CHAPTER i.
A COGITATION.
Lady Margaret Monckton received Cecilia with the most gloomy coldness:she apologised for the liberty she had taken in making use of herladyship's house, but, meeting no return of civility, she withdrewto the room which had been prepared for her, and resolved as much aspossible to keep out of her sight.
It now became necessary without further delay to settle her plan oflife, and fix her place of residence. The forbidding looks of LadyMargaret made her hasten her resolves, which otherwise would for a whilehave given way to grief for her recent misfortune.
She sent for the surveyor who had the superintendance of her estates, toenquire how soon her own house would be fit for her reception; and heardthere was yet work for near two months.
This answer made her very uncomfortable. To continue two months underthe roof with Lady Margaret was a penance she could not enjoin herself,nor was she at all sure Lady Margaret would submit to it any better: shedetermined, therefore, to release herself from the conscious burthen ofbeing an unwelcome visitor, by boarding with some creditable family atBury, and devoting the two months in which she was to be kept from herhouse, to a general arrangement of her affairs, and a final settlingwith her guardians.
For these purposes it would be necessary she should go to London:but with whom, or in what manner, she could not decide. She desired,therefore, another conference with Mr Monckton, who met her in theparlour.
She then communicated to him her schemes; and begged his counsel in herperplexities.
He was delighted at the application, and extremely well pleased with herdesign of boarding at Bury, well knowing, he could then watch and visither at his pleasure, and have far more comfort in her society than evenin his own house, where all the vigilance with which he observed her,was short of that with which he was himself observed by Lady Margaret.He endeavoured, however, to dissuade her from going to town, but hereagerness to pay the large sum she owed him, was now too great to beconquered. Of age, her fortune wholly in her power, and all attendanceupon Mrs Charlton at an end, she had no longer any excuse for having adebt in the world, and would suffer no persuasion to make her begin hercareer in life, with a negligence in settling her accounts which she hadso often censured in others. To go to London therefore she was fixed,and all that she desired was his advice concerning the journey.
He then told her that in order to settle with her guardians, she mustwrite to them in form, to demand an account of the sums that had beenexpended during her minority, and announce her intention for the futureto take the management of her fortune into her own hands.
She immediately followed his directions, and consented to remain at theGrove till their answers arrived.
Being now, therefore, unavoidably fixed for some time at the house, shethought it proper and decent to attempt softening Lady Margaret in herfavour. She exerted all her powers to please and to oblige her; but theexertion was necessarily vain, not only from the disposition, but thesituation of her ladyship, since every effort made for this conciliatorypurpose, rendered her doubly amiable in the eyes of her husband, andconsequently to herself more odious than ever. Her jealousy, already buttoo well founded, received every hour the poisonous nourishment of freshconviction, which so much soured and exasperated a temper naturallyharsh, that her malignity and ill-humour grew daily more acrimonious.Nor would she have contented herself with displaying this irascibilityby general moroseness, had not the same suspicious watchfulness whichdiscovered to her the passion of her husband, served equally to makemanifest the indifference and innocence of Cecilia; to reproach hertherefore, she had not any pretence, though her knowledge how much shehad to dread her, past current in her mind for sufficient reason tohate her. The Angry and the Violent use little discrimination; whomthey like, they enquire not if they approve; but whoever, no matterhow unwittingly, stands in their way, they scruple not to ill use, andconclude they may laudably detest.
Cecilia, though much disgusted, gave not over her attempt, which sheconsidered but as her due while she continued in her house. Her generalcharacter, also, for peevishness and haughty ill-breeding, skilfully,from time to time, displayed, and artfully repined at by Mr Monckton,still kept her from suspecting any peculiar animosity to herself, andmade her impute all that passed to the mere rancour of ill-humour. Sheconfined herself, however, as much as possible to her own apartment,where her sorrow for Mrs Charlton almost hourly increased, by thecomparison she was forced upon making of her house with the Grove.
That worthy old lady left her grand-daughters her co-heiresses and soleexecutrixes. She bequeathed from them nothing considerable, thoughshe left some donations for the poor, and several of her friends wereremembered by small legacies. Among them Cecilia had her picture, andfavourite trinkets, with a paragraph in her will, that as there was noone she so much loved, had her fortune been less splendid, she shouldhave shared with her grand-daughters whatever she had to bestow.
Cecilia was much affected by this last and solemn remembrance. She morethan ever coveted to be alone, that she might grieve undisturbed, andshe lamented without ceasing the fatigue and the illness which, in solate a period, as it proved, of her life, she had herself been the meansof occasioning to her.
Mr Monckton had too much prudence to interrupt this desire of solitude,which indeed cost him little pain, as he considered her least indanger when alone. She received in about a week answers from both herguardians. Mr Delvile's letter was closely to the purpose, without aword but of business, and couched in the haughtiest terms. As he hadnever, he said, acted, he had no accounts to send in; but as he wasgoing to town in a few days, he would see her for a moment in thepresence of Mr Briggs, that a joint release might be signed, to preventany future application to him.
Cecilia much lamented there was any necessity for her seeing him at all,and looked forward to the interview as the greatest mortification shecould suffer.
Mr Briggs, though still more concise, was far kinder in his language:but he advised her to defer her scheme of taking the money into her ownhands, assuring her she would be cheated, and had better leave it tohim.
