that there should be a pause of four and twenty
hours for her to consider of it before she proceeded in the attempt to extricate
herself Of consolation there had not been a word Said he »I am the last man
to give advice in such a case« Yet she had by no means astonished him when her
confession came out It came out she knew not how It was led up to by his
declining the idea of marriage and her congratulating him on his exemption from
the prospect of the yoke but memory was too dull to revive the one or two fiery
minutes of broken language when she had been guilty of her dire misconduct
This gentleman was no flatterer scarcely a friend He could look on her
grief without soothing her Supposing he had soothed her warmly All her
sentiments collected in her bosom to dash in reprobation of him at the thought
She nevertheless condemned him for his excessive coolness his transparent
anxiety not to be compromised by a syllable his air of saying »I guessed as
much but why plead your case to me« And his recommendation to her to be quite
sure she did know what she meant was a little insulting She exonerated him
from the intention he treated her as a girl By what he said of Miss Dale he
proposed that lady for imitation
»I must be myself or I shall be playing hypocrite to dig my own pitfall«
she said to herself while taking counsel with Lætitia as to the route for their
walk and admiring a becoming curve in her companions hat
Sir Willoughby with many protestations of regret that letters of business
debarred him from the pleasure of accompanying them remarked upon the path
proposed by Miss Dale »In that case you must have a footman«
»Then we adopt the other« said Clara and they set forth
»Sir Willoughby« Miss Dale said to her »is always in alarm about our
unprotectedness«
Clara glanced up at the clouds and closed her parasol She replied »It
inspires timidity«
There was that in the accent and character of the answer which warned
Lætitia to expect the reverse of a quiet chatter with Miss Middleton
»You are fond of walking« She chose a peaceful topic
»Walking or riding yes of walking« said Clara »The difficulty is to find
companions«
»We shall lose Mr Whitford next week«
»He goes«
»He will be a great loss to me for I do not ride« Lætitia replied to the
offhand inquiry
»Ah«
Miss Middleton did not fan conversation when she simply breathed her voice
Lætitia tried another neutral theme
»The weather today suits our country« she said
»England or Patterne Park I am so devoted to mountains that I have no
enthusiasm for flat land«
»Do you call our country flat Miss Middleton We have undulations hills
and we have sufficient diversity meadows rivers copses brooks and good
roads and pretty bypaths«
»The prettiness is overwhelming It is very pretty to see but to live with
I think I prefer ugliness I can imagine learning to love ugliness Its honest
However young you are you cannot be deceived by it These parks of rich people
are a part of the prettiness I would rather have fields commons«
»The parks give us delightful green walks paths through beautiful woods«
»If there is a right of way for the public«
»There should be« said Miss Dale wondering and Clara cried »I chafe at
restraint hedges and palings everywhere I should have to travel ten years to
sit down contented among these fortifications Of course I can read of this rich
kind of English country with pleasure in poetry But it seems to me to require
poetry What would you say of human beings requiring it«
»That they are not so companionable but that the haze of distance improves
the view«
»Then you do know that you are the wisest«
Lætitia raised her dark eyelashes she sought to understand She could only
fancy she did and if she did it meant that Miss Middleton thought her wise in
remaining single
Clara was full of a sombre preconception that her jealousy had been hinted
to Miss Dale
»You knew Miss Durham« she said
»Not intimately«
»As well as you know me«
»Not so well«
»But you saw more of her«
»She was more reserved with me«
»Oh Miss Dale I would not be reserved with you«
The thrill of the voice caused Lætitia to steal a look Claras eyes were
bright and she had the readiness to run to volubility of the feverstricken
otherwise she did not betray excitement
»You will never allow any of these noble trees to be felled Miss
Middleton«
»The axe is better than decay do you not think«
»I think your influence will be great and always used to good purpose«
»My influence Miss Dale I have begged a favour this morning and cannot
obtain the grant«
It was lightly said but Claras face was more significant and »What«
leapt from Lætitias lips
Before she could excuse herself Clara had answered »My liberty«
In another and higher tone Lætitia said »What« and she looked round on her
companion she looked in doubt that is open to conviction by a narrow aperture
and slowly and painfully yields access Clara saw the vacancy of her expression
gradually filling with woefulness
»I have begged him to release me from my engagement Miss Dale«
»Sir Willoughby«
»It is incredible to you He refuses You see I have no influence«
»Miss Middleton it is terrible«
»To be dragged to the marriage service against ones will Yes«
»Oh Miss Middleton«
»Do you not think so«
»That cannot be your meaning«
»You do not suspect me of trifling You know I would not I am as much in
earnest as a mouse in a trap«
»No you will not misunderstand me Miss Middleton such a blow to Sir
Willoughby would be shocking most cruel He is devoted to you«
»He was devoted to Miss Durham«
»Not so deeply differently«
»Was he not very much courted at that time He is now not so much he is
not so young But my reason for speaking of Miss Durham was to exclaim at the
strangeness of a girl winning her freedom to plunge into wedlock Is it
comprehensible to you She flies from one dungeon into another These are the
acts which astonish men at our conduct and cause them to ridicule and I
daresay despise us«
»But Miss Middleton for Sir Willoughby to grant such a request if it was
made «
»It was made and by me and will be made again I throw it all on my
unworthiness Miss Dale So the county will think of me and quite justly I
would rather defend him than myself He requires a different wife from anything
I can be That is my discovery unhappily a late one The blame is all mine The
world cannot be too hard on me But I must be free if I am to be kind in my
judgements even of the gentleman I have injured«
»So noble a gentleman« Lætitia sighed
»I will subscribe to any eulogy of him« said Clara with a penetrating
thought as to the possibility of a lady experienced in him like Lætitia taking
him for noble »He has a noble air I say it sincerely that your appreciation
of him proves his nobility« Her feeling of opposition to Sir Willoughby pushed
her to this extravagance gravely perplexing Lætitia »And it is« added Clara
as if to support what she had said »a withering rebuke to me I know him less
at least have not had so long an experience of him«
Lætitia pondered on an obscurity in these words which would have accused her
thick intelligence but for a glimmer it threw on another most obscure
communication She feared it might be strange though it seemed jealousy a
shade of jealousy affecting Miss Middleton as had been vaguely intimated by Sir
Willoughby when they were waiting in the hall »A little feminine ailment a
want of comprehension of a perfect friendship« those were his words to her and
he suggested vaguely that care must be taken in the eulogy of her friend
She resolved to be explicit
»I have not said that I think him beyond criticism Miss Middleton«
»Noble«
»He has faults When we have known a person for years the faults come out
but custom makes light of them and I suppose we feel flattered by seeing what
it would be difficult to be blind to A very little flatters us Now do you
not admire that view It is my favourite«
Clara gazed over rolling richness of foliage wood and water and church
spire a town and horizon hills There sang a skylark
»Not even the bird that does not fly away« she said meaning she had no
heart for the bird satisfied to rise and descend in this place
Lætitia travelled to some notion dim and immense of Miss Middletons fever
of distaste She shrank from it in a kind of dread lest it might be contagious
and rob her of her one everfresh possession of the homely picturesque but
Clara melted her by saying »For your sake I could love it in time or some
dear old English scene Since since this this change in me I find I
cannot separate landscape from associations Now I learn how youth goes I have
grown years older in a week Miss Dale if he were to give me my freedom if
he were to cast me off if he stood alone«
»I should pity him«
»Him not me Oh right I hoped you would I knew you would«
Lætitias attempt to shift Miss Middletons shiftiness was vain for now she
seemed really listening to the language of jealousy jealous of the ancient
Letty Dale and immediately before the tone was quite void of it
»Yes« she said »but you make me feel myself in the dark and when I do I
have the habit of throwing myself for guidance upon such light as I have within
You shall know me if you will as well as I know myself And do not think me
far from the point when I say I have a feeble health I am what the doctors call
anæmic a rather bloodless creature The blood is life so I have not much life
Ten years back eleven if I must be precise I thought of conquering the world
with a pen The result is that I am glad of a fireside and not sure of always
having one and that is my achievement My days are monotonous but if I have a
dread it is that there will be an alteration in them My father has very little
money We subsist on what private income he has and his pension he was an army
doctor I may byandby have to live in a town for pupils I could be grateful
to any one who would save me from that I should be astonished at his choosing
to have me burden his household as well Have I now explained the nature of my
pity It would be the pity of common sympathy pure lymph of pity as nearly
disembodied as can be Last years sheddings from the tree do not form an
attractive garland Their merit is that they have not the ambition I am like
them Now Miss Middleton I cannot make myself more bare to you I hope you see
my sincerity«
»I do see it« Clara said
With the second heaving of her heart she cried »See it and envy you that
humility proud if I could ape it Oh how proud if I could speak so truthfully
true You would not have spoken so to me without some good feeling out of
which friends are made That I am sure of To be very truthful to a person one
must have a liking So I judge by myself Do I presume too much«
Kindness was Lætitias face
»But now« said Clara swimming on the wave in her bosom »I tax you with
the silliest suspicion ever entertained by one of your rank Lady you have
deemed me capable of the meanest of our vices Hold this hand Lætitia my
friend will you Something is going on in me«
Lætitia took her hand and saw and felt that something was going on
Clara said »You are a woman«
It was her effort to account for the something
She swam for a brilliant instant on tears and yielded to the overflow
When they had fallen she remarked upon her first long breath quite coolly
»An encouraging picture of a rebel is it not«
Her companion murmured to soothe her
»Its little its nothing« said Clara pained to keep her lips in line
They walked forward holding hands deephearted to one another
»I like this country better now« the shaken girl resumed »I could lie down
in it and ask only for sleep I should like to think of you here How nobly
selfrespecting you must be to speak as you did Our dreams of heroes and
heroines are cold glitter beside the reality I have been lately thinking of
myself as an outcast of my sex and to have a good woman liking me a little
loving Oh Lætitia my friend I should have kissed you and not made this
exhibition of myself and if you call it hysterics woe to you for I bit my
tongue to keep it off when I had hardly strength to bring my teeth together if
that idea of jealousy had not been in your head You had it from him«
»I have not alluded to it in any word that I can recollect«
»He can imagine no other cause for my wish to be released I have noticed
it is his instinct to reckon on women as constant by their nature They are the
needles and he the magnet Jealousy of you Miss Dale Lætitia may I speak«
»Say everything you please«
»I could wish Do you know my baptismal name«
»Clara«
»At last I could wish that is if it were your wish Yes I could wish
that Next to independence my wish would be that I risk offending you Do not
let your delicacy take arms against me I wish him happy in the only way that he
can be made happy There is my jealousy«
»Was it what you were going to say just now«
»No«
»I thought not«
»I was going to say and I believe the rack would not make me truthful like
you Lætitia well has it ever struck you remember I do see his merits I
speak to his faithfullest friend and I acknowledge he is attractive he has
manly tastes and habits but has it never struck you I have no right to ask
I know that men must have faults I do not expect them to be saints I am not
one I wish I were«
»Has it never struck me « Lætitia prompted her
»That very few women are able to be straightforwardly sincere in their
speech however much they may desire to be«
»They are differently educated Great misfortune brings it to them«
»I am sure your answer is correct Have you ever known a woman who was
entirely an Egoist«
»Personally known one We are not better than men«
»I do not pretend that we are I have latterly become an Egoist thinking of
no one but myself scheming to make use of every soul I meet But then women
are in the position of inferiors They are hardly out of the nursery when a
lasso is round their necks and if they have beauty no wonder they turn it to a
weapon and make as many captives as they can I do not wonder My sense of shame
at my natural weakness and the arrogance of men would urge me to make hundreds
captive if that is being a coquette I should not have compassion for those
lofty birds the hawks To see them with their wings clipped would amuse me Is
there any other way of punishing them«
»Consider what you lose in punishing them«
»I consider what they gain if we do not«
Lætitia supposed she was listening to discursive observations upon the
inequality in the relations of the sexes A suspicion of a drift to a closer
meaning had been lulled and the colour flooded her swiftly when Clara said
»Here is the difference I see I see it I am certain of it women who are
called coquettes make their conquests not of the best of men but men who are
Egoists have good women for their victims women on whose devoted constancy they
feed they drink it like blood I am sure I am not taking the merely feminine
view They punish themselves too by passing over the one suitable to them who
could really give them what they crave to have and they go where they «
Clara stopped »I have not your power to express ideas« she said
»Miss Middleton you have a dreadful power« said Lætitia
Clara smiled affectionately »I am not aware of any Whose cottage is this«
»My fathers Will you not come in into the garden«
Clara took note of ivied windows and roses in the porch She thanked Lætitia
and said »I will call for you in an hour«
»Are you walking on the road alone« said Lætitia incredulously with an eye
to Sir Willoughbys dismay
»I put my trust in the highroad« Clara replied and turned away but turned
back to Lætitia and offered her face to be kissed
The dreadful power of this young lady had fervently impressed Lætitia and
in kissing her she marvelled at her gentleness and girlishness
Clara walked on unconscious of her possession of power of any kind
Chapter XVII
The Porcelain Vase
During the term of Claras walk with Lætitia Sir Willoughbys shrunken
selfesteem like a garment hung to the fire after exposure to tempestuous
weather recovered some of the sleekness of its velvet pile in the society of
Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson who represented to him the world he feared and tried
to keep sunny for himself by all the arts he could exercise She expected him to
be the gay Sir Willoughby and her look being as good as an incantationsummons
he produced the accustomed sprite giving her sally for sally Queens govern the
polite Popularity with men serviceable as it is for winning favouritism with
women is of poor value to a sensitive gentleman anxious even to prognostic
apprehension on behalf of his pride his comfort and his prevalence And men are
grossly purchaseable good wines have them good cigars a goodfellow air they
are never quite worth their salt even then you can make head against their ill
looks But the looks of women will at one blow work on you the downright
difference which is between the cock of lordly plume and the moulting Happily
they may be gained a clever tongue will gain them a leg They are with you to
a certainty if Nature is with you if you are elegant and discreet if the sun
is on you and they see you shining in it or if they have seen you
wellstationed and handsome in the sun And once gained they are your mirrors
for life and far more constant than the glass That tale of their caprice is
absurd Hit their imaginations once they are your slaves only demanding common
courtier service of you They will deny that you are ageing they will cover you
from scandal they will refuse to see you ridiculous Sir Willoughbys instinct
or skin or outfloating feelers told him of these mysteries of the influence of
the sex he had as little need to study them as a lady breathed on
He had some need to know them in fact and with him the need of a
protection for himself called it forth he was intuitively a conjuror in
selfdefence longsighted wanting no directions to the herb he was to suck at
when fighting a serpent His dulness of vision into the heart of his enemy was
compensated by the agile sensitiveness obscuring but rendering him miraculously
active and without supposing his need immediate he deemed it politic to
fascinate Mrs Mountstuart and anticipate ghastly possibilities in the future by
dropping a hint not of Claras fickleness you may be sure of his own rather
or more justly of an altered view of Claras character He touched on the rogue
in porcelain
Set gently laughing by his relishing humour »I get nearer to it« he said
»Remember Im in love with her« said Mrs Mountstuart
»That is our penalty«
»A pleasant one for you«
He assented »Is the rogue to be eliminated«
»Ask when shes a mother my dear Sir Willoughby«
»This is how I read you «
»I shall accept any interpretation that is complimentary«
»Not one will satisfy me of being sufficiently so and so I leave it to the
character to fill out the epigram«
»Do What hurry is there And dont be misled by your objection to rogue
which would be reasonable if you had not secured her«
The door of a hollow chamber of horrible reverberation was opened within him
by this remark
He tried to say in jest that it was not always a passionate admiration that
held the rogue fast but he muddled it in the thick of his conscious thunder
and Mrs Mountstuart smiled to see him shot from the smoothflowing dialogue
into the cataracts by one simple reminder to the lover of his luck Necessarily
after a fall the pitch of their conversation relaxed
»Miss Dale is looking well« he said
»Fairly she ought to marry« said Mrs Mountstuart
He shook his head »Persuade her«
She nodded »Example may have some effect«
He looked extremely abstracted »Yes it is time Where is the man you could
recommend for her complement She has now what was missing before a ripe
intelligence in addition to her happy disposition romantic you would say I
cant think women the worse for that«
»A dash of it«
»She calls it leafage«
»Very pretty And have you relented about your horse Achmet«
»I dont sell him under four hundred«
»Poor Johnny Busshe You forget that his wife doles him out his money
Youre a hard bargainer Sir Willoughby«
»I mean the price to be prohibitive«
»Very well and leafage is good for hide and seek especially when there is
no rogue in ambush And thats the worst I can say of Lætitia Dale An
exaggerated devotion is the scandal of our sex They say youre the hardest man
of business in the county too and I can believe it for at home and abroad your
aim is to get the best of everybody You see Ive no leafage I am perfectly
matteroffact bald«
»Nevertheless my dear Mrs Mountstuart I can assure you that conversing
with you has much the same exhilarating effect on me as conversing with Miss
Dale«
»But leafage leafage You hard bargainers have no compassion for devoted
spinsters«
»I tell you my sentiments absolutely«
»And you have mine moderately expressed«
She recollected the purpose of her mornings visit which was to engage Dr
Middleton to dine with her and Sir Willoughby conducted her to the library
door »Insist« he said
Awaiting her reappearance the refreshment of the talk he had sustained not
without point assisted him to distinguish in its complete abhorrent orb the
offence committed against him by his bride And this he did through projecting
it more and more away from him so that in the outer distance it involved his
personal emotions less while observation was enabled to compass its vastness
and as it were perceive the whole spherical mass of the wretched girls guilt
impudently turning on its axis
Thus to detach an injury done to us and plant it in space for mathematical
measurement of its weight and bulk is an art it may also be an instinct of
selfpreservation otherwise as when mountains crumble adjacent villages are
crushed men of feeling may at any moment be killed outright by the iniquitous
and the callous But as an art it should be known to those who are for
practising an art so beneficent that circumstances must lend their aid Sir
Willoughbys instinct even had sat dull and crushed before his conversation with
Mrs Mountstuart She lifted him to one of his ideals of himself Among
gentlemen he was the English gentleman with ladies his aim was the Gallican
courtier of any period from Louis Treize to Louis Quinze He could doat on those
who led him to talk in that character backed by English solidity you
understand Roast beef stood eminent behind the soufflé and champagne An
English squire excelling his fellows at hazardous leaps in public he was
additionally a polished whisperer a lively dialoguer one for witty bouts with
something in him capacity for a drive and dig or two beyond mere wit as
they soon learnt who called up his reserves and had a bosom for pinking So
much for his ideal of himself Now Clara not only never evoked never responded
to it she repelled it there was no flourishing of it near her He
considerately overlooked these facts in his ordinary calculations he was a man
of honour and she was a girl of beauty but the accidental blossoming of his
ideal with Mrs Mountstuart on the very heels of Claras offence restored him
to full command of his art of detachment and he thrust her out quite apart
from himself to contemplate her disgraceful revolutions
Deeply read in the Book of Egoism that he was he knew the wisdom of the
sentence An injured pride that strikes not out will strike home What was he to
strike with Ten years younger Lætitia might have been the instrument To think
of her now was preposterous Beside Clara she had the hue of Winter under the
springing bough He tossed her away vexed to the very soul by an ostentatious
decay that shrank from comparison with the blooming creature he had to scourge
in selfdefence by some agency or other
Mrs Mountstuart was on the step of her carriage when the silken parasols of
the young ladies were descried on a slope of the park where the yellow green of
Mayclothed beeches flowed over the brown ground of last years leaves
»Whos the cavalier« she inquired
A gentleman escorted them
»Vernon No hes pegging at Crossjay« quoth Willoughby
Vernon and Crossjay came out for the boys halfhours run before his
dinner Crossjay spied Miss Middleton and was off to meet her at a bound Vernon
followed him leisurely
»The rogue has no cousin has she« said Mrs Mountstuart
»Its a family of one son or one daughter for generations« replied
Willoughby
»And Letty Dale«
»Cousin« he exclaimed as if wealth had been imputed to Miss Dale adding
»No male cousin«
A railwaystation fly drove out of the avenue on the circle to the
hallentrance Flitch was driver He had no right to be there he was doing
wrong but he was doing it under cover of an office to support his wife and
young ones and his deprecating touches of the hat spoke of these apologies to
his former master with doglike pathos
Sir Willoughby beckoned to him to approach
»So you are here« he said »You have luggage«
Flitch jumped from the box and read one of the labels aloud »LieutColonel
H De Craye«
»And the colonel met the ladies Overtook them«
Here seemed to come dismal matter for Flitch to relate
He began upon the abstract origin of it he had lost his place in Sir
Willoughbys establishment and was obliged to look about for work where it was
to be got and though he knew he had no right to be where he was he hoped to be
forgiven because of the mouths he had to feed as a flyman attached to the
railway station where this gentleman the colonel hired him and he believed
Sir Willoughby would excuse him for driving a friend which the colonel was he
recollected well and the colonel recollected him and he said not noticing how
he was rigged »What Flitch back in your old place Am I expected« and he
told the colonel his unfortunate situation »Not back colonel no such luck for
me« and Colonel De Craye was a very kindhearted gentleman as he always had
been and asked kindly after his family And it might be that such poor work as
he was doing now he might be deprived of such is misfortune when it once
harpoons a man you may dive and you may fly but it sticks in you once do a
foolish thing »May I humbly beg of you if youll be so good Sir Willoughby«
said Flitch passing to evidence of the sad mishap He opened the door of the
fly displaying fragments of broken porcelain
»But what what whats the story of this« cried Sir Willoughby
»What is it« said Mrs Mountstuart pricking up her ears
»It was a vaws« Flitch replied in elegy
»A porcelain vase« interpreted Sir Willoughby
»China« Mrs Mountstuart faintly shrieked
One of the pieces was handed to her inspection
She held it close she held it distant She sighed horribly
»The man had better have hanged himself« said she
Flitch bestirred his misfortunesodden features and members for a
continuation of the doleful narrative
»How did this occur« Sir Willoughby peremptorily asked him
Flitch appealed to his former master for testimony that he was a good and a
careful driver
Sir Willoughby thundered »I tell you to tell me how this occurred«
»Not a drop my lady not since my supper last night if theres any truth
in me« Flitch implored succour of Mrs Mountstuart
»Drive straight« she said and braced him
His narrative was then direct
Near Pipers mill where the Wicker brook crossed the Rebdon road one of
Hoppners waggons overloaded as usual was forcing the horses uphill when
Flitch drove down at an easy pace and saw himself between Hoppners cart come
to a stand and a young lady advancing and just then the carter smacks his
whip the horses pull half mad The young lady starts behind the cart and up
jumps the colonel and to save the young lady Flitch dashed ahead and did save
her he thanked heaven for it and more when he came to see who the young lady
was
»She was alone« said Sir Willoughby in tragic amazement staring at
Flitch
»Very well you saved her and you upset the fly« Mrs Mountstuart jogged
him on
»Bartlett our old headkeeper was a witness my lady I had to drive half
up the bank and its true over the fly did go and the vaws it shoots out
against the twelfth milestone just as though there was the chance for it for
nobody else was injured and knocked against anything else it never would have
flown all to pieces so that it took Bartlett and me ten minutes to collect
every one down to the smallest piece there was and he said and I cant help
thinking myself there was a Providence in it for we all come together so as
you might say we was made to do as we did«
»So then Horace adopted the prudent course of walking on with the ladies
instead of trusting his limbs again to this capsizing fly« Sir Willoughby said
to Mrs Mountstuart and she rejoined »Lucky that no one was hurt«
Both of them eyed the nose of poor Flitch and simultaneously they delivered
a verdict of Humph
Mrs Mountstuart handed the wretch a halfcrown from her purse Sir
Willoughby directed the footman in attendance to unload the fly and gather up
the fragments of porcelain carefully bidding Flitch be quick in his departing
»The colonels weddingpresent I shall call tomorrow« Mrs Mountstuart
waved her adieu
»Come every day Yes I suppose we may guess the destination of the vase«
He bowed her off and she cried
»Well now the gift can be shared if youre either of you for a division«
In the crash of the carriagewheels he heard »At any rate there was a rogue in
that porcelain«
These are the slaps we get from a heedless world
As for the vase it was Horace De Crayes loss Weddingpresent he would
have to produce and decidedly not in chips It had the look of a costly vase
but that was no question for the moment What was meant by Clara being seen
walking on the highroad alone What snare traceable ad inferas had ever
induced Willoughby Patterne to make her the repository and fortress of his
honour
Chapter XVIII
Colonel De Craye
Clara came along chatting and laughing with Colonel De Craye young Crossjays
hand under one of her arms and her parasol flashing a dazzling offender as if
she wished to compel the spectator to recognize the dainty rogue in porcelain
really insufferably fair perfect in height and grace of movement
exquisitelytressed redlipped the colour striking out to a distance from her
ivory skin a sight to set the woodland dancing and turn the heads of the town
though beautiful a jury of artcritics might pronounce her not to be Irregular
features are condemned in beauty Beautiful figure they could say A
description of her figure and her walking would have won her any praises and
she wore a dress cunning to embrace the shape and flutter loose about it in the
spirit of a Summers day Calypsoclad Dr Middleton would have called her See
the silver birch in a breeze here it swells there it scatters and it is
puffed to a round and it streams like a pennon and now gives the glimpse and
shine of the white stems line within now hurries over it denying that it was
visible with a chatter along the sweeping folds while still the white peeps
through She had the wonderful art of dressing to suit the season and the sky
Today the art was ravishingly companionable with her sweetlighted face too
sweet too vividlymeaningful for pretty if not of the strict severity for
beautiful Millinery would tell us that she wore a fichu of thin white muslin
crossed in front on a dress of the same light stuff trimmed with deep rose She
carried a greysilk parasol traced at the borders with green creepers and
across the arm devoted to Crossjay a length of trailing ivy and in that hand a
bunch of the first long grasses These hues of red rose and green and pale
green ruffled and pouted in the billowy white of the dress ballooning and
valleying softly like a yacht before the sail bends low but she walked not
like one blown against resembling rather the day of the Southwest driving the
clouds gallantly firm in commotion interfusing colour and varying in her
features from laugh to smile and look of settled pleasure like the heavens
above the breeze
Sir Willoughby as he frequently had occasion to protest to Clara was no
poet he was a more than commonly candid English gentleman in his avowed dislike
of the poets nonsense verbiage verse not one of those latterly terrorized by
the noise made about the fellow into silent contempt a sentiment that may
sleep and has not to be defended He loathed the fellow fought the fellow But
he was one with the poet upon that prevailing theme of verse the charms of
women He was to his illluck intensely susceptible and where he led men
after him to admire his admiration became a fury He could see at a glance that
Horace De Craye admired Miss Middleton Horace was a man of taste could hardly
could not do other than admire but how curious that in the setting forth of
Clara and Miss Dale in his own contemplation and comparison of them Sir
Willoughby had given but a nodding approbation of his brides appearance He had
not attached weight to it recently
Her conduct and foremost if not chiefly her having been discovered
positively met by his friend Horace walking on the highroad without companion
or attendant increased a sense of pain so very unusual with him that he had
cause to be indignant Coming on this condition his admiration of the girl who
wounded him was as bitter a thing as a man could feel Resentment fed from the
main springs of his nature turned it to wormwood and not a whit the less was
it admiration when he resolved to chastise her with a formal indication of his
disdain Her present gaiety sounded to him like laughter heard in the shadow of
the pulpit
»You have escaped« he said to her while shaking the hand of his friend
Horace and cordially welcoming him »My dear fellow and by the way you had a
squeak for it I hear from Flitch«
»I Willoughby not a bit« said the colonel »we get into a fly to get out
of it and Flitch helped me out as well as in good fellow just dusting my coat
as he did it The only bit of bad management was that Miss Middleton had to step
aside a trifle hurriedly«
»You knew Miss Middleton at once«
»Flitch did me the favour to introduce me He first precipitated me at Miss
Middletons feet and then he introduced me in old oriental fashion to my
sovereign«
Sir Willoughbys countenance was enough for his friend Horace
Quarterwheeling to Clara he said »Tis the place Im to occupy for life Miss
Middleton though one is not always fortunate to have a bright excuse for taking
it at the commencement«
Clara said »Happily you were not hurt Colonel De Craye«
»I was in the hands of the Loves Not the Graces Im afraid Ive an image
of myself Dear no My dear Willoughby you never made such a headlong
declaration as that It would have looked like a magnificent impulse if the
posture had only been choicer And Miss Middleton didnt laugh At least I saw
nothing but pity«
»You did not write« said Willoughby
»Because it was a tossup of a run to Ireland or here and I came here not
to go there and by the way fetched a jug with me to offer up to the Gods of
illluck and they accepted the propitiation«
»Wasnt it packed in a box«
»No it was wrapped in paper to show its elegant form I caught sight of it
in the shop yesterday and carried it off this morning and presented it to Miss
Middleton at noon without any form at all«
Willoughby knew his friend Horaces mood when the Irish tongue in him
threatened to wag
»You see what may happen« he said to Clara
»As far as I am in fault I regret it« she answered
»Flitch says the accident occurred through his driving up the bank to save
you from the wheels«
»Flitch may go and whisper that down the neck of his empty whisky flask«
said Horace De Craye »And then let him cork it«
»The consequence is that we have a porcelain vase broken You should not
walk on the road alone Clara You ought to have a companion always It is the
rule here«
»I had left Miss Dale at the cottage«
»You ought to have had the dogs«
»Would they have been any protection to the vase«
Horace De Craye crowed cordially
»Im afraid not Miss Middleton One must go to the witches for protection
to vases and theyre all in the air now having their own way with us which
accounts for the confusion in politics and society and the rise in the price of
broomsticks to prove it true as they tell us that every nook and corner wants
a mighty sweeping Miss Dale looks beaming« said De Craye wishing to divert
Willoughby from his anger with sense as well as nonsense
»You have not been visiting Ireland recently« said Sir Willoughby
»No nor making acquaintance with an actor in an Irish part in a drama cast
in the green island Tis Flitch my dear Willoughby has been and stirred the
native in me and well present him to you for the like good office when we hear
after a number of years that youve not wrinkled your forehead once at your
liege lady Take the poor old dog back home will you Hes crazed to be at the
Hall I say Willoughby it would be a good bit of work to take him back Think
of it youll do the popular thing Im sure Ive a superstition that Flitch
ought to drive you from the churchdoor If I were in luck Id have him drive
me«
»The man s a drunkard Horace«
»He fuddles his poor nose Tis merely unction to the exile Sober struggles
below He drinks to rock his heart because he has one Now let me intercede for
poor Flitch«
»Not a word of him He threw up his place«
»To try his fortune in the world as the best of us do though livery runs
after us to tell us theres no being an independent gentleman and comes a cold
day we haul on the metalbutton coat again with a good ha of satisfaction
Youll do the popular thing Miss Middleton joins in the pleading«
»No pleading«
»When Ive vowed upon my eloquence Willoughby Id bring you to pardon the
poor dog«
»Not a word of him«
»Just one«
Sir Willoughby battled with himself to repress a state of temper that put
him to marked disadvantage beside his friend Horace in high spirits Ordinarily
he enjoyed these fits of Irish of him which were Horaces fun and play at
times involuntary and then they indicated a recklessness that might embrace
mischief De Craye as Willoughby had often reminded him was properly Norman
The blood of two or three Irish mothers in his line however was enough to
dance him and if his fine profile spoke of the stiffer race his eyes and the
quick run of the lip in the cheek and a number of his qualities were evidence
of the maternal legacy
»My word has been said about the man« Willoughby replied
»But Ive wagered on your heart against your word and cant afford to lose
and theres a double reason for revoking for you«
»I dont see either of them Here are the ladies«
»Youll think of the poor beast Willoughby«
»I hope for better occupation«
»If he drives a wheelbarrow at the Hall hell be happier than on board a
chariot at large Hes brokenhearted«
»Hes too much in the way of breakages my dear Horace«
»Oh the vase the bit of porcelain« sang De Craye »Well well talk him
over byandby«
»If it pleases you but my rules are never amended«
»Inalterable are they like those of an ancient people who might as well
have worn a jacket of lead for the comfort they had of their boast The beauty
of laws for human creatures is their adaptability to new stitchings«
Colonel De Craye walked at the heels of his leader to make his bow to the
ladies Eleanor and Isabel
Sir Willoughby had guessed the person who inspired his friend Horace to
plead so pertinaciously and inopportunely for the man Flitch and it had not
improved his temper or the pose of his rejoinders he had winced under the
contrast of his friend Horaces easy laughing sparkling musical air and
manner with his own stiffness and he had seen Claras face too scanning the
contrast he was fatally driven to exaggerate his discontentment which did not
restore him to serenity He would have learnt more from what his abrupt swing
round of the shoulder precluded his beholding There was an interchange between
Colonel De Craye and Miss Middleton spontaneous on both sides His was a look
that said »You were right« hers »I knew it« Her look was calmer and after
the first instant clouded as by wearifulness of sameness his was brilliant
astonished speculative and admiring pitiful a look that poised over a
revelation called up the hosts of wonder to question strange fact
It had passed unseen by Sir Willoughby The observer was the one who could
also supply the key of the secret Miss Dale had found Colonel De Craye in
company with Miss Middleton at her gateway They were laughing and talking
together like friends of old standing De Craye as Irish as he could be and the
Irish tongue and gentlemanly manner are an irresistible challenge to the opening
steps of familiarity when accident has broken the ice Flitch was their theme
and »Oh but if we go up to Willoughby hand in hand and bob a curtsey to m
and beg his pardon for Mister Flitch wont he melt to such a pair of
suppliants of course he will« Miss Middleton said he would not Colonel De
Craye wagered he would he knew Willoughby best Miss Middleton looked simply
grave a way of asserting the contrary opinion that tells of rueful experience
»Well see« said the colonel They chatted like a couple unexpectedly
discovering in one another a common dialect among strangers Can there be an end
to it when those two meet They prattle they fill the minutes as though they
were violently to be torn asunder at a coming signal and must have it out while
they can it is a meeting of mountain brooks not a colloquy but a chasing
impossible to say which flies which follows or what the topic so
interlinguistic are they and rapidly counterchangeing After their conversation
of an hour before Lætitia watched Miss Middleton in surprise at her lightness
of mind Clara bathed in mirth A boy in a Summer stream shows not heartier
refreshment of his whole being Lætitia could now understand Vernons idea of
her wit And it seemed that she also had Irish blood Speaking of Ireland Miss
Middleton said she had cousins there her only relatives
»The laugh told me that« said Colonel De Craye
Lætitia and Vernon paced up and down the lawn Colonel De Craye was talking
with English sedateness to the ladies Eleanor and Isabel Clara and young
Crossjay strayed
»If I might advise I would say do not leave the Hall immediately not
yet« Lætitia said to Vernon
»You know then«
»I cannot understand why it was that I was taken into her confidence«
»I counselled it«
»But it was done without an object that I can see«
»The speaking did her good«
»But how capricious how changeful«
»Better now than later«
»Surely she has only to ask to be released to ask earnestly if it is her
wish«
»You are mistaken«
»Why does she not make a confidant of her father«
»That she will have to do She wished to spare him«
»He cannot be spared if she is to break the engagement«
»She thought of sparing him the annoyance Now theres to be a tussle he
must share in it«
»Or she thought he might not side with her«
»She has not a single instinct of cunning You judge her harshly«
»She moved me on the walk out Coming home I felt differently«
Vernon glanced at Colonel De Craye
»She wants good guidance« continued Lætitia
»She has not an idea of treachery«
»You think so It may be true But she seems one born devoid of patience
easily made reckless There is a wildness I judge by her way of speaking
that at least appeared sincere She does not practise concealment He will
naturally find it almost incredible The change in her so sudden so wayward
is unintelligible to me To me it is the conduct of a creature untamed He may
hold her to her word and be justified«
»Let him look out if he does«
»Is not that harsher than anything I have said of her«
»Im not appointed to praise her I fancy I read the case and its a case
of opposition of temperaments We never can tell the person quite suited to us
it strikes us in a flash«
»That they are not suited to us Oh no that comes by degrees«
»Yes but the accumulation of evidence or sentience if you like is
combustible we dont command the spark it may be late in falling And you
argue in her favour Consider her as a generous and impulsive girl outwearied
at last«
»By what«
»By anything by his loftiness if you like He flies too high for her we
will say«
»Sir Willoughby an eagle«
»She may be tired of his eyrie«
The sound of the word in Vernons mouth smote on a consciousness she had of
his full grasp of Sir Willoughby and her own timid knowledge though he was not
a man who played on words
If he had eased his heart in stressing the first syllable it was only
temporary relief He was heavybrowed enough
»But I cannot conceive what she expects me to do by confiding her sense of
her position to me« said Lætitia
»We none of us know what will be done We hang on Willoughby who hangs on
whatever it is that supports him and there we are in a swarm«
»You see the wisdom of staying Mr Whitford«
»It must be over in a day or two Yes I stay«
»She inclines to obey you«
»I should be sorry to stake my authority on her obedience We must decide
something about Crossjay and get the money for his crammer if it is to be got
If not I may get a man to trust me I mean to drag the boy away Willoughby has
been at him with the tune of gentleman and has laid hold of him by one ear
When I say her obedience she is not in a situation nor in a condition to be
led blindly by anybody She must rely on herself do everything herself Its a
knot that wont bear touching by any hand save hers«
»I fear « said Lætitia
»Have no such fear«
»If it should come to his positively refusing«
»He faces the consequences«
»You do not think of her«
Vernon looked at his companion
Chapter XIX
Colonel De Craye and Clara Middleton
Miss Middleton finished her stroll with Crossjay by winding her trailer of ivy
in a wreath round his hat and sticking her bunch of grasses in the wreath She
then commanded him to sit on the ground beside a big rhododendron there to
await her return Crossjay had informed her of a design he entertained to be off
with a horde of boys nesting in high trees and marking spots where wasps and
hornets were to be attacked in Autumn she thought it a dangerous business and
as the boys dinnerbell had very little restraint over him when he was in the
flush of a scheme of this description she wished to make tolerably sure of him
through the charm she not unreadily believed she could fling on lads of his age
»Promise me you will not move from here until I come back and when I come I
will give you a kiss« Crossjay promised She left him and forgot him
Seeing by her watch fifteen minutes to the ringing of the bell a sudden
resolve that she would speak to her father without another minutes delay had
prompted her like a superstitious impulse to abandon her aimless course and be
direct She knew what was good for her she knew it now more clearly than in the
morning To be taken away instantly was her cry There could be no further
doubt Had there been any before But she would not in the morning have
suspected herself of a capacity for evil and of a pressing need to be saved
from herself She was not pure of nature it may be that we breed saintly souls
which are she was pure of will fire rather than ice And in beginning to see
the elements she was made of she did not shuffle them to a heap with her sweet
looks to front her She put to her account some strength much weakness she
almost dared to gaze unblinking at a perilous evil tendency The glimpse of it
drove her to her father
»He must take me away at once tomorrow«
She wished to spare her father So unsparing of herself was she that in her
hesitation to speak to him of her change of feeling for Sir Willoughby she
would not suffer it to be attributed in her own mind to a daughters anxious
consideration about her fathers loneliness an idea she had indulged formerly
Acknowledging that it was imperative she should speak she understood that she
had refrained even to the inflicting upon herself of such humiliation as to run
dilating on her woes to others because of the silliest of human desires to
preserve her reputation for consistency She had heard women abused for
shallowness and flightiness she had heard her father denounce them as veering
weathervanes and his oftrepeated quid femina possit for her sexs sake and
also to appear an exception to her sex this reasoning creature desired to be
thought consistent
Just on the instant of her addressing him saying »Father« a note of
seriousness in his ear it struck her that the occasion for saying all had not
yet arrived and she quickly interposed »Papa« and helped him to look lighter
The petition to be taken away was uttered
»To London« said Dr Middleton »I dont know wholl take us in«
»To France papa«
»That means hotellife«
»Only for two or three weeks«
»Weeks I am under an engagement to dine with Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson
five days hence that is on Thursday«
»Could we not find an excuse«
»Break an engagement No my dear not even to escape drinking a widows
wine«
»Does a word bind us«
»Why what else should«
»I think I am not very well«
»Well call in that man we met at dinner here Corney a capital doctor an
oldfashioned anecdotal doctor How is it you are not well my love You look
well I cannot conceive your not being well«
»It is only that I want a change of air papa«
»There we are a change semper eadem Women will be wanting a change of
air in Paradise a change of angels too I might surmise A change from quarters
like these to a French hotel would be a descent this the seat this mournful
gloom for that celestial light I am perfectly at home in the library here That
excellent fellow Whitford and I have real days and I like him for showing fight
to his elder and better«
»He is going to leave«
»I know nothing of it and I shall append no credit to the tale until I do
know He is headstrong but he answers to a rap«
Claras bosom heaved The speechless insurrection threatened her eyes
A Southwest shower lashed the windowpanes and suggested to Dr Middleton
shuddering visions of the channelpassage on board a steamer
»Corney shall see you he is a sparkling draught in person probably
illiterate if I may judge from one interruption of my discourse when he sat
opposite me but lettered enough to respect Learning and write out his
prescription I do not ask more of men or of physicians« Dr Middleton said
this rising glancing at the clock and at the back of his hands »Quod autem
secundum litteras difficillimum esse artificium But what after letters is the
most difficult practice Ego puto medicum The medicus next to the scholar
though I have not to my recollection required him next me nor ever expected
child of mine to be crying for that milk Daughter she is of the unexplained
sex we will send a messenger for Corney Change my dear you will speedily
have to satisfy the most craving of women if Willoughby as I suppose is in
the neoteric fashion of spending a honeymoon on a railway apt image exposition
and perpetuation of the state of mania conducting to the institution In my time
we lay by to brood on happiness we had no thought of chasing it over a
Continent mistaking hurlyburly clothed in dust for the divinity we sought A
smaller generation sacrifices to excitement Dust and hurlyburly must perforce
be the issue And that is your modern world Now my dear let us go and wash
our hands Midday bells expect immediate attention They know of no anteroom
of assembly«
Clara stood gathered up despairing at opportunity lost He had noticed her
contracted shape and her eyes and had talked magisterially to smother and
overbear the something disagreeable prefigured in her appearance
»You do not despise your girl father«
»I do not I could not I love her I love my girl But you need not sing to
me like a gnat to propound that question my dear«
»Then father tell Sir Willoughby today we have to leave tomorrow You
shall return in time for Mrs Mountstuarts dinner Friends will take us in the
Darletons the Erpinghams We can go to Oxford where you are sure of welcome A
little will recover me Do not mention doctors But you see I am nervous I am
quite ashamed of it I am well enough to laugh at it only I cannot overcome it
and I feel that a day or two will restore me Say you will Say it in
FirstLessonBook language anything above a primer splits my foolish head
today«
Dr Middleton shrugged spreading out his arms
»The office of ambassador from you to Willoughby Clara You decree me to
the part of ball between two bats The Play being assured the prologue is a
bladder of wind I seem to be instructed in one of the mysteries of erotic
esotery yet on my word I am no wiser If Willoughby is to hear anything from
you he will hear it from your lips«
»Yes father yes We have differences I am not fit for contests at
present my head is giddy I wish to avoid an illness He and I I accuse
myself«
»There is the bell« ejaculated Dr Middleton »Ill debate on it with
Willoughby«
»This afternoon«
»Somewhen before the dinnerbell I cannot tie myself to the minutehand of
the clock my dear child And let me direct you for the next occasion when you
shall bring the vowels I and A in verbally detached letters into collision
that you do not fill the hiatus with so pronounced a Y It is the vulgarization
of our tongue of which I yaccuse you I do not like my girl to be guilty of
it«
He smiled to moderate the severity of the correction and kissed her
forehead
She declared her inability to sit and eat she went to her room after
begging him very earnestly to send her the assurance that he had spoken She had
not shed a tear and she rejoiced in her selfcontrol it whispered to her of
true courage when she had given herself such evidence of the reverse
Shower and sunshine alternated through the halfhours of the afternoon like
a procession of dark and fair holding hands and passing The shadow came and
she was chill the light yellow in moisture and she buried her face not to be
caught up by cheerfulness Believing that her head ached she afflicted herself
with all the heavy symptoms and oppressed her mind so thoroughly that its
occupation was to speculate on Lætitia Dales modest enthusiasm for rural
pleasures for this place especially with its rich foliage and peeps of scenic
peace The prospect of an escape from it inspired thoughts of a loveable round
of life where the sun was not a naked ball of fire but a friend clothed in
woodland where park and meadow swept to wellknown features East and West and
distantly circling hills and the hearts of poor cottagers too sympathy with
whom assured her of goodness were familiar homely to the dweller in the
place morning and night And she had the love of wild flowers the watchful
happiness in the seasons poets thrilled her books absorbed She dwelt strongly
on that sincerity of feeling it gave root in our earth she needed it as she
pressed a hand on her eyeballs conscious of acting the invalid though the
reasons she had for languishing under headache were so convincing that her brain
refused to disbelieve in it and went some way to produce positive throbs
Otherwise she had no excuse for shutting herself in her room Vernon Whitford
would be sceptical Headache or none Colonel De Craye must be thinking
strangely of her she had not shown him any sign of illness His laughter and
his talk sang about her and dispersed the fiction he was the very seawind for
bracing unstrung nerves Her ideas reverted to Sir Willoughby and at once they
had no more cohesion than the foam on a torrentwater
But soon she was undergoing a variation of sentiment Her maid Barclay
brought her this pencilled line from her father
»Factum est lætus est amantium iræ etc«
That it was done that Willoughby had put on an air of glad acquiescence
and that her father assumed the existence of a lovers quarrel was wonderful to
her at first sight simple the succeeding minute Willoughby indeed must be
tired of her glad of her going He would know that it was not to return She
was grateful to him for perhaps hinting at the amantium iræ though she rejected
the folly of the verse And she gazed over dear homely country through her
windows now Happy the lady of the place if happy she can be in her choice
Clara Middleton envied her the doubleblossom wild cherrytree nothing else
One sprig of it if it had not faded and gone to dustcolour like crusty Alpine
snow in the lower hollows and then she could depart bearing away a memory of
the best here Her fiction of the headache pained her no longer She changed her
muslin dress for silk she was contented with the first bonnet Barclay
presented Amicable toward every one in the house Willoughby included she
threw up her window breathed blessed mankind and she thought »If Willoughby
would open his heart to nature he would be relieved of his wretched opinion of
the world« Nature was then sparkling refreshed in the last drops of a sweeping
raincurtain favourably disposed for a background to her joyful optimism A
little nibble of hunger within real hunger unknown to her of late added to
this healthy view without precipitating her to appease it she was more
inclined to foster it for the sake of the sinewy activity of limb it gave her
and in the style of young ladies very light of heart she went downstairs like a
cascade and like the meteor observed in its vanishing trace she alighted close
to Colonel De Craye and entered one of the rooms off the hall
He cocked an eye at the halfshut door
Now you have only to be reminded that it is the habit of the sportive
gentleman of easy life bewildered as he would otherwise be by the tricks
twists and windings of the hunted sex to parcel out fair women into classes
and some are flyers and some are runners these birds are wild on the wing
those expose their bosoms to the shot For him there is no individual woman He
grants her a characteristic only to enroll her in a class He is our immortal
dunce at learning to distinguish her as a personal variety of a separate
growth
Colonel De Crayes cock of the eye at the door said that he had seen a
rageing coquette go behind it He had his excuse for forming the judgement She
had spoken strangely of the fall of his wedding present strangely of
Willoughby or there was a sound of strangeness in an allusion to her appointed
husband and she had treated Willoughby strangely when they met Above all her
word about Flitch was curious And then that look of hers And subsequently she
transferred her polite attentions to Willoughbys friend After a charming
colloquy the sweetest give and take rattle he had ever enjoyed with a girl she
developed headache to avoid him and next she developed blindness for the same
purpose
He was feeling hurt but considered it preferable to feel challenged
Miss Middleton came out of another door She had seen him when she had
passed him and when it was too late to convey her recognition and now she
addressed him with an air of having bowed as she went by
»No one« she said »Am I alone in the house«
»There is a figure naught« said he »but its as good as annihilated and
no figure at all if you put yourself on the wrong side of it and wish to be
alone in the house«
»Where is Willoughby«
»Away on business«
»Riding«
»Achmet is the horse and pray dont let him be sold Miss Middleton I am
deputed to attend on you«
»I should like a stroll«
»Are you perfectly restored«
»Perfectly«
»Strong«
»I was never better«
»It was the answer of the ghost of the wicked old mans wife when she came
to persuade him he had one chance remaining Then says he Ill believe in
heaven if yell stop that bottle and hurls it and the bottle broke and he
committed suicide not without suspicion of her laying a trap for him These
showers curling away and leaving sweet scents are divine Miss Middleton I
have the privilege of the Christian name on the nuptialday This park of
Willoughbys is one of the best things in England Theres a glimpse over the
lake that smokes of a corner of Killarney tempts the eye to dream I mean« De
Craye wound his finger spirally upward like a smokewreath »Are you for Irish
scenery«
»Irish English Scottish«
»All s one so long as its beautiful yes you speak for me
Cosmopolitanism of races is a different affair I beg leave to doubt the true
union of some Irish and Saxon for example let Cupid be master of the
ceremonies and the dwellingplace of the happy couple at the mouth of a
Cornucopia Yet I have seen a flower of Erin worn by a Saxon gentleman proudly
and the Hibernian courting a Rowena So well undo what I said and consider it
cancelled«
»Are you of the rebel party Colonel De Craye«
»I am Protestant and Conservative Miss Middleton«
»I have not a head for politics«
»The political heads I have seen would tempt me to that opinion«
»Did Willoughby say when he would be back«
»He named no particular time Dr Middleton and Mr Whitford are in the
library upon a battle of the books«
»Happy battle«
»You are accustomed to scholars They are rather intolerant of us poor
fellows«
»Of ignorance perhaps not of persons«
»Your father educated you himself I presume«
»He gave me as much Latin as I could take The fault is mine that it is
little«
»Greek«
»A little Greek«
»Ah And you carry it like a feather«
»Because it is so light«
»Miss Middleton I could sit down to be instructed old as I am When women
beat us I verily believe we are the most beaten dogs in existence You like the
theatre«
»Ours«
»Acting then«
»Good acting of course«
»May I venture to say you would act admirably«
»The venture is bold for I have never tried«
»Let me see there is Miss Dale and Mr Whitford you and I sufficient for
a twoact piece THE IRISHMAN IN SPAIN would do« He bent to touch the grass as
she stepped on it »The lawn is wet«
She signified that she had no dread of wet and said »English women afraid
of the weather might as well be shut up«
De Craye proceeded »Patrick ONeill passes over from Hibernia to Iberia a
disinherited son of a father in the claws of the lawyers with a letter of
introduction to Don Beltran dArragon a Grandee of the First Class who has a
daughter Doña Serafina Miss Middleton the proudest beauty of her day in the
custody of a dueña Miss Dale and plighted to Don Fernan of the Guzman family
Mr Whitford There you have our dramatis personæ«
»You are Patrick«
»Patrick himself And I lose my letter and I stand on the Prado of Madrid
with the last portrait of Britannia in the palm of my hand and crying in the
purest brogue of my native land Its all through dropping a letter Im here in
Iberia instead of Hibernia worse luck to the spelling«
»But Patrick will be sure to aspirate the initial letter of Hibernia«
»That is clever criticism upon my word Miss Middleton So he would And
there we have two letters dropped But hed do it in a groan so that it
wouldnt count for more than a ghost of one and everything goes on the stage
since its only the laugh we want on the brink of the action Besides you are to
suppose the performance before a London audience who have a native opposition
to the aspirate and wouldnt bear to hear him spoil a joke as if he were a lord
or a constable Its an instinct of the English democracy So with my bit of
coin turning over and over in an undecided way whether it shall commit suicide
to supply me a supper I behold a pair of Spanish eyes like violet lightnings in
the black heavens of that favoured clime Wont you have violet«
»Violet forbids my impersonation«
»But the lustre on black is dark violet blue«
»You remind me that I have no pretension to black«
Colonel De Craye permitted himself to take a flitting gaze at Miss
Middletons eyes »Chestnut« he said »Well and Spain is the land of
chestnuts«
»Then it follows that I am a daughter of Spain«
»Clearly«
»Logically«
»By positive deduction«
»And how do I behold Patrick«
»As one looks upon a beast of burden«
»Oh«
Miss Middletons exclamation was louder than the matter of the dialogue
seemed to require She caught her hands up
In the line of the outer extremity of the rhododendron screened from the
house windows young Crossjay lay at his length with his head resting on a
doubled arm and his ivywreathed hat on his cheek just where she had left him
commanding him to stay Halfway toward him up the lawn she saw the poor boy
and the spur of that pitiful sight set her gliding swiftly Colonel De Craye
followed pulling an end of his moustache
Crossjay jumped to his feet
»My dear dear Crossjay« she addressed him and reproached him »And how
hungry you must be And you must be drenched This is really too bad«
»You told me to wait here« said Crossjay in shy selfdefence
»I did and you should not have done it foolish boy I told him to wait for
me here before luncheon Colonel De Craye and the foolish foolish boy he has
had nothing to eat and he must have been wet through two or three times
because I did not come to him«
»Quite right And the lava might overflow him and take the mould of him
like the sentinel at Pompeii if hes of the true stuff«
»He may have caught cold he may have a fever«
»He was under your orders to stay«
»I know and I cannot forgive myself Run in Crossjay and change your
clothes Oh run run to Mrs Montague and get her to give you a warm bath and
tell her from me to prepare some dinner for you And change every garment you
have This is unpardonable of me I said not for politics I begin to think
I have not a head for anything But could it be imagined that Crossjay would not
move for the dinnerbell through all that rain I forgot you Crossjay I am so
sorry so sorry You shall make me pay any forfeit you like Remember I am deep
deep in your debt And now let me see you run fast You shall come in to dessert
this evening«
Crossjay did not run He touched her hand
»You said something«
»What did I say Crossjay«
»You promised«
»What did I promise«
»Something«
»Name it dear boy«
He mumbled » kiss me«
Clara plumped down on him enveloped him and kissed him
The affectionately remorseful impulse was too quick for a conventional note
of admonition to arrest her from paying that portion of her debt When she had
sped him off to Mrs Montague she was in a blush
»Dear dear Crossjay« she said sighing
»Yes hes a good lad« remarked the colonel »The fellow may well be a
faithful soldier and stick to his post if he receives promise of such a solde
He is a great favourite with you«
»He is You will do him a service by persuading Willoughby to send him to
one of those men who get boys through their naval examination And Colonel De
Craye will you be kind enough to ask at the dinnertable that Crossjay may come
in to dessert«
»Certainly« said he wondering
»And will you look after him while you are here See that no one spoils him
If you could get him away before you leave it would be much to his advantage
He is born for the navy and should be preparing to enter it now«
»Certainly certainly« said De Craye wondering more
»I thank you in advance«
»Shall I not be usurping «
»No we leave tomorrow«
»For a day«
»For longer«
»Two«
»It will be longer«
»A week I shall not see you again«
»I fear not«
Colonel De Craye controlled his astonishment he smothered a sensation of
veritable pain and amiably said »I feel a blow but I am sure you would not
willingly strike We are all involved in the regrets«
Miss Middleton spoke of having to see Mrs Montague the housekeeper with
reference to the bath for Crossjay and stepped off the grass He bowed watched
her a moment and for parallel reasons running close enough to hit one mark he
commiserated his friend Willoughby The winning or the losing of that young lady
struck him as equally lamentable for Willoughby
Chapter XX
An Aged and a Great Wine
The leisurely promenade up and down the lawn with ladies and deferential
gentlemen in anticipation of the dinnerbell was Dr Middletons evening
pleasure He walked as one who had formerly danced in Apollos time and the
young God Cupids elastic on the muscles of the calf and foot bearing his
broad irongrey head in grand elevation The hard labour of the day approved the
cooling exercise and the crowning refreshments of French cookery and wines of
known vintages He was happy at that hour in dispensing wisdom or nugae to his
hearers like the Western sun whose habit it is when he is fairly treated to
break out in quiet splendours which by no means exhaust his treasury Blest
indeed above his fellows by the height of the bowwinged bird in a fair weather
sunset sky above the pecking sparrow is he that ever in the recurrent evening
of his day sees the best of it ahead and soon to come He has the rich reward of
a youth and manhood of virtuous living Dr Middleton misdoubted the future as
well as the past of the man who did not in becoming gravity exult to dine
That man he deemed unfit for this world and the next
An example of the good fruit of temperance he had a comfortable pride in
his digestion and his political sentiments were attuned by his veneration of
the Powers rewarding virtue We must have a stable world where this is to be
done
The Rev Doctor was a fine old picture a specimen of art peculiarly
English combining in himself piety and epicurism learning and gentlemanliness
with good room for each and a seat at one anothers table for the rest a
strong man an athlete in his youth a keen reader of facts and no reader of
persons genial a giant at a task a steady worker besides but easily
discomposed He loved his daughter and he feared her However much he liked her
character the dread of her sex and age was constantly present to warn him that
he was not tied to perfect sanity while the damsel Clara remained unmarried Her
mother had been an amiable woman of the poetical temperament nevertheless too
enthusiastic imaginative impulsive for the repose of a sober scholar an
admirable woman still as you see a woman a firework The girl resembled her
Why should she wish to run away from Patterne Hall for a single hour Simply
because she was of the sex born mutable and explosive A husband was her proper
custodian justly relieving a father With demagogues abroad and daughters at
home philosophy is needed for us to keep erect Let the girl be Ciceros
Tullia well she dies The choicest of them will furnish us examples of a
strange perversity
Miss Dale was beside Dr Middleton Clara came to them and took the other
side
»I was telling Miss Dale that the signal for your subjection is my
enfranchisement« he said to her sighing and smiling »We know the date The
date of an event to come certifies to it as a fact to be counted on«
»Are you anxious to lose me« Clara faltered
»My dear you have planted me on a field where I am to expect the trumpet
and when it blows I shall be quit of my nerves no more«
Clara found nothing to seize on for a reply in these words She thought upon
the silence of Lætitia
Sir Willoughby advanced appearing in a cordial mood
»I need not ask you whether you are better« he said to Clara sparkled to
Lætitia and raised a key to the level of Dr Middletons breast remarking »I
am going down to my inner cellar«
»An inner cellar« exclaimed the Doctor
»Sacred from the butler It is interdicted to Stoneman Shall I offer myself
as guide to you My cellars are worth a visit«
»Cellars are not catacombs They are if rightly constructed rightly
considered cloisters where the bottle meditates on joys to bestow not on dust
misused Have you anything great«
»A wine aged ninety«
»Is it associated with your pedigree that you pronounce the age with such
assurance«
»My grandfather inherited it«
»Your grandfather Sir Willoughby had meritorious offspring not to speak
of generous progenitors What would have happened had it fallen into the female
line I shall be glad to accompany you Port Hermitage«
»Port«
»Ah We are in England«
»There will just be time« said Sir Willoughby inducing Dr Middleton to
step out
A chirrup was in the Rev Doctors tone »Hocks too have compassed age I
have tasted senior Hocks Their flavours are as a brook of many voices they
have depth also Senatorial Port we say We cannot say that of any other wine
Port is deepsea deep It is in its flavour deep mark the difference It is
like a classic tragedy organic in conception An ancient Hermitage has the
light of the antique the merit that it can grow to an extreme old age a merit
Neither of Hermitage nor of Hock can you say that it is the blood of those long
years retaining the strength of youth with the wisdom of age To Port for that
Port is our noblest legacy Observe I do not compare the wines I distinguish
the qualities Let them live together for our enrichment they are not rivals
like the Idæan Three Were they rivals a fourth would challenge them Burgundy
has great genius It does wonders within its period it does all except to keep
up in the race it is shortlived An aged Burgundy runs with a beardless Port
I cherish the fancy that Port speaks the sentences of wisdom Burgundy sings the
inspired Ode Or put it that Port is the Homeric hexameter Burgundy the
Pindaric dithyramb What do you say«
»The comparison is excellent sir«
»The distinction you would remark Pindar astounds But his elder brings us
the more sustaining cup One is a fountain of prodigious ascent One is the
unsounded purple sea of marching billows«
»A very fine distinction«
»I conceive you to be now commending the similes They pertain to the time
of the first critics of those poets Touch the Greeks and you can nothing new
all has been said Graiis præter laudem nullius avaris Genius dedicated
to Fame is immortal We sir dedicate genius to the cloacaline floods We do
not address the unforgetting Gods but the popular stomach«
Sir Willoughby was patient He was about as accordantly coupled with Dr
Middleton in discourse as a drum duetting with a bassviol and when he struck
in he received correction from the paedagogueinstrument If he thumped
affirmative or negative he was wrong However he knew scholars to be an
unmannered species and the Doctors learnedness would be a subject to dilate
on
In the cellar it was the turn for the drum Dr Middleton was tonguetied
there Sir Willoughby gave the history of his wine in heads of chapters whence
it came to the family originally and how it had come down to him in the
quantity to be seen »Curiously my grandfather who inherited it was a
waterdrinker My father died early«
»Indeed Dear me« the Doctor ejaculated in astonishment and condolence The
former glanced at the contrariety of man the latter embraced his melancholy
destiny
He was impressed with respect for the family This cool vaulted cellar and
the central square block or enceinte where the thick darkness was not
penetrated by the intruding lamp but rather took it as an eye bore witness to
forethoughtful practical solidity in the man who had built the house on such
foundations A house having a great wine stored below lives in our imaginations
as a joyful house fast and splendidly rooted in the soil And imagination has a
place for the heir of the house His grandfather a waterdrinker his father
dying early present circumstances to us arguing predestination to an
illustrious heirship and career Dr Middletons musings were coloured by the
friendly vision of glasses of the great wine his mind was festive it pleased
him and he chose to indulge in his whimsicalrobustious grandioseairy style
of thinking from which the festive mind will sometimes take a certain print
that we cannot obliterate immediately Expectation is grateful you know in the
mood of gratitude we are waxen And he was a selfhumouring gentleman
He liked Sir Willoughbys tone in ordering the servant at his heels to take
up »those two bottles« it prescribed without overdoing it a proper amount of
caution and it named an agreeable number
Watching the mans hand keenly he said
»But here is the misfortune of a thing superexcellent not more than one
in twenty will do it justice«
Sir Willoughby replied »Very true sir and I think we may pass over the
nineteen«
»Women for example and most men«
»This wine would be a sealed book to them«
»I believe it would It would be a grievous waste«
»Vernon is a claretman and so is Horace De Craye They are both below the
mark of this wine They will join the ladies Perhaps you and I sir might
remain together«
»With the utmost good will on my part«
»I am anxious for your verdict sir«
»You shall have it sir and not out of harmony with the chorus preceding
me I can predict Cool not frigid« Dr Middleton summed the attributes of the
cellar on quitting it »North side and South No musty damp A pure air
Everything requisite One might lie down oneself and keep sweet here«
Of all our venerable British of the two Isles professing a suckling
attachment to an ancient portwine lawyer doctor squire rosy admiral city
merchant the classic scholar is he whose blood is most nuptial to the webbed
bottle The reason must be that he is full of the old poets He has their
spirit to sing with and the best that Time has done on earth to feed it He may
also perceive a resemblance in the wine to the studious mind which is the
obverse of our mortality and throws off acids and crusty particles in the
piling of the years until it is fulgent by clarity Port hymns to his
conservatism It is magical at one sip he is off swimming in the purple flood
of the everyouthful antique
By comparison then the enjoyment of others is brutish they have not the
soul for it but he is worthy of the wine as are poets of Beauty In truth
these should be severally apportioned to them scholar and poet as his own good
thing Let it be so
Meanwhile Dr Middleton sipped
After the departure of the ladies Sir Willoughby had practised a studied
curtness upon Vernon and Horace
»You drink claret« he remarked to them passing it round »Port I think
Dr Middleton The wine before you may serve for a preface We shall have your
wine in five minutes«
The claret jug empty Sir Willoughby offered to send for more De Craye was
languid over the question Vernon rose from the table
»We have a bottle of Dr Middletons Port coming in« Willoughby said to
him
»Mine you call it« cried the Rev Doctor
»Its a royal wine that wont suffer sharing« said Vernon
»Well be with you if you go into the billiardroom Vernon«
»I shall hurry my drinking of good wine for no man« said the Rev Doctor
»Horace«
»Im beneath it ephemeral Willoughby I am going to the ladies«
Vernon and De Craye retired upon the arrival of the wine and Dr Middleton
sipped He sipped and looked at the owner of it
»Some thirty dozen« he said
»Fifty«
The Doctor nodded humbly
»I shall remember sir« his host addressed him »whenever I have the honour
of entertaining you I am cellarer of that wine«
The Rev Doctor set down his glass »You have sir in some sense an
enviable post It is a responsible one if that be a blessing On you it
devolves to retard the day of the last dozen«
»Your opinion of the wine is favourable sir«
»I will say this shallow souls run to rhapsody I will say that I am
consoled for not having lived ninety years back or at any period but the
present by this one glass of your ancestral wine«
»I am careful of it« Sir Willoughby said modestly »still its natural
destination is to those who can appreciate it You do sir«
»Still my good friend still It is a charge it is a possession but part
in trusteeship Though we cannot declare it an entailed estate our consciences
are in some sort pledged that it shall be a succession not too considerably
diminished«
»You will not object to drink it sir to the health of your grandchildren
And may you live to toast them in it on their marriageday«
»You colour the idea of a prolonged existence in seductive hues Ha It is a
wine for Tithonus This wine would speed him to the rosy Morning aha«
»I will undertake to sit you through it up to morning« said Sir Willoughby
innocent of the Bacchic nuptiality of the allusion
Dr Middleton eyed the decanter There is a grief in gladness for a
premonition of our mortal state The amount of wine in the decanter did not
promise to sustain the starry roof of night and greet the dawn »Old wine my
friend denies us the full bottle«
»Another bottle is to follow«
»No«
»It is ordered«
»I protest«
»It is uncorked«
»I entreat«
»It is decanted«
»I submit But mark it must be honest partnership You are my worthy host
sir on that stipulation Note the superiority of wine over Venus I may say
the magnanimity of wine our jealousy turns on him that will not share But the
corks Willoughby The corks excite my amazement«
»The corking is examined at regular intervals I remember the occurrence in
my fathers time I have seen to it once«
»It must be perilous as an operation for tracheotomy which I should assume
it to resemble in surgical skill and firmness of hand not to mention the
imminent gasp of the patient«
A fresh decanter was placed before the doctor
He said »I have but a girl to give« He was melted
Sir Willoughby replied »I take her for the highest prize this world
affords«
»I have beaten some small stock of Latin into her head and a note of Greek
She contains a savour of the classics I hoped once but she is a girl The
nymph of the woods is in her Still she will bring you her flowercup of
Hippocrene She has that aristocracy the noblest She is fair a Beauty some
have said who judge not by lines Fair to me Willoughby She is my sky There
were applicants In Italy she was besought of me She has no history You are
the first heading of the chapter With you she will have her one tale as it
should be Mulier tum bene olet you know Most fragrant she that smells of
naught She goes to you from me from me alone from her father to her husband
Ut flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis He murmured on the lines to Sic
virgo dum I shall feel the parting She goes to one who will have my pride
in her and more I will add who will be envied Mr Whitford must write you a
Carmen Nuptiale«
The heart of the unfortunate gentleman listening to Dr Middleton set in for
irregular leaps His offended temper broke away from the image of Clara
revealing her as he had seen her in the morning beside Horace De Craye
distressingly sweet sweet with the breezy radiance of an English softbreathing
day sweet with sharpness of young sap Her eyes her lips her fluttering dress
that played happy mother across her bosom giving peeps of the veiled twins and
her laughter her slim figure peerless carriage all her terrible sweetness
touched his wound to the smarting quick
Her wish to be free of him was his anguish In his pain he thought
sincerely When the pain was easier he muffled himself in the idea of her
jealousy of Lætitia Dale and deemed the wish a fiction But she had expressed
it That was the wound he sought to comfort for the double reason that he
could love her better after punishing her and that to meditate on doing so
masked the fear of losing her the dread abyss she had succeeded in forcing his
nature to shudder at as a giddy edge possibly near in spite of his arts of
selfdefence
»What I shall do tomorrow evening« he exclaimed »I do not care to fling a
bottle to Colonel De Craye and Vernon I cannot open one for myself To sit with
the ladies will be sitting in the cold for me When do you bring me back my
bride sir«
»My dear Willoughby« The Rev Doctor puffed composed himself and sipped
»The expedition is an absurdity I am unable to see the aim of it She had a
headache vapours They are over and she will show a return of good sense I
have ever maintained that nonsense is not to be encouraged in girls I can put
my foot on it My arrangements are for staying here a further ten days in the
terms of your hospitable invitation And I stay«
»I applaud your resolution sir Will you prove firm«
»I am never false to my engagement Willoughby«
»Not under pressure«
»Under no pressure«
»Persuasion I should have said«
»Certainly not The weakness is in the yielding either to persuasion or to
pressure The latter brings weight to bear on us the former blows at our want
of it«
»You gratify me Dr Middleton and relieve me«
»I cordially dislike a breach in good habits Willoughby But I do remember
was I wrong informing Clara that you appeared lighthearted in regard to a
departure or gap in a visit that was not I must confess to my liking«
»Simply my dear Doctor your pleasure was my pleasure but make my pleasure
yours and you remain to crack many a bottle with your soninlaw«
»Excellently said You have a courtly speech Willoughby I can imagine you
to conduct a lovers quarrel with a politeness to read a lesson to wellbred
damsels Aha«
»Spare me the futility of the quarrel«
»All s well«
»Clara« replied Sir Willoughby in dramatic epigram »is perfection«
»I rejoice« the Rev Doctor responded taught thus to understand that the
lovers quarrel between his daughter and his host was at an end
He left the table a little after eleven oclock A short dialogue ensued
upon the subject of the ladies They must have gone to bed Why yes of course
they must It is good that they should go to bed early to preserve their
complexions for us Ladies are creations glory but they are anticlimax
following a wine of a century old They are anticlimax recoil crosscurrent
morally they are repentance penance imagerially the frozen North on the
young brown buds bursting to green What know they of a critic in the palate
and a frame all revelry And mark you revelry in sobriety containment in
exultation classic revelry Can they dear though they be to us light up
candelabras in the brain to illuminate all history and solve the secret of the
destiny of man They cannot they cannot sympathize with them that can So
therefore this division is between us yet are we not turbaned Orientals nor
are they inmates of the harem We are not Moslem Be assured of it in the
contemplation of the tables decanter
Dr Middleton said »Then I go straight to bed«
»I will conduct you to your door sir« said his host
The piano was heard Dr Middleton laid his hand on the banisters and
remarked »The ladies must have gone to bed«
Vernon came out of the library and was hailed »Fellowstudent«
He waved a goodnight to the Doctor and said to Willoughby »The ladies are
in the drawingroom«
»I am on my way upstairs« was the reply
»Solitude and sleep after such a wine as that and forefend us human
society« the Doctor shouted »But Willoughby«
»Sir«
»One tomorrow«
»You dispose of the cellar sir«
»I am fitter to drive the horses of the sun I would rigidly counsel one
and no more We have made a breach in the fiftieth dozen Daily one will
preserve us from having to name the fortieth quite so unseasonably The couple
of bottles per diem prognosticates disintegration with its accompanying
recklessness Constitutionally let me add I bear three I speak for
posterity«
During Dr Middletons allocution the ladies issued from the drawingroom
Clara foremost for she had heard her fathers voice and desired to ask him
this in reference to their departure »Papa will you tell me the hour
tomorrow«
She ran up the stairs to kiss him saying again »When will you be ready
tomorrow morning«
Dr Middleton announced a stoutly deliberative mind in the buglenotes of a
repeated ahem He bethought him of replying in his doctorial tongue Claras
eager face admonished him to brevity it began to look starved Intruding on his
vision of the houris couched in the inner cellar to be the reward of valiant
men it annoyed him His brows joined He said »I shall not be ready tomorrow
morning«
»In the afternoon«
»Nor in the afternoon«
»When«
»My dear I am ready for bed at this moment and know of no other readiness
Ladies« he bowed to the group in the hall below him »may fair dreams pay court
to you this night«
Sir Willoughby had hastily descended and shaken the hands of the ladies
directed Horace De Craye to the laboratory for a smokingroom and returned to
Dr Middleton Vexed by the scene uncertain of his temper if he stayed with
Clara for whom he had arranged that her disappointment should take place on the
morrow in his absence he said »Good night good night« to her with due
fervour bending over her flaccid fingertips then offered his arm to the Rev
Doctor
»Ay son Willoughby in friendliness if you will though I am a man to bear
my load« the father of the stupefied girl addressed him »Candles I believe
are on the first landing Good night my love Clara«
»Papa«
»Good night«
»Oh« she lifted her breast with the interjection standing in shame of the
curtained conspiracy and herself »good night«
Her father wound up the stairs She stepped down
»There was an understanding that papa and I should go to London tomorrow
early« she said unconcernedly to the ladies and her voice was clear but her
face too legible De Craye was heartily unhappy at the sight
Chapter XXI
Claras Meditations
Two were sleepless that night Miss Middleton and Colonel De Craye
She was in a fever lying like stone with her brain burning Quick natures
