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diff --git a/old/12669-8.txt b/old/12669-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9670f84 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12669-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17701 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Marriage, by Susan Edmonstone Ferrier + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Marriage + +Author: Susan Edmonstone Ferrier + +Release Date: June 19, 2004 [EBook #12669] +Last Updated: October 3, 2017 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Carl W. Goss + + + + + + +MARRIAGE + +A Novel by Susan Ferrier + +"Life consists not of a series of +illustrious actions; the greater part of our time passes in +compliance with necessities--in the performance of daily duties--in +the removal of small inconveniences--in the procurement of petty +pleasures; and we are well or ill at ease, as the main stream of life +glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by small and frequent +interruption."--JOHNSON. + + + +Edinburgh Edition + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOLUME I. + +LONDON + +RICHARD BENTLEY & SON + +Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen + +1881 + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh._ + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE. + +MISS FERRIER'S Novels have, since their first appearance, suffered +curtailment in all subsequent Editions. The present Edition is the first +reprint from the original Editions, and contains the whole of the +omissions in other reprints. It is, therefore, the only perfect Edition +of these Novels. + +Works which have received the praise of Sir Walter Scott and Sir James +Mackintosh, and been thought worthy of discussion in the _Noctes +Ambrosianae,_ require no further introduction to the reader. The almost +exceptional position which they occupy as satirizing the foibles rather +than the more serious faults of human nature, and the caustic character +of that satire, mingled with such bright wit and genial humour, give +Miss Ferrier a place to herself in English fiction; and it is felt that +a time has come to recognize this by producing her works in a form which +fits them for the library, and in a type which enables them to be read +with enjoyment. + + G.B. + +NEW BURLINGTON STREET, + +_December_ +_1881._ + + + + +MISS FERRIER'S NOVELS. [1] + +In November 1854 there died in Edinburgh one who might, with truth, be +called almost the last, if not the last, of that literary galaxy that +adorned Edinburgh society in the days of Scott, Jeffrey, Wilson, and +others. Distinguished by the friendship and confidence of Sir Walter +Scott, the name of Susan Edmonstone Ferrier is one that has become +famous from her three clever, satirical, and most amusing novels of +_Marriage, The Inheritance,_ and _Destiny._ They exhibit, besides, a +keen sense of the ludicrous almost unequalled. She may be said to have +done for Scotland what Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth have respectively +done for England and Ireland--left portraits, painted in undying +colours, of men and women that will live for ever in the hearts and +minds of her readers. In the present redundant age of novel writers and +novel-readers, and when one would suppose the supply must far exceed the +demand from the amount of puerile and often at the same time prurient +literature in the department of fiction that daily flows from the press, +it is refreshing to turn to the vigorous and, above all, healthy moral +tone of this lady's works. To the present generation they are as if they +had never been, and to the question, "Did you ever read _Marriage?"_ it +is not uncommon in these times to get such an answer as, "No, never. Who +wrote it?" "Miss Ferrier." "I never heard of her or her novels." It is +with the view, therefore, of enlightening such benighted ones that I pen +the following pages. + +[1] Reprinted from the _Temple Bar_ Magazine for November 1878, Vol I. + + +Miss Ferrier was the fourth and youngest daughter of James Ferrier, +Writer to the Signet, and was born at Edinburgh, 7th of September 1782. +Her father was bred to that profession in the office of a distant +relative, Mr. Archibald Campbell of Succoth (great grandfather of +the present Archbishop of Canterbury).To his valuable and extensive +business, which included the management of all the Argyll estates, he +ultimately succeeded. He was admitted as a member of the Society of +Writers to the Signet in the year 1770. He was also appointed a +Principal Clerk of Session through the influence (most strenuously +exerted) of his friend and, patron, John, fifth Duke of Argyll, [1] and +was a colleague in that office with Scott. He also numbered among his +friends Henry Mackenzie, the "Man of Feeling," Dr. Hugh Blair, and last, +though not least, Burns the poet. His father, John Ferrier, had been in +the same office till his marriage with Grizzel, only daughter and +heiress of Sir Walter Sandilands Hamilton, Bart., of Westport, county +Linlithgow. [2] John Ferrier was the last Laird of Kirklands, county +Renfrew, subsequently sold to Lord Blantyre. Mr. James Ferrier was the +third son of his parents, and was born 1744. [3] Miss Ferrier was in the +habit of frequently visiting at Inveraray Castle in company with her +father, and while there had ample opportunity afforded her of studying +fashionable life in all its varied and capricious moods, and which have +been preserved to posterity in her admirable delineations of character. +Her reason for becoming an authoress is from her own pen, as follows, +and is entitled a preface to _The Inheritance_:-- + +[1] To this nobleman, in his later years, Mr. Ferrier devoted much of +his time, both at Inveraray and Roseneath. He died in 1806. His Duchess +was the lovely Elizabeth Gunning. Mr. Ferrier died at 25 George Street, +Edinburgh, January 1829, aged eighty-six. Sir Walter Scott attended his +funeral. After his death Miss Ferrier removed to a smaller house, in +Nelson Street. + +[2] Sir Walter's father, Walter Sandilands of Hilderston, a cadet of the +Torphichen family (his father was commonly styled Tutor of Calder), +assumed the name of Hamilton on his marriage with the heiress of +Westport. + +[3] His brothers were: William, who assumed the name of Hamilton on +succeeding his grandfather in the Westport estate. He was in the navy, +and at the capture of Quebec, where he assisted the sailors to drag the +cannon up the heights of Abraham; m. Miss Johnstone of Straiton, co. +Linlithgow; died 1814. Walter; m. Miss Wallace of Cairnhill, co. Ayr, +father of the late Colonel Ferrier Hamilton of Cairnhill and Westport. +Ilay, major-general in the army; m. first Miss Macqueen, niece of Lord +Braxfield, second, Mrs. Cutlar of Orroland, co. Kirkcudbright. He was +Governor of Dumbarton Castle, and died there 1824. + +An introduction had been requested for the first of these three works, +_Marriage;_ but while the author was considering what could be said for +an already thrice-told tale, it had passed through the press with such +rapidity as to outstrip all consideration. Indeed, what can be said for +any of them amounts to so little, it is scarcely worth saying at all. +The first was begun at the urgent desire of a friend, and with the +promise of assistance, which, however, failed long before the end of the +first volume; the work was then thrown aside, and resumed some years +after. [1] It afforded occupation and amusement for idle and solitary +hours, and was published in the belief that the author's name never +would be guessed at, or the work heard of beyond a very limited sphere. +_'Ce n'est que le premier pas qu'il coute'_ in novel-writing, as in +carrying one's head in their hand; _The Inheritance_ and _Destiny +_followed as matters of course. It has been so often and confidently +asserted that almost all the characters are individual portraits, that +the author has little hope of being believed when she asserts the +contrary. That some of them were sketched from life is not denied; but +the circumstances in which they are placed, their birth, habits, +language, and a thousand minute particulars, differ so widely from the +originals as ought to refute the charge of personality. With regard to +the introduction of religious sentiment into works of fiction, there +exists a difference of opinion, which, in the absence of any +authoritative command, leaves each free to act according to their own +feelings and opinions. Viewing this life merely as the prelude to +another state of existence, it does seem strange that the future should +ever be_ wholly_ excluded from any representation of it, even in its +motley occurrences, scarcely less motley, perhaps, than the human mind +itself. The author can only wish it had been her province to have raised +plants of nobler growth in the wide field of Christian literature; but +as such has not been her high calling, she hopes her 'small herbs of +grace' may, without offence, be allowed to put forth their blossoms +amongst the briars, weeds, and wild flowers of life's common path. + +[1] It underwent several changes before its final publication in 1818. + + + +"Edinburgh, +_April_ 1840." + +The friend on whose assistance she relied was Miss Clavering, daughter +of Lady Augusta Clavering, and niece of the late Duke of Argyll. Between +this lady and our author an early friendship existed, which was severed +only by death. It commenced in 1797, when Miss Ferrier lost her mother, +[1] and when she went with her father to Inveraray Castle she was then +fifteen, and her friend only eight. Miss Clavering became the wife of Mr. +Miles Fletcher, advocate, but was better known in later years as Mrs. +Christison. She inherited all the natural elegance and beauty of face +and form for which her mother, and aunt Lady Charlotte Campbell, were so +distinguished, and died at Edinburgh, 1869, at an advanced age. While +concocting the story of her first novel, Miss Ferrier writes to her +friend in a lively and sprightly vein:-- + + + +[1] Mrs. Ferrier _(nee_ Coutts) was the daughter of a farmer at Gourdon, +near Montrose. She was very amiable, and possessed of great personal +beauty, as is attested by her portrait by Sir George Chalmers, Bart., in +a fancy dress, and painted 1765. At the time of her marriage (1767) she +resided at the Abbey of Holyrood Palace with an aunt, the Honourable +Mrs. Maitland, widow of a younger son of Lord Lauderdale's, who had been +left in poor circumstances, and had charge of the apartments there +belonging to the Argyll family. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. +Ferrier occupied a flat in Lady Stair's Close (Old Town of Edinburgh), +and which had just been vacated by Sir James Pulteney and his wife Lady +Bath. Ten children were the fruit of this union (six sons and four +daughters), viz.-- + +1. John, W.S., of 12 York Place, Edinburgh, d. 1851; m. Miss Wilson, +sister of Professor Wilson, and father of the late Professor Ferrier +of St. Andrews, N. B. + +2. Archibald Campbell, W.S., d. 1814; m. Miss Garden. + +3. Lorn, d. 1801, at Demerara. + +4. James, d. in India, 1804. } + } Both Officers +5. William Hamilton, d. 1804, in India. } + +6. Walter, W.S., d. 1856; m. Miss Gordon. + +7. Jane (Mrs. Graham), d. 1846. + +8. Janet (Mrs. Connell), d. 1848. + +9. Helen (Mrs. Kinloch), d. 1866, at Torquay, aged 90. + +10. Susan Edmonstone. + + +"Your proposals flatter and delight me, but how in the name of Postage +are we to transport our brains to and fro? I suppose we'd be pawning our +flannel petticoats to bring about our heroine's marriage, and lying on +straw to give her Christian burial. Part of your plot I like much, some +not quite so well--for example, it wants a _moral_--your principal +characters are good and interesting, and they are tormented and +persecuted and punished from no fault, of their own, and for no +possible purpose. Now I don't think, like all penny-book manufacturers, +that 'tis absolutely necessary that the good boys and girls should be +rewarded and the naughty ones punished. Yet I think, where there is much +tribulation, 'tis fitter it should be the _consequence_ rather than the +_cause_ of misconduct or frailty. You'll say that rule is absurd, +inasmuch as it is not observed in human life: that I allow, but we know +the inflictions of Providence are for wise purposes, therefore our +reason willingly submits to them. But as the only good purpose of a book +is to inculcate morality and convey some lesson of instruction as well +as delight, I do not see that what is called a _good moral_ can be +dispensed with in a work of fiction. Another fault is your making your +hero attempt suicide, which is greatly too shocking, and destroys all +the interest his misfortunes would otherwise excite--that, however, +could be easily altered, and in other respects I think your plot has +great merit. You'll perhaps be displeased at the freedom of my remarks; +but in the first place freedom is absolutely necessary in the cause in +which we are about to embark, and it must be understood to be one if not +the chief article of our creed. In the second (though it should have +been the first), know that I always say what I think, or say nothing. +Now as to my own deeds--I shall make no apologies (since they must be +banished from our code of laws) for sending you a hasty and imperfect +sketch of what I think might be wrought up to a tolerable form. I do not +recollect ever to have seen the sudden transition of a high-bred English +beauty, [1] who thinks she can sacrifice all for love, to an +uncomfortable solitary Highland dwelling [2] among tall red-haired +sisters and grim-faced aunts. Don't you think this would make a good +opening of the piece? Suppose each of us try our hands on it; the moral +to be deduced from that is to warn all young ladies against runaway +matches, and the character and fate of the two sisters would be +_unexceptionable._ I expect it will be the first book every wise matron +will put into the hand of her daughter, and even the reviewers will +relax of their severity in favour of the morality of this little work. +Enchanting sight! already do I behold myself arrayed in an old mouldy +covering, thumbed and creased and filled with dogs'-ears. I hear the +enchanting sound of some sentimental miss, the shrill pipe of some +antiquated spinster, or the hoarse grumbling of some incensed dowager as +they severally inquire for me at the circulating library, and are +assured by the master that 'tis in such demand that though he has +thirteen copies they are insufficient to answer the calls upon it, but +that each of them may depend upon having the very first that comes in!!! +Child, child, you had need be sensible of the value of my +correspondence. At this moment I'm squandering mines of wealth upon you +when I might be drawing treasures from the bags of time! But I shall not +repine if you'll only repay me in kind--speedy and long is all that I +require; for all things else I shall take my chance. Though I have been +so impertinent to your book, I nevertheless hope and expect you'll send +it to me. Combie [1] and his daughter (or Mare, as you call her) are +coming to town about this time, as I'm informed, and you may easily +contrive to catch them (wild as they are) and send it by them, for +there's no judging what a picture will be like from a mere pen-and-ink +outline--if that won't do, is there not a coach or a carrier? One thing +let me entreat of you: if we engage in this undertaking, let it be kept +a profound secret from every human being. If I was suspected of being +accessory to such foul deeds, my brothers and sisters would murder me, +and my father bury me alive--and I have always observed that if a secret +ever goes beyond those immediately concerned in its concealment it very +soon ceases to be a secret." + +[1] Lady Juliana. + +[2] Glenfern. Dunderawe Castle, on Loch Fyne, was in Miss Ferrier's mind +when she drew this sketch of a "solitary Highland dwelling." + + +Again she writes to her friend and copartner in her literary work:-- + +"I am boiling to hear from you, but I've taken a remorse of conscience +about Lady Maclaughlan and her friends: if I was ever to be detected, or +even suspected, I would have nothing for it but to drown myself. I mean, +therefore, to let her alone till I hear from you, as I think we might +compound some other kind of character for her that might do as well and +not be so dangerous. As to the misses, if ever it was to be published +they must be altered or I must fly my native land." + +[1] Campbell of Combie. + +Miss Clavering writes in answer:-- + +"ARDENCAPLE CASTLE, +_Sunday Morning.-_ + +"First of all I must tell you that I approve in the most signal manner +of Lady Maclaughlan. The sort of character was totally unexpected by me, +and I was really transported with her. Do I know the person who is the +original? The dress was vastly like Mrs. Damer, [1] and the manners like +Lady Frederick. [2] Tell me if you did not mean a touch at her. I love +poor Sir Sampson vastly, though it is impossible, in the presence of his +lady, to have eyes or ears for anyone else. Now you must not think of +altering her, and it must all go forth in the world; neither must the +misses upon any account be changed. I have a way now of at least +offering it to publication by which you never can be discovered. I will +tell the person that I wrote it (indeed, quothà, cries Miss Ferrier, and +no great favour; see how she loves to plume herself with borrowed +fame!). Well, however, my way is quite sure, and the person would never +think of speaking of it again, so never let the idea of detection come +across your brain while you are writing to damp your ardour. + +[1] Daughter of General Seymour Conway, and a distinguished sculptor. +She was niece of the fifth Duke of Argyll. + +[2] Lady Frederick Campbell is believed to have suggested the character +of Lady Maclaughlan to Miss Ferrier, and there is little doubt she was +the original. She was the widow of Earl Ferrel's, of Tyburn notoriety, +and was burnt to death at Coombe Bank, _Kent,_ in 1807. + + +"Positively neither Sir Sampson's lady nor the foolish virgins must be +displaced." + +Again she writes from Inveraray Castle (of date December 1810), eight +years before the work was published:-- + +"And now, my dear Susannah, I must tell you of the success of your +first-born. I read it to Lady Charlotte [1] in the carriage when she and +I came together from Ardencaple, Bessie [2] having gone with mamma. If +you will believe, I never yet in my existence saw Lady C. laugh so much +as she did at that from beginning to end; and, seriously, I was two or +three times afraid that she would fall into a fit. Her very words were, +'I assure you I think it without the least exception the cleverest thing +that ever was written, and in wit far surpassing Fielding.' Then she +said as to our other books they would all sink to nothingness before +yours, that they were not fit to be mentioned in the same day, and that +she felt quite discouraged from writing when she thought of yours. The +whole conversation of the aunties [3] made her screech with laughing; +and, in short, I can neither record nor describe all that she said; far +from exaggerating it, I don't say half enough, but I only wish you had +seen the effect it produced. I am sure you will be the first author of +the age." + +[1] Lady Charlotte Campbell, her aunt, better known latterly as Lady +Charlotte Bury, and celebrated for her beauty and accomplishments. + +[2] Miss Mure of Caldwell. + +[3] These oddities were the three Misses Edmonstone, of the +Duntreath family, and old family friends, after one of whom Miss Ferrier +was named. + + +In another letter she writes:-- + +"I had an immense packet from Lady C. the other day, which I confess +rather disappointed me, for I expected volumes of new compositions. On +opening it, what should it prove but your book returned? so I shall keep +it safe till I see you. She was profuse in its praises, and so was +mamma, who said she was particularly taken with Lady Juliana's brother, +[1] he was so like the duke. Lady C. said she had read it all +deliberately and critically, and pronounced it _capital,_ with a dash +under it. Lady C. begs that in your enumeration of Lady Olivia's +peccadilloes you will omit waltzes." + +[1] Lord Courtland. + +That dance had just been introduced in London (1811), and the season of +that year Miss Clavering spent with her aunt, Lady Charlotte, in the +metropolis, in a round of gaiety, going to parties at Kensington Palace +(where the Princess of Wales [1] then lived), Devonshire House, and the +witty Duchess of Gordon's, one of the "Empresses of Fashion," as Walpole +calls her. _Àpropos_ of waltzes, she writes to Miss Ferrier:-- + +[1] Lady Charlotte was one of the Princess's ladies-in-waiting. + +"They are all of a sudden become so much the rage here that people +meet in the morning at one another's houses to learn them. And they are +getting on very much. Lady Charlotte and I get great honour for the +accomplishment, and I have improved a few scholars. Clanronald [1] is +grown so detestably fine. He waltzes with me because he thinks he +thereby shows off his figure, but as to speaking to me or Lady Charlotte +he thinks himself much above that. He is in much request at present +because of his dancing; next to him Lord Hartington is, I think, the +best dancer; he is, besides, very fond of it, and is much above being +fine; I never met with a more natural, boyish creature." + +[1] Macdonald of Clanronald, a great beau in the fashionable London +world. + +To return to the novel. The only portion from Miss Clavering's pen is +the history of Mrs. Douglas in the first volume, and are, as she herself +remarked, "the only few pages that will be skipped." She further adds:-- + +"Make haste and print it then, lest one of the Miss Edmonstones should +die, as then I should think you would scarce venture for fear of being +haunted. + + * * * * * + +"I shall hasten to burn your last letter, as you mention something of +looking out for a father for your _bantling,_ so I don't think it would +be decent to let anybody get a sight of such a letter!" + +At last, in 1818, the novel was published by the late Mr. Blackwood, and +drew forth loud plaudits from the wondering public, as to who the author +of so original a book could be. "In London it is much admired, and +generally attributed to Walter Scott," so writes a friend to Miss +Ferrier; and she replies in her humorous style: "Whosever it is, I have +met with nothing that has interested me since." Sir Walter must have +been flattered at his being supposed its father, for he says, in the +conclusion of the _Tales of my Landlord_:-- + +"There remains behind not only a large harvest, but labourers capable +of gathering it in; more than one writer has of late displayed talents +of this description, and if the present author, himself a phantom, may +be permitted to distinguish a brother, or perhaps a sister, shadow, he +would mention in particular the author of the very lively work entitled +_Marriage_." + +Mr. Blackwood, whose opinion is of some value, thought very highly of +_Marriage,_ and he writes to Miss Ferrier (1817):-- + +"Mr. B. will not allow himself to think for one moment that there can be +any uncertainty as to the work being completed. Not to mention his own +deep disappointment, Mr. B. would almost consider it a crime if a work +possessing so much interest and useful instruction were not given to the +world. The author is the only critic of whom Mr. B. is afraid, and after +what he has said, he anxiously hopes that this censor of the press will +very speedily affix the _imprimatur."_ + +In allusion to Sir Walter's eulogium on the novel above quoted, Mr. +Blackwood writes to the author:-- + +"I have the pleasure of enclosing you this concluding sentence of the +new _Tales of my Landlord,_ which are to be published to-morrow. After +this call, surely you will be no longer silent. If the great magician +does not conjure you I shall give up all hopes." + +But Miss Ferrier seems to have been proof against the great magician +even. _Marriage_ became deservedly popular, and was translated into +French, as appears from the annexed:-- + +"We perceive by the French papers that a translation of Miss Ferrier's +clever novel _Marriage_ has been very successful in France."-_New_ +_Times,_ 6 Oct. '25. + +For _Marriage_ she received the sum of £150. Her second venture was more +successful in a pecuniary sense. Space, however, prohibits me from +dwelling any longer on _Marriage,_ so we come next to _The Inheritance._ +This novel appeared six years after, in 1824, and is a work of very +great merit. To her sister (Mrs. Kinloch, in London) Miss Ferrier +writes:-- + +"John (her brother) has now completed a bargain with Mr. Blackwood, by +which I am to have £1000 for a novel now in hand, but which is not +nearly finished, and possibly never may be. Nevertheless he is desirous +of announcing it in his magazine, and therefore I wish to prepare you +for the _shock._ I can say nothing more than I have already said on the +subject of _vigilence,_ if not of secrecy. I never will avow myself, and +nothing can hurt and offend me so much as any of my friends doing it for +me; this is not _faron de_ _parler,_ but my real and unalterable +feeling; I could not bear the fuss of authorism!" + +Secrecy as to her authorship seems to have been the great desire of her +heart, and much of _The Inheritance_ was written in privacy at +Morningside House, old Mr. Ferrier's summer retreat near Edinburgh, and +she says, "This house is so small, it is very ill-calculated for +concealment." + +It was not till 1851 that she publicly avowed herself by authorising her +name to be prefixed to a revised and corrected edition of her works. [1] +Sir Walter Scott was delighted with this second novel, a proof of which +was conveyed to Miss Ferrier by Mr. Blackwood:-- + +[1] Published by the late Mr. Richard Bentley, to whom she sold her +copyrights in 1841. A previous edition was published by him in 1841. + + +"On Wednesday I dined in company with Sir Walter Scott, and he spoke of +the work in the very highest terms. I do not always set the highest +value on the baronet's favourable opinion of a book, because he has so +much kindness of feeling towards everyone, but in this case he spoke so +much _con amore,_ and entered so completely, and at such a length, to +me, into the spirit of the book and of the characters, that showed me at +once the impression it had made on him. Everyone I have seen who has +seen the book gives the some praise of it. Two or three days ago I had a +note from a friend, which I copy: 'I have nearly finished a volume of +_The Inheritance._ It is unquestionably the best novel of the class of +the present day, in so far as I can yet judge. Lord Rossville, Adam +Ramsay, Bell Black and the Major, Miss Pratt and Anthony Whyte are +capital, and a fine contrast to each other. It is, I think, a more +elaborate work than _Marriage_, better told, with greater variety, and +displaying improved powers. I congratulate you, and have no doubt the +book will make a prodigious _sough'."_ [1] + +[1] Sensation. + +Mr. Blackwood adds: "I do not know a better judge nor a more frank and +honest one than the writer of this note." + +Again he writes:-- + +"On Saturday I lent in confidence to a very clever friend, on whose +discretion I can rely, the two volumes of _The Inheritance._ This +morning I got them back with the following note: 'My dear Sir--I am truly +delighted with _The Inheritance._ I do not find as yet any one character +quite equal to Dr. Redgill, [1] except, perhaps, the good-natured, +old-tumbled (or troubled, I can't make out which) maiden, [2] but as a +novel it is a hundred miles above _Marriage._ It reminds me of Miss +Austen's very best things in every page. And if the third volume be like +these, no fear of success triumphant.'" + +[1] In _Marriage_ the gourmet physician to Lord Courtland, and "the +living portrait of hundreds, though never before hit off so well." + +[2] Miss Becky Duguid. + + +Mr. Blackwood again says:-- + +"You have only to go on as you are going to sustain the character +Sir Walter gave me of _Marriage,_ that you had the rare talent of making +your conclusion even better than your commencement, for, said this +worthy and veracious person, 'Mr. Blackwood, if ever I were to write a +novel, I would like to write the two first volumes, and leave anybody to +write the third that liked.'" + +In the following note, Lister, author of _Granby,_ also expresses his +admiration in graceful terms, and with a copy of his own novel for Miss +Ferrier's acceptance:-- + +_T. H. Lister to Miss Ferrier._ + +"17 Heriot Row, _Feb._ 3, 1836. + +"My DEAR MADAM--I should feel that, in requesting your acceptance of the +book which accompanies this note, I should be presuming too much upon +the very short time that I have had the honour of being known to you, if +Mrs. Lister had not told me that you had kindly spoken of it in +approving terms. I hope, therefore, I may be allowed, without +presumption, to present to you a book which you have thus raised in the +opinion of its writer, and the composition of which is associated in my +mind with the recollection of one of the greatest pleasure I have +derived from novel-reading, for which I am indebted to you. I believe +the only novel I read, or at any rate can now remember to have read, +during the whole time I was writing _Granby_, was your _Inheritance_. +--Believe me, my dear Madam, your very faithful, T. H. LISTER." + +From Mrs. Lister (afterwards Lady Theresa Cornewall Lewis) Miss Ferrier +also received the following complimentary note:-- + +_Mrs. Lister to Miss Ferrier._ + +"_Thursday Night._ 17 HERIOT Row. + +"My DEAR MISS FERRIER--I cannot leave Edinburgh without a grateful +acknowledgment of your very kind and flattering gift. Mr. Lister called +upon you in hopes of being able to wish you good-bye, and to tell you in +person how much we were pleased with the proof you have given us that we +are not unworthy of enjoying and appreciating your delightful +works--pray accept our very best thanks, and I hope as _an authoress_ +you will not feel offended if I say that they will now have an added +charm in our eyes from the regard which our personal acquaintance with +the writer has engendered. I knew that, to those who do not mix much in +society, the acquaintance with strangers is often irksome: we therefore +feel the more obliged to you for having allowed us the pleasure of +knowing you, and I hope that if we return in the course of the year that +we may find you less suffering in health, but as kindly disposed to +receive our visits as you have hitherto been. We feel very grateful for +all the kindness we have met with in Edinburgh, and amongst the pleasant +reminiscences of the last five months we must always rank high the +having received from you as a token of regard so acceptable a +gift.--Believe me (or, indeed, I ought to say us), my dear Miss Ferrier, +yours most sincerely, + +M. THERESA LISTER." + +Lord Murray, the late Scotch Judge, writes to a mutual friend of his and +Miss Ferrier's (Miss Walker of Dalry):-- + +"I received a copy of _Inheritance_ in the name of the author, and as I +do not know who the _author_ is, and I suspect that you know more than I +do, trust you will find some channel through which you will convey my +thanks. I read _Inheritance_ with very great pleasure. The characters +are very well conceived, and delineated with great success. I may add I +have heard it highly commended by much better judges. Jeffrey speaks +very favourably. He is particularly pleased with the Nabob (Major) and +spouse, the letter from the Lakes, and the _P.S._ to it. Lord Gwydyr, +who lives entirely in fashionable circles, said to me much in its +praise, in which I concurred. + +"From many other symptoms I have no doubt of its complete success." + +Miss Hannah Mackenzie, daughter of the "Man of Feeling," writes to her +friend Miss Ferrier:-- + +"Walter Scott dined here the other day, and both he and papa joined +heartily in their admiration of uncle Adam, and their wish to know who +he is. Sir W. also admires Miss Becky Duguid, and said he thought her +quite a new character. I should like very much to see you, and talk all +over at length, but fear to invite you to my own bower for fear of +suspicion; but I trust you will soon come boldly, and face my whole +family. I do not think you need fear them much; of course, like other +people, they have their thoughts, but by no means speak with certainty, +and Margaret has this minute assured us that she does _not_ think it Miss +Ferrier's." + +Uncle Adam, with "his seventy thousand pounds," and as "cross as two +sticks," in some degree resembled old Mr. Ferrier, who was somewhat +brusque and testy in his manner, and alarmed many people who were +otherwise unacquainted with the true genuine worth and honesty of his +character. Miss Becky is a poor old maid, saddled with commissions from +all her friends of a most miscellaneous description. + +"She was expected to attend all _accouchements,_ christenings, deaths, +chestings, and burials, but she was seldom asked to a marriage, +and never to any party of pleasure." + +She is an admirable pendant to the "Pratt," who is inseparable, however, +from her invisible nephew, Mr. Anthony Whyte. Miss Pratt is a sort of +female Paul Pry, always turning up at the most unexpected moment at Lord +Rossville's, and finally puts the finishing stroke to the pompous old +peer by driving up to his castle door in the hearse of Mr. M'Vitie, the +Radical distiller, being unable to procure any other mode of conveyance +during a heavy snow-storm, and assured every one that she fancied she +was the first person who thought herself in luck to have got into a +hearse, but considered herself still luckier in having got well out of +one. + +Caroline, Duchess of Argyll, [1] expresses her appreciation of _The +Inheritance_ to the author, for whom she entertained a warm +friendship:-- + +[1] Daughter of Lord Jersey, and wife of the first Marquis of Anglesea, +whom she divorced, when Lord Paget, in 1810: m. the same year George, +sixth Duke of Argyll. + +"UPPER BROOK STREET, _Monday Evening._ + +"What can I say sufficiently to express my thanks either to you, my dear +Miss Ferrier, or to the _author_ of _The Inheritance,_ whoever she may +be, for the most perfect edition of that _most perfect_ book that was +ever written! and now that I may be allowed to have my _suspicion,_ I +shall read it again with double pleasure. It was so kind of you to +remember your promise! When I received your kind letter and books this +morning I was quite delighted with my beautiful present, and to find I +was not forgotten by one of my best friends." + +_The Inheritance_--a fact not generally known--was dramatised and +produced at Covent Garden, but had a very short run, and was an utter +failure, as might have been expected. Mrs. Gore was requested to adapt +it for the stage by the chief comic actors of the day, and she writes to +Miss Ferrier on the subject:-- + +"Since the management of Covent Garden Theatre fell into the hands of +Laporte, he has favoured me with a commission to write a comedy for him, +and the subject proposed by him is again the French novel of +_L'Héretière,_ which turns out to be a literal translation of _The +Inheritance._ He is quite bent upon having Miss Pratt on the stage. I +have not chosen to give Monsieur Laporte any positive answer on the +subject without previously applying to yourself to know whether you have +any intention or inclination to apply to the stage those admirable +talents which are so greatly appreciated in London." + +Mrs. Gore, meanwhile, had been forestalled in her attempt, as a play on +the subject had been laid before the reader to Covent Garden, and she +writes again to Miss Ferrier:-- + +"I have since learned with regret that the play is the production of a +certain Mr. Fitzball, the distinguished author of the _Flying Dutchman,_ +an sixty other successful melodramas, represented with great applause at +the Surrey, Coburg, City, and Pavilion Theatres, etc.; in short, a +writer of a very low class. The play of _The Inheritance_ has been +accepted at Covent Garden; but, from my knowledge of the general +engagements of the theatre, I should say that it has not the slightest +chance of approaching to representation. For your sake it cannot be +better than in the black-box of the manager's room, which secures it at +least from performance at the Coburg Theatre." + +We must let the curtain, so to speak, drop on _The Inheritance,_ and +pass on to _Destiny._ This novel also appeared six years after, in 1831, +and was dedicated to Sir Walter Scott. And he acknowledges the +compliment as follows:-- + +_Sir Walter Scott to Miss Ferrier._ + +"My DEAR MISS FERRIER--Ann returned to-day, and part of her Edinburgh +news informs me that you meditated honouring your present literary +offspring with my name, so I do not let the sun set without saying how +much I shall feel myself obliged and honoured by such a compliment. I +will not stand bandying compliments on my want of merit, but can swallow +so great a compliment as if I really deserved it, and indeed, as +whatever I do not owe entirely to your goodness I may safely set down to +your friendship, I shall scarce be more flattered one way or the other. +I hope you will make good some hopes, which make Ann very proud, of +visiting Abbotsford about April next. Nothing can give the proprietor +more pleasure, for the birds, which are a prodigious chorus, are making +of their nests and singing in blithe chorus. 'Pray come, and do not make +this a flattering dream.' I know a little the value of my future +godchild, since I had a peep at some of the sheets when I was in town +during the great snowstorm, which, out of compassion for an author +closed up within her gates, may prove an apology for his breach of +confidence. So far I must say that what I have seen has had the greatest +effect in making me curious for the rest. + +"Believe me, dear Miss Ferrier, with the greatest respect, your most +sincere, humble servant, + +"WALTER SCOTT. + +"Abbortsford, _Tuesday Evening_." + +In the next note he acknowledges a copy of _Destiny_, sent him by the +author:-- + +_Sir Walter Scott to Miss Ferrier._ + +DEAR MISS FERRIER--If I had a spark of gratitude in me I ought to have +written you well-nigh a month ago, to thank you in no common fashion for +_Destiny,_ which by the few, and at the same time the probability, of +its incidents, your writings are those of the first person of genius who +has disarmed the little pedantry of the Court of Cupid and of gods and +men, and allowed youths and maidens to propose other alliances than +those an early choice had pointed out to them. I have not time to tell +you all the consequences of my revolutionary doctrine. All these we will +talk over when you come here, which I am rejoiced to hear is likely to +be on Saturday next, when Mr. Cadell [1] will be happy to be your beau +in the Blucher, [2] and we will take care are met with at the toll. Pray +do not make this a flattering dream. You are of the initiated, so will +not be _de trop_ with Cadell.--I am, always, with the greatest respect +and regard, your faithful and affectionate servant, + +WALTER SCOTT. + +[1] Destiny was published by Cadell through Sir Walter's intervention, +and by it the author realised £1700. + +[2] Name of the Stage-coach. + +In 1832, the year after the birth of his godchild _Destiny,_ poor Sir +Walter began to show signs of that general break-up of mind and body so +speedily followed by his death. Of this sad state Miss Ferrier writes to +her sister, Mrs. Kinloch (in London):-- + +"Alas! the night cometh when no man can work, as is the case with that +mighty genius which seems now completely quenched. Well might he be +styled 'a bright and benignant luminary,' for while all will deplore the +loss of that bright intellect which has so long charmed a world, many +will still more deeply lament the warm and steady friend, whose kind and +genuine influence was ever freely diffused on all whom it could benefit. +I trust, however, he may be spared yet awhile; it might be salutary to +himself to con over the lessons of a death-bed, and it might be edifying +to others to have his record added to the many that have gone before +him, that all below is vanity. But till we _feel_ that we shall never +believe it! I _ought_ to feel it more than most people, as I sit in my +dark and solitary chamber, shut out, as it seems, from all the 'pride of +life'; but, alas! Worldly things make their way into the darkest and +most solitary recesses, for their dwelling is in the heart, and from +thence God only can expel them." + +Her first visit to the author of _Waverley_ was in the autumn of 1811, +when she accompanied her father to Ashestiel. The invitation came from +Scott to Mr. Ferrier:-- + +_Walter Scott, Esq., to James Ferrier, Esq._ + +"My DEAR SIR--We are delighted to see that your feet are free and +disposed to turn themselves our way--a pleasure which we cannot consent +to put off till we have a house at Abbotsford, which is but a distant +prospect. We are quite disengaged and alone, saving the company of Mr. +Terry the comedian, who is assisting me in planning my cottage, having +been bred an architect under Wyat. He reads to us after coffee in the +evening, which is very pleasant. This letter will reach you to-morrow, +so probably _Thursday_ may be a convenient day of march, when we shall +expect you to dinner about five o'clock, unless the weather should be +very stormy, in which case we should be sorry Miss Ferrier should risk +getting cold. To-day is clearing up after a week's dismal weather, which +may entitle us to expect some pleasant October days, not the worst of +our climate. The road is by Middleton and Bankhouse; we are ten miles +from the last stage, and thirty from Edinburgh, hilly road. There is a +ford beneath Ashestiel generally very passable, but we will have the +boat in readiness in case Miss Ferrier prefers it, or the water should +be full. Mrs. Scott joins in kind respects to Miss Ferrier, and I ever +am, dear Sir,--yours truly obliged, + +W. SCOTT. + +"Ashestiel, _October_ 7." + +It was in 1811 that Scott was appointed a clerk of session, and to Mr. +Ferrier he was in some measure indebted for that post. + +Her last visit to Abbotsford is touchingly alluded to by Lockhart in his +_Life of Scott:--_ + +"To assist them in amusing him in the hours which he spent out of his +study, and especially that he might make these hours more frequent, his +daughter had invited his friend the authoress of _Marriage_ to come out +to Abbotsford, and her coming was serviceable. For she knew and loved +him well, and she had seen enough of affliction akin to his to be well +skilled in dealing with it. She could not be an hour in his company +without observing what filled his children with more sorrow than all the +rest of the case. He would begin a story as gaily as ever, and go on, in +spite of the hesitation in his speech, to tell it with highly +picturesque effect--but before he reached the point, it would seem as if +some internal spring had given way. He paused and gazed round him with +the blank anxiety of look that a blind man has when he has dropped his +staff. Unthinking friends sometimes gave him the catch-word abruptly. I +noticed the delicacy of Miss Ferrier on such occasions. Her sight was +bad, and she took care not to use her glasses when he was speaking, and +she affected also to be troubled with deafness, and would say, 'Well, I +am getting as dull as a post, I have not heard a word since you said so +and so,' being sure to mention a circumstance behind that at which he +had really halted. He then took up the thread with his habitual smile of +courtesy, as if forgetting his case entirely in the consideration of the +lady's infirmity." + +A very interesting account of her recollections of visits to Ashestiel +and Abbotsford appeared in the February (1874) number of this magazine: +it is short, but gives a sad and pathetic picture of the great man and +his little grandson as they sat side by side at table. + +The following letter on _Destiny_ is from Mrs. Fletcher, [1] a +distinguished citizen of Edinburgh at the commencement of this century, +and a leader of the Whig society there. For that reason it is worthy of +insertion here. Her son married Miss Clavering, as before mentioned:-- + +[1] Her _Memoir,_ by her daughter, Lady Richardson, was published not +long since. + +_Mrs. Fletcher to Miss Ferrier._ + +"TADCASTER, _April_ 16, 1831. + +"My DEAR MISS FERRIER--I should not have been so long in thanking you +for your kind present, had I not wished to subject _Destiny_ to a +severer test than that chosen by the French dramatist. _His_ old woman +probably partook of the vivacity of her nation, but my old aunt, as Mary +will tell you, is sick and often very sorrowful, and yet _Destiny_ has +made her laugh heartily, and cheated her of many wearisome hours of +lamentation. My grandson, Archibald Taylor, too, forsook football and +cricket for your fascinating book, and told me 'he could sit up all +night to see what had become of Ronald.' Mr. Ribley and 'Kitty, my +dear,' hit his comic fancy particularly. My two most bookish neighbours, +one an Oxford divine, and the other a Cambridge student, declare that, +Glenroy and M'Dow are exquisite originals.' My own favourite, 'Molly +Macaulay,' preserves her good-humour to the last, though I thought you +rather unmerciful in shutting her up so long in Johnnie's nursery. The +fashionable heartlessness of Lady Elizabeth and her daughter is coloured +to the life, and the refreshment of returning to nature, truth, +affection, and happiness at Inch Orran is admirably managed. Mary tells +me you have returned from Fife with fresh materials for future volumes. +Go on, dear Miss Ferrier, you are accountable for the talents entrusted +to you. Go on to detect selfishness in all its various forms and +foldings; to put pride and vanity to shame; to prove that vulgarity +belongs more to character than condition, and that all who make the +world their standard are essentially vulgar and low-minded, however +noble their exterior or refined their manners may be, and that true +dignity and elevation belong only to those to whom Milton's lines may be +applied: + +"'Thy care is fixed, and zealously attends To fill thy odorous lamp with +deeds of light, And hope that reaps not shame.'" + +The following letter from Joanna Baillie gives a very just and truthful +criticism on _Destiny:--_ + +_Miss Joanna Baillie to Miss Ferrier._ + +"Hampstead, _May_ 1831. + +"My DEAR MADAM--I received your very kind present of your last work +about three weeks ago, and am very grateful for the pleasure I have had +in reading it, and for being thus remembered by you. I thank you also +for the pleasure and amusement which my sisters and some other friends +have drawn from it. The first volume struck me as extremely clever, the +description of the different characters, their dialogues, and the +writer's own remarks, excellent. There is a spur both with the writer +and the reader on the opening of a work which naturally gives the +beginning of a story many advantages, but I must confess that your +characters never forget their outset, but are well supported to the very +end. Your Molly Macaulay [1] is a delightful creature, and the footing +she is on with Glenroy very naturally represented, to say nothing of the +rising of her character at the end, when the weight of contempt is +removed from her, which is very good and true to nature. Your minister, +M'Dow, [2] hateful as he is, is very amusing, and a true representative +of a few of the Scotch clergy, and with different language and manners +of a great many of the English clergy--worldly, mean men, who boldly +make their way into every great and wealthy family for the sake of +preferment and good cheer. Your Lady Elizabeth, too, with all her +selfishness and excess of absurdity, is true to herself throughout, and +makes a very characteristic ending of it in her third marriage. But why +should I tease you by going through the different characters? Suffice it +to say that I thank you very heartily, and congratulate you on again +having added a work of so much merit to our stock of national novels. +Perhaps before this you have received a very short publication of mine +on a very serious subject. I desired my bookseller to send a copy to +you, enclosed along with one to your friend, Miss Mackenzie. How far you +will agree with my opinions regarding it I cannot say, but of one thing +I am sure, that you will judge with candour and charity. I should have +sent one to Mr. Alison had I not thought it presumptuous in me to send +such a work to any clergyman, and, with only one exception (a +Presbyterian clergyman), I have abstained from doing so. I was very much +obliged to Mrs. Mackenzie, Lord M.'s lady, for the letter she was so +good as to write me in her sister-in-Iaw's stead. If you should meet her +soon, may I beg that you will have the goodness to thank her in my name. +I was very sorry indeed to learn from her that Miss Mackenzie had been +so ill, and was then so weak, and that the favourable account I had +received of your eyes had been too favourable. With all good wishes to +you, in which my sister begs to join me,--I remain, my dear Madam, +gratefully and sincerely yours, + +"J. BAILLIE." + +[1] The humble and devoted dependant of the proud chief Glenroy, and +governess to his children. She was drawn from life, for Mrs. Kinloch +writes to her sister, Miss Ferrier: "Molly Macaulay is charming; her +niece, Miss Cumming, is an old acquaintance of mine, and told me the +character was drawn to the life. The old lady is still alive, in her +ninety-first year, at Inveraray, and Miss C., who is a very clever, +pleasing person, seems delighted with the truth and spirit of the whole +character of her aunty." + +[2] Lord Jeffrey considered M'Dow "an entire and perfect chrysolite, not +to be meddled with." + + +Granville Penn, the descendant of the founder of Pennsylvania, records +the impression _Destiny_ made on him, and which he communicates to Miss +Erskine of Cardross, who copied and sent it to the author, as follows:-- + +"My DEAR MADAM--I return your book, but I an unable to return you +adequate thanks for being the cause of my reading it. I have done this +(and all with me) with delight, from the interest and admiration at the +whole composition, the novelty and excitement of its plan, the exquisite +and thrilling manner of its disclosure, the absence of all flat and +heavy intervals, the conception and support of the characters, the sound +and salutary moral that pervades it all--these make me love and honour +its valuable authoress, and lament that I am not in the number of her +acquaintance. We all _doat_ upon Miss Macaulay, and grieve that she is +not living at Richmond or Petersham; and Mr. M'Dow has supplied me with +a new name for our little young dog, whom I have called, in memorial of +his little nephew (or niece), Little M'Fee. With all the thanks, +however, that I can offer, etc. + +GRANVILLE PENN. + +"Devonshire Cottage, 1_st May_ 1831." + +The next tribute of admiration bestowed on _Destiny_ was from Sir James +Mackintosh:-- + +_Sir James Mackintosh to Miss Ferrier._ + +"LONDON, _10th June_ 1831. + +"DEAR MISS FERRIER--Let me tell you a fact, which I hope you will excuse +me from mentioning, as some subsidiary proof of your power. On the day +of the dissolution of Parliament, and in the critical hours between +twelve and three, I was employed in reading part of the second volume of +_Destiny._ My mind was so completely occupied on your colony in +Argyleshire, that I did not throw away a thought on kings or +parliaments, and was not moved by the general curiosity to stir abroad +till I had finished your volume. It would have been nothing if you had +so agitated a youth of genius and susceptibility, prone to literary +enthusiasm, but such a victory over an old hack is perhaps worthy of +your notice.--I am, my dear Miss Ferrier, your friend and admirer, + +"J. MACKINTOSH." + +Professor Wilson, "Christopher North," and his uncle, Mr. Robert Sym, +W.S., "Timothy Tickler," discuss the merits of _Destiny_ in the +far-famed _Noctes_: + +"_Tickler.--' _I would also except Miss Susan Ferrier. Her novels, no +doubt, have many defects, their plots are poor, their episodes +disproportionate, and the characters too often caricatures; but they are +all thick-set with such specimens of sagacity, such happy traits of +nature, such flashes of genuine satire, such easy humour, sterling good +sense, and, above all--God only knows where she picked it up--mature and +perfect knowledge of the world, that I think we may safely anticipate +for them a different fate from what awaits even the cleverest of +juvenile novels.' + +"_North.-' _They are the works of a very clever woman, sir, and they +have one feature of true and melancholy interest quite peculiar to +themselves. It is in them alone that the ultimate breaking-down and +debasement of the Highland character has been depicted. Sir Walter Scott +had fixed the enamel of genius over the last fitful gleams of their +half-savage chivalry, but a humbler and sadder scene--the age of +lucre-banished clans--of chieftains dwindled into imitation squires, and +of chiefs content to barter the recollections of a thousand years for a +few gaudy seasons of Almacks and Crockfords, the euthanasia of kilted +aldermen and steamboat pibrochs was reserved for Miss Ferrier.' + +"_Tickler.--'_ She in general fails almost as egregiously as Hook does +in the pathetic [1] but in her last piece there is one scene of this +description worthy of either Sterne or Goldsmith. I mean where the young +man [2] supposed to have been lost at sea, revisits, after a lapse of +time, the precincts of his own home, watching unseen in the twilight the +occupations and bearings of the different members of the family, and +resolving, under the influence of a most generous feeling, to keep the +secret of his preservation.' + +[1] This is not true, as there are many pathetic passages in _Destiny_, +particularly between Edith, the heroine, and her faithless lover, Sir +Reginald. + +[2] Ronald Malcolm. + +"_North.-' _I remember it well, and you might bestow the same kind of +praise on the whole character of Molly Macaulay. It is a picture of +humble, kind-hearted, thorough-going devotion and long-suffering, +indefatigable gentleness, of which, perhaps, no sinner of our gender +could have adequately filled up the outline. Miss Ferrier appears +habitually in the light of a hard satirist, but there is always a fund +of romance at the bottom of every true woman's heart who has tried to +stifle and suppress that element more carefully and pertinaciously, and +yet who has drawn, in spite of herself, more genuine tears than the +authoress of _Simple Susan.'"_ + +The story of _Destiny,_ like its predecessors, is laid in Miss Ferrier's +favourite Highlands, and it contains several picturesque and vivid +descriptions of scenery there,--Inveraray, and its surroundings +generally, forming the model for her graphic pen. Much of this novel was +written at Stirling Castle, when she was there on a visit to her sister, +Mrs. Graham, [1] whose husband, General Graham, was governor of that +garrison. After the publication of this last work, and the offer of a +thousand pounds from a London publisher for anything from her pen, [2] +she entirely ceased from her literary labours, being content to rest +upon the solid and enduring reputation her three "bantlings" (as she +called her novels) had won for her. The following fragment, however, was +found among her papers, and is the portrait of another old maid, and +might serve as a companion to Miss Pratt. As it is amusing, and in the +writer's satirical style, I lay it before my readers:-- + +[1] Celebrated by Burns, the poet, for her beauty. She inspired his muse +when turning the corner of George Street, Edinburgh. The lines addressed +to her are to be found in his _Poems._ She was also a highly-gifted +artist. The illustrations in the work called the _Stirling Heads_ are +from her pencil. It was published by Blackwood, 1817. + +[2] She says (1837) "I made two attempts to write _something_, but could +not please myself, and would not publish _anything_." + +Miss Betty Landon was a single lady of small fortune, few personal +charms, and a most jaundiced imagination. There was no event, not even +the most fortunate, from which Miss Betty could not extract evil; +everything, even the milk of human kindness, with her turned to gall and +vinegar. Thus, if any of her friends were married, she sighed over the +miseries of the wedded state; if they were single, she bewailed their +solitary, useless condition; if they were parents, she pitied them for +having children; if they had no children, she pitied them for being +childless. But one of her own letters will do greater justice to the +turn of her mind than the most elaborate description. + + +"'My DEAR Miss------ I ought to have written to you long before now, but +I have suffered so much from the constant changes of the weather that +the wonder is I am able to hold a pen. During the whole summer the heat +was really quite intolerable, not a drop of rain or a breath of wind, +the cattle dying for absolute want, the vegetables dear and scarce, and +as for fruit--that, you know, in this town, is at all times scarce and +bad, and particularly when there is the greatest occasion for it. In the +autumn we never had two days alike, either wind or rain, or frost, or +something or another; and as for our winter--you know what that +is--either a constant splash of rain, or a frost like to take the skin +off you. For these six weeks I may say I have had a constant running at +my head, with a return of my old complaint; but as for doctors, I see no +good they do, except to load people's stomachs and pick their pockets: +everything now is imposition; I really think the very pills are not what +they were thirty years ago. How people with families continue to live is +a mystery to me; and people still going on marrying, in the face of +national debt, taxes, a new war, a starving population, ruined commerce, +and no outlet for young men in any quarter--God only knows what is to be +the end of all this! In spite of all this, these thoughtless young +creatures, the Truemans, have thought proper to make out their marriage; +he is just five-and-twenty, and she is not yet nineteen! so you may +judge what a prudent, well-managed establishment it will be. He is in a +good enough business at present, but in these times who can tell what's +to happen? He may be wallowing in wealth to-day, and bankrupt to-morrow. +His sister's marriage with Fairplay is now quite off, and her prospects +for life, poor thing, completely wrecked! Her looks are entirely gone, +and her spirits quite broken. She is not like the same creature, and, to +be sure, to a girl who had set her heart upon being married, it must be +a great and severe disappointment, for this was her only chance, unless +she tries India, and the expense of the outfit must be a complete bar to +that. You would hear that poor Lady Oldhouse has had a son--it seemed a +desirable thing, situated as they are with an entailed property; and yet +when I look around me, and see the way that sons go on, the dissipation +and extravagance, and the heartbreak they are to their parents, I think +a son anything but a blessing. No word of anything of that kind to the +poor Richardsons; with all their riches, they are without anyone to come +after them. The Prowleys are up in the air at having got what they call +"a fine appointment" for their fourth son, but for my part I'm really +sick of hearing of boys going to India, for after all what do they do +there? I never hear of their sending home anything but black children, +and when they come home themselves, what do they bring but yellow faces, +worn-out constitutions, and livers like cocked-hats, crawling about from +one watering-place to another, till they are picked up by some +light-hearted, fortune-hunting miss, who does not care twopence for +them.'" + +A beautiful and strong feature in Miss Ferrier's character was her +intense devotion to her father, and when he died the loss to her was +irreparable. She also was much attached to a very handsome brother, +James; he was colonel of the 94th regiment, or Scots Brigade, and died +in India in 1804, at the early age of twenty-seven. He had been at the +siege of Seringapatam in 1799, and was much distinguished by the notice +of Napoleon at Paris in February 1803, whence he writes to his sister +Susan:-- + +"I think I wrote you I had been introduced to the Chief Consul. I was on +Sunday last presented to his lady, whom I do not at all admire. The +great man spoke to me then again, which is a very unusual thing, and I +am told by the French I must be in his good graces; however, I myself +rather think it was my good fortune only: at all events it has given me +much pleasure, for it would have only been doing the thing half if he +had not spoken to me. I do not think any of the pictures like him much, +although most of them have some resemblance; they give him a frown in +general, which he certainly has not--so far from it, that when he speaks +he has one of the finest expressions possible." + +Here, unfortunately, this interesting description comes abruptly to an +end, the rest of the letter being lost. On account of failing health and +increased bodily languor, Miss Ferrier latterly lived a very retired +life, seeing few but very intimate friends, and, as she said, "We are +more recluse than ever, as our little circle is yearly contracting, and +my eyes are more and more averse to light than ever." + +Again she writes:-- + +"I can say nothing good of myself, my cough is very severe, and will +probably continue so, at least as long as this weather lasts; but I have +many comforts, for which I am thankful; amongst those I must reckon +silence and darkness, which are my best companions at present." + +For years she had suffered from her eyes, being nearly quite blind of +one. [1] In 1830 she went to London to consult an oculist, but +unfortunately derived little benefit. While there, she visited +Isleworth, in order to see a villa belonging to Lord Cassillis, and +which subsequently figured in _Destiny_ as "Woodlands," Lady +Waldegrave's rural retreat near London. A valued friend [2] who +saw much of her remarked:-- + +[1] Lady Morgan, a fellow-sufferer from her eyes, was most anxious +she should consult Mr. Alexander, the eminent oculist, as he entirely +cured her after four years' expectation of total blindness. + +[2] Lady Richardson. + +"The wonderful vivacity she maintained in the midst of darkness and pain +for so many years, the humour, wit, and honesty of her character, as +well as the Christian submission with which she bore her great privation +and general discomfort when not suffering acute pain, made everyone who +knew her desirous to alleviate the tediousness of her days, and I used +to read a great deal to her at one time, and I never left her darkened +chamber without feeling that I had gained something better than the book +we might be reading, from her quick perception of its faults and its +beauties, and her unmerciful remarks on all that was mean or unworthy in +conduct or expression." + +But perhaps the most faithful picture of her is conveyed in this brief +sentence from Scott's diary, who describes her + +"As a gifted personage, having, besides her great talents, conversation +the least _exigeante_ of any author-female, at least, whom I have ever +seen among the long list I have encountered; simple, full of humour, and +exceedingly ready at repartee, and all this without the least +affectation of the blue-stocking." + +From the natural modesty of her character she had a great dislike to +her biography, or memorial of her in any shape, being written, for she +destroyed all letters that might have been used for such a purpose, +publicity of any kind being most distasteful to her, evidence of which +is very clearly shown in the first part of this narrative. The chief +secret of her success as a novelist (setting aside her great genius) was +the great care and time she bestowed on the formation of each novel--an +interval of six years occurring between each, the result being +delineations of character that are unique. + +Unfortunately there is little to relate regarding her childhood, that +most interesting period of human existence in the lives of (and which is +generally distinguished by some uncommon traits of character) people of +genius--save that she had for a school companion and playfellow the late +Lord Brougham, the distinguished statesman; she was remarkable also for +her power of mimicry. An amusing anecdote of this rather dangerous gift +is the following: Her brothers and sisters returned home from a ball, +very hungry, and entered her room, where they supposed she lay asleep, +and, while discussing the events of the evening and the repast they had +procured by stealth (unknown to their father), they were suddenly put to +flight by the sounds and voice, as they thought, of their dreaded parent +ascending the stairs, and in their confusion and exit from the room +overturned chairs and tables, much to the amusement of little Susan, +who, no doubt, enjoyed the fright and commotion she had caused, and who +mimicked under the cover of the bedclothes the accents of her +redoubtable parent--a fit punishment, as she thought, for their ruthless +invasion of her chamber, and their not offering her a share of their +supper. An old Miss Peggy Campbell (sister to Sir Islay Campbell, +President of the Court of Session) was also taken off by her, and so +like that her father actually came into the room, where she was amusing +her hearers, thinking that Miss Campbell was really present. When she +died a blank was left in her native city that has not been since filled, +the modern Athens having somewhat deteriorated in the wit, learning, and +refinement that so distinguished her in the days that are gone. + + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF VISITS +TO ASHESTIEL AND ABBOTSFORD, [1] + +[1] Reprinted from the _Temple Bar_ Magazine for February 1874. + +By SUSAN EDMONSTONE FERRIER, + +_Author of 'Marriage,' 'Inheritance,' and 'Destiny.'_ + +I HAVE never kept either note-book or journal, and as my memory is not a +retentive one I have allowed much to escape which I should now vainly +attempt to recall. Some things must, however, have made a vivid and +durable impression on my mind, as fragments remain, after the lapse of +years, far more distinct than occurrences of much more recent date; +such, amongst others, are my recollections of my visits to Ashestiel and +Abbotsford. + +The first took place in the autumn of 1811, in consequence of repeated +and pressing invitations from Mr. Scott to my father, in which I was +included. Nothing could be kinder than our welcome, or more gratifying +than the attentions we received during our stay; but the weather was too +broken and stormy to admit of our enjoying any of the pleasant +excursions our more weather-proof host had intended for us. + +My father and I could therefore only take short drives with Mrs. Scott, +while the bard (about one o'clock:) mounted his pony, and accompanied by +Mr. Terry the comedian, his own son Walter, and our young relative +George Kinloch, sallied forth for a long morning's ride in spite of wind +and rain. In the evening Mr. Terry commonly read some scenes from a play, +to which Mr. Scott listened with delight, though every word must have +been quite familiar to him, as he occasionally took a part in the +dialogue impromptu; at other times he recited old and awesome ballads +from memory, the very names of which I have forgot. The night preceding +our departure had blown a perfect hurricane; we were to leave +immediately after breakfast, and while the carriage was preparing Mr. +Scott stepped to a writing-table and wrote a few hurried lines in the +course of a very few minutes; these he put into my hand as he led me to +the carriage; they were in allusion to the storm, coupled with a +friendly adieu, and are to be found in my autograph album. + + "The mountain winds are up, and proud + O'er heath and hill careering loud; + The groaning forest to its power + Yields all that formed our summer bower. + The summons wakes the anxious swain, + Whose tardy shocks still load the plain, + And bids the sleepless merchant weep, + Whose richer hazard loads the deep. + For me the blast, or low or high, + Blows nought of wealth or poverty; + It can but whirl in whimsies vain + The windmill of a restless brain, + And bid me tell in slipshod verse + What honest prose might best rehearse; + How much we forest-dwellers grieve + Our valued friends our cot should leave, + Unseen each beauty that we boast, + The little wonders of our coast, + That still the pile of Melrose gray, + For you must rise in minstrel's lay, + And Yarrow's birk immortal long + For yon but bloom in rural song. + Yet Hope, who still in present sorrow + Whispers the promise of to-morrow, + Tells us of future days to come, + When you shall glad our rustic home; + When this wild whirlwind shall be still, + And summer sleep on glen and hill, + And Tweed, unvexed by storm, shall guide + In silvery maze his stately tide, + Doubling in mirror every rank + Of oak and alder on his bank; + And our kind guests such welcome prove + As most we wish to those we love." [1] + + _Ashestiel, _October 13, 1811. + +[1] Lines written by Walter Scott while the carriage was waiting +to convey my father and me from Ashestiel.--S. E. F. + +The invitation had been often repeated, but my dear father's increasing +infirmities made him averse to leave home, and when, in compliance with +Sir Walter's urgent request, I visited Abbotsford in the autumn of 1829, +I went alone. I was met at the outer gate by Sir Walter, who welcomed me +in the kindest manner and most flattering terms; indeed, nothing could +surpass the courtesy of his address on such occasions. On our way to the +house he stopped and called his two little grandchildren, Walter and +Charlotte Lockhart, who were chasing each other like butterflies among +the flowers--the boy was quite a Cupid, though not an _alfresco_ one; +for he wore a Tartan cloak, whose sundry extras fluttered in the breeze +as he ran to obey the summons, and gave occasion to his grandfather to +present him to me as "Major Waddell;" [1] the pretty little +fairy-looking girl he next introduced as "Whipperstowrie," and then +(aware of my love for fairy lore) he related the tale, in his own +inimitable manner, as he walked slowly and stopped frequently in our +approach to the house. As soon as I could look round I was struck with +the singular and picturesque appearance of the mansion and its +_environs._ Yet I must own there was more of _strangeness_ than of +admiration in my feelings; too many objects seemed crowded together in a +small space, and there was a "felt want" of breadth and repose for the +eye. On entering the house I was however charmed with the rich +imposing beauty of the hall, and admired the handsome antique appearance +of the dining-room with its interesting pictures. After luncheon Sir +Walter was at pains to point them out to my notice, and related the +histories of each and all; he then conducted me through the apartments, +and showed me so much, and told me so many anecdotes illustrative of the +various objects of interest and curiosity they contained, that I retain +a very confused and imperfect recollection of what I saw and heard. It +was a strong proof of his good-nature that in showing the many works of +art and relics of antiquity he had continued to accumulate and arrange +with so much taste and skill, he should have been at such pains to point +out the merits and relate the history of most of them to one so +incapable of appreciating their value. But he never allowed one to feel +their own deficiencies, for he never appeared to be aware of them +himself. + +[1] One of Miss Ferrier's characters in her novel of _The Inheritance._ + +It was in the quiet of a small domestic circle I had again an +opportunity of enjoying the society of Sir Walter Scott, and of +witnessing, during the ten days I remained, the unbroken serenity of his +temper, the unflagging cheerfulness of his spirits, and the unceasing +courtesy of his manners. I had been promised a quiet time, else I should +not have gone; and indeed the state of the family was a sufficient +guarantee against all festivities. Mrs. Lockhart was confined to bed +by severe indisposition, while Mr. Lockhart was detained in London +by the alarming illness of their eldest boy, and both Captain Scott and +his brother were absent. The party, therefore, consisted only of Sir +Walter and Miss Scott, Miss Macdonald Buchanan (who was almost one of +the family), and myself. Being the only stranger, I consequently came in +for a larger share of my amiable host's time and attention than I should +otherwise have been entitled to expect. Many a pleasant tale and amusing +anecdote I might have had to relate had I written down half of what I +daily heard; but I had always an invincible repugnance to playing the +_reporter_ and taking down people's words under their own roof. Every day +Sir Walter was ready by one o'clock to accompany us either in driving or +walking, often in both, and in either there was the same inexhaustible +flow of legendary lore, romantic incident, apt quotation, curious or +diverting story; and sometimes old ballads were recited, commemorative +of some of the localities through which he passed. Those who had seen +him only amidst the ordinary avocations of life, or even doing the +honours of his own table, could scarcely have conceived the fire and +animation of his countenance at such times, when his eyes seemed +literally to kindle, and even (as some one has remarked) to change their +colour and become a sort of deep sapphire blue; but, perhaps, from being +close to him and in the open air, I was more struck with this +peculiarity than those whose better sight enabled them to mark his +varying expression at other times. Yet I must confess this was an +enthusiasm I found as little infectious as that of his antiquarianism. +On the contrary, I often wished his noble faculties had been exercised +on loftier themes than those which seemed to stir his very soul. + +The evenings were passed either in Mrs. Lockhart's bedroom or in +chatting quietly by the fireside below, but wherever we were he was +always the same kind, unostentatious, amusing, and _amusable_ companion. + +The day before I was to depart Sir David Wilkie and his sister arrived, +and the Fergussons and one or two friends were invited to meet him. Mrs. +Lockhart was so desirous of meeting this old friend and distinguished +person, that, though unable to put her foot to the ground, she caused +herself to be dressed and carried down to the drawing-room while the +company were at dinner. Great was her father's surprise and delight on +his entrance to find her seated (looking well and in high spirits) with +her harp before her, ready to sing his favourite ballads. This raised +his spirits above their usual quiet pitch, and towards the end of the +evening he proposed to wind up the whole by all present standing in a +circle with hands joined, singing, + + "Weel may we a' be! + Ill may we never see!" + +Mrs. Lockhart was, of course, unable to join the festive band. Sir David +Wilkie was languid and dispirited from bad health, and my feelings were +not such as to enable me to join in what seemed to me little else than a +mockery of human life; but rather than "displace the mirth," I _tried,_ +but could not long remain a passive spectator; the glee seemed forced +and unnatural. It touched no sympathetic chord; it only jarred the +feelings; it was the last attempt at gaiety I witnessed within the walls +of Abbotsford. + +Although I had intended to confine my slight reminiscence of Sir Walter +Scott to the time I had passed with him under his own roof in the +country, yet I cannot refrain from noticing the great kindness I +received from him during the following winter in town. + +I had, when at Abbotsford in the autumn, spoken to him for the _first_ +time of my authorship and of the work on which I was then engaged. He +entered into the subject with much warmth and earnestness, shook his +head at hearing how matters had hitherto been transacted, and said +unless I could make a better bargain in this instance I must leave to +him the disposal of _Destiny._ I did so, and from the much more liberal +terms he made with Mr. Cadell I felt, when too late, I had acted +unwisely in not having sooner consulted him or some one versant in these +matters. But _secrecy_ at that time was all I was anxious about, and so +I paid the penalty of trusting entirely to the good faith of the +publishers. + +I saw Sir Walter frequently during the winter, and occasionally dined +_en famille_ with Miss Scott and him, or with one or two friends, as I +did not go into parties, neither indeed did he give any, but on account +of the state of his affairs lived as retiredly as he possibly could. + +In the month of February he sustained a paralytic shock; as soon as I +heard of this I went to Miss Scott, from whom I learned the particulars. +She had seen her father in his study a short time before, apparently in +his usual health. She had returned to the drawing room when Sir Walter +opened the door, came in, but stood looking at her with a most peculiar +and _dreadful_ expression of countenance. It immediately struck her he +had come to communicate some very distressing intelligence, and she +exclaimed, "Oh, papa! Is Johnnie gone?" He made no reply, but still +continued standing still and regarding her with the same fearful +expression. She then cried, "Oh, papa! speak! Tell me, is it Sophia +herself?" Still he remained immovable. Almost frantic, she then +screamed, "It is Walter! it is Walter! I know it is." Upon which Sir +Walter fell senseless on the floor. Medical assistance was speedily +procured. After being bled he recovered his speech, and his first words +were, "It was very strange! very horrible." He afterwards told her he +had all at once felt very queer, and as if unable to articulate; he then +went upstairs in hopes of getting rid of the sensation by movement; but +it would not do, he felt perfectly tongue-tied, or rather _chained,_ +till overcome by witnessing her distress. This took place, I think, on +the 15th, and on the 18th I was invited to dine with him, and found him +without any trace of illness, but as cheerful and animated as usual. + +Not being very correct as to dates, I should scarcely have ventured to +name the day had not a trifling circumstance served to mark it. After +dinner he proposed that instead of going to the drawing-room we should +remain with him and have tea in the dining room. In the interval the +post letters were brought, and amongst others there was one from a +sister of Sir Thomas Lawrence (Mrs. Bloxam), enclosing a letter of her +brother's, having heard that Sir Walter had expressed a wish to have +some memorial of him, "rather of his pencil than his pen," said he, as +he handed the letter to me, who, as a collector of autographs, would +probably value them more than he did; and on referring to Mrs. Bloxam's +letter I find the Edinburgh post-mark February the 18th. + +I received repeated invitations to Abbotsford, and had fixed to go on +the 17th of April, when, the day before, Mrs. Skene called upon me with +the sad tidings of another paralytic stroke, which not only put a stop +to my visit for the present, but rendered it very doubtful whether I +should ever see him again. But the worst fears of his friends were not +yet to be realised. + +Early in May the invitation was renewed in a note from himself, which I +availed myself of, too well assured it was a privilege I should enjoy +for the last time. On reaching Abbotsford I found some morning visitors +(Mr. and Mrs. James, etc.) in the drawing-room, but as soon as they were +gone Sir Walter sent for me to his study. I found him seated in his +armchair, but with his habitual politeness he insisted upon rising to +receive me, though he did so with such extreme difficulty I would gladly +have dispensed with this mark of courtesy. His welcome was not less +cordial than usual, but he spoke in a slow and somewhat indistinct +manner, and as I sat close by him I could perceive but too plainly the +change which had taken place since we last met. His figure was unwieldy, +not so much from increased bulk as from diminished life and energy; his +face was swollen and puffy, his complexion mottled and discoloured, his +eyes heavy and dim; his head had been shaved, and he wore a small black +silk cap, which was extremely unbecoming. Altogether, the change was no +less striking than painful to behold. The impression, however, soon wore +off (on finding, as I believed), that his mind was unimpaired and his +warm kindly feelings unchanged. + +There was no company, and the dinner party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. +Lockhart, Miss Scott, and myself. Sir Walter did not join us till the +dessert, when he entered, assisted by his servant, and took his place at +the foot of the table. His grandchildren were then brought in, and his +favourite, Johnnie Lockhart, was seated by his side. I must have forgot +most things before I can cease to recall that most striking and +impressive spectacle, each day repeated, as it seemed, with deepening +gloom. The first transient glow of cheerfulness which had welcomed my +arrival had passed away, and been succeeded by an air of languor and +dejection which sank to deepest sadness when his eye rested for a moment +on his once darling grandson, the child of so much pride and promise, +now, alas! how changed. It was most touching to look upon one whose +morning of life had been so bright and beautiful and, still in the sunny +days of childhood, transformed into an image of decrepitude and decay. +The fair blooming cheek and finely chiselled features were now shrunk +and stiffened into the wan and rigid inflexibility of old age; while the +black bandages which swathed the little pale sad countenance, gave +additional gloom and harshness to the profound melancholy which clouded +its most intellectual expression. Disease and death were stamped upon +the grandsire and the boy as they sat side by side with averted eyes, +each as if in the bitterness of his own heart refusing to comfort or be +comforted. The two who had been wont to regard each other so fondly and +so proudly, now seemed averse to hold communion together, while their +appearance and style of dress, the black cap of the one and the black +bandages of the other, denoted a sympathy in suffering if in nothing +else. The picture would have been a most affecting and impressive one +viewed under any circumstances, but was rendered doubly so by the +contrast which everywhere presented itself. + +The month was May, but the weather had all the warmth of summer with the +freshness and sweetness of spring. The windows of the dining-room were +open to admit the soft balmy air which "came and went like the warbling +of music," but whose reviving influence seemed unfelt by the sufferers. +The trees, and shrubs, and flowers were putting forth their tender +leaves and fragrant blossoms as if to charm _his_ senses who used to +watch their progress with almost paternal interest, and the little birds +were singing in sweet chorus as if to cheer _him_ who was wont to listen +to their evening song with such placid delight. All around were the dear +familiar objects which had hitherto ministered to his enjoyment, but +now, alas! miserable comforters were they all! It was impossible to look +upon such a picture without beholding in it the realisation of those +solemn and affecting passages of Holy Writ which speak to us of the +ephemeral nature of all earthly pleasures and of the mournful +insignificance of human life, even in its most palmy state, when its +views and actions, its hopes and desires, are confined to this sublunary +sphere: "Whence then cometh any wisdom, and where is the place of +understanding?" "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his +wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich +man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that +he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord." + + + + + + + + + +MARRIAGE. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "Love!