CHAPTER I. A FAMILY GROUP.
One July evening, at the commencement of the present century, severalpersons were somewhat picturesquely grouped along an old-fashionedterrace which skirted the garden-side of a manor-house that hadconsiderable pretensions to baronial dignity. The architecture was ofthe most enriched and elaborate style belonging to the reign of Jamesthe First: the porch, opening on the terrace, with its mullion windowabove, was encased with pilasters and reliefs at once ornamentaland massive; and the large square tower in which it was placed wassurmounted by a stone falcon, whose talons griped fiercely a scutcheonblazoned with the five-pointed stars which heralds recognize as the armsof St. John. On either side this tower extended long wings, the darkbrickwork of which was relieved with noble stone casements and carvedpediments; the high roof was partially concealed by a balustradeperforated not inelegantly into arabesque designs; and whatarchitects call "the sky line" was broken with imposing effect by tallchimney-shafts of various form and fashion. These wings terminated inangular towers similar to the centre, though kept duly subordinate toit both in size and decoration, and crowned with stone cupolas. A lowbalustrade, of later date than that which adorned the roof, relieved byvases and statues, bordered the terrace, from which a double flight ofsteps descended to a smooth lawn, intersected by broad gravel-walks,shadowed by vast and stately cedars, and gently and gradually minglingwith the wilder scenery of the park, from which it was only divided by aha-ha.
Upon the terrace, and under cover of a temporary awning, sat the owner,Sir Miles St. John of Laughton, a comely old man, dressed withfaithful precision to the costume which he had been taught to considerappropriate to his rank of gentleman, and which was not yet whollyobsolete and eccentric. His hair, still thick and luxuriant, wascarefully powdered, and collected into a club behind; his nether manattired in gray breeches and pearl-coloured silk stockings; his vestof silk, opening wide at the breast, and showing a profusion of frill,slightly sprinkled with the pulvilio of his favourite Martinique; histhree-cornered hat, placed on a stool at his side, with a gold-headedcrutch-cane (hat made rather to be carried in the hand than worn on thehead), the diamond in his shirt-breast, the diamond on his finger, theruffles at his wrist,--all bespoke the gallant who had chatted withLord Chesterfield and supped with Mrs. Clive. On a table before himwere placed two or three decanters of wine, the fruits of the season, anenamelled snuff-box in which was set the portrait of a female (perhapsthe Chloe or Phyllis of his early love-ditties), a lighted taper, asmall china jar containing tobacco, and three or four pipes of homelyclay,--for cherry-sticks and meerschaums were not then in fashion, andSir Miles St. John, once a gay and sparkling beau, now a popular countrygentleman, great at county meetings and sheep-shearing festivals, hadtaken to smoking, as in harmony with his bucolic transformation. An oldsetter lay dozing at his feet; a small spaniel--old, too--was saunteringlazily in the immediate neighbourhood, looking gravely out for suchstray bits of biscuit as had been thrown forth to provoke him toexercise, and which hitherto had escaped his attention. Half seated,half reclined on the balustrade, apart from the baronet, but withinreach of his conversation, lolled a man in the prime of life, with anair of unmistakable and sovereign elegance and distinction. Mr. Vernonwas a guest from London; and the London man,--the man of clubs anddinners and routs, of noon loungings through Bond Street, and nightsspent with the Prince of Wales,--seemed stamped not more upon thecareful carelessness of his dress, and upon the worn expression of hisdelicate features, than upon the listless ennui, which, characterizingboth his face and attitude, appeared to take pity on himself for havingbeen entrapped into the country.
Yet we should convey an erroneous impression of Mr. Vernon if wedesigned, by the words "listless ennui," to depict the slumberousinsipidity of more modern affectation; it was not the ennui of a manto whom ennui is habitual, it was rather the indolent prostration thatfills up the intervals of excitement. At that day the word blast wasunknown; men had not enough sentiment for satiety. There was a kind ofBacchanalian fury in the life led by those leaders of fashion, amongwhom Mr. Vernon was not the least distinguished; it was a day of deepdrinking, of high play, of jovial, reckless dissipation, ofstrong appetite for fun and riot, of four-in-hand coachmanship, ofprize-fighting, of a strange sort of barbarous manliness that strainedevery nerve of the constitution,--a race of life in which three fourthsof the competitors died half-way in the hippodrome. What is now theDandy was then the Buck; and something of the Buck, though subdued bya chaster taste than fell to the ordinary members of his class, wasapparent in Mr. Vernon's costume as well as air. Intricate folds ofmuslin, arranged in prodigious bows and ends, formed the cravat, whichBrummell had not yet arisen to reform; his hat, of a very peculiarshape, low at the crown and broad at the brim, was worn with an air ofdevil-me-care defiance; his watch-chain, garnished with a profusion ofrings and seals, hung low from his white waistcoat; and the adaptationof his nankeen inexpressibles to his well-shaped limbs was a masterpieceof art. His whole dress and air was not what could properly be calledfoppish, it was rather what at that time was called "rakish." Few couldso closely approach vulgarity without being vulgar: of that privilegedfew, Mr. Vernon was one of the elect.
Farther on, and near the steps descending into the garden, stood a manin an attitude of profound abstraction, his arms folded, his eyes benton the ground, his brows slightly contracted; his dress was a plainblack surtout, and pantaloons of the same colour. Something both in thefashion of the dress, and still more in the face of the man, bespoke theforeigner.
Sir Miles St. John was an accomplished person for that time of day. Hehad made the grand tour; he had bought pictures and statues; he spokeand wrote well in the modern languages; and being rich, hospitable,social, and not averse from the reputation of a patron, he had openedhis house freely to the host of emigrants whom the French Revolution haddriven to our coasts. Olivier Dalibard, a man of considerable learningand rare scientific attainments, had been tutor in the house of theMarquis de G----, a French nobleman known many years before to the oldbaronet. The marquis and his family had been among the first emigres atthe outbreak of the Revolution. The tutor had remained behind; for atthat time no danger appeared to threaten those who pretended to no otheraristocracy than that of letters. Contrary, as he said, with repentantmodesty, to his own inclinations, he had been compelled, not only forhis own safety, but for that of his friends, to take some part in thesubsequent events of the Revolution,--a part far from sincere, thoughso well had he simulated the patriot that he had won the personalfavour and protection of Robespierre; nor till the fall of that virtuousexterminator had he withdrawn from the game of politics and effectedin disguise his escape to England. As, whether from kindly or othermotives, he had employed the power of his position in the esteem ofRobespierre to save certain noble heads from the guillotine,--amongstothers, the two brothers of the Marquis de G----, he was received withgrateful welcome by his former patrons, who readily pardoned his careerof Jacobinism from their belief in his excuses and their obligations tothe services which that very career had enabled him to render to theirkindred. Olivier Dalibard had accompanied the marquis and his family inone of the frequent visits they paid to Laughton; and when the marquisfinally quitted England, and fixed his refuge at Vienna, with someconnections of his wife's, he felt a lively satisfaction at the thoughtof leaving his friend honourably, if unambitiously, provided for assecretary and librarian to Sir Miles St. John. In fact, the scholar,who possessed considerable powers of fascination, had won no less favourwith the English baronet than he had with the French dictator. He playedwell both at chess and backgammon; he was an extraordinary accountant;he had a variety of information upon all points that rendered him moreconvenient than any cyclopaedia in Sir Miles's library; and as he spokeboth English and Italian with a correctness and fluency extremely rarein a Frenchman, he was of considerable service in teaching languagesto, as well as directing the general literary education of, Sir Miles'sfavourite niece, whom we shall take an
early opportunity to describe atlength.