run out to calamity in any little shadow of it flung before Terrors of
apprehension drive them They stop not short of the uttermost when they are on
the wings of dread A frown means tempest a wind wreck to see fire is to be
seized by it When it is the approach of their loathing that they fear they are
in the tragedy of the embrace at a breath and then is the wrestle between
themselves and horror between themselves and evil which promises aid
themselves and weakness which calls on evil themselves and the better part of
them which whispers no beguilement
The false course she had taken through sophistical cowardice appalled the
girl she was lost The advantage taken of it by Willoughby put on the form of
strength and made her feel abject reptilious she was lost carried away on
the flood of the cataract He had won her father for an ally Strangely she
knew not how he had succeeded in swaying her father who had previously not
more than tolerated him Son Willoughby on her fathers lips meant something
that scenes and scenes would have to struggle with to the outwearying of her
father and herself She revolved the Son Willoughby through moods of
stupefaction contempt revolt subjection It meant that she was vanquished It
meant that her fathers esteem for her was forfeited She saw him a gigantic
image of discomposure
Her recognition of her cowardly feebleness brought the brood of fatalism
What was the right of so miserable a creature as she to excite disturbance let
her fortunes be good or ill It would be quieter to float kinder to everybody
Thank heaven for the chances of a short life Once in a net desperation is
graceless We may be brutes in our earthly destinies in our endurance of them
we need not be brutish
She was now in the luxury of passivity when we throw our burden on the
Powers above and do not love them The need to love them drew her out of it
that she might strive with the unbearable and by sheer striving even though
she were graceless come to love them humbly It is here that the seed of good
teaching supports a soul for the condition might be mapped and where kismet
whispers us to shut eyes and instruction bids us look up is at a wellmarked
crossroad of the contest
Quick of sensation but not courageously resolved she perceived how
blunderingly she had acted For a punishment it seemed to her that she who had
not known her mind must learn to conquer her nature and submit She had
accepted Willoughby therefore she accepted him The fact became a matter of the
past past debating
In the abstract this contemplation of circumstances went well A plain duty
lay in her way And then a disembodied thought flew round her comparing her
with Vernon to her discredit He had for years borne much that was distasteful
to him for the purpose of studying and with his poor income helping the poorer
than himself She dwelt on him in pity and envy he had lived in this place and
so must she and he had not been dishonoured by his modesty he had not failed
of selfcontrol because he had a life within She was almost imagining she
might imitate him when the clash of a sharp physical thought »The difference
the difference« told her she was woman and never could submit Can a woman have
an inner life apart from him she is yoked to She tried to nestle deep away in
herself in some corner where the abstract view had comforted her to flee from
thinking as her feminine blood directed It was a vain effort The difference
the cruel fate the defencelessness of women pursued her strung her to wild
horses backs tossed her on savage wastes In her case duty was shame hence
it could not be broadly duty That intolerable difference proscribed the word
But the fire of a brain burning high and kindling everything lit up herself
against herself Was one so volatile as she a person with a will Were they
not a multitude of flitting wishes that she took for a will Was she
featherheaded that she was a person to make a stand on physical pride If
she could yield her hand without reflection as she conceived she had done from
incapacity to conceive herself doing it reflectively was she much better than
purchaseable stuff that has nothing to say to the bargain
Furthermore said her incandescent reason she had not suspected such art of
cunning in Willoughby Then might she not be deceived altogether might she not
have misread him Stronger than she had fancied might he not be likewise more
estimable The world was favourable to him he was prized by his friends
She reviewed him It was all in one flash It was not much less
intentionally favourable than the worlds review and that of his friends but
beginning with the idea of them she recollected heard Willoughbys voice
pronouncing his opinion of his friends and the world of Vernon Whitford and
Colonel De Craye for example and of men and women An undefined agreement to
have the same regard for him as his friends and the world had provided that he
kept at the same distance from her was the termination of this phase occupying
about a minute in time and reached through a series of intensely vivid
pictures his face at her petition to be released lowering behind them for a
background and a comment
»I cannot I cannot« she cried aloud and it struck her that her repulsion
was a holy warning Better be graceless than a loathing wife better appear
inconsistent Why should she not appear such as she was
Why We answer that question usually in angry reliance on certain superb
qualities injured fine qualities of ours undiscovered by the world not much
more than suspected by ourselves which are still our fortress where pride sits
at home solitary and impervious as an octogenarian conservative But it is not
possible to answer it so when the brain is rageing like a pinetorch and the
devouring illumination leaves not a spot of our nature covert The aspect of her
weakness was unrelieved and frightened her back to her loathing From her
loathing as soon as her sensations had quickened to realize it she was hurled
on her weakness She was graceless she was inconsistent she was volatile she
was unprincipled she was worse than a prey to wickedness capable of it she
was only waiting to be misled Nay the idea of being misled suffused her with
languor for then the battle would be over and she a happy weed of the sea no
longer suffering those tugs at the roots but leaving it to the sea to heave and
contend She would be like Constantia then like her in her fortunes never so
brave she feared
Perhaps very like Constantia in her fortunes
Poor troubled bodies waking up in the night to behold visually the spectre
cast forth from the perplexed machinery inside them stare at it for a space
till touching consciousness they dive down under the sheets with fishlike
alacrity Clara looked at her thought and suddenly headed downward in a crimson
gulf
She must have obtained absolution or else it was oblivion below Soon
after the plunge her first object of meditation was Colonel De Craye She
thought of him calmly he seemed a refuge He was very nice he was a holiday
character His lithe figure neat firm footing of the stag swift intelligent
expression and his ready frolicsomeness pleasant humour cordial temper and
his Irishry whereon he was at liberty to play as on the emblem harp of the
Isle were soothing to think of The suspicion that she tricked herself with
this calm observation of him was dismissed Issuing out of torture her young
nature eluded the irradiating brain in search of refreshment and she
luxuriated at a feast in considering him shower on a parched land that he was
He spread new air abroad She had no reason to suppose he was not a good man
she could securely think of him Besides he was bound by his prospective office
in support of his friend Willoughby to be quite harmless And besides you are
not to expect logical sequences the showery refreshment in thinking of him lay
in the sort of assurance it conveyed that the more she thought the less would
he be likely to figure as an obnoxious official that is as the man to do by
Willoughby at the altar what her father would under the supposition be doing
by her Her mind reposed on Colonel De Craye
His name was Horace Her father had worked with her at Horace She knew most
of the Odes and some of the Satires and Epistles of the poet They reflected
benevolent beams on the gentleman of the poets name He too was vivacious had
fun common sense elegance loved rusticity he said sighed for a country
life fancied retiring to Canada to cultivate his own domain »modus agri non
ita magnus« a delight And he too when in the country sighed for town There
were strong features of resemblance He had hinted in fun at not being rich
»Quæ virtus et quanta sit vivere parvo« But that quotation applied to and
belonged to Vernon Whitford Even so little disarranged her meditations
She would have thought of Vernon as her instinct of safety prompted had
not his exactions been excessive He proposed to help her with advice only She
was to do everything for herself do and dare everything decide upon
everything He told her flatly that so would she learn to know her own mind and
flatly that it was her penance She had gained nothing by breaking down and
pouring herself out to him He would have her bring Willoughby and her father
face to face and be witness of their interview herself the theme What
alternative was there obedience to the word she had pledged He talked of
patience of selfexamination and patience But all of her she was all marked
urgent This house was a cage and the world her brain was a cage until she
could obtain her prospect of freedom
As for the house she might leave it yonder was the dawn
She went to her window to gaze at the first colour along the grey Small
satisfaction came of gazing at that or at herself She shunned glass and sky
One and the other stamped her as a slave in a frame It seemed to her she had
been so long in this place that she was fixed here it was her world and to
imagine an Alp was like seeking to get back to childhood Unless a miracle
intervened here she would have to pass her days Men are so little chivalrous
now that no miracle ever intervenes Consequently she was doomed
She took a pen and began a letter to a dear friend Lucy Darleton a
promised bridesmaid bidding her countermand orders for her bridal dress and
purposing a tour in Switzerland She wrote of the mountain country with real
abandonment to imagination It became a visioned loophole of escape She rose
and clasped a shawl over her nightdress to ward off chillness and sitting to
the table again could not produce a word The lines she had written were
condemned they were ludicrously inefficient The letter was torn to pieces She
stood very clearly doomed
After a fall of tears upon looking at the scraps she dressed herself and
sat by the window and watched the blackbird on the lawn as he hopped from shafts
of dewy sunlight to the longstretched dewy treeshadows considering in her
mind that dark dews are more meaningful than bright the beauty of the dews of
woods more sweet than meadowdews It signified only that she was quieter She
had gone through her crisis in the anticipation of it That is how quick natures
will often be cold and hard or not much moved when the positive crisis
arrives and why it is that they are prepared for astonishing leaps over the
gradations which should render their conduct comprehensible to us if not
excuseable She watched the blackbird throw up his head stiff and peck to right
and left dangling the worm each side his orange beak Specklebreasted thrushes
were at work and a wagtail that ran as with Claras own little steps Thrush
and blackbird flew to the nest They had wings The lovely morning breathed of
sweet earth into her open window and made it painful in the dense twitter
chirp cheep and song of the air to resist the innocent intoxication O to
love was not said by her but if she had sung as her nature prompted it would
have been Her war with Willoughby sprang of a desire to love repelled by
distaste Her cry for freedom was a cry to be free to love she discovered it
halfshuddering to love oh no no shape of man nor impalpable nature
either but to love unselfishness and helpfulness and planted strength in
something Then loving and being loved a little what strength would be hers
She could utter all the words needed to Willoughby and to her father locked in
her love walking in this world living in that
Previously she had cried despairing If I were loved Jealousy of
Constantias happiness envy of her escape ruled her then and she remembered
the cry though not perfectly her plainspeaking to herself she chose to think
she had meant If Willoughby were capable of truly loving For now the fire of
her brain had sunk and refuges and subterfuges were round about it The thought
of personal love was encouraged she chose to think for the sake of the
strength it lent her to carve her way to freedom She had just before felt
rather the reverse but she could not exist with that feeling and it was true
that freedom was not so indistinct in her fancy as the idea of love
Were men when they were known like him she knew too well
The archtempters question to her was there
She put it away Wherever she turned it stood observing her She knew so
much of one man nothing of the rest naturally she was curious Vernon might be
sworn to be unlike But he was exceptional What of the other in the house
Maidens are commonly reduced to read the masters of their destinies by their
instincts and when these have been edged by overactivity they must hoodwink
their maidenliness to suffer themselves to read and then they must dupe their
minds else men would soon see they were gifted to discern Total ignorance
being their pledge of purity to men they have to expunge the writing of their
perceptives on the tablets of the brain they have to know not when they do
know The instinct of seeking to know crossed by the task of blotting knowledge
out creates that conflict of the natural with the artificial creature to which
their ultimatelyrevealed doubleface complained of by everdissatisfied men
is owing Wonder in no degree that they indulge a craving to be fools or that
many of them act the character Jeer at them as little for not showing growth
You have reared them to this pitch and at this pitch they have partly civilized
you Supposing you to want it done wholly you must yield just as many points in
your requisitions as are needed to let the wits of young women reap their due
harvest and be of good use to their souls You will then have a fair battle a
braver with better results
Claras inner eye traversed Colonel De Craye at a shot
She had immediately to blot out the vision of the Captain Oxford in him the
revelation of his laughing contempt for Willoughby the view of mercurial
principles the scribbled histories of light lovepassages
She blotted it out kept it from her mind so she knew him knew him to be a
sweeter and a variable Willoughby a generous kind of Willoughby a
Willoughbybutterfly without having the free mind to summarize him and picture
him for a warning Scattered features of him such as the instincts call up
were not sufficiently impressive Besides the clouded mind was opposed to her
receiving impressions
Young Crossjays voice in the still morning air came to her ears The dear
guileless chatter of the boys voice Why assuredly it was young Crossjay who
was the man she loved And he loved her And he was going to be an unselfish
sustaining true strong man the man she longed for for anchorage Oh the dear
voice woodpecker and thrush in one He never ceased to chatter to Vernon
Whitford walking beside him with a swinging stride off to the lake for their
morning swim Happy couple The morning gave them both a freshness and innocence
above human They seemed to Clara made of morning air and clear lakewater
Crossjays voice ran up and down a diatonic scale with here and there a query
in semitone and a laugh on a ringing note She wondered what he could have to
talk of so incessantly and imagined all the dialogue He prattled of his
yesterday today and tomorrow which did not imply past and future but his
vivid present She felt like one vainly trying to fly in hearing him she felt
old The consolation she arrived at was to feel maternal She wished to hug the
boy
Trot and stride Crossjay and Vernon entered the park careless about wet
grass not once looking at the house Crossjay ranged ahead and picked flowers
bounding back to show them Claras heart beat at a fancy that her name was
mentioned If those flowers were for her she would prize them
The two bathers dipped over an undulation
Her loss of them rattled her chains
Deeply dwelling on their troubles has the effect upon the young of helping
to forgetfulness for they cannot think without imagining their imaginations
are saturated with their pleasures and the collision though they are unable to
exchange sad for sweet distils an opiate
»Am I solemnly engaged« she asked herself She seemed to be awakening
She glanced at her bed where she had passed the night of ineffectual
moaning and out on the high wave of grass where Crossjay and his good friend
had vanished
Was the struggle all to be gone over again
Little by little her intelligence of her actual position crept up to
submerge her heart
»I am in his house« she said It resembled a discovery so strangely had
her opiate and power of dreaming wrought through her tortures She said it
gasping She was in his house his guest his betrothed sworn to him The fact
stood out cut in steel on the pitiless daylight
That consideration drove her to be an early wanderer in the wake of
Crossjay
Her station was among beeches on the flank of the boys return and while
waiting there the novelty of her waiting to waylay any one she who had played
the contrary part told her more than it pleased her to think Yet she could
admit that she did desire to speak with Vernon as with a counsellor harsh and
curt but wholesome
The bathers reappeared on the grassridge racing and flapping wet towels
Some one hailed them A sound of the galloping hoof drew her attention to
the avenue She saw Willoughby dash across the parklevel and dropping a word
to Vernon ride away Then she allowed herself to be seen
Crossjay shouted Willoughby turned his head but not his horses head The
boy sprang up to Clara He had swum across the lake and back he had raced Mr
Whitford and beaten him How he wished Miss Middleton had been able to be one
of them
Clara listened to him enviously Her thought was We women are nailed to our
sex
She said »And you have just been talking to Sir Willoughby«
Crossjay drew himself up to give an imitation of the baronets handwaving
in adieu
He would not have done that had he not smelt sympathy with the performance
She declined to smile Crossjay repeated it and laughed He made a broader
exhibition of it to Vernon approaching »I say Mr Whitford whos this«
Vernon doubled to catch him Crossjay fled and resumed his magnificent air
in the distance
»Good morning Miss Middleton you are out early« said Vernon rather pale
and stringy from his cold swim and rather hardeyed with the sharp exercise
following it
She had expected some of the kindness she wanted to reject for he could
speak very kindly and she regarded him as her doctor of medicine who would at
least present the futile drug
»Good morning« she replied
»Willoughby will not be home till the evening«
»You could not have had a finer morning for your bath«
»No«
»I will walk as fast as you like«
»Im perfectly warm«
»But you prefer fast walking«
»Out«
»Ah yes that I understand The walk back Why is Willoughby away today«
»He has business«
After several steps she said »He makes very sure of papa«
»Not without reason you will find« said Vernon
»Can it be I am bewildered I had papas promise«
»To leave the Hall for a day or two«
»It would have been «
»Possibly But other heads are at work as well as yours If you had been in
earnest about it you would have taken your father into your confidence at once
That was the course I ventured to propose on the supposition«
»In earnest I cannot imagine that you doubt it I wished to spare him«
»This is a case in which he cant be spared«
»If I had been bound to any other I did not know then who held me a
prisoner I thought I had only to speak to him sincerely«
»Not many men would give up their prize for a word Willoughby the last of
any«
»Prize« rang through her thrillingly from Vernons mouth and soothed her
degradation
She would have liked to protest that she was very little of a prize a poor
prize not one at all in general estimation only one to a man reckoning his
property no prize in the true sense
The importunity of pain saved her
»Does he think I can change again Am I treated as something won in a
lottery To stay here is indeed indeed more than I can bear And if he is
calculating Mr Whitford if he calculates on another change his plotting to
keep me here is inconsiderate not very wise Changes may occur in absence«
»Wise or not he has the right to scheme his best to keep you«
She looked on Vernon with a shade of wondering reproach
»Why What right«
»The right you admit when you ask him to release you He has the right to
think you deluded and to think you may come to a better mood if you remain a
mood more agreeable to him I mean He has that right absolutely You are bound
to remember also that you stand in the wrong You confess it when you appeal to
his generosity And every man has the right to retain a treasure in his hand if
he can Look straight at these facts«
»You expect me to be all reason«
»Try to be Its the way to learn whether you are really in earnest«
»I will try It will drive me to worse«
»Try honestly What is wisest now is in my opinion for you to resolve to
stay I speak in the character of the person you sketched for yourself as
requiring Well then a friend repeats the same advice You might have gone
with your father now you will only disturb him and annoy him The chances are
he will refuse to go«
»Are women ever so changeable as men then Papa consented he agreed he
had some of my feeling I saw it That was yesterday And at night He spoke to
each of us at night in a different tone from usual With me he was hardly
affectionate But when you advise me to stay Mr Whitford you do not perhaps
reflect that it would be at the sacrifice of all candour«
»Regard it as a probational term«
»It has gone too far with me«
»Take the matter into the head try the case there«
»Are you not counselling me as if I were a woman of intellect«
The crystal ring in her voice told him that tears were near to flowing
He shuddered slightly »You have intellect« he said nodded and crossed
the lawn leaving her He had to dress
She was not permitted to feel lonely for she was immediately joined by
Colonel De Craye
Chapter XXII
The Ride
Crossjay darted up to her a nose ahead of the colonel
»I say Miss Middleton were to have the whole day to ourselves after
morning lessons Will you come and fish with me and see me birdsnest«
»Not for the satisfaction of beholding another cracked crown my son« the
colonel interposed and bowing to Clara »Miss Middleton is handed over to my
exclusive charge for the day with her consent«
»I scarcely know« said she consulting a sensation of languor that seemed
to contain some reminiscence »If I am here My fathers plans are uncertain I
will speak to him If I am here perhaps Crossjay would like a ride in the
afternoon«
»Oh yes« cried the boy »out over Bournden through Mewsey up to Closham
beacon and down on Aspenwell where theres a common for racing And ford the
stream«
»An inducement for you« De Craye said to her
She smiled and squeezed the boys hand
»We wont go without you Crossjay«
»You dont carry a comb my man when you bathe«
At this remark of the colonels young Crossjay conceived the appearance of
his matted locks in the eyes of his adorable lady He gave her one dear look
through his redness and fled
»I like that boy« said De Craye
»I love him« said Clara
Crossjays troubled eyelids in his honest young face became a picture for
her
»After all Miss Middleton Willoughbys notions about him are not so bad
if we consider that you will be in the place of a mother to him«
»I think them bad«
»You are disinclined to calculate the good fortune of the boy in having more
of you on land than he would have in crown and anchor buttons«
»You have talked of him with Willoughby«
»We had a talk last night«
Of how much thought she
»Willoughby returns« she said
»He dines here I know for he holds the key of the inner cellar and Dr
Middleton does him the honour to applaud his wine Willoughby was good enough to
tell me that he thought I might contribute to amuse you«
She was brooding in stupefaction on her father and the wine as she requested
Colonel De Craye to persuade Willoughby to take the general view of Crossjays
future and act on it
»He seems fond of the boy too« said De Craye musingly
»You speak in doubt«
»Not at all But is he not men are queer fish make allowance for us a
trifle tyrannical pleasantly with those he is fond of«
»If they look right and left«
It was meant for an interrogation it was not with the sound of one that the
words dropped »My dear Crossjay« she sighed »I would willingly pay for him
out of my own purse and I will do so rather than have him miss his chance I
have not mustered resolution to propose it«
»I may be mistaken Miss Middleton He talked of the boys fondness of him«
»He would«
»I suppose he is hardly peculiar in liking to play Polestar«
»He may not be«
»For the rest your influence should be all powerful«
»It is not«
De Craye looked with a wandering eye at the heavens
»We are having a spell of weather perfectly superb And the odd thing is
that whenever we have splendid weather at home were all for rushing abroad Im
booked for a Mediterranean cruise postponed to give place to your ceremony«
»That« she could not control her accent
»What worthier«
She was guilty of a pause
De Craye saved it from an awkward length »I have written half an essay on
Honeymoons Miss Middleton«
»Is that the same as a halfwritten essay Colonel De Craye«
»Just the same with the difference that its a whole essay written all on
one side«
»On which side«
»The bachelors«
»Why does he trouble himself with such topics«
»To warm himself for being left out in the cold«
»Does he feel envy«
»He has to confess it«
»He has liberty«
»A commodity he cant tell the value of if theres no one to buy«
»Why should he wish to sell«
»Hes bent on completing his essay«
»To make the reading dull«
»There we touch the key of the subject For what is to rescue the pair from
a monotony multiplied by two And so a bachelors recommendation when each has
discovered the right sort of person to be dull with pushes them from the Church
door on a round of adventures containing a spice of peril if tis to be had
Let them be in danger of their lives the first or second day A bachelors
loneliness is a private affair of his own he hasnt to look into a face to be
ashamed of feeling it and inflicting it at the same time tis his pillow he
can punch it an he pleases and turn it over t other side if hes for a mighty
variation theres a dream in it But our poor couple are staring wide awake
All their dreaming s done Theyve emptied their bottle of elixir or broken
it and she has a thirst for the use of the tongue and he to yawn with a crony
and they may converse theyre not aware of it more than the desert that has
drunk a shower So as soon as possible shes away to the ladies and he puts on
his Club Thats what your Bachelor sees and would like to spare them and if he
didnt see something of the sort hed be off with a noose round his neck on his
knees in the dew to the morning milkmaid«
»The bachelor is happily warned and on his guard« said Clara diverted as
he wished her to be »Sketch me a few of the adventures you propose«
»I have a friend who rowed his bride from the Houses of Parliament up the
Thames to the Severn on into North Wales They shot some pretty weirs and
rapids«
»That was nice«
»They had an infinity of adventures and the best proof of the benefit they
derived is that they forgot everything about them except that the adventures
occurred«
»Those two must have returned bright enough to please you«
»They returned and shone like a wreckers beacon to the mariner You see
Miss Middleton there was the landscape and the exercise and the occasional
bit of danger I think its to be recommended The scene is always changeing
and not too fast and tis not too sublime like big mountains to tire them of
their everlasting big Ohs Theres the difference between going into a howling
wind and launching among zephyrs They have fresh air and movement and not in
a railway carriage they can take in what they look on And she has the steering
ropes and thats a wise commencement And my lord is all day making an
exhibition of his manly strength bowing before her some dozen to the minute
and she to help him just inclines when shes in the mood And theyre face to
face in the nature of things and are not under the obligation of looking the
unutterable because you see theres business in hand and the boat s just
the right sort of third party who never interferes but must be attended to
And they feel theyre labouring together to get along all in the proper
proportion and whether he has to labour in life or not he proves his ability
What do you think of it Miss Middleton«
»I think you have only to propose it Colonel De Craye«
»And if they capsize why tis a natural ducking«
»You forgot the ladys dressingbag«
»The stain on the metal for a constant reminder of his prowess in saving it
Well and theres an alternative to that scheme and a finer This then they
read dramatic pieces during courtship to stop the saying of things over again
till the drum of the ear becomes nothing but a drum to the poor head and a
little before they affix their signatures to the fatal Registrybook of the
vestry they enter into an engagement with a body of provincial actors to join
the troop on the day of their nuptials and away they go in their coach and
four and she is Lady Kitty Caper for a month and he Sir Harry Highflyer See
the honeymoon spinning The marvel to me is that none of the young couples do
it They could enjoy the world see life amuse the company and come back fresh
to their own characters instead of giving themselves a dose of Africa without a
savage to diversify it an impression they never get over Im told Many a
character of the happiest auspices has irreparable mischief done it by the
ordinary honeymoon For my part I rather lean to the second plan of campaign«
Clara was expected to reply and she said »Probably because you are fond of
acting It would require capacity on both sides«
»Miss Middleton I would undertake to breathe the enthusiasm for the stage
and the adventure«
»You are recommending it generally«
»Let my gentleman only have a fund of enthusiasm The lady will kindle She
always does at a spark«
»If he has not any«
»Then Im afraid they must be mortally dull«
She allowed her silence to speak she knew that it did so too eloquently
and could not control the personal adumbration she gave to the one point of
light revealed in »If he has not any« Her figure seemed immediately to wear a
cap and cloak of dulness
She was full of revolt and anger she was burning with her situation if
sensible of shame now at anything that she did it turned to wrath and threw the
burden on the author of her desperate distress The hour for blaming herself had
gone by to be renewed ultimately perhaps in a season of freedom She was bereft
of her insight within at present so blind to herself that while conscious of
an accurate reading of Willoughbys friend she thanked him in her heart for
seeking simply to amuse her and slightly succeeding The afternoons ride with
him and Crossjay was an agreeable beguilement to her in prospect
Lætitia came to divide her from Colonel De Craye Dr Middleton was not seen
before his appearance at the breakfasttable where a certain air of anxiety in
his daughters presence produced the semblance of a raised map at intervals on
his forehead Few sights on earth are more deserving of our sympathy than a good
man who has a troubled conscience thrust on him
The Rev Doctors perturbation was observed The ladies Eleanor and Isabel
seeing his daughter to be the cause of it blamed her and would have assisted
him to escape but Miss Dale whom he courted with that object was of the
opposite faction She made way for Clara to lead her father out He called to
Vernon who merely nodded while leaving the room by the window with Crossjay
Half an eye on Dr Middletons pathetic exit in captivity sufficed to tell
Colonel De Craye that parties divided the house At first he thought how
deplorable it would be to lose Miss Middleton for two days or three and it
struck him that Vernon Whitford and Lætitia Dale were acting oddly in seconding
her their aim not being discernible For he was of the order of gentlemen of
the obscurelyclear in mind who have a predetermined acuteness in their watch
upon the human play and mark men and women as pieces of a bad game of chess
each pursuing an interested course His experience of a section of the world had
educated him as gallant frank and manly a comrade as one could wish for up
to this point But he soon abandoned speculations which may be compared to a
shaking of the anemometer that will not let the troubled indicator take
station Reposing on his perceptions and his instincts he fixed his attention
on the chief persons only glancing at the others to establish a postulate that
where there are parties in a house the most bewitching person present is the
origin of them It is ever Helens achievement Miss Middleton appeared to him
bewitching beyond mortal sunny in her laughter shadowy in her smiling a young
lady shaped for perfect music with a lover
She was that and no less to every mans eye on earth High breeding did
not freeze her lovely girlishness But Willoughby did This reflection
intervened to blot luxurious picturings of her and made itself acceptable by
leading him back to several instances of an evident want of harmony of the pair
And now for purely undirected impulse all within us is not though we may
be eyebandaged agents under direction it became necessary for an honourable
gentleman to cast vehement rebukes at the fellow who did not comprehend the
jewel he had won How could Willoughby behave like so complete a donkey De
Craye knew him to be in his interior stiff strange exacting women had talked
of him he had been too much for one woman the dashing Constantia he had worn
one woman sacrificing far more for him than Constantia to death Still with
such a prize as Clara Middleton Willoughbys behaviour was past calculating in
its contemptible absurdity And during courtship And courtship of that girl It
was the way of a man ten years after marriage
The idea drew him to picture her doatingly in her young matronly bloom ten
years after marriage without a touch of age matronly wise womanly sweet
perhaps with a couple of little ones to love never having known the love of a
man
To think of a girl like Clara Middleton never having at nine and twenty
and with two fair children known the love of a man or the loving of a man
possibly became torture to the Colonel
For a pacification he had to reconsider that she was as yet only nineteen
and unmarried
But she was engaged and she was unloved One might swear to it that she was
unloved And she was not a girl to be satisfied with a big house and a
highnosed husband
There was a rapid alteration of the sad history of Clara the unloved matron
solaced by two little ones A childless Clara tragically loving and beloved
flashed across the dark glass of the future
Either way her fate was cruel
Some astonishment moved De Craye in the contemplation of the distance he had
stepped in this morass of fancy He distinguished the choice open to him of
forward or back and he selected forward But fancy was dead the poetry
hovering about her grew invisible to him he stood in the morass that was all
he knew and momently he plunged deeper and he was aware of an intense desire
to see her face that he might study her features again he understood no more
It was the clouding of the brain by the mans heart which had come to the
knowledge that it was caught
A certain measure of astonishment moved him still It had hitherto been his
portion to do mischief to women and avoid the vengeance of the sex What was
there in Miss Middletons face and air to ensnare a veteran handsome man of
society numbering six and thirty years nearly as many conquests »Each bullet
has got its commission« He was hit at last That accident effected by Mr
Flitch had fired the shot Clean through the heart does not tell us of our
misfortune till the heart is asked to renew its natural beating It fell into
the condition of the porcelain vase over a thought of Miss Middleton standing
above his prostrate form on the road and walking beside him to the Hall Her
words What have they been She had not uttered words she had shed meanings He
did not for an instant conceive that he had charmed her the charm she has cast
on him was too thrilling for coxcombry to lift a head still she had enjoyed his
prattle In return for her touch upon the Irish fountain in him he had
manifestly given her relief And could not one see that so sprightly a girl
would soon be deadened by a man like Willoughby Deadened she was she had not
responded to a compliment on her approaching marriage An allusion to it killed
her smiling The case of Mr Flitch with the halfwager about his reinstation
in the service of the Hall was conclusive evidence of her opinion of
Willoughby
It became again necessary that he should abuse Willoughby for his folly Why
was the man worrying her In some way he was worrying her
What if Willoughby as well as Miss Middleton wished to be quit of the
engagement
For just a second the handsome womanflattered officer proved his mans
heart more whole than he supposed it That great organ instead of leaping at
the thought suffered a check
Bear in mind that his heart was not merely mans it was a conquerors He
was of the race of amorous heroes who glory in pursuing overtaking subduing
wresting the prize from a rival having her ripe from exquisitely feminine
inward conflicts plucking her out of resistance in good old primitive fashion
You win the creature in her delicious flutterings He liked her thus in cooler
blood because of societys admiration of the capturer and somewhat because of
the strife which always enhances the value of a prize and refreshes our vanity
in recollection
Moreover he had been matched against Willoughby the circumstance had
occurred two or three times He could name a lady he had won a lady he had
lost Willoughbys large fortune and grandeur of style had given him advantages
at the start But the start often means the race with women and a bit of
luck
The gentle check upon the galloping heart of Colonel De Craye endured no
longer than a second a simple sideglance in a headlong pace Claras
enchantingness for a temperament like his which is to say for him specially
in part through the testimony her conquest of himself presented as to her power
of sway over the universal heart known as mans assured him she was worth
winning even from a hand that dropped her
He had now a double reason for exclaiming at the folly of Willoughby
Willoughbys treatment of her showed either temper or weariness Vanity and
judgement led De Craye to guess the former Regarding her sentiments for
Willoughby he had come to his own conclusion The certainty of it caused him
to assume that he possessed an absolute knowledge of her character she was an
angel born supple she was a heavenly soul with half a dozen of the tricks of
earth Skittish filly was among his phrases but she had a bearing and a gaze
that forbade the dip in the common gutter for wherewithal to paint the creature
she was
Now then to see whether he was wrong for the first time in his life If
not wrong he had a chance
There could be nothing dishonourable in rescuing a girl from an engagement
she detested An attempt to think it a service to Willoughby failed midway De
Craye dismissed that chicanery It would be a service to Willoughby in the end
without question There was that to soothe his manly honour Meanwhile he had to
face the thought of Willoughby as an antagonist and the world looking heavy on
his honour as a friend
Such considerations drew him tenderly close to Miss Middleton It must
however be confessed that the mental ardour of Colonel De Craye had been a
little sobered by his glance at the possibility of both of the couple being of
one mind on the subject of their betrothal Desireable as it was that they
should be united in disagreeing it reduced the romance to platitude and the
third person in the drama to the appearance of a stick No man likes to play
that part Memoirs of the favourites of Goddesses if we had them would confirm
it of mens tastes in this respect though the divinest be the prize We behold
what part they played
De Craye chanced to be crossing the hall from the laboratory to the stables
when Clara shut the librarydoor behind her He said something whimsical and
did not stop nor did he look twice at the face he had been longing for
What he had seen made him fear there would be no ride out with her that day
Their next meeting reassured him she was dressed in her ridinghabit and wore a
countenance resolutely cheerful He gave himself the word of command to take his
tone from her
He was of a nature as quick as Claras Experience pushed him further than
she could go in fancy but experience laid a sobering finger on his practical
steps and bade them hang upon her initiative She talked little Young Crossjay
cantering ahead was her favourite subject She was very much changed since the
early morning his liveliness essayed by him at a hazard was unsuccessful
grave English pleased her best The descent from that was naturally to
melancholy She mentioned a regret she had that the Veil was interdicted to
women in Protestant countries De Craye was fortunately silent he could think
of no other veil than the Moslem and when her meaning struck his witless head
he admitted to himself that devout attendance on a young ladys mind stupefies
mans intelligence Half an hour later he was as foolish in supposing it a
confidence He was again saved by silence
In Aspenwell village she drew a letter from her bosom and called to Crossjay
to post it The boy sang out »Miss Lucy Darleton What a nice name«
Clara did not show that the name betrayed anything
She said to De Craye »It proves he should not be here thinking of nice
names«
Her companion replied »You may be right« He added to avoid feeling too
subservient »Boys will«
»Not if they have stern masters to teach them their daily lessons and some
of the lessons of existence«
»Vernon Whitford is not stern enough«
»Mr Whitford has to contend with other influences here«
»With Willoughby«
»Not with Willoughby«
He understood her She touched the delicate indication firmly The mans
heart respected her for it not many girls could be so thoughtful or dare to be
so direct he saw that she had become deeply serious and he felt her love of
the boy to be maternal past maiden sentiment
By this light of her seriousness the posting of her letter in a distant
village not entrusting it to the Hall postbox might have import not that she
would apprehend the violation of her private correspondence but we like to see
our letter of weighty meaning pass into the mouth of the public box
Consequently this letter was important It was to suppose a sequency in the
conduct of a variable damsel Coupled with her remark about the Veil and with
other things not words breathing from her which were the breath of her
condition it was not unreasonably to be supposed She might even be a very
consistent person If one only had the key of her
She spoke once of an immediate visit to London supposing that she could
induce her father to go De Craye remembered the occurrence in the hall at
night and her aspect of distress
They raced along Aspenwell Common to the ford shallow to the chagrin of
young Crossjay between whom and themselves they left a fitting space for his
rapture in leading his pony to splash up and down lord of the stream
Swiftness of motion so strikes the blood on the brain that our thoughts are
lightnings the heart is master of them
De Craye was heated by his gallop to venture on the angling question »Am I
to hear the names of the bridesmaids«
The pace had nerved Clara to speak to it sharply »There is no need«
»Have I no claim«
She was mute
»Miss Lucy Darleton for instance whose name I am almost as much in love
with as Crossjay«
»She will not be bridesmaid to me«
»She declines Add my petition I beg«
»To all or to her«
»Do all the bridesmaids decline«
»The scene is too ghastly«
»A marriage«
»Girls have grown sick of it«
»Of weddings Well overcome the sickness«
»With some«
»Not with Miss Darleton You tempt my eloquence«
»You wish it«
»To win her consent Certainly«
»The scene«
»Do I wish that«
»Marriage« exclaimed Clara dashing into the ford fearful of her
ungovernable wildness and of what it might have kindled You father you have
driven me to unmaidenliness She forgot Willoughby in her father who would
not quit a comfortable house for her all but prostrate beseeching would not
bend his mind to her explanations answered her with the horrid iteration of
such deaf misunderstanding as may be associated with a tolling bell
De Craye allowed her to catch Crossjay by herself They entered a narrow
lane mysterious with possible birds eggs in the Maygreen hedges As there was
not room for three abreast the colonel made up the rearguard and was consoled
by having Miss Middletons figure to contemplate but the readiness of her
joining in Crossjays pastime of the nesthunt was not so pleasing to a man that
she had wound to a pitch of excitement Her scornful accent on Marriage rang
through him Apparently she was beginning to do with him just as she liked
herself entirely unconcerned
She kept Crossjay beside her till she dismounted and the colonel was left
to the procession of elephantine ideas in his head whose ponderousness he took
for natural weight We do not with impunity abandon the initiative Men who have
yielded it are like cavalry put on the defensive a very small force with an
ictus will scatter them
Anxiety to recover lost ground reduced the dimensions of his ideas to a
practical standard
Two ideas were opposed like duellists bent on the slaughter of one another
Either she amazed him by confirming the suspicions he had gathered of her
sentiments for Willoughby in the moments of his introduction to her or she
amazed him as a model for coquettes the married and the widowed might apply
to her for lessons
These combatants exchanged shots but remained standing the encounter was
undecided Whatever the result no person so seductive as Clara Middleton had he
ever met Her cry of loathing »Marriage« coming from a girl rang faintly
clear of an ancient virginal aspiration of the sex to escape from their coil
and bespoke a pure cold savage pride that transplanted his thirst for her to
higher fields
Chapter XXIII
Treats of the Union of Temper and Policy
Sir Willoughby meanwhile was on a line of conduct suiting his appreciation of
his duty to himself He had deluded himself with the simple notion that good
fruit would come of the union of temper and policy
No delusion is older none apparently so promising both parties being eager
for the alliance Yet the theorists upon human nature will say they are
obviously of adverse disposition And this is true inasmuch as neither of them
will submit to the yoke of an established union as soon as they have done their
mischief they set to work tugging for a divorce But they have attractions the
one for the other which precipitate them to embrace whenever they meet in a
breast each is earnest with the owner of it to get him to officiate forthwith
as weddingpriest And here is the reason temper to warrant its appearance
desires to be thought as deliberative as policy and policy the sooner to prove
its shrewdness is impatient for the quick blood of temper
It will be well for men to resolve at the first approaches of the amorous
but fickle pair upon interdicting even an accidental temporary junction for the
astonishing sweetness of the couple when no more than the ghosts of them have
come together in a projecting mind is an intoxication beyond fermented
grapejuice or a witchs brewage and under the guise of active wits they will
lead us to the parental meditation of antics compared with which a Pagan
Saturnalia were less impious in the sight of sanity This is fullmouthed
language but on our studious way through any human career we are subject to
fits of moral elevation the theme inspires it and the sage residing in every
civilized bosom approves it
Decide at the outset that temper is fatal to policy hold them with both
hands in division One might add be doubtful of your policy and repress your
temper it would be to suppose you wise You can however by incorporating two
or three captains of the great army of truisms bequeathed to us by ancient
wisdom fix in your service those veteran old standfasts to check you They will
not be serviceless in their admonitions to your understanding and they will so
contrive to reconcile with it the natural caperings of the wayward young sprig
Conduct that the latter who commonly learns to walk upright and straight from
nothing softer than raps of a bludgeon on his crown shall foot soberly
appearing at least wary of dangerous corners
Now Willoughby had not to be taught that temper is fatal to policy he was
beginning to see in addition that the temper he encouraged was particularly
obnoxious to the policy he adopted and although his purpose in mounting horse
after yesterday frowning on his bride was definite and might be deemed
sagacious he bemoaned already the fatality pushing him even farther from her in
chase of a satisfaction impossible to grasp
But the bare fact that her behaviour demanded a line of policy crossed the
grain of his temper it was very offensive
Considering that she wounded him severely her reversal of their proper
parts by taking the part belonging to him and requiring his watchfulness and
the careful dealings he was accustomed to expect from others and had a right to
exact of her was injuriously unjust The feelings of a man hereditarily
sensitive to property accused her of a trespassing impudence and knowing
himself by testimony of his household his tenants and the neighbourhood and
the world as well amiable when he received his dues he contemplated her with
an air of stiffbacked illtreatment not devoid of a certain sanctification of
martyrdom
His bitterest enemy would hardly declare that it was he who was in the
wrong
Clara herself had never been audacious enough to say that Distaste of his
person was inconceivable to the favourite of society The capricious creature
probably wanted a whipping to bring her to the understanding of the principle
called mastery which is in man
But was he administering it If he retained a hold on her he could
undoubtedly apply the scourge at leisure any kind of scourge he could shun
her look on her frigidly unbend to her to find a warmer place for sarcasm
pityingly smile ridicule pay court elsewhere He could do these things if he
retained a hold on her and he could do them well because of the faith he had in
his renowned amiability for in doing them he could feel that he was other than
he seemed and his own cordial nature was there to comfort him while he bestowed
punishment Cordial indeed the chills he endured were flung from the world His
heart was in that fiction half the hearts now beating have a mild form of it to
keep them merry and the chastisement he desired to inflict was really no more
than righteous vengeance for an offended goodness of heart Clara figuratively
absolutely perhaps on her knees he would raise her and forgive her He yearned
for the situation To let her understand how little she had known him It would
be worth the pain she had dealt to pour forth the stream of reestablished
confidences to paint himself to her as he was as he was in the spirit not as
he was to the world though the world had reason to do him honour
First however she would have to be humbled
Something whispered that his hold on her was lost
In such a case every blow he struck would set her flying farther till the
breach between them would be past bridging
Determination not to let her go was the best finish to this perpetually
revolving round which went like the same old wheelplanks of a watermill in his
head at a review of the injury he sustained He had come to it before and he
came to it again There was his vengeance It melted him she was so sweet She
shone for him like the sunny breeze on water Thinking of her caused a catch of
his breath
The dreadful young woman had a keener edge for the senses of men than
sovereign beauty
It would be madness to let her go
She affected him like an outlook on the great Patterne estate after an
absence when his welcoming flag wept for pride above Patterne Hall
It would be treason to let her go
It would be cruelty to her
He was bound to reflect that she was of tender age and the foolishness of
the wretch was excuseable to extreme youth
We toss away a flower that we are tired of smelling and do not wish to
carry But the rose young woman is not cast off with impunity A fiend in
shape of man is always behind us to appropriate her He that touches that
rejected thing is larcenous Willoughby had been sensible of it in the person of
Lætitia and by all the more that Claras charms exceeded the faded creatures
he felt it now Ten thousand Furies thickened about him at a thought of her
lying by the roadside without his having crushed all bloom and odour out of her
which might tempt even the curiosity of the fiend man
On the other hand supposing her to lie there untouched universally
declined by the sniffing sagacious dogfiend a miserable spinster for years he
could conceive notions of his remorse A soft remorse may be adopted as an
agreeable sensation within view of the wasted penitent whom we have struck a
trifle too hard Seeing her penitent he certainly would be willing to surround
her with little offices of compromising kindness It would depend on her age
Supposing her still youngish there might be captivating passages between them
as thus in a style not unfamiliar
»And was it my fault my poor girl Am I to blame that you have passed a
lonely unloved youth«
»No Willoughby the irreparable error was mine the blame is mine mine
only I live to repent it I do not seek for I have not deserved your pardon
Had I it I should need my own selfesteem to presume to clasp it to a bosom
ever unworthy of you«
»I may have been impatient Clara we are human«
»Never be it mine to accuse one on whom I laid so heavy a weight of
forbearance«
»Still my old love for I am merely quoting history in naming you so I
cannot have been perfectly blameless«
»To me you were and are«
»Clara«
»Willoughby«
»Must I recognize the bitter truth that we two once nearly one so nearly
one are eternally separated«
»I have envisaged it My friend I may call you friend you have ever been
my friend my best friend Oh that eyes had been mine to know the friend I had
Willoughby in the darkness of night and during days that were as night to my
soul I have seen the inexorable finger pointing my solitary way through the
wilderness from a Paradise forfeited by my most wilful my wanton sin We have
met It is more than I have merited We part In mercy let it be for ever Oh
terrible word Coined by the passions of our youth it comes to us for our sole
riches when we are bankrupt of earthly treasures and is the passport given by
Abnegation unto Woe that prays to quit this probationary sphere Willoughby we
part It is better so«
»Clara one one only one last one holy kiss«
»If these poor lips that once were sweet to you «
The kiss to continue the language of the imaginative composition of his
time favourite readings in which had inspired Sir Willoughby with a colloquy so
pathetic was imprinted
Ay she had the kiss and no mean one It was intended to swallow every
vestige of dwindling attractiveness out of her and there was a bit of scandal
springing of it in the background that satisfactorily settled her business and
left her »enshrined in memory a divine recollection to him« as his popular
romances would say and have said for years
Unhappily the fancied salute of her lips encircled him with the breathing
Clara She rushed up from vacancy like a wind summoned to wreck a stately
vessel
His reverie had thrown him into severe commotion The slave of a passion
thinks in a ring as hares run he will cease where he began Her sweetness had
set him off and he whirled back to her sweetness and that being incalculable
and he insatiable you have the picture of his torments when you consider that
her behaviour made her as a cloud to him
Riding slack horse and man in the likeness of those two ajog homeward from
the miry hunt the horse pricked his ears and Willoughby looked down from his
road along the hills on the race headed by young Crossjay with a short start
over Aspenwell Common to the ford There was no mistaking who they were though
they were wellnigh a mile distant below He noticed that they did not overtake
the boy They drew rein at the ford talking not simply face to face but face
in face Willoughbys novel feeling of he knew not what drew them up to him
enabling him to fancy them bathing in one anothers eyes Then she sprang
through the ford De Craye following but not close after and why not close
She had flicked him with one of her peremptorily saucy speeches when she was
bold with the gallop They were not unknown to Willoughby They signified
intimacy
Last night he had proposed to De Craye to take Miss Middleton for a ride the
next afternoon It never came to his mind then that he and his friend had
formerly been rivals He wished Clara to be amused Policy dictated that every
thread should be used to attach her to her residence at the Hall until he could
command his temper to talk to her calmly and overwhelm her as any man in
earnest with command of temper and a point of vantage may be sure to whelm a
young woman Policy adulterated by temper yet policy it was that had sent him
on his errand in the early morning to beat about for a house and garden suitable
to Dr Middleton within a circuit of five six or seven miles of Patterne Hall
If the Rev Doctor liked the house and took it and Willoughby had seen the
place to suit him the neighbourhood would be a chain upon Clara and if the
house did not please a gentleman rather hard to please except in a venerable
wine an excuse would have been started for his visiting other houses and he
had the response to his importunate daughter that he believed an excellent
house was on view Dr Middleton had been prepared by numerous hints to meet
Claras black misreading of a lovers quarrel so that everything looked full of
promise as far as Willoughbys exercise of policy went
But the strange pang traversing him now convicted him of a large
adulteration of profitless temper with it The loyalty of De Craye to a friend
where a woman walked in the drama was notorious It was there and a most
flexible thing it was and it soon resembled reason manipulated by the sophists
Not to have reckoned on his peculiar loyalty was proof of the blindness cast on
us by temper
And De Craye had an Irish tongue and he had it under control so that he
could talk good sense and airy nonsense at discretion The strongest overboiling
of English Puritan contempt of a gabbler would not stop women from liking it
Evidently Clara did like it and Willoughby thundered on her sex Unto such
brainless things as these do we under the irony of circumstances confide our
honour
For he was no gabbler He remembered having rattled in earlier days he had
rattled with an object to gain desiring to be taken for an easy careless
vivacious charming fellow as any young gentleman may be who gaily wears the
golden dish of Fifty thousand pounds per annum nailed to the back of his very
saintly young pate The growth of the critical spirit in him however had
informed him that slang had been a principal component of his rattling and as
he justly supposed it a betraying art for his race and for him he passed
through the prim and the yawning phases of affected indifference to the pure
Puritanism of a leaden contempt of gabblers
They snare women you see girls How despicable the host of girls at
least that girl below there
Married women understood him widows did He placed an exceedingly handsome
and flattering young widow of his acquaintance Lady Mary Lewison beside Clara
for a comparison involuntarily and at once in a flash in despite of him he
would rather it had been otherwise and in despite of Lady Marys high birth
and connections as well the silver lustre of the maid sicklied the poor widow
The effect of the luckless comparison was to produce an image of
surpassingness in the features of Clara that gave him the final or maceblow
Jealousy invaded him
He had hitherto been free of it regarding jealousy as a foreign devil the
accursed familiar of the vulgar Luckless fellows might be victims of the
disease he was not and neither Captain Oxford nor Vernon nor De Craye nor
any of his compeers had given him one shrewd pinch the woman had not the man
and she in quite a different fashion from his present wallowing anguish she had
never pulled him to earths level where jealousy gnaws the grasses He had
boasted himself above the humiliating visitation
If that had been the case we should not have needed to trouble ourselves
much about him A run or two with the pack of imps would have satisfied us But
he desired Clara Middleton manfully enough at an intimation of rivalry to be
jealous in a minute the foreign devil had him he was flame flaming verdigris
one might almost dare to say for an exact illustration such was actually the
colour but accept it as unsaid
Remember the poets upon Jealousy It is to be haunted in the heaven of two
by a Third preceded or succeeded therefore surrounded embraced hugged by
this infernal Third it is Loves bed of burning marl to see and taste the
withering Third in the bosom of sweetness to be dragged through the past and
find the fair Eden of it sulphurous to be dragged to the gates of the future
and glory to behold them blood to adore the bitter creature trebly and with
treble power to clutch her by the windpipe it is to be cheated derided
shamed and abject and supplicating and consciously demoniacal in
treacherousness and victoriously selfjustified in revenge
And still there is no change in what men feel though in what they do the
modern may be judicious
You know the many paintings of man transformed to rageing beast by the
curse and this the fieriest trial of our egoism worked in the Egoist to
produce division of himself from himself a concentration of his thoughts upon
another object still himself but in another breast which had to be looked at
and into for the discovery of him By the gaping jawchasm of his greed we may
gather comprehension of his insatiate force of jealousy Let her go Not though
he were to become a mark of public scorn in strangling her with the yoke His
concentration was marvellous Unused to the exercise of imaginative powers he
nevertheless conjured her before him visually till his eyeballs ached He saw
none but Clara hated none loved none save the intolerable woman What logic
was in him deduced her to be individual and most distinctive from the
circumstance that only she had ever wrought these pangs She had made him ready
for them as we know An idea of De Craye being no stranger to her when he
arrived at the Hall dashed him at De Craye for a second it might be or might
not be that they had a secret Clara was the spell So prodigiously did he
love and hate that he had no permanent sense except for her The soul of him
writhed under her eyes at one moment and the next it closed on her without
mercy She was his possession escaping his own gliding away to the Third
There would be pangs for him too that Third Standing at the altar to see
her fastbound soul and body to another would be good roasting fire
It would be good roasting fire for her too should she be averse To
conceive her aversion was to burn her and devour her She would then be his
what say you Burnt and devoured Rivals would vanish then Her reluctance to
espouse the man she was plighted to would cease to be uttered cease to be
felt
At last he believed in her reluctance All that had been wanted to bring him
to the belief was the scene on the common such a mere spark or an imagined
spark But the presence of the Third was necessary otherwise he would have had
to suppose himself personally distasteful
Women have us back to the conditions of primitive man or they shoot us
higher than the topmost star But it is as we please Let them tell us what we
are to them for us they are our back and front of life the poets Lesbia the
poets Beatrice ours is the choice And were it proved that some of the bright
things are in the pay of Darkness with the stamp of his coin on their palms
and that some are the very angels we hear sung of not the less might we say
that they find us out they have us by our leanings They are to us what we hold
of best or worst within By their state is our civilization judged and if it is
hugely animal still that is because primitive men abound and will have their
pasture Since the lead is ours the leaders must bow their heads to the
sentence Jealousy of a woman is the primitive egoism seeking to refine in a
blood gone to savagery under apprehension of an invasion of rights it is in
action the tiger threatened by a rifle when his paw is rigid on quick flesh he
tears the flesh for rage at the intruder The Egoist who is our original male
in giant form had no bleeding victim beneath his paw but there was the sex to
mangle Much as he prefers the wellbehaved among women who can worship and
fawn and in whom terror can be inspired in his wrath he would make of Beatrice
a Lesbia Quadrantaria
Let women tell us of their side of the battle We are not so much the test
of the Egoist in them as they to us Movements of similarity shown in crowned
and undiademed ladies of intrepid independence suggest their occasional
capacity to be like men when it is given to them to hunt At present they fly
and there is the difference Our manner of the chase informs them of the
creature we are
Dimly as young women are informed they have a youthful ardour of
detestation that renders them less tolerant of the Egoist than their perceptive
elder sisters What they do perceive however they have a redoubtable grasp of
and Claras behaviour would be indefensible if her detective feminine vision
might not sanction her acting on its direction Seeing him as she did she
turned from him and shunned his house as the antre of an ogre She had posted
her letter to Lucy Darleton Otherwise if it had been open to her to dismiss
Colonel De Craye she might with a warm kiss to Vernons pupil have seriously
thought of the next shrill steamwhistle across yonder hills for a travelling
companion on the way to her friend Lucy so abhorrent was to her the putting of
her horses head toward the Hall Oh the breaking of bread there It had to be
gone through for another day and more that is to say forty hours it might be
six and forty hours and no prospect of sleep to speed any of them on wings
Such were Claras inward interjections while poor Willoughby burnt himself
out with verdigris flame having the savour of bad metal till the hollow of his
breast was not unlike to a corroded old cuirass found we will assume by
criminal lanternbeams in a digging beside greenmantled pools of the sullen
soil lumped with a strange adhesive concrete How else picture the sad man
the cavity felt empty to him and heavy sick of an ancient and mortal combat
and burning deeplydinted too
With the starry hole
Whence fled the soul
very sore impotent for aught save sluggish agony a specimen and the issue of
strife
Measurelessly to loathe was not sufficient to save him from pain he tried
it nor to despise he went to a depth there also The fact that she was a
healthy young woman returned to the surface of his thoughts like the murdered
body pitched into the river which will not drown and calls upon the elements of
dissolution to float it His grand hereditary desire to transmit his estates
wealth and name to a solid posterity while it prompted him in his loathing and
contempt of a nature mean and ephemeral compared with his attached him
desperately to her splendid healthiness The council of elders whose descendant
he was pointed to this young woman for his mate He had wooed her with the idea
that they consented O she was healthy And he likewise but as if it had been
a duel between two clearly designated by quality of blood to bid a House endure
she was the first who taught him what it was to have sensations of his
mortality
He could not forgive her It seemed to him consequently politic to continue
frigid and let her have a further taste of his shadow when it was his burning
wish to strain her in his arms to a flatness provoking his compassion
»You have had your ride« he addressed her politely in the general assembly
on the lawn
»I have had my ride yes« Clara replied
»Agreeable I trust«
»Very agreeable«
So it appeared Oh blushless
The next instant he was in conversation with Lætitia questioning her upon a
dejected droop of her eyelashes
»I am I think« said she »constitutionally melancholy«
He murmured to her »I believe in the existence of specifics and not far to
seek for all our ailments except those we bear at the hands of others«
She did not dissent
De Craye whose humour for being convinced that Willoughby cared about as
little for Miss Middleton as she for him was nourished by his immediate
observation of them dilated on the beauty of the ride and his fair companions
equestrian skill
»You should start a travelling circus« Willoughby rejoined
»But the idea s a worthy one theres another alternative to the
expedition I proposed Miss Middleton« said De Craye »And I be clown I
havent a scruple of objection I must read up books of jokes«
»Dont« said Willoughby
»Id spoil my part But a natural clown wont keep up an artificial
performance for an entire month you see which is the length of time we
propose Hell exhaust his nature in a day and be bowled over by the dullest
regular donkeyengine with paint on his cheeks and a noddingtopknot«
»What is this expedition we propose«
De Craye was advised in his heart to spare Miss Middleton any allusion to
honeymoons
»Merely a game to cure dulness«
»Ah« Willoughby acquiesced »A month you said«
»One d like it to last for years«
»Ah You are driving one of Mr Merrimans witticisms at me Horace I am
dense«
Willoughby bowed to Dr Middleton and drew him from Vernon filially taking
his arm to talk with him closely
De Craye saw Claras look as her father and Willoughby went aside thus
linked
It lifted him over anxieties and casuistries concerning loyalty Powder was
in the look to make a warhorse breathe high and shiver for the signal
Chapter XXIV
Contains an Instance of the Generosity of Willoughby
Observers of a gathering complication and a character in action commonly
resemble gleaners who are intent only on picking up the ears of grain and
huddling their store Disinterestedly or interestedly they wax overeager for the
little trifles and make too much of them Observers should begin upon the
precept that not all we see is worth hoarding and that the things we see are
to be weighed in the scale with what we know of the situation before we commit
ourselves to a measurement And they may be accurate observers without being
good judges They do not think so and their bent is to glean hurriedly and form
conclusions as hasty when their business should be sift at each step and
question
Miss Dale seconded Vernon Whitford in the occupation of counting looks and
tones and noting scraps of dialogue She was quite disinterested he quite
believed that he was to this degree they were competent for their post and
neither of them imagined they could be personally involved in the dubious result
of the scenes they witnessed They were but anxious observers diligently
collecting She fancied Clara susceptible to his advice he had fancied it and
was considering it one of his vanities Each mentally compared Claras
abruptness in taking them into her confidence with her abstention from any
secret word since the arrival of Colonel De Craye Sir Willoughby requested
Lætitia to give Miss Middleton as much of her company as she could showing that
he was on the alert Another Constantia Durham seemed beating her wings for
flight The suddenness of the evident intimacy between Clara and Colonel De
Craye shocked Lætitia their acquaintance could be computed by hours Yet at
their first interview she had suspected the possibility of worse than she now
supposed to be and she had begged Vernon not immediately to quit the Hall in
consequence of that faint suspicion She had been led to it by meeting Clara and
De Craye at her cottagegate and finding them as fluent and laughterbreathing
in conversation as friends Unable to realize the rapid advance to a
familiarity more ostensible than actual of two lively natures after such an
introduction as they had undergone and one of the two pining in a drought of
liveliness Lætitia listened to their wager of nothing at all a no against a
yes in the case of poor Flitch and Claras »Willoughby will not forgive«
and De Crayes »Oh hes human« and the silence of Clara and De Crayes
hearty cry »Flitch shall be a gentlemans coachman in his old seat again or I
havent a tongue« to which there was a negative of Claras head and it then
struck Lætitia that this young betrothed lady whose alienated heart
acknowledged no lord an hour earlier had met her match and as the observer
would have said her destiny She judged of the alarming possibility by the
recent revelation to herself of Miss Middletons character and by Claras
having spoken to a man as well to Vernon and previously That a young lady
should speak on the subject of the inner holies to a man though he were Vernon
Whitford was incredible to Lætitia but it had to be accepted as one of the
dread facts of our inexplicable life which drag our bodies at their wheels and
leave our minds exclaiming Then if Clara could speak to Vernon which Lætitia
would not have done for a mighty bribe she could speak to De Craye Lætitia
thought deductively this being the logic of untrained heads opposed to the
proceeding whereby their condemnatory deduction hangs Clara must have spoken
to De Craye
Lætitia remembered how winning and prevailing Miss Middleton could be in her
confidences A gentleman hearing her might forget his duty to his friend she
thought for she had been strangely swayed by Clara ideas of Sir Willoughby
that she had never before imagined herself to entertain had been sown in her
she thought not asking herself whether the searchingness of the young lady had
struck them and bidden them rise from where they lay embedded Very gentle women
take in that manner impressions of persons especially of the worshipped person
wounding them like the new fortifications with embankments of soft earth where
explosive missiles bury themselves harmlessly until they are plucked out and it
may be a reason why those injured ladies outlive a Clara Middleton similarly
battered
Vernon less than Lætitia took into account that Clara was in a state of
fever scarcely reasonable Her confidences to him he had excused as a piece of
conduct in sympathy with her position He had not been greatly astonished by
the circumstances confided and on the whole as she was excited and unhappy
he excused her thoroughly he could have extolled her it was natural that she
should come to him brave in her to speak so frankly a compliment that she
should condescend to treat him as a friend Her position excused her widely But
she was not excused for making a confidential friend of De Craye There was a
difference
Well the difference was that De Craye had not the smarting sense of honour
with women which our meditator had an impartial judiciary it will be seen and
he discriminated between himself and the other justly but sensation surging to
his brain at the same instant he reproached Miss Middleton for not perceiving
that difference as clearly before she betrayed her position to De Craye which
Vernon assumed that she had done Of course he did She had been guilty of it
once why then in the mind of an offended friend she would be guilty of it
twice There was evidence Ladies fatally predestined to appeal to that from
which they have to be guarded must expect severity when they run off their
railed highroad justice is out of the question mans brains might his blood
cannot administer it to them By chilling him to the bone they may get what
they cry for But that is a method deadening to their point of appeal
In the evening Miss Middleton and the colonel sang a duet She had of late
declined to sing Her voice was noticeably firm Sir Willoughby said to her
»You have recovered your richness of tone Clara« She smiled and appeared happy
in pleasing him He named a French ballad She went to the musicrack and gave
the song unasked He should have been satisfied for she said to him at the
finish »Is that as you like it« He broke from a murmur to Miss Dale
»Admirable« Some one mentioned a Tuscan popular canzone She waited for
Willoughbys approval and took his nod for a mandate
Traitress he could have bellowed
He had read of this characteristic of caressing obedience of the women about
to deceive He had in his time profited by it
»Is it intuitively or by their experience that our neighbours across Channel
surpass us in the knowledge of your sex« he said to Miss Dale and talked
through Claras apostrophe to the »Santissima Virgine Maria« still treating
temper as a part of policy without any effect on Clara and that was matter for
sickly green reflections The lover who cannot wound has indeed lost anchorage
he is woefully adrift he stabs air which is to stab himself Her complacent
proofarmour bids him know himself supplanted
During the short conversational period before the ladies retired for the
night Miss Eleanor alluded to the wedding by chance Miss Isabel replied to
her and addressed an interrogation to Clara De Craye foiled it adroitly Clara
did not utter a syllable Her bosom lifted to a wavering height and sank
Subsequently she looked at De Craye vacantly like a person awakened but she
looked She was astonished by his readiness and thankful for the succour Her
look was cold wide unfixed with nothing of gratitude or of personal in it
The look however stood too long for Willoughbys endurance Ejaculating
»Porcelain« he uncrossed his legs a signal for the ladies Eleanor and Isabel
to retire Vernon bowed to Clara as she was rising He had not been once in her
eyes and he expected a partial recognition at the goodnight She said it
turning her head to Miss Isabel who was condoling once more with Colonel De
Craye over the ruins of his weddingpresent the porcelain vase which she
supposed to have been in Willoughbys mind when he displayed the signal Vernon
walked off to his room dark as one smitten blind bile tumet jecur her stroke
of neglect hit him there where a blow sends thick obscuration upon eyeballs and
brain alike
Clara saw that she was paining him and regretted it when they were
separated That was her real friend But he prescribed too hard a task Besides
she had done everything he demanded of her except the consenting to stay where
she was and wear out Willoughby whose dexterity wearied her small stock of
patience She had vainly tried remonstrance and supplication with her father
hoodwinked by his host she refused to consider how through wine the thought
was repulsive
Nevertheless she was drawn to the edge of it by the contemplation of her
scheme of release If Lucy Darleton was at home if Lucy invited her to come if
she flew to Lucy Oh then her father would have cause for anger He would not
remember that but for hateful wine
What was there in this wine of great age which expelled reasonableness
fatherliness He was her dear father she was his beloved child yet something
divided them something closed her fathers ears to her and could it be that
incomprehensible seduction of the wine Her dutifulness cried violently no She
bowed stupefied to his arguments for remaining awhile and rose clearheaded
and rebellious with the reminiscence of the many strong reasons she had urged
against them
The strangeness of men young and old the little things she regarded a
grand wine as a little thing twisting and changeing them amazed her And these
are they by whom women are abused for variability Only the most imperious
reasons never mean trifles move women thought she Would women do an injury
to one they loved for oceans of that ah pah
And women must respect men They necessarily respect a father »My dear
dear father« Clara said in the solitude of her chamber musing on all his
goodness and she endeavoured to reconcile the desperate sentiments of the
position he forced her to sustain with those of a venerating daughter The blow
which was to fall on him beat on her heavily in advance »I have not one
excuse« she said glancing at numbers and a mighty one But the idea of her
father suffering at her hands cast her down lower than selfjustification She
sought to imagine herself sparing him It was too fictitious
The sanctuary of her chamber the pure white room so homely to her maidenly
feelings whispered peace only to follow the whisper with another that went
through her swelling to a roar and leaving her as a string of music unkindly
smitten If she stayed in this house her chamber would no longer be a sanctuary
Dolorous bondage Insolent death is not worse Deaths worm we cannot keep away
but when he has us we are numb to dishonour happily senseless
Youth weighed her eyelids to sleep though she was quivering and quivering
she awoke to the sound of her name beneath her window »I can love still for I
love him« she said as she luxuriated in young Crossjays boys voice again
envying him his bath in the lake waters which seemed to her to have the power
to wash away grief and chains Then it was that she resolved to let Crossjay see
the last of her in this place He should be made gleeful by doing her a piece of
service he should escort her on her walk to the railway station next morning
thence be sent flying for a long days truancy with a little note of apology on
his behalf that she would write for him to deliver to Vernon at night
Crossjay came running to her after his breakfast with Mrs Montague the
housekeeper to tell her he had called her up
»You wont tomorrow I shall be up far ahead of you« said she and musing
on her father while Crossjay vowed to be up the first she thought it her duty
to plunge into another expostulation
Willoughby had need of Vernon on private affairs Dr Middleton betook
himself as usual to the library after answering »I will ruin you yet« to
Willoughbys liberal offer to despatch an order to London for any books he might
want
His fine unruffled air as of a mountain in still morning beams made Clara
not indisposed to a preliminary scene with Willoughby that might save her from
distressing him but she could not stop Willoughby as little could she look an
invitation He stood in the hall holding Vernon by the arm She passed him he
did not speak and she entered the library
»What now my dear what is it« said Dr Middleton seeing that the door
was shut on them
»Nothing papa« she replied calmly
»Youve not locked the door my child You turned something there try the
handle«
»I assure you papa the door is not locked«
»Mr Whitford will be here instantly We are engaged on tough matter Women
have not and opinion is universal that they never will have a conception of
the value of time«
»We are vain and shallow my dear papa«
»No no not you Clara But I suspect you to require to learn by having
work in progress how important is is a quiet commencement of the days task
There is not a scholar who will not tell you so We must have a retreat These
invasions So you intend to have another ride today They do you good
Tomorrow we dine with Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson an estimable person indeed
though I do not perfectly understand our accepting You have not to accuse me
of sitting over wine last night my Clara I never do it unless I am appealed
to for my judgement upon a wine«
»I have come to entreat you to take me away papa«
In the midst of the storm aroused by this renewal of perplexity Dr
Middleton replaced a book his elbow had knocked over in his haste to dash the
hair off his forehead crying »Whither To what spot That reading of
Guidebooks and idle peoples notes of Travel and picturesque correspondence
in the newspapers unsettles man and maid My objection to the living in hotels
is known I do not hesitate to say that I do cordially abhor it I have had
penitentially to submit to it in your dear mothers time kai triskakodaimon up
to the full ten thousand times But will you not comprehend that to the older
man his miseries are multiplied by his years But is it utterly useless to
solicit your sympathy with an old man Clara«
»General Darleton will take us in papa«
»His table is detestable I say nothing of that but his wine is poison Let
that pass I should rather say let it not pass but our political views are
not in accord True we are not under the obligation to propound them in
presence but we are destitute of an opinion in common We have no discourse
Military men have produced or diverged in noteworthy epicures they are often
devout they have blossomed in lettered men they are gentlemen the country
rightly holds them in honour but in fine I reject the proposal to go to
General Darleton Tears«
»No papa«
»I do hope not Here we have everything man can desire without contest an
excellent host You have your transitory teacup tempests which you magnify to
hurricanes in the approved historic manner of the book of Cupid And all the
better I repeat it is the better that you should have them over in the infancy
of the alliance Come in« Dr Middleton shouted cheerily in response to a knock
at the door
He feared the door was locked he had a fear that his daughter intended to
keep it locked
»Clara« he cried
She reluctantly turned the handle and the ladies Eleanor and Isabel came
in apologizing with as much coherence as Dr Middleton ever expected from their
sex They wished speak to Clara but they declined to take her away In vain the
Rev Doctor assured them she was at their service they protested that they had
very few words to say and would not intrude one moment further than to speak
them
Like a shy deputation of young scholars before the master these very words
to come were preceded by none at all a dismal and trying pause refreshing
however to Dr Middleton who joyfully anticipated that the ladies could be
induced to take away Clara when they had finished
»We may appear to you a little formal« Miss Isabel began and turned to her
sister
»We have no intention to lay undue weight on our mission if mission it can
be called« said Miss Eleanor
»Is it entrusted to you by Willoughby« said Clara
»Dear child that you may know it all the more earnest with us and our
personal desire to contribute to your happiness therefore does Willoughby
entrust the speaking of it to us«
Hereupon the sisters alternated in addressing Clara and she gazed from one
to the other piecing fragments of empty signification to get the full meaning
when she might
» And in saying your happiness dear Clara we have our Willoughbys in
view which is dependent on yours«
» And we never could sanction that our own inclinations should stand in the
way«
» No We love the old place and if it were only our punishment for loving
it too idolatrously we should deem it ground enough for our departure«
» Without really an idea of unkindness none not any«
» Young wives naturally prefer to be undisputed queens of their own