--A word by superstition thought a God; by use turned to an + humour; by self-will made a flattering madness." + + _Alexander and Campaspe._ + +"COME hither, child," said the old Earl of Courtland to his daughter, +as, in obedience to his summons, she entered his study; "come hither, I +say; I wish to have some serious conversation with you: so dismiss your +dogs, shut the door, and sit down here." + +"Lady Juliana rang for the footman to take Venus; bade Pluto be quiet, +like a darling, under the sofa; and, taking Cupid in her arms, assured +his Lordship he need fear no disturbance from the sweet creatures, and +that she would be all attention to his commands--kissing her cherished +pug as she spoke. + +"You are now, I think, seventeen, Juliana," said his Lordship in a +solemn important tone. + +"And a half, papa." + +"It is therefore time you should be thinking of establishing yourself in +the world. Have you ever turned your thoughts that way?" + +Lady Juliana cast down her beautiful eyes, and was silent. + +"As I can give you no fortune," continued the Earl, swelling with +ill-suppressed importance, as he proceeded, "you have perhaps no great +pretensions to a very brilliant establishment." + +"Oh! none in the world, papa," eagerly interrupted Lady Juliana; "a mere +competence with the man of my heart." + +"The man of a fiddlestick!" exclaimed Lord Courtland in a fury; "what +the devil have you to do with a heart, I should like to know? There's no +talking to a young woman now about marriage, but she is all in a blaze +about hearts, and darts, and--and--But hark ye, child, I'll suffer no +daughter of mine to play the fool with her heart, indeed! She shall +marry for the purpose for which matrimony was ordained amongst people of +birth--that is, for the aggrandisement of her family, the extending of +their political influence--for becoming, in short, the depository of +their mutual interest. These are the only purposes for which persons of +rank ever think of marriage. And pray, what has your heart to say to +that?" + +"Nothing, papa," replied Lady Juliana in a faint dejected tone of voice. +"Have done, Cupid!" addressing her favourite, who was amusing himself +in pulling and tearing the beautiful lace veil that partly shaded the +head of his fair mistress. + +"I thought not," resumed the Earl in a triumphant tone--"I thought not, +indeed." And as this victory over his daughter put him in unusual good +humour, he condescended to sport a little with her curiosity. + +"And pray, can this wonderful wise heart of yours inform you who it is +you are going to obtain for a husband?" + +Had Lady Juliana dared to utter the wishes of that heart she would have +been at no loss for a reply; but she saw the necessity of dissimulation; +and after naming such of her admirers as were most indifferent to her, +she declared herself quite at a loss, and begged her father to put an +end to her suspense. + +"Now, what would you think of the Duke of L---?" asked the Earl in a +voice of half-smothered exultation and delight. + +"The Duke of L-----!" repeated Lady Juliana, with a scream of horror and +surprise; "surely, papa, you cannot be serious? Why, he's red-haired and +squints, and he's as old as you." + +"If he were as old as the devil, and as ugly too," interrupted the +enraged Earl, "he should be your husband: and may I perish if you shall +have any other!" + +The youthful beauty burst into tears, while her father traversed the +apartment with an inflamed and wrathful visage. + +"If it had been anybody but that odious Duke," sobbed the lovely +Juliana. + +"If it had been anybody but that odious Duke!" repeated the Earl, +mimicking her, "they should not have had you. It has been my sole study, +ever since I saw your brother settled, to bring about this alliance; +and, when this is accomplished, my utmost ambition will be satisfied. So +no more whining--the affair is settled; and all that remains for you to +do is to study to make yourself agreeable to his Grace, and to sign the +settlements. No such mighty sacrifice, me thinks, when repaid with a +ducal coronet, the most splendid jewels, the finest equipages, and the +largest jointure of any woman in England." + +Lady Juliana raised her head, and wiped her eyes. Lord Courtland +perceived the effect his eloquence had produced upon the childish fancy +of his daughter, and continued to expatiate upon the splendid joys that +awaited her in a union with a nobleman of the Duke's rank and fortune; +till at length, dazzled, if not convinced, she declared herself +"satisfied that it was her duty to marry whoever papa pleased; but--" +and a sigh escaped her as she contrasted her noble suitor with her +handsome lover: "but if I should marry him, papa, I am sure I shall +never be able to love him." + +The Earl smiled at her childish simplicity as he assured her that was +not at all necessary; that love was now entirely confined to the +_canaille;_ that it was very well for ploughmen and dairymaids to marry +for love; but for a young woman of rank to think of such a thing was +plebeian in the extreme! + +Lady Juliana did not entirely subscribe to the arguments of her father; +but the gay and glorious vision that floated in her brain stifled for a +while the pleadings of her heart; and with a sparkling eye and an +elastic step she hastened to prepare for the reception of the Duke. + +For a few weeks the delusion lasted. Lady Juliana was flattered with the +homage she received as a future Duchess; she was delighted with the +éclat that attended her, and charmed with the daily presents +showered upon her by her noble suitor. + +"Well, really, Favolle," said she to her maid, one day, as she clasped +on her beautiful arm a resplendent bracelet, "it must be owned the Duke +has a most exquisite taste in trinkets; don't you think so? And, do you +know, I don't think him so very--very ugly. When we are married I mean +to make him get a Brutus, cork his eyebrows, and have a set of teeth." +But just then the smiling eyes, curling hair, and finely formed person +of a certain captivating Scotsman rose to view in her mind's eye; and, +with a peevish "pshaw!" she threw the bauble aside. + +Educated for the sole purpose of forming a brilliant establishment, of +catching the eye, and captivating the senses, the cultivation of her +mind or the correction of her temper had formed no part of the system by +which that aim was to be accomplished. Under the auspices of a +fashionable mother and an obsequious governess the froward petulance of +childhood, fostered and strengthened by indulgence and submission, had +gradually ripened into that selfishness and caprice which now, in youth, +formed the prominent features of her character. The Earl was too much +engrossed by affairs of importance to pay much attention to anything so +perfectly insignificant as the mind of his daughter. Her _person_ he had +predetermined should be entirely at his disposal, and therefore +contemplated with delight the uncommon beauty which already +distinguished it; not with the fond partiality of parental love, but +with the heartless satisfaction of a crafty politician. + +The mind of Lady Juliana was consequently the sport of every passion +that by turns assailed it. Now swayed by ambition, and now softened by +love, the struggle was violent, but it was short. A few days before the +one which was to seal her fate she granted an interview to her lover, +who, young, thoughtless, and enamoured as herself, easily succeeded in +persuading her to elope with him to Scotland. There, at the altar of +Vulcan, the beautiful daughter of the Earl of Courtland gave her hand to +her handsome but penniless lover; and there vowed to immolate every +ambitious desire, every sentiment of vanity and high-born pride. Yet a +sigh arose as she looked on the filthy hut, sooty priest, and ragged +witnesses; and thought of the special license, splendid saloon, and +bridal pomp that would have attended her union with the Duke. But the +rapturous expressions which burst from the impassioned Douglas made her +forget the gaudy pleasures of pomp and fashion. Amid the sylvan scenes +of the neighbouring lakes the lovers sought a shelter; and, mutually +charmed with each other, time flew for a while on downy pinions. + +At the end of two months, however, the enamoured husband began to +suspect that the lips of his "angel Julia" could utter very silly +things; while the fond bride, on her part, discovered that though her +"adored Henry's" figure was symmetry itself, yet it certainly was +deficient in a certain air--a _je ne sais quoi_--that marks the man of +fashion. + +"How I wish I had my pretty Cupid here," said her Ladyship, with a sigh, +one day as she lolled on a sofa: "he had so many pretty tricks, he would +have helped to amuse us, and make the time pass; for really this place +grows very stupid and tiresome; don't you think so, love?" + +"Most confoundedly so, my darling," replied her husband, yawning +sympathetically as he spoke. + +"Then suppose I make one more attempt to soften papa, and be received +into favour again?" + +"With all my heart." + +"Shall I say I'm very sorry for what I have done?" asked her Ladyship, +with a sigh. "You know I did not say that in my first letter." + +"Ay, do; and, if it will serve any purpose, you may say that I am no +less so." + +In a few days the letter was returned, in a blank cover; and, by the +same post, Douglas saw himself superseded in the Gazette, being absent +without leave! + +There now remained but one course to pursue; and that was to seek refuge +at his father's, in the Highlands of Scotland. At the first mention of +it Lady Juliana was transported with joy, and begged that a letter might +be instantly despatched, containing the offer of a visit: she had heard +the Duchess of M. declare nothing could be so delightful as the style of +living in Scotland: the people were so frank and gay, and the manners so +easy and engaging--oh! it was delightful! And then Lady Jane G. and Lady +Mary L., and a thousand other lords and ladies she knew, were all so +charmed with the country, and all so sorry to leave it. Then dear +Henry's family must be so charming: an old castle, too, was her delight; +she would feel quite at home while wandering through its long galleries; +and she quite loved old pictures, and armour, and tapestry; and then her +thoughts reverted to her father's magnificent mansion in D---shire. + +At length an answer arrived, containing a cordial invitation from the +old Laird to spend the winter with them at Glenfern Castle. + +All impatience to quit the scenes of their short lived felicity, they +bade a hasty adieu to the now fading beauties of Windermere; and, full +of hope and expectation, eagerly turned towards the bleak hills of +Scotland. They stopped for a short time at Edinburgh, to provide +themselves with a carriage, and some other necessaries. There, too, she +fortunately met with an English Abigail and footman, who, for double +wages, were prevailed upon to attend her to the Highlands; which, with +the addition of two dogs, a tame squirrel, and mackaw, completed the +establishment. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + "What transport to retrace our early plays, + Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied; + The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze + Of the wild brooks." THOMSON. + +MANY were the dreary muirs and rugged mountains her Ladyship had to +encounter in her progress to Glenfern Castle; and, but for the hope of +the new world that awaited her beyond those formidable barriers, her +delicate frame and still more sensitive feelings must have sunk beneath +the horrors of such a journey. But she remembered the Duchess had said +the inns and roads were execrable; and the face of the country, as well +as the lower orders of people, frightful; but what signified those +things? There were balls, and sailing parties, and rowing matches, and +shooting parties, and fishing parties, and parties of every description; +and the certainty of being recompensed by the festivities of Glenfern +Castle, reconciled her to the ruggedness of the approach. + +Douglas had left his paternal home and native hills when only eight +years of age. A rich relation of his mother's happening to visit them at +that time, took a fancy to the boy; and, under promise of making him his +heir, had prevailed on his parents to part with him. At a proper age he +was placed in the Guards, and had continued to maintain himself in the +favor of his benefactor until his imprudent marriage, which had +irritated this old bachelor so much that he instantly disinherited him, +and refused to listen to any terms of reconciliation. The impressions +which the scenes of his infancy had left upon the mind of the young +Scotsman, it may easily be supposed, were of a pleasing description. He +expatiated to his Juliana on the wild but august scenery that surrounded +his father's castle, and associated with the idea the boyish +exploits, which though faintly remembered, still served to endear them +to his heart. He spoke of the time when he used to make one of a +numerous party on the lake, and, when tired of sailing on its glassy +surface to the sound of soft music, they would land at some lovely spot; +and, after partaking of their banquet beneath a spreading tree, conclude +the day by a dance on the grass. + +Lady Juliana would exclaim, "How delightful! I doat upon picnics and +dancing! --_àpropos,_ Henry, there will surely be a ball to +welcome our arrival?" + +The conversation was interrupted; for just at that moment they had +gained the summit of a very high hill, and the post-boy, stopping to +give his horses breath, turned round to the carriage, pointing at the +same time, with a significant gesture, to a tall thin gray house, +something resembling a tower, that stood in the vale beneath. A small +sullen-looking lake was in front, on whose banks grew neither tree nor +shrub. Behind rose a chain of rugged cloud-capped hills, on the +declivities of which were some faint attempts at young plantations; and +the only level ground consisted of a few dingy turnip fields, enclosed +with stone walls, or dykes, as the post-boy called them. It was now +November; the day was raw and cold; and a thick drizzling rain was +beginning to fall. A dreary stillness reigned all around, broken only at +intervals by the screams of the sea-fowl that hovered over the lake, on +whose dark and troubled waters was dimly descried a little boat, plied +by one solitary being. + +"What a scene!" at length Lady Juliana exclaimed, shuddering as she +spoke. "Good God, what a scene! How I pity the unhappy wretches who are +doomed to dwell in such a place! and yonder hideous grim house--it makes +me sick to look at it. For Heaven's sake, bid him drive on." Another +significant look from the driver made the colour mount to Douglas's +cheek, as he stammered out, "Surely it can't be; yet somehow I don't +know. Pray, my lad," setting down one of the glasses, and addressing the +post-boy, "what is the name of that house?" + +"Hoose!" repeated the driver; "ca' ye thon a hoose? Thon's gude Glenfern +Castle." + +Lady Juliana, not understanding a word he said, sat silently wondering +at her husband's curiosity respecting such a wretched-looking place. + +"Impossible! you must be mistaken, my lad: why, what's become of all the +fine wood that used to surround it?" + +"Gin you mean a wheen auld firs, there's some of them to the fore yet," +pointing to two or three tall, bare, scathed Scotch firs, that scarcely +bent their stubborn heads to the wind, that now began to howl around +them. + +"I insist upon it that you are mistaken; you must have wandered from +the right road," cried the now alarmed Douglas in a loud voice, which +vainly attempted to conceal his agitation. + +"We'll shune see that," replied the phlegmatic Scot, who, having +rested his horses and affixed a drag to the wheel, was about to proceed, +when Lady Juliana, who now began to have some vague suspicion of the +truth, called to him to stop, and, almost breathless with alarm, +inquired of her husband the meaning of what had passed. + +He tried to force a smile, as he said, "It seems our journey is nearly +ended; that fellow persists in asserting that that is Glenfern, though I +can scarcely think it. If it is, it is strangely altered since I left it +twelve years ago." + +For a moment Lady Juliana was too much alarmed to make a reply; pale and +speechless, she sank back in the carriage; but the motion of it, as it +began to proceed, roused her to a sense of her situation, and she burst +into tears and exclamations. + +The driver, who attributed it all to fears at descending the hill, +assured her she need na be the least feared, for there were na twa +cannier beasts atween that and Johnny Groat's hoose; and that they wad +ha'e her at the castle door in a crack, gin they were ance down the +brae." + +Douglas's attempts to soothe his high-born bride were not more +successful than those of the driver: in vain he made use of every +endearing epithet and tender expression, and recalled the time when she +used to declare that she could dwell with him in a desert; her only +replies were bitter reproaches and upbraidings for his treachery and +deceit, mingled with floods of tears, and interrupted by hysterical +sobs. Provoked at her folly, yet softened by her extreme distress, +Douglas was in the utmost state of perplexity--now ready to give way to +a paroxysm of rage; then yielding to the natural goodness of his heart, +he sought to soothe her into composure; and, at length, with much +difficulty succeeded in changing her passionate indignation into silent +dejection. + +That no fresh objects of horror or disgust might appear to disturb this +calm, the blinds were pulled down, and in this state they reached +Glenfern Castle. But there the friendly veil was necessarily withdrawn, +and the first object that presented itself to the highbred Englishwoman +was an old man clad in a short tartan coat and striped woollen +night-cap, with blear eyes and shaking hands, who vainly strove to open +the carriage door. + +Douglas soon extricated himself, and assisted his lady to alight; then +accosting the venerable domestic as "Old Donald," asked him if he +recollected him. + +"Weel that, weel that, Maister Hairy, and ye're welcome hame; and ye tu, +bonny sir" [1] (addressing Lady Juliana, who was calling to her +footman to follow her with the mackaw); then, tottering before them, he +led the way, while her Ladyship followed, leaning on her husband, her +squirrel on her other arm, preceded by her dogs, barking with all their +might, and attended by the mackaw, screaming with all his strength; and +in this state was the Lady Juliana ushered into the drawing-room of +Glenfern Castle! + +[1] The Highlanders use this term of respect indifferently to +both sexes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "What can be worse, + Than to dwell here!" + + _Paradise Lost._ + +IT was a long, narrow, low-roofed room, with a number of small windows, +that admitted feeble lights in every possible direction. The scanty +furniture bore every appearance of having been constructed at the same +time as the edifice; and the friendship thus early formed still seemed +to subsist, as the high-backed worked chairs adhered most pertinaciously +to the gray walls, on which hung, in narrow black frames, some of the +venerable ancestors of the Douglas family. A fire, which appeared to +have been newly kindled, was beginning to burn, but, previous to showing +itself in flame, had chosen to vent itself in smoke, with which +the room was completely filled, and the open windows seemed to produce +no other effect than that of admitting the rain and wind. + +At the entrance of the stranger a flock of females rushed forward to meet +them. Douglas good humouredly submitted to be hugged by three long-chinned +spinsters, whom he recognised as his aunts; and warmly saluted five awkward +purple girls he guessed to be his sisters; while Lady Julian stood the image +of despair, and, scarcely conscious, admitted in silence the civilities of +her new relations; till, at length, sinking into a chair, she endeavoured +to conceal her agitation by calling to the dogs and caressing her mackaw. + +The Laird, who had been hastily summoned from his farming operations, +now entered. He was a good looking old man, with something the air of a +gentleman, in spite of the inelegance of his dress, his rough manner, +and provincial accent. After warmly welcoming his son, he advanced to +his beautiful daughter-in-law, and, taking her in his arms, bestowed a +loud and hearty kiss on each cheek; then, observing the paleness of her +complexion, and the tears that swam in her eyes, "What! not frightened +for our Hieland hills, my leddy? Come, cheer up--trust me, ye'll find as +warm hearts among them as ony ye ha'e left in your fine English +_policies_"--shaking her delicate fingers in his hard muscular gripe as +he spoke. + +The tears, which had with difficulty been hitherto suppressed, now burst +in torrents from the eyes of the high-bred beauty, as she leant her +cheek against the back of a chair, and gave way to the anguish which +mocked control. + +To the loud, anxious inquiries, and oppressive kindness of her homely +relatives, she made no reply; but, stretching out her hands to her +husband sobbed, + +"Take, oh, take me from this place!" + +Mortified, ashamed, and provoked, at a behavior so childish and absurd, +Douglas could only stammer out something about Lady Juliana having been +frightened and fatigued; and, requesting to be shown to their apartment, +he supported her almost lifeless to it, while his aunts followed, all +three prescribing different remedies in a breath. + +"For heaven's sake, take them from me!" faintly articulated Lady +Juliana, as she shrank from the many hands that were alternately applied +to her pulse and forehead. + +After repeated entreaties and plausible excuses from Douglas, his aunts +at length consented to withdraw, and he then exerted all the rhetoric he +was master of to reconcile his bride to the situation love and necessity +had thrown her into. But in vain he employed reasoning, caresses, and +threats; the only answers he could extort were tears and entreaties to +be taken from a place where she declared she felt it impossible to +exist. + +"If you wish my death, Harry," said she, in a voice almost inarticulate +from excess of weeping, "oh! kill me quickly, and do not leave me to +linger out my days, and perish at last with misery here." + +"For heaven's sake, tell me what you would have me do," said her +husband, softened to pity by her extreme distress, "and I swear that in +everything possible I will comply with your wishes." + +"Oh, fly then, stop the horses, and let us return immediately. Do run, +dearest Harry, or they will be gone; and we shall never get away from +this odious place." + +"Where would you go?" asked he, with affected calmness. + +"Oh, anywhere; no matter where, so as we do but get away from hence: we +can be at no loss." + +"None in the world," interrupted Douglas, with a bitter smile, "as long +as there is a prison to receive us. See," continued he, throwing a few +shillings down on the table, "there is every sixpence I possess in the +world, so help me heaven!" + +Lady Juliana stood aghast. + +At that instant the English Abigail burst into the room, and in a voice +choking with passion, she requested her discharge, that she might return +with the driver who had brought them there. + +"A pretty way of travelling, to be sure, it will be," continued she, "to +go bumping behind a dirty chaise-driver; but better to be shook to a +jelly altogether than stay amongst such a set of _Oaten-toads."_ [1] + +[1] Hottentots. + +"What do you mean?" inquired Douglas, as soon as the voluble Abigail +allowed him an opportunity of asking. + +"Why, my meaning, sir, is to leave this here place immediately; not that +I have any objections either to my Lady or you, sir; but, to be sure, it +was a sad day for me that I engaged myself to her Ladyship. Little did I +think that a lady of distinction would coming to such a poor pitiful +place as this. I am sure I thought I should ha' swooned when I was +showed the hole where I was to sleep." + +At the bare idea of this indignity to her person the fury of the +incensed fair one blazed forth with such strength as to choke her +utterance. + +Amazement had hitherto kept Lady Juliana silent; for to such scenes she +was a stranger. Born in an elevated rank, reared in state, accustomed to +the most obsequious attention, and never approached but with the respect +due rather to a _divinity_ than to a mortal, the strain of vulgar +insolence that now assailed her was no less new to her ears than +shocking to her feelings. With a voice and look that awed the woman in +to obedience, she commanded her to quit her presence for ever; and then, +no longer able to suppress the motions of insulted pride, wounded +vanity, and indignant disappointment, she gave way to a violent fit of +hysterics. + +In the utmost perplexity the unfortunate husband by turns cursed the +hour that had given him such a wife; now tried to soothe her into +composure; but at length, seriously alarmed at the increasing attack, he +called loudly for assistance. + +In a moment the three aunts and the five sisters all rushed together +into the room, full of wonder, exclamation, and inquiry. Many were the +remedies that were tried and the experiments that were suggested; and at +length the violence of passion exhausted itself, and a faint sob or deep +sigh succeeded the hysteric scream. + +Douglas now attempted to account for the behaviour of his noble spouse +by ascribing it to the fatigue she had lately undergone, joined to +distress of mind at her father's unrelenting severity towards her. + +"Oh, the amiable creature!" interrupted the unsuspecting spinsters, +almost stifling her with their caresses as they spoke: "Welcome, a +thousand times welcome, to Glenfern Castle," said Miss Jacky, who was +esteemed by much the most sensible woman, as well as the greatest orator +in the whole parish; "nothing shall be wanting, dearest Lady Juliana, to +compensate for a parent's rigour, and make you happy and comfortable. +Consider this as your future home! My sisters and myself will be as +mothers to you; and see these charming young creatures," dragging +forward two tall frightened girls, with sandy hair and great purple +arms; "thank Providence for having blest you with such sisters!" "Don't, +speak too much, Jacky, to our dear niece at present," said Miss Grizzy; +"I think one of Lady Maclaughlan's composing draughts would be the best +thing for her." + +"Composing draughts at this time of day!" cried Miss Nicky; "I +should think a little good broth a much wiser thing. There are some +excellent family broth making below, and I'll desire Tibby to bring a +few." + +"Will you take a little soup, love?" asked Douglas. His lady assented; +and Miss Nicky vanished, but quickly re-entered, followed by Tibby, +carrying a huge bowl of coarse broth, swimming with leeks, greens, and +grease. Lady Juliana attempted to taste it; but her delicate palate +revolted at the homely fare; and she gave up the attempt, in spite of +Miss Nicky's earnest entreaties to take a few more of these excellent +family broth. + +"I should think," said Henry, as he vainly attempted to stir it round, +"that a little wine would be more to the purpose than this stuff." + +The aunts looked at each other; and, withdrawing to a corner, a +whispering consultation took place, in which Lady Maclaughlan's opinion, +"birch, balm, currant, heating, cooling, running risks," etc. etc., +transpired. At length the question was carried; and some tolerable +sherry and a piece of very substantial _shortbread_ were produced. + +It was now voted by Miss Jacky, and carried _nem. con._ that her Ladyship +ought to take a little repose till the hour of dinner. + +"And don't trouble to dress," continued the considerate aunt, "for we +are not very dressy here; and we are to be quite a charming family +party, nobody but ourselves; and," turning to her nephew, "your brother +and his wife. She is a most superior woman, though she has rather too +many of her English prejudices yet to be all we could wish; but I have +no doubt, when she has lived a little longer amongst us, she will just +become one of ourselves." + +"I forget who she was," said Douglas. + +"A grand-daughter of Sir Duncan Malcolm's, a very old family of the +--------- blood, and nearly allied to the present Earl. And here they +come," exclaimed she, on hearing the sound of a carriage; and all rushed +out to receive them. + +"Let us have a glimpse of this scion from a noble stock," said Lady +Juliana, mimicking the accent of the poor spinsters, as she rose and ran +to the window. + +"Good heavens, Henry! do come and behold this equipage;" and she +laughed with childish glee as she pointed to a plain, old-fashioned +whisky, with a large top. A tall handsome young man now alighted, and +lifted out a female figure, so enveloped in a cloak that eyes less +penetrating than Lady Juliana's could not, at a single glance, have +discovered her to be a "frightful quiz." + +"Only conceive the effect of this dashing equipage in Bond Street!" +continued she, redoubling her mirth at the bright idea; then suddenly +stopping, and sighing-- + +"Ah, my pretty _vis-à-vis!_ I remember the first time I saw you, +Henry, I was in it at a review;" and she sighed still deeper. + +"True; I was then aid-de-camp to your handsome lover, the Duke of +L----------." + +"Perhaps I might think him handsome now. People's tastes alter according +to circumstances." + +"Yours must have undergone a wonderful revolution, if you can find +charms in a hunchback of fifty three." + +"He is not a hunchback," returned her Ladyship warmly; "only a little +high shouldered; but at any rate he has the most beautiful place and the +finest house in England." + +Douglas saw the storm gathering on the brow of his capricious wife, and +clasping her in his arms, "Are you indeed so changed, my Julia, that you +have forgot the time when you used to declare you would prefer a desert +with your Henry to a throne with another." + +"No, certainly, not changed; but--I--I did not very well know then +what a desert was; or, at least, I had formed rather a different idea of +it." + +"What was your idea of a desert?" said her husband, laughing. "Do tell +me, love." + +"Oh! I had fancied it a beautiful place, full of roses and myrtles, and +smooth green turf, and murmuring rivulets, and, though very retired, not +absolutely out of the world; where one could occasionally see one's +friends, and give _dejeunés et fêtes champêtres_." + +"Well, perhaps the time may come, Juliana, when we may realise your +Elysian deserts; but at present, you know, I am wholly dependent on my +father. I hope to prevail on him to do something for me; and that our +stay here will be short; as, you may be sure, the moment I can, I will +take you hence. I am sensible it is not a situation for you; but for my +sake, dearest Juliana, bear with it for a while, without betraying your +disgust. Will you do this, darling?" and he kissed away the sullen tear +that hung on her cheek. + +"You know, love, there's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for you," +replied she, as she played with her squirrel; "and as you promise our +stay shall be short, if I don't die of the horrors I shall certainly try +to make the agreeable. Oh! my cherub!" flying to her pug, who came +barking into the room "where have you been, and where's my darling +Psyche, and sweet mackaw? Do, Harry, go and see after the darlings." + +"I must go and see my brother and his wife first. Will you come, love?" + +"Oh, not now; I don't feel equal to the encounter; besides, I must dress. +But what shall I do? Since that vile woman's gone I can't dress myself. +I never did such a thing in my life, and I am sure it's impossible that +I can," almost weeping at the hardships she was doomed to experience in +making her own toilet. + +"Shall I be your Abigail?" asked her husband, smiling at the distress; +"me thinks it would be no difficult task to deck my Julia." + +"Dear Harry, will you really dress me? Oh! That will be delightful! I +shall die with laughing at your awkwardness;" and her beautiful eyes +sparkled with childish delight at the idea. + +"In the meantime," said Douglas, "I'll send someone to unpack your +things; and after I have shook hands with Archie, and been introduced to +my new sister, I shall enter on my office." + +"Now do, pray, make haste; for I die to see your great hands tying +strings and sticking pins." + +Delighted with her gaiety and good humour, he left her caressing her +favourites; and finding rather a scarcity of female attendance, he +despatched two of his sisters to assist his helpless beauty in her +arrangements. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + And ever against eating cares, + Lap me in soft Lydian airs." + + _L'Allegro._ + +WHEN Douglas returned he found the floor strewed with dresses of every +description, his sisters on their knees before a great trunk they were +busied in unpacking, and his Lady in her wrapper, with her hair about +her ears, still amusing herself with her pets. + +"See how good your sisters are," said she, pointing to the poor girls, +whose inflamed faces bore testimony to their labours. "I declare I am +quite sorry to see them take so much trouble," yawning as she leant back +in her chair; "is it not quite shocking, Tommy? 'kissing her squirrel.' +Oh! pray, Henry, do tell me what I am to put on; for I protest I don't +know. Favolle always used to choose for me; and so did that odious +Martin, for she had an exquisite taste." + +"Not so exquisite as your own, I am sure; so for once choose for +yourself," replied the good-humoured husband; "and pray make haste, for +my father waits dinner." + +Betwixt scolding, laughing, and blundering, the dress was at length +completed; and Lady Juliana, in all the pomp of dress and pride of +beauty, descended, leaning on her husband's arm. + +On entering the drawing-room, which was now in a more comfortable +state, Douglas led her to a lady who was sitting by the fire: and, +placing her hand within that of the stranger, "Juliana, my love," said +he, "this is a sister whom you have not yet seen, a with whom I am sure +you will gladly make acquaintance." + +The stranger received her noble sister with graceful ease; and, with a +sweet smile and pleasing accent, expressed herself happy in the +introduction. Lady Juliana was surprised and somewhat disconcerted. She +had arranged her plans, and made up her mind to be _condescending;_ she +had resolved to enchant by her sweetness, dazzle by her brilliancy, and +overpower by her affability. But there was a simple dignity in the air +and address of the lady, before which even high-bred affectation sank +abashed. Before she found a reply to the courteous yet respectful +salutation of her sister-in-law Douglas introduced his brother; and the +old gentleman, impatient at any farther delay, taking Lady Juliana by +the hand, pulled, rather than led her into the dining-room. + +Even Lady Juliana contrived to make a meal of the roast mutton and +moorfowl; for the Laird piqued himself on the breed of his sheep, and +his son was to good a sportsman to allow his friends to want for game. + +"I think my darling Tommy would relish this grouse very much," observed +Lady Juliana, as she secured the last remaining wing for her favourite." +Bring him here!" turning to the tall, dashing lackey who stood behind +her chair, and whose handsome livery and well-dressed hair formed a +striking contrast to old Donald's tartan jacket and bob-wig. + +"Come hither, my sweetest cherubs," extending her arms towards the +charming trio, as they entered, barking, and chattering, and flying to +their mistress. A scene of noise and nonsense ensued. + +Douglas remained silent, mortified and provoked at the weakness of his +wife, which not even the silver tones of her voice or the elegance of +her manners could longer conceal from him. But still there was a charm +in her very folly, to the eye of love, which had not yet wholly lost its +power. + +After the table was cleared, observing that he was still silent and +abstracted, Lady Juliana turned to her husband, and, laying her hand on +his shoulder, "You are not well, love!" said she, looking up in his +face, and shaking back the redundant ringlets that shaded her own. + +"Perfectly so," replied her husband, with a sigh. + +"What? Dull? Then I must sing to enliven you." + +And, leaning her head on his shoulder, she warbled a verse of the +beautiful little Venetian air, _La Biondina in Gondoletta._ Then +suddenly stopping, and fixing her eyes on Mrs. Douglas, "I beg pardon, +perhaps you don't like music; perhaps my singing's a bore." + +"You pay us a bad compliment in saying so," said her sister-in-law, +smiling; "and the only atonement you can make for such an injurious +doubt is to proceed." + +"Does anybody sing here?" asked she, without noticing this request. "Do, +somebody, sing me a song." + +"Oh! we all sing, and dance too," said one, of the old young ladies; +"and after tea we will show you some of our Scotch steps; but in the +meantime Mrs. Douglas will favour us with her song." + +Mrs. Douglas assented good-humouredly, though aware that it would be +rather a nice point to please all parties in the choice of a song. The +Laird reckoned all foreign music--_i.e._ everything that was not +Scotch--an outrage upon his ears; and Mrs. Douglas had too much taste to +murder Scotch songs with her English accent. She therefore compromised +the matter as well as she could by selecting a Highland ditty clothed in +her own native tongue; and sang with much pathos and simplicity the +lamented Leyden's "Fall of Macgregor:" + + "In the vale of Glenorehy the night breeze was sighing + O'er the tomb where the ancient Macgregors are lying; + Green are their graves by their soft murmuring river, + But the name of Macgregor has perished for ever. + + "On a red stream of light, by his gray mountains glancing, + Soon I beheld a dim spirit advancing; + Slow o'er the heath of the dead was its motion, + Like the shadow of mist o'er the foam of the ocean. + + "Like the sound of a stream through the still evening dying,-- + Stranger! who treads where Macgregor is lying? + Darest thou to walk, unappall'd and firm-hearted, + 'Mid the shadowy steps of the mighty departed? + + "See! round thee the caves of the dead are disclosing + The shades that have long been in silence reposing; + Thro' their forms dimly twinkles the moon-beam descending, + As upon thee their red eyes of wrath they are bending. + + "Our gray stones of fame though the heath-blossom cover, + Round the fields of our battles our spirits still hover; + Where we oft saw the streams running red from the mountains; + But dark are our forms by our blue native fountains. + + "For our fame melts away like the foam of the river, + Like the last yellow leaves on the oak-boughs that shiver: + The name is unknown of our fathers so gallant; + And our blood beats no more in the breasts of the valiant. + + "The hunter of red deer now ceases to number + The lonely gray stones on the field of our slumber.-- + Fly, stranger! and let not thine eye be reverted. + Why should'st thou see that our fame is departed?" + +"Pray, do you play on the harp," asked the volatile lady, scarcely +waiting till the first stanza was ended; "and, _apropos,_ have you a +good harp here?" + +"We've a very sweet spinnet," said Miss Jacky, "which, in my opinion, is +a far superior instrument: and Bella will give us a tune upon it. Bella, +my dear, let Lady Juliana hear how well you can play." + +Bella, blushing like a peony rose, retired to a corner of the room, +where stood the spinnet; and with great, heavy, trembling hands, began +to belabour the unfortunate instrument, while the aunts beat time, and +encouraged her to proceed with exclamations of admiration and applause. + +"You have done very well, Bella," said Mrs. Douglas, seeing her +preparing to _execute_ another piece, and pitying the poor girl, as well +as her auditors. Then whispering Miss Jacky that Lady Juliana looked +fatigued, they arose to quit the room. + +"Give me your arm, love, to the drawing-room," said her Ladyship +languidly. "And now, pray, don't be long away," continued she, as he +placed her on the sofa, and returned to the gentlemen. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + "You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, + With most admired disorder." + + _Macbeth._ + +THE interval, which seemed of endless duration to the hapless Lady +Juliana, was passed by the aunts in giving sage counsel as to the course +of life to be pursued by married ladies. Worsted stockings and quilted +petticoats were insisted upon as indispensable articles of dress; while +it was plainly insinuated that it was utterly impossible any child could +be healthy whose mother had not confined her wishes to barley broth and +oatmeal porridge. + +"Only look at thae young lambs," said Miss Grizzy, pointing to the five +great girls; "see what pickters of health they are! I'm sure I hope, my +dear niece, your children will be just the same--only boys, for we are +sadly in want of boys. It's melancholy to think we have not a boy among +us, and that a fine auntient race like ours should be dying away for +want of male heirs." And the tears streamed down the cheeks of the good +spinster as she spoke. + +The entrance of the gentlemen put a stop to the conversation. + +Flying to her husband, Lady Juliana began to whisper, in very audible +tones, her inquires, whether he had yet got any money--when they were to +go away, etc. etc. + +"Does your Ladyship choose any tea?" asked Miss Nicky, as she +disseminated the little cups of coarse black liquid. + +"Tea! oh no, I never drink tea. I'll take some coffee though; and Psyche +doats on a dish of tea." And she tendered the beverage that had been +intended for herself to her favourite. + +"Here's no coffee," said Douglas, surveying the tea-table; "but I will +ring for some," as he pulled the bell. + +Old Donald answered the summons. + +"Where's the coffee?" demanded Miss Nicky. + +"The coffee!" repeated the Highlander; "troth, Miss Nicky, an' it's been +clean forgot." + +"Well, but you can get it yet?" said Douglas. + +"'Deed, Maister Harry, the night's owre far gane for't noo; for the +fire's a' ta'en up, ye see," reckoning with his fingers, as he +proceeded; "there's parritch makin' for oor supper; and there's patatees +boiling for the beasts; and--" + +"I'll see about it myself," said Miss Nicky, leaving the room, with old +Donald at her back, muttering all the way. + +The old Laird, all this while, had been enjoying his evening nap; but, +that now ended, and the tea equipage being dismissed, starting up, he +asked what they were about, that the dancing was not begun. + +"Come, my Leddy, we'll set the example," snapping his fingers, and +singing in a hoarse voice, + + "The mouse is a merry beastie, + And the moudiwort wants the een; + But folk sail ne'er get wit, + Sae merry as we twa ha'e been.' + +"But whar's the girlies?" cried he. "Ho! Belle, Becky, Betty, Baby, +Beeny--to your posts!" + +The young ladies, eager for the delights of music and dancing, now +entered, followed by Coil, the piper, dressed in the native garb, with +cheeks seemingly ready blown for the occasion. After a little strutting +and puffing, the pipes were fairly set a going in Coil's most spirited +manner. But vain would be the attempt to describe Lady Juliana's horror +and amazement at the hideous sounds that for the first time assailed her +ear. Tearing herself from the grasp of the old gentleman, who was just +setting off in the reel, she flew shrieking to her husband, and threw +herself trembling into his arms, while he called loudly to the self +delighted Coil to stop. + +"What's the matter? what's the matter?" cried the whole family, +gathering round. + +"Matter!" repeated Douglas furiously; "you have frightened Lady Juliana +to death with your infernal music. What did you mean," turning fiercely +to the astonished piper, "by blowing that confounded bladder?" + +Poor Coil gaped with astonishment; for never before had his performance +on the bagpipe been heard but with admiration and applause. + +"A bonny bargain, indeed, that canna stand the pipes," said the old +gentleman, as he went puffing up and down the room. "She's no the wife +for a Heelandman. Confoonded blather, indeed! By my faith, ye're no +blate!" + +"I declare it's the most distressing thing I ever met with," sighed Miss +Grizzy. "I wonder whether it could be the sight or the sound of the +bagpipe that frightened our dear niece. I wish to goodness Lady +Maclaughlan was here!" + +"It's impossible the bagpipe could frighten anybody," said Miss Jacky, +in a high key; "nobody with common sense could be frightened at a +bagpipe." + +Mrs. Douglas here mildly interposed, and soothed down the offended pride +of the Highlanders by attributing Lady Juliana's agitation entirely to +_surprise._ The word operated like a charm; all were ready to admit that +it was a surprising thing when heard for the first time. Miss Jacky +remarked that we are all liable to be surprised; and the still more +sapient Grizzy said that, indeed, it was most surprising the effect that +surprise had upon some people. For her own part, she could not deny but +that she was very often frightened when she was surprised. + +Douglas, meanwhile, was employed in soothing the terrors, real or +affected, of his delicate bride, who declared herself so exhausted with +the fatigue she had undergone, and the sufferings she had endured, that +she must retire for the night. Henry, eager to escape from the questions +and remarks of his family, gladly availed himself of the same excuse; +and, to the infinite mortification of both aunts and nieces, the ball +was broken up. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + "What choice to choose for delicacy best." + + Milton + +OF what nature were the remarks passed in the parlour upon the new +married couple has not reached the writer of these memoirs with as much +exactness as the foregoing circumstances; but they may in part be +imagined from the sketch already given of the characters which formed +the Glenfern party. The conciliatory indulgence of Mrs. Douglas, when +aided by the good-natured Miss Grizzy, doubtless had a favourable effect +on the irritated pride but short-lived acrimony of the old gentleman. +Certain it is that, before the evening concluded, they appeared all +restored to harmony, and retired to their respective chambers in hopes +of beholding a more propitious morrow. + +Who has not perused sonnets, odes, and speeches in praise of that balmy +blessing sleep; from the divine effusions of Shakespeare down to the +drowsy notes of newspaper poets? + +Yet cannot too much be said in its commendation. Sweet is its influence +on the careworn eyes to tears accustomed. In its arms the statesman +forgets his harassed thoughts; the weary and the poor are blessed with +its charms; and conscience--even conscience--is sometimes soothed into +silence, while the sufferer sleeps. But nowhere, perhaps, is its +influence more happily felt than in the heart oppressed by the harassing +accumulation of petty ills; like a troop of locusts, making up by their +number and their stings what they want in magnitude. + +Mortified pride in discovering the fallacy of our own judgment; to be +ashamed of what we love, yet still to love, are feelings most +unpleasant; and though they assume not the dignity of deep distress, yet +philosophy has scarce any power to soothe their worrying, incessant +annoyance. Douglas was glad to forget himself in sleep. He had thought a +vast deal that day, and of unpleasant subjects, more than the whole of +his foregoing life would have produced. If he did not curse the fair +object of his imprudence, he at least cursed his own folly and himself; +and these were his last waking thoughts. + +But Douglas could not repose as long as the seven sleepers, and, in +consequence of having retired sooner to bed than he was accustomed to +do, he waked at an early hour in the morning. + +The wonderful activity which people sometimes feel when they have little +to do with their bodies, and less with their minds, caused him to rise +hastily and dress, hoping to pick up a new set of ideas by virtue of his +locomotive powers. + +On descending to the dining-parlour he found his father seated at the +window, carefully perusing a pamphlet written to illustrate the +principle, _Let nothing be lost,_ and containing many sage and erudite +directions for the composition and dimensions of that ornament to a +gentleman's farmyard, and a cottager's front door, ycleped, in the +language of the country, a _midden_--with the signification of which we +would not, for the world, shock the more refined feelings of our +southern readers. + +Many were the inquiries about dear Lady Juliana; hoped she had rested +well; hoped the found the bed comfortable, etc. etc. These inquiries +were interrupted by the Laird, who requested is son to take a turn with +him while breakfast was getting ready, that they might talk over past +events and new plans; that he might see the new planting on the hill; the +draining of the great moss; with other agricultural concerns which we +shall omit, not having the same power of commanding attention for our +readers as the Laird had from his hearers. + +After repeated summonses and many inquiries from the impatient party +already assembled the breakfast table, Lady Juliana made her appearance, +accompanied by her favourites, whom no persuasions of her husband could +prevail upon her to leave behind. + +As she entered the room her olfactory nerves were smote with gales, +not of "Araby the blest," but of old cheese and herrings, with which the +hospitable board was amply provided. + +The ladies having severally exchanged the salutations of the morning, +Miss Nicky commenced the operation of pouring out tea, while the Laird +laid a large piece of herring on her Ladyship's plate. + +"Good heavens! what am I to do with this?" exclaimed she. "Do take it +away, or I shall faint!" + +"Brother, brother!" cried Miss Grizzy in a tone of alarm, "I beg you +won't place any unpleasant object before the eyes of our dear niece. I +declare! Pray, was it the sight or the smell of the beast [1] that +shocked you so much, my dear Lady Juliana? I'm sure I wish to goodness +Lady Maclaughlan was come!" + +[1] In Scotland everything that flies and swims ranks in the bestial tribe. + +Mr. Douglas, or the Major, as he was styled, immediately rose and pulled +the bell. + +"Desire my gig to be got ready directly!" said he. + +The aunts drew up stiffly, and looked at each other without speaking; +but the old gentleman expressed his surprise that his son should think +of leaving them so soon. + +"May we inquire the reason of this sudden resolution?" at length said +Miss Jacky in a tone of stifled indignation. + +"Certainly, if you are disposed to hear it; it is because I find that +there is company expected." + +The three ladies turned up their hands and eyes in speechless horror. + +"Is it that virtuous woman Lady Maclaughlan you would shun, nephew?" +demanded Miss Jacky. + +"It is that insufferable woman I would shun," replied her nephew, with a +heightened colour and a violence very unusual with him. + +The good Miss Grizzy drew out her pocket-handkerchief, while Mrs. +Douglas vainly endeavoured to silence her husband, and avert the rising +storm. + +"Dear Douglas!" whispered his wife in a tone of reproach. + +"Oh, pray let him go on," said Miss Jacky, almost choking under the +effort she made to appear calm. "Let him go on. Lady Maclaughlan's +character, luckily, is far above the reach of calumny; nothing that Mr. +Archibald Douglas can say will have power to change our opinions, or, I +hope, to prejudice his brother and Lady Juliana against this most +exemplary, virtuous woman--a woman of family--of fortune--of talents--of +accomplishments; a woman of unblemished reputation--of the strictest +morals, sweetest temper, charming heart, delightful spirits, so +charitable--every year gives fifty flannel petticoats to the old people +of the parish---" + +"Then such a wife as she is!" sobbed out Miss Grizzy. "She has +invented I don't know how many different medicines for Sir Sampson's +complaint, and makes a point of his taking some of them every day; but +for her I'm sure he would have been in his grave long ago." + +"She's doing all she can to send him there, as she has done many a poor +wretch already, with her infernal compositions." + +Here Miss Grizzy sank back in her chair, overcome with horror; and Miss +Nicky let fall the teapot, the scalding contents of which discharged +themselves upon the unfortunate Psyche, whose yells, mingling with the +screams of its fair mistress, for a while drowned even Miss Jacky's +oratory. + +"Oh, what shall I do?" cried Lady Juliana, as she bent over her +favourite. "Do send for a surgeon; pray, Henry, fly! Do fetch one +directly, or she will die; and it would quite kill me to lose my +darling. Do run, dearest Harry!" + +"My dear Julia, how can you be so absurd? There's no surgeon within +twenty miles of this." + +"No surgeon within twenty miles!" exclaimed she, starting up. "How +could you bring me to such a place? Good God! those dear creatures may +die--I may die myself--before I can get any assistance!" + +"Don't be alarmed, my dearest niece," said the good Miss Grizzy; "we are +all doctors here. I understand something of physic myself; and our +friend Lady Maclaughlan, who, I daresay, will be here presently, is +perfect mistress of every disease of the human frame." + +"Clap a cauld potatae to the brute's tae," cried the old +Laird gruffly. + +"I've a box of her scald ointment that will cure it in a minute." + +"If it don't cure, it will kill," said Mr. Douglas, with a smile. + +"Brother," said Miss Jacky, rising with dignity from her chair, and +waving her hand as she spoke-"brother, I appeal to you to protect the +character of this most amiable, respectable matron from the insults and +calumny your son thinks proper to load it with. Sir Sampson Maclaughlan +is your friend, and it therefore becomes your duty to defend his wife." + +"Troth, but I'll hae aneugh to do if I am to stand up for a' my friends' +wives," said the old gentleman. "But, however, Archie, you are to blame: +Leddy Maclaughlan is a very decent woman--at least, as far as I +ken--though she is a little free in the gab; and out of respect to my +auld friend Sir Sampson, it is my desire that you should remain here to +receive him, and that you trait baith him and his Lady discreetly." + +This was said in too serious a tone to be disputed, and his son was +obliged to submit. + +The ointment meanwhile having been applied to Psyche's paw, peace +was restored, and breakfast, recommenced. + +"I declare our dear niece has not tasted a morsel," observed Miss Nicky. + +"Bless me, here's charming barley meal scones," cried one, thrusting a +plateful of them before her. "Here's tempting pease bannocks," +interposed another, "and oat cakes. I'm sure your Ladyship never saw +such cakes." + +"I can't eat any of those things," said their delicate niece, with an +air of disgust. "I should like some muffin and chocolate." + +"You forget you are not in London, my love," said her husband +reproachfully. + +"No indeed, I do not forget it. Well then, give me some toast," with an +air of languid condescension. + +"Unfortunately, we happen be quite out of loaf bread at present," said +Miss Nicky; "but we've sent to Drymsine for some. They bake excellent +bread at Drymsine." + +"Is there nothing within the bounds of possibility you would fancy, +Julia?" asked Douglas. "Do think, love." + +"I think I should like some grouse, or a beefsteak, if it was very +nicely done," returned her Ladyship in a languishing tone. + +"Beef-steak!" repeated Miss Grizzy. + +"Beef-steak!" responded Miss Jacky. + +"Beef-steak!" reverberated Miss Nicky. + +After much deliberation and consultation amongst the three spinsters, it +was at length unanimously carried that the Lady's whim should be +indulged. + +"Only think, sisters," observed Miss Grizzy in an undertone, "what +reflections we should have to make upon ourselves if the child was to +resemble a moorfowl!" + +"Or have a face like a raw beef-steak!" said Miss Nicky. + +These arguments were unanswerable; and a smoking steak and plump +moor-fowl were quickly produced, of which Lady Juliana partook in +company with her four-footed favourites. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + "When winter soaks the fields, and female feet-- + Too weak to struggle with tenacious clay, + Or ford the rivulets--are best at home." + + _The Task_ + +THE meal being at length concluded, Glenfern desired Henry to attend him +on a walk, as he wished to have a little more private conversation with +him. Lady Juliana was beginning a remonstrance against the cruelty of +taking Harry away from her, when her husband whispering her that he +hoped to make something of the old gentleman, and that he should soon be +back, she suffered him to depart in silence. + +Old Donald having at length succeeded in clearing the table of its +heterogeneous banquet, it was quickly covered with the young ladies' +work. + +Miss Nicky withdrew to her household affairs. Miss Jacky sat with one +eye upon Lady Juliana, the other upon her five nieces. Miss Grizzy +seated herself by her Ladyship, holding a spread letter of Lady +Maclaughlan's before her as a screen. + +While the young ladies busily plied their needles, the elder ones left +no means untried to entertain their listless niece, whose only replies +were exclamations of weariness, or expressions of affection bestowed +upon her favourites. + +At length even Miss Jacky's sense and Miss Grizzy's good nature were _at +fault;_ when a ray of sunshine darting into the room suggested the idea +of a walk. The proposal was made, and assented to by her Ladyship, in +the twofold hope of meeting her husband and pleasing her dogs, whose +whining and scratching had for some time testified their desire of a +change. The ladies therefore separated to prepare for their _sortie,_ +after many recommendations from the aunts to be sure to _hap_ [1] well; +but, as if distrusting her powers in that way, they speedily equipped +themselves, and repaired to her chamber, arrayed _cap a' pie_ in the +walking costume of Glenfern Castle. And, indeed, it must be owned their +style of dress was infinitely more judicious than that of their +fashionable niece; and it was not surprising that they, in their shrunk +duffle greatcoats, vast poke-bonnets, red worsted neckcloths, and +pattens, should gaze with horror at her lace cap, lilac satin pelisse, +and silk shoes. Ruin to the whole race of Glenfern, present and future, +seemed inevitable from such a display of extravagance and imprudence. +Having surmounted the first shock, Miss Jacky made a violent effort to +subdue her rising wrath; and, with a sort of convulsive smile, addressed +Lady Juliana: "Your Ladyship, I perceive, is not of the opinion of our +inimitable bard, who, in his charming poem, 'The Seasons,' says' Beauty +needs not the foreign aid of ornament; but is, when unadorned, adorned +the most.' That is a truth that ought to be impressed on every young +woman's mind." + +[1] Wrap. + +Lady Juliana only stared. She was as little accustomed to be advised as +she was to hear Thomson's "Seasons" quoted. + +"I declare that's all quite true," said the more temporising Grizzy; +"and certainly our girls are not in the least taken up about their +dress, poor things! which is a great comfort. At the same time, I'm sure +it's no wonder your Ladyship should be taken up about yours, for +certainly that pelisse is most beautiful. Nobody can deny that; and I +daresay it is the very newest fashion. At the same time, I'm just afraid +that it's rather too delicate, and that it might perhaps get a little +dirty on our roads; for although, in general, our roads are quite +remarkable for being always dry, which is a great comfort in the +country, yet you know the very best roads of course must be wet +sometimes. And there's a very bad step just at the door almost, which +Glenfern has been always speaking about getting mended. But, to be sure, +he has so many things to think about that it's no wonder he forgets +sometimes; but I daresay he will get it done very soon now." + +The prospect of the road being mended produced no better effect than the +quotation from Thomson's "Seasons." It was now Miss Nicky's turn. + +"I'm afraid your Ladyship will frighten our stirks and stots with your +finery. I assure you they are not accustomed to see such fine figures; +and"--putting her hand out at the window--"I think it's spitting +already." [1] + +[1] A common expression in Scotland to signify slight rain. + +All three now joined in the chorus, beseeching Lady Juliana to put on +something warmer and more wiselike. + +"I positively have nothing," cried she, wearied with their +importunities, "and I shan't get any winter things now till I return to +town. My _roquelaire_ does very well for the carriage." + +The acknowledgment at the beginning of this speech was enough. All three +instantly disappeared like the genii of Aladin's lamp, and, like that +same person, presently returned, loaded with what, in their eyes, were +precious as the gold of Arabia. One displayed a hard worsted shawl, with +a flower-pot at each corner; another held up a tartan cloak, with a +hood; and a third thrust forward a dark cloth Joseph, lined with +flannel; while one and all showered down a variety of old bonnets, fur +tippets, hair soles, clogs, pattens, and endless _et ceteras_. Lady +Juliana shrank with disgust from these "delightful haps," and resisted +all attempts to have them forced upon her, declaring, in a manner which +showed her determined to have her own way, that she would either go out +as she was or not go out at all. The aunts were therefore obliged to +submit, and the party proceeded to what was termed the high road, though +a stranger would have sought in vain for its pretensions to that +title. Far as the eye could reach--and that was far enough--not a single +vehicle could be descried on it, though its deep ruts showed that it was +well frequented by carts. The scenery might have had charms for Ossian, +but it had none for Lady Juliana, who would rather have been entangled +in a string of Bond Street equipages than traversing "the lonely heath, +with the stream murmuring hoarsely, the old trees groaning in the wind, +the troubled lake," and the still more troubled sisters. As may be +supposed, she very soon grew weary of the walk. The bleak wind pierced +her to the soul; her silk slippers and lace flounces became +undistinguishable masses of mud; her dogs chased the sheep, and were, in +their turn, pursued by the "nowts," as the ladies termed the steers. One +sister expatiated on the great blessing of having a peat moss at their +door; another was at pains to point out the purposed site of a set of +new offices; and the third lamented that her Ladyship had not on thicker +shoes, that she might have gone and seen the garden. More than ever +disgusted and wretched, the hapless Lady Juliana returned to the house +to fret away the time till her husband's return. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "On se rend insupportable dans la société par des + défauts légers, mais qui se font sentir à tout + moment."--VOLTAIRE. + +THE family of Glenfern have already said so much for themselves that it +seems as if little remained to be told by their biographer. Mrs. Douglas +was the only member of the community who was at all conscious of the +unfortunate association of characters and habits that had just taken +place. She was a stranger to Lady Juliana; but she was interested by her +youth, beauty, and elegance, and felt for the sacrifice she had made--a +sacrifice so much greater than it was possible she ever could have +conceived or anticipated. She could in some degree enter into the nature +of her feelings towards the old ladies; for she too had felt how +disagreeable people might contrive to render themselves without being +guilty of any particular fault, and how much more difficult it is to +bear with the weaknesses than the vices of our neighbours. Had these +ladies' failings been greater in a moral point of view, it might not +have been so arduous a task to put up with them. But to love such a set +of little, trifling, tormenting foibles, all dignified with the name of +virtues, required, from her elegant mind, an exertion of its highest +principles--a continual remembrance of that difficult Christian precept, +"to bear with one another." A person of less sense than Mrs. Douglas +would have endeavoured to open the eyes of their understandings on what +appeared to be the folly and narrow mindedness of their ways; but she +refrained from the attempt, not from want of benevolent exertion, but +from an innate conviction that their foibles all originated in what was +now incurable, viz. the natural weakness of their minds, together with +their ignorance of the world and the illiberality and prejudices of a +vulgar education. "These poor women," reasoned the charitable +Mrs. Douglas, "are perhaps, after all, better characters in the sight of +God than I am. He who has endowed us all as His wisdom has seen fit, and +has placed me amongst them, oh, may He teach me to remember that we are +all His children, and enable me to bear with their faults, while I study +to correct my own." + +Thus did this amiable woman contrive not only to live in peace, but, +without sacrificing her own liberal ideas, to be actually beloved by +those amongst whom her lot had been cast, however dissimilar to herself. +But for that Christian spirit (in which must ever be included a liberal +mind and gentle temper), she must have felt towards her connexions a +still stronger repugnance than was even manifested by Lady Juliana; for +Lady Juliana's superiority over them was merely that of refined habits +and elegant manners; whereas Mrs. Douglas's was the superiority of a +noble and highly-gifted mind, which could hold no intercourse with +theirs except by stooping to the level of their low capacities. But, +that the merit of her conduct may be duly appreciated, I shall endeavour +to give a slight sketch of the female _dramatis personae_ of Glenfern +Castle. + +Miss Jacky, the senior of the trio, was what is reckoned a very sensible +woman--which generally means, a very disagreeable, obstinate, illiberal +director of all men, women, and children--a sort of superintendent of +all actions, time, and place--with unquestioned authority to arraign, +judge, and condemn upon the statutes of her own supposed sense. Most +country parishes have their sensible woman, who lays down the law on all +affairs, spiritual and temporal. Miss Jacky stood unrivalled as the +sensible woman of Glenfern. She had attained this eminence partly from +having a little more understanding than her sisters, but principally +from her dictatorial manner, and the pompous decisive tone in which she +delivered the most commonplace truths. At home her supremacy in all +matters of sense was perfectly established; and thence the infection, +like other superstitions, had spread over the whole neighbourhood. As +sensible woman she regulated the family, which she took care to let +everybody see; she was conductor of her nieces' education, which she +took care to let everybody hear; she was a sort of postmistress +general--a detector of all abuses and impositions; and deemed it her +prerogative to be consulted about all the useful and useless things +which everybody else could have done as well. She was liberal of her +advice to the poor, always enforcing upon them the iniquity of idleness, +but doing nothing for them in the way of employment--strict economy +being one of the many points in which she was particularly sensible. The +consequence was, while she was lecturing half the poor women in the +parish for their idleness, the bread was kept out of their mouths by the +incessant carding of wool and knitting of stockings, and spinning, and +reeling, and winding, and pirning, that went on amongst the ladies +themselves. And, by-the-bye, Miss Jacky is not the only sensible woman +who thinks she is acting a meritorious part when she converts what ought +to be the portion of the poor into the employment of the affluent. + +In short, Miss Jacky was all over sense. A skilful physiognomist would, +at a single glance, have detected the sensible woman, in the erect head, +the compressed lips, square elbows, and firm judicious step. Even her +very garments seemed to partake of the prevailing character of their +mistress: her ruff always looked more sensible than any other body's; +her shawl sat most sensibly on her shoulders; her walking shoes were +acknowledged to be very sensible; and she drew on her gloves with an air +of sense, as if the one arm had been Seneca, the other Socrates. From +what has been said it may easily be inferred that Miss Jacky was in fact +anything but a sensible woman; as indeed no woman can be who bears such +visible outward marks of what is in reality the most quiet and +unostentatious of all good qualities. But there is a spurious sense, +which passes equally well with the multitude; it is easily assumed, and +still more easily maintained; common truths and a grave dictatorial air +being all that is necessary for its support. + +Miss Grizzy's character will not admit of so long a commentary as that +of her sister. She was merely distinguishable from nothing by her simple +good nature, the inextricable entanglement of her thoughts, her love of +letter-writing, and her friendship with Lady Maclaughlan. Miss Nicky had +about as much sense as Miss Jacky; but, as no kingdom can maintain two +kings, so no family can admit of two sensible women; and Nicky was +therefore obliged to confine hers to the narrowest possible channels of +housekeeping, mantua-making, etc., and to sit down for life (or at least +till Miss Jacky should be married) with the dubious character of "not +wanting for sense either." With all these little peccadilloes the +sisters possessed some good properties. They were well-meaning, +kind-hearted, and, upon the whole, good-tempered they loved one another, +revered their brother, doated upon their nephews and nieces, took a +lively interest in the poorest of their poor cousins, a hundred degrees +removed, and had a firm conviction of the perfectibility of human +nature, as exemplified in the persons of all their own friends. "Even +their failings leaned to virtue's side;" for whatever they did was with +the intention of doing good, though the means they made use of generally +produced an opposite effect. But there are so many Miss Douglases in the +world that doubtless everyone of my readers is as well acquainted with +them as I am myself. I shall therefore leave them to finish the picture +according to their ideas, while I return to the parlour, where the +worthy spinsters are seated in expectation of the arrival of their +friend. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + "Though both + Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed-- + For contemplation he, and valour formed; + For softness she, and sweet attractive grace." + + MILTON. + + +"WHAT _can_ have come over Lady Maclaughlan?" said Miss Grizzy, as she +sat at the window in a dejected attitude. + +"I think I hear a carriage at last," cried Miss Jacky, turning up her +ears. "Wisht! let us listen." + +"It's only the wind," sighed Miss Grizzy. + +"It's the cart with the bread," said Miss Nicky. + +"It's Lady Maclaughlan, I assure you," pronounced Miss Jacky. + +The heavy rumble of a ponderous vehicle now proclaimed the approach of +the expected visitor; which pleasing anticipation was soon changed into +blissful certainty by the approach of a high-roofed, square bottomed, +pea-green chariot, drawn by two long-tailed white horses, and followed +by a lackey in the Highland garb. Out of this equipage issued a figure, +clothed in a light-coloured, large-flowered chintz raiment, carefully +drawn through the pocket-holes, either for its own preservation, or the +more disinterested purpose of displaying a dark short stuff petticoat, +which, with the same liberality, afforded ample scope for the survey of +a pair of worsted stockings and black leather shoes, something +resembling buckets. A faded red cloth jacket, which bore evident marks +of having been severed from its native skirts, now acted in the capacity +of a spencer. On the head rose a stupendous fabric, in the form of a +cap, on the summit of which was placed a black beaver hat, tied +_à la poissarde._ A small black satin muff in one hand, and a +gold-headed walking-stick in the other, completed the dress and +decoration of this personage. + +The lackey, meanwhile, advanced to the carriage; and, putting in both +his hands, as if to catch so something, he pulled forth a small bundle, +enveloped in a military cloak, the contents of which would have baffled +conjecture, but for the large cocked hat and little booted leg which +protruded at opposite extremities. + +A loud but slow and well-modulated voice now resounded through the +narrow stone passage that conducted to the drawing-room. + +"Bring him in--bring him in, Philistine! I always call my man +Philistine, because he has Sampson in his hands. Set him down there," +pointing to an easy chair, as the group now entered, headed by Lady +Maclaughlan. + +"Well, girls!" addressing the venerable spinsters, as they severally +exchanged a tender salute; "so you're all alive, I see;--humph!" + +"Dear Lady Maclaughlan, allow me to introduce our beloved niece, Lady +Juliana Douglas," said Miss Grizzy, leading her up, and bridling as she +spoke with ill-suppressed exultation. + +"So--you're very pretty--yes, you are very pretty!" kissing the +forehead, cheeks, and chin of the youthful beauty between every pause. +Then, holding her at arm's length, she surveyed her from head to foot, +with elevated brows, and a broad fixed stare. + +"Pray sit down, Lady Maclaughlan," cried her three friends all at once, +each tendering a chair. + +"Sit down!" repeated she; "why, what should I sit down for? I choose to +stand--I don't like to sit--I never sit at home--do I, Sir Sampson?" +turning to the little warrior, who, having been seized with a violent +fit of coughing on his entrance, had now sunk back, seemingly quite +exhausted, while the _Philistine_ was endeavouring to disencumber him of +his military accoutrements. + +"How very distressing Sir Sampson's cough is!" said the sympathising +Miss Grizzy. + +"Distressing, child! No--it's not the least distressing. How can a thing +be distressing that does no harm? He's much the better of it--it's the +only exercise he gets." + +"Oh! well, indeed, if that's the case, it would be a thousand pities to +stop it," replied the accommodating spinster. + +"No, it wouldn't be the least pity to stop it!" returned Lady +Maclaughlan, in her loud authoritative tone; "because, though it's not +distressing, it's very disagreeable. But it cannot be stopped--you might +as well talk of stopping the wind--it is a cradle cough." + +"My dear Lady Maclaughlan!" screamed Sir Sampson in a shrill pipe, as he +made an effort to raise himself, and rescue his cough from this +aspersion; "how can you persist in saying so, when I have told you so +often it proceeds entirely from a cold caught a few years ago, when I +attended his Majesty at-----" Here a violent relapse carried the +conclusion of the sentence along with it. + +"Let him alone-don't meddle with him," called his lady to the assiduous +nymphs who were bustling around him; "leave him to Philistine; he's in +very good hands when he is in Philistine's." Then resting her chin upon +the head of her stick, she resumed her scrutiny of Lady Juliana. + +"You really are a pretty creature! You've got a very handsome nose, +and your mouth's very well, but I don't like your eyes; they're too +large and too light; they're saucer eyes, and I don't like saucer eyes. +Why ha'nt you black eyes? You're not a bit like your father--I knew +him very well. Your mother was an heiress; your father married her for +her money, and she married him to be a Countess; and so that's the +history of their marriage-humph." + +This well-bred harangue was delivered in an unvarying tone, and with +unmoved muscles; for though the lady seldom failed of calling forth some +conspicuous emotion, either of shame, mirth, or anger, on the +countenances of her hearers, she had never been known to betray any +correspondent feelings on her own; yet her features were finely formed, +marked, and expressive; and, in spite of her ridiculous dress and +eccentric manners, an air of dignity was diffused over her whole person, +that screened her from the ridicule to which she must otherwise have +been exposed. Amazement at the uncouth garb and singular address of Lady +Maclaughlan was seldom unmixed with terror at the stern imperious manner +that accompanied all her actions. Such were the feelings of Lady Juliana +as she remained subjected to her rude gaze and impertinent remarks. + +"My Lady?" squeaked Sir Sampson from forth his easy chair. + +"My love?" interrogated his lady as she leant upon her stick. + +"I want to be introduced to my Lady Juliana Douglas; so give me your +hand," attempting, at the same time, to emerge from the huge leathern +receptacle into which he had been plunged by the care of the kind +sisters. + +"Oh, pray sit still, dear Sir Sampson," cried they as usual all at once; +"our sweet niece will come to you, don't take the trouble to rise; pray +don't," each putting a hand on this man of might, as he was half risen, +and pushing him down. + +"Ay, come here, my dear," said Lady Maclaughlan; "you're abler to walk +to Sir Sampson than he to you," pulling Lady Juliana in front of the +easy chair; "there--that's her; you see she is very pretty." + +"Zounds, what is the meaning of all this?" screamed the enraged baronet. +"My Lady Juliana Douglas, I am shocked beyond expression at this freedom +of my lady's. I beg your ladyship ten thousand pardons; pray be seated. +I'm shocked; I am ready to faint at the impropriety of this +introduction, so contrary to all rules of etiquette. How _could _you +behave in such a manner, my Lady Maclaughlan?" + +"Why, you know, my dear, your legs may be very good legs, but they can't +walk," replied she, with her usual _sang froid._ + +"My Lady Maclaughlan, you perfectly confound me," stuttering with rage. +"My lady Juliana Douglas, see here," stretching out a meagre shank, to +which not even the military boot and large spur could give a respectable +appearance: "You see that leg strong and straight," stroking it down--; +"now, behold the fate of war!" dragging forward the other, which was +shrunk and shrivelled to almost one half its original dimensions. "These +legs were once the same; but I repine not--I sacrificed it in a noble +cause: to that leg my Sovereign owes his life!" + +"Well, I declare, I had no idea; I thought always it had been +rheumatism," burst from the lips of the astonished spinsters, as they +crowded round the illustrious limb, and regarded it with looks of +veneration. + +"Humph!" emphatically uttered his lady. + +"The story's a simple one, ladies, and soon told: I happened to be +attending his Majesty at a review; I was then aid-de-camp to Lord -----. +His horse took fright, I--I--I,"--here, in spite of all the efforts that +could be made to suppress it, the _royal_ _cough _burst forth with a +violence that threatened to silence its brave owner for ever. + +"It's very strange you will talk, my love," said his sympathising lady, +as she supported him; "talking never did, nor never will agree with you; +it's very strange what pleasure people take in talking--humph!" + +"Is there anything dear Sir Sampson could take?" asked Miss Grizzy. + +_"Could_ take? I don't know what you mean by _could_ take. He couldn't +take the moon, if you meant hat; but he must take what I give him; so +call Philistine; he knows where my cough tincture is." + +"Oh, we have plenty of it in this press," said Miss Grizzy, flying +to a cupboard, and, drawing forth a bottle, she poured out a bumper, +and presented it to Sir Sampson. + +"I'm poisoned!" gasped he feebly; "that's not my lady's cough-tincture." + +"Not cough-tincture!" repeated the horror-struck doctress, as for the +first time she examined the label; "Oh! I declare, neither it is--it's +my own stomach lotion. Bless me, what will be done?" and she wrung her +hands in despair. "Oh, Murdoch," flying to the _Philistine,_ as he +entered with the real cough-tincture, "I've given Sir Sampson a dose of +my own stomach lotion by mistake, and I am terrified for the +consequences!" + +"Oo, but hur need na be feared, hur will no be a hair the war o't; for +hurs wad na tak' the feesick that the leddie ordered hur yestreen." + +"Well, I declare things are wisely ordered," observed Miss Grizzy; "in +that case it may do dear Sir Sampson a great deal of good." + +Just as this pleasing idea was suggested, Douglas and his father +entered, and the ceremony of presenting her nephew to her friend was +performed by Miss Grizzy in her most conciliating manner. + +"Dear Lady Maclaughlan, this is our nephew Henry, who, I know, has the +highest veneration for Sir Sampson and you. Henry, I assure you, Lady +Maclaughlan takes the greatest interest in everything that concerns Lady +Juliana and you." + +"Humph!" rejoined her ladyship, as she surveyed him from head to foot. +"So your wife fell in love with you, it seems; well, the more fool she; +I never knew any good come of love marriages." + +Douglas coloured, while he affected to laugh at this extraordinary +address, and withdrawing himself from her scrutiny, resumed his station +by the side of his Juliana. + +"Now, girls, I must go to my toilet; which of you am I to have for my +handmaid?" + +"Oh, we'll all go," eagerly exclaimed the three nymphs; "our dear niece +will excuse us for a little; young people are never at a loss to amuse +one another." + +"Venus and the Graces, by Jove!" exclaimed Sir Sampson, bowing with an +air of gallantry; "and now I must go and adonise a little myself." + +The company then separated to perform the important offices of the +toilet. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "Nature here + Wanton'd as in her prime, and played at will + Her virgin fancies." + + MILTON. + +THE gentlemen were already assembled round the drawing-room fire, +impatiently waiting the hour of dinner, when Lady Maclaughlan and her +three friends entered. The masculine habiliments of the morning had been +exchanged for a more feminine costume. She was now arrayed in a +pompadour satin _négligée,_ and petticoat trimmed with Brussels lace. A +high starched handkerchief formed a complete breast work, on which, amid +a large bouquet of truly artificial roses, reposed a miniature of Sir +Sampson, _à la militaire_. A small fly cap of antique lace was scarcely +perceptible on the summit of a stupendous frizzled toupee, hemmed in on +each side by large curls. The muff and stick had been relinquished for a +large fan, something resembling an Indian screen, which she waved to and +fro in one hand, while a vast brocaded workbag was suspended from the +other. + +"So, Major Douglas, your servant," said she, in answer to the +constrained formal bow with which he saluted her on her entrance. "Why, +it's so long since I've seen you that you may be a grandfather for ought +I know." + +The poor awkward Misses at that moment came sneaking into the room: +"As for you, girls, you'll never be grandmothers; you'll never be +married, unless to wild men of the woods. I suppose you'd like that; it +would save you the trouble of combing your hair, and tying your shoes, +for then you could go without clothes altogether--humph! You'd be much +better without clothes than to put them on as you do," seizing upon the +luckless Miss Baby, as she endeavoured to steal behind backs. + +And here, in justice to the lady, it must be owned that, for once, +she had some grounds for animadversion in the dress and appearance of +the Misses Douglas. + +They had stayed out, running races and riding on a pony, until near the +dinner hour; and, dreading their father's displeasure should they be too +late, they had, with the utmost haste, exchanged their thick morning +dresses for thin muslin gowns, made by a mantua-maker of the +neighbourhood in the extreme of a two-year-old fashion, when waists +_were not._ + +But as dame Nature had been particularly lavish in the length of theirs, +and the stay-maker had, according to their aunt's direction, given them +_full measure_ of their new dark stays, there existed a visible breach +between the waists of their gowns and the bands of their petticoats, +which they had vainly sought to adjust by a meeting. Their hair had been +curled, but not combed, and dark gloves had been hastily drawn on to +hide red arms. + +"I suppose," continued the stern Lady Maclaughlan, as she twirled her +victim round and round; "I suppose you think yourself vastly smart and +well dressed. Yes, you are very neat, very neat indeed; one would +suppose Ben Jonson had you in his eye when he composed that song." Then +in a voice like thunder, she chanted forth-- + + "Give me a look, give me a face + That makes simplicity a grace; + Robes loosely flowing, hair as free, + Such sweet neglect more taketh me." + +Miss Grizzy was in the utmost perplexity between her inclination to urge +something in extenuation for the poor girls, and her fear of dissenting +from Lady Maclaughlan, or rather of not immediately agreeing with her; +she therefore steered, as usual, the middle course, and kept saying, +"Well, children, really what Lady Maclaughlan says is all very true; at +the same time"--turning to her friend--"I declare it's not much to be +wondered at; young people are so thoughtless, poor lambs!" + +"What's aw this wark aboo?" said the old gentleman angrily; "the girlies +are weel eneugh; I see naething the matter wi' them; they're no dresse +like auld queens or stage-actresses;" and he glance his eye from Lady +Maclaughlan to his elegant daughter-in-law, who just then entered, +hanging, according to custom, on her husband, and preceded by Cupid. + +Mrs Douglas followed, and the sound of the dinner bell put a stop to the +dispute. + +"Come, my leddie, we'll see how the dinner's dressed," said the Laird, +as he seized Lady Maclaughlan by the tip of the finger, and holding it +up aloft, they marched into the dining room. + +"Permit me, my Lady Juliana Douglas," said the little Baronet, with much +difficulty hobbling towards her, and attempting to take her hand. "Come, +Harry, love; here, Cupid," cried she; and without noticing the enraged +Sir Sampson, she passed on, humming a tune, and leaning upon her +husband. + +"Astonishing! perfectly astonishing!" exclaimed the Baronet; "how a +young woman of Lady Juliana's rank and fashion should be guilty of such +a solecism in good breeding." + +"She is very young," said Mrs. Douglas, smiling, as he limped along with +her, "and you must make allowances for her; but, indeed, I think her +beauty must ever be a sufficient excuse for any little errors she may +commit with a person of such taste and gallantry as Sir Sampson +Maclaughlan." + +The little Baronet smiled, pressed the hand he held; and, soothed by the +well-timed compliment, he seated himself next to Lady Juliana with some +complacency. As she insisted on having her husband on the other side of +her, Mr. Douglas was condemned to take his station by the hated Lady +Maclaughlan, who, for the first time observing Mrs. Douglas, called to +her-- + +"Come here, my love; I haven't seen you these hundred years;" then +seizing her face between her hands, she saluted her in the usual style. +"There," at length releasing Mrs Douglas from her gripe--"there's for +you! I love you very much; you're neither a fool nor a hoyden; you're a +fine intelligent being." + +Having carefully rolled up and deposited her gloves in her pocket, she +pulled out a pin-cushion, and calling Miss Bella, desired her to pin her +napkin over her shoulders; which done, she began to devour her soup in +silence. + +Peace was, however, of short duration. Old Donald, in removing a dish +of whipt cream, unfortunately overturned one upon Lady Maclaughlan's +pompadour satin petticoat--the only part of her dress that was +unprotected. + +"Do you see what you have done, you old Donald, you?" cried she, seizing +the culprit by the sleeve; "why, you've got St. Vitus's dance. A fit +hand to carry whipt cream, to be sure! Why, I could as well carry a +custard on the point of a bayonet--humph!" + +"Dear me, Donald, how could you be so senseless?" cried Miss Jacky. + +"Preserve me, Donald, I thought you had more sense!" +squeaked Miss Nicky. + +"I am sure, Donald, that was na like you!" said Miss Grizzy, as the +friends all flocked around the petticoat, each suggesting a different +remedy. + +"It's all of you, girls, that his has happened. Why can't you have a +larger tablecloth upon your table! And that old man has the palsy. Why +don't you electrify him?' in a tone admirably calculated to have that +effect. + +"I declare, it's all very true," observed Miss Grizzy; "the tablecloth +_is_ very small, and Donald certainly _does_ shake, that cannot be +denied;" but, lowering her voice, "he is so obstinate, we really don't +know what to do with him. My sisters and I attempted to use the +flesh-brush with him." + +"Oh, and an excellent thing it is; I make Philistine rub Sir Sampson +every morning and night. If it was not for that and his cough, nobody +would know whether he were dead or alive; I don't believe he would know +himself--humph!" + +Sir Sampson's lemon face assumed an orange hue as he overheard this +domestic detail; but not daring to contradict the facts, he prudently +turned a deaf ear to them, and attempted to carryon a flirtation with +Lady Juliana through the medium of Cupid, whom he had coaxed upon his +knee. + +Dinner being at length ended, toasts succeeded: and each of the ladies +having given her favourite laird, the signal of retreat was given, and a +general movement took place. + +Lady Juliana, throwing herself upon a sofa with her pugs, called Mrs. +Douglas to her. "Do sit down here and talk with me," yawned she. + +Her sister-in-law, with great good-humour, fetched her work, and seated +herself by the spoilt child. + +"What strange thing is that you are making?" asked she, as Mrs. Douglas +pulled out her knitting. + +"It's a child's stocking," replied her sister-in-law. + +"A child's stocking! Oh, by-the-bye, have you a great many children?" + +"I have none," answered Mrs. Douglas, with a half-stifled sigh. + +"None at all?" repeated Lady Juliana, with surprise "then, why do you +make children's stockings?" + +"I make them for those whose parents cannot afford to purchase them." + +"La! what poor wretches they must be, that can't afford to buy +stockings," rejoined Lady Juliana, with a yawn. "It's monstrous good of +you to make them, to be sure; but it must be a shocking bore! and such a +trouble!" and another long yawn succeeded. + +"Not half such a bore to me as to sit idle," returned Mrs. Douglas, with +a smile, "nor near so much trouble as you undergo with your favourites." + +Lady Juliana made no reply, but turning from her sister-in-law, soon +was, or affected to be, sound a sleep, from which she was only roused by +the entrance of the gentlemen. "A rubber or a reel, my Leddie?" asked the +Laird, going up to his daughter-in-law. + +"Julia, love," said her husband, "my father asks you if you choose +cards or dancing." + +"There's nobody to dance with," said she, casting a languid glance +around; "I'll play at cards." + +"Not whist, surely!" said Henry. + +"Whist! Oh, heavens, no." + +"Weel, weel, you youngsters will get a roundgame; come, my Leddy +Maclaughlan, Grizzy, Mrs. Douglas, hey for the odd trick and the +honours!" + +"What would your Ladyship choose to play at?' asked Miss Jacky, +advancing with a pack of cards in one hand, and a box of counters in the +other. + +"Oh, anything; I like 100 very well, or quadrille, or--1 really don't +care what." + +The Misses, who had gathered round, and were standing gaping in joyful +expectation of Pope Joan, or a pool at commerce, here exchanged +sorrowful glances. + +"I am afraid the young people don't play these games," replied Miss +Jacky; "but we've counters enough," shaking her little box, "for Pope +Joan, and we all know that." + +"Pope Joan! I never heard of such a game," replied Lady Juliana. + +"Oh, we can soon learn you," said Miss Nicky, who having spread the +green cloth on the tea-table, now advanced to join the consultation. + +"I hate to be taught," said Lady Juliana, with a yawn; "besides, I am +sure it must be something very stupid." + +"Ask if she plays commerce," whispered Miss Bella to Miss Baby. + +The question was put, but with no better success, and the young ladies' +faces again bespoke their disappointment, which their brother observing, +he good-naturedly declared his perfect knowledge of commerce; "and I must +insist upon teaching you, Juliana," gently dragging her to the table. + +"What's the pool to be?" asked one of the young ladies. + +"I'm sure I don't know," said the aunts, looking to each other. + +"I suppose we must make it sixpence," said Miss Jacky, after a +whispering consultation with her sister. + +"In that case we can afford nothing to the best hand," observed Miss +Nicky. + +"And we ought to have five lives and grace," added one of the nieces. + +These points having been conceded, the preliminaries were at length +settled. The cards were slowly _doled_ out by Miss Jacky; and Lady +Juliana was carefully instructed in the rules of the game, and strongly +recommended always to try for a sequence, or pairs, etc. "And if you +win," rejoined Miss Nicky, shaking the snuffer-stand in which were +deposited the sixpences, "you get all this." + +As may be conjectured, Lady Juliana's patience could not survive more +than one life; she had no notion of playing for sixpences, and could not +be at the trouble to attend to any instructions; she therefore quickly +retired in disgust, leaving the aunts and nieces to struggle for the +glorious prize. "My dear child, you played that last stroke like a +perfect natural," cried Lady Maclaughlan to Miss Grizzy, as the rubber +ended, they arose from the table. + +"Indeed, I declare, I daresay I did," replied her friend in a +deprecating tone. + +"Daresay you did! I know you did-humph! I knew the ace lay with you; I +knew that as well as if I had seen it. I suppose you have eyes--but I +don't know; if you have, didn't you see Glenfern turn up the king, and +yet you returned his lead--returned our adversary's lead in the face of +his king. I've been telling you these twenty years not to return your +adversary's lead; nothing can be more despicable; nothing can be a +greater proof of imbecility of mind--humph!" Then, seating herself, she +began to exercise her fan with considerable activity. "This has been the +most disagreeable day I ever spent in this house, girls. I don't know +what's come over you, but you are all wrong; my petticoat's ruined; my +pockets picked at cards. It won't do, girls; it won't do--humph!" + +"I am sure I can't understand it," said Miss Grizzy in a rueful +accent; "there really appears to have been some fatality." + +"Fatality!