Nevertheless, there had been one serious obstacle to Dalibard'sacceptance of the appointment offered to him by Sir Miles. Dalibard hadunder his charge a young orphan boy of some ten or twelve years old,--aboy whom Sir Miles was not long in suspecting to be the scholar's son.This child had come from France with Dalibard, and while the marquis'sfamily were in London, remained under the eye and care of his guardianor father, whichever was the true connection between the two. But thissuperintendence became impossible if Dalibard settled in Hampshire withSir Miles St. John, and the boy remained in London; nor, though thegenerous old gentleman offered to pay for the child's schooling, wouldDalibard consent to part with him. At last the matter was arranged: theboy was invited to Laughton on a visit, and was so lively, yet so wellmannered, that he became a favourite, and was now fairly quarteredin the house with his reputed father; and not to make an unnecessarymystery of this connection, such was in truth the relationship betweenOlivier Dalibard and Honore Gabriel Varney,--a name significant of thedouble and illegitimate origin: a French father, an English mother.Dropping, however, the purely French appellation of Honore, he wentfamiliarly by that of Gabriel. Half-way down the steps stood the lad,pencil and tablet in hand, sketching. Let us look over his shoulder: itis his father's likeness,--a countenance in itself not very remarkableat the first glance, for the features were small; but when examined,it was one that most persons, women especially, would have pronouncedhandsome, and to which none could deny the higher praise of thoughtand intellect. A native of Provence, with some Italian blood in hisveins,--for his grandfather, a merchant of Marseilles, had married intoa Florentine family settled at Leghorn,--the dark complexion commonwith those in the South had been subdued, probably by the habits of thestudent, into a bronze and steadfast paleness which seemed almost fairby the contrast of the dark hair which he wore unpowdered, and thestill darker brows which hung thick and prominent over clear gray eyes.Compared with the features, the skull was disproportionally large, bothbehind and before; and a physiognomist would have drawn conclusions morefavourable to the power than the tenderness of the Provencal's characterfrom the compact closeness of the lips and the breadth and massivenessof the iron jaw. But the son's sketch exaggerated every feature, andgave to the expression a malignant and terrible irony not now, at least,apparent in the quiet and meditative aspect. Gabriel himself, as hestood, would have been a more tempting study to many an artist. It istrue that he was small for his years; but his frame had a vigour inits light proportions which came from a premature and almost adolescentsymmetry of shape and muscular development. The countenance, however,had much of effeminate beauty: the long hair reached the shoulders, butdid not curl,--straight, fine, and glossy as a girl's, and in colourof the pale auburn, tinged with red, which rarely alters in hue aschildhood matures to man; the complexion was dazzlingly clear and fair.Nevertheless, there was something so hard in the lip, so bold, thoughnot open, in the brow, that the girlishness of complexion, and even ofoutline, could not leave, on the whole, an impression of effeminacy. Allthe hereditary keenness and intelligence were stamped upon his face atthat moment; but the expression had also a large share of the very ironyand malice which he had conveyed to his caricature. The drawing itselfwas wonderfully vigorous and distinct; showing great artistic promise,and done with the rapidity and ease which betrayed practice. Suddenlyhis father turned, and with as sudden a quickness the boy concealed histablet in his vest; and the sinister expression of his face smoothedinto a timorous smile as his eye encountered Dalibard's. The fatherbeckoned to the boy, who approached with alacrity. "Gabriel," whisperedthe Frenchman, in his own tongue, "where are they at this moment?"
The boy pointed silently towards one of the cedars. Dalibard mused aninstant, and then, slowly descending the steps, took his noiseless wayover the smooth turf towards the tree. Its boughs drooped low and spreadwide; and not till he was within a few paces of the spot could his eyeperceive two forms seated on a bench under the dark green canopy. Hethen paused and contemplated them.
The one was a young man whose simple dress and subdued air stronglycontrasted the artificial graces and the modish languor of Mr. Vernon;but though wholly without that nameless distinction which sometimescharacterizes those conscious of pure race and habituated to theatmosphere of courts, he had at least Nature's stamp of aristocracy ina form eminently noble, and features of manly, but surpassing beauty,which were not rendered less engaging by an expression of modesttimidity. He seemed to be listening with thoughtful respect to hiscompanion, a young female by his side, who was speaking to him with anearnestness visible in her gestures and her animated countenance. Andthough there was much to notice in the various persons scatteredover the scene, not one, perhaps,--not the graceful Vernon, not thethoughtful scholar, nor his fair-haired, hard-lipped son, not eventhe handsome listener she addressed,--no, not one there would so havearrested the eye, whether of a physiognomist or a casual observer, asthat young girl, Sir Miles St. John's favourite niece and presumptiveheiress.
But as at that moment the expression of her face differed from thathabitual to it, we defer its description.
"Do not," such were her words to her companion,--"do not alarm yourselfby exaggerating the difficulties; do not even contemplate them: those bemy care. Mainwaring, when I loved you; when, seeing that your diffidenceor your pride forbade you to be the first to speak, I overstepped themodesty or the dissimulation of my sex; when I said, 'Forget that I amthe reputed heiress of Laughton, see in me but the faults and merits ofthe human being, of the wild unregulated girl, see in me but LucretiaClavering'" (here her cheeks blushed, and her voice sank into a lowerand more tremulous whisper) "'and love her if you can!'--when I wentthus far, do not think I had not measured all the difficulties in theway of our union, and felt that I could surmount them."
"But," answered Mainwaring, hesitatingly, "can you conceive itpossible that your uncle ever will consent? Is not pride--the prideof family--almost the leading attribute of his character? Did he notdiscard your mother--his own sister--from his house and heart for noother offence but a second marriage which he deemed beneath her? Has heever even consented to see, much less to receive, your half-sister, thechild of that marriage? Is not his very affection for you interwovenwith his pride in you, with his belief in your ambition? Has he notsummoned your cousin, Mr. Vernon, for the obvious purpose of favouringa suit which he considers worthy of you, and which, if successful, willunite the two branches of his ancient house? How is it possible that hecan ever hear without a scorn and indignation which would be fatalto your fortunes that your heart has presumed to choose, in WilliamMainwaring, a man without ancestry or career?"
"Not without career," interrupted Lucretia, proudly. "Do you think ifyou were master of Laughton that your career would not be more brilliantthan that of yon indolent, luxurious coxcomb? Do you think that I couldhave been poor-hearted enough to love you if I had not recognized inyou energies and talents that correspond with my own ambition? For I amambitious, as you know, and therefore my mind, as well as my heart, wentwith my love for you."
"Ah, Lucretia, but can Sir Miles St. John see my future rise in mypresent obscurity?"
"I do not say that he can, or will; but if you love me, we can wait. Donot fear the rivalry of Mr. Vernon. I shall know how to free myself fromso tame a peril. We can wait,--my uncle is old; his habits preclude thechance of a much longer life; he has already had severe attacks. Weare young, dear Mainwaring: what is a year or two to those who hope?"Mainwaring's face fell, and a displeasing chill passed through hisveins. Could this young creature, her uncle's petted and trusteddarling, she who should be the soother of his infirmities, the propof his age, the sincerest mourner at his grave, weigh coldly thus thechances of his death, and point at once to the altar and the tomb?
He was saved from the embarrassment of reply by Dalibard's approach.