establishment«
» Youth and age«
»But I« said Clara »have never mentioned never had a thought «
» You have dear child a lover who in his solicitude for your happiness
both sees what you desire and what is due to you«
» And for us Clara to recognize what is due to you is to act on it«
» Besides dear a seaside cottage has always been one of our dreams«
» We have not to learn that we are a couple of old maids incongruous
associates for a young wife in the government of a great house«
» With our antiquated notions questions of domestic management might
arise and with the best will in the world to be harmonious «
» So dear Clara consider it settled«
» From time to time gladly shall we be your guests«
» Your guests dear not censorious critics«
»And you think me such an Egoist dear ladies The suggestion of so cruel
a piece of selfishness wounds me I would not have had you leave the Hall I
like your society I respect you My complaint if I had one would be that you
do not sufficiently assert yourselves I could have wished you to be here for an
example to me I would not have allowed you to go What can he think me Did
Willoughby speak of it this morning«
It was hard to distinguish which was the completer dupe of these two echoes
of one another in worship of a family idol
»Willoughby« Miss Eleanor presented herself to be stamped with the title
hanging ready for the first that should open her lips »our Willoughby is
observant he is ever generous and he is not less forethoughtful His
arrangement is for our good on all sides«
»An index is enough« said Miss Isabel appearing in her turn the monster
dupe
»You will not have to leave dear ladies Were I mistress here I should
oppose it«
»Willoughby blames himself for not reassuring you before«
»Indeed we blame ourselves for not undertaking to go«
»Did he speak of it first this morning« said Clara but she could draw no
reply to that from them They resumed the duet and she resigned herself to have
her ears boxed with nonsense
»So it is understood« said Miss Eleanor
»I see your kindness ladies«
»And I am to be Aunt Eleanor again«
»And I Aunt Isabel«
Clara could have wrung her hands at the impediment which prohibited her
delicacy from telling them why she could not name them so as she had done in
the earlier days of Willoughbys courtship She kissed them warmly ashamed of
kissing though the warmth was real
They retired with a flow of excuses to Dr Middleton for disturbing him He
stood at the door to bow them out and holding the door for Clara to wind up the
procession discovered her at a far corner of the room
He was debating upon the advisability of leaving her there when Vernon
Whitford crossed the hall from the laboratory door a mirror of himself in his
companion air of discomposure
That was not important so long as Vernon was a check on Clara but the
moment Clara thus baffled moved to quit the library Dr Middleton felt the
horror of having an uncomfortable face opposite
»No botheration I hope Its the worst thing possible to work on Where
have you been I suspect your weak point is not to arm yourself in triple brass
against bother and worry and no good work can you do unless you do You have
come out of that laboratory«
»I have sir Can I get you any book« Vernon said to Clara
She thanked him promising to depart immediately
»Now you are at the section of Italian literature my love« said Dr
Middleton »Well Mr Whitford the laboratory ah where the amount of
labour done within the space of a year would not stretch an electric current
between this Hall and the railway station say four miles which I presume the
distance to be Well sir a dilettantism costly in time and machinery is as
ornamental as foxes tails and deers horns to an independent gentleman whose
fellows are contented with the latter decorations for their civic wreath
Willoughby let me remark has recently shown himself most considerate for my
girl As far as I could gather I have been listening to a dialogue of ladies
he is as generous as he is discreet There are certain combats in which to be
the one to succumb is to claim the honours and that is what women will not
learn I doubt their seeing the glory of it«
»I have heard of it I have been with Willoughby« Vernon said hastily to
shield Clara from her fathers allusive attacks He wished to convey to her that
his interview with Willoughby had not been profitable in her interests and that
she had better at once having him present to support her pour out her whole
heart to her father But how was it to be conveyed She would not meet his eyes
and he was too poor an intriguer to be ready on the instant to deal out the
verbal obscurities which are transparencies to one
»I shall regret it if Willoughby has annoyed you for he stands high in my
favour« said Dr Middleton
Clara dropped a book Her father started higher than the nervous impulse
warranted in his chair Vernon tried to win a glance and she was conscious of
his effort but her angry and guilty feelings prompting her resolution to follow
her own counsel kept her eyelids on the defensive
»I dont say he annoys me sir I am here to give him my advice and if he
does not accept it I have no right to be annoyed Willoughby seems annoyed that
Colonel De Craye should talk of going tomorrow or next day«
»He likes his friends about him Upon my word a man of a more genial heart
you might march a day without finding But you have it on the forehead Mr
Whitford«
»Oh no sir«
»There« Dr Middleton drew his finger along his brows
Vernon felt along his own and coined an excuse for their blackness unaware
that the direction of his mind toward Clara pushed him to a kind of clumsy
double meaning while he satisfied an inward and craving wrath as he said »By
the way I have been racking my head I must apply to you sir I have a line
and I am uncertain of the run of the line Will this pass do you think
In Asinations tongue he asinates«
signifying that he excels any man of us at donkeydialect«
After a decent interval for the genius of criticism to seem to have been sitting
under his frown Dr Middleton rejoined with sober jocularity »No sir it will
not pass and your uncertainty in regard to the run of the line would only be
extended were the line centipedal Our recommendation is that you erase it
before the arrival of the ferule This might do
In Assignations name he assignats«
signifying that he preeminently flourishes hypothetical promises to pay by
appointment That might pass But you will forbear to cite me for your
authority«
»The line would be acceptable if I could get it to apply« said Vernon
»Or this « Dr Middleton was offering a second suggestion but Clara
fled astonished at men as she never yet had been Why in a burning world they
would be exercising their minds in absurdities And those two were scholars
learned men And both knew they were in the presence of a soul in a tragic
fever
A minute after she had closed the door they were deep in their work Dr
Middleton forgot his alternative line
»Nothing serious« he said in reproof of the want of honourable clearness on
Vernons brows
»I trust not sir its a case for common sense«
»And you call that not serious«
»I take Hermanns praise of the versus dochmiachus to be not only serious
but unexaggerated« said Vernon
Dr Middleton assented and entered on the voiceful ground of Greek metres
shoving your dry dusty world from his elbows
Chapter XXV
The Flight in Wild Weather
The morning of Lucy Darletons letter of reply to her friend Clara was fair
before sunrise with luminous colours that are an omen to the husbandman Clara
had no weathereye for the rich Eastern crimson nor a quiet space within her
for the beauty She looked on it as her gate of promise and it set her
throbbing with a revived relief in radiant things which she once dreamed of to
surround her life but her accelerated pulses narrowed her thoughts upon the
machinery of her project She herself was metal pointing all to her one aim
when in motion Nothing came amiss to it everything was fuel fibs evasions
the serene battalions of white lies parallel on the march with dainty rogue
falsehoods She had delivered herself of many yesterday in her engagements for
today Pressure was put on her to engage herself and she did so liberally
throwing the burden of deceitfulness on the extraordinary pressure »I want the
early part of the morning the rest of the day I shall be at liberty« She said
it to Willoughby Miss Dale Colonel De Craye and only the third time was she
aware of the delicious double meaning Hence she associated it with the Colonel
Your loudest outcry against the wretch who breaks your rules is in asking
how a tolerably conscientious person could have done this and the other besides
the main offence which you vow you could overlook but for the minor objections
pertaining to conscience the incomprehensible and abominable lies for example
or the brazen coolness of the lying Yet you know that we live in an
undisciplined world where in our seasons of activity we are servants of our
design and that this comes of our passions and those of our position Our
design shapes us for the work in hand the passions man the ship the position
is their apology and now should conscience be a passenger on board a merely
seeming swiftness of our vessel will keep him dumb as the unwilling guest of a
pirate captain scudding from the cruiser half in cloven brine through rocks and
shoals to save his black flag Beware the false position
That is easy to say sometimes the tangle descends on us like a net of
blight on a rosebush There is then an instant choice for us between courage to
cut loose and desperation if we do not But not many men are trained to
courage young women are trained to cowardice For them to front an evil with
plain speech is to be guilty of effrontery and forfeit the waxen polish of
purity and therewith their commanding place in the market They are trained to
please mans taste for which purpose they soon learn to live out of themselves
and look on themselves as he looks almost as little disturbed as he by the
undiscovered Without courage conscience is a sorry guest and if all goes well
with the pirate captain conscience will be made to walk the plank for being of
no service to either party
Claras fibs and evasions disturbed her not in the least that morning She
had chosen desperation and she thought herself very brave because she was just
brave enough to fly from her abhorrence She was lighthearted or more truly
drunkenhearted Her quick nature realized the out of prison as vividly and
suddenly as it had sunk suddenly and leadenly under the sense of imprisonment
Vernon crossed her mind that was a friend Yes and there was a guide but he
would disapprove and even he thwarting her way to sacred liberty must be thrust
aside
What would he think They might never meet for her to know Or one day in
the Alps they might meet a middleaged couple he famous she regretful only to
have fallen below his lofty standard »For Mr Whitford« says she very
earnestly »I did wish at that time believe me or not to merit your
approbation« The brows of the phantom Vernon whom she conjured up were stern
as she had seen them yesterday in the library
She gave herself a chiding for thinking of him when her mind should be
intent on that which he was opposed to
It was a livelier relaxation to think of young Crossjays shamefaced
confession presently that he had been a laggard in bed while she swept the
dews She laughed at him and immediately Crossjay popped out on her from behind
a tree causing her to clap hand to heart and stand fast A conspirator is not
of the stuff to bear surprises He feared he had hurt her and was manly in his
efforts to soothe he had been up »hours« he said and had watched her coming
along the avenue and did not mean to startle her it was the kind of fun he
played with fellows and if he had hurt her she might do anything to him she
liked and she would see if he could not stand to be punished He was urgent
with her to inflict corporal punishment on him
»I shall leave it to the boatswain to do that when youre in the navy« said
Clara
»The boatswain darent strike an officer so now you see what you know of
the navy« said Crossjay
»But you could not have been out before me you naughty boy for I found all
the locks and bolts when I went to the door«
»But you didnt go to the backdoor and Sir Willoughbys private door you
came out by the halldoor and I know what you want Miss Middleton you want
not to pay what youve lost«
»What have I lost Crossjay«
»Your wager«
»What was that«
»You know«
»Speak«
»A kiss«
»Nothing of the sort But dear boy I dont love you less for not kissing
you All that is nonsense you have to think only of learning and to be
truthful Never tell a story suffer anything rather than be dishonest« She was
particularly impressive upon the silliness and wickedness of falsehood and
added »Do you hear«
»Yes but you kissed me when I had been out in the rain that day«
»Because I promised«
»And Miss Middleton you betted a kiss yesterday«
»I am sure Crossjay no I will not say I am sure but can you say you are
sure you were out first this morning Well will you say you are sure that when
you left the house you did not see me in the avenue You cant ah«
»Miss Middleton I do really believe I was dressed first«
»Always be truthful my dear boy and then you may feel that Clara Middleton
will always love you«
»But Miss Middleton when youre married you wont be Clara Middleton«
»I certainly shall Crossjay«
»No you wont because I m so fond of your name«
She considered and said »You have warned me Crossjay and I shall not
marry I shall wait« she was going to say »for you« but turned the hesitation
to a period »Is the village where I posted my letter the day before yesterday
too far for you«
Crossjay howled in contempt »Next to Clara my favourite s Lucy« he said
»I thought Clara came next to Nelson« said she »and a long way off too if
youre not going to be a landlubber«
»I m not going to be a landlubber Miss Middleton you may be absolutely
positive on your solemn word«
»Youre getting to talk like one a little now and then Crossjay«
»Then I wont talk at all«
He stuck to his resolution for one whole minute
Clara hoped that on this morning of a doubtful though imperative venture she
had done some good
They walked fast to cover the distance to the village postoffice and back
before the breakfast hour and they had plenty of time arriving too early for
the opening of the door so that Crossjay began to dance with an appetite and
was despatched to besiege a bakery Clara felt lonely without him
apprehensively timid in the shuttered unmoving village street She was glad of
his return When at last her letter was handed to her on the testimony of the
postman that she was the lawful applicant Crossjay and she put on a sharp trot
to be back at the Hall in good time She took a swallowing glance of the first
page of Lucys writing
»Telegraph and I will meet you I will supply you with everything you can
want for the two nights if you cannot stop longer«
That was the gist of the letter A second less voracious glance at it
along the road brought sweetness Lucy wrote
»Do I love you as I did my best friend you must fall into unhappiness to
have the answer to that«
Clara broke a silence
»Yes dear Crossjay and if you like you shall have another walk with me
after breakfast But remember you must not say where you have gone with me I
shall give you twenty shillings to go and buy those birds eggs and the
butterflies you want for your collection and mind promise me today is your
last day of truancy Tell Mr Whitford how ungrateful you know you have been
that he may have some hope of you You know the way across the fields to the
railway station«
»You save a mile you drop on the road by Comblines mill and then theres
another fiveminutes cut and the rest s road«
»Then Crossjay immediately after breakfast run round behind the
pheasantry and there Ill find you And if any one comes to you before I come
say you are admiring the plumage of the Himalaya the beautiful Indian bird
and if were found together we run a race and of course you can catch me but
you mustnt until were out of sight Tell Mr Vernon at night tell Mr
Whitford at night you had the money from me as part of my allowance to you for
pocketmoney I used to like to have pocketmoney Crossjay And you may tell
him I gave you the holiday and I may write to him for his excuse if he is not
too harsh to grant it He can be very harsh«
»You look right into his eyes next time Miss Middleton I used to think him
awful till he made me look at him He says men ought to look straight at one
another just as we do when he gives me my boxinglesson and then we wont have
quarrelling half so much I cant recollect everything he says«
»You are not bound to Crossjay«
»No but you like to hear«
»Really dear boy I cant accuse myself of having told you that«
»No but Miss Middleton you do And hes fond of your singing and playing
on the piano and watches you«
»We shall be late if we dont mind« said Clara starting to a pace close on
a run
They were in time for a circuit in the park to the wild double
cherryblossom no longer all white Clara gazed up from under it where she had
imagined a fairer visible heavenliness than any other sight of earth had ever
given her That was when Vernon lay beneath But she had certainly looked above
not at him The tree seemed sorrowful in its withering flowers of the colour of
trodden snow
Crossjay resumed the conversation
»He says ladies dont like him much«
»Who says that«
»Mr Whitford«
»Were those his words«
»I forget the words but he said they wouldnt be taught by him like me
ever since you came and since you came Ive liked him ten times more«
»The more you like him the more I shall like you Crossjay«
The boy raised a shout and scampered away to Sir Willoughby at the
appearance of whom Clara felt herself nipped and curling inward Crossjay ran up
to him with every sign of pleasure Yet he had not mentioned him during the
walk and Clara took it for a sign that the boy understood the entire
satisfaction Willoughby had in mere shows of affection and acted up to it
Hardly blaming Crossjay she was a critic of the scene for the reason that
youthful creatures who have ceased to love a person hunger for evidence against
him to confirm their hard animus which will seem to them sometimes when he is
not immediately irritating them brutish because they cannot analyze it and
reduce it to the multitude of just antagonisms whereof it came It has passed by
large accumulation into a sombre and speechless load upon the senses and fresh
evidence the smallest item is a champion to speak for it Being about to do
wrong she grasped at this eagerly and brooded on the little of vital and
truthful that there was in the man and how he corrupted the boy Nevertheless
she instinctively imitated Crossjay in an almost sparkling salute to him
»Good morning Willoughby it was not a morning to lose have you been out
long«
He retained her hand »My dear Clara and you have you not overfatigued
yourself Where have you been«
»Round everywhere And I am certainly not tired«
»Only you and Crossjay You should have loosened the dogs«
»Their barking would have annoyed the house«
»Less than I am annoyed to think of you without protection«
He kissed her fingers it was a loving speech
»The household « said Clara but would not insist to convict him of what
he could not have perceived
»If you outstrip me another morning Clara promise me to take the dogs
will you«
»Yes«
»Today I am altogether yours«
»Are you«
»From the first to the last hour of it So you fall in with Horaces
humour pleasantly«
»He is very amusing«
»As good as though one had hired him«
»Here comes Colonel De Craye«
»He must think we have hired him«
She noticed the bitterness of Willoughbys tone He sang out a good morning
to De Craye and remarked that he must go to the stables
»Darleton Darleton Miss Middleton« said the colonel rising from his bow
to her »a daughter of General Darleton If so I have had the honour to dance
with her And have not you practised with her I mean or gone off in a
triumph to dance it out as young ladies do So you know what a delightful
partner she is«
»She is« cried Clara enthusiastic for her succouring friend whose letter
was the treasure in her bosom
»Oddly the name did not strike me yesterday Miss Middleton In the middle
of the night it rang a little silver bell in my ear and I remembered the lady I
was half in love with if only for her dancing She is dark of your height as
light on her feet a sister in another colour Now that I know her to be your
friend «
»Why you may meet her Colonel De Craye«
»Itll be to offer her a castaway And one only meets a charming girl to
hear that shes engaged Tis not a line of a ballad Miss Middleton but out of
the heart«
»Lucy Darleton You were leading me to talk seriously to you Colonel De
Craye«
»Will you one day and not think me a perpetual tumbler You have heard of
melancholy clowns You would find the face not so laughable behind my paint
When I was thirteen years younger I was loved and my dearest sank to the grave
Since then I have not been quite at home in life probably because of finding no
one so charitable as she Tis easy to win smiles and hands but not so easy to
win a woman whose faith you would trust as your own heart before the enemy I
was poor then She said The day after my twentyfirst birthday and that day I
went for her and I wondered they did not refuse me at the door I was shown
upstairs and I saw her and saw death She wished to marry me to leave me her
fortune«
»Then never marry« said Clara in an underbreath
She glanced behind
Sir Willoughby was close walking on turf
»I must be cunning to escape him after breakfast« she thought
He had discarded his foolishness of the previous days and the thought in
him could have replied »I am a dolt if I let you out of my sight«
Vernon appeared formal as usual of late Clara begged his excuse for
withdrawing Crossjay from his morning swim He nodded
De Craye called to Willoughby for a book of the trains
»Theres a card in the smokingroom eleven one and four are the hours if
you must go« said Willoughby
»You leave the Hall Colonel De Craye«
»In two or three days Miss Middleton«
She did not request him to stay his announcement produced no effect on her
Consequently thought he well what nothing well then that she might not
be minded to stay herself Otherwise she would have regretted the loss of an
amusing companion that is the modest way of putting it There is a modest and a
vain for the same sentiment and both may be simultaneously in the same breast
and each one as honest as the other so shy is mans vanity in the presence of
here and there a lady She liked him she did not care a pin for him how could
she yet she liked him O to be able to do her some kindling bit of service
These were his consecutive fancies resolving naturally to the exclamation and
built on the conviction that she did not love Willoughby and waited for a
spirited lift from circumstances His call for a book of the trains had been a
sheer piece of impromptu in the mind as well as on the mouth It sprang
unknown to him of conjectures he had indulged yesterday and the day before
This morning she would have an answer to her letter to her friend Miss Lucy
Darleton the pretty dark girl whom De Craye was astonished not to have noticed
more when he danced with her She pretty as she was had come to his
recollection through the name and rank of her father a famous general of
cavalry and tactician in that arm The colonel despised himself for not having
been devoted to Clara Middletons friend
The mornings letters were on the bronze plate in the hall Clara passed on
her way to her room without inspecting them De Craye opened an envelope and
went upstairs to scribble a line Sir Willoughby observed their absence at the
solemn reading to the domestic servants in advance of breakfast Three chairs
were unoccupied Vernon had his own notions of a mechanical service and a
precious profit he derived from them but the other two seats returned the stare
Willoughby cast at their backs with an impudence that reminded him of his friend
Horaces calling for a book of the trains when a minute afterward he admitted
he was going to stay at the Hall another two days or three The man possessed
by jealousy is never in need of matter for it he magnifies grass is jungle
hillocks are mountains Willoughbys legs crossing and uncrossing audibly and
his tightfolded arms and clearing of the throat were faint indications of his
condition
»Are you in fair health this morning Willoughby« Dr Middleton said to him
after he had closed his volumes
»The thing is not much questioned by those who know me intimately« he
replied
»Willoughby unwell« and »He is health incarnate« exclaimed the ladies
Eleanor and Isabel
Lætitia grieved for him Sunrays on a peststricken city she thought were
like the smile of his face She believed that he deeply loved Clara and had
learnt more of her alienation
He went into the hall to look up the well for the pair of malefactors on
fire with what he could not reveal to a soul
De Craye was in the housekeepers room talking to young Crossjay and Mrs
Montague just come up to breakfast He had heard the boy chattering and as the
door was ajar he peeped in and was invited to enter Mrs Montague was very
fond of hearing him talk he paid her the familiar respect which a lady of
fallen fortunes at a certain period after the fall enjoys as a befittingly sad
souvenir and the respectfulness of the lord of the house was more chilling
She bewailed the boys trying his constitution with long walks before he had
anything in him to walk on
»And where did you go this morning my lad« said De Craye
»Ah you know the ground colonel« said Crossjay »I am hungry I shall eat
three eggs and some bacon and buttered cakes and jam then begin again on my
second cup of coffee«
»Its not braggadocio« remarked Mrs Montague »He waits empty from five in
the morning till nine and then he comes famished to my table and eats too
much«
»Oh Mrs Montague that is what the country people call roemancing For
Colonel De Craye I had a bun at seven oclock Miss Middleton forced me to go
and buy it«
»A stale bun my boy«
»Yesterdays there wasnt much of a stopper to you in it like a new bun«
»And where did you leave Miss Middleton when you went to buy the bun You
should never leave a lady and the street of a country town is lonely at that
early hour Crossjay you surprise me«
»She forced me to go colonel Indeed she did What do I care for a bun And
she was quite safe We could hear the people stirring in the postoffice and I
met our postman going for his letterbag I didnt want to go bother the bun
but you cant disobey Miss Middleton I never want to and wouldnt«
»There were of the same mind« said the colonel and Crossjay shouted for
the lady whom they exalted was at the door
»You will be too tired for a ride this morning« De Craye said to her
descending the stairs
She swung a bonnet by the ribands »I dont think of riding today«
»Why did you not depute your mission to me«
»I like to bear my own burdens as far as I can«
»Miss Darleton is well«
»I presume so«
»Will you try her recollection of me«
»It will probably be quite as lively as yours was«
»Shall you see her soon«
»I hope so«
Sir Willoughby met her at the foot of the stairs but refrained from giving
her a hand that shook
»We shall have the day together« he said
Clara bowed
At the breakfasttable she faced a clock
De Craye took out his watch »You are five and a half minutes too slow by
that clock Willoughby«
»The man omitted to come from Rendon to set it last week Horace He will
find the hour too late here for him when he does come«
One of the ladies compared the time of her watch with De Crayes and Clara
looked at hers and gratefully noted that she was four minutes in arrear
She left the breakfastroom at a quarter to ten after kissing her father
Willoughby was behind her He had been soothed by thinking of his personal
advantages over De Craye and he felt assured that if he could be solitary with
his eccentric bride and fold her in himself he would cutting temper adrift be
the man he had been to her not so many days back Considering how few days back
his temper was roused but he controlled it
They were slightly dissenting as De Craye stepped into the hall
»A present worth examining« Willoughby said to her »And I do not dwell on
the costliness Come presently then I am at your disposal all day I will
drive you in the afternoon to call on Lady Busshe to offer your thanks but you
must see it first It is laid out in the laboratory«
»There is time before the afternoon« said Clara
»Wedding presents« interposed De Craye
»A porcelain service from Lady Busshe Horace«
»Not in fragments Let me have a look at it I m haunted by an idea that
porcelain always goes to pieces Ill have a look and take a hint Were in the
laboratory Miss Middleton«
He put his arm under Willoughbys The resistance to him was momentary
Willoughby had the satisfaction of the thought that De Craye being with him was
not with Clara and seeing her giving orders to her maid Barclay he deferred
his claim on her company for some short period
De Craye detained him in the laboratory first over the China cups and
saucers and then with the latest of London tales of youngest Cupid upon
subterranean adventures having high titles to light him Willoughby liked the
tale thus illuminated for without the title there was no special savour in such
affairs and it pulled down his betters in rank He was of a morality to
reprobate the erring dame while he enjoyed the incidents He could not help
interrupting De Craye to point at Vernon through the window striding this way
and that evidently on the hunt for young Crossjay »No one here knows how to
manage the boy except myself But go on Horace« he said checking his
contemptuous laugh and Vernon did look ridiculous out there halfdrenched
already in a white rain again shuffled off by the little rascal It seemed that
he was determined to have his runaway he struck up the avenue at full
pedestrian racing pace
»A man looks a fool cutting after a cricketball but putting on steam in a
storm of rain to catch a young villain out of sight beats anything Ive
witnessed« Willoughby resumed in his amusement
»Aiha« said De Craye waving a hand to accompany the melodious accent
»there are things to beat that for fun«
He had smoked in the laboratory so Willoughby directed a servant to
transfer the porcelain service to one of the sittingrooms for Claras
inspection of it
»Youre a bold man« De Craye remarked »The luck may be with you though I
wouldnt handle the fragile treasure for a trifle«
»I believe in my luck« said Willoughby
Clara was now sought for The lord of the house desired her presence
impatiently and had to wait She was in none of the lower rooms Barclay her
maid upon interrogation declared she was in none of the upper Willoughby
turned sharp on De Craye he was there
The ladies Eleanor and Isabel and Miss Dale were consulted They had
nothing to say about Claras movements more than that they could not understand
her exceeding restlessness The idea of her being out of doors grew serious
heaven was black hard thunder rolled and lightning flushed the battering rain
Men bearing umbrellas shawls and cloaks were despatched on a circuit of the
park De Craye said »Ill be one«
»No« cried Willoughby starting to intercept him »I cant allow it«
»Ive the scent of a hound Willoughby Ill soon be on the track«
»My dear Horace I wont let you go«
»Adieu dear boy and if the ladys discoverable I m the one to find her«
He stepped to the umbrellastand There was then a general question whether
Clara had taken her umbrella Barclay said she had The fact indicated a wider
stroll than round inside the park Crossjay was likewise absent De Craye nodded
to himself
Willoughby struck a rattling blow on the barometer
»Wheres Pollington« he called and sent word for his man Pollington to
bring big fishingboots and waterproof wrappers
An urgent debate within him was in progress
Should he go forth alone on his chance of discovering Clara and forgiving
her under his umbrella and cloak or should he prevent De Craye from going forth
alone on the chance he vaunted so impudently
»You will offend me Horace if you insist« he said
»Regard me as an instrument of destiny Willoughby« replied De Craye
»Then we go in company«
»But thats an addition of one that cancels the other by conjunction and s
worse than simple division for I cant trust my wits unless I rely on them
alone you see«
»Upon my word you talk at times most unintelligible stuff to be frank with
you Horace Give it in English«
»Tis not suited perhaps to the genius of the language for I thought I
talked English«
»Oh theres English gibberish as well as Irish we know«
»And a deal foolisher when they do go at it for it wont bear squeezing we
think like Irish«
»Where« exclaimed the ladies »where can she be The storm is terrible«
Lætitia suggested the boathouse
»For Crossjay hadnt a swim this morning« said De Craye
No one reflected on the absurdity that Clara should think of taking Crossjay
for a swim in the lake and immediately after his breakfast it was accepted as
a suggestion at least that she and Crossjay had gone to the lake for a row
In the hopefulness of the idea Willoughby suffered De Craye to go on his
chance unaccompanied He was near chuckling He projected a plan for dismissing
Crossjay and remaining in the boathouse with Clara luxuriating in the prestige
which would attach to him for seeking and finding her Deadly sentiments
intervened Still he might expect to be alone with her where she could not slip
from him
The throwing open of the halldoors for the gentlemen presented a framed
picture of a deluge All the youngleaved trees were steely black without a
gradation of green drooping and pouring and the song of rain had become an
inveterate hiss
The ladies beholding it exclaimed against Clara even apostrophized her so
dark are trivial errors when circumstances frown She must be mad to tempt such
weather she was very giddy she was never at rest Clara Clara how could you
be so wild Ought we not to tell Dr Middleton
Lætitia induced them to spare him
»Which way do you take« said Willoughby rather fearful that his companion
was not to be got rid of now
»Any way« said De Craye »I chuck up my head like a halfpenny and go by the
toss«
This enraging nonsense drove off Willoughby De Craye saw him cast a furtive
eye at his heels to make sure he was not followed and thought »Jove he may be
fond of her But hes not on the track Shes a determined girl if I m
correct Shes a girl of a hundred thousand Girls like that make the right sort
of wives for the right men Theyre the girls to make men think of marrying
Tomorrow only give me the chance They stick to you fast when they do stick«
Then a thought of her flowerlike drapery and face caused him fervently to
hope she had escaped the storm
Calling at the West parklodge he heard that Miss Middleton had been seen
passing through the gate with Master Crossjay but she had not been seen coming
back Mr Vernon Whitford had passed through half an hour later
»After his young man« said the colonel
The lodgekeepers wife and daughter knew of Master Crossjays pranks Mr
Whitford they said had made inquiries about him and must have caught him and
sent him home to change his dripping things for Master Crossjay had come back
and had declined shelter in the lodge he seemed to be crying he went away
soaking over the wet grass hanging his head The opinion at the lodge was that
Master Crossjay was unhappy
»He very properly received a wigging from Mr Whitford I have no doubt«
said Colonel De Craye
Mother and daughter supposed it to be the case and considered Crossjay very
wilful for not going straight home to the Hall to change his wet clothes he was
drenched
De Craye drew out his watch The time was ten minutes past eleven If the
surmise he had distantly spied was correct Miss Middleton would have been
caught in the storm midway to her destination By his guess at her character
knowledge of it he would have said he judged that no storm would daunt her
on a predetermined expedition He deduced in consequence that she was at the
present moment flying to her friend the charming brunette Lucy Darleton
Still as there was a possibility of the rain having been too much for her
and as he had no other speculation concerning the route she had taken he
decided upon keeping along the road to Rendon with a keen eye at cottage and
farmhouse windows
Chapter XXVI
Vernon in Pursuit
The lodgekeeper had a son who was a chum of Master Crossjays and
errantfellow with him upon many adventures for this boys passion was to
become a gamekeeper and accompanied by one of the headgamekeepers youngsters
he and Crossjay were in the habit of rangeing over the country preparing for a
profession delightful to the tastes of all three Crossjays prospective
connection with the mysterious ocean bestowed the title of captain on him by
common consent he led them and when missing for lessons he was generally in
the society of Jacob Croom or Jonathan Fernaway Vernon made sure of Crossjay
when he perceived Jacob Croom sitting on a stool in the little lodgeparlour
Jacobs appearance of a diligent perusal of a book he had presented to the lad
he took for a decent piece of trickery It was with amazement that he heard from
the mother and daughter as well as Jacob of Miss Middletons going through the
gate before ten oclock with Crossjay beside her the latter too hurried to
spare a nod to Jacob That she of all on earth should be encouraging Crossjay
to truancy was incredible Vernon had to fall back upon Greek and Latin
aphoristic shots at the sex to believe it
Rain was universal a thick robe of it swept from hill to hill thunder
rumbled remote and between the ruffled roars the downpour pressed on the land
with a great noise of eager gobbling much like that of the swines trough fresh
filled as though a vast assembly of the hungered had seated themselves
clamorously and fallen to on meats and drinks in a silence save of the chaps A
rapid walker poetically and humourously minded gathers multitudes of images on
his way And rain the heaviest you can meet is a lively companion when the
resolute pacer scorns discomfort of wet clothes and squealing boots
Southwestern rainclouds too are never long sullen they enfold and will have
the earth in a good strong glut of the kissing overflow then as a hawk with
feathers on his beak of the bird in his claw lifts head they rise and take
veiled feature in long climbing watery lines at any moment they may break the
veil and show soft upper cloud show sun on it show sky green near the verge
they spring from of the green of grass in early dew or along a travelling
sweep that rolls asunder overhead heavens laughter of purest blue among
titanic white shoulders it may mean fair smiling for awhile or be the lightest
interlude but the watery lines and the drifting the chasing the upsoaring
all in a shadowy fingering of form and the animation of the leaves of the trees
pointing them on the bending of the treetops the snapping of branches and
the hurrahings of the stubborn hedge at wrestle with the flaws yielding but a
leaf at most and that on a fling make a glory of contest and wildness without
aid of colour to inflame the man who is at home in them from old association on
road heath and mountain Let him be drenched his heart will sing And thou
trim cockney that jeerest consider thyself to whom it may occur to be out in
such a scene and with what steps of a nervous dancing master it would be thine
to play the hunted rat of the elements for the preservation of the one imagined
dry spot about thee somewhere on thy luckless person The taking of rain and
sun alike befits men of our climate and he who would have the secret of a
strengthening intoxication must court the clouds of the Southwest with a
lovers blood
Vernons happy recklessness was dashed by fears for Miss Middleton Apart
from those fears he had the pleasure of a gull wheeling among foamstreaks of
the wave He supposed the Swiss and Tyrol Alps to have hidden their heads from
him for many a day to come and the springing and chiming Southwest was the
next best thing A milder rain descended the country expanded darkly defined
underneath the moving curtain the clouds were as he liked to see them scaling
but their skirts dragged Torrents were in store for they coursed streamingly
still and had not the higher lift or eagle ascent which he knew for one of the
signs of fairness nor had the hills any belt of mistlike vapour
On a step of the stile leading to the shortcut to Rendon young Crossjay was
espied A mantramp sat on the top bar
»There you are what are you doing there Wheres Miss Middleton« said
Vernon »Now take care before you open your mouth«
Crossjay shut the mouth he had opened
»The lady has gone away over to a station sir« said the tramp
»You fool« roared Crossjay ready to fly at him
»But aint it now young gentleman Can you say it aint«
»I gave you a shilling you ass«
»You give me that sum young gentleman to stop here and take care of you
and here I stopped«
»Mr Whitford« Crossjay appealed to his master and broke off in disgust
»Take care of me As if anybody who knows me would think I wanted taking care
of Why what a beast you must be you fellow«
»Just as you like young gentleman I chaunted you all I know to keep up
your downcast spirits You did want comforting You wanted it rarely You cried
like an infant«
»I let you chaunt as you call it to keep you from swearing«
»And why did I swear young gentleman because Ive got an itchy coat in the
wet and no shirt for a lining And no breakfast to give me a stomach for this
kind of weather Thats what Ive come to in this world I m a walking moral
No wonder I swears when I dont strike up a chaunt«
»But why are you sitting here wet through Crossjay Be off home at once
and change and get ready for me«
»Mr Whitford I promised and I tossed this fellow a shilling not to go
bothering Miss Middleton«
»The lady wouldnt have none o the young gentleman sir and I offered to
go pioneer for her to the station behind her at a respectful distance«
»As if you treacherous cur« Crossjay ground his teeth at the betrayer
»Well Mr Whitford and I didnt trust him and I stuck to him or he d have
been after her whining about his coat and stomach and talking of his being a
moral He repeats that to everybody«
»She has gone to the station« said Vernon
Not a word on that subject was to be won from Crossjay
»How long since« Vernon partly addressed Mr Tramp
The latter became seized with shivers as he supplied the information that it
might be a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes »But whats time to me sir If
I had reglar meals I should carry a clock in my inside I got the rheumatics
instead«
»Way there« Vernon cried and took the stile at a vault
»Thats what gentlemen can do who sleeps in their beds warm« moaned the
tramp »Theyve no joints«
Vernon handed him a halfcrown piece for he had been of use for once
»Mr Whitford let me come If you tell me to come I may Do let me come«
Crossjay begged with great entreaty »I shant see her for «
»Be off quick« Vernon cut him short and pushed on
The tramp and Crossjay were audible to him Crossjay spurning the
consolations of the professional sad man
Vernon sprang across the fields timing himself by his watch to reach Rendon
station ten minutes before eleven though without clearly questioning the nature
of the resolution which precipitated him Dropping to the road he had better
foothold than on the slippery fieldpath and he ran His principal hope was
that Clara would have missed her way Another pelting of rain agitated him on
her behalf Might she not as well be suffered to go and sit three hours and
more in a railwaycarriage with wet feet
He clasped the visionary little feet to warm them on his breast But
Willoughbys obstinate fatuity deserved the blow But neither she nor her
father deserved the scandal But she was desperate Could reasoning touch her
If not what would He knew of nothing Yesterday he had spoken strongly to
Willoughby to plead with him to favour her departure and give her leisure to
sound her mind and he had left his cousin convinced that Claras best measure
was flight a man so cunning in a pretended obtuseness backed by senseless
pride and in petty tricks that sprang of a grovelling tyranny could only be
taught by facts
Her recent treatment of him however was very strange so strange that he
might have known himself better if he had reflected on the bound with which it
shot him to a hard suspicion De Craye had prepared the world to hear that he
was leaving the Hall Were they in concert The idea struck at his heart colder
than if her damp little feet had been there
Vernons full exoneration of her for making a confidant of himself did not
extend its leniency to the young ladys character when there was question of her
doing the same with a second gentleman He could suspect much he could even
expect to find De Craye at the station
That idea drew him up in his run to meditate on the part he should play
and by drove little Dr Corney on the way to Rendon and hailed him and gave
his cheerless figure the nearest approach to an Irish hug in the form of a dry
seat under an umbrella and waterproof covering
»Though it is the worst I can do for you if you decline to supplement it
with a dose of hot brandy and water at the Dolphin« said he »and Ill see you
take it if you please I m bound to ease a Rendon patient out of the world
Medicine s one of their superstitions which they cling to the harder the more
useless it gets Pill and priest launch him happy between them And whats on
your conscience Pat Its whether your blessing your Riverence would
disagree with another drop Then put the horse before the cart my son and
you shall have the two in harmony and God speed ye Rendon station did you
say Vernon You shall have my prescription at the Railway Arms if youre
hurried You have the look What is it Can I help«
»No And dont ask«
»Youre like the Irish Grenadier who had a bullet in a humiliating
situation Heres Rendon and through it we go with a spanking clatter Heres
Dr Corneys dogcart posthaste again For theres no dying without him now and
Repentance is on the deathbed for not calling him in before Half a charge of
humbug hurts no son of a gun friend Vernon if he d have his firing take
effect Be tender to t in man or woman particularly woman So by goes the
meteoric doctor and Ill bring noses to windowpanes youll see which reminds
me of the sweetest young lady I ever saw and the luckiest man When is she off
for her bridal trousseau And when are they spliced Ill not call her
perfection for thats a post afraid to move But shes a dancing sprig of the
tree next it Poetry s wanted to speak of her I m Irish and inflammable I
suppose but I never looked on a girl to make a man comprehend the entire holy
meaning of the word rapturous like that one And away she goes Well not say
another word But youre a Grecian friend Vernon Now couldnt you think her
just a whiff of an idea of a daughter of a peccadilloGoddess«
»Deuce take you Corney drop me here I shall be late for the train« said
Vernon laying hand on the doctors arm to check him on the way to the station
in view
Dr Corney had a Celtic intelligence for a meaning behind an illogical
tongue He drew up observing »Two minutes« run wont hurt you«
He slightly fancied he might have given offence though he was well
acquainted with Vernon and had a cordial grasp at the parting
The truth must be told that Vernon could not at the moment bear any more
talk from an Irishman Dr Corney had succeeded in persuading him not to wonder
at Clara Middletons liking for Colonel De Craye
Chapter XXVII
At the Railway Station
Clara stood in the waitingroom contemplating the white rails of the rainswept
line Her lips parted at the sight of Vernon
»You have your ticket« said he
She nodded and breathed more freely the matter of fact question was
reassuring
»You are wet« he resumed and it could not be denied
»A little I do not feel it«
»I must beg you to come to the inn hard by half a dozen steps We shall see
your train signalled Come«
She thought him startlingly authoritative but he had good sense to back
him and depressed as she was by the dampness she was disposed to yield to
reason if he continued to respect her independence So she submitted outwardly
resisted inwardly on the watch to stop him from taking any decisive lead
»Shall we be sure to see the signal Mr Whitford«
»Ill provide for that«
He spoke to the stationclerk and conducted her across the road
»You are quite alone Miss Middleton«
»I am I have not brought my maid«
»You must take off boots and stockings at once and have them dried Ill
put you in the hands of the landlady«
»But my train«
»You have full fifteen minutes besides fair chances of delay«
He seemed reasonable the reverse of hostile in spite of his commanding
air and that was not unpleasant in one friendly to her adventure She
controlled her alert mistrustfulness and passed from him to the landlady for
her feet were wet and cold the skirts of her dress were soiled generally
inspecting herself she was an object to be shuddered at and she was grateful
to Vernon for his inattention to her appearance
Vernon ordered Dr Corneys dose and was ushered upstairs to a room of
portraits where the publicans ancestors and family sat against the walls flat
on their canvas as weeds of the botanists portfolio although corpulency was
pretty generally insisted on and there were formidable battalions of bust among
the females All of them had the aspect of the national energy which has
vanquished obstacles to subside on its ideal They all gazed straight at the
guest »Drink and come to this« they might have been labelled to say to him
He was in the private Walhalla of a large class of his countrymen The existing
host had taken forethought to be of the party in his prime and in the central
place looking freshflattened there and sanguine from the performance
Byandby a son would shove him aside meanwhile he shelved his parent
according to the manners of energy
One should not be a critic of our works of Art in uncomfortable garments
Vernon turned from the portraits to a stuffed pike in a glasscase and plunged
into sympathy with the fish for a refuge
Clara soon rejoined him saying »But you you must be very wet You are
without an umbrella You must be wet through Mr Whitford«
»Were all wet through today« said Vernon »Crossjays wet through and a
tramp he met«
»The horrid man But Crossjay should have turned back when I told him
Cannot the landlord assist you You are not tied to time I begged Crossjay to
turn back when it began to rain when it became heavy I compelled him So you
met my poor Crossjay«
»You have not to blame him for betraying you The tramp did that I was
thrown on your track quite by accident Now pardon me for using authority and
dont be alarmed Miss Middleton you are perfectly free for me but you must
not run a risk to your health I met Dr Corney coming along and he prescribed
hot brandy and water for a wet skin especially for sitting in it Theres the
stuff on the table I see you have been aware of a singular odour you must
consent to sip some as medicine merely to give you warmth«
»Impossible Mr Whitford I could not taste it But pray obey Dr Corney
if he ordered it for you«
»I cant unless you do«
»I will then I will try«
She held the glass attempted and was baffled by the reek of it
»Try you can do anything« said Vernon
»Now that you find me here Mr Whitford Anything for myself it would
seem and nothing to save a friend But I will really try«
»It must be a good mouthful«
»I will try And you will finish the glass«
»With your permission if you do not leave too much«
They were to drink out of the same glass and she was to drink some of this
infamous mixture and she was in a kind of hotel alone with him and he was
drenched in running after her all this came of breaking loose for an hour
»Oh what a misfortune that it should be such a day Mr Whitford«
»Did you not choose the day«
»Not the weather«
»And the worst of it is that Willoughby will come upon Crossjay wet to the
bone and pump him and get nothing but shufflings blank lies and then find him
out and chase him from the house«
Clara drank immediately and more than she intended She held the glass as
an enemy to be delivered from gasping uncertain of her breath
»Never let me be asked to endure such a thing again«
»You are unlikely to be running away from father and friends again«
She panted still with the fiery liquid she had gulped and she wondered that
it should belie its reputation in not fortifying her but rendering her
painfully susceptible to his remarks
»Mr Whitford I need not seek to know what you think of me«
»What I think I dont think at all I wish to serve you if I can«
»Am I right in supposing you a little afraid of me You should not be I
have deceived no one I have opened my heart to you and am not ashamed of
having done so«
»It is an excellent habit they say«
»It is not a habit with me«
He was touched and for that reason in his dissatisfaction with himself
not unwilling to hurt »We take our turn Miss Middleton I m no hero and a
bad conspirator so I am not of much avail«
»You have been reserved but I am going and I leave my character behind
You condemned me to the poisonbowl you have not touched it yourself«
»In vino veritas if I do I shall be speaking my mind«
»Then do for the sake of mind and body«
»It wont be complimentary«
»You can be harsh Only say everything«
»Have we time«
They looked at their watches
»Six minutes« Clara said
Vernons had stopped penetrated by his total drenching
She reproached herself He laughed to quiet her »My dies solemnes are sure
to give me duckings I m used to them As for the watch it will remind me that
it stopped when you went«
She raised the glass to him She was happier and hoped for some little
harshness and kindness mixed that she might carry away to travel with and think
over
He turned the glass as she had given it turned it round in putting it to
his lips a scarce perceptible manoeuvre but that she had given it expressly on
one side
It may be hoped that it was not done by design Done even accidentally
without a taint of contrivance it was an affliction to see and coiled through
her causing her to shrink and redden
Fugitives are subject to strange incidents they are not vessels lying safe
in harbour She shut her lips tight as if they had been stung The realizing
sensitiveness of her quick nature accused them of a loss of bloom And the man
who made her smart like this was formal as a railwayofficial on a platform
»Now we are both pledged in the poisonbowl« said he »And it has the taste
of rank poison I confess But the doctor prescribed it and at sea we must be
sailors Now Miss Middleton time presses will you return with me«
»No no«
»Where do you propose to go«
»To London to a friend Miss Darleton«
»What message is there for your father«
»Say I have left a letter for him in a letter to be delivered to you«
»To me And what message for Willoughby«
»My maid Barclay will hand him a letter at noon«
»You have sealed Crossjays fate«
»How«
»He is probably at this instant undergoing an interrogation You may guess
at his replies The letter will expose him and Willoughby does not pardon«
»I regret it I cannot avoid it Poor boy My dear Crossjay I did not think
of how Willoughby might punish him I was very thoughtless Mr Whitford my
pinmoney shall go for his education Later when I am a little older I shall be
able to support him«
»Thats an encumbrance you should not tie yourself to drag it about You
are inalterable of course but circumstances are not and as it happens women
are more subject to them than we are«
»But I will not be«
»Your command of them is shown at the present moment«
»Because I determine to be free«
»No because you do the contrary you dont determine you run away from the
difficulty and leave it to your father and friends to bear As for Crossjay
you see you destroy one of his chances I should have carried him off before
this if I had not thought it prudent to keep him on terms with Willoughby
Well let Crossjay stand aside Hell behave like a man of honour imitating
others who have had to do the same for ladies«
»Have spoken falsely to shelter cowards you mean Mr Whitford Oh I know
I have but two minutes The die is cast I cannot go back I must get ready
Will you see me to the station I would rather you should hurry home«
»I will see the last of you I will wait for you here An express runs ahead
of your train and I have arranged with the clerk for a signal I have an eye on
the window«
»You are still my best friend Mr Whitford«
»Though «
»Well though you do not perfectly understand what torments have driven me
to this«
»Carried on tides and blown by winds«
»Ah you do not understand«
»Mysteries«
»Sufferings are not mysteries they are very simple facts«
»Well then I dont understand But decide at once I wish you to have your
free will«
She left the room
Dry stockings and boots are better for travelling in than wet ones but in
spite of her direct resolve she felt when drawing them on like one that has
been tripped The goal was desireable the ardour was damped Vernons wish that
she should have her free will compelled her to sound it and it was of course
to go to be liberated to cast off incubus and hurt her father injure
Crossjay distress her friends No and ten times no
She returned to Vernon in haste to shun the reflex of her mind
He was looking at a closed carriage drawn up at the stationdoor
»Shall we run over now Mr Whitford«
»Theres no signal Here its not so chilly«
»I ventured to enclose my letter to papa in yours trusting you would attend
to my request to you to break the news to him gently and plead for me«
»We will all do the utmost we can«
»I am doomed to vex those who care for me I tried to follow your counsel«
»First you spoke to me and then you spoke to Miss Dale and at least you
have a clear conscience«
»No«
»What burdens it«
»I have done nothing to burden it«
»Then its a clear conscience«
»No«
Vernons shoulders jerked Our patience with an innocent duplicity in women
is measured by the place it assigns to us and another If he had liked he could
have thought »You have not done but meditated something to trouble conscience«
That was evident and her speaking of it was proof too of the willingness to be
clear He would not help her Mans blood which is the link with women and
responsive to them on the instant for or against obscured him He shrugged anew
when she said »My character would have been degraded utterly by my staying
there Could you advise it«
»Certainly not the degradation of your character« he said black on the
subject of De Craye and not lightened by feelings which made him sharply
sensible of the beggarly dependent that he was or poor adventuring scribbler
that he was to become
»Why did you pursue me and wish to stop me Mr Whitford« said Clara on
the spur of a wound from his tone
He replied »I suppose I m a busybody I was never aware of it till now«
»You are my friend Only you speak in irony so much That was irony about
my clear conscience I spoke to you and to Miss Dale and then I rested and
drifted Can you not feel for me that to mention it is like a scorching
furnace Willoughby has entangled papa He schemes incessantly to keep me
entangled I fly from his cunning as much as from anything I dread it I have
told you that I am more to blame than he but I must accuse him And
weddingpresents and congratulations And to be his guest«
»All that makes up a plea in mitigation« said Vernon
»It is not sufficient for you« she asked him timidly
»You have a masculine good sense that tells you you wont be respected if
you run Three more days there might cover a retreat with your father«
»He will not listen to me He confuses me Willoughby has bewitched him«
»Commission me I will see that he listens«
»And go back Oh no To London Besides there is the dining with Mrs
Mountstuart this evening and I like her very well but I must avoid her She
has a kind of idolatry And what answers can I give I supplicate her with
looks She observes them my efforts to divert them from being painful produce a
comic expression to her and I am a charming rogue and I am entertained on the
topic she assumes to be principally interesting me I must avoid her The
thought of her leaves me no choice She is clever She could tattoo me with
epigrams«
»Stay there you can hold your own«
»She has told me you give me credit for a spice of wit I have not
discovered my possession We have spoken of it we call it your delusion She
grants me some beauty that must be hers«
»Theres no delusion in one case or the other Miss Middleton You have
beauty and wit public opinion will say wildness indifference to your
reputation will be charged on you and your friends will have to admit it But
you will be out of this difficulty«
»Ah to weave a second«
»Impossible to judge until we see how you escape the first And I have no
more to say I love your father His humour of sententiousness and doctorial
stilts is a mask he delights in but you ought to know him and not be frightened
by it If you sat with him an hour at a Latin task and if you took his hand and
told him you could not leave him and no tears he would answer you at once
It would involve a day or two further disagreeable to you no doubt preferable
to the present mode of escape as I think But I have no power whatever to
persuade I have not the ladys tongue My appeal is always to reason«
»It is a compliment I loathe the ladys tongue«
»Its a distinctly good gift and I wish I had it I might have succeeded
instead of failing and appearing to pay a compliment«
»Surely the express train is very late Mr Whitford«
»The express has gone by«
»Then we will cross over«
»You would rather not be seen by Mrs Mountstuart That is her carriage
drawn up at the station and she is in it«
Clara looked and with the sinking of her heart said »I must brave her«
»In that case I will take my leave of you here Miss Middleton«
She gave him her hand »Why is Mrs Mountstuart at the station today«
»I suppose she has driven to meet one of the guests for her dinnerparty
Professor Crooklyn was promised to your father and he may be coming by the
downtrain«
»Go back to the Hall« exclaimed Clara »How can I I have no more endurance
left in me If I had some support if it were the sense of secretly doing
wrong it might help me through I am in a web I cannot do right whatever I
do There is only the thought of saving Crossjay Yes and sparing papa
Goodbye Mr Whitford I shall remember your kindness gratefully I cannot go
back«
»You will not« said he tempting her to hesitate
»No«
»But if you are seen by Mrs Mountstuart you must go back Ill do my best
to take her away Should she see you you must patch up a story and apply to her
for a lift That I think is imperative«
»Not to my mind« said Clara
He bowed hurriedly and withdrew After her confession peculiar to her of
possibly finding sustainment in secretly doing wrong her flying or remaining
seemed to him a choice of evils and whilst she stood in bewildered speculation
on his reason for pursuing her which was not evident he remembered the
special fear inciting him and so far did her justice as to have at himself on
that subject He had done something perhaps to save her from a cold such was
his only consolatory thought He had also behaved like a man of honour taking
no personal advantage of her situation but to reflect on it recalled his
astonishing dryness The strict man of honour plays a part that he should not
reflect on till about the fall of the curtain otherwise he will be likely
sometimes to feel the shiver of foolishness at his good conduct
Chapter XXVIII
The Return
Posted in observation at a corner of the window Clara saw Vernon cross the road
to Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinsons carriage transformed to the leanest pattern of
himself by narrowed shoulders and raised coatcollar He had such an air of
saying Toms acold that her skin crept in sympathy
Presently he left the carriage and went into the station a bell had rung
Was it her train He approved her going for he was employed in assisting her to
go a proceeding at variance with many things he had said but he was as full of
contradiction today as women are accused of being The train came up She
trembled no signal had appeared and Vernon must have deceived her
He returned he entered the carriage and the wheels were soon in motion
Immediately thereupon Flitchs fly drove past containing Colonel De Craye
Vernon could not but have perceived him
But what was it that had brought the colonel to this place The pressure of
Vernons mind was on her and foiled her efforts to assert her perfect innocence
though she knew she had done nothing to allure the colonel hither Excepting
Willoughby Colonel De Craye was the last person she would have wished to
encounter
She had now a dread of hearing the bell which would tell her that Vernon had
not deceived her and that she was out of his hands in the hands of some one
else
She bit at her glove she glanced at the concentrated eyes of the publicans
family portraits all looking as one she noticed the empty tumbler and went
round to it and touched it and the silly spoon in it
A little yielding to desperation shoots us to strange distances
Vernon had asked her whether she was alone Connecting that inquiry
singular in itself and singular in his manner of putting it with the glass of
burning liquid she repeated »He must have seen Colonel De Craye« and she
stared at the empty glass as at something that witnessed to something for
Vernon was not your supple cavalier assiduously on the smirk to pin a gallantry
to commonplaces But all the doors are not open in a young ladys consciousness
quick of nature though she may be some are locked and keyless some will not
open to the key some are defended by ghosts inside She could not have said
what the something witnessed to If we by chance know more we have still no
right to make it more prominent than it was with her And the smell of the glass
was odious it disgraced her She had an impulse to pocket the spoon for a
memento to show it to grandchildren for a warning Even the prelude to the
morality to be uttered on the occasion sprang to her lips »Here my dears is a
spoon you would be ashamed to use in your teacups yet it was of more value to
me at one period of my life than silver and gold in pointing out« etc the
conclusion was hazy like the conception she had her idea
And in this mood she ran downstairs and met Colonel De Craye on the station
steps
The bright illumination of his face was that of the confident man confirmed
in a risky guess in the crisis of doubt and dispute
»Miss Middleton« his joyful surprise predominated the pride of an accurate
forecast adding »I am not too late to be of service«
She thanked him for the offer
»Have you dismissed the fly Colonel De Craye«
»I have just been getting change to pay Mr Flitch He passed me on the
road He is interwound with our fates to a certainty I had only to jump in I
knew it and rolled along like a magician commanding a genie«
»Have I been «
»Not seriously nobody doubts your being under shelter You will allow me to
protect you My time is yours«
»I was thinking of a running visit to my friend Miss Darleton«
»May I venture I had the fancy that you wished to see Miss Darleton today
You cannot make the journey unescorted«
»Please retain the fly Where is Willoughby«
»He is in jackboots But may I not Miss Middleton I shall never be
forgiven if you refuse me«
»There has been searching for me«
»Some hallooing But why am I rejected Besides I dont require the fly I
shall walk if I am banished Flitch is a wonderful conjuror but the virtue is
out of him for the next four and twenty hours And it will be an opportunity to
me to make my bow to Miss Darleton«
»She is rigorous on the conventionalities Colonel De Craye«
»Ill appear before her as an ignoramus or a rebel whichever she likes best
to take in leading strings I remember her I was greatly struck by her«
»Upon recollection«
»Memory didnt happen to be handy at the first mention of the ladys name
As the general said of his ammunition and transport theres the army but it
was leagues in the rear Like the footman who went to sleep after smelling fire
in the house I was thinking of other things It will serve me right to be
forgotten if I am Ive a curiosity to know a remainder of my coxcombry Not
that exactly a wish to see the impression I made on your friend None at all
But any pebble casts a ripple«
»That is hardly an impression« said Clara pacifying her irresoluteness
with this light talk
»The utmost to be hoped for by men like me I have your permission one
minute I will get my ticket«
»Do not« said Clara
»Your manservant entreats you«
She signified a decided negative with the head but her eyes were dreamy
She breathed deep this thing done would cut the cord Her sensation of languor
swept over her
De Craye took a stride He was accosted by one of the railwayporters
Flitchs fly was in request for a gentleman A portly old gentleman bothered
about luggage appeared on the landing
»The gentleman can have it« said De Craye handing Flitch his money
»Open the door« Clara said to Flitch
He tugged at the handle with enthusiasm The door was open she stepped in
»Then mount the box and Ill jump up beside you« De Craye called out
after the passion of regretful astonishment had melted from his features
Clara directed him to the seat fronting her he protested indifference to
the wet she kept the door unshut His temper would have preferred to buffet the
angry weather The invitation was too sweet
She heard now the bell of her own train Driving beside the railway
embankment she met the train it was eighteen minutes late by her watch And
why when it flung up its whalespouts of steam she was not journeying in it
she could not tell She had acted of her free will that she could say Vernon
had not induced her to remain assuredly her present companion had not and her
whole heart was for flight yet she was driving back to the Hall not devoid of
calmness She speculated on the circumstance enough to think herself
incomprehensible and there left it intent on the scene to come with
Willoughby
»I must choose a better day for London« she remarked
De Craye bowed but did not remove his eyes from her
»Miss Middleton you do not trust me«
She answered »Say in what way It seems to me that I do«
»I may speak«
»If it depends on my authority«
»Fully«
»Whatever you have to say Let me stipulate be not very grave I want
cheering in wet weather«
»Miss Middleton Flitch is charioteer once more Think of it Theres a tide
that carries him perpetually to the place whence he was cast forth and a thread
that ties us to him in continuity I have not the honour to be a friend of long
standing one ventures on ones devotion it dates from the first moment of my
seeing you Flitch is to blame if any one Perhaps the spell would be broken
were he reinstated in his ancient office«
»Perhaps it would« said Clara not with her best of smiles Willoughbys
pride of relentlessness appeared to her to be receiving a blow by rebound and
that seemed high justice
»I am afraid you were right the poor fellow has no chance« De Craye
pursued He paused as for decorum in the presence of misfortune and laughed
sparklingly »Unless I engage him or pretend to I verily believe that Flitchs
melancholy person on the skirts of the Hall completes the picture of the Eden
within Why will you not put some trust in me Miss Middleton«
»But why should you not pretend to engage him then Colonel De Craye«
»Well plot it if you like Can you trust me for that«
»For any act of disinterested kindness I am sure«
»You mean it«
»Without reserve You could talk publicly of taking him to London«
»Miss Middleton just now you were going My arrival changed your mind You
distrust me and ought I to wonder The wonder would be all the other way You
have not had the sort of report of me which would persuade you to confide even
in a case of extremity I guessed you were going Do you ask me how I cannot
say Through what they call sympathy and thats inexplicable Theres natural
sympathy natural antipathy People have to live together to discover how deep
it is«
Clara breathed her dumb admission of this truth
The fly jolted and threatened to lurch
»Flitch my dear man« the colonel gave a murmuring remonstrance »for«
said he to Clara whom his apostrophe to Flitch had set smiling »were not safe
with him however we make believe and hell be jerking the heart out of me
before he has done But if two of us have not the misfortune to be united when
they come to the discovery theres hope That is if one has courage and the
other has wisdom Otherwise they may go to the yoke in spite of themselves The
great enemy is Pride who has them both in a coach and drives them to the fatal
door and the only thing to do is to knock him off his box while theres a
minute to spare And as theres no pride like the pride of possession the
deadliest wound to him is to make that doubtful Pride wont be taught wisdom in
any other fashion But one must have the courage to do it«
De Craye trifled with the windowsash to give his words time to sink in
solution
Who but Willoughby stood for Pride And who swayed by languor had dreamed
of a method that would be surest and swiftest to teach him the wisdom of
surrendering her
»You know Miss Middleton I study character« said the colonel
»I see that you do« she answered
»You intend to return«
»Oh decidedly«
»The day is unfavourable for travelling I must say«
»It is«
»You may count on my discretion in the fullest degree I throw myself on
your generosity when I assure you that it was not my design to surprise a
secret I guessed the station and went there to put myself at your disposal«
»Did you« said Clara reddening slightly »chance to see Mrs Mountstuart
Jenkinsons carriage pass you when you drove up to the station«
De Craye had passed a carriage »I did not see the lady She was in it«
»Yes And therefore it is better to put discretion on one side we may be
certain she saw you«
»But not you Miss Middleton«
»I prefer to think that I am seen I have a description of courage Colonel
De Craye when it is forced on me«
»I have not suspected the reverse Courage wants training as well as other
fine capacities Mine is often rusty and rheumatic«
»I cannot hear of concealment or plotting«
»Except pray to advance the cause of poor Flitch«
»He shall be excepted«
The colonel screwed his head round for a glance at his coachmans back
»Perfectly guaranteed today« he said of Flitchs look of solidity »The
convulsion of the elements appears to sober our friend he is only dangerous in
calms Five minutes will bring us to the parkgates«
Clara leaned forward to gaze at the hedgeways in the neighbourhood of the
Hall strangely renewing their familiarity with her Both in thought and
sensation she was like a flower beaten to earth and she thanked her feminine
mask for not showing how nerveless and languid she was She could have accused
Vernon of a treacherous cunning for imposing it on her free will to decide her
fate
Involuntarily she sighed
»There is a train at three« said De Craye with splendid promptitude
»Yes and one at five We dine with Mrs Mountstuart tonight And I have a
passion for solitude I think I was never intended for obligations The moment I
am bound I begin to brood on freedom«
»Ladies who say that Miss Middleton «
»What of them«
»Theyre feeling too much alone«
She could not combat the remark by her selfassurance that she had the
principle of faithfulness she acknowledged to herself the truth of it there
is no freedom for the weak Vernon had said that once She tried to resist the
weight of it and her sheer inability precipitated her into a sense of pitiful
dependence
Half an hour earlier it would have been a perilous condition to be
traversing in the society of a closelyscanning reader of fair faces
Circumstances had changed They were at the gates of the park
»Shall I leave you« said De Craye
»Why should you« she replied
He bent to her gracefully
The mild subservience flattered Claras languor He had not compelled her to
be watchful on her guard and she was unaware that he passed it when she
acquiesced to his observation »An anticipatory story is a trap to the teller«
»It is« she said She had been thinking as much
He threw up his head to consult the brain comically with a dozen little
blinks
»No you are right Miss Middleton inventing beforehand never prospers
tis a way to trip our own cleverness Truth and motherwit are the best
counsellors and as you are the former Ill try to act up to the character you
assign me«
Some tangle more prospective than present seemed to be about her as she
reflected But her intention being to speak to Willoughby without subterfuge
she was grateful to her companion for not tempting her to swerve No one could
doubt his talent for elegant fibbing and she was in the humour both to admire
and adopt the art so she was glad to be rescued from herself How motherwit
was to second truth she did not inquire and as she did not happen to be
thinking of Crossjay she was not troubled by having to consider how truth and
his tale of the morning would be likely to harmonize
Driving down the park she had full occupation in questioning whether her
return would be pleasing to Vernon who was the virtual cause of it though he
had done so little to promote it so little that she really doubted his pleasure
in seeing her return
Chapter XXIX
In which the Sensitiveness of Sir Willoughby Is Explained and He Receives Much
Instruction
The Hallclock over the stables was then striking twelve It was the hour for
her flight to be made known and Clara sat in a turmoil of dim apprehension that
prepared her nervous frame for a painful blush on her being asked by Colonel De
Craye whether she had set her watch correctly He must she understood have
seen through her at the breakfasttable and was she not cruelly indebted to him
for her evasion of Willoughby Such perspicacity of vision distressed and
frightened her at the same time she was obliged to acknowledge that he had not
presumed on it Her dignity was in no way the worse for him But it had been at
a mans mercy and there was the affliction
She jumped from the fly as if she were leaving danger behind She could at
the moment have greeted Willoughby with a conventionally friendly smile The
doors were thrown open and young Crossjay flew out to her He hung and danced on
her hand pressed the hand to his mouth hardly believing that he saw and
touched her and in a lingo of dashes and asterisks related how Sir Willoughby
had found him under the boathouse eaves and pumped him and had been sent off to
Hoppners farm where there was a sick child and on along the road to a
labourers cottage »For I said youre so kind to poor people Miss Middleton
thats true now that is true And I said you wouldnt have me with you for fear
of contagion« This was what she had feared
»Every crack and bang in a boys vocabulary« remarked the colonel
listening to him after he had paid Flitch
The latter touched his hat till he had drawn attention to himself when he
exclaimed with rosy melancholy »Ah my lady ah colonel if ever I lives to
drink some of the old port wine in the old Hall at Christmastide« Their healths
would on that occasion be drunk it was implied He threw up his eyes at the
windows humped his body and drove away
»Then Mr Whitford has not come back« said Clara to Crossjay
»No Miss Middleton Sir Willoughby has and hes upstairs in his room
dressing«
»Have you seen Barclay«
»She has just gone into the laboratory I told her Sir Willoughby wasnt
there«
»Tell me Crossjay had she a letter«
»She had something«
»Run say I am here I want the letter it is mine«
Crossjay sprang away and plunged into the arms of Sir Willoughby
»One has to catch the fellow like a football« exclaimed the injured
gentleman doubled across the boy and holding him fast that he might have an
object to trifle with to give himself countenance he needed it »Clara you
have not been exposed to the weather«
»Hardly at all«
»I rejoice You found shelter«
»Yes«
»In one of the cottages«
»Not in a cottage but I was perfectly sheltered Colonel De Craye passed a
fly before he met me «
»Flitch again« ejaculated the colonel
»Yes you have luck you have luck« Willoughby addressed him still
clutching Crossjay and treating his tugs to get loose as an invitation to
caresses But the foil barely concealed his livid perturbation
»Stay by me sir« he said at last sharply to Crossjay and Clara touched
the boys shoulder in admonishment of him
She turned to the colonel as they stepped into the hall »I have not thanked
you Colonel De Craye« She dropped her voice to its lowest »A letter in my
handwriting in the laboratory«
Crossjay cried aloud with pain
»I have you« Willoughby rallied him with a laugh not unlike the squeak of
his victim
»You squeeze awfully hard sir«
»Why you milksop«
»Am I But I want to get a book«
»Where is the book«
»In the laboratory«
Colonel De Craye sauntering by the laboratory door sang out »Ill fetch
you your book What is it EARLY NAVIGATORS INFANT HYMNS I think my cigarcase
is in here«
»Barclay speaks of a letter for me« Willoughby said to Clara »marked to be
delivered to me at noon«
»In case of my not being back earlier it was written to avert anxiety« she
replied
»You are very good«
»Oh good Call me anything but good Here are the ladies Dear ladies«
Clara swam to meet them as they issued from a morningroom into the hall and
interjections reigned for a couple of minutes
Willoughby relinquished his grasp of Crossjay who darted instantaneously at
an angle to the laboratory whither he followed and he encountered De Craye
coming out but passed him in silence
Crossjay was rangeing and peering all over the room Willoughby went to his
desk and the batterytable and the mantelpiece He found no letter Barclay had
undoubtedly informed him that she had left a letter for him in the laboratory
by order of her mistress after breakfast
He hurried out and ran upstairs in time to see De Craye and Barclay breaking
a conference
He beckoned to her The maid lengthened her upper lip and beat her dress
down smooth signs of the apprehension of a crisis and of the getting ready for
action
»My mistresss bell has just rung Sir Willoughby«
»You had a letter for me«
»I said «
»You said when I met you at the foot of the stairs that you had left a
letter for me in the laboratory«
»It is lying on my mistresss toilettable«
»Get it«
Barclay swept round with another of her demure grimaces It was apparently
necessary with her that she should talk to herself in this public manner
Willoughby waited for her but there was no reappearance of the maid
Struck by the ridicule of his posture of expectation and of his whole
behaviour he went to his bedroom suite shut himself in and paced the chambers
amazed at the creature he had become Agitated like the commonest of wretches
destitute of selfcontrol not able to preserve a decent mask he accustomed to
inflict these emotions and tremours upon others was at once the puppet and dupe
of an intriguing girl His very stature seemed lessened The glass did not say
so but the shrunken heart within him did and wailfully too Her compunction
»Call me anything but good« coming after her return to the Hall beside De
Craye and after the visible passage of a secret between them in his presence
was a confession it blew at him with the fury of a furnaceblast in his face
Egoist agony wrung the outcry from him that dupery is a more blest condition He
desired to be deceived
He could desire such a thing only in a temporary transport for above all he
desired that no one should know of his being deceived and were he a dupe the
deceiver would know it and her accomplice would know it and the world would
soon know of it that world against whose tongue he stood defenceless Within
the shadow of his presence he compressed opinion as a strong frost binds the
springs of earth but beyond it his shivering sensitiveness ran about in dread
of a stripping in a wintry atmosphere This was the ground of his hatred of the
world it was an appalling fear on behalf of his naked eidolon the tender
infant Self swaddled in his name before the world for which he felt as the most
highly civilized of men alone can feel and which it was impossible for him to
stretch out hands to protect There the poor little loveable creature ran for
any mouth to blow on and frostnipped and bruised it cried to him and he was
of no avail Must we not detest a world that so treats us We loathe it the
more by the measure of our contempt for them when we have made the people
within the shadowcircle of our person slavish
And he had been once a young Prince in popularity the world had been his
possession Claras treatment of him was a robbery of land and subjects His
grander dream had been a marriage with a lady of so glowing a fame for beauty
and attachment to her lord that the world perforce must take her for witness to
merits which would silence detraction and almost not quite it was
undesireable extinguish envy But for the nature of women his dream would have
been realized He could not bring himself to denounce Fortune It had cost him a
grievous pang to tell Horace De Craye he was lucky he had been educated in the
belief that Fortune specially prized and cherished little Willoughby hence of
necessity his maledictions fell upon women or he would have forfeited the last
blanket of a dream warm as poets revel in
But if Clara deceived him he inspired her with timidity There was matter
in that to make him wish to be deceived She had not looked him much in the
face she had not crossed his eyes she had looked deliberately downward
keeping her head up to preserve an exterior pride The attitude had its
bewitchingness the girls physical pride of stature scorning to bend under a
load of conscious guilt had a certain blackangel beauty for which he felt a
hugging hatred and according to his policy when these fits of amorous
meditation seized him he burst from the present one in the mood of his more
favourable conception of Clara and sought her out
The quality of the mood of hugging hatred is that if you are disallowed the
hug you do not hate the fiercer
Contrariwise the prescription of a decorous distance of two feet ten inches
which is by measurement the delimitation exacted of a rightly respectful
deportment has this miraculous effect on the great creature man or often it
has that his peculiar hatred returns to the reluctant admiration begetting it
and his passion for the hug falls prostrate as one of the Faithful before the
shrine he is reduced to worship by fasting
For these mysteries consult the sublime chapter in the GREAT BOOK the
SeventyFirst on LOVE wherein Nothing is written but the Reader receives a
Lanthorn a Powdercask and a Pickaxe and therewith pursues his yellowdusking
path across the rubble of preceding excavators in the solitary quarry a yet
more instructive passage than the overscrawled Seventieth or French Section
whence the chapter opens and where hitherto the polite world has halted
The hurry of the hero is on us we have no time to spare for miningworks
he hurried to catch her alone to wreak his tortures on her in a bitter
semblance of bodily worship and satiated then comfortably to spurn He found
her protected by Barclay on the stairs
»That letter for me« he said
»I think I told you Willoughby there was a letter I left with Barclay to
reassure you in case of my not returning early« said Clara »It was unnecessary
for her to deliver it«
»Indeed But any letter any writing of yours and from you to me You have
it still«
»No I have destroyed it«
»That was wrong«
»It could not have given you pleasure«
»My dear Clara one line from you«
»There were but three«
Barclay stood sucking her lips A maid in the secrets of her mistress is a
purchaseable maid for if she will take a bribe with her right hand she will
with her left all that has to be calculated is the nature and amount of the