--humph! I wish you would give everything its right name. +What do you mean by fatality?" + +"I declare--I am sure--I--I really don't know," stammered the +unfortunate Grizzy. + +"Do you mean that the spilling of the custard was the work of an angel?" +demanded her unrelenting friend. + +"Oh, certainly not." + +"Or that it was the devil tempted you to throw away your ace there? I +suppose there's a fatality in our going to supper just now," continued +she, as her deep-toned voice resounded through the passage that +conducted to the dining-room; "and I suppose it will be called a +fatality if that old Fate," pointing to Donald, "scalds me to death with +that mess of porridge he's going to put on the table--humph!" + +No such fatality, however, occurred; and the rest of the evening passed +off in as much harmony as could be expected from the very heterogeneous +parts of which the society was formed. + +The family group had already assembled round the breakfast-table, with +the exception of Lady Juliana, who chose to take that meal in bed; but, +contrary to her usual custom, no Lady Maclaughlan had yet made her +appearance. + +"The scones will be like leather," said Miss Grizzy, as she wrapped +another napkin round them. + +"The eggs will be like snowballs," cried Miss Jacky, popping them into +the slop-basin. + +"The tea will be like brandy," observed Miss Nicky, as she poured more +water to the three teaspoonfuls she had infused. + +"I wish we saw our breakfast," said the Laird, as he finished the +newspapers, and deposited his spectacles in his pocket. + +At that moment the door opened, and the person in question entered in +her travelling dress, followed by Sir Sampson, Philistine bringing up +the rear with a large green bag and a little band-box. + +"I hope your bed was warm and comfortable. I hope you rested well. I +hope Sir Sampson's quite well!" immediately burst as if from a thousand +voices, while the sisters officiously fluttered round their friend. + +"I rested very ill; my bed was very uncomfortable; and Sir Sampson's as +sick as a cat--humph!" + +Three disconsolate "Bless me's!" here burst forth. + +"Perhaps your bed was too hard?" said Miss Grizzy. + +"Or too soft?" suggested Miss Jacky. + +"Or too hot?" added Miss Nicky. + +"It was neither too hard, nor too soft, nor too hot, nor too cold," +thundered the Lady, as she seated herself at the table; "but it was all +of them." + +"I declare, that's most distressing," said Miss Grizzy, in a tone of +sorrowful amazement. "Was your head high enough, dear Lady Maclaughlan?" + +"Perhaps it was too high," said Miss Jacky. + +"I know nothing more disagreeable than a high head," remarked Miss +Nicky. + +"Except a fool's head--humph!" + +The sound of a carriage here set all ears on full stretch, and presently +the well-known pea-green drew up. + +"Dear me! Bless me! Goodness me!" shrieked the three ladies at once. +"Surely, Lady Maclaughlan, you can't--you don't--you won't; this must be +a mistake." + +"There's no mistake in the matter, girls," replied their friend, with +her accustomed _sang froid._ "I'm going home; so I ordered the carriage; +that's all--humph!" + +"Going home!" faintly murmured the disconsolate spinsters. + +"What! I suppose you think I ought to stay here and have another +petticoat spoiled; or lose another half-crown at cards; or have the +finishing stroke put to Sir Sampson--humph!" + +"Oh! Lady Maclaughlan!" was three times uttered in reproachful +accents. + +"I don't know what else I should stay for; you are not yourselves, +girls; you've all turned topsy-turvy. I've visited here these twenty +years, and I never saw things in the state they are now--humph!" + +"I declare it's very true," sighed Miss Grizzy; "we certainly are a +little in confusion, that can't be denied." + +"Denied! Why, can you deny that my petticoat's ruined?" Can you deny +that my pocket was picked of half-a-crown for nothing? Can you deny that +Sir Sampson has been half-poisoned? And---" + +"My Lady Maclaughlan," interrupted the enraged husband, "I--I--I am +surprised--I am shocked! Zounds, my Lady, I won't suffer this! I cannot +stand it;" and pushing his tea-cup away, he arose, and limped to the +window. Philistine here entered to inform his mistress that "awthing was +ready." "Steady, boys, steady! I always am ready," responded the Lady in +a tone adapted to the song. "Now I am ready; say nothing, girls--you +know my rules. Here, Philistine, wrap up Sir Sampson, and put him in. +Get along, my love. Good-bye, girls; and I hope you will all be restored +to your right senses soon." + +"Oh, Lady Maclaughlan!" whined the weeping Grizzy, as she embraced her +friend, who, somewhat melted at the signs of her distress, bawled out +from the carriage, as the door was shut, "Well, God bless you, girls, and +make you what you have been; and come to Lochmarlie Castle soon, and +bring your wits along with you." + +The carriage then drove off, and the three disconsolate sisters returned +to the parlour to hold a cabinet council as to the causes of the late +disasters. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + "If there be cure or charm + To respite or relieve, or slack the pain + Of this ill mansion." + + MILTON. + +TIME, which generally alleviates ordinary distresses, served only to +augment the severity of Lady Juliana's, as day after day rolled heavily +on, and found her still an inmate of Glenfern Castle. Destitute of very +resource in herself, she yet turned with contempt from the scanty +sources of occupation or amusement that were suggested by others; and +Mrs. Douglas's attempts to teach her to play at chess and read +Shakespeare were as unsuccessful as the endeavours of the good aunts to +persuade her to study Fordyce's Sermons and make baby linen. + +In languid dejection or fretful repinings did the unhappy beauty +therefore consume the tedious hours, while her husband sought +alternately to soothe with fondness he no longer felt, or flatter with +hopes which he knew to be groundless. To his father alone could he now +look for any assistance, and from him he was not likely to obtain it in +the form he desired; as the old gentleman repeatedly declared his utter +inability to advance him any ready money, or to allow him more than +a hundred a year--moreover, to be paid quarterly--a sum which could +not defray their expenses to London. + +Such was the state of affairs when the Laird one morning entered the +dining-room with a face of much importance, and addressed his son with, +"Weel, Harry, you're a lucky man; and it's an ill wind that blaws +naebody gude: here's puir Macglashan gane like snaw aff a dyke." + +"Macglashan gone!" exclaimed Miss Grizzy. "Impossible, brother; it was +only yesterday I sent him a blister for his back!" + +"And I," said Miss Jacky, "talked to him for upwards of two hours last +night on the impropriety of his allowing his daughter to wear white +gowns on Sunday." + +"By my troth, an' that was eneugh to kill ony man," muttered the Laird. + +"How I am to derive any benefit from this important +demise is more than I can perceive," said Henry in a somewhat +contemptuous tone. + +"You see," replied his father, "that by our agreement his farm falls +vacant in consequence." + +"And I hope I am to succeed to it!" replied the son, with a smile of +derision. + +"Exactly! By my faith, but you have a be in downset. There's three +thousand and seventy-five acres of as good sheep walk as any in the +whole country-side; and I shall advance you stocking and stedding, and +everything complete, to your very peatstacks. What think ye of that?" +slapping his son's shoulder, and rubbing his own hands with delight as +he spoke. + +Horrorstruck at a scheme which appeared to him a thousand times worse +than anything his imagination had ever painted, poor Henry stood in +speechless consternation; while "Charming! Excellent! Delightful!" was +echoed by the aunts, as they crowded round, wishing him joy, and +applauding their brother's generosity. + +"What will our sweet niece say to this, I wonder?" said the innocent +Grizzy, who in truth wondered none. "I would like to see her face when +she hears it;" and her own was puckered into various shapes of delight. + +"I have no doubt but her good sense will teach her to appreciate +properly the blessings of her lot," observed the more reflecting Jacky. + +"She has had her own good luck," quoth the sententious Nicky, "to find +such a down set all cut and dry." + +At that instant the door opened, and the favoured individual in question +entered. In vain Douglas strove to impose silence on his father and +aunts. The latter sat, bursting with impatience to break out into +exclamation, while the former, advancing to his fair daughter-in-law, +saluted her as "Lady Clackandow?" Then the torrent burst forth, and, +stupefied with surprise, Lady Juliana suffered herself to be kissed and +hugged by the whole host of aunts and nieces, while the very walls +seemed to reverberate the shouts, and the pugs and mackaw, who never +failed to take part in every commotion, began to bark and scream in +chorus. + +The old gentleman, clapping his hands to his ears, rushed out of the +room. His son, cursing his aunts, and everything around him, kicked +Cupid, and gave the mackaw a box on the ear, as he also quitted the +apartment, with more appearance of anger than he had ever yet betrayed. + +The tumult at length began to subside. The mackaw's screams gave place +to a low quivering croak; and the insulted pug's yells yielded to a +gentle whine. The aunts' obstreperous joy began to be chastened with +fear for the consequences that might follow an abrupt disclosure; and, +while Lady Juliana condoled with her favourites, it was concerted +between the prudent aunts that the joyful news should be broke to their +niece in the most cautious manner possible. For that purpose Misses +Grizzy and Jacky seated themselves on each side of her; and, after duly +preparing their voices by sundry small hems, Miss Grizzy thus began: + +"I'm sure-I declare-I dare say, my dear Lady Juliana, you must think +we are all distracted." + +Her auditor made no attempt to contradict the supposition. + +"We certainly ought, to be sure, to have been more cautious, considering +your delicate situation; but the joy--though, indeed, it seems cruel to +say so. And I am sure you will sympathise, my dear niece, in the cause, +when you hear that it is occasioned by your poor neighbour Macglashan's +death, which, I'm sure, was quite unexpected. Indeed, I declare I can't +conceive how it came about; for Lady Maclaughlan, who is an excellent +judge of these things, thought he was really a remarkably stout-looking +man for his time of life; and indeed, except occasional colds, which you +know we are all subject to, I really never knew him complain. At the +same time--" + +"I don't think, sister, you are taking the right method of communicating +the intelligence to our niece," said Miss Jacky. + +"You cannot communicate anything that would give me the least pleasure, +unless you could tell me that I was going to leave this place," cried +Lady Juliana in a voice of deep despondency. + +"Indeed! if it can afford your Ladyship so much pleasure to be at +liberty to quit the hospitable mansion of your amiable husband's +respectable father," said Miss Jacky, with an inflamed visage and +outspread hands, "you are at perfect liberty to depart when you think +proper. The generosity, I may say the munificence, of my excellent +brother, has now put it in your power to do as you please, and to form +your own plans." + +"Oh, delightful!" exclaimed Lady Juliana, starting up; "now I shall be +quite happy. Where's Harry! Does he know? Is he gone to order the +carriage! Can we get away to-day?" And she was flying out of the room +when Miss Jacky caught her by one hand, while Miss Grizzy secured the +other. + +"Oh, pray don't detain me! I must find Harry; and I have all my things +to put up," struggling to release herself from the gripe of the sisters; +when the door opened, and Harry entered, eager, yet dreading to know the +effects of the _éclaircissernent._ His surprise extreme at +beholding his wife, with her eyes sparkling, her cheeks glowing, and her +whole countenance expressing extreme pleasure. Darting from her keepers, +she bounded towards him with the wildest ejaculations of delight; while +he stood alternately gazing at her and his aunts, seeking by his eyes +the explanation he feared to demand. + +"My dearest Juliana, what is the meaning of all this?" he at length +articulated. + +"Oh, you cunning thing! So you think I don't know that your father has +given you a great, great quantity of money, and that we may go away +whenever we please, and do just as we like, and live in London, +and--and--oh, delightful!" And she bounded and skipped before the eyes +of the petrified spinsters. + +"In the name of heaven, what does all this mean?" asked Henry, +addressing his aunts, who, for the first time in their lives, were +struck dumb by astonishment. But Miss Jacky, at length recollecting +herself, turned to Lady Juliana, who was still testifying her delight by +a variety of childish but graceful movements, and thus addressed her: + +"Permit me to put a few questions to your Ladyship, in presence of those +who were witnesses of what has already passed." + +"Oh, I can't endure to be asked questions; besides, I have no time to +answer them." + +"Your Ladyship must excuse me; But I can't permit you to leave this +room under the influence of an error. Have the goodness to answer me the +following questions, and you will then be at liberty to depart. Did I +inform your Ladyship that my brother had given my nephew a great +quantity of money?" + +"Oh yes! a great, great deal; I don't know how much, though--" + +"Did I?" returned her interrogator. + +"Come, come, have done with all this confounded nonsense!" exclaimed +Henry passionately. "Do you imagine I will allow Lady Juliana to stand +here all day, to answer all the absurd questions that come into the +heads of three old women? You stupefy and bewilder her with your eternal +tattling and roundabout harangues." And he paced the room in a paroxysm +of rage, while his wife suspended her dancing, and stood in breathless +amazement. + +"I declare--I'm sure--it's a thousand pities that there should have been +any mistake made," whined poor Miss Grizzy. + +"The only remedy is to explain the matter quickly," observed Miss Nicky; +"better late than never." + +"I have done," said Miss Jacky, seating herself with much dignity. + +"The short and the long of it is this," said Miss Nicky, "My brother has +not made Henry a present of money. I assure you money is not so rife; +but he has done what is much better for you both,--he has made over to +him that fine thriving farm of poor Macglashan's." + +"No money!" repeated Lady Juliana in a disconsolate tone: then quickly +brightening up, "It would have been better, to be sure, to have had the +money directly; but you know we can easily sell the estate. How long +will it take?--a week?" + +"Sell Clackandow!" exclaimed the three horrorstruck daughters of the +house of Douglas. "Sell Clackandow! Oh! oh! oh!" + +"What else could we do with it?" inquired her Ladyship. + +"Live at it, to be sure," cried all three. + +"Live at it!" repeated she, with a shriek of horror that vied with that +of the spinsters--"Live at it! Live on a thriving farm! Live all my +life in such a place as this! Oh! the very thought is enough to kill +me!" + +"There is no occasion to think or say any more about it," interrupted +Henry in a calmer tone; and, glancing round on his aunts, "I therefore +desire no more may be said on the subject." + +"And is this really all? And have you got no money? And are we not +going away?" gasped the disappointed Lady Juliana, as she gave way to a +violent burst of tears, that terminated in a fit of hysterics; at sight +of which, the good spinsters entirely forgot their wrath; and while one +burnt feathers under her nose, and another held her hands, a third +drenched her in floods of Lady Maclaughlan'shysteric water. After going +through the regular routine, the lady's paroxysm subsided; and being +carried to bed, she soon sobbed herself into a feverish slumber; in +which state the harassed husband left her to attend a summons from +his father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + "See what delight in sylvan scenes appear!" + + Pope. + + "Haply this life is best, + Sweetest to you, well corresponding + With your stiff age; but unto us it is + A cell of ignorance, a prison for a debtor." + + _Cymbeline._ + +HE found the old gentleman in no very complaisant humour, from the +disturbances that had taken place, but the chief cause of which he was +still in ignorance of. He therefore accosted his son with: + +"What was the meaning o' aw that skirling and squeeling I heard a while +ago? By my faith, there's nae bearing this din! Thae beasts o' your +wife's are eneugh to drive a body oot o' their judgment. But she maun +gi'e up thae maggots when she becomes a farmer's wife. She maun get +stirks and stots to mak' pets o', if she maun ha'e _four-fitted +_favourites; but, to my mind, it wad set her better to be carrying a +wiselike wean in her arms, than trailing aboot wi' thae confoonded dougs +an' paurits." + +Henry coloured, bit his lips, but made no reply to this elegant address +of his father's, who continued, "I sent for you, sir, to have some +conversation about this farm of Macglashan's; so sit down there till I +show you the plans." + +Hardly conscious of what he was doing, poor Henry gazed in silent +confusion, as his father pointed out the various properties of this his +future possession. Wholly occupied in debating within himself how he was +to decline the offer without a downright quarrel, he heard, without +understanding a word, all the old gentleman's plans and proposals for +building dikes, draining moss, etc.; and, perfectly unconscious of what +he was doing, yielded a ready assent to all the improvements that were +suggested. + +"Then as for the hoose and offices,-let me see," continued the Laird, as +he rolled up the plans of the farm, and pulled forth that of the +dwelling-house from a bundle of papers. "Ay, here it is. By my troth, +ye'll be weel lodged here. The hoose is in a manner quite new, for it +has never had a brush upon it yet. And there's a byre--fient a bit, if I +would mean the best man i' the country to sleep there himsel.'" + +A pause followed, during which Glenfern was busily employed in poring +over his parchment; then taking off his spectacles, and surveying his +son, "And now, sir, that you've heard a' the oots an' ins o' the +business, what think you your farm should bring you at the year's end?" + +"I--I--I'm sure--I--I don't know," stammered poor Henry, awakening +from his reverie. + +"Come, come, gi'e a guess." + +"I really--I cannot--I haven't the least idea." + +"I desire, sir, ye'll say something directly, that I may judge whether +or no ye ha'e common sense," cried the old gentleman angrily. + +"I should suppose-I imagine-I don't suppose it will exceed seven or +eight hundred a year," said his son, in the greatest trepidation at this +trial of his intellect. + +"Seven or eight hunder deevils!" cried the incensed Laird, starting up +and pushing his papers from him. "By my faith, I believe ye're a born +idiot! Seven or eight hunder pounds!" repeated he, at least a dozen +times, as he whisked up and down the little apartment with extraordinary +velocity, while poor Henry affected to be busily employed in gathering +up the parchments with which the floor was strewed. + +"I'll tell you what, sir," continued he, stopping; "you're no fit to +manage a farm; you're as ignorant as yon coo, an' as senseless as its +cauf. Wi' gude management, Clackandow should produce you twahunder and +odd pounds yearly; but in your guiding I doot if it will yield the half. +However, tak' it or want it, mind me, sir, that it's a' ye ha'e to trust +to in my lifetime; so ye may mak' the maist o't." + +Various and painful were the emotions that struggled in Henry's breast +at this declaration. Shame, regret, indignation, all burned within him; +but the fear he entertained of his father, and the consciousness of his +absolute dependence, chained his tongue, while the bitter emotions that +agitated him painted themselves legibly in his countenance. His father +observed his agitation; and, mistaking the cause, felt somewhat softened +at what he conceived his son's shame and penitence for his folly. He +therefore extended his hand towards him, saying, "Weel, weel, nae +mairaboot it; Clackandow's yours, as soon as I can put you in +possession. In the meantime, stay still here, and welcome." + +"I--am much obliged to you for the offer, sir; I--feel very grateful for +your kindness," at length articulated his son; "but--I--am, as you +observe, so perfectly ignorant of country matters, that I--I--in short, +I am afraid I should make a bad hand of the business." + +"Nae doot, nae doot ye would, if ye was left to your ain discretion; +but ye'll get mair sense, and I shall put ye upon a method, and provide +ye wi' a grieve; an' if you are active, and your wife managing, there's +nae fear o' you." + +"But Lady Juliana, sir, has never been accustomed--" + +"Let her serve an apprenticeship to your aunts; she couldna be in a +better school." + +"But her education, sir, has been so different from what would be +required in that station," resumed her husband, choking with vexation, +at the idea of his beauteous high-born bride being doomed to the +drudgery of household cares. + +"Edication! what has her edication been, to mak' her different frae +other women? If a woman can nurse her bairns, mak' their claes, and +manage her hoose, what mair need she do? If she can playa tune on the +spinnet, and dance a reel, and play a rubber at whist--nae doot these +are accomplishments, but they're soon learnt. Edication! pooh!--I'll be +bound Leddy Jully Anie wull mak' as gude a figure by-and-by as the best +edicated woman in the country." + +"But she dislikes the country, and--" + +"She'll soon come to like it. Wait a wee till she has a wheen bairns, +an' a hoose o' her ain, an' I'll be bound she'll be happy as the day's +lang." + +"But the climate does not agree with her," continued the tender husband, +almost driven to extremities by the persevering simplicity of his +father. + +"Stay a wee till she gets to Clackandow! There's no a finer, freer-aired +situation in a' Scotland. The air's sharpish, to be sure, but fine and +bracing; and you have a braw peat-moss at your back to keep you warm." + +Finding it in vain to attempt _insinuating_ his objections to a pastoral +life, poor Henry was at length reduced to the necessity of coming to the +point with the old gentleman, and telling him plainly that it was not at +all suited to his inclinations, or Lady Juliana's rank and beauty. + +Vain would be the attempt to paint the fiery wrath and indignation of +the ancient Highlander as the naked truth stood revealed before +him:--that his son despised the occupation of his fathers, even the +feeding of sheep and the breeding of black cattle; and that his +high-born spouse was above fulfilling those duties which he had ever +considered the chief end for which woman was created. He swore, stamped, +screamed, and even skipped with rage, and, in short, went through all +the evolutions as usually performed by testy old gentlemen on first +discovering that they have disobedient sons and undutiful daughters. +Henry, who, though uncommonly good-tempered, inherited a portion of his +father's warmth, became at length irritated at the invectives that were +so liberally bestowed on him, and replied in language less respectful +than the old Laird was accustomed to hear; and the altercation became so +violent that they parted in mutual anger; Henry returning to his wife's +apartment in a state of the greatest disquietude he had ever known. To +her childish complaints, and tiresome complaints, he no longer +vouchsafed to reply, but paced the chamber with a disordered mien, in +sullen silence; till at length, distracted by her reproaches, and +disgusted with her selfishness, he rushed from the apartment and quitted +the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + "Never talk to me; I will weep." + + _As You Like It._ + +TWICE had the dinner bell been loudly sounded by old Donald, and the +family of Glenfern were all assembled, yet their fashionable guests had +not appeared. Impatient of delay, Miss Jacky hastened to ascertain the +cause. Presently she returned in the utmost perturbation, and announced +that Lady Juliana was in bed in a high fever, and Henry nowhere to be +found. The whole eight rushed upstairs to ascertain the fact, leaving +the old gentleman much discomposed at this unseasonable delay. + +Some time elapsed ere they again returned, which they did with +lengthened faces, and in extreme perturbation. They had found their +noble niece, according to Miss Jacky's report, in bed-according to Miss +Grizzy's opinion, in a brain fever; as she no sooner perceived them +enter, than she covered her head with the bedclothes, and continued +screaming for them to be gone, till they had actually quitted the +apartment." + +"And what proves beyond a doubt that our sweet niece is not herself," +continued poor Miss Grizzy, in a lamentable tone, "is that we appeared +to her in every form but our own! She sometimes took us for cats; then +thought we were ghosts haunting her; and, in short, it is impossible to +tell all the things she called us; and she screams so for Harry to come +and take her away that I am sure--I declare--I don't know what's come +over her!" + +Mrs. Douglas could scarce suppress a smile at the simplicity of the good +spinsters. Her husband and she had gone out immediately after breakfast +to pay a visit a few miles off, and did not return till near the dinner +hour. They were therefore ignorant of all that had been acted during +their absence; but as she suspected something was amiss, she requested +the rest of the company would proceed to dinner, and leave her to +ascertain the nature of Lady Juliana's disorder. + +"Don't come near me!" shrieked her Ladyship, on hearing the door open. +"Send Harry to take me away; I don't want anybody but Harry!"--and a +torrent of tears, sobs, and exclamations followed. + +"My dear Lady Juliana," said Mrs. Douglas, softly approaching the bed, +"compose yourself; and if my presence is disagreeable to you I shall +immediately withdraw." + +"Oh, is it you?" cried her sister-in-law, uncovering her face at the +sound of her voice. "I thought it had been these frightful old women +come to torment me; and I shall die--I know I shall--if ever I look at +them again. But I don't dislike _you;_ so you may stay if you choose, +though I don't want anybody but Harry to come and take me away." + +A fresh fit of sobbing here impeded her utterance; and Mrs. Douglas, +compassionating her distress, while she despised her folly, seated +herself by the bedside, and taking her hand, in the sweetest tone of +complacency attempted to soothe her into composure. + +"The only way in which you can be less miserable," said Mrs. Douglas in +a soothing tone, "is to support your present situation with patience, +which you may do by looking forward to brighter prospects. It is +_possible_ that your stay here may be short; and it is _certain_ that it +is in your own power to render your life more agreeable by endeavouring +to accommodate yourself to the peculiarities of your husband's family. +No doubt they are often tiresome and ridiculous; but they are always +kind and well-meaning." + +"You may say what you please, but I think them all odious creatures; +and I won't live here with patience; and I shan't be agreeable to them; +and all the talking in the world won't make me less miserable. If you +were me, you would be just the same; but you have never been in +London--that's the reason." + +"Pardon me," replied her sister-in-law, "I spent many years of my life +there." + +"You lived in London!" repeated Lady Juliana in astonishment. "And how, +then, can you contrive to exist here?" + +"I not only contrive to exist, but to be extremely contented with +existence," said Mrs. Douglas, with a smile. Then assuming a more +serious air, "I possess health, peace of mind, and the affections of a +worthy husband; and I should be very undeserving of these blessings were +I to give way to useless regrets or indulge in impious repinings because +my happiness might once have been more perfect, and still admits of +improvement." + +"I don't understand you," said Lady Juliana, with a peevish yawn. "Who +did you live with in London?" + +"With my aunt, Lady Audley." + +"With Lady Audley!" repeated her sister-in-law in accents of +astonishment. "Why, I have heard of her; she lived quite in the world; +and gave balls and assemblies; so that's the reason you are not so +disagreeable as the rest of them. Why did you not remain with her, or +marry an Englishman? But I suppose, like me, you didn't know what +Scotland was!" + +Happy to have excited an interest, even through the medium of childish +curiosity, in the bosom of her fashionable relative, Mrs. Douglas +briefly related such circumstances of her past life as she judged proper +to communicate; but as she sought rather to amuse than instruct by her +simple narrative, we shall allow her to pursue her charitable +intentions, while we do more justice to her character by introducing her +regularly to the acquaintance of our readers. + + + + +History of Mrs. Douglas. + + "The selfish heart deserves the pang it feels; + More generous sorrow, while it sinks, exalts, And + conscious virtue mitigates the pang." + + --YOUNG. + +MRS. DOUGLAS was, on the maternal side, related to an English family. +Her mother had died in giving birth to her; and her father, shortly +after, falling in the service of his country, she had been consigned in +infancy to the care of her aunt. Lady Audley had taken charge of her, on +condition that she should never be claimed by her Scottish relations, +for whom that lady entertained as much aversion as contempt. A latent +feeling of affection for her departed sister, and a large portion of +family pride, had prompted her wish of becoming the protectress of her +orphan niece; and, possessed of a high sense of rectitude and honour, +she fulfilled the duty thus voluntarily imposed in a manner that secured +the unshaken gratitude of the virtuous Alicia. + +Lady Audley was a character more esteemed and feared than loved, even by +those with whom she was most intimate. Firm, upright, and rigid, she +exacted from others those inflexible virtues which in herself she found +no obstacle to performing. Neglecting these softer attractions which +shed their benign influence over the commerce of social life, she was +content to enjoy the extorted esteem of her associates; for friends she +had none. She sought in the world for objects to fill up the void which +her heart could not supply. She loved _éclat,_ and had succeeded +in creating herself an existence of importance in the circles of high +life, which she considered more as due to her consequence than essential +to her enjoyment. She had early in life been left a widow, with the sole +tutelage and management of an only son, whose large estate she regulated +with the most admirable prudence and judgment. + +Alicia Malcolm was put under the care of her aunt at two years of age. A +governess had been procured for her, whose character was such as not to +impair the promising dispositions of her pupil. Alicia was gifted by +nature with a warm affectionate heart, and a calm imagination attempered +its influence. Her governess, a woman of a strong understanding and +enlarged mind, early instilled into her a deep and strong sense of +religion; and to it she owed the support which had safely guided her +through the most trying vicissitudes. + +When at the age of seventeen Alicia Malcolm was produced in the world. +She was a rational, cheerful, and sweet-tempered girl, with a finely +formed person, and a countenance in which was so clearly painted the +sunshine of her breast, that it attracted the _bienveillance_ even of +those who had not taste or judgment to define the charm. Her open +natural manner, blending the frankness of the Scotch with the polished +reserve of the English woman, her total exemption from vanity, +calculated alike to please others and maintain her own cheerfulness +undimmed by a single cloud. + +Lady Audley felt for her niece a sentiment which she mistook for +affection; her self-approbation was gratified at the contemplation of a +being who owed every advantage to her, and whom she had rescued from the +coarseness and vulgarity which she deemed inseparable from the manners +of every Scotchwoman. If Lady Audley really loved any human being it was +her son. In him were centred her dearest interests; on his +aggrandisement and future importance hung her most sanguine hopes. She +had acted contrary to the advice of her male relations, and followed her +own judgment, by giving her son a private education. He was brought up +under her own eye by a tutor of deep erudition, but who was totally +unfitted for forming the mind, and compensating for those advantages +which may be derived from a public education. The circumstances of his +education, however, combined rather to stifle the exposure than to +destroy the existence of some very dangerous qualities that seemed +inherent in Sir Edmund's nature. He was ardent, impetuous, and +passionate, though these propensities were cloaked by a reserve, partly +natural, and partly arising from of his mother and tutor. + +His was not the effervescence of character which bursts forth on every +trivial occasion; but when any powerful cause awakened the slumbering +inmates, of his breast, they blazed with an uncontrolled fury that +defied all opposition, and overleaped all bounds of reason and decorum. + +Experience often shows us that minds formed of the most opposite +attributes more forcibly attract each other than those which appear cast +in the same mould. The source of this fascination is difficult to trace; +it possesses not reason for its basis, yet it is perhaps the more +tyrannical in its influence from that very cause. The weakness of our +natures occasionally makes us feel a potent charm in "errors of a noble +mind." + +Sir Edmund Audley and Alicia Malcolm proved examples of this +observation. The affection of childhood had so gradually ripened into a +warmer sentiment, that neither was conscious of the nature of that +sentiment till after it had attained strength to cast a material +influence on their after lives. The familiarity of near relatives +associating constantly together produced a warm sentiment of affection, +cemented by similarity of pursuits, and enlivened by diversity of +character; while the perfect tranquillity of their lives afforded no +event that could withdraw the veil of ignorance from their eyes. + +Could a woman of Lady Audley's discernment, it may be asked, place +two young persons in such a situation, and doubt the consequences? Those +who are no longer young are liable to forget that love is a plant of +early growth, and that the individuals that they have but a short time +before beheld placing their supreme felicity on a rattle and a go-cart +can so soon be actuated by the strongest passions of the human +breast. + +Sir Edmund completed his nineteenth year, and Alicia entered her +eighteenth, when this happy state of unconscious security was destroyed +by a circumstance which rent the veil from her eyes, and disclosed his +sentiments in all their energy and warmth. This circumstance was no +other than a proposal of marriage to Alicia from a gentleman of large +fortune and brilliant connexions who resided in their neighbourhood. His +character was as little calculated as his appearance to engage the +affections of a young woman of delicacy and good sense. But he was a man +of consequence; heir to an earldom; member for the county; and Lady +Audley, rejoicing at what she termed Alicia's good fortune, determined +that she should become his wife. + +With mild firmness she rejected the honour intended her; but it was +with difficulty that Lady Audley's mind could adopt or understand the +idea of an opposition to her wishes. She could not seriously embrace the +conviction that Alicia was determined to disobey her; and in order to +bring her to a right understanding she underwent a system of persecution +that tended naturally to increase the antipathy her suitor had inspired. +Lady Audley, with the indiscriminating zeal of prejudiced and +overbearing persons, strove to recommend him to her niece br all those +attributes which were of value in her own eyes; making allowance for a +certain degree of in decision in her niece, but never admitting a doubt +that in due time her will should be obeyed, as it had always hitherto been. + +At this juncture Sir Edmund came down to the country, and was struck by +the altered looks and pensive manners of his once cheerful cousin. About +a week after his arrival he found Alicia one morning in tears, after a +long conversation with Lady Audley. Sir Edmund tenderly soothed her, and +entreated to be made acquainted with the cause of her distress. She was +so habituated to impart every thought to her cousin, the intimacy and +sympathy of their souls were so entire, that she would not have +concealed the late occurrence from him had she not been withheld by the +natural timidity and delicacy a young woman feels in making her own +conquests the subject of conversation. But now so pathetically and +irresistibly persuaded by Sir Edmund, and sensible that every distress +of hers wounded his heart, Alicia candidly related to him the pursuit of +her disagreeable suitor, and the importunities of Lady Audley in his +favour. Every word she had spoken had more and, more dispelled the mist +that had so long hung over Sir Edmund's inclinations. At the first +mention of a suitor, he had felt that to be hers was a happiness that +comprised all others; and that the idea of losing her made the whole of +existence appear a frightful blank. These feelings were no sooner known +to himself than spontaneously poured into her delighted ears; while she +felt that every sentiment met a kindred one in her breast. Alicia sought +not a moment to disguise those feelings, which she now, for the first +time, became aware of; they were known to the object of her innocent +affection as soon as to herself, and both were convinced that, though +not conscious before of the nature of their sentiments, love had long +been mistaken for friendship in their hearts. + +But this state of blissful serenity did not last long. On the evening of +the following day Lady Audley sent for her to her dressing-room. On +entering, Alicia was panic-struck at her aunt's pale countenance, fiery +eyes, and frame convulsed with passion. With difficulty Lady Audley, +struggling for calmness, demanded an instant and decided reply to the +proposals of Mr. Compton, the gentleman who had solicited her hand. +Alicia entreated her aunt to waive the subject, as she found it +impossible ever to consent to such a union. + +Scarcely was her answer uttered when Lady Audley's anger burst forth +uncontrollably. She accused her niece of the vilest ingratitude in +having seduced her son from the obedience he owed his mother; of having +plotted to ally her base Scotch blood to the noble blood of the Audleys; +and, having exhausted every opprobrious epithet, she was forced to stop +from want of breath to proceed. As Alicia listened to the cruel, +unfounded reproaches of her aunt, her spirit rose under the unmerited +ill-usage, but her conscience absolved her from all intention of +injuring or deceiving a human being; and she calmly waited till Lady +Audley's anger should have exhausted itself, and then entreated to know +what part of her conduct had excited her aunt's displeasure. + +Lady Audley's reply was diffuse and intemperate. Alicia gathered from +it that her rage had its source in a declaration her son had made to her +of his affection for his cousin, and his resolution of marrying her as +soon as he was of age; which open avowal of his sentiments had followed +Lady Audley's injunctions to him to forward the suit of Mr. Compton. + +That her son, for whom she had in view one of the first matches in the +kingdom, should dare to choose for himself; and, above all, to choose +one whom she considered as much his inferior in birth as she was in +fortune, was a circumstance quite insupportable to her feelings. + +Of the existence of love Lady Audley had little conception; and she +attributed her son's conduct to wilful disobedience and obstinacy. In +proportion as she had hitherto found him complying and gentle, her wrath +had kindled at his present firmness and inflexibility. So bitter were +her reflections on his conduct, so severe her animadversions on the +being he loved, that Sir Edmund, fired with resentment, expressed his +resolution of acting according to the dictates of his own will; and +expressed his contempt for her authority in terms the most unequivocal. +Lady Audley, ignorant of the arts of persuasion, by every word she +uttered more and more widened the breach her imperiousness had +occasioned, until Sir Edmund, feeling himself no longer master of his +temper, announced his intention of leaving the house, to allow his +mother time to reconcile herself to the inevitable misfortune of +beholding him the husband of Alicia Malcolm. + +He instantly ordered his horses and departed, leaving the following +letter for his cousin:-- + +"I have been compelled by motives of prudence, of which you are the sole +object, to depart without seeing you. My absence became necessary from +the unexpected conduct of Lady Audley, which has led me so near to +forgetting that she was my mother, that I dare not remain, and subject +myself to excesses of temper which I might afterwards repent. Two years +must elapse before I can become legally my own master, and should Lady +Audley so far depart from the dictates of cool judgment as still to +oppose what she knows to be inevitable, I fear that we cannot meet till +then. My heart is well known to you; therefore I need not enlarge on the +pain I feel at this unlooked-for separation. At the same time, I am +cheered with the prospect of the unspeakable happiness that awaits +me-the possession of your hand; and the confidence I feel in your +constancy is in proportion to the certainty I experience in my own; I +cannot, therefore, fear that any of the means which may be put in +practice to disunite us will have more effect on you than on me. + +"Looking forward to the moment that shall make you mine for ever, I +remain with steady confidence: and unspeakable affection, your + +"EDMUND AUDLEY." + +With a trembling frame Alicia handed the note to Lady Audley, and begged +leave to retire for a short time; expressing her willingness to reply at +another moment to any question her aunt might choose to put to her with +regard to her engagement with Sir Edmund. + +In the solitude of her own chamber Alicia gave way to those feelings of +wretchedness which she had with difficulty stifled in the presence of +Lady Audley, and bitterly wept over the extinction of her bright and +newly-formed visions of felicity. To yield to unmerited ill-usage, or to +crouch beneath imperious and self-arrogated power, was not in the nature +of Alicia; and had Lady Audley been a stranger to her, the path of duty +would have been less intricate. However much her own pride might have +been wounded by entering into a family which considered her as an +intruding beggar, never would she have consented to sacrifice the +virtuous inclinations of the man she loved to the will of an arrogant +and imperious mother. But alas! the case was far different. The recent +ill-treatment she had experienced from Lady Audley could not efface from +her noble mind the recollection of benefits conferred from the earliest +period of her life, and of unvarying attention to her welfare. To her +aunt she owed all but existence; she had wholly supported her; bestowed +on her the most liberal education; and from Lady Audley sprang every +pleasure she had hitherto enjoyed. + +Had she been brought up by her paternal relations, she would in all +probability never have beheld her cousin; and the mother and son might +have lived in uninterrupted concord. Could she be the person to inflict +on Lady Audley the severest disappointment she could experience? The +thought was too dreadful to bear; and, knowing that procrastination +could but increase her misery, no sooner had she felt convinced of the +true nature of her duty than she made a steady resolution to perform and +to adhere to it. Lady Audley had _vowed that while she had life she +could never give her consent and approbation to her son's marriage;_ and +Alicia was too well acquainted with her disposition to have the faintest +expectation that she would relent. But to remain any longer under her +protection was impossible; and she resolved to anticipate any proposal +of that sort from her protectress. + +When Lady Audley's passion had somewhat cooled, she again sent for +Alicia. She began by repeating her _eternal enmity_ to the marriage in a +manner impressive to the greatest degree, and still more decisive in its +form by the cool collectedness of her manner. She then desired to hear +what Alicia had to say in exculpation of her conduct. + +The profound sorrow which filled the heart of Alicia left no room for +timidity or indecision. She answered her without hesitation and +embarrassment, and asserted her innocence of all deceit in such a manner +as to leave no doubt at least of honourable proceeding. In a few +impressive words she proved herself sensible of the benefits her aunt +had through life conferred upon her; and, while she openly professed to +think herself, in the present instance, deeply wronged, she declared her +determination of never uniting herself to her cousin without Lady +Audley's permission, which she felt convinced was unattainable. + +She then proceeded to ask where she should deem it most advisable for +her to reside in future. + +Happy to find her wishes thus prevented, the unfeeling aunt expressed +her satisfaction at Alicia's good sense and discretion; represented, in +what she thought glowing colours, the unheard-of presumption it would +have been in her to take advantage of Sir Edmund's momentary +infatuation; and then launched out into details of her ambitious views +for him in a matrimonial alliance--views which she affected now to +consider without obstacle. + +Alicia interrupted the painful and unfeeling harangue. It was neither, +she said, for Sir Edmund's advantage nor to gratify his mother's pride, +but to perform the dictates of her own conscience, that she had resigned +him; she even ventured to declare that the sharpest pang which that +resignation had cost her was the firm conviction that it would inflict +upon him a deep and lasting sorrow. + +Lady Audley, convinced that moderate measures would be most likely to +ensure a continuation of Alicia's obedience, expressed herself grieved +at the necessity of parting with her, and pleased that she should have +the good sense to perceive the propriety of such a separation. + +Sir Duncan Malcolm, the grandfather of Alicia, had, in the few +communications that had passed between Lady Audley and him, always +expressed a wish to see his granddaughter before he died. Her ladyship's +antipathy to Scotland was such that she would have deemed it absolute +contamination for her niece to have entered the country; and she had +therefore always eluded the request. + +It was now, of all plans, the most eligible; and she graciously offered +to convey her niece as far as Edinburgh. The journey was immediately +settled; and before Alicia left her aunt's presence a promise was +exacted with unfeeling tenacity, and given with melancholy firmness, +never to unite herself to Sir Edmund unsanctioned by his mother. + +Alas! how imperfect is human wisdom! Even in seeking to do right how +many are the errors we commit! Alicia judged wrong in thus sacrificing +the happiness of Sir Edmund to the pride and injustice of his mother; +but her error was that of a noble, self-denying spirit, entitled to +respect, even though it cannot claim approbation. The honourable open +conduct of her niece had so far gained upon Lady Audley that she did not +object to her writing to Sir Edmund, + +"DEAR SIR EDMUND--A painful line of conduct is pointed out to me by +duty; yet of all the regrets I feel not one is so poignant as the +consciousness of that which you will feel at learning that I have +forever resigned the claims you so lately gave me to your heart and +hand. It was not weakness--it could not be inconstancy--that produced +the painful sacrifice of a distinction still more gratifying to my heart +than flattering to my pride. + +"Need I remind you that to your mother I owe every benefit in life? +Nothing can release me from the tribute of gratitude which would be ill +repaid by braving her authority and despising her will. Should I give +her reason to regret the hour she received me under her roof, to repent +of every benefit she has hitherto bestowed on me; should I draw down a +mother's displeasure, what reasonable hopes could we entertain of solid +peace through life? I am not in a situation which entitles me to +question the justice of Lady Audley's will; and that will has pronounced +that I shall never be Sir Edmund's wife. + +"Your first impulse may perhaps be to accuse me of coldness and +ingratitude in quitting the place and country you inhabit, and resigning +you back to yourself, without personally taking leave of you; but I +trust that you will, on reflection, absolve me from the charge. + +"Could I +have had any grounds to suppose that a personal interview would be +productive of comfort to you, I would have joyfully supported the +sufferings it would have inflicted on myself. But question your own +heart as to the use you would have made of such a meeting; bear in mind +that Lady Audley has my solemn promise never to be yours--a promise not +lightly given; then imagine what must have been an interview between us +under such circumstances. + +"In proof of an affection which I can have no reason to doubt, I conjure +you to listen to the last request I shall ever make to my dear cousin. +Give me the heartfelt satisfaction to know that my departure has put an +end to those disagreements between mother and son of which I have been +the innocent cause. + +"You have no reason to blame Lady Audley for this last step of +mine. I have not been intimidated--threats, believe me, never would have +extorted from me a promise to renounce you, had not Virtue herself +dictated the sacrifice; and my reward will spring from the conviction +that, as far as my judgment could discern, I have acted right. + +"Forget, I entreat you, this inauspicious passion. Resolve, like me, to +resign yourself, without murmuring, to what is now past recall; and, +instead of indulging melancholy, regain, by a timely exertion of mind +and body, that serenity which is the portion of those who have obeyed +the dictates of rectitude. + +"Farewell, Sir Edmund. May every happiness attend your future life! +While I strive to forget my ill-fated affection, the still stronger +feelings of gratitude and esteem for you can never fade from the heart +of + + "ALICIA MALCOLM." + +To say that no tears were shed during the composition of this letter +would be to overstrain fortitude beyond natural bounds. With difficulty +Alicia checked the effusions of her pen. She wished to have said much +more, and to have soothed the agony of renunciation by painting with +warmth her tenderness and her regret; but reason urged that, in exciting +his feelings and displaying her own, she would defeat the chief purpose +of her letter. She hastily closed and directed it, with a feeling almost +akin to despair. + +The necessary arrangements for the journey having been hastily made, the +ladies set out two days after Sir Edmund had so hastily quitted them. +The uncomplaining Alicia buried her woes in her own bosom; and neither +murmurs on the one hand, nor reproaches on the other, were heard. + +At the end of four days the travellers entered Scotland; and when they +stopped for the night, Alicia, fatigued and dispirited, retired +immediately to her apartment. + +She had been there but a few minutes when the chambermaid knocked at the +door, and informed her that she was wanted below. + +Supposing that Lady Audley had sent for her, she followed the girl +without observing that she was conducted in an opposite direction; when, +upon entering an apartment, what was her astonishment at finding +herself, not in the presence of Lady Audley, but in the arms of Sir +Edmund! In the utmost agitation, she sought to disengage herself from +his almost frantic embrace; while he poured forth a torrent of rapturous +exclamations, and swore that no human power should ever divide them +again. + +"I have followed your steps, dearest Alicia, from the moment I received +your letter. We are now in Scotland-in this blessed land of liberty. +Everything is arranged; the clergyman is now in waiting; and in five +minutes you shall be my own beyond the power of fate to sever us." + +Too much agitated to reply, Alicia wept in silence; and in the delight +of once more beholding him she had thought never more to behold, forgot, +for a moment, the duty she had imposed upon herself. But the native +energy of her character returned. She raised her head, and attempted to +withdraw from the encircling arms of her cousin. + +"Never until you have vowed to be mine! The clergyman--the +carriage--everything is in readiness. Speak but the word, dearest." And +he knelt at her feet. + +At this juncture the door opened, and, pale with rage, her eyes flashing +fire, Lady Audley stood before them. A dreadful scene now ensued. Sir +Edmund disdained to enter into any justification of his conduct, or even +to reply to the invectives of his mother, but lavished the most tender +assiduities on Alicia; who, overcome more by the conflicts of her own +heart than with alarm at Lady Audley's violence, sat the pale and silent +image of consternation. + +Baffled by her son's indignant disregard, Lady Audley turned all her +fury on her niece; and, in the most opprobrious terms that rage could +invent, upbraided her with deceit and treachery--accusing her of making +her pretended submission instrumental to the more speedy accomplishment +of her marriage. Too much incensed to reply, Sir Edmund seized his +cousin's hand, and was leading her from the room. + +"Go, then--go, marry her; but first hear me swear, solemnly swear"-- +and she raised her hand and eyes to heaven--"that my malediction shall +be your portion! Speak but the word, and no power shall make me withhold +it!" + +"Dear Edmund!" exclaimed Alicia, distractedly, "never ought I to have +allowed time for the terrifying words that have fallen from Lady +Audley's lips; never for me shall your mother's malediction fall on you. +Farewell for ever!" and, with the strength of desperation, she rushed +past him, and quitted the room. Sir Edmund madly followed, but in vain. +Alicia's feelings were too highly wrought at that moment to be touched +even by the man she loved; and, without an additional pang, she saw him +throw himself into the carriage which he had destined for so different a +purpose, and quit for ever the woman he adored. + +It may easily be conceived of how painful a nature must have been the +future intercourse betwixt Lady Audley and her niece. The former seemed +to regard her victim with that haughty distance which the unrelenting +oppressor never fails to entertain towards the object of his tyranny; +while even the gentle Alicia, on her part, shrank, with ill-concealed +abhorrence, from the presence of that being whose stern decree had +blasted all the fairest blossoms of her happiness. + +Alicia was received with affection by her grandfather; and she laboured +to drive away the heavy despondency which pressed on her spirits by +studying his taste and humours, and striving to contribute to his +comfort and amusement. + +Sir Duncan had chosen the time of Alicia's arrival to transact some +business; and instead of returning immediately to the Highlands, he +determined to remain some weeks in Edinburgh for her amusement. + +But, little attractive as dissipation had been, it was now absolutely +repugnant to Alicia. She loathed the idea of mixing in scenes of +amusement with a heart incapable of joy, a spirit indifferent to every +object that surrounded her; and in solitude alone she expected gradually +to regain her peace of mind. + +In the amusements of the gay season of Edinburgh, Alicia expected to +find all the vanity, emptiness, and frivolity of London dissipation, +without its varied brilliancy and elegant luxury; yet, so much was it +the habit of her mind to look to the fairest side of things, and to +extract some advantage from every situation in which she was placed, +that pensive and thoughtful as was her disposition, the discriminating +only perceived her deep dejection, while all admired her benevolence of +manner and unaffected desire to please. + +By degrees Alicia found that in some points she had been inaccurate in +her idea of the style of living of those who form the best society of +Edinburgh. The circle is so confined that its members are almost +universally known to each other; and those various gradations of +gentility, from the city's snug party to the duchess's most crowded +assembly, all totally distinct and separate, which are to be met with in +London, have no prototype in Edinburgh. There the ranks and fortunes +being more on an equality, no one is able greatly to exceed his +neighbour in luxury and extravagance. Great magnificence, and the +consequent gratification produced by the envy of others being out of the +question, the object for which a reunion of individuals was originally +invented becomes less of a secondary consideration. Private parties for +the actual purpose of society and conversation are frequent, and answer +the destined end; and in the societies of professed amusement are to be +met the learned, the studious, and the rational; not presented as shows +to the company by the host and hostess, but professedly seeking their +own gratification. + +Still the lack of beauty, fashion, and elegance disappoint the stranger +accustomed to their brilliant combination in a London world. But Alicia +had long since sickened in the metropolis at the frivolity of beauty, +the heartlessness of fashion, and the insipidity of elegance; and it was +a relief to her to turn to the variety of character she found beneath +the cloak of simple, eccentric, and sometimes coarse manners. + +We are never long so totally abstracted by our own feelings as to be +unconscious of the attempts of others to please us. In Alicia, to be +conscious of it and to be grateful was the same movement. Yet she was +sensible that so many persons could not in that short period have become +seriously interested in her. The observation did not escape her how much +an English stranger is looked up to for fashion and taste in Edinburgh, +though possessing little merit save that of being English; yet she felt +gratified and thankful for the kindness and attention that greeted her +appearance on all sides. + +Amongst the many who expressed goodwill towards Alicia there were a few +whose kindness and real affection failed not to meet with a return from +her; and others whose rich and varied powers of mind for the first time +afforded her a true specimen of the exalting enjoyment produced by a +communion of intellect. She felt the powers of her understanding enlarge +in proportion; and, with this mental activity, she sought to solace the +languor of her heart and save it from the listlessness of despair. + +Alicia had been about six weeks in Edinburgh when she received a +letter from Lady Audley. No allusions were made to the past; she wrote +upon general topics, in the cold manner that might be used to a common +acquaintance; and slightly named her son as having set out upon a tour +to the Continent. + +Alicia's heart was heavy as she read the heartless letter of the woman +whose cruelty ad not been able to eradicate wholly from her breast he +strong durable affection of early habit. + +Sir Duncan and Alicia spent two months in Edinburgh, at the end of which +time they went to his country seat in---shire. The adjacent country was +picturesque; and Sir Duncan's residence, though bearing marks of the +absence of taste and comfort in its arrangements, possessed much natural +beauty. + +Two years of tranquil seclusion had passed over her head when her +dormant feeling were all aroused by a letter from Sir Edmund. It +informed her that he was now of age; that his affection remained +unalterable; that he was newly arrived from abroad; and that, +notwithstanding the death-blow she had given to his hopes, he could not +refrain, on returning to his native land, from assuring her that he was +resolved never to pay his addresses to any other woman. He concluded by +declaring his intent on of presenting himself at once to Sir Duncan, and +soliciting his permission to claim her hand: when all scruples relating +to Lady Audley must, from her change of abode, be at an end. + +Alicia read the letter with grateful affection and poignant regret. +Again she shed he bitter tears of disappointment, at the hard task of +refusing for a second time so noble and affectionate a heart. But +conscience whispered that to hold a passive line of conduct would be, in +some measure, to deceive Lady Audley's expectations; and she felt, with +exquisite anguish, that she had no means to put a final stop to Sir +Edmund's pursuits, and to her own trials, but by bestowing her hand on +another. The first dawning of this idea was accompanied by the most +violent burst of anguish; but, far from driving away the painful +subject, she strove to render it less appalling by dwelling upon it, and +labouring to reconcile herself to what seemed her only plan of conduct. +She acknowledged to herself that, to remain still single, a prey to Sir +Edmund's importunities and the continual temptations of her own heart, +was, for the sake of present indulgence, submitting to a fiery ordeal, +from which she could not escape unblamable without the most repeated and +agonising conflicts. + +Three months still remained for her of peace and liberty, after which +Sir Duncan would go to Edinburgh. There she would be sure of meeting +with the loved companion of her youthful days; and the lurking weakness +of her own breast would then be seconded by the passionate eloquence of +the being she most loved and admired upon earth. + +She wrote to him, repeating her former arguments; declaring that she +could never feel herself absolved from the promise she had given Lady +Audley but by that lady herself, and imploring him to abandon a pursuit +which would be productive only of lasting pain to both. + +Her arguments, her representations, all failed in their effect on Sir +Edmund's impetuous character. His answer was short and decided; the +purport of it, that he should see her in Edinburgh the moment she +arrived there. + +"My fate then is fixed," thought Alicia, as she read this letter; "I +must finish the sacrifice." + +The more severe had been the struggle between love and victorious duty, +the more firmly was she determined to maintain this dear-bought +victory. + +Alicia's resolution of marrying was now decided, and the opportunity was +not wanting. She had become acquainted, during the preceding winter in +Edinburgh, with Major Douglas, eldest son of Mr. Douglas of Glenfern. He +had then paid her the most marked attention; and, since her return to +the country, had been a frequent visitor at Sir Duncan's. At length he +avowed his partiality, which was heard by Sir Duncan with pleasure, by +Alicia with dread and submission. Yet she felt less repugnance towards +him than to any other of her suitors. He was pleasing in his person; +quiet and simple in his manners; and his character stood high for +integrity, good temper, and plain sense. The sequel requires little +further detail. Alicia Malcolm became the wife of Archibald Douglas. + +An eternal constancy is a thing so rare to be met with, that persons who +desire that sort of reputation strive to obtain it by nourishing the +ideas that recall the passion, even though guilt and sorrow should go +hand in hand with it. But Alicia, far from piquing herself in the +lovelorn pensiveness she might have assumed, had she yielded to the +impulse of her feelings, diligently strove not only to make up her mind +to the lot which had devolved to her, but to bring it to such a frame of +cheerfulness as should enable her to contribute to her husband's +happiness. + +When the soul is no longer buffeted by the storms of hope or fear, when +all is fixed unchangeably for life, sorrow for the past will never long +prey on a pious and well-regulated mind. If Alicia lost the buoyant +spirit of youth, the bright and quick play of fancy, yet a placid +contentment crowned her days; and at the end of two years she would have +been astonished had anyone marked her as an object of compassion. + +She scarcely ever heard from Lady Audley; and in the few letters her +aunt had favoured her with, she gave favourable, though vague accounts +of her son. Alicia did not court a more unreserved communication, and +had long since taught herself to hope that he was now happy. Soon after +their marriage Major Douglas quitted the army, upon succeeding to a small +estate on the banks of Lochmarlie by the death of an uncle; and there, +in the calm seclusion of domestic life, Mrs. Douglas found that peace +which might have been denied her amid gayer scenes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + And joyous was the scene in early summer." + + MADOC. + +ON Henry's return from his solitary ramble Mrs. Douglas learnt from him +the cause of the misunderstanding that had taken place; and judging +that, in the present state of affairs, a temporary separation might be +of use to both parties, as they were now about to return home she +proposed to her husband to invite his brother and Lady Juliana to follow +and spend a few weeks with them at Lochmarlie Cottage. + +The invitation was eagerly accepted; for though Lady Juliana did not +anticipate any positive pleasure from the change, still she thought that +every place must be more agreeable than her present abode, especially as +she stipulated for the utter exclusion of the aunts from the party. To +atone for this mortification Miss Becky was invited to fill the vacant +seat in the carriage; and, accordingly, with a cargo of strong shoes, +greatcoats, and a large work-bag well stuffed with white-seam, she took +her place at the appointed hour. + +The day they had chosen for their expedition was one that "sent a summer +feeling to the heart." + +The air was soft and genial; not a cloud stained the bright azure of the +heavens; and the sun shone out in all his splendour, shedding life and +beauty even over all the desolate heath-clad hills of Glenfern. But, +after they had journeyed a few miles, suddenly emerging from the valley, +a scene of matchless beauty burst at once upon the eye. Before them lay +the dark-blue waters of Lochmarlie, reflecting, as in a mirror, every +surrounding object, and bearing on its placid transparent bosom a fleet +of herring-boats, the drapery of whose black suspended nets contrasted +with picturesque effect the white sails of the larger vessels, which +were vainly spread to catch a breeze. All around, rocks, meadows, woods, +and hills, mingled in wild and lovely irregularity. + +On a projecting point of land stood a little fishing village, its white +cottages reflected in the glassy waters that almost surrounded it. On +the opposite side of the lake, or rather estuary, embosomed in wood, rose +the lofty turrets of Lochmarlie Castle; while here and there, perched on +some mountain's brow, were to be seen the shepherd's lonely hut, and the +heath-covered summer shealing. + +Not a breath was stirring, not a sound was heard save the rushing of a +waterfall, the tinkling of some silver rivulet, or the calm rippling of +the tranquil lake; now and then, at intervals, the fisherman's Gaelic +ditty chanted, as he lay stretched on the sand in some sunny nook; or +the shrill distant sound of childish glee. How delicious to the feeling +heart to behold so fair a scene of unsophisticated Nature, and to +listen to her voice alone, breathing the accents of innocence and joy! + +But none of the party who now gazed on it had minds capable of being +touched with the emotions it was calculated to inspire. + +Henry, indeed, was rapturous in his expressions of admiration; but he +concluded his panegyrics by wondering his brother did not keep a cutter, +and resolving to pass a night on board one of the herring boats, that he +might eat the fish in perfection. + +Lady Juliana thought it might be very pretty, if, instead of those +frightful rocks and shabby cottages, there could be villas, and gardens, +and lawns, and conservatories, and summer-houses, and statues. + +Miss Becky observed, if it was hers, she would cut down the woods, and +level the hills, and have races. + +The road wound along the sides of the lake, sometimes overhung with +banks of natural wood, which, though scarcely budding, grew so thick as +to exclude the prospect; in other places surmounted by large masses of +rock, festooned with ivy, and embroidered by mosses of a thousand hues +that glittered under the little mountain streamlets. Two miles farther +on stood the simple mansion of Mr. Douglas. It was situated in a wild +sequestered nook, formed by a little bay at the farther end of the +lake. On three sides it was surrounded by wooded hills that offered a +complete shelter from every nipping blast. To the south the lawn, +sprinkled with trees and shrubs, sloped gradually down to the water. + +At the door they were met by Mrs. Douglas, who welcomed them with +the most affectionate cordiality, and conducted them into the house +through a little circular hall, filled with flowering shrubs and foreign +plants. + +"How delightful!" exclaimed Lady Juliana, as she stopped to inhale +the rich fragrance. "Moss roses! I do delight in them," twisting off a +rich cluster of flowers and buds in token of her affection; "and I quite +doat upon heliotrope," gathering a handful of flowers as she spoke. Then +extending her hand towards a most luxuriant Cape jessamine-- + +"I must really petition you to spare this, my favourite child," said her +sister-in-law, as she gently withheld her arm; "and, to tell you the +truth, dear Lady Juliana, you have already infringed the rules of my +little conservatory, which admit only of the gratification of two +senses--seeing and smelling." + +"What! don't you like your flowers to be gathered?" exclaimed Lady +Juliana in a tone of surprise and disappointment; "I don't know any +other use they're of. What quantities I used to have from Papa's +hothouses!" + +Mrs. Douglas made no reply; but conducted her to the drawing-room, where +her chagrin was dispelled by the appearance of comfort and even elegance +that it bore. "Now, this is really what I like," cried she, throwing +herself on one of the couches; "a large fire, open windows, quantities +of roses, comfortable Ottomans, and pictures; only what a pity you +haven't a larger mirror." + +Mrs. Douglas now rang for refreshments, and apologised for the absence +of her husband, who, she said, was so much interested in his ploughing +that he seldom made his appearance till sent for. + +Henry then proposed that they should all go out and surprise his +brother; and though walking in the country formed no part of Lady +Juliana's amusements, yet, as Mrs. Douglas assured her the walks were +perfectly dry, and her husband was so pressing, she consented. The way +lay through a shrubbery, by the side of a brawling brook, whose banks +retained all the wildness of unadorned nature. Moss and ivy and fern +clothed the ground; and under the banks the young primroses and violets +began to raise their heads; while the red wintry berry still hung thick +on the hollies. + +"This is really very pleasant," said Henry, stopping to contemplate a +view of the lake through the branches of a weeping birch; "the sound of +the stream, and the singing of the birds, and all those wild flowers +make it appear as if it was summer in this spot; and only look, Julia, +how pretty that wherry looks lying at anchor." Then whispering to her, +"What would you think of such a desert as this, with the man of your +heart?" + +Lady Juliana made no reply but by complaining of the heat of the sun, +the hardness of the gravel, and the damp from the water. + +Henry, who now began to look upon the condition of a Highland farmer +with more complacency than formerly, was confirmed in his favourable +sentiments at sight of his brother, following the primitive occupation +of the plough, his fine face glowing with health, and lighted up with +good humour and happiness. He hastily advanced towards the party, and +shaking his brother and sister-in-law most warmly by the hand, +expressed, with all the warmth of a good heart, the pleasure he had in +receiving them at his house. Then observing Lady Juliana's languid air, +and imputing to fatigue of body what, in fact, was the consequence of +mental vacuity, he proposed returning home by a shorter road than that +by which they had come. Henry was again in raptures at the new beauties +this walk presented, and at the high order and neatness in which the +grounds were kept. + +"This must be a very expensive place of yours, though," said he, +addressing his sister-in-law; "there is so much garden and shrubbery, +and such a number of rustic bridges, bowers, and so forth: it must +require half a dozen men to keep it in any order." + +"Such an establishment would very ill accord with our moderate means," +replied she; "we do not pretend to one regular gardener; and had our +little embellishments been productive of much expense, or tending solely +to my gratification, I should never have suggested them. When we first +took possession of this spot it was a perfect wilderness, with a dirty +farm-house on it; nothing but mud about the doors; nothing but wood and +briers and brambles beyond it; and the village presented a still more +melancholy scene of rank luxuriance, in its swarms of dirty idle girls +and mischievous boys. I have generally found that wherever an evil +exists the remedy is not far off; and in this case it was strikingly +obvious. It was only engaging these ill-directed children by trifling +rewards to apply their lively energies in improving instead of +destroying the works of nature, as had formerly been their zealous +practice. In a short time the change on the moral as well as the +vegetable part of creation became very perceptible: the children grew +industrious and peaceable; and instead of destroying trees, robbing +nests, and worrying cats, the bigger boys, under Douglas's direction, +constructed these wooden bridges and seats, or cut out and gravelled the +little winding paths that we had previously marked out. The task of +keeping everything n order is now easy, as you may believe, when I tell +you the whole of our pleasure-grounds, as you are pleased to term them, +receive no other attention than what is bestowed by children under +twelve years of age. And now, having, I hope, acquitted myself of the +charge of extravagance, I ought to beg Lady Juliana's pardon for this +long, and, I fear, tiresome detail." + +Having now reached the house, Mrs. Douglas conducted her guest to the +apartment prepared for her, while the brothers pursued their walk. + +As long as novelty retained its power, and the comparison between +Glenfern and Lochmarlie was fresh in remembrance, Lady Juliana, charmed +with everything, was in high good-humour. + +But as the horrors of the one were forgotten, and the comforts of the +other became familiar, the demon of ennui again took possession of her +vacant mind, and she relapsed into all her capricious humours and +childish impertinences. The harpsichord, which, on her first arrival, +she had pronounced to be excellent, was now declared quite shocking; so +much out of tune that there was no possibility of playing upon it. The +small collection of well-chosen novels she soon exhausted, and then they +became the "stupidest books she had ever read;" the smell of the +heliotrope now gave her the headache; the sight of the lake made her +sea-sick. + +Mrs. Douglas heard all these civilities in silence, and much more "in +sorrow than in anger." In the wayward inclinations, variable temper, and +wretched inanity of this poor victim of indulgence, she beheld the sad +fruits of a fashionable education; and thought with humility that, under +similar circumstances, such might have been her own character. + +"Oh, what an awful responsibility do those parents incur," she would +mentally exclaim, "who thus neglect or corrupt the noble deposit of an +immortal soul! And who, alas! can tell where the mischief may end? This +unfortunate will herself become a mother; yet wholly ignorant of the +duties, incapable of the self-denial of that sacred office, she will +bring into the world creatures to whom she can only transmit her errors +and her weaknesses!" + +These reflections at times deeply affected the generous heart and truly +Christian spirit of Mrs. Douglas; and she sought, by every means in her +power, to restrain those faults which she knew it would be vain to +attempt eradicating. + +To diversify the routine of days which grew more and more tedious to +Lady Juliana, the weather being remarkably fine, many little excursions +were made to the nearest country seats; which, though they did not +afford her any actual pleasure, answered the purpose of consuming a +considerable portion of her time. + +Several weeks passed away, during which little inclination was shown on +the part of the guests to quit their present residence, when Mr. and +Mrs. Douglas were summoned to attend the sick-bed of Sir Duncan Malcolm; +and though they pressed their guests to remain during their absence, yet +Henry felt it would be highly offensive to his father were they to do +so, and therefore resolved immediately to return to Glenfern. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + "They steeked doors,' they steeked yetts, + Close to the cheek and chin; + They steeked them a' but a little wicket, + And Lammikin crap in. + "Now quhere's the lady of this castle?" + + _Old Ballad._ + +THE party were received with the loudest acclamations of joy by the good +old ladies; and even the Laird seemed to have forgotten that his son had +refused to breed black cattle, and that his daughter-in-law was above +the management of her household. + +The usual salutations were scarcely over when Miss Grizzy, flying to +her little writing-box, pulled out a letter, and, with an air of +importance, having enjoined silence, she read as follows:-- + +"LOCMARLIE CASTLE, _March_ 27,17--. + +"DEAR CHILD-Sir Sampson's stomach has been as bad as it could well be, +but not so bad as your roads. He was shook to a jelly. My petticoat will +never do. Mrs. M'Hall has had a girl. I wonder what makes people have +girls; they never come to good. Boys may go to the mischief, and be good +for something--if girls go, they're good for nothing I know of. I never +saw such roads. I suppose Glenfern means to bury you all in the highway; +there are holes enough to make you graves, and stones big enough for +coffins. You must all come and spend Tuesday here--not all, but some of +you--you, dear child, and your brother, and a sister, and your pretty +niece, and handsome nephew--I love handsome people. Miss M'Kraken has +bounced away with her father's footman--I hope he will clean his knives +on her. Come early, and come dressed, to your loving friend, + +"ISABELLA MACLAUGHLAN." + +The letter ended, a volley of applause ensued, which at length gave +place to consultation. "Of course we all go--at least as many as the +carriage will hold: we have no engagements, and there can be no +objections." + +Lady Juliana had already frowned a contemptuous refusal, but in due +time it was changed to a sullen assent, at the pressing entreaties of +her husband, to whom any place was now preferable to home. In truth, the +mention of a party had more weight with her than either her husband's +wishes or her aunts' remonstrances; and they had assured her that she +should meet with a large assemblage of the very first company at +Lochmarlie Castle. + +The day appointed for the important visit arrived; and it was arranged +that two of the elder ladies and one of the young ones should accompany +Lady Juliana in her barouche, which Henry was to drive. + +At peep of dawn the ladies were astir, and at eight o'clock breakfast +was hurried over that they might begin the preparations necessary for +appearing with dignity at the shrine of this their patron saint. At +eleven they reappeared in all the majesty of sweeping silk trains and +well-powdered toupees. In outward show Miss Becky was not less +elaborate; the united strength and skill of her three aunts and four +sisters had evidently been exerted in forcing her hair into every +position but that for which nature had intended it; curls stood on end +around her forehead, and tresses were dragged up from the roots, and +formed into a club on the crown; her arms had been strapped back till +her elbows met, by means of a pink ribbon of no ordinary strength or +doubtful hue. + +Three hours were past in all the anguish of full-dressed impatience; an +anguish in which every female breast must be ready to sympathise. But +Lady Juliana sympathised in no one's distresses but her own, and the +difference of waiting in high dress or in déshabille was a distinction +to her inconceivable. But those to whom _to be dressed _is an event will +readily enter into the feelings of the ladies in question as they sat, +walked, wondered, exclaimed, opened windows, wrung their hands, adjusted +their dress, etc. etc., during the three tedious hours they were doomed +to wait the appearance of their niece. + +Two o'clock came, and with it Lady Juliana, as if purposely to testify +her contempt, in a loose morning dress and mob cap. The sisters looked +blank with disappointment; for having made themselves mistresses of the +contents of her ladyship's wardrobe, they had settled amongst themselves +that the most suitable dress for the occasion would be black velvet, and +accordingly many hints had been given the preceding evening on the +virtues of black velvet gowns. They were warm, and not too warm; they +were dressy, and not too dressy; Lady Maclaughlan was a great admirer of +black velvet gowns; she had one herself with long sleeves, and that +buttoned behind; black velvet gowns were very much wore; they knew +several ladies who had them; and they were certain there would be +nothing else wore amongst the matrons at Lady Maclaughlan's, etc. etc. + +Time was, however, too precious to be given either to remonstrance or +lamentation. Miss Jacky could only give an angry look, and Miss Grizzy +a sorrowful one, as they hurried away to the carriage, uttering +exclamations of despair at the lateness of the hour, and the +impossibility that anybody could have time to dress after getting to +Lochmarlie Castle. + +The consequence of the delay was that it was dark by the time they +reached the place of destination. The carriage drove up to the grand +entrance; but neither lights nor servants greeted their arrival; and no +answer was returned to the ringing of the bell. + +"We had best get out and try the back. This is most alarming, I +declare!" cried Miss Grizzy. + +"It is quite incomprehensible!" observed Miss Jacky. "We had best get +out and try the back door." + +The party alighted, and another attack being made upon the rear, it met +with better success; for a little boy now presented himself at a narrow +opening of the door, and in a strong Highland accent demanded "wha ta +war seekin'?" + +"Lady Maclaughlan, to be sure, Colin," was the reply. + +"Weel, weel," still refusing admittance; "but te leddie's no to be +spoken wi' to-night." + +"Not to be spoken with!" exclaimed Miss Grizzy, almost sinking to the +ground with apprehension. "Good gracious I--I hope I--I declare I--Sir +Sampson!----" + +"OO ay, hur may see Lochmarlie hursel." Then opening the door, he led +the way, and ushered them into the presence of Sir Sampson, who was +reclining in an easy chair, arrayed in a _robe de chambre_ and nightcap. +The opening of the door seemed to have broken his slumber; for, gazing +around with a look of stupefaction, he demanded in a sleepy peevish +tone, "Who was there?" + +"Bless me, Sir Sampson!" exclaimed both spinsters at once, darting +forward and seizing a hand; "bless me, don't you know us? And here is +our niece, Lady Juliana." + +"My Lady Juliana Douglas!" cried he, with a shriek of horror, sinking +again upon his cushions. "I am betrayed--I--Where is my Lady +Maclaughlan?--Where is Philistine?