When she communicated these epistles to Mr Monckton, he failed not toread, with an emphasis, by which his arrogant meaning was still morearrogantly enforced, the letter of Mr Delvile aloud. Nor was he sparingin comments that might render it yet more offensive. Cecilia neitherconcurred in what he said, nor opposed it, but contented herself, whenhe was silent, with producing the other letter.
Mr Monckton read not this with more favour. He openly attacked thecharacter of Briggs, as covetous, rapacious, and over-reaching, andwarned her by no means to abide by his counsel, without first taking theopinion of some disinterested person. He then stated the various artswhich might be practised upon her inexperience, enumerated the dangersto which her ignorance of business exposed her, and annotated uponthe cheats, double dealings, and tricks of stock jobbing, to whichhe assured her Mr Briggs owed all he was worth, till, perplexed andconfounded, she declared herself at a loss how to proceed, and earnestlyregretted that she could not have his counsel upon the spot.
This was his aim: to draw the wish from her, drew all suspicion ofselfish views from himself: and he told her that he considered herpresent situation as so critical, the future confusion or regularityof her money transactions seeming to depend upon it, that he wouldendeavour to arrange his affairs for meeting her in London.
Cecilia gave him many thanks for the kind intention, and determined tobe totally guided by him in the disposal and direction of her fortune.
Mean time he had now another part to act; he saw that with Cecilianothing more remained to be done, and that, harbouring not a doubt ofhis motives, she thought his design in her favour did her nothing buthonour; but he had too much knowledge of the world to believe it wouldjudge him in the same manner, and too much consciousness of duplicity toset its judgment at defiance.
To parry, therefore, the conjectures which might follow his attendingher, he had already
prepared Lady Margaret to wish herself of the party:for however disagreeable to him was her presence and her company, he hadno other means to be under the same roof with Cecilia.
Miss Bennet, the wretched tool of his various schemes, and the meansycophant of his lady, had been employed by him to work upon herjealousy, by secretly informing her of his intention to go to town,at the same time that Cecilia went thither to meet her guardians.She pretended to have learned this intelligence by accident, and tocommunicate it from respectful regard; and advised her to go to Londonherself at the same time, that she might see into his designs, and besome check upon his pleasure.
The encreasing infirmities of Lady Margaret made this counsel by nomeans palatable: but Miss Bennet, following the artful instructionswhich she received, put in her way so strong a motive, by assuring herhow little her company was wished, that in the madness of her spiteshe determined upon the journey. And little heeding how she tormentedherself while she had any view of tormenting Mr Monckton, she was led onby her false confident to invite Cecilia to her own house.
Mr Monckton, in whom by long practice, artifice was almost nature, wellknowing his wife's perverseness, affected to look much disconcerted atthe proposal; while Cecilia, by no means thinking it necessary to extendher compliance to such a punishment, instantly made an apology, anddeclined the invitation.
Lady Margaret, little versed in civility, and unused to the arts ofpersuasion, could not, even for a favourite project, prevail uponherself to use entreaty, and therefore, thinking her scheme defeated,looked gloomily disappointed, and said nothing more.
Mr Monckton saw with delight how much this difficulty inflamed her,though the moment he could speak alone with Cecilia he made it his careto remove it.
He represented to her that, however privately she might live, she wastoo young to be in London lodgings by herself, and gave an hint whichshe could not but understand, that in going or in staying with onlyservants, suspicions might soon be raised, that the plan and motive ofher journey were different to those given out.
She knew he meant to insinuate that it would be conjectured shedesigned to meet Delvile, and though colouring, vext and provoked at thesuggestion, the idea was sufficient to frighten her into his plan.
In a few days, therefore, the matter was wholly arranged, Mr Monckton,by his skill and address, leading every one whither he pleased, while,by the artful coolness of his manner, he appeared but to follow himself.He [set] out the day before, though earnestly wishing to accompanythem, but having as yet in no single instance gone to town in the samecarriage with Lady Margaret, he dared trust neither the neighbourhoodnor the servants with so dangerous a subject for their comments.
Cecilia, compelled thus to travel with only her Ladyship and MissBennet, had a journey the most disagreeable, and determined, ifpossible, to stay in London but two days. She had already fixed upon ahouse in which she could board at Bury when she returned, and there shemeant quietly to reside till she could enter her own.
Lady Margaret herself, exhilarated by a notion of having outwitted herhusband, was in unusual good spirits, and almost in good humour.The idea of thwarting his designs, and being in the way of hisentertainment, gave to her a delight she had seldom received from anything; and the belief that this was effected by the superiority of hercunning, doubled her contentment, and raised it to exultation. She owedhim, indeed, much provocation and uneasiness, and was happy in thisopportunity of paying her arrears.
Mean while that consummate master in every species of hypocrisy,indulged her in this notion, by the air of dissatisfaction with which heleft the house. It was not that she meant by her presence to obviate anyimpropriety: early and long acquainted with the character of Cecilia,she well knew, that during her life the passion of her husband must beconfined to his own breast: but conscious of his aversion to herself,which she resented with the bitterest ill-will, and knowing how little,at any time, he desired her company, she consoled herself for herinability to give pleasure by the power she possessed of giving pain,and bore with the fatigue of a journey disagreeable and inconvenientto her, with no other view than the hope of breaking into his plan ofavoiding her. Little imagining that the whole time she was forwardinghis favourite pursuit, and only acting the part which he had appointedher to perform.