"More than half an hour absent," said the scholar, in his own language,with a smile; and drawing out his w
atch, he placed it before theireyes. "Do you not think that all will miss you? Do you suppose, MissClavering, that your uncle has not ere this asked for his fair niece?Come, and forestall him." He offered his arm to Lucretia as he spoke.She hesitated a moment, and then, turning to Mainwaring, held out herhand. He pressed it, though scarcely with a lover's warmth; and as shewalked back to the terrace with Dalibard, the young man struck slowlyinto the opposite direction, and passing by a gate over a foot-bridgethat led from the ha-ha into the park, bent his way towards a lake whichgleamed below at some distance, half-concealed by groves of venerabletrees rich with the prodigal boughs of summer. Meanwhile, as theypassed towards the house, Dalibard, still using his native tongue, thusaccosted his pupil:--
"You must pardon me if I think more of your interests than you do; andpardon me no less if I encroach on your secrets and alarm your pride.This young man,--can you be guilty of the folly of more than a passingcaprice for his society, of more than the amusement of playing with hisvanity? Even if that be all, beware of entangling yourself in your ownmeshes."
"You do in truth offend me," said Lucretia, with calm haughtiness, "andyou have not the right thus to speak to me."
"Not the right," repeated the Provencal, mournfully, "not the right!Then, indeed, I am mistaken in my pupil. Do you consider that I wouldhave lowered my pride to remain here as a dependent; that, conscious ofattainments, and perhaps of abilities, that should win their way, evenin exile, to distinction, I would have frittered away my life inthese rustic shades,--if I had not formed in you a deep and absorbinginterest? In that interest I ground my right to warn and counsel you. Isaw, or fancied I saw, in you a mind congenial to my own; a mind abovethe frivolities of your sex,--a mind, in short, with the grasp andenergy of a man's. You were then but a child, you are scarcely yet awoman; yet have I not given to your intellect the strong food on whichthe statesmen of Florence fed their pupil-princes, or the noble Jesuitsthe noble men who were destined to extend the secret empire of theimperishable Loyola?"
"You gave me the taste for a knowledge rare in my sex, I own," answeredLucretia, with a slight tone of regret in her voice: "and in theknowledge you have communicated I felt a charm that at times seems tome to be only fatal. You have confounded in my mind evil and good, orrather, you have left both good and evil as dead ashes, as the dust andcinder of a crucible. You have made intellect the only conscience. Oflate, I wish that my tutor had been a village priest!"
"Of late, since you have listened to the pastorals of that meekCorydon!"
"Dare you despise him? And for what? That he is good and honest?"
"I despise him, not because he is good and honest, but because he isof the common herd of men, without aim or character. And it is for thisyouth that you will sacrifice your fortunes, your ambition, the stationyou were born to fill and have been reared to improve,--this youth inwhom there is nothing but the lap-dog's merit, sleekness and beauty! Ay,frown,--the frown betrays you; you love him!"
"And if I do?" said Lucretia, raising her tall form to its utmostheight, and haughtily facing her inquisitor,--"and, if I do, what then?Is he unworthy of me? Converse with him, and you will find that thenoble form conceals as high a spirit. He wants but wealth: I can give itto him. If his temper is gentle, I can prompt and guide it to fame andpower. He at least has education and eloquence and mind. What has Mr.Vernon?"
"Mr. Vernon? I did not speak of him!"
Lucretia gazed hard upon the Provencal's countenance,--gazed with thatunpitying air of triumph with which a woman who detects a power overthe heart she does not desire to conquer exults in defeating the reasonsthat heart appears to her to prompt. "No," she said in a calm voice, towhich the venom of secret irony gave stinging significance,--"no, youspoke not of Mr. Vernon; you thought that if I looked round, if I lookednearer, I might have a fairer choice."
"You are cruel, you are unjust," said Dalibard, falteringly. "If Ionce presumed for a moment, have I repeated my offence? But," he addedhurriedly, "in me,--much as you appear to despise me,--in me, atleast, you would have risked none of the dangers that beset you if youseriously set your heart on Mainwaring."
"You think my uncle would be proud to give my hand to M. OlivierDalibard?"
"I think and I know," answered the Provencal, gravely, and disregardingthe taunt, "that if you had deigned to render me--poor exile thatI am!--the most enviable of men, you had still been the heiress ofLaughton."
"So you have said and urged," said Lucretia, with evident curiosityin her voice; "yet how, and by what art,--wise and subtle as youare,--could you have won my uncle's consent?"
"That is my secret," returned Dalibard, gloomily; "and since the madnessI indulged is forever over; since I have so schooled my heart thatnothing, despite your sarcasm, save an affectionate interest which I maycall paternal rests there,--let us pass from this painful subject. Oh,my dear pupil, be warned in time; know love for what it really is, inthe dark and complicated history of actual life,--a brief enchantment,not to be disdained, but not to be considered the all-in all. Look roundthe world; contemplate all those who have married from passion: tenyears afterwards, whither has the passion flown? With a few, indeed,where there is community of object and character, new excitements, newaims and hopes, spring up; and having first taken root in passion, thepassion continues to shoot out in their fresh stems and fibres. Butdeceive yourself not; there is no such community between you andMainwaring. What you call his goodness, you will learn hereafter todespise as feeble; and what in reality is your mental power he soon, toosoon, will shudder at as unwomanly and hateful."
"Hold!" cried Lucretia, tremulously. "Hold! and if he does, I shall owehis hate to you,--to your lessons; to your deadly influence!"
"Lucretia, no; the seeds were in you. Can cultivation force from thesoil that which it is against the nature of the soil to bear?"
"I will pluck out the weeds! I will transform myself!"
"Child, I defy you!" said the scholar, with a smile that gave to hisface the expression his son had conveyed to it. "I have warned you, andmy task is done." With that he bowed, and leaving her, was soon by theside of Sir Miles St. John; and the baronet and his librarian, a fewmoments after, entered the house and sat down to chess.
But during the dialogues we have sketched, we must not suppose that SirMiles himself had been so wholly absorbed in the sensual gratificationbestowed upon Europe by the immortal Raleigh as to neglect his guest andkinsman.
"And so, Charley Vernon, it is not the fashion to smoke in Lunnon." ThusSir Miles pronounced the word, according to the Euphuism of his youth,and which, even at that day, still lingered in courtly jargon.
"No, sir. However, to console us, we have most other vices in fullforce."
"I don't doubt it; they say the prince's set exhaust life prettyquickly."
"It certainly requires the fortune of an earl and the constitution of aprize-fighter to live with him."
"Yet methinks, Master Charley, you have neither the one nor the other."
"And therefore I see before me, and at no very great distance, the Benchand--a consumption!" answered Vernon, suppressing a slight yawn.
"'T is a pity, for you had a fine estate, properly managed; and in spiteof your faults, you have the heart of a true gentleman. Come, come!" andthe old man spoke with tenderness, "you are young enough yet to reform.A prudent marriage and a good wife will save both your health and youracres."
"If you think so highly of marriage, my dear Sir Miles, it is a wonderyou did not add to your precepts the value of your example."
"Jackanapes! I had not your infirmities: I never was a spendthrift, andI have a constitution of iron!" There was a pause. "Charles," continuedSir Miles, musingly, "there is many an earl with a less fortune than theconjoined estates of Vernon Grange and Laughton Hall. You must alreadyhave understood me: it is my intention to leave my estates to Lucretia;it is my wish, nevertheless, to think you will not be the worse for mywill. Frankly, if you can like my niece, win her; settle here while Il
ive, put the Grange to nurse, and recruit yourself by fresh air andfield-sports. Zounds, Charles, I love you, and that's the truth! Give meyour hand!"