-- Where is--the devil! This is not to +be borne! My Lady Juliana Douglas, the Earl of Courtland's daughter, to +be introduced to Lochmarlie Castle in so vile a manner, and myself +surprised in so indecorous a situation!" And, his lips quivering with +passion, he rang the bell. + +The summons was answered by the same attendant that had acted as +gentleman usher. + +"'Where are all my people?" demanded his incensed master. + +"Hurs aw awa tull ta Sandy More's." + +"Where is my Lady?" + +"Hurs i' ta teach tap." [1] + +[1] House top. + +"'Where is Murdoch?" + +"Hur's helpin' ta leddie i' ta teach tap." + +"Oh, we'll all go upstairs, and see what Lady Maclaughlan and Philistine +are about in the laboratory," said Miss Grizzy. "So pray, just go on +with your nap, Sir Sampson; we shall find the way--don't stir;" and +taking Lady Juliana by the hand, away tripped the spinsters in search of +their friend. "I cannot conceive the meaning of all this," whispered +Miss Grizzy to her sister as they went along. "Something must be wrong; +but I said nothing to dear Sir Sampson, his nerves are so easily +agitated. But what can be the meaning of all this? I declare it's quite +a mystery." + +After ascending several long dark stairs, and following divers windings +and turnings, the party at length reached the door of the _sanctum +sanctorum,_ and having gently tapped, the voice of the priestess was +heard in no very encouraging accents, demanding "Who was there?" + +"It's only us," replied her trembling friend. + +"Only us? humph! I wonder what fool is called _only us!_ Open the +door, Philistine, and see what _only us_ wants." + +The door was opened and the party entered. The day was closing in, +but by the faint twilight that mingled with the gleams from a smoky +smouldering fire, Lady Maclaughlan was dimly discernible, as she stood +upon the hearth, watching the contents of an enormous kettle that +emitted both steam and odour. She regarded the invaders with her usual +marble aspect, and without moving either joint or muscle as they drew +near. + +"I declare--I don't think you know us, Lady Maclaughlan," said Miss +Grizzy in a tone of affected vivacity, with which she strove to conceal +her agitation. + +"Know you!" repeated her friend--"humph! Who you are, I know very well; +but what brings you here, I do _not_ know. Do you know yourselves?" + +"I declare---I can't conceive----" began Miss Grizzy; but her +trepidation arrested her speech, and her sister therefore proceeded-- + +"Your ladyship's declaration is no less astonishing than +incomprehensible. We have waited upon you by your own express invitation +on the day appointed by yourself; and we have been received in a manner, +I must say, we did not expect, considering this is the first visit of +our niece Lady Juliana Douglas." + +"I'll tell you what, girls," replied their friend, as she still stood +with her back to the fire, and her hands behind her; "I'll tell you +what,--you are not yourselves--you are all lost--quite mad--that's +all--humph!" + +"If that's the case, we cannot be fit company for your ladyship," +retorted Miss Jacky warmly; "and therefore the best thing we can do is +to return the way we came. Come, Lady Juliana--come, sister." + +"I declare, Jacky, the impetuosity of your temper is--I really cannot +stand it--" and the gentle Grizzy gave way to a flood of tears. + +"You used to be rational, intelligent creatures," resumed her ladyship; +"but what has come over you, I don't know. You come tumbling in here at +the middle of the night--and at the top of the house nobody knows +how--when I never was thinking of you; and because I don't tell a parcel +of lies, and pretend I expected you, you are for flying off again +--humph! Is this the behaviour of women in their senses? But since you +are here, you may as well sit down and say what brought you. Get down, +Gil Blas--go along, Tom Jones," addressing two huge cats, who occupied a +three-cornered leather chair by the fireside, and who relinquished it +with much reluctance. + +"How do you do, pretty creature?" kissing Lady Juliana, as she seated +her in this cat's cradle. "Now, girls, sit down, and tell what brought +you here to-day--humph!" + +"Can your Ladyship ask such a question, after having formally invited +us?" demanded the wrathful Jacky. + +"I'll tell you what, girls; you were just as much invited by me to dine +here to-day as you were appointed to sup with the Grand +Seignior--humph!" + +"What day of the week does your Ladyship call this?" + +"I call it Tuesday; but I suppose the Glenfern calendar calls it +Thursday: Thursday was the day I invited you to come." + +"I'm sure--I'm thankful we're got to the bottom of it at last," cried +Miss Grizzy; "I read it, because I'm sure you wrote it, Tuesday." + +"How could you be such a fool, my love, as to read it any such thing? +Even if it had been written Tuesday, you might have had the sense to +know it meant Thursday. When did you know me invite anybody for a +Tuesday?" + +"I declare it's very true; I certainly ought to have known better. I +am quite confounded at my own stupidity; for, as you observe, even +though you had said Tuesday, I might have known that you must have meant +Thursday." + +"Well, well, no more about it. Since you are here you must stay here, +and you must have something to eat, I suppose. Sir Sampson and I have +dined two hours ago; but you shall have your dinner for all that. I must +shut shop for this day, it seems, and leave my resuscitating tincture +all in the deadthraw--Methusalem pills quite in their infancy. But +there's no help for it. Since you are here you must stay here, and you +must be fed and lodged; so get along, girls, get along. Here, Gil +Blas--come, Tom Jones." And, preceded by her cats, and followed by her +guests, she led the way to the parlour. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + "Point de milieu: l'hymen et ses liens + Sont les plus grands ou des maux ou des biens." + + _L' Enfant Prodigue._ + +ON returning to the parlour they found Sir Sampson had, by means of the +indefatigable Philistine, been transported into a suit of regimentals +and well-powdered peruke, which had in some measure restored him to his +usual complacency. Henry, who had gone in quest of some person to take +charge of the horses, now entered; and shortly after a tray of +provisions was brought, which the half-famished party eagerly attacked, +regardless of their hostess's admonitions to eat sparingly, as nothing +was so dangerous as eating heartily when people were hungry. + +The repast being at length concluded, Lady Maclaughlan led her guests +into the saloon. They passed through an antechamber, which seemed, by +the faint light of the lamp, to contain nothing but piles on piles of +china, and entered the room of state. + +The eye at first wandered in uncertain obscurity; and the guests +cautiously proceeded over a bare oaken floor, whose dark polished +surface seemed to emulate a mirror, through an apartment of formidable +extent. + +The walls were hung with rich but grotesque tapestry. The ceiling, by +its height and massy carving, bespoke the age of the apartment; but the +beauty of the design was lost in the gloom. + +A Turkey carpet was placed in the middle of the floor; and on the middle +of the carpet stood the card table, at which two footmen, hastily +summoned from the revels at Sandy More's, were placing chairs and cards; +seemingly eager to display themselves, as if to prove that they were +always at their posts. + +Cards were a matter of course with Sir Sampson and his lady; but as +whist was the only game they ever played, a difficulty arose as to the +means of providing amusement for the younger part of the company. + +"I have plenty of books for you, my loves," said Lady Maclaughlan; and, +taking one of the candles, she made a journey to the other end of the +room, and entered a small turret, from which her voice was heard issuing +most audibly, "All the books that should ever have been published are +here. Read these, and you need read no more: all the world's in these +books--humph! Here's the Bible, great and small, with apocrypha and +concordance! Here's Floyer's Medicina Gerocomica, or the Galenic Art of +Preserving Old Men's Health;--Love's Art of Surveying and Measuring +Land;--Transactions of the Highland Society;--Glass's Cookery;--Flavel's +Fountain of Life Opened;--Fencing Familiarised;--Observations on the Use +of Bath Waters;--Cure for Soul Sores;--De Blondt's Military +Memoirs;--MacGhie's Book-keeping;--Mead on Pestilence;--Astenthology, or +the Art of Preserving Feeble Life!" + +As she enumerated the contents of her library, she paused at the end of +each title, in hopes of hearing the book called for; but she was allowed +to proceed without interruption to the end of her catalogue. + +"Why, what would you have, children?" cried she in one of her sternest +accents. "I don't know! Do you know yourselves? Here are two novels, the +only ones worth any Christian's reading." + +Henry gladly accepted the first volumes of Gil Bias and Clarissa +Harlowe; and, giving the latter to Lady Juliana, began the other +himself. Miss Becky was settled with her hands across; and, the whist +party being arranged, a solemn silence ensued. + +Lady Juliana turned over a few pages of her own book, then begged +Henry would exchange with her; but both were in so different a style +from the French and German school she had been accustomed to, that they +were soon relinquished in disappointment and disgust. + +On the table, which had been placed by the fire for her accommodation, +lay an English newspaper; and to that she had recourse, as a last effort +at amusement. But, alas! even the dulness of Clarissa Harlowe was +delight compared to the anguish with which this fatal paper was fraught, +in the shape of the following paragraph, which presented itself to the +unfortunate fair one's eye:-- + +"Yesterday was married, by special license, at the house of Mrs. D---, +his Grace the Duke of L---, to the beautiful and accomplished Miss D---. +His Royal Highness the Duke of ---- was gracious enough to act as father +to the bride upon this occasion, and was present in person, as were +their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of ---, and of ---. The bride looked +most bewitchingly lovely, in a simple robe of the finest Mechlin lace, +with a superb veil of the same costly material, which hung down to her +feet. She wore a set of pearls estimated at thirty thousand pounds, +whose chaste elegance corresponded with the rest of the dress. +Immediately after the ceremony they partook of a sumptuous collation, +and the happy pair set off in a chariot and four, attended by six +outriders, and two coaches and four. + +"After spending the honeymoon at his Grace's unique villa on the Thames, +their Graces will receive company at their splendid mansion in Portman +Square. The wedding paraphernalia is said to have cost ten thousand +pounds; and her Grace's jewel-box is estimated at little less than half +a million." + +Wretched as Lady Juliana had long felt herself to be, her former state +of mind was positive happiness compared to what she now endured. Envy, +regret, self-reproach, and resentment, all struggled in the breast of +the self-devoted beauty, while the paper dropped from her hand, and she +cast a fearful glance around, as if to ascertain the reality of her +fate. The dreadful certainty smote her with a sense of wretchedness too +acute to be suppressed; and, darting a look of horror at her unconscious +husband, she threw herself back in her chair, while the scalding tears +of envy, anger, and repentance fell from her eyes. + +Accustomed as Henry now was to these ebullitions of _feeling_ from his +beauteous partner, he was not yet so indifferent as to behold them +unmoved; and he sought to soothe her by the kindest expressions and most +tender epithets. These indeed had long since ceased to charm away the +lady's ill-humour, but they sometimes succeeded in mollifying it. But +now their only effect seemed to be increasing the irritation, as she +turned from all her husband's inquiries, and impatiently withdrew her +hands from his. + +Astonished at a conduct so incomprehensible, Douglas earnestly besought +an explanation. + +"There!" cried she, at length, pushing the paper towards him, "see +there what I might have been but for you; and then compare it with what +you have made me!" + +Confounded by this reproach, Henry eagerly snatched up the paper, and +his eye instantly fell on the fatal paragraph--the poisoned dart that +struck the death-blow to all that now remained to him of happiness--the +fond idea that, even amidst childish folly and capricious estrangement, +still in the main he was beloved! With a quivering lip, and cheek +blanched with mortification and indignant contempt, he laid down the +paper; and without casting a look upon, or uttering a word to, his once +_adored and adoring Juliana,_ quitted the apartment in all that +bitterness of spirit which a generous nature must feel when it first +discovers the fallacy of a cherished affection. Henry had indeed ceased +to regard his wife with the ardour of romantic passion; nor had the +solid feelings of affectionate esteem supplied its place; but he loved +her still, because he believed himself the engrossing object of her +tenderness; and in that blest delusion he had hitherto found palliatives +for her folly and consolation for all his own distresses. + +To indifference he might for a time have remained insensible; because, +though his feelings were strong, his perceptions were not acute. But the +veil of illusion was now rudely withdrawn. He beheld himself detested +where he imagined himself adored; and the anguish of disappointed +affection was heightened by the stings of wounded pride and deluded +self-love. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + "What's done, cannot be undone; to bed, to bed, to bed!" + + _Exit Lady Macbeth._ + +THE distance at which the whist party had placed themselves, and the +deep interest in which their senses were involved while the fate of the +odd trick was pending, had rendered them insensible to the scene that +was acting at the other extremity of the apartment. The task of +administering succour to the afflicted fair one therefore devolved upon +Miss Becky, whose sympathetic powers never had been called into action +before. Slowly approaching the wretched Lady Juliana as she lay back in +her chair, the tears coursing each other down her cheeks, she tendered +her a smelling-bottle, to which her own nose, and the noses of her +sisters, were wont to be applied whenever, as they choicely expressed +it, they wanted a "fine smell." But upon this trying occasion she went +still farther. She unscrewed the stopper, unfolded a cotton +handkerchief, upon which she poured a few drops of lavender water, and +offered it to her ladyship, deeming that the most elegant and efficient +manner in which she could afford relief. But the well-meant offering was +silently waved off; and poor Miss Becky, having done all that the light +of reason suggested to her, retreated to her seat, wondering what it +was her fine sister-in-law would be at. + +By the time the rubber was ended her ladyship's fears of Lady +Maclaughlan had enabled her to conquer her feelings so far that they had +now sunk into a state of sullen dejection, which the good aunts eagerly +interpreted into the fatigue of the journey, Miss Grizzy declaring that +although the drive was most delightful--nobody could deny that--and they +all enjoyed it excessively, as indeed everybody must who had eyes in +their head; yet she must own, at the same time, that she really felt +as if all her bones were broke. + +A general rising therefore took place at an early hour, and Lady +Juliana, attended by all the females of the party, was ushered into the +chamber of state, which was fitted up in a style acknowledged to be +truly magnificent, by all who had ever enjoyed the honour of being +permitted to gaze on its white velvet bed curtains, surmounted by the +family arms, and gracefully tucked up by hands _sinister-couped _at the +wrists, etc. But lest my fashionable readers should be of a different +opinion, I shall refrain from giving an inventory of the various +articles with which this favoured chamber was furnished. Misses Grizzy +and Jacky occupied the green room which had been fitted up at Sir +Sampson's birth. The curtains hung at a respectful distance from the +ground; the chimney-piece was far beyond the reach even of the majestic +Jacky's arm; and the painted tiffany toilet was covered with a shoal of +little tortoise-shell boxes of all shapes and sizes. A grim visage, +scowling from under a Highland bonnet, graced by a single black feather, +hung on high. Miss Grizzy placed herself before it, and, holding up the +candle, contemplated it for about the nine hundredth time, with an awe +bordering almost on adoration. + +"Certainly Sir Eneas must have been a most wonderful man--nobody can +deny that; and there can be no question but he had the second-sight to +the greatest degree--indeed, I never heard it disputed; many of his +prophecies, indeed, seem to have been quite incomprehensible; but that +is so much the more extraordinary; you know--for instance, the one with +regard to our family," lowering her voice; "for my part I declare I +never could comprehend it; and yet there must be something in it, too; +but how any branch from the Glenfern tree--of course, you know, that can +only mean the family tree--should help to prop Lochmarlie's walls, is +what I can't conceive. If Sir Sampson had a son, to be sure, some of the +girls--for you know it can't be any of us; at least I declare for my own +part--I'm sure even if any thing which I trust, in goodness, there is +not the least chance of, should ever happen to dear Lady Maclaughlan, and +Sir Sampson should take it into his head--which, of course, is a thing +not to be thought about--and indeed I'm quite convinced it would be very +much out of respect to dear Lady Maclaughlan, a friendship for us, if +such a thing was ever into his head." + +Here the tender Grizzy got so involved in her own ideas as to the +possibility of Lady Maclaughlan's death, and the propriety of Sir +Sampson's proposals, together with the fulfilling of Sir Eneas the +seer's prophecy, that there is no saying how far she strayed in her +self-created labyrinth. Such as choose to follow her may. For our part, we +prefer accompanying the youthful Becky to her chamber, whither she was +also attended by the lady of the mansion. Becky's destiny for the night +lay at the top of one of those little straggling wooden stairs common in +old houses, which creaked in all directions. The bed was placed in a +recess dark as Erebus, and betwixt the bed and the wall, was a depth +profound, which Becky's eye dared not attempt to penetrate. + +"You will find everything right here, child," said Lady Maclaughlan; +"and if anything should be wrong you must think it right. I never suffer +anything to be wrong here--humph!" Becky, emboldened by despair, cast a +look towards the recess; and in a faint voice ventured to inquire, "Is +there no fear that Tom Jones or Gil Blas may be in that place behind +the bed?" + +"And if they should," answered her hostess in her most appalling +tone, "what is that to you? Are you a mouse, that you are afraid they +will eat you? Yes, I suppose you are. You are perhaps the princess in +the fairy tale, who was a woman by day and a mouse by night. I believe +you are bewitched! So I wish your mouseship a good night." And she +descended the creaking stair, singing, + +"Mrs. Mouse, are you within?" + +till even her stentorian voice was lost in distance. Poor Becky's heart +died with the retreating sounds, and only revived to beat time with the +worm in the wood. Long and eerie was the night, as she gave herself up +to all the horrors of a superstitious mind--ghosts, gray, black, and +white, flitted around her couch; cats, half human, held her throat; the +deathwatch ticked in her ears. At length the light of morning shed its +brightening influence on the dim opaque of her understanding; and when +all things stood disclosed in light, she shut her eyes and oped her +mouth in all the blissfulness of security. The light of day was indeed +favourable for displaying to advantage the beauties of Lochmarlie +Castle, which owed more to nature than art. It was beautifully situated +on a smooth green bank, that rose somewhat abruptly from the lake, and +commanded a view, which, if not extensive, was yet full of variety and +grandeur. + +Its venerable turrets reared themselves above the trees which seemed +coeval with them; and the vast magnificence of its wide-spreading lawns +and extensive forests seemed to appertain to some feudal prince's lofty +domain. But in vain were creation's charms spread before Lady Juliana's +eyes. Woods and mountains and lakes and rivers were odious things; and +her heart panted for dusty squares and suffocating drawing-rooms. + +Something was said of departing by the sisters when the party met at +breakfast; but this was immediately negatived in the most decided manner +by their hostess. + +"Since you have taken your own time to come, my dears, you must take +mine to go. Thursday was the day I invited you for, or at least wanted +you for, so you must stay Thursday, and go away on Friday, and my +blessing go with you--humph!" + +The sisters, charmed with what they termed the hospitality and +friendship of this invitation, delightedly agreed to remain; and as +things were at least conducted in better style there than at Glenfern, +uncomfortable as it was, Lady Juliana found herself somewhat nearer home +there than at the family chateau. Lady Maclaughlan, who _could _be +commonly civil in her own house, was at some pains to amuse her guest by +showing her collection of china and cabinet of gems, both of which were +remarkably fine. There was also a library, and a gallery, containing +some good pictures, and, what Lady Juliana prized still more, a billiard +table. Thursday, the destined day, at length arrived, and a large party +assembled to dinner. Lady Juliana, as she half reclined on a sofa, +surveyed the company with a supercilious stare, and without deigning to +take any part in the general conversation that went on. It was enough +that they spoke with a peculiar accent--everything they said must be +barbarous; but she was pleased once more to eat off plate, and to find +herself in rooms which, though grotesque and comfortless, yet wore an +air of state, and whose vastness enabled her to keep aloof from those +with whom she never willingly came in contact. It was therefore with +regret she saw the day of her departure arrive, and found herself once +more an unwilling inmate of her only asylum; particularly as her +situation now required comforts and indulgences which it was there +impossible to procure. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + "No mother's care + Shielded my infant innocence with prayer: + * * * * * + Mother, miscall'd, farewell!" + + Savage. + +THE happy period, so long and anxiously anticipated by the ladies of +Glenfern, at length arrived and Lady Juliana presented to the house of +Douglas--not, alas! the ardently-desired heir to its ancient +consequence, but twin-daughters, who could only be regarded as +additional burdens on its poverty. + +The old gentleman's disappointment was excessive; and, as he paced up +and down the parlour, with his hands in his pockets, he muttered, "Twa +lasses! I ne'er heard tell o' the like o't. I wonder whar their tochers +are to come frae?" + +Miss Grizzy, in great perturbation, declared it certainly was a great +pity it had so happened, but these things couldn't be helped; she was +sure Lady Maclaughlan would be greatly surprised. + +Miss Jacky saw no cause for regret, and promised herself an endless +source of delight in forming the minds and training the ideas of her +infant nieces. + +Miss Nicky wondered how they were to be nursed. She was afraid Lady +Juliana would not be able for both, and wet-nurses had such stomachs! + +Henry, meanwhile, whose love had all revived in anxiety for the safety, +and anguish for the sufferings of his youthful partner, had hastened to +her apartment, and, kneeling by her side, he pressed her hands to his +lips with feelings of the deepest emotion. + +"Dearer--a thousand times dearer to me than ever," whispered he, as he +fondly embraced her, "and those sweet pledges of our love!" + +"Ah, don't mention them," interrupted his lady in a languid tone. "How +very provoking! I hate girls so--and two of them--oh!" and she sighed +deeply. Her husband sighed too; but from a different cause. The nurse +now appeared, and approached with her helpless charges; and both +parents, for the first time looked on their own offspring. + +"What nice little creatures!" said the delighted father, as, taking them +in his arms, he imprinted the first kiss on the innocent faces of his +daughters, and then held them to their mother; who, turning from them +with disgust, exclaimed, "How can you kiss them, Harry? They are so +ugly, and they squall so! Oh do, for heaven's sake, take them away! And +see, there is poor Psyche quite wretched at being so long away from me. +Pray, put her on the bed." + +"She will grow fond of her babies by-and-by," said poor Henry to +himself, as he quitted the apartment, with feelings very different from +those with which he entered it. + +At the pressing solicitations of her husband, the fashionable mother +was prevailed upon to attempt nursing one of her poor starving infants; +but the first trial proved also the last, as she declared nothing upon +earth should ever induce her to perform so odious an office; and as +Henry's entreaties and her aunts' remonstrances served alike to irritate +and agitate her, the contest was, by the advice of her medical +attendant, completely given up. A wet-nurse was therefore procured; but +as she refused to undertake both children, and the old gentleman would +not hear of having two such encumbrances in his family, it was settled, +to the unspeakable delight of the maiden sisters, that the youngest +should be entrusted entirely to their management, and brought up by +hand. + +The consequence was such as might have been foreseen. The child, who +was naturally weak and delicate at its birth, daily lost a portion of +its little strength, while its continued cries declared the intensity of +its sufferings, though they produced no other effect on its unfeeling +mother than her having it removed to a more distant apartment, as she +could not endure to hear the cross little thing scream so for nothing. +On the other hand, the more favoured twin, who was from its birth a +remarkably strong lively infant, and met with all justice from its +nurse, throve apace, and was pronounced by her to be the very picture of +the _bonnie leddie, its mamma,_ and then, with all the low cunning of +her kind, she would launch forth into panegyrics of its beauty, and +prophecies of the great dignities and honours that would one day be +showered upon it; until, by her fawning and flattery, she succeeded in +exciting a degree of interest, which nature had not secured for it in +the mother's breast. + +Things were in this situation when, at the end of three weeks, Mr. and +Mrs. Douglas arrived to offer their congratulations on the birth of the +twins. Lady Juliana received her sister-in-law in her apartment, which +she had not yet quitted, and replied to her congratulations only by +querulous complaints and childish murmurs. + +"I am sure you are very happy in not having children," continued she, as +the cries of the little sufferer reached her ear; "I hope to goodness I +shall never have any more. I wonder if anybody ever had twin daughters +before, and I, too, who hate girls so!" + +Mrs Douglas, disgusted with her unfeeling folly, knew not what to reply, +and a pause ensued; but afresh burst of cries from the unfortunate baby +again called forth its mother's indignation. + +"I wish to goodness that child was gagged," cried she, holding her hands +to her ears. "It has done nothing but scream since the hour it was born, +and it makes me quite sick to hear it." + +"Poor little dear!" said Mrs. Douglas compassionately, "it appears to +suffer a great deal." + +"Suffer!" repeated her sister-in-law; "what can it suffer? I am sure it +meets with a great deal attention than any person in the house. These +three old women do nothing but feed it from morning to night, with +everything they can think of, and make such a fuss about it!" + +"I suspect, my dear sister, you would be very sorry for yourself," +said Mrs. Douglas, with a smile, "were you to endure the same +treatment as your poor baby; stuffed with improper food and loathsome +drugs, and bandied about from one person to another." + +"You may say what you please," retorted Lady Juliana pettishly; "but I +know it's nothing but ill temper: nurse says so too; and it is so ugly +with constantly crying that I cannot bear to look at it;" and she turned +away her head as Miss Jacky entered with the little culprit in her +arms, which she was vainly endeavouring to _talk _into silence, while +she dandled it in the most awkward _maiden-like_ manner imaginable. + +"Good heavens! what a fright!" exclaimed the tender parent, as her child +was held up to her. "Why, it is much less than when it was born, an its +skin is as yellow as saffron, and it squints! Only look what a +difference," as the nurse advanced and ostentatiously displayed her +charge, who had just waked out of a long sleep; its checks flushed with +heat; its skin completely filled up; and its large eyes rolling under +its already dark eyelashes. + +"The bonny wean's just her mamma's pickter," drawled out the nurse, "but +the wee missy's uncolike her aunties." + +"Take her away," cried Lady Juliana in a tone of despair; "I wish I +could send her out of my hearing altogether, for her noise will be the +death of me." + +"Alas! what would I give to hear the blessed sound of a living child!" +exclaimed Mrs. Douglas, taking the infant in her arms. "And how great +would be my happiness could I call the poor rejected one mine!" + +"I'm sure you are welcome to my share of the little plague," said her +sister-in-law, with a laugh, "if you can prevail upon Harry to give up +his." + +"I would give up a great deal could my poor child find a mother," +replied her husband, who just then entered. + +"My dear brother!" cried Mrs. Douglas, her eyes beaming with delight, +"do you then confirm Lady Juliana's kind promise? Indeed I will be a +mother to your dear baby, and love her as if she were my own; and in a +month--oh! in much less time--you shall see her as stout as her sister." + +Henry sighed, as he thought, "'Why has not my poor babe such a mother of +its own?" Then thanking his sister-in-law for her generous intentions, +he reminded her that she must consult her husband, as few men liked to +be troubled with any children but their own. + +"You are in the right," said Mrs. Douglas, blushing at the impetuosity +of feeling which had made her forget for an instant the deference due to +her husband; "I shall instantly ask his permission, and he is so indulgent +to all my wishes that I have little doubt of obtaining his consent;" +and, with the child in her arms, she hastened to her husband, and made +known her request. + +Mr. Douglas received the proposal with considerable coolness; wondering +what his wife could see in such an ugly squalling thing to plague +herself about it. If it had been a boy, old enough to speak and run +about, there might be some amusement in it; but he could not see the use +of a squalling sickly infant--and a girl too! + +His wife sighed deeply, and the tears stole down her cheeks as she +looked on the wan visage and closed eyes of the little sufferer. "God +help thee, poor baby!" said she mournfully; "you are rejected on all +hands, but your misery will soon be at a end;" and she was slowly +leaving the room with her helpless charge when her husband, touched at +the sight of her distress, though the feeling that caused it he did not +comprehend, called to her, "I am sure, Alicia, if you really wish to +take charge of the infant I have no objections; only I think you will +find it la great plague, and the mother is such a fool." + +"Worse than a fool," said Mrs. Douglas indignantly, "for she hates and +abjures this her poor unoffending babe" + +"Does she so?" cried Mr. Douglas, every kindling feeling roused within +him at the idea of his blood being hated and abjured; "then, hang me! if +she shall have any child of Harry's to hate as long as I have a house to +shelter it and a sixpence to bestow upon it," taking the infant in his +arms, and kindly kissing it. + +Mrs. Douglas smiled through her tears as she embraced her husband, and +praised his goodness and generosity; then, full of exultation and +delight, she flew to impart the success of her mission to the parents of +her _protégée._ + +Great was the surprise of the maiden nurses at finding they were to +be bereft of their little charge. + +"I declare, I think the child is doing as well as possible," said Miss +Grizzy. "To be sure it does yammer constantly--that can't be denied; and +it is uncommonly small--nobody can dispute that. At the same time, I am +sure, I can't tell what makes it cry, for I've given it two colic +powders every day, and a tea-spoonful of Lady Maclaughlan's carminative +every three hours." + +"And I've done nothing but make water-gruel and chop rusks for it," +quoth Miss Nicky, "and yet it is never satisfied; I wonder what it would +be at." + +"I know perfectly well what it would be at," said Miss Jacky, with an +air of importance. "All this crying and screaming is for nothing else +but a nurse; but it ought not to be indulged. There is no end of +indulging the desires, and 'tis amazing how cunning children are, and +how soon they know how to take advantage of people's weakness," glancing +an eye of fire at Mrs. Douglas. "Were that my child, I would feed her on +bread and water before I would humour her fancies. A pretty lesson, +indeed! if she's to have her own way before she's a month old." + +Mrs. Douglas knew that it was in vain to attempt arguing with her aunts. +She therefore allowed them to wonder and declaim over their sucking +pots, colic powders, and other instruments of torture, while she sent to +the wife of one of her tenants who had lately lain-in, and who wished +for the situation of nurse, appointing her to be at Lochmarlie the +following day. Having made her arrangements, and collected the scanty +portion of clothing Mrs. Nurse chose to allow, Mrs. Douglas repaired to +her sister-in-law's apartment, with her little charge in her arms. She +found her still in bed, and surrounded with her favourites. + +"So you really are going to torment yourself with that little +screech-owl?" said she. "Well, I must say it's very good of you; but I +am afraid you will soon tire of her. Children are such plagues! Are they +not, my darling?" added she, kissing her pug. + +"You will not say so when you have seen my little girl a month hence," +said Mrs. Douglas, trying to conceal her disgust for Henry's sake, who +had just then entered the room. "She has promised me never to cry any +more; so give her a kiss, and let us be gone." + +The high-bred mother slightly touched the cheek of her sleeping babe, +extended her finger to her sister-in-law, and carelessly bidding them +good-bye, returned to her pillow and her pugs. + +Henry accompanied Mrs. Douglas to the carriage, and before they parted +he promised his brother to ride over to Lochmarlie in a few days. He +said nothing of his child, but his glistening eye and the warm pressure +of his hand spoke volumes to the kind heart of his brother, who assured +him that Alicia would be very good to his little girl, and that he was +sure she would get quite well when she got a nurse. The carriage drove +off, and Henry, with a heavy spirit, returned to the house to listen to +his father's lectures, his aunts' ejaculations, and his wife's murmurs. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + "We may boldly spend upon the hope of what Is to come in." + + _Henry IV_. + +THE birth of twin daughters awakened the young father to a still +stronger sense of the total dependence and extreme helplessness of his +condition. Yet how to remedy it he knew not. To accept of his father's +proposal was out of the question, and it was equally impossible for him, +were he ever so inclined, to remain much longer a burden on the narrow +income of the Laird of Glenfern. One alternative only remained, which +was to address the friend and patron of his youth, General Cameron; and +to him he therefore wrote, describing all the misery of his situation, +and imploring his forgiveness and assistance. "The old General's passion +must have cooled by this time," thought he to himself, as he sealed the +letter, "and as he has often overlooked former scrapes, I think, after +all, he will help me out of this greatest one of all." + +For once Henry was not mistaken. He received an answer to his letter, in +which the General, after execrating his folly in marrying a lady of +quality, swearing at the birth of his twin daughters, and giving him +some wholesome counsel as to his future mode of life, concluded by +informing him that he had got him reinstated in his former rank in the +army; that he should settle seven hundred per annum on him till he saw +how matters were conducted, and, in the meantime, enclosed a draught for +four hundred pounds, to open the campaign. + +Though this was not, according to Henry's notions, "coming down +handsomely," still it was better than not coming down at all, and with a +mixture of delight and disappointment he flew to communicate the tidings +to Lady Juliana. + +"Seven hundred pounds a year!" exclaimed she, in raptures: "Heavens! +what a quantity of money! why, we shall be quite rich, and I shall have +such a beautiful house, and such pretty carriages, and give such +parties, and buy so many fine things. Oh dear, how happy I shall be!" + +"You know little of money, Julia, if you think seven hundred pounds will +do all that," replied her husband gravely. "I hardly think we can afford +a house in town; but we may have a pretty cottage at Richmond or +Twickenham, and I can keep a curricle, and drive you about, you know; +and we may give famous good dinners." + +A dispute here ensued; her ladyship hated cottages and curricles and +good dinners as much as her husband despised fancy balls, opera boxes, +and chariots. + +The fact was that the one knew very nearly as much of the real value of +money as the other, and Henry's _sober_ scheme was just as practicable +as his wife's extravagant one. + +Brought up in the luxurious profusion of great house; accustomed to +issue her orders and have them obeyed, Lady Juliana, at the time she +married, was in the most blissful state of ignorance respecting the +value of pounds, shillings, and pence. Her maid took care to have her +wardrobe supplied with all things needful, and when she wanted a new +dress or a fashionable jewel, it was only driving to Madame D.'s, or Mr. +Y.'s, and desiring the article to be sent to herself, while the bill +went to her papa. + +From never seeing money in its own vulgar form, Lady Juliana had learned +to consider it as a mere nominal thing; while, on the other hand, her +husband, from seeing too much of it, had formed almost equally erroneous +ideas of its powers. By the mistake kindness of General Cameron he had +been indulged in all the fashionable follies of the day, and allowed to +use his patron's ample fortune as if it had already been his own; nor +was it until he found himself a prisoner at Glenfern from want of money +that he had ever attached the smallest importance to it. In short, both +the husband and wife had been accustomed to look upon it in the same +light as the air they breathed. They knew it essential to life, and +concluded that it would come some way or other; either from the east or +west, north or south. As for the vulgar concerns of meat and drink, +servants' wages, taxes, and so forth, they never found a place in the +calculations of either. Birthday dresses, fetes, operas, equipages, and +state liveries whirled in rapid succession through Lady Juliana's brain, +while clubs, curricles, horses, and claret, took possession of her +husband's mind. + +However much they differed in the proposed modes of showing off in +London, both agreed perfectly in the necessity of going there, and Henry +therefore hastened to inform his father of the change in his +circumstances, and apprise him of his intention of immediately joining +his regiment, the ---- Guards. + +"Seven hunder pound a year!" exclaimed the old gentleman; "Seven hunder +pound! O' what can ye mak' o' a' that siller? Ye'll surely lay by the +half o't to tocher your bairns. Seven hunder pound a year for doing +naething!" + +Miss Jacky was afraid, unless they got some person of sense (which would +not be an easy matter) to take the management of it, it would perhaps be +found little enough in the long-run. + +Miss Grizzy declared it was a very handsome income, nobody could dispute +that; at the same time, everybody must allow that the money could not +have been better bestowed. + +Miss Nicky observed "there was a great deal of good eating and drinking +in seven hundred a year, if people knew how to manage it." + +All was bustle and preparation throughout Glenfern Castle, and the young +ladies' good-natured activity and muscular powers were again in +requisition to collect the wardrobe, and pack the trunks, imperial, +etc., of their noble sister. + +Glenfern remarked "that fules war fond o' flitting, for they seemed glad +to leave the good quarters they were in." + +Miss Grizzy declared there was a great excuse for their being glad, poor +things! young people were always so fond of a change; at the same time, +nobody could deny but that it would have been quite natural for them to +feel sorry too. + +Miss Jacky was astonished how any person's mind could be so callous as +to think of leaving Glenfern without emotion. + +Miss Nicky wondered what was to become of the christening cake she +had ordered from Perth; it might be as old as the hills before there +would be another child born amongst them. + +The Misses were ready to weep at the disappointment of the +dreaming-bread. + +In the midst of all this agitation, mental and bodily, the +long-looked-for moment arrived. The carriage drove round ready packed +and loaded, and, absolutely screaming with delight, Lady Juliana sprang +into it. As she nodded and kissed her hand to the assembled group, she +impatiently called to Henry to follow. His adieus were, however, not +quite so tonish as those of his high-bred lady, for he went duly and +severally through all the evolutions of kissing, embracing, shaking of +hands, and promises to write; then taking his station by the side of the +nurse and child--the rest of the carriage being completely filled by the +favourites--he bade a long farewell to his paternal halls and the land +of his birth. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + "For trifles why should I displease + The man I love? For trifles such as these + To serious mischiefs lead the man I love." + + HORACE. + +BRIGHT prospects of future happiness and endless plans of expense +floated through Lady Juliana's brain, and kept her temper in some degree +of serenity during the journey. + +Arrived in London, she expressed herself enraptured at being once more +in a civilised country, and restored to the society of human creatures. +An elegant house and suitable establishment were immediately provided; +and a thousand dear friends, who had completely forgotten her existence, +were now eager to welcome her to her former haunts, and lead her +thoughtless and willing steps in the paths of dissipation and +extravagance. + +Soon after their arrival they were visited by General Cameron. It was +two o'clock, yet Lady Juliana had not appeared; and Henry, +half-stretched upon a sofa, was dawdling over his breakfast with +half-a-dozen newspapers scattered round. + +The first salutations over, the General demanded, "Am I not to be +favoured with a sight of your lady? Is she afraid that I am one of your +country relations, and taken her flight from the breakfast-table in +consequence?" + +"She has not yet made her appearance," replied Douglas; "but I will let +her know you are here. I am sure she will be happy to make acquaintance +with one to whom I am so much indebted." + +A message was despatched to Lady Juliana, who returned for answer that +she would be down immediately. Three quarters of an hour, however, +elapsed; and the General, provoked with this inattention and +affectation, was preparing to depart when the Lady made her appearance. + +"Juliana, my love," said her husband, "let me present you to General +Cameron--the generous friend who has acted the part of a father towards +me, and to whom you owe all the comforts you enjoy." + +Lady Juliana slightly bowed with careless ease, and half uttered a +"How d'ye do?--very happy indeed," as she glided on to pull the bell for +breakfast. "Cupid, Cupid!" cried she to the dog, who had flown upon the +General, and was barking most vehemently. "Poor darling Cupid! are you +almost starved to death? Harry, do give him that muffin on your +plate." + +"You are very late to-day, my love," cried the mortified +husband. + +"I have been pestered for the last hour with Duval and the court +dresses, and I could not fix on what I should like." + +"I think you might have deferred the ceremony of choosing to another +opportunity. General Cameron has been here above an hour." + +"Dear! I hope you did not wait for me. I shall be quite shocked!" +drawled out her ladyship in a tone denoting how very indifferent the +answer would be to her. + +"I beg your ladyship would be under no uneasiness on that account," +replied the General in an ironical tone, which, though lost upon her, +was obvious enough to Henry. + +"Have you breakfasted?" asked Lady Juliana, exerting herself to be +polite. + +"Absurd, my love!" cried her husband. "Do you suppose I should have +allowed the General to wait for that too all this time, if he had not +breakfasted many hours ago?" + +"How cross you are this morning, my Harry! I protest my Cupidon is quite +ashamed of your _grossièreté! "_ + +A servant now entered to say Mr. Shagg was come to know her ladyship's +final decision about the hammer-cloths; and the new footman was come to +be engaged; and the china merchant was below. + +"Send up one of them at a time; and as to the footman, you may say I'll +have him at once," said Lady Juliana. + +"I thought you had engaged Mrs. D.'s footman last week. She gave him +the best character, did she not?" asked her husband. + +"Oh yes! his character was good enough; but he was a horrid cheat for +all that. He called himself five feet nine, and when he was measured he +turned out to be only five feet seven and a half." + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Henry angrily. "What the devil did that signify if +the man had a good character?" + +"How absurdly you talk, Harry, as if a man's character signified who has +nothing to do but to stand behind my carriage! A pretty figure he'd made +there beside Thomas, who is at least five feet ten!" + +The entrance of Mr. Shagg, bowing and scraping, and laden with cloths, +lace, and fringes, interrupted the conversation. + +"Well, Mr. Shagg," cried Lady Juliana, "what's to be done with that +odious leopard's skin? You must positively take it off my hands. I would +rather never go in a carriage again as show myself in the Park with that +frightful thing." + +"Certainly, my Lady," replied the obsequious Mr. Shagg, "anything your +Ladyship pleases; your Ladyship can have any hammer-cloth you like; and +I have accordingly brought patterns of the very newest fashions for your +Ladyship to make choice. Here are some uncommon elegant articles. At the +same time, my Lady, your Ladyship must be sensible that it is impossible +that we can take back the leopard's skin. It was not only cut out to fit +your Ladyship's coach-box--and consequently your Ladyship understands it +would not fit any other--but the silver feet and crests have also been +affixed quite ready for use, so that the article is quite lost to us. I +am confident, therefore, that your Ladyship will consider of this, and +allow it to be put down in your bill." + +"Put it anywhere but on my coach-box, and don't bore me!" answered Lady +Juliana, tossing over all the patterns, and humming a tune. + +"What," said her husband, "is that the leopard's skin you were raving +about last week, and your are tired of it before it has been used?" + +"And no wonder. Who do you think I saw in the Park yesterday but that +old quiz Lady Denham, just come from the country, with her frightful old +coach set off with a hammer-cloth precisely like the one I had ordered. +Only fancy people saying, Lady Denham sets the fashion for Lady Juliana +Douglas!! Oh, there's confusion and despair in the thought!" + +Confusion, at least, if not despair, was painted in Henry's face as he +saw the General's glance directed alternately with contempt at Lady +Juliana, and at himself, mingled with pity. He continued to fidget about +in all directions, while Lady Juliana talked nonsense to Mr. Shagg, and +wondered if the General never meant to go away. But he calmly kept his +ground till the man was dismissed, and another introduced, loaded with +china jars, monsters, and distorted teapots, for the capricious fair +one's choice and approbation. + +"Beg ten thousand pardons, my Lady, for not calling yesterday, according +to appointment--quite an unforeseen impediment. The Countess of +Godolphin had somehow got private intelligence that I had a set of fresh +commodities just cleared from the custom house, and well knowing such +things are not long in hand, her La'ship came up from the country on +purpose--the Countess has so much taste!--she drove straight to my +warehouse, and kept me a close prisoner till after your La'ship's hour; +but I hope it may not be taken amiss, seeing that it is not a customary +thing with us to be calling on customers, not to mention that this line +of goods is not easily transported about. However, I flatter myself the +articles now brought for your Ladyship's inspection will not be found +beneath your notice. Please to observe this choice piece--it represents +a Chinese cripple squat on the ground, with his legs crossed. Your +Ladyship may observe the head and chin advanced forwards, as in the act +of begging. The tea pours from the open mouth; and, till your Ladyship +tries, you can have no idea of the elegant effect it produces." + +"That is really droll," cried Lady Juliana, with a laugh of delight; +"and I must have the dear sick beggar; he is so deliciously hideous." + +"And here," continued Mr. Brittle, "is an amazing delicate article, in +the way of a jewel--a frog of Turkish agate for burning pastiles in, my +Lady; just such as they use in the seraglio; and indeed this one I may +call invaluable, for it was the favourite toy of one of the widowed +Sultanas till she grew devout and gave up perfumes. One of her slaves +disposed of it to my foreign partner. Here it opens at the tail, where +you put in the pastiles, and closing it up, the vapour issues +beautifully through the nostrils, eyes, ears, and mouth, all at once. +Here, sir," turning to Douglas, "if you are curious in new workmanship, +I would have you examine this. I defy any jeweller in London to come up +to the fineness of these hinges, and delicacy of the carving---" + +"Pshaw, damn it!" said Douglas, turning away, and addressing some remark +to the General, who was provokingly attentive to everything that went +on. + +"Here," continued Mr. Brittle, "are a set of jars, teapots, mandarins, +sea-monsters, and pug-dogs, all of superior beauty, but such as your +Ladyship may have seen before." + +"Oh, the dear, dear little puggies! I must have them to amuse my own +darlings. I protest here is one the image of Psyche; positively I must +kiss it!" + +"Oh dear! I am sure," cried Mr. Brittle, simpering, and making a +conceited bow, "your Ladyship does it and me too much honour. But here, +as I was going to say, is the phoenix of all porcelain ware--the _ne +plus ultra_ of perfection--what I have kept in my backroom, concealed +from all eyes, until your Ladyship shall pronounce upon it. Somehow one +of my shopmen got word of it, and told her Grace of L----- (who has a +pretty taste in these things for a young lady) that I had some +particular choice article that I was keeping for a lady that was a +favourite of mine. Her Grace was in the shop the matter of a full hour +and a half, trying to wheedle me out of a sight of this rare piece; and +I, pretending not to know what her Grace would be after, but +showing her thing after thing, to put it out of her head. But she was +not so easily bubbled, and at last went away ill enough pleased. Now, my +Lady, prepare all your eyes." He then went to the door, and returned, +carrying with difficulty a large basket, which till then had been kept +by one of his satellites. After removing coverings of all descriptions, +an uncouth group of monstrous size was displayed, which, on +investigation, appeared to be a serpent coiled in regular folds round +the body of a tiger placed on end; and the whole structure, which was +intended for a vessel of some kind, was formed of the celebrated green +mottled china, invaluable to connoisseurs. + +"View that well," exclaimed Mr. Brittle, in a transport of enthusiasm, +"for such a specimen not one of half the size has ever been imported to +Europe. There is a long story about this my phoenix, as I call it; but, +to be brief, it was secretly procured from one of the temples, where, +gigantic as it may seem, and uncouth for the purpose, it was the idol's +principal teapot!" + +"Oh delicious!" cried Lady Juliana, clasping her hands in ecstasy. "I +will give a party for the sole purpose of drinking tea out of this +machine; and I will have the whole room fitted up like an Indian temple. +Oh! it will be so new! I die to send out my cards. The Duchess of B----- +told me the other day, with such a triumphant air, when I was looking at +her two little green jars, not a quarter the size of this, that there +was not a bit more of that china to be had for love or money. Oh, she +will be so provoked!" And she absolutely skipped for joy. + +A loud rap at the door now announcing a visitor, Lady Juliana ran to the +balcony, crying, "Oh, it must be Lady Gerard, for she promised to call +early in the morning, that we might go together to a wonderful sale in +some far-off place in the city--at Wapping, for aught I know. Mr. +Brittle, Mr. Brittle, for the love of heaven, carry the dragon into the +back drawing-room--I purchase it, remember!--make haste!--Lady Gerard +is not to get a glimpse of it for the world." + +The servant now entered with a message from Lady Gerard, who would not +alight, begging that Lady Juliana would make haste down to her, as they +had not a moment to lose. She was flying away, without further ceremony +than a "Pray, excuse me," to the General, when her husband called after +her to know whether the child was gone out, as he wished to show her to +the General. + +"I don't know, indeed," replied the fashionable mother; "I haven't had +time to see her to-day;" and, before Douglas could reply she was +downstairs. + +A pause ensued--the General whistled a quickstep, and Douglas walked up +and down the room in a pitiable state of mind, guessing pretty much +what was passing in the mind of his friend, and fully sensible that it +must be of a severer nature than anything he could yet allow himself to +think of his Juliana. + +"Douglas," said the General, "have you made any step towards a +reconciliation with your father-in-law? I believe it will become shortly +necessary for your support." + +"Juliana wrote twice after her marriage," replied he; "but the reception +which her letters met with was not such as to encourage perseverance on +our part. With regard to myself, it is not an affair in which delicacy +will permit me to be very active, as I might be accused of mercenary +motives, which I am far from having." + +"Oh, of that I acquit you; but surely it ought to be a matter of moment, +even to a---Lady Juliana. The case is now altered. Time must have +accustomed him to the idea of this imaginary affront; and, on my honour, +if he thought like a gentleman and a man of sense, I know where he would +think the misfortune lay. Nay, don't interrupt me. The old Earl must +now, I say, have cooled in his resentment; perhaps, too, his +grandchildren may soften his heart; this must have occurred to you. Has +her Ladyship taken any further steps since her arrival in town?" + +"I--I believe she has not; but I will put her in mind." + +"A daughter who requires to have her memory refreshed on such a subject +is likely to make a valuable wife!" said the General drily. + +Douglas felt as if it was incumbent on him to be angry, but remained +silent. + +"Hark ye, Douglas," continued the General, "I speak this for your +interest. You cannot go on without the Earl's help. You know I am not on +ceremony with you; and if I refrain from saying what you see I think +about your present ruinous mode of life, it is not to spare your +feelings, but from a sense of the uselessness of any such remonstrance. +What I do give you is with goodwill; but all my fortune would not +suffice to furnish pug-dogs and deformed teapots for such a vitiated +taste; and if it would, hang me if it should! But enough on this head. +The Earl has been in bad health, and is lately come to town. His son, +too, and his lady are to come about the same time, and are to reside +with him during the season. I have heard Lord Lindore spoken of as a +good-natured easy man, and he would probably enter willingly into any +scheme to reinstate his sister into his father's good graces. Think of +this, and make what you can of it; and my particular advice to you +personally is, try to exchange into a marching regiment; for a fellow +like you, with such a wife, London is the very devil! And so good +morning to you." He snatched up his hat, and was off in a moment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + "To reckon up a thousand of her pranks, + Her pride, her wasteful spending, her unkindness, + Her scolding, pouting, . . . + Were to reap an endless catalogue." + + _Old Play._ + +WHEN Lady Juliana returned from her expedition, it was so late that +Douglas had not time to speak to her; and separate engagements carrying +them different ways, he had no opportunity to do so until the following +morning at breakfast. He then resolved no longer to defer what he had to +say, and began by reproaching her with the cavalier manner in which she +had behaved to his good friend the General. + +"Upon my life, Harry, you are grown perfectly savage," cried his Lady. +"I was most particularly civil; I wonder what you would have me to do? +You know very well I cannot have anything to say to old men of that +sort." + +"I think," returned Henry, "you might have been gratified by making an +acquaintance with my benefactor, and the man to whom you owe the +enjoyment of your favourite pleasures. At any rate, you need not have +made yourself ridiculous. May I perish if I did not wish myself +underground while you were talking nonsense to those sneaking rascals +who wheedle you out of your money! S'death! I had a good mind to throw +them and their trumpery out of the window when I saw you make such a +fool of yourself." + +"A fool of myself! how foolishly you talk! and as for that vulgar, +awkward General, he ought to have been too much flattered. Some of the +monsters were so like himself, I am sure he must have thought I took +them for the love of his round bare pate." + +"Upon my soul, Julia, I am ashamed of you! Do leave off this excessive +folly, and try to be rational. What I particularly wished to say to you +is that your father is in town, and it will be proper that you should +make another effort to be reconciled to him." + +"I dare say it will," answered Lady Juliana, with a yawn. + +"And you must lose no time. When will you write?" + +"There's no use in writing, or indeed doing anything in the matter. I am +sure he won't forgive me." + +"And why not?" + +"Oh, why should he do it now? He did not forgive me when I asked him +before." + +"And do you think, then, for a father's forgiveness it is not worth +while to have a little perseverance?" + +"I am sure he won't do it; so 'tis in vain to try," repeated she, going +to the glass, and singing, _"Papa non dite di no_," etc. + +"By heavens, Julia!" cried her husband passionately, "you are past all +endurance! Can nothing touch you?--nothing fix your thoughts, and make +you serious for a single moment? Can I not make you understand that you +are ruining yourself and me; that we have nothing to depend upon but the +bounty of that man whom you disgust by your caprice, extravagance, and +impertinence; and that if you don't get reconciled to your father what +is to become of you? You already know what you have to expect from my +family, and how you like living with them." + +"Heavens, Harry!" exclaimed her Ladyship, "what is all this tirade +about? Is it because I said papa wouldn't forgive me? I'm sure I don't +mind writing to him; I have no objection, the first leisure moment I +have; but really, in town, one's time is so engrossed." + +At this moment her maid entered in triumph, carrying on her arms a satin +dress, embroidered with gold and flowers. + +"See, my Lady," cried she, "your new robe, as Madame has sent home half +a day sooner than her word; and she has disobliged several of the +quality by not giving the pattern." + +"Oh, lovely! charming! Spread it out, Gage; hold it to the light; all my +own fancy. Only look, Harry; how exquisite! how divine!" + +Harry had no time to express his contempt for embroidered robes; for +just then one of his knowing friends came, by appointment, to accompany +him to Tattersal's, where he was to bid for a famous pair of curricle +grays. + +Days passed on without Lady Juliana's ever thinking it worth while to +follow her husband's advice about applying to her father; until a week +after, Douglas overheard the following conversation between his wife and +one of her acquaintance. + +"You are going to this grand _fete,_ of course," said Mrs. G. "I'm told +it is to eclipse everything that has been yet seen or heard of." + +"Of what _fete_ do you speak?" demanded Lady Juliana. + +"Lord, my dear creature, how Gothic you are! Don't you know anything +about this grand affair that everybody has been talking of for two days? +Lady Lindore gives, at your father's house, an entertainment which is to +be a concert, ball, and masquerade at once. All London is asked, of any +distinction, _c'a s'entend._ But, bless me, I beg pardon, I totally +forgot that you were not on the best terms possible in that quarter; but +never mind, we must have you go; there is not a person of fashion that +will stay away; I must get you asked; I shall petition Lady Lindore in +your favour." + +"Oh pray don't trouble yourself," cried Lady Juliana, in extreme pique. +"I believe I can get this done without your obliging interference; but I +don't know whether I shall be in town then." + +From this moment Lady Juliana resolved to make a vigorous effort to +regain a footing in her father's house. Her first action the next +morning was to write to her brother, who had hitherto kept aloof, +because he could not be at the trouble of having a difference with the +Earl, entreating him to use his influence in promoting a reconciliation +between her father and herself. + +No answer was returned for four days, at the end of which time Lady +Juliana received the following note from her brother:-- + +"DEAR JULIA--I quite agree with you in thinking that you have been kept +long enough in the corner, and shall certainly tell Papa that you are +ready to become a good girl whenever he shall please to take you out of +it. I shall endeavour to see Douglas and you soon.--Yours +affectionately, LINDORE." + +"Lady Lindore desires me to say you can have tickets for her ball, if +you choose to come _en masque._" + +Lady Juliana was delighted with this billet, which she protested was +everything that was kind and generous; but the postscript was the part +on which she dwelt with the greatest delight, as she repeatedly declared +it was a great deal more than she expected. "You see, Harry," said she, +as she tossed the note to him, "I was in the right. Papa won't forgive +me; but Lindore says he will send me a ticket for the _fete;_ it is +vastly attentive of him, for I did not ask it. But I must go disguised, +which is monstrous provoking, for I'm afraid nobody will know me." + +A dispute here ensued. Henry swore she should not steal into her +father's house as long as she was his wife. The lady insisted that she +should go to her brother's _fete_ when she was invited; and the +altercations ended as altercations commonly do, leaving both parties +more wedded to their own opinion than at first. + +In the evening Lady Juliana went to a large party; and as she was +passing from one room into another she was startled by a little paper +pellet thrown at her. Turning round to look for the offender, she saw +her brother standing at a little distance, smiling at her surprise. This +was the first time she had seen him for two years, and she went up to +him with an extended hand, while he gave her a familiar nod, and a "How +d'ye do, Julia?" and one finger of his hand, while he turned round to +speak to one of his companions. Nothing could be more characteristic of +both parties than this fraternal meeting; and from this time they were +the best friends imaginable. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + "Helas! où donc chercher ou trouver le bonheur, + Nulle part tout entier, partout avec mesure!" + + VOLTAIRE. + +SOME days before the expected _fete_ Lady Juliana, at the instigation of +her adviser, Lady Gerard, resolved upon taking the field against the +Duchess of L---. Her Grace had issued cards for a concert; and after +mature deliberation it was decided that her rival should strike out +something new, and announce a christening for the same night. + +The first intimation Douglas had of the honour intended him by this +arrangement was through the medium of the newspaper, for the husband and +wife were now much too fashionable to be at all _au fait_ of each +other's schemes. His first emotion was to be extremely surprised; the +next to be exceedingly displeased; and the last to be highly gratified +at the _éclat_ with which his child was to be made a Christian. +True, he had intended requesting the General to act as godfather upon +the occasion; but Lady Juliana protested she would rather the child +never should be christened at all (which already seemed nearly to have +been the case) than have that cross vulgar-Iooking man to stand sponsor. +Her Ladyship, however, so far conceded that the General was to have the +honour of giving his name to the next, if a boy, for she was now near +her second confinement; and, with this promise Henry was satisfied to +slight the only being in the world to whom he looked for support to +himself and his children. In the utmost delight the fond mother drove +away to consult her confidants upon the name and decorations of the +child, whom she had not even looked at for many days. + +Everything succeeded to admiration. Amid crowds of spectators, in +all the pomp of lace and satin, surrounded by princes and peers, and +handed from duchesses to countesses, the twin daughter of Henry Douglas, +and the heroine of future story, became a Christian by the names of +Adelaide Julia. + +Some months previous to this event Lady Juliana had received a letter +from Mrs. Douglas, informing her of the rapid improvement that had taken +place in her little charge, and requesting to know by what name she +should have her christened; at the same time gently insinuating her wish +that, in compliance with the custom of the country, and as a compliment +due to the family, it should be named after his paternal grandmother. + +Lady Juliana glanced over the first line of the letter, then looked +at the signature, resolved to read the rest as soon as she should have +time to answer it; and in the meantime tossed it into a drawer, amongst +old visiting cards and unpaid bills. + +After vainly waiting for an answer, much beyond the accustomed time +when children are baptized, Mrs. Douglas could no longer refuse to +accede to the desires of the venerable inmates of Glenfern; and about a +month before her favoured sister received her more elegant appellations, +the neglected twin was baptized by the name of Mary. + +Mrs. Douglas's letter had been enclosed in the following one from Miss +Grizzy, and as it had not the good fortune to be perused by the person +to whom it was addressed, we deem it but justice to the writer to insert +it here:-- + + "GLENFERN +CASTLE, _July 30th,_ 17--. + +"My DEAREST NIECE, LADY JULIANA--I am Certain, as indeed we all are, +that it will Afford your Ladyship and our dear Nephew the greatest +Pleasure to see this letter Franked by our Worthy and Respectable Friend +Sir Sampson Maclaughlan, Bart., especially as it is the First he has +ever franked; out of compliment to you, as I assure you he admires you +excessively, as indeed we all do. At the same Time, you will of course, +I am sure, Sympathise with us all in the distress Occasioned by the +melancholy Death of our late Most Obliging Member, Duncan M'Dunsmuir, +Esquire, of Dhunacrag and Auchnagoil, who you never have had the +Pleasure of seeing. What renders his death Particularly distressing, is, +that Lady Maclaughlan is of opinion it was entirely owing to eating Raw +oysters, and damp feet. This ought to be a warning to all Young people +to take care of Wet feet, and Especially eating Raw oysters, which are +certainly Highly dangerous, particularly where there is any Tendency to +Gout. I hope, my dear Niece, you have got a pair of Stout walking shoes, +and that both Henry and you remember to Change your feet after Walking. +I am told Raw Oysters are much the fashion in London at present; but +when this Fatal Event comes to be Known, it will of course Alarm people +very much, and put them upon their guard both as to Damp Feet and Raw +oysters. Lady Maclaughlan is in High spirits at Sir Sampson's Success, +though, at the Same Time, I assure you, she Felt much for the Distress +of poor Mr. M'Dunsmuir, and had sent him a Large Box of Pills, and a +Bottle of Gout Tincture, only two days before he died. This will be a +great Thing for you, and especially for Henry, my dear niece, as Sir +Sampson and Lady Maclaughlan are going to London directly to take his +Seat in Parliament; and she will make a point of Paying you every +attention, and will Matronise you to the play, and any other Public +places you may wish to go; as both my Sisters and I are of opinion you +are rather Young to matronise yourself yet, and you could not get a more +Respectable Matron than Lady Maclaughlan. I hope Harry wont take it +amiss if Sir Sampson does not pay him so much Attention as he might +expect; but he says that he will not be master of a moment of his own +Time in London. He will be so much taken up with the King and the Duke +of York, that he is afraid he will Disoblige a great Number of the +Nobility by it, besides injuring his own health by such Constant +application to business. He is to make a very fine Speech in Parliament, +but it is not yet Fixed what his First Motion is to be upon. He himself +wishes to move for a New Subsidy to the Emperor of Germany; but Lady +Maclaughlan is of opinion that it would be better to Bring in a Bill for +Building a bridge over the Water of Dlin; which, to be sure, is very much +wanted, as a Horse and Cart were drowned at the Ford last Speat. We are +All, I am happy to Say, in excellent Health. Becky is recovering from +the Measles as well as could be Wished, and the Rose [1] is quite +gone out of Bella's Face. Beennie has been prevented from Finishing a +most Beautiful Pair of bottle Sliders for your Ladyship by a whitlow, +but it is now Mending, and I hope will be done in Time to go with +Babby's Vase Carpet, which is extremely elegant, by Sir S. and Lady +Maclaughlan. This Place is in great Beauty at present, and the new Byre +is completely finished. My Sisters and I regret Excessively that Henry +and you should have seen Glenfern to such disadvantage; but when next +you favour us with a visit, I hope it will be in Summer, and the New +Byre you will think a Prodigious Improvement. Our dear Little +Grand-niece is in great health, and much improved. We reckon her +Extremely like our Family, Particularly Becky; though she has +a great Look of Bella, at the Same Time, Then she Laughs. Excuse the +Shortness of this Letter, my dear Niece, as I shall Write a much Longer +one by Lady Maclaughlan. + +[1] Erysipelas. + +"Meantime, I remain, my + +"Dear Lady Juliana, yours and + +"Henry's most affect. aunt, + +"GRIZZEL DOUGLAS." + +In spite of her husband's remonstrance Lady Juliana persisted in her +resolution of attending her sister-in-law's masked ball, from which she +returned, worn out with amusement and surfeited with pleasure; +protesting all the while she dawdled over her evening breakfast the +following day that there was nobody in the world so much to be envied as +Lady Lindore. Such jewels! such dresses! such a house! such a husband! +so easy and good-natured, and rich and generous! She was sure Lindore +did not care what his wife did. She might give what parties she pleased, +go where she liked, spend as much money as she chose, and he would +never trouble his head about the matter. She was quite certain Lady +Lindore had not a single thing to wish for: _ergo, _she must be the +happiest woman in the world! All this was addressed to Henry, who had, +however, attained the happy art of not hearing above one word out of a +hundred that happened to fall from the angel lips of his adored Julia; +and, having finished the newspapers, and made himself acquainted with +all the blood-horses, thoroughbred _fillies_, and brood mares therein +set forth, with a yawn and whistle sauntered away to G-----'s, to look +at the last regulation epaulettes. + +Not long after, as Lady Juliana was stepping into the carriage that was +to whirl her to Bond Street she was met by her husband, who, with a +solemnity of manner that would have startled anyone but his volatile +lady, requested she would return with him into the house, as he wished +to converse with her upon a subject of some importance. He prevailed on +her to return, upon condition that he would not detain her above five +minutes. When, shutting the drawing room doors, he said, with +earnestness, "I think, Julia, you were talking of Lady Lindore this +morning: oblige me by repeating what you said, as I was reading the +papers, and really did not attend much to what passed." + +Her Ladyship, in extreme surprise, wondered how Harry could be so +tiresome and absurd as to stop her airing for any such purpose. She +really did not know what she said. How could she? It was more than an +hour ago. + +"Well, then, say what you think of her now," cried Douglas impatiently. + +"Think of her! why, what all the world must think--that she is the +happiest woman in it. She looked so uncommonly well last night, and was +in such spirits, in her fancy dress, before she masked. After that, I +quite lost sight of her." + +"As everyone else has done. She has not been seen since. Her favourite +St. Leger is missing too, and there is hardly a doubt but that they are +gone off together." + +Even Lady Juliana was shocked at this intelligence, though the folly, +more than the wickedness, of the thing, seemed to strike her mind; but +Henry was no nice observer, and was therefore completely satisfied with +the disapprobation she expressed for her sister-in-law's conduct. + +"I am so sorry for poor dear Lindore," said Lady Juliana after having +exhausted herself in invectives against his wife. "Such a generous +creature as he to be used in such a manner--it is quite shocking to +think of it! If he had been an ill-natured stingy wretch it would have +been nothing; but Frederick is such a noble-hearted fellow--I dare say +he would give me a thousand pounds if I were to ask him, for he don't +care about money." + +"Lord Lindore takes the matter very coolly, understand," replied her +husband; "but--don't be alarmed, dear Julia--your father has suffered a +little from the violence of his feelings. He has had a sort of +apoplectic fit, but is not considered in immediate danger." + +Lady Juliana burst into tears, desired the carriage might be put up, as +she should not go out, and even declared her intention of abstaining +from Mrs. D-----'s assembly that evening. Henry warmly commended the +extreme propriety of these measures; and, not to be outdone in greatness +of mind, most heroically sent an apology to a grand military dinner at +the Duke of Y---'s; observing, at the same time, that, in the present +state of the family, one or two friends to a quiet family dinner was as +much as they should be up to. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + "I but purpose to embark with thee + On the smooth surface of a summer sea, + While gentle zephyrs play in prosp 'rous gales, + And Fortune's favour fills the swelling sails." + + _Henry and Emma._ + +How long these voluntary sacrifices to duty and propriety might have +been made it would mot be difficult to guess; but Lady Juliana's +approaching confinement rendered her seclusion more and more a matter of +necessity; and shortly after these events took place she presented her +delighted husband with a son. Henry lost no time in announcing the birth +of his child to General Cameron, and at the same time requesting he +would stand godfather, and give his name to the child. The answer was as +follows;-- + +"HORT LODGE, BERKS. + +"DEAR HENRY--By this time twelve month I hope it will be my turn to +communicate to you a similar event in my family to that which your +letter announces to me. As a preliminary step, I am just about to march +into quarters for life with a young woman, daughter to my steward. She +is healthy, good-humoured, and of course vulgar, since she is no +connoisseur in china, and never spoke to a pug-dog in her life. + +"Your allowance will be remitted regularly from my Banker until the day +of my death; you will then succeed to ten thousand pounds, secured to +your children, which is all you have to expect from me. If, after this, +you think it worth your while, you are very welcome to give your son the +name of yours faithfully, WILLIAM CAMERON." + +Henry's consternation at the contents of this epistle was almost +equalled by Juliana's indignation. "The daughter of a steward!--Heavens! +it made her sick to think of it. It was too shocking! The +man ought to be shut up. Henry ought to prevent him from disgracing his +connexions in such a manner. There ought to be a law against old men +marrying--" + +"And young ones too," groaned Douglas, as he thought of the debts he had +contracted on the faith and credit of being the General's heir; for with +all the sanguine presumption of thoughtless youth and buoyant spirits, +Henry had no sooner found his fault forgiven than he immediately fancied +it forgotten, and himself completely restored to favour. His friends and +the world were of the same opinion; and, as the future possessor of +immense wealth, he found nothing so easy as to borrow money and contract +debts, which he now saw the impossibility of ever discharging. Still he +flattered himself the General might only mean to frighten him; or he +might relent; or the marriage might go off; or he might not have any +children; and, with these _mighty_ hopes, things went on as usual for +some time longer. Lady Juliana, who, to do her justice, was not of a +more desponding character than her husband, had also her stock of hopes +and expectations always ready to act upon. She was quite sure that if +papa ever came to his senses (for he had remained in a state of +stupefaction since the apoplectic stroke) he would forgive her, and take +her to live with him, now that that vile Lady Lindore was gone, or, if +he should never recover, she was equally sure of benefiting by his +death; for though he had said he was not to leave her a shilling, she +did not believe it. She was sure papa would never do anything so cruel; +and at any rate, if he did, Lindore was so generous, he would do +something very handsome for her; and so forth. + +At length the bubbles burst. The same paper that stated the marriage of +General William Cameron to Judith Broadcast, Spinster, announced, in all +the dignity of woe, the death of that most revered noble man and eminent +statesman, Augustus, Earl of Courtland. + +In weak minds it has generally been remarked that no medium can be +maintained. Where hope holds her dominion she is too buoyant to be +accompanied by her anchor; and between her and despair there are no +gradations. Desperate indeed now became the condition of the misjudging +pair. Lady Juliana's name was not even mentioned in her father's will, +and the General's marriage rendered his settlements no longer a secret. +In all the horrors of desperation, Henry now found himself daily beset +by creditors of every description. At length the fatal blow came. +Horses, carriages, everything they could call their own, were seized. +The term for which they held the house was expired, and they found +themselves on the point of being turned into the street, when Lady +Juliana, who had been for two days, as her woman expressed it, _out of +one fit into another,_ suddenly recovered strength to signify her desire +of being conveyed to her brother's house. A hackney coach was procured, +into which the hapless victim of her own follies was carried. Shuddering +with disgust, and accompanied by her children and their attendants, she +was set down at the noble mansion from which she had fled two years +before. + +Her brother, whom she fortunately found at home, lolling upon a sofa +with a new novel in his hand, received her without any marks of +surprise; said those things happened every day; hoped Captain Douglas +would contrive to get himself extricated from this slight embarrassment; +and informed his sister that she was welcome to occupy her old +apartments, which had been lately fitted up for Lady Lindore. Then +ringing the bell, he desired the housekeeper might show Lady Juliana +upstairs, and put the children in the nursery; mentioned that he +generally dined at eight o'clock; and, nodding to his sister as she +quitted the room, returned to his book, as if nothing had occurred to +disturb him from it. + +In ten minutes after her entrance into Courtland house Lady Juliana had +made greater advances in _religion_ and _philosophy_ than she had done +in the whole nineteen years of her life; for she not only perceived +that "out of evil cometh good," but was perfectly ready to admit that +"all is for the best," and that "whatever is, is right." + +"How lucky is it for me," exclaimed she to herself, as she surveyed the +splendid suite of apartments that were destined for her +accommodation--"how very fortunate that things have turned out as they +have done; that Lady Lindore should have run off, and that the General's +marriage should have taken place just at the time of poor papa's death +"--and, in short, Lady Juliana set no bounds to her self-gratulations on +the happy turn of affairs which had brought about this change in her +situation. + +To a heart not wholly devoid of feeling, and a mind capable of anything +like reflection, the desolate appearance of this magnificent mansion +would have excited emotions of a very different nature. The apartments +of the late Earl, with their wide extended doors and windows, sheeted +furniture, and air of dreary order, exhibited that waste and chilling +aspect which marks the chambers of death; and even Lady Juliana +shuddered, she knew not why, as she passed through them. + +Those of Lady Lindore presented a picture not less striking, could her +thoughtless successor have profited by the lesson they offered. Here was +all that the most capricious fancy, the most boundless extravagance, the +most refined luxury, could wish for or suggest. The bedchamber, +dressing-room, and boudoir were each fitted up in a style that seemed +rather suited for the pleasures of an Eastern sultana or Grecian +courtesan than for the domestic comfort of a British matron. + +"I wonder how Lady Lindore could find in her heart to leave this +delicious boudoir," observed Lady Juliana to the old housekeeper. + +"I rather wonder, my Lady, how she could find in her heart to leave +these pretty babies," returned the good woman, as a little boy came +running into the room, calling, "Mamma, mamma!" Lady Juliana had +nothing to say to children beyond a "How d'ye do, love?" and the child, +after regarding her for a moment, with a look of disappointment, ran +away back to his nursery. + +When Lady Juliana had fairly settled herself in her new apartments, and +the tumult of delight began to subside, it occurred to her that +something must be done for poor Harry, whom she had left in the hands of +a brother officer, in a state little short of distraction. She +accordingly went in search of her brother, to request his advice and +assistance, and found him, it being nearly dark, preparing to set out on +his morning's ride. Upon hearing the situation of his brother-in-law he +declared himself ready to assist Mr. Douglas as far as he was able; but +he had just learned from his people of business that his own affairs +were somewhat involved. The late Earl had expended enormous sums on +political purposes; Lady Lindore had run through a prodigious deal of +money, he believed; and he himself had some debts, amounting, he was +told, to seventy thousand pounds. Lady Juliana was all aghast at this +information, which was delivered with the most perfect _nonchalance_ by +the Earl, while he amused himself with his Newfoundland dog. Unable to +conceal her disappointment at these effects of her brother's "liberality +and generosity," Lady Juliana burst into tears. + +The Earl's sensibility was akin to his generosity; he gave money (or +rather allowed it to be taken) freely when he had it, from indolence and +easiness of temper; he hated the sight of distress in any individual, +because it occasioned trouble, and was, in short, a _bore. _He therefore +made haste to relieve his sister's alarm by assuring her that these were +mere trifles; that, as for Douglas's affairs, he would order his agent +to arrange everything in his name; hoped to have the pleasure of seeing +him at dinner; recommended to his sister to have some pheasant pies for +luncheon; and, calling Carlo, set out upon his ride. + +However much Lady Juliana had felt mortified and disappointed at +learning the state of her brother's finances, she began, by degrees, to +extract the greatest consolation from the comparative insignificance of +her own debts to those of the Earl; and accordingly, in high spirits at +this newly discovered and judicious source of comfort, she despatched +the following note to her husband:-- + +"DEAREST HENRY--I have been received in the kindest manner +imaginable by Frederick, and have been put in possession of my old +apartments, which are so much altered, I should never have known them. +They were furnished by Lady Lindore, who really has a divine taste. I +long to show you all the delights of this abode. Frederick desired me to +say that he expects to see you here at dinner, and that he will take +charge of paying all our bills whenever he gets money. Only think of his +owing a hundred thousand pounds, besides all papa's and Lady Lindore's +debts! I assure you I was almost ashamed to tell him of ours, they +sounded so trifling; but it is quite a relief to find other people so +much worse. Indeed, I always thought it quite natural for us to run in +debt, considering that we had no money to pay anything, while Courtland, +who is as rich as a Jew, is so hampered. I shall expect you at eight, +until when, adieu, _mio caro_, + + "Your JULIE. + +"I am quite wretched about you." + +This tender and consolatory billet Henry had not the satisfaction of +receiving, having been arrested, shortly after his wife's departure, at +the suit of Mr. Shagg, for the sum of two thousand some odd hundreds, +for carriages jobbed, bought, exchanged, repaired, returned, etc. + +Lady Juliana's horror and dismay at the news of her husband's arrest +were excessive. Her only ideas of confinement were taken from those +pictures of the Bastile and Inquisition that she had read so much of in +French and German novels; and the idea of a prison was indissolubly +united in her mind with bread and water, chains and straw, dungeons and +darkness. Callous and selfish, therefore, as she might be, she was not +yet so wholly void of all natural feeling as to think with indifference +of the man she had once fondly loved reduced to such a pitiable +condition. + +Almost frantic at the phantom of her own creation, she flew to her +brother's apartment, and, in the wildest and most incoherent manner, +besought him to rescue her poor Henry from chains and a dungeon. + +With some difficulty Lord Courtland at length apprehended the extent of +his brother-in-Iaw's misfortune; and, with his usual _sang froid_, +smiled at his sister's simplicity, assured her the King's Bench was the +pleasantest place in the world; that some of his own most particular +friends were there, who gave capital dinners, and led the most desirable +lives imaginable. + +"And will he really not be fed on bread and water, and wear chains, and +sleep upon straw?" asked the tender wife in the utmost surprise and +delight. "Oh, then, he is not so much to be pitied, though I dare say he +would rather get out of prison too." + +The Earl promised to obtain his release the following day, and Lady +Juliana returned to her toilet with a much higher opinion of prisons +than she had ever entertained before. + +Lord Courtland, for once in his life, was punctual to his promise; and +even interested himself so thoroughly in Douglas's affairs, though +without inquiring into any particulars, as to take upon himself the +discharge of his debts, and to procure leave for him to exchange into a +regiment of the line, then under orders for India. + +Upon hearing of this arrangement Lady Juliana's grief and despair, as +usual, set all reason at defiance. She would not suffer her dear, dear +Harry to leave her. She knew she could not live without him; she was +sure she should die; and Harry would be sea sick, and grow so yellow and +so ugly that when he came back she should never have any comfort in him +again. + +Henry, who had never doubted her readiness to accompany him, immediately +hastened to assuage her anguish by assuring her that it had always been +his intention to take her along with him. + +That was worse and worse: she wondered how he could be so barbarous and +absurd as to think of her leaving all her friends and going to live +amongst savages. She had done a great deal in living so long contentedly +with him in Scotland; but she never could nor would make such another +sacrifice. Besides, she was sure poor Courtland could not do without +her; she knew he never would marry again; and who would take care of his +dear children, and educate them properly, if she did not? It would be +too ungrateful to desert Frederick, after all he had done for them. + +The pride of the man, as much as the affection of the husband, was +irritated by this resistance to this will; and a violent scene of +reproach and recrimination terminated in an eternal farewell. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + "In age, in infancy, from others' aid + Is all our hope; to teach us to be kind, + That nature's first, last lesson." + + YOUNG. + +THE neglected daughter of Lady Juliana Douglas experienced all the +advantages naturally to be expected from her change of situation. Her +watchful aunt superintended the years of her infancy, and all that a +tender and judicious mother _could_ do--all that most mothers _think_ +they do--she performed. Mrs. Douglas, though not a woman either of words +or systems, possessed a reflecting mind, and a heart warm with +benevolence towards everything that had a being; and all the best +feelings of her nature were excited by the little outcast thus abandoned +by her unnatural parent. As she pressed the unconscious babe to her +bosom she thought how blest she should have been had a child of her own +thus filled her arms; but the reflection called forth no selfish murmurs +from her chastened spirit. While the tear of soft regret trembled in her +eye, that eye was yet raised in gratitude to Heaven for having called +forth those delightful affections which might otherwise have slumbered +in her heart. + +Mrs. Douglas had read much, and reflected more, and many faultless +theories of education had floated in her mind. But her good sense soon +discovered how unavailing all theories were whose foundations rested +upon the inferred wisdom of the teacher, and how intricate and unwieldy +must be the machinery for the human mind where the human hand alone is to +guide and uphold it. To engraft into her infant soul the purest +principles of religion was therefore the chief aim of Mary's +preceptress. The fear of God was the only restraint imposed upon her +dawning intellect; and from the Bible alone was she taught the duties of +morality--not in the form of a dry code of laws, to be read with a +solemn face on Sundays, or learned with weeping eyes as a week-day +task--but adapted to her youthful capacity by judicious illustration, +and familiarised to her taste by hearing its stories and precepts from +the lips she best loved. Mrs. Douglas was the friend and confidant of +her pupil: to her all her hopes and fears, wishes and dreads were +confided; and the first effort of her reason was the discovery that to +please her aunt she must study to please her Maker. + +"L'inutilité de la vie des femmes est la premier source de leurs +désordres." + +Mrs. Douglas was fully convinced of the truth of this observation, and +that the mere selfish cares and vulgar bustle of life are not sufficient +to satisfy the immortal soul, however they may serve to engross it. + +A portion of Mary's time was therefore devoted to the daily practice of +the great duties of life; in administering in some shape or other to the +wants and misfortunes of her fellow-creatures, without requiring from +them that their virtue should have been immaculate, or expecting that +their gratitude should be everlasting. + +"It is better," thought Mrs. Douglas, "that we should sometimes be +deceived by others than that we should learn to deceive ourselves; and +the charity and goodwill that is suffered to lie dormant, or feed itself +on speculative acts of beneficence, for want of proper objects to call +it into use, will soon become the corroding rust that will destroy the +best feelings of our nature." + +But although Mary strenuously applied herself to the uses of life, its +embellishments were by no means neglected. She was happily endowed by +nature; and, under the judicious management of her aunt, made rapid +though unostentatious progress in the improvement of the talents +committed to her care. Without having been blessed with the advantages +of a dancing master, her step was light, and her motions free and +graceful; and if her aunt had not been able to impart to her the +favourite graces of the most fashionable singer of the day, neither had +she thwarted the efforts of her own natural taste in forming a style +full of simplicity and feeling. In the modern languages she was +perfectly skilled; and if her drawings wanted the enlivening touches of +the master to give them effect, as an atonement they displayed a perfect +knowledge of the rules of perspective and the study of the bust. + +All this was, however, mere leather and prunella to the ladies of +Glenfern; and many were the cogitations and consultations that took +place n the subject of Mary's mismanagement. According to their ideas +there could be but one good system of education; and that was the one +that had been pursued with them, and through them transmitted to their +nieces. + +To attend the parish church and remember the text; to observe who was +there and who was _not_ there; and to wind up the evening with a sermon +stuttered and stammered through by one of the girls (the worst reader +always piously selected, for the purpose of improving their reading), and +particularly addressed to the Laird, openly and avowedly snoring in his +arm-chair, though at every pause starting up with a peevish +"Weel?"--this was the sum total of their religious duties. Their moral +virtues were much upon the same scale; to knit stockings, scold +servants, cement china, trim bonnets, lecture the poor, and look up to +Lady Maclaughlan, comprise nearly their whole code. But these were the +virtues of ripened years and enlarged understandings--which their pupils +might hope to arrive at, but could not presume to meddle with. _Their_ +merits consisted in being compelled to sew certain large portions of +white-work; learning to read and write in the worst manner; occasionally +_wearing_ a _collar,_ and learning the notes on the spinnet. These +acquirements, accompanied with a great deal of lecturing and +fault-finding, sufficed for the first fifteen years; when the two next, +passed at a provincial boarding-school, were supposed to impart every +graceful accomplishment to which women could attain. + +Mrs. Douglas's method of conveying instruction, it may easily be +imagined, did not square with their ideas on that subject. They did +nothing themselves without a bustle, and to do a thing quietly was to +them the same as not doing it at all--it could not be done, for nobody +had ever heard of it. In short, like many other worthy people, their +ears were their only organs of intelligence. They believed everything +they were told; but unless they were told, they believed nothing. They +had never heard Mrs. Douglas expatiate on the importance of the trust +reposed in her, or enlarge on the difficulties of female education; +_ergo,_ Mrs. Douglas could have no idea of the nature of the duties she +had undertaken. + +Their visits to Lochmarlie only served to confirm the fact. Miss Jacky +deponed that during the month she was there she never could discover +when or how it was that Mary got her lessons; luckily the child was +quick, and had contrived, poor thing, to pick up things wonderfully, +nobody knew how, for it was really astonishing to see how little pains +were bestowed upon her and the worst of it was, that she seemed to do +just as she liked, for nobody ever heard her reproved, and everybody +knew that young people never could have enough said to them. All this +differed widely from the éclat of their system, and could not +fail of causing great disquiet to the sisters. + +"I declare I'm quite confounded at all this!" said Miss Grizzy, at +the conclusion of Miss Jacky's communication. "It really appears as if +Mary, poor thing, was getting no education at all; and yet she _can_ do +things, too. I can't understand it; and it's very odd in Mrs. Douglas to +allow her to be so much neglected, for certainly Mary's constantly with +herself; which, to be sure, shows that she is very much spoilt; for +although our girls are as fond of us as I am sure any creatures can be, +yet, at the same time, they are always very glad--which is quite +natural--to run away from us." + +"I think it's high time Mary had done something fit to be seen," said +Miss Nicky; "she is now sixteen past." + +"Most girls of Mary's time of life that ever _I_ had anything to do +with," replied Jacky, with a certain wave of the head, peculiar to +sensible women, "had something to show before her age. Bella had worked +the globe long before she was sixteen; and Baby did her filigree +tea-caddy the first quarter she was at Miss Macgowk's," glancing with +triumph from the one which hung over the mantelpiece, to the other which +stood on the tea-table, shrouded in a green bag. + +"And, to be sure," rejoined Grizzy, "although Betsy's screen did cost a +great deal of money--that can't be denied; and her father certainly +grudged it very much at the time--there's no doubt of that; yet +certainly it does her the greatest credit, and it is a great +satisfaction to us all to have these things to show. I am sure nobody +would ever think that ass was made of crape, and how naturally it seems +to be eating the beautiful chenille thistle! I declare, I think the ass +is as like an ass as anything can be!" + +"And as to Mary's drawing," continued the narrator of her deficiencies, +"there is not one of them fit for framing: mere scratches with a chalk +pencil--what any child might do." + +"And to think," said Nicky, with indignation, "how little Mrs. Douglas +seemed to think of the handsome coloured views the girls did at Miss +Macgowk's." + +"All our girls have the greatest genius for drawing," observed Grizzy; +"there can be no doubt of that; but it's a thousand pities, I'm sure, +that none of them seem to like it. To be sure they say--what I daresay +is very true--that they can't get such good paper as they got at Miss +Macgowk's; but they have showed that they _can _do, for their drawings +are quite astonishing. Somebody lately took them to be Mr. Touchup's own +doing; and I'm sure there couldn't be a greater compliment than that! I +represented all that to Mrs. Douglas, and urged her very strongly to +give Mary the benefit of at least a quarter of Miss Macgowk's, were it +only for the sake of her carriage; or, at least, to make her wear our +collar." + +This was the tenderest of all themes, and bursts of sorrowful +exclamations ensued. The collar had long been a galling yoke upon their +minds; it iron had entered into their very souls; for it was a collar +presented to the family of Glenfern by the wisest, virtuousest, best of +women and of grandmothers, the the good Lady Girnachgowl; and had been +worn in regular rotation by every female of the family till now that +Mrs. Douglas positively refused to subject Mary's pliant form to its +thraldom. Even the Laird, albeit no connoisseur in any shapes save those +of his kine, was of opinion that since the thing was in the house it was +a pity it should be lost. Not Venus's girdle even was supposed to confer +greater charms than the Girnachgowl collar. + +"It's really most distressing!" said Miss Grizzy to her friend Lady +Maclaughlan. + +"Mary's back won't be worth a farthing, and we have always been quite +famous for our back." + +"Humph!--that's the reason people are always so glad to see them, +child." + +With regard to Mary's looks, opinions were not so decided. Mrs. Douglas +thought her, what she was, an elegant, interesting-looking girl. The +Laird, as he peered at her over his spectacles, pronounced her to be but +a shilpit thing, though weel eneugh, considering the ne'er-do-weels that +were aught her. Miss Jacky opined that she would have been quite a +different creature had she been brought up like any other girl. Miss +Grizzy did not know what to think; she certainly was pretty--nobody +could dispute that. At the same time, many people would prefer Bella's +looks; and Baby was certainly uncommonly comely. Miss Nicky thought it +was no wonder she looked pale sometimes. She never supped her broth in a +wiselike way at dinner; and it was a shame to hear of a girl of Mary's +age being set up with tea to her breakfast, and wearing white petticoats +in winter--and such roads, too! + +Lady Maclaughlan pronounced (and that was next to a special revelation) +that the girl would be handsome when she was forty, not a day sooner; +and she would be clever, for her mother was a fool; and foolish mothers +had always wise children, and _vice versa,_ "and your mother was a very +clever woman, girls--humph!" + +Thus passed the early years of the almost forgotten twin; blest in the +warm affection and mild authority of her more than mother. Sometimes +Mrs. Douglas half formed the wish that her beloved pupil should mix in +society and become known to the world; but when she reflected on the +dangers of that world, and on the little solid happiness its pleasures +afford, she repressed the wish, and only prayed she might be allowed to +rest secure in the simple pleasures she then enjoyed. "Happiness is not +a plant of this earth," said she to herself with a sigh; "but God gives +peace and tranquillity to the virtuous in all situations, and under +every trial. Let me then strive to make Mary virtuous, and leave the +rest to Him who alone knoweth what is good for us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + "Th' immortal line in sure succession reigns, + The fortune of the family remains, + And grandsires' grandsons the long list contains." + + DRYDEN'S _Virgil._ + + "We are such stuff + As dreams are made on; and our little life + Is rounded with a sleep." + + _Tempest._ + +BUT Mary's back and Mary's complexion now ceased to be the first objects +of interest at Glenfern; for, to the inexpressible delight and +amazement of the sisters, Mrs. Douglas, after due warning, became the +mother of a son. How this event had been brought about without the +intervention of Lady Maclaughlan was past the powers of Miss Grizzy's +comprehension. To the last moment they had been sceptical, for Lady +Maclaughlan had shook her head and humphed whenever the subject was +mentioned. For several months they had therefore vibrated between their +own sanguine hopes and their oracle's disheartening doubts; and even +when the truth was manifest, a sort of vague tremor took possession of +their mind, as to what Lady Maclaughlan would think of it. + +"I declare I don't very well know how to announce this happy event to +Lady Maclaughlan," said Miss Grizzy, as she sat in a ruminating posture, +with her pen in her hand; "it will give her the greatest pleasure, I +know that; she has such a regard for our family, she would go any +lengths for us. At the same time, everybody must be sensible it is a +delicate matter to tell a person of Lady Maclaughlan's skill they have +been mistaken. I'm sure I don't know how she may take it: and yet she +can't suppose it will make any difference in our sentiments for her. She +must be sensible we have all the greatest respect for her opinion." + +"The wisest people are sometimes mistaken," observed Miss Jacky. + +"I'm sure, Jacky, that's very true," said Grizzy, brightening up at the +brilliancy of this remark. + +"And it's better she should have been mistaken than Mrs. Douglas," +followed up Miss Nicky. + +"I declare, Nicky, you are perfectly right; and I shall just say so +at once to Lady Maclaughlan." + +The epistle was forthwith commenced by the enlightened Grizelda. Miss +Joan applied herself to the study of "The Whole Duty of Man," which she +was, determined to make herself mistress of for the benefit of her +grand-nephew; and Miss Nicholas fell to reckoning all who could, would, +or should be at the christening, that she might calculate upon the +quantity of _dreaming-bread_ that would be required. The younger ladies +were busily engaged in divers and sundry disputes regarding the right to +succession to a once-white lutestring negligee of their mother's, which +three of them had laid their accounts with figuring in at the +approaching celebration. The old gentleman was the only one in the +family who took the least of the general happiness. He had got into a +habit of being fretted about everything that happened, and he could not +entirely divest himself of it even upon this occasion. His parsimonious +turns, too, had considerably increased; and his only criterion of +judging of anything was according to what it would bring. + +"Sorra tak me if ane wadnae think, to hear ye, this was the first bairn +that e'er was born! 'What'sa' the fraize aboot, ye gowks?" (to his +daughters)--"a whingin get! that'll tak mail' oot o' fowk's pockets +than e'er it'll pit into them! Mony a guid profitable beast's been +brought into the warld and ne'er a word in in'ts heed." + +All went on smoothly. Lady Maclaughlan testified no resentment. Miss +Jacky had the "The Whole Duty of Man" at her finger-ends; and Miss Nicky +was not more severe than could have been expected, considering, as she +did, how the servants at Lochmarlie must be living at hack and manger. +It had been decided at Glenfern that the infant heir to its consequence +could not with propriety be christened any where but at the seat of his +forefathers. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas had good-humouredly yielded the +point; and, as soon as she was able for the change, the whole family +took up their residence for a season under the paternal roof. + +Blissful visions floated around the pillows of the happy spinsters the +night preceding the christening, which were duly detailed at the +breakfast-table the following morning. + +"I declare I don't know what to think of my dream," began Miss Grizzy. +"I dreamt that Lady Maclaughlan was upon her knees to you, brother, to +get you to take an emetic; and just as she had mixed it up so nicely in +some of our black-currant jelly, little Norman snatched it out of your +hand and ran away with it." + +"You're eneugh to turn onybody's stamick wi'your nonsense," returned +the Laird gruffly. + +"And I," said Miss Jacky, "thought I saw you standing in your shirt, +brother, as straight as a rash, and good Lady Girnachgowl buckling her +collar upon you with her own hands." + +"I wish ye wadna deive me wi' your havels!" still more indignantly, and +turning his shoulder to the fair dreamer, as he continued to con over +the newspaper. + +"And I," cried Miss Nicky, eager to get her mystic tale disclosed, "I +thought, brother, I saw you take and throw all the good dreaming-bread +into the ash-hole." + +"By my troth, an' ye deserve to be thrown after't!" exclaimed the +exasperated Laird, as he quitted the room in high wrath, muttering to +himself, "Hard case--canna get peace--eat my vittals--fules-- +tawpies--clavers!" etc. etc. + +"I declare I can't conceive why Glenfern should be so ill pleased at our +dreams," said Miss Grizzy. "Everybody knows dreams are always contrary; +and even were it otherwise, I'm sure I should think no shame to take an +emetic, especially when Lady Maclaughlan was at the trouble of mixing it +up so nicely." + +"And we have all worn good Lady Girnachgowl's collar +before now," said Miss Jacky. + +"I think I had the worst of it, that had all my good dreaming-bread +destroyed," added Mis Nicky. + +"Nothing could be more natural than you dreams," said Mrs. Douglas, +"considering how all these subjects have engrossed you for some time +past. You, Aunt Grizzy, may remember how desirous you were of +administering one of Lady Maclaughlan's powders to my little boy +yesterday; and you, Aunt Jacky, made a point of trying Lady +Girnachgowl's collar upon Mary, to convince her how pleasant it was; +while you, Aunt Nicky, had experienced a great alarm in supposing your +cake had been burned in the oven. And these being the most vivid +impression you had received during the day, it was perfectly natural +that they should have retained their influence during a portion of the +night." + +The interpretations were received with high disdain. One and all +declared they never dreamed of anything that _had_ occurred; and +therefore the visions of the night portended some extraordinary good +fortune to the family in general, and to little Norman in particular. + +"The best fortune I can wish for him, and all of us, for this day is, +that he should remain quiet during the ceremony," said his mother, who +was not so elated as Lady Macbeth at the predictions of the sisters. + +The christening party mustered strong; and the rites of baptism were +duly performed by the Rev. Duncan M'Drone. The little Christian had been +kissed by every lady in company, and pronounced by the matrons to be "a +dainty little _doug!_" and by the misses to be "the sweetest lamb they +had ever seen!" The cake and wine was in its progress round the company; +when, upon its being tendered to the old gentleman, who was sitting +silent in his arm-chair, he abruptly exclaimed, in a most discordant +voice, "Hey! what's a' this wastery for?"--and ere an answer could be +returned his jaw dropped, his eyes fixed, and the Laird of Glenfern +ceased to breathe! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +"They say miracles are past; and we have our philosophical persons to +make modern and familiar things supernatural and causeless. Hence it is +that we make trifles of terrors; ensconcing ourselves into seeming +knowledge, when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear."--_All's +Well that Ends Well_. + +ALL attempts to reanimate the lifeless form proved unavailing; and the +horror and consternation that reigned in the castle of Glenfern may be +imagined, but cannot be described. There is perhaps no feeling of our +nature so vague, so complicated, so mysterious, as that with which we +look upon the cold remains of our fellow-mortals. The dignity with which +death invests even the meanest of his victims inspires us with an awe no +living thing can create. The monarch on his throne is less awful than the +beggar in his shroud. The marble features--the powerless hand--the +stiffened limbs--oh! who can contemplate these with feelings that can be +defined? These are the mockery of all our hopes and fears, our fondest +love our fellest hate. Can it be that we now shrink with horror from the +touch of that hand which but yesterday was fondly clasped in our own? Is +that tongue, whose accents even now dwell in our ear, forever chained in +the silence of death? These black and heavy eyelids, are they for ever +to seal up in darkness the eyes whose glance no earthly power could +restrain? And the spirit which animated the clay, where is it now? Is it +wrapt in bliss, or dissolved in woe? Does it witness our grief, and +share our sorrows? Or is the mysterious tie that linked it with +mortality forever broken? And the remembrance of earthly scenes, are +they indeed to the enfranchised spirit as the morning dream, or the dew +upon the early flower? Reflections such as these naturally arise in +every breast. Their influence is felt, though their import cannot always +be expressed. The principle is in all the same, however it may differ in +its operations. + +In the family assembled round the lifeless form that had so long been +the centre of their domestic circle, grief showed itself under various +forms. The calm and manly sorrow of the son; the saint-like feelings of +his wife; the youthful agitation of Mary; the weak superstitious +wailings of the sisters; and the loud uncontrolled lamentations of the +daughters; all betokened an intensity of suffering that arose from the +same source, varied according to the different channels in which it +flowed. Even the stern Lady Maclaughlan was subdued to something of +kindred feeling; and though no tears dropped from her eyes, she sat by +her friends, and sought, in her own way, to soften their affliction. + +The assembled guests, who had not yet been able to take their departure, +remained in the drawing-room in a sort of restless solemnity peculiar to +seasons of collateral affliction, where all seek to highten the effect +upon others, and shift the lesson from themselves. Various were the +surmises and speculations as to the cause of the awful transition that +had just taken place. + +"Glenfern was nae like a man that wad hae gaen aff in this +gate," said one. + +"I dinna ken," said another; "I've notic'd a chainge on Glenfern for +a gey while noo." + +"I agree wi' you, sir," said a third. "In my mind Glenfern's been +droopin' very sair ever since the last tryst." + +"At Glenfern's time o' life it's no surprisin'," remarked a fourth, who +felt perfectly secure of being fifteen years his junior. + +"Glenfern was na that auld neither," retorted a fifth, whose conscience +smote him with being years his senior. + +"But he had a deal o' vexation frae his faemily," said an elderly +bachelor. + +"Ye offen see a hale stoot man, like oor puit freend, gang like the +snuff o' a cannel," coughed up a pthisicky gentleman. + +"He was aye a tume, boss-looking man ever since I mind him," wheezed out +a swollen asthmatic figure. + +"An' he took nae care o' himsel'," said he Laird of Pettlechass. "His +diet was nae what it should hae been at his time o' life. An' he was oot +an' in, up an' doon, in a' wathers, wat an' dry." + +"Glenfern's doings had naething to du wi' his death," said an ancient +gentlewoman with solemnity. "They maun ken little wha ne'er heard the +bod-word of the family." And she repeated in Gaelic words to the +following effect:-- + + "When Loehdow shall turn to a lin, [1] + In Glenfern ye'll hear the din; + When frae Benenck they shool the sna', + O'er Glenfern the leaves will fa'; + When foreign geer grows on Benenck tap, + Then the fir tree will be Glenfern's hap." + +[1] Cataract. + +"An' noo, ma'am, will ye be sae gude as point oot the meanin' o' this +freet," said an incredulous-looking member of the company; "for when I +passed Lochdow this mornin' I neither saw nor heard o' a lin; an' frae +this window we can a' see Benenck wi' his white night-cap on; an' he wad +hae little to do that wad try to shoal it aff." + +"It's neither o' the still water nor the stay brae that the word was +spoke," replied the dame, with a disdainful frown; "they tak' nae part +in our doings: but kent ye nae that Lochdow himsel' had tined his sight +in a cataract; an' is nae there dule an' din eneuch in Glenfern the day? +An' kent ye nae that Benenck had his auld white pow shaven, an' that +he's gettin' a jeezy frae Edinburgh?--an' I'se warran' he'll be in his +braw wig the very day that Glenfern'll be laid in his deal coffin." + +The company admitted the application was too +close to be resisted; but the same sceptic (who, by-the-bye, was only a +low country merchant, elevated by purchase to the dignity of a Highland +laird) was seen to shrug his shoulders, and hear to make some sneering +remarks on the days of second-sights and such superstitious nonsense +being past. This was instantly laid hold of; and amongst many others of +the same sort, the truth of the following story was attested by one of +the party, as having actually occurred in his family within his own +remembrance. + +"As Duncan M'Crae was one evening descending Benvoilloich, he perceived +a funeral procession in the vale beneath. He was greatly surprised, not +having heard of any death in the country; and this appeared to be the +burial of some person of consequence, from the number of the attendants. +He made all the haste he could to get down; and as he drew near the +counted all the lairds of the country except my father, Sir Murdoch. He +was astonished at this, till he recollected that he was away to the low +country to his cousin's marriage; but he felt curious to know who it +was, though some unaccountable feeling prevented him from mixing with +the followers. He therefore kept on the ridge of the hill, right over +their heads, and near enough to hear them speak; but although he saw +them move their lips, no sound reached his ear. He kept along with the +procession in this way till it reached the Castle Dochart +burying-ground, and there it stopped. The evening was close and warm, +and a thick mist had gathered in the glen, while the tops of the hills +shone like gold. Not a breath of air was stirring, but the trees that +grew round the burying-ground waved and soughed, and some withered leaves +were swirled round and round, as if by the wind. The company stood a +while to rest, and then they proceeded to open the iron gates of the +burying-ground; but the lock was rusted and would not open. Then they +began to pull down part of the wall, and Duncan thought how angry his +master would be at this, and he raised his voice and shouted and +hallooed to them, but to no purpose. Nobody seemed to hear him. At last +the wall was taken down, and the coffin was lifted over, and just then +the sun broke out, and glinted on a new-made grave; and as they were +laying the coffin in it, it gave way, and disclosed Sir Murdoch himself +in his dead clothes; and then the mist grew so thick, Duncan could see +no more, and how to get home he knew not; but when he entered his own +door he was bathed in sweat, and white as any corpse; and all that he +could say was, that he had seen Castle Dochart's burying. + +"The following day," continued the narrator, "he was more composed, and +gave the account you have now heard; and three days after came the +intelligence of my father's death. He had dropped down in a fit that +very evening, when entertaining a large company in honour of his +cousin's marriage; and that day week his funeral passed through +Glenvalloch exactly as described by Duncan M'Crae, with all the +particulars: The gates of the burying-ground could not he opened; part +of the wall was taken down to admit the coffin, which received some +injury, and gave way as they were placing it in the grave." + +Even the low-country infidel was silenced by the solemnity of this +story; and soon after the company dispersed, everyone panting to be the +first to circulate the intelligence of Glenfern's death. + +But soon--oh, how soon! "dies in human hearts the thought of death!" +Even the paltry detail which death creates serves to detach out minds +from the cause itself. So it was with the family of Glenfern. Their +light did not "shine inward;" and after the first burst of sorrow their +ideas fastened with avidity on all the paraphernalia of affliction. Mr. +Douglas, indeed, found much to do and to direct to be done. The elder +ladies began to calculate how many yards of broad hemming would be +required, and to form a muster-roll of the company; with this +improvement, that it was to be ten times as numerous as the one that had +assembled at the christening; while the young ones busied their +imaginations as to the effect of new mournings--a luxury to them +hitherto unknown. Mrs. Douglas and Mary were differently affected. +Religion and reflection had taught the former the enviable lesson of +possessing her soul in patience under every trial; and while she +inwardly mourned the fate of the poor old man who had been thus suddenly +snatched from the only world that ever had engaged his thoughts, her +outward aspect was calm and serene. The impression made upon Mary's +feelings was of a more powerful nature. She had witnessed suffering, and +watched by sick-beds; but death, and death in so terrific a form, was +new to her. She had been standing by her grandfather's chair--her head +was bent to his--her hand rested upon his, when, by a momentary +convulsion, she beheld the last dread change--the living man transformed +into the lifeless corpse. The countenance but now fraught with life and +human thoughts, in the twinkling of an eye was covered with the shades +of death! It was in vain that Mary prayed and reasoned and strove +against the feelings that had been thus powerfully excited. One object +alone possessed her imagination--the image of her grandfather +dying--dead; his grim features, his ghastly visage, his convulsive +grasp, were ever present, by day and by night. Her nervous system had +received a shock too powerful for all the strength of her understanding +to contend with. Mrs. Douglas sought by every means to soothe her +feelings and divert her attention; and flattered herself that a short +time would allay the perturbation of her youthful emotions. + +Five hundred persons, horse and foot, high and low, male and female, +graced the obsequies of the Laird of Glenfern. Benenck was there in his +new wig, and the autumnal leaves dropped on the coffin as it was borne +slowly along the vale! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +"It is no diminution, but a recommendation of human nature, that, in +some instances, passion gets the better of reason, and all that we can +think is impotent against half what we feel."--_Spectator._ + +"LIFE is a mingled yarn;" few of its afflictions but are accompanied +with some alleviation--none of its blessings that do not bring some +alloy. Like most other events that long have formed the object of +yearning and almost hopeless wishes, and on which have been built the +fairest structure of human felicity, the arrival of the young heir of +Glenfern produced a less extraordinary degree of happiness than had been +anticipated. The melancholy event which had marked the first ceremonial +of his life had cast its gloom alike on all nearly connected with him; +and when time had dispelled the clouds of recent mourning, and restored +the mourners to their habitual train of thought and action, somewhat of +the novelty which had given him such lively interest in the hearts of +the sisters had subsided. The distressing conviction, too, more and more +forced itself upon them, that their advice and assistance were likely to +be wholly overlooked in the nurture of the infant mind and management of +the thriving frame of their little nephew. Their active energies, +therefore, driven back to the accustomed channels, after many murmurs +and severe struggles, again revolved in the same sphere as before. True, +they sighed and mourned for a time, but soon found occupation congenial +to their nature in the little departments of life--dressing crape; +reviving black silk; converting narrow hems into broad hems; and in +short, who so busy, who so important, as the ladies of Glenfern? As +Madame de Staël, or de Something says, "they fulfilled their +destinies." Their walk lay amongst threads and pickles; their sphere +extended from the garret to the pantry; and often as they sought to +diverge from it, their instinct always led them to return to it, as the +tract in which they were destined to move. There are creatures of the +same sort in the male part of the creation, but it is foreign to my +purpose to describe them at present. Neither are the trifling and +insignificant of either sex to be treated with contempt, or looked upon +as useless by those whom God has gifted with higher powers. In the +arrangements of an all-wise Providence there is nothing created in vain. +Every link of the vast chain that embraces creation helps to hold +together the various relations of life; and all is beautiful gradation, +from the human vegetable to the glorious archangel. + +If patient hope, if unexulting joy, and chastened anticipation, +sanctifying a mother's love, could have secured her happiness, Mrs. +Douglas would have found, in the smiles of her infant, all the comfort +her virtue deserved. But she still had to drink of that cup of sweet and +bitter, which must bathe the lips of all who breathe the breath of life. + +While the instinct of a parent's love warmed her heart, as she pressed +her infant to her bosom, the sadness of affectionate and rational +solicitude stifled every sentiment of pleasure as she gazed on the +altered and drooping form of her adopted daughter of the child who had +already repaid the cares that had been lavished on her, and in whom she +descried the promise of a plenteous harvest from the good seed she had +sown. Though Mary had been healthy in childhood, her constitution was +naturally delicate, and she had latterly outgrown her strength. The +shock she had sustained by her grandfather's death, thus operating on a +weakened frame, had produced an effect apparently most alarming; and the +efforts she made to exert herself only served to exhaust her. She felt +all the watchful solicitude, the tender anxieties of her aunt, and +bitterly reproached herself with not better repaying these exertions for +her happiness. A thousand times she tried to analyse and extirpate the +saddening impression that weighed upon her heart. + +"It is not sorrow," reasoned she with herself, "that thus oppresses me; +for though I reverenced my grandfather, yet the loss of his society has +scarcely been felt by me. It cannot be fear--the fear of death; for my +soul is not so abject as to confine its desires to this sublunary scene. +What, then, is this mysterious dread that has taken possession of me? +Why do I suffer my mind to suggest to me images of horror, instead of +visions of bliss? Why can I not, as formerly, picture to myself the +beauty and the brightness of a soul casting off mortality? Why must the +convulsed grasp, the stifled groan, the glaring eye, for ever come +betwixt heaven and me?" + +Alas! Mary was unskilled to answer. Hers was the season for feeling, not +for reasoning. She knew not that hers was the struggle of imagination +striving to maintain its ascendency over reality. She had heard and +read, and thought and talked of death; but it was of death in its +fairest form, in its softest transition: and the veil had been abruptly +torn from her eyes; the gloomy pass had suddenly disclosed itself before +her, not strewed with flowers but shrouded in horrors. Like all persons +of sensibility, Mary had a disposition to view everything in a _beau +ideal:_ whether that is a boon most fraught with good or ill it were +difficult to ascertain. While the delusion lasts it is productive of +pleasure to its possessor; but oh! the thousand aches that heart is +destined to endure which clings to the stability and relies on the +permanency of earthly happiness! But the youthful heart must ever remain +a stranger to this saddening truth. Experience only can convince us that +happiness is not a plant of this world; and that, though many an eye +hath beheld its blossoms no mortal hand hath ever gathered its fruits. +This, then, was Mary's first lesson in what is called the knowledge of +life, as opposed to the _beau ideal_ of a young and ardent imagination +in love with life, and luxuriating in its own happiness. And, upon such +a mind it could not fail of producing a powerful impression. + +The anguish Mrs. Douglas experienced as she witnessed the changing +colour, lifeless step, and forced smile of her darling _élève _was not +mitigated by the good sense or sympathy of those around her. While Mary +had prospered under her management, in the consciousness that she was +fulfilling her duty to the best of her abilities, she could listen with +placid cheerfulness to the broken hints of disapprobation, or forced +good wishes for the success of her new-fangled schemes, that were +levelled at her by the sisters. But now, when her cares seemed defeated, +it was an additional thorn in her heart to have to endure the +commonplace wisdom and self-gratulations of the almost exulting aunts; +not that they had the slightest intention of wounding the feelings of +their niece, whom they really loved, but the temptation was irresistible +of proving that they had been in the right and she in the wrong, +especially as no such acknowledgment had yet been extorted from her. + +"It is nonsense to ascribe Mary's dwining to her grandfather's death," +said Miss Jacky. "We were all nearer to him in propinquity than she was, +and none of our healths have suffered." + +"And there's his own daughters," added Miss Grizzy, "who, of course, +must have felt a great deal more than anybody else--there can be no +doubt of that--such sensible creatures as them must feel a great deal; +but yet you see how they have got up their spirits--I'm sure it's +wonderful!" + +"It shows their sense and the effects of education," said Miss Jacky. + +"Girls that sup their porridge will always cut a good figure," quoth +Nicky. + +"With their fine feelings I'm sure we have all reason to be thankful +that they have been blest with such hearty stomachs," observed Miss +Grizzy; "if they had been delicate, like poor Mary's, I'm sure I declare +I don't know what we would have done; for certainly they were all most +dreadfully affected at their excellent father's death; which was quite +natural, poor things! I'm sure there's no pacifying poor Baby, and even +yet, neither Bella nor Betsey can bear to be left alone in a dark room. +Tibby has to sleep with them still every night; and alighted candle +too-which is much to their credit--and yet I'm sure it's not with +reading. I'm certain-indeed, I think there's no doubt of it--that +reading does young people much harm. It puts things into their heads +that never would have been there but for books. I declare, I think +reading's a very dangerous thing; I'm certain all Mary's bad health is +entirely owing to reading. You know we always thought she read a great +deal too much for her good." + +"Much depends upon the choice of books," said Jacky, with an air of the +most profound wisdom, "Fordyce's Sermons and the History of Scotland are +two of the very few books _I_ would put into the hands of a young woman. +Our girls have read little else,"--casting a look at Mrs. Douglas, who +was calmly pursuing her work in the midst of this shower of darts all +levelled at her. + +"To be sure," returned Grizzy, "it is a thousand pities that Mary has +been allowed to go on so long; not, I'm sure, that any of us mean to +reflect upon you, my dear Mrs. Douglas; for of course it was all owing +to your ignorance and inexperience; and that, you know, you could not +help; for it as not your fault; nobody can blame you. I'm certain you +would have done what is right if you had only known better; but of +course we must all know much better than you; because, you know, we are +all a great deal older, and especially Lady Maclaughlan, who has the +greatest experience in the diseases of old men especially, and infants. +Indeed it has been he study of her life almost; for, you know, poor Sir +Sampson is never well; and I dare say, if Mary had taken some of her +nice worm-lozenges, which certainly cured Duncan M'Nab's wife's +daughter's little girl of the jaundice, and used that valuable growing +embrocation, which we are all sensible made Baby great deal fatter, I +dare say there would have been thing the matter with her to-day." + +"Mary has been too much accustomed to spend both her time and money +amongst idle vagrants," said Nicky. + +"Economy of both," subjoined Jacky, with an air of humility, "_I_ +confess I have ever been accustomed to consider as virtues. These +handsome respectable new bonnets"--looking _from_ Mrs. Douglas--"that +our girls got just before their poor father's death, were entirely the +fruits of their own savings." + +"And I declare," said Grizzy, who did not excel in innuendos, "I declare, +for my part--although at the same time, my dear niece, I'm certain you +are far from intending it--I really think it's very disrespectful to Sir +Sampson and Lady Maclaughlan, in anybody, and especially such near +neighbours, to give more in charity than they do; for you may be sure +they give as much as they think proper, and they must be the best +judges, and can afford to give what they please; for Sir Sampson could +buy and sell all of us a hundred times over if he liked. It's long since +the Lochmarlie estate was called seven thousand a year; and besides that +there's the Birkendale property and the Glenmavis estate, and I'm sure I +can't tell you all what; but there's no doubt he's a man of immense +fortune." + +Well it was known and frequently was it discussed, the iniquity of Mary +being allowed to waste her time and squander her money amongst the poor, +instead of being taught the practical virtues of making her own gowns, +and of hoarding up her pocket-money for some selfish gratification. + +In colloquies such as these day after day passed on without any visible +improvement taking place in her health. Only one remedy suggested itself +to Mrs. Douglas, and that was to remove her to the south of England for +the winter. Milder air and change of scene she had no doubt would prove +efficacious; and her opinion was confirmed by that of the celebrated +Dr.-----, who, having been summoned to the Laird of Pettlechass, had +paid a visit at Glenfern _en passant._ How so desirable an event was to +be accomplished was the difficulty. By the death of his father a variety +of business and an extent of farming had devolved upon Mr. Douglas which +obliged him to fix his residence at Glenfern, and rendered it impossible +for him to be long absent from it. Mrs. Douglas had engaged in the +duties of a nurse to her little boy, and to take him or leave him was +equally out of the question. + +In this dilemma the only resource that offered was that of sending Mary +for a few months to her mother. True, it was a painful necessity; for +Mrs. Douglas seldom heard from her sister-in-law, and when she did, her +letters were short and cold. She sometimes desired "a kiss to her +(Mrs. Douglas's) little girl," and once, in an extraordinary fit of good +humour, had actually sent a locket with her hair in a letter by post, +for which Mrs. Douglas had to pay something more than the value of the +present. This was all that Mary knew of her mother, and the rest of her +family were still greater strangers to her. Her father remained in a +distant station in India, and was seldom heard of. Her brother was gone +to sea; and though she had written repeatedly to her sister, her letters +remained unnoticed. Under these circumstances there was something +revolting in the idea of obtruding Mary upon the notice of her +relations, and trusting to their kindness even for a few months; yet her +health, perhaps her life, was at stake, and Mrs. Douglas felt she had +scarcely a right to hesitate. + +"Mary has perhaps been too long an alien from her own family," said she +to herself; "this will be a means of her becoming acquainted with them, +and of introducing her to that sphere in which she is probably destined +to walk. Under her uncle's roof she will surely be safe, and in the +society of her mother and sister she cannot be unhappy. New scenes will +give a stimulus to her mind; the necessity of exertion will brace the +languid faculties of her soul, and a few short months, I trust, will +restore her to me such and even superior to what she was. Why, then, +should I hesitate to do what my conscience tells me ought to be done? +Alas! it is because I selfishly shrink from the pain of separation, and +am unwilling to relinquish, even for a season, one of the many blessings +Heaven has bestowed upon me." And Mrs. Douglas, noble and disinterested +as ever, rose superior to the weakness that she felt was besetting her. +Mary listened to her communication with a throbbing heart and eyes +suffused with tears; to part from her aunt was agony; but to behold her +mother--she to whom she owed her existence, to embrace a sister too--and +one for whom she felt all those mysterious yearnings which twins are +said to entertain towards each other--oh, there was rapture in the +thought, and Mary's buoyant heart fluctuated between the extremes of +anguish and delight. + +The venerable sisters received the intelligence with much surprise: they +did not know very well what to say about it; there was much to be said +both for and against it. Lady Maclaughlan had a high opinion of English +air; but then they had heard the morals of the people were not so good, +and there were a great many dissipated young men in England; though, to +be sure, there was no denying but the mineral waters were excellent; +and, in short, it ended in Miss Grizzy's sitting down to concoct an +epistle to Lady Maclaughlan; in Miss Jacky's beginning to draw up a code +of instructions for a young woman upon her entrance into life; and Miss +Nicky hoping that if Mary did go, she would take care not to bring back +any extravagant English notions with her. The younger set debated +amongst themselves how many of them would be invited to accompany Mary +to England, and from thence fell to disputing the possession of a brown +hair trunk, with a flourished D in brass letters on the top. + +Mrs. Douglas, with repressed feelings, set about offering the sacrifice +she had planned, and in a letter to Lady Juliana, descriptive of her +daughter's situation, she sought to excite her tenderness without +creating an alarm. How far she succeeded will be seen hereafter. In the +meantime we must take a retrospective glance at the last seventeen years +of her Ladyship's life. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + _Her_ "only labour was to kill the time; + And labour dire it is, and weary woe." + + _Castle of Indolence._ + +YEARS had rolled on amidst heartless pleasures and joyless amusements, +but Lady Juliana was made neither the wiser nor the better by added +years and increased experience. Time had in vain turned his glass +before eyes still dazzled with the gaudy allurements of the world, for +she took "no note of time" but as the thing that was to take her to the +Opera and the Park, and that sometimes hurried her excessively, and +sometimes bored her to death. At length she was compelled to abandon her +chase after happiness in the only sphere where she believed it was to be +found. Lord Courtland's declining health unfitted him for the +dissipation of a London life; and, by the advice of his physician, he +resolved upon retiring to a country seat which he possessed in the +vicinity of Bath. Lady Juliana was in despair at the thoughts of this +sudden wrench from what she termed "life;" but she had no resource; for +though her good-natured husband gave her the whole of General Cameron's +allowance, that scarcely served to keep her in clothes; and though her +brother was perfectly willing that she and her children should occupy +apartments in his house, yet he would have been equally acquiescent had +she proposed to remove from it. Lady Juliana had a sort of instinctive +knowledge of this, which prevented her from breaking out into open +remonstrance. She therefore contented herself with being more than +usually peevish and irascible to her servants and children, and talking +to her friends of the prodigious sacrifice she was about to make for her +brother and his family, as if it had been the cutting off of a hand or +the plucking out of an eye. To have heard her, anyone unaccustomed to +the hyperbole of fashionable language would have deemed Botany Bay the +nearest possible point of destination. Parting from her fashionable +acquaintances was tearing herself from all she loved; quitting London +was bidding adieu to the world. Of course there could be no society +where she was going, but still she would do her duty; she would not +desert dear Frederick and his poor children! In short, no martyr was +ever led to the stake with half the notions of heroism and self-devotion +as those with which Lady Juliana stepped into the barouche that was to +conduct her to Beech Park. In the society of piping bullfinches, pink +canaries, gray parrots, goldfish, green squirrels, Italian greyhounds, +and French poodles, she sought a refuge from despair. But even these +varied charms, after a while, failed to please. The bullfinches grew +hoarse; the canaries turned brown; the parrots became stupid; the gold +fish would not eat; the squirrels were cross; the dogs fought; even a +shell grotto that was constructing fell down; and by the time the aviary +and conservatory were filled, they had lost their interest. The children +were the next subjects for her Ladyship's ennui to discharge itself +upon. Lord Courtland had a son some years older, and a daughter nearly +of the same age as her own. It suddenly occurred to her that they must +be educated, and that she would educate the girls herself. As the first +step she engaged two governesses, French and Italian; modern treatises +on the subject of education were ordered from London, looked at, +admired, and arranged on gilded shelves and sofa tables; and could their +contents have exhaled with the odours of their Russia leather bindings, +Lady Juliana's dressing-room would have been what Sir Joshua Reynolds +says every seminary of learning _is,_ "an atmosphere of floating +knowledge." But amidst this splendid display of human lore, THE BOOK +found no place. She _had_ heard of the Bible, however, and even knew it +was a book appointed to be read in churches, and given to poor people, +along with Rumford soup and flannel shirts; but as the rule of life, as +the book that alone could make wise unto salvation, this Christian +parent was ignorant as the Hottentot or Hindoo. + +Three days beheld the rise, progress, and decline of Lady Juliana's +whole system of education; and it would have been well for the children +had the trust been delegated to those better qualified to discharge it. +But neither of the preceptresses was better skilled in the only true +knowledge. Signora Cicianai was a bigoted Catholic, whose faith hung +upon her beads, and Madame Grignon was an _esprit forte,_ who had no +faith in anything but _le plaisir._ But the Signora's singing was +heavenly, and Madame's dancing was divine, and what lacked there more? + +So passed the first years of beings training for immortality. The +children insensibly ceased to be children, and Lady Juliana would have +beheld the increasing height and beauty of her daughter with extreme +disapprobation, had not that beauty, by awakening her ambition, also +excited her affection, if the term affection could be applied to that +heterogeneous mass of feelings and propensities that "shape had none +distinguishable." Lady Juliana had fallen into an error very common with +wiser heads than hers that of mistaking the _effect_ for the _cause._ She +looked no farther than to her union with Henry Douglas for the +foundation of all her unhappiness; it never once occurred to her that +her marriage was only the _consequence_ of something previously wrong; +she saw not the headstrong passions that had impelled her to please +herself--no matter at what price. She thought not of the want of +principle, she blushed not at the want of delicacy, that had led her to +deceive a parent and elope with a man to whose character she was a total +stranger. She therefore considered herself as having fallen a victim to +love; and could she only save her daughter from a similar error she might +yet by her means retrieve her fallen fortune. To implant principles of +religion and virtue in her mind was not within the compass of her own; +but she could scoff at every pure and generous affection; she could +ridicule every disinterested attachment; and she could expatiate on the +never-fading joys that attend on wealth and titles, jewels and +equipages; and all this she did in the belief that she was acting the +part of a most wise and tender parent! The seed, thus carefully sown, +promised to bring forth an abundant harvest. At eighteen Adelaide +Douglas was as heartless and ambitious as she was beautiful and +accomplished; but the surface was covered with flowers, and who would +have thought of analysing the soil? + +It sometimes happens that the very means used with success in the +formation of one character produce a totally opposite effect upon +another. The mind of Lady Emily Lindore had undergone exactly the same +process in its formation as that of her cousin; yet in all things they +differed. Whether it were the independence of high birth, or the pride +of a mind conscious of its own powers, she had hitherto resisted the +sophistry of her governesses and the solecisms of her aunt. But her +notions of right and wrong were too crude to influence the general tenor +of her life, or operate as restraints upon a naturally high spirit and +impetuous temper. Not all the united efforts of her preceptresses had +been able to form a manner for their pupil; nor could their authority +restrain her from saying what she thought, and doing what she pleased; +and, in spite of both precept and example, Lady Emily remained as +insupportably natural and sincere as she was beautiful and _piquante._ +At six years old she had declared her intention of marrying her cousin +Edward Douglas, and at eighteen her words were little less equivocal. +Lord Courtland, who never disturbed himself about anything, was rather +diverted with this juvenile attachment; and Lady Juliana, who cared +little for her son, and still less for her niece, only wondered how +people could be such fools as to think of marrying for love, after she +had told them how miserable it would make them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + "Unthought of frailties cheat us in the wise; + The fool lies hid in inconsistencies." + + POPE. + +SUCH were the female members of the family to whom Mary was about to be +introduced. In her mother's heart she had no place, for of her absent +husband and neglected daughter she seldom thought; and their letters +were scarcely read, and rarely answered. Even good Miss Grizzy's +elaborate epistle, in which were curiously entwined the death of her +brother and the birth and christening of her grand-nephew, in a truly +Gordian manner, remained disentangled. Had her Ladyship only read to the +middle of the seventh page she would have learned the indisposition of +her daughter, with the various opinions thereupon; but poor Miss +Grizzy's labours were vain, for her letter remains a dead letter to this +day. Mrs. Douglas was therefore the first to convey the unwelcome +intelligence, and to suggest to the mind of the mother that her +alienated daughter still retained some claims upon her care and +affection; and although this was done with all the tenderness and +delicacy of a gentle and enlightened mind, it called forth the most +bitter indignation from Lady Juliana. + +She almost raved at what she termed the base ingratitude and hypocrisy +of her sister-in-law. After the sacrifice she had made in giving up her +child to her when she had none of her own, it was a pretty return to +send her back only to die. But she saw through it. She did not believe a +word of the girl's silliness; that was a trick to get rid of her. Now +they had a child of their own, they had no use for hers; but she was not +to be made a fool of in such a way, and by such people, etc. etc. + +"If Mrs. Douglas is so vile a woman," said the provoking Lady Emily, +"the sooner my cousin is taken from her the better." + +"You don't understand these things, Emily," returned her aunt +impatiently. + +"What things?" + +"The trouble and annoyance it will occasion me to take charge of the +girl at this time." + +"Why at this time more than at any other?" + +"Absurd, my dear! how can you ask so foolish a question? Don't you +know that you and Adelaide are both to bring out this winter, and how +can I possibly do you justice with a dying girl upon my hands?" + +"I thought you suspected it was all a trick," continued the persecuting +Lady Emily. + +"So I do; I haven't the least doubt of it. The whole story is the most +improbable stuff I ever heard." + +"Then you will have less trouble than you expect." + +"But I hate to be made a dupe of, and imposed upon by low cunning. If +Mrs. Douglas had told me candidly she wished me to take the girl, I would +have thought nothing of it; but I can't bear to be treated like a fool." + +"I don't see anything at all unbecoming in Mrs. Douglas's treatment." + +"Then what can I do with a girl who has been educated in Scotland? She +must be vulgar--all Scotchwomen are so. They have red hands and rough +voices; they yawn, and blow their noses, and talk, and laugh loud, and +do a thousand shocking things. Then, to hear the Scotch +brogue--oh, heavens! I should expire every time she opened her mouth!" + +"Perhaps my sister may not speak so _very_ broad," kindly suggested +Adelaide in her sweetest accents. + +"You are very good, my love, to think so; but nobody can live in that +odious country without being infected with its _patois._ I really +thought I should have caught it myself; and Mr. Douglas" (no longer +Henry) "became quite gross in his language after living amongst his +relations." + +"This is really too bad," cried Lady Emily indignantly. "If a person +speaks sense and truth, what does it signify how it is spoken? And +whether your Ladyship chooses to receive your daughter here or not, I +shall at any rate invite my cousin to my father's house." And, snatching +up a pen, she instantly began a letter to Mary. + +Lady Juliana was highly incensed at this freedom of her niece; but she +was a little afraid of her, and therefore, after some sharp altercation, +and with infinite violence done to her feelings, she was prevailed upon +to write a decently civil sort of a letter to Mrs. Douglas, consenting +to receive her daughter for a _few months;_ firmly resolving in her own +mind to conceal her from all eyes and ears while she remained, and to +return her to her Scotch relations early in the summer. + +This worthy resolution formed, she became more serene and awaited the +arrival of her daughter with as much firmness as could reasonably have +been expected. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + "And for unfelt imaginations + They often feel a world of restless cares." + + SHAKESPEARE. + +LITTLE weened the good ladies of Glenfern the ungracious reception their +_protégée_ was likely to experience from her mother; for, in spite of +the defects of her education, Mary was a general favourite in the +family; and however they might solace themselves by depreciating her to +Mrs. Douglas, to the world in general, and their young female +acquaintances in particular, she was upheld as an epitome of every +perfection above and below the sun. Had it been possible for them to +conceive that Mary could have been received with anything short of +rapture, Lady Juliana's letter might in some measure have opened the +eyes of their understanding; but to the guileless sisters it seemed +everything that was proper. Sorry for the necessity Mrs. Douglas felt +under of parting with her adopted daughter, was "prettily expressed;" +had no doubt it was merely a slight nervous affection, "was kind and +soothing;" and the assurance, more than once repeated, that her friends +might rely upon her being returned to them in the course of a very few +months, "showed a great deal of feeling and consideration." But as their +minds never maintained a just equilibrium long upon any subject, but, +like falsely adjusted scales, were ever hovering and vibrating at either +extreme, so they could not rest satisfied in the belief that Mary was to +be happy; there must be something to counteract that stilling sentiment; +and that was the apprehension that Mary would be spoilt. This, for the +present, was the pendulum of their imaginations. + +"I declare, Mary, my sisters and I could get no sleep last night for +thinking of you," said Miss Grizzy; _"we_ are all certain that Lady +Juliana especially, but indeed all your English relations, will think so +much of you--from not knowing you, you know--which will be quite +natural. I'm sure that my sisters and I have taken it into our +heads--but I hope it won't be the case, as you have a great deal of good +sense of your own--that they will quite turn your head." + +"Mary's head is on her shoulders to little purpose," followed up Miss +Jacky, "if she can't stand being made of when she goes amongst +strangers; and she ought to know by this time that a mother's partiality +is no proof of a child's merit." + +"You hear that, Mary," rejoined Miss Grizzy; "so I'm sure I hope you +won't mind a word that your mother says to you, I mean about yourself; +for of course you know she can't be such a good judge of you as us, who +have known you all your life. As to other things, I daresay she is very +well informed about the country, and politics, and these sort of +things--I'm certain Lady Juliana knows a great deal." + +"And I hope, Mary, you will take care and not get into the daadlin' +handless ways of the English women," said Miss Nicky; "I wouldn't give a +pin for an Englishwoman." + +"And I hope you will never look at an Englishman, Mary," said Miss +Grizzy, with equal earnestness; "take my word for it they are a very +dissipated, unprincipled set. They all drink, and game, and keep +race-horses; and many of them, I'm told, even keep play-actresses; so +you may think what it would be for all of us if you were to marry any of +them,"--and tears streamed from the good spinster's eyes at the bare +supposition of such a calamity. + +"Don't be afraid, my dear aunt," said Mary, with a kind caress; "I +shall come back to you your own 'Highland Mary.' No Englishman with his +round face and trim meadows shall ever captivate me. Heath covered hills +and high cheek-bones are the charms that must win my heart." + +"I'm delighted to hear you say so, my dear Mary," said the +literal-minded Grizzy. "Certainly nothing can be prettier than the +heather when it's in flower; and there is something very manly--nobody +can dispute that--in high cheek-bones; and besides, to tell you a +secret, Lady Maclaughlan has a husband in her eye for you. We none of us +can conceive who it is, but of course he must be suitable in every +respect; for you know Lady Maclaughlan has had three husbands herself; +so of course she must be an excellent judge of a good husband." + +"Or a bad one," said Mary, "which is the same thing. Warning is as good +as example." + +Mrs. Douglas's ideas and those of her aunt, did not coincide upon this +occasion more than upon most others. In her sister-in-Iaw's letter she +flattered herself she saw only fashionable indifference; and she fondly +hoped that would soon give way to a tenderer sentiment, as her daughter +became known to her. At any rate it was proper that Mary should make the +trial, and whichever way it ended, it must be for her advantage. + +"Mary has already lived too long in these mountain solitudes," thought +she; "her ideas will become romantic, and her taste fastidious. If it is +dangerous to be too early initiated into the ways of the world, it is +perhaps equally so to live too long secluded from it. Should she make +herself a place in the heart of her mother and sister it will be so much +happiness gained; and should it prove otherwise, it will be a lesson +learnt--a hard one indeed! but hard are the lessons we must all learn in +the school of life!" Yet Mrs. Douglas's fortitude almost failed her as +the period of separation approached. + +It had been arranged by Lady Emily that a carriage and servants +should meet Mary at Edinburgh, whither Mr. Douglas was to convey her. +The cruel moment came; and mother, sister, relations, friends,--all the +bright visions which Mary's sanguine spirit had conjured up to soften +the parting pang, all were absorbed in one agonising feeling, one +overwhelming thought. Oh, who that for the first time has parted from +the parent whose tenderness and love were entwined with our earliest +recollections, whose sympathy had soothed our infant sufferings, whose +fondness had brightened our infant felicity;--who that has a heart, but +must have felt it sink beneath the anguish of a first farewell! Yet +bitterer still must be the feelings of the parent upon committing the +cherished object of their cares and affections to the stormy ocean of +life. When experience points to the gathering cloud and rising surge +which soon may assail their defenceless child, what can support the +mother's heart but trust in Him whose eye slumbereth not, and whose +power extendeth over all? It was this pious hope, this holy confidence, +that enabled this more than mother to part from her adopted child with a +resignation which no earthly motive could have imparted to her mind. It +seems almost profanation to mingle with her elevated feelings the coarse +yet simple sorrows of the aunts, old and young, as they clung around the +nearly lifeless Mary, each tendering the parting gift they had kept as a +solace for the last. + +Poor Miss Grizzy was more than usually incoherent as she displayed "a +nice new umbrella that could be turned into a nice walking-stick, or +anything;" and a dressing-box, with a little of everything in it; and, +with a fresh burst of tears, Mary was directed where she would _not_ +find eye-ointment, and where she was _not_ to look for +sticking-plaister. + +Miss Jacky was more composed as she presented a flaming copy of +Fordyce's Sermons to Young Women, with a few suitable observations; but +Miss Nicky could scarcely find voice to tell that the _housewife_ she +now tendered had once been Lady Girnchgowl's, and that it contained +Whitechapel needles of every size and number. The younger ladies had +clubbed for the purchase of a large locket, in which was enshrined a lock +from each subscriber, tastefully arranged by the----- jeweller, in the +form of a wheat sheaf upon a blue ground. Even old Donald had his +offering, and, as he stood tottering at the chaise door, he contrived to +get a "bit snishin mull" laid on Mary's lap, with a "God bless her bonny +face, an'may she ne'er want a good sneesh!" + +The carriage drove off, and for a while Mary's eyes were closed in +despair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + "Farewell to the mountains, high covered with snow; + Farewell to the straths, and green valleys below; + Farewell to the forests, and wild hanging woods, + Farewell to the torrents, and loud roaring floods!" + + _Scotch Song._ + +HAPPILY in the moral world as in the material one the warring elements +have their prescribed bounds, and "the flood of grief decreaseth when it +can swell no higher;" but it is only by retrospection we can bring +ourselves to believe in this obvious truth. The young and untried heart +hugs itself in the bitterness of its emotions, and takes a pride in +believing that its anguish can end but with its existence; and it is not +till time hath almost steeped our senses in forgetfulness that we +discover the mutability of all human passions. + +But Mary left it not to the slow hand of time to subdue in some measure +the grief that swelled her heart. Had she given way to selfishness, she +would have sought the free indulgence of her sorrow as the only +mitigation of it; but she felt also for her uncle. He was depressed at +parting with his wife and child, and he was taking a long and dreary +journey entirely upon her account. Could she therefore be so selfish as +to add to his uneasiness by a display of her sufferings? No--she would +strive to conceal it from his observation, though to overcome it was +impossible. Her feelings must ever remain the same, but, she would +confine them to her own breast; and she began to converse with and even +strove to amuse, her kindhearted companion. Ever and anon indeed a rush +of tender recollections came across her mind, and the soft voice and the +bland countenance of her maternal friend seemed for a moment present to +her senses; and then the dreariness and desolation that succeeded as the +delusion vanished, and all was stillness and vacuity! Even self-reproach +shot its piercing sting into her ingenuous heart; levities on which, in +her usual gaiety of spirit, she had never bestowed a thought, now +appeared to her as crimes of the deepest dye. She thought how often she +had slighted the counsels and neglected the wishes of her gentle +monitress; how she had wearied of her good old aunts, their cracked +voices, and the everlasting _tic-a-tic_ of their knitting needles; how +coarse and vulgar she had sometimes deemed the younger ones; how she had +mimicked Lady Maclaughlan, and caricatured Sir Sampson, and "even poor +dear old Donald," said she, as she summed up the catalogue of her +crimes, "could not escape my insolence and ill-nature. How clever I +thought it to sing 'Haud awa frae me, Donald,' and how affectedly I +shuddered at everything he touched;" and the "sneeshin mull" was bedewed +with tears of affectionate contrition. But every painful sentiment was +for a while suspended in admiration of the magnificent scenery that was +spread around them. Though summer had fled, and few even of autumn's +graces remained, yet over the august features of mountain scenery the +seasons have little control. Their charms depend not upon richness of +verdure, or luxuriance of foliage, or any of the mere prettinesses of +nature; but whether wrapped in snow, or veiled in mist, or glowing in +sunshine, their lonely grandeur remains the same; and the same feelings +fill and elevate the soul in contemplating these mighty works of an +Almighty hand. The eye is never weary in watching the thousand varieties +of light and shade, as they flit over the mountain and gleam upon the +lake; and the ear is satisfied with the awful stillness of nature in her +solitude. + +Others besides Mary seemed to have taken a fanciful pleasure in +combining the ideas of the mental and elemental world, for in the dreary +dwelling where they were destined to pass the night she found inscribed +the following lines:-- + + "The busy winds war mid the waving bonghs, + And darkly rolls the heaving surge to land; + Among the flying clouds the moonbeam glows + With colours foreign to its softness bland. + + "Here, one dark shadow melts, in gloom profound, + The towering Alps--the guardians of the Lake'; + There, one bright gleam sheds silver light around, + And shows the threat'ning strife that tempests wake. + + "Thus o'er my mind a busy memory plays, + That shakes the feelings to their inmost core; + Thus beams the light of Hope's fallacious ray, + When simple confidence can trust no more. + + "So one dark shadow shrouds each bygone hour, + So one bright gleam the coming tempest shows; + _That _tells of sorrows, which, though past, still lower, + And _this_ reveals th' approach of future woes." + +While Mary was trying to decipher these somewhat mystic lines, her uncle +was carrying on a colloquy in Gaelic with their hostess. The +consequendes of the consultation were not of the choicest description, +consisting of braxy [1] mutton, raw potatoes, wet bannocks, hard +cheese, and whisky. Very differently would the travellers have fared had +the good Nicky's intentions been fulfilled. She had prepared with her +own hands a moorfowl pie and potted nowt's head, besides a profusion of +what she termed "trifles, just for Mary, poor thing, to divert herself +with upon the road." But alas! in the anguish of separation, the covered +basket had been forgot, and the labour of Miss Nicky's hands fell to be +consumed by the family, though Miss Grizzy protested, with tears in her +eyes, "that it went to her heart like a knife to eat poor Mary's puffs +and snaps." + +[1] Sheep that have died a natural death and been salted. + + +Change of air and variety of scene failed not to produce the happiest +effects upon Mary's languid frame and drooping spirits. Her cheek, +already glowed with health, and was sometimes dimpled with smiles. She +still wept, indeed, as she thought of those she had left; but often, +while the tear trembled in her eye, its course was arrested by wonder, +or admiration, or delight; for every object had its charms for her. Her +cultivated taste and unsophisticated mind could descry beauty in the +form of a hill, and grandeur in the foam of the wave, and elegance in +the weeping birch, as it dipped its now almost leafless boughs in the +mountain stream. These simple pleasures, unknown alike to the sordid +mind and vitiated taste, are ever exquisitely enjoyed by the refined +yet unsophisticated child of nature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + "Her native sense improved by reading, + Her native sweetness by good breeding." + +DURING their progress through the Highlands the travellers were +hospitably entertained at the mansions of the country gentlemen, where +old-fashioned courtesy and modern comfort combined to cheer the stranger +guest. But upon _coming out,_ as it is significantly expressed by the +natives of these mountain regions, viz. entering the low country, they +found they had only made a change of difficulties. In the highlands they +were always sure that wherever there was a house that house would be to +them a home; but on a fairday in the little town of G----- they found +themselves in the midst of houses, and surrounded by people, yet unable +to procure rest or shelter. + +At the only inn the place afforded they were informed "the horses were +baith oot, an' the ludgin' a' tane up, an' mair tu;" while the driver +asserted, what indeed was apparent, "that his beasts war nae fit to gang +the length o' their tae farrer--no for the king himsel'." + +At this moment a stout, florid, good-humoured-looking man passed, +whistling "Roy's Wife" with all his heart and just as Mr. Douglas was +stepping out of the carriage to try what could be done, the same person, +evidently attracted by curiosity, repassed, changing his tune to +"There's cauld kail in Aberdeen." + +He started at sight of Mr. Douglas; then eagerly grasping his hand, +"Ah! Archie Douglas, is this you?" exclaimed he with a loud laugh and +hearty shake. "'What! you haven't forgot your old schoolfellow Bob +Gawffaw?" + +A mutual recognition now took place, and much pleasure was manifested on +both sides at this unexpected rencontre. No time was allowed to explain +their embarrassments, for Mr. Gawffaw had already tipped the post-boy +the wink (which he seemed easily to comprehend); and forcing Mr. +Douglas to resume his seat in the carriage, he jumped in himself. + +"Now for Howffend and Mrs. Gawffaw! ha, ha, ha! This will be a surprise +upon her. She thinks I'm in my barn all this time--ha, ha, ha!" + +Mr. Douglas here began to express his astonishment at his friend's +precipitation, and his apprehensions as to the trouble they might +occasion Mrs. Gawffaw; but bursts of laughter and broken expressions of +delight were the only replies he could procure from his friend. + +After jolting over half a mile of very bad road, the carriage +stopped at a mean vulgar-looking mansion, with dirty windows, ruinous +thatched offices, and broken fences. + +Such was the picture of still life. That of animated nature was not less +picturesque. Cows bellowed, and cart-horses neighed, and pigs grunted, +and geese gabbled, and ducks quacked, and cocks and hens flapped and +fluttered promiscuously, as they mingled in a sort of yard divided from +the house by a low dyke, possessing the accommodation of a crazy gate, +which was bestrode by a parcel of bare-legged boys. + +"What are you about, you confounded rascals?" called Mr. Gawffaw to +them. + +"Naething," answered one. + +"We're just takin' a heize on the yett," answered another. + +"I'll heize ye, ye scoundrels!" exclaimed the incensed Mr. Gawffaw, as +he burst from the carriage; and, snatching the driver's whip from his +hand, flew after the more nimble-footed culprits. + +Finding his efforts to overtake them in vain, here turned to the door of +his mansion, where stood his guests, waiting to be ushered in. He opened +the door himself, and led the way to a parlour which was quite of a piece +with the exterior of the dwelling. A dim dusty table stood in the middle +of the floor, heaped with a variety of heterogeneous articles of dress; +an exceeding dirty volume of a novel lay open amongst them. The floor +was littered with shapings of flannel, and shreds of gauzes, ribbons, +etc. The fire was almost out, and the hearth was covered with ashes. + +After insisting upon his guests being seated, Mr. Gawffaw walked to the +door of the apartment, and hallooed out, "Mrs. Gawffaw,--ho! May, my +dear!