bribe such was the speculation indulged by Sir Willoughby and he shrank from
the thought and declined to know more than that he was on a volcanic hillside
where a thin crust quaked over lava This was a new condition with him
representing Claras gain in their combat Clara did not fear his questioning so
much as he feared her candour
Mutually timid they were of course formally polite and no plainspeaking
could have told one another more distinctly that each was defensive Clara stood
pledged to the fib packed sealed and posted and he had only to ask to have
it supposing that he asked with a voice not exactly peremptory
She said in her heart »It is your fault you are relentless and you would
ruin Crossjay to punish him for devoting himself to me like the poor
thoughtless boy he is and so I am bound in honour to do my utmost for him«
The reciprocal devotedness moreover served two purposes it preserved her
from brooding on the humiliation of her lame flight and flutter back and it
quieted her mind in regard to the precipitate intimacy of her relations with
Colonel De Craye Willoughbys boast of his implacable character was to blame
She was at war with him and she was compelled to put the case in that light
Crossjay must be shielded from one who could not spare an offender so Colonel
De Craye quite naturally was called on for his help and the colonels dexterous
aid appeared to her more admirable than alarming
Nevertheless she would not have answered a direct question falsely She was
for the fib but not the lie at a word she could be disdainful of subterfuges
Her look said that Willoughby perceived it She had written him a letter of
three lines »There were but three« and she had destroyed the letter Something
perchance was repented by her Then she had done him an injury Between his
wrath at the suspicion of an injury and the prudence enjoined by his abject
coveting of her he consented to be fooled for the sake of vengeance and
something besides
»Well here you are safe I have you« said he with courtly exultation
»and that is better than your handwriting I have been all over the country
after you«
»Why did you We are not in a barbarous land« said Clara
»Crossjay talks of your visiting a sick child my love you have changed
your dress«
»You see«
»The boy declared you were going to that farm of Hoppners and some cottage
I met at my gates a tramping vagabond who swore to seeing you and the boy in a
totally contrary direction«
»Did you give him money«
»I fancy so«
»Then he was paid for having seen me«
Willoughby tossed his head it might be as she suggested beggars are liars
»But who sheltered you my dear Clara You had not been heard of at
Hoppners«
»The people have been indemnified for their pains To pay them more would be
to spoil them You disperse money too liberally There was no fever in the
place Who could have anticipated such a downpour I want to consult Miss Dale
on the important theme of a dress I think of wearing at Mrs Mountstuarts
tonight«
»Do She is unerring«
»She has excellent taste«
»She dresses very simply herself«
»But it becomes her She is one of the few women whom I feel I could not
improve with a touch«
»She has judgement«
He reflected and repeated his encomium
The shadow of a dimple in Claras cheek awakened him to the idea that she
had struck him somewhere and certainly he would never again be able to put up
the fiction of her jealousy of Lætitia What then could be this girls motive
for praying to be released The interrogation humbled him he fled from the
answer
Willoughby went in search of De Craye That sprightly intriguer had no
intention to let himself be caught solus He was undiscoverable until the
assembly sounded when Clara dropped a public word or two and he spoke in
perfect harmony with her After that he gave his company to Willoughby for an
hour at billiards and was well beaten
The announcement of a visit of Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson took the gentlemen
to the drawingroom rather suspecting that something stood in the way of her
dinnerparty As it happened she was lamenting only the loss of one of the
jewels of the party to wit the great Professor Crooklyn invited to meet Dr
Middleton at her table and she related how she had driven to the station by
appointment the professor being notoriously a botherheaded traveller as was
shown by the fact that he had missed his train in town for he had not arrived
nothing had been seen of him She cited Vernon Whitford for her authority that
the train had been inspected and the platform scoured to find the professor
»And so« said she »I drove home your Green Man to dry him he was wet
through and chattering the man was exactly like a skeleton wrapped in a sponge
and if he escapes a cold he must be as invulnerable as he boasts himself These
athletes are terrible boasters«
»They climb their Alps to crow« said Clara excited by her apprehension
that Mrs Mountstuart would speak of having seen the colonel near the station
There was a laugh and Colonel De Craye laughed loudly as it flashed through
him that a quickwitted impressionable girl like Miss Middleton must before his
arrival at the Hall have speculated on such obdurate clay as Vernon Whitford
was with humourous despair at his uselessness to her Glancing round he saw
Vernon standing fixed in a stare at the young lady
»You heard that Whitford« he said and Claras face betokening an extremer
contrition than he thought was demanded the colonel rallied the Alpine climber
for striving to be the tallest of them Signor Excelsior and described these
conquerors of mountains pancaked on the rocks in desperate embraces bleached
here burnt there barked all over all to be able to say they had been up so
high had conquered another mountain He was extravagantly funny and
selfsatisfied a conqueror of the sex having such different rewards of
enterprise
Vernon recovered in time to accept the absurdities heaped on him
»Climbing peaks wont compare with hunting a wriggler« said he
His allusion to the incessant pursuit of young Crossjay to pin him to
lessons was appreciated
Clara felt the thread of the look he cast from herself to Colonel De Craye
She was helpless if he chose to misjudge her Colonel De Craye did not
Crossjay had the misfortune to enter the drawingroom while Mrs Mountstuart
was compassionating Vernon for his ducking in pursuit of the wriggler which De
Craye likened to »going through the river after his eel« and immediately there
was a crossquestioning of the boy between De Craye and Willoughby on the
subject of his latest truancy each gentleman trying to run him down in a
palpable fib They were succeeding brilliantly when Vernon put a stop to it by
marching him off to hard labour Mrs Mountstuart was led away to inspect the
beautiful porcelain service the present of Lady Busshe »Porcelain again« she
said to Willoughby and would have signalled to the dainty rogue to come with
them had not Clara been leaning over to Lætitia talking to her in an attitude
too graceful to be disturbed She called his attention to it slightly wondering
at his impatience She departed to meet an afternoon train on the chance that it
would land the professor »But tell Dr Middleton« said she »I fear I shall
have no one worthy of him And« she added to Willoughby as she walked out to
her carriage »I shall expect you to do the greatgunnery talk at table«
»Miss Dale keeps it up with him best« said Willoughby
»She does everything best But my dinnertable is involved and I cannot
count on a young woman to talk across it I would hire a lion of a menagerie if
one were handy rather than have a famous scholar at my table unsupported by
another famous scholar Dr Middleton would ride down a duke when the wine is in
him He will terrify my poor flock The truth is we cant leaven him I foresee
undigested lumps of conversation unless you devote yourself«
»I will devote myself« said Willoughby
»I can calculate on Colonel De Craye and our porcelain beauty for any
quantity of sparkles if you promise that They play well together You are not
to be one of the Gods tonight but a kind of Jupiters cupbearer Junos if
you like and Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer and all your admirers shall know
subsequently what you have done You see my alarm I certainly did not rank
Professor Crooklyn among the possibly faithless or I never would have ventured
on Dr Middleton at my table My dinnerparties have hitherto been all
successes Naturally I feel the greater anxiety about this one For a single
failure is all the more conspicuous The exception is everlastingly cited It is
not so much what people say but my own sentiments I hate to fail However if
you are true we may do«
»Whenever the great gun goes off I will fall on my face madam«
»Something of that sort« said the dame smiling and leaving him to reflect
on the egoism of women For the sake of her dinnerparty he was to be a cipher
in attendance on Dr Middleton and Clara and De Craye were to be encouraged in
sparkling together And it happened that he particularly wished to shine The
admiration of his county made him believe he had a flavour in general society
that was not yet distinguished by his bride and he was to relinquish his
opportunity in order to please Mrs Mountstuart Had she been in the pay of his
rival she could not have stipulated for more
He remembered young Crossjays instant quietude after struggling in his
grasp when Clara laid her hand on the boy and from that infinitesimal
circumstance he deduced the boys perception of a differing between himself and
his bride and a transfer of Crossjays allegiance from him to her She shone
she had the gift of female beauty the boy was attracted to it That boy must be
made to feel his treason But the point of the cogitation was that similarly
were Clara to see her affianced shining as shine he could when lit up by
admirers there was the probability that the sensation of her littleness would
animate her to take aim at him once more And then was the time for her
chastisement
A visit to Dr Middleton in the library satisfied him that she had not been
renewing her entreaties to leave Patterne No the miserable coquette had now
her pastime and was content to stay Deceit was in the air he heard the sound
of the shuttle of deceit without seeing it but on the whole mindful of what he
had dreaded during the hours of her absence he was rather flattered
witheringly flattered What was it that he had dreaded Nothing less than news
of her running away Indeed a silly fancy a lovers fancy yet it had led him
so far as to suspect after parting with De Craye in the rain that his friend
and his bride were in collusion and that he should not see them again He had
actually shouted on the rainy road the theatric call »Fooled« one of the
stagecries which are cries of nature particularly the cry of nature with men
who have driven other men to the cry
Constantia Durham had taught him to believe women capable of explosions of
treason at half a minutes notice And strangely to prove that women are all of
a pack she had worn exactly the same placidity of countenance just before she
fled as Clara yesterday and today no nervousness no flushes no twitches of
the brows but smoothness ease of manner an elegant sisterliness one might
almost say as if the creature had found a midway and borderline to walk on
between cruelty and kindness and between repulsion and attraction so that up
to the verge of her breath she did forcefully attract repelling at one foots
length with her armour of chill serenity Not with any disdain with no passion
such a line as she herself pursued she indicated to him on a neighbouring
parallel The passion in her was like a place of waves evaporated to a crust of
salt Claras resemblance to Constantia in this instance was ominous For him
whose tragic privilege it had been to fold each of them in his arms and weigh
on their eyelids and see the dissolving mistdeeps in their eyes it was
horrible Once more the comparison overcame him Constantia he could condemn for
revealing too much to his manly sight she had met him almost half way well
that was complimentary and sanguine but her frankness was a baldness often
rendering it doubtful which of the two lady or gentleman was the object of the
chase an extreme perplexity to his manly soul Now Claras inner spirit was
shyer shy as a doe down those rosetinged abysses she allured both the lover
and the hunter forests of heavenliness were in her flitting eyes Here the
difference of these fair women made his present fate an intolerable anguish For
if Constantia was like certain of the ladies whom he had rendered unhappy
triumphed over as it is queerly called Clara was not Her individuality as a
woman was a thing he had to bow to It was impossible to roll her up in the sex
and bestow a kick on the travelling bundle Hence he loved her though she hurt
him Hence his wretchedness and but for the hearty sincerity of his faith in
the Self he loved likewise and more he would have been hangdog abject
As for De Craye Willoughby recollected his own exploits too proudly to put
his trust in a man That fatal conjunction of temper and policy had utterly
thrown him off his guard or he would not have trusted the fellow even in the
first hour of his acquaintance with Clara But he had wished her to be amused
while he wove his plans to retain her at the Hall partly imagining that she
would weary of his neglect vile delusion In truth he should have given
festivities he should have been the sun of a circle and have revealed himself
to her in his more dazzling form He went near to calling himself foolish after
the tremendous reverberation of »Fooled« had ceased to shake him
How behave It slapped the poor gentlemans pride in the face to ask A
private talk with her would rouse her to renew her supplications He saw them
flickering behind the girls transparent calmness That calmness really drew its
dead ivory hue from the suppression of them something as much he guessed and
he was not sure either of his temper or his policy if he should hear her repeat
her profane request
An impulse to address himself to Vernon and discourse with him jocularly on
the childish whim of a young lady moved perhaps by some whiff of jealousy to
shun the yoke was checked He had always taken so superior a pose with Vernon
that he could not abandon it for a moment on such a subject too Besides Vernon
was one of your men who entertain the ideas about women of fellows that have
never conquered one or only one we will say in his case knowing his secret
history and that one no flag to boast of Densely ignorant of the sex his
nincompoopish idealizations at other times preposterous would now be annoying
He would probably presume on Claras inconceivable lapse of dignity to read his
master a lecture he was quite equal to a philippic upon womans rights This
man had not been afraid to say that he talked common sense to women He was an
example of the consequence
Another result was that Vernon did not talk sense to men Willoughbys
wrath at Claras exposure of him to his cousin dismissed the proposal of a
colloquy so likely to sting his temper and so certain to diminish his
loftiness Unwilling to speak to anybody he was isolated yet consciously
begirt by the mysterious action going on all over the house from Clara and De
Craye to Lætitia and young Crossjay down to Barclay the maid His blind
sensitiveness felt as we may suppose a spider to feel when plucked from his own
web and set in the centre of anothers Lætitia looked her share in the mystery
A burden was on her eyelashes How she could have come to any suspicion of the
circumstances he was unable to imagine Her intense personal sympathy it might
be he thought so with some gentle pity for her of the paternal patback order
of pity She adored him by decree of Venus and the Goddess had not decreed
that he should find consolation in adoring her Nor could the temptings of
prudent counsel in his head induce him to run the risk of such a total turnover
as the incurring of Lætitias pity of himself by confiding in her He checked
that impulse also and more sovereignly For him to be pitied by Lætitia seemed
an upsetting of the scheme of Providence Providence otherwise the
discriminating dispensation of the good things of life had made him the beacon
her the bird she was really the last person to whom he could unbosom The idea
of his being in a position that suggested his doing so thrilled him with fits
of rage and it appalled him There appeared to be another Power The same which
had humiliated him once was menacing him anew For it could not be Providence
whose favourite he had ever been We must have a couple of Powers to account for
discomfort when Egoism is the kernel of our religion Benevolence had singled
him for uncommon benefits malignancy was at work to rob him of them And you
think well of the world do you
Of necessity he associated Clara with the darker Power pointing the knife at
the quick of his pride Still he would have raised her weeping he would have
stanched her wounds bleeding he had an infinite thirst for her misery that he
might ease his heart of its charitable love Or let her commit herself and be
cast off Only she must commit herself glaringly and be cast off by the world
as well Contemplating her in the form of a discarded weed he had a catch of
the breath she was fair He implored his Power that Horace De Craye might not
be the man Why any man An illness fever fire runaway horses personal
disfigurement a laming were sufficient And then a formal and noble offer on
his part to keep to the engagement with the unhappy wreck yes and to lead the
limping thing to the altar if she insisted His imagination conceived it and
the worlds applause besides
Nausea together with a sense of duty to his line extinguished that
loathsome prospect of a mate though without obscuring his chivalrous devotion
to his gentlemans word of honour which remained in his mind to compliment him
permanently
On the whole he could reasonably hope to subdue her to admiration He drank
a glass of champagne at his dressing an unaccustomed act but as he remarked
casually to his man Pollington for whom the rest of the bottle was left he had
taken no horseexercise that day
Having to speak to Vernon on business he went to the schoolroom where he
discovered Clara beautiful in full evening attire with her arm on young
Crossjays shoulder and heard that the hard taskmaker had abjured Mrs
Mountstuarts party and had already excused himself intending to keep Crossjay
to the grindstone Willoughby was for the boy as usual and more sparklingly
than usual Clara looked at him in some surprise He rallied Vernon with great
zest quite silencing him when he said »I bear witness that the fellow was here
at his regular hour for lessons and were you« He laid his hand on Crossjay
touching Claras hand
»You will remember what I told you Crossjay« said she rising from the
seat gracefully »It is my command«
Crossjay frowned and puffed
»But only if I m questioned« he said
»Certainly« she replied
»Then I question the rascal« said Willoughby causing a start »What sir
is your opinion of Miss Middleton in her robe of state this evening«
»Now the truth Crossjay« Clara held up a finger and the boy could see
she was playing at archness but for Willoughby it was earnest »The truth is
not likely to offend you or me either« he murmured to her
»I wish him never never on any excuse to speak anything else«
»I always did think her a Beauty« Crossjay growled He hated the having to
say it
»There« exclaimed Sir Willoughby and bent extending an arm to her »You
have not suffered from the truth my Clara«
Her answer was »I was thinking how he might suffer if he were taught to
tell the reverse«
»Oh for a fair lady«
»That is the worst of teaching Willoughby«
»Well leave it to the fellows instinct he has our blood in him I could
convince you though if I might cite circumstances Yes But yes And yes
again The entire truth cannot invariably be told I venture to say it should
not«
»You would pardon it for the fair lady«
»Applaud my love«
He squeezed the hand within his arm contemplating her
She was arrayed in a voluminous robe of pale blue silk vapourous with
trimmings of light gauze of the same hue gaze de Chambéry matching her fair
hair and clear skin for the complete overthrow of less inflammable men than
Willoughby
»Clara« sighed he
»If so it would really be generous« she said »though the teaching is
bad«
»I fancy I can be generous«
»Do we ever know«
He turned his head to Vernon issuing brief succinct instructions for
letters to be written and drew her into the hall saying »Know There are
people who do not know themselves and as they are the majority they manufacture
the axioms And it is assumed that we have to swallow them I may observe that I
think I know I decline to be engulphed in those majorities Among them but not
of them I know this that my aim in life is to be generous«
»Is it not an impulse or disposition rather than an aim«
»So much I know« pursued Willoughby refusing to be tripped But she rang
discordantly in his ear His »fancy that he could be generous« and his »aim at
being generous« had met with no response »I have given proofs« he said
briefly to drop a subject upon which he was not permitted to dilate and he
murmured »People acquainted with me « She was asked if she expected him to
boast of generous deeds »From childhood« she heard him mutter and she said to
herself »Release me and you shall be everything«
The unhappy gentleman ached as he talked for with men and with hosts of
women to whom he was indifferent never did he converse in this shambling
thirdrate sheepish manner devoid of all highness of tone and the proper
precision of an authority He was unable to fathom the cause of it but Clara
imposed it on him and only in anger could he throw it off The temptation to an
outburst that would flatter him with the sound of his authoritative voice had to
be resisted on a night when he must be composed if he intended to shine so he
merely mentioned Lady Busshes present to gratify spleen by preparing the
ground for dissension and prudently acquiesced in her anticipated slipperiness
She would rather not look at it now she said
»Not now very well« said he
His immediate deference made her regretful »There is hardly time
Willoughby«
»My dear we shall have to express our thanks to her«
»I cannot«
His arm contracted sharply He was obliged to be silent
Dr Middleton Lætitia and the ladies Eleanor and Isabel joining them in the
hall found two figures linked together in a shadowy indication of halves that
have fallen apart and hang on the last thread of junction Willoughby retained
her hand on his arm he held to it as the symbol of their alliance and
oppressed the girls nerves by contact with a frame labouring for breath De
Craye looked on them from overhead The carriages were at the door and
Willoughby said »Wheres Horace I suppose hes taking a final shot at his Book
of Anecdotes and neat collection of Irishisms«
»No« replied the colonel descending »Thats a spring works of itself and
has discovered the secret of continuous motion mores the pity unless youll
be pleased to make it of use to Science«
He gave a laugh of good humour
»Your laughter Horace is a capital comment on your wit«
Willoughby said it with the air of one who has flicked a whip
»Tis a genial advertisement of a vacancy« said De Craye
»Precisely three parts auctioneer to one for the property«
»Oh if you have a musical quack score it a point in his favour
Willoughby though you dont swallow his drug«
»If he means to be musical let him keep time«
»Am I late« said De Craye to the ladies proving himself an adept in the
art of being gracefully vanquished and so winning tender hearts
Willoughby had refreshed himself At the back of his mind there was a
suspicion that his adversary would not have yielded so flatly without an
assurance of practically triumphing secretly getting the better of him and it
filled him with venom for a further bout at the next opportunity but as he had
been sarcastic and mordant he had shown Clara what he could do in a way of
speaking different from the lamentable cooing stuff gasps and feeble
protestations to which he knew not how she reduced him Sharing the opinion of
his race that blunt personalities or the pugilistic form administered
directly on the salient features are exhibitions of mastery in such encounters
he felt strong and solid eager for the successes of the evening De Craye was
in the first carriage as escort to the ladies Eleanor and Isabel Willoughby
with Clara Lætitia and Dr Middleton followed all silent for the Rev Doctor
was ostensibly pondering and Willoughby was damped a little when he unlocked
his mouth to say
»And yet I have not observed that Colonel De Craye is anything of a
Celtiberian Egnatius meriting fustigation for an untimely display of
wellwhitened teeth sir quicquid est ubicunque est quodcunque agit renidet
ha a morbus neither charming nor urbane to the general eye however
consolatory to the actor But this gentleman does not offend so or I am so
strangely prepossessed in his favour as to be an incompetent witness«
Dr Middletons persistent ha eh upon an honest frown of inquiry plucked
an answer out of Willoughby that was meant to be humourously scornful and soon
became apologetic under the Doctors interrogatively grasping gaze
»These Irishmen« Willoughby said »will play the professional jester as if
it were an office they were born to We must play critic now and then otherwise
we should have them deluging us with their Joe Millerisms«
»With their OMillerisms you would say perhaps«
Willoughby did his duty to the joke but the Rev Doctor though he wore the
paternal smile of a man that has begotten hilarity was not perfectly
propitiated and pursued »Nor to my apprehension is the mans laugh the comment
on his wit unchallengeably new instances of cousinship germane to the phrase
will recur to you But it has to be noted that it was a phrase of assault it
was ostentatiously battery and I would venture to remind you friend that
among the elect considering that it is as fatally facile to spring the laugh
upon a man as to deprive him of his life considering that we have only to
condescend to the weapon and that the more popular necessarily the more
murderous that weapon is among the elect to which it is your distinction to
aspire to belong the rule holds to abstain from any employment of the obvious
the percoct and likewise for your own sake from the epitonic the
overstrained for if the former by readily assimilating with the understandings
of your audience are empowered to commit assassination on your victim the
latter come under the charge of unseemliness inasmuch as they are a description
of public suicide Assuming then manslaughter to be your pastime and
harikari not to be your bent the phrase to escape criminality must rise in
you as you would have it to fall on him ex improvise Am I right«
»I am in the habit of thinking it impossible sir that you can be in
error« said Willoughby
Dr Middleton left it the more emphatic by saying nothing further
Both his daughter and Miss Dale who had disapproved the waspish snap at
Colonel De Craye were in wonderment of the art of speech which could so
soothingly inform a gentleman that his behaviour had not been gentlemanly
Willoughby was damped by what he comprehended of it for a few minutes In
proportion as he realized an evening with his ancient admirers he was restored
and he began to marvel greatly at his folly in not giving banquets and Balls
instead of making a solitude about himself and his bride For solitude thought
he is good for the man the man being a creature consumed by passion womans
love on the contrary will only be nourished by the reflex light she catches of
you in the eyes of others she having no passion of her own but simply an
instinct driving her to attach herself to whatsoever is most largely admired
most shining So thinking he determined to change his course of conduct and he
was happier In the first gush of our wisdom drawn directly from experience
there is a mental intoxication that cancels the old world and establishes a new
one not allowing us to ask whether it is too late
Chapter XXX
Treating of the DinnerParty at Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinsons
Vernon and young Crossjay had tolerably steady work together for a couple of
hours varied by the arrival of a plate of meat on a tray for the master and
some interrogations put to him from time to time by the boy in reference to Miss
Middleton Crossjay made the discovery that if he abstained from alluding to
Miss Middletons beauty he might water his dusty path with her name nearly as
much as he liked Mention of her beauty incurred a reprimand On the first
occasion his master was wistful »Isnt she glorious« Crossjay fancied he had
started a sovereign receipt for blessed deviations He tried it again but
pædagoguethunder broke over his head
»Yes only I cant understand what she means Mr Whitford« he excused
himself »First I was not to tell I know I wasnt because she said so she
quite as good as said so Her last words were Mind Crossjay you know nothing
about me when I stuck to that beast of a tramp whos a walking moral and gets
money out of people by snuffling it«
»Attend to your lesson or youll be one« said Vernon
»Yes but Mr Whitford now I am to tell I m to answer straight out to
every question«
»Miss Middleton is anxious that you should be truthful«
»Yes but in the morning she told me not to tell«
»She was in a hurry She has it on her conscience that you may have
misunderstood her and she wishes you never to be guilty of an untruth least of
all on her account«
Crossjay committed an unspoken resolution to the air in a violent sigh
»Ah« and said »If I were sure«
»Do as she bids you my boy«
»But I dont know what it is she wants«
»Hold to her last words to you«
»So I do If she told me to run till I dropped on I d go«
»She told you to study your lessons do that«
Crossjay buckled to his book invigorated by an imagination of his liege
lady on the page
After a studious interval until the impression of his lady had subsided he
resumed »Shes so funny Shes just like a girl and then shes a lady too
Shes my idea of a princess And Colonel De Craye Wasnt he taught dancing
When he says something funny he ducks and seems to be setting to his partner I
should like to be as clever as her father That is a clever man I daresay
Colonel De Craye will dance with her tonight I wish I was there«
»Its a dinnerparty not a dance« Vernon forced himself to say to dispel
that ugly vision
»Isnt it sir I thought they danced after dinnerparties Mr Whitford
have you ever seen her run«
Vernon pointed him to his task
They were silent for a lengthened period
»But does Miss Middleton mean me to speak out if Sir Willoughby asks me«
said Crossjay
»Certainly You neednt make much of it All s plain and simple«
»But I m positive Mr Whitford he wasnt to hear of her going to the
postoffice with me before breakfast And how did Colonel De Craye find her and
bring her back with that old Flitch Hes a man and can go where he pleases
and I d have found her too give me the chance You know I m fond of Miss
Dale but she I m very fond of her but you cant think shes a girl as
well And about Miss Dale when she says a thing there it is clear But Miss
Middleton has a lot of meanings Never mind I go by whats inside and I m
pretty sure to please her«
»Take your chin off your hand and your elbow off the book and fix
yourself« said Vernon wrestling with the seduction of Crossjays idolatry for
Miss Middletons appearance had been preternaturally sweet on her departure and
the next pleasure to seeing her was hearing of her from the lips of this
passionate young poet
»Remember that you please her by speaking truth« Vernon added and laid
himself open to questions upon the truth by which he learnt with a perplexed
sense of envy and sympathy that the boys idea of truth strongly approximated
to his conception of what should be agreeable to Miss Middleton
He was lonely bereft of the bard when he had tucked Crossjay up in his bed
and left him Books he could not read thoughts were disturbing A seat in the
library and a stupid stare helped to pass the hours and but for the spot of
sadness moving meditation in spite of his effort to stun himself he would have
borne a happy resemblance to an idiot in the sun He had verily no command of
his reason She was too beautiful Whatever she did was best That was the
refrain of the fountainsong in him the burden being her whims variations
inconsistencies wiles her tremblings between good and naughty that might be
stamped to noble or to terrible her sincereness her duplicity her courage
cowardice possibilities for heroism and for treachery By dint of dwelling on
the theme he magnified the young lady to extraordinary stature And he had
sense enough to own that her character was yet liquid in the mould and that she
was a creature of only naturally youthful wildness provoked to freakishness by
the ordeal of a situation shrewd as any that can happen to her sex in civilized
life But he was compelled to think of her extravagantly and he leaned a little
to the discrediting of her because her actual image unmanned him and was
unbearable and to say at the end of it »She is too beautiful whatever she does
is best« smoothed away the wrong he did her Had it been in his power he would
have thought of her in the abstract the stage contiguous to that which he
adopted but the attempt was luckless the Stagyrite would have failed in it
What philosopher could have set down that face of sun and breeze and nymph in
shadow as a point in a problem
The librarydoor was opened at midnight by Miss Dale She closed it quietly
»You are not working Mr Whitford I fancied you would wish to hear of the
evening Professor Crooklyn arrived after all Mrs Mountstuart is bewildered
she says she expected you and that you did not excuse yourself to her and she
cannot comprehend et cætera That is to say she chooses bewilderment to
indulge in the exclamatory She must be very much annoyed The professor did
come by the train she drove to meet«
»I thought it probable« said Vernon
»He had to remain a couple of hours at the Railway Inn no conveyance was to
be found for him He thinks he has caught a cold and cannot stifle his
fretfulness about it He may be as learned as Dr Middleton he has not the same
happy constitution Nothing more unfortunate could have occurred he spoilt the
party Mrs Mountstuart tried petting him which drew attention to him and put
us all in his key for several awkward minutes more than once She lost her
head she was unlike herself I may be presumptuous in criticizing her but
should not the president of a dinnertable treat it like a battlefield and let
the guest that sinks descend and not allow the voice of a discordant however
illustrious to rule it Of course it is when I see failures that I fancy I
could manage so well comparison is prudently reserved in the other cases I am
a daring critic no doubt because I know I shall never be tried by experiment I
have no ambition to be tried«
She did not notice a smile of Vernons and continued »Mrs Mountstuart
gave him the lead upon any subject he chose I thought the Professor never would
have ceased talking of a young lady who had been at the inn before him drinking
hot brandy and water with a gentleman«
»How did he hear of that« cried Vernon roused by the malignity of the
Fates
»From the landlady trying to comfort him And a story of her lending shoes
and stockings while those of the young lady were drying He has the dreadful
snappish humourous way of recounting which impresses it the table took up the
subject of this remarkable young lady and whether she was a lady of the
neighbourhood and who she could be that went abroad on foot in heavy rain It
was painful to me I knew enough to be sure of who she was«
»Did she betray it«
»No«
»Did Willoughby look at her«
»Without suspicion then«
»Then«
»Colonel De Craye was diverting us and he was very amusing Mrs
Mountstuart told him afterwards that he ought to be paid salvage for saving the
wreck of her party Sir Willoughby was a little too cynical he talked well
what he said was good but it was not goodhumoured he has not the reckless
indifference of Colonel De Craye to uttering nonsense that amusement may come of
it And in the drawingroom he lost such gaiety as he had I was close to Mrs
Mountstuart when Professor Crooklyn approached her and spoke in my hearing of
that gentleman and that young lady They were you could see by his nods
Colonel De Craye and Miss Middleton«
»And she at once mentioned it to Willoughby«
»Colonel De Craye gave her no chance if she sought it He courted her
profusely Behind his rattle he must have brains It ran in all directions to
entertain her and her circle«
»Willoughby knows nothing«
»I cannot judge He stood with Mrs Mountstuart a minute as we were taking
leave She looked strange I heard her say The rogue He laughed She lifted
her shoulders He scarcely opened his mouth on the way home«
»The thing must run its course« Vernon said with the philosophical air
which is desperation rendered decorous »Willoughby deserves it A man of full
growth ought to know that nothing on earth tempts Providence so much as the
binding of a young woman against her will Those two are mutually attracted
theyre both They meet and the mischief s done both are bright He can
persuade with a word Another might discourse like an angel and it would be
useless I said everything I could think of to no purpose And so it is there
are those attractions just as with her Willoughby is the reverse he
repels I m in about the same predicament or should be if she were plighted
to me That is for the length of five minutes about the space of time I should
require for the formality of handing her back her freedom How a sane man can
imagine a girl like that But if she has changed she has changed You cant
conciliate a withered affection This detaining her and tricking and not
listening only increases her aversion she learns the art in turn Here she is
detained by fresh plots to keep Dr Middleton at the Hall Thats true is it
not« He saw that it was »No shes not to blame She has told him her mind he
wont listen The question then is whether she keeps to her word or breaks it
Its a dispute between a conventional idea of obligation and an injury to her
nature Which is the more dishonourable thing to do Why you and I see in a
moment that her feelings guide her best Its one of the few cases in which
nature may be consulted like an oracle«
»Is she so sure of her nature« said Miss Dale
»You may doubt it I do not I am surprised at her coming back De Craye is
a man of the world and advised it I suppose He well I never had the
persuasive tongue and my failing doesnt count for much«
»But the suddenness of the intimacy«
»The disaster is rather famous at first sight He came in a fortunate hour
for him A pigmy s a giant if he can manage to arrive in season Did you
not notice that there was danger at their second or third glance You
counselled me to hang on here where the amount of good I do in proportion to
what I have to endure is microscopic«
»It was against your wishes I know« said Lætitia and when the words were
out she feared that they were tentative Her delicacy shrank from even seeming
to sound him in relation to a situation so delicate as Miss Middletons
The same sentiment guarded him from betraying himself and he said »Partly
against We both foresaw the possible because like most prophets we knew a
little more of circumstances enabling us to see the fatal A pigmy would have
served but De Craye is a handsome intelligent pleasant fellow«
»Sir Willoughbys friend«
»Well in these affairs A great deal must be charged on the Goddess«
»That is really Pagan fatalism«
»Our modern word for it is Nature Science condescends to speak of natural
selection Look at these They are both graceful and winning and witty bright
to mind and eye made for one another as country people say I cant blame him
Besides we dont know that hes guilty Were quite in the dark except that
were certain how it must end If the chance should occur to you of giving
Willoughby a word of counsel it may you might without irritating him as my
knowledge of his plight does hint at your eyes being open His insane dread of
a detective world makes him artificially blind As soon as he fancies himself
seen he sets to work spinning a web and he discerns nothing else Its
generally a clever kind of web but if its a tangle to others its the same to
him and a veil as well He is preparing the catastrophe he forces the issue
Tell him of her extreme desire to depart Treat her as mad to soothe him
Otherwise one morning he will wake a second time It is perfectly certain
And the second time it will be entirely his own fault Inspire him with some
philosophy«
»I have none«
»If I thought so I would say you have better There are two kinds of
philosophy mine and yours Mine comes of coldness yours of devotion«
»He is unlikely to choose me for his confidante«
Vernon meditated »One can never quite guess what he will do from never
knowing the heat of the centre in him which precipitates his actions he has a
great art of concealment As to me as you perceive my views are too
philosophical to let me be of use to any of them I blame only the one who holds
to the bond The sooner I am gone in fact I cannot stay on So Dr Middleton
and the Professor did not strike fire together«
»Dr Middleton was ready and pursued him but Professor Crooklyn insisted on
shivering His line of blank verse A Railway platform and a Railway inn became
pathetic in repetition He must have suffered«
»Somebody has to«
»Why the innocent«
»He arrives à propos But remember that Fridolin sometimes contrives to
escape and have the guilty scorched The Professor would not have suffered if he
had missed his train as he appears to be in the habit of doing Thus his
unaccustomed good fortune was the cause of his bad«
»You saw him on the platform«
»I am unacquainted with the Professor I had to get Mrs Mountstuart out of
the way«
»She says she described him to you Complexion of a sweetbread consistency
of a quenelle grey and like a Saint without his dish behind the head«
»Her descriptions are strikingly accurate but she forgot to sketch his
back and all that I saw was a narrow sloping back and a broad hat resting the
brim on it My report to her spoke of an old gentleman of dark complexion as
the only traveller on the platform She has faith in the efficiency of her
descriptive powers and so she was willing to drive off immediately The
intention was a start to London Colonel De Craye came up and effected in five
minutes what I could not compass in thirty«
»But you saw Colonel De Craye pass you«
»My work was done I should have been an intruder Besides I was acting wet
jacket with Mrs Mountstuart to get her to drive off fast or she might have
jumped out in search of her Professor herself«
»She says you were lean as a fork with the wind whistling through the
prongs«
»You see how easy it is to deceive one who is an artist in phrases Avoid
them Miss Dale they dazzle the penetration of the composer That is why people
of ability like Mrs Mountstuart see so little they are so bent on describing
brilliantly However she is kind and charitable at heart I have been
considering tonight that to cut this knot as it is now Miss Middleton might
do worse than speak straight out to Mrs Mountstuart No one else would have
such influence with Willoughby The simple fact of Mrs Mountstuarts knowing of
it would be almost enough But courage would be required for that Good night
Miss Dale«
»Good night Mr Whitford You pardon me for disturbing you«
Vernon pressed her hand reassuringly He had but to look at her and review
her history to think his cousin Willoughby punished by just retribution Indeed
for any maltreatment of the dear boy Love by man or by woman coming under your
cognizance you if you be of common soundness shall behold the retributive
blow struck in your time
Miss Dale retired thinking how like she and Vernon were to one another in
the toneless condition they had achieved through sorrow He succeeded in masking
himself from her owing to her awe of the circumstances She reproached herself
for not having the same devotion to the cold idea of duty as he had and though
it provoked inquiry she would not stop to ask why he had left Miss Middleton a
prey to the sparkling colonel It seemed a proof of the philosophy he preached
As she was passing by young Crossjays bedroomdoor a face appeared Sir
Willoughby slowly emerged and presented himself in his full length beseeching
her to banish alarm
He said it in a hushed voice with a face qualified to create the sentiment
»Are you tired sleepy« said he
She protested that she was not she intended to read for an hour
He begged to have the hour dedicated to him »I shall be relieved by
conversing with a friend«
No subterfuge crossed her mind she thought his midnight visit to the boys
bedside a pretty feature in him she was full of pity too she yielded to the
strange request feeling that it did not become an old woman to attach
importance even to the public discovery of midnight interviews involving
herself as one and feeling also that she was being treated as an old friend in
the form of a very old woman Her mind was bent on arresting any recurrence to
the project she had so frequently outlined in the tongue of innuendo of which
because of her repeated tremblings under it she thought him a master
He conducted her along the corridor to the private sittingroom of the
ladies Eleanor and Isabel
»Deceit« he said while lighting the candles on the mantelpiece
She was earnestly compassionate and a word that could not relate to her
personal destinies refreshed her by displacing her apprehensive antagonism and
giving pity free play
Chapter XXXI
Sir Willoughby Attempts and Achieves Pathos
Both were seated Apparently he would have preferred to watch her dark downcast
eyelashes in silence under sanction of his air of abstract meditation and the
melancholy superinducing it Bloodcolour was in her cheeks the party had
inspirited her features Might it be that lively company an absence of
economical solicitudes and a flourishing home were all she required to make her
bloom again The supposition was not hazardous in presence of her heightened
complexion
She raised her eyes He could not meet her look without speaking
»Can you forgive deceit«
»It would be to boast of more charity than I know myself to possess were I
to say that I can Sir Willoughby I hope I am able to forgive I cannot tell I
should like to say yes«
»Could you live with the deceiver«
»No«
»No I could have given that answer for you No semblance of union should be
maintained between the deceiver and ourselves Lætitia«
»Sir Willoughby«
»Have I no right to your name«
»If it please you to «
»I speak as my thoughts run and they did not know a Miss Dale so well as a
dear Lætitia my truest friend You have talked with Clara Middleton«
»We had a conversation«
Her brevity affrighted him He flew off in a cloud
»Reverting to that question of deceivers is it not your opinion that to
pardon to condone is to corrupt society by passing off as pure what is false
Do we not« he wore the smile of haggard playfulness of a convalescent child the
first day back to its toys »Lætitia do we not impose a counterfeit on the
currency«
»Supposing it to be really deception«
»Apart from my loathing of deception of falseness in any shape upon any
grounds I hold it an imperious duty to expose punish off with it I take it
to be one of the forms of noxiousness which a good citizen is bound to
extirpate I am not myself good citizen enough I confess for much more than
passive abhorrence I do not forgive I am at heart serious and I cannot
forgive there is no possible reconciliation there can be only an ostensible
truce between the two hostile powers dividing this world«
She glanced at him quickly
»Good and evil« he said
Her face expressed a surprise relapsing on the heart
He spelt the puckers of her forehead to mean that she feared he might be
speaking unchristianly
»You will find it so in all religions my dear Lætitia the Hindoo the
Persian ours It is universal an experience of our humanity Deceit and
sincerity cannot live together Truth must kill the lie or the lie will kill
truth I do not forgive All I say to the person is go«
»But that is right that is generous« exclaimed Lætitia glad to approve
him for the sake of blinding her critical soul and relieved by the idea of
Claras difficulty solved
»Capable of generosity perhaps« he mused aloud
She wounded him by not supplying the expected enthusiastic asseveration of
her belief in his general tendency to magnanimity
He said after a pause »But the world is not likely to be impressed by
anything not immediately gratifying it People change I find as we increase in
years we cease to be the heroes we were I myself am insensible to change I do
not admit the charge Except in this we will say personal ambition I have it
no more And what is it when we have it Decidedly a confession of inferiority
That is the desire to be distinguished is an acknowledgement of insufficiency
But I have still the craving for my dearest friends to think well of me A
weakness Call it so Not a dishonourable weakness«
Lætitia racked her brain for the connection of his present speech with the
preceding dialogue She was baffled from not knowing »the heat of the centre in
him« as Vernon opaquely phrased it in charity to the object of her worship
»Well« said he unappeased »and besides the passion to excel I have
changed somewhat in the heartiness of my thirst for the amusements incident to
my station I do not care to keep a stud I was once tempted nor hounds And I
can remember the day when I determined to have the best kennels and the best
breed of horses in the kingdom Puerile What is distinction of that sort or of
any acquisition and accomplishment We ask Ones self is not the greater To
seek it owns to our smallness in real fact and when it is attained what
then My horses are good they are admired I challenge the county to surpass
them well These are but my horses the praise is of the animals not of me I
decline to share in it Yet I know men content to swallow the praise of their
beasts and be semiequine The littleness of ones fellows in the mob of life is
a very strange experience One may regret to have lost the simplicity of ones
forefathers which could accept those and other distinctions with a cordial
pleasure not to say pride As for instance I am as it is called a dead shot
Give your acclamations gentlemen to my ancestors from whom I inherited a
steady hand and quick sight They do not touch me Where I do not find myself
that I am essentially I no applause can move me To speak to you as I would
speak to none admiration you know that in my early youth I swam in flattery
I had to swim to avoid drowning admiration of my personal gifts has grown
tasteless Changed therefore inasmuch as there has been a growth of
spirituality We are all in submission to mortal laws and so far I have indeed
changed I may add that it is unusual for country gentlemen to apply themselves
to scientific researches These are however in the spirit of the time I
apprehended that instinctively when at College I forsook the classics for
science And thereby escaped the vice of domineering selfsufficiency peculiar
to classical men of which you had an amusing example in the carriage on the
way to Mrs Mountstuarts this evening Science is modest slow if you like it
deals with facts and having mastered them it masters men of necessity not
with a stupid loudmouthed arrogance words big and oddlygarbed as the Popes
bodyguard Of course one bows to the Infallible we must when his
giantmercenaries level bayonets«
Sir Willoughby offered Miss Dale half a minute that she might in gentle
feminine fashion acquiesce in the implied reproof of Dr Middletons behaviour
to him during the drive to Mrs Mountstuarts She did not
Her heart was accusing Clara of having done it a wrong and a hurt For while
he talked he seemed to her to justify Claras feelings and her conduct and her
own reawakened sensations of injury came to the surface a moment to look at him
affirming that they pardoned him and pitied but hardly wondered
The heat of the centre in him had administered the comfort he wanted though
the conclusive accordant notes he loved on womans lips that subservient
harmony of another instrument desired of musicians when they have done their
soloplaying came not to wind up the performance not a single bar She did not
speak Probably his Lætitia was overcome as he had long known her to be when
they conversed nervesubdued unable to deploy her mental resources or her
musical Yet ordinarily she had command of the latter Was she too condoling
Did a reason exist for it Had the impulsive and desperate girl spoken out to
Lætitia to the fullest shameless daughter of a domineering sire that she was
Ghastlier inquiry it struck the centre of him with a sounding ring was
Lætitia pitying him overmuch for worse than the pain of a little difference
between lovers for treason on the part of his bride Did she know of a rival
know more than he
When the centre of him was violently struck he was a genius in penetration
He guessed that she did know and by this was he presently helped to achieve
pathos
»So my election was for Science« he continued »and if it makes me as I
fear a rara avis among country gentlemen it unites me puts me in the main I
may say in the only current of progress a word sufficiently despicable in
their political jargon You enjoyed your evening at Mrs Mountstuarts«
»Very greatly«
»She brings her Professor to dine here the day after tomorrow Does it
astonish you You started«
»I did not hear the invitation«
»It was arranged at the table you and I were separated cruelly I told
her she declared that we see enough of one another and that it was good for me
that we should be separated neither of which is true I may not have known what
is the best for me I do know what is good If in my younger days I egregiously
erred that taken of itself alone is assuming me to have sense and feeling
the surer proof of present wisdom I can testify in person that wisdom is pain
If pain is to add to wisdom let me suffer Do you approve of that Lætitia«
»It is well said«
»It is felt Those who themselves have suffered should know the benefit of
the resolution«
»One may have suffered so much as to wish only for peace«
»True but you have you«
»It would be for peace if I prayed for an earthly gift«
Sir Willoughby dropped a smile on her »I mentioned the Popes
particoloured bodyguard just now In my youth their singular attire impressed
me People tell me they have been reuniformed I am sorry They remain one of
my liveliest recollections of the Eternal City They affected my sense of
humour always alert in me as you are aware We English have humour It is the
first thing struck in us when we land on the Continent our risible faculties
are generally active all through the tour Humour or the clash of sense with
novel examples of the absurd is our characteristic I do not condescend to
boisterous displays of it I observe and note the peoples comicalities for my
correspondence But you have read my letters most of them if not all«
»Many of them«
»I was with you then I was about to say that Swissguard reminded me
you have not been in Italy I have constantly regretted it You are the very
woman you have the soul for Italy I know no other of whom I could say it with
whom I should not feel that she was out of place discordant with me Italy and
Lætitia often have I joined you together We shall see I begin to have hopes
Here you have literally stagnated Why a dinnerparty refreshes you What would
not travel do and that heavenly climate You are a reader of history and
poetry Well poetry I never yet saw the poetry that expressed the tenth part
of what I feel in the presence of beauty and magnificence and when I really
meditate profoundly Call me a positive mind I feel only I feel too
intensely for poetry By the nature of it poetry cannot be sincere I will have
sincerity Whatever touches our emotions should be spontaneous not a craft I
know you are in favour of poetry You would win me if any one could But
history there I am with you Walking over ruins at night the arches of the
solemn black amphitheatre pouring moonlight on us the moonlight of Italy«
»You would not laugh there Sir Willoughby« said Lætitia rousing herself
from a stupor of apprehensive amazement to utter something and realize actual
circumstances
»Besides you I think or I am mistaken in you « he deviated from his
projected speech »you are not a victim of the sense of association and the
ludicrous«
»I can understand the influence of it I have at least a conception of the
humourous but ridicule would not strike me in the Coliseum of Rome I could not
bear it no Sir Willoughby«
She appeared to be taking him in very strong earnest by thus petitioning
him not to laugh in the Coliseum and now he said »Besides you are one who
could accommodate yourself to the society of the ladies my aunts Good women
Lætitia I cannot imagine them de trop in Italy or in a household I have of
course reason to be partial in my judgement«
»They are excellent and most amiable ladies I love them« said Lætitia
fervently the more strongly excited to fervour by her enlightenment as to his
drift
She read it that he designed to take her to Italy with the ladies after
giving Miss Middleton her liberty that was necessarily implied And that was
truly generous In his boyhood he had been famous for his bountifulness in
scattering silver and gold Might he not have caused himself to be misperused in
later life
Clara had spoken to her of the visit and mission of the ladies to the
library and Lætitia daringly conceived herself to be on the certain track of
his meaning she being able to enjoy their society as she supposed him to
consider that Miss Middleton did not and would not either abroad or at home
Sir Willoughby asked her »You could travel with them«
»Indeed I could«
»Honestly«
»As affirmatively as one may protest Delightedly«
»Agreed It is an undertaking« He put his hand out »Whether I be of the
party or not To Italy Lætitia It would give me pleasure to be with you and
it will if I must be excluded to think of you in Italy«
His hand was out She had to feign inattention or yield her own She had not
the effrontery to pretend not to see and she yielded it He pressed it and
whenever it shrank a quarterinch to withdraw he shook it up and down as an
instrument that had been lent him for due emphasis to his remarks And very
emphatic an amorous orator can make it upon a captive lady
»I am unable to speak decisively on that or any subject I am I think you
once quoted tossed like a weed on the ocean Of myself I can speak I cannot
speak for a second person I am infinitely harassed If I could cry To Italy
tomorrow Ah Do not set me down for complaining I know the lot of man
But Lætitia deceit deceit It is a bad taste in the mouth It sickens us of
humanity I compare it to an earthquake we lose all our reliance on the
solidity of the world It is a betrayal not simply of the person it is a
betrayal of humankind My friend Constant friend No I will not despair Yes
I have faults I will remember them Only forgiveness is another question Yes
the injury I can forgive the falseness never In the interests of humanity no
So young and such deceit«
Lætitias bosom rose her hand was detained a lady who has yielded it
cannot wrestle to have it back those outworks which protect her treacherously
shelter the enemy aiming at the citadel when he has taken them In return for
the silken armour bestowed on her by our civilization it is exacted that she be
soft and civil nigh up to perishingpoint She breathed tremulously high saying
on her topbreath »If it it may not be so it can scarcely « A deep sigh
intervened It saddened her that she knew so much
»For when I love I love« said Sir Willoughby »my friends and my servants
know that There can be no medium not with me I give all I claim all As I am
absorbed so must I absorb We both cancel and create we extinguish and we
illumine one another The error may be in the choice of an object it is not in
the passion Perfect confidence perfect abandonment I repeat I claim it
because I give it The selfishness of love may be denounced it is a part of us
My answer would be it is an element only of the noblest of us Love Lætitia I
speak of love But one who breaks faith to drag us through the mire who
betrays betrays and hands us over to the world whose prey we become
identically because of virtues we were educated to think it a blessing to
possess tell me the name for that Again it has ever been a principle with
me to respect the sex But if we see women false treacherous Why indulge
in these abstract views you would ask The world presses them on us full as it
is of the vilest specimens They seek to pluck up every rooted principle they
sneer at our worship they rob us of our religion This bitter experience of the
world drives us back to the antidote of what we knew before we plunged into it
of one of something we esteemed and still esteem Is that antidote strong
enough to expel the poison I hope so I believe so To lose faith in womankind
is terrible«
He studied her She looked distressed she was not moved
She was thinking that with the exception of a strain of haughtiness he
talked excellently to men at least in the tone of the things he meant to say
but that his manner of talking to women went to an excess in the artificial
tongue the tutored tongue of sentimental deference of the towering male he
fluted exceedingly and she wondered whether it was this which had wrecked him
with Miss Middleton
His intuitive sagacity counselled him to strive for pathos to move her It
was a task for while he perceived her to be not ignorant of his plight he
doubted her knowing the extent of it and as his desire was merely to move her
without an exposure of himself he had to compass being pathetic as it were
under the impediments of a mailed and gauntleted knight who cannot easily heave
the bosom or show it heaving
Moreover pathos is a tide often it carries the awakener of it off his feet
and whirls him over and over armour and all in ignominious attitudes of
helpless prostration whereof he may well be ashamed in the retrospect We
cannot quite preserve our dignity when we stoop to the work of calling forth
tears Moses had probably to take a nimble jump away from the rock after that
venerable Lawgiver had knocked the water out of it
However it was imperative in his mind that he should be sure he had the
power to move her
He began clumsily at first as yonder gauntleted knight attempting the
briny handkerchief
»What are we We last but a very short time Why not live to gratify our
appetites I might really ask myself why All the means of satiating them are at
my disposal But no I must aim at the highest at that which in my blindness
I took for the highest You know the sportsmans instinct Lætitia he is not
tempted by the stationary object Such are we in youth toying with happiness
leaving it to aim at the dazzling and attractive«
»We gain knowledge« said Lætitia
»At what cost«
The exclamation summoned selfpity to his aid and pathos was handy
»By paying half our lives for it and all our hopes Yes we gain knowledge
we are the wiser very probably my value surpasses now what it was when I was
happier But the loss That youthful bloom of the soul is like health to the
body once gone it leaves cripples behind Nay my friend and precious friend
these four fingers I must retain They seem to me the residue of a wreck you
shall be released shortly absolutely Lætitia I have nothing else remaining
We have spoken of deception what of being undeceived when one whom we adored
is laid bare and the wretched consolation of a worthy object is denied to us
No misfortune can be like that Were it death we could worship still Death
would be preferable But may you be spared to know a situation in which the
comparison with your inferior is forced on you to your disadvantage and your
loss because of your generously giving up your whole heart to the custody of
some shallow lightminded self we will not deal in epithets If I were
to find as many bad names for the serpent as there are spots on his body it
would be serpent still neither better nor worse The loneliness And the
darkness Our luminary is extinguished Selfrespect refuses to continue
worshipping but the affection will not be turned aside We are literally in the
dust we grovel we would fling away selfrespect if we could we would adopt
for a model the creature preferred to us we would humiliate degrade ourselves
we cry for justice as if it were for pardon «
»For pardon when we are straining to grant it« Lætitia murmured and it
was as much as she could do She remembered how in her old misery her efforts
after charity had twisted her round to feel herself the sinner and beg
forgiveness in prayer a noble sentiment that filled her with pity of the bosom
in which it had sprung There was no similarity between his idea and hers but
her idea had certainly been roused by his word pardon and he had the benefit of
it in the moisture of her eyes Her lips trembled tears fell
He had heard something he had not caught the words but they were
manifestly favourable her sign of emotion assured him of it and of the success
he had sought There was one woman who bowed to him to all eternity He had
inspired one woman with the mysterious mandesired passion of selfabandonment
selfimmolation The evidence was before him At any instant he could if he
pleased fly to her and command her enthusiasm
He had in fact perhaps by sympathetic action succeeded in striking the
same springs of pathos in her which animated his lively endeavour to produce it
in himself
He kissed her hand then released it quitting his chair to bend above her
soothingly
»Do not weep Lætitia you see that I do not I can smile Help me to bear
it you must not unman me«
She tried to stop her crying but selfpity threatened to rain all her long
years of grief on her head and she said »I must go I am unfit good
night Sir Willoughby«
Fearing seriously that he had sunk his pride too low in her consideration
and had been carried farther than he intended on the tide of pathos he
remarked »We will speak about Crossjay tomorrow His deceitfulness has been
gross As I said I am grievously offended by deception But you are tired Good
night my dear friend«
»Good night Sir Willoughby«
She was allowed to go forth
Colonel De Craye coming up from the smoking met her and noticed the state
of her eyelids as he wished her good night He saw Willoughby in the room she
had quitted but considerately passed without speaking and without reflecting
why he was considerate
Our heros review of the scene made him on the whole satisfied with his part
in it Of his power upon one woman he was now perfectly sure Clara had
agonized him with a doubt of his personal mastery of any One was a poor feast
but the pangs of his flesh during the last few days and the latest hours caused
him to snatch at it hungrily if contemptuously A poor feast she was yet a
fortress a point of succour both shield and lance a cover and an impetus He
could now encounter Clara boldly Should she resist and defy him he would not
be naked and alone he foresaw that he might win honour in the worlds eye from
his position a matter to be thought of only in most urgent need The effect
on him of his recent exercise in pathos was to compose him to slumber He was
for the period wellsatisfied
His attendant imps were wellsatisfied likewise and danced a round about
his bed after the vigilant gentleman had ceased to debate on the question of his
unveiling of himself past forgiveness of her to Lætitia and had surrendered
unto benignant sleep the present direction of his affairs
Chapter XXXII
Lætitia Dale Discovers a Spiritual Change and Dr Middleton a Physical
Clara tripped over the lawn in the early morning to Lætitia to greet her She
broke away from a colloquy with Colonel De Craye under Sir Willoughbys windows
The colonel had been one of the bathers and he stood like a circus driver
flicking a wet towel at Crossjay capering
»My dear I am very unhappy« said Clara
»My dear I bring you news« Lætitia replied
»Tell me But the poor boy is to be expelled He burst into Crossjays
bedroom last night and dragged the sleeping boy out of bed to question him
and he had the truth That is one comfort only Crossjay is to be driven from
the Hall because he was untruthful previously for me to serve me really I
feel it was at my command Crossjay will be out of the way today and has
promised to come back at night to try to be forgiven You must help me
Lætitia«
»You are free Clara If you desire it you have but to ask for your
freedom«
»You mean «
»He will release you«
»You are sure«
»We had a long conversation last night«
»I owe it to you«
»Nothing is owing to me He volunteered it«
Clara made as if to lift her eyes in apostrophe »Professor Crooklyn
Professor Crooklyn I see I did not guess that«
»Give credit for some generosity Clara you are unjust«
»Byandby I will be more than just byandby I will practise on the
trumpet I will lecture on the greatness of the souls of men when we know them
thoroughly At present we do but half know them and we are unjust You are not
deceived Lætitia There is to be no speaking to papa no delusions You have
agitated me I feel myself a very small person indeed I feel I can understand
those who admire him He gives me back my word simply clearly without Oh
that long wrangle in scenes and letters And it will be arranged for papa and me
to go not later than tomorrow Never shall I be able to explain to any one how
I fell into this I am frightened at myself when I think of it I take the whole
blame I have been scandalous And dear Lætitia you came out so early in order
to tell me«
»I wished you to hear it«
»Take my heart«
»Present me with a part but for good«
»Fie But you have a right to say it«
»I mean no unkindness but is not the heart you allude to an alarmingly
searching one«
»Selfish it is for I have been forgetting Crossjay If we are going to be
generous is not Crossjay to be forgiven If it were only that the boys father
is away fighting for his country endangering his life day by day and for a
stipend not enough to support his family we are bound to think of the boy Poor
dear silly lad with his I say Miss Middleton why wouldnt some one see my
father when he came here to call on him and had to walk back ten miles in the
rain I could almost fancy that did me mischief But we have a splendid
morning after yesterdays rain And we will be generous Own Lætitia that it
is possible to gild the most glorious day of creation«
»Doubtless the spirit may do it and make its hues permanent« said Lætitia
»You to me I to you he to us Well then if he does it shall be one of
my heavenly days Which is for the probation of experience We are not yet at
sunset«
»Have you seen Mr Whitford this morning«
»He passed me«
»Do not imagine him ever illtempered«
»I had a governess a learned lady who taught me in person the
picturesqueness of grumpiness Her temper was ever perfect because she was
never in the wrong but I being so she was grumpy She carried my iniquity
under her brows and looked out on me through it I was a trying child«
Lætitia said laughing »I can believe it«
»Yet I liked her and she liked me we were a kind of foreground and
background she threw me into relief and I was an apology for her existence«
»You picture her to me«
»She says of me now that I am the only creature she has loved Who knows
that I may not come to say the same of her«
»You would plague her and puzzle her still«
»Have I plagued and puzzled Mr Whitford«
»He reminds you of her«
»You said you had her picture«
»Ah do not laugh at him He is a true friend«
»The man who can be a friend is the man who will presume to be a censor«
»A mild one«
»As to the sentence he pronounces I am unable to speak but his forehead is
Rhadamanthine condemnation«
»Dr Middleton«
Clara looked round »Who I Did you hear an echo of papa He would never
have put Rhadamanthus over European souls because it appears that Rhadamanthus
judged only the Asiatic so you are wrong Miss Dale My father is infatuated
with Mr Whitford What can it be We women cannot sound the depths of scholars
probably because their pearls have no value in our market except when they
deign to chasten an impertinent and Mr Whitford stands aloof from any notice
of small fry He is deep studious excellent and does it not strike you that
if he descended among us he would be like a Triton ashore«
Lætitias habit of wholly subservient sweetness which was her ideal of the
feminine not yet conciliated with her acuter character owing to the absence of
full pleasure from her life the unhealed wound she had sustained and the cramp
of a bondage of such old date as to seem iron induced her to say as if
consenting »You think he is not quite at home in society« But she wished to
defend him strenuously and as a consequence she had to quit the selfimposed
ideal of her daily acting whereby the case being unwonted very novel to her
the ladys intelligence became confused through the process that quickened it
so sovereign a method of hoodwinking our bright selves is the acting of a part
however naturally it may come to us and to this will each honest
autobiographical member of the animated world bear witness
She added »You have not found him sympathetic He is You fancy him
brooding gloomy He is the reverse he is cheerful he is indifferent to
personal misfortune Dr Corney says there is no laugh like Vernon Whitfords
and no humour like his Latterly he certainly but it has not been your cruel
word grumpiness The truth is he is anxious about Crossjay and about other
things and he wants to leave He is at a disadvantage beside very lively and
careless gentlemen at present but your Triton ashore is unfair it is ugly He
is I can say the truest man I know«
»I did not question his goodness Lætitia«
»You threw an accent on it«
»Did I I must be like Crossjay who declares he likes fun best«
»Crossjay ought to know him if anybody should Mr Whitford has defended
you against me Clara ever since I took to calling you Clara Perhaps when you
supposed him so like your ancient governess he was meditating how he could aid
you Last night he gave me reasons for thinking you would do wisely to confide
in Mrs Mountstuart It is no longer necessary I merely mention it He is a
devoted friend«
»He is an untiring pedestrian«
»Oh«
Colonel De Craye after hovering near the ladies in the hope of seeing them
divide now adopted the method of making three that two may come of it
As he joined them with his glittering chatter Lætitia looked at Clara to
consult her and saw the face rosy as a brides
The suspicion she had nursed sprang out of her arms a muscular fact on the
spot
»Where is my dear boy« Clara said
»Out for a holiday« the colonel answered in her tone
»Advise Mr Whitford not to waste his time in searching for Crossjay
Lætitia Crossjay is better out of the way today At least I thought so just
now Has he pocketmoney Colonel De Craye«
»My lord can command his inn«
»How thoughtful you are«
Lætitias bosom swelled upon a mute exclamation equivalent to »Woman
woman snared ever by the sparkling and frivolous undiscerning of the faithful
the modest and beneficent«
In the secret musings of moralists this dramatic rhetoric survives
The comparison was all of her own making and she was indignant at the
contrast though to what end she was indignant she could not have said for she
had no idea of Vernon as a rival of De Craye in the favour of a plighted lady
But she was jealous on behalf of her sex her sexs reputation seemed at stake
and the purity of it was menaced by Claras idle preference of the shallower
man When the young lady spoke so carelessly of being like Crossjay she did not
perhaps know that a likeness based on a similarity of their enthusiasms loves
and appetites has been established between women and boys Lætitia had formerly
chafed at it rejecting it utterly save when now and then in a season of
bitterness she handed here and there a volatile young lady none but the young
to be stamped with the degrading brand Vernon might be as philosophical as he
pleased To her the gaiety of these two Colonel De Craye and Clara Middleton
was distressingly musical they harmonized painfully The representative of her
sex was hurt by it
She had to stay beside them Clara held her arm The colonels voice dropped
at times to something very like a whisper He was answered audibly and smoothly
The quickwitted gentleman accepted the correction but in immediately paying
assiduous attentions to Miss Dale in the approved intriguers fashion he
showed himself in need of another amounting to a reproof Clara said »We have
been consulting Lætitia what is to be done to cure Professor Crooklyn of his
cold« De Craye perceived that he had taken a wrong step and he was mightily
surprised that a lesson in intrigue should be read to him of all men Miss
Middletons audacity was not so astonishing he recognized grand capabilities in
the young lady Fearing lest she should proceed farther and cut away from him
his vantageground of secresy with her he turned the subject and was adroitly
submissive
Claras manner of meeting Sir Willoughby expressed a timid disposition to
friendliness upon a veiled inquiry understood by none save Lætitia whose brain
was racked to convey assurances to herself of her not having misinterpreted him
Could there be any doubt She resolved that there could not be and it was upon
this basis of reason that she fancied she had led him to it Legitimate or
not the fancy sprang from a solid foundation Yesterday morning she could not
have conceived it Now she was endowed to feel that she had power to influence
him because now since the midnight she felt some emancipation from the spell
of his physical mastery He did not appear to her as a different man but she
had grown sensible of being a stronger woman He was no more the cloud over her
nor the magnet the cloud once heavensuffused the magnet fatally compelling
her to sway round to him She admired him still his handsome air his fine
proportions the courtesy of his bending to Clara and touching of her hand
excused a fanatical excess of admiration on the part of a woman in her youth
who is never the anatomist of the heros lordly graces But now she admired him
piecemeal When it came to the putting of him together she did it coldly To
compassionate him was her utmost warmth Without conceiving in him anything of
the strange old monster of earth which had struck the awakened girls mind of
Miss Middleton Lætitia classed him with other men he was »one of them« And
she did not bring her disenchantment as a charge against him She accused
herself acknowledged the secret of the change to be that her youthfulness was
dead otherwise could she have given him compassion and not herself have been
carried on the flood of it The compassion was fervent and pure too She
supposed he would supplicate she saw that Clara Middleton was pleasant with him
only for what she expected of his generosity She grieved Sir Willoughby was
fortified by her sorrowful gaze as he and Clara passed out together to the
laboratory arm in arm
Lætitia had to tell Vernon of the uselessness of his beating the house and
grounds for Crossjay Dr Middleton held him fast in discussion upon an
overnights classical wrangle with Professor Crooklyn which was to be renewed
that day The Professor had appointed to call expressly to renew it »A fine
scholar« said the Rev Doctor »but crotchety like all men who cannot stand
their Port«
»I hear that he had a cold« Vernon remarked »I hope the wine was good
sir«
As when the foreman of a sentimental jury is commissioned to inform an awful
Bench exact in perspicuous English of a verdict that must of necessity be
pronounced in favour of the hanging of the culprit yet would fain attenuate the
crime of a palpable villain by a recommendation to mercy such foreman standing
in the attentive eye of a master of grammatical construction and feeling the
weight of at least three sentences on his brain together with a prospect of
judicial interrogation for the discovery of his precise meaning is oppressed
himself is put on trial in turn and he hesitates he recapitulates the fear of
involution leads him to be involved as far as a man so posted may he on his
own behalf appeals for mercy entreats that his indistinct statement of
preposterous reasons may be taken for understood and would gladly were
permission to do it credible throw in an imploring word that he may sink back
among the crowd without for the one imperishable moment publicly swinging in his
lordships estimation much so moved by chivalry toward a lady courtesy to
the recollection of a hostess and particularly by the knowledge that his hearer
would expect with a certain frigid rigour charity of him Dr Middleton paused
spoke and paused he stammered Ladies he said were famous poisoners in the
Middle Ages His opinion was that we had a class of manufacturing
winemerchants on the watch for widows in this country But he was bound to
state the fact of his waking at his usual hour to the minute unassailed by
headache On the other hand this was a condition of blessedness unanticipated
when he went to bed Mr Whitford however was not to think that he entertained
rancour toward the wine It was no doubt dispensed with the honourable intention
of cheering In point of flavour execrable judging by results it was innocuous
»The test of it shall be the effect of it upon Professor Crooklyn and his
appearance in the forenoon according to promise« Dr Middleton came to an end
with his perturbed balancings »If I hear more of the eight or twelve winds
discharged at once upon a railway platform and the young lady who dries herself
of a drenching by drinking brandy and water with a gentleman at a railway inn I
shall solicit your sanction to my condemnation of the wine as antiBacchic and a
counterfeit presentment Do not misjudge me Our hostess is not responsible But
widows should marry«
»You must contrive to stop the Professor sir if he should attack his
hostess in that manner« said Vernon
»Widows should marry« Dr Middleton repeated
He murmured of objecting to be at the discretion of a butler unless he was
careful to add the aforesaid functionary could boast of an University
education and even then said he it requires a line of ancestry to train a
mans taste
The Rev Doctor smothered a yawn The repression of it caused a second one
a real monster to come big as our old friend of the sea advancing on the
chainedup Beauty
Disconcerted by this damning evidence of indigestion his countenance showed
that he considered himself to have been too lenient to the wine of an
unhusbanded hostess He frowned terribly
In the interval Lætitia told Vernon of Crossjays flight for the day
hastily bidding the master to excuse him she had no time to hint the grounds of
excuse Vernon mentally made a guess
Dr Middleton took his arm and discharged a volley at the crotchety
scholarship of Professor Crooklyn whom to confute by book he directed his
march to the library Having persuaded himself that he was dyspeptic he had
grown irascible He denounced all dining out eulogized Patterne Hall as if it
were his home and remembered he had dreamed in the night a most humiliating
sign of physical disturbance »But let me find a house in proximity to Patterne
as I am induced to suppose I shall« he said »and here only am I to be met when
I stir abroad«
Lætitia went to her room She was complacently anxious enough to prefer
solitude and be willing to read She was more seriously anxious about Crossjay
than about any of the others For Clara would be certain to speak very
definitely and how then could a gentleman oppose her He would supplicate and
could she be brought to yield It was not to be expected of a young lady who had
turned from Sir Willoughby His inferiors would have had a better chance
Whatever his faults he had that element of greatness which excludes the
intercession of pity Supplication would be with him a form of condescension It
would be seen to be such His was a monumental pride that could not stoop She
had preserved this image of the gentleman for a relic in the shipwreck of her
idolatry So she mused between the lines of her book and finishing her reading
and marking the page she glanced down on the lawn Dr Middleton was there and
alone his hands behind his back his head bent His meditative pace and
unwonted perusal of the turf proclaimed that a nonsentimental jury within had
delivered an unmitigated verdict upon the widows wine Lætitia hurried to find
Vernon
He was in the hall As she drew near him the laboratory door opened and
shut
»It is being decided« said Lætitia
Vernon was paler than the hue of perfect calmness
»I want to know whether I ought to take to my heels like Crossjay and shun
the Professor« he said
They spoke in undertones furtively watching the door
»I wish what she wishes I am sure but it will go badly with the boy« said
Lætitia
»Oh well then Ill take him« said Vernon »I would rather I think I can
manage it«
Again the laboratory door opened This time it shut behind Miss Middleton
She was highly flushed Seeing them she shook the storm from her brows with a
dead smile the best piece of serenity she could put on for public wear
She took a breath before she moved
Vernon strode out of the house
Clara swept up to Lætitia
»You were deceived«
The hard sob of anger barred her voice
Lætitia begged her to come to her room with her
»I want air I must be by myself« said Clara catching at her gardenhat
She walked swiftly to the porticosteps and turned to the right to avoid
the laboratory windows
Chapter XXXIII
In which the Comic Muse Has an Eye on Two Good Souls
Clara met Vernon on the bowlinggreen among the laurels She asked him where her
father was
»Dont speak to him now« said Vernon
»Mr Whitford will you«
»It is not adviseable just now Wait«
»Wait Why not now«
»He is not in the right humour«
She choked There are times when there is no medicine for us in sages we
want slaves we scorn to temporize we must overbear On she sped as if she had
made the mistake of exchanging words with a post
The scene between herself and Willoughby was a thick mist in her head
except the burden and result of it that he held to her fast would neither
assist her to depart nor disengage her
Oh men men They astounded the girl she could not define them to her
understanding Their motives their tastes their vanity their tyranny and the
domino on their vanity the baldness of their tyranny clenched her in feminine
antagonism to brute power She was not the less disposed to rebellion by a very
present sense of the justice of what could be said to reprove her She had but
one answer »Anything but marry him« It threw her on her nature our last and
headlong advocate who is quick as the flood to hurry us from the heights to our
level and lower if there be accidental gaps in the channel For say we have
been guilty of misconduct can we redeem it by violating that which we are and
live by The question sinks us back to the luxuriousness of a sunny
relinquishment of effort in the direction against tide Our nature becomes
ingenious in devices penetrative of the enemy confidently citing its cause for
being frankly elvish or worse Clara saw a particular way of forcing herself to
be surrendered She shut her eyes from it the sight carried her too violently
to her escape but her heart caught it up and huzzaed To press the points of
her fingers at her bosom looking up to the sky as she did and cry »I am not
my own I am his« was instigation sufficient to make her heart leap up with all
her bodys blush to urge it to recklessness A despairing creature then may say
she has addressed the heavens and has had no answer to restrain her
Happily for Miss Middleton she had walked some minutes in her chafing fit
