CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
_Sir Bash_. This idol of my heart is--my own wife! _Love_. Your own wife? _Sir Bash_. Yes, my own wife. 'Tis all over with me: I am undone. THE WAY TO KEEP HIM.
"Show us something new." Such was the cry of men at the time of theProphet, and such it will continue until all prophecies areaccomplished, all revelations confirmed. Man is constant in nought butinconsistency. He is directed to take pattern from the industrious bee,and lay up the sweet treasures which have been prepared for his use; buthe prefers the giddy flight of the butterfly, pursuing his idle careerfrom flower to flower, until, fatigued with the rapidity of his motions,he reposes for a time, and revolves in his mind where he shall bend hisdevious way in search of "something new."
This is the fatal propensity by which our first parents fell, and which,inherited by us, is the occasion of our follies and our crimes. "Wereman but constant, he were perfect;" but that he cannot be. He is awareof the dangers, the hardships of travel--of the difference betweenoffices performed by an interested and heartless world, and the sweetministering of duty and affection. He feels that home, sweet home, isthe heaven of such imperfect bliss as this world can bestow; yet, wanderhe must, that he may appreciate its value: and although he hails it withrapture, soon after his return it palls upon him, and he quits it againin search of variety. Thus is man convinced of the beauty of Virtue,and acknowledges the peace that is to be found in her abode yet,propelled by the restless legacy of our first parents, he wanders intothe entangled labyrinths of vice--until, satisfied that all is vexation,he retraces his steps in repentance and disgust. Thus he passes hisexistence in sinning, repenting, and sinning again, in search of"something new."
When Mr Rainscourt was first separated from his wife, he felt himselfreleased from a heavy burthen, which had oppressed him for years; or asif fetters, which had been long riveted, had been knocked off; and hecongratulated himself upon his regained liberty. Plunging at once intothe depths of vice and dissipation, he sought pleasure after pleasure,variety upon variety,--all that life could offer, or money purchase; andfor a time thought himself happy. But there are drawbacks which cannotbe surmounted; and he who wholly associates with the vicious, must, morethan any other, be exposed to the effects of depravity. He found manmore than ever treacherous and ungrateful--woman more than everdeceiving--indulgence, cloying--debauchery, enervating and hisconstitution and his spirits exhausted by excess. Satiated witheverything, disgusted with everybody, he sought for "something new."
For more than two years he had not seen, and had hardly bestowed athought upon his wife and daughter, who still continued to reside at themansion at ---. Not knowing what to do with himself, it occurred to himthat the country air might recruit his health; and he felt a degree ofinterest, if not for his wife, at least for his daughter. Hedetermined, therefore, to pay them a visit. The horses were ordered;and, to the astonishment of Mrs Rainscourt, to whom he had given nointimation of his whim, and who looked upon a visit from her husband, inher retirement, as a visionary idea, Rainscourt made his appearance,just as she was about to sit down to dinner, in company with theMcElvinas, and the vicar, who had become one of her most intimateassociates.
If Rainscourt was pleased with the improvement of Emily, who was nowmore than fourteen years old, how much more was he astonished at theappearance of his wife, who, to his eyes, seemed even handsomer, ifpossible, than on the day when he had led her to the altar. For morethan two years, content, if not perfect happiness, had been MrsRainscourt's lot. She had recovered her health, her bloom, and herspirits, and not having had any source of irritation, her serenity oftemper had been regained; and Mrs Rainscourt, to whose extreme beauty,from assuetude, he had before been blind, now appeared to him, after solong an absence, quite a different person from the one whom he hadquitted with such indifference; and as he surveyed her, he seemed tofeel that freshness of delight unknown to vitiated minds, except whensuccessful in their search after "something new."
But Rainscourt was not altogether wrong in his idea that his wife wasquite a different personage from the one which he had quitted. Thevicar, who was acquainted with her situation had not failed in hisconstant exertions for the improvement of mankind; he had, by frequentconversation, and inculcation of our Christian duties, graduallysoftened her into a charitable and forgiving temper: and, now that shehad no opportunity of exercising them, she had been made acquainted withthe passive forbearance and humility constituting a part of the dutiesof a wife. She met her husband with kindness and respect while hisdaughter, who flew into his arms, proved that she had not beenprepossessed against him, as he anticipated. Pleased with hisreception, and with the company that he happened to meet, Rainscourtexperienced sensations which had long been dormant; and it occurred tohim, that an establishment, with such an elegant woman as MrsRainscourt at the head, and his daughter's beauty to grace it, would notonly be more gratifying, but more reputable, than the course of lifewhich he had lately pursued. He made himself excessively agreeable--waspleased with the benevolent demeanour of the vicar--thought Susan alovely young woman, and McElvina a delightful companion; and, when heretired to the chamber prepared for his reception, wondered that he hadnever thought of paying them a visit before.