--I say, Mrs. Gawffaw!" + +A low, croaking, querulous voice was now heard in reply, "For heaven's +sake, Mr. Gawffaw, make less noise! For God's sake, have mercy on the +walls of your house, if you've none on my poor head!" And thereupon +entered Mrs. Gawffaw, a cap in one hand, which she appeared to have +been tying on--a smelling-bottle in the other. + +She possessed a considerable share of insipid and somewhat faded beauty, +but disguised by a tawdry trumpery style of dress, and rendered almost +disgusting by the air of affectation, folly, and peevishness that +overspread her whole person and deportment. She testified the utmost +surprise and coldness at sight of her guests; and, as she entered, Mr. +Gawffaw rushed out, having descried something passing in the yard that +called for his interposition. Mr. Douglas was therefore under the +necessity of introducing himself and Mary to their ungracious hostess; +briefly stating the circumstances that had led them to be her guests, +and dwelling, with much warmth, on the kindness and hospitality of her +husband in having relieved them from their embarrassment. A gracious +smile, or what was intended as such, beamed over Mrs. Gawffaw's face at +first mention of their names. + +"Excuse me, Mr. Douglas," said she, making a profound reverence to him, +and another to Mary, while she waved her hand for them to be seated. +"Excuse me, Miss Douglas; but situated as I am, I find it necessary to +be very distant to Mr. Gawffaw's friends sometimes. He is a thoughtless +man, Mr. Douglas--a very thoughtless man. He makes a perfect inn of his +house. He never lies out of the town, trying who he can pick up and +bring home with him. It is seldom I am so fortunate as to see such +guests as Mr. and Miss Douglas of Glenfern Castle in my house," with an +elegant bow to each, which of course was duly returned. "But Mr. Gawffaw +would have shown more consideration, both for you and me, had he +apprised me of the honour of your visit, instead of bringing you here in +this ill bred, unceremonious manner. As for me, I am too well accustomed +to him to be hurt at these things now. He has kept me in hot water, I +may say, since the day I married him." + +In spite of the conciliatory manner in which this agreeable address was +made, Mr. Douglas felt considerably disconcerted, and again renewed his +apologies, adding something about hopes of being able to proceed. + +"Make no apologies, my dear sir," said the lady, with what she deemed a +most bewitching manner; "it affords me the greatest pleasure to see any +of your family under my roof. I meant no reflection on you; it is +entirely Mr. Gawffaw that is to blame, in not having apprised me of the +honour of this visit, that I might not have been caught in this +déshabille; but I was really so engaged by my studies--" pointing to the +dirty novel--"that I was quite unconscious of the lapse of time." The +guests felt more and more at a loss what to say; but the lady, was at +none. Seeing Mr. Douglas still standing with his hat in his hand, and +his eye directed towards the door, she resumed her discourse. + +"Pray be seated, Mr. Douglas; I beg you will sit off the door. Miss +Douglas, I entreat you will walk into the fire; I hope you will consider +yourself as quite at home"--another elegant bend to each. "I only regret +that Mr. Gawffaw's folly and ill-breeding should have brought you into +this disagreeable situation, Mr. Douglas. He is a well-meaning man, Mr. +Douglas, and a good-hearted man; but he is very deficient in other +respects, Mr. Douglas." + +Mr. Douglas, happy to find anything to which he could assent, warmly +joined in the eulogium on the excellence of his friend's heart. It did +not appear, however, to give the satisfaction he expected. The lady +resumed with a sigh, "Nobody can know Mr. Gawffaw's heart better than I +do, Mr. Douglas. It _is_ a good one, but it is far from being an elegant +one; it is one in which I find no congeniality of sentiment with my own. +Indeed, Mr. Gawffaw is no companion for me, nor I for him, Mr. Douglas; +he is never happy in my society, and I really believe he would rather +sit down with the tinklers on the roadside as spend a day in my +company." + +A deep sigh followed; but its pathos was drowned in the obstreperous ha, +ha, ha! of her joyous helpmate, as he bounced into the room, wiping his +forehead. + +"'Why, May, my dear, what have you been to-day? Things have been all +going to the deuce. Why didn't you hinder these boys from sweein' the +gate off its hinges, and--" + +"Me hinder boys from sweein' gates, Mr. Gawffaw! Do I look like as if I +was capable of hindering boys from sweein' gates, Miss Douglas?" + +"Well, my dear, you ought to look after your pigs a little better. That +jade, black Jess, has trod a parcel of them to death, ha, ha, ha! And--" + +"Me look after pigs, Mr. Gawffaw! I am really astonished at you!" again +interrupted the lady, turning pale with vexation. Then, with an affected +giggle, appealing to Mary, "I leave you to judge, Miss Douglas, if I +look like a person made for running after pigs!" + +"Indeed," thought Mary, "you don't look like as if you could do +anything half so useful." + +"Well, never mind the pigs, my dear; only don't give us any of them for +dinner--ha, ha, ha I--and, May, when will you let us have it?" + +"Me let you have it, Mr. Gawffaw! I'm sure I don't hinder you from +having it when you please, only you know I prefer late hours myself. I +was always accustomed to them in my poor father's lifetime. He never +dined before four o'clock; and I seldom knew what it was to be in my bed +before twelve o'clock at night, Miss Douglas, till I married Mr. Gawffaw!" + +Mary tried to look sorrowful, to hide the smile that was dimpling her +cheek. + +"Come, let us have something to eat in the meantime, my dear." + +"I'm sure you may eat the house, if you please, for me, Mr. Gawffaw! +What would you take, Miss Douglas? But pull the bell--softly, Mr. +Gawffaw! You do everything so violently." + +A dirty maid-servant, with bare feet, answered the summons. + +"Where's Tom?" demanded the lady, well knowing that Tom was afar off at +some of the farm operations. + +"I ken nae whar he's. He'll be aether at the patatees, or the horses, +I'se warran. Div ye want him?" + +"Bring some glasses," said her mistress, with an air of great dignity. +"Mr. Gawffaw, you must see about the wine yourself since you have sent +Tom out of the way." + +Mr. Gawffaw and his handmaid were soon heard in an adjoining closet; +the one wondering where the screw was, the other vociferating for a +knife to cut the bread; while the mistress of this well-regulated +mansion sought to divert her guests' attention from what was passing by +entertaining them with complaints of Mr. Gawffaw's noise and her maid's +insolence till the parties appeared to speak for themselves. + +After being refreshed with some very bad wine and old baked bread, the +gentlemen set off on a survey of the farm, and the ladies repaired to +their toilets. Mary's simple dress was quickly adjusted; and upon +descending she found her uncle alone in what Mrs. Gawffaw had shown to +her as the drawing room. He guessed her curiosity to know something of +her hosts, and therefore briefly informed her that Mrs. Gawffaw was the +daughter of a trader in some manufacturing town, who had lived in +opulence and died insolvent. During his life his daughter had eloped +with Bob Gawffaw, then a gay lieutenant in a marching regiment, who had +been esteemed a very lucky fellow in getting the pretty Miss Croaker, +with the prospect of ten thousand pounds. None thought more highly of +her husband's good fortune than the lady herself; and though _her_ +fortune never was realised, she gave herself all the airs of having been +the making of his. At this time Mr. Gawffaw was a reduced lieutenant, +living upon a small paternal property, which he pretended to farm; but +the habits of a military life, joined to a naturally social disposition, +were rather inimical to the pursuits of agriculture, and most of his time +was spent in loitering about the village of G-----, where he generally +continued either to pick up a guest or procure a dinner. + +Mrs. Gawffaw despised her husband; had weak nerves and headaches--was +above managing her house--read novels--dyed ribbons--and altered her +gowns according to every pattern she could see or hear of. + +Such were Mr. and Mrs. Gawffaw--one of the many ill-assorted couples in +this world--joined, not matched. A sensible man would have curbed her +folly and peevishness; a good-tempered woman would have made his home +comfortable, and rendered him more domestic. + +The dinner was such as might have been expected from the previous +specimens--bad of its kind, cold, ill-dressed, and slovenly set down; +but Mrs. Gawtfaw seemed satisfied with herself and it. + +"This is very fine mutton, Mr. Douglas, and not underdone to most +people's tastes; and this fowl, I have no doubt will eat well, Miss +Douglas, though it is not so white as some I have seen." + +"The fowl, my dear, looks as if it had been the great-grandmother +of this sheep, ha, ha, ha!" + +"For heaven's sake, Mr. Gawffaw, make less noise, or my head will split +in a thousand pieces!" putting her hands to it, as if to hold the frail +tenement together. This was always her refuge when at a loss for a +reply. + +A very ill-concocted pudding next called forth her approbation. + +"This pudding should be good; for it is the same I used to be so +partial to in my poor father's lifetime, when I was used to every +delicacy, Miss Douglas, that money could purchase." + +"But you thought me the greatest delicacy of all, my dear, ha, ha, ha! +for you left all your other delicacies for me, ha, ha, ha I--what do you +say to that, May? ha, ha, ha!" + +May's reply consisted in putting her hands to her head, with an air of +inexpressible vexation; and finding all her endeavours to be elegant +frustrated by the overpowering vulgarity of her husband, she remained +silent during the remainder of the repast; solacing herself with +complacent glances at her yellow silk gown, and adjusting the gold +chains and necklaces that adorned her bosom. + +Poor Mary was doomed to a _tete-a-tete_ with her during the whole +evening; for Mr. Gawffaw was too happy _with_ his friend, and _without_ +his wife, to quit the dining-room till a late hour; and then he was so +much exhilarated, that she could almost have joined Mrs. Gawffaw in her +exclamation of "For heaven's sake, Mr. Gawffaw, have mercy on my head!" + +The night, however, like all other nights, had a close; and Mrs. +Gawffaw, having once more enjoyed the felicity of finding herself in +company at twelve o'clock at night, at length withdraw; and having +apologised, and hoped, and feared, for another hour in Mary's apartment, +she finally left her to the blessings of solitude and repose. + +As Mr. Douglas was desirous of reaching Edinburgh the following day, +he had, in spite of the urgent remonstrances of his friendly host and +the elegant importunities of his lady, ordered the carriage at an early +hour; and Mary was too eager to quit Howffend to keep it waiting. Mr. +Gawffaw was in readiness to hand her in, but fortunately Mrs. Gaffaw's +head did not permit of her rising. With much the same hearty laugh that +had welcomed their meeting, honest Gawffaw now saluted the departure of +his friend; and as he went whistling over his gate, he ruminated sweet +and bitter thoughts as to the destinies of the day--whether he should +solace himself with a good dinner and the company of Bailie Merry +thought at the Cross Keys in G----, or put up with cold mutton, and May, +at home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "Edina! Scotia's darling seat! + All hail thy palaces and tow'rs, + Where once, beneath a monarch's feet, + Sat legislation's sov'reign pow'rs!" + + BURNS. + +ALL Mary's sensations of admiration were faint compared to those she +experienced as she viewed the Scottish metropolis. It was associated in +her mind with all the local prepossessions to which youth and enthusiasm +love to give "a local habitation and a name;" and visions of older times +floated o'er her mind as she gazed on its rocky battlements, and +traversed the lonely arcades of its deserted palace. + +"And this was once a gay court!" thought she, as she listened to the +dreary echo of her own footsteps; "and this very ground on which I now +stand was trod by the hapless Mary Stuart! Her eye beheld the same +objects that mine now rests upon; her hand has touched the draperies I +now hold in mine. These frail memorials remain; but what remains of +Scotland's Queen but a blighted name!" + +Even the blood-stained chamber possessed a nameless charm for +Mary's vivid imagination. She had not entirely escaped the superstitions +of the country in which she had lived; and she readily yielded her +assent to the asseverations of her guide as to its being the _bona fide_ +blood of _David Rizzio,_ which for nearly three hundred years had +resisted all human efforts to efface. + +"My credulity is so harmless," said she in answer to her uncle's attempt +to laugh her out of her belief, "that I surely may be permitted to +indulge it especially since I confess I feel a sort of indescribable +pleasure in it." + +"You take a pleasure in the sight of blood!" exclaimed Mr. Douglas in +astonishment, "you who turn pale at sight of a cut finger, and shudder +at a leg of mutton with the juice in it!" + +"Oh! mere modern vulgar blood is very shocking," answered Mary, with a +smile; "but observe how this is mellowed by time into a tint that could +not offend the most fastidious fine lady; besides," added she in a +graver tone, "I own I love to believe in things supernatural; it seems +to connect us more with another world than when everything is seen to +proceed in the mere ordinary course of nature, as it is called. I cannot +bear to imagine a dreary chasm betwixt the inhabitants of this world and +beings of a higher sphere; I love to fancy myself surrounded by----" + +"I wish to heaven you would remember you are surrounded by rational +beings, and not fall into such rhapsodies," said her uncle, glancing at +a party who stood near them, jesting upon all the objects which Mary had +been regarding with so much veneration. "But come, you have been long +enough here. Let us try whether a breeze on the Calton Hill will not +dispel these cobwebs from your brain." + +The day, though cold, was clear and sunny; and the lovely spectacle +before them shone forth in all its gay magnificence. The blue waters lay +calm and motionless. The opposite shores glowed in a thousand varied +tints of wood and plain, rock and mountain, cultured field and purple +moor. Beneath, the old town reared its dark brow, and the new one +stretched its golden lines; while all around the varied charms of nature +lay scattered in that profusion which nature's hand alone can bestow. + +"Oh! this is exquisite!" exclaimed Mary after along pause, in which she +had been riveted in admiration of the scene before her. "And you are in +the right, my dear uncle. The ideas which are inspired by the +contemplation of such a spectacle as this are far--oh, how +far!--superior to those excited by the mere works of art. There I can, +at best, think but of the inferior agents of Providence; here the soul +rises from nature up to nature's God." + +"Upon my soul, you will be taken for a Methodist, Mary, if you talk in +this manner," said Mr. Douglas, with some marks of disquiet, as he +turned round at the salutation of a fat elderly gentleman, whom he +presently recognised as Bailie Broadfoot. + +The first salutations over, Mr. Douglas's fears of Mary having been +overheard recurred, and he felt anxious to remove any unfavourable +impression with regard to his own principles, at least, from the mind of +the enlightened magistrate. + +"Your fine views here have set my niece absolutely raving," said he, +with a smile; "but I tell her it is only in romantic minds that fine +scenery inspires romantic ideas. I daresay many of the worthy +inhabitants of Edinburgh walk here with no other idea than that of +sharpening their appetites for dinner." + +"Nae doot," said the Bailie, "it's a most capital place for that. Were +it no' for that I ken nae muckle use it would be of." + +"You speak from experience of its virtues in that respect, I suppose?" +said Mr. Douglas gravely. + +"'Deed, as to that I canna compleen. At times, to be sure, I am troubled +with a little kind of a squeamishness after our public interteenments; +but three rounds o' the hill sets a' to rights." + +Then observing Mary's eyes exploring, as he supposed, the town of Leith, +"You see that prospeck to nae advantage the day, miss," said he. "If +the glasshouses had been workin', it would have looked as weel again. +Ye hae nae glass-houses in the Highlands; na, na." + +The Bailie had a share in the concern; and the volcanic clouds of +smoke that issued from thence were far more interesting subjects of +speculation to him than all the eruptions of Vesuvius or Etna. But there +was nothing to charm the lingering view to-day; and he therefore +proposed their taking a look at Bridewell, which, next to the smoke from +the glass-houses, he reckoned the object most worthy of notice. It was +indeed deserving of the praises bestowed upon it; and Mary was giving +her whole attention to the details of it when she was suddenly startled +by hearing her own name wailed in piteous accents from one of the lower +cells, and, upon turning round, she discovered in the prisoner the son +of one of the tenants of Glenfern. Duncan M'Free had been always looked +upon as a very honest lad in the Highlands, but he had left home to push +his fortune as a pedlar; and the temptations of the low country having +proved too much for his virtue, poor Duncan as now expiating his offence +in durance vile. + +"I shall have a pretty account of you to carry to Glenfern," said Mr. +Douglas, regarding the culprit with his sternest look. + +"Oh 'deed, sir, it's no' my faut!" answered Duncan, blubbering +bitterly; "but there's nae freedom at a' in this country. Lord, an' I +war oot o't! Ane canna ca' their head their ain in't; for ye canna lift +the bouk o' a prin but they're a' upon ye." And a fresh burst of sorrow +ensued. + +Finding the _peccadillo_ was of a venial nature, Mr. Douglas besought +the Bailie to us his interest to procure the enfranchisement of this his +vassal, which Mr. Broadfoot, happy to oblige a good customer, promised +should be obtained on the following day; and Duncan's emotions being +rather clamorous, the party found it necessary to withdraw. + +"And noo," said the Bailie, as they emerged from his place of dole and +durance, "will ye step up to the monument, and tak a rest and some +refreshment?" + +"Rest and refreshment in a monument!" exclaimed Mr. Douglas. "Excuse +me, my good friend, but we are not inclined to bait there yet a while." + +The Bailie did not comprehend the joke; and he proceeded in his own +drawling humdrum accent to assure them that the monument was a most +convenient place. + +"It was erected in honour of Lord Neilson's memory," said he, "and is +let aff to a pastrycook and confectioner, where you can always find some +trifles to treat the ladies, such as pies and custards, and berries, and +these sort of things; but we passed an order in the cooncil that there +should be naething of a spirituous nature introduced; for if ance +spirits got admittance there's no saying what might happen." + +This was a fact which none of the party were disposed to dispute; and +the Bailie, triumphing in his dominion over the spirits, shuffled on +before to do the honours of this place, appropriated at one and the same +time to the manes of a hero and the making of minced pies. The regale +was admirable, and Mary could not help thinking times were improved, and +that it was a better thing to eat tarts in Lord Nelson's Monument than +to have been poisoned in Julius Caesar's. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +"Having a tongue rough as a cat, and biting like an adder, and all their +reproofs are direct scoldings, their common intercourse is open +contumely."--JEREMY TAYLOR. + +"THOUGH last, not least of nature's works, I must now introduce you to a +friend of mine," said Mr. Douglas, as, the Bailie having made his bow, +they bent their steps towards the Castle Hill. "Mrs. Violet Macshake is +an aunt of my mother's, whom you must often have heard of, and the last +remaining branch of the noble race of Girnachgowl." + +"I am afraid she is rather a formidable person, then?" said Mary. + +Her uncle hesitated. "No, not formidable--only rather particular, as all +old people are; but she is very good-hearted." + +"I understand, in other words, she is very disagreeable. All +ill-tempered people, I observe, have the character of being +good-hearted; or else all good people are ill-tempered, I can't tell +which." + +"It is more than reputation with her," said Mr. Douglas, somewhat +angrily: "for she is, in reality, a very good-hearted woman, as I +experienced when a boy at college. Many a crown piece and half-guinea I +used to get from her. Many a scold, to be sure, went along with them; +but that, I daresay, I deserved. Besides, she is very rich, and I am her +reputed heir; therefore gratitude and self-interest combine to render her +extremely amiable in my estimation." + +They had now reached the airy dwelling where Mrs. Macshake resided, and +having rung, the door was at length most deliberately opened by an +ancient, sour-visaged, long-waisted female, who ushered them into an +apartment, the _coup d'oeil_ of which struck a chill to Mary's heart. It +was a good-sized room, with a bare sufficiency of small-legged +dining-tables, and lank haircloth chairs, ranged in high order round the +walls. Although the season was advanced, and the air piercing cold, the +grate stood smiling in all the charms of polished steel; and the +mistress of the mansion was seated by the side of it in an arm-chair, +still in its summer position. She appeared to have no other occupation +than what her own meditations afforded; for a single glance sufficed to +show that not a vestige of book or work was harboured there. She was a +tall, large-boned woman, whom even Time's iron hands scarcely bent, as +she merely stooped at the shoulders. She had a drooping snuffy nose, a +long turned-up chin, small quick gray eyes, and her face projected +far beyond her figure, with an expression of shrewd restless curiosity. +She wore a mode (not _à-la-mode )_ bonnet, and cardinal of the +same, a pair of clogs over her shoes, and black silk mittens on her arms. + +As soon as she recognised Mr. Douglas she welcomed him with much +cordiality, shook him long and heartily by the hand, patted him on the +back, looked into his face with much seeming satisfaction; and, in +short, gave all the demonstrations of gladness usual with gentlewomen of +a certain age. Her pleasure, however, appeared to be rather an +_impromptu_ than an habitual feeling; for as the surprise wore off her +visage resumed its harsh and sarcastic expression, and she seemed eager +to efface any agreeable impression her reception might have +excited. + +"An' wha thought o' seein ye enow?" said she, in a quick gabbling voice. +"What brought you to the toon? Are ye come to spend our honest faither's +siller ere he's weel cauld in his grave, puir man?" + +Mr. Douglas explained that it was upon account of his niece's health. + +"Health!" repeated she, with a sardonic smile; "it wad mak' an ool +laugh to hear the wark that's made aboot young fowk's health noo-a-days. +I wonder what ye're aw made o' "--grasping Mary's arm in her great bony +hand--"a wheen puir feckless windlestraes; ye maun awa' to Ingland for +ye're healths. Set ye up! I wonder what cam' o' the lasses i' my time, +that bute to bide at hame? And whilk o' ye, I sude like to ken, 'II ere +leive to see ninety-sax, like me? Health!--he, he !" + +Mary, glad of a pretence to in indulge the mirth the old lady's manner +and appearance had excited, joined most heartily in the laugh. + +"Tak. aff ye're bannet, bairn, an' let me see ye're face. Wha can tell +what like ye are wi' that snule o' a thing on ye're head?" Then after +taking an accurate survey of her face, she pushed aside her pelisse." +Weel, it's ae mercy, I see ye hae neither the red heed nor the muckle +cuits o' the Douglases. I ken nae whuther ye're faither had them or no. +I ne'er set een on him; neither him nor his braw leddie thought it worth +their while to speer after me; but I was at nae loss, by aw accounts." + +"You have not asked after any of your Glenfern friends," said Mr. +Douglas, hoping to touch a more sympathetic chord. + +"Time eneugh. Wull ye let me draw my breath, man? Fowk canna say awthing +at ance. An' ye bute to hae an Inglish wife tu; a Scotch lass wad nae +serr ye. An' ye're wean, I'se warran', it's ane o' the warld's wonders; +it's been unco lang o' cummin--he, he!" + +"He has begun life under very melancholy auspices, poor fellow!" said +Mr. Douglas, in allusion to his father's death. + +"An' wha's faut was that? I ne'er heard tell the like o't; to hae the +bairn kirsened an' its grandfather deein! But fowk are naither born, +nor kirsened, nor do they wad or dee as they used to du---awthing's +changed." + +"You must, indeed, have witnessed many changes," observed Mr. Douglas, +rather at a loss how to utter anything of a conciliatory nature. + +"Changes!--weel a wat, I sometimes wonder if it's the same warld, +an' if it's my ain heed that's upon my shoothers." + +"But with these changes you must also have seen many improvements?" +said Mary, in a tone of diffidence. + +"Impruvements!" turning sharply round upon her; "what ken ye about +impruvements, bairn? A bony impruvement or ens no, to see tyleyors and +sclaters leavin whar I mind jewks an yerls. An' that great glowrin' new +toon there"--pointing out of her windows--"whar I used to sit an' luck +oot at bonny green parks, and see the coos milket, and the bits o' +bairnies rowin' an' tummlin,' an' the lasses trampin i' their tubs--what +see I noo, but stane an' lime, an' stoor' an' dirt, an' idle cheels, an' +dinket-oot madams prancin'. Impruvements, indeed!" + +Mary found she was not likely to advance her uncle's fortune by the +judiciousness of her remarks, therefore prudently resolved to hazard no +more. Mr. Douglas, who was more _au fait_ to the prejudices of old age, +and who was always amused with her bitter remarks when they did not +touch himself, encouraged her to continue the conversation by some +observation on the prevailing manners. + +"Mainers!" repeated she, with a contemptuous laugh, "what caw ye +mainers noo, for I dinna ken? Ilk ane gangs bang in till their neebor's +hoose, and bang oot o't as it war a chynge-hoose; an' as for the maister +o't, he's no o' sae muckle vaalu as tho flunky ahynt his chyre. I' my +grandfather's time, as I hae heard him tell, ilka maister o' a faamily +had his ain sate in his ain hoose aye, an' sat wi' his hat on his heed +afore the best o' the land, an' had his ain dish, an' was aye helpit +first, an' keepit up his owthority as a man sude du. Paurents war +paurents then; bairnes dardna set up their gabs afore them than as they +du noo. They ne'er presumed to say their heeds war their ain i' thae +days--wife an' servants, reteeners an' childer, aw trummelt i' the +presence o' their heed." + +Here a long pinch of snuff caused a pause in the old lady's harangue; +but after having duly wiped her nose with her coloured handkerchief, and +shook off all the particles that might be presumed to have lodged upon +her cardinal, she resumed-- + +"An' nae word o' ony o' your sisters gaun to get husbands yet? They +tell me they're but coorse lasses: an' wha'll tak ill-farred tocherless +queans whan there's walth o' bonny faces an' lang purses i' the +market--he, he!" Then resuming her scrutiny of Mary--"An' I'se warran' +ye'll be lucken for an Inglish sweetheart tu that'll be what's takin' ye +awa' to Ingland." + +"On the contrary," said Mr. Douglas, seeing Mary was too much +frightened to answer for herself--"on the contrary, Mary declares she +will never marry any but a true Highlander--one who wears the dirk and +plaid, and has the second-sight. And the nuptials are to be celebrated +with all the pomp of feudal times; with bagpipes, and bonfires, and +gatherings of clans, and roasted sheep, and barrels of whisky, and--" + +"Weel a wat, an' she's i' the right there," interrupted Mrs. Macshake, +with more complacency than she had yet shown. "They may caw them what +they like, but there's nae waddins noo. Wha's the better o' them but +innkeepers and chise-drivers? I wud nae count mysel' married i' the +hiddlins way they gang aboot it noo." + +"I daresay you remember these, things done in a very different style?" +said Mr. Douglas. + +"I dinna mind them whan the war at he best; but I hae heard my mither +tell what a bonny ploy was at her waddin. I canna tell ye hoo mony was +at it; mair nor the room wad haud, ye may be sure, for every relation +an' freend o' baith sides war there, as well they sude; an' aw in full +dress: the leddies in their hoops round them, an' some o' them had +sutten up aw night till hae their heeds drest; for they hadnae thae +pooket-like taps ye hae noo," looking with contempt at Mary's Grecian +contour. "An' the bride's goon was aw shewed ow'r wi' favour, frae the +tap doon to the tail, an' aw roond the neck, an' aboot the sleeves; and, +as soon as the ceremony was ow'r, ilk ane ran till her, an' rugget an' +rave at her for the favours till they hardly left the claise upon her +back. Than they did nae run awa as they du noo, but sax an't hretty o' +them sat doon till a graund denner, and there was a ball at night, an' +ilka night till Sabbath cam' roond; an' than the bride an' the +bridegroom, drest in their waddin suits, an' aw their freends 'n theirs, +wi' their favours on their breests, walkit in procession till the kirk. +An' was nae that something like a waddin? It was worth while to be +married i' thae days-he, he!" + +"The wedding seems to have been admirably conducted," said Mr. Douglas, +with much solemnity. "The christening, I presume, would be the next +distinguished event in the family?" + +"Troth, Archie-an' ye sude keep your thoomb upon kirsnins as lang's ye +leeve; yours was a bonnie kirsnin or ens no! I hae heard o' mony things, +but a bairn kirsened whan its grandfaither was i' the deed-thraw, I +ne'er heard tell o' before." Then observing the indignation that spread +over Mr. Douglas's face, she quickly resumed, "An' so ye think the +kirsnin was the neist ploy? He, he! Na; the cryin was a ploy, for the +leddies did nae keep themsels up than as they do noo; but the day after +the bairn was born, the leddy sat up i' her bed, wi' her fan intill her +hand; an' aw her freends earn' an' stud roond her, an' drank her health +an' the bairn's. Than at the leddy's recovery there was a graund supper +gien that they caw'd the _cummerfealls,_ an' there was a great pyramid +o' hens at the tap o' the table, an' anither pyramid o' ducks at the +fit, an' a muckle stoup fu' o' posset i' the middle, an' aw kinds o' +sweeties doon the sides; an' as sune as ilk ane had eatin their fill +they aw flew till the sweeties, an' fought, an' strave, an' wrastled for +them, leddies an' gentlemen an' aw; for the brag was wha could pocket +maist; an' whiles they wad hae the claith aff the table, an' aw thing i' +the middle i' the floor, an' the chyres upside doon. Oo! muckle gude +diversion, I'se warran,' was at the _cummerfealls_. Than whan they had +drank the stoup dry, that ended the ploy. As for the kirsnin, that was +aye whar it sude be--i' the hoose o' God, an' aw the kith an' kin bye in +full dress, an' a band o' maiden cimmers aw in white; an' a bonny sight +it was, as I've heard my mither tell." + +Mr. Douglas, who was now rather tired of the old lady's reminiscences, +availed himself of the opportunity of a fresh pinch to rise and take +leave. + +"Oo, what's takin' ye awa, Archie, in sic a hurry? Sit doon there," +laying her hand upon his arm, "an' rest ye, an' tak a glass o' wine, an' +a bit breed; or may be," turning to Mary, "ye wad rather hae a drap +broth to warm ye. What gars ye luck sae blae, bairn? I'm sure it's no +cauld; but ye're juste like the lave; ye gang aw skiltin aboot the +streets half naked, an' than ye maun sit an' birsle yoursels afore the +fire at hame." + +She had now shuffled along to the farther end of the room, and opening a +press, took out wine, and a plateful of various-shaped articles of +bread, which she handed to Mary. + +"Hae, bairn--tak a cookie; tak it up--what are you fear'd for? It'll no +bite ye. Here's t'ye, Glenfern, an' your wife, an' your wean, puir tead; +it's no had a very chancy ootset, weel a wat." + +The wine being drunk, and the cookies discussed, Mr. Douglas made +another attempt to withdraw, but in vain. + +"Canna ye sit still a wee, man, an' let me spear after my auld freens at +Glenfern? Hoo's Grizzy, an' Jacky, and Nicky? Aye workin awa at the +pills an' the drogs?---he, he! I ne'er swallowed a pill, nor gied a doit +for drogs aw my days, an' see an ony of them'll rin a race wi' me whan +they're naur five score." + +Mr. Douglas here paid her some compliments upon her appearance, which +were pretty graciously received; and added that he was the bearer of a +letter from his Aunt Grizzy, which he would send along with a roebuck +and brace of moor-game. + +"Gin your roebuck's nae better than your last, at weel it's no worth the +sendin'-poor dry fisinless dirt, no worth the chowing; weel a wat I +begrudged my teeth on't. Your muirfowl was na that ill, but they're no +worth the carryin; they're dong cheap i'the market enoo, so it's nae +great compliment. Gin ye had brought me a leg o' gude mutton, or a +cauler sawmont, there would hae been some sense in't; but ye're ane o' +the fowk that'll ne'er harry yoursel' wi' your presents; it's but the +pickle poother they cost you, an' I'se warran' ye're thinkin mail' o' +your ain diversion than o' my stamick, when ye're at the shootin' o' +them, puir beasts." + +Mr. Douglas had borne the various indignities levelled against himself +and his family with a philosophy that had no parallel in his life +before; but to this attack upon his game he was not proof. His colour +rose, his eyes flashed fire, and something resembling an oath burst from +his lips as he strode indignantly towards the door. + +His friend, however, was too nimble for him. She stepped before him, +and, breaking into a discordant laugh, as she patted him on the back, +"So I see ye're just the auld man, Archie,--aye ready to tak the strums, +an' ye dinna get a' thing yer ain wye. Mony a time I had to fleech ye +oot o' the dorts whan ye was a callant. Div ye mind hoo ye was affronted +because I set ye doon to a cauld pigeon-pie, an' a tanker o' tippenny, +ae night to ye're fowerhoors, afore some leddies--he, he, he! Weel a wat, +yer wife maun hae her ain adoos to manage ye, for ye're a cumstairy +chield, Archie." + +Mr. Douglas still looked as if he was irresolute whether to laugh or be +angry. + +"Come, come, sit ye do on there till I speak to this bairn," said she, +as she pulled Mary into an adjoining bedchamber, which wore the same +aspect of chilly neatness as the one they had quitted. Then pulling a +huge bunch of keys from her pocket she opened a drawer, out of which she +took a pair of diamond earrings. "Hae, bairn," said she as she stuffed +them into Mary's hand; "they belanged to your father's grandmother. She +was a gude woman, an' had fouran'-twenty sons an' dochters, an' I wiss +ye nae war fortin than just to hae as mony. But mind ye," with a shake +of her bony finger, "they maun a be Scots. Gin I thought ye wad mairry +ony pock-puddin', fient haed wad ye hae gotten frae me. Noo, had ye're +tongue, and dinna deive me wi' thanks," almost pushing her into the +parlour again; "and sin ye're gaun awa the morn, I'll see nae mair o' ye +enoo--so fare ye weel. But, Archie, ye maun come an' tak your breakfast +wi' me. I hae muckle to say to you; but ye manna be sae hard upon my +baps as ye used to be," with a facetious grin to her mollified +favourite, as they shook hands and parted. + +"Well, how do you like Mrs. Macshake, Mary?" asked her uncle as they +walked home. + +"That is a cruel question, uncle," answered she, with a smile. "My +gratitude and my taste are at such variance," displaying her splendid +gift, "that I know not how to reconcile them." + +"That is always the case with those whom Mrs. Macshake has obliged," +returned Mr. Douglas. "She does many liberal things, but in so +ungracious a manner that people are never sure whether they are obliged +or insulted by her. But the way in which she receives kindness is still +worse. Could anything equal her impertinence about my roebuck? Faith, +I've a good mind never to enter her door again!" + +Mary could scarcely preserve her gravity at her uncle's indignation, +which seemed so disproportioned to the cause. But, to turn the current +of his ideas, she remarked that he had certainly been at pains to select +two admirable specimens of her countrywomen for her. + +"I don't think I shall soon forget either Mrs. Gawffaw or Mrs Macshake," +said she, laughing. + +"I hope you won't carry away the impression that these two _lusus +naturae_ specimens of Scotchwomen," said her uncle. "The former, indeed, +is rather a sort of weed that infests every soil; the latter, to be +sure, is an indigenous plant. I question if she would have arrived at +such perfection in a more cultivated field or genial clime. She was born +at a time when Scotland was very different from what it is now. Female +education was little attended to, even in families of the highest rank; +consequently, the ladies of those days possess a _raciness_ in their +manners and ideas that we should vainly seek for in this age of +cultivation and refinement. Had your time permitted, you could have seen +much good society here; superior, perhaps, to what is to be found +anywhere else, as far as mental cultivation is concerned. But you will +have leisure for that when you return." + +Mary acquiesced with a sigh. _Return_ was to her still a +melancholy-sounding word. It reminded her of all she had left--of the +anguish of separation--the dreariness of absence; and all these painful +feelings were renewed in their utmost bitterness when the time +approached for her to bid adieu to her uncle. Lord Courtland's carriage +and two respectable-looking servants awaited her; and the following +morning she commenced her journey in all the agony of a heart that +fondly clings to its native home. + +END OF VOL. I. + +_Printed _by R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh._ + +_***_ + + + + + + +MARRIAGE (VOL II) + +A Novel by Susan Ferrier + +"Life consists not of a series of illustrious actions; the greater part +of our time passes in compliance with necessities--in the performance of +daily duties--in the removal of small inconveniences--in the procurement +of petty pleasures; and we are well or ill at ease, as the main stream +of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by small and frequent +interruption."--JOHNSON. + +Edinburgh Edition + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOLUME II. + +LONDON + +RICHARD BENTLEY & SON + +Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen + +1881 + +_Printed _by R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_ + + + + + +MARRIAGE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "Nor only by the warmth + And soothing sunshine of delightful things, + Do minds grow up and flourish." + + AKENSIDE. + +AFTER parting with the last of her beloved relatives Mary tried to think +only of the happiness that awaited her in a reunion with her mother and +sister; and she gave herself up to the blissful reveries of a young +and ardent imagination. Mrs. Douglas had sought to repress, rather than +excite, her sanguine expectations; but vainly is the experience of +others employed in moderating the enthusiasm of a glowing heart. +Experience _cannot_ be imparted. We may render the youthful mind +prematurely cautious, or meanly suspicious; but the experience of a pure +and enlightened mind is the result of observation, matured by time. + +The journey, like most modern journeys, was performed in comfort and +safety; and, late one evening, Mary found herself at the goal of her +wishes--at the threshold of the house that contained her mother! + +One idea filled her mind; but that idea called up a thousand emotions. + +"I am now to meet my mother!" thought she; and, unconscious of +everything else, she was assisted from the carriage, and conducted into +the house. A door was thrown open; but shrinking from the glare of light +and sound of voices that assailed her, he stood dazzled and dismayed, +till she beheld a figure approaching that she guessed to be her mother. +Her heart beat violently--a film was upon her eyes--she made an effort +to reach her mother's arms, and sank lifeless on her bosom! + +Lady Juliana, for such it was, doubted not but that her daughter was +really dead; for though he talked of fainting every hour of the day +herself, still what is emphatically called a _dead-faint_ was a +spectacle no less strange than shocking to her. She was therefore +sufficiently alarmed and overcome to behave in a very interesting +manner; and some yearnings of pity even possessed her heart as she +beheld her daughter's lifeless form extended before her--her beautiful, +though inanimate features, half hid by the profusion of golden ringlets +that fell around her. But these kindly feelings were of short duration; +for no sooner was the nature of her daughter's insensibility as +ascertained, than all her former hostility returned, as she found +everyone's attention directed to Mary, and she herself entirely +overlooked in the general interest she had excited; and her displeasure +was still further increased as Mary, at length slowly unclosing her +eyes, stretched out her hands, and faintly articulated, "My mother!" + +"Mother! What a hideous vulgar appellation!" thought the fashionable +parent to herself; and, instead of answering her daughter's appeal, she +hastily proposed that she should be conveyed to her own apartment; then, +summoning her maid, she consigned her to her care, slightly touching her +cheek as she wished her good-night, and returned to the card-table. +Adelaide too resumed her station at the harp, as if nothing had happened; +but Lady Emily attended her cousin to her room, embraced her again and +again, as she assured her she loved her already, she was so like her +dear Edward; then, after satisfying herself that everything was +comfortable, affectionately kissed her, and withdrew. + +Bodily fatigue got the better of mental agitation; and Mary slept +soundly, and awoke refreshed. + +"Can it be," thought she, as she tried to collect her bewildered +thoughts, "can it be that I have really beheld my mother, that I have +been pressed to her heart, that she has shed tears over me while I lay +unconscious in her arms? Mother! What a delightful sound; and how +beautiful she seemed! Yet I have no distinct idea of her, my head was +so confused; but I have a vague recollection of something very fair, and +beautiful, and seraph-like, covered with silver drapery, and flowers, +and with the sweetest voice in the world. Yet that must be too young for +my mother; perhaps it was my sister; and my mother was too much overcome +to meet her stranger child. Oh, how happy must I be with such a mother +and sister!" + +In these delightful cogitations Mary remained till Lady Emily entered. + +"How well you look this morning, my dear cousin," said she, flying to +her; "you are much more like my Edward than you were last night. Ah! and +you have got his smile too! You must let me see that very often." + +"I am sure I shall have cause," said Mary, returning her cousin's +affectionate embrace; "but at present I feel anxious about my mother and +sister. The agitation of our meeting, and my weakness, I fear it has +been too much for them;" and she looked earnest in Lady Emily's face for +a confirmation of her fears. + +"Indeed, you need be under no uneasiness on their account," returned her +cousin, with her usual bluntness; "their feelings are not so easily +disturbed; you will see them both at breakfast, so come along." + +The room was empty; and again Mary's sensitive heart trembled for the +welfare of those already so dear to her; but Lady Emily did not appear +to understand the nature of her feelings. + +"Have a little patience, my dear!" said she, with something of an +impatient tone, as she rang for breakfast; "they will be here at their +usual time. Nobody in this house is a slave to hours, or _gêné _with +each other's society. Liberty is the motto here; everybody breakfasts +when and where they please. Lady Juliana, I believe, frequently takes +hers in her dressing-room; Papa never is visible till two or three +o'clock; and Adelaide is always late." + +"What a selfish cold-hearted thing is grandeur!" thought Mary, as Lady +Emily and she sat like two specks in the splendid saloon, surrounded by +all that wealth could purchase or luxury invent; and her thoughts +reverted to the pious thanksgiving and affectionate meeting that graced +their social meal in the sweet sunny parlour at Lochmarlie. + +Some of those airy nothings, without a local habitation, who are always +to be found flitting about the mansions of the great, now lounged into +the room; and soon after Adelaide made her _entrée._ Mary, +trembling violently, was ready to fall upon her sister's neck, but +Adelaide seemed prepared to repel everything like a _scènce _for, +with a cold, but sweet, "I hope you are better this morning?" she seated +herself at the opposite side of the table. Mary's blood rushed back to +her heart; her eyes filled with tears, she knew not why; for she could +not analyse the feelings that swelled in her bosom. She would have +shuddered to _think_ her sister unkind, but she _felt_ she was so. + +"It can only be the difference of our manners," sighed she to herself; +"I am sure my sister loves me, though she does not show it in the same +way I should have done;" and she gazed with the purest admiration and +tenderness on the matchless beauty of her face and form. Never had she +beheld anything so exquisitely beautiful; and she longed to throw +herself into her sister's arms and tell her how she loved her. But +Adelaide seemed to think the present company wholly unworthy of her +regard; for, after having received the adulation of the gentlemen, as +they severally paid her a profusion of compliments upon her appearance, +"Desire Tomkins," said she to a footman, "to ask Lady Juliana for the +'Morning Post,' and the second volume of 'Le----,' of the French novel I +am reading; and say she shall have it again when I have finished it." + +"In what different terms people may express the same meaning," thought +Mary; "had I been sending a message to my mother, I should have expressed +myself quite differently; but no doubt my sister's meaning is the same, +though she may not use the same words." + +The servant returned with the newspaper, and the novel would be sent +when it could be found. + +"Lady Juliana never reads like anybody else," said her daughter; "she is +for ever mislaying books. She has lost the first volumes of the two last +novels that came from town before I had even seen then." + +This was uttered in the softest, sweetest tone imaginable, and as if she +had been pronouncing a panegyric. + +Mary was more and more puzzled. + +"'What can be my sister's meaning here?" thought she. "The words seemed +almost to imply censure; but that voice and smile speak the sweetest +praise. How truly Mrs. Douglas warned me never to judge of people by +their words." + +At that moment the door opened, and three or four dogs rushed in, +followed by Lady Juliana, with a volume of a novel in her hand. Again +Mary found herself assailed by a variety of powerful emotions. She +attempted to rise; but, pale and breathless, she sank back in her chair. + +Her agitation was unmarked by her mother, who did not even appear to be +sensible of her presence; for, with a graceful bend of her head to the +company in general, she approached Adelaide, and putting her lips to her +forehead, "How do you do, love? I'm afraid you are very angry with me +about that teazing La---I can't conceive where it can be; but here is +the third volume, which is much prettier than the second." + +"I certainly shall not read the third volume before the second," said +Adelaide with her usual serenity. + +"Then I shall order another copy from town, my love; or I daresay I +could tell you the story of the second volume: it is not at all +interesting, I assure you. Hermilisde, you know--but I forget where the +first volume left off."--Then directing her eyes to Mary, who had +summoned strength to rise, and was slowly venturing to approach her, she +extended a finger towards her. Mary eagerly seized her mother's hand, +and pressed it with fervour to her lips; then hid her face on her +shoulder to conceal the tears that burst from her eyes. + +"Absurd, my dear!" said her Ladyship in a peevish tone, as she +disengaged herself from her daughter; "you must really get the better of +this foolish weakness; these _scènes_ are too much for me. I was +most excessively shocked last night, I assure you, and you ought not to +have quitted your room to-day." + +Poor Mary's tears congealed in her eyes at this tender salutation, and +she raised her head, as if to as certain whether it really proceeded +from her mother; but instead of the angelic vision she had pictured to +herself, she beheld a face which, though once handsome, now conveyed no +pleasurable feeling to the heart. + +Late hours, bad temper, and rouge had done much to impair Lady Juliana's +beauty. There still remained enough to dazzle a superficial observer; but +not to satisfy the eye used to the expression of all the best affections +of the soul. Mary almost shrank from the peevish inanity portrayed on +her mother's visage, as a glance of the mind contrasted it with the mild +eloquence of Mrs. Douglas's countenance; and, abashed and disappointed, +she remained mournfully silent. + +"Where is Dr. Redgill?" demanded Lady Juliana of the company in general. + +"He has got scent of a turtle at Admiral Yellowchops," answered Mr. P. + +"How vastly provoking," rejoined her Ladyship, "that he should be out of +the way the only time I have wished to see him since he came to the +house!" + +"Who is this favoured individual whose absence you are so pathetically +lamenting, Julia?" asked Lord Courtland, as he indolently sauntered into +the room. + +"That disagreeable Dr. Redgill. He has gone somewhere to eat turtle at +the very time I wished to consult him about--" + +"The propriety of introducing a new niece to your Lordship," said Lady +Emily, as, with affected solemnity, she introduced Mary to her uncle. +Lady Juliana frowned--the Earl smiled--saluted his niece--hoped she had +recovered the fatigue of the journey--remarked it was very cold; and +then turned to a parrot, humming "Pretty Poll, say," etc. + +Such was Mary's first introduction to her family; and those only who have +felt what it was to have the genial current of their souls chilled by +neglect or changed by unkindness can sympathise in the feelings of +wounded affection--when the overflowings of a generous heart are +confined within the narrow limits of its own bosom, and the offerings of +love are rudely rejected by the hand most dear to us. + +Mary was too much intimidated by her mother's manner towards her to +give way, in her presence, to the emotions that agitated her; but she +followed her sister's steps as she quitted the room, and, throwing her +arms around her, sobbed in a voice almost choked with the excess of her +feelings, "My sister, love me!-oh! love me!" But Adelaide's heart, +seared by selfishness and vanity, was incapable of loving anything in +which self had no share; and for the first time in her life she felt +awkward and embarrassed. Her sister's streaming eyes and supplicating +voice spoke a language to which she was a stranger; for art is ever +averse to recognise the accents of nature. Still less is it capable of +replying to them; and Adelaide could only wonder at her sister's +agitation, and think how unpleasant it was; and say something about +overcome, and _eau-de-luce,_ and composure; which was all lost upon Mary +as she hung upon her neck, every feeling wrought to its highest tone by +the complicated nature of those emotions which swelled her heart. At +length, making an effort to regain her composure, "Forgive me, my +sister!" said she. "This is very foolish--to weep when I ought to +rejoice--and I do rejoice--and I know I shall be so happy yet!" but in +spite of the faint smile that accompanied her words, tears again burst +from her eyes. + +"I am sure I shall have infinite pleasure in your society," replied +Adelaide, with her usual sweetness; and placidity, as she replaced a +ringlet in its proper position; "but I have unluckily an engagement at +this time. You will, however, be at no loss for amusement; you will find +musical instruments there," pointing to an adjacent apartment; "and here +are new publications, and _portefeuilles_ of drawings you will +perhaps like to look over;" and so saying she disappeared. + +"Musical instruments and new publications!" repeated Mary mechanically +to herself. "What have I to do with them? Oh for one kind word from my +mother's lips!--one kind glance from my sister's eye!" + +And she remained overwhelmed with the weight of those emotions, which, +instead of pouring into the hearts of others, she was compelled to +concentrate in her own. Her mournful reveries were interrupted by her +kind friend Lady Emily; but Mary deemed her sorrow too sacred to be +betrayed even to her, and therefore rallying her spirits, she strove +to enter into those schemes of amusement suggested by her cousin for +passing the day. But she found herself unable for such continued +exertion; and, hearing a large party was expected to dinner, she +retired, in spite of Lady Emily's remonstrance, to her own apartment, +where she sought a refuge from her thoughts in writing to her friends +at Glenfern. + +Lady Juliana looked in upon her as she passed to dinner. She was in a +better humour, for she had received a new dress which was particularly +becoming, as both her maid and her glass had attested. + +Again Mary's heart bounded towards the being to whom she owed her birth; +yet afraid to give utterance to her feelings, she could only regard her +with silent admiration, till a moment's consideration converted that +into a less pleasing feeling, as she observed for the first time that +her mother wore no mourning. + +Lady Juliana saw her astonishment, and, little guessing the cause, was +flattered by it. "Your style of dress is very obsolete, my dear," said +she, as she contrasted the effect of her own figure and her daughter's +in a large mirror; "and there's no occasion for you to wear black here. +I shall desire my woman to order some things for you; though perhaps +there won't be much occasion, as your stay here is to be short; and of +course you won't think of going out at all. _Apropos,_ you will find it +dull here by yourself, won't you? I shall leave you my darling Blanche +for companion," kissing a little French lap-dog as she laid it in Mary's +lap; "only you must be very careful of her, and coax her, and be very, +very good to her; for I would not have my sweetest Blanche vexed, not +for the world!" And, with another long and tender salute to her dog, and +a "Good-bye, my dear!" to her daughter, she quitted her to display her +charms to a brilliant drawing-room, leaving Mary to solace herself in +her solitary chamber with the whines of a discontented lap-dog. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"C'est un personnage illustre dans son genre, et qui a porté le +talent de se bien nourrir jusques ou il pouvoit aller; . . . il ne +semble né que pour la digestion."--LA BRUYERE. + +IN every season of life grief brings its own peculiar antidote along +with it. The buoyancy of youth soon repels its deadening weight, the +firmness of manhood resists its weakening influence, the torpor of old +age is insensible to its most acute pangs. + +In spite of the disappointment she had experienced the preceding day, +Mary arose the following morning with fresh hopes of happiness springing +in her heart. + +"What a fool I was," thought she, "to view so seriously what, after all, +must be merely difference of manner; and how illiberal to expect every +one's manners should accord exactly with my ideas; but now that I have +got over the first impression, I daresay I shall find everybody quite +amiable and delightful!" + +And Mary quickly reasoned herself into the belief that she only could +have been to blame. With renovated spirits she therefore joined her +cousin, and accompanied her to the breakfasting saloon. The visitors had +all departed, but Dr. Redgill had returned and seemed to be at the +winding up of a solitary but voluminous meal. He was a very tall +corpulent man, with a projecting front, large purple nose, and a +profusion of chin. + +"Good morning, ladies," mumbled he with a full mouth, as he made a feint +of half-rising from his chair. "Lady Emily, your servant--Miss Douglas, +I presume--hem! allow me to pull the bell for your Ladyship," as he sat +without stirring hand or foot; then, after it was done--"'Pon my +honour, Lady Emily, this is not using me well Why did you not desire me? +And you are so nimble, I defy any man to get the start of you." + +"I know you have been upon hard service, Doctor, and therefore I +humanely wished to spare you any additional fatigue," replied Lady +Emily. + +"Fatigue, phoo! I'm sure I mind fatigue as little as any man; besides +it's really nothing to speak of. I have merely rode from my friend +Admiral Yellowchops' this morning." + +"I hope you passed a pleasant day there yesterday?" + +"So, so--very so, so," returned the Doctor drily. + +"Only so, so, and a turtle in the case!" exclaimed Lady Emily. + +"Phoo!--as to that, the turtle was neither here nor there. I value +turtle as little as any man. You may be sure it wasn't for that I went +to see my old friend Yellowchops. It happened, indeed, that there _was_ +a turtle, and a very well dressed one too; but where five and thirty +people (one half of them ladies, who, of course, are always helped +first) sit down to dinner, there's an end of all rational happiness in +my opinion." + +"But at a turtle feast you have surely something much better. You know +you may have rational happiness any day over a beef-steak." + +"I beg your pardon--that's not such an easy matter. I can assure you it +is a work of no small skill to dress a beef-steak handsomely; and, +moreover, to eat it in perfection a man must eat it by himself. If once +you come to exchange words over it, it is useless. I once saw the finest +steak I ever clapped my eyes upon completely ruined by one silly +scoundrel asking another if he liked fat. If he liked fat!--what a +question for one rational being to ask another! The fact is, a +beef-steak is like a woman's reputation, if once it is breathed upon +it's good for nothing!" + +"One of the stories with which my nurse used to amuse my childhood," +said Mary, "was that of having seen an itinerant conjuror dress a +beef-steak on his tongue." + +The Doctor suspended the morsel he was carrying to his mouth, and for +the first time regarded Mary with looks of unfeigned admiration. + +"'Pon my honour, and that was as clever a trick as ever I heard of! You +are a wonderful people, you Scotch--a very wonderful people--but, pray, +was she at any pains to examine the fellow's tongue?" + +"I imagine not," said Mary; "I suppose the love of science was not +strong enough to make her run the risk of burning her fingers." + +"It's a thousand pities," said the Doctor, as he dropped his chin with +an air of disappointment. "I am surprised none of your Scotch _scavans_ +got hold of the fellow and squeezed the secret out of him. It might have +proved an important discovery--a very important discovery; and your +Scotch are not apt to let anything escape them--a very searching, +shrewd people as ever I knew--and that's the only way to arrive at +knowledge. A man must be of a stirring mind if he expects to do good." + +"A poor woman below wishes to se you, sir," said a servant. + +"These poor women are perfect pests to society," said the Doctor, as his +nose assumed a still darker hue; "there is no resting upon one's seat +for them--always something the matter! The burn, and bruise, and hack +themselves and their brats, one would really think, on purpose to give +trouble." + +"I have not the least doubt of it," said Lady Emily; "they must find +your sympathy so soothing." + +"As to that, Lady Emily, if you know as much about poor women as I do, +you wouldn't think so much of them as you do. Take my word for it--they +are one and all of them a very greedy, ungrateful set, and require to be +kept at a distance." + +"And also to be kept waiting. As poor people's time is their only +wealth, I observe you generally make them pay a pretty large fee in that +way." + +"That is really not what I would have expected from you, Lady Emily. I +must take the liberty to say your Ladyship does me the greatest +injustice. You must be sensible how ready I am to fly," rising as if he +had been glued to his chair, "when there is any real danger. I'm sure it +was only last week I got up as soon as I had swallowed my dinner to see +a man who had fallen down in a fit; and now I am going to this woman, +who, I daresay, has nothing the matter with her, before my breakfast is +well down my throat." + +"Who is that gentleman?" asked Mary, as the Doctor at length, with much +reluctance, shuffled out of the room. + +"He is a sort of medical aid-de-camp of papa's," answered Lady Emily; +"who, for the sake of good living, has got himself completely +domesticated here. He is vulgar, selfish, and _gourmand_, as you must +already have discovered; but these are accounted his greatest +perfections, as papa, like all indolent people, must be diverted--and +_that_ he never is by genteel, sensible people. He requires something +more _piquant,_and nothing fatigues him so much as the conversation of a +commonplace, sensible man--one who has the skill to keep his foibles out +of sight. Now what delights him in Dr. Redgill, there is no +_retenu_--any child who runs may read his character at a glance." + +"It certainly does not require much penetration," said Mary, "to +discover the Doctor's master-passion; love of ease and self-indulgence +seem to be the pre-dominant features of his mind; and he looks as if, +when he sat in an arm-chair, with his toes on the fender and his hands +crossed, he would not have an idea beyond 'I wonder what we shall have +for dinner to-day.'" + +"I'm glad to hear you say so, Miss Douglas," said the Doctor, catching +the last words as he entered the room, and taking them to be the +spontaneous effusions of the speaker's own heart; "I rejoice to hear you +say so. Suppose we send for the bill of fare,"--pulling the bell; and +then to the servant, who answered the summons, "Desire Grillade to send +up his bill--Miss Douglas wishes to see it." + +"Young ladies are much more house wifely in Scotland than they are in +this country," continued the Doctor, seating himself as close as +possible to Mary,--"at least they were when I knew Scotland; but that's +not yesterday, and it's much changed since then, I daresay. I studied +physic in Edinburgh, and went upon a _tower _through the Highlands. 'I +was very much pleased with what I saw, I assure you. Fine country in +some respects--nature has been very liberal." + +Mary's heart leapt within her at hearing her dear native land praised +even by Dr. Redgill, and her conscience smote her for the harsh and +hasty censure she had passed upon him. "One who can admire the scenery +of the Highlands," thought she, "must have a mind. It has always been +observed that only persons of taste were capable of appreciating the +peculiar charms of mountain scenery. A London citizen, or a Lincolnshire +grazier, sees nothing but deformity in the sublime works of nature," +_ergo,_ reasoned Mary, "Dr. Redgill must be of a more elevated way of +thinking than I had supposed." The entrance of Lady Juliana prevented +her expressing the feelings that were upon her lips; but she thought +what pleasure she would have in resuming the delightful theme at another +opportunity. + +After slightly noticing her daughter, and carefully adjusting her +favourites, Lady Juliana began:-- + +"I am anxious to consult you, Dr. Redgill, upon the state of this young +person's health.--You have been excessively ill, my dear, have you not? +(My sweetest Blanche, do be quiet!) You had a cough, I think, and +everything that was bad.--And as her friends in Scotland have sent her +to me for a short time, entirely on account of her health (My charming, +Frisk, your spirits are really too much!), I think it quite proper that +she should be confined to her own apartment during the winter, that she +may get quite well and strong against spring. As to visiting or going +into company, that of course must be quite out of the question. You can +tell Dr. Redgill, my dear, all about your complaints yourself." + +Mary tried to articulate, but her feelings rose almost to suffocation, +and the words died upon her lips. + +"Your Ladyship confounds me," said the Doctor, pulling out his +spectacles, which, after duly wiping, he adjusted on his nose, and +turned their beams full on Mary's face--"I really never should have +guessed there was anything the matter with the young lady. She does look +a _leettle_ delicate, to be sure-changing colour, too--but hand +cool--eye clear--pulse steady, a _leettle_ impetuous, but that's +nothing, and the appetite good. I own I was surprised to see you cut so +good a figure after the delicious meals you have been accustomed to in +the North: you must find it miserable picking here. An English +breakfast," glancing with contempt at the eggs, muffins, toast, +preserves, etc. etc., he had collected round him, "is really a most +insipid meal. If I did not make a rule of rising early and taking +regular exercise, I doubt very much if I should be able to swallow a +mouthful-there's nothing to whet the appetite here; and it's the same +everywhere; as Yellowchops says, our breakfasts are a disgrace to +England. One would think the whole nation was upon a regimen of tea and +toast--from the Land's End to Berwick-upon-Tweed, nothing but tea and +toast. Your Ladyship must really acknowledge the prodigious advantage +the Scotch possess over us in that respect." + +"I thought the breakfasts, like everything else in Scotland, extremely +disgusting," replied her Ladyship, with indignation. + +"Ha! well, that really amazes me. The people I give up--they are dirty +and greedy--the country, too, is a perfect mass of rubbish, and the +dinners not fit for dogs--the cookery, I mean; as to the materials, they +are admirable. But the breakfasts! That's what redeems the land; and +every country has its own peculiar excellence. In Argyleshire you have +the Lochfine herring, fat, luscious, and delicious, just out of the +water, falling to pieces with its own richness--melting away like butter +in your mouth. In Aberdeenshire you have the Finnan haddo' with a +flavour all its own, vastly relishing--just salt enough to be _piquant,_ +without parching you up with thirst. In Perthshire there is the Tay +salmon, kippered, crisp, and juicy--a very magnificent morsel--a +_leettle_ heavy, but that's easily counteracted by a teaspoonful of the +Athole whisky. In other places you have the exquisite mutton of the +country made into hams of a most delicate flavour; flour scones, soft +and white; oatcake, thin and crisp; marmalade and jams of every +description; and--but I beg pardon--your Ladyship was upon the subject +of this young lady's health. 'Pon my honour! I can see little the +matter. We were just going to look over the bill together when your +Ladyship entered. I see it begins with that eternal _soupe_ +_santé,_ and that paltry _potage-an-riz._ This is the second day +within a week Monsieur Grillade has thought fit to treat us with them; +and it's a fortnight yesterday since I have seen either oyster or +turtle soup upon the table. 'Pon my honour! such inattention is infamous. +I know Lord Courtland detests _soupe_ _santé, _or, what's the +same thing, he's quite indifferent to it; for I take indifference and +dislike to be much the same. A man's indifference to his dinner-is a +serious thing, and so I shall let Monsieur Grillade know." And the +Doctor's chin rose and fell like the waves of the sea. + +"What is the name of the physician at Bristol who is so celebrated for +consumptive complaints?" asked Lady Juliana of Adelaide. "I shall send for +him; he is the only person I have any reliance upon. I know he always +recommends confinement for consumption." + +Tears dropped from Mary's eyes. Lady Juliana regarded her with surprise +and severity. + +"How very tiresome! I really can't stand these perpetual +_scènes._ Adelaide, my love, pull the bell for my _eau-de-luce._ +Dr. Redgill, place the screen there. This room is insufferably hot. My +dogs will literally be roasted alive;" and her Ladyship fretted about in +all the perturbation of ill-humour. + +"'Pon my honour! I don't think the room hot," said the Doctor, who, from +a certain want of tact and capacity of intellect, never comprehended the +feelings of others. "I declare I have felt it much hotter when your +Ladyship has complained of the cold; but there's no accounting for +people's feelings. If you would move your seat a _leettle_ this way, I +think you would be cooler; and as to your daughter--" + +"I have repeatedly desired, Dr. Redgill, that you will not use these +familiar appellations when you address me or any of my family," +interrupted Lady Juliana with haughty indignation. + +"I beg pardon," said the Doctor, nowise discomposed at this rebuff. +"Well, with regard to Miss--Miss--this young lady, I assure your +Ladyship, you need be under no apprehensions on her account. She's a +_leettle_ nervous, that's all--take her about by all means--all young +ladies love to go about and see sights. Show her the pump-room, and the +ball-room, and the shops, and the rope-dancers, and the wild beasts, and +there's no fear of her. I never recommend confinement to man, woman, or +child. It destroys the appetite--and our appetite is the best part of +us. What would we be without appetites? Miserable beings! worse than the +beasts of the field!" And away shuffled the Doctor to admonish Monsieur +Grillade on the iniquity of neglecting this the noblest attribute of +man. + +"It appears to me excessively extraordinary," said Lady Juliana, +addressing Mary, "that Mrs. Douglas should have alarmed me so much about +your health, when it seems there's nothing the matter with you. She +certainly showed very little regard for my feelings. I can't understand +it; and I must say, if you are not ill, I have been most excessively +ill-used by your Scotch friends." And, with an air of great indignation, +her Ladyship swept out of the room, regardless of the state into which +she had thrown her daughter. + +Poor Mary's feelings were now at their climax, and she gave way to all +the repressed agony that swelled her heart. Lady Emily, who had been +amusing herself at the other end of the saloon, and had heard nothing of +what had passed, flew towards her at sight, of her suffering, and +eagerly demanded of Adelaide the cause. + +"I really don't know," answered Adelaide, lifting her beautiful eyes +from her book with the greatest composure; "Lady Juliana is always cross +of a morning." + +"Oh no!" exclaimed Mary, trying to regain her composure, "the fault is +mine. I--I have offended my mother, I know not how. Tell me, oh tell me, +how I can obtain her forgiveness!" + +"Obtain her forgiveness!" repeated Lady Emily indignantly, "for what?" + +"Alas! I know not; but in some way I have displeased my mother; her +looks--her words--her manner--all tell me how dissatisfied she is with +me; while to my sister, and even to her very dogs-----Here Mary's +agitation choked her utterance. + +"If you expect to be treated like a dog, you will certainly be +disappointed," said Lady Emily. "I wonder Mrs. Douglas did not warn you +of what you had to expect. She must have known something of Lady +Juliana's ways; and it would have been as well had you been better +prepared to encounter them." + +Mary looked hurt, and making an effort to conquer her emotion, she said, +"Mrs. Douglas never spoke, of my mother with disrespect; but she did +warn me against expecting too much from her affection. She said I had +been too long estranged from her to have retained my place in her heart; +but still--" + +"You could not foresee the reception you have me with? Nor I neither. +Did you, Adelaide?' + +"Lady Juliana is sometimes so odd," +answered her daughter in her sweetest tone, "that I really am seldom +surprised at anything she does; but all this _fracas _appears to me +perfectly absurd, as nobody minds anything she says." + +"Impossible!" exclaimed Mary; "my duty must ever be to reverence my +mother. My study should be to please her, if I only knew how; and oh! +would she but suffer me to love her!" + +Adelaide regarded her sister for a moment with a look of surprise; then +rose and left the room, humming an Italian air. + +Lady Emily remained with her cousin, but she was a bad comforter. Her +indignation against the oppressor was always much stronger than her +sympathy with the oppressed; and she would have been more in her element +scolding the mother than soothing the daughter. + +But Mary had not been taught to trust to mortals weak as herself for +support in the hour of trial. She knew her aid must come from a higher +source; and in solitude she sought for consolation. + +"This must be all for my good," sighed she, "else it would not be. I had +drawn too bright a picture of happiness; already it is blotted out with +my tears. I must set about replacing it with one of soberer colours." + +Alas! Mary knew not how many a fair picture of human felicity had shared +the same fate as hers! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "They were in sooth a most enchanting train; + . . skilful to unite + With evil good, and strew with pleasure pain." + + _Castle of Indolence._ + +IN writing to her maternal friend Mary did not follow the mode usually +adopted by young ladies of the heroic cast, viz. that of giving a minute +and circumstantial detail of their own complete wretchedness, and +abusing, in terms highly sentimental, every member of the family with +whom they are associated. Mary knew that to breathe a hint of her own +unhappiness would be to embitter the peace of those she loved; and she +therefore strove to conceal from their observation the disappointment +she had experienced. Many a sigh was heaved, however, and many a tear +was wiped away ere a letter could be composed that would carry pleasure +to the dear group at Glenfern. She could say nothing of her mother's +tenderness or her sister's affection, but she dwelt upon the elegance of +the one and the beauty of the other. She could not boast of the warmth +of her uncle's reception, but she praised his good-humour, and enlarged +upon Lady Emily's kindness and attention. Even Dr. Redgill's admiration +of Scotch breakfasts was given as a _bonne bouche_ for her good old +aunts. + +"I declare," said Miss Grizzy, as she ended her fifth perusal of the +letter, "Mary must be a happy creature, everybody must allow; indeed I +never heard it disputed that Lady Juliana is a most elegant being; and I +daresay she is greatly improved since we saw her, for you know that is a +long time ago." + +"The mind may improve after a certain age," replied Jacky, with one of +her wisest looks, "but I doubt very much if the person does." + +"If the inside had been like the out, there would have been no need for +improvement," observed Nicky. + +"I'm sure you are both perfectly right," resumed the sapient Grizzy, +"and I have not the least doubt but that our dear niece is a great deal +wiser than when we knew her; nobody can deny but she is a great deal +older; and you know people always grow wiser as they grow older, of +course." + +"They _ought_ to do it," said Jacky, with emphasis. + +"But there's no fool like an old fool," quoth Nicky. + +"What a delightful creature our charming niece Adelaide must be, from +Mary's account," said Grizzy; "only I can't conceive how her eyes come +to be black. I'm sure there's not a black eye amongst us. The +Kilnacroish family are black, to be sure; and Kilnacroish's +great-grandmother was first cousin, once removed, to our grandfather's +aunt, by our mother's side. It's wonderful the length that resemblances +run in some old families; and I really can't account for our niece +Adelaide's black eyes naturally any other way than just through the +Kilnacroish family; for I'm quite convinced it's from us she takes +them,--children always take their eyes from their father's side; +everybody knows that Becky's, and Bella's, and Baby's are all as like +their poor father's as they can stare." + +"There's no accounting for the varieties of the human species," said +Jacky. + +"And like's an ill mark," observed Nicky. + +"And only think of her being so much taller than Mary, and twins! I +declare it's wonderful--I should have thought, indeed I never doubted, +that they would have been exactly the same size. And such a beautiful +colour too, when we used to think Mary rather pale; it's very +unaccountable!" + +"You forget," said Jacky, who had not forgot the insult offered to her +nursing system eighteen years before; "you forget that I always +predicted what would happen." + +"I never knew any good come of change," said Nicky. + +"I'm sure that's very true," rejoined Grizzy; "and we have great reason +to thank our stars that Mary is not a perfect dwarf; which I really +thought she would have been for long, till she took a shooting,--summer +was a year." + +"But she'll shoot no more," said Jacky, with a shake of the head that +might have vied with Jove's imperial nod; "England's not the place for +shooting." + +"The Englishwomen are all poor droichs," said Nicky, who had seen three +in the course of her life. + +"It's a great matter to us all, however, and to herself too, poor thing, +that Mary should be so happy," resumed Grizzy. "I'm sure I don't know +what she would have done if Lord Courtland had been an ill-tempered +harsh man, which, you know, he might just as easily have been; and it +would really have been very hard upon poor Mary--and Lady Emily such a +sweet creature too! I'm sure we must all allow we have the greatest +reason to be thankful." + +"I don't know," said Jacky; "Mary was petted enough before, I wish she +may have a head to stand any more." + +"She'll be ten times nicer than ever," quoth Nicky. + +"There is some reason, to be sure, that can't be denied, to be afraid of +that; at the same time, Mary has a great deal of sense of her own when +she chooses; and it's a great matter for her, and indeed for all of us, +that she is under the eye of such a sensible worthy man as that Dr. +Redgill. Of course we may be sure Lord Courtland will keep a most +elegant table, and have a great variety of sweet things, which are +certainly very tempting for young people; but I have no doubt but Dr. +Redgill will look after Mary, and see that she doesn't eat too many of +them." + +"Dr. Redgill must be a very superior man," pronounced Jacky, in her +most magisterial manner. + +"If I could hear of a private opportunity," exclaimed Nicky, in a +transport of generosity, "I would send him one of our hams, and a nice +little pig [1] of butter--the English are all great people for +butter." + +The proposal was hailed with rapture by both sisters in a breath; and it +was finally settled that to those tender pledges of Nicky's, Grizzy +should add a box of Lady Maclaughlan's latest invented pills, while Miss +Jacky was to compose the epistle that was to accompany them. + +The younger set of aunts were astonished that Mary had said nothing +about lovers and offers of marriage, as they had always considered going +to England as synonymous with going to be married. + +To Mrs. Douglas's more discerning eye, Mary's happiness did not appear +in so dazzling a light as to the weaker optics of her aunts. + +"It is not like my Mary," thought she, "to rest so much on mere external +advantages; surely her warm affectionate heart cannot be satisfied with +the _grace_ of a mother and the _beauty_ of a sister. These she might +admire in a stranger; but where we seek for happiness we better prize +more homely attributes. Yet Mary is so open and confiding, I think she +could not have concealed from me had she experienced a disappointment." + +Mrs. Douglas was not aware of the effect of her own practical lessons; +and that, while she was almost unconsciously practising the quiet +virtues of patience, and fortitude, and self-denial, and +unostentatiously sacrificing her own wishes to promote the comfort of +others, her example, like a kindly dew, was shedding its silent +influence on the embryo blossoms of her pupil's heart. + +[1] Jar. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +". . . So the devil prevails often; _opponit nubem,_ he claps cloud +between; some little objection; a stranger is come; or my head aches; or +the church is too cold; or I have letters to write; or I am not +disposed; or it is not yet time; or the time is past; these, and such as +these, are the clouds the devil claps between heaven and us; but these +are such impotent objections, that they were as soon confuted, as +pretended, by all men that are not fools, or professed enemies of +religion." --JEREMY TAYLOR. + +LADY Juliana had in vain endeavoured to obtain a sick certificate for +her daughter, that would have authorised her consigning her to the +oblivion of her own apartment. The physicians whom she consulted all +agreed, for once, in recommending a totally different system to be +pursued; and her displeasure, in consequence, was violently excited +against the medical tribe in general, and Dr. Redgill in particular. For +that worthy she had indeed always entertained a most thorough contempt +and aversion; for he was poor, ugly, and vulgar, and these were the +three most deadly sins in her calendar. The object of her detestation +was, however, completely insensible to its effects. The Doctor, like +Achilles, was vulnerable but in one part, and over that she could +exercise no control. She had nothing to do with the _ménage_--possessed +no influence over Lord Courtland, nor authority over Monsieur Grillade. +She differed from himself as to the dressing of certain dishes; and, in +short, he summed up her character in one emphatic sentence, that in his +idea conveyed severer censure than all that Pope or Young ever wrote--" +I don't think she has the taste of her mouth!" + +Thus thwarted in her scheme, Lady Juliana's dislike to her daughter +rather increased than diminished; and it was well for Mary that lessons +of forbearance had been early infused into her mind; for her spirit was +naturally high, and would have revolted from the tyranny and injustice +with which she was treated had she not been taught the practical duties +of Christianity, and that "patience, with all its appendages, is the +sum total of all our duty that is proper to the day of sorrow." + +Not that Mary sought, by a blind compliance with all her mother's +follies and caprices, to ingratiate herself into her favour--even the +motive she would have deemed insufficient to have sanctified the deed; +and the only arts she employed to win a place in her parent's heart were +ready obedience, unvarying sweetness, and uncomplaining submission. + +Although Mary possessed none of the sour bigotry of a narrow mind, she +was yet punctual in the discharge of her religious duties; and the +Sunday following her arrival, as they sat at breakfast, she inquired of +her cousin at what time the church service began. + +"I really am not certain--I believe it is late," replied her cousin +carelessly. "But why do you ask?' + +"Because I wish to be there in proper time." + +"But we scarcely ever go--never, indeed, to the parish church--and we +are rather distant from any other; so you must say your prayers at home." + +"I would certainly prefer going to church," said Mary. + +"Going to church!" exclaimed Dr. Redgill in amazement. "I wonder what +makes people so keen of going to church! I'm sure there's little good to +be got there. For my part, I declare I would just as soon think of going +into my grave. Take my word for it, churches and churchyards are rather +too nearly related." + +"In such a day as this," said Mary, "so dry and sunny, I am sure there +can be no danger." + +"Take your own way, Miss Mary," said the Doctor; "but I think it my +duty to let you know my opinion of churches. I look upon them as +extremely prejudicial to the health. They are invariably either too +hot or too cold; you are either stewed or starved in them; and, till some +improvement takes place, I assure you my foot shall never enter one of +them. In fact, they are perfect receptacles of human infirmities. I can +tell you one of your church-going ladies at a glance; they have all +rheumatisms in their shoulders, and colds in their heads, and swelled +faces. Besides it's a poor country church--there's nothing to be seen +after you do go." + +"I assure you Lady Juliana will be excessively annoyed if you go," said +Lady Emily, as Mary rose to leave the room. + +"Surely my mother cannot be displeased at my attending church!" said +Mary in astonishment. + +"Yes, she can, and most certainly will. She never goes herself now, +since she had a quarrel with Dr. Barlow, the clergyman; and she can't +bear any of the family to attend him." + +"And you have my sanction for staying away, Miss Mary," added the +Doctor. + +"Is he a man of bad character?" asked Mary, as she stood irresolute +whether to proceed. + +"Quite the reverse. He is a very good man; but he was scandalised at +Lady Juliana's bringing her dogs to church one day, and wrote her what +she conceived a most insolent letter about it. But here come your +lady-mamma and the culprits in question." + +"Your Ladyship is just come in time to settle a dispute here," said the +Doctor, anxious to turn her attention from a hot muffin, which had just +been brought in, and which he meditated appropriating to himself: "I +have said all I can--(Was you looking at the toast, Lady Emily?)--I must +now leave it to your Ladyship to convince this young lady of the folly +of going to church." + +The Doctor gained his point. The muffin was upon his own plate, while +Lady Juliana directed her angry look towards her daughter. + +"Who talks of going to church?" demanded she. + +Mary gently expressed her wish to be permitted to attend divine service. + +"I won't permit it. I don't approve of girls going about by themselves. +It is vastly improper, and I won't hear of it." + +"It is the only place I shall ask to go to," said Mary timidly; "but I +have always been accustomed to attend church, and---" + +"That is a sufficient reason for my choosing that you should not attend +it here. I won't suffer a Methodist in the house." + +"I assure you the Methodists are gaining ground very fast," said the +Doctor, with his mouth full. 'Pon my soul, I think it's very alarming!" + +"Pray, what is so alarming in the apprehension? asked Lady Emily. + +"What is so alarming! 'Pon my honour, Lady Emily, I'm astonished to hear +you ask such a question!"--muttering to himself, "zealots--fanatics-- +enthusiasts--bedlamites! I'm sure everybody knows what Methodists are!" + +"There has been quite enough said upon the subject," said Lady Juliana. + +"There are plenty of sermons in the house, Miss Mary," continued the +Doctor, who, like many other people, thought he was always doing a +meritorious action when he could dissuade anybody from going to church. +"I saw a volume somewhere not long ago; and at any rate there's the +Spectator, if you want Sunday's reading--some of the papers there are as +good as any sermon you'll get from Dr. Barlow." + +Mary, with fear and hesitation, made another attempt to overcome her +mother's prejudice, but in vain. + +"I desire I may hear no more about it!" cried she, raising her voice. +"The clergyman is a most improper person. I won't suffer any of my +family to attend his church; and therefore, once for all, I won't hear +another syllable on the subject." + +This was said in a tone and manner not to be disputed, and Mary felt her +resolution give way before the displeasure of her mother. A contest of +duties was new to her, and she could not all at once resolve upon +fulfilling one duty at the expense of another. "Besides," thought she, +"my mother thinks she is in the right. Perhaps, by degrees, I may bring +her to think otherwise; and it is surely safer to try to conciliate than +to determine to oppose." + +But another Sabbath came, and Mary found she had made no progress in +obtaining the desired permission. She therefore began seriously to +commune with her own heart as to the course she ought to pursue. + +The commandment of "Honour thy father and thy mother" had been deeply +imprinted on her mind, and few possessed higher notions of filial +reverence; but there was another precept which also came to her +recollection. "Whosoever loveth father and mother more than me cannot be +my disciple." "But I may honour and obey my parent without loving her +more than my Saviour," argued she with herself, in hopes of lulling her +conscience by this reflection. "But again," thought she, "the Scripture +saith, 'He that keepeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me.'" Then +she felt the necessity of owning that if she obeyed the commands of her +mother, when in opposition to the will of her God, she gave one of the +Scripture proofs of either loving or fearing her parent upon earth more +than her Father which is in heaven. But Mary, eager to reconcile +impossibilities--viz. the will of an ungodly parent with the holy +commands of her Maker--thought now of another argument to calm her +conscience. "The Scripture," said she, "says nothing positive about +attending public worship; and, as Lady Emily says, I may say my prayers +just as well at home." But the passages of Scripture were too deeply +imprinted on her mind to admit of this subterfuge. "Forsake not the +assembling of yourselves together." "Where two or three are gathered +together in my name, there will I be in the midst of them," etc. etc. But +alas! two or three never were gathered together at Beech Park, except +upon parties of pleasure, games of hazard, or purposes of conviviality. + +The result of Mary's deliberations was a firm determination to do what +she deemed her duty, however painful. And she went in search of Lady +Emily, hoping to prevail upon her to use her influence with Lady Juliana +to grant the desired permission; or, should she fail in obtaining it, she +trusted her resolution would continue strong enough to enable her have +her mother's displeasure in this act of conscientious disobedience. She +met her cousin, with her bonnet on, prepared to go out. + +"Dear Lady Emily," said she, "let me entreat of you to use your +influence with my mother to persuade her to allow me to go to church." + +"In the first place," answered her cousin, "you may know that I have no +influence;--in the second, that Lady Juliana is never to be persuaded +into any thing;--in the third, I really can't suppose you are serious in +thinking it a matter of such vast moment whether or not you go to +church." + +"Indeed I do," answered Mary earnestly. "I have been taught to consider +it as such; and----" + +"Pshaw! nonsense! these are some of your stiff-necked Presbyterian +notions. I shall really begin to suspect you are a Methodist and yet you +are not at all like one." + +"Pray, tell me," said Mary, with a smile, "what are your ideas of +a Methodist?" + +"Oh! thank heaven, I know little about them!