before the falcon eye of Colonel De Craye spied her away on one of the
beechknolls
Vernon stood irresolute It was decidedly not a moment for disturbing Dr
Middletons composure He meditated upon a conversation as friendly as
possible with Willoughby Round on the frontlawn he beheld Willoughby and Dr
Middleton together the latter having halted to lend attentive ear to his
excellent host Unnoticed by them or disregarded Vernon turned back to Lætitia
and sauntered talking with her of things current for as long as he could endure
to listen to praise of his pure selfabnegation proof of how well he had
disguised himself but it smacked unpleasantly to him His humourous intimacy
with mens minds likened the source of this distaste to the gallant
allornothing of the gambler who hates the little when he cannot have the
much and would rather stalk from the tables cleanpicked than suffer ruin to be
tickled by driblets of the glorious fortune he has played for and lost If we
are not to be beloved spare us the small coin of compliments on character
especially when they compliment only our acting It is partly endurable to win
eulogy for our stately fortitude in losing but Lætitia was unaware that he
flung away a stake so she could not praise him for his merits
»Willoughby makes the pardoning of Crossjay conditional« he said »and the
person pleading for him has to grant the terms How could you imagine Willoughby
would give her up How could he Who He should is easily said I was no
witness of the scene between them just now but I could have foretold the end of
it I could almost recount the passages The consequence is that everything
depends upon the amount of courage she possesses Dr Middleton wont leave
Patterne yet And it is of no use to speak to him today And she is by nature
impatient and is rendered desperate«
»Why is it of no use to speak to Dr Middleton today« said Lætitia
»He drank wine yesterday that did not agree with him he cant work Today
he is looking forward to Patterne Port He is not likely to listen to any
proposals to leave today«
»Goodness«
»I know the depth of that cry«
»You are excluded Mr Whitford«
»Not a bit of it I am in with the rest Say that men are to be exclaimed
at Men have a right to expect you to know your own mind when you close on a
bargain You dont know the world or yourselves very well its true still the
original error is on your side and upon that you should fix your attention She
brought her father here and no sooner was he very comfortably established than
she wished to dislocate him«
»I cannot explain it I cannot comprehend it« said Lætitia
»You are Constancy«
»No« She coloured »I am in with the rest I do not say I should have done
the same But I have the knowledge that I must not sit in judgement on her I
can waver«
She coloured again She was anxious that he should know her to be not that
stupid statue of Constancy in a corner doating on the antic Deception
Reminiscences of the interview overnight made it oppressive to her to hear
herself praised for always pointing like the needle Her newly enfranchised
individuality pressed to assert its existence Vernon however not seeing this
novelty continued to her excessive discomfort to baste her old abandoned
image with his praises They checked hers and moreover he had suddenly
conceived an envy of her lifelong uncomplaining almost unaspiring constancy
of sentiment If you know lovers when they have not reason to be blissful you
will remember that in this mood of admiring envy they are given to fits of
uncontrollable maundering Praise of constancy moreover smote shadowily a
certain inconstant enough to seem to ruffle her smoothness and do no hurt He
found his consolation in it and poor Lætitia writhed Without designing to
retort she instinctively grasped at a weapon of defence in further exalting his
devotedness which reduced him to cast his head to the heavens and implore them
to partially enlighten her Nevertheless maunder he must and he recurred to it
in a way so utterly unlike himself that Lætitia stared in his face She wondered
whether there could be anything secreted behind this everlasting theme of
constancy He took her awakened gaze for a summons to asseverations of
sincerity and out they came She would have fled from him but to think of
flying was to think how little it was that urged her to fly and yet the thought
of remaining and listening to praises undeserved and no longer flattering was a
torture
»Mr Whitford I bear no comparison with you«
»I do and must set you for my example Miss Dale«
»Indeed you do wrongly you do not know me«
»I could say that For years «
»Pray Mr Whitford«
»Well I have admired it You show us how self can be smothered«
»An echo would be a retort on you«
»On me I am never thinking of anything else«
»I could say that«
»You are necessarily conscious of not swerving«
»But I do I waver dreadfully I am not the same two days running«
»You are the same with ravishing divisions upon the same«
»And you without the divisions I draw such support as I have from you«
»From some simulacrum of me then And that will show you how little you
require support«
»I do not speak my own opinion only«
»Whose«
»I am not alone«
»Again let me say I wish I were like you«
»Then let me add I would willingly make the exchange«
»You would be amazed at your bargain«
»Others would be«
»Your exchange would give me the qualities I am in want of Miss Dale«
»Negative passive at the best Mr Whitford But I should have «
»Oh pardon me But you inflict the sensations of a boy with a dose of
honesty in him called up to receive a prize he has won by the dexterous use of
a crib«
»And how do you suppose she feels who has a crown of Queen o the May
forced on her head when she is verging on November«
He rejected her analogy and she his They could neither of them bring to
light the circumstances which made one anothers admiration so unbearable The
more he exalted her for constancy the more did her mind become bent upon
critically examining the object of that imagined virtue and the more she
praised him for possessing the spirit of perfect friendliness the fiercer grew
the passion in him which disdained the imputation hissing like a heated
ironbar that flings the waterdrops to steam He would none of it would rather
have stood exposed in his profound foolishness
Amiable though they were and mutually affectionate they came to a stop in
their walk longing to separate and not seeing how it was to be done they had
so knit themselves together with the pelting of their interlaudation
»I think it is time for me to run home to my father for an hour« said
Lætitia
»I ought to be working« said Vernon
Good progress was made to the disgarlanding of themselves thus far yet an
acutely civilized pair the abruptness of the transition from floweriness to
commonplace affected them both Lætitia chiefly as she had broken the pause
and she remarked
»I am really Constancy in my opinions«
»Another title is customary where stiff opinions are concerned Perhaps
byandby you will learn your mistake and then you will acknowledge the name
for it«
»How« said she »What shall I learn«
»If you learn that I am a grisly Egoist«
»You And it would not be egoism« added Lætitia revealing to him at the
same instant as to herself that she swung suspended on a scarce credible guess
» Will nothing pierce your ears Mr Whitford«
He heard the intruding voice but he was bent on rubbing out the cloudy
letters Lætitia had begun to spell and he stammered in a tone of
matteroffact »Just that and no better« then turned to Mrs Mountstuart
Jenkinson
» Or are you resolved you will never see Professor Crooklyn when you look
on him« said the great lady
Vernon bowed to the Professor and apologized to him shufflingly and rapidly
incoherently and with a red face which induced Mrs Mountstuart to scan
Lætitias
After lecturing Vernon for his abandonment of her yesterday evening and
flouting his protestations she returned to the business of the day »We walked
from the lodgegates to see the park and prepare ourselves for Dr Middleton We
parted last night in the middle of a controversy and are rageing to resume it
Where is our redoubtable antagonist«
Mrs Mountstuart wheeled Professor Crooklyn round to accompany Vernon
»We« she said »are for modern English scholarship opposed to the champion
of German«
»The contrary« observed Professor Crooklyn
»Oh We« she corrected the error serenely »are for German scholarship
opposed to English«
»Certain editions«
»We defend certain editions«
»Defend is a term of imperfect application to my position maam«
»My dear Professor you have in Dr Middleton a match for you in
conscientious pugnacity and you will not waste it upon me There there they
are there he is Mr Whitford will conduct you I stand away from the first
shock«
Mrs Mountstuart fell back to Lætitia saying »He pores over a little
inexactitude in phrases and pecks at it like a domestic fowl«
Professor Crooklyns attitude and air were so well described that Lætitia
could have laughed
»These mighty scholars have their flavour« the great lady hastened to add
lest her younger companion should be misled to suppose that they were not
valuable to a governing hostess »their shadowfights are ridiculous but they
have their flavour at a table Last night no I discard all mention of last
night We failed as none else in this neighbourhood could fail but we failed
If we have among us a cormorant devouring young lady who drinks up all the ha
brandy and water of our inns and occupies all our flys why our condition
is abnormal and we must expect to fail we are deprived of accommodation for
accidental circumstances How Mr Whitford could have missed seeing Professor
Crooklyn And what was he doing at the station Miss Dale«
»Your portrait of Professor Crooklyn was too striking Mrs Mountstuart and
deceived him by its excellence He appears to have seen only the blank side of
the slate«
»Ah He is a faithful friend of his cousin do you not think«
»He is the truest of friends«
»As for Dr Middleton« Mrs Mountstuart diverged from her inquiry »he will
swell the letters of my vocabulary to gigantic proportions if I see much of him
he is contagious«
»I believe it is a form of his humour«
»I caught it of him yesterday at my dinnertable in my distress and must
pass it off as a form of mine while it lasts I talked Dr Middleton half the
dreary night through to my pillow Your candid opinion my dear come As for
me I dont hesitate We seemed to have sat down to a solitary performance on
the bassviol We were positively an assembly of insects during thunder My very
soul thanked Colonel De Craye for his diversions but I heard nothing but Dr
Middleton It struck me that my table was petrified and every one sat listening
to bowls played overhead«
»I was amused«
»Really You delight me Who knows but that my guests were sincere in their
congratulations on a thoroughly successful evening I have fallen to this you
see And I know wretched people that as often as not it is their way of
condoling with one I do it myself but only where there have been amiable
efforts But imagine my being congratulated for that Good morning Sir
Willoughby The worst offender and I am in no pleasant mood with him« Mrs
Mountstuart said aside to Lætitia who drew back retiring
Sir Willoughby came on a step or two He stopped to watch Lætitias figure
swimming to the house
So as for instance beside a stream when a flower on the surface extends
its petals drowning to subside in the clear still water we exercise our
privilege to be absent in the charmed contemplation of a beautiful natural
incident
A smile of pleased abstraction melted on his features
Chapter XXXIV
Mrs Mountstuart and Sir Willoughby
»Goodmorning my dear Mrs Mountstuart« Sir Willoughby wakened himself to
address the great lady »Why has she fled«
»Has any one fled«
»Lætitia Dale«
»Letty Dale Oh if you call that flying Possibly to renew a close
conversation with Vernon Whitford that I cut short You frightened me with your
Shepherdstellme air and tone Lead me to one of your gardenseats out of
hearing to Dr Middleton I beg He mesmerizes me he makes me talk Latin I was
curiously susceptible last night I know I shall everlastingly associate him
with an abortive entertainment and solos on big instruments We were flat«
»Horace was in good vein«
»You were not«
»And Lætitia Miss Dale talked well I thought«
»She talked with you and no doubt she talked well We did not mix The
yeast was bad You shot darts at Colonel De Craye you tried to sting You
brought Dr Middleton down on you Dear me that man is a reverberation in my
head Where is your lady and love«
»Who«
»Am I to name her«
»Clara I have not seen her for the last hour Wandering I suppose«
»A very pretty summerbower« said Mrs Mountstuart seating herself »Well
my dear Sir Willoughby preferences preferences are not to be accounted for
and one never knows whether to pity or congratulate whatever may occur I want
to see Miss Middleton«
»Your dainty rogue in porcelain will be at your beck you lunch with us
before you leave«
»So now you have taken to quoting me have you«
»But a romantic tale on her eyelashes is hardly descriptive any longer«
»Descriptive of whom Now you are upon Lætitia Dale«
»I quote you generally She has now a graver look«
»And well may have«
»Not that the romance has entirely disappeared«
»No it looks as if it were in print«
»You have hit it perfectly as usual maam«
Sir Willoughby mused
Like one resuming his instrument to take up the melody in a concerted piece
he said »I thought Lætitia Dale had a singularly animated air last night«
»Why « Mrs Mountstuart mildly gaped
»I want a new description of her You know I collect your mottoes and
sentences«
»It seems to me she is coming three parts out of her shell and wearing it
as a hood for convenience«
»Ready to issue forth at an invitation Admirable exact«
»Ay my good Sir Willoughby but are we so very admirable and exact Are we
never to know our own minds«
He produced a polysyllabic sigh like those manyjointed compounds of poets
in happy languages which are copious in a single expression »Mine is known to
me It always has been Cleverness in women is not uncommon Intellect is the
pearl A woman of intellect is as good as a Greek statue she is divinely
wrought and she is divinely rare«
»Proceed« said the lady confiding a cough to the air
»The rarity of it and it is not mere intellect it is a sympathetic
intellect or else it is an intellect in perfect accord with an intensely
sympathetic disposition the rarity of it makes it too precious to be parted
with when once we have met it I prize it the more the older I grow«
»Are we on the feminine or the neuter«
»I beg pardon«
»The universal or the individual«
He shrugged »For the rest psychological affinities may exist coincident
with and entirely independent of material or moral prepossessions relations
engagements ties«
»Well that is not the raving of passion certainly« said Mrs Mountstuart
»and it sounds as if it were a comfortable doctrine for men On that plea you
might all of you be having Aspasia and a wife We saw your fair Middleton and
Colonel De Craye at a distance as we entered the park Professor Crooklyn is
under some hallucination«
»What more likely«
The readiness and the doublebearing of the reply struck her comic sense
with awe
»The Professor must hear that He insists on the fly and the inn and the
wet boots and the warming mixture and the testimony of the landlady and the
railway porter«
»I say what more likely«
»Than that he should insist«
»If he is under the hallucination«
»He may convince others«
»I have only to repeat «
»What more likely Its extremely philosophical Coincident with a pursuit
of the psychological affinities«
»Professor Crooklyn will hardly descend I suppose from his classical
altitudes to lay his hallucinations before Dr Middleton«
»Sir Willoughby you are the pink of chivalry«
By harping on Lætitia he had emboldened Mrs Mountstuart to lift the
curtain upon Clara It was offensive to him but the injury done to his pride
had to be endured for the sake of his general plan of selfprotection
»Simply desirous to save my guests from annoyance of any kind« he said
»Dr Middleton can look Olympus and thunder as Vernon calls it«
»Dont I see him That look It is Dictionarybitten Angry horned
Dictionary an apparition of Dictionary in the night to a dunce«
»One would undergo a good deal to avoid the sight«
»What the man must be in a storm Speak as you please of yourself you are a
true and chivalrous knight to dread it for her But now candidly how is it you
cannot condescend to a little management Listen to an old friend You are too
lordly No lover can afford to be incomprehensible for half an hour Stoop a
little Sermonizings are not to be thought of You can govern unseen You are to
know that I am one who disbelieves in philosophy in love I admire the look of
it I give no credit to the assumption I rather like lovers to be out at times
it makes them picturesque and it enlivens their monotony I perceived she had a
spot of wildness Its proper that she should wear it off before marriage«
»Clara The wildness of an infant« said Willoughby paternally musing over
an inward shiver »You saw her at a distance just now or you might have heard
her laughing Horace diverts her excessively«
»I owe him my eternal gratitude for his behaviour last night She was one of
my bright faces Her laughter was delicious rain in the desert It will tell
you what the load on me was when I assure you those two were merely a spectacle
to me points I scored in a lost game And I know they were witty«
»They both have wit a kind of wit« Willoughby assented
»They struck together like a pair of cymbals«
»Not the highest description of instrument However they amuse me I like
to hear them when I am in the vein«
»That vein should be more at command with you my friend You can be
perfect if you like«
»Under your tuition«
Willoughby leaned to her bowing languidly He was easier in his pain for
having hoodwinked the lady She was the outer world to him she could tune the
worlds voice prescribe which of the two was to be pitied himself or Clara
and he did not intend it to be himself if it came to the worst
They were far away from that at present and he continued »Probably a mans
power of putting on a face is not equal to a girls I detest petty dissensions
Probably I show it when all is not quite smooth Little fits of suspicion vex
me It is a weakness not to play them off I know Men have to learn the arts
which come to women by nature I dont sympathize with suspicion from having
none myself«
His eyebrows shot up That illomened man Flitch had sidled round by the
bushes to within a few feet of him
Flitch primarily defended himself against the accusation of drunkenness
which was hurled at him to account for his audacity in trespassing against the
interdict but he admitted that he had taken something short for a fortification
in visiting scenes where he had once been happy at Christmastide when all the
servants and the butler at head gray old Mr Chessington sat in rows
toasting the young heir of the old Hall in the old port wine Happy had he been
then before ambition for a shop to be his own master and an independent
gentleman had led him into his quagmire to look back envying a dog on the
old estate and sigh for the smell of Patterne stables sweeter than Arabia his
drooping nose appeared to say
He held up close against it something that imposed silence on Sir Willoughby
as effectually as a cunning exordium in oratory will enchain mobs to swallow
what is not complimenting them and this he displayed secure in its being his
license to drivel his abominable pathos Sir Willoughby recognized Claras
purse He understood at once how the man must have come by it he was not so
quick in devising a means of stopping the tale Flitch foiled him »Intact« he
replied to the question »What have you there« He repeated this grand word And
then he turned to Mrs Mountstuart to speak of Paradise and Adam in whom he saw
the prototype of himself also the Hebrew people in the bondage of Egypt
discoursed of by the clergymen not without a likeness to him
»Sorrows have done me one good to send me attentive to church my lady«
said Flitch »when I might have gone to London the coachmans home and been
driving some honourable family with no great advantage to my morals according
to what I hear of And a purse found under the seat of a fly in London would
have a poor chance of returning intact to the young lady losing it«
»Put it down on that chair inquiries will be made and you will see Sir
Willoughby« said Mrs Mountstuart
»Intact no doubt it is not disputed«
With one motion of a finger she set the man rounding Flitch halted he was
very regretful of the termination of his feast of pathos and he wished to
relate the finding of the purse but he could not encounter Mrs Mountstuarts
look he slouched away in very close resemblance to the ejected Adam of
illustrated books
»Its my belief that naturalness among the common people has died out of the
kingdom« she said
Willoughby charitably apologized for him »He has been fuddling himself«
Her vigilant considerateness had dealt the sensitive gentleman a shock
plainly telling him she had her ideas of his actual posture Nor was he unhurt
by her superior acuteness and her display of authority on his grounds
He said boldly as he weighed the purse half tossing it »Its not unlike
Claras«
He feared that his lips and cheeks were twitching and as he grew aware of a
glassiness of aspect that would reflect any suspicion of a keeneyed woman he
became bolder still »Lætitias I know it is not Hers is an ancient purse«
»A present from you«
»How do you hit on that my dear lady«
»Deductively«
»Well the purse looks as good as new in quality like the owner«
»The poor dear has not much occasion for using it«
»You are mistaken she uses it daily«
»If it were better filled Sir Willoughby your old scheme might be
arranged The parties do not appear so unwilling Professor Crooklyn and I came
on them just now rather by surprise and I assure you their heads were close
faces meeting eyes musing«
»Impossible«
»Because when they approach the point you wont allow it Selfish«
»Now« said Willoughby very animatedly »question Clara Now do my dear
Mrs Mountstuart do speak to Clara on that head she will convince you I have
striven quite recently against myself if you like I have instructed her to
aid me given her the fullest instructions carte blanche She cannot possibly
have a doubt I may look to her to remove any you may entertain from your mind
on the subject I have proposed seconded and chorussed it and it will not be
arranged If you expect me to deplore that fact I can only answer that my
actions are under my control my feelings are not I will do everything
consistent with the duties of a man of honour perpetually running into fatal
errors because he did not properly consult the dictates of those feelings at the
right season I can violate them but I can no more command them than I can my
destiny They were crushed of old and so let them be now Sentiments we wont
discuss though you know that sentiments have a bearing on social life are
factors as they say in their later jargon I never speak of mine To you I
could It is not necessary If old Vernon instead of flattening his chest at a
desk had any manly ambition to take part in public affairs she would be the
woman for him I have called her my Egeria She would be his Cornelia One could
swear of her that she would have noble offspring But old Vernon has had his
disappointment and will moan over it up to the end And she So it appears I
have tried yes personally without effect In other matters I may have
influence with her not in that one She declines She will live and die Lætitia
Dale We are alone I confess to you I love the name Its an old song in my
ears Do not be too ready with a name for me Believe me I speak from my
experience hitherto there is a fatality in these things I cannot conceal from
my poor girl that this fatality exists «
»Which is the poor girl at present« said Mrs Mountstuart cool in a
mystification
»And though she will tell you that I have authorized and Clara Middleton
done as much as man can to institute the union you suggest she will own that
she is conscious of the presence of this fatality I call it for want of a
better title between us It drives her in one direction me in another or
would if I submitted to the pressure She is not the first who has been
conscious of it«
»Are we laying hold of a third poor girl« said Mrs Mountstuart »Ah I
remember And I remember we used to call it playing fast and loose in those
days not fatality It is very strange It may be that you were unblushingly
courted in those days and excuseable and we all supposed but away you went
for your tour«
»My mothers medical receipt for me Partially it succeeded She was for
grand marriages not I I could make I could not be a sacrifice And then I
went in due time to Dr Cupid on my own account She has the kind of attraction
But one changes On revient toujours First we begin with a liking then we
give ourselves up to the passion for beauty then comes the serious question of
suitableness of the mate to match us and perhaps we discover that we were wiser
in early youth than somewhat later However she has beauty Now Mrs
Mountstuart you do admire her Chase the idea of the dainty rogue out of your
view of her you admire her she is captivating she has a particular charm of
her own nay she has real beauty«
Mrs Mountstuart fronted him to say »Upon my word my dear Sir Willoughby
I think she has it to such a degree that I dont know the man who could hold out
against her if she took the field She is one of the women who are dead shots
with men Whether its in their tongues or their eyes or its an effusion and
an atmosphere whatever it is its a spell another fatality for you«
»Animal not spiritual«
»Oh she hasnt the head of Letty Dale«
Sir Willoughby allowed Mrs Mountstuart to pause and follow her thoughts
»Dear me« she exclaimed »I noticed a change in Letty Dale last night and
today She looked fresher and younger extremely well which is not what I can
say for you my friend Fatalizing is not good for the complexion«
»Dont take away my health pray« cried Willoughby with a snapping laugh
»Be careful« said Mrs Mountstuart »You have got a sentimental tone You
talk of feelings crushed of old It is to a woman not to a man that you speak
but that sort of talk is a way of making the ground slippery I listen in vain
for a natural tongue and when I dont hear it I suspect plotting in men You
show your underteeth too at times when you draw in a breath like a condemned
highcaste Hindoo my husband took me to see in a jail in Calcutta to give me
some excitement when I was pining for England The creature did it regularly as
he breathed you did it last night and you have been doing it today as if the
air cut you to the quick You have been spoilt You have been too much anointed
What Ive just mentioned is a sign with me of a settled something on the brain
of a man«
»The brain« said Sir Willoughby frowning
»Yes you laugh sourly to look at« said she »Mountstuart told me that the
muscles of the mouth betray men sooner than the eyes when they have cause to be
uneasy in their minds«
»But maam I shall not break my word I shall not not I intend I have
resolved to keep it I do not fatalize let my complexion be black or white
Despite my resemblance to a highclass malefactor of the Calcutta prisonwards
«
»Friend friend you know how I chatter«
He saluted her fingerends »Despite the extraordinary display of teeth you
will find me go to execution with perfect calmness with a resignation as good
as happiness«
»Like a Jacobite lord under the Georges«
»You have told me that you wept to read of one like him then My
principles have not changed if I have When I was younger I had an idea of a
wife who would be with me in my thoughts as well as aims a woman with a spirit
of romance and a brain of solid sense I shall sooner or later dedicate myself
to a public life and shall I suppose want the counsellor or comforter who
ought always to be found at home It may be unfortunate that I have the ideal in
my head But I would never make rigorous demands for specific qualities The
cruellest thing in the world is to set up a living model before a wife and
compel her to copy it In any case here we are upon the road the die is cast
I shall not reprieve myself I cannot release her Marriage represents facts
courtship fancies She will be cured byandby of that coveting of everything
that I do feel think dream imagine tatatata ad infinitum Lætitia was
invited here to show her the example of a fixed character solid as any
concrete substance you would choose to build on and not a whit the less
feminine«
»Tatatata ad infinitum You need not tell me you have a design in all
that you do Willoughby Patterne«
»You smell the autocrat Yes he can mould and govern the creatures about
him His toughest rebel is himself If you see Clara You wish to see her I
think you said«
»Her behaviour to Lady Busshe last night was queer«
»If you will She makes a mouth at porcelain Toujours la porcelaine For
me her pettishness is one of her charms I confess it Ten years younger I
could not have compared them«
»Whom«
»Lætitia and Clara«
»Sir Willoughby in any case to quote you here we are all upon the road
and we must act as if events were going to happen and I must ask her to help me
on the subject of my weddingpresent for I dont want to have her making mouths
at mine however pretty and she does it prettily«
»Another dedicatory offering to the rogue in me she says of porcelain«
»Then porcelain it shall not be I mean to consult her I have come
determined upon a chat with her I think I understand But she produces false
impressions on those who dont know you both I shall have that porcelain back
says Lady Busshe to me when we were shaking hands last night I think says
she it should have been the Willow Pattern And she really said hes in for
being jilted a second time«
Sir Willoughby restrained a bound of his body that would have sent him up
some feet into the air He felt his skull thundered at within
»Rather than that it should fall upon her« ejaculated he correcting his
resemblance to the highcaste culprit as soon as it recurred to him
»But you know Lady Busshe« said Mrs Mountstuart genuinely solicitous to
ease the proud man of his pain She could see through him to the depth of the
skin which his fencing sensitiveness vainly attempted to cover as it did the
heart of him »Lady Busshe is nothing without her flights fads and fancies
She has always insisted that you have an unfortunate nose I remember her saying
on the day of your majority it was the nose of a monarch destined to lose a
throne«
»Have I ever offended Lady Busshe«
»She trumpets you She carries Lady Culmer with her too and you may expect
a visit of nods and hints and pots of alabaster They worship you you are the
hope of England in their eyes and no woman is worthy of you but they are a
pair of fatalists and if you begin upon Letty Dale with them you might as well
forbid your banns They will be all over the country exclaiming on
predestination and marriages made in heaven«
»Clara and her father« cried Sir Willoughby
Dr Middleton and his daughter appeared in the circle of shrubs and flowers
»Bring her to me and save me from the polyglot« said Mrs Mountstuart in
affright at Dr Middletons manner of pouring forth into the ears of the
downcast girl
The leisure he loved that he might debate with his genius upon any next step
was denied to Willoughby he had to place his trust in the skill with which he
had sown and prepared Mrs Mountstuarts understanding to meet the girl
beautiful abhorred that she was detested darling thing to squeeze to death and
throw to the dust and mourn over
He had to risk it and at an hour when Lady Busshes prognostic grievously
impressed his intensely apprehensive nature
As it happened that Dr Middletons notion of a disagreeable duty in
colloquy was to deliver all that he contained and escape the listening to a
syllable of reply Willoughby withdrew his daughter from him opportunely
»Mrs Mountstuart wants you Clara«
»I shall be very happy« Clara replied and put on a new face
An imperceptible nervous shrinking was met by another force in her bosom
that pushed her to advance without a sign of reluctance She seemed to glitter
She was handed to Mrs Mountstuart
Dr Middleton laid his hand over Willoughbys shoulder retiring on a bow
before the great lady of the district He blew and said »An opposition of
female instincts to masculine intellect necessarily creates a corresponding
antagonism of intellect to instinct«
»Her answer sir Her reasons Has she named any«
»The cat« said Dr Middleton taking breath for a sentence »that humps her
back in the figure of the letter H or a Chinese bridge has given the dog her
answer and her reasons we may presume but he that undertakes to translate them
into human speech might likewise venture to propose an addition to the alphabet
and a continuation of Homer The one performance would be not more wonderful
than the other Daughters Willoughby daughters Above most human peccancies I
do abhor a breach of faith She will not be guilty of that I demand a cheerful
fulfilment of a pledge and I sigh to think that I cannot count on it without
administering a lecture«
»She will soon be my care sir«
»She shall be Why she is as good as married She is at the altar She is
in her house She is why where is she not She has entered the sanctuary She
is out of the market This mænad shriek for freedom would happily entitle her to
the Republican cap the Phrygian in a revolutionary Parisian procession To
me it has no meaning and but that I cannot credit child of mine with mania I
should be in trepidation of her wits«
Sir Willoughbys livelier fears were pacified by the information that Clara
had simply emitted a cry Clara had once or twice given him cause for starting
and considering whether to think of her sex differently or condemningly of her
yet he could not deem her capable of fully unbosoming herself even to him and
under excitement His idea of the cowardice of girls combined with his ideal of
a waxwork sex to persuade him that though they are often he had experienced it
wantonly desperate in their acts their tongues are curbed by rosy pudency And
this was in his favour For if she proved speechless and stupid with Mrs
Mountstuart the lady would turn her over and beat her flat beat her angular
in fine turn her to any shape despising her and cordially believe him to be
the model gentleman of Christendom She would fill in the outlines he had
sketched to her of a picture that he had small pride in by comparison with his
early vision of a fortunefavoured triumphing squire whose career is like the
suns intelligibly lordly to all comprehensions Not like your model gentleman
that has to be expounded a thing for abstract esteem However it was the
choice left to him And an alternative was enfolded in that Mrs Mountstuarts
model gentleman could marry either one of two women throwing the other
overboard He was bound to marry he was bound to take to himself one of them
and whichever one he selected would cast a lustre on his reputation At least
she would rescue him from the claws of Lady Busshe and her owls hoot of
»Willow Pattern« and her hags shriek of »twice jilted« That flying infant
Willoughby his unprotected little incorporeal omnipresent Self not thought of
so much as passionately felt for would not be scoffed at as the luckless with
women A fall indeed from his original conception of his name of fame abroad
But Willoughby had the high consolation of knowing that others have fallen
lower There is the fate of the devils to comfort us if we are driven hard For
one of your pangs another bosom is racked by ten we read in the solacing Book
With all these nice calculations at work Willoughby stood above himself
contemplating his active machinery which he could partly criticize but could
not stop in a singular wonderment at the aims and schemes and tremours of one
who was handsome manly acceptable in the worlds eyes and had he not loved
himself most heartily he would have been divided to the extent of repudiating
that urgent and excited half of his being whose motions appeared as those of a
body of insects perpetually erecting and repairing a structure of extraordinary
pettiness He loved himself too seriously to dwell on the division for more than
a minute or so But having seen it and for the first time as he believed his
passion for the woman causing it became surcharged with bitterness atrabiliar
A glance behind him as he walked away with Dr Middleton showed Clara
cunning creature that she was airily executing her malicious graces in the
preliminary courtesies with Mrs Mountstuart
Chapter XXXV
Miss Middleton and Mrs Mountstuart
»Sit beside me fair Middleton« said the great lady
»Gladly« said Clara bowing to her title
»I want to sound you my dear«
Clara presented an open countenance with a dim interrogation on the
forehead »Yes« she said submissively
»You were one of my bright faces last night I was in love with you
Delicate vessels ring sweetly to a fingernail and if the wit is true you
answer to it that I can see and that is what I like Most of the people one
has at a table are drums A rubadubdub on them is the only way to get a
sound When they can be persuaded to do it upon one another they call it
conversation«
»Colonel De Craye was very funny«
»Funny and witty too«
»But never spiteful«
»These Irish or halfIrishmen are my taste If theyre not politicians
mind I mean Irish gentlemen I will never have another dinnerparty without
one Our mens tempers are uncertain You cant get them to forget themselves
And when the wine is in them the nature comes out and they must be buffeting
and up start politics and goodbye to harmony My husband I am sorry to say
was one of those who have a long account of ruined dinners against them I have
seen him and his friends red as the roast and white as the boiled with wrath on
a popular topic they had excited themselves over intrinsically not worth a snap
of the fingers In London« exclaimed Mrs Mountstuart to aggravate the charge
against her lord in the Shades »But town or country the table should be
sacred I have heard women say it is a plot on the side of the men to teach us
our littleness I dont believe they have a plot It would be to compliment them
on a talent I believe they fall upon one another blindly simply because they
are full which is we are told the preparation for the fighting Englishman
They cannot eat and keep a truce Did you notice that dreadful Mr Capes«
»The gentleman who frequently contradicted papa But Colonel De Craye was
good enough to relieve us«
»How my dear«
»You did not hear him He took advantage of an interval when Mr Capes was
breathing after a pæan to his friend the Governor I think of one of the
Presidencies to say to the lady beside him He was a wonderful administrator
and great logician he married an AngloIndian widow and soon after published a
pamphlet in favour of Suttee«
»And what did the lady say«
»She said Oh«
»Hark at her And was it heard«
»Mr Capes granted the widow but declared he had never seen the pamphlet in
favour of Suttee and disbelieved in it He insisted that it was to be named
Sati He was vehement«
»Now I do remember which must have delighted the colonel And Mr Capes
retired from the front upon a repetition of in toto in toto As if in toto were
the language of a dinnertable But what will ever teach these men Must we
import Frenchmen to give them an example in the art of conversation as their
grandfathers brought over marquises to instruct them in salads And our young
men too Women have to take to the huntingfield to be able to talk with them
and be on a par with their grooms Now there was Willoughby Patterne a prince
among them formerly Now did you observe him last night did you notice how
instead of conversing instead of assisting me as he was bound to do doubly
owing to the defection of Vernon Whitford a thing I dont yet comprehend
there he sat sharpening his lower lip for cutting remarks And at my best man
at Colonel De Craye If he had attacked Mr Capes with his Governor of Bomby
as the man pronounces it or Colonel Wildjohn and his Protestant Church in
Danger or Sir Wilson Pettifer harping on his Monarchical Republic or any
other No he preferred to be sarcastic upon friend Horace and he had the worst
of it Sarcasm is so silly What is the gain if he has been smart People forget
the epigram and remember the others good temper On that field my dear you
must make up your mind to be beaten by friend Horace I have my prejudices and I
have my prepossessions but I love good temper and I love wit and when I see a
man possessed of both I set my cap at him and theres my flat confession and
highly unfeminine it is«
»Not at all« cried Clara
»We are one then«
Clara put up a mouth empty of words she was quite one with her Mrs
Mountstuart pressed her hand »When one does get intimate with a dainty rogue«
she said »You forgive me all that for I could vow that Willoughby has betrayed
me«
Clara looked soft kind bright in turns and clouded instantly when the
lady resumed »A friend of my own sex and young and a close neighbour is just
what I would have prayed for And Ill excuse you my dear for not being so
anxious about the friendship of an old woman But I shall be of use to you you
will find In the first place I never tap for secrets In the second I keep
them Thirdly I have some power And fourth every young married woman has need
of a friend like me Yes and Lady Patterne heading all the county will be the
stronger for my backing You dont look so mighty well pleased my dear Speak
out«
»Dear Mrs Mountstuart«
»I tell you I am very fond of Willoughby but I saw the faults of the boy
and see the mans He has the pride of a king and its a pity if you offend it
He is prodigal in generosity but he cant forgive As to his own errors you
must be blind to them as a Saint The secret of him is that he is one of those
excessively civilized creatures who aim at perfection and I think he ought to
be supported in his conceit of having attained it for the more men of that
class the greater our influence He excels in manly sports because he wont be
excelled in anything but as men dont comprehend his fineness he comes to us
and his wife must manage him by that key You look down at the idea of managing
It has to be done One thing you may be assured of he will be proud of you His
wife wont be very much enamoured of herself if she is not the happiest woman in
the world You will have the best horses the best dresses the finest jewels
in England and an incomparable cook The house will be changed the moment you
enter it as Lady Patterne And my dear just where he is with all his graces
deficient of attraction yours will tell The sort of Othello he would make or
Leontes I dont know and none of us ever needs to know My impression is that
if even a shadow of a suspicion flitted across him he is a sort of man to
doubledye himself in guilt by way of vengeance in anticipation of an imagined
offence Not uncommon with men I have heard strange stories of them and so
will you in your time to come but not from me No young woman shall ever be the
sourer for having been my friend One word of advice now we are on the topic
never play at counterstrokes with him He will be certain to outstroke you and
you will be driven farther than you meant to go They say we beat men at that
game and so we do at the cost of beating ourselves And if once we are
started it is a racecourse ending on a precipice over goes the winner We
must be moderately slavish to keep our place which is given us in appearance
but appearances make up a remarkably large part of life and far the most
comfortable so long as we are discreet at the right moment He is a man whose
pride when hurt would run his wife to perdition to solace it If he married a
troublesome widow his pamphlet on Suttee would be out within the year Vernon
Whitford would receive instructions about it the first frosty moon You like
Miss Dale«
»I think I like her better than she likes me« said Clara
»Have you never warmed together«
»I have tried it She is not one bit to blame I can see how it is that she
misunderstands me or justly condemns me perhaps I should say«
»The hero of two women must die and be wept over in common before they can
appreciate one another You are not cold«
»No«
»You shuddered my dear«
»Did I«
»I do sometimes Feet will be walking over ones grave wherever it lies Be
sure of this Willoughby Patterne is a man of unimpeachable honour«
»I do not doubt it«
»He means to be devoted to you He has been accustomed to have women hanging
around him like votive offerings«
»I «
»You cannot of course not any one could see that at a glance You are all
the sweeter to me for not being tame Marriage cures a multitude of
indispositions«
»Oh Mrs Mountstuart will you listen to me«
»Presently Dont threaten me with confidences Eloquence is a terrible
thing in woman I suspect my dear that we both know as much as could be
spoken«
»You hardly suspect the truth I fear«
»Let me tell you one thing about jealous men when they are not blackamoors
married to disobedient daughters I speak of our civil creature of the
drawingrooms and lovers mind not husbands two distinct species married or
not theyre rarely given to jealousy unless they are flighty themselves The
jealousy fixes them They have only to imagine that we are for some fun likewise
and they grow as deferential as my footman as harmless as the sportsman whose
gun has burst Ah my fair Middleton am I pretending to teach you You have
read him his lesson and my table suffered for it last night but I bear no
rancour«
»You bewilder me Mrs Mountstuart«
»Not if I tell you that you have driven the poor man to try whether it would
be possible for him to give you up«
»I have«
»Well and you are successful«
»I am«
»Jump my dear«
»He will«
»When men love stale instead of fresh withered better than blooming
excellence in the abstract rather than the palpable With their idle prate of
feminine intellect and a grotto nymph and and a mother of Gracchi Why he
must think me dazed with admiration of him to talk to me One listens you know
And he is one of the men who cast a kind of physical spell on you while he has
you by the ear until you begin to think of it by talking to somebody else I
suppose there are clever people who do see deep into the breast while dialogue
is in progress One reads of them No my dear you have very cleverly managed
to show him that it isnt at all possible he cant And the real cause for
alarm in my humble opinion is lest your amiable foil should have been a trifle
as he would say deceived too much in earnest led too far One may reprove him
for not being wiser but men wont learn without groaning that they are simply
weapons taken up to be put down when done with Leave it to me to compose him
Willoughby cant give you up I m certain he has tried his pride has been
horribly wounded You are shrewd and he has had his lesson If these little
rufflings dont come before marriage they come after so its not time lost and
its good to be able to look back on them You are very white my child«
»Can you Mrs Mountstuart can you think I would be so heartlessly
treacherous«
»Be honest fair Middleton and answer me Can you say you had not a corner
of an idea of producing an effect on Willoughby«
Clara checked the instinct of her tongue to defend her reddening cheeks
with a sense that she was disintegrating and crumbling but she wanted this lady
for a friend and she had to submit to the conditions and be red and silent
Mrs Mountstuart examined her leisurely
»That will do Conscience blushes One knows it by the outer conflagration
Dont be hard on yourself there you are in the other extreme That blush of
yours would count with me against any quantity of evidence all the Crooklyns
in the kingdom You lost your purse«
»I discovered that it was lost this morning«
»Flitch has been here with it Willoughby has it You will ask him for it
he will demand payment you will be a couple of yards length or so of cramoisy
and there ends the episode nobody killed only a poor man melancholywounded
and I must offer him my hand to mend him vowing to prove to him that Suttee was
properly abolished Well and now to business I said I wanted to sound you You
have been overdone with porcelain Poor Lady Busshe is in despair at your
disappointment Now I mean my weddingpresent to be to your taste«
»Madam«
»Who is the madam you are imploring«
»Dear Mrs Mountstuart«
»Well«
»I shall fall in your esteem Perhaps you will help me No one else can I
am a prisoner I am compelled to continue this imposture Oh I shun speaking
much you object to it and I dislike it but I must endeavour to explain to you
that I am unworthy of the position you think a proud one«
»Tuttut we are all unworthy cross our arms bow our heads and accept the
honours Are you playing humble handmaid What an old organtune that is Well
Give me reasons«
»I do not wish to marry«
»Hes the great match of the county«
»I cannot marry him«
»Why you are at the churchdoor with him Cannot marry him«
»It does not bind me«
»The churchdoor is as binding as the altar to an honourable girl What have
you been about Since I am in for confidences half ones wont do We must have
honourable young women as well as men of honour You cant imagine he is to be
thrown over now at this hour What have you against him come«
»I have found that I do not «
»What«
»Love him«
Mrs Mountstuart grimaced transiently »That is no answer The cause« she
said »What has he done«
»Nothing«
»And when did you discover this nothing«
»By degrees unknown to myself suddenly«
»Suddenly and by degrees I suppose its useless to ask for a head But if
all this is true you ought not to be here«
»I wish to go I am unable«
»Have you had a scene together«
»I have expressed my wish«
»In roundabout girls English«
»Quite clearly Oh very clearly«
»Have you spoken to your father«
»I have«
»And what does Dr Middleton say«
»It is incredible to him«
»To me too I can understand little differences little whims caprices we
dont settle into harness for a tap on the shoulder as a man becomes a knight
but to break and bounce away from an unhappy gentleman at the churchdoor is
either madness or its one of the things without a name You think you are quite
sure of yourself«
»I am so sure that I look back with regret on the time when I was not«
»But you were in love with him«
»I was mistaken«
»No love«
»I have none to give«
»Dear me Yes yes but that tone of sorrowful conviction is often a
trick its not new and I know that assumption of plain sense to pass off a
monstrosity« Mrs Mountstuart struck her lap »Soh but Ive had to rack my
brain for it feminine disgust You have been hearing imputations on his past
life moral character No Circumstances might make him behave unkindly not
unhandsomely and we have no claim over a mans past or its too late to assert
it What is the case«
»We are quite divided«
»Nothing in the way of nothing greeneyed«
»Far from that«
»Then name it«
»We disagree«
»Many a very good agreement is founded on disagreeing Its to be regretted
that you are not portionless If you had been you would have made very little
of disagreeing You are just as much bound in honour as if you had the ring on
your finger«
»In honour But I appeal to his I am no wife for him«
»But if he insists you consent«
»I appeal to reason Is it madam «
»But I say if he insists you consent«
»He will insist upon his own misery as well as mine«
Mrs Mountstuart rocked herself »My poor Sir Willoughby What a fate And
I who took you for a clever girl Why I have been admiring your management of
him And here am I bound to take a lesson from Lady Busshe My dear good
Middleton dont let it be said that Lady Busshe saw deeper than I I put some
little vanity in it I own I wont conceal it She declares that when she sent
her present I dont believe her she had a premonition that it would come
back Surely you wont justify the extravagances of a woman without common
reverence for anatomize him as we please to ourselves he is a splendid man
and I did it chiefly to encourage and come at you We dont often behold such
a lordlylooking man so conversable too when he feels at home a picture of an
English gentleman The very man we want married for our neighbourhood A woman
who can openly talk of expecting him to be twice jilted You shrink It is
repulsive It would be incomprehensible except of course to Lady Busshe who
rushed to one of her violent conclusions and became a prophetess Conceive a
woman imagining it could happen twice to the same man I am not sure she did not
send the identical present that arrived and returned once before you know the
Durham engagement She told me last night she had it back I watched her
listening very suspiciously to Professor Crooklyn My dear it is her passion to
foretell disasters her passion And when they are confirmed she triumphs of
course We shall have her domineering over us with sapient nods at every trifle
occurring The county will be unendureable Unsay it my Middleton And dont
answer like an oracle because I do all the talking Pour out to me Youll soon
come to a stop and find the want of reason in the want of words I assure you
thats true Let me have a good gaze at you No« said Mrs Mountstuart after
posturing herself to peruse Claras features »brains you have one can see it
by the nose and the mouth I could vow you are the girl I thought you you have
your wits on tiptoe How of the heart«
»None« Clara sighed
The sigh was partly voluntary though unforced as one may with ready
sincerity act a character that is our own only through sympathy
Mrs Mountstuart felt the extraweight in the young ladys falling breath
There was no necessity for a deep sigh over an absence of heart or confession of
it If Clara did not love the man to whom she was betrothed sighing about it
signified what some pretence and a pretence is the cloak of a secret Girls
do not sigh in that way with compassion for the man they have no heart for
unless at the same time they should be oppressed by the knowledge or dread of
having a heart for some one else As a rule they have no compassion to bestow
on him you might as reasonably expect a soldier to bewail the enemy he strikes
in action they must be very disengaged to have it And supposing a show of the
thing to be exhibited when it has not been worried out of them there is a
reserve in the background they are pitying themselves under a mask of decent
pity of their wretch
So ran Mrs Mountstuarts calculations which were like her suspicion
coarse and broad not absolutely incorrect but not of an exact measure with the
truth That pins head of the truth is rarely hit by design The search after it
of the professionally penetrative in the dark of a bosom may bring it forth by
the heavy knocking all about the neighbourhood that we call good guessing but
it does not come out clean other matter adheres to it and being more it is
less than truth The unadulterate is to be had only by faith in it or by waiting
for it
A lover thought the sagacious dame There was no lover some love there
was or rather there was a preparation of the chamber with no lamp yet
lighted
»Do you positively tell me you have no heart for the position of first lady
of the county« said Mrs Mountstuart
Claras reply was firm »None whatever«
»My dear I will believe you on one condition Look at me You have eyes
If you are for mischief you are armed for it But how much better when you
have won a prize to settle down and wear it Lady Patterne will have entire
occupation for her flights and whimsies in leading the county And the man
surely the man he behaved badly last night but a beauty like this« she
pushed a finger at Claras cheek and doated a half instant »you have the very
beauty to break in an ogres temper And the man is as governable as he is
presentable You have the beauty the French call no its the beauty of a
queen of elves one sees them lurking about you one here one there Smile
they dance be doleful they hang themselves No theres not a trace of
satanic at least not yet And come come my Middleton the man is a man to be
proud of You can send him into Parliament to wear off his humours To my
thinking he has a fine style conscious I never thought so before last night
I cant guess what has happened to him recently He was once a young Grand
Monarque He was really a superb young English gentleman Have you been wounding
him«
»It is my misfortune to be obliged to wound him« said Clara
»Quite needlessly my child for marry him you must«
Claras bosom rose her shoulders rose too narrowing and her head fell
slightly back
Mrs Mountstuart exclaimed »But the scandal You would never never think of
following the example of that Durham girl whether she was provoked to it by
jealousy or not It seems to have gone so astonishingly far with you in a very
short time that one is alarmed as to where you will stop Your look just now
was downright revulsion«
»I fear it is It is I am past my own control Dear madam you have my
assurance that I will not behave scandalously or dishonourably What I would
entreat of you is to help me I know this of myself I am not the best of
women I am impatient wickedly I should be no good wife Feelings like mine
teach me unhappy things of myself«
»Rich handsome lordly influential brilliant health fine estates« Mrs
Mountstuart enumerated in petulant accents as they started across her mind some
of Sir Willoughbys attributes for the attraction of the soul of woman »I
suppose you wish me to take you in earnest«
»I appeal to you for help«
»What help«
»Persuade him of the folly of pressing me to keep my word«
»I will believe you my dear Middleton on one condition your talk of no
heart is nonsense A change like this if one is to believe in the change
occurs through the heart not because there is none Dont you see that But if
you want me for a friend you must not sham stupid Its bad enough in itself
the imitation s horrid You have to be honest with me and answer me right out
You came here on this visit intending to marry Willoughby Patterne«
»Yes«
»And gradually you suddenly discovered since you came here that you did
not intend it if you could find a means of avoiding it«
»Oh madam yes it is true«
»Now comes the test And my lovely Middleton your flaming cheeks wont
suffice for me this time The old serpent can blush like an innocent maid on
occasion You are to speak and you are to tell me in six words why that was
and dont waste one on madam or Oh Mrs Mountstuart Why did you change«
»I came when I came I was in some doubt Indeed I speak the truth I
found I could not give him the admiration he has I dare say a right to expect
I turned it surprised me it surprises me now But so completely So that to
think of marrying him is «
»Defer the simile« Mrs Mountstuart interposed »If you hit on a clever
one you will never get the better of it Now by just as much as you have
outstripped my limitation of words to you you show me you are dishonest«
»I could make a vow«
»You would forswear yourself«
»Will you help me«
»If you are perfectly ingenuous I may try«
»Dear lady what more can I say«
»It may be difficult You can reply to a catechism«
»I shall have your help«
»Well yes though I dont like stipulations between friends There is no
man living to whom you could willingly give your hand That is my question I
cannot possibly take a step unless I know Reply briefly there is or there is
not«
Clara sat back with bated breath mentally taking the leap into the abyss
realizing it and the cold prudence of abstention and the delirium of the
confession Was there such a man It resembled freedom to think there was to
avow it promised freedom
»Oh Mrs Mountstuart«
»Well«
»You will help me«
»Upon my word I shall begin to doubt your desire for it«
»Willingly give my hand madam«
»For shame And with wits like yours cant you perceive where hesitation in
answering such a question lands you«
»Dearest lady will you give me your hand may I whisper«
»You need not whisper I wont look«
Claras voice trembled on a tense chord
»There is one compared with him I feel my insignificance If I could aid
him«
»What necessity have you to tell me more than that there is one«
»Ah madam it is different not as you imagine You bid me be scrupulously
truthful I am I wish you to know the different kind of feeling it is from what
might be suspected from a confession To give my hand is beyond any thought
I have ever encouraged If you had asked me whether there is one whom I admire
yes I do I cannot help admiring a beautiful and brave selfdenying nature It
is one whom you must pity and to pity casts you beneath him for you pity him
because it is his nobleness that has been the enemy of his fortunes He lives
for others«
Her voice was musically thrilling in that low muted tone of the very heart
impossible to deride or disbelieve
Mrs Mountstuart set her head nodding on springs
»Is he clever«
»Very«
»He talks well«
»Yes«
»Handsome«
»He might be thought so«
»Witty«
»I think he is«
»Gay cheerful«
»In his manner«
»Why the man would be a mountebank if he adopted any other And poor«
»He is not wealthy«
Mrs Mountstuart preserved a lengthened silence but nipped Claras fingers
once or twice to reassure her without approving »Of course hes poor« she said
at last »directly the reverse of what you could have it must be Well my fair
Middleton I cant say you have been dishonest Ill help you as far as I m
able How it is quite impossible to tell Were in the mire The best way seems
to me to get this pitiable angel to cut some ridiculous capers and present you
another view of him I dont believe in his innocence He knew you to be a
plighted woman«
»He has not once by word or sign hinted a disloyalty«
»Then how do you know «
»I do not know«
»He is not the cause of your wish to break your engagement«
»No«
»Then you have succeeded in just telling me nothing What is«
»Ah madam«
»You would break your engagement purely because the admirable creature is in
existence«
Clara shook her head she could not say she was dizzy She had spoken out
more than she had ever spoken to herself and in doing so she had cast herself a
step beyond the line she dared to contemplate
»I wont detain you any longer« said Mrs Mountstuart »The more we learn
the more we are taught that we are not so wise as we thought we were I have to
go to school to Lady Busshe I really took you for a very clever girl If you
change again you will notify the important circumstance to me I trust«
»I will« said Clara and no violent declaration of the impossibility of her
changeing again would have had such an effect on her hearer
Mrs Mountstuart scanned her face for a new reading of it to match with her
later impressions
»I am to do as I please with the knowledge I have gained«
»I am utterly in your hands madam«
»I have not meant to be unkind«
»You have not been unkind I could embrace you«
»I am rather too shattered and kissing wont put me together I laughed at
Lady Busshe No wonder you went off like a rocket with a disappointing bouquet
when I told you you had been successful with poor Sir Willoughby and he could
not give you up I noticed that A woman like Lady Busshe always prying for the
lamentable would have required no further enlightenment Has he a temper«
Clara did not ask her to signalize the person thus abruptly obtruded
»He has faults« she said
»Theres an end to Sir Willoughby then Though I dont say he will give you
up even when he hears the worst if he must hear it as for his own sake he
should And I wont say he ought to give you up Hell be the pitiable angel if
he does For you but you dont deserve compliments they would be immoral You
have behaved badly badly badly I have never had such a rightaboutface in my
life You will deserve the stigma you will be notorious you will be called
Number Two Think of that Not even original We will break the conference or I
shall twaddle to extinction I think I heard the luncheonbell«
»It rang«
»You dont look fit for company but you had better come«
»Oh yes every day its the same«
»Whether youre in my hands or I m in yours were a couple of
archconspirators against the peace of the family whose table were sitting at
and the more we rattle the viler we are but we must do it to ease our minds«
Mrs Mountstuart spread the skirts of her voluminous dress remarking
further »At a certain age our teachers are young people we learn by looking
backward It speaks highly for me that I have not called you mad Full of
faults goodishlooking not a bad talker cheerful poorish and she prefers
that to this« the great lady exclaimed in her reverie while emerging from the
circle of shrubs upon a view of the Hall
Colonel De Craye advanced to her certainly goodlooking certainly
cheerful by no means a bad talker nothing of a Croesus and variegated with
faults
His laughing smile attacked the irresolute hostility of her mien confident
as the sparkle of sunlight in a breeze The effect of it on herself angered her
on behalf of Sir Willoughbys bride
»Good morning Mrs Mountstuart I believe I am the last to greet you«
»And how long do you remain here Colonel De Craye«
»I kissed earth when I arrived like the Norman William and consequently
Ive an attachment to the soil maam«
»You are not going to take possession of it I suppose«
»A handful would satisfy me«
»You play the Conqueror pretty much I have heard But property is held more
sacred than in the times of the Norman William«
»And speaking of property Miss Middleton your purse is found« he said
»I know it is« she replied as unaffectedly as Mrs Mountstuart could have
desired though the ingenuous air of the girl incensed her somewhat
Clara passed on
»You restore purses« observed Mrs Mountstuart
Her stress on the word and her look thrilled De Craye for there had been
a long conversation between the young lady and the dame
»It was an article that dropped and was not stolen« said he
»Barely sweet enough to keep then«
»I think I could have felt to it like poor Flitch the flyman who was the
finder«
»If you are conscious of these temptations to appropriate what is not your
own you should quit the neighbourhood«
»And do it elsewhere But thats not virtuous counsel«
»And I m not counselling in the interests of your virtue Colonel De
Craye«
»And I dared for a moment to hope that you were maam« he said ruefully
drooping
They were close to the diningroom window and Mrs Mountstuart preferred
the terminating of a dialogue that did not promise to leave her features the
austerely iron cast with which she had commenced it She was under the spell of
gratitude for his behaviour yesterday evening at her dinnertable she could not
be very severe
Chapter XXXVI
Animated Conversation at a LuncheonTable
Vernon was crossing the hall to the diningroom as Mrs Mountstuart stepped in
She called to him »Are the champions reconciled«
He replied »Hardly that but they have consented to meet at an altar to
offer up a victim to the Gods in the shape of modern poetic imitations of the
classical«
»That seems innocent enough The Professor has not been anxious about his
chest«
»He recollects his cough now and then«
»You must help him to forget it«
»Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer are here« said Vernon not supposing it to be
a grave announcement until the effect of it on Mrs Mountstuart admonished him
She dropped her voice »Engage my fair friend for one of your walks the
moment we rise from table You may have to rescue her but do I mean it«
»Shes a capital walker« Vernon remarked in simpleton style
»Theres no necessity for any of your pedestrian feats« Mrs Mountstuart
said and let him go turning to Colonel De Craye to pronounce an encomium on
him »The most openminded man I know Warranted to do perpetual service and no
mischief If you were all instead of catching at every prize you covet Yes
you would have your reward for unselfishness I assure you Yes and where you
seek it That is what none of you men will believe«
»When you behold me in your own livery« cried the colonel
»Do I« said she dallying with a halfformed design to be confidential
»How is it one is always tempted to address you in the language of innuendo I
cant guess«
»Except that as a dog doesnt comprehend good English we naturally talk bad
to him«
The great lady was tickled Who could help being amused by this man And
after all if her fair Middleton chose to be a fool there could be no
gainsaying her sorry though poor Sir Willoughbys friends must feel for him
She tried not to smile
»You are too absurd Or a baby you might have added«
»I hadnt the daring«
»Ill tell you what Colonel De Craye I shall end by falling in love with
you and without esteeming you I fear«
»The second follows as surely as the flavour upon a draught of Bacchus if
youll but toss off the glass maam«
»We women sir think it should be first«
»Tis to transpose the seasons and give October the blossom and April the
apple and no sweet one Esteems a mellow thing that comes after bloom and
fire like an evening at home because if it went before it would have no father
and couldnt hope for progeny for there d be no nature in the business So
please maam keep to the original order and youll be natures child and I
the most blest of mankind«
»Really were I fifteen years younger I am not so certain I might try
and make you harmless«
»Draw the teeth of the lamb so long as you pet him«
»I challenged you colonel and I wont complain of your pitch But now lay
your wit down beside your candour and descend to an everyday level with me for
a minute«
»Is it innuendo«
»No though I dare say it would be easier for you to respond to if it
were«
»I m the straightforwardest of men at a word of command«
»This is a whisper Be alert as you were last night Shuffle the table well
A little liveliness will do it I dont imagine malice but theres curiosity
which is often as bad and not so lightly foiled We have Lady Busshe and Lady
Culmer here«
»To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky«
»Well then can you fence with broomsticks«
»I have had a bout with them in my time«
»They are terribly direct«
»They give point as Napoleon commanded his cavalry to do«
»You must help me to ward it«
»They will require variety in the conversation«
»Constant You are an angel of intelligence and if I have the judging of
you I m afraid youll be allowed to pass in spite of the scandal above Open
the door I dont unbonnet«
De Craye threw the door open
Lady Busshe was at that moment saying »And are we indeed to have you for a
neighbour Dr Middleton«
The Rev Doctors reply was drowned by the new arrivals
»I thought you had forsaken us« observed Sir Willoughby to Mrs
Mountstuart
»And run away with Colonel De Craye I m too weighty my dear friend
Besides I have not looked at the weddingpresents yet«
»The very object of our call« exclaimed Lady Culmer
»I have to confess I am in dire alarm about mine« Lady Busshe nodded across
the table at Clara »Oh you may shake your head but I would rather hear a
rough truth than the most complimentary evasion«
»How would you define a rough truth Dr Middleton« said Mrs Mountstuart
Like the trained warrior who is ready at all hours for the trumpet to arms
Dr Middleton wakened up for judicial allocution in a trice
»A rough truth madam I should define to be that description of truth which
is not imparted to mankind without a powerful impregnation of the roughness of
the teller«
»It is a rough truth maam that the world is composed of fools and that
the exceptions are knaves« Professor Crooklyn furnished the example avoided by
the Rev Doctor
»Not to precipitate myself into the jaws of the first definition which
strikes me as being as happy as Jonahs whale that could carry probably the
most learned man of his time inside without the necessity of digesting him«
said De Craye »a rough truth is a rather strong charge of universal nature for
the firing off of a modicum of personal fact«
»It is a rough truth that Plato is Moses atticizing« said Vernon to Dr
Middleton to keep the diversion alive
»And that Aristotle had the globe under his cranium« rejoined the Rev
Doctor
»And that the Moderns live on the Ancients«
»And that not one in ten thousand can refer to the particular treasury he
filches«
»The Art of our days is a revel of rough truth« remarked Professor
Crooklyn
»And the literature has laboriously mastered the adjective wherever it may
be in relation to the noun« Dr Middleton added
»Orsons first appearance at Court was in the figure of a rough truth
causing the Maids of Honour accustomed to Tapestry Adams astonishment and
terror« said De Craye
That he might not be left out of the sprightly play Sir Willoughby levelled
a lance at the quintain smiling on Lætitia »In fine caricature is rough
truth«
She said »Is one end of it and realistic directness is the other«
He bowed »The palm is yours«
Mrs Mountstuart admired herself as each one trotted forth in turn
characteristically with one exception unaware of the aid which was being
rendered to a distressed damsel wretchedly incapable of decent hypocrisy Her
intrepid lead had shown her hand to the colonel and drawn the enemy at a blow
Sir Willoughbys in fine however did not please her still less did his
lackadaisical Lothariolike bowing and smiling to Miss Dale and he perceived it
and was hurt For how carrying his tremendous load was he to compete with
these unhandicapped men in the game of nonsense she had such a fondness for
starting at a table He was further annoyed to hear Miss Eleanor and Miss Isabel
Patterne agree together that caricature was the final word of the definition
Relatives should know better than to deliver these awards to us in public
»Well« quoth Lady Busshe expressive of stupefaction at the strange dust
she had raised
»Are they on view Miss Middleton« inquired Lady Culmer
»Theres a regiment of us on view and ready for inspection« Colonel De
Craye bowed to her but she would not be foiled »Miss Middletons admirers are
always on view« said he
»Are they to be seen« said Lady Busshe
Clara made her face a question with a laudable smoothness
»The weddingpresents« Lady Culmer explained
»No«
»Otherwise my dear we are in danger of duplicating and triplicating and
quadruplicating not at all to the satisfaction of the bride«
»But theres a worse danger to encounter in the on view my lady« said De
Craye »and thats the magnetic attraction a display of weddingpresents is sure
to have for the ineffable burglar who must have a nuptial soul in him for
wherever theres that collection on view hes never a league off And tis said
he knows a ladys dressingcase presented to her on the occasion fifteen years
after the event«
»As many as fifteen« said Mrs Mountstuart
»By computation of the police And if the presents are on view dogs are of
no use nor bolts nor bars hes worse than Cupid The only protection to be
found singular as it may be thought is in a couple of bottles of the oldest
Jamaica rum in the British Isles«
»Rum« cried Lady Busshe
»The liquor of the Royal Navy my lady And with your permission Ill
relate the tale in proof of it I had a friend engaged to a young lady niece of
an old seacaptain of the old school the Benbow school the wooden leg and
pigtail school a perfectly salt old gentleman with a pickled tongue and a dash
of brine in every deed he committed He looked rolled over to you by the last
wave on the shore sparkling he was Neptunes own for humour And when his
present to the bride was opened sure enough there lay a couple of bottles of
the oldest Jamaica rum in the British Isles born before himself and his father
to boot Tis a fabulous spirit I beg you to believe in my lady the sole merit
of the story being its portentous veracity The bottles were tied to make them
appear twins as they both had the same claim to seniority And there was a
label on them telling their great age to maintain their identity They were in
truth a pair of patriarchal bottles rivalling many of the biggest houses in the
kingdom for antiquity They would have made the donkey that stood between the
two bundles of hay look at them with obliquity supposing him to have for an
animal a rum taste and a turn for hilarity Wonderful old bottles So on the
label just over the date was written large UNCLE BENJAMINS WEDDINGPRESENT
TO HIS NIECE BESSY Poor Bessy shed tears of disappointment and indignation
enough to float the old gentleman on his native element ship and all She vowed
it was done curmudgeonly to vex her because her uncle hated weddingpresents
and had grunted at the exhibition of cups and saucers and this and that
beautiful service and épergnes and inkstands mirrors knives and forks
dressingcases and the whole mighty category She protested she flung herself
about she declared those two ugly bottles should not join the exhibition in the
diningroom where it was laid out for days and the family ate their meals
where they could on the walls like flies But there was also Uncle Benjamins
legacy on view in the distance so it was ruled against her that the bottles
should have their place And one fine morning down came the family after a
fearful row of the domestics shouting screaming cries for the police and
murder topping all What did they see They saw two prodigious burglars extended
along the floor each with one of the twin bottles in his hand and a remainder
of the horror of the midnight hanging about his person like a blown fog
sufficient to frighten them whilst they kicked the rascals entirely intoxicated
Never was wilder disorder of weddingpresents and not one lost owing youll
own to Uncle Benjys two bottles of ancient Jamaica rum«
Colonel De Craye concluded with an asseveration of the truth of the story
»A most provident farsighted old seacaptain« exclaimed Mrs Mountstuart
laughing at Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer
These ladies chimed in with her gingerly
»And have you many more clever stories Colonel De Craye« said Lady Busshe
»Ah my lady when the tree begins to count its gold tis nigh upon
bankruptcy«
»Poetic« ejaculated Lady Culmer spying at Miss Middletons rippled
countenance and noting that she and Sir Willoughby had not interchanged word or
look
»But that in the case of your Patterne Port a bottle of it would outvalue
the catalogue of nuptial presents Willoughby I would recommend your stationing
some such constabulary to keep watch and ward« said Dr Middleton as he filled
his glass taking Bordeaux in the middle of the day under a consciousness of
virtue and its reward to come at halfpast seven in the evening
»The dogs would require a dozen of that sir« said De Craye
»Then it is not to be thought of Indeed one« Dr Middleton negatived the
idea
»We are no further advanced than when we began« observed Lady Busshe
»If we are marked to go by stages« Mrs Mountstuart assented
»Why then we shall be called old coaches« remarked the colonel
»You« said Lady Culmer »have the advantage of us in a closer acquaintance
with Miss Middleton You know her tastes and how far they have been consulted
in the little souvenirs already grouped somewhere although not yet for
inspection I am at sea And here is Lady Busshe in deadly alarm There is
plenty of time to effect a change though we are drawing on rapidly to the
fatal day Miss Middleton We are we are very near it Oh yes I am one who
thinks that these little affairs should be spoken of openly without that
ridiculous bourgeois affectation so that we may be sure of giving satisfaction
It is a transaction like everything else in life I for my part wish to be
remembered favourably I put it as a test of breeding to speak of these things
as plain matteroffact You marry I wish you to have something by you to
remind you of me What shall it be useful or ornamental For an ordinary
household the choice is not difficult But where wealth abounds we are in a
dilemma«
»And with persons of decided tastes« added Lady Busshe »I am really very
unhappy« she protested to Clara
Sir Willoughby dropped Lætitia Claras look of a sedate resolution to
preserve silence on the topic of the nuptial gifts made a diversion imperative
»Your porcelain was exquisitely chosen and I profess to be a connoisseur«
he said »I am poor in old Saxony as you know I can match the county in
Sèvres and my inheritance of China will not easily be matched in the country«
»You may consider your Dragon vases a present from young Crossjay« said De
Craye
»How«
»Hasnt he abstained from breaking them the capital boy Porcelain and a
boy in the house together is a case of prospective disaster fully equal to
Flitch and a fly«
»You should understand that my friend Horace whose wit is in this instance
founded on another tale of a boy brought us a magnificent piece of porcelain
destroyed by the capsizing of his conveyance from the station« said Sir
Willoughby to Lady Busshe
She and Lady Culmer gave out lamentable Ohs while Miss Eleanor and Miss
Isabel Patterne sketched the incident Then the lady visitors fixed their eyes
in united sympathy upon Clara recovering from which after a contemplation of
marble Lady Busshe emphasized »No you do not love porcelain it is evident
Miss Middleton«
»I am glad to be assured of it« said Lady Culmer
»Oh I know that face I know that look« Lady Busshe affected to remark
rallyingly »it is not the first time I have seen it«
Sir Willoughby smarted to his marrow »We will rout these fancies of an
overscrupulous generosity my dear Lady Busshe«
Her unwonted breach of delicacy in speaking publicly of her present and the
vulgar persistency of her sticking to the theme very much perplexed him And if
he mistook her not she had just alluded to the demoniacal Constantia Durham It
might be that he had mistaken her he was on guard against his terrible
sensitiveness Nevertheless it was hard to account for this behaviour of a lady
greatly his friend and admirer a lady of birth And Lady Culmer as well
likewise a lady of birth Were they in collusion had they a suspicion He
turned to Lætitias face for the antidote to his pain
»Oh but you are not one yet and I shall require two voices to convince
me« Lady Busshe rejoined after another stare at the marble
»Lady Busshe I beg you not to think me ungrateful« said Clara
»Fiddle gratitude it is to please your taste to satisfy you I care for
gratitude as little as for flattery«
»But gratitude is flattering« said Vernon
»Now no metaphysics Mr Whitford«
»But do care a bit for flattery my lady« said De Craye »Tis the finest
of the Arts we might call it moral sculpture Adepts in it can cut their
friends to any shape they like by practising it with the requisite skill I
myself poor hand as I am have made a man act Solomon by constantly praising
his wisdom He took a sagacious turn at an early period of the dose He weighed
the smallest question of his daily occasions with a deliberation truly oriental
Had I pushed it he d have hired a baby and a couple of mothers to squabble
over the undivided morsel«
»I shall hope for a day in London with you« said Lady Culmer to Clara
»You did not forget the Queen of Sheba« said Mrs Mountstuart to De Craye
»With her appearance the game has to be resigned to her entirely« he
rejoined
»That is« Lady Culmer continued »if you do not despise an old woman for
your comrade on a shopping excursion«
»Despise whom we fleece« exclaimed Dr Middleton »Oh no Lady Culmer the
sheep is sacred«
»I am not so sure« said Vernon
»In what way and to what extent are you not so sure« said Dr Middleton
»The natural tendency is to scorn the fleeced«
»I stand for the contrary Pity if you like particularly when they bleat«
»This is to assume that makers of gifts are a fleeced people I demur« said
Mrs Mountstuart
»Madam we are expected to give we are incited to give you have dubbed it
the fashion to give and the person refusing to give or incapable of giving
may anticipate that he will be regarded as benignly as a sheep of a drooping and
flaccid wool by the farmer who is reminded by the poor beasts appearance of a
strange dog that worried the flock Even Captain Benjamin as you have seen was
unable to withstand the demand on him The hymenæal pair are licensed
freebooters levying blackmail on us survivors of an uncivilized period But in
taking without mercy I venture to trust that the manners of a happier æra
instruct them not to scorn us I apprehend that Mr Whitford has a lower order
of latrons in his mind«
»Permit me to say sir that you have not considered the ignoble aspect of
the fleeced« said Vernon »I appeal to the ladies would they not if they
beheld an ostrich walking down a Queens DrawingRoom cleanplucked despise
him though they were wearing his plumes«
»An extreme supposition indeed« said Dr Middleton frowning over it
»scarcely legitimately to be suggested«
»I think it fair sir as an instance«
»Has the circumstance occurred I would ask«
»In life a thousand times«
»I fear so« said Mrs Mountstuart
Lady Busshe showed symptoms of a desire to leave a profitless table
Vernon started up glancing at the window
»Did you see Crossjay« he said to Clara
»No I must if he is there« said she
She made her way out Vernon after her They both had the excuse
»Which way did the poor boy go« she asked him
»I have not the slightest idea« he replied »But put on your bonnet if you
would escape that pair of inquisitors«
»Mr Whitford what humiliation«
»I suspect you do not feel it the most and the end of it cant be remote«
said he
Thus it happened that when Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer quitted the
diningroom Miss Middleton had spirited herself away from summoning voice and
messenger
Sir Willoughby apologized for her absence »If I could be jealous it would
be of that boy Crossjay«
»You are an excellent man and the best of cousins« was Lady Busshes
enigmatical answer
The exceedingly lively conversation at his table was lauded by Lady Culmer
»Though« said she »what it all meant and what was the drift of it I
couldnt tell to save my life Is it every day the same with you here«
»Very much«
»How you must enjoy a spell of dulness«
»If you said simplicity and not talking for effect I generally cast anchor
by Lætitia Dale«
»Ah« Lady Busshe coughed »But the fact is Mrs Mountstuart is mad for
cleverness«
»I think my lady Lætitia Dale is to the full as clever as any of the stars
Mrs Mountstuart assembles or I«
»Talkative cleverness I mean«
»In conversation as well Perhaps you have not yet given her a chance«
»Yes yes she is clever of course poor dear She is looking better too«
»Handsome I thought« said Lady Culmer
»She varies« observed Sir Willoughby
The ladies took seat in their carriage and fell at once into a closebonnet
colloquy Not a single allusion had they made to the weddingpresents after
leaving the luncheontable The cause of their visit was obvious
Chapter XXXVII
Contains Clever Fencing and Intimations of the Need for It
That woman Lady Busshe had predicted after the event Constantia Durhams
defection She had also subsequent to Willoughbys departure on his travels
uttered sceptical things concerning his rooted attachment to Lætitia Dale In
her bitter vulgarity that beaten rival of Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson for the
leadership of the county had taken his nose for a melancholy prognostic of his
fortunes she had recently played on his name she had spoken the hideous
English of his fate Little as she knew she was alive to the worst
interpretation of appearances No other eulogy occurred to her now than to call
him the best of cousins because Vernon Whitford was housed and clothed and fed
by him She had nothing else to say for a man she thought luckless She was a
woman barren of wit stripped of style but she was wealthy and a gossip a
forge of showering sparks and she carried Lady Culmer with her The two had
driven from his house to spread the malignant rumour abroad already they blew
the biting world on his raw wound Neither of them was like Mrs Mountstuart a
witty woman who could be hoodwinked they were dull women who steadily kept on
their own scent of the fact and the only way to confound such inveterate forces
was to be ahead of them and seize and transform the expected fact and