"And a grateful heart with it, sir," said Vernon, warmly, evidentlyaffected, as he started from his indolent position and took the handextended to him. "Believe me, I do not covet your wealth, nor do I envymy cousin anything so much as the first place in your regard."
"Prettily said, my boy, and I don't suspect you of insincerity. Whatthink you, then, of my plan?"
Mr. Vernon seemed embarrassed; but recovering himself with his usualease, he replied archly: "Perhaps, sir, it will be of little use to knowwhat I think of your plan; my fair cousin may have upset it already."
"Ha, sir! let me look at you. So, so! you are not jesting. What thedeuce do you mean? 'Gad, man, speak out!"
"Do you not think that Mr. Monderling--Mandolin--what's his name,eh?--do you not think that he is a very handsome young fellow?" said Mr.Vernon, drawing out his snuffbox and offering it to his kinsman.
"Damn your snuff," quoth Sir Miles, in great choler, as he rejected theproffered courtesy with a vehemence that sent half the contents of thebox upon the joint eyes and noses of the two canine favourites dozingat his feet. The setter started up in an agony; the spaniel wheezed andsniffled and ran off, stopping every moment to take his head between hispaws. The old gentleman continued without heeding the sufferings of hisdumb friends,--a symptom of rare discomposure on his part.
"Do you mean to insinuate, Mr. Vernon, that my niece--my elder niece,Lucretia Clavering--condescends to notice the looks, good or bad, ofMr. Mainwaring? 'Sdeath, sir, he is the son of a land-agent! Sir, he isintended for trade! Sir, his highest ambition is to be partner in somefifth-rate mercantile house!"
"My dear Sir Miles," replied Mr. Vernon, as he continued to brush away,with his scented handkerchief, such portions of the prince's mixture ashis nankeen inexpressibles had diverted from the sensual organs of Dashand Ponto--"my dear Sir Miles, ca n'empeche pas le sentiment!"
"Empeche the fiddlestick! You don't know Lucretia. There are many girls,indeed, who might not be trusted near any handsome flute-playing spark,with black eyes and white teeth; but Lucretia is not one of those; shehas spirit and ambition that would never stoop to a mesalliance; she hasthe mind and will of a queen,--old Queen Bess, I believe."
"That is saying much for her talent, sir; but if so, Heaven help herintended! I am duly grateful for the blessings you propose me!"
Despite his anger, the old gentleman could not help smiling.
"Why, to confess the truth, she is hard to manage; but we men of theworld know how to govern women, I hope,--much more how to break in agirl scarce out of her teens. As for this fancy of yours, it is sheerfolly: Lucretia knows my mind. She has seen her mother's fate; she hasseen her sister an exile from my house. Why? For no fault of hers, poorthing, but because she is the child of disgrace, and the mother's sin isvisited on her daughter's head. I am a good-natured man, I fancy, asmen go; but I am old-fashioned enough to care for my race. If Lucretiademeaned herself to love, to encourage, that lad, why, I would strikeher from my will, and put your name where I have placed hers."
"Sir," said Vernon, gravely, and throwing aside all affectation ofmanner, "this becomes serious; and I have no right even to whisper adoubt by which it now seems I might benefit. I think it imprudent, ifyou wish Miss Clavering to regard me impartially as a suitor to herhand, to throw her, at her age, in the way of a man far superior tomyself, and to most men, in personal advantages,--a man more of her ownyears, well educated, well mannered, with no evidence of his inferiorbirth in his appearance or his breeding. I have not the least ground forsupposing that he has made the slightest impression on Miss Clavering,and if he has, it would be, perhaps, but a girl's innocent andthoughtless fancy, easily shaken off by time and worldly reflection; butpardon me if I say bluntly that should that be so, you would be whollyunjustified in punishing, even in blaming, her,--it is yourself you mustblame for your own carelessness and that forgetful blindness to humannature and youthful emotions which, I must say, is the less pardonablein one who has known the world so intimately."
"Charles Vernon," said the old baronet, "give me your hand again! I wasright, at least, when I said you had the heart of a true gentleman. Dropthis subject for the present. Who has just left Lucretia yonder?"
"Your protege, the Frenchman."
"Ah, he, at least, is not blind; go and join Lucretia!"
Vernon bowed, emptied the remains of the Madeira into a tumbler, drankthe contents at a draught, and sauntered towards Lucretia; but she,perceiving his approach, crossed abruptly into one of the alleys thatled to the other side of the house, and he was either too indifferent ortoo well-bred to force upon her the companionship which she so evidentlyshunned. He threw himself at length upon one of the benches on the lawn,and leaning his head upon his hand, fell into reflections which, had hespoken, would have shaped themselves somewhat thus into words:--
"If I must take that girl as the price of this fair heritage, shall Igain or lose? I grant that she has the finest neck and shoulders I eversaw out of marble; but far from being in love with her, she gives me afeeling like fear and aversion. Add to this that she has evidently nokinder sentiment for me than I for her; and if she once had a heart,that young gentleman has long since coaxed it away. Pleasant auspices,these, for matrimony to a poor invalid who wishes at least to declineand to die in peace! Moreover, if I were rich enough to marry as Ipleased; if I were what, perhaps, I ought to be, heir to Laughton,--why,there is a certain sweet Mary in the world, whose eyes are softer thanLucretia Clavering's. But that is a dream! On the other hand, if I donot win this girl, and my poor kinsman give her all, or nearly all, hispossessions, Vernon Grange goes to the usurers, and the king will finda lodging for myself. What does it matter? I cannot live above two orthree years at the most, and can only hope, therefore, that dear stoutold Sir Miles may outlive me. At thirty-three I have worn out fortuneand life; little pleasure could Laughton give me,--brief pain the Bench.'Fore Gad, the philosophy of the thing is on the whole against sourlooks and the noose!" Thus deciding in the progress of his revery, hesmiled, and changed his position. The sun had set, the twilight wasover, the moon rose in splendour from amidst a thick copse of mingledbeech and oak; the beams fell full on the face of the muser, and theface seemed yet paler and the exhaustion of premature decay yet moreevident, by that still and melancholy light: all ruins gain dignity bythe moon. This was a ruin nobler than that which painters place on theircanvas,--the ruin, not of stone and brick, but of humanity and spirit;the wreck of man prematurely old, not stricken by great sorrow, notbowed by great toil, but fretted and mined away by small pleasures andpoor excitements,--small and poor, but daily, hourly, momently at theirgnome-like work. Something of the gravity and the true lesson of thehour and scene, perhaps, forced itself upon a mind little given tosentiment, for Vernon rose languidly and muttered,--
"My poor mother hoped better things from me. It is well, after all, thatit is broken off with Mary. Why should there be any one to weep for me?I can the better die smiling, as I have lived."
Meanwhile, as it is necessary we should follow each of the principalcharacters we have introduced through the course of an evening moreor less eventful in the destiny of all, we return to Mainwaring andaccompany him to the lake at the bottom of the park, which he reached asits smooth surface glistened in the last beams of the sun. He saw, as heneared the water, the fish sporting in the pellucid tide; the dragonflydarted and hovered in the air; the tedded grass beneath his feet gaveforth the fragrance of crushed thyme and clover; the swan paused, asif slumbering on the wave; the linnet and finch sang still from theneighbouring copses; and the heavy bees were winging their way home witha drowsy murmur. All around were images of that unspeakable peace whichNature whispers to those attuned to her music; all fitted to lull, butnot to deject, the spirit,--images dear to the holiday of the world-wornman, to the contemplation of serene and retired age, to th
e boyhood ofpoets, to the youth of lovers. But Mainwaring's step was heavy, and hisbrow clouded, and Nature that evening was dumb to him. At the margin ofthe lake stood a solitary angler who now, his evening's task done,was employed in leisurely disjointing his rod and whistling with muchsweetness an air from one of Izaak Walton's songs. Mainwaring reachedthe angler and laid his hand on his shoulder.
"What sport, Ardworth?"
"A few large roach with the fly, and one pike with a gudgeon,--a noblefellow! Look at him! He was lying under the reeds yonder; I saw hisgreen back, and teased him into biting. A heavenly evening! I wonder youdid not follow my example, and escape from a set where neither you nor Ican feel very much at home, to this green banquet of Nature, in which atleast no man sits below the salt-cellar. The birds are an older familythan the St. Johns, but they don't throw their pedigree in our teeth,Mainwaring."
"Nay, nay, my good friend, you wrong old Sir Miles; proud he is, nodoubt, but neither you nor I have had to complain of his insolence."
"Of his insolence, certainly not; of his condescension, yes! Hang it,William, it is his very politeness that galls me. Don't you observe thatwith Vernon, or Lord A----, or Lord B----, or Mr. C----, he is easy andoff-hand; calls them by their names, pats them on the shoulder, ratesthem, and swears at them if they vex him. But with you and me and hisFrench parasite, it is all stately decorum and punctilious courtesy:'Mr. Mainwaring, I am delighted to see you;' 'Mr. Ardworth, as you areso near, dare I ask you to ring the bell?' 'Monsieur Dalibard, with theutmost deference, I venture to disagree with you.' However, don't letmy foolish susceptibility ruffle your pride. And you, too, have a worthyobject in view, which might well detain you from roach and jack-fish.Have you stolen your interview with the superb Lucretia?"
"Yes, stolen, as you say; and, like all thieves not thoroughly hardened,I am ashamed of my gains."
"Sit down, my boy,--this is a bank in ten thousand; there, that old rootto lean your elbow on, this soft moss for your cushion: sit down andconfess. You have something on your mind that preys on you; we are oldcollege friends,--out with it!"
"There is no resisting you, Ardworth," said Mainwaring, smiling, anddrawn from his reserve and his gloom by the frank good-humour of hiscompanion. "I should like, I own, to make a clean breast of it; andperhaps I may profit by your advice. You know, in the first place, thatafter I left college, my father, seeing me indisposed for the Church, towhich he had always destined me in his own heart, and for which, indeed,he had gone out of his way to maintain me at the University, gave me thechoice of his own business as a surveyor and land-agent, or of enteringinto the mercantile profession. I chose the latter, and went toSouthampton, where we have a relation in business, to be initiatedinto the elementary mysteries. There I became acquainted with a goodclergyman and his wife, and in that house I passed a great part of mytime."
"With the hope, I trust, on better consideration, of gratifying yourfather's ambition and learning how to starve with gentility on a cure."
"Not much of that, I fear."
"Then the clergyman had a daughter?"
"You are nearer the mark now," said Mainwaring, colouring,--"though itwas not his daughter. A young lady lived in his family, not evenrelated to him; she was placed there with a certain allowance by a richrelation. In a word, I admired, perhaps I loved, this young person; butshe was without an independence, and I not yet provided even withthe substitute of money,--a profession. I fancied (do not laugh at myvanity) that my feelings might be returned. I was in alarm for her aswell as myself; I sounded the clergyman as to the chance of obtainingthe consent of her rich relation, and was informed that he thought ithopeless. I felt I had no right to invite her to poverty and ruin, andstill less to entangle further (if I had chanced to touch at all) heraffection. I made an excuse to my father to leave the town, and returnedhome."
"Prudent and honourable enough, so far; unlike me,--I should have runoff with the girl, if she loved me, and old Plutus, the rascal, mighthave done his worst against Cupid. But I interrupt you."
"I came back when the county was greatly agitated,--public meetings,speeches, mobs; a sharp election going on. My father had always takenkeen interest in politics; he was of the same party as Sir Miles,who, you know, is red-hot upon politics. I was easily led--partly byambition, partly by the effect of example, partly by the hope to give anew turn to my thoughts--to make an appearance in public."
"And a devilish creditable one too! Why, man, your speeches have beenquoted with rapture by the London papers. Horribly aristocratic andPittish, it is true,--I think differently; but every man to his taste.Well--"
"My attempts, such as they were, procured me the favour of Sir Miles. Hehad long been acquainted with my father, who had helped him in his ownelections years ago. He seemed cordially delighted to patronize the son;he invited me to visit him at Laughton, and hinted to my father that Iwas formed for something better than a counting-house: my poor fatherwas intoxicated. In a word, here I am; here, often for days, almostweeks, together, have I been a guest, always welcomed."
"You pause. This is the primordium,--now comes the confession, eh?"
"Why, one half the confession is over. It was my most unmeritedfortune to attract the notice of Miss Clavering. Do not fancy me soself-conceited as to imagine that I should ever have presumed so high,but for--"
"But for encouragement,--I understand! Well, she is a magnificentcreature, in her way, and I do not wonder that she drove the poor littlegirl at Southampton out of your thoughts."
"Ah! but there is the sore,--I am not sure that she has done so.Ardworth, I may trust you?"
"With everything but half-a-guinea. I would not promise to be rockagainst so great a temptation!" and Ardworth turned his empty pocketsinside out.
"Tush! be serious, or I go."
"Serious! With pockets like these, the devil's in it if I am notserious. Perge, precor."
"Ardworth, then," said Mainwaring, with great emotion, "I confide to youthe secret trouble of my heart. This girl at Southampton is Lucretia'ssister,--her half-sister; the rich relation on whose allowance she livesis Sir Miles St. John."
"Whew! my own poor dear little cousin, by the father's side! Mainwaring,I trust you have not deceived me; you have not amused yourself withbreaking Susan's heart? For a heart, and an honest, simple, Englishgirl's heart she has."
"Heaven forbid! I tell you I have never even declared my love; and iflove it were, I trust it is over. But when Sir Miles was first kind tome, first invited me, I own I had the hope to win his esteem; and sincehe had always made so strong and cruel a distinction between Lucretiaand Susan, I thought it not impossible that he might consent at last tomy union with the niece he had refused to receive and acknowledge. Buteven while the hope was in me, I was drawn on, I was entangled, I wasspell-bound, I know not how or why; but, to close my confidence, whilestill doubtful whether my own heart is free from the remembrance of theone sister, I am pledged to the other."
Ardworth looked down gravely and remained silent. He was a joyous,careless, reckless youth, with unsteady character and pursuits, andwith something of vague poetry, much of unaccommodating pride about hisnature,--one of those youths little likely to do what is called well inthe world; not persevering enough for an independent career, too bluntand honest for a servile one. But it was in the very disposition of sucha person to judge somewhat harshly of Mainwaring's disclosure, and noteasily to comprehend what, after all, was very natural,--how a youngman, new to life, timid by character, and of an extreme susceptibilityto the fear of giving pain, had, in the surprise, the gratitude, theemotion, of an avowed attachment from a girl far above him in worldlyposition, been forced, by receiving, to seem, at least, to return heraffection. And, indeed, though not wholly insensible to the brilliantprospects opened to him in such a connection, yet, to do him justice,Mainwaring would have been equally entangled by a similar avowal froma girl more his equal in the world. It was rather from an amiabilitybordering upon weakness, than from any more degradi
ng moralimperfections, that he had been betrayed into a position which neithercontented his heart nor satisfied his conscience.
With far less ability than his friend, Ardworth had more force andsteadiness in his nature, and was wholly free from that morbid delicacyof temperament to which susceptible and shy persons owe much of theirerrors and misfortunes. He said, therefore, after a long pause: "Mygood fellow, to be plain with you, I cannot say that your confessionhas improved you in my estimation; but that is perhaps because of thebluntness of my understanding. I could quite comprehend your forgettingSusan (and, after all, I am left in doubt as to the extent of herconquest over you) for the very different charms of her sister. On theother hand, I could still better understand that, having once fanciedSusan, you could not be commanded into love for Lucretia. But I donot comprehend your feeling love for one, and making love to theother,--which is the long and short of the business."
"That is not exactly the true statement," answered Mainwaring, witha powerful effort at composure. "There are moments when, listening toLucretia, when, charmed by that softness which, contrasting the rest ofher character, she exhibits to none but me, struck by her great mentalpowers, proud of an unsought triumph over such a being, I feel as ifI could love none but her; then suddenly her mood changes,--she utterssentiments that chill and revolt me; the very beauty seems vanished fromher face. I recall with a sigh the simple sweetness of Susan, and I feelas if I deceived both my mistress and myself. Perhaps, however, allthe circumstances of this connection tend to increase my doubts. It ishumiliating to me to know that I woo clandestinely and upon sufferance;that I am stealing, as it were, into a fortune; that I am eating SirMiles's bread, and yet counting upon his death; and this shame in myselfmay make me unconsciously unjust to Lucretia. But it is useless toreprove me for what is past; and though I at first imagined you couldadvise me for the future, I now see, too clearly, that no advice couldavail."
"I grant that too; for all you require is to make up your mind to befairly off with the old love, or fairly on with the new. However, nowyou have stated your case thus frankly, if you permit me, I will takeadvantage of the strange chance of finding myself here, and watch,ponder, and counsel, if I can. This Lucretia, I own it, puzzles andperplexes me; but though no Oedipus, I will not take fright at thesphinx. I suppose now it is time to return. They expect some of theneighbours to drink tea, and I must doff my fishing-jacket. Come!"
As they strolled towards the house, Ardworth broke a silence which hadlasted for some moments.
"And how is that dear good Fielden? I ought to have guessed him at once,when you spoke of your clergyman and his young charge; but I did notknow he was at Southampton."
"He has exchanged his living for a year, on account of his wife'shealth, and rather, I think also, with the wish to bring poor Susannearer to Laughton, in the chance of her uncle seeing her. But you are,then, acquainted with Fielden?"
"Acquainted!--my best friend. He was my tutor, and prepared me for CaiusCollege. I owe him, not only the little learning I have, but the littlegood that is left in me. I owe to him apparently, also, whatever chanceof bettering my prospects may arise from my visit to Laughton."
"Notwithstanding our intimacy, we have, like most young men not related,spoken so little of our family matters that I do not now understand howyou are cousin to Susan, nor what, to my surprise and delight, broughtyou hither three days ago."
"Faith, my story is easier to explain than your own, William. Heregoes!"
But as Ardworth's recital partially involves references to familymatters not yet sufficiently known to the reader, we must be pardoned ifwe assume to ourselves his task of narrator, and necessarily enlarge onhis details.
The branch of the illustrious family of St. John represented by SirMiles, diverged from the parent stem of the Lords of Bletshoe. With themit placed at the summit of its pedigree the name of William de St. John,the Conqueror's favourite and trusted warrior, and Oliva de Filgiers.With them it blazoned the latter alliance, which gave to Sir Oliver St.John the lands of Bletshoe by the hand of Margaret Beauchamp (by hersecond marriage with the Duke of Somerset), grandmother to Henry VII. Inthe following generation, the younger son of a younger son had founded,partly by offices of state, partly by marriage with a wealthy heiress, ahouse of his own; and in the reign of James the First, the St. Johns ofLaughton ranked amongst the chief gentlemen of Hampshire. From thattime till the accession of George III the family, though it remaineduntitled, had added to its consequence by intermarriages of considerabledignity,--chosen, indeed, with a disregard for money uncommon amongstthe English aristocracy; so that the estate was but little enlargedsince the reign of James, though profiting, of course, by improvedcultivation and the different value of money. On the other hand, perhapsthere were scarcely ten families in the country who could boast of asimilar directness of descent on all sides from the proudest and noblestaristocracy of the soil; and Sir Miles St. John, by blood, was, almostat the distance of eight centuries, as pure a Norman as his ancestralWilliam. His grandfather, nevertheless, had deviated from the usualdisinterested practice of the family, and had married an heiress whobrought the quarterings of Vernon to the crowded escutcheon, and withthese quarterings an estate of some 4,000 pounds a year popularly knownby the name of Vernon Grange. This rare occurrence did not add to thedomestic happiness of the contracting parties, nor did it lead to theultimate increase of the Laughton possessions. Two sons were born. Tothe elder was destined the father's inheritance,--to the younger thematernal property. One house is not large enough for two heirs. Nothingcould exceed the pride of the father as a St. John, except the pride ofthe mother as a Vernon. Jealousies between the two sons began earlyand rankled deep; nor was there peace at Laughton till the younger hadcarried away from its rental the lands of Vernon Grange; and theelder remained just where his predecessors stood in point ofpossessions,--sole lord of Laughton sole. The elder son, Sir Miles'sfather, had been, indeed, so chafed by the rivalry with his brother thatin disgust he had run away and thrown himself, at the age of fourteen,into the navy. By accident or by merit he rose high in that profession,acquired name and fame, and lost an eye and an arm,--for which he wasgazetted, at the same time, an admiral and a baronet.