--almost as little as Dr. +Redgill, who, I verily believe, could scarcely tell the difference +betwixt a Catholic and a Methodist, except that the one dances and +t'other prays. But I am rather inclined to believe it is a sort of a +scowling, black-browed, hard-favoured creature, with its greasy hair +combed straight upon its flat forehead, and that twirls its thumbs, and +turns up its eyes, and speaks through its nose and, in short, is +everything that you are not, except in this matter--of going to church. +So, to avert all these evil signs from falling upon you, I shall make a +point of your keeping company with me for the rest of the day." + +Again Mary became serious, as she renewed her entreaties to her +cousin to intercede with Lady Juliana that she might be allowed to +attend _any_ church. + +"Not for kingdoms!" exclaimed she. "Her Ladyship is in one of her most +detestable humours to-day; not that I should mind that, if it was +anything of real consequence that I had to compass for you. A ball, for +instance--I should certainly stand by you there but I am really not so +fond of mischief as to enrage her for nothing!" + +"Then I fear I must go to church without it," said Mary in a melancholy +tone. + +"If you are to go at all, it must certainly be without it. And here is +the carriage--get your bonnet, and come along with me. You shall at +least have a sight of the church." + +Mary went to put on her pelisse; and, descending to join her cousin in +the drawing-room, she found her engaged in an argument with Dr. Redgill. +How it had commenced did not appear; but the Doctor's voice was raised +as if to bring it to a decided termination. + +"The French, madam, in spite of your prejudices, are a very superior +nation to us. Their skill and knowledge are both infinitely higher. +Every man in France is a first-rate cook--in fact, they are a nation of +cooks; and one of our late travellers assures us that they have +discovered three hundred methods of dressing eggs, for one thing." + +"That is just two hundred and ninety-nine ways more than enough," said +Lady Emily "give me a plain boiled egg, and I desire no other variety of +the produce of a hen till it takes the form of a chicken." + +Dr. Redgill lowered his eyebrows and drew up his chin, but disdained +to waste more arguments upon so tasteless a being. "To talk sense to a +woman is like feeding chickens upon turtle soup," thought he to +himself. + +As for Lady Juliana, she exulted in the wise and judicious manner in +which she had exercised her authority, and felt her consequence greatly +increased by a public display of it--power being an attributes he was +very seldom invested with now. Indeed, to do her Ladyship justice, she +was most feelingly alive to the duty due to parents, though that such a +commandment existed seemed quite unknown to her till she became a +mother. But she made ample amends for former deficiencies now; as to +hear her expatiate on the subject, one would have deemed it the only +duty necessary to be practised, either by Christian or heathen, and +that, like charity, it comprehended every virtue, and was a covering for +every sin. But there are many more sensible people than her Ladyship who +entertain the same sentiments, and, by way of variety, reverse the time +and place of their duties. When they are children, they make many +judicious reflections on the duties of parents; when they become +parents, they then acquire a wonderful insight into the duties of +children. In the same manner husbands and wives are completely alive to +the duties incumbent upon each other, and the most ignorant servant is +fully instructed in the duty of a master. But we shall leave Lady +Juliana to pass over the duties of parents, and ponder upon those of +children, while we follow Lady Emily and Mary in their airing. + +The road lay by the side of a river; and though Mary's taste had been +formed upon the wild romantic scenery of the Highlands, she yet looked +with pleasure on the tamer beauties of an English landscape. And though +accustomed to admire even "rocks where the snowflake reposes;" she had +also taste, though of a less enthusiastic kind, for the "gay landscapes +and gardens of roses," which, in this more genial clime, bloomed even +under winter's sway. The carriage drove smoothly along, and the sound of +the church bell fell at intervals on the ear, "in cadence sweet, now +dying all away;" and, at the holy sound, Mary's heart flew back to the +peaceful vale and primitive kirk of Lochmarlie, where all her happy +Sabbath had been spent. The view now opened upon the village church, +beautifully situated on the slope of a green hill. Parties of straggling +villagers in their holiday suits were descried in all directions, some +already assembled in the churchyard, others traversing the neat +footpaths that led through the meadows. But to Mary's eyes the +well-dressed English rustic, trudging along the smooth path, was a far +less picturesque object than the barefooted Highland girl, bounding over +trackless heath-covered hills; and the well-preserved glossy blue coat +seemed a poor substitute for the varied drapery of the graceful plaid. + +So much do early associations tincture all our future ideas. + +They had now reached the church, and as Mary adhered to her resolution +of attending divine worship, Lady Emily declared her intention of +accompanying her, that she might come in for her share of Lady Juliana's +displeasure; but in spite of her levity, the reverend aspect, and meek, +yet fervent piety of Dr. Barlow, impressed her with better feelings; and +she joined in the service with outward decorum if not with inward +devotion. The music consisted of an organ, simply but well played; and +to Mary, unaccustomed to any sacred sounds save those twanged through +the nose of a Highland _precentor,_ it seemed the music of the spheres. + +Far different sounds than those of peace and praise awaited her return. +Lady Juliana, apprised of this open act of rebellion, was in all the +paroxysms incident to a little mind on discovering the impotence of its +power. She rejected all attempts at reconciliation; raved about +ingratitude and disobedience; declared her determination of sending Mary +back to her vulgar Scotch relations one moment--the next protested +she should never see those odious Methodists again; then she was to take +her to France, and shut her up in a convent, etc., till, after uttering +all the incoherences usual with ladies in a passion, she at last +succeeded in raving herself into a fit of hysterics. + +Poor Mary was deeply affected at this (to her) tremendous display of +passion. She who had always been used to the mild placidity of Mrs. +Douglas, and who had seen her face sometimes clouded with sorrow, but +never deformed by anger-what a spectacle! To behold a parent subject to +the degrading influence of an ungovernable temper! Her very soul +sickened at the sight; and while she wept over her mother's weakness, +she prayed that the Power which stayed the ocean's wave would mercifully +vouchsafe to still the wilder tempests of human passion. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + "Why, all delights are vain; but that most vain, + Which, with pain purchased, doth inherit pain." + + SHAKESPEARE. + +IN addition to her mother's implacable wrath and unceasing animadversion +Mary found she was looked upon as a sort of alarming character by the +whole family. Lord Courtland seemed afraid of being drawn into a +religious controversy every time he addressed her. Dr. Redgill retreated +at her approach and eyed her askance, as much as to say, "'Pon my +honour, a young lady that can fly in her mother's face about such a +trifle as going to church is not very safe company." And Adelaide +shunned her more than ever, as if afraid of coming in contact with a +professed Methodist. Lady Emily, however, remained staunch to her; and +though she had her own private misgivings as to her cousin's creed, she +yet stoutly defended her from the charge of Methodism, and maintained +that, in many respects, Mary was no better than her neighbours. + +"Well, Mary," cried she, as she entered her room one day with an air of +exultation, "here is an opportunity for you to redeem your character. +There," throwing down a card, "is an invitation for you to a fancy ball." + +Mary's heart bounded at the mention of a ball. She had never been at +one, and it was pictured in her imagination in all the glowing colours +with which youth and inexperience deck untried pleasures. + +"Oh, how charming!" exclaimed she, with sparkling eyes, "how my aunts +Becky and Bella will love to hear an account of a ball! And a fancy +ball!--what is that?" + +Lady Emily explained to her the nature of the entertainment, and Mary +was in still greater raptures. + +"It will be a perfect scene of enchantment, I have no doubt," continued +her cousin, "for Lady M. understands giving balls, which is what every +one does not; for there are dull balls as well as dull every things else +in the world. But come, I have left Lady Juliana and Adelaide in grand +debate as to their dresses. We must also hold a cabinet council upon +ours. Shall I summon the inimitable Slash to preside?" + +"The mention of her mother recalled Mary's thoughts from the festive +scene to which they had already flown. + +"But are you _quite_ sure," said she, "that I shall have my mother's +consent to go?" + +"Quite the contrary," answered her cousin coolly. "She won't hear of +your going. But what signifies that? You could go to church in spite of +her, and surely you can't think her consent of much consequence to a +ball?" + +Poor Mary's countenance fell, as the bright vision of her imagination +melted into air. + +"Without my mother's permission," said she, "I shall certainly not think +of, or even wish--" with a sigh--"to go to the ball, and if she has +already refused it that is enough." + +Lady Emily regarded her with astonishment. "Pray, is it only on Sundays +you make a point of disobeying your mother?" + +"It is only when I conceive a higher duty is required of me," answered +Mary. + +"Why, I confess I used to think that to honour one's father and mother +_was _a duty, till you showed me the contrary. I have to thank you for +ridding me of that vulgar prejudice. And now, after setting me such a +noble example of independence, you seem to have got a new light on the +subject yourself." + +"My obedience and disobedience both proceed from the same source," +answered Mary. "My first duty, I have been taught, is to worship my +Maker--my next to obey my mother. My own gratification never can come in +competition with either." + +"Well, I really can't enter into a religious controversy with you; but +it seems to me the sin, if it is one, is precisely the same, whether you +play the naughty girl in going to one place or another. I can see no +difference." + +"To me it appears very different," said Mary; "and therefore I should be +inexcusable were I to choose the evil, believing it to be such." + +"Say what you will," cried her cousin pettishly, "you never will convince +me there can be any harm in disobeying such a mother as yours--so +unreasonable--so--" + +"The Bible makes no exceptions," interrupted Mary gently; "it is not +because of the reasonableness of our parents' commands that we are +required to obey them, but because it is the will of God." + +"You certainly are a Methodist--there's no denying it. I have fought +some hard battles for you, but I see I must give you up. The thing won't +conceal." This was said with such an air of vexation that Mary burst +into a fit of laughter. + +"And yet you are the oddest compound," continued her cousin, "so gay +and comical, and so little given to be shocked and scandalised at the +wicked ways of others; or to find fault and lecture; or, in short, to do +any of the insufferable things that your good people are so addicted to. +I really don't know what to think of you." + +"Think of me as a creature with too many faults of her own to presume to +meddle with those of others," replied Mary, smiling at her cousin's +perplexity. + +"Well, if all good people were like you, I do believe I should become a +saint myself. If you are right, I must be wrong; but fifty years hence +we shall settle that matter with spectacles on nose over our family +Bibles. In the meantime the business of the ball-room is much more +pressing. We really must decide upon something. Will you choose your own +style, or shall I leave it to Madame Trieur to do us up exactly alike?" + +"You have only to choose for yourself, my dear cousin," answered Mary. +"You know I have no interest in it--at least not till I have received +my mother's permission." + +"I have told you already there is no chance of obtaining it. I had a +_brouillerie_ with her on the subject before I came to you." + +"Then I entreat you will not say another word. It is a thing of so +little consequence, that I am quite vexed to think that my mother should +have been disturbed about it. Dear Lady Emily, if you love me, promise +that you will not say another syllable on the subject." + +"And this is all the thanks I get for my trouble and vexation," +exclaimed Lady Emily, angrily; "but the truth is, I believe you think it +would be a sin to go to a ball; and as for dancing--oh, shocking! That +would be absolute ---. I really can't say the bad word you good people +are so fond of using." + +"I understand your meaning," answered Mary, laughing; "but, indeed, I +have no such apprehensions. On the contrary, I am very fond of dancing; +so fond, that I have often taken Aunt Nicky for my partner in a +Strathspey rather than sit still--and, to confess my weakness, I should +like very much to go to a ball." + +"Then you must and shall go to this one. It is really a pity that you +should have enraged Lady Juliana so much by that unfortunate +church-going; but for that, I think she might have been managed; and even +now, I should not despair, if you would, like a good girl, beg pardon +for what is past, and promise never to do so any more." + +"Impossible!" replied Mary. "You surely cannot be serious in +supposing I would barter a positive duty for a trifling amusement?" + +"Oh, hang duties! they are odious things. And as for your amiable, +dutiful, virtuous Goody Two-Shoes characters, I detest them. They never +would go down with me, even in the nursery, with all he attractions of a +gold watch and coach and six. They were ever my abhorrence, as every +species of canting and hypocrisy still is---" + +Then struck with a sense of her own violence and impetuosity, contrasted +with her cousin's meek unreproving manner, Lady Emily threw her arms +round her, begging pardon, and assuring her she did not mean her. + +"If you had," said Mary, returning her embrace, "you would only have told +me what I am in some respects. Dull and childish, I know I am; for I am +not the same creature I was at Lochmarlie"--and a tear trembled in her +eye as she spoke--"and troublesome, I am sure, you have found me." + +"No, no!" eagerly interrupted Lady Emily; "you are the reverse of +all that. You are the picture of my Edward, and everything that is +excellent and engaging; and I see by that smile you will go to the +ball--there's a darling!" + +Mary shook her head. + +"I'll tell you what we can do," cried her persevering patroness; "we +can go as masks, and Lady Juliana shall know nothing about it. That will +save the scandal of an open revolt or a tiresome dispute. Half the +company will be masked; so, if you keep your own secret, nobody will +find it out. Come, what characters shall we choose?" + +"That of Janus, I think, would be the most suitable for me," said Mary. +Then, in a serious tone, she added, "I can neither disobey nor deceive +my mother. Therefore, once for all, my dear cousin, let me entreat of +you to be silent on a subject on which my mind is made up. I am +perfectly sensible of your kindness, but any further discussion will be +very painful to me." + +Lady Emily was now too indignant to stoop to remonstrance. She quitted +her cousin in great anger, and poor Mary felt as if she had lost her only +friend. + +"Alas!" sighed she, "how difficult it is to do right, when even the +virtues of others throw obstacles in our way! And how easy our duties +would be could we kindly aid one another in the performance of them!" + +But such is human nature. The real evils of life, of which we so loudly +complain, are few in number, compared to the daily, hourly pangs we +inflict on one another. + +Lady Emily's resentment, though violent, was short-lived; and in the +certainty that either the mother would relent or the daughter rebel, she +ordered a dress for Mary; but the night of the ball arrived, and both +remained unshaken in their resolution. With a few words Adelaide might +have obtained the desired permission for her sister; but she chose to +remain neuter, coldly declaring she never interfered in quarrels. + +Mary beheld the splendid dresses and gay countenances of the party for +the ball with feelings free from envy, though perhaps not wholly unmixed +with regret. She gazed with the purest admiration on the extreme beauty +of her sister, heightened as it was by the fantastic elegance of her +dress, and contrasted with her own pale visage and mourning habiliments. + +"Indeed," thought she, as she turned from the mirror, with rather a +mournful smile, "my Aunt Nicky was in the right: I certainly am a poor +_shilpit_ thing." + +As she looked again at her sister she observed that her earrings were +not so handsome as those she had received from Mrs. Macshake; and she +instantly brought them, and requested Adelaide would wear them for that +night. + +Adelaide took them with her usual coolness--remarked how very +magnificent they were--wished some old woman would take it into her head +to make her such a present; and, as she clasped them in her ears, +regarded herself with increased complacency. The hour of departure +arrived; Lord Courtland and Lady Juliana were at length ready, and Mary +found herself left to a _tete-à-tete_ with Dr. Redgill; and, +strange as it may seem, neither in a sullen nor melancholy mood. But +after a single sigh, as the carriage drove off, she sat down with a +cheerful countenance to play backgammon with the Doctor. + +The following day she heard of nothing but the ball and its delights; +for both her mother and her cousin sought (though from different +motives) to heighten her regret at not having been there. But Mary +listened to the details of all she had missed with perfect fortitude, +and only rejoiced to hear they had all been so happy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + "Day follows night. The clouds return again + After the falling of the latter rain; + But to the aged blind shall ne'er return + Grateful vicissitude: She still must mourn + The sun, and moon, and every starry light, + Eclipsed to her, and lost in everlasting night." + + PRIOR + +AMONGST the numerous letters and parcels with which Mary had been +entrusted by the whole county of-----, there was one she had received +from the hands of Lady Maclaughlan, with a strict injunction to be the +bearer of it herself; and, as even Lady Maclaughlan's wishes now wore an +almost sacred character in Mary's estimation, she was very desirous of +fulfilling this her parting charge. But, in the thraldom in which she +was kept, she knew not how that was to be accomplished. She could not +venture to wait upon the lady to whom it was addressed without her +mother's permission; and she was aware that to ask was upon every +occasion only to be refused. In his dilemma she had recourse to Lady +Emily; and, showing her the letter, craved her advice and assistance. + +"Mrs. Lennox, Rose Hall," said her cousin, reading the superscription. +"Oh! I don't think Lady Juliana will care a straw about your going +there. She is merely an unfortunate blind old lady, whom everybody +thinks it a bore to visit--myself, I'm afraid, amongst the number. We +ought all to have called upon her ages ago, so I shall go with you now." + +Permission for Mary to accompany her was easily obtained; for Lady +Juliana considered a visit to Mrs. Lennox as an act of penance rather +than of pleasure; and Adelaide protested the very mention of her name +gave her the vapours. There certainly was nothing that promised much +gratification in what Mary had heard; and yet she already felt +interested in this unfortunate blind lady whom everybody thought it +a bore to visit, and she sought to gain some more information respecting +her. But Lady Emily, though possessed of warm feelings and kindly +affections, was little given to frequent the house of mourning, or +sympathise with the wounded spirit; and she yawned as she declared she +was very sorry for poor Mrs. Lennox, and would have made a point of +seeing her oftener, could she have done her any good. + +"But what can I possibly say to her," continued she, "after losing +her husband, and having I don't know how many sons killed in battle, and +her only daughter dying of a consumption, and herself going blind in +consequence of her grief for all these misfortunes--what can I possibly +do for her, or say to her? Were I in her situation, I'm sure I should +hate the sight and sound of any human being, and should give myself up +entirely to despair." + +"That would be but a pagan sacrifice," said Mary. + +"What would you do in such desperate circumstances?" demanded Lady +Emily. + +"I would hope," answered Mary, meekly. + +"But in poor Mrs. Lennox's case that would be to hope though hope were +lost; for what can she hope for now? She has still something to fear, +however, as I believe she has still one son remaining, who is in the +brunt of every battle; of course she has nothing to expect but accounts +of his death." + +"But she may hope that heaven will preserve him, and--" + +"That you will marry him. That would do excellently well, for he is as +brave as a real Highlander, though he has the misfortune to be only half +a one. His father, General Lennox, was a true Scot to the very tip of +his tongue, and as proud and fiery as any chieftain need be. _His_ +death, certainly was an improvement in the family. But there is Rose +Hall, with its pretty shrubberies and nice parterres, what +do you say to becoming its mistress?" + +"If I am to lay snares," answered Mary, laughing, "it must be for nobler +objects than hedgerow elms and hillocks green." + +"Oh, it must be for black crags and naked hills! Your country really +does vastly well to rave about! Lofty mountains and deep glens, and blue +lakes and roaring rivers, are mighty fine-sounding things; but I suspect +cornfields and barnyards are quit as comfortable neighbours; so take my +advice and marry Charles Lennox." + +Mary only answered by singing, "My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is +not here," etc., as the carriage drew up. + +"This is the property of Mrs. Lennox," said Lady Emily, in answer to +some remark of her companion's; "she is the last of some ancient stock; +and you see the family taste has been treated with all due respect." + +Rose Hall was indeed perfectly English: it was a description of place of +which there are none in Scotland; for it wore the appearance of +antiquity, without the too usual accompaniments of devastation or decay; +neither did any incongruities betray vicissitude of fortune or change of +owner; but the taste of the primitive possessor seemed to have been +respected through ages by his descendants; and the ponds remained as +round, and the hedges as square, and the grass walks as straight, as the +day they had been planned. The same old-fashioned respectability was +also apparent in the interior of the mansion. The broad heavy oaken +staircase shone in all the lustre of bees' wax; and the spacious +sitting-room into which they were ushered had its due allowance of +Vandyke portraits, massive chairs, and china jars, standing much in the +same positions they had been placed in a hundred years before. + +To the delicate mind the unfortunate are always objects of respect. As +the ancients held sacred those places which had been blasted by +lightning, so the feeling heart considers the afflicted as having been +touched by the hand of God Himself. Such were the sensations with which +Mary found herself in the presence of the venerable Mrs. +Lennox--venerable rather through affliction than age; for sorrow, more +than time, had dimmed the beauty of former days, though enough still +remained to excite interest and engage affection in the mournful yet +gentle expression of her countenance, and the speaking silence of her +darkened eyes. On hearing the names of her visitors, she arose, and, +guided by a little girl, who had been sitting at her feet, advanced to +meet them, and welcomed them with a kindness and simplicity of manner +that reminded Mary of the home she had left and the maternal tenderness +of her beloved aunt. She delivered her credentials, which Mrs. Lennox +received with visible surprise; but laid the letter aside without any +comments. + +Lady Emily began some self-accusing apologies for the length of time +that had intervened since her last visit, but Mrs Lennox gently +interrupted her. + +"Do not blame yourself, my dear Lady Emily," said she; "for what is so +natural at your age. And do not suppose I am so unreasonable as to +expect that the young and the gay should seek for pleasure in the +company of an old blind Woman. At your time of life I would not have +courted distress anymore than you." + +"At every time of life," said Lady Emily, "I am sure you must have been a +very different being from what I am, or ever shall be." + +"Ah! you little know what changes adversity makes in the character," +said Mrs. Lennox mournfully; "and may you never know--unless it is for +your good." + +"I doubt much if I shall ever be good on any terms," answered Lady Emily +in a half melancholy tone; "I don't think I have the elements of +goodness in my composition, but here is my cousin, who is fit to stand +proxy for all the virtues." + +Mrs. Lennox involuntarily turned her mild but sightless eyes towards +Mary, then heaved a sigh and shook her head, as she was reminded of her +deprivation. Mary was too much affected to speak; but the hand that was +extended to her she pressed with fervour to her lips, while her eyes +overflowed with tears. The language of sympathy is soon understood. Mrs. +Lennox seemed to feel the tribute of pity and respect that flowed from +Mary's warm heart, and from that moment they felt towards each other +that indefinite attraction which, however it may be ridiculed, certainly +does sometimes influence our affections. + +"That is a picture of your son, Colonel Lennox, is it not?" asked Lady +Emily, "I mean the one that hangs below the lady in the satin gown with +the bird on her hand." + +Mrs. Lennox answered in the affirmative; then added, with a sigh, "And +when I _could_ look on that face, I forgot all I had lost; but I was too +fond, too proud a mother. Look at it, my dear," taking Mary's hand, and +leading her to the well-known spot, while her features brightened with +an expression which showed maternal vanity was not yet extinct in the +mourner's heart. "He was only eighteen," continued she, "when that was +done; and many a hot sun has burned on that fair brow; and many a +fearful sight has met these sweet eyes since then; and sadly that face +may be changed; but I shall never see it more!" + +"Indeed," said Lady Emily, affecting to be gay, while a tear stood in +her eye, "it is a very dangerous face to look on; and I should be afraid +to trust myself with it, were not my heart already pledged. As for my +cousin there, there is no fear of her falling a sacrifice to hazel eyes +and chestnut hair, her imagination is all on the side of sandy locks and +frosty gray eyes; and I should doubt if Cupid himself would have any +chance with her, unless he appeared in tartan plaid and Highland +bonnet." + +"Then my Charles would have some," said Mrs. Lennox, with a faint smile; +"for he has lately been promoted to the command of a Highland regiment." + +"Indeed!" said Lady Emily, "that is very gratifying, and you have +reason to be proud of Colonel Lennox; he has distinguished himself upon +every occasion." + +"Ah! the days of my pride are now past," replied Mrs. Lennox, with a +sigh; "'tis only the more honour, the greater danger, and I am weary of +such bloody honours. See there!" pointing to another part of the room, +where hung a group of five lovely children, "three of these cherub heads +were laid low in battle; the fourth, my Louisa, died of a broken heart +for the loss of her brothers. Oh! what can human power or earthly +honours do to cheer the mother who has wept o'er her children's graves? +But there _is_ a Power," raising her darkened eyes to heaven, "that can +sustain even a mother's heart; and here," laying her hand upon an open +Bible, "is the balm He has graciously vouchsafed to pour into the +wounded spirit. My comfort is not that my boys died nobly, but that they +died Christians." + +Lady Emily and Mary were both silent from different causes. The former +was at a loss what to say--the latter felt too much affected to trust +her voice with the words of sympathy that hovered on her lips. + +"I ought to beg your pardon, my dears," said Mrs. Lennox, after a pause, +for talking in this serious manner to you who cannot be supposed to +enter into sorrows to which you are strangers. But you must excuse me, +though my heart does sometimes run over." + +"Oh, do not suppose," said Mary, making an effort to conquer her +feelings, "that we are so heartless as to refuse to take a part in the +afflictions of others; surely none can be so selfish; and might I be +allowed to come often--very often--" She stopped and blushed; for she +felt that her feelings were carrying her farther than she was warranted +to go. + +Mrs. Lennox kindly pressed her hand. "Ah! God hath, indeed, sent some +into the world, whose province it is to refresh the afflicted, and +lighten the eyes of the disconsolate. Such, I am sure, you would be to +me; for I feel my heart revive at the sound of your voice; it reminds me +of my heart's darling, my Louisa! and the remembrance of her, though +sad, is still sweet. Come to me, then, when you will, and God's +blessing, and the blessing of the blind and desolate, will reward you." + +Lady Emily turned away, and it was not till they had been some time +in the carriage that Mary was able to express the interest this visit +had excited, and her anxious desire to be permitted to renew it. + +"It is really an extraordinary kind of delight, Mary, that you take in +being made miserable," said her cousin, wiping her eyes; "for my part, +it makes me quite wretched to witness suffering that I can't relieve; +and how can you or I possibly do poor Mrs. Lennox any good? We can't +bring back her sons." + +"No; but we can bestow our sympathy, and that, I have been taught, is +always a consolation to the afflicted." + +"I don't quite understand the nature of that mysterious feeling called +sympathy. When I go to visit Mrs. Lennox, she always sets me a-crying, +and I try to set her a-laughing. Is that what you call sympathy?" + +Mary smiled, and shook her head. + +"Then I suppose it is sympathy to blow one's nose--and--and read the +Bible. Is that it? or what is it?" + +Mary declared she could not define it; and Lady Emily insisted she could +not comprehend it. + +"You will some day or other," said Mary; "for none, I believe, have ever +passed through life without feeling, or at least requiring its support; +and it is well, perhaps, that we should know betimes how to receive as +well as how to bestow it." + +"I don't see the necessity at all. I know I should hate mortally to be +what you call sympathised with; indeed, it appears to me the height of +selfishness in anybody to like it. If I am wretched, it would be no +comfort to me to make everybody else wretched; and were I in Mrs. +Lennox's place, I would have more spirit than to speak about my +misfortunes." + +"But Mrs. Lennox does not appear to be what you call a spirited +creature. She seems all sweetness, and--" + +"Oh, sweet enough, certainly!--But hers is a sort of Eolian harp, that +lulls me to sleep. I tire to death of people who have only two or three +notes in their character. By-the-bye, Mary, you have a tolerable compass +yourself, when you choose, though I don't think you have science enough +for a _bravura; there_ I certainly have the advantage of you, as I +flatter myself my mind is a full band in itself. My kettledrums and +trumpets I keep for Lady Juliana, and I am quite in the humour for +giving her a flourish today. I really require something of an +exhilarating nature after Mrs. Lennox's dead march." + +An unusual bustle seemed to pervade Beech Park as the carriage stopped, +and augured well for its mistress's intention of being more than usually +vivacious. It was found to be occasioned by the arrival of her brother +Lord Lindore's servants and horses, with the interesting intelligence +that his Lordship would immediately follow; and Lady Emily, wild with +delight, forgot everything in the prospect of embracing her brother. + +"How does it happen," said Mary, when her cousin's transports had a +little subsided, "that you, who are in such ecstasies at the idea of +seeing your brother, have scarcely mentioned his name to me?" + +"Why, to tell you the truth, I fear I was beginning to forget there was +such a person in the world. I have not seen him since I was ten years +old. At that time he went to college, and from thence to the Continent. +So all I remember of him is that he was very handsome and very +good-humoured; and all that have heard of him is, that wherever he goes +he is the 'glass of fashion and the mould of form'--not that he is much +of a Hamlet, I've a notion, in other respects. So pray put off that +Ophelia phiz, and don't look as if you were of ladies most deject and +wretched, when everybody else is gay and happy. Come, give your last +sigh to the Lennox, and your first smile to _Lindore."_ + +"That is sympathy," said Mary. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + "Quelle fureur, dit-il, quei aveugle caprice + Quand Ie dîner est prêt." + BOILEAU. + +"I HOPE your Lordship has no thoughts of waiting dinner for Lord +Lindore?" asked Dr. Redgill, with a face of alarm, as seven o'clock +struck, and neither dinner nor Lord Lindore appeared. + +"I have no thoughts upon the subject," answered Lord Courtland, as +he turned over some new caricatures with as much _nonchalance_ as if it +had been mid-day. + +"That's enough, my Lord; but I suspect Mr. Marshall, in his +officiousness, takes the liberty of thinking for you, and that we shall +have no dinner without orders," rising to pull the bell. + +"We ought undoubtedly to wait for Frederick," said Lady Juliana; "it is +of no consequence when we sit down to table." + +A violent yell from the sleeping Beauty on the rug sounded like a +summary judgment on her mistress. + +"What is the meaning of this?" cried her Ladyship, flying to the +offended fair one, in all the transports of pity and indignation; "how +can you, Dr. Redgill, presume to treat my dog in such a manner?" + +"Me treat your Ladyship's dog!" exclaimed the Doctor in well-feigned +astonishment--"Pon my honour!--I'm quite at a loss!--I'm absolutely +confounded!" + +"Yes! I saw you plainly give her a kick, and--" + +"Me kick Beauty!--after that!--'Pon my soul, I should just as soon have +thought of kicking my own grandmother. I did give her a _leettle_--a +very _leettle_ shove, just with the point of my toe, as I was going to +pull the bell; but it couldn't have hurt a fly. I assure you it would be +one of the last action of my life to treat Beauty ill--Beauty!--poor +Beauty!"--affecting to pat and soothe, by way of covering his +transgression. But neither Beauty nor her mistress were to be taken in +by the Doctor's cajolerie. The one felt, and the other saw the indignity +he had committed; and his caresses and protestations were all in vain. +The fact was, the Doctor's indignation was so raised by Lady Juliana's +remark, made in all the plenitude of a late luncheon, that, had it been +herself instead of her favourite, he could scarcely have refrained from +this testimony of his detestation and contempt. But much as he despised +her, he felt the necessity of propitiating her at this moment, when +dinner itself depended upon her decision; for Lord Courtland was +perfectly neutral, Lady Emily as not present, and a servant waited to +receive orders. + +"I really believe it's hunger that's vexing her poor brute!" continued +he, with an air of us feigned sympathy; "she knows the dinner hour as +well as any of us. Indeed, the instinct of dogs in that respect is +wonderful. Providence has really--ahem!--indeed it's no joke to tamper +with dogs, when they've got the notion of dinner in their heads. A +friend of mine had a very fine animal--just such another as poor Beauty +there--she had always been accustomed, like Beauty, to attend the family +to dinner at a particular hour; but one day, by some accident, instead of +sitting down at five, she was kept waiting till half-past six; the +consequence was, the disappointment, operating upon an empty +stomach, brought on an attack of the hydrophobia, and the poor thing was +obliged to be shot the following morning. I think your Lordship +said--Dinner," in a loud voice to the servant; and Lady Juliana, though +still sullen, did not dissent. + +For an hour the Doctor's soul was in a paradise still more substantial +than a Turk's; for it was lapt in the richest of soups and _ragoûts_, +and, secure of their existence, it smiled at ladies of quality, and +deified their lap-dogs. + +Dinner passed away, and supper succeeded, and breakfast; dinner and +supper revolved, and still no Lord Lindore appeared. But this excited no +alarm in the family. It was Lord Courtland's way, and it was Lady +Juliana's way, and it was all their ways, not to keep to their appointed +time, and they therefore experienced none of the vulgar consternation +incident to common minds when the expected guest fails to appear. Lady +Emily indeed wondered, and was provoked, and impatient; but she was not +alarmed; and Mary amused herself with contrasting in her own mind the +difference of her aunts' feelings in similar circumstances. + +"Dear Aunt Grizzy would certainly have been in tears these two days, +fancying the thousand deaths Lord Lindore must have died; and Aunt Jacky +would have been inveighing from morning till night against the +irregularities of young men. And Aunt Nicky would have been lamenting +that the black cock had been roasted yesterday, or that there would be +no fish for to-morrow." And the result of Mary's comparison was, that +her aunts' feelings, however troublesome, were better than no feelings +at all. "They are, to be sure, something like brambles," thought she; +"they fasten upon one in every possible way, but still they are better +than the faded exotics of fashionable life." + +At last, on the third day, when dinner was nearly over, and Dr. Redgill +was about to remark for the third time, "I think it's as well we didn't +wait for Lord Lindore," the door opened, and, without warning or bustle, +Lord Lindore walked calmly into the room. + +Lady Emily, uttering an exclamation of joy, threw herself into his arms. +Lord Courtland was roused to something like animation, as he cordially +shook hands with his son; Lady Juliana flew into raptures at the beauty +of his Italian greyhound; Adelaide, at the first glance, decided that +her cousin was worthy of falling in love with her; Mary thought on the +happiness of the family reunion; and Dr. Redgill offered up a silent +thanksgiving that this _fracas_ had not happened ten minutes sooner, +otherwise the woodcocks would have been as cold as death. Chairs were +placed by the officious attendants in every possible direction; and the +discarded first course was threatening to displace the third. But Lord +Lindore seemed quite insensible to all these attentions; he stood +surveying the company with a _nonchalance_ that had nothing of rudeness +in it, but seemed merely the result of high-bred ease. His eye, for a +moment, rested upon Adelaide. He then slightly bowed and smiled, as in +recognition of their juvenile acquaintance. + +"I really can't recommend either the turtle soup or the venison to your +Lordship to-day," said Dr. Redgill, who experienced certain uneasy +sensations at the idea of beholding them resume their stations, +something resembling those which Macbeth testified at sight of Banquo's +ghost, or Hamlet on contemplating Yorick's skull--"after travelling, +there is nothing like a light dinner; allow me to recommend this +_prretty, leettle cuisse de poulet en papillote;_ and here are some +fascinating _beignets d'abricots_--quite foreign." + +"If there is any roast beef or boiled mutton to be had, pray let me have +it," said Lord Lindore, waving off the zealous _maître d'hotel,_ +as he kept placing dish after dish before him. + +"Roast beef, or boiled mutton!" ejaculated the Doctor, with a sort of +internal convulsion; "he is certainly mad." + +"How did you contrive to arrive without being heard by me, Frederick?" +asked Lady Emily; "my ears have been wide open these two days and three +nights watching your approach?" + +"I walked from Newberry House," answered he, carelessly. "I met Lord +Newberry two days ago, as I was coming here, and he persuaded me to +alter my course and accompany him home." + +"Vastly flattering to your friends here," said Lady Emily in a tone of +pique. + +"What! you walked all the way from Newberry," exclaimed the Earl, "and +the ground covered with snow. How could you do so foolish a thing?" + +"Simply because, as the children say, I liked it," replied Lord Lindore, +with a smile. + +"That's just of a piece with his liking to eat boiled mutton," muttered +the Doctor to Mary; "and yet, to look at him, one would really not +expect such gross stupidity." + +There certainly was nothing in Lord Lindore's appearance that denoted +either coarseness of taste or imbecility of mind. On the contrary, he +was an elegant-looking young man, rather slightly formed, and of the +middle size, possessing that ease and grace in all his movements which a +perfect proportion alone can bestow. There was nothing foreign or +_recherché_ either in his dress or deportment; both were plain, +even to simplicity; yet an almost imperceptible air of _hauteur_ was +mingled with the good-humoured indifference of his manner. He spoke +little, and seemed rather to endure than to be gratified by attentions; +his own were chiefly directed to his dog, as he was more intent on +feeding it than on answering the questions that were put to him. There +never was anything to be called conversation at the dinner-table at +Beech Park; and the general practice was in no danger of being departed +from on the present occasion. The Earl hated to converse--it was a bore; +and he now merely exchanged a few desultory sentences with his son, as he +ate his olives and drank his claret. Lady Juliana, indeed, spoke even +more than her usual quantity of nonsense, but nobody listened to it. +Lady Emily was somewhat perplexed in her notions about her brother. He +was handsome and elegant, and appeared good-humoured and gentle; yet +something was wanting to fill up the measure of her expectations, and a +latent feeling of disappointment lurked in her heart. Adelaide was +indignant that he had not instantly paid her the most marked attention, +and revenged herself by her silence. In short, Lord Lindore's arrival +seemed to have added little or nothing to the general stock of pleasure; +and the effervescence of joy--the rapture of _sensation_, like some +subtle essence, had escaped almost as soon as it was perceived. + +"How stupid everybody always is at a dinner table!" exclaimed Lady Emily, +rising abruptly with an air of chagrin. "I believe it is the fumes of the +meat that dulls one's senses, and renders them so detestable. I long to +see you in the drawing-room Frederick. I've a notion you are more of a +carpet knight than a knight of the round table; so pray," in a whisper +as she passed, "leave papa to be snored asleep by Dr. Redgill, and do +you follow us--here is metal more attractive," pointing to the sisters, +as they quitted the room; and she followed without waiting for her +brother's reply. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "Io dubito, Signor M. Pietro che il mio Cortegiano non sarà + stato altro che fatica mia, e fastidio degli amici." + + BALDASSARRE CASTIGLIONE. + +LORD LINDORE was in no haste to avail himself of his sister's +invitation; and when he did, it was evident his was a "mind not to be +changed by place;" for he entered more with the air of one who was tired +of the company he had left, than expecting pleasure from the society he +sought. + +"Do come and entertain us, Lindore," cried Lady Emily, as he entered, +"for we are all heartily sick of one another. A snow-storm and a lack of +company are things hard to be borne; it is only the expectancy of your +arrival that has kept us alive these two days, and now pray don't let us +die away of the reality." + +"You have certainly taken a most effectual method of sealing my lips," +said her brother with a smile. + +"How so?" + +"By telling me that I am expected to be vastly entertaining, since every +word I utter can only serve to dispel the illusion, and prove that I am +gifted with no such miraculous power." + +"I don't think it requires any miraculous power, either to entertain or +be entertained. For my part, I flatter myself I can entertain any man, +woman, or child in the kingdom, when I choose; and as for being +entertained, that is still an easier matter. I seldom meet with anybody +who is not entertaining, either from their folly, or their affectation, +or their stupidity, or their vanity; or, in short, something of the +ridiculous, that renders them not merely supportable, but positively +amusing." + +"How extremely happy you must be," said Lord Lindore. + +"Happy! No--I don't know that my feelings precisely amount to happiness +neither; for at the very time I'm most diverted I'm sometimes disgusted +too, and often provoked. My spirit gets chafed, and---" + +"You long to box the ears of all your acquaintances," said her brother, +laughing. "Well, no matter--there is nothing so enviable as a facility +of being amused, and even the excitement of anger is perhaps preferable +to the stagnation of indifference." + +"Oh, thank heaven! I know nothing about indifference; I leave that to +Adelaide." + +Lord Lindore turned his eyes with more animation than he had yet evinced +towards his cousin, who sat reading, apparently paying no attention to +what was going on. He regarded her for a considerable time with an +expression of admiration; but Adelaide, though she was conscious of his +gaze, calmly pursued her studies. "Come, you positively must do +something to signalise yourself. I assure you it is expected of you that +you should be the soul of the company. Here is Adelaide waltzes like an +angel, when she can get a partner to her liking." + +"But I waltz like a mere mortal," said Lord +Lindore, seating himself at a table, and turning over the leaves of a +book. + +"And I am engaged to play billiards with my uncle," said Adelaide, +rising with a blush of indignation. + +"Shall we have some music, then? Can you bear to listen to our croakings +after the warbling of your Italian nightingales?" asked Lady Emily. + +"I should like very much to hear you sing," answered her brother, with +an air of the most perfect indifference. + +"Come then, Mary, do you be the one to 'untwist the chains that tie the +hidden soul of harmony.' Give us your Scotch Exile, pray? It is +tolerably appropriate to the occasion, though an English one would have +been still more so; but, as you say, there is nothing in this country to +make a song about." + +Mary would rather have declined, but she saw a refusal would displease +her cousin; and she was not accustomed to consult her own inclination in +such frivolous matters. She therefore seated herself at the harp, and +sang the following verses;-- + + THE EXILE. + + The weary wanderer may roam + To seek for bliss in change of scene; + Yet still the loved idea of home, + And of the days he there has seen, + + Pursue him with a fond regret, + Like rays from suns that long have set. + + "Tis not the sculptor's magic art, + "Tis not th' heroic deeds of yore, + That fill and gratify the heart. + No! 'tis affection's tender lore-- + The thought of friends, and love's first sigh, + When youth, and hope, and health were nigh. + + What though on classic ground we tread, + What though we breathe a genial air-- + Can these restore the bliss that's fled? + Is not remembrance ever there? + Can any soil protect from grief, + Or any air breathe soft relief? + + No! the sick soul, that wounded flies + From all its early thoughts held dear, + Will more some gleam of memory prize, + That draws the long-lost treasure near; + And warmly presses to its breast + The very thought that mars its rest. + + Some mossy stone, some torrent rude, + Some moor unknown to worldly ken, + Some weeping birches, fragrant wood, + Or some wild roebuck's fern-clad glen;-- + Yes! these his aching heart delight, + These bring his country to his sight. + + + +Ere the song was ended Lord Lindore had sauntered away to the +billiard-room, singing, "Oh! Jiove Omnipotente!" and seemingly quite +unconscious that any attentions were due from him in return. But there, +even Adelaide's charms failed to attract, in spite of the variety of +graceful movements practised before him--the beauty of the extended arm, +the majestic step, and the exclamations of the enchanting voice Lord +Lindore kept his station by the fire, in a musing attitude, from which +he was only roused occasionally by the caresses of his dog. At supper it +was still worse. He placed himself by Mary, and when he spoke, it was +only of Scotland. + +"Well--what do you think of Lindore?" demanded Lady Emily of her aunt +and cousins, as they were about to separate for the night. "Is he not +divine?" + +"Perfectly so!" replied Lady Juliana, with all the self-importance of a +fool. "I assure you I think very highly of him. He is a vastly charming, +clever young man-perfectly beautiful, and excessively amiable; and his +attention to his dog is quite delightful--it is so uncommon to see men +at all kind to their dogs. I assure you I have known many who were +absolutely cruel to them--beat them, and starved them, and did a +thousand shocking things; and----" + +"Pray, Adelaide, what is your opinion of my brother" + +"Oh! I--I--have no doubt he is extremely amiable," replied Adelaide, +with a gentle yawn. "As mamma says, his attentions to his dog prove it." + +"And you, Mary, are your remarks to be equally judicious and polite?" + +Mary, in all the sincerity of her heart, said she thought him by much +the handsomest and most elegant-looking man she had ever seen. And there +she stopped. + +"Yes; I know all that. But--however, no matter--I only wish he may have +sense enough to fall in love with you, Mary. How happy I should be to +see you Lady Lindore!--_En attendant_--you must take care of your heart; +for I hear he is _un peu volage_--and, moreover, that he admires none +but _les dames Mariées._ As for Adelaide, there is no fear of +her. She will never cast such a pearl away upon one who is merely, no +doubt, extremely amiable," retorting Adelaide's ironical tone. + +"Then you may feel equally secure upon my account," said Mary, "as I +assure you I am still less danger of losing mine, after the warning you +have given." + +This off-hand sketch of her brother's character, which Lady Emily had +thoughtlessly given, produced the most opposite effects on the minds of +he sisters. With Adelaide it increased his consequence and enhanced his +value. It would be no vulgar conquest to fix and reform one who was +notorious for his inconstancy and libertine principles; and from that +moment she resolved to use all the influence of her charms to captivate +and secure the heart of her cousin. In Mary's well-regulated mind other +feelings arose. Although she was not one of the outrageous virtuous, who +storm and rail at the very mention of vice, and deem it contamination to +hold any intercourse with the vicious, she yet possessed proper ideas +for the distinction to be drawn; and the hope of finding a friend and +brother in her cousin now gave way to the feeling that in future she +could only consider him as an common acquaintance. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"On sera ridicule et je n'oserai rire!" + + BOILEAU. + +IN honour of her brother's return Lady Emily resolved to celebrate it +with a ball; and always prompt in following up her plans, she fell to +work immediately with her visiting list. + +"Certainly," said she, as she scanned it over, "there never was any +family so afflicted in their acquaintances as we are. At least one-half +of the names here belong to the most insufferable people on the face of +the earth. The Claremonts, and the Edgefields, and the Bouveries, and the +Sedleys, and a few more, are very well; but can anything in human form +be more insupportable than the rest; for instance, that wretch Lady +Placid?" + +"Does her merit lie only in her name then?" asked Mary. + +"You shall judge for yourself when I have given you a slight sketch of +her character. Lady Placid, in the opinion of all sensible persons in +general, and myself in particular, is a vain, weak, conceited, vulgar +egotist. In her own eyes she is a clever, well-informed, elegant, +amiable woman; and though I have spared no pains to let her know how +detestable I think her, it is all in vain; she remains as firmly +entrenched in her own good opinion as folly and conceit can make her; +and I have the despair of seeing all my buffetings fall blunted to the +ground. She reminds me of some odious fairy or genii I have read of, who +possessed such a power in their person that every hostile weapon +levelled against them was immediately turned into some agreeable +present. Stones became balls of silk--arrows, flowers--swords, feathers, +etc. Even so it is with Lady Placid. The grossest insult that could be +offered she would construe into an elegant compliment; the very crimes +of others she seems to consider as so much incense offered up at the +shrine of her own immaculate virtue. I'm certain she thinks she deserves +to be canonised for having kept out of Doctors' Commons. Never is any +affair of that sort alluded to that she does not cast such a triumphant +look towards her husband, as much as to say, 'Here am I, the paragon of +faithful wives and virtuous matrons!' Were I in his place, I should +certainly throw a plate at her head. And here, you may take this passing +remark--How much more odious people are who have radical faults, than +those who commit, I do not say positive crimes, but occasional +weaknesses. Even a noble nature may fall into a great error; but what is +that to the ever-enduring pride, envy, malice, and conceit of a little +mind? Yes, I would at any time rather be the fallen than the one, so +exult over the fall of another. Then, as a mother, she is, if possible, +still more meritorious a woman (this is the way she talks): A woman has +nobly performed her part to her country, and for posterity, when she has +brought a family of fine healthy children into the world. 'I can't agree +with you,' I reply 'I think many mothers have brought children into the +world who would have been much better out of it. A mother's merit must +depend solely upon how she brings up her children (hers are the most +spoiled brats in Christendom). 'There I perfectly agree with you, Lady +Emily. As you observe, it is not every mother who does her duty by her +children. Indeed, I may say to you, it is not everyone that will make +the sacrifices for their family I have done; but thank God! I am richly +repaid. My children are everything I could wish them to be!' Everything +of hers, as a matter of course, must be superior to every other +person's, and even what she is obliged to share in common with others +acquires some miraculous charm in operating upon her. Thus it is +impossible for anyone to imagine the delight she takes in bathing; and +as for the sun, no mortal can conceive the effect it has upon her. If +she was to have the plague she would assure you it was owing to some +peculiar virtue in her blood; and if she was to be put in the pillory +she would ascribe it entirely to her great merit. If her coachman were +to make her a declaration of love she would impute it to the boundless +influence of her charms; that every man who sees her does not declare +his passion is entirely owing to the well-known severity of her morals +and the dignity of her deportment. If she is amongst the first invited +to my ball, that will be my eagerness to secure her: if the very last, +it will be a mark of my friendship, and the easy footing we are upon. If +not invited at all, then it will be jealousy. In short, the united +strength of worlds would not shake that woman's good opinion of herself; +and the intolerable part of it is there are so many fools in this one +that she actually passes with the multitude for being a charming +sweet-tempered woman--always the same--always pleased and contented. +Contented! just as like contentment as the light emitted by putridity +resembles the divine halo! But too much of her. Let her have a card, +however. + +"Then comes Mrs. Wiseacre, that renowned law-giver, who lavishes her +advice on all who will receive it, without hope of fee or reward, except +that of being thought wiser than anybody else. But, like many more +deserving characters, she meets with nothing but ingratitude in return; +and the wise sentences that are for ever hovering around her pursed up +mouth have only served to render her insupportable. This is her mode of +proceeding--' If I might presume to advise, Lady Emily;' or, 'If my +opinion could be supposed to have any weight;' or 'If my experience goes +for anything;' or, 'I'm an old woman now, but I think I know something +of the world;' or, 'If a friendly hint of mine would be of any service: +--then when very desperate, it is, 'However averse I am to obtrude my +advice, yet as I consider it my duty, I must for once;' or, 'It +certainly is no affair of mine, at the same time I must just observe,' +etc. etc. I don't say that she insists, however, upon your swallowing +all the advice she crams you with; for, provided she has the luxury of +giving it, it can make little difference how it is taken; because +whatever befals you, be it good or bad, it is equally a matter of +exultation to her. Thus she has the satisfaction of saying, 'If poor +Mrs. Dabble had but followed my advice, and not have taken these pills +of Dr. Doolittle's, she would have been alive to-day, depend upon it;' +or, 'If Sir Thomas Speckle had but taken advantage of a friendly hint I +threw out some time ago, about the purchase of the Drawrent estate, he +might have been a man worth ten thousand a year at this moment;' or, 'If +Lady Dull hadn't been so infatuated as to neglect the caution I gave her +about Bob Squander, her daughter might have been married to Nabob Gull.' + +"But there is a strange contradiction about Mrs. Wiseacre, for though it +appears that all her friends' misfortunes proceed from neglecting her +advice, it is no less apparent, by her account, that her own are all +occasioned by following the advice of others. She is for ever doing +foolish things, and laying the blame upon her neighbours. Thus, 'Had it +not been for my friend Mrs. Jobbs there, I never would have parted with +my house for an old song as I did;' or, 'It was entirely owing to Miss +Glue's obstinacy that I was robbed of my diamond necklace, or, 'I have +to thank my friend Colonel Crack for getting my carriage smashed to +pieces.' In short, she has the most comfortable repository of stupid +friends to have recourse to, of anybody I ever knew. Now what I have to +warn you against, Mary, is the sin of ever listening to any of her +advices. She will preach to you about the pinning of your gown and the +curling of your hair till you would think it impossible not to do exactly +what she wants you to do. She will inquire with the greatest solicitude +what shoemaker you employ, and will shake her head most significantly +when she hears it is any other than her own. But if ever I detect you +paying the smallest attention to any of her recommendations, positively +I shall have done with you." + +Mary laughingly promised to turn a deaf ear to all Mrs. Wiseacre's +wisdom; and her cousin proceeded: + +"Then here follows a swarm as, thick as idle motes in sunny ray,' and +much of the same importance, methinks, in the scale of being. Married +ladies only celebrated for their good dinners, or their pretty +equipages, or their fine jewels. How I should scorn to be talked of as +the appendage to any soups or pearls! Then there are the daughters of +these ladies--Misses, who are mere misses, and nothing more. Oh! the +insipidity of a mere Miss! a soft simpering thing with pink cheeks, and +pretty hair, and fashionable clothes _sans_ eyes for anything but +lovers_-sans_ ears for anything but flattery--_sans_ taste for anything +but balls_--sans_ brains for anything at all! Then there are ladies who +are neither married nor young, and who strive with all their might to +talk most delightfully, that the charms of their conversation may efface +the marks of the crows' feet; but 'all these I passen by, and nameless +numbers moe.' And now comes the Hon. Mrs. Downe Wright, a person of +considerable shrewdness and penetration--vulgar, but unaffected. There +is no politeness, no gentleness in her heart; but she possesses some +warmth, much honesty, and great hospitality. She has acquired the +character of being--oh, odious thing!--a clever woman! There are two +descriptions of clever women, observe; the one is endowed with corporeal +cleverness--the other with mental; and I don't know which of the two is +the greater nuisance to society; the one torments you with her +management--the other with her smart sayings; the one is for ever +rattling her bunch of keys in your ears--the other electrifies you with +the shock of her wit; and both talk _so_ much and _so _loud, and are +such egotists, that I rather think a clever woman is even a greater term +of reproach than a good creature. But to return to that clever woman Mrs. +Downe Wright: she is a widow, left with the management of an only son--a +commonplace, weak young man. No one, I believe, is more sensible of his +mental deficiencies than his mother; but she knows that a man of fortune +is, in the eyes of the many, a man of consequence; and she therefore +wisely talks of it as his chief characteristic. To keep him in good +company, and get him well married, is all her aim; and this, she thinks, +will not be difficult, as he is very handsome-possesses an estate of ten +thousand a year--and succeeds to some Scotch Lord Something's +title--there's for you, Mary! She once had views of Adelaide, but +Adelaide met the advances with so much scorn that Mrs. Downe Wright +declared she was thankful she had shown the cloven foot in time, for +that she never would have done for a wife to her William. Now you are +the very thing to suit, for you have no cloven feet to show." + +"Or at least you are not so quick-sighted as Mrs. Downe Wright. You +have not spied them yet, it seems," said Mary, with a smile. + +"Oh, as to that, if you had them, I should defy you, or anyone, to hide +them from me. When I reflect upon the characters of most of my +acquaintances, I sometimes think nature has formed my optics only to see +disagreeables." + +"That must be a still more painful faculty of vision than even the +second-sight," said Mary; "but I should think it depended very much upon +yourself to counteract it." + +"Impossible! my perceptions are so peculiarly alive to all that is +obnoxious to them that I could as soon preach my eyes into blindness, or +my ears into deafness, as put down my feelings with chopping logic. If +people _will_ be affected and ridiculous, why must I live in a state of +warfare with myself on account of the feelings they rouse within me?" + +"If people _will_ be irritable," said Mary, laughing, "why must others +sacrifice their feelings to gratify them?" + +"Because mine are natural feelings, and theirs are artificial. A very +saint must sicken at sight of affectation, you'll allow. Vulgarity, even +innate vulgarity, is bearable--stupidity itself is pardonable--but +affectation is never to be endured or forgiven." + +"It admits of palliation, at least," answered Mary. "I dare say there are +many people who would have been pleasing and natural in their manners +had not their parents and teachers interfered. There are many, I +believe, who have not courage to show themselves such as they are--some +who are naturally affected and many, very many, who have been taught +affectation as a necessary branch of education." + +"Yes--as my governesses would have taught me; but, thank heaven! I got +the better of them. _Fascinating_ was what they wanted to make me; but +whenever the word was mentioned, I used to knit my brows, and frown upon +them in such a sort. The frown, like now, sticks by me; but no matter--a +frowning brow is better than a false heart, and I defy anyone to say +that I am fascinating." + +"There certainly must be some fascination about you, otherwise I should +never have sat so long listening to you," said Mary, as she rose from +the table at which she had been assisting to dash off the at-homes. + +"But you must listen to me a little longer," cried her cousin, seizing +her hand to detain her. "I have not got half through my detestables yet; +but to humour you, I shall let them go for the present. And now, that +you mayn't suppose I am utterly insensible to excellence, you must +suffer me to show you that I can and do appreciate worth when I can find +it. I confess my talent lies fully as much in discovering the ridiculous +as the amiable; and I am equally ready to acknowledge it is a fault, and +no mark of superior wit or understanding; since it is much easier to hit +off the glaring caricature line of deformity than the finer and more +exquisite touches of beauty, especially for one who reads as he +run---the sign-posts are sure to catch the eye. But now for my +favourite--no matter for her name--it would frighten you if were you to +hear it. In the first place, she is, as some of your old divines say, +_hugely religious;_ 'but then she keeps her piety in its proper place, +and where it ought to be--in her very soul. It is never a +stumbling-block in other people's way, or interfering with other +people's affairs. Her object is to _be,_ not to _seem, _religious; and +there is neither hypocrisy nor austerity necessary for that. She is +forbearing, without meanness--gentle, without insipidity--sincere, +without rudeness. She practises all the virtues herself, and seems quite +unconscious that others don't do the same. She is, if I may trust the +expression of her eye, almost as much alive to the ridiculous as I am; +but she is only diverted where I am provoked. She never bestows false +praise even upon her friends; but a simple approval from her is of more +value than the finest panegyric from another. She never finds occasion +to censure or condemn the conduct of anyone, however flagrant it may be +in the eyes of others; because she seems to think virtue is better +expressed by her own actions than by her neighbour's vices. She cares +not for admiration, but is anxious to do good and give pleasure. To sum +up the whole, she could listen with patience to Lady Placid; she could +bear to be advised by Mrs. Wiseacre; she could stand the scrutiny of +Mrs. Downe Wright; and, hardest task of all" (throwing her arms around +Mary's neck), "she can bear with all my ill-humour and impertinence." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "Have I then no fears for thee, my _mother?_ + Can I forget thy cares, from helpless years-- + Thy tenderness for me? an eye still beamed + With love!" + THOMPSON. + +THE arrival of Lord Lindore brought a influx of visitors to Beech Park; +and in the unceasing round of amusement that went on Mary found herself +completely overlooked. She therefore gladly took advantage of her +insignificance to pay frequent visits to Mrs. Lennox, and easily +prevailed with Lady Juliana to allow her to spend a week there +occasionally. In this way the acquaintance soon ripened into the warmest +affection on both sides. The day seemed doubly dark to Mrs. Lennox that +was not brightened by Mary's presence; and Mary felt all the drooping +energies of her heart revive in the delight of administering to the +happiness of another. + +Mrs. Lennox was one of those gentle amiable beings, who engage our +affections far more powerfully than many possessed of higher attributes. +Her understanding was not strong--neither had it been highly cultivated, +according to the ideas of the present time; but she had a benevolence of +heart and a guileless simplicity of thought that shamed the pride of wit +and pomp of learning. Bereft of all external enjoyments, and destitute +of great mental resources, it was retrospection and futurity that gilded +the dark evening of her days, and shed their light on the dreary +realities of life. She loved to recall the remembrance of her +children--to tell of their infant beauties, their growing virtues--and +to retrace scenes of past felicity which memory loves to treasure in the +heart. + +"Oh! none but a mother can tell," she would exclaim, "the bitterness of +those tears which fall from a mother's eyes. All other sorrows seem +natural, but--God forgive me!--surely it is not natural that the old +should weep for the young. Oh! when I saw myself surrounded by my +children, little did I think that death was so soon to seal their eyes! +Sorrow mine! and yet me thinks I would rather have suffered all than +have stood in the world a lonely being. Yes, my children revered His +power and believed in His name, and, thanks to His mercy, I feel assured +they are now angels in heaven! Here," taking some papers from a +writing-box, "my Louisa speaks to me even from the tomb! These are the +words she wrote but a few hours before her death. Read them to me; for +it is not every voice I can bear to hear uttering her last thoughts." +Mary read as follows:-- + + FOR EVER GONE. + + For ever gone! oh, chilling sound! + That tolls the knell of hope and joy! + Potent with torturing pang to wound, + But not in mercy to destroy. + + For ever gone! what words of grief-- + Replete with wild mysterious woe! + The Christian kneels to seek relief-- + A Saviour died---It is not so. + + For a brief space we sojourn here, + And life's rough path we journey o'er; + Thus was it with the friend so dear, + That is not lost, but sped before. + + For ever gone! oh, madness wild + Dwells in that drear and Atheist doom! + But death of horror is despoiled, + When Heaven shines forth beyond the tomb. + + For ever gone! oh, dreadful fate! + Go visit nature--gather thence + The symbols of man's happier state, + Which speak to every mortal sense. + + The leafless spray, the withered flower, + Alike with man owns death's embrace; + But bustling forth, in summer hour, + Prepare anew to run life's race. + + And shall it be, that man alone + Dies, never more to rise again? + Of all creation, highest one, + Created but to live in vain? + + For ever gone! oh, dire despair!-- + Look to the heavens, the earth, the sea-- + Go, read a Saviour's promise there-- + Go, heir of Immortality! + +From such communings as these the selfish would have turned with +indifference; but Mary's generous heart was ever open to the +overflowings of the wounded spirit. She had never been accustomed to +lavish the best feelings of her nature on frivolous pursuits or +fictitious distresses, but had early been taught to consecrate them to +the best, the most ennobling purposes of humanity--even to the +comforting of the weary soul, the binding of the bruised heart. Yet Mary +was no rigid moralist. She loved amusement as the amusement of an +imperfect existence, though her good sense and still better principles +taught her to reject it as the _business_ of an immortal being. + +Several weeks passed away, during which Mary had been an almost constant +inmate at Rose Hall; but the day of Lady Emily's _fête _arrived, +and with something of hope and expectation fluttering at her heart, she +anticipated her _debut_ in the ball-room. She repaired to the +breakfast-table of her venerable friend with even more than usual +hilarity; but, upon entering the apartment, her gaiety fled; for she was +struck with the emotion visible on the countenance of Mrs. Lennox. Her +meek but tearful eyes were raised to heaven, and her hands were crossed +on her bosom, as if to subdue the agitation of her heart. Her faithful +attendant stood by her with an open letter in her hand. + +Mary flew towards her; and as her light step and soft accents met +her ear, she extended her arms towards her. + +"Mary, my child, where are you?" exclaimed she, as she pressed her with +convulsive eagerness to her heart. "My son!--my Charles!--to-morrow I +shall see him. See him! oh, God help me! I shall never see him more!" +And she wept in all the agony of contending emotions, suddenly and +powerful excited. + +"But you will hear him--you will hold him to your heart--you will be +conscious that he is beside you," said Mary. + +"Yes, thank God! I shall once more hear the voice of a living child! Oh, +how often do those voices ring in my heart, that are all hushed in the +grave! I am used to it now; but to think of his returning to this +wilderness! When last he left it he had father, brothers, sisters--and +to find all gone!" + +"Indeed it will be a sad return," said the old housekeeper, as she wiped +her eyes; "for the Colonel doated on his sister, and she on him, and his +brothers too! Dearly they all loved one another. How in this very room +have I seen them chase each other up and down in their pretty plays, +with their papa's cap and sword, and say they would be soldiers!" + +Mary motioned the good woman to be silent; then turning to Mrs Lennox, +she sought to sooth her into composure, and turned, as she always did, +he bright side of the picture to view, by dwelling on the joy her son +would experience in seeing her. Mrs. Lennox shook her head mournfully. + +"Alas! he cannot joy in seeing me, such as I am. I have too long +concealed from him my dreary doom; he knows not that these poor eyes are +sealed in darkness! Oh, he will seek to read a mother's fondness there, +and he will find all cold and silent." + +"But he will also find you resigned--even contented," said Mary, while +her tears dropped on the hand she held to her lips. + +"Yes; God knows I do not repine at His will. It is not for myself these +tears fall, but my son. How will he bear to behold the mother he so +loved and honoured, now blind, bereft, and helpless?" And the wounds of +her heart seemed to bleed afresh at the excitement of even its happiest +emotions--the return of a long absent, much-loved son. + +Mary exerted all the powers of her understanding, all the tenderness of +her heart, to dispel the mournful images that pressed on the mind of her +friend; but she found it was not so much her _arguments _as her +_presence_ that produced that effect; and to leave her in her present +situation seemed impossible. In the agitation of her spirits she had +wholly forgotten the occasion that called for Mary's absence, and she +implored her to remain with her till the arrival of her son with an +earnestness that was irresistible. + +The thoughts of her cousin's displeasure, should she absent herself upon +such an occasion, caused Mary to hesitate; yet her feelings would not +allow her to name the cause. + +"How unfeeling it would sound to talk of balls at such a time," thought +she; "what a painful contrast must it present! Surely Lady Emily will +not blame me, and no one will miss me----" And, in the ardour of her +feelings, she promised to remain. Yet she sighed as she sent off her +excuse, and thought of the pleasures she had renounced. But the +sacrifice made, the regrets were soon past; and she devoted herself +entirely to soothing the agitated spirits of her venerable friend. + +It is perhaps the simplest and most obvious truth, skilfully +administered, that, in the season of affliction, produces the most +salutary effects upon our mind. Mary was certainly no logician, and all +that she could say might have been said by another; but there is +something in the voice and manner that carries an irresistible influence +along with it--something that tells us our sorrows are felt and +understood, not coldly seen and heard. Mary's well-directed exertions +were repaid with success; she read, talked, played, and sang, not in her +gayest manner, but in that subdued strain which harmonised with the +feelings, while it won upon the attention, and she had at length the +satisfaction of seeing the object of her solicitude restored to her +usual state of calm confiding acquiescence. + +"God bless you, my dear Mary!" said she, as they were about to separate +for the night. "He only can repay you for the good you have done me this +day!" + +"Ah!" thought Mary, as she tenderly embraced her, "such a blessing is +worth a dozen balls?" + +At that moment the sound of a carriage was heard, and an unusual bustle +took place below; but scarcely had they time to notice it ere the door +flew open, and Mrs. Lennox found herself locked in the arms of her son. + +For some minutes the tide of feeling was too strong for utterance, and +"My mother!" "My son!" were the only words that either could articulate. +At length, raising his head, Colonel Lennox fixed his eyes on his +mother's face with a gaze of deep and fearful inquiry; but no returning +glance spoke there. With that mournful vacuity, peculiar to the blind, +which is a thousand times more touching than all the varied expression +of the living orb, she continued to regard the vacant space which +imagination had filled with the image she sought in vain to behold. + +At this confirmation of his worst fears a shade of the deepest +anguish overspread the visage of her son. He raised his eyes, as in +agony, to heaven--then threw himself on his mother's bosom; and as Mary +hurried from the apartment she heard the sob which burst from his manly +heart, as he exclaimed, "My dear mother! do I indeed find you +thus?" + + + + +CHAPTER Xl + +"There is more complacency in the negligence of some men, than in what +is called the good breeding of others; and the little absences of the +heart are often more interesting and engaging than the punctilious +attention of a thousand professed sacrificers to the graces."--MACKENZIE. + + + +POWERFUL emotions are the certain levellers of ordinary feelings. When +Mary met Colonel Lennox in the breakfast-room the following morning, he +accosted her not with the ceremony of a stranger but with the frankness +of a heart careless of common forms, and spoke of his mother with +indications of sensibility which he vainly strove to repress. Mary knew +that she had sought to conceal her real situation from him; but it +seemed a vague suspicion of the truth had, crossed his mind, and having +with difficulty obtained a short leave of absence he had hastened to +have either his hopes or fears realised. + +"And now that I know the worst," said he, "I know it only to deplore it. +Far from alleviating, presence seems rather to aggravate my poor +mother's misfortune. Oh! it is heartrending to see the strivings of +these longing eyes to look upon the face of those she loves!" + +"Ah!" thought Mary, "were they to behold that face now, how changed +would it appear!" as she contrasted it with the portrait that hung +immediately over the head of the original. The one in all the brightness +of youth--the radiant eyes, the rounded cheek, the fair open brow, spoke +only of hope, and health, and joy. Those eyes were now dimmed by sorrow; +the cheek was wasted with toil; the brow was clouded by cares. Yet, "as +it is the best part of beauty which a picture cannot express," [1] +so there is something superior to the mere charms of form and colour; and +an air of high-toned feeling, of mingled vivacity and sensibility, gave +a grandeur to the form and an expression to the countenance which more +than atoned for the want of youth's more brilliant attributes. + +[1] Lord Bacon. + +At least, so thought Mary; but her comparisons were interrupted by the +entrance of Mrs. Lennox. Her son flew towards her, and taking her arm +from that of her attendant, led her to her seat, and sought to render +her those little offices which her helplessness required. + +"My dear Charles," said she, with a smile, as he tried to adjust her +cushions, "your hands have not been used to this work. Your arm is my +best support, but a gentler hand must smooth my pillow. Mary, my love, +where are--? Give me your hand." Then placing it in that of her son-- +"Many a tear has this hand wiped from your mother's eyes!" + +Mary, blushing deeply, hastily withdrew it. She felt it as a sort of +appeal to Colonel Lennox's feelings; and a sense of wounded delicacy +made her shrink from being thus recommended to his gratitude. But +Colonel Lennox seemed too much absorbed in his own painful reflections +to attach such a meaning to his mother's words; and though they excited +him to regard Mary for a moment with peculiar interest, yet, in a little +while, he relapsed into the mournful reverie from which he had been +roused. + +Colonel Lennox was evidently not a show-off character. He seemed +superior to the mere vulgar aim of making himself agreeable--an aim +which has much oftener its source in vanity than in benevolence. Yet the +exerted himself to meet his mother's cheerfulness; though as often as he +looked at her, or raised his eyes to the youthful group that hung before +them, his changing hue and quivering lip betrayed the anguish he strove +to hide. + +Breakfast ended, Mary rose to prepare for her departure, in spite of the +solicitations of her friend that she should remain till the following +day. + +"Surely, my dear Mary," said she in an imploring accent, "you will not +refuse to bestow one day of happiness upon me?--and it is _such _a +happiness to see my Charles and you together. I little thought that ever +I should have been so blessed. Ah! I begin to think God has yet some +good in store for my last days! Do not then leave me just when I am +beginning to taste of joy!"--And she clung to her with that pathetic +look which Mary had ever found irresistble. + +But upon this occasion she steeled her heart against all supplication. +It was the first time she had ever turned from the entreaty of old age +or infirmity; and those only who have lived in the habitual practice of +administering to the happiness of others can conceive how much it costs +the generous heart to resist even the weaknesses of those it loves. But +Mary felt she had already sacrificed too much to affection, and she +feared the reproaches and ridicule that awaited her return to Beech +Park. She therefore gently, though steadily, adhered to her resolution, +only softening it by a promise of returning soon. + +"What an angel goes there!" exclaimed Mrs. Lennox to her son, as Mary +left the room to prepare for her departure. "Ah! Charles, could I but +hope to see her yours!" + +Colonel Lennox smiled--"That must be when I am an angel myself then. A +poor weather-beaten soldier like me must be satisfied with something +less." + +"But is she not a lovely creature?" asked his mother, with some +solicitude. + +"Angels, you know, are always fair," replied Colonel Lennox laughingly, +trying to parry this attack upon his heart. + +"Ah! Charles, that is not being serious. But young people now are +different from what they were in my day. There is no such thing as +falling in love now, you are all so cautious." + +And the good old lady's thoughts reverted to the time when the gay and +gallant Captain Lennox had fallen desperately in love with her, as she +danced a minuet in a blue satin sacque and Bologna hat at a county ball. + +"You forget, my dear mother, what a knack I had in falling in love ten +years ago. Since then, I confess I have got rather out of the way of it; +but a little, a very little practice, I am sure, will make me as expert +as ever;--and then I promise you shall have no cause to complain of my +caution." + +Mrs. Lennox sighed and shook her head. She had long cherished the hope +that if ever her son came home it would be to fall in love with and +marry her beloved Mary; and she had dwelt upon this favourite scheme +till it had taken entire possession of her mind. In the simplicity of +her heart she also imagined that it would greatly help to accelerate the +event were she to suggest the idea to her son, as she had no doubt but +that the object of her affections must necessarily become the idol of +his. So little did she know of human nature that the very means she used +to accomplish her purpose were the most effectual she could have +contrived to defeat it. Such is man, that his pride revolts from all +attempts to influence his affections. The weak and the undiscerning, +indeed, are often led to "choose love by another's eyes;" but the lofty +and independent spirit loves to create for itself those feelings which +lose half their charms when their source is not in the depths of their +own heart. + +It was with no slight mortification that Mrs. Lennox saw Mary depart +without having made the desired impression on the heart of her son; or, +what was still more to be feared, of his having secured himself a place +in her favour. But again and again she made Mary repeat her promise of +returning soon, and spending some days with her. "And then," thought +she, "things will all come right. When they live together, and see each +other constantly, they cannot possibly avoid loving each other, and all +will be as it should be. God grant I may live to see it!" + +And hope softened the pang of disappointment. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + "Qui vous a pu plonger dans cette humeur chagrine, + A-t-on par quelque edit réformé la cuisine?" + + BOILEAU. + +MARY'S inexperienced mind expected to find, on her return to Beech Park, +some vestige of the pleasures of the preceding night--some shadows, at +least, of gaiety, to show what happiness she had sacrificed what delight +her friends had enjoyed; but for the first time she beheld the hideous +aspect of departed pleasure. Drooping evergreens, dying lamps, dim +transparencies, and faded flowers, met her view as she crossed the hall; +while the public rooms were covered with dust from the chalked floors, +and wax from the droppings of the candles. Everything, in short, looked +tawdry and forlorn. Nothing was in its place--nothing looked as it used +to do--and she stood amazed at the disagreeable metamorphose an things +had undergone. + +Hearing some one approach, she turned and beheld Dr. Redgill enter. + +"So--it's only you, Miss Mary!" exclaimed he in a tone of chagrin. "I +was in hopes it was some of the women-servants. 'Pon my soul, it's +disgraceful to think that in this house there is not a woman stirring +yet! I have sent five messages by my man to let Mrs. Brown know that I +have been waiting for my breakfast these two hours; but this confounded +ball has turned everything upside down! You are come to a pretty scene," +continued he, looking round with a mixture of fury and contempt,--"a +very pretty scene! 'Pon my honour, I blush to see myself standing here! +Just look at these rags!" kicking a festoon of artificial roses that had +fallen to the ground. "Can anything be more despicable?--and to think +that rational creatures in possession of their senses should take +pleasure in the sight of such trumpery! 'Pon my soul, I--I--declare it +confounds me! I really used to think Lady Emily (for this is all her +doing) had some sense--but such a display of folly as this!" + +"Pshaw!" said Mary, "it is not fair in us to stand here analysing the +dregs of gaiety after the essence is gone. I daresay this was a very +brilliant scene last night." + +"Brilliant scene, indeed!" repeated the Doctor in a most; wrathful +accent: "I really am amazed--I--yes--brilliant enough--if you mean that +there was a glare of light enough to blind the devil. I thought my eyes +would have been put out the short time I stayed; indeed, I don't think +this one has recovered it yet," advancing a fierce blood-shot eye almost +close to Mary's. "Don't you think it looks a _leettle_ inflamed, Miss +Mary?" + +Mary gave it as her opinion that it did. + +"Well, that's all I've got by this business; but I never was consulted +about it. I thought it my duty, however, to give a _leettle_ hint to the +Earl, when the thing was proposed. 'My Lord,' says I, 'your house is +your own; you have a right to do what you please with it; burn it; pull +it down; make a purgatory of it; but, for God's sake, don't give a ball +in it!' The ball was given, and you see the consequences. A ball! and +what's a ball, that a whole family should be thrown into disorder for +it?" + +"I daresay, to those who are engaged in it, it is a very delightful +amusement at the time." + +"Delightful fiddlestick! 'Pon my soul, I'm surprised at you, Miss Mary! +I thought your staying away was a pretty strong proof of your good +sense; but I--hem! Delightful amusement, indeed! to see human creatures +twirling one another about all night like so many monkeys--making +perfect mountebanks of themselves. Really, I look upon dancing as a most +degrading and a most immoral practice. 'Pon my soul, I--_I_ couldn't +have the face to waltz, I know; and it's all on account of this +delightful amusement--" with a convulsive shake of his chin--"that things +are in this state--myself kept waiting for my breakfast two hours and a +half beyond my natural time: not that I mind myself at all--that's +neither here nor there--and if I was the only sufferer, I'm sure I +should be the very last to complain--but I own it vexes--it distresses +me. 'Pon my honour, can't stand seeing a whole family going to +destruction!" + +The Doctor's agitation was so great that Mary really pitied him. + +"It is rather hard that you cannot get any breakfast since you had no +enjoyment in the ball," said she. "I daresay, were I to apply to Mrs. +Brown, she would trust me with her keys; and I shall be happy too +officiate for her in making your tea." + +"Thank you, Miss Mary," replied the Doctor coldly. "I'm very much obliged +to you. It is really a very polite offer on your part; but--hem!