astonish them when they came up to him with a totally unanticipated fact
»You see you were in error ladies«
»And so we were Sir Willoughby and we acknowledge it We never could have
guessed that«
Thus the phantom couple in the future delivered themselves as well they
might at the revelation He could run far ahead
Ay but to combat these dolts facts had to be encountered deeds done in
groaning earnest These representatives of the pigsconces of the population
judged by circumstances airy shows and seems had no effect on them Dexterity
of fence was thrown away
A flying peep at the remorseless might of dulness in compelling us to a
concrete performance counter to our inclinations if we would deceive its
terrible instinct gave Willoughby for a moment the survey of a sage His
intensity of personal feeling struck so vivid an illumination of mankind at
intervals that he would have been individually wise had he not been moved by
the source of his accurate perceptions to a personal feeling of opposition to
his own sagacity He loathed and he despised the vision so his mind had no
benefit of it though he himself was whipped along He chose rather and the
choice is open to us all to be flattered by the distinction it revealed between
himself and mankind
But if he was not as others were why was he discomfited solicitous
miserable To think that it should be so ran dead against his conquerors
theories wherein he had been trained which so long as he gained success
awarded success to native merit grandeur to the grand in soul as light kindles
light nature presents the example His early training his bright beginning of
life had taught him to look to earths principal fruits as his natural portion
and it was owing to a girl that he stood a mark for tongues naked wincing at
the possible malignity of a pair of harridans Why not whistle the girl away
Why then he would be free to enjoy careless younger than his youth in the
rebound to happiness
And then would his nostrils begin to lift and sniff at the creeping up of a
thick pestiferous vapour Then in that volume of stench would he discern the
sullen yellow eye of malice A malarious earth would hunt him all over it The
breath of the world the worlds view of him was partly his vital breath his
view of himself The ancestry of the tortured man had bequeathed him this
condition of high civilization among their other bequests Your withered
contracted Egoists of the hut and the grot reck not of public opinion they
crave but for liberty and leisure to scratch themselves and soothe an excessive
scratch Willoughby was expansive a blooming one born to look down upon a
tributary world and to exult in being looked to Do we wonder at his
consternation in the prospect of that worlds blowing foul on him Princes have
their obligations to teach them they are mortal and the brilliant heir of a
tributary world is equally enchained by the homage it brings him more
inasmuch as it is immaterial elusive not gathered by the tax and he cannot
capitally punish the treasonable recusants Still must he be brilliant he must
court his people He must ever both in his reputation and his person aching
though he be show them a face and a leg
The wounded gentleman shut himself up in his laboratory where he could
stride to and fro and stretch out his arms for physical relief secure from
observation of his fantastical shapes under the idea that he was meditating
There was perhaps enough to make him fancy it in the heavy fire of shots
exchanged between his nerves and the situation there were notable flashes He
would not avow that he was in an agony it was merely a desire for exercise
Quintessence of worldliness Mrs Mountstuart appeared through his farthest
window swinging her skirts on a turn at the end of the lawn with Horace De
Craye smirking beside her And the womans vaunted penetration was unable to
detect the histrionic Irishism of the fellow Or she liked him for his acting
and nonsense nor she only The voluble beast was created to snare women
Willoughby became smitten with an adoration of stedfastness in women The
incarnation of that divine quality crossed his eyes She was clad in beauty
A horrible nondescript convulsion composed of yawn and groan drove him to
his instruments to avert a renewal of the shock and while arranging and fixing
them for their unwonted task he compared himself advantageously with men like
Vernon and De Craye and others of the county his fellows in the huntingfield
and on the Magistrates bench who neither understood nor cared for solid work
beneficial practical work the work of Science
He was obliged to relinquish it his hand shook
»Experiments will not advance much at this rate« he said casting the
noxious retardation on his enemies
It was not to be contested that he must speak with Mrs Mountstuart however
he might shrink from the trial of his facial muscles Her not coming to him
seemed ominous nor was her behaviour at the luncheontable quite obscure She
had evidently instigated the gentlemen to cross and counterchatter Lady Busshe
and Lady Culmer For what purpose
Claras features gave the answer
They were implacable And he could be the same
In the solitude of his room he cried right out »I swear it I will never
yield her to Horace De Craye She shall feel some of my torments and try to get
the better of them by knowing she deserves them« He had spoken it and it was
an oath upon the record
Desire to do her intolerable hurt became an ecstasy in his veins and
produced another stretching fit that terminated in a violent shake of the body
and limbs during which he was a spectacle for Mrs Mountstuart at one of the
windows He laughed as he went to her saying »No no work today it wont be
done positively refuses«
»I am taking the Professor away« said she »he is fidgety about the cold he
caught«
Sir Willoughby stepped out to her »I was trying at a bit of work for an
hour not to be idle all day«
»You work in that den of yours every day«
»Never less than an hour if I can snatch it«
»It is a wonderful resource«
The remark set him throbbing and thinking that a prolongation of his crisis
exposed him to the approaches of some organic malady possibly heart
»A habit« he said »In there I throw off the world«
»We shall see some results in due time«
»I promise none I like to be abreast of the real knowledge of my day that
is all«
»And a pearl among country gentlemen«
»In your gracious consideration my dear lady Generally speaking it would
be more adviseable to become a chatterer and keep an anecdotal notebook I
could not do it simply because I could not live with my own emptiness for the
sake of making an occasional display of fireworks I aim at solidity It is a
narrow aim no doubt not much appreciated«
»Lætitia Dale appreciates it«
A smile of enforced ruefulness like a leaf curling in heat wrinkled his
mouth
Why did she not speak of her conversation with Clara
»Have they caught Crossjay« he said
»Apparently they are giving chase to him«
The likelihood was that Clara had been overcome by timidity
»Must you leave us«
»I think it prudent to take Professor Crooklyn away«
»He still «
»The extraordinary resemblance«
»A word aside to Dr Middleton will dispel that«
»You are thoroughly good«
This hateful encomium of commiseration transfixed him Then she knew of his
calamity
»Philosophical« he said »would be the proper term I think«
»Colonel De Craye by the way promises me a visit when he leaves you«
»Tomorrow«
»The earlier the better He is too captivating he is delightful He won me
in five minutes I dont accuse him Nature gifted him to cast the spell We are
weak women Sir Willoughby«
She knew
»Like to like the witty to the witty maam«
»You wont compliment me with a little bit of jealousy«
»I forbear from complimenting him«
»Be philosophical of course if you have the philosophy«
»I pretend to it Probably I suppose myself to succeed because I have no
great requirement of it I cannot say We are riddles to ourselves«
Mrs Mountstuart pricked the turf with the point of her parasol She looked
down and she looked up
»Well« said he to her eyes
»Well and where is Lætitia Dale«
He turned about to show his face elsewhere
When he fronted her again she looked very fixedly and set her head
shaking
»It will not do my dear Sir Willoughby«
»What«
»It«
»I never could solve enigmas«
»Playing tatatata ad infinitum then Things have gone far All parties
would be happier for an excursion Send her home«
»Lætitia I cant part with her«
Mrs Mountstuart put a tooth on her underlip as her head renewed its
brushing negative
»In what way can it be hurtful that she should be here maam« he ventured
to persist
»Think«
»She is proof«
»Twice«
The word was big artillery He tried the affectation of a staring stupidity
She might have seen his heart thump and he quitted the mask for an agreeable
grimace
»She is inaccessible She is my friend I guarantee her on my honour Have
no fear for her I beg you to have confidence in me I would perish rather No
soul on earth is to be compared with her«
Mrs Mountstuart repeated »Twice«
The low monosyllable musically spoken in the same tone of warning of a
gentle ghost rolled a thunder that maddened him but he dared not take it up to
fight against it on plain terms
»Is it for my sake« he said
»It will not do Sir Willoughby«
She spurred him to a frenzy
»My dear Mrs Mountstuart you have been listening to tales I am not a
tyrant I am one of the most easygoing of men Let us preserve the forms due to
society I say no more As for poor old Vernon people call me a good sort of
cousin I should like to see him comfortably married decently married this
time I have proposed to contribute to his establishment I mention it to show
that the case has been practically considered He has had a tolerably souring
experience of the state he might be inclined if say you took him in hand for
another venture Its a demoralizing lottery However Government sanctions it«
»But Sir Willoughby what is the use of my taking him in hand when as you
tell me Lætitia Dale holds back«
»She certainly does«
»Then we are talking to no purpose unless you undertake to melt her«
He suffered a lurking smile to kindle to some strength of meaning
»You are not overconsiderate in committing me to such an office«
»You are afraid of the danger« she all but sneered
Sharpened by her tone he said »I have such a love of stedfastness of
character that I should be a poor advocate in the endeavour to break it And
frankly I know the danger I saved my honour when I made the attempt that is
all I can say«
»Upon my word« Mrs Mountstuart threw back her head to let her eyes behold
him summarily over their fine aquiline bridge »you have the heart of
mystification my good friend«
»Abandon the idea of Lætitia Dale«
»And marry your cousin Vernon to whom Where are we«
»As I said maam I am an easygoing man I really have not a spice of the
tyrant in me An intemperate creature held by the collar may have that notion of
me while pulling to be released as promptly as it entered the noose But I do
strictly and sternly object to the scandal of violent separations open breaches
of solemn engagements a public rupture Put it that I am the cause I will not
consent to a violation of decorum Is that clear It is just possible for things
to be arranged so that all parties may be happy in their way without much
hubbub Mind it is not I who have willed it so I am and I am forced to be
passive But I will not be obstructive«
He paused waving his hand to signify the vanity of the more that might be
said
Some conception of him dashed by incredulity excited the ladys
intelligence
»Well« she exclaimed »you have planted me in the land of conjecture As my
husband used to say I dont see light but I think I see the lynx that does We
wont discuss it at present I certainly must be a younger woman than I
supposed for I am learning hard Here comes the Professor buttoned up to the
ears and Dr Middleton flapping in the breeze There will be a cough and a
footnote referring to the young lady at the station if we stand together so
please order my carriage«
»You found Clara complacent roguish«
»I will call tomorrow You have simplified my task Sir Willoughby very
much that is assuming that I have not entirely mistaken you I am so far in
the dark that I have to help myself by recollecting how Lady Busshe opposed my
view of a certain matter formerly Scepticism is her forte It will be the very
oddest thing if after all No I shall own romance has not departed Are
you fond of dupes«
»I detest the race«
»An excellent answer I could pardon you for it« She refrained from adding
»If you are making one of me«
Sir Willoughby went to ring for her carriage
She knew That was palpable Clara had betrayed him »The earlier Colonel De
Craye leaves Patterne Hall the better« she had said that and »all parties
would be happier for an excursion« She knew the position of things and she
guessed the remainder But what she did not know and could not divine was the
man who fenced her He speculated further on the witty and the dull These
latter are the redoubtable body They will have facts to convince them they
had he confessed it to himself precipitated him into the novel sphere of his
dark hints to Mrs Mountstuart from which the utter darkness might allow him to
escape yet it embraced him singularly and even pleasantly with the sense of a
fact established
It embraced him even very pleasantly There was an end to his tortures He
sailed on a tranquil sea the husband of a stedfast woman no rogue The
exceeding beauty of stedfastness in women clothed Lætitia in graces Clara could
not match A tried stedfast woman is the one jewel of the sex She points to her
husband like the sunflower her love illuminates him she lives in him for him
she testifies to his worth she drags the world to his feet she leads the
chorus of his praises she justifies him in his own esteem Surely there is not
on earth such beauty
If we have to pass through anguish to discover it and cherish the peace it
gives to clasp it calling it ours is a full reward
Deep in his reverie he said his adieux to Mrs Mountstuart and strolled up
the avenue behind the carriagewheels unwilling to meet Lætitia till he had
exhausted the fresh savour of the cud of fancy
Supposing it done
It would be generous on his part It would redound to his credit
His home would be a fortress impregnable to tongues He would have divine
security in his home
One who read and knew and worshipped him would be sitting there starlike
sitting there awaiting him his fixed star
It would be marriage with a mirror with an echo marriage with a shining
mirror a choric echo
It would be marriage with an intellect with a fine understanding to make
his home a fountain of repeatable wit to make his dear old Patterne Hall the
luminary of the county
He revolved it as a chant with anon and anon involuntarily a discordant
animadversion on Lady Busshe His attendant imps heard the angry inward cry
Forthwith he set about painting Lætitia in delectable human colours like a
miniature of the past century reserving her ideal figure for his private
satisfaction The world was to bow to her visible beauty and he gave her enamel
and glow a taller statue a swimming air a transcendancy that exorcised the
image of the old witch who had driven him to this
The result in him was that Lætitia became humanly and avowedly beautiful
Her dark eyelashes on the pallor of her cheeks lent their aid to the
transformation which was a necessity to him so it was performed He received
the waxen impression
His retinue of imps had a revel We hear wonders of men and we see a
lifting up of hands in the world The wonders would be explained and never a
hand need to interject if the mystifying man were but accompanied and reported
of by that monkeyeyed confraternity They spy the heart and its twists
The heart is the magical gentleman None of them would follow where there
was no heart The twists of the heart are the comedy
»The secret of the heart is its pressing love of self« says the Book
By that secret the mystery of the organ is legible and a comparison of the
heart to the mountain rillet is taken up to show us the unbaffled force of the
little channel in seeking to swell its volume strenuously sinuously ever in
pursuit of self the busiest as it is the most singleaiming of forces on our
earth And we are directed to the sinuosities for the posts of observation
chiefly instructive
Few maintain a stand there People see and they rush away to interchange
liftings of hands at the sight instead of patiently studying the phenomenon of
energy
Consequently a man in love with one woman and in all but absolute
consciousness behind the thinnest of veils preparing his mind to love another
will be barely credible The particular hunger of the forceful but adaptable
heart is the key of him Behold the mountain rillet become a brook become a
torrent how it inarms a handsome boulder yet if the stone will not go with it
on it hurries pursuing self in extension down to where perchance a dam has
been raised of a sufficient depth to enfold and keep it from inordinate
restlessness Lætitia represented this peaceful restraining space in prospect
But she was a faded young woman He was aware of it and systematically
looking at himself with her upturned orbs he accepted her benevolently as a
God grateful for worship and used the divinity she imparted to paint and
renovate her His heart required her so The heart works the springs of
imagination imagination received its commission from the heart and was a
cunning artist
Cunning to such a degree of seductive genius that the masterpiece it offered
to his contemplation enabled him simultaneously to gaze on Clara and think of
Lætitia Clara came through the parkgates with Vernon a brilliant girl indeed
and a shallow one a healthy creature and an animal attractive but
capricious impatient treacherous foul a woman to drag men through the mud
She approached
Chapter XXXVIII
In which We Take a Step to the Centre of Egoism
They met Vernon soon left them
»You have not seen Crossjay« Willoughby inquired
»No« said Clara »Once more I beg you to pardon him He spoke falsely
owing to his poor boys idea of chivalry«
»The chivalry to the sex which commences in lies ends by creating the
womans hero whom we see about the world and in certain Courts of Law«
His ability to silence her was great she could not reply to speech like
that
»You have« said he »made a confidante of Mrs Mountstuart«
»Yes«
»This is your purse«
»I thank you«
»Professor Crooklyn has managed to make your father acquainted with your
project That I suppose is the railway ticket in the fold of the purse He was
assured at the station that you had taken a ticket to London and would not want
the fly«
»It is true I was foolish«
»You have had a pleasant walk with Vernon turning me in and out«
»We did not speak of you You allude to what he would never consent to«
»Hes an honest fellow in his oldfashioned way Hes a secret old fellow
Does he ever talk about his wife to you«
Clara dropped her purse and stooped and picked it up
»I know nothing of Mr Whitfords affairs« she said and she opened the
purse and tore to pieces the railwayticket
»The story s a proof that romantic spirits do not furnish the most romantic
history You have the word chivalry frequently on your lips He chivalrously
married the daughter of the lodginghouse where he resided before I took him We
obtained information of the auspicious union in a newspaper report of Mrs
Whitfords drunkenness and rioting at a London railway terminus probably the
one whither your ticket would have taken you yesterday for I heard the lady was
on her way to us for supplies the connubial larder being empty«
»I am sorry I am ignorant I have heard nothing I know nothing« said
Clara
»You are disgusted But half the students and authors you hear of marry in
that way And very few have Vernons luck«
»She had good qualities« asked Clara
Her underlip hung
It looked like disgust he begged her not indulge the feeling
»Literary men it is notorious even with the entry to society have no
taste in women The housewife is their object Ladies frighten and would no
doubt be an annoyance and hindrance to them at home«
»You said he was fortunate«
»You have a kindness for him«
»I respect him«
»He is a friendly old fellow in his awkward fashion honourable and so
forth But a disreputable alliance of that sort sticks to a man The world will
talk Yes he was fortunate so far he fell into the mire and got out of it
Were he to marry again«
»She «
»Died Do not be startled it was a natural death She responded to the sole
wishes left to his family He buried the woman and I received him I took him
on my tour A second marriage might cover the first there would be a buzz about
the old business the womans relatives write to him still try to bleed him I
dare say However now you understand his gloominess I dont imagine he regrets
his loss He probably sentimentalizes like most men when they are well rid of a
burden You must not think the worse of him«
»I do not« said Clara
»I defend him whenever the matter s discussed«
»I hope you do«
»Without approving his folly I cant wash him clean«
They were at the Halldoors She waited for any personal communications he
might be pleased to make and as there was none she ran upstairs to her room
He had tossed her to Vernon in his mind not only painlessly but with a keen
acid of satisfaction The heart is the wizard
Next he bent his deliberate steps to Lætitia
The mind was guilty of some hesitation the feet went forward
She was working at an embroidery by an open window Colonel De Craye leaned
outside and Willoughby pardoned her air of demure amusement on hearing him
say »No I have had one of the pleasantest halfhours of my life and would
rather idle here if idle you will have it than employ my faculties on
horseback«
»Time is not lost in conversing with Miss Dale« said Willoughby
The light was tender to her complexion where she sat in partial shadow
De Craye asked whether Crossjay had been caught
Lætitia murmured a kind word for the boy Willoughby examined her
embroidery
The ladies Eleanor and Isabel appeared
They invited her to take carriageexercise with them
Lætitia did not immediately answer and Willoughby remarked »Miss Dale has
been reproving Horace for idleness and I recommend you to enlist him to do
duty while I relieve him here«
The ladies had but to look at the colonel He was at their disposal if they
would have him He was marched to the carriage
Lætitia plied her threads
»Colonel De Craye spoke of Crossjay« she said »May I hope you have
forgiven the poor boy Sir Willoughby«
He replied »Plead for him«
»I wish I had eloquence«
»In my opinion you have it«
»If he offends it is never from meanness At school among comrades he
would shine He is in too strong a light his feelings and his moral nature are
overexcited«
»That was not the case when he was at home with you«
»I am severe I am stern«
»A Spartan mother«
»My system of managing a boy would be after that model except in this he
should always feel that he could obtain forgiveness«
»Not at the expense of justice«
»Ah young creatures are not to be arraigned before the higher Courts It
seems to me perilous to terrify their imaginations If we do so are we not
likely to produce the very evil we are combating The alternations for the young
should be school and home and it should be in their hearts to have confidence
that forgiveness alternates with discipline They are of too tender an age for
the rigours of the world we are in danger of hardening them I prove to you
that I am not possessed of eloquence You encouraged me to speak Sir
Willoughby«
»You speak wisely Lætitia«
»I think it true Will not you reflect on it You have only to do so to
forgive him I am growing bold indeed and shall have to beg forgiveness for
myself«
»You still write you continue to work with your pen« said Willoughby
»A little a very little«
»I do not like you to squander yourself waste yourself on the public You
are too precious to feed the beast Giving out incessantly must end by
attenuating Reserve yourself for your friends Why should they be robbed of so
much of you Is it not reasonable to assume that by lying fallow you would be
more enriched for domestic life Candidly had I authority I would confiscate
your pen I would away with that bauble You will not often find me quoting
Cromwell but his words apply in this instance I would say rather that lancet
Perhaps it is the more correct term It bleeds you it wastes you For what For
a breath of fame«
»I write for money«
»And there I would say of another you subject yourself to the risk of
mental degradation Who knows moral Trafficking the brains for money must
bring them to the level of the purchasers in time I confiscate your pen
Lætitia«
»It will be to confiscate your own gift Sir Willoughby«
»Then that proves will you tell me the date«
»You sent me a gold penholder on my sixteenth birthday«
»It proves my utter thoughtlessness then and later And later«
He rested an elbow on his knee and covered his eyes murmuring in that
profound hollow which is haunted by the voice of a contrite past »And later«
The deed could be done He had come to the conclusion that it could be done
though the effort to harmonize the figure sitting near him with the artistic
figure of his purest pigments had cost him labour and a blinking of the
eyelids That also could be done Her pleasant tone sensible talk and the
light favouring her complexion helped him in his effort She was a sober cup
sober and wholesome Deliriousness is for adolescence The men who seek
intoxicating cups are men who invite their fates
Curiously yet as positively as things can be affirmed the husband of this
woman would be able to boast of her virtues and treasures abroad as he could
not impossible to say why not boast of a beautiful wife or a bluestocking
wife One of her merits as a wife would be this extraordinary neutral merit of a
character that demanded colour from the marital hand and would take it
Lætitia had not to learn that he had much to distress him Her wonder at his
exposure of his grief counteracted a fluttering of vague alarm She was nervous
she sat in expectation of some burst of regrets or of passion
»I may hope that you have pardoned Crossjay« she said
»My friend« said he uncovering his face »I am governed by principles
Convince me of an error I shall not obstinately pursue a premeditated course
But you know me Men who have not principles to rule their conduct are well
they are unworthy of a half hour of companionship with you I will speak to you
tonight I have letters to despatch Tonight at twelve in the room where we
spoke last Or await me in the drawingroom I have to attend on my guests till
late«
He bowed he was in a hurry to go
The deed could be done It must be done it was his destiny
Chapter XXXIX
In the Heart of the Egoist
But already he had begun to regard the deed as his executioner He dreaded
meeting Clara The folly of having retained her stood before him How now to
look on her and keep a sane resolution unwavering She tempted to the insane
Had she been away he could have walked through the performance composed by the
sense of doing a duty to himself perhaps faintly hating the poor wretch he made
happy at last kind to her in a manner polite Claras presence in the house
previous to the deed and oh heaven after it threatened his wits Pride He
had none he cast it down for her to trample it he caught it back ere it was
trodden on Yes he had pride he had it as a dagger in his breast his pride
was his misery But he was too proud to submit to misery »What I do is right«
He said the words and rectitude smoothed his path till the question clamoured
for answer Would the world countenance and endorse his pride in Lætitia At one
time yes And now Claras beauty ascended laid a beam on him
We are on board the labouring vessel of humanity in a storm when cries and
countercries ring out disorderliness mixes the crew and the fury of
selfpreservation divides this one is for the ship that one for his life
Clara was the former to him Lætitia the latter But what if there might not be
greater safety in holding tenaciously to Clara than in casting her off for
Lætitia No she had done things to set his pride throbbing in the quick She
had gone bleeding about first to one then to another she had betrayed him to
Vernon and to Mrs Mountstuart a look in the eyes of Horace De Craye said to
him as well to whom not He might hold to her for vengeance but that appetite
was shortlived in him if it ministered nothing to his purposes
»I discard all idea of vengeance« he said and thrilled burningly to a
smart in his admiration of the man who could be so magnanimous under mortal
injury for the more admirable he the more pitiable He drank a drop or two of
selfpity like a poison repelling the assaults of public pity Clara must be
given up It must be seen by the world that as he felt the thing he did was
right Laocoon of his own serpents he struggled to a certain magnificence of
attitude in the muscular net of constrictions he flung around himself Clara
must be given up O bright Abominable She must be given up but not to one
whose touch of her would be darts in the blood of the yielder snakes in his
bed she must be given up to an extinguisher to be the second wife of an
oldfashioned semirecluse disgraced in his first And were it publicly known
that she had been cast off and had fallen on old Vernon for a refuge and part
in spite part in shame part in desperation part in a fit of good sense under
the circumstances espoused him her beauty would not influence the world in its
judgement The world would know what to think As the instinct of
selfpreservation whispered to Willoughby the world were it requisite might
be taught to think what it assuredly would not think if she should be seen
tripping to the altar with Horace De Craye Selfpreservation not vengeance
breathed that whisper He glanced at her iniquity for a justification of it
without any desire to do her a permanent hurt he was highly civilized but with
a strong intention to give her all the benefit of the scandal supposing a
scandal or ordinary tattle
»And so he handed her to his cousin and secretary Vernon Whitford who
opened his mouth and shut his eyes«
You hear the world How are we to stop it from chattering Enough that he
had no desire to harm her Some gentle anticipations of her being tarnished were
imperative they came spontaneously to him otherwise the radiance of that
bright Abominable in loss would have been insufferable he could not have borne
it he could never have surrendered her
Moreover a happy present effect was the result He conjured up the
anticipated chatter and shrug of the world so vividly that her beauty grew
hectic with the stain bereft of its formidable magnetism He could meet her
calmly he had steeled himself Purity in women was his principal stipulation
and a woman puffed at was not the person to cause him tremours
Consider him indulgently the Egoist is the Son of Himself He is likewise
the Father And the son loves the father the father the son they reciprocate
affection through the closest of ties and shall they view behaviour unkindly
wounding either of them not for each others dear sake abhorring the criminal
They would not injure you but they cannot consent to see one another suffer or
crave in vain The two rub together in sympathy besides relationship to an
intenser one Are you without much offending sacrificed by them it is on the
altar of their mutual love to filial piety or paternal tenderness the younger
has offered a dainty morsel to the elder or the elder to the younger Absorbed
in their great example of devotion they do not think of you They are
beautiful
Yet is it most true that the younger has the passions of youth whereof will
come division between them and this is a tragic state They are then pathetic
This was the state of Sir Willoughby lending ear to his elder until he
submitted to bite at the fruit proposed to him with how wry a mouth the
venerable senior chose not to mark At least as we perceive a half of him was
ripe of wisdom in his own interests The cruder half had but to be obedient to
the leadership of sagacity for his interests to be secured and a filial
disposition assisted him painfully indeed but the same rare quality directed
the good gentleman to swallow his pain That the son should bewail his fate were
a dishonour to the sire He reverenced and submitted Thus to say consider
him indulgently is too much an appeal for charity on behalf of one requiring
but initial anatomy a slicing in halves to exonerate perchance exalt him
The Egoist is our fountainhead primeval man the primitive is born again the
elemental reconstituted Born again into new conditions the primitive may be
highly polished of men and forfeit nothing save the roughness of his original
nature He is not only his own father he is ours and he is also our son We
have produced him he us Such were we to such are we returning not other
sings the poet than one who toilfully works his shallop against the tide »si
brachia forte remisit« let him haply relax the labour of his arms however
high up the stream and back he goes »in pejus« to the early principle of our
being with seeds and plants that are as carelessly weighed in the hand and as
indiscriminately husbanded as our humanity
Poets on the other side may be cited for an assurance that the primitive is
not the degenerate rather is he a sign of the indestructibility of the race of
the ancient energy in removing obstacles to individual growth a sample of what
we would be had we his concentrated power He is the original innocent the
pure simple It is we who have fallen we have melted into Society diluted our
essence dissolved He stands in the midst monumentally a landmark of the tough
and honest old Ages with the symbolic alphabet of striking arms and running
legs our early language scrawled over his person and the glorious first flint
and arrowhead for his crest at once the spectre of the Kitchenmidden and our
ripest issue
But Society is about him The occasional spectacle of the primitive dangling
on a rope has impressed his mind with the strength of his natural enemy from
which uncongenial sight he has turned shuddering hardly less to behold the blast
that is blown upon a reputation where one has been disrespectful of the many By
these means through meditation on the contrast of circumstances in life a
pulse of imagination has begun to stir and he has entered the upper sphere or
circle of spiritual Egoism he has become the civilized Egoist primitive still
as sure as man has teeth but developed in his manner of using them
Degenerate or not and there is no just reason to suppose it Sir
Willoughby was a social Egoist fiercely imaginative in whatsoever concerned
him He had discovered a greater realm than that of the sensual appetites and
he rushed across and around it in his conquering period with an Alexanders
pride On these windlike journeys he had carried Constantia subsequently
Clara and however it may have been in the case of Miss Durham in that of Miss
Middleton it is almost certain she caught her glimpse of his interior from sheer
fatigue in hearing him discourse of it What he revealed was not the cause of
her sickness women can bear revelations they are exciting but the
monotonousness He slew imagination There is no direr disaster in love than the
death of imagination He dragged her through the labyrinths of his penetralia
in his hungry coveting to be loved more and still more more still until
imagination gave up the ghost and he talked to her plain hearing like a
monster It must have been that for the spell of the primitive upon women is
masterful up to the time of contact
»And so he handed her to his cousin and secretary Vernon Whitford who
opened his mouth and shut his eyes«
The urgent question was how it was to be accomplished Willoughby worked at
the subject with all his power of concentration a power that had often led him
to feel and say that as a barrister a diplomatist or a general he would have
won his grades and granting him a personal interest in the business he might
have achieved eminence he schemed and fenced remarkably well
He projected a scene following expressions of anxiety on account of old
Vernon and his future settlement and then Clara maintaining her doggedness
to which he was now so accustomed that he could not conceive a change in it
says he »If you determine on breaking I give you back your word on one
condition« Whereupon she starts he insists on her promise she declines
affairs resume their former footing she frets she begs for the disclosure he
flatters her by telling her his desire to keep her in the family she is
unilluminated but strongly moved by curiosity he philosophizes on marriage
»What are we poor creatures we must get through life as we can doing as much
good as we can to those we love and think as you please I love old Vernon Am
I not giving you the greatest possible proof of it« She will not see Then
flatly out comes the one condition That and no other »Take Vernon and I
release you« She refuses Now ensues the debate all the oratory being with
him »Is it because of his unfortunate first marriage You assured me you
thought no worse of him« etc She declares the proposal revolting He can
distinguish nothing that should offend her in a proposal to make his cousin
happy if she will not him Irony and sarcasm relieve his emotions but he
convinces her he is dealing plainly and intends generosity She is confused she
speaks in maiden fashion
He touches again on Vernons early escapade She does not enjoy it The
scene closes with his bidding her reflect on it and remember the one condition
of her release Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson now reduced to believe that he burns
to be free is then called in for an interview with Clara His aunts Eleanor and
Isabel besiege her Lætitia in passionate earnest besieges her Her father is
wrought on to besiege her Finally Vernon is attacked by Willoughby and Mrs
Mountstuart and here Willoughby chose to think was the main difficulty But
the girl has money she is agreeable Vernon likes her she is fond of his Alps
they have tastes in common he likes her father and in the end he besieges her
Will she yield De Craye is absent There is no other way of shunning a marriage
she is incomprehensibly but frantically averse to She is in the toils Her
father will stay at Patterne Hall as long as his host desires it She hesitates
she is overcome in spite of a certain nausea due to Vernons preceding
alliance she yields
Willoughby revolved the entire drama in Claras presence It helped him to
look on her coolly Conducting her to the dinnertable he spoke of Crossjay
not unkindly and at table he revolved the set of scenes with a heated animation
that took fire from the wine and the face of his friend Horace while he
encouraged Horace to be flowingly Irish He nipped the fellow goodhumouredly
once or twice having never felt so friendly to him since the day of his
arrival but the position of critic is instinctively taken by men who do not
flow and Patterne Port kept Dr Middleton in a benevolent reserve when
Willoughby decided that something said by De Craye was not new and laughingly
accused him of failing to consult his anecdotal notebook for the doublecross
to his last sprightly sally »Your sallies are excellent Horace but spare us
your Aunt Sallies« De Craye had no repartee nor did Dr Middleton challenge a
pun We have only to sharpen our wits to trip your seductive rattler whenever we
may choose to think proper and evidently if we condescended to it we could do
better than he The critic who has hatched a witticism is impelled to this
opinion Judging by the smiles of the ladies they thought so too
Shortly before eleven oclock Dr Middleton made a Spartan stand against
the offer of another bottle of Port The regulation couple of bottles had been
consumed in equal partnership and the Rev Doctor and his host were free to pay
a ceremonial visit to the drawingroom where they were not expected A piece of
work of the elder ladies a silken boudoir sofarug was being examined with
high approval of the two younger Vernon and Colonel De Craye had gone out in
search of Crossjay one to Mr Dales cottage the other to call at the head and
undergamekeepers They were said to be strolling and smoking for the night was
fine Willoughby left the room and came back with the key of Crossjays door in
his pocket He foresaw that the delinquent might be of service to him
Lætitia and Clara sang together Lætitia was flushed Clara pale At eleven
they saluted the ladies Eleanor and Isabel Willoughby said »Good night« to
each of them contrasting as he did so the downcast look of Lætitia with Claras
frigid directness He divined that they were off to talk over their one object
of common interest Crossjay Saluting his aunts he took up the rug to
celebrate their diligence and taste and that he might make Dr Middleton
impatient for bed he provoked him to admire it held it out and laid it out
and caused the courteous old gentleman some confusion in hitting on fresh terms
of commendation
Before midnight the room was empty Ten minutes later Willoughby paid it a
visit and found it untenanted by the person he had engaged to be there Vexed
by his disappointment he paced up and down and chanced abstractedly to catch
the rug in his hand for what purpose he might well ask himself admiration of
ladies work in their absence was unlikely to occur to him Nevertheless the
touch of the warm soft silk was meltingly feminine A glance at the mantelpiece
clock told him Lætitia was twenty minutes behind the hour
Her remissness might endanger all his plans alter the whole course of his
life The colours in which he painted her were too lively to last the madness
in his head threatened to subside Certain it was that he could not be ready a
second night for the sacrifice he had been about to perform
The clock was at the half hour after twelve He flung the silken thing on
the central ottoman extinguished the lamps and walked out of the room
charging the absent Lætitia to bear her misfortune with a consciousness of
deserving it
Chapter XL
Midnight Sir Willoughby and Lætitia with Young Crossjay under a Coverlet
Young Crossjay was a glutton at holidays and never thought of home till it was
dark The close of the day saw him several miles away from the Hall dubious
whether he would not round his numerous adventures by sleeping at an inn for he
had lots of money and the idea of jumping up in the morning in a strange place
was thrilling Besides when he was shaken out of sleep by Sir Willoughby he
had been told that he was to go and not to show his face at Patterne again On
the other hand Miss Middleton had bidden him come back There was little
question with him which person he should obey he followed his heart
Supper at an inn where he found a company to listen to his adventures
delayed him and a short cut intended to make up for it lost him his road He
reached the Hall very late ready to be in love with the horrible pleasure of a
nights rest under the stars if necessary But a candle burned at one of the
back windows He knocked and a kitchenmaid let him in She had a bowl of hot
soup prepared for him Crossjay tried a mouthful to please her His head dropped
over it She roused him to his feet and he pitched against her shoulder The
dry air of the kitchen department had proved too much for the tired youngster
Mary the maid got him to step as firmly as he was able and led him by the
backway to the hall bidding him creep noiselessly to bed He understood his
position in the house and though he could have gone fast to sleep on the
stairs he took a steady aim at his room and gained the door catlike The door
resisted He was appalled and unstrung in a minute The door was locked
Crossjay felt as if he were in the presence of Sir Willoughby He fled on
rickety legs and had a fall and bumps down halfadozen stairs A door opened
above He rushed across the hall to the drawingroom invitingly open and there
staggered in darkness to the ottoman and rolled himself in something sleek and
warm soft as hands of ladies and redolent of them so delicious that he hugged
the folds about his head and heels While he was endeavouring to think where he
was his legs curled his eyelids shut and he was in the thick of the days
adventures doing yet more wonderful things
He heard his own name that was quite certain He knew that he heard it with
his ears as he pursued the fleetest dreams ever accorded to mortal It did not
mix it was outside him and like the dangerpole in the ice which the skater
shooting hither and yonder comes on again it recurred and now it marked a
point in his career now it caused him to relax his pace he began to circle
and whirled closer round it until as at a blow his heart knocked he
tightened himself thought of bolting and lay deadstill to throb and hearken
»Oh Sir Willoughby« a voice had said
The accents were sharp with alarm
»My friend my dearest« was the answer
»I came to speak of Crossjay«
»Will you sit here on the ottoman«
»No I cannot wait I hoped I had heard Crossjay return I would rather not
sit down May I entreat you to pardon him when he comes home«
»You and you only may do so I permit none else Of Crossjay tomorrow«
»He may be lying in the fields We are anxious«
»The rascal can take pretty good care of himself«
»Crossjay is perpetually meeting accidents«
»He shall be indemnified if he has had excess of punishment«
»I think I will say good night Sir Willoughby«
»When freely and unreservedly you have given me your hand«
There was hesitation
»To say good night«
»I ask for your hand«
»Good night Sir Willoughby«
»You do not give it You are in doubt Still What language must I use to
convince you And yet you know me Who knows me but you You have always known
me You are my home and my temple Have you forgotten your verses for the day of
my majority
The dawnstar has arisen
In plenitude of light «
»Do not repeat them pray« cried Lætitia with a gasp
»I have repeated them to myself a thousand times in India America Japan
they were like our English skylark carolling to me
My heart now burst thy prison
With proud aerial flight«
»Oh I beg you will not force me to listen to nonsense that I wrote when I was a
child No more of those most foolish lines If you knew what it is to write and
despise ones writing you would not distress me And since you will not speak
of Crossjay tonight allow me to retire«
»You know me and therefore you know my contempt for verses as a rule
Lætitia But not for yours to me Why should you call them foolish They
expressed your feelings I hold them sacred They are something religious to
me not mere poetry Perhaps the third verse is my favourite «
»It will be more than I can bear«
»You were in earnest when you wrote them«
»I was very young very enthusiastic very silly«
»You were and are my image of constancy«
»It is an error Sir Willoughby I am far from being the same«
»We are all older I trust wiser I am I will own much wiser Wise at
last I offer you my hand«
She did not reply
»I offer you my hand and name Lætitia«
No response
»You think me bound in honour to another«
She was mute
»I am free Thank heaven I am free to choose my mate the woman I have
always loved Freely and unreservedly as I ask you to give your hand I offer
mine You are the mistress of Patterne Hall my wife«
She had not a word
»My dearest do you not rightly understand The hand I am offering you is
disengaged It is offered to the lady I respect above all others I have made
the discovery that I cannot love without respecting and as I will not marry
without loving it ensues that I am free I am yours At last your lips
move tell me the word Have always loved I said You carry in your bosom the
magnet of constancy and I in spite of apparent deviations declare to you that
I have never ceased to be sensible of the attraction And now there is not an
impediment We two against the world we are one Let me confess to an old
foible perfectly youthful and you will ascribe it to youth once I desired to
absorb I mistrusted that was the reason I perceive it You teach me the
difference of an alliance with a lady of intellect The pride I have in you
Lætitia definitely cures me of that insane passion call it an insatiable
hunger I recognize it as a folly of youth I have as it were gone the tour
to come home to you at last and live our manly life of comparative equals
At last then But remember that in the younger man you would have had a despot
perhaps a jealous despot Young men I assure you are orientally inclined in
their ideas of love Love gets a bad name from them We my Lætitia do not
regard love as a selfishness If it is it is the essence of life At least it
is our selfishness rendered beautiful I talk to you like a man who has found a
compatriot in a foreign land It seems to me that I have not opened my mouth for
an age I certainly have not unlocked my heart Those who sing for joy are not
unintelligible to me If I had not something in me worth saying I think I
should sing In every sense you reconcile me to men and the world Lætitia Why
press you to speak I will be the speaker As surely as you know me I know you
and «
Lætitia burst forth with »No«
»I do not know you« said he searchingly mellifluous
»Hardly«
»How not«
»I am changed«
»In what way«
»Deeply«
»Sedater«
»Materially«
»Colour will come back have no fear I promise it If you imagine you want
renewing I have the specific I my love I«
»Forgive me will you tell me Sir Willoughby whether you have broken with
Miss Middleton«
»Rest satisfied my dear Lætitia She is as free as I am I can do no more
than a man of honour should do She releases me Tomorrow or next day she
departs We Lætitia you and I my love are home birds It does not do for the
home bird to couple with the migratory The little imperceptible change you
allude to is nothing Italy will restore you I am ready to stake my own health
never yet shaken by a doctor of medicine I say medicine advisedly for
there are Doctors of Divinity who would shake giants that an Italian trip
will send you back that I shall bring you home from Italy a blooming bride
You shake your head despondently My love I guarantee it Cannot I give you
colour Behold Come to the light look in the glass«
»I may redden« said Lætitia »I suppose that is due to the action of the
heart I am changed Heart for any other purpose I have not I am like you
Sir Willoughby in this I could not marry without loving and I do not know
what love is except that it is an empty dream«
»Marriage my dearest «
»You are mistaken«
»I will cure you my Lætitia Look to me I am the tonic It is not common
confidence but conviction I my love I«
»There is no cure for what I feel Sir Willoughby«
»Spare me the formal prefix I beg You place your hand in mine relying on
me I am pledged for the remainder We end as we began my request is for your
hand your hand in marriage«
»I cannot give it«
»To be my wife«
»It is an honour I must decline it«
»Are you quite well Lætitia I propose in the plainest terms I can employ
to make you Lady Patterne mine«
»I am compelled to refuse«
»Why Refuse Your reason«
»The reason has been named«
He took a stride to inspirit his wits
»Theres a madness comes over women at times I know Answer me Lætitia
by all the evidence a man can have I could swear it but answer me you loved
me once«
»I was an exceedingly foolish romantic girl«
»You evade my question I am serious Oh« he walked away from her booming
a sound of utter repudiation of her present imbecility and hurrying to her
side said »But it was manifest to the whole world It was a legend To love
like Lætitia Dale was a current phrase You were an example a light to women
no one was your match for devotion You were a precious cameo still gazing And
I was the object You loved me You loved me you belonged to me you were mine
my possession my jewel I was prouder of your constancy than of anything else
that I had on earth It was a part of the order of the universe to me A doubt
of it would have disturbed my creed Why good heaven where are we Is nothing
solid on earth You loved me«
»I was childish indeed«
»You loved me passionately«
»Do you insist on shaming me through and through Sir Willoughby I have
been exposed enough«
»You cannot blot out the past it is written it is recorded You loved me
devotedly silence is no escape You loved me«
»I did«
»You never loved me you shallow woman I did As if there could be a
cessation of a love What are we to reckon on as ours We prize a womans love
we guard it jealously we trust to it dream of it there is our wealth there
is our talisman And when we open the casket it has flown barren vacuity
we are poorer than dogs As well think of keeping a costly wine in potters clay
as love in the heart of a woman There are women women Oh they are all of a
stamp coin Coin for any hand Its a fiction an imposture they cannot
love They are the shadows of men Compared with men they have as much heart in
them as the shadow beside the body Lætitia«
»Sir Willoughby«
»You refuse my offer«
»I must«
»You refuse to take me for your husband«
»I cannot be your wife«
»You have changed You have set your heart You could marry
there is a man You could marry one I will have an answer I am sick of
evasions What was in the mind of heaven when women were created will be the
riddle to the end of the world Every good man in turn has made the inquiry I
have a right to know who robs me We may try as we like to solve it Satan is
painted laughing I say I have a right to know who robs me Answer me«
»I shall not marry«
»That is not an answer«
»I love no one«
»You loved me You are silent but you confessed it Then you confess it
was a love that could die Are you unable to perceive how that redounds to my
discredit You loved me you have ceased to love me In other words you charge
me with incapacity to sustain a womans love You accuse me of inspiring a
miserable passion that cannot last a lifetime You let the world see that I am
a man to be aimed at for a temporary mark And simply because I happen to be in
your neighbourhood at an age when a young woman is impressionable You make a
public example of me as a man for whom women may have a caprice but that is
all he cannot enchain them he fascinates passingly they fall off Is it just
for me to be taken up and cast down at your will Reflect on that scandal
Shadows Why a mans shadow is faithful to him at least What are women There
is not a comparison in nature that does not tower above them not one that does
not hoot at them I throughout my life guided by absolute deference to their
weakness paying them politeness courtesy whatever I touch I am happy in
except when I touch women How is it What is the mystery Some monstrous
explanation must exist What can it be I am favoured by fortune from my birth
until I enter into relations with women But will you be so good as to account
for it in your defence of them Oh were the relations dishonourable it would
be quite another matter Then they I could recount I disdain to
chronicle such victories Quite another matter But they are flies and I am
something more stable They are flies I look beyond the day I owe a duty to my
line They are flies I foresee it I shall be crossed in my fate so long as I
fail to shun them flies Not merely born for the day I maintain that they are
spiritually ephemeral Well my opinion of your sex is directly traceable to
you You may alter it or fling another of us men out on the world with the old
bitter experience Consider this that it is on your head if my ideal of women
is wrecked It rests with you to restore it I love you I discover that you are
the one woman I have always loved I come to you I sue you and suddenly you
have changed I have changed I am not the same What can it mean I cannot
marry I love no one And you say you do not know what love is avowing in the
same breath that you did love me Am I the empty dream My hand heart fortune
name are yours at your feet you kick them hence I am here you reject me
But why for what mortal reason am I here other than my faith in your love You
drew me to you to repel me and have a wretched revenge«
»You know it is not that Sir Willoughby«
»Have you any possible suspicion that I am still entangled not as I assure
you I am perfectly free in fact and in honour«
»It is not that«
»Name it for you see your power Would you have me kneel to you madam«
»Oh no it would complete my grief«
»You feel grief Then you believe in my affection and you hurl it away I
have no doubt that as a poetess you would say love is eternal And you have
loved me And you tell me you love me no more You are not very logical Lætitia
Dale«
»Poetesses rarely are if I am one which I little pretend to be for writing
silly verses I have passed out of that delusion with the rest«
»You shall not wrong those dear old days Lætitia I see them now when I
rode by your cottage and you were at your window pen in hand your hair
straying over your forehead Romantic yes not foolish Why were you foolish in
thinking of me Some day I will commission an artist to paint me that portrait
of you from my description And I remember when we first whispered I
remember your trembling You have forgotten I remember I remember our meeting
in the park on the path to church I remember the heavenly morning of my return
from my travels and the same Lætitia meeting me stedfast and unchangeable
Could I ever forget Those are ineradicable scenes pictures of my youth
interwound with me I may say that as I recede from them I dwell on them the
more Tell me Lætitia was there not a certain prophecy of your fathers
concerning us two I fancy I heard of one There was one«
»He was an invalid Elderly people nurse illusions«
»Ask yourself Lætitia who is the obstacle to the fulfilment of his
prediction truth if ever a truth was foreseen on earth You have not changed
so far that you would feel no pleasure in gratifying him I go to him tomorrow
morning with the first light«
»You will compel me to follow and undeceive him«
»Do so and I denounce an unworthy affection you are ashamed to avow«
»That would be idle though it would be base«
»Proof of love then For no one but you should it be done and no one but
you dare accuse me of a baseness«
»Sir Willoughby you will let my father die in peace«
»He and I together will contrive to persuade you«
»You tempt me to imagine that you want a wife at any cost«
»You Lætitia you«
»I am tired« she said »It is late I would rather not hear more I am
sorry if I have caused you pain I suppose you to have spoken with candour I
defend neither my sex nor myself I can only say I am a woman as good as dead
happy to be made happy in my way but so little alive that I cannot realize any
other way As for love I am thankful to have broken a spell You have a younger
woman in your mind I am an old one I have no ambition and no warmth My utmost
prayer is to float on the stream a purely physical desire of life I have no
strength to swim Such a woman is not the wife for you Sir Willoughby Good
night«
»One final word Weigh it Express no conventional regrets Resolutely you
refuse«
»Resolutely I do«
»You refuse«
»Yes«
»I have sacrificed my pride for nothing You refuse«
»Yes«
»Humbled myself And this is the answer You do refuse«
»I do«
»Good night Lætitia Dale«
He gave her passage
»Good night Sir Willoughby«
»I am in your power« he said in a voice between supplication and menace
that laid a claw on her and she turned and replied
»You will not be betrayed«
»I can trust you «
»I go home tomorrow before breakfast«
»Permit me to escort you upstairs«
»If you please but I see no one here either tonight or tomorrow«
»It is for the privilege of seeing the last of you«
They withdrew
Young Crossjay listened to the drumming of his head
Somewhere in or over the cavity a drummer rattled tremendously
Sir Willoughbys laboratorydoor shut with a slam
Crossjay tumbled himself off the ottoman He stole up to the unclosed
drawingroom door and peeped Never was a boy more thoroughly awakened His
object was to get out of the house and go through the night avoiding everything
human for he was big with information of a character that he knew to be of the
nature of gunpowder and he feared to explode He crossed the hall In the
passage to the scullery he ran against Colonel De Craye
»So there you are« said the colonel »Ive been hunting you«
Crossjay related that his bedroom door was locked and the key gone and Sir
Willoughby sitting up in the laboratory
Colonel De Craye took the boy to his own room where Crossjay lay on a sofa
comfortably covered over and snug in a swelling pillow but he was restless he
wanted to speak to bellow to cry and he bounced round to his left side and
bounced to his right not knowing what to think except that there was treason
to his adored Miss Middleton
»Why my lad youre not half a campaigner« the colonel called out to him
attributing his uneasiness to the material discomfort of the sofa and Crossjay
had to swallow the taunt bitter though it was A dim sentiment of impropriety
in unburdening his overcharged mind on the subject of Miss Middleton to Colonel
De Craye restrained him from defending himself and so he heaved and tossed
about till daybreak At an early hour while his hospitable friend who looked
very handsome in profile half breast and head above the sheets continued to
slumber Crossjay was on his legs and away
»He says I m not half a campaigner and a couple of hours of bed are enough
for me« the boy thought proudly and snuffed the springing air of the young sun
on the fields A glance back at Patterne Hall dismayed him for he knew not how
to act and he was immoderately combustible too full of knowledge for
selfcontainment much too zealouslyexcited on behalf of his dear Miss
Middleton to keep silent for many hours of the day
Chapter XLI
The Rev Dr Middleton Clara and Sir Willoughby
When Master Crossjay tumbled down the stairs Lætitia was in Claras room
speculating on the various mishaps which might have befallen that battered
youngster and Clara listened anxiously after Lætitia had run out until she
heard Sir Willoughbys voice which in some way satisfied her that the boy was
not in the house
She waited expecting Miss Dale to return then undressed went to bed
tried to sleep She was tired of strife Strange thoughts for a young head shot
through her as that it is possible for the sense of duty to counteract
distaste and that one may live a life apart from ones admirations and
dislikes she owned the singular strength of Sir Willoughby in outwearying she
asked herself how much she had gained by struggling every effort seemed to
expend her spirits force and rendered her less able to get the clear vision of
her prospects as though it had sunk her deeper the contrary of her intention
to make each further step confirm her liberty Looking back she marvelled at
the things she had done Looking round how ineffectual they appeared She had
still the great scene of positive rebellion to go through with her father
The anticipation of that was the cause of her extreme discouragement He had
not spoken to her since he became aware of her attempted flight but the scene
was coming and besides the wish not to inflict it on him as well as to escape
it herself the girls peculiar unhappiness lay in her knowledge that they were
alienated and stood opposed owing to one among the more perplexing masculine
weaknesses which she could not hint at dared barely think of and would not
name in her meditations Diverting to other subjects she allowed herself to
exclaim »Wine wine« in renewed wonder of what there could be in wine to
entrap venerable men and obscure their judgements She was too young to consider
that her being very much in the wrong gave all the importance to the cordial
glass in a venerable gentlemans appreciation of his dues Why should he fly
from a priceless wine to gratify the caprices of a fantastical child guilty of
seeking to commit a breach of faith He harped on those words Her fault was
grave No doubt the wine coloured it to him as a drop or two will do in any
cup still her fault was grave
She was too young for such considerations She was ready to expatiate on the
gravity of her fault so long as the humiliation assisted to her
disentanglement her snared nature in the toils would not permit her to reflect
on it further She had never accurately perceived it for the reason perhaps
that Willoughby had not been moving in his appeals but admitting the charge of
waywardness she had come to terms with conscience upon the understanding that
she was to perceive it and regret it and do penance for it byandby by
renouncing marriage altogether How light a penance
In the morning she went to Lætitias room knocked and had no answer
She was informed at the breakfasttable of Miss Dales departure The ladies
Eleanor and Isabel feared it to be a case of urgency at the cottage No one had
seen Vernon and Clara requested Colonel De Craye to walk over to the cottage
for news of Crossjay He accepted the commission simply to obey and be in her
service assuring her however that there was no need to be disturbed about the
boy He would have told her more had not Dr Middleton led her out
Sir Willoughby marked a lapse of ten minutes by his watch His excellent
aunts had ventured a comment on his appearance that frightened him lest he
himself should be the person to betray his astounding discomfiture He regarded
his conduct as an act of madness and Lætitias as no less that of a madwoman
happily mad Very happily mad indeed Her rejection of his ridiculously generous
proposal seemed to show an intervening hand in his favour that sent her
distraught at the right moment He entirely trusted her to be discreet but she
was a miserable creature who had lost the one last chance offered her by
Providence and furnished him with a signal instance of the mediocrity of
womans love
Time was flying In a little while Mrs Mountstuart would arrive He could
not fence her without a design in his head he was destitute of an armoury if he
had no scheme he racked the brain only to succeed in rousing phantasmal
vapours Her infernal Twice would cease now to apply to Lætitia it would be an
echo of Lady Busshe Nay were all in the secret Thrice jilted might become
the universal roar And this he reflected bitterly of a man whom nothing but
duty to his line had arrested from being the most mischievous of his class with
women Such is our reward for uprightness
At the expiration of fifteen minutes by his watch he struck a knuckle on
the librarydoor Dr Middleton held it open to him
»You are disengaged sir«
»The sermon is upon the paragraph which is toned to awaken the clerk«
replied the Rev Doctor
Clara was weeping
Sir Willoughby drew near her solicitously
Dr Middletons mane of silvery hair was in a state bearing witness to the
vehemence of the sermon and Willoughby said »I hope sir you have not made
too much of a trifle«
»I believe sir that I have produced an effect and that was the point in
contemplation«
»Clara my dear Clara« Willoughby touched her
»She sincerely repents her conduct I may inform you« said Dr Middleton
»My love« Willoughby whispered »We have had a misunderstanding I am at a
loss to discover where I have been guilty but I take the blame all the blame
I implore you not to weep Do me the favour to look at me I would not have had
you subjected to any interrogation whatever«
»You are not to blame« Clara said on a sob
»Undoubtedly Willoughby is not to blame It was not he who was bound on a
runaway errand in flagrant breach of duty and decorum nor he who inflicted a
catarrh on a brother of my craft and cloth« said her father
»The clerk sir has pronounced Amen« observed Willoughby
»And no man is happier to hear an ejaculation that he has laboured for with
so much sweat of his brow than the parson I can assure you« Dr Middleton
mildly groaned
»I have notions of the trouble of Abraham A sermon of that description is
an immolation of the parent however it may go with the child«
Willoughby soothed his Clara
»I wish I had been here to share it I might have saved you some tears I
may have been hasty in our little dissensions I will acknowledge that I have
been My temper is often irascible«
»And so is mine« exclaimed Dr Middleton »And yet I am not aware that I
made the worse husband for it Nor do I rightly comprehend how a probably justly
exciteable temper can stand for a plea in mitigation of an attempt at an
outrageous breach of faith«
»The sermon is over sir«
»Reverberations« the Rev Doctor waved his arm placably »Take it for
thunder heard remote«
»Your hand my love« Willoughby murmured
The hand was not put forth
Dr Middleton remarked the fact He walked to the window and perceiving the
pair in the same position when he faced about he delivered a cough of
admonition
»It is cruel« said Clara
»That the owner of your hand should petition you for it« inquired her
father
She sought refuge in a fit of tears
Willoughby bent above her mute
»Is a scene that is hardly conceivable as a parents obligation once in a
lustrum to be repeated within the half hour« shouted her father
She drew up her shoulders and shook let them fall and dropped her head
»My dearest your hand« fluted Willoughby
The hand surrendered it was much like the icicle of a sudden thaw
Willoughby squeezed it to his ribs
Dr Middleton marched up and down the room with his arms locked behind him
The silence between the young people seemed to denounce his presence
He said cordially »Old Hiems has but to withdraw for buds to burst Jam ver
egelidos refert tepores The æquinoctial fury departs I will leave you for a
term«
Clara and Willoughby simultaneously raised their faces with opposing
expressions
»My girl« her father stood by her laying gentle hand on her
»Yes papa I will come out to you« she replied to his apology for the
rather heavy weight of his vocabulary and smiled
»No sir I beg you will remain« said Willoughby
»I keep you frostbound«
Clara did not deny it
Willoughby emphatically did
Then which of them was the more loverlike Dr Middleton would for the
moment have supposed his daughter
Clara said »Shall you be on the lawn papa«
Willoughby interposed »Stay sir give us your blessing«
»That you have« Dr Middleton hastily motioned the paternal ceremony in
outline
»A few minutes papa« said Clara
»Will she name the day« came eagerly from Willoughby
»I cannot« Clara cried in extremity
»The day is important on its arrival« said her father »but I apprehend the
decision to be of the chief importance at present First prime your piece of
artillery my friend«
»The decision is taken sir«
»Then I will be out of the way of the firing Hit what day you please«
Clara checked herself on an impetuous exclamation It was done that her
father might not be detained
Her astute selfcompression sharpened Willoughby as much as it mortified and
terrified him He understood how he would stand in an instant were Dr Middleton
absent Her father was the tribunal she dreaded and affairs must be settled and
made irrevocable while he was with them To sting the blood of the girl he
called her his darling and half enwound her shadowing forth a salute
She strung her body to submit seeing her father take it as a signal for his
immediate retirement
Willoughby was upon him before he reached the door
»Hear us out sir Do not go Stay at my entreaty I fear we have not come
to a perfect reconcilement«
»If that is your opinion« said Clara »it is good reason for not
distressing my father«
»Dr Middleton I love your daughter I wooed her and won her I had your
consent to our union and I was the happiest of mankind In some way since her
coming to my house I know not how she will not tell me or cannot I
offended One may be innocent and offend I have never pretended to
impeccability which is an admission that I may very naturally offend My appeal
to her is for an explanation or for pardon I obtain neither Had our positions
been reversed Oh not for any real offence not for the worst that can be
imagined I think not I hope not could I have been tempted to propose the
dissolution of our engagement To love is to love with me an engagement a
solemn bond With all my errors I have that merit of utter fidelity to the
world laughable I confess to a multitude of errors I have that single merit
and am not the more estimable in your daughters eyes on account of it I fear
In plain words I am I do not doubt one of the fools among men of the
description of human dog commonly known as faithful whose destiny is that of a
tribe A man who cries out when he is hurt is absurd and I am not asking for
sympathy Call me luckless But I abhor a breach of faith A broken pledge is
hateful to me I should regard it in myself as a form of suicide There are
principles which civilized men must contend for Our social fabric is based on
them As my word stands for me I hold others to theirs If that is not done
the world is more or less a carnival of counterfeits In this instance Ah
Clara my love and you have principles you have inherited you have been
indoctrinated with them have I then in my ignorance offended past penitence
that you of all women And without being able to name my sin Not only
for what I lose by it but in the abstract judicially apart from the
sentiment of personal interest grief pain and the possibility of my having to
endure that which no temptation would induce me to commit judicially I
fear sir I am a poor forensic orator «
»The situation sir does not demand a Cicero proceed« said Dr Middleton
balked in his approving nods at the right true things delivered
»Judicially I am bold to say though it may appear a presumption in one
suffering acutely I abhor a breach of faith«
Dr Middleton brought his nod down low upon the phrase he had anticipated
»And I« said he »personally and presently abhor a breach of faith
Judicially Judicially to examine judicially to condemn but does the judicial
mind detest I think sir we are not on the Bench when we say that we abhor we
have unseated ourselves Yet our abhorrence of bad conduct is very certain You
would signify impersonally which suffices for this exposition of your
feelings«
He peered at the gentleman under his brows and resumed »She has had it
Willoughby she has had it plain Saxon and in uncompromising Olympian There is
I conceive no necessity to revert to it«
»Pardon me sir but I am still unforgiven«
»You must babble out the rest between you I am about as much at home as a
turkey with a pair of pigeons«
»Leave us father« said Clara
»First join our hands and let me give you that title sir«
»Reach the good man your hand my girl forthright from the shoulder like
a brave boxer Humour a lover He asks for his own«
»It is more than I can do father«
»How it is more than you can do You are engaged to him a plighted woman«
»I do not wish to marry«
»The apology is inadequate«
»I am unworthy «
»Chatter chatter«
»I beg him to release me«
»Lunacy«
»I have no love to give him«
»Have you gone back to your cradle Clara Middleton«
»Oh leave us dear father«
»My offence Clara my offence What is it Will you only name it«
»Father will you leave us We can better speak together«
»We have spoken Clara how often« Willoughby resumed »with what result
that you loved me that you have ceased to love me that your heart was mine
that you have withdrawn it plucked it from me that you request me to consent
to a sacrifice involving my reputation my life And what have I done I am the
same unchangeable I loved and love you my heart was yours and is and will
be yours for ever You are my affianced that is my wife What have I done«
»It is indeed useless« Clara sighed
»Not useless my girl that you should inform this gentleman your affianced
husband of the ground of the objection you conceived against him«
»I cannot say«
»Do you know«
»If I could name it I could hope to overcome it«
Dr Middleton addressed Sir Willoughby
»I verily believe we are directing the girl to dissect a caprice Such
things are seen large by these young people but as they have neither organs nor
arteries nor brains nor membranes dissection and inspection will be alike
profitlessly practised Your inquiry is natural for a lover whose passion to
enter into relations with the sex is ordinarily in proportion to his ignorance
of the stuff composing them At a particular age they traffic in whims which
are I presume the spiritual of hysterics and are indubitably preferable so
long as they are not pushed too far Examples are not wanting to prove that a
flighty initiative on the part of the male is a handsome corrective In that
case we should probably have had the roof off the house and the girl now at
your feet Ha«
»Despise me father I am punished for ever thinking myself the superior of
any woman« said Clara
»Your hand out to him my dear since he is for a formal reconciliation and
I cant wonder«
»Father I have said I do not I have said I cannot «
»By the most merciful what what the name for it words for it«
»Do not frown on me father I wish him happiness I cannot marry him I do
not love him«
»You will remember that you informed me aforetime that you did love him«
»I was ignorant I did not know myself I wish him to be happy«
»You deny him the happiness you wish him«
»It would not be for his happiness were I to wed him«
»Oh« burst from Willoughby
»You hear him He rejects your prediction Clara Middleton«
She caught her clasped hands up to her throat »Wretched wretched both«
»And you have not a word against him miserable girl«
»Miserable I am«
»It is the cry of an animal«
»Yes father«
»You feel like one Your behaviour is of that shape You have not a word«
»Against myself not against him«
»And I when you speak so generously am to yield you give you up« cried
Willoughby »Ah my love my Clara impose what you will on me not that It is
too much for man It is I swear it beyond my strength«
»Pursue continue the strain tis in the right key« said Dr Middleton
departing
Willoughby wheeled and waylaid him with a bound
»Plead for me sir you are allpowerful Let her be mine she shall be
happy or I will perish for it I will call it on my head Impossible I
cannot lose her Lose you my love It would be to strip myself of every
blessing of body and soul It would be to deny myself possession of grace
beauty wit all the incomparable charms of loveliness of mind and person in
woman and plant myself in a desert You are my mate the sum of everything I
call mine Clara I should be less than man to submit to such a loss Consent to
it But I love you I worship you How can I consent to lose you «
He saw the eyes of the desperately wily young woman slink sideways Dr
Middleton was pacing at ever shorter lengths closer by the door
»You hate me« Willoughby sank his voice
»If it should turn to hate« she murmured
»Hatred of your husband«
»I could not promise« she murmured more softly in her wilyness
»Hatred« he cried aloud and Dr Middleton stopped in his walk and flung up
his head »Hatred of your husband of the man you have vowed to love and honour
Oh no Once mine it is not to be feared I trust to my knowledge of your
nature I trust in your blood I trust in your education Had I nothing else to
inspire confidence I could trust in your eyes And Clara take the confession
I would rather be hated than lose you For if I lose you you are in another
world out of this one holding me in its deathlike cold but if you hate me we
are together we are still together Any alliance any in preference to
separation«
Clara listened with a critical ear His language and tone were new and
comprehending that they were in part addressed to her father whose phrase »A
breach of faith« he had so cunningly used disdain of the actor prompted the
extreme blunder of her saying frigidly though she said it
»You have not talked to me in this way before«
»Finally« remarked her father summing up the situation to settle it from
that little speech »he talks to you in this way now and you are under my
injunction to stretch your hand out to him for a symbol of union or to state
your objection to that course He by your admission is at the terminus and
there failing the why not must you join him«
Her head whirled She had been severely flagellated and weakened previous to
Willoughbys entrance Language to express her peculiar repulsion eluded her
She formed the words and perceived that they would not stand to bear a breath
from her father She perceived too that Willoughby was as ready with his agony
of supplication as she with hers If she had tears for a resource he had
gestures quite as eloquent and a cry of her loathing of the union would fetch
a countervailing torrent of the mans love What could she say he is an
Egoist The epithet has no meaning in such a scene Invent shrieked the
hundredvoiced instinct of dislike within her and alone with her father alone
with Willoughby she could have invented some equivalent to do her heart
justice for the injury it sustained in her being unable to name the true and
immense objection but the pair in presence paralyzed her She dramatized them
each springing forward by turns with crushing rejoinders The activity of her
mind revelled in giving them a tongue but would not do it for herself Then
ensued the inevitable consequence of an incapacity to speak at the hearts
urgent dictate heart and mind became divided One throbbed hotly the other
hung aloof and mentally while the sick inarticulate heart kept clamouring she
answered it with all that she imagined for those two men to say And she dropped
poison on it to still its reproaches bidding herself remember her fatal
postponements in order to preserve the seeming of consistency before her father
calling it hypocrite asking herself what was she who loved her And thus
beating down her heart she completed the mischief with a piercing view of the
foundation of her fathers advocacy of Willoughby and more lamentably asked
herself what her value was if she stood bereft of respect for her father
Reason on the other hand was animated by her better nature to plead his
case against her she clung to her respect for him and felt herself drowning
with it and she echoed Willoughby consciously doubling her horror with the
consciousness in crying out on a world where the most sacred feelings are
subject to such lapses It doubled her horror that she should echo the man but
it proved that she was no better than he only some years younger Those years
would soon be outlived after which he and she would be of a pattern She was
unloved she did no harm to any one by keeping her word to this man she had
pledged it and it would be a breach of faith not to keep it No one loved her
Behold the quality of her fathers love To give him happiness was now the
principal aim for her her own happiness being decently buried and here he was
happy why should she be the cause of his going and losing the poor pleasure he
so much enjoyed
The idea of her devotedness flattered her feebleness She betrayed signs of
hesitation and in hesitating she looked away from a look at Willoughby
thinking so much against her nature was it to resign herself to him that it
would not have been so difficult with an illfavoured man With one horribly
ugly it would have been a horrible exultation to cast off her youth and take
the fiendish leap
Unfortunately for Sir Willoughby he had his reasons for pressing
impatience and seeing her deliberate seeing her hasty look at his fine figure
his opinion of himself combined with his recollection of a particular maxim of
the Great Book to assure him that her resistance was over chiefly owing as he
supposed to his physical perfections
Frequently indeed in the contest between gentlemen and ladies have the
maxims of the Book stimulated the assailant to victory They are rosy with blood
of victims To hear them is to hear a horn that blows the mort has blown it a
thousand times It is good to remember how often they have succeeded when for
the benefit of some future Lady Vauban who may bestir her wits to gather maxims
for the inspiriting of the Defence the circumstance of a failure has to be
recorded
Willoughby could not wait for the melting of the snows He saw full surely
the dissolving process and sincerely admiring and coveting her as he did
rashly this illfated gentleman attempted to precipitate it and so doing
arrested
Whence might we draw a note upon yonder maxim in words akin to these Make
certain ere a breath come from thee that thou be not a frost
»Mine She is mine« he cried »mine once more mine utterly mine
eternally« and he followed up his devouring exclamations in person as she less
decidedly retreated She retreated as young ladies should ever do two or three
steps and he would not notice that she had become an angry Dian all arrows
her maidenliness in surrendering pleased him Grasping one fair hand he just
allowed her to edge away from his embrace crying »Not a syllable of what I
have gone through You shall not have to explain it my Clara I will study you
more diligently to be guided by you my darling If I offend again my wife
will not find it hard to speak what my bride withheld I do not ask why
perhaps not able to weigh the effect of her reticence not at that time when
she was younger and less experienced estimating the sacredness of a plighted
engagement It is past we are one my dear sir and father You may leave us
now«
»I profoundly rejoice to hear that I may« said Dr Middleton
Clara writhed her captured hand
»No papa stay It is an error an error You must not leave me Do not
think me utterly eternally belonging to any one but you No one shall say I am
his but you«
»Are you quicksands Clara Middleton that nothing can be built on you
Whither is a flighty head and a shifty will carrying the girl«
»Clara and I sir« said Willoughby
»And so you shall« said the Doctor turning about
»Not yet papa« Clara sprang to him
»Why you you you it was you who craved to be alone with Willoughby« her
father shouted »and here we are rounded to our startingpoint with the
solitary difference that now you do not want to be alone with Willoughby First
I am bidden go next I am pulled back and judging by collar and coattail I
suspect you to be a young woman to wear an angels temper threadbare before you
determine upon which one of the tides driving him to and fro you intend to
launch on yourself Where is your mind«
Clara smoothed her forehead
»I wish to please you papa«
»I request you to please the gentleman who is your appointed husband«
»I am anxious to perform my duty«
»That should be a satisfactory basis for you Willoughby as girls go«
»Let me sir simply entreat to have her hand in mine before you«
»Why not Clara«
»Why an empty ceremony papa«
»The implication is that she is prepared for the important one friend
Willoughby«
»Her hand sir the reassurance of her hand in mine under your eyes after
all that I have suffered I claim it I think I claim it reasonably to restore
me to confidence«
»Quite reasonably which is not to say necessarily but I will add
justifiably and it may be sagaciously when dealing with the volatile«
»And here« said Willoughby »is my hand«
Clara recoiled
He stepped on Her father frowned She lifted both her hands from the
shrinking elbows darted a look of repulsion at her pursuer and ran to her
father crying »Call it my mood I am volatile capricious flighty very
foolish But you see that I attach a real meaning to it and feel it to be
binding I cannot think it an empty ceremony if it is before you Yes only be
a little considerate to your moody girl She will be in a fitter state in a few
hours Spare me this moment I must collect myself I thought I was free I
thought he would not press me If I give my hand hurriedly now I shall I know
immediately repent it There is the picture of me But papa I mean to try to
be above that and if I go and walk by myself I shall grow calm to perceive
where my duty lies «
»In which direction shall you walk« said Willoughby
»Wisdom is not upon a particular road« said Dr Middleton
»I have a dread sir of that one which leads to the railwaystation«
»With some justice« Dr Middleton sighed over his daughter
Clara coloured to deep crimson but she was beyond anger and was rather
gratified by an offence coming from Willoughby
»I will promise not to leave his grounds papa«
»My child you have threatened to be a breaker of promises«
»Oh« she wailed »But I will make it a vow to you«
»Why not make it a vow to me this moment for this gentlemans contentment
that he shall be your husband within a given period«
»I will come to you voluntarily I burn to be alone«
»I shall lose her« exclaimed Willoughby in heartfelt earnest
»How so« said Dr Middleton »I have her sir if you will favour me by
continuing in abeyance You will come within an hour voluntarily Clara and
you will either at once yield your hand to him or you will furnish reasons and
they must be good ones for withholding it«
»Yes papa«
»You will«
»I will«
»Mind I say reasons«
»Reasons papa If I have none «
»If you have none that are to my satisfaction you implicitly and
instantly and cordially obey my command«
»I will obey«
»What more would you require« Dr Middleton bowed to Sir Willoughby in
triumph
»Will she «
»Sir Sir«
»She is your daughter sir I am satisfied«
»She has perchance wrestled with her engagement as the aboriginals of a
land newly discovered by a crew of adventurous colonists do battle with the
garments imposed on them by our considerate civilization ultimately to
rejoice with excessive dignity in the wearing of a battered cockedhat and
trowsers not extending to the shanks but she did not break her engagement sir
and we will anticipate that moderating a young womans native wildness she
may after the manner of my comparison take a similar pride in her fortune in
good season«
Willoughby had not leisure to sound the depth of Dr Middletons compliment
He had seen Clara gliding out of the room during the delivery and his fear
returned on him that not being won she was lost
»She has gone« her father noticed her absence »She does not waste time in
the mission to procure that astonishing product of a shallow soil her reasons
if such be the object of her search But no it signifies that she deems herself
to have need of composure nothing more No one likes to be turned about we
like to turn ourselves about and in the question of an act to be committed we
stipulate that it shall be our act girls and others After the lapse of an
hour it will appear to her as her act Happily Willoughby we do not dine
away from Patterne tonight«
»No sir«
»It may be attributable to a sense of deserving but I could plead guilty to
a weakness for old Port today«
»There shall be an extrabottle sir«
»All going favourably with you as I have no cause to doubt« said Dr
Middleton with the motion of wafting his host out of the library
Chapter XLII
Shows the Divining Arts of a Perceptive Mind
Starting from the Hall a few minutes before Dr Middleton and Sir Willoughby
had entered the drawingroom overnight Vernon parted company with Colonel De
Craye at the parkgates and betook himself to the cottage of the Dales where
nothing had been heard of his wanderer and he received the same disappointing
reply from Dr Corney out of the bedroom window of the genial physician whose
astonishment at his covering so long a stretch of road at night for news of a
boy like Crossjay gifted with the lives of a cat became violent and rapped
Punchlike blows on the windowsill at Vernons refusal to take shelter and
rest Vernons excuse was that he had »no one but that fellow to care for« and
he strode off naming a farm five miles distant Dr Corney howled an invitation
to early breakfast to him in the event of his passing on his way back and
retired to bed to think of him The result of a variety of conjectures caused
him to set Vernon down as Miss Middletons knight and he felt a strong
compassion for his poor friend »Though« thought he »a hopeless attachment is
as pretty an accompaniment to the tune of life as a gentleman might wish to
have for its one of those big doses of discord which make all the minor ones
fit in like an agreeable harmony and so he shuffles along as pleasantly as the
fortunefavoured when they come to compute«
Sir Willoughby was the fortunefavoured in the little doctors mind that
highstepping gentleman having wealth and public consideration and the most
ravishing young lady in the world for a bride Still though he reckoned all
these advantages enjoyed by Sir Willoughby at their full value he could imagine
the ultimate balance of good fortune to be in favour of Vernon But to do so he
had to reduce the whole calculation to the extreme abstract and feed his lean
friend as it were on dew and roots and the happy effect for Vernon lay in a
distant future on the borders of old age where he was to be blest with his
ladys regretful preference and rejoice in the fruits of good constitutional
habits The reviewing mind was Irish Sir Willoughby was a character of man
profoundly opposed to Dr Corneys nature the latters instincts bristled with
antagonism not to his race for Vernon was of the same race partly of the
same blood and Corney loved him the type of person was the annoyance And the
circumstance of its prevailing successfulness in the country where he was
placed while it held him silent as if under a law heaped stores of insurgency
in the Celtic bosom Corney contemplating Sir Willoughby and a trotting kern
governed by Strongbow have a point of likeness between them with the point of
difference that Corney was enlightened to know of a friend better adapted for
eminent station and especially better adapted to please a lovely lady could
these highbred Englishwomen but be taught to conceive another idea of manliness
than the formal carvedinwood idol of their national worship
Dr Corney breakfasted very early without seeing Vernon He was off to a
patient while the first lark of the morning carolled above and the business of
the day not yet fallen upon men in the shape of cloud was happily intermixed
with natures hues and pipings Turning off the highroad up a green lane an
hour later he beheld a youngster prying into a hedge head and arms by the
peculiar strenuous twist of whose hinder parts indicative of a frame plunged on
the pursuit in hand he clearly distinguished young Crossjay Out came eggs The
doctor pulled up
»What bird« he bellowed
»Yellowhammer« Crossjay yelled back
»Now sir youll drop a couple of those eggs in the nest«
»Dont order me« Crossjay was retorting »Oh its you Dr Corney Good
morning I said that because I always do drop a couple back I promised Mr
Whitford I would and Miss Middleton too«
»Had breakfast«
»Not yet«
»Not hungry«
»I should be if I thought about it«
»Jump up«
»I think I d rather not Dr Corney«
»And youll just do what Dr Corney tells you and set your mind on rashers
of curly fat bacon and sweetlysmoking coffee toast hot cakes marmalade and
damsonjam Wide go the fellows nostrils and theres water at the dimples of
his mouth Up my man«
Crossjay jumped up beside the doctor who remarked as he touched his horse
»I dont want a man this morning though Ill enlist you in my service if I do
Youre fond of Miss Middleton«
Instead of answering Crossjay heaved the sigh of love that bears a burden
»And so am I« pursued the doctor »Youll have to put up with a rival Its
worse than fond I m in love with her How do you like that«
»I dont mind how many love her« said Crossjay
»Youre worthy of a gratuitous breakfast in the front parlour of the best
hotel of the place they call Arcadia And how about your bed last night«
»Pretty middling«
»Hard was it where the bones havent cushion«
»I dont care for bed A couple of hours and thats enough for me«
»But youre fond of Miss Middleton anyhow and thats a virtue«
To his great surprise Dr Corney beheld two big round tears force their way
out of this tough youngsters eyes and all the while the boys face was proud
Crossjay said when he could trust himself to disjoin his lips »I want to
see Mr Whitford«
»Have you got news for him«
»Ive something to ask him Its about what I ought to do«
»Then my boy you have the right name addressed in the wrong direction for
I found you turning your shoulders on Mr Whitford And he has been out of his
bed hunting you all the unholy night youve made it for him Thats melancholy
What do you say to asking my advice«
Crossjay sighed »I cant speak to anybody but Mr Whitford«
»And youre hot to speak to him«
»I want to«
»And I found you running away from him Youre a curiosity Mr Crossjay
Patterne«
»Ah so d anybody be who knew as much as I do« said Crossjay with a sober
sadness that caused the doctor to treat him seriously
»The fact is« he said »Mr Whitford is beating the country for you My
best plan will be to drive you to the Hall«
»I d rather not go to the Hall« Crossjay spoke resolutely
»You wont see Miss Middleton anywhere but at the Hall«
»I dont want to see Miss Middleton if I cant be a bit of use to her«
»No danger threatening the lady is there«
Crossjay treated the question as if it had not been put
»Now tell me« said Dr Corney »would there be a chance for me supposing
Miss Middleton were disengaged«
The answer was easy »I m sure she wouldnt«
»And why sir are you so cock sure«
There was no saying but the doctor pressed for it and at last Crossjay
gave his opinion that she would take Mr Whitford
The doctor asked why and Crossjay said it was because Mr Whitford was the
best man in the world To which with a lusty »Amen to that« Dr Corney
remarked »I should have fancied Colonel De Craye would have had the first
chance hes more of a ladys man«
Crossjay surprised him again by petulantly saying »Dont«
The boy added »I dont want to talk except about birds and things What a
jolly morning it is I saw the sun rise No rain today Youre right about
hungry Dr Corney«
The kindly little man swung his whip Crossjay informed him of his disgrace
at the Hall and of every incident connected with it from the tramp to the
baronet save Miss Middletons adventure and the nightscene in the
drawingroom A strong smell of something left out struck Dr Corney and he
said »Youll not let Miss Middleton know of my affection After all its only
a little bit of love But as Patrick said to Kathleen when she owned to such a
little bit thats the best bit of all and he was as right as I am about
hungry«
Crossjay scorned to talk of loving he declared »I never tell Miss
Middleton what I feel Why theres Miss Dales cottage«
»Its nearer to your empty inside than my mansion« said the doctor »and
well stop just to inquire whether a bed s to be had for you there tonight
and if not Ill have you with me and bottle you and exhibit you for youre a
rare specimen Breakfast you may count on from Mr Dale I spy a gentleman«
»Its Colonel De Craye«
»Come after news of you«
»I wonder«
»Miss Middleton sends him of course she does«
Crossjay turned his full face to the doctor »I havent seen her for such a
long time But he saw me last night and he might have told her that if shes
anxious Good morning colonel Ive had a good walk and a capital drive and
I m as hungry as the boats crew of Captain Bligh«
He jumped down
The colonel and the doctor saluted smiling
»Ive rung the bell« said De Craye
A maid came to the gate and upon her steps appeared Miss Dale who flung
herself at Crossjay mingling kisses and reproaches She scarcely raised her
face to the colonel more than to reply to his greeting and excuse the hungry
boy for hurrying indoors to breakfast
»Ill wait« said De Craye He had seen that she was paler than usual So
had Dr Corney and the doctor called to her concerning her fathers health She
reported that he had not yet risen and took Crossjay to herself
»Thats well« said the doctor »if the invalid sleeps long The lady is not
looking so well though But ladies vary they show the mind on the countenance
for want of the punching we meet with to conceal it theyre like military flags
for a funeral or a gala one day furled and next day streaming Men are ships
figureheads about the same for a storm or a calm and not too handsome thanks
to the ocean Its an age since we encountered last colonel on board the
Dublin boat I recollect and a night it was«
»I recollect that you set me on my legs doctor«
»Ah and youll please to notify that Corney s no quack at sea by favour
of the monks of the Chartreuse whose elixir has power to still the waves And
we hear that miracles are done with«
»Roll a physician and a monk together doctor«
»True itll be a miracle if they combine Though the cure of the soul is
often the entire and total cure of the body and its maliciously said that the
body given over to our treatment is a signal to set the soul flying By the way
colonel that boy has a trifle on his mind«
»I suppose he has been worrying a farmer or a gamekeeper«
»Try him Youll find him tight Hes got Miss Middleton on the brain
Theres a bit of a secret and hes not so cheerful about it«
»Well see« said the colonel
Dr Corney nodded »I have to visit my patient here presently I m too
early for him so Ill make a call or two on the lame birds that are up« he
remarked and drove away
De Craye strolled through the garden He was a gentleman of those actively
perceptive wits which if ever they reflect do so by hops and jumps upon some
dancing mirror within we may fancy He penetrated a plot in a flash and in a
flash he formed one but in both cases it was after long hovering and not
overeager deliberation by the patient exercise of his quick perceptives The
fact that Crossjay was considered to have Miss Middleton on the brain threw a
series of images of everything relating to Crossjay for the last forty hours
into relief before him and as he did not in the slightest degree speculate on
any one of them but merely shifted and surveyed them the falcon that he was in
spirit as well as in his handsome face leisurely allowed his instinct to direct
him where to strike A reflective disposition has this danger in action that it
commonly precipitates conjecture for the purpose of working upon probabilities
with the methods and in the tracks to which it is accustomed and to conjecture
rashly is to play into the puzzles of the maze He who can watch circling above
it awhile quietly viewing and collecting in his eye gathers matter that makes
the secret thing discourse to the brain by weight and balance he will get
either the right clue or none more frequently none but he will escape the
entanglement of his own cleverness he will always be nearer to the enigma than
the guesser or the calculator and he will retain a breadth of vision forfeited
by them He must however to have his chance of success be acutely besides
calmly perceptive a reader of features audacious at the proper moment
De Craye wished to look at Miss Dale She had returned home very suddenly
not as it appeared owing to her fathers illness and he remembered a redness
of her eyelids when he passed her on the corridor one night She sent Crossjay
out to him as soon as the boy was well filled He sent Crossjay back with a
request She did not yield to it immediately She stepped to the front door
reluctantly and seemed disconcerted De Craye begged for a message to Miss
Middleton There was none to give He persisted But there was really none at
present she said
»You wont entrust me with the smallest word« said he and set her visibly
thinking whether she could despatch a word She could not she had no heart for
messages
»I shall see her in a day or two Colonel De Craye«
»She will miss you severely«
»We shall soon meet«
»And poor Willoughby«
Lætitia coloured and stood silent
A butterfly of some rarity allured Crossjay
»I fear he has been doing mischief« she said »I cannot get him to look at
me«
»His appetite is good«
»Very good indeed«
De Craye nodded A boy with a noble appetite is never a hopeless lock
The colonel and Crossjay lounged over the garden
»And now« said the colonel »well see if we cant arrange a meeting
between you and Miss Middleton Youre a lucky fellow for shes always thinking
of you«
»I know I m always thinking of her« said Crossjay
»If ever youre in a scrape shes the person you must go to«
»Yes if I know where she is«
»Why generally shell be at the Hall«
There was no reply Crossjays dreadful secret jumped to his throat He
certainly was a weaker lock for being full of breakfast
»I want to see Mr Whitford so much« he said
»Something to tell him«
»I dont know what to do I dont understand it« The secret wriggled to his
mouth He swallowed it down »Yes I want to talk to Mr Whitford«
»Hes another of Miss Middletons friends«
»I know he is Hes true steel«
»Were all her friends Crossjay I flatter myself I m a Toledo when I m
wanted How long had you been in the house last night before you ran into me«
»I dont know sir I fell asleep for some time and then I woke «
»Where did you find yourself«
»I was in the drawingroom«
»Come Crossjay youre not a fellow to be scared by ghosts You looked it
when you made a dash at my midriff«
»I dont believe there are such things Do you colonel You cant«
»Theres no saying Well hope not for it wouldnt be fair fighting A man
with a ghost to back him d beat any ten We couldnt box him or play cards or
stand a chance with him as a rival in love Did you now catch a sight of a
ghost«
»They werent ghosts« Crossjay said what he was sure of and his voice
pronounced his conviction
»I doubt whether Miss Middleton is particularly happy« remarked the
colonel »Why Why you upset her you know now and then«
The boy swelled »I d do I d go I wouldnt have her unhappy
Its that thats it And I dont know what I ought to do I wish I could see
Mr Whitford«
»You get into such headlong scrapes my lad«
»I wasnt in any scrape yesterday«
»So you made yourself up a comfortable bed in the drawingroom Lucky Sir
Willoughby didnt see you«
»He didnt though«
»A close shave was it«
»I was under a cover of something silk«
»He woke you«
»I suppose he did I heard him«
»Talking«
»He was talking«
»What talking to himself«
»No«
The secret threatened Crossjay to be but or suffocate him
De Craye gave him a respite
»You like Sir Willoughby dont you«
Crossjay produced a stillborn affirmative
»Hes kind to you« said the colonel »hell set you up and look after your
interests«
»Yes I like him« said Crossjay with his customary rapidity in touching
the subject »I like him hes kind and all that and tips and plays with you
and all that but I never can make out why he wouldnt see my father when my
father came here to see him ten miles and had to walk back ten miles in the
rain to go by rail a long way down home as far as Devonport because Sir
Willoughby wouldnt see him though he was at home my father saw We all
thought it so odd and my father wouldnt let us talk much about it My father
s a very brave man«
»Captain Patterne is as brave a man as ever lived« said De Craye
»I m positive you d like him colonel«
»I know of his deeds and I admire him and thats a good step to liking«
He warmed the boys thoughts of his father
»Because what they say at home is a little bread and cheese and a glass
of ale and a rest to a poor man lots of great houses will give you that and
we wouldnt have asked for more than that My sisters say they think Sir
Willoughby must be selfish Hes awfully proud and perhaps it was because my
father wasnt dressed well enough But what can we do Were very poor at home
and lots of us and all hungry My father says he isnt paid very well for his
services to the Government Hes only a marine«
»Hes a hero« said De Craye
»He came home very tired with a cold and had a doctor But Sir Willoughby
did send him money and mother wished to send it back and my father said she
was not like a woman with our big family He said he thought Sir Willoughby an
extraordinary man«
»Not at all very common indigenous« said De Craye »The art of cutting
is one of the branches of a polite education in this country and youll have to
learn it if you expect to be looked on as a gentleman and a Patterne my boy I
begin to see how it is Miss Middleton takes to you so Follow her directions
But I hope you did not listen to a private conversation Miss Middleton would
not approve of that«
»Colonel De Craye how could I help myself I heard a lot before I knew what
it was There was poetry«
»Still Crossjay if it was important was it«
The boy swelled again and the colonel asked him »Does Miss Dale know of
your having played listener«
»She« said Crossjay »Oh I couldnt tell her«
He breathed thick then came a threat of tears »She wouldnt do anything to
hurt Miss Middleton I m sure of that It wasnt her fault She there goes
Mr Whitford« Crossjay bounded away
The colonel had no inclination to wait for his return He walked fast up the
road not perspicuously conscious that his motive was to be well in advance of
Vernon Whitford to whom after all the knowledge imparted by Crossjay would be
of small advantage That fellow would probably trot off to Willoughby to row him
for breaking his word to Miss Middleton There are men thought De Craye who
see nothing feel nothing
He crossed a stile into the wood above the lake where as he was in the
humour to think himself signally lucky espying her he took it as a matter of
course that the lady who taught his heart to leap should be posted by the Pates
And he wondered little at her power for rarely had the world seen such union of
princess and sylph as in that ladys figure She stood holding by a
beechbranch gazing down on the water
She had not heard him When she looked she flushed at the spectacle of one
of her thousand thoughts but she was not startled the colour overflowed a
grave face
»And tis not quite the first time that Willoughby has played this trick«
De Craye said to her keenly smiling with a parted mouth
Clara moved her lips to recall remarks introductory to so abrupt and strange
a plunge
He smiled in that peculiar manner of an illuminated comic perception for
the moment he was all falcon and he surprised himself more than Clara who was
not in the mood to take surprises It was the sight of her which had animated
him to strike his game he was down on it
Another instinct at work they spring up in twenties oftener than in twos
when the heart is the hunter prompted him to directness and quickness to carry
her on the flood of the discovery
She regained something of her mental selfpossession as soon as she was on a
level with a meaning she had not yet inspected but she had to submit to his
lead distinctly perceiving where its drift divided to the forked currents of
what might be in his mind and what was in hers
»Miss Middleton I bear a bit of a likeness to the messenger to the glorious
despot my head is off if I speak not true Everything I have is on the die
Did I guess wrong your wish I read it in the dark by the heart But heres a
certainty Willoughby sets you free«
»You have come from him« she could imagine nothing else and she was unable
to preserve a disguise she trembled
»From Miss Dale«
»Ah« Clara drooped »she told me that once«
»Tis the fact that tells it now«
»You have not seen him since you left the house«
»Darkly clear enough not unlike the hand of destiny through a veil He
offered himself to Miss Dale last night about between the witching hours of
twelve and one«
»Miss Dale «
»Would she other Could she The poor lady has languished beyond a decade
Shes love in the feminine person«
»Are you speaking seriously Colonel De Craye«
»Would I dare to trifle with you Miss Middleton«
»I have reason to know it cannot be«
»If I have a head it is a fresh and blooming truth And more I stake my
vanity on it«
»Let me go to her« She stepped
»Consider« said he
»Miss Dale and I are excellent friends It would not seem indelicate to her
She has a kind of regard for me through Crossjay Oh can it be There must
be some delusion You have seen you wish to be of service to me you may too
easily be deceived Last night he last night And this morning«
»Tis not the first time our friend has played the trick Miss Middleton«
»But this is incredible that last night and this morning in my
fathers presence he presses You have seen Miss Dale Everything is
possible of him they were together I know Colonel De Craye I have not the
slightest chance of concealment with you I think I felt that when I first saw
you Will you let me hear why you are so certain«
»Miss Middleton when I first had the honour of looking on you it was in a
posture that necessitated my looking up and morally so it has been since I
conceived that Willoughby had won the greatest prize on earth And next I was
led to the conclusion that he had won it to lose it Whether he much cares is
the mystery I havent leisure to fathom Himself is the principal consideration
with himself and ever was«
»You discovered it« said Clara
»He uncovered it« said De Craye »The miracle was that the world wouldnt
see But the world is a piggywiggy world for the wealthy fellow who fills a
trough for it and that he has always very sagaciously done Only women besides
myself have detected him I have never exposed him I have been an observer pure
and simple and because I apprehended another catastrophe making something
like the fourth to my knowledge one being public «
»You knew Miss Durham«
»And Harry Oxford too And theyre a pair as happy as blackbirds in a
cherrytree in a summer sunrise with the owner of the garden asleep Because
of that apprehension of mine I refused the office of best man till Willoughby
had sent me a third letter He insisted on my coming I came saw and was
conquered I trust with all my soul I did not betray myself I owed that duty to
my position of concealing it As for entirely hiding that I had used my eyes I
cant say they must answer for it«
The colonel was using his eyes with an increasing suavity that threatened
more than sweetness
»I believe you have been sincerely kind« said Clara »We will descend to
the path round the lake«
She did not refuse her hand on the descent and he let it escape the moment
the service was done As he was performing the admirable character of the man of
honour he had to attend to the observance of details and sure of her though he
was beginning to feel there was a touch of the unknown in Clara Middleton which
made him fear to stamp assurance despite a barely resistible impulse coming of
his emotions and approved by his maxims He looked at the hand now a free
ladys hand Willoughby settled his chance was great Who else was in the way
No one He counselled himself to wait for her she might have ideas of delicacy
Her face was troubled speculative the brows clouded the lips compressed
»You have not heard this from Miss Dale« she said
»Last night they were together this morning she fled I saw her this
morning distressed She is unwilling to send you a message she talks vaguely of
meeting you some days hence And it is not the first time he has gone to her for
his consolation«
»That is not a proposal« Clara reflected »He is too prudent He did not
propose to her at the time you mention Have you not been hasty Colonel De
Craye«
Shadows crossed her forehead She glanced in the direction of the house and
stopped her walk
»Last night Miss Middleton there was a listener«
»Who«
»Crossjay was under that pretty silk coverlet worked by the Miss Patternes
He came home late found his door locked and dashed downstairs into the
drawingroom where he snuggled up and dropped asleep The two speakers woke
him they frightened the poor dear lad in his love for you and after they had
gone he wanted to run out of the house and I met him just after I had come
back from my search bursting and took him to my room and laid him on the
sofa and abused him for not lying quiet He was restless as a fish on a bank
When I woke in the morning he was off Dr Corney came across him somewhere on
the road and drove him to the cottage I was ringing the bell Corney told me
the boy had you on his brain and was miserable so Crossjay and I had a talk«
»Crossjay did not repeat to you the conversation he had heard« said Clara
»No«
She smiled rejoicingly proud of the boy as she walked on
»But youll pardon me Miss Middleton and I m for him as much as you are
if I was guilty of a little angling«
»My sympathies are with the fish«
»The poor fellow had a secret that hurt him It rose to the surface crying
to be hooked and I spared him twice or thrice because he had a sort of holy
sentiment I respected that none but Mr Whitford ought to be his father
confessor«
»Crossjay« she cried hugging her love of the boy
»The secret was one not to be communicated to Miss Dale of all people«
»He said that«
»As good as the very words She informed me too that she couldnt induce
him to face her straight«
»Oh that looks like it And Crossjay was unhappy Very unhappy«
»He was just where tears are on the brim and would have been over if he
were not such a manly youngster«
»It looks « She reverted in thought to Willoughby and doubted and
blindly stretched hands to her recollection of the strange old monster she had
discovered in him Such a man could do anything
That conclusion fortified her to pursue her walk to the house and give
battle for freedom Willoughby appeared to her scarce human unreadable save by
the key that she could supply She determined to put faith in Colonel De Crayes
marvellous divination of circumstances in the dark Marvels are solid weapons
when we are attacked by real prodigies of nature Her countenance cleared She
conversed with De Craye of the polite and the political world throwing off her
personal burden completely and charming him
At the edge of the garden on the bridge that crossed the haha from the
park he had a second impulse almost a warning within to seize his heavenly
opportunity to ask for thanks and move her tender lowered eyelids to hint at his
reward He repressed it doubtful of the wisdom
Something like »heaven forgives me« was in Claras mind though she would
have declared herself innocent before the scrutator
Chapter XLIII
In which Sir Willoughby Is Led to Think that the Elements Have Conspired Against
Him
Clara had not taken many steps in the garden before she learnt how great was her
debt of gratitude to Colonel De Craye Willoughby and her father were awaiting
her De Craye with his ready comprehension of circumstances turned aside
unseen among the shrubs She advanced slowly
»The vapours we may trust have dispersed« her father hailed her
»One word and these discussions are over we dislike them equally« said
Willoughby
»No scenes« Dr Middleton added »Speak your decision my girl pro formâ
seeing that he who has the right demands it and pray release me«
Clara looked at Willoughby
»I have decided to go to Miss Dale for her advice«
There was no appearance in him of a man that has been shot
»To Miss Dale for advice«
Dr Middleton invoked the Furies »What is the signification of this new
freak«
»Miss Dale must be consulted papa«
»Consulted with reference to the disposal of your hand in marriage«
»She must be«
»Miss Dale do you say«
»I do papa«
Dr Middleton regained his natural elevation from the bend of body habitual
with men of an established sanity pædagogues and others who are called on at
odd intervals to inspect the magnitude of the infinitesimally absurd in human
nature small that is under the light of reason immense in the realms of
madness
His daughter profoundly confused him He swelled out his chest remarking to
Willoughby »I do not wonder at your scared expression of countenance my
friend To discover yourself engaged to a girl as mad as Cassandra without a
boast of the distinction of her being sunstruck can be no specially
comfortable enlightenment I am opposed to delays and I will not have a breach
of faith committed by daughter of mine«
»Do not repeat those words« Clara said to Willoughby
He started She had evidently come armed But how within so short a space
What could have instructed her And in his bewilderment he gazed hurriedly
above gulped air and cried »Scared sir I am not aware that my countenance
can show a scare I am not accustomed to sue for long I am unable to sustain
the part of humble supplicant She puts me out of harmony with creation We are
plighted Clara It is pure waste of time to speak of soliciting advice on the
subject«
»Would it be a breach of faith for me to break my engagement« she said
»You ask«
»It is a breach of sanity to propound the interrogation« said her father
She looked at Willoughby »Now«
He shrugged haughtily
»Since last night« said she
»Last night«
»Am I not released«
»Not by me«
»By your act«
»My dear Clara«
»Have you not virtually disengaged me«
»I who claim you as mine«
»Can you«
»I do and must«
»After last night«
»Tricks shufflings Jabber of a barbarian woman upon the evolutions of a
serpent« exclaimed Dr Middleton »You were to capitulate or to furnish
reasons for your refusal You have none Give him your hand girl according to
the compact I praised you to him for returning within the allotted term and
now forbear to disgrace yourself and me«
»Is he perfectly free to offer his Ask him papa«
»Perform your duty Do let us have peace«
»Perfectly free as on the day when I offered it first« Willoughby frankly
waved his honourable hand
His face was blanched enemies in the air seemed to have whispered things to
her he doubted the fidelity of the Powers above
»Since last night« said she
»Oh if you insist I reply since last night«
»You know what I mean Sir Willoughby«
»Oh certainly«
»You speak the truth«
»Sir Willoughby« her father ejaculated in wrath »But will you explain what
you mean epitome that you are of all the contradictions and mutabilities
ascribed to women from the beginning Certainly he says and knows no more than
I She begs grace for an hour and returns with a fresh store of evasions to
insult the man she has injured It is my humiliation to confess that our share
in this contract is rescued from public ignominy by his generosity Nor can I
congratulate him on his fortune should he condescend to bear with you to the
utmost for instead of the young woman I supposed myself to be bestowing on him
I see a fantastical planguncula enlivened by the wanton tempers of a nursery
chit If one may conceive a meaning in her in miserable apology for such
behaviour some spirit of jealousy informs the girl«
»I can only remark that there is no foundation for it« said Willoughby »I
am willing to satisfy you Clara Name the person who discomposes you I can
scarcely imagine one to exist but who can tell«
She could name no person The detestable imputation of jealousy would be
confirmed if she mentioned a name and indeed Lætitia was not to be named
He pursued his advantage »Jealousy is one of the fits I am a stranger to
I fancy sir that gentlemen have dismissed it I speak for myself But I can
make allowances In some cases it is considered a compliment and often a word
will soothe it The whole affair is so senseless However I will enter the
witnessbox or stand at the prisoners bar Anything to quiet a distempered
mind«
»Of you sir« said Dr Middleton »might a parent be justly proud«
»It is not jealousy I could not be jealous« Clara cried stung by the very
passion and she ran through her brain for a suggestion to win a sign of
meltingness if not esteem from her father She was not an iron maiden but one
among the nervous natures which live largely in the moment though she was then
sacrificing it to her natures deep dislike »You may be proud of me again
papa«
She could hardly have uttered anything more impolitic
»Optume but deliver yourself ad rem« he rejoined alarmingly pacified
»Firmavit fidem Do you likewise and double on us no more like puss in the
field«
»I wish to see Miss Dale« she said
Up flew the Rev Doctors arms in wrathful despair resembling an
imprecation
»She is at the cottage You could have seen her« said Willoughby
Evidently she had not
»Is it untrue that last night between twelve oclock and one in the
drawingroom you proposed marriage to Miss Dale«
He became convinced that she must have stolen downstairs during his colloquy
with Lætitia and listened at the door
»On behalf of old Vernon« he said lightly laughing »The idea is not
novel as you know They are suited if they could see it Lætitia Dale and my
cousin Vernon Whitford sir«
»Fairly schemed my friend and I will say for you you have the patience
Willoughby of a husband«
Willoughby bowed to the encomium and allowed some fatigue to be visible He
half yawned »I claim no happier title sir« and made light of the weariful
discussion
Clara was shaken she feared that Crossjay had heard incorrectly or that
Colonel De Craye had guessed erroneously It was too likely that Willoughby
should have proposed Vernon to Lætitia
There was nothing to reassure her save the vision of the panic amazement of
his face at her persistency in speaking of Miss Dale She could have declared on
oath that she was right while admitting all the suppositions to be against her
And unhappily all the Delicacies a doughty battalion for the defence of ladies
until they enter into difficulties and are shorn of them at a blow bare as
dairymaids all the bodyguard of a young gentlewoman the drawingroom
sylphides which bear her train which wreathe her hair which modulate her
voice and tone her complexion which are arrows and shield to awe the creature
man forbade her utterance of what she felt on pain of instant fulfilment of
their oftrepeated threat of late to leave her to the last remnant of a
protecting sprite She could not as in a dear melodrama from the aim of a
pointed finger denounce him on the testimony of her instincts false of speech
false in deed She could not even declare that she doubted his truthfulness The
refuge of a sullen fit the refuge of tears the pretext of a mood were denied
her now by the rigour of those laws of decency which are a garment to ladies of
pure breeding
»One more respite papa« she implored him bitterly conscious of the closer
tangle her petition involved and if it must be betrayed of her perceiving in
an illumination how the knot might become so woefully Gordian that haply in a
cloud of wild events the intervention of a gallant gentleman out of heaven
albeit in the likeness of one of earth would have to cut it her cry within as
she succumbed to weakness being fervider »Anything but marry this one« She
was faint with strife and dejected a condition in the young when their
imaginative energies hold revel uncontrolled and are projectively desperate
»No respite« said Willoughby genially
»And I say no respite« observed her father »You have assumed a position
that has not been granted you Clara Middleton«
»I cannot bear to offend you father«
»Him Your duty is not to offend him Address your excuses to him I refuse
to be dragged over the same ground to reiterate the same command perpetually«
»If authority is deputed to me I claim you« said Willoughby
»You have not broken faith with me«
»Assuredly not or would it be possible for me to press my claim«
»And join the right hand to the right« said Dr Middleton »no it would
not be possible What insane root she has been nibbling I know not but she
must consign herself to the guidance of those whom the gods have not abandoned
until her intellect is liberated She was once there I look not back if
she it was and no simulacrum of a reasonable daughter I welcome the appearance
of my friend Mr Whitford He is my seabath and supper on the beach of Troy
after the days battle and dust«
Vernon walked straight up to them an act unusual with him for he was shy
of committing an intrusion
Clara guessed by that and more by the dancing frown of speculative humour
he turned on Willoughby that he had come charged in support of her His
forehead was curiously lively as of one who has got a surprise well under to
feed on its amusing contents
»Have you seen Crossjay Mr Whitford« she said
»Ive pounced on Crossjay his bones are sound«
»Where did he sleep«
»On a sofa it seems«
She smiled with good hope Vernon had the story Willoughby thought it
just to himself that he should defend his measure of severity
»The boy lied he played a double game«
»For which he should have been reasoned with at the Grecian portico of a
boy« said the Rev Doctor
»My system is different sir I could not inflict what I would not endure
myself«
»So is Greek excluded from the later generations and you leave a field the
most fertile in the moralities in youth unploughed and unsown Ah well This
growing too fine is our way of relapsing upon barbarism Beware of
oversensitiveness where nature has plainly indicated her alternative gateway
of knowledge And now I presume I am at liberty«
»Vernon will excuse us for a minute or two«
»I hold by Mr Whitford now I have him«
»Ill join you in the laboratory Vernon« Willoughby nodded bluntly
»We will leave them Mr Whitford They are at the timehonoured dissension
upon a particular day that for the sake of dignity blushes to be named«
»What day« said Vernon like a rustic
»The day these people call it«
Vernon sent one of his vivid eyeshots from one to the other His eyes fixed
on Willoughbys with a quivering glow beyond amazement as if his humour stood
at furnace heat and absorbed all that came
Willoughby motioned to him to go
»Have you seen Miss Dale Mr Whitford« said Clara
He answered »No Something has shocked her«
»Is it her feeling for Crossjay«
»Ah« Vernon said to Willoughby »your pocketing of the key of Crossjays
bedroom door was a masterstroke«
The celestial irony suffused her and she bathed and swam in it on hearing
its dupe reply »My methods of discipline are short I was not aware that she
had been to his door«
»But I may hope that Miss Dale will see me« said Clara »We are in sympathy
about the boy«
»Mr Dale might be seen He seems to be of a divided mind with his
daughter« Vernon rejoined »She has locked herself up in her room«
»He is not the only father in that unwholesome predicament« said Dr
Middleton
»He talks of coming to you Willoughby«
»Why to me« Willoughby chastened his irritation »He will be welcome of
course It would be better that the boy should come«
»If there is a chance of your forgiving him« said Clara
»Let the Dales know I am prepared to listen to the boy Vernon There can be
no necessity for Mr Dale to drag himself here«
»How are Mr Dale and his daughter of a divided mind Mr Whitford« said
Clara
Vernon simulated an uneasiness With a vacant gaze that enlarged around
Willoughby and was more discomforting than intentness he replied »Perhaps she
is unwilling to give him her entire confidence Miss Middleton«
»In which respect then our situations present their solitary point of
unlikeness in resemblance for I have it in excess« observed Dr Middleton
Clara dropped her eyelids for the wave to pass over »It struck me that Miss
Dale was a person of the extremest candour«
»Why should we be prying into the domestic affairs of the Dales« Willoughby
interjected and drew out his watch merely for a diversion he was on tiptoe to
learn whether Vernon was as well instructed as Clara and hung to the view that
he could not be while drenching in the sensation that he was and if so what
were the Powers above but a body of conspirators He paid Lætitia that
compliment He could not conceive the human betrayal of the secret Claras
discovery of it had set his common sense adrift
»The domestic affairs of the Dales do not concern me« said Vernon
»And yet my friend« Dr Middleton balanced himself and with an air of
benevolent slyness the import of which did not awaken Willoughby until too
late remarked »They might concern you I will even add that there is a
probability of your being not less than the fount and origin of this division of
father and daughter though Willoughby in the drawingroom last night stands
accuseably the agent«
»Favour me sir with an explanation« said Vernon seeking to gather it
from Clara
Dr Middleton threw the explanation upon Willoughby
Clara communicated as much as she was able in one of those looks of still
depth which say Think and without causing a thought to stir take us into the
pellucid mind
Vernon was enlightened before Willoughby had spoken His mouth shut rigidly
and there was a springing increase of the luminous wavering of his eyes Some
star that Clara had watched at night was like them in the vivid wink and
overflow of its light Yet as he was perfectly sedate none could have
suspected his blood to be chasing wild with laughter and his frame strung to
the utmost to keep it from volleying So happy was she in his aspect that her
chief anxiety was to recover the name of the star whose shining beckons and
speaks and is in the quick of spiritfire It is the sole star which on a night
of frost and strong moonlight preserves an indomitable fervency that she
remembered and the picture of a hoar earth and a lean Orion in flooded heavens
and the star beneath Eastward of him but the name the name She heard
Willoughby indistinctly
»Oh the old story another effort you know my wish a failure of course
and no thanks on either side I suppose I must ask your excuse They neither
of them see whats good for them sir«
»Manifestly however« said Dr Middleton »if one may opine from the
division we have heard of the father is disposed to back your nominee«
»I cant say as far as I am concerned I made a mess of it«
Vernon withstood the incitement to acquiesce but he sparkled with his
recognition of the fact
»You meant well Willoughby«
»I hope so Vernon«
»Only you have driven her away«
»We must resign ourselves«
»It wont affect me for I m off tomorrow«
»You see sir the thanks I get«
»Mr Whitford« said Dr Middleton »you have a tower of strength in the
ladys father«
»Would you have me bring it to bear upon the lady sir«
»Wherefore not«
»To make her marriage a matter of obedience to her father«
»Ay my friend a lusty lover would have her gladly on those terms well
knowing it to be for the ladys good What do you say Willoughby«
»Sir Say What can I say Miss Dale has not plighted her faith Had she
done so she is a lady who would never dishonour it«
»She is an ideal of constancy who would keep to it though it had been
broken on the other side« said Vernon and Clara thrilled
»I take that sir to be a statue of constancy modelled upon which a lady
of our flesh may be proclaimed as graduating for the condition of idiocy« said
Dr Middleton
»But faith is faith sir«
»But the broken is the broken sir whether in porcelain or in human
engagements and all that the one of the two continuing faithful I should
rather say regretful can do is to devote the remainder of life to the picking
up of the fragments an occupation properly to be pursued for the comfort of
mankind within the enclosure of an appointed asylum«
»You destroy the poetry of sentiment Dr Middleton«
»To invigorate the poetry of nature Mr Whitford«
»Then you maintain sir that when faith is broken by one the engagement
ceases and the other is absolutely free«
»I do I am the champion of that platitude and sound that knell to the
sentimental world and since you have chosen to defend it I will appeal to
Willoughby and ask him if he would not side with the world of good sense in
applauding the nuptials of man or maid married within a month of a jilting«
Clara slipped her arm under her fathers
»Poetry sir« said Willoughby »I never have been hypocrite enough to
pretend to understand or care for«
Dr Middleton laughed Vernon too seemed to admire his cousin for a reply
that rang in Claras ears as the dullest ever spoken Her arm grew cold on her
fathers She began to fear Willoughby again
He depended entirely on his agility to elude the thrusts that assailed him
Had he been able to believe in the treachery of the Powers above he would at
once have seen design in these deadly strokes for his feelings had rarely been
more acute than at the present crisis and he would then have led away Clara to
wrangle it out with her relying on Vernons friendliness not to betray him to
her father but a wrangle with Clara promised no immediate fruits nothing
agreeable and the lifelong trust he had reposed in his protecting genii
obscured his intelligence to evidence he would otherwise have accepted on the
spot on the faith of his delicate susceptibility to the mildest impressions
which wounded him Clara might have stooped to listen at the door she might
have heard sufficient to create a suspicion But Vernon was not in the house
last night she could not have communicated it to him and he had not seen
Lætitia who was besides trustworthy an admirable if a foolish and illfated
woman
Preferring to consider Vernon a pragmatical moralist played upon by a
sententious drone he thought it politic to detach them and vanquish Clara
while she was in the beaten mood as she had appeared before Vernons vexatious
arrival
»I m afraid my dear fellow you are rather too dainty and fussy for a very
successful wooer« he said »Its beautiful on paper and absurd in life We
have a bit of private business to discuss We will go inside sir I think I
will soon release you«
Clara pressed her fathers arm
»More« said he
»Five minutes Theres a slight delusion to clear sir My dear Clara you
will see with different eyes«
»Papa wishes to work with Mr Whitford«
Her heart sank to hear her father say »No tis a lost morning I must
consent to pay tax of it for giving another young woman to the world I have a
daughter You will I hope compensate me Mr Whitford in the afternoon Be
not downcast I have observed you meditative of late You will have no clear
brain so long as that stuff is on the mind I could venture to propose to do
some pleading for you should it be needed for the prompter expedition of the
affair«
Vernon briefly thanked him and said
»Willoughby has exerted all his eloquence and you see the result you have
lost Miss Dale and I have not won her He did everything that one man can do for
another in so delicate a case even to the repeating of her famous birthday
verses to him to flatter the poetess His best efforts were foiled by the
ladys indisposition for me«
»Behold« said Dr Middleton as Willoughby electrified by the mention of
the verses took a sharp stride or two »you have in him an advocate who will
not be rebuffed by one refusal and I can affirm that he is tenacious
pertinacious as are few Justly so Not to believe in a ladys No is the
approved method of carrying that fortress built to yield Although
unquestionably to have a young man pleading in our interests with a lady counts
its objections Yet Willoughby being notoriously engaged may be held to enjoy
the privileges of his elders«
»As an engaged man sir he was on a level with his elders in pleading on my
behalf with Miss Dale« said Vernon
Willoughby strode and muttered Providence had grown mythical in his
thoughts if not malicious and it is the peril of this worship that the object
will wear such an alternative aspect when it appears no longer subservient
»Are we coming sir« he said and was unheeded The Rev Doctor would not
be defrauded of rolling his billow
»As an honourable gentleman faithful to his own engagement and desirous of
establishing his relatives he deserves in my judgement the ladys esteem as
well as your cordial thanks nor should a temporary failure dishearten either of
you notwithstanding the precipitate retreat of the lady from Patterne and her
seclusion in her sanctum on the occasion of your recent visit«
»Supposing he had succeeded« said Vernon driving Willoughby to frenzy
»should I have been bound to marry«
Matter for cogitation was offered to Dr Middleton
»The proposal was without your sanction«
»Entirely«
»You admire the lady«
»Respectfully«
»You do not incline to the state«
»An inch of an angle would exaggerate my inclination«
»How long are we to stand and hear this insufferable nonsense you talk«
cried Willoughby
»But if Mr Whitford was not consulted « Dr Middleton said and was
overborne by Willoughbys hurried »Oblige me sir Oblige me my good
fellow« he swept his arm to Vernon and gestured a conducting hand to Clara
»Here is Mrs Mountstuart« she exclaimed
Willoughby stared Was it an irruption of a friend or a foe He doubted and
stood petrified between the doublequestion
Clara had seen Mrs Mountstuart and Colonel De Craye separating and now the
great lady sailed along the sward like a royal barge in festival trim
She looked friendly but friendly to everybody which was always a frost on
Willoughby and terribly friendly to Clara
Coming up to her she whispered »News indeed Wonderful I could not credit
his hint of it yesterday Are you satisfied«
»Pray Mrs Mountstuart take an opportunity to speak to papa« Clara
whispered in return
Mrs Mountstuart bowed to Dr Middleton nodded to Vernon and swam upon
Willoughby with »Is it But is it Am I really to believe You have My dear
Sir Willoughby Really«
The confounded gentleman heaved on a bare plank of wreck in mid sea
He could oppose only a paralyzed smile to the assault
His intuitive discretion taught him to fall back a step while she said
»So« the plummet word of our mysterious deep fathoms and he fell back further
saying »Madam« in a tone advising her to speak low
She recovered her volubility followed his partial retreat and dropped her
voice
»Impossible to have imagined it as an actual fact You were always full of
surprises but this this Nothing manlier nothing more gentlemanly has ever
been done nothing nothing that so completely changes an untenable situation
into a comfortable and proper footing for everybody It is what I like it is
what I love sound sense Men are so selfish one cannot persuade them to be
reasonable in such positions But you Sir Willoughby have shown wisdom and
sentiment the rarest of all combinations in men«
»Where have you « Willoughby contrived to say
»Heard The hedges the housetops everywhere All the neighbourhood will
have it before nightfall Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer will soon be rushing here
and declaring they never expected anything else I do not doubt I am not so
pretentious I beg your excuse for that twice of mine yesterday Even if it hurt
my vanity I should be happy to confess my error I was utterly out But then I
did not reckon on a fatal attachment I thought men were incapable of it I
thought we women were the only poor creatures persecuted by a fatality It is a
fatality You tried hard to escape indeed you did And she will do honour to
your final surrender my dear friend She is gentle and very clever very she
is devoted to you she will entertain excellently I see her like a flower in
sunshine She will expand to a perfect hostess Patterne will shine under her
reign you have my warrant for that And so will you Yes you flourish best
when adored It must be adoration You have been under a cloud of late Years
ago I said it was a match when no one supposed you could stoop Lady Busshe
would have it was a screen and she was deemed high wisdom The world will be
with you All the women will be excepting of course Lady Busshe whose pride
is in prophesy and she will soon be too glad to swell the host There my
friend your sincerest and oldest admirer congratulates you I could not contain
myself I was compelled to pour forth And now I must go and be talked to by Dr
Middleton How does he take it They leave«
»He is perfectly well« said Willoughby aloud quite distraught
She acknowledged his just correction of her for running on to an extreme in
lowtoned converse though they stood sufficiently isolated from the others
These had by this time been joined by Colonel De Craye and were all chatting in
a group of himself Willoughby horribly suspected
Clara was gone from him Gone but he remembered his oath and vowed it
again not to Horace De Craye She was gone lost sunk into the world of waters
of rival men and he determined that his whole force should be used to keep her
from that man the false friend who had supplanted him in her shallow heart and
might if he succeeded boast of having done it by simply appearing on the
scene
Willoughby intercepted Mrs Mountstuart as she was passing over to Dr
Middleton »My dear lady spare me a minute«
De Craye sauntered up with a face of the friendliest humour »Never was man
like you Willoughby for shaking new patterns in a kaleidoscope«
»Have you turned punster Horace« Willoughby replied smarting to find yet
another in the demon secret and he drew Dr Middleton two or three steps aside
and hurriedly begged him to abstain from prosecuting the subject with Clara »We
must try to make her happy as we best can sir She may have her reasons a
young ladys reasons« He laughed and left the Rev Doctor considering within
himself under the arch of his lofty frown of stupefaction
De Craye smiled slyly and winningly as he shadowed a deep droop on the bend
of his head before Clara signifying his absolute devotion to her service and
this present good fruit for witness of his merits
She smiled sweetly though vaguely There was no concealment of their
intimacy
»The battle is over« Vernon said quietly when Willoughby had walked some
paces beside Mrs Mountstuart adding »You may expect to see Mr Dale here He
knows«
Vernon and Clara exchanged one look hard on his part in contrast with her
softness and he proceeded to the house
De Craye waited for a word or a promising look He was patient being
selfassured and passed on
Clara linked her arm with her fathers once more and said on a sudden
brightness »Sirius papa«
He repeated it in the profoundest manner »Sirius And is there« he asked
»a feminine scintilla of sense in that«
»It is the name of the star I was thinking of dear papa«
»It was the star observed by King Agamemnon before the sacrifice in Aulis
You were thinking of that But my love my Iphigeneia you have not a father
who will insist on sacrificing you«
»Did I hear him tell you to humour me papa«
Dr Middleton humphed
»Verily the dogstar rages in many heads« he responded
Chapter XLIV
Dr Middleton The Ladies Eleanor and Isabel and Mr Dale
Clara looked up at the flying clouds She travelled with them now and tasted
freedom but she prudently forebore to vex her father she held herself in
reserve
They were summoned by the midday bell
Few were speakers at the meal few were eaters Clara was impelled to join
it by her desire to study Mrs Mountstuarts face Willoughby was obliged to
preside It was a meal of an assembly of mutes and plates that struck the ear
like the wellknown sound of a collection of offerings in church after an
impressive exhortation from the pulpit A sally of Colonel De Crayes met the
reception given to a charityboys muffled burst of animal spirits in the
silence of the sacred edifice Willoughby tried politics with Dr Middleton
whose regular appetite preserved him from uncongenial speculations when the hour
for appeasing it had come and he alone did honour to the dishes replying to
his host
»Times are bad you say and we have a Ministry doing with us what they
will Well sir and that being so and opposition a manner of kicking them into
greater stability it is the time for wise men to retire within themselves with
the steady determination of the seed in the earth to grow Repose upon nature
sleep in firm faith and abide the seasons That is my counsel to the weaker
party«
The counsel was excellent but it killed the topic
Dr Middletons appetite was watched for the signal to rise and breathe
freely and such is the grace accorded to a good man of an untroubled conscience
engaged in doing his duty to himself that he perceived nothing of the general
restlessness he went through the dishes calmly and as calmly he quoted Milton
to the ladies Eleanor and Isabel when the company sprang up all at once upon
his closing his repast Vernon was taken away from him by Willoughby Mrs
Mountstuart beckoned covertly to Clara Willoughby should have had something to
say to him Dr Middleton thought the position was not clear But the situation
was not disagreeable and he was in no serious hurry though he wished to be
enlightened
»This« Dr Middleton said to the spinster aunts as he accompanied them to
the drawingroom »shall be no lost day for me if I may devote the remainder of
it to you«
»The thunder we fear is not remote« murmured one
»We fear it is imminent« sighed the other
They took to chanting in alternation
» We are accustomed to peruse our Willoughby and we know him by a shadow«
» From his infancy to his glorious youth and his established manhood«
» He was ever the soul of chivalry«
» Duty duty first The happiness of his family the wellbeing of his
dependents«
» If proud of his name it was not an overweening pride it was founded in
the conscious possession of exalted qualities«
» He could be humble when occasion called for it«
Dr Middleton bowed to the litany feeling that occasion called for
humbleness from him
»Let us hope « he said with unassumed penitence on behalf of his
inscrutable daughter
The ladies resumed
» Vernon Whitford not of his blood is his brother«
» A thousand instances Lætitia Dale remembers them better than we«
» That any blow should strike him«
» That another should be in store for him«
» It seems impossible he can be quite misunderstood«
»Let us hope « said Dr Middleton
» One would not deem it too much for the dispenser of goodness to expect to
be a little looked up to«
» When he was a child he one day mounted a chair and there he stood in
danger would not let us touch him because he was taller than we and we were
to gaze Do you remember him Eleanor I am the sun of the house It was
inimitable«
» Your feelings he would have your feelings He was fourteen when his
cousin Grace Whitford married and we lost him They had been the greatest
friends and it was long before he appeared among us He has never cared to see
her since«
» But he has befriended her husband Never has he failed in generosity His
only fault is «
» His sensitiveness And that is «
» His secret And that «
» You are not to discover It is the same with him in manhood No one will
accuse Willoughby Patterne of a deficiency of manliness but what is it he
suffers as none suffer if he is not loved He himself is inalterably constant
in affection«
» What it is no one can say We have lived with him all his life and we
know him ready to make any sacrifice only he does demand the whole heart in
return And if he doubts he looks as we have seen him today«
» Shattered as we have never seen him look before«
»We will hope« said Dr Middleton this time hastily He tingled to say
»what it was« he had it in him to solve perplexity in their inquiry He did
say adopting familiar speech to suit the theme »You know ladies we English
come of a rough stock A dose of rough dealing in our youth does us no harm
braces us Otherwise we are likely to feel chilly we grow too fine where
tenuity of stature is necessarily buffeted by gales namely in our selfesteem
We are barbarians on a forcing soil of wealth in a conservatory of comfortable
security but still barbarians So you see we shine at our best when we are
plucked out of that to where hard blows are given in a state of war In a
state of war we are at home our men are highminded fellows Scipios and good
legionaries In the state of peace we do not live in peace our native roughness
breaks out in unexpected places under extraordinary aspects tyrannies
extravagances domestic exactions and if we have not had sharp early training
within and without the oldfashioned islandinstrument to drill into us
the civilization of our masters the ancients we show it by running here and
there to some excess Ahem Yet« added the Rev Doctor abandoning his effort
to deliver a weighty truth obscurely for the comprehension of dainty spinster
ladies the superabundance of whom in England was in his opinion largely the
cause of our decay as a people »yet I have not observed this
ultrasensitiveness in Willoughby He has borne to hear more than I certainly
no example of the frailty could have endured«
»He concealed it« said the ladies »It is intense«
»Then is it a disease«
»It bears no explanation it is mystic«
»It is a cultus then a form of selfworship«
»Self« they ejaculated »But is not Self indifferent to others Is it Self
that craves for sympathy love and devotion«
»He is an admirable host ladies«
»He is admirable in all respects«
»Admirable must he be who can impress discerning women his lifelong
housemates so favourably He is I repeat a perfect host«
»He will be a perfect husband«
»In all probability«
»It is a certainty Let him be loved and obeyed he will be guided That is
the secret for her whom he so fatally loves That if we had dared we would
have hinted to her She will rule him through her love of him and through him
all about her And it will not be a rule he submits to but a love he accepts
If she could see it«
»If she were a metaphysician« sighed Dr Middleton
» But a sensitiveness so keen as his might «
» Fretted by an unsympathizing mate «
» In the end become for the best of us is mortal «
» Callous«
» He would feel perhaps as much «
» Or more «
» He would still be tender «
» But he might grow outwardly hard«
Both ladies looked up at Dr Middleton as they revealed the dreadful
prospect
»It is the story told of corns« he said sad as they
The three stood drooping the ladies with an attempt to digest his remark
the Rev Doctor in dejection lest his gallantry should no longer continue to
wrestle with his good sense
He was rescued
The door opened and a footman announced
»Mr Dale«
Miss Eleanor and Miss Isabel made a sign to one another of raising their
hands
They advanced to him and welcomed him
»Pray be seated Mr Dale You have not brought us bad news of our Lætitia«
»So rare is the pleasure of welcoming you here Mr Dale that we are in
some alarm when as we trust it should be matter for unmixed congratulation«
»Has Dr Corney been doing wonders«
»I am indebted to him for the drive to your house ladies« said Mr Dale a
spare closebuttoned gentleman with an Indian complexion deadened in the
sickchamber »It is unusual for me to stir from my precincts«
»The Rev Dr Middleton«
Mr Dale bowed He seemed surprised
»You live in a splendid air sir« observed the Rev Doctor
»I can profit little by it sir« replied Mr Dale He asked the ladies
»Will Sir Willoughby be disengaged«
They consulted »He is with Vernon We will send to him«
The bell was rung
»I have had the gratification of making the acquaintance of your daughter
Mr Dale a most estimable lady« said Dr Middleton
Mr Dale bowed »She is honoured by your praises sir To the best of my
belief I speak as a father she merits them Hitherto I have had no doubts«
»Of Lætitia« exclaimed the ladies and spoke of her as gentleness and
goodness incarnate
»Hitherto I have devoutly thought so« said Mr Dale
»Surely she is the very sweetest nurse the most devoted of daughters«
»As far as concerns her duty to her father I can say she is that ladies«
»In all her relations Mr Dale«
»It is my prayer« he said
The footman appeared He announced that Sir Willoughby was in the laboratory
with Mr Whitford and the door locked
»Domestic business« the ladies remarked »You know Willoughbys diligent
attention to affairs Mr Dale«
»He is well« Mr Dale inquired
»In excellent health«
»Body and mind«
»But dear Mr Dale he is never ill«
»Ah For one to hear that who is never well And Mr Whitford is quite
sound«
»Sound The question alarms me for myself« said Dr Middleton »Sound as
our Constitution the Credit of the country the reputation of our Prince of
poets I pray you to have no fears for him«
Mr Dale gave the mild little sniff of a man thrown deeper into perplexity
He said »Mr Whitford works his head he is a hard student he may not be
always if I may so put it at home on worldly affairs«
»Dismiss that defamatory legend of the student Mr Dale and take my word
for it that he who persistently works his head has the strongest for all
affairs«
»Ah Your daughter sir is here«
»My daughter is here sir and will be most happy to present her respects to
the father of her friend Miss Dale«
»They are friends«
»Very cordial friends«
Mr Dale administered another feebly pacifying sniff to himself
»Lætitia« he sighed in apostrophe and swept his forehead with a hand seen
to shake
The ladies asked him anxiously whether he felt the heat of the room and one
offered him a smellingbottle
He thanked them »I can hold out until Sir Willoughby comes«
»We fear to disturb him when his door is locked Mr Dale but if you wish
it we will venture on a message You have really no bad news of our Lætitia
She left us hurriedly this morning without any leavetaking except a word to
one of the maids that your condition required her immediate presence«
»My condition And now her door is locked to me We have spoken through the
door and that is all I stand sick and stupefied between two locked doors
neither of which will open it appears to give me the enlightenment I need more
than medicine«
»Dear me« cried Dr Middleton »I am struck by your description of your
position Mr Dale It would aptly apply to our humanity of the present
generation and were these the days when I sermonized I could propose that it
should afford me an illustration for the pulpit For my part when doors are
closed I try not their locks and I attribute my perfect equanimity health
even to an uninquiring acceptation of the fact that they are closed to me I
read my page by the light I have On the contrary the world of this day if I
may presume to quote you for my purpose is heard knocking at those two locked
doors of the secret of things on each side of us and is beheld standing sick
and stupefied because it has got no response to its knocking Why sir let the
world compare the diverse fortunes of the beggar and the postman knock to give
and it is opened unto you knock to crave and it continues shut I say carry a
letter to your locked door and you shall have a good reception but there is
none that is handed out For which reason «
Mr Dale swept a perspiring forehead and extended his hand in supplication
»I am an invalid Dr Middleton« he said »I am unable to cope with analogies
I have but strength for the slow digestion of facts«
»For facts we are bradypeptics to a man sir We know not yet if nature be
a fact or an effort to master one The world has not yet assimilated the first
fact it stepped on We are still in the endeavour to make good blood of the fact
of our being«
Pressing his hands at his temples Mr Dale moaned »My head twirls I did
unwisely to come out I came on an impulse I trust honourable I am unfit I
cannot follow you Dr Middleton Pardon me«
»Nay sir let me say from my experience of my countrymen that if you do
not follow me and can abstain from abusing me in consequence you are
magnanimous« the Rev Doctor replied hardly consenting to let go the man he
had found to indemnify him for his gallant service of acquiescing as a mute to
the ladies though he knew his breathing robustfulness to be as an East wind to
weak nerves and himself an engine of punishment when he had been torn for a day
from his books
Miss Eleanor said »The enlightenment you need Mr Dale Can we enlighten
you«
»I think not« he answered faintly »I think I will wait for Sir Willoughby
or Mr Whitford If I can keep my strength Or could I exchange I fear to
break down two words with the young lady who is was «
»Miss Middleton my daughter sir She shall be at your disposition I will
bring her to you« Dr Middleton stopped at the window »She it is true may
better know the mind of Miss Dale than I But I flatter myself I know the
gentleman better I think Mr Dale addressing you as the ladys father you
will find me a persuasive I could be an impassioned advocate in his
interests«
Mr Dale was confounded the weakly sapling caught in a gust falls back as
he did
»Advocate« he said He had little breath
»His impassioned advocate I repeat for I have the highest opinion of him
You see sir I am acquainted with the circumstances I believe« Dr Middleton
half turned to the ladies »we must until your potent inducements Mr Dale
have been joined to my instances and we overcome what feminine scruples there
may be treat the circumstances as not generally public Our Strephon may be
chargeable with shyness But if for the present it is incumbent on us in proper
consideration for the parties not to be nominally precise it is hardly
requisite in this household that we should be He is now for protesting
indifference to the state I fancy we understand that phase of amatory
frigidity Frankly Mr Dale I was once in my life myself refused by a lady
and I was not indignant merely indifferent to the marriagetie«
»My daughter has refused him sir«
»Temporarily it would appear that she has declined the proposal«
»He was at liberty he could honourably «
»His best friend and nearest relative is your guarantee«
»I know it I hear so I am informed of that I have heard of the proposal
and that he could honourably make it Still I am helpless I cannot move until
I am assured that my daughters reasons are such as a father need not
underline«
»Does the lady perchance equivocate«
»I have not seen her this morning I rise late I hear an astounding account
of the cause for her departure from Patterne and I find her door locked to me
no answer«
»It is that she has no reasons to give and she feared the demand for them«
»Ladies« dolorously exclaimed Mr Dale
»We guess the secret we guess it« they exclaimed in reply and they looked
smilingly as Dr Middleton looked
»She had no reasons to give« Mr Dale spelt these words to his
understanding »Then sir she knew you not adverse«
»Undoubtedly by my high esteem for the gentleman she must have known me
not adverse But she would not consider me a principal She could hardly have
conceived me an obstacle I am simply the gentlemans friend A zealous friend
let me add«
Mr Dale put out an imploring hand it was too much for him
»Pardon me I have a poor head And your daughter the same sir«
»We will not measure it too closely but I may say my daughter the same
sir And likewise may I not add these ladies«
Mr Dale made sign that he was overfilled »Where am I And Lætitia refused
him«
»Temporarily let us assume Will it not partly depend on you Mr Dale«
»But what strange things have been happening during my daughters absence
from the cottage« cried Mr Dale betraying an elixir in his veins »I feel
that I could laugh if I did not dread to be thought insane She refused his
hand and he was at liberty to offer it My girl We are all on our heads The
fairytales were right and the lessonbooks were wrong But it is really it is
really very demoralizing An invalid and I am one and no momentary
exhilaration will be taken for the contrary clings to the idea of stability
order The slightest disturbance of the wonted course of things unsettles him
Why for years I have been prophesying it and for years I have had everything
against me and now when it is confirmed I am wondering that I must not call
myself a fool«
»And for years dear Mr Dale this union in spite of countercurrents and
human arrangements has been our Willoughbys constant preoccupation« said Miss
Eleanor
»His most cherished aim« said Miss Isabel
»The name was not spoken by me« said Dr Middleton »But it is out and
perhaps better out if we would avoid the chance of mystifications I do not
suppose we are seriously committing a breach of confidence though he might have
wished to mention it to you first himself I have it from Willoughby that last
night he appealed to your daughter Mr Dale not for the first time if I
apprehend him correctly and unsuccessfully He despairs I do not supposing
that is your assistance vouchsafed to us And I do not despair because the
gentleman is a gentleman of worth of acknowledged worth You know him well
enough to grant me that I will bring you my daughter to help me in sounding his
praises«
Dr Middleton stepped through the window to the lawn on an elastic foot
beaming with the happiness he felt charged to confer on his friend Mr Whitford
»Ladies it passes all wonders« Mr Dale gasped
»Willoughbys generosity does pass all wonders« they said in chorus
The door opened Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer were announced
Chapter XLV
The Patterne Ladies Mr Dale Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer with Mrs
Mountstuart Jenkinson
Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer entered spying to right and left At the sight of
Mr Dale in the room Lady Busshe murmured to her friend »Confirmation«
Lady Culmer murmured »Corney is quite reliable«
»The man is his own best tonic«
»He is invaluable for the country«
Miss Eleanor and Miss Isabel greeted them
The amiability of the Patterne ladies combined with their total eclipse
behind their illustrious nephew invited enterprising women of the world to take
liberties and they were not backward
Lady Busshe said »Well the news we have the outlines Dont be
astonished we know the points we have heard the gun I could have told you as
much yesterday I saw it And I guessed it the day before Oh I do believe in
fatalities now Lady Culmer and I agree to take that view it is the simplest
Well and are you satisfied my dears«
The ladies grimaced interrogatively »With what«
»With it with all with her with him«
»Our Willoughby«
»Can it be possible that they require a dose of Corney« Lady Busshe
remarked to Lady Culmer
»They play discretion to perfection« said Lady Culmer »But my dears we
are in the secret«
»How did she behave« whispered Lady Busshe »No high flights and flutters
I do hope She was wellconnected they say though I dont comprehend what they
mean by a line of scholars one thinks of a row of pinafores and she was
pretty That is well enough at the start It never will stand against brains He
had the two in the house to contrast them and the result A young woman
with brains in a house beats all your Beauties Lady Culmer and I have
determined on that view He thought her a delightful partner for a dance and
found her rather tiresome at the end of the gallopade I saw it yesterday clear
as daylight She did not understand him and he did understand her That will be
our report«
»She is young she will learn« said the ladies uneasily but in total
ignorance of her meaning
»And you are charitable and always were I remember you had a good word for
that girl Durham«
Lady Busshe crossed the room to Mr Dale who was turning over leaves of a
grand book of the heraldic devices of our great Families
»Study it« she said »study it my dear Mr Dale you are in it by right
of possessing a clever and accomplished daughter At page 300 you will find the
Patterne crest And mark me she will drag you into the Peerage before she has
done relatively you know Sir Willoughby and wife will not be contented to
sit down and manage the estates Has not Lætitia immense ambition And very
creditable I say«
Mr Dale tried to protest something He shut the book examined the binding
flapped the cover with a finger hoped her ladyship was in good health alluded
to his own and the strangeness of the bird out of the cage
»You will probably take up your residence here in a larger and handsomer
cage Mr Dale«
He shook his head »Do I apprehend « he said
»I know« said she
»Dear me can it be«
Mr Dale gazed upward with the feelings of one awakened late to see a world
alive in broad daylight
Lady Busshe dropped her voice She took the liberty permitted to her with an
inferior in station while treating him to a tone of familiarity in
acknowledgement of his expected rise which is high breeding or the exact
measurement of social dues
»Lætitia will be happy you may be sure I love to see a long and faithful
attachment rewarded love it Her tale is the triumph of patience Far above
Grizzel No woman will be ashamed of pointing to Lady Patterne You are
uncertain You are in doubt Let me hear as low as you like But there is no
doubt of the new shifting of the scene no doubt of the proposal Dear Mr
Dale a very little louder You are here because of course you wish to see
Sir Willoughby She I did not catch you quite She it seems you say «
Lady Culmer said to the Patterne ladies
»You must have had a distressing time These affairs always mount up to a
climax unless people are very well bred We saw it coming Naturally we did not
expect such a transformation of brides who could If I had laid myself down on
my back to think I should have had it I am unerring when I set to speculating
on my back One is cooler ideas come they have not to be forced That is why I
am brighter on a dull winter afternoon on the sofa beside my teaservice than
at any other season
However your trouble is over When did the Middletons leave«
»The Middletons leave« said the ladies
»Dr Middleton and his daughter«
»They have not left us«
»The Middletons are here«
»They are here yes Why should they have left Patterne«
»Why«
»Yes They are likely to stay some days longer«
»Goodness«
»There is no ground for any report to the contrary Lady Culmer«
»No ground«
Lady Culmer called out to Lady Busshe
A cry came back from that startled dame
»She has refused him«
»Who«
»She has«
»She Sir Willoughby«
»Refused declines the honour«
»Oh never No that carries the incredible beyond romance But is he
perfectly at «
»Quite it seems And she was asked in due form and refused«
»No and no again«
»My dear I have it from Mr Dale«
»Mr Dale what can be the signification of her conduct«
»Indeed Lady Culmer« said Mr Dale not unpleasantly agitated by the
interest he excited in spite of his astonishment at a public discussion of the
matter in this house »I am in the dark Her father should know but I do not
Her door is locked to me I have not seen her I am absolutely in the dark I am
a recluse I have forgotten the ways of the world I should have supposed her
father would first have been addressed«
»Tuttut Modern gentlemen are not so formal they are creatures of impulse
and take a pride in it He spoke We settle that But where did you get this
tale of a refusal«
»I have it from Dr Middleton«
»From Dr Middleton« shouted Lady Busshe
»The Middletons are here« said Lady Culmer
»What whirl are we in« Lady Busshe got up ran two or three steps and
seated herself in another chair »Oh do let us proceed upon system If not we
shall presently be rageing we shall be dangerous The Middletons are here and
Dr Middleton himself communicates to Mr Dale that Lætitia Dale has refused the
hand of Sir Willoughby who is ostensibly engaged to his own daughter And pray
Mr Dale how did Dr Middleton speak of it Compose yourself there is no
violent hurry though our sympathy with you and our interest in all the parties
does perhaps agitate us a little Quite at your leisure speak«
»Madam Lady Busshe« Mr Dale gulped a ball in his throat »I see no
reason why I should not speak I do not see how I can have been deluded The
Miss Patternes heard him Dr Middleton began upon it not I I was unaware
when I came that it was a refusal I had been informed that there was a
proposal My authority for the tale was positive The object of my visit was to
assure myself of the integrity of my daughters conduct She had always the
highest sense of honour But passion is known to mislead and there was this
most strange report I feared that our humblest apologies were due to Dr
Middleton and his daughter I know the charm Lætitia can exercise Madam in the
plainest language without a possibility of my misapprehending him Dr
Middleton spoke of himself as the advocate of the suitor for my daughters hand
I have a poor head I supposed at once an amicable rupture between Sir
Willoughby and Miss Middleton or that the version which had reached me of their
engagement was not strictly accurate My head is weak Dr Middletons language
is trying to a head like mine but I can speak positively on the essential
points he spoke of himself as ready to be the impassioned advocate of the
suitor for my daughters hand Those were his words I understood him to entreat
me to intercede with her Nay the name was mentioned There was no concealment
I am certain there could not be a misapprehension And my feelings were touched
by his anxiety for Sir Willoughbys happiness I attributed it to a sentiment
upon which I need not dwell Impassioned advocate he said«
»We are in a perfect maelstrom« cried Lady Busshe turning to everybody
»It is a complete hurricane« cried Lady Culmer
A light broke over the faces of the Patterne ladies They exchanged it with
one another
They had been so shocked as to be almost offended by Lady Busshe but their
natural gentleness and habitual submission rendered them unequal to the task of
checking her
»Is it not« said Miss Eleanor »a misunderstanding that a change of names
will rectify«
»This is by no means the first occasion« said Miss Isabel »that Willoughby
has pleaded for his cousin Vernon«
»We deplore extremely the painful error into which Mr Dale has fallen«
»It springs we now perceive from an entire misapprehension of Dr
Middletons«
»Vernon was in his mind It was clear to us«
»Impossible that it could have been Willoughby«
»You see the impossibility the error«
»And the Middletons here« said Lady Busshe »Oh if we leave unilluminated
we shall be the laughingstock of the county Mr Dale please wake up Do you
see You may have been mistaken«
»Lady Busshe« he woke up »I may have mistaken Dr Middleton he has a
language that I can compare only to a reviewday of the field forces But I have
the story on authority that I cannot question it is confirmed by my daughters
unexampled behaviour And if I live through this day I shall look about me as a
ghost tomorrow«
»Dear Mr Dale« said the Patterne ladies compassionately
Lady Busshe murmured to them »You know the two did not agree they did not
get on I saw it I predicted it«
»She will understand him in time« said they
»Never And my belief is they have parted by consent and Letty Dale wins
the day at last Yes now I do believe it«
The ladies maintained a decided negative but they knew too much not to feel
perplexed and they betrayed it though they said »Dear Lady Busshe is it
credible in decency«
»Dear Mrs Mountstuart« Lady Busshe invoked her great rival appearing among
them »You come most opportunely we are in a state of inextricable confusion
we are bordering on frenzy You and none but you can help us You know you
always know we hang on you Is there any truth in it a particle«
Mrs Mountstuart seated herself regally »Ah Mr Dale« she said inclining
to him »Yes dear Lady Busshe there is a particle«
»Now do not roast us You can you have the art I have the whole story
That is I have a part I mean I have the outlines I cannot be deceived but
you can fill them in I know you can I saw it yesterday Now tell us tell us
It must be quite true or utterly false Which is it«
»Be precise«
»His fatality you called her Yes I was sceptical But here we have it all
come round again and if the tale is true I shall own you infallible Has he
and she«
»Both«
»And the Middletons here They have not gone they keep the field And more
astounding she refuses him And to add to it Dr Middleton intercedes with Mr
Dale for Sir Willoughby«
»Dr Middleton intercedes« This was rather astonishing to Mrs Mountstuart
»For Vernon« Miss Eleanor emphasized
»For Vernon Whitford his cousin« said Miss Isabel still more
emphatically
»Who« said Mrs Mountstuart with a sovereign lift and turn of her head
»speaks of a refusal«
»I have it from Mr Dale« said Lady Busshe
»I had it I thought distinctly from Dr Middleton« said Mr Dale
»That Willoughby proposed to Lætitia for his cousin Vernon Dr Middleton
meant« said Miss Eleanor
Her sister followed »Hence this really ridiculous misconception sad
indeed« she added for balm to Mr Dale »Willoughby was Vernons proxy His
cousin if not his first is ever the second thought with him«
»But can we continue «
»Such a discussion«
Mrs Mountstuart gave them a judicial hearing They were regarded in the
county as the most indulgent of nonentities and she as little as Lady Busshe
was restrained from the burning topic in their presence She pronounced
»Each party is right and each is wrong«
A cry »I shall shriek« came from Lady Busshe
»Cruel« groaned Lady Culmer
»Mixed you are all wrong Disentangled you are each of you right Sir
Willoughby does think of his cousin Vernon he is anxious to establish him he
is the author of a proposal to that effect«
»We know it« the Patterne ladies exclaimed »And Lætitia rejected poor
Vernon once more«
»Who spoke of Miss Dales rejection of Mr Whitford«
»Is he not rejected« Lady Culmer inquired
»It is in debate and at this moment being decided«
»Oh do be seated Mr Dale« Lady Busshe implored him rising to thrust him
back to his chair if necessary »Any dislocation and we are thrown out again
We must hold together if this riddle is ever to be read Then dear Mrs
Mountstuart we are to say that there is no truth in the other story«
»You are to say nothing of the sort dear Lady Busshe«
»Be merciful And what of the fatality«
»As positive as the Pole to the needle«
»She has not refused him«
»Ask your own sagacity«
»Accepted«
»Wait«
»And all the world s ahead of me Now Mrs Mountstuart you are oracle
Riddles if you like only speak If we cant have corn give us husks«
»Is any one of us able to anticipate events Lady Busshe«
»Yes I believe that you are I bow to you I do sincerely So its another
person for Mr Whitford You nod And it is our Lætitia for Sir Willoughby You
smile You would not deceive me A very little and I run about crazed and howl
at your doors And Dr Middleton is made to play blind man in the midst And the
other person is now I see day An amicable rupture and a smooth new
arrangement She has money she was never the match for our hero never I saw
it yesterday and before often and so he hands her over tutherumtumtum
tutherumtumtum« Lady Busshe struck a quick march on her knee »Now isnt
that clever guessing The shadow of a clue for me And because I know human
nature One peep and I see the combination in a minute So he keeps the money
in the family becomes a benefactor to his cousin by getting rid of the girl
and succumbs to his fatality Rather a pity he let it ebb and flow so long Time
counts the tides you know But it improves the story I defy any other county
in the kingdom to produce one fresh and living to equal it Let me tell you I
suspected Mr Whitford and I hinted it yesterday«
»Did you indeed« said Mrs Mountstuart humouring her excessive acuteness
»I really did There is that dear good man on his feet again And looks
agitated again«
Mr Dale had been compelled both by the ladys voice and his interest in the
subject to listen He had listened more than enough he was exceedingly
nervous He held on by his chair afraid to quit his moorings and »Manners«
he said to himself unconsciously aloud as he cogitated on the libertine way
with which these chartered great ladies of the district discussed his daughter
He was heard and unnoticed The supposition if any would have been that he was
admonishing himself
At this juncture Sir Willoughby entered the drawingroom by the
gardenwindow and simultaneously Dr Middleton by the door
Chapter XLVI
The Scene of Sir Willoughbys Generalship
History we may fear will never know the qualities of leadership inherent in
Sir Willoughby Patterne to fit him for the post of Commander of an army seeing
that he avoided the fatigues of the service and preferred the honours bestowed
in his country upon the quiet administrators of their own estates but his
possession of particular gifts which are military and especially of the
proleptic mind which is the stamp and signwarrant of the heavensent General
was displayed on every urgent occasion when in the midst of difficulties likely
to have extinguished one less alert than he to the threatening aspect of
disaster he had to manoeuvre himself
He had received no intimation of Mr Dales presence in his house nor of
the arrival of the dreaded women Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer his locked door
was too great a terror to his domestics Having finished with Vernon after a
tedious endeavour to bring the fellow to a sense of the policy of the step urged
on him he walked out on the lawn with the desire to behold the opening of an
interview not promising to lead to much and possibly to profit by its failure
Clara had been prepared according to his directions by Mrs Mountstuart
Jenkinson as Vernon had been prepared by him His wishes candidly and kindly
expressed both to Vernon and Mrs Mountstuart were that since the girl
appeared disinclined to make him a happy man she would make one of his cousin
Intimating to Mrs Mountstuart that he would be happier without her he alluded
to the benefit of the girls money to poor old Vernon the general escape from a
scandal if old Vernon could manage to catch her as she dropped the harmonious
arrangement it would be for all parties And only on the condition of her taking
Vernon would he consent to give her up This he said imperatively adding that
such was the meaning of the news she had received relating to Lætitia Dale From
what quarter had she received it he asked She shuffled in her reply made a
gesture to signify that it was in the air universal and fell upon the proposed
arrangement He would listen to none of Mrs Mountstuarts womanoftheworld
instances of the folly of pressing it upon a girl who had shown herself a girl
of spirit She foretold the failure He would not be advised he said »It is my
scheme« and perhaps the look of mad benevolence about it induced the lady to
try whether there was a chance that it would hit the madness in our nature and
somehow succeed or lead to a pacification Sir Willoughby condescended to
arrange things thus for Claras good he would then proceed to realize his own
Such was the face he put upon it We can wear what appearance we please before
the world until we are found out nor is the worlds praise knocking upon
hollowness always hollow music but Mrs Mountstuarts laudation of his kindness
and simplicity disturbed him for though he had recovered from his rebuff enough
to imagine that Lætitia could not refuse him under reiterated pressure he had
let it be supposed that she was a submissive handmaiden throbbing for her
elevation and Mrs Mountstuarts belief in it afflicted his recent bitter
experience his footing was not perfectly secure Besides assuming it to be so
he considered the sort of prize he had won and a spasm of downright hatred of a
world for which we make mighty sacrifices to be repaid in a worn thin
comparatively valueless coin troubled his counting of his gains Lætitia it
was true had not passed through other hands in coming to him as Vernon would
know it to be Claras case time only had worn her but the comfort of the
reflection was annoyed by the physical contrast of the two Hence an unusual
melancholy in his tone that Mrs Mountstuart thought touching It had the
scenic effect on her which greatly contributes to delude the wits She talked of
him to Clara as being a man who had revealed an unsuspected depth
Vernon took the communication curiously He seemed readier to be in love
with his benevolent relative than with the lady He was confused undisguisedly
moved said the plan was impossible out of the question but thanked Willoughby
for the best of intentions thanked him warmly After saying that the plan was
impossible the comical fellow allowed himself to be pushed forth on the lawn to
see how Miss Middleton might have come out of her interview with Mrs
Mountstuart Willoughby observed Mrs Mountstuart meet him usher him to the
place she had quitted among the shrubs and return to the open turfspaces He
sprang to her
»She will listen« Mrs Mountstuart said »she likes him respects him
thinks he is a very sincere friend clever a scholar and a good mountaineer
and thinks you mean very kindly So much I have impressed on her but I have not
done much for Mr Whitford«
»She consents to listen« said Willoughby snatching at that as the
deathblow to his friend Horace
»She consents to listen because you have arranged it so that if she
declined she would be rather a savage«
»You think it will have no result«
»None at all«
»Her listening will do«
»And you must be satisfied with it«
»We shall see«
»Anything for peace she says and I dont say that a gentleman with a
tongue would not have a chance She wishes to please you«
»Old Vernon has no tongue for women poor fellow You will have us be spider
or fly and if a man cant spin a web all he can hope is not to be caught in
one She knows his history too and that wont be in his favour How did she
look when you left them«
»Not so bright like a bit of china that wants dusting She looked a trifle
gauche it struck me more like a country girl with the hoyden taming in her
than the wellbred creature she is I did not suspect her to have feeling You
must remember Sir Willoughby that she has obeyed your wishes done her utmost
I do think we may say she has made some amends and if she is to blame she
repents and you will not insist too far«
»I do insist« said he
»Beneficent but a tyrant«
»Well well« He did not dislike the character
They perceived Dr Middleton wandering over the lawn and Willoughby went to
him to put him on the wrong track Mrs Mountstuart swept into the drawingroom
Willoughby quitted the Rev Doctor and hung about the bower where he supposed
his pair of dupes had by this time ceased to stutter mutually or what if they
had found the word of harmony He could bear that just bear it He rounded the
shrubs and behold both had vanished The trellis decorated emptiness His idea
was that they had soon discovered their inability to be turtles and desiring
not to lose a moment while Clara was fretted by the scene he rushed to the
drawingroom with the hope of lighting on her there getting her to himself and
finally urgently passionately offering her the sole alternative of what she
had immediately rejected Why had he not used passion before instead of limping
crippled between temper and policy He was capable of it as soon as imagination
in him conceived his personal feelings unwounded and unimperilled the might of
it inspired him with heroical confidence and Clara grateful Clara softly
moved led him to think of Clara melted Thus anticipating her he burst into the
room
One step there warned him that he was in the jaws of the world We have the
phrase that a man is himself under certain trying circumstances There is no
need to say it of Sir Willoughby he was thrice himself when danger menaced
himself inspired him He could read at a single glance the Polyphemus eye in the
general head of a company Lady Busshe Lady Culmer Mrs Mountstuart Mr Dale
had a similarity in the variety of their expressions that made up one giant eye
for him perfectly if awfully legible He discerned the fact that his demon
secret was abroad universal He ascribed it to fate He was in the jaws of the
world on the worlds teeth This time he thought Lætitia must have betrayed
him and bowing to Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer gallantly pressing their fingers
and responding to their becks and archnesses he ruminated on his defences
before he should accost her father He did not want to be alone with the man
and he considered how his presence might be made useful
»I am glad to see you Mr Dale Pray be seated Is it nature asserting her
strength or the efficacy of medicine I fancy it cant be both You have
brought us back your daughter«
Mr Dale sank into a chair unable to resist the hand forcing him
»No Sir Willoughby no I have not I have not seen her since she came home
this morning from Patterne«
»Indeed She is unwell«
»I cannot say She secludes herself«
»Has locked herself in« said Lady Busshe
Willoughby threw her a smile It made them intimate
This was an advantage against the world but an exposure of himself to the
abominable woman
Dr Middleton came up to Mr Dale to apologize for not presenting his
daughter Clara whom he could find neither in nor out of the house
»We have in Mr Dale as I suspected« he said to Willoughby »a stout
ally«
»If I may beg two minutes with you Sir Willoughby« said Mr Dale
»Your visits are too rare for me to allow of your numbering the minutes«
Willoughby replied »We cannot let Mr Dale escape us now that we have him I
think Dr Middleton«
»Not without ransom« said the Rev Doctor
Mr Dale shook his head »My strength Sir Willoughby will not sustain me
long«
»You are at home Mr Dale«
»Not far from home in truth but too far for an invalid beginning to grow
sensible of weakness«
»You will regard Patterne as your home Mr Dale« Willoughby repeated for
the world to hear
»Unconditionally« Dr Middleton inquired with a humourous air of
dissenting
Willoughby gave him a look that was coldly courteous and then he looked at
Lady Busshe She nodded imperceptibly Her eyebrows rose and Willoughby
returned a similar nod
Translated the signs ran thus
» Pestered by the Rev gentleman I see you are Is the story I have
heard correct Possibly it may err in a few details«
This was fettering himself in loose manacles
But Lady Busshe would not be satisfied with the compliment of the intimate
looks and nods She thought she might still be behind Mrs Mountstuart and she
was a bold woman and anxious about him halfcrazed by the riddle of the pot
she was boiling in and having very few minutes to spare
Not extremely reticent by nature privileged by station and made intimate
with him by his covert looks she stood up to him »One word to an old friend
Which is the father of the fortunate creature I dont know how to behave to
them«
No time was afforded him to be disgusted with her vulgarity and audacity
He replied feeling her rivet his gyves »The house will be empty
tomorrow«
»I see A decent withdrawal and very well cloaked We had a tale here of
her running off to decline the honour afraid or on her dignity or something«
How was it that the woman was ready to accept the altered posture of affairs
in his house if she had received a hint of them He forgot that he had
prepared her in selfdefence
»From whom did you have that« he asked
»Her father And the lady aunts declare it was the cousin she refused«
Willoughbys brain turned over He righted it for action and crossed the
room to the ladies Eleanor and Isabel His ears tingled He and his whole story
discussed in public Himself unroofed And the marvel that he of all men should
be in such a tangle naked and blown on condemned to use his cunningest arts to
unwind and cover himself struck him as though the lord of his kind were running
the gauntlet of a legion of imps He felt their lashes
The ladies were talking to Mrs Mountstuart and Lady Culmer of Vernon and
the suitableness of Lætitia to a scholar He made sign to them and both rose
»It is the hour for your drive To the cottage Mr Dale is ill She must
come Her sick father No delay going or returning Bring her here at once«
»Poor man« they sighed and »Willoughby« said one and the other said
»There is a strange misconception you will do well to correct«
They were about to murmur what it was He swept his hand round and excusing
themselves to their guests obediently they retired
Lady Busshe at his entreaty remained and took a seat beside Lady Culmer and
Mrs Mountstuart
She said to the latter »You have tried scholars What do you think«
»Excellent but hard to mix« was the reply
»I never make experiments« said Lady Culmer
»Some one must« Mrs Mountstuart groaned over her dull dinnerparty
Lady Busshe consoled her »At any rate the loss of a scholar is no loss to
the county«
»They are well enough in towns« Lady Culmer said
»And then I am sure you must have them by themselves«
»We have nothing to regret«
»My opinion«
The voice of Dr Middleton in colloquy with Mr Dale swelled on a melodious
thunder »For whom else should I plead as the passionate advocate I proclaimed
myself to you sir There is but one man known to me who would move me to back
him upon such an adventure Willoughby join me I am informing Mr Dale «
Willoughby stretched his hands out to Mr Dale to support him on his legs
though he had shown no sign of a wish to rise
»You are feeling unwell Mr Dale«
»Do I look very ill Sir Willoughby«
»It will pass Lætitia will be with us in twenty minutes«
Mr Dale struck his hands in a clasp He looked alarmingly ill and
satisfactorily revealed to his host how he could be made to look so
»I was informing Mr Dale that the petitioner enjoys our concurrent good
wishes and mine in no degree less than yours Willoughby« observed Dr
Middleton whose billows grew the bigger for a check He supposed himself
speaking confidentially »Ladies have the trick they have I may say the
natural disposition for playing enigma now and again Pressure is often a
sovereign specific Let it be tried upon her all round from every radiating
line of the circle You she refuses Then I venture to propose myself to appeal
to her My daughter has assuredly an esteem for the applicant that will animate
a womans tongue in such a case The ladies of the house will not be backward
Lastly if necessary we trust the ladys father to add his instances My
prescription is to fatigue her negatives and where no rooted objection exists
I maintain it to be the unfailing receipt for the conduct of a siege No woman
can say No for ever The defence has not such resources against even a single
assailant and we shall have solved the problem of continuous motion before she
will have learnt to deny in perpetuity That I stand on«
Willoughby glanced at Mrs Mountstuart
»What is that« she said »Treason to our sex Dr Middleton«
»I think I heard that no woman can say No for ever« remarked Lady Busshe
»To a loyal gentleman maam assuming the field of the recurring request to
be not unholy ground consecrated to affirmatives rather«
Dr Middleton was attacked by three angry bees They made him say Yes and No
alternately so many times that he had to admit in men a shiftier yieldingness
than women were charged with
Willoughby gesticulated as mute chorus on the side of the ladies and a
little show of party spirit like that coming upon their excitement under the
topic inclined them to him genially
He drew Mr Dale away while the conflict subsided in sharp snaps of rifles
and an interval rejoinder of a cannon
Mr Dale had shown by signs that he was growing fretfully restive under his
burden of doubt
»Sir Willoughby I have a question I beg you to lead me where I may ask it
I know my head is weak«
»Mr Dale it is answered when I say that my house is your home and that
Lætitia will soon be with us«
»Then this report is true«
»I know nothing of reports You are answered«
»Can my daughter be accused of any shadow of falseness dishonourable
dealing«
»As little as I«
Mr Dale scanned his face He saw no shadow
»For I should go to my grave bankrupt if that could be said of her and I
have never yet felt poor though you know the extent of a pensioners income
Then this tale of a refusal «
»Is nonsense«
»She has accepted«
»There are situations Mr Dale too delicate to be clothed in positive
definitions«
»Ah Sir Willoughby but it becomes a father to see that his daughter is not
forced into delicate situations I hope all is well I am confused It may be my
head She puzzles me You are not Can I ask it here You are quite Will
you moderate my anxiety My infirmities must excuse me«
Sir Willoughby conveyed by a shake of the head and a pressure of Mr Dales
hand that he was not and that he was quite
»Dr Middleton« said Mr Dale
»He leaves us tomorrow«
»Really« The invalid wore a look as if wine had been poured into him He
routed his hosts calculations by calling to the Rev Doctor »We are to lose
you sir«
Willoughby attempted an interposition but Dr Middleton crashed through it
like the lordly organ swallowing a flute
»Not before I score my victory Mr Dale and establish my friend upon his
rightful throne«
»You do not leave tomorrow sir«
»Have you heard sir that I leave tomorrow«
Mr Dale turned to Sir Willoughby
The latter said »Clara named today Tomorrow I thought preferable«
»Ah« Dr Middleton towered on the swelling exclamation but with no dark
light He radiated splendidly »Yes then tomorrow That is if we subdue the
lady«
He advanced to Willoughby seized his hand squeezed it thanked him
praised him He spoke under his breath for a wonder but »We are in your debt
lastingly my friend« was heard and he was impressive he seemed subdued and
saying aloud »Though I should wish to aid in the reduction of that fortress«
he let it be seen that his mind was rid of a load
Dr Middleton partly stupefied Willoughby by his way of taking it but his
conduct was too serviceable to allow of speculation on his readiness to break
the match It was the turningpoint of the engagement
Lady Busshe made a stir
»I cannot keep my horses waiting any longer« she said and beckoned Sir
Willoughby was beside her immediately »You are admirable perfect Dont ask me
to hold my tongue I retract I recant It is a fatality I have resolved upon
that view You could stand the shot of beauty not of brains That is our
report There And its delicious to feel that the county wins you No tea I
cannot possibly wait And oh here she is I must have a look at her My dear
Lætitia Dale«
Willoughby hurried to Mr Dale
»You are not to be excited sir compose yourself You will recover and be
strong tomorrow you are at home you are in your own house you are in
Lætitias drawingroom All will be clear tomorrow Till tomorrow we talk
riddles by consent Sit I beg You stay with us«
He met Lætitia and rescued her from Lady Busshe murmuring with the air of
a lover who says »my love my sweet« that she had done rightly to come and
come at once
Her father had been thrown into the proper condition of clammy nervousness
to create the impression Lætitias anxiety sat prettily on her long eyelashes
as she bent over him in his chair
Hereupon Dr Corney appeared and his name had a bracing effect on Mr Dale
»Corney has come to drive me to the cottage« he said »I am ashamed of this
public exhibition of myself my dear Let us go My head is a poor one«
Dr Corney had been intercepted He broke from Sir Willoughby with a dozen
little nods of accurate understanding of him even to beyond the mark of the
communications He touched his patients pulse lightly briefly sighed with
professional composure and pronounced »Rest Must not be moved No no
nothing serious« he quieted Lætitias fears »but rest rest A change of
residence for a night will tone him I will bring him a draught in the course of
the evening Yes yes Ill fetch everything wanted from the cottage for you and
for him Repose on Corneys forethought«
»You are sure Dr Corney« said Lætitia frightened on her fathers account
and on her own
»Which aspect will be the best for Mr Dales bedroom« the hospitable
ladies Eleanor and Isabel inquired
»Southeast decidedly let him have the morning sun a warm air a vigorous
air and a bright air and the patient wakes and sings in his bed«
Still doubtful whether she was in a trap Lætitia whispered to her father of
the privacy and comforts of his home
He replied to her that he thought he would rather be in his own home
Dr Corney positively pronounced No to it
Lætitia breathed again of home but with the sigh of one overborne
The ladies Eleanor and Isabel took the word from Willoughby and said »But
you are at home my dear This is your home Your father will be at least as
well attended here as at the cottage«
She raised her eyelids on them mournfully and by chance diverted her look
to Dr Middleton quite by chance
It spoke eloquently to the assembly of all that Willoughby desired to be
imagined
»But there is Crossjay« she cried »My cousin has gone and the boy is left
alone I cannot have him left alone If we if Dr Corney you are sure it is
unsafe for papa to be moved today Crossjay must he cannot be left«
»Bring him with you Corney« said Sir Willoughby and the little doctor
heartily promised that he would in the event of his finding Crossjay at the
cottage which he thought a distant probability
»He gave me his word he would not go out till my return« said Lætitia
»And if Crossjay gave you his word« the accents of a new voice vibrated
close by »be certain that he will not come back with Dr Corney unless he has
authority in your handwriting«
Clara Middleton stepped gently to Lætitia and with a manner that was an
embrace as much as kissed her for what she was doing on behalf of Crossjay She
put her lips in a pouting form to simulate saying »Press it«
»He is to come« said Lætitia
»Then write him his permit«
There was a chatter about Crossjay and the sentinel true to his post that he
could be during which Lætitia distressfully scribbled a line for Dr Corney to
deliver to him Clara stood near She had rebuked herself for a want of reserve
in the presence of Lady Busshe and Lady Culmer and she was guilty of a slightly
excessive containment when she next addressed Lætitia It was like Lætitias
look at Dr Middleton opportune enough to make a man who watched as Willoughby
did a fatalist for life the shadow of a difference in her bearing toward
Lætitia sufficed to impute acting either to her present coolness or her previous
warmth Better still when Dr Middleton said »So we leave tomorrow my dear
and I hope you have written to the Darletons« Clara flushed and beamed and
repressed her animation on a sudden with one grave look that might be thought
regretful to where Willoughby stood
Chance works for us when we are good captains
Willoughbys pride was high though he knew himself to be keeping it up like
a fearfully dexterous juggler and for an empty reward but he was in the toils
of the world
»Have you written The postbag leaves in half an hour« he addressed her
»We are expected but I will write« she replied and her not having yet
written counted in his favour
She went to write the letter Dr Corney had departed on his mission to
fetch Crossjay and medicine Lady Busshe was impatient to be gone »Corney« she
said to Lady Culmer »is a deadly gossip«
»Inveterate« was the answer
»My poor horses«
»Not the young pair of bays«
»Luckily my dear And dont let me hear of dining tonight«
Sir Willoughby was leading out Mr Dale to a quiet room contiguous to the
invalid gentlemans bedchamber He resigned him to Lætitia in the hall that he
might have the pleasure of conducting the ladies to their carriage
»As little agitation as possible Corney will soon be back« he said
bitterly admiring the graceful subservience of Lætitias figure to her fathers
weight on her arm
He had won a desperate battle but what had he won What had the world given
him in return for his efforts to gain it Just a shirt it might be said simple
scanty clothing no warmth Lady Busshe was unbearable she gabbled she was
illbred permitted herself to speak of Dr Middleton as ineligible no loss to
the county And Mrs Mountstuart was hardly much above her with her inevitable
stroke of caricature »You see Dr Middletons pulpit scampering after him
with legs« Perhaps the Rev Doctor did punish the world for his having forsaken
his pulpit and might be conceived as haunted by it at his heels but Willoughby
was in the mood to abhor comic images he hated the perpetrators of them and the
grinners Contempt of this laughing empty world for which he had performed a
monstrous immolation led him to associate Dr Middleton in his mind and Clara
too with the desireable things he had sacrificed a shape of youth and health
a sparkling companion a face of innumerable charms and his own veracity his
inner sense of his dignity and his temper and the limpid frankness of his air
of scorn that was to him a visage of candid happiness in the dim retrospect
Haply also he had sacrificed more he looked scientifically into the future he
might have sacrificed a nameless more And for what he asked again For the
favourable looks and tongues of these women whose looks and tongues he detested
»Dr Middleton says he is indebted to me I am deeply in his debt« he
remarked
»It is we who are in your debt for a lovely romance my dear Sir
Willoughby« said Lady Busshe incapable of taking a correction so thoroughly
had he imbued her with his fiction or with the belief that she had a good story
to circulate
Away she drove rattling her tongue to Lady Culmer
»A hat and horn and she would be in the old figure of a postboy on a
hueandcry sheet« said Mrs Mountstuart
Willoughby thanked the great lady for her services and she complimented the
polished gentleman on his noble selfpossession But she complained at the same
time of being defrauded of her charmer Colonel De Craye since luncheon An
absence of warmth in her compliment caused Willoughby to shrink and think the
wretched shirt he had got from the world no covering after all a breath flapped
it
»He comes to me tomorrow I believe« she said reflecting on her superior
knowledge of facts in comparison with Lady Busshe who would presently be
hearing of something novel and exclaiming »So that is why you patronized the
colonel« And it was nothing of the sort for Mrs Mountstuart could honestly
say she was not the woman to make a business of her pleasure
»Horace is an enviable fellow« said Willoughby wise in The Book which
bids us ever for an assuagement to fancy our friends condition worse than our
own and recommends the deglutition of irony as the most balsamic for wounds in
the whole moral pharmacopoeia
»I dont know« she replied with a marked accent of deliberation
»The colonel is to have you to himself tomorrow«
»I cant be sure of what I shall have in the colonel«
»Your perpetual sparkler«
Mrs Mountstuart set her head in motion She left the matter silent
»Ill come for him in the morning« she said and her carriage whirled her
off
Either she had guessed it or Clara had confided to her the treacherous
passion of Horace De Craye
However the world was shut away from Patterne for the night
Chapter XLVII
Sir Willoughby and His Friend Horace De Craye
Willoughby shut himself up in his laboratory to brood awhile after the conflict
Sounding through himself as it was habitual with him to do for the plan most
agreeable to his taste he came on a strange discovery among the lower circles
of that microcosm He was no longer guided in his choice by liking and appetite
he had to put it on the edge of a sharp discrimination and try it by his acutest
judgement before it was acceptable to his heart and knowing well the direction
of his desire he was nevertheless unable to run two strides on a wish He had
learnt to read the world his partial capacity for reading persons had fled The
mysteries of his own bosom were bare to him but he could comprehend them only
in their immediate relation to the world outside This hateful world had caught
him and transformed him to a machine The discovery he made was that in the
gratification of the egoistic instinct we may so beset ourselves as to deal a
slaughtering wound upon Self to whatsoever quarter we turn
Surely there is nothing stranger in mortal experience The man was
confounded At the game of Chess it is the dishonour of our adversary when we
are stalemated but in life combating the world such a winning of the game
questions our sentiments
Willoughbys interpretation of his discovery was directed by pity he had no
other strong emotion left in him He pitied himself and he reached the
conclusion that he suffered because he was active he could not be quiescent
Had it not been for his devotion to his house and name never would he have
stood twice the victim of womankind Had he been selfish he would have been the
happiest of men He said it aloud He schemed benevolently for his unborn young
and for the persons about him hence he was in a position forbidding a step
under pain of injury to his feelings He was generous otherwise would he not in
scorn of soul at the outset straight off have pitched Clara Middleton to the
wanton winds He was faithful in affection Lætitia Dale was beneath his roof to
prove it Both these women were examples of his power of forgiveness and now a
tender word to Clara might fasten shame on him such was her gratitude And if
he did not marry Lætitia laughter would be devilish all around him such was
the worlds Probably Vernon would not long be thankful for the chance which
varied the monotony of his days What of Horace Willoughby stripped to enter
the ring with Horace he cast away disguise That man had been the first to
divide him in the all but equal slices of his egoistic from his amatory self
murder of his individuality was the crime of Horace De Craye And further
suspicion fixed on Horace he knew not how except that The Book bids us be
suspicious of those we hate as the man who had betrayed his recent dealings
with Lætitia
Willoughby walked the thoroughfares of the house to meet Clara and make
certain of her either for himself or if it must be for Vernon before he took
another step with Lætitia Dale Clara could reunite him turn him once more into
a whole and an animated man and she might be willing Her willingness to listen
to Vernon promised it »A gentleman with a tongue would have a chance« Mrs
Mountstuart had said How much greater the chance of a lover For he had not yet
supplicated her he had shown pride and temper He could woo he was a
torrential wooer And it would be glorious to swing round on Lady Busshe and the
world with Clara nestling under an arm and protest astonishment at the
erroneous and utterly unfounded anticipations of any other development And it
would righteously punish Lætitia
Clara came downstairs bearing her letter to Miss Darleton
»Must it be posted« Willoughby said meeting her in the hall
»They expect us any day but it will be more comfortable for papa« was her
answer She looked kindly in her new shyness
She did not seem to think he had treated her contemptuously in flinging her
to his cousin which was odd
»You have seen Vernon«
»It was your wish«
»You had a talk«
»We conversed«
»A long one«
»We walked some distance«
»Clara I tried to make the best arrangement I could«
»Your intention was generous«
»He took no advantage of it«
»It could not be treated seriously«
»It was meant seriously«
»There I see the generosity«
Willoughby thought this encomium and her consent to speak on the subject
and her scarcely embarrassed air and richness of tone in speaking very strange
and strange was her taking him quite in earnest Apparently she had no feminine
sensation of the unwontedness and the absurdity of the matter
»But Clara am I to understand that he did not speak out«
»We are excellent friends«
»To miss it though his chance were the smallest«
»You forget that it may not wear that appearance to him«
»He spoke not one word of himself«
»No«
»Ah the poor old fellow was taught to see it was hopeless chilled May I
plead Will you step into the laboratory for a minute We are two sensible
persons «
»Pardon me I must go to papa«
»Vernons personal history perhaps «
»I think it honourable to him«
»Honourable hem«
»By comparison«
»Comparison with what«
»With others«
He drew up to relieve himself of a critical and condemnatory expiration of a
certain length This young lady knew too much But how physically exquisite she
was
»Could you Clara could you promise me I hold to it I must have it I
know his shy tricks promise me to give him ultimately another chance Is the
idea repulsive to you«
»It is one not to be thought of«
»It is not repulsive«
»Nothing could be repulsive in Mr Whitford«
»I have no wish to annoy you Clara«
»I feel bound to listen to you Willoughby Whatever I can do to please you
I will It is my lifelong duty«
»Could you Clara could you conceive it could you simply conceive it
give him your hand«
»As a friend Oh yes«
»In marriage«
She paused She so penetrative of him when he opposed her was hoodwinked
when he softened her feelings for the heart though the clearest is not the
most constant instructor of the head the heart unlike the often obtuser head
works for itself and not for the commonwealth
»You are so kind I would do much « she said
»Would you accept him marry him He is poor«
»I am not ambitious of wealth«
»Would you marry him«
»Marriage is not in my thoughts«
»But could you marry him«
Willoughby expected no In his expectation of it he hung inflated
She said these words »I could engage to marry no one else«
His amazement breathed without a syllable
He flapped his arms resembling for the moment those birds of enormous body
which attempt a rise upon their wings and achieve a hop
»Would you engage it« he said content to see himself stepped on as an
insect if he could but feel the agony of his false friend Horace their common
pretensions to win her were now of that comparative size
»Oh there can be no necessity And an oath no« said Clara inwardly
shivering at a recollection
»But you could«
»My wish is to please you«
»You could«
»I said so«
It has been known of the patriotic mountaineer of a hoary pile of winters
with little life remaining in him but that little on fire for his country that
by the brink of the precipice he has flung himself on a young and lusty invader
dedicating himself exultingly to death if only he may score a point for his
country by extinguishing in his countrys enemy the stronger man So likewise
did Willoughby in the blow that deprived him of hope exult in the toppling
over of Horace De Craye They perished together but which one sublimely
relished the headlong descent And Vernon taken by Clara would be Vernon simply
tolerated And Clara taken by Vernon would be Clara previously touched
smirched Altogether he could enjoy his fall
It was at least upon a comfortable bed where his pride would be dressed
daily and would never be disagreeably treated
He was henceforth Lætitias own The bell telling of Dr Corneys return was
a welcome sound to Willoughby and he said goodhumouredly »Wait Clara you
will see your hero Crossjay«
Crossjay and Dr Corney tumbled into the hall Willoughby caught Crossjay
under the arms to give him a lift in the old fashion pleasing to Clara to see
The boy was heavy as lead
»I had work to hook him and worse to net him« said Dr Corney »I had to
make him believe he was to nurse every soul in the house you among them Miss
Middleton« Willoughby pulled the boy aside
Crossjay came back to Clara heavier in looks than his limbs had been She
dropped her letter in the hallbox and took his hand to have a private hug of
him When they were alone she said »Crossjay my dear my dear You look
unhappy«
»Yes and who wouldnt be and youre not to marry Sir Willoughby« his
voice threatened a cry »I know youre not for Dr Corney says you are going to
leave«
»Did you so very much wish it Crossjay«
»I should have seen a lot of you and I shant see you at all and I m sure
if I d known I wouldnt have and he has been and tipped me this«
Crossjay opened his fist in which lay three gold pieces
»That was very kind of him« said Clara
»Yes but how can I keep it«
»By handing it to Mr Whitford to keep for you«
»Yes but Miss Middleton oughtnt I to tell him I mean Sir Willoughby«
»What«
»Why that I« Crossjay got close to her »why that I that I you know
what you used to say I wouldnt tell a lie but oughtnt I without his asking
and this money I dont mind being turned out again«
»Consult Mr Whitford« said Clara
»I know what you think though«
»Perhaps you had better not say anything at present dear boy«
»But what am I to do with this money«
Crossjay held the gold pieces out as things that had not yet mingled with
his ideas of possession
»I listened and I told of him« he said »I couldnt help listening but I
went and told and I dont like being here and his money and he not knowing
what I did Havent you heard I m certain I know what you think and so do I
and I must take my luck I m always in mischief getting into a mess or getting
out of it I dont mind I really dont Miss Middleton I can sleep in a tree
quite comfortably If youre not going to be here I d just as soon be
anywhere I must try to earn my living some day And why not a cabinboy Sir
Cloudesley Shovel was no better And I dont mind his being wrecked at last if
youre drowned an admiral So I shall go and ask him to take his money back and
if he asks me I shall tell him and there You know what it is I guessed that
from what Dr Corney said I m sure I know youre thinking whats manly Fancy
me keeping his money and you not marrying him I wouldnt mind driving a
plough I shouldnt make a bad gamekeeper Of course I love boats best but you
cant have everything«
»Speak to Mr Whitford first« said Clara too proud of the boy for growing
as she had trained him to advise a course of conduct opposed to his notions of
manliness though now that her battle was over she would gladly have acquiesced
in little casuistic compromises for the sake of the general peace
Some time later Vernon and Dr Corney were arguing upon the question Corney
was dead against the sentimental view of the morality of the case propounded by
Vernon as coming from Miss Middleton and partly shared by him »If its on the
boys mind« Vernon said »I cant prohibit his going to Willoughby and making a
clean breast of it especially as it involves me and sooner or later I should
have to tell him myself«
Dr Corney said no at all points »Now hear me« he said finally »This is
between ourselves and no breach of confidence which I d not be guilty of for
forty friends though I d give my hand from the wristjoint for one my left
thats to say Sir Willoughby puts me one or two searching interrogations on a
point of interest to him his house and name Very well and goodnight to that
and I wish Miss Dale had been ten years younger or had passed the ten with no
heartrisings and sinkings wearing to the tissues of the frame and the moral
fibre to boot Shell have a fairish health with a little occasional doctoring
taking her rank and wealth in right earnest and shying her pen back to Mother
Goose Shell do And by the way I think its to the credit of my sagacity
that I fetched Mr Dale here fully primed and roused the neighbourhood which I
did and so fixed our gentleman neat as a prodded eel on a pair of prongs
namely the positive fact and the general knowledge of it But mark me my
friend We understand one another at a nod This boy young Squire Crossjay is
a good stiff hearty kind of a Saxon boy out of whom you may cut as gallant a
fellow as ever wore epaulettes I like him you like him Miss Dale and Miss
Middleton like him and Sir Willoughby Patterne of Patterne Hall and other
places wont be indisposed to like him mightily in the event of the sun being
seen to shine upon him with a particular determination to make him appear a
prominent object because a solitary and a Patterne« Dr Corney lifted his
chest and his finger »Now mark me and verbum sap Crossjay must not offend
Sir Willoughby I say no more Look ahead Miracles happen but its best to
reckon that they wont Well now and Miss Dale Shell not be cruel«
»It appears as if she would« said Vernon meditating on the cloudy sketch
Dr Corney had drawn
»She cant my friend Her position s precarious her father has little
besides a pension And her writing damages her health She cant And she likes
the baronet Oh its only a little fit of proud blood Shes the woman for him
Shell manage him give him an idea that he has got a lot of ideas It d kill
her father if she was obstinate He talked to me when I told him of the
business about his dream fulfilled and if the dream turns to vapour hell be
another example that we hang more upon dreams than realities for nourishment
and medicine too Last week I couldnt have got him out of his house with all my
art and science Oh shell come round Her father prophesied this and Ill
prophesy that Shes fond of him«
»She was«
»She sees through him«
»Without quite doing justice to him now« said Vernon »He can be generous
in his way«
»How« Corney inquired and was informed that he should hear in time to
come
Meanwhile Colonel De Craye after hovering over the park and about the
cottage for the opportunity of pouncing on Miss Middleton alone had returned
crestfallen for once and plumped into Willoughbys hands
»My dear Horace« Willoughby said »Ive been looking for you all the
afternoon The fact is I fancy youll think yourself lured down here on false
pretences but the truth is I am not so much to blame as the world will
suppose In point of fact to be brief Miss Dale and I I never consult
other men how they would have acted The fact of the matter is Miss Middleton
I fancy you have partly guessed it«
»Partly« said De Craye
»Well she has a liking that way and if it should turn out strong enough
its the best arrangement I can think of«
The lively play of the colonels features fixed in a blank inquiry
»One can back a good friend for making a good husband« said Willoughby »I
could not break with her in the present stage of affairs without seeing to that
And I can speak of her highly though she and I have seen in time that we do not
suit one another My wife must have brains«
»I have always thought it« said Colonel De Craye glistening and looking
hungry as a wolf through his wonderment
»There will not be a word against her you understand You know my dislike
of tattle and gossip However let it fall on me my shoulders are broad I have
done my utmost to persuade her and there seems a likelihood of her consenting
She tells me her wish is to please me and this will please me«
»Certainly Whos the gentleman«
»My best friend I tell you I could hardly have proposed another Allow
this business to go on smoothly just now«
There was an uproar within the colonel to blind his wits and Willoughby
looked so friendly that it was possible to suppose the man of projects had
mentioned his best friend to Miss Middleton
And who was the best friend
Not having accused himself of treachery the quickeyed colonel was duped
»Have you his name handy Willoughby«
»That would be unfair to him at present Horace ask yourself and to her
Things are in a ticklish posture at present Dont be hasty«
»Certainly I dont ask Initials ll do«
»You have a remarkable aptitude for guessing Horace and this case offers
you no tough problem if ever you acknowledge toughness I have a regard for
her and for him for both pretty equally you know I have and I should be
thoroughly thankful to bring the matter about«
»Lordly« said De Craye
»I dont see it I call it sensible«
»Oh undoubtedly The style I mean Tolerably antique«
»Novel I should say and not the worse for that We want plain practical
dealings between men and women Usually we go the wrong way to work And I
loathe sentimental rubbish«
De Craye hummed an air »But the lady« said he
»I told you there seems a likelihood of her consenting«
Willoughbys fish gave a perceptible little leap now that he had been taught
to exercise his aptitude for guessing
»Without any of the customary preliminaries on the side of the gentleman«
he said
»We must put him through his paces friend Horace Hes a notorious
blunderer with women hasnt a word for them never marked a conquest«
De Craye crested his plumes under the agreeable banter He presented a face
humourously sceptical
»The lady is positively not indisposed to give the poor fellow a hearing«
»I have cause to think she is not« said Willoughby glad of acting the
indifference to her which could talk of her inclinations
»Cause«
»Good cause«
»Bless us«
»As good as one can have with a woman«
»Ah«
»I assure you«
»Ah Does it seem like her though«
»Well she wouldnt engage herself to accept him«
»Well that seems more like her«
»But she said she could engage to marry no one else«
The colonel sprang up crying »Clara Middleton said it« He curbed himself
»Thats a bit of wonderful compliancy«
»She wishes to please me We separate on those terms And I wish her
happiness Ive developed a heart lately and taken to think of others«
»Nothing better You appear to make cock sure of the other party our
friend«
»You know him too well Horace to doubt his readiness«
»Do you Willoughby«
»She has money and good looks Yes I can say I do«
»It wouldnt be much of a man who d want hard pulling to that lighted
altar«
»And if he requires persuasion you and I Horace might bring him to his
senses«
»Kicking twould be«
»I like to see everybody happy about me« said Willoughby naming the hour
as time to dress for dinner
The sentiment he had delivered was De Crayes excuse for grasping his hand
and complimenting him but the colonel betrayed himself by doing it with an
extreme fervour almost tremulous
»When shall we hear more« he said
»Oh probably tomorrow« said Willoughby »Dont be in such a hurry«
»I m an infant asleep« the colonel replied departing
He resembled one to Willoughbys mind or a traitor drugged
»There is a fellow I thought had some brains«
Who are not fools to be set spinning if we choose to whip them with their
vanity It is the consolation of the great to watch them spin But the pleasure
is loftier and may comfort our unmerited misfortune for a while in making a
false friend drunk
Willoughby among his many preoccupations had the satisfaction of seeing
the effect of drunkenness on Horace De Craye when the latter was in Claras
presence He could have laughed Cut in keen epigram were the marginal notes
added by him to that chapter of The Book which treats of friends and a woman
and had he not been profoundly preoccupied troubled by recent intelligence
communicated by the ladies his aunts he would have played the two together for
the royal amusement afforded him by his friend Horace
Chapter XLVIII
The Lovers
The hour was close upon eleven at night Lætitia sat in the room adjoining her
fathers bedchamber Her elbow was on the table beside her chair and two
fingers pressed her temples The state between thinking and feeling when both
are molten and flow by us is one of our natures intermissions coming after
thought has quieted the fiery nerves and can do no more She seemed to be
meditating She was conscious only of a struggle past
She answered a tap at the door and raised her eyes on Clara
Clara stepped softly »Mr Dale is asleep«
»I hope so«
»Ah dear friend«
Lætitia let her hand be pressed
»Have you had a pleasant evening«
»Mr Whitford and papa have gone to the library«
»Colonel De Craye has been singing«
»Yes with a voice I thought of you upstairs but could not ask him to
sing piano«
»He is probably exhilarated«
»One would suppose it he sang well«
»You are not aware of any reason«
»It cannot concern me«
Clara was in rosy colour but could meet a steady gaze
»And Crossjay has gone to bed«
»Long since He was at dessert He would not touch anything«
»He is a strange boy«
»Not very strange Lætitia«
»He did not come to me to wish me good night«
»That is not strange«
»It is his habit at the cottage and here and he professes to like me«
»Oh he does I may have wakened his enthusiasm but you he loves«
»Why do you say it is not strange Clara«
»He fears you a little«
»And why should Crossjay fear me«
»Dear I will tell you Last night You will forgive him for it was by
accident his own bedroom door was locked and he ran down to the drawingroom
and curled himself up on the ottoman and fell asleep under that padded silken
coverlet of the ladies boots and all I am afraid«
Lætitia profited by this absurd allusion thanking Clara in her heart for
the refuge
»He should have taken off his boots« she said
»He slept there and woke up Dear he meant no harm Next day he repeated
what he had heard You will blame him He meant well in his poor boys head And
now it is over the county Ah do not frown«
»That explains Lady Busshe« exclaimed Lætitia
»Dear dear friend« said Clara »Why I presume on your tenderness for me
but let me tomorrow I go why will you reject your happiness Those kind good
ladies are deeply troubled They say your resolution is inflexible you resist
their entreaties and your fathers Can it be that you have any doubt of the
strength of this attachment I have none I have never had a doubt that it was
the strongest of his feelings If before I go I could see you both happy I
should be relieved I should rejoice«
Lætitia said quietly »Do you remember a walk we had one day together to the
cottage«
Clara put up her hands with the motion of intending to stop her ears
»Before I go« said she »If I might know this was to be which all desire
before I leave I should not feel as I do now I long to see you happy him
yes him too Is it like asking you to pay my debt Then please But no I am
not more than partly selfish on this occasion He has won my gratitude He can
be really generous«
»An Egoist«
»Who is«
»You have forgotten our conversation on the day of our walk to the cottage«
»Help me to forget it that day and those days and all those days I
should be glad to think I passed a time beneath the earth and have risen again
I was the Egoist I am sure if I had been buried I should not have stood up
seeing myself more vilely stained soiled disfigured oh Help me to forget my
conduct Lætitia He and I were unsuited and I remember I blamed myself then
You and he are not and now I can perceive the pride that can be felt in him
The worst that can be said is that he schemes too much«
»Is there any fresh scheme« said Lætitia
The rose came over Claras face
»You have not heard It was impossible but it was kindly intended Judging
by my own feeling at this moment I can understand his We love to see our
friends established«
Lætitia bowed »My curiosity is piqued of course«
»Dear friend tomorrow we shall be parted I trust to be thought of by you
as a little better in grain than I have appeared and my reason for trusting it
is that I know I have been always honest a boorish young woman in my stupid
mad impatience but not insincere It is no lofty ambition to desire to be
remembered in that character but such is your Clara she discovers I will tell
you It is his wish his wish that I should promise to give my hand to Mr
Whitford You see the kindness«
Lætitias eyes widened and fixed
»You think it kindness«
»The intention He sent Mr Whitford to me and I was taught to expect him«
»Was that quite kind to Mr Whitford«
»What an impression I must have made on you during that walk to the cottage
Lætitia I do not wonder I was in a fever«
»You consented to listen«
»I really did It astonishes me now but I thought I could not refuse«
»My poor friend Vernon Whitford tried a love speech«
»He no Oh no«
»You discouraged him«
»I no«
»Gently I mean«
»No«
»Surely you did not dream of trifling He has a deep heart«
»Has he«
»You ask that and you know something of him«
»He did not expose it to me dear not even the surface of the mighty deep«
Lætitia knitted her brows
»No« said Clara »not a coquette she is not a coquette I assure you«
With a laugh Lætitia replied »You have still the dreadful power you made
me feel that day«
»I wish I could use it to good purpose«
»He did not speak«
»Of Switzerland Tyrol the Iliad Antigone«
»That was all«
»No Political Economy Our situation you will own was unexampled or mine
was Are you interested in me«
»I should be if I knew your sentiments«
»I was grateful to Sir Willoughby grieved for Mr Whitford«
»Real grief«
»Because the task imposed on him of showing me politely that he did not
enter into his cousins ideas was evidently very great extremely burdensome«
»You so quickeyed in some things Clara«
»He felt for me I saw that in his avoidance of And he was as he
always is pleasant We rambled over the park for I know not how long though it
did not seem long«
»Never touching that subject«
»Not ever neighbouring it dear A gentleman should esteem the girl he would
ask certain questions I fancy he has a liking for me as a volatile friend«
»If he had offered himself«
»Despising me«
»You can be childish Clara Probably you delight to tease He had his time
of it and it is now my turn«
»But he must despise me a little«
»Are you blind«
»Perhaps dear we both are a little«
The ladies looked deeper into one another
»Will you answer me« said Lætitia
»Your if If he had it would have been an act of condescension«
»You are too slippery«
»Stay dear Lætitia He was considerate in forbearing to pain me«
»That is an answer You allowed him to perceive that it would have pained
you«
»Dearest if I may convey to you what I was in a simile for comparison I
think I was like a fishermans float on the water perfectly still and ready to
go down at any instant or up So much for my behaviour«
»Similes have the merit of satisfying the finder of them and cheating the
hearer« said Lætitia »You admit that your feelings would have been painful«
»I was a fishermans float please admire my simile any way you like this
way or that or so quiet as to tempt the eyes to go to sleep And suddenly I
might have disappeared in the depths or flown in the air But no fish bit«
»Well then to follow you supposing the fish or the fisherman for I dont
know which is which Oh no no this is too serious for imagery I am to
understand that you thanked him at least for his reserve«
»Yes«
»Without the slightest encouragement to him to break it«
»A fishermans float Lætitia«
Baffled and sighing Lætitia kept silence for a space
The simile chafed her wits with a suspicion of a meaning hidden in it
»If he had spoken« she said
»He is too truthful a man«
»And the railings of men at pussy women who wind about and will not be
brought to a mark become intelligible to me«
»Then Lætitia if he had spoken if and one could have imagined him
sincere «
»So truthful a man«
»I am looking at myself If why then I should have burnt to death with
shame Where have I read some story of an inextinguishable spark That
would have been shot into my heart«
»Shame Clara You are free«
»As much as remains of me«
»I could imagine a certain shame in such a position where there was no
feeling but pride«
»I could not imagine it where there was no feeling but pride«
Lætitia mused »And you dwell on the kindness of a proposition so
extraordinary« Gaining some light impatiently she cried »Vernon loves you«
»Do not say it«
»I have seen it«
»I have never had a sign of it«
»There is the proof«
»When it might have been shown again and again«
»The greater proof«
»Why did he not speak when he was privileged strangely but privileged«
»He feared«
»Me«
»Feared to wound you and himself as well possibly Men may be pardoned
for thinking of themselves in these cases«
»But why should he fear«
»That another was dearer to you«
»What cause had I given Ah see He could fear that suspect it See his
opinion of me Can he care for such a girl Abuse me Lætitia I should like a
good round of abuse I need purification by fire What have I been in this
house I have a sense of whirling through it like a madwoman And to be loved
after it all No we must be hearing a tale of an antiquary prizing a battered
relic of the battlefield that no one else would look at To be loved I see is
to feel our littleness hollowness feel shame We come out in all our spots
Never to have given me one sign when a lover would have been so tempted Let me
be incredulous my own dear Lætitia Because he is a man of honour you would
say But are you unconscious of the torture you inflict For if I am you say
it loved by this gentleman what an object it is he loves that has gone
clamouring about more immodestly than women will bear to hear of and she
herself to think of Oh I have seen my own heart It is a frightful spectre I
have seen a weakness in me that would have carried me anywhere And truly I
shall be charitable to women I have gained that But loved by Vernon
Whitford The miserable little me to be taken up and loved after tearing myself
to pieces Have you been simply speculating You have no positive knowledge of
it Why do you kiss me«
»Why do you tremble and blush so«
Clara looked at her as clearly as she could She bowed her head »It makes
my conduct worse«
She received a tenderer kiss for that It was her avowal and it was
understood to know that she had loved or had been ready to love him shadowed
her in the retrospect
»Ah you read me through and through« said Clara sliding to her for a
whole embrace
»Then there never was cause for him to fear« Lætitia whispered
Clara slid her head more out of sight »Not that my heart But I said I
have seen it and it is unworthy of him And if as I think now I could have
been so rash so weak wicked unpardonable such thoughts were in me then
to hear him speak would make it necessary for me to uncover myself and tell him
incredible to you yes that while yes Lætitia all this is true and
thinking of him as the noblest of men I could have welcomed any help to cut my
knot So there« said Clara issuing from her nest with winking eyelids »you
see the pain I mentioned«
»Why did you not explain it to me at once«
»Dearest I wanted a century to pass«
»And you feel that it has passed«
»Yes in Purgatory with an angel by me My report of the place will be
favourable Good angel I have yet to say something«
»Say it and expiate«
»I think I did fancy once or twice very dimly and especially today
properly I ought not to have had any idea but his coming to me and his not
doing as another would have done seemed A gentleman of real nobleness does
not carry the common light for us to read him by I wanted his voice but
silence I think did tell me more if a nature like mine could only have had
faith without hearing the rattle of a tongue«
A knock at the door caused the ladies to exchange looks
Lætitia rose as Vernon entered
»I am just going to my father for a few minutes« she said
»And I have just come from yours« Vernon said to Clara
She observed a very threatening expression in him
The sprite of contrariety mounted to her brain to indemnify her for her
recent selfabasement Seeing the bedroom door shut on Lætitia she said »And
of course papa has gone to bed« implying »otherwise «
»Yes he has gone He wished me well«
»His formula of goodnight would embrace that wish«
»And failing it will be good night for good to me«
Claras breathing gave a little leap »We leave early tomorrow«
»I know I have an appointment at Bregenz for June«
»So soon With papa«
»And from there we break into Tyrol and round away to the right
Southward«
»To the Italian Alps And was it assumed that I should be of this
expedition«
»Your father speaks dubiously«
»You have spoken of me then«
»I ventured to speak of you I am not overbold as you know«
Her lovely eyes troubled the lids to hide their softness
»Papa should not think of my presence with him dubiously«
»He leaves it to you to decide«
»Yes then many times all that can be uttered«
»Do you consider what you are saying«
»Mr Whitford I shut my eyes and say Yes«
»Beware I give you one warning If you shut your eyes «
»Of course« she flew from him »big mountains must be satisfied with my
admiration at their feet«
»That will do for a beginning«
»They speak encouragingly«
»One of them« Vernons breast heaved high
»To be at your feet makes a mountain of you« said she
»With the heart of a mouse if that satisfies me«
»You tower too high you are inaccessible«
»I give you a second warning You may be seized and lifted«
»Some one would stoop then«
»To plant you like the flag on the conquered peak«
»You have indeed been talking to papa Mr Whitford«
Vernon changed his tone
»Shall I tell you what he said«
»I know his language so well«
»He said «
»But you have acted on it«
»Only partly He said «
»You will teach me nothing«
»He said «
»Vernon no oh not in this house«
That supplication coupled with his name confessed the end to which her quick
vision perceived she was being led where she would succumb
She revived the same shrinking in him from a breath of their great word yet
not here somewhere in the shadow of the mountains
But he was sure of her And their hands might join The two hands thought
so or did not think behaved like innocents
The spirit of Dr Middleton as Clara felt had been blown into Vernon
rewarding him for forthright outspeaking Over their books Vernon had abruptly
shut up a volume and related the tale of the house »Has this man a spice of
religion in him« the Rev Doctor asked midway Vernon made out a fair general
case for his cousin in that respect »The complemental dot on his i of a
commonly civilized human creature« said Dr Middleton looking at his watch and
finding it too late to leave the house before morning The risky communication
was to come Vernon was proceeding with the narrative of Willoughbys generous
plan when Dr Middleton electrified him by calling out »He whom of all men
living I should desire my daughter to espouse« and Willoughby rose in the Rev
Doctors esteem he praised that sensibly minded gentleman who could acquiesce
in the turn of mood of a little maid albeit Fortune had withheld from him a
taste of the switch at school The father of the little maids appreciation of
her volatility was exhibited in his exhortation to Vernon to be off to her at
once with his authority to finish her moods and assure him of peace in the
morning Vernon hesitated Dr Middleton remarked upon being not so sure that it
was not he who had done the mischief Thereupon Vernon to prove his honesty
made his own story bare »Go to her« said Dr Middleton Vernon proposed a
meeting in Switzerland to which Dr Middleton assented adding »Go to her«
and as he appeared a total stranger to the decorum of the situation Vernon put
his delicacy aside and taking his heart up obeyed He too had pondered on
Claras consent to meet him after she knew of Willoughbys terms and her grave
sweet manner during the ramble over the park Her fathers breath had been blown
into him so now with nothing but the faith lying in sensation to convince him
of his happy fortune and how unconvincing that may be until the mind has
grasped and stamped it we experience even then when we acknowledge that we are
most blest he held her hand And if it was hard for him for both but harder
for the man to restrain their particular word from a flight to heaven when the
cage stood open and nature beckoned he was practised in selfmastery and she
loved him the more
Lætitia was a witness of their union of hands on her coming back to the
room
They promised to visit her very early in the morning neither of them
conceiving that they left her to a night of storm and tears
She sat meditating on Claras present appreciation of Sir Willoughbys
generosity
Chapter XLIX
Lætitia and Sir Willoughby
We cannot be abettors of the tribes of imps whose revelry is in the frailties of
our poor human constitution They have their place and their service and so
long as we continue to be what we are now they will hang on to us restlessly
plucking at the garments which cover our nakedness nor ever ceasing to twitch
them and strain at them until they have fairly stripped us for one of their
horrible Walpurgis nights when the laughter heard is of a character to render
laughter frightful to the ears of men throughout the remainder of their days
But if in these festival hours under the beams of Hecate they are uncontrollable
by the Comic Muse she will not flatter them with her presence during the course
of their insane and impious hilarities whereof a description would outBrocken
Brockens and make Graymalkin and Paddock too intimately our familiars
It shall suffice to say that from hour to hour of the midnight to the
greyeyed morn assisted at intervals by the ladies Eleanor and Isabel and by
Mr Dale awakened and reawakened hearing the vehemence of his petitioning
outcry to soften her obduracy Sir Willoughby pursued Lætitia with
solicitations to espouse him until the inveteracy of his wooing wore the aspect
of the lifelong love he raved of aroused to a state of mania He appeared he
departed he returned and all the while his imps were about him and upon him
riding him prompting driving inspiring him with outrageous pathos an
eloquence to move any one but the dead which its object seemed to be in her
torpid attention He heard them he talked to them caressed them he flung them
off and ran from them and stood vanquished for them to mount him again and
swarm on him There are men thus imphaunted Men who setting their minds upon
an object must have it breed imps They are noted for their singularities as
their converse with the invisible and amazing distractions are called
Willoughby became aware of them that night He said to himself upon one of his
dashes into solitude I believe I am possessed And if he did not actually
believe it but only suspected it or framed speech to account for the
transformation he had undergone into a desperately beseeching creature having
lost acquaintance with his habitual personality the operations of an impish
host had undoubtedly smitten his consciousness
He had them in his brain for while burning with an ardour for Lætitia that
incited him to frantic excesses of language and comportment he was aware of
shouts of the names of Lady Busshe and Mrs Mountstuart Jenkinson the which
freezing him as they did were directly the cause of his hurrying to a wilder
extravagance and more headlong determination to subdue before break of day the
woman he almost dreaded to behold by daylight though he had now passionately
persuaded himself of his love of her He could not he felt stand in the
daylight without her She was his morning She was he raved his predestinated
wife He cried »Darling« both to her and to solitude Every prescription of
his ideal of demeanour as an example to his class and country was abandoned by
the enamoured gentleman He had lost command of his countenance He stooped so
far as to kneel and not gracefully Nay it is in the chronicles of the
invisible host around him that in a fit of supplication upon a cry of
»Lætitia« twice repeated he whimpered
Let so much suffice And indeed not without reason do the multitudes of the
servants of the Muse in this land of social policy avoid scenes of an inordinate
wantonness which detract from the dignity of our leaders and menace human
nature with confusion Sagacious are they who conduct the individual on broad
lines over familiar tracks under wellknown characteristics What men will do
and amorously minded men will do is less the question than what it is politic
that they should be shown to do
The night wore through Lætitia was bent but had not yielded She had been
obliged to say and how many times she could not bear to recollect »I do not
love you I have no love to give« and issuing from such a night to look again
upon the face of day she scarcely felt that she was alive
The contest was renewed by her father with the singing of the birds Mr
Dale then produced the first serious impression she had received He spoke of
their circumstances of his being taken from her and leaving her to poverty in
weak health of the injury done to her health by writing for bread and of the
oppressive weight he would be relieved of by her consenting He no longer
implored her he put the case on common ground
And he wound up »Pray do not be ruthless my girl«
The practical statement and this adjuration incongruously to conclude it
harmonized with her disordered understanding her loss of all sentiment and her
desire to be kind She sighed to herself »Happily it is over«
Her father was too weak to rise He fell asleep She was bound down to the
house for hours and she walked through her suite here at the doors there at
the windows thinking of Claras remark »of a century passing« She had not
wished it but a light had come on her to show her what she would have supposed
a century could not have effected she saw the impossible of overnight a
possible thing not desireable yet possible wearing the features of the
possible Happily she had resisted too firmly to be again besought
Those features of the possible once beheld allured the mind to reconsider
them Wealth gives us the power to do good on earth Wealth enables us to see
the world the beautiful scenes of the earth Lætitia had long thirsted both for
a dowering moneybag at her girdle and the wings to fly abroad over lands which
had begun to seem fabulous in her starved imagination Then moreover if her
sentiment for this gentleman was gone it was only a delusion gone accurate
sight and knowledge of him would not make a woman the less helpful mate That
was the mate he required and he could be led A sentimental attachment would
have been serviceless to him Not so the woman allied by a purely rational bond
and he wanted guiding Happily she had told him too much of her feeble health
and her lovelessness to be reduced to submit to another attack
She busied herself in her room arranging for her departure so that no
minutes might be lost after her father had breakfasted and dressed
Clara was her earliest visitor and each asked the other whether she had
slept and took the answer from the face presented to her The rings of
Lætitias eyes were very dark Clara was her mirror and she said »A singular
object to be persecuted through a night for her hand I know these two damp dead
leaves I wear on my cheeks to remind me of midnight vigils But you have slept
well Clara«
»I have slept well and yet I could say I have not slept at all Lætitia I
was with you dear part in dream and part in thought hoping to find you
sensible before I go«
»Sensible That is the word for me«
Lætitia briefly sketched the history of the night and Clara said with a
manifest sincerity that testified of her gratitude to Sir Willoughby »Could you
resist him so earnest as he is«
Lætitia saw the human nature without sourness and replied »I hope Clara
you will not begin with a large stock of sentiment for there is nothing like it
for making you hard matteroffact worldly calculating«
The next visitor was Vernon exceedingly anxious for news of Mr Dale
Lætitia went into her fathers room to obtain it for him Returning she found
them both with sad visages and she ventured in alarm for them to ask the
cause
»Its this« Vernon said »Willoughby will everlastingly tease that boy to
be loved by him Perhaps poor fellow he had an excuse last night Anyhow he
went into Crossjays room this morning woke him up and talked to him and set
the lad crying and what with one thing and another Crossjay got a berry in his
throat as he calls it and poured out everything he knew and all he had done I
neednt tell you the consequence He has ruined himself here for good so I must
take him«
Vernon glanced at Clara »You must indeed« said she »He is my boy as well
as yours No chance of pardon«
»Its not likely«
»Lætitia«
»What can I do«
»Oh what can you not do«
»I do not know«
»Teach him to forgive«
Lætitias brows were heavy and Clara forebore to torment her
She would not descend to the family breakfasttable Clara would fain have
stayed to drink tea with her in her own room but a last act of conformity was
demanded of the liberated young lady She promised to run up the moment
breakfast was over Not unnaturally therefore Lætitia supposed it to be she to
whom she gave admission half an hour later with a glad cry of »Come in
dear«
The knock had sounded like Claras
Sir Willoughby entered
He stepped forward He seized her hands »Dear« he said »You cannot
withdraw that You called me dear I am I must be dear to you The word is out
by accident or not but by heaven I have it and I give it up to no one And
love me or not marry me and my love will bring it back to you You have
taught me I am not so strong I must have you by my side You have powers I did
not credit you with«
»You are mistaken in me Sir Willoughby« Lætitia said feebly outworn as
she was
»A woman who can resist me by declining to be my wife through a whole night
of entreaty has the quality I need for my house and I batter at her ears for
months with as little rest as I had last night before I surrender my chance of
her But I told you last night I want you within the twelve hours I have staked
my pride on it By noon you are mine you are introduced to Mrs Mountstuart as
mine as the lady of my life and house And to the world I shall not let you
go«
»You will not detain me here Sir Willoughby«
»I will detain you I will use force and guile I will spare nothing«
He raved for a term as he had done overnight
On his growing rather breathless Lætitia said »You do not ask me for
love«
»I do not I pay you the higher compliment of asking for you love or no
love My love shall be enough Reward me or not I am not used to be denied«
»But do you know what you ask for Do you remember what I told you of
myself I am hard materialistic I have lost faith in romance the skeleton is
present with me all over life And my health is not good I crave for money I
should marry to be rich I should not worship you I should be a burden barely
a living one irresponsive and cold Conceive such a wife Sir Willoughby«
»It will be you«
She tried to recall how this would have sung in her ears long back Her
bosom rose and fell in absolute dejection Her ammunition of arguments against
him had been expended overnight
»You are so unforgiving« she said
»Is it I who am«
»You do not know me«
»But you are the woman of all the world who knows me Lætitia«
»Can you think it better for you to be known«
He was about to say other words he checked them »I believe I do not know
myself Anything you will only give me your hand give it trust to me you
shall direct me If I have faults help me to obliterate them«
»Will you not expect me to regard them as the virtues of meaner men«
»You will be my wife«
Lætitia broke from him crying »Your wife your critic Oh I cannot think
it possible Send for the ladies Let them hear me«
»They are at hand« said Willoughby opening the door
They were in one of the upper rooms anxiously on the watch
»Dear ladies« Lætitia said to them as they entered »I am going to wound
you and I grieve to do it but rather now than later if I am to be your
housemate He asks me for a hand that cannot carry a heart because mine is
dead I repeat it I used to think the heart a womans marriage portion for her
husband I see now that she may consent and he accept her without one But it
is right that you should know what I am when I consent I was once a foolish
romantic girl now I am a sickly woman all illusions vanished Privation has
made me what an abounding fortune usually makes of others I am an Egoist I am
not deceiving you That is my real character My girls view of him has entirely
changed and I am almost indifferent to the change I can endeavour to respect
him I cannot venerate«
»Dear child« the ladies gently remonstrated
Willoughby motioned to them
»If we are to live together and I could very happily live with you«
Lætitia continued to address them »you must not be ignorant of me And if you
as I imagine worship him blindly I do not know how we are to live together
And never shall you quit this house to make way for me I have a hard detective
eye I see many faults«
»Have we not all of us faults dear child«
»Not such as he has though the excuses of a gentleman nurtured in idolatry
may be pleaded But he should know that they are seen and seen by her he asks
to be his wife that no misunderstanding may exist and while it is yet time he
may consult his feelings He worships himself«
»Willoughby«
»He is vindictive«
»Our Willoughby«
»That is not your opinion ladies It is firmly mine Time has taught it me
So if you and I are at such variance how can we live together It is an
impossibility«
They looked at Willoughby He nodded imperiously
»We have never affirmed that our dear nephew is devoid of faults If he is
offended And supposing he claims to be foremost is it not his rightful
claim made good by much generosity Reflect dear Lætitia We are your friends
too«
She could not chastise the kind ladies any further
»You have always been my good friends«
»And you have no other charge against him«
Lætitia was milder in saying »He is unpardoning«
»Name one instance Lætitia«
»He has turned Crossjay out of his house interdicting the poor boy ever to
enter it again«
»Crossjay« said Willoughby »was guilty of a piece of infamous treachery«
»Which is the cause of your persecuting me to become your wife«
There was a cry of »Persecuting«
»No young fellow behaving so basely can come to good« said Willoughby
stained about the face with flecks of redness at the lashings he received
»Honestly« she retorted »He told of himself and he must have anticipated
the punishment he would meet He should have been studying with a master for his
profession He has been kept here in comparative idleness to be alternately
petted and discarded no one but Vernon Whitford a poor gentleman doomed to
struggle for a livelihood by literature I know something of that struggle
too much for me no one but Mr Whitford for his friend«
»Crossjay is forgiven« said Willoughby
»You promise me that«
»He shall be packed off to a crammer at once«
»But my home must be Crossjays home«
»You are mistress of my house Lætitia«
She hesitated Her eyelashes grew moist »You can be generous«
»He is dear child« the ladies cried »He is Forget his errors in his
generosity as we do«
»There is that wretched man Flitch«
»That sot has gone about the county for years to get me a bad character«
said Willoughby
»It would have been generous in you to have offered him another chance He
has children«
»Nine And I am responsible for them«
»I speak of being generous«
»Dictate« Willoughby spread out his arms
»Surely now you should be satisfied Lætitia« said the ladies
»Is he«
Willoughby perceived Mrs Mountstuarts carriage coming down the avenue
»To the full« He presented his hand
She raised hers with the fingers catching back before she ceased to speak
and dropped it
»Ladies you are witnesses that there is no concealment there has been no
reserve on my part May heaven grant me kinder eyes than I have now I would
not have you change your opinion of him only that you should see how I read
him For the rest I vow to do my duty by him Whatever is of worth in me is at
his service I am very tired I feel I must yield or break This is his wish
and I submit«
»And I salute my wife« said Willoughby making her hand his own and
warming to his possession as he performed the act
Mrs Mountstuarts indecent hurry to be at the Hall before the departure of
Dr Middleton and his daughter afflicted him with visions of the physical
contrast which would be sharply perceptible to her this morning of his Lætitia
beside Clara
But he had the lady with brains He had and he was to learn the nature of
that possession in the woman who is our wife
Chapter L
Upon which the Curtain Falls
»Plain sense upon the marriage question is my demand upon man and woman for the
stopping of many a tragedy«
These were Dr Middletons words in reply to Willoughbys brief explanation
He did not say that he had shown it parentally while the tragedy was
threatening or at least there was danger of a precipitate descent from the
levels of comedy The parents of hymenæal men and women he was indisposed to
consider as dramatis personæ Nor did he mention certain sympathetic regrets he
entertained in contemplation of the health of Mr Dale for whom poor
gentleman the proffer of a bottle of the Patterne Port would be an egregious
mockery He paced about anxious for his departure and seeming better pleased
with the society of Colonel De Craye than with that of any of the others
Colonel De Craye assiduously courted him was anecdotal deferential charmingly
vivacious the very man the Rev Doctor liked for company when plunged in the
bustle of the preliminaries to a journey
»You would be a cheerful travelling comrade sir« he remarked and spoke of
his doom to lead his daughter over the Alps and Alpine lakes for the Summer
months
Strange to tell the Alps for the Summer months was a settled project of
the colonels
And thence Dr Middleton was to be hauled along to the habitable quarters of
North Italy in high Summertide
That also had been traced for a route on the map of Colonel De Craye
»We are started in June I am informed« said Dr Middleton
June by miracle was the month the colonel had fixed upon
»I trust we shall meet sir« said he
»I would gladly reckon it in my catalogue of pleasures« the Rev Doctor
responded »for in good sooth it is conjectureable that I shall be left very
much alone«
»Paris Strasburg Basle« the colonel inquired
»The Lake of Constance I am told« said Dr Middleton
Colonel De Craye spied eagerly for an opportunity of exchanging a pair of
syllables with the third and fairest party of this glorious expedition to come
Willoughby met him and rewarded the colonels frankness in stating that he
was on the lookout for Miss Middleton to take his leave of her by furnishing
him the occasion He conducted his friend Horace to the Blue Room where Clara
and Lætitia were seated circling a half embrace with a brook of chatter and
contrived an excuse for leading Lætitia forth Some minutes later Mrs
Mountstuart called aloud for the colonel to drive him away Willoughby whose
good offices were unabated by the services he performed to each in rotation
ushered her into the Blue Room hearing her say as she stood at the entrance
»Is the man coming to spend a day with me with a face like that«
She was met and detained by Clara
De Craye came out
»What are you thinking of« said Willoughby
»I was thinking« said the colonel »of developing a heart like you and
taking to think of others«
»At last«
»Ah youre a true friend Willoughby a true friend And a cousin to boot«
»What has Clara been communicative«
»The itinerary of a voyage Miss Middleton is going to make«
»Do you join them«
»Why it would be delightful Willoughby but it happens Ive got a lot of
powder I want to let off and so Ive an idea of shouldering my gun along the
sea and shooting gulls which ll be a harmless form of committing parricide
and matricide and fratricide for theres my family and I come of it the
gull And Ive to talk lively to Mrs Mountstuart for something like a matter of
twelve hours calculating that she goes to bed at midnight and I wouldnt bet
on it such is the energy of ladies of that age«
Willoughby scorned the man who could not conceal a blow even though he
joked over his discomfiture
»Gull« he muttered
»A bird thats easy to be had and better for stuffing than for eating«
said De Craye »Youll miss your cousin«
»I have« replied Willoughby »one fully equal to supplying his place«
There was confusion in the hall for a time and an assembly of the household
to witness the departure of Dr Middleton and his daughter Vernon had been
driven off by Dr Corney who further recommended rest for Mr Dale and
promised to keep an eye for Crossjay along the road
»I think you will find him at the station and if you do command him to
come straight back here« Lætitia said to Clara
The answer was an affectionate squeeze and Claras hand was extended to
Willoughby who bowed over it with perfect courtesy bidding her adieu
So the knot was cut And the next carriage to Dr Middletons was Mrs
Mountstuarts conveying the great lady and Colonel De Craye
»I beg you not to wear that face with me« she said to him »I have had to
dissemble which I hate and I have quite enough to endure and I must be
amused or I shall run away from you and enlist that little countryman of yours
and him I can count on to be professionally restorative Who can fathom the
heart of a girl Here is Lady Busshe right once more And I was wrong She must
be a gambler by nature I never should have risked such a guess as that Colonel
De Craye you lengthen your face preternaturally you distort it purposely«
»Maam« returned De Craye »the boast of our army is never to know when we
are beaten and that tells of a greathearted soldiery But theres a field
where the Briton must own his defeat whether smiling or crying and I m not so
sure that a short howl doesnt do him honour«
»She was I am certain in love with Vernon Whitford all along Colonel De
Craye«
»Ah« the colonel drank it in »I have learnt that it was not the gentleman
in whom I am chiefly interested So it was not so hard for the lady to vow to
friend Willoughby she would marry no one else«
»Girls are unfathomable And Lady Busshe I know she did not go by
character shot one of her random guesses and she triumphs We shall never
hear the last of it And I had all the opportunities I m bound to confess I
had«
»Did you by chance maam« De Craye said with a twinkle »drop a hint to
Willoughby of her turn for Vernon Whitford«
»No« said Mrs Mountstuart »I m not a mischiefmaker and the policy of
the county is to keep him in love with himself or Patterne will be likely to be
as dull as it was without a lady enthroned When his pride is at ease he is a
prince I can read men Now Colonel De Craye pray be lively«
»I should have been livelier I m afraid if you had dropped a bit of a
hint to Willoughby But youre the magnanimous person maam and revenge for a
stroke in the game of love shows us unworthy to win«
Mrs Mountstuart menaced him with her parasol »I forbid sentiments Colonel
De Craye They are always followed by sighs«
»Grant me five minutes of inward retirement and Ill come out formed for
your commands maam« said he
Before the termination of that space De Craye was enchanting Mrs
Mountstuart and she in consequence was restored to her natural wit
So and much so universally the world of his dread and his unconscious
worship wagged over Sir Willoughby Patterne and his change of brides until the
preparations for the festivities of the marriage flushed him in his countys
eyes to something of the splendid glow he had worn on the great day of his
majority That was upon the season when two lovers met between the Swiss and
Tyrol Alps over the Lake of Constance Sitting beside them the Comic Muse is
grave and sisterly But taking a glance at the others of her late company of
actors she compresses her lips