Thus mutilated and dignified, Sir George St. John retired fromthe profession; and finding himself unmarried, and haunted by theapprehension that if he died childless, Laughton would pass to hisbrother's heirs, he resolved upon consigning his remains to the nuptialcouch, previous to the surer peace of the family vault. At the ageof fifty-nine, the grim veteran succeeded in finding a young lady ofunblemished descent and much marked with the small-pox, who consented toaccept the only hand which Sir George had to offer. From this marriagesprang a numerous family; but all died in early childhood, frightenedto death, said the neighbours, by their tender parents (considered theugliest couple in the county), except one boy (the present Sir Miles)and one daughter, many years younger, destined to become Lucretia'smother. Sir Miles came early into his property; and although thesoftening advance of civilization, with the liberal effects of traveland a long residence in cities, took from him that provincial austerityof pride which is only seen in stanch perfection amongst the lords of avillage, he was yet little less susceptible to the duties of maintaininghis lineage pure as its representation had descended to him than themost superb of his predecessors. But owing, it was said, to an earlydisappointment, he led, during youth and manhood, a roving and desultorylife, and so put off from year to year the grand experiment matrimonial,until he arrived at old age, with the philosophical determinationto select from the other branches of his house the successor to theheritage of St. John. In thus arrogating to himself a right to neglecthis proper duties as head of a family, he found his excuse in adoptinghis niece Lucretia. His sister had chosen for her first husband a friendand neighbour of his own, a younger son, of unexceptionable birth andof very agreeable manners in society. But this gentleman contrived torender her life so miserable that, though he died fifteen
months aftertheir marriage, his widow could scarcely be expected to mourn long forhim. A year after Mr. Clavering's death, Mrs. Clavering married again,under the mistaken notion that she had the right to choose for herself.She married Dr. Mivers, the provincial physician who had attended herhusband in his last illness,--a gentleman by education, manners, andprofession, but unhappily the son of a silk-mercer. Sir Miles neverforgave this connection. By her first marriage, Sir Miles's sister hadone daughter, Lucretia; by her second marriage, another daughter, namedSusan. She survived somewhat more than a year the birth of the latter.On her death, Sir Miles formally (through his agent) applied to Dr.Mivers for his eldest niece, Lucretia Clavering, and the physiciandid not think himself justified in withholding from her the probableadvantages of a transfer from his own roof to that of her wealthy uncle.He himself had been no worldly gainer by his connection; his practicehad suffered materially from the sympathy which was felt by thecounty families for the supposed wrongs of Sir Miles St. John, who waspersonally not only popular, but esteemed, nor less so on account of hispride,--too dignified to refer even to his domestic annoyances, exceptto his most familiar associates; to them, indeed, Sir Miles had said,briefly, that he considered a physician who abused his entrance intoa noble family by stealing into its alliance was a character in whosepunishment all society had an interest. The words were repeated; theywere thought just. Those who ventured to suggest that Mrs. Clavering, asa widow, was a free agent, were regarded with suspicion. It was thetime when French principles were just beginning to be held in horror,especially in the provinces, and when everything that encroachedupon the rights and prejudices of the high born was called "a Frenchprinciple." Dr. Mivers was as much scouted as if he had been asans-culotte. Obliged to quit the county, he settled at a distance;but he had a career to commence again; his wife's death enfeebled hisspirits and damped his exertions. He did little more than earn a baresubsistence, and died at last, when his only daughter was fourteen,poor and embarrassed On his death-bed he wrote a letter to Sir Milesreminding him that, after all, Susan was his sister's child, gentlyvindicating himself from the unmerited charge of treachery, which hadblasted his fortunes and left his orphan penniless, and closing with atouching yet a manly appeal to the sole relative left to befriend her.The clergyman who had attended him in his dying moments took charge ofthis letter; he brought it in person to Laughton, and delivered it toSir Miles. Whatever his errors, the old baronet was no common man. Hewas not vindictive, though he could not be called forgiving. He hadconsidered his conduct to his sister a duty owed to his name andancestors; she had placed herself and her youngest child out of the paleof his family. He would not receive as his niece the grand-daughter ofa silk-mercer. The relationship was extinct, as, in certain countries,nobility is forfeited by a union with an inferior class. But, niece ornot, here was a claim to humanity and benevolence, and never yet hadappeal been made by suffering to his heart and purse in vain.
He bowed his head over the letter as his eye came to the last line, andremained silent so long that the clergyman at last, moved and hopeful,approached and took his hand. It was the impulse of a good man and agood priest. Sir Miles looked up in surprise; but the calm, pitying facebent on him repelled all return of pride.
"Sir," he said tremulously, and he pressed the hand that grasped hisown, "I thank you. I am not fit at this moment to decide what to do;to-morrow you shall know. And the man died poor,--not in want, not inwant?"
"Comfort yourself, worthy sir; he had at the last all that sicknessand death require, except one assurance, which I ventured to whisperto him,--I trust not too rashly,--that his daughter would not be leftunprotected. And I pray you to reflect, my dear sir, that--"
Sir Miles did not wait for the conclusion of the sentence; he roseabruptly, and left the room. Mr. Fielden (so the good priest was named)felt confident of the success of his mission; but to win it the moresupport, he sought Lucretia. She was then seventeen: it is an age whenthe heart is peculiarly open to the household ties,--to the memory ofa mother, to the sweet name of sister. He sought this girl, he told histale, and pleaded the sister's cause. Lucretia heard in silence: neithereye nor lip betrayed emotion; but her colour went and came. This was theonly sign that she was moved: moved, but how? Fielden's experience inthe human heart could not guess. When he had done, she went quietly toher desk (it was in her own room that the conference took place), sheunlocked it with a deliberate hand, she took from it a pocketbook and acase of jewels which Sir Miles had given her on her last birthday. "Letmy sister have these; while I live she shall not want!"
"My dear young lady, it is not these things that she asks from you,--itis your affection, your sisterly heart, your intercession with hernatural protector; these, in her name, I ask for,--'non gemmis, nequepurpura venale, nec auro!'"
Lucretia then, still without apparent emotion, raised to the good man'sface deep, penetrating, but unrevealing eyes, and said slowly,--
"Is my sister like my mother, who, they say, was handsome?"
Much startled by this question, Fielden answered: "I never saw yourmother, my dear; but your sister gives promise of more than commoncomeliness."
Lucretia's brows grew slightly compressed. "And her education has been,of course, neglected?"
"Certainly, in some points,--mathematics, for instance, and theology;but she knows what ladies generally know,--French and Italian, and suchlike. Dr. Mivers was not unlearned in the polite letters. Oh, trust me,my dear young lady, she will not disgrace your family; she will justifyyour uncle's favour. Plead for her!" And the good man clasped his hands.
Lucretia's eyes fell musingly on the ground; but she resumed, after ashort pause,--
"What does my uncle himself say?"
"Only that he will decide to-morrow."
"I will see him;" and Lucretia left the room as for that object.But when she had gained the stairs, she paused at the large embayedcasement, which formed a niche in the landing-place, and gazed over thebroad domains beyond; a stern smile settled, then, upon her lips,--thesmile seemed to say, "In this inheritance I will have no rival."
Lucretia's influence with Sir Miles was great, but here it was notneeded. Before she saw him he had decided on his course. Her precociousand apparently intuitive knowledge of character detected at a glancethe safety with which she might intercede. She did so, and was chid intosilence.
The next morning, Sir Miles took the priest's arm and walked with himinto the gardens.
"Mr. Fielden," he said, with the air of a man who has chosen his course,and deprecates all attempt to make him swerve from it, "if I followed myown selfish wishes, I should take home this poor child. Stay, sir, andhear me,--I am no hypocrite, and I speak honestly. I like young faces; Ihave no family of my own. I love Lucretia, and I am proud of her; but agirl brought up in adversity might be a better nurse and a more docilecompanion,--let that pass. I have reflected, and I feel that I cannotset to Lucretia--set to children unborn--the example of indifferenceto a name degraded and a race adulterated; you may call this prideor prejudice,--I view it differently. There are duties due from anindividual, duties due from a nation, duties due from a family; as myancestors thought, so think I. They left me the charge of their name, asthe fief-rent by which I hold their lands. 'Sdeath, sir!--Pardon me theexpletive; I was about to say that if I am now a childless old man, itis because I have myself known temptation and resisted. I loved, anddenied myself what I believed my best chance of happiness, because theobject of my attachment was not my equal. That was a bitter struggle,--Itriumphed, and I rejoice at it, though the result was to leave allthoughts of wedlock elsewhere odious and repugnant. These principles ofaction have made a part of my creed as gentleman, if not as Christian.Now to the point. I beseech you to find a fitting and reputable homefor Miss--Miss Mivers," the lip slightly curled as the name was said;"I shall provide suitably for her maintenance. When she marries, I willdower her, provided only and always that her choice fall upon one whowill not still further degrade her lineage on her
mother's side,--in aword, if she select a gentleman. Mr. Fielden, on this subject I have nomore to say."