--you +might have observed that I never take tea to breakfast. I keep that for +the evening; most people, I know, do the reverse, but they're in the +wrong. Coffee is too nutritive for the evening. The French themselves +are in an error there. That woman, that Mrs. Brown knows what I like; in +fact, she's the only woman I ever met with who could make coffee--coffee +that I thought drinkable. She knows that--and she knows that I like it +to a moment--and yet---" + +Here the Doctor blew his nose, and Mary thought she perceived a tear +twinkle in his eye. Finding she was incapable of administering +consolation, she was about to quit the room, when the Doctor, recovering +himself, called after her. + +"If you happen to be going the way of Mrs. Brown's room, Miss Mary, I +would take it very kind if you could just contrive to let her know what +time of day it is; and that I have not tasted a mouthful of anything +since last night at twelve o'clock, when I took a _leettle_ morsel of +supper in my own room." + +Mary took advantage of the deep sigh that followed to make her escape; +and as she crossed the vestibule she descried the Doctor's man, hurrying +along with a coffee pot, which she had no doubt would pour consolation +into his master's soul. + +As Mary was aware of her mother's dislike to introduce her into +company, she flattered herself she had for once done something to merit +her approbation by having absented herself on this occasion. But Mary +was a novice in the ways of temper, and had yet to learn that to study +to please, and to succeed, are very different things. Lady Juliana had +been decidedly averse to her appearing at the ball, but she was equally +disposed to take offence at her having stayed away; besides, she had not +been pleased herself, and her glass told her she looked jaded and ill. +She was therefore, as her maid expressed it, in a most particular bad +temper; and Mary had to endure reproaches, of which she could only make +out that although she ought not to have been present she was much to +blame in having been absent. Lady Emily's indignation was in a different +style. There was a heat and energy in her anger that never failed to +overwhelm her victim at once. But it was more tolerable than the +tedious, fretful ill humour of the other; and after she had fairly +exhausted herself in invectives, and ridicule, and insolence, and drawn +tears from her cousin's eyes by the bitterness of her language, she +heartily embraced her, vowed she liked her better than anybody in the +world, and that she was a fool for minding anything she said to +her. + +"I assure you," said she, "I was only tormenting you a little, and you +must own you deserve that; but you can't suppose I meant half what I +said; that is a _bêtise_ I can't conceive you guilty of. You see I +am much more charitable in my conclusions than you. You have no scruple +in thinking me a wretch, though I am too good-natured to set you down +for a fool. Come, brighten up, and I'll tell you all about the ball. How +I hate it, were it only for having made your nose red! But really the +thing in itself was detestable. Job himself must have gone mad at the +provocations I met with. In the first place, I had set my heart upon +introducing you with éclat, and instead of which you preferred +psalm-singing with Mrs. Lennox, or sentiment with her son--I don't know +which. In the next place there was a dinner in Bath, that kept away some +of the best men; then, after waiting an hour and a half for Frederick to +begin the ball with Lady Charlotte M---, I went myself to his room, and +found him lounging by the fire with a volume of Rousseau in his hand, +not dressed, and quite surprised that I should think his presence at all +necessary; and when he did make his entré, conceive my feelings +at seeing him single out Lady Placid as his partner! I certainly would +rather have seen him waltzing with a hyena! I don't believe he knew or +cared whom he danced with--unless, perhaps, it had been Adelaide, but she +was engaged; and, by-the-bye, there certainly is some sort of a liaison +there; how it will end I don't know; it depends upon on themselves, for +I'm sure the course of their love may run smooth if they choose--I know +nothing to interrupt it. Perhaps, indeed, it may become stagnate from +that very circumstance; for you know, or perhaps you don't know, 'there +is no spirit under heaven that works with such delusion.'" + +Mary would have felt rather uneasy at his intelligence, had she believed +it possible for her sister to be in love; but she had ever appeared to +her so insensible to every tender emotion and generous affection, that +she could not suppose even love itself as capable of making any +impression on her heart. When, however, she saw them together, she began +to waver in her opinion. Adelaide, silent and disdainful to others, was +now gay and enchanting to Lord Lindore, and looked as if she triumphed +in the victory she had already won. It was not so easy to ascertain the +nature of Lord Lindore's feelings towards his cousin, and time only +developed them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"Les douleurs muettes et stupides sont hors d'usage; on pleure, on +récite, on répète, on est si touchée de la mort de son mari, qu'on +n'en oublie pas la moindre circonstance." + + LA BRUYERE. + + +"PRAY put on your Lennox face this morning, Mary," said Lady Emily one +day to her cousin, "for I want you to go and pay a funeral visit with me +to a distant relation, but unhappily a near neighbour of ours, who has +lately lost her husband. Lady Juliana and Adelaide ought to go, but they +won't, so you and I must celebrate, as we best can, the obsequies of the +Honourable Mr. Sufton." + +Mary readily assented; and when they were seated in the carriage, her +cousin began-- + +"Since I am going to put you in the way of a trap, I think it but fair +to warn you of it. All traps are odious things, and I make it my +business to expose them wherever I find them. I own it chafes my spirit +to see even sensible people taken in by the clumsy machinery of such a +woman as Lady Matilda Sufton. So here she is in her true colours. Lady +Matilda is descended from the ancient and illustrious family of +Altamont. To have a fair character is, in her eyes, much more important +than to deserve it. She has prepared speeches for every occasion, and +she expects they are all to be believed--in short, she is a _show_ +woman; the world is her theatre, and from it she looks for the plaudits +due to her virtue; for with her the reality and the semblance are +synonymous. She has a grave and imposing air, which keeps the timid at a +distance; and she delivers the most common truths as if they were the +most profound aphorisms. To degrade herself is her greatest fear; for, +to use her own expression, there is nothing so degrading as associating +with our inferiors--that is, our inferiors in rank and wealth--for with +her all other gradations are incomprehensible. With the lower orders of +society she is totally unacquainted; she knows they are meanly clothed +and coarsely fed, consequently they are mean. She is proud, both from +nature and principle; for she thinks it is the duty of every woman of +family to be proud, and that humility is only a virtue in the +_canaille._ Proper pride she calls it, though I rather think it ought +to be pride _proper,_ as I imagine it is a distinction that was unknown +before the introduction of heraldry. The only true knowledge, according +to her creed, is the knowledge of the world, by which she means a +knowledge of the most courtly etiquette, the manners and habits of the +great, and the newest fashions in dress. Ignoramuses might suppose she +entered deeply into things, and was thoroughly acquainted with human +nature. No such thing; the only wisdom she possesses, like the owl is +the look of wisdom, and that is the very part of it which I detest. +Passions or feelings she has none, and to love she is an utter stranger. +When somewhat 'in the sear and yellow leaf' she married Mr. Sufton, a +silly old man, who had been dead to the world for many years. But after +having had him buried alive in his own chamber till his existence was +forgot, she had him disinterred for the purpose of giving him a splendid +burial in good earnest. That done, her duty is now to mourn, or appear +to mourn, for the approbation of the world. And now you shall judge for +yourself, for here is Sufton House. Now for the trappings and the weeds +of woe." + +Aware of her cousin's satirical turn, Mary was not disposed to yield +conviction to her representation, but entered Lady Matilda's +drawing-room with a mind sufficiently unbiassed to allow her to form her +own judgment; but a very slight survey satisfied her that the picture +was not overcharged. Lady Matilda sat in an attitude of woe--a +crape--fan and open prayer-book lay before her--her cambric handkerchief +was in her hand--her mourning-ring was upon her finger--and the tear, +not unbidden, stood in her eye. On the same sofa, and side by side, sat +a tall, awkward, vapid-looking personage, whom she introduced as her +brother, the Duke of Altamont. His Grace was flanked by an +obsequious-looking gentleman, who was slightly named as General Carver; +and at a respectful distance was seated a sort of half-cast +gentle-woman, something betwixt the confide humble companion, who was +incidentally as "my good Mrs. Finch." + +Her Ladyship pressed Lady Emily's hand-- + +"I did not expect, my dearest young friend, after the blow I have +experienced--I did not expect I should so soon have been enabled to see +my friends; but I have made a great exertion. Had I consulted my own +feelings, indeed!--but there is a duty we owe to the world--there is an +example we are all bound to show--but such a blow!" Here she had +recourse to her handkerchief. + +"Such a blow!" echoed the Duke. + +"Such a blow!" re-echoed the General. + +"Such a blow!" reverberated Mrs. Finch. + +"The most doating husband! I may say he lived but in my sight. Such a +man!" + +"Such a man!" said the Duke. + +"Such a man!" exclaimed the General. + +"Oh! such a man!" sobbed Mrs. Finch, as she complacently dropped a few +tears. At hat moment, sacred to tender remembrance, the door opened, and +Mrs. Downe Wright was announced. She entered the room as if she had come +to profane the ashes of the dead, and insult the feelings of the living. +A smile was upon her face; and, in place of the silent pressure, she +shook her Ladyship heartily by the hand as she expressed her pleasure at +seeing her look so well. + +"Well!" replied the Lady, "that is wonderful, after whatever have +suffered; but grief, it seems, will not kill!" + +"I never thought it would," said Mrs. Downe Wright; "but I thought your +having been confined to the house so long might have affected your +looks. However, I'm happy to see that is not the case, as I don't +recollect ever to have seen you so fat." + +Lady Matilda tried to look her into decency, but in vain. She sighed, +and even groaned; but Mrs. Downe Wright would not be dolorous, and was +not to be taken in, either by sigh or groan, crape-fan or prayer-book. +There was nobody her Ladyship stood so much in awe of as Mrs. Downe +Wright. She had an instinctive knowledge that she knew her, and she felt +her genius repressed by her, as Julius Cresar's was by Cassius. They had +been very old acquaintances, but never were cordial friends, though many +worthy people are very apt to confound the two. Upon this occasion Mrs. +Downe Wright certainly did; for, availing herself of this privilege, she +took off her cloak, and said, "'Tis so long since I have seen you, my +dear; and since I see you so well, and able to enjoy the society of your +friends, I shall delay the rest of my visits, and spend the morning with +you." + +"That is truly kind of you, my dear Mrs. Downe Wright," returned the +mourner, with a countenance in which real woe was now plainly depicted; +"but I cannot be so selfish as to claim such a sacrifice from you." + +"There is no sacrifice in the case, I assure you, my dear," returned +Mrs. Downe Wright. "This is a most comfortable room; and I could go +nowhere that I would meet a pleasanter little circle," looking round. + +Lady Matilda thought herself undone. Looking well--fat--comfortable +room--pleasant circle--rung in her ears, and caused almost as great a +whirl in her brain as noses, lips, handkerchiefs, did in Othello's Mrs. +Downe Wright, always disagreeable, was now perfectly insupportable. She +had disconcerted all her plans--she was a bar to all her studied +speeches--even an obstacle to all her sentimental looks; yet to get rid +of her was impossible. In fact, Mrs. Downe Wright was far from being an +amiable woman. She took a malicious pleasure in tormenting those she did +not like; and her skill in this art was so great that she even deprived +the tormented of the privilege of complaint. She had a great insight +into character, and she might be said to read the very thoughts of his +victims. Making a desperate effort to be herself again, Lady Matilda +turned to her two young visitors, with whom she had still some hopes of +success. + +"I cannot express how much I feel indebted to the sympathy of my friends +upon this trying occasion--an occasion, indeed, that called for +sympathy." + +"A most melancholy occasion!" said the Duke. + +"A most distressing occasion!" exclaimed the General. + +"Never was greater occasion!" moaned Mrs_._ Finch. + +Her Ladyship wiped her eyes, and resumed. + +"I feel that I act but a melancholy part, in spite of every exertion. +But my kind friend Mrs. Downe Wright's spirits will, I trust, support +me. She knows what it is to lose--" + +Again her voice was buried in her handkerchief, and again she recovered +and proceeded. + +"I ought to apologise for being thus overcome; but my friends, I hope, +will make due allowance for my situation. It cannot be expected that I +should at all times find myself able for company." + +"Not at all!" said the Duke; and the two satellites uttered their +responses. + +"You are able for a great deal, my dear!" said the provoking Mrs. Downe +Wright; "and I have no doubt but, with a very little exertion, you could +behave as if nothing had happened." + +"Your partiality makes you suppose me capable of a great deal more than +I am equal to," answered her Ladyship, with a real hysteric sob. "It is +not everyone who is blessed with the spirits of Mrs. Downe Wright." + +"What woman can do, you dare; who dares do more, is none!" said the +General, bowing with a delighted air at this brilliant application. + +Mrs. Downe Wright charitably allowed it to pass, as she thought it might +be construed either as a compliment or a banter. Visitors flocked in, +and the insufferable Mrs. Downe Wright declared to all that her Ladyship +was astonishingly well; but without the appropriate whine, which gives +proper pathos, and generally accompanies this hackneyed speech. Mrs. +Finch indeed laboured hard _to _counteract the effect of this +injudicious cheerfulness by the most orthodox sighs, shakes of the head, +and confidential whispers, in which "wonderful woman!"--"prodigious +exertion!"--"perfectly overcome!"--"suffer for this afterwards,"--were +audibly heard by all present; but even then Mrs. Downe Wright's drawn-up +lip and curled nose spoke daggers. At length the tormentor recollected +an engagement she had made elsewhere, and took leave, promising to +return, if possible, the following day. Her friend, in her own mind, +took her measures accordingly. She resolved to order her own carriage to +be in waiting, and if Mrs. Downe Wright put her threat in execution she +would take an airing. True, she had not intended to have been able for +such an exertion for at least a week longer; but, with the blinds down, +she thought it might have an interesting effect. + +The enemy fairly gone, Lady Matilda seemed to feel like a person +suddenly relieved from the nightmare; and she was beginning to give a +fair specimen of her scenic powers when Lady Emily, seeing the game was +up with Mrs. Downe Wright, abruptly rose to depart. + +"This has been a trying scene for you, my sweet young friends!" said her +Ladyship, taking a hand of each. + +"It has indeed!" replied Lady Emily, in a tone so significant as made +Mary start. + +"I know it would--youth is always so full of sympathy. I own I have a +preference for the society of my young friends on that account. My good +Mrs. Finch, indeed, is an exception; but worthy Mrs. Downe Wright has +been almost too much for me." + +"She is too much!" said the Duke. + +"She is a great deal too much!" said the General. + +"She is a vast deal too much!" said Mrs. Finch. + +"I own I have been rather overcome by her!" with a deep-drawn sigh, +which her visitors hastily availed themselves of to make their retreat. +The Duke and the General handed Lady Emily and Mary to their +carriage. + +"You find my poor sister wonderfully composed," said the former. + +"Charming woman, Lady Matilda!" ejaculated the latter; "her feelings do +honour to her head and heart!" + +Mary sprang into the carriage as quick as possible to be saved the +embarrassment of a reply; and it was not till they were fairly out of +sight that she ventured to raise her eyes to her cousin's face. There +the expression of ill-humour and disgust were so strongly depicted that +she could not longer repress her risible emotions, but gave way to a +violent fit of laughter. + +"How!" exclaimed her companion, "is this the only effect 'Matilda's +moan' has produced upon you? I expected your taste for grief would have +been highly gratified by this affecting representation." + +"My appetite, you ought rather to say," replied Mary; "taste implies +some discrimination, which you seem to deny me." + +"Why, to tell you the truth, I do look upon you as a sort of +intellectual ghoul; you really do remind me of the lady in the Arabian +Nights, whose taste or appetite, which you will, led her to scorn +everything that did not savour of the churchyard." + +"The delicacy of your comparison is highly flattering," said Mary; "but +I must be duller than the fatweed were I to give my sympathy to such as +Lady Matilda Sufton." + +"Well, I'm glad to hear you say so; for I assure you I was in pain lest +you should have been taken in, notwithstanding my warning to say +something _larmoyante--or_ join the soft echo--or heave a sigh--or drop a +tear--or do something, in short, that would have disgraced you with me +for ever. At one time, I must do you the justice to own, I thought I saw +you with difficulty repress a smile, and then you blushed so, for fear +you had betrayed yourself! The smile I suppose has gained you one +conquest--the blush another. How happy you who can hit the various +tastes so easily! Mrs. Downe Wright whispered me as she left the room, +'What a charming intelligent countenance your cousin has!' While my Lord +Duke of Altamont observed, as he handed me along, 'What a very sweet +modest-looking girl Miss Douglas was! 'So take your choice--Mrs. William +Downe Wright, or Duchess of Altamont!" + +"Duchess of Altamont, to be sure," said Mary: "and then such a man! Oh! +such a man!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + "For marriage is a matter of more worth + Than to be dealt with in attorneyship." + + SHAKESPEARE. + +"ALLOW me to introduce to you, ladies, that most high and puissant +Princess, her Grace the Duchess of Altamont, Marchioness of Norwood, +Countess of Penrose, Baroness of, etc. etc.," cried Lady Emily, as she +threw open the drawing-room door, and ushered Mary into the presence of +her mother and sister, with all the demonstrations of ceremony and +respect. The one frowned-the other coloured. + +"How vastly absurd!" cried Lady Juliana angrily. + +"How vastly amusing!" cried Adelaide contemptuously. + +"How vastly annoying!" cried Lady Emily; "to think that this little +Highlander should bear a loft the ducal crown, while you and I, +Adelaide, must sneak about in shabby straw bonnets," throwing down her +own in pretended indignation. "Then to think, which is almost certain, of +her Viceroying it someday; and you and I, and all of us, being presented +to her Majesty--having the honour of her hand to kiss--retreating from +the royal presence upon our heels. + +"Oh! ye Sylphs and Gnomes!" and she pretended to sink down overwhelmed +with mortification. + +Lady Emily delighted in tormenting her aunt and cousin, and she saw that +she had completely succeeded. Mary was disliked by her mother, and +despised by her sister; and any attempt to bring her forward, or raise +her to a level with themselves, never failed to excite the indignation of +both. The consequences were always felt by her in the increased +ill-humour and disdainful indifference with which she was treated; and +on the present occasion her injudicious friend was only brewing phials +of wrath for her. But Lady Emily never looked to future +consequences--present effect was all she cared for; and she went on to +relate seriously, as she called it, but in the most exaggerated terms, +the admiration which the Duke had expressed for Mary, and her own firm +belief that she might be Duchess when she chose; "that is, after the +expiry of his mourning for the late Duchess. Everyone knows that he is +desirous of having a family, and is determined to marry the moment +propriety permits; he is now decidedly on the look-out, for the year +must be very near a close; and then, hail Duchess of Altamont!" + +"I must desire, Lady Emily, you will find some other subject for your +wit, and not fill the girl's head with folly and nonsense; there is a +great deal too much of both already." + +"Take care what you say of the future representative of majesty of this +may be high treason yet; only I trust your Grace will be as generous as +Henry the Fifth was, and that the Duchess of Altamont will not remember +the offences committed against Mary Douglas." + +Lady Juliana, to whom a jest was an outrage, and raillery +incomprehensible, now started up, and, as she passionately swept out of +the room, threw down a stand of hyacinths, which, for the present, put a +stop to Lady Emily's diversion. + +The following day Mrs. Downe Wright arrived with her son, evidently +primed for falling in love at first sight. He was a very handsome young +man, gentle, and rather pleasing in his manners; and Mary, to whom his +intentions were not so palpable, thought him by no means deserving of +the contempt her cousin had expressed for him. + +"Well!" cried Lady Emily, after they were gone, "the plot begins to +thicken; lovers begin to pour in, but all for Mary; how mortifying to +you and me, Adelaide! At this rate we shall have nothing to boast of in +the way of disinterested attachment nobody refused!--nothing renounced! +By-and-bye Edward will be reckoned a very good match for _me,_and _you_ +will be thought greatly married if you succeed in securing +Lindore--_poor_ Lord Lindore, as it seems that wretch Placid calls him." + +Adelaide heard all her cousin's taunts in silence and with apparent +coolness; but they rankled deep in a heart already festering with pride, +envy, and ambition. The thoughts of her sister--and that sister so +inferior to herself--attaining a more splendid alliance, was not to be +endured. True, she loved Lord Lindore, and imagined herself beloved in +return; but even that was not sufficient to satisfy the craving passions +of a perverted mind. She did not, indeed, attach implicit belief to all +that her cousin said on the subject; but she was provoked and irritated +at the mere supposition of such a thing being possible; for it is not +merely the jealous whose happiness is the sport of trifles light as +air--every evil thought, every unamiable feeling, bears about with it +the bane of that enjoyment after which it vainly aspires. + +Mary felt the increasing ill-humour which this subject drew upon her, +without being able to penetrate the cause of it; but she saw that it was +displeasing to her mother and sister, and that was sufficient to make +her wish to put a stop to it. She therefore earnestly entreated Lady +Emily to end the joke. + +"Excuse me," replied her Ladyship, "I shall do no such thing. In the +first place, there happens to be no joke in the matter. I'm certain, +seriously certain, or certainly serious, which you like, that you may be +Duchess of Altamont, if you please. It could be no common admiration +that prompted his Grace to an original and spontaneous effusion of it. I +have met with him before, and never suspected that he had an innate idea +in his head. I certainly never heard him utter anything half so +brilliant before--it seemed quite like the effect of inspiration." + +"But I cannot conceive, even were it as you say, why my mother should be +so displeased about it. She surely cannot suppose me so silly as to be +elated by the unmeaning admiration of anyone, or so meanly aspiring as +to marry a man I could not love, merely because he is a Duke. She was +incapable of such a thing herself, she cannot then suspect me." + +"It seems as impossible to make you enter into the characters of your +mother and sister as it would be to teach them to comprehend yours, and +far be it from me to act as interpreter betwixt your understandings. If +you can't even imagine such things as prejudice, narrow-mindedness, +envy, hatred, and malice, your ignorance is bliss, and you had better +remain in it. But you may take my word for one thing, and that is, that +'tis a much wiser thing to resist tyranny than to submit to it. Your +patient Grizzles make nothing of it, except in little books: in real +life they become perfect pack-horses, saddled with the whole offences of +the family. Such will you become unless you pluck up spirit and dash +out. Marry the Duke, and drive over the necks of all your relations; +that's my advice to you." + +"And you may rest assured that when I follow your advice it shall be +in whole not in part." + +"Well, situated so detestably as you are, I rather think the best thing +you could do would be to make yourself Duchess of Altamont. How +disdainful you look! Come, tell me honestly now, would you really refuse +to be Your Grace, with ninety thousand a year, and remain simple Mary +Douglas, passing rich with perhaps forty?" + +"Unquestionably," said Mary. + +"What! you really pretend to say you would not marry the Duke of +Altamont?" cried Lady Emily. "Not that I would take him myself; but as +you and I, though the best of friends, differ widely in our sentiments +on most subjects, I should really like to know how it happens that we +coincide in this one. Very different reasons, I daresay, lead to the +same conclusion; but I shall generously give you the advantage of +hearing mine first. I shall say nothing of being engaged--I shall even +banish that idea from my thoughts; but were I free as air--unloving and +unloved--I would refuse the Duke of Altamont; first, because he: is +old--no, first, because he is stupid; second, because he is formal; +third, because he swallows all Lady Matilda's flummery; fourth, because +he is more than double my age; fifth, because he is not handsome; and, +to sum up the whole in the sixth, he wants that inimitable _Je ne scais +quoi_ which I consider as a necessary ingredient in the matrimonial cup. +I shall not, in addition to these defects, dwell upon his unmeaning +stare, his formal bow, his little senseless simper, etc. etc. etc. All +these enormities, and many more of the same stamp, I shall pass by, as I +have no doubt they had their due effect upon you as well as me; but then +I am not like you, under the torments of Lady Juliana's authority. Were +that the case, I should certainly think it a blessing to become Duchess +of anybody to-morrow." + +"And can you really imagine," said Mary, "that for the sake of shaking +off a parent's authority I would impose upon myself chains still +heavier, and even more binding? Can you suppose I would so far forfeit +my honour and truth as that I would swear to love, honour, and obey, +where I could feel neither love nor respect, and where cold constrained +obedience would be all of my duty I could hope to fulfil?" + +"Love!" +exclaimed Lady Emily; "can I credit my ears? Love! did you say I +thought that had only been for naughty ones, such as me; and that +saints like you would have married for anything and everything but +love! Prudence, I thought, had been the word with you proper ladies--a +prudent marriage! Come, confess, is not that the climax of virtue in +the creed of your school?" + +"I never learnt the creed of any school," said Mary, "nor ever heard +anyone's sentiments on the subject, except my dear Mrs. Douglas's." + +"Well, I should like to hear your oracle's opinion, if you can give it +in shorthand." + +"She warned me there was a passion which was very fashionable, and which +I should hear a great deal of, both in conversation and books, that was +the result of indulged fancy, warm imaginations, and ill-regulated +minds; that many had fallen into its snares, deceived by its glowing +colours and alluring name; that--" + +"A very good sermon, indeed!" interrupted Lady Emily; "but, no offence +to Mrs. Douglas, I think I could preach a better myself. Love is a +passion that has been much talked of, often described, and little +understood. Cupid has many counterfeits going about the world, who pass +very well with those whose minds are capable of passion, but not of +love. These Birmingham Cupids have many votaries amongst boarding-school +misses, militia officers, and milliners 'apprentices; who marry upon the +mutual faith of blue eyes and scarlet coats; have dirty houses and +squalling children, and hate each other most delectably. Then there is +another species for more refined souls, which owes its birth to the +works of Rousseau, Goethe, Cottin, etc. Its success depends very much +upon rocks, woods, and waterfalls; and it generally ends daggers, +pistols, or poison. But there, I think, Lindore would be more eloquent +than me, so I shall leave it for him to discuss that chapter with you. +But, to return to your own immediate concerns. Pray, are you then +positively prohibited from falling in love? Did Mrs. Douglas only dress +up a scarecrow to frighten you, or had she the candour to show you Love +himself in all his majesty?" + +"She told me," said Mary, "that there was a love which even the wisest +and most virtuous need not blush to entertain--the love of a virtuous +object, founded upon esteem, and heightened by similarity of tastes and +sympathy of feelings, into a pure and devoted attachment: unless I feel +all this, I shall never fancy myself in love." + +"Humph! I can't say much as to the similarity of tastes and sympathy +of souls between the Duke and you, but surely you might contrive to feel +some love and esteem for a coronet and ninety thousand a year." + "Suppose I did," said Mary, with a smile, "the next point +is to honour; and surely he is as unlikely to excite that sentiment as +the other. Honour---" + +"I can't have a second sermon upon honour. 'Can honour take away the +grief of a wound?' as Falstaff says. Love is the only subject I care to +preach about; though, unlike many young ladies, we can talk about other +things too; but as to this Duke, _I_ certainly 'had rather live on +cheese and garlic, in a windmill far, than feed on cakes, and have him +talk to me in any summer-house in Christendom;' and now I have had Mrs. +Douglas's second-hand sentiments upon the subject, I should like to hear +your own." + +"I have never thought much upon the subject," said Mary; "my sentiments +are therefore all at second-hand, but I shall repeat to you what I think +is not love, and what is." And she repeated these pretty and well-known +lines:-- + + CARELESS AND FAITHFUL LOVE. + + To sigh--yet feel no pain; + To weep-yet scarce know why; + To sport an hour with beauty's chain, + Then throw it idly by; + To kneel at many a shrine, + Yet lay the heart on none; + To think all other charms divine + But those we just have won:-- + This is love-careless love-- + Such as kindleth hearts that rove. + To keep one sacred flame + Through life, unchill'd, unmov'd; + To love in wint'ry age the same + That first in youth we loved; + To feel that we adore + With such refined excess, + That though the heart would break with more, + We could not love with less:-- + This is love--faithful love-- + Such as saints might feel above. + +"And such as I do feel, and will always feel, for my Edward," said Lady +Emily. "But there is the dressing-bell!" And she flew off, singing-- + +"To keep one sacred flame," etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +"Some, when they write to their friends, are all affection; Some are +wise and sententious; some strain their powers for efforts of gaiety; +some write news, and some write secrets--but to make a letter without +affection, without wisdom, without gaiety, without news, and without a +secret, is doubtless the great epistolic art. "-DR. JOHNSON. + +AN unusual length of time had elapsed since Mary had heard from +Glenfern, and she was beginning to feel some anxiety on account of her +friends there, when her apprehensions were dispelled by the arrival of a +large packet, containing letters from Mrs. Douglas and Aunt Jacky. The +former, although the one that conveyed the greatest degree of pleasure, +was perhaps not the one that would be most acceptable to the reader. +Indeed, it is generally admitted that the letters of single ladies are +infinitely more lively and entertaining than those of married ones--a +fact which can neither be denied nor accounted for. The following is a +faithful transcript from the original letter in question;-- + +"GLENFERN CASTLE, ---SHIRE, N.B. _Feb. 19th,_ 18--. + +"My DEAR MARY--Yours was _received_ with _much_ pleasure, as it is +_always_ a satisfaction to your friends _here_ to know that you are +_well_ and doing _well._ We all _take_ the most _sincere_ interest in +your _health,_ and also in your _improvements_ in other _respects._ But +I am _sorry_ to say they do not quite _keep_ pace with _our_ +expectations. I must therefore _take_ this opportunity of _mentioning_ +to you a _fault_ of yours, _which,_ though a very great _one _in itself, +is one _that_ a very slight _degree_ of attention on your _part,_ will, +I have _no_ doubt, enable you to _get_ entirely the _better of._ is +fortunate for _you,_ my dear Mary, that you have _friends_ who are +always ready to point _out_ your errors to you. For _want_ of that +_most_ invaluable _blessing,_ viz. a sincere _friend, _many a _one_ has +gone out of the _world,_ no wiser in many _respects,_ than when they +_came_ into it. But that, I flatter _myself,_ will not be your _case,_ +as you cannot _but_ be sensible of the great _pains_ my sister and I +have _taken_ to point out your _faults_ to you from the _hour _of your +birth. The _one_ to which I particularly _allude _at present is, the +constant omission of _proper_ dates to your _letters,_ by which means we +are all of us very often _brought_ into _most_ unpleasant _situations._ +As an _instance_ of it, our _worthy_ minister, Mr M'Drone, happened to +be _calling_ here the very _day_ we received your last _letter._ After +_hearing_ it read, he most _naturally_ inquired the date of it; and I +_cannot_ tell you how _awkward_ we all _felt_ when we were _obliged_ to +confess it had _none!_ And since I am _upon_ that subject, I think it +much _better_ to tell you candidly that I _do_ not think your _hand_ of +write by any _means_ improved. It does not _look_ as if you _bestowed_ +that pains upon it which you _undoubtedly_ ought to do; for without +_pains,_ I can assure you, Mary, you _will_ never do any _thing_ well. +As our admirable _grandmother,_ good Lady Girnachgowl, _used_ to say, +pains _makes_ gains; and so it was _seen_ upon her; for it was entirely +_owing_ to her _pains_ that the Girnachgowl estate was relieved, and +_came_ to be what it is now, viz. a most valuable and _highly_ +productive _property._ + +"I know there are _many_ young _people_ who are very _apt _to think it +_beneath_ them to take _pains;"_ but I sincerely trust, my dear Mary, +you have _more_ sense than to be so very _foolish._ Next to a good +distinct _hand_ of write, and _proper_ stops (which I observe you never +_put),_ the thing _most_ to be attended to is your style, _which_ we all +think might _be_ greatly _improved_ by a _little _reflection on your +_part,_ joined to a _few_ judicious _hints_ from your friends. We are +_all_ of opinion, that your _periods_ are too short, and also _that_ +your expressions are _deficient_ in dignity. _Neither_ are you +sufficiently circumstantial in your _intelligence,_ even upon subjects +of the highest _importance._ Indeed, upon some _subjects,_ you +_communicate_ no information whatever, which is _certainly_ very +extraordinary in a _young_ person, who ought to be naturally extremely +communicative. Miss M'Pry, who is here upon a _visit_ to us at +_present,_ is perfectly _astonished_ at the total _want_ of news in your +_letters. _She has a _niece_ residing in the neighbourhood of _Bath, _who +sends her regular lists of the company there, and also an _account_ of +the most _remarkable_ events that take _place _there. Indeed, had it not +_been_ for Patty M'Pry, we never would have _heard_ a _syllable_ of the +celebrated _Lady _Travers's elopement with _Sir_ John Conquest; and, +indeed, I cannot _conceal_ from you, that we have heard more as to what +goes on in Lord Courtland's _family_ through Miss Patty M'Pry, than +_ever_ we have heard from you, _Mary._ + +"In short, I _must_ plainly tell you, _however_ painful you may _feel_ +it, that not one of us is ever a _whit_ the wiser after reading your +_letters_ than we _were_ before. But I am _sorry_ to say this is not the +_most_ serious part of the _complaint_ we have to _make_ against you. +We are all _willing_ to find excuses for you, even _upon_ these points, +but I must _confess,_ your neglecting to _return_ any answers to certain +inquiries of your aunts', _appears_ to me perfectly inexcusable. Of +_course,_ you must _understand_ that I allude to that _letter_ of your +Aunt Grizzy's, dated the 17th of December, wherein she _expressed_ a +strong desire that you should endeavour to make yourself _mistress_ of +Dr. Redgill's opinion with _respect_ to lumbago, as she is extremely +anxious to _know_ whether he _considers_ the seat of the disorder to be +in the bones or the sinews; and undoubtedly it is of the greatest +_consequence_ to procure the _opinion_ of a sensible well-informed +English _physician,_ upon a subject of such vital _importance._ Your +Aunt Nicky, also, in a letter, _dated_ the 22d of December, requested to +be _informed_ whether Lord Courtland (like our _great_ landholders) +killed his own _mutton_, as Miss P. M'P. insinuates in a _letter_ to her +aunt, that the _servants_ there are suspected of being _guilty_ of great +_abuses_ on that _score_; but there you also _preserve_ a most +unbecoming, and I own I think _somewhat mysterious silence._ + +"And now, my dear Mary, _having_ said all that _I_ trust is necessary +to _recall_ you to a sense of _your_ duty, I _shall_ now communicate to +you a _piece_ of intelligence, _which,_ I am certain, will _occasion_ +you the _most _unfeigned pleasure, viz. the prospect there is of your +soon _beholding_ some of your friends from this _quarter_ in Bath. Our +valuable friend and _neighbour,_ Sir Sampson, has been rather (we think) +worse than _better_ since you left us. He is now _deprived_ of the +entire use of one leg. He _himself _calls his _complaint_ a morbid +rheumatism; but Lady Maclaughlan _assures_ us it is a rheumatic palsy, +and she has now _formed_ the resolution of _taking_ him _up_ to Bath +early in the ensuing _spring._ And not only that, but she has most +considerately _invited_ your Aunt Grizzy to accompany them, _which,_ of +course, she is to do with the greatest _pleasure._ We are therefore all +extremely _occupied_ in getting your aunt's things _put_ in order for +such an _occasion;_ and you must _accept_ of that as an apology for +none of the girls _being_ at leisure to write _you_ at present, and +_likewise_ for the shortness of _this_ letter. But be assured we will all +_write_ you fully by Grizzy. Meantime, all _unite_ in kind remembrance +to _you._ And I _am,_ my dear Mary, your most affectionate aunt, + + "JOAN +DOUGLAS." + +"P.S.--Upon _looking_ over your letter, I am much _struck_ with your +X's. You surely _cannot_ be so ignorant as _not_ to know that a well +_made x_ is neither more nor _less_ than _two c's_ joined together back +to back, _instead_ of these senseless crosses you _seem_ so fond of; and +as to _your z's, _I defy any _one_ to distinguish them _from_ your _y_'s. +_I trust you will _attend_ to this, and show that it _proceeds _rather +from want of proper _attention_ than _from_ wilful airs. + + J. +D." + +"P.S.-Miss P. M'Pry _writes_ her aunt that _there_ is a strong _report +_of Lord Lindore's marriage to our _niece_ Adelaide; but _we _think that +is _impossible,_ as you certainly _never_ could have omitted to _inform_ +us of a circumstance _which_ so deeply concerns _us._ If so, I must +_own_ I shall think you quite _unpardonable._ At the _same_ time, it +_appears _extremely improbable _that_ Miss M'P. _would_ have mentioned +_such_ a thing to her _aunt,_without having good _grounds_ to _go_ upon. +J. D." + +Mary could not entirely repress her mirth while she read this catalogue +of her crimes; but she was, at the same time, eager to expiate her +offences, real or imaginary, in the sight of her good old aunt; and she +immediately sat down to the construction of a letter after the model +prescribed;--though with little expectation of being able to cope with +the intelligent Miss P. M'P. in the extent of her communications. Her +heart warmed at the thoughts of seeing again the dear familiar face of +Aunt Grizzy, and of hearing the tones of that voice, which, though sharp +and cracked, still sounded sweet in memory's ear. Such is the power that +early associations ever retain over the kind and unsophisticated heart. +But she was aware how differently her mother would feel on the subject, +as she never alluded to her husband's family but with indignation or +contempt; and she therefore resolved to be silent with regard to Aunt +Grizzy's prospects for the present. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +". . . . As in apothecaries' shops all sorts of drugs are permitted to +be, so may all sorts of books be in the library; and as they out of +vipers, and scorpions, and poisonous vegetables extract often wholesome +medicaments for the life of mankind, so out of whatsoever book good +instruction and examples may be acquired."--DRUMMOND _of Hawthornden._ + +MARY's thoughts had often reverted to Rose Hall since the day she had +last quitted it, and she longed to fulfil her promise to her venerable +friend; but a feeling of delicacy, unknown to herself, withheld her. +"She will not miss me while she has her son with her," said she to +herself; but in reality she dreaded her cousin's raillery should she +continue to visit there as frequently as before. At length a favourable +opportunity occurred. Lady Emily, with great exultation, told her the +Duke of Altamont was to dine at Beech Park the following day, but that +she was to conceal it from Lady Juliana and Adelaide; "for assuredly," +said she, "if they were apprised of it, they would send you up to the +nursery as a naughty girl, or perhaps down to the scullery, and make a +Cinderella of you. Depend upon it you would not get leave to show your +face in the drawing-room." + +"Do you really think so?" asked Mary. + +"I know it. I know Lady Juliana would torment you till she had set you a +crying; and then she would tell you you had made yourself such a fright +that you were not fit to be seen, and so order you to your own room. You +know very well it would not be the first time that such a thing has +happened." + +Mary could not deny the fact; but, sick of idle altercation, she +resolved to say nothing, but walk over to Rose Hall the following +morning. And this she did, leaving a note for her cousin, apologising +for her flight. + +She was received with rapture by Mrs. Lennox. + +"Ah! my dear Mary," said she, as she tenderly embraced her, "you know +not, you cannot conceive, what a blank your absence makes in my life! +When you open your eyes in the morning, it is to see the light of day +and the faces you love, and all is brightness around you. But when I +wake it is still to darkness. My night knows no end. 'Tis only when I +listen to your dear voice that I forget I am blind." + +"I should not have stayed so long from you," said Mary, "but I knew you +had Colonel Lennox with you, and I could not flatter myself you would +have even a thought to bestow upon me." + +"My Charles is, indeed, everything that is kind and devoted to me. He +walks with me, reads to me, talks to me, sits with me for hours, and +bears with all my little weaknesses as a mother would with her sick +child; but still there are a thousand little feminine attentions he +cannot understand. I would not that he did. And then to have him always +with me seems so selfish; for, gentle and tender-hearted as he is, I +know he bears the spirit of an eagle within him; and the tame monotony +of my life can ill accord with the nobler habits of his. Yet he says he +is happy with me, and I try to make myself believe him." + +"Indeed," said Mary, "I cannot doubt it. It is always a happiness +to be with those we love, and whom we know love us, under any +circumstances; and it is for that reason I love so much to come to my +dear Mrs. Lennox," caressing her as she spoke. + +"Dearest Mary, who would not love you? Oh! could I but see--could I +but hope--" + +"You must hope everything you desire," said Mary gaily, and little +guessing the nature of her good friend's hopes; "I do nothing but hope." +And she tried to check a sigh, as she thought how some of her best hopes +had been already blighted by the unkindness of those whose love she had +vainly striven to win. + +Mrs. Lennox's hopes were already upon her lips, when the entrance of her +son fortunately prevented their being for ever destroyed by a premature +disclosure. He welcomed Mary with an appearance of the greatest +pleasure, and looked so much happier and more animated than when she +last saw him, that she was struck with the change, and began to think he +might almost stand a comparison with his picture. + +"You find me still here, Miss Douglas," said he, "although my mother +gives me many hints to be gone, by insinuating what indeed cannot be +doubted, how very ill I supply your place; but--" turning to his +mother--"you are not likely to be rid of me for sometime, as I have just +received an additional leave of absence; but for that, I must have left +you tomorrow." + +"Dear Charles, you never told me so. How could you conceal it from me? +How wretched I should have been had I dreamed of such a thing!" + +"That is the very reason for which I concealed it, and yet you reproach +me. Had I told you there was a chance of my going, you would assuredly +have set it down for a certainty, and so have been vexed for no +purpose." + +"But your remaining was a chance too," said Mrs. Lennox, who could not +all at once reconcile herself even to an _escape_ from danger; "and +think, had you been called away from me without any preparation!-- +Indeed, Charles, it was very imprudent." + +"My dearest mother, I meant it in kindness. I could not bear to give you +a moment's certain uneasiness for an uncertain evil. I really cannot +discover either the use or the virtue of tormenting one's self by +anticipation. I should think it quite as rational to case myself in a +suit of mail, by way of security to my person, as to keep my mind +perpetually on the rack of anticipating evil. I perfectly agree with +that philosopher who says, if we confine ourselves to general +reflections on the evils of life, _that_ can have no effect in preparing +us for them; and if we bring them home to us, _that_ is the certain +means of rendering ourselves miserable." + +"But they will come, Charles," said his mother mournfully, "whether we +bring them or not." + +"True, my dear mother; but when misfortune does come, it comes +commissioned from a higher power, and it will ever find a well-regulated +mind ready to receive it with reverence, and submit to it with +resignation. There is something, too, in real sorrow that tends to +enlarge and exalt the soul; but the imaginary evils of our own creating +can only serve to contract and depress it." + +Mrs. Lennox shook her head. "Ah! Charles, you may depend upon it your +reasoning is wrong, and you will be convinced of it some day." + +"I am convinced of it already. I begin to fear this discussion will +frighten Miss Douglas away from us. _There_ is an evil anticipated! Now, +do you, my dear mother, help me to avert it; where that can be done, it +cannot be too soon apprehended." + +As Colonel Lennox's character unfolded itself, Mary saw much to admire +in it; and it is more than probable the admiration would soon have been +reciprocal, had it been allowed to take its course. But good Mrs. Lennox +would force it into a thousand little channels prepared by herself, and +love itself must have been quickly exhausted by the perpetual demands +that were made upon it. Mary would have been deeply mortified had she +suspected the cause of her friend's solicitude to show her off; but she +was a stranger to match-making in all its bearings, had scarcely ever +read a novel in her life, and was consequently not at all aware of the +necessity there was for her falling in love with all convenient speed. +She was therefore sometimes amused, though oftener ashamed, at Mrs. +Lennox's panegyrics, and could not but smile as she thought how Aunt +Jacky's wrath would have been kindled had she heard the extravagant +praises that were bestowed on her most trifling accomplishments. + +"You must sing my favourite song to Charles, my love--he has never heard +you sing. Pray do: you did not use to require any entreaty from me, +Mary! Many a time you have gladdened my heart with your songs when, but +for you, it would have been filled with mournful thoughts!" + +Mary, finding whatever she did or did _not,_ she was destined to hear +only her own praises, was glad to take refuge at the harp, to which she +sang the following ancient ditty:-- + + "Sweet day! so cool, so calm, so bright, + The bridal of the earth and sky, + Sweet dews shall weep thy fall to-night, + For thou must die. + + "Sweet rose! whose hue, angry and brave, + Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye, + Thy root is ever in its grave; + And thou must die. + + "Sweet spring! full of sweet days and roses, + A box where sweets compacted lie, + My music shows you have your closes, + And all must die. + + "Only a sweet and virtuous soul, + Like season'd timber, never gives; + But when the whole world turns to coal, + Then chiefly lives." + +"That," said Colonel Lennox, "is one of the any exquisite little pieces +of poetry which are to be found, like jewels in an Ethiop's ear, in my +favourite Isaac Walton. The title of the book offers no encouragement to +female readers, but I know few works from which I rise with such +renovated feelings of benevolence and good-will. Indeed, I know no +author who has given with so much _naïveté _so enchanting a +picture of a pious and contented mind. Here--" taking the book from a +shelf, and turning over the leaves--"is one of the passages which has +so often charmed me:--'That very hour which you were absent from me, I +sat down under a willow by the water-side, and considered what you had +told me of the owner of that pleasant meadow in which you left me--that +he has a plentiful estate, and not a heart to think so; that he has at +this time many lawsuits depending, and that they both damped his mirth, +and took up so much of his time and thoughts that he himself had not +leisure to take that sweet comfort I, who pretended no title to +them, took in his fields; for I could there sit quietly, and, looking in +the water, see some fishes sport themselves in the silver streams, +others leaping at flies of several shapes and colours. Looking on the +hills, I could behold them spotted with woods and groves; looking down +upon the meadows I could see, here a boy gathering lilies and +lady-smocks, and there a girl cropping culverkeys and cowslips, all to +make garlands suitable to this present month of May. These, and many +other field flowers, so perfumed the air, that I thought that very +meadow like that field in Sicily, of which Diodorus speaks, where the +perfumes arising from the place make all dogs that hunt in it to fall +off and lose their scent. I say, as I thus sat joying in my own happy +condition, and pitying this poor rich man that owned this and many other +pleasant groves and meadows about me, I did then thankfully remember +what my Saviour said, that the _meek possess the earth--or,_ rather, +they enjoy what the others possess and enjoy not; for anglers and +meek-spirited men are free from those high, those restless +thoughts,--which corrode the sweets of life; and they, and they only, +can say, as the poet has happily expressed it-- + + 'Hail, blest estate of lowliness! + Happy enjoyments of such minds + As, rich in self-contentedness, + Can, like the reeds in roughest winds, + By yielding, make that blow but small, + By which proud oaks and cedars fall.'" + +"There is both poetry and painting in such prose as this," said Mary; +"but I should certainly as soon have thought of looking for a pearl +necklace in a fishpond as of finding pretty poetry in a treatise upon +the art of angling." + +"That book was a favourite of your father's, Charles," said Mrs. Lennox, +"and I remember, in our happiest days, he used to read parts of it to +me. One passage in particular made a strong impression upon me, though I +little thought then it would ever apply to me. It is upon the blessings +of sight. Indulge me by reading it to me once again." + +Colonel Lennox made an effort to conquer his feelings, while he read as +follows:-- + +"What would a blind man give to see the pleasant rivers, and meadows, +and flowers, and fountains, that we have met with! I have been told that +if a man that was born blind could attain to have his sight for _but +only one hour_ during his whole life, and should, at the first opening +of his eyes, fix his sight upon the sun when it was in its full glory, +either at the rising or the setting, he would be transported and amazed, +and so admire the glory of it that he would not willingly turn his eyes +from that first ravishing object to behold all the other various +beauties this world could present to them. And this, and many other like +objects, we enjoy daily---" + +A deep sigh from Mrs. Lennox made bier son look up. Her eyes were +bathed in tears. + +He threw his arms around her. "My dearest mother!" cried he in a voice +choked with agitation, "how cruel--how unthinking--thus to remind +you--" + +"Do not reproach yourself for my weakness, dear Charles; but I was +thinking how much rather, could I have my sight but for one hour, I +would look upon the face of my own child than on all the glories of the +creation!" + +Colonel Lennox was too deeply affected to speak. He pressed his mother's +hand to his lips--then rose abruptly, and quitted the room. Mary +succeeded in soothing her weak and agitated spirits into composure; but +the chord of feeling had been jarred, and all her efforts to restore it +to its former tone proved abortive for the rest of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + "Friendship is constant in all other things + Save in the office and affairs of love: + Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues; + Let every eye negotiate for itself, + And trust no agent." + + Much Ado about Nothing. + +THERE was something so refreshing in the domestic peacefulness of Rose +Hall, when contrasted with the heartless bustle of Beech Park, that Mary +felt too happy in the change to be in any hurry to quit it. But an +unfortunate discovery soon turned all her enjoyment into bitterness of +heart; and Rose Hall, from being to her a place of rest, was suddenly +transformed into an abode too hateful to be endured. + +It happened one day as she entered the drawing-room, Mrs. Lennox was, as +usual, assailing the heart of her son in her behalf. A large Indian +screen divided the room, and Mary's entrance was neither seen nor heard +till she was close by them. + +"Oh, certainly, Miss Douglas is all that you say--very pretty--very +amiable--and very accomplished, said Colonel Lennox, with a sort of +half-suppressed yawn, in answer to a eulogium of his mother's. + +"Then why not love her? Ah! Charles, promise me that you will at least +try!" said the good old lady, laying her hand upon his with the greatest +earnestness. + +This was said when Mary was actually standing before her. To hear the +words, and to feel their application, was a flash of lightning; and for +a moment she felt as if her brain were on fire. She was alive but to one +idea, and that the most painful that could be suggested to a delicate +mind. She had heard herself recommended to the love of a man who was +indifferent to her. Could there be such a humiliation--such a +degradation? Colonel Lennox's embarrassment was scarcely less; but his +mother saw not the mischief she had done, and she continued to speak +without his having the power to interrupt her. But her words fell +unheeded on Mary's ear--she could hear nothing but what she had already +heard. Colonel Lennox rose and respectfully placed a chair for her, but +the action was unnoticed--she saw only herself a suppliant for his love; +and, insensible to everything but her own feelings, she turned and +hastily quitted the room without uttering a syllable. To fly from Rose +Hall, never again to enter it, was her first resolution; yet how was she +to do so without coming to an explanation, worse even than the cause +itself: for she had that very morning yielded to the solicitations of +Mrs. Lennox, and consented to remain till the following day. + +"Oh!" thought she, as the scalding tears of shame for the first time +dropped from her eyes, "what a situation am I placed in! To continue +to live under the same roof with the man whom I have heard solicited to +love me; and how mean--how despicable must I appear in his eyes--thus +offered--rejected! How shall I ever be able to convince him that I +care not for his love--that I wished it not--that I would, refuse, scorn +it to-morrow were it offered to me. Oh! could I but tell him so; but he +must ever remain, stranger to my real sentiments--he might reject--but +_I_ cannot disavow! And yet to have him think that I have all this while +been laying snares for him--that all this parade of my acquirements was +for the purpose of gaining his affections! Oh how blind and stupid I was +not to see through the injudicious praises of Mrs. Lennox! I should not +then have suffered this degradation in the eyes of her son!" + +Hours passed away unheeded by Mary, while she was giving way to the +wounded sensibility of a naturally high spirit and acute feelings, thus +violently excited in all their first ardour. At length she was recalled +to herself by hearing the sound of a carriage, as it passed under her +window; and immediately after she received a message to repair to the +drawing-room to her cousin, Lady Emily. + +"How fortunate!" thought she; "I shall now get away--no matter how or +where, I shall go, never again to return." + +And, unconscious of the agitation visible in her countenance, she +hastily descended, impatient to bid an eternal adieu to her once loved +Rose Hall. She found Lady Emily and Colonel Lennox together. Eyes less +penetrating than her cousin's would easily have discovered the state of +poor Mary's mind as she entered the room; her beating heart--her flushed +cheek and averted eye, all declared the perturbation of her spirits; and +Lady Emily regarded her for a moment with an expression of surprise that +served to heighten her confusion. + +"I have no doubt I am a very unwelcome visitor here to all parties," +said she; "for I come--how shall I declare it?--to carry you home, Mary, +by command of Lady Juliana." + +"No, no!" exclaimed Mary eagerly; "you are quite welcome. I am quite +ready. I was wishing--I was waiting." Then, recollecting herself, she +blushed still deeper at her own precipitation. + +"There is no occasion to be so vehemently obedient," said her cousin; +_"I_ am not quite ready, neither am I wishing or waiting to be off in +such a hurry. Colonel Lennox and I had just set about reviving an old +acquaintance; begun, I can't tell when--and broken off when I was a thing +in the nursery, with a blue sash and red fingers. I have promised him +that when he comes to Beech Park you shall sing him my favourite Scotch +song, 'Should auld acquaintance be forgot?' I would sing it myself if I +could; but I think every Englishwoman who pretends to sing Scotch songs +ought to have the bowstring." Then, turning to the harpsichord, she +began to play it with exquisite taste and feeling. + +"There," said she, rising with equal levity; "is not that worth all the +formal bows--and 'recollects to have had the pleasure'--and 'long time +since I had the honour'--and such sort of hateful reminiscences, that +make one feel nothing but that they area great deal older, and uglier, +stupider, and more formal than they were so many years before." + +"Where the early ties of the heart remain unbroken," said Colonel +Lennox, with some emotion, "such remembrances do indeed give it back all +its first freshness; but it cannot be to everyone a pleasure to have its +feelings awakened even by tones such as these." + +There was nothing of austerity in this; on the contrary, there was so +much sweetness mingled with the melancholy which shaded his countenance, +that even Lady Emily was touched, and for a moment silent. The entrance +of Mrs. Lennox relieved her from her embarrassment. She flew towards +her, and taking her hand, "My dear Mrs. Lennox, I feel very much as if I +were come here in the capacity of an executioner;--no, not exactly that, +but rather a sort of constable or bailiff;--for I am come, on the part +of Lady Juliana Douglas, to summon you to surrender the person of her +well-beloved daughter, to be disposed of as she in her wisdom may think +fit." + +"Not to-day, surely," cried Mrs. Lennox, in alarm; "to-morrow----" + +"My orders are peremptory--the suit is pressing," with a significant +smile to Mary; "this day--oh, ye hours!" looking at a timepiece, "this +very minute. Come Mary--are you ready--_cap-à-pie_?" + +At another time Mary would have thought only of the regrets of her +venerable friend at parting with her; but now she felt only her own +impatience to be gone, and she hastily quitted the room to prepare for +her departure. + +On returning to it Colonel Lennox advanced to meet her, evidently +desirous of saying something, yet labouring under great embarrassment. + +"Were it not too selfish and presumptuous," said he, while his +heightened colour spoke his confusion, "I would venture to express a hope +that your absence will not be very long from my poor mother." + +Mary pretended to be very busy collecting her work, drawings, etc., +which lay scattered about, and merely bent her head in acknowledgment. +Colonel Lennox proceeded-- + +"I am aware of the sacrifice it must be to such as Miss Douglas to +devote her time and talents to the comforting of the blind and desolate; +and I cannot express--she cannot conceive--the gratitude--the +respect--the admiration, with which my heart is filled at such proofs of +noble disinterested benevolence on her part." + +Had Mary raised her eyes to those that vainly sought to meet hers, she +would there have read all, and more than had been expressed; but she +could only think, "He has been entreated to love!" and at that +humiliating idea she bent her head still lower to the colour that dyed +her cheek to an almost painful degree, while a sense of suffocation at +her throat prevented her disclaiming, as she wished to do, the merit of +any sacrifice. Some sketches of Lochmarlie lay upon a table at which she +had been drawing the day before; they had ever been precious in her +sight till now; but they only excited feelings of mortification, as she +recollected having taken them from her _portefeuille_ at Mrs. Lennox's +request to show to her son. + +"This was part of the parade by which I was to win him," thought she +with bitterness; and scarcely conscious of what she did, she crushed +them together, and threw them into the fire. Then hastily advancing to +Mrs. Lennox, she tried to bid her farewell; but as she thought it was +for the last time, tears of tenderness as well as pride stood in her +eyes. + +"God bless you, my dear child!" said the unsuspecting Mrs. Lennox, as +she held her: in her arms. "And God _will_ bless you in His way--though +His ways are not as our ways. I cannot urge you to return to this dreary +abode. But oh, Mary! Think sometimes in your gaiety, that when you do +come, you bring gladness to a mournful heart, and lighten eyes that +never see the sun!" + +Mary, too much affected to reply, could only wring the hand of her +venerable friend, as she tore herself from her embrace, and followed +Lady Emily to the carriage. For some time they proceeded in silence. +Mary dreaded to encounter her cousin's eyes, which she was aware were +fixed upon her with more than their usual scrutiny. She therefore kept +hers steadily employed in surveying the well-known objects the road +presented. At length her Ladyship began in a grave tone. + +"You appear to have had very stormy weather at Rose Hall?" + +"Very much so," replied Mary, without knowing very well what she said. + +"And we have had nothing but calms and sunshine at Beech Park. Is not +that strange?" + +"Very singular indeed." + +"I left the barometer very high--not quite at _settled calm_--that would +be too much; but I find it very low indeed--absolutely below nothing." + +Mary now did look up in some surprise; but she hastily withdrew from the +intolerable expression of her cousin's eyes. + +"Dear Lady Emily!" cried she in a deprecating tone. + +"Well--what more? You can't suppose I'm to put up with hearing my own +name; I've heard that fifty times to-day already from Lady Juliana's +parrot--come, your face speaks volumes. I read a declaration of love in +the colour of your cheeks--a refusal in the height of your nose--and a +sort of general agitation in the quiver of your lip and the +_déréglement_ of your hair. Now for your pulse--a _leettle_ hasty, as +Dr. Redgill would say; but let your tongue declare the rest." + +Mary would fain have concealed the cause of her distress from every +human being, as she felt as if degraded still lower by repeating it to +another; and she remained silent, struggling with her emotions. + +"'Pon my honour, Mary, you really do use great liberties with my +patience and good-nature. I appeal to yourself whether I might not just +as well have been reading one of Tully's orations to a mule all this +while. Come, you must really make haste to tell your tale, for I am +dying to disclose mine. Or shall I begin? No--that would be inverting +the order of nature or custom, which is the same thing--beginning with +the farce, and ending with the tragedy--so _commencez au commencement, +m'amie."_ + +Thus urged, Mary at length, and with much hesitation, related to her +cousin the humiliation she had experienced. "And after all," said she, +as she ended, "I am afraid I behaved very like a fool. And yet what +could I do in my situation, what would you have done?" + +"Done! why, I should have taken the old woman by the shoulder, and cried +Boh! in her ear. And so this is the mighty matter! You happen to +overhear Mrs. Lennox, good old soul! recommending you as a wife to her +son. What could be more natural except his refusing to fall head in ears +in love before he had time to pull his boots off. And then to have a +wife recommended to him! and all your perfections set forth, as if you +had been a laundrymaid--an early riser, neat worker, regular attention +upon church! Ugh I--I must say I think his conduct quite meritorious. I +could almost find in my heart to fall in love with him myself, were it +for no other reason than because he is not such a Tommy Goodchild as to +be in love at his mamma's bidding--that is, loving his mother as he +does--for I see he could cut off a hand, or pluck out an eye, to please +her, though he can't or won't give her his heart and soul to dispose of +as she thinks proper." + +"You quite misunderstand me," said Mary, with increasing vexation. "I +did not mean to say anything against Colonel Lennox. I did not wish--I +never once thought whether he liked me or not." + +"That says very little for you. You must have a very bad taste if you +care more for the mother's liking than the son's. Then what vexes you so +much? Is it at having made the discovery that your good old friend is +a--a--I beg your pardon--a bit of a goose? Well, never mind--since you +don't care for the man, there's no mischief done. You have only to +change the _dramatis personae._ Fancy that you overheard mere commending +you to Dr. Redgill for your skill in cookery--you'd only have laughed at +that--so why should you weep at t'other. However, one thing I must tell +you, whether it adds to your grief or not, I did remark that Charles +Lennox looked very lover-like towards you; and, indeed, this sentimental +passion he has put you in becomes you excessively. I really never saw +you look so handsome before--it has given an energy and _esprit_ to your +countenance, which is the only thing it wants. You are very much obliged +to him, were it only for having kindled such a fire in your eyes, and +raised such a carnation in your cheek. It would have been long before +good _larmoyante_, Mrs. Lennox would have done as much for you. I +shouldn't wonder were he to fall in love with you after all." + +Lady Emily little thought how near she was the the truth when she talked +in this random way. Colonel Lennox saw the wound he had innocently +inflicted on Mary's feelings, and a warmer sentiment than any he had +hitherto experienced had sprung up in his heart. Formerly he had merely +looked upon her as an amiable sweet-tempered girl; but when he saw he +roused to a sense of her own dignity, and marked the struggle betwixt +tender affection and offended delicacy he, formed a higher estimate of +her character, and a spark was kindled that wanted but opportunity to blaze +into a flame, pure and bright as the shrine on which it burned. Such is +the waywardness and price of even the best affections of the human +breast. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + "C'est a moi de _choisir_ mon gendre; + Toi, tel qu'il est, c'est à it toi de Ie prendre; + De vous aimer, si vous pouvez tous deux, Et d'obéir + à tout ce que je veux." _L'Enfant Prodigue._ + + + +"AND now," said Lady Emily, "that I have listened to your story, which +after all is really a very poor affair, do you listen to mine. The +heroine in both is the same, but the hero differs by some degrees. Know, +then, as the ladies in novels say, that the day which saw you depart +from Beech Park was the day destined to decide your fate, and dash your +hopes, if ever you had any, of becoming Duchess of Altamont. The Duke +arrived, I know, for the express purpose of being enamoured of you; but, +alas! you were not. And there was Adelaide so sweet--so gracious--so +beautiful--the poor gull was caught, and is now, I really believe, as +much in love as it is in the nature of a stupid man to be. I must own +she has played her part admirably, and has made more use of her time +than I, with all my rapidity, could have thought possible. In fact, the +Duke is now all but her declared lover, and that merely stands upon a +point of punctilio." + +"But Lord Lindore!" exclaimed Mary in astonishment. + +"Why, that part of the story is what I _don't_ quite comprehend. +Sometimes I think it is a struggle with Adelaide. Lindore, poor, +handsome, captivating, on one hand; his Grace, rich, stupid, +magnificent, on the other. As for Lindore, he seems to stand quite +aloof. Formerly, you know, he never used to stir from her side, or notice +anyone else. Now he scarcely notices her, at least in presence of the +Duke, Sometimes he affects to look unhappy, but I believe it is mere +affectation. I doubt if he ever thought seriously of Adelaide, or indeed +anybody else, that he could have in a straightforward Ally Croker sort +of a way--but something too much of this. While all this has been going +on in one corner, there comes regularly everyday Mr. William Downe +Wright, looking very much as if he had lost his shoestring, or pocket +handkerchief, and had come there to look for it. I had some suspicion of +the nature of the loss, but was hopeful he would have the sense to keep +it to himself. No such thing: he yesterday stumbled upon Lady Juliana +all alone, and, in the weakest of his weak moments, informed her that +the loss he had sustained was no less than the loss of that precious +jewel his heart; and that the object of his search was no other than +that of Miss Mary Douglas to replace it! He even carried his +_bêtise_ so far as to request her permission, or her influence, +or, in short, something that her Ladyship never was asked for by any +mortal in their senses before, to aid him in his pursuit. You know how +it delights her to be dressed in a little brief authority; so you may +conceive her transports at seeing the sceptre of power thus placed in +her hands. In the heat of her pride she makes the matter known to the +whole household. Redgills, cooks, stable-boys, scullions, all are quite +_au_ _fait_ to your marriage with Mr. Downe Wright; so I hope you'll +allow that it was about time _you _should be made acquainted with it +yourself. But why so pale and frightened-looking?" + +Poor Mary was indeed shocked at her cousin's intelligence. With the +highest feelings of filial reverence, she found herself perpetually +called upon either to sacrifice her own principles or to act indirect +opposition to her mother's will, and upon this occasion she saw nothing +but endless altercation awaiting her; for her heart revolted from the +indelicacy of such measures, and she could not for a moment brook the +idea of being _bestowed_ in marriage. But she had little time for +reflection. They were now at Beech Park; and as she alighted a servant +informed her Lady Juliana wished to see her in her dressing-room +immediately. Thither she repaired with a beating heart and agitated +step. She was received with greater kindness than she had ever yet +experienced from her mother. + +"Come in, my dear," cried she, as she extended two fingers to her, and +slightly touched her cheek. "You look very well this morning--much +better than usual. Your complexion is much improved. At the same time +you must be sensible how few girls are married merely for their +looks--that is, married well--unless, to be sure, their beauty is +something _à merveilleuse_--such as your sister's, for instance. +I assure you, it is an extraordinary piece of good fortune in a merely +pretty girl to make what is vulgarly called a good match. I know, at +least, twenty really very nice young women at this moment who cannot get +themselves established." + +Mary was silent; and her mother, delighted at her own good sense and +judicious observations, went on-- + +"That being the case, you may judge how very comfortable I must feel at +having managed to procure for you a most excessive good +establishment--just the very thing I have long wished, as I have felt +quite at a loss about you of late, my dear. When your sister marries, I +shall, of course, reside with her; and as I consider your _liaison _with +those Scotch people as completely at an end, I have really been quite +wretched as to what was to become of you. I can't tell you, therefore, +how excessively relieved I was when Mr. Downe Wright yesterday asked my +permission to address you. Of course I could not hesitate an instant; so +you will meet him at dinner as your accepted. By-the-bye, your hair is +rather blown. I shall send Fanchon to dress it for you. You have really +got very pretty hair; I wonder never remarked it before. Oh! and Mrs. +Downe Wright is to wait upon me to-morrow, I think; and then I believe +we must return the visit. There is a sort of etiquette, you know, in all +these matters--that is the most unpleasant part of it; but when that is +over you will have nothing to think of but ordering your things." + +For a few minutes Mary was too much confounded by her mother's rapidity +to reply. She had expected to be urged to accept of Mr. Downe Wright; +but to be told that was actually done for her was more than she was +prepared for. At length she found voice to say that Mr. Downe Wright was +almost a stranger to her, and she must therefore be excused from +receiving his addresses at present. + +"How excessively childish!" exclaimed Lady Juliana angrily. "I won't +hear of anything so perfectly foolish. You know (or, at any rate, I do) +all that is necessary to know. I know that he is a man of family and +fortune, heir to a title, uncommonly handsome, and remarkably sensible +and well-informed. I can't conceive what more you would wish to know!" + +"I would wish to know something of his character, his principles, his +habits, temper, talents--in short, all those things on which my +happiness would depend." + +"Character and principles!--one would suppose you were talking of your +footman! Mr. Downe Wright's character is perfectly good. I never heard +anything against it. As to what you call his principles, I must profess +my ignorance. I really can't tell whether he is a Methodist; but 1 know +he is a gentleman--has a large fortune--is very good-looking--and is not +at all dissipated, I believe. In short, you are most excessively +fortunate in meeting with such a man." + +"But I have not the slightest partiality for him," said Mary, +colouring. "It cannot be expected that I should, when I have not been +half a dozen time in his company. I must be allowed some time before I +can consent even to consider--" + +"I don't mean that you are to marry to-morrow. It may probably be six +weeks or two months before everything can be arranged." + +Mary saw she must speak boldly. + +"But I must be allowed much longer time before I can consider myself as +sufficiently acquainted with Mr. Downe Wright to think of him at all in +that light. And even then--he may be very amiable, and yet"--hesitating-- +"I may not be able to love him as I ought." + +"Love!" exclaimed Lady Juliana, her eyes sparkling with anger; "I +desire I may never hear that word again from any daughter of mine. I am +determined I shall have no disgraceful love-marriages in the family. No +well-educated young woman ever thinks of such a thing now, and I won't +hear a syllable on the subject." + +"I shall never marry anybody, I am sure, that you disapprove of," said +Mary timidly. + +"No; I shall take care of that. I consider it the duty of parents to +establish their children properly in the world, without any regard to +their ideas on the subject. I think I must be rather a better judge of +the matter than you can possibly be, and I shall therefore make a point +of your forming what I consider a proper alliance. Your sister, I know, +won't hesitate to sacrifice her own affections to please me. She was +most excessively attached to Lord Lindore--everybody knew that; but she +is convinced of the propriety of preferring the Duke of Altamont, and +won't hesitate in sacrificing her own feelings to mine. But indeed she +has ever been all that I could wish--so perfectly beautiful, and, at the +same time, so excessively affectionate and obedient. She approves +entirely of your marriage with Mr. Downe Wright, as, indeed, all your +friends do. I don't include _your_ friend Lady Emily in that number. I +look upon her as a most improper companion for you; and the sooner you +are separated from her the better. So now good-bye for the present. You +have only to behave as other young ladies do upon those occasions, +which, by-the-bye, is generally to give as much trouble to their friends +as they possibly can." + +There are some people who, furious themselves at opposition, cannot +understand the possibility of others being equally firm and decided in a +gentle manner. Lady Juliana was one of those who always expect to carry +their point by a raised voice and sparkling eyes; and it was with +difficulty Mary, with her timid air and gentle accents, could convince +her that she was determined to judge for herself in a matter in which +her happiness was so deeply involved. When at last brought to comprehend +it, her Ladyship's indignation knew no bounds; and Mary was accused in +the same breath with having formed some low connection in Scotland, and +of seeking to supplant her sister by aspiring to the Duke of Altamont. +And at length the conference ended pretty much where it began--Lady +Juliana resolved that her daughter should marry to please her, and her +daughter equally resolved not to be driven into an engagement from which +her heart recoiled. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + "Qu'on vante en lui la foi, l'honneur, la probité; + Qu'on prise sa candeur et sa civilité; + Qu'il soit doux, complaisant, oflicieux, sincere: + On Ie veut, j'y souscris, et suis prêt à me taire." + + BOILEAU. + +WHEN Mary entered the drawing-room she found herself, without knowing +how, by the side of Mr. Downe Wright. At dinner it was the same; and in +short it seemed an understood thing that they were to be constantly +together. + +There was something so gentle and unassuming in his manner that, almost +provoked as she was by the folly of his proceedings, she found it +impossible to resent it by her behaviour towards him; and indeed, +without being guilty of actual rudeness, of which she was incapable, it +would not have been easy to have made him comprehend the nature of her +sentiments. He appeared perfectly satisfied with the toleration he met +with; and, compared to Adelaide's disdainful glances, and Lady Emily's +biting sarcasms, Mary's gentleness and civility might well be mistaken +for encouragement. But even under the exhilarating influence of hope and +high spirits his conversation was so insipid and commonplace, that Mary +found it a relief to turn even to Dr. Redgill. It was evident the Doctor +was aware of what was going on, for he regarded her with that increased +respect due to the future mistress of a splendid establishment. Between +the courses he made some complimentary allusions to Highland mutton and +red deer; and he even carried his attentions so far as to whisper, at +the very first mouthful, that _les côtellettes de saumon_ were +superb, when he had never been known to commend anything to another +until he had fully discussed it himself. On the opposite side of the +table sat Adelaide and the Duke of Altamont, the latter looking still +more heavy and inanimate than ever. The operation of eating over, he +seemed unable to keep himself awake, and every now and then yielded to a +gentle slumber, from which, however, he was instantly recalled at the +sound of Adelaide's voice, when he exclaimed, "Ah! Charming--very +charming, ah!"--Lady Emily looked _from_ them as she hummed some part +of Dryden's Ode-- + + "Aloft in awful state + The godlike hero sate, etc. + The lovely Thais by his side, + Look'd like a blooming Eastern bride." + +Then, as his Grace closed his eyes, and his head sank on his shoulder-- + + "With ravish'd ears + The monarch hears, + Assumes the god, + Affects to nod." + +Lady Juliana, who would have been highly incensed had she suspected the +application of the words, was so unconscious of it as to join +occasionally in singing them, to Mary's great confusion and Adelaide's +manifest displeasure. + +When they returned to the drawing-room, "Heavens! Adelaide," exclaimed +her cousin, in an affected manner, "what are you made of? Semelé herself +was but a mere cinder-wench to you! How can you stand such a +Jupiter--and not scorched! not even singed, I protest!" pretending to +examine her all over. "I vow I trembled at your temerity--your +familiarity with the imperial nod was fearful. I every instant expected +to see you turned into a live coal." + +"I did burn," said Adelaide, "with shame, to see the mistress of a house +forget what was due to her father's guests." + +"There's a slap on the cheek for me! Mercy! how it burns! No, I did not +forget what was due to my father's guests; on the contrary, I consider +it due to them to save them, if I can, from the snares that I see set +for them. I have told you that I abhor all traps, whether for the poor +simple mouse that comes to steal its bit of cheese, or for the dull +elderly gentleman who falls asleep with a star on his breast." + +"This is one of the many kind and polite allusions for which I am +indebted to your Ladyship," said Adelaide haughtily; "but I trust the +day will come when I shall be able to discharge what I owe you." + +And she quitted the room, followed by Lady Juliana, who could only make +out that Lady Emily had been insolent, and that Adelaide was offended. A +pause followed. + +"I see you think I am in the wrong, Mary; I can read that in the little +reproachful glance you gave me just now. Well, perhaps I am; but I own +it chafes my spirit to sit and look on such a scene of iniquity. Yes, +iniquity I call it, for a woman to be in love with one man, and at the +same time laying snares for another. You may think, perhaps, that +Adelaide has no heart to love anything; but she has a heart, such as it +is, though it is much too fine for every-day use, and therefore it is +kept locked up in marble casket, quite out of reach of you or I. But I'm +mistaken if Frederick has not made himself master of it! Not that I +should blame her for that, if she would be honestly and downrightly in +love with him. But how despicable to see her, with her affections placed +upon one man, at the same time lavishing all her attentions on +another--and that other, if he had been plain John Altamont, Esq., she +would not have been commonly civil to! And, _àpropos_ of +civility--I must tell you, if you mean to refuse your hero, you were too +civil by half to him. I observed you at dinner, you sat perfectly +straight, and answered everything he said to you." + +"What could I do?" asked Mary, in some surprise. + +"I'll tell you what I would have done, and have thought the most +honourable mode of proceeding; I should have turned my back upon him, +and have merely thrown him a monosyllable now and then over my +shoulder." + +"I could not be less than civil to him, and I am sure I was not more." + +"Civility is too much for a man one means to refuse. You'll never get +rid of a stupid man by civility. Whenever I had any reason to apprehend +a lover, I thought it my duty to turn short upon him and give him a +snarl at the outset, which rid me of him at once. But I really begin to +think I manage these matters better than anybody else--'Where I love, I +profess it: where I hate, in every circumstance I dare proclaim it.'" + +Mary tried to defend her sister, in the first place; but though her +charity would not allow her to censure, her conscience whispered there +was much to condemn; and she was relieved from what she felt a difficult +task when the gentlemen began to drop in. + +In spite of all her manoeuvres Mr. Downe Wright contrived to be next +her, and whenever she changed her seat, she was sure of his following +her. She had also the mortification of overhearing Lady Juliana tell the +Duke that Mr. Downe Wright was the accepted lover of her youngest +daughter, that he was a man of large fortune, and heir to his uncle, +Lord Glenallan! + +"Ah! a nephew of my Lord Glenallan's!--Indeed--a pretty young man--like +the family!--Poor Lord Glenallan! I knew him very well. He has had the +palsy since then, poor man--ah!" + +The following day Mary was compelled to receive Mrs. Downe Wright's +visit; but she as scarcely conscious of what passed, for Colonel Lennox +arrived at the same time; and it was equally evident that his visit was +also intended for her. She felt that she ought to appear unconcerned in +his presence, and he tried to be so; but still the painful idea would +recur that he had been solicited to love her, and, unskilled in the arts of +even innocent deception, she could only try to hide the agitation under +the coldness of her manner. + +"Come, Mary," cried Lady Emily, as if in answer to something Colonel +Lennox had addressed to her in a low voice, "do you remember the promise +I made Colonel Lennox, and which it rests with you to perform?" + +"I never consider myself bound to perform the promises of others," +replied Mary gravely. + +"In some cases that may be a prudent resolution, but in the present it +is surely an unfriendly one," said Colonel Lennox. + +"A most inhuman one!" cried Lady Emily, "since you and I, it seems, +cannot commence our friendship without something sentimental to set us +agoing. It rests with you, Mary, to be the founder of our friendