CHAPTER V.
JULIA.
When Captain John joined the family at dinner that day, it was withfeelings of more than his wonted self-content. He had returned fromhis fishing only the hour before, and had brought with him the twofinest salmon that had been caught that season. The game-keepers andretainers had admired them as in duty bound, but theirs was theadmiration that pleases only _faute de mieux_, seeing that it can becounted on, while to-day his nephew, his old rival in field sports,was present to join in the applause.
They sat down, a party of five, the three gentlemen already described,Lady Caroline, and her kinswoman Miss Finlayson. Lady Caroline was thegreat lady of the neighbourhood. She was tall and dignified, with athorough appreciation of her own importance; also she was somewhatindolent, and therefore disposed to be good-natured and condescending,whenever her superiority was quietly acquiesced in. She spent a fewweeks each summer in London with her husband, but these visits wereyearly becoming shorter. There were so many persons of moreconsequence than herself, and she found herself so much in theposition of one in a crowd, that she felt as if losing her sense ofpersonal identity, became depressed, and hurried home never to return,or would have done so had it not been for Miss Finlayson, herjudicious young friend, who never once presumed to advise or direct,but who yet could influence her in opposition to her own inclination,to remain in town to the end of the season, to return again the nextyear, and to do any thing else the said Miss Finlayson might desire.
Miss Finlayson was a young lady of five or six-and-twenty, and ofslender fortune and accommodating disposition, who could converse orkeep silence, read, write, play or sing, laugh or cry in sympathy withthe mood of her protectress. In person as in manner she can only bedescribed negatively. She was quite what a young lady should be at allpoints, or at least, when you come to particularize, nothing that sheshould not be. Had Madame Contour, her London dressmaker, sent homeher person and demeanour, as well as her admirably fitting draperies,she would have been very much as she was. Her figure was tall andwell-proportioned, waist small, bust a little flat, easily amenable tothe touch of art, arms slender but well rounded and charmingly white,hands and feet adapted to the smallest and daintiest of gloves andslippers. Her complexion was pale but clear, lips thin, mouth long,nose slightly aquiline, eyes somewhat pale, forehead too high, butwith the dark hair drawn well over the temples, and long ringletsdescending nearly to the waist. Altogether a pale but not unpleasingvision, and what Madame Contour would have called 'very ladylike.' Shehad come to Inchbracken three years before, on a cousinly visit of afortnight; but Lady Caroline had found her so delightful andinvaluable a companion that she had been induced to prolong her stayfrom month to month, till at length, after prolonged entreaties, shehad consented to sacrifice what she called her independence, and makeInchbracken her home.
Her insight into the character of those about her was unusuallydistinct, and the tact with which she applied the knowledge soacquired thoroughly artistic. With the General she was all gratefuldeference and modest trust; hanging on his lips for any occasionaloracles of wisdom that chance might issue, but very careful not tobore him with her presence or conversation unsought, and ever readywith a light for his cigar when his own matchbox was mislaid, as itgenerally was. With Captain John she was gay, always ready with aflippant repartee whenever he attempted to gibe, but still upon herguard. There was a twinkle in the old gentleman's eye whenever theyengaged in a passage of arms, which suggested that he too had some ofthe insight on which she depended so much in playing the game of life.With Lady Caroline, as already said, she was self-adaptive andsympathetic, and yet to all appearance spontaneously so, and withoutever sinking her own individuality, or permitting herself to be takenfor granted like a dependent. Besides amusing, she contrived torelieve her of many small burdens and domestic cares, and so becamealtogether indispensable to her indolent kinswoman. She interfered innothing, and yet there was no part of the household machine that didnot run smoother when lubricated by her good offices. The housekeeper,the head gardener, even my lady's own woman came in time to solicit inan emergency the favourable intervention of this best natured of allyoung ladies, and always with the best results.
Lady Caroline found at length that she need neither think nor act,save when she felt inclined, and she declared with fervour, that JuliaFinlayson was as good as a daughter of her own. That amiable personwas quite content that it should be so, and indeed was most willingthat Lady Caroline should have a full legal claim on her filial duty.By some deft manipulation of circumstances, the idea of her becoming adaughter-in-law had been suggested to her ladyship's mind, while thedear disinterested Julia stood immaculate from every suspicion ofscheming, and, strange as it may seem, Lady Caroline was disposed toacquiesce. Her Kenneth, she said, would never make a great marriage,and if he would bring home a nobody, there was none she would morewillingly take to her mother's heart than 'poor Julia.' The adjectiveis not exactly an enthusiastic one, but narrow circumstances hadtaught Miss Finlayson philosophy, and she did not look to gathergrapes off thorns. If the thorns would only consent not to scratchtill she had made good her hold, she knew she could pick them off ather leisure afterwards; and then for a crackling blaze under the pot!It would be 'poor thorns' then! But meanwhile, to acquire amother-in-law, that lady's consent is by no means the essential oronly step. 'First catch your hare,' or the pot will be empty, and thethorns to crackle under it will never be required. Though the damselsit expectant and willing in her bower, what matter, if the wooercomes not? and so far Kenneth had shown no desire to approach Julia'sbower in wooer's guise. Most callous of men, and most indifferent ofcousins, he had passed under all the battery of charms andaccomplishments, and never known. In all cousinliness he had taughther to fish, and to row on the loch. When she admitted a curiosity asto men's pursuits and a liking for tobacco smoke, he had welcomed herto the smoking-room, where she felt inclined to study _Bell's Life_,and also to the billiard room, where, in fact, he made her a verytolerable player, but that was all,--he felt to her only as if she hadbeen a very little brother, and wondered what she meant by so manydainty affectations, and why she should bother to do so many things heshrewdly suspected she did not like. As to her clever little leadings,feints, and fencings colloquial, they were so much good brain-powerthrown away, and might have been spoken in French or Sanscrit for anyidea they conveyed to him. In fact she was altogether toosophisticated and utterly fine for this country-bred swain, andbesides, she was always there.
If you had partridge every day for breakfast, partridge for dinner,and partridge again at supper, how long would you continue to relishthat dainty food? And so probably in the case of a healthy young manwith plenty of social opportunities, a permanent residence under thesame roof does not afford the sportswoman the best opportunity to bagher game. So many weapons and devices become useless after a trial ortwo. What can be the efficacy of a parting glance, for instance, ifthe glancer has only gone behind the rose-bush at the other end of thegarden? And how can one recall a last _tete a tete_, when the partnerin it sits in an adjoining chamber, ready to resume? And how canimagination and memory ever come into play, with the fair objectalways in full view? Miss Finlayson was not only too sophisticated,but she was always there, and so, simple Mary Brown, though probablynot so handsome according to Madam Contour's standard, and certainlyless clever and accomplished, had taken possession of the young man'saffections, and kept them, in spite of all the wiles of the syren.
All this, however, had come to an end two years ago when Kenneth,after long leave and quarters in the nearest garrison town, wasordered with his regiment to Gibraltar. In the meantime Mary Brown hadbecome involved in the disgrace into which every well regulated mindin the Inchbracken circle considered that her brother had sunk. Infact she had so completely fallen out of their world that she need notbe considered further, except to keep her out. Wherefore Julia madehaste to welcome Kenneth's return
, with all the warmth of a cousin,and to intimate as far as a well-bred damsel may, that she wascapable, perhaps, of even warmer feelings.
The conversation at dinner that evening ran much on Captain John'ssuccessful angling. The appearance of his largest salmon at table gavethe ladies an opportunity to join in the applause, which every maleinhabitant of the house and offices had already offered.
'If you would only go out oftener, John!' said Lady Caroline. 'None ofthe men ever seem able to bring home anything larger than a smallgrilse.'
'Was it above or below the bridge you caught him? Captain Drysdale,'asked Miss Finlayson.
And so John was launched on an extended narrative of his day's spoil.Every bolt and plunge and feint and double of his fish was dulyrecorded, with sufficient local description to make the wholeperfectly intelligible. He told his story remarkably well, and quitearoused the interest of his auditors. Too much so, perhaps, if theGeneral's opinion had been asked; but then the General may have beenhypercritical, owing to an idea he had of elevating dinner into one ofthe fine arts. 'You see,' he would say 'one can only dine once intwenty-four hours, that is to say if one is not to be talked about,which would be unpleasant, or to lose use of one's liver, which wouldbe worse. And so, for myself I confess I look forward to dinner as theevent of the day, and like to approach it in a proper spirit. Thereshould be some talk of course, because we are neither beasts norcannibals; but it should be light, gay, and cheerful, for good spiritspromote digestion--yet not too engrossing--and especially--nodiscussion! That distracts the attention, till a man may not knowwhether it is a quail or a snipe he is eating. We want a cheerfultranquility at dinner, in order to appreciate rightly the dishessubmitted; and give due attention to the business before us and that,I take it, is the deglutition of food.'
On the present occasion, however, the General's views were neitherasked nor propounded, and John rambled pleasantly forward through thevarious events of his day.
'By the way, Kenneth! I met your old crony, young Brown, this morning.Poor lad! Fanaticism has changed him sadly; long-haired, lank-jawed,and saucer-eyed, that is what he has become. He might be a Covenanter,or a member of the Barebones Parliament. He appeared to be returninghome from Inverlyon, where he must have been last night, for it wasabout eight o'clock when I met him on the road this morning, joggingalong, (how he used to gallop about the countryside of old!) andmounted, of all beasts for a douce Free Kirk priest to be astride, onthat poaching rascal Patey Soutar's pony!'
'Hm!' said the General,'I always said secession was just inserting thesmall end of the wedge! They quarrel with our vested right ofpatronage now, but that is only the beginning. By and by they willquestion our right to the grouse on our own hills, and want to repealthe game laws! If they had their way, I wonder would they leave us aroof over our heads, or a coat on our backs? That comes of your ReformBills! and putting the government of the country in the hands ofpeople who have nothing to lose! But I did not expect to see the sonof my old friend array himself with such as these. It is very sad.'
'Did he seem cheerful, John?' asked Kenneth.
'He looked as I say, tired, thin, and hollow-eyed. But when I triedmildly to remonstrate, and show that he had made the change for theworse, he fired up briskly enough, and held forth quite at length. Hemight have been talking still, I daresay, but that just then, therecame a squeal from a parcel he carried on his saddle bow. I pricked upmy ears at that, and resolved to take _my_ innings then. He had beendiscoursing on the solemnity of his avocations, which precludedshooting and fishing, so here I had a fine opening for chaff, sayingthat his presbytery might reasonably forbid these, seeing that itallowed other pastimes so much more engrossing, for--saving yourpresence, Lady Caroline--the bundle contained a baby! Poor fellow, heseemed so put-out, I really did not catch his explanation--though ofcourse there was one, (there always is--) The confusion seemed quiteout of proportion, for after all as the French girl said to herpriest, "it was such a little one!" Ha, ha!!'
But no one joined in the laugh. The ladies were examining the flowerspainted on their plates, and the gentlemen kept a severe silence. Yousurely went too far there! Captain John! Good man. He loved to make ajoke, but it was not often that he achieved one. If desire had beenqualification, he would certainly have been a wit; and when he thoughthe had achieved one, he repeated it till every one he knew had heardit. Hence the repetition of the morning's rather thread-bare jest.
Perhaps it was only to break an awkward silence that Miss Finlaysontook up the word.
'Your woman Briggs tells me, Lady Caroline, that that Tirpie girl, oldTibbie's daughter, has come home again. When Briggs came over fromInverlyon last night, there was some one else in the stage-coach, allwrapped up, who sat and cried the whole way. She got out at Tibbie'scottage. This morning Briggs went over about some sewing, and therewas the girl looking so thin and pale. Briggs says it was distressingto see her, she looked so weak and heart-broken. Perhaps you mayremember that she was ailing and went away to some friend at adistance. Now she is home again. I fear she is not a good girl, atleast not all her mother would wish her to be. But perhaps you couldlet her have some fine sewing, Briggs says any other kind of workwould be too much for her.'
The boisterous unmannerliness of Captain John's remark had caused asensation, but it was as nothing to the dismay which followed MissFinlayson's perfectly quiet, evenly uttered, and perhaps charitablyintended words. She seemed virtuously unconscious of all evil, but bysome occult association of ideas, her statement fell into the minds ofher auditors as corroborative and supplementary to what had been meantbut as a little verbal horse play by the Captain.
Lady Caroline looked deeply shocked, Kenneth flushed scarlet withindignation, and as his glance met John's, the latter returned it witha twinkle of mingled amusement and admiration. He passed his napkinacross his mouth to hide an uncontrollable grin, and muttered toKenneth his neighbour--'the scandalous jade!'
William the footman appeared to quiver as if struck. His eye dilatedand his jaw fell. The dish he carried would have fallen, and therewould have been a catastrophe, had not the butler trodden on his toeand recalled him with a reproving glance to that sublime impassibilitywhich alone is worthy of a footman on duty.
The General alone remained tranquil. He was eating his dinner. Heheard something pass between the ladies about one of the cottagers,but his thoughts were running on other things, whether, for instance,another clove of garlic, or perhaps an olive would not give a rounderfulness to the sauce on his plate.
There was little or no conversation afterwards. Every one seemeddistraught, and following out a train of new and unpleasant ideas,except Miss Finlayson, who seemed securely content, a participant withthe General in his digestive tranquility. Perhaps she had fired hershot and it had sped home to its mark, or perhaps there was no markand no intention when the winged words flew forth. We read that of old'a certain man drew a bow at a venture.' The arrow sped, and enteringthe unguarded joint of a harness, it laid a warrior low. It may bethat Julia's arrow was thus unwittingly shot, but Captain John did notthink so.