In vain the good clergyman, whose very conscience, as well as reason,was shocked by the deliberate and argumentative manner with whichthe baronet had treated the abandonment of his sister's child as anabsolutely moral, almost religious, duty,--in vain he exerted himselfto repel such sophisms and put the matter in its true light. It was easyfor him to move Sir Miles's heart,--that was ever gentle; that wasmoved already: but the crotchet in his head was impregnable. Themore touchingly he painted poor Susan's unfriended youth, her sweetcharacter, and promising virtues, the more Sir Miles St. John consideredhimself a martyr to his principles, and the more obstinate in themartyrdom he became. "Poor thing! poor child!" he said often, andbrushed a tear from his eyes; "a thousand pities! Well, well, I hope shewill be happy! Mind, money shall never stand in the way if she have asuitable offer!"
This was all the worthy clergyman, after an hour's eloquence, couldextract from him. Out of breath and out of patience, he gave in at last;and the baronet, still holding his reluctant arm, led him back towardsthe house. After a prolonged pause, Sir Miles said abruptly: "I havebeen thinking that I may have unwittingly injured this man,--thisMivers,--while I deemed only that he injured me. As to reparation tohis daughter, that is settled; and after all, though I do not publiclyacknowledge her, she is half my own niece."
"Half?"
"Half,--the father's side doesn't count, of course; and, rigidlyspeaking, the relationship is perhaps forfeited on the other. However,that half of it I grant. Zooks, sir, I say I grant it! I beg you tenthousand pardons for my vehemence. To return,--perhaps I can show atleast that I bear no malice to this poor doctor. He has relations of hisown,--silk mercers; trade has reverses. How are they off?"
Perfectly perplexed by this very contradictory and paradoxical, yet, toone better acquainted with Sir Miles, very characteristic, benevolence,Fielden was some time before he answered. "Those members of Dr. Mivers'sfamily who are in trade are sufficiently prosperous; they have paid hisdebts,--they, Sir Miles, will receive his daughter."
"By no means!" cried Sir Miles, quickly; then, recovering himself, headded, "or, if you think that advisable, of course all interference onmy part is withdrawn."
"Festina lente!--not so quick, Sir Miles. I do not yet say that itis advisable,--not because they are silk-mercers, the which, I humblyconceive, is no sin to exclude them from gratitude for their profferedkindness, but because Susan, poor child, having been brought up indifferent habits, may feel a little strange, at least at first, with--"
"Strange, yes; I should hope so!" interrupted Sir Miles, taking snuffwith much energy. "And, by the way, I am thinking that it would be wellif you and Mrs. Fielden--you are married, sir? That is right; clergymenall marry!--if you and Mrs. Fielden would take charge of her yourselves,it would be a great comfort to me to think her so well placed. Wediffer, sir, but I respect you. Think of this. Well, then, the doctorhas left no relations that I can aid in any way?"
"Strange man!" muttered Fielden. "Yes; I must not let one poor youthlose the opportunity offered by your--your--"
"Never mind what; proceed. One poor youth,--in the shop, of course?"
"No; and by his father's side (since you so esteem such vanities) of anancient family,--a sister of Dr. Mivers married Captain Ardworth."
"Ardworth,--a goodish name; Ardworth of Yorkshire?"
"Yes, of that family. It was, of course, an imprudent marriage,contracted while he was only an ensign. His family did not reject him,Sir Miles."
"Sir, Ardworth is a good squire's family, but the name is Saxon; thereis no difference in race between the head of the Ardworths, if he werea duke, and my gardener, John Hodge,--Saxon and Saxon, both. His familydid not reject him; go on."
"But he was a younger son in a large family; both himself and his wifehave known all the distresses common, they tell me, to the poverty ofa soldier who has no resource but his pay. They have a son. Dr. Mivers,though so poor himself, took this boy, for he loved his sister dearly,and meant to bring him up to his own profession. Death frustrated thisintention. The boy is high-spirited and deserving."
"Let his education be completed; send him to the University; and I willsee that he is put into some career of which his father's family wouldapprove. You need not mention to any one my intentions in this respect,not even to the lad. And now, Mr. Fielden, I have done my duty,--atleast, I think so. The longer you honour my house, the more I shall bepleased and grateful; but this topic, allow me most respectfully to say,needs and bears no further comment. Have you seen the last news from thearmy?"
"The army! Oh, fie, Sir Miles, I must speak one word more. May not mypoor Susan have at least the comfort to embrace her sister?"
Sir Miles paused a moment, and struck his crutch-stick thrice firmly onthe ground.
"I see no great objection to that; but by the address of this letter,the poor girl is too far from Laughton to send Lucretia to her."
"I can obviate that objection, Sir Miles. It is my wish to continueto Susan her present home amongst my own children. My wife loves herdearly; and had you consented to give her the shelter of your own roof,I am sure I should not have seen a smile in the house for a month after.If you permit this plan, as indeed you honoured me by suggesting it, Ican pass through Southampton on my way to my own living in Devonshire,and Miss Clavering can visit her sister there."
"Let it be so," said Sir Miles, briefly; and so the conversation closed.
Some weeks afterwards, Lucretia went in her uncle's carriage, with fourpost-horses, with her maid and her footman,--went in the state and pompof heiress to Laughton,--to the small lodging-house in which the kindpastor crowded his children and his young guest. She stayed there somedays. She did not weep when she embraced Susan, she did not weep whenshe took leave of her; but she showed no want of actual kindness, thoughthe kindness was formal and stately. On her return, Sir Miles forbore toquestion; but he looked as if he expected, and would willingly permit,her to speak on what might naturally be uppermost at her heart.Lucretia, however, remained silent, till at last the baronet, colouring,as if ashamed of his curiosity, said,--
"Is your sister like your mother?"
"You forget, sir, I can have no recollection of my mother."
"Your mother had a strong family likeness to myself."
"She is not like you; they say she is like Dr. Mivers."
"Oh!" said the baronet, and he asked no more.
The sisters did not meet again; a few letters passed between them, butthe correspondence gradually ceased.
Young Ardworth went to college, prepared by Mr. Fielden, who was noordinary scholar, and an accurate and profound mathematician,--a moreimportant requisite than classical learning in a tutor for Cambridge.But Ardworth was idle, and perhaps even dissipated. He took a commondegree, and made some debts, which were paid by Sir Miles without amurmur. A few letters then passed between the baronet and the clergymanas to Ardworth's future destiny; the latter owned that his pupil was notpersevering enough for the Bar, nor steady enough for the Church. Thesewere no great faults in Sir Miles's eyes. He resolved, after an effort,to judge himself of the capacities of the young man, and so came theinvitation to Laughton. Ardworth was greatly surprised when Fieldencommunicated to him this invitation, for hitherto he had not conceivedthe slightest suspicion of his benefactor; he had rather, and naturally,supposed that some relation of his father's had paid for his maintenanceat the University, and he knew enough of the family history to look uponSir Miles as the proudest of men. How was it, then, that he, who wouldnot receive the daughter of Dr. Mivers, his own niece, would invite thenephew of Dr. Mivers, who was no relation to him? However, his curiositywas excited, and Fielden was urgent that he should go; to Laughton,therefore, had he gone.
We have now brought down to the opening of our narrative the generalrecords of the family it concerns; we have reserved our account of therearing and the character of the personage most impor
tant, perhaps, inthe development of its events,--Lucretia Clavering,--in order to placesingly before the reader the portrait of her dark, misguided, andill-boding youth.