It had been the intention of Rainscourt to have trespassed upon hiswife's hospitality for one night only, and then have taken his departurefor some fashionable watering place; but there seemed to be such anappearance of renewed friendship between him and Mrs Rainscourt, thatan invitation was given by the vicar, for the whole party, on theensuing day, to meet at the vicarage; and this was followed up byanother from McElvina, for the day afterwards, at his cottage. Thisdecided Mr Rainscourt to remain there a day or two longer. But whenthe time of his departure arrived, Rainscourt was so pleased with hisnew acquaintance, so delighted with his daughter, and, to hisastonishment, so charmed by his wife, that he could not tear himselfaway.
Women are proverbially sharp-sighted in all where the heart isconcerned, and Mrs Rainscourt soon perceived that the admiration of herhusband was not feigned. Gratified to find that she had not yet losther attractions, and, either from a pardonable feeling of revenge at hisdesertion, or to prove to him that he was not aware of what he hadrejected, she exerted all her powers to please; she was not onlyamiable, but fascinating; and after a sojourn of three weeks, whichappeared but as many days, Rainscourt was reluctantly compelled toacknowledge to himself, that he was violently enamoured of his discardedwife. He now felt that he should assume a higher station in society bybeing at the head of his own establishment, and that his consequencewould be increased, by the heiress of so large a property residing underhis protection; and he thought that, if he could persuade MrsRainscourt to live with him again, he could be happy, and exercise withpleasure the duties of a father and a husband. Neither the vicar norMcElvina were ignorant of his feelings; and the former, who recollectedthat those whom God has joined no man should put asunder, had made uphis mind to bring the affair, if possible, to a happy issue; andRainscourt, who perceived the influence which the vicar possessed overhis wife, determined to request that he would act as a mediator.
The vicar was delighted when Rainscourt called upon him one morning, andunfolded his wishes. To reconcile those who had been at variance, torestore a husband to his wife, a father to a daughter, was the earnestdesire of the good man's heart. He accepted the office with pleasure;and in the course of the afternoon, while Rainscourt called upon theMcElvinas, that he might be out of the way, proceeded upon his missionof peace and good-will.
Mrs Rainscourt, who was not surprised at the intelligence, listened tothe vicar attentively, as he pointed out the necessity of forgiveness,if she hoped to be forgiven--of the conviction, in his own mind, thather husband was reformed--of the unpleasant remarks to which a woman whois separated from her husband must always be subjected--of theprobability that the faults were not all on his side, and of theadvantage her daughter would derive from their reunion:
to which heentreated her to consent.
Mrs Rainscourt was moved to tears. The conflict between her formerlove and her outraged feelings--the remembrance of his long neglect,opposed to his present assiduities the stormy life she had passed in hiscompany, and her repose of mind since their separation--weighed andbalanced against each other so exactly, that the scale would turn onneither side. She refused to give any decided answer, but requested aday or two for reflection; and the vicar, who recollected the adage,that, in an affair of the heart, "the woman who deliberates is lost,"left her with a happy presage that his endeavours would be crowned withsuccess. But Mrs Rainscourt would not permit her own heart to decide.It was a case in which she did not consider that a woman was likely tobe a correct judge; and she had so long been on intimate terms withMcElvina, that she resolved to lay the case before him, and be guided byhis opinion.
The next day, Mrs Rainscourt went to the cottage alone, and havingrequested Susan to exclude all visitors, entered into a full detail ofall the circumstances which had occurred previous to her separation fromher husband, and the decision that she was now called upon to make, fromhis importunity.
Susan, who felt that she was unable to advise, in a case of suchimportance to Mrs Rainscourt's future happiness, immediately referredthe matter to McElvina.
His answer was decided. "I should be sorry, Mrs Rainscourt, to give anopinion in opposition to that of the worthy vicar, did I not conceivethat his slight knowledge of the world would, in this instance, tend tomislead both himself and you. Before Mr Rainscourt had remained here aweek, I prophesied, as Susan will corroborate, that this proposal wouldbe made. Aware of his general character, and of the grounds of yourseparation, I took some pains to ingratiate myself, that I mightascertain his real sentiments; and, with regret I express my conviction,that his prepossession in your favour, strong as it really is atpresent, will but prove transitory, and that possession would onlysubject you to future insults. He is _not_ reformed; but, satiated withother enjoyments, and fascinated with your attractions, his feelingstowards you are those of renewed inclination, and not arising fromconviction, or remorse at his unprincipled career. You are happy atpresent--your refusal may, by stimulating his attentions, increase yourhappiness: but if you yield, it will only be a source of misery to youboth. Such is my opinion. Do not let him know that I have influencedyou, or it will interrupt an intimacy, which I shall follow up, I trust,to your advantage; therefore, give no answer at present, nor while heremains here: for I perceive that he is a violent man when thwarted inhis wishes. Demand a fortnight's consideration after he is gone, andthen you will be able to decide from reflection, without being biassedagainst your own judgment, by his workings upon feelings which, to thehonour of women, when the heart is concerned, spurn at the coldreasonings of prudence and worldly wisdom."
The advice of the man of the world prevailed over that of the man ofGod; and Rainscourt, after waiting in town, with impatience, for theanswer, received a decided but kind refusal. He tore the letter intofragments, with indignation, and set off for Cheltenham, more violentlyin love with his wife than he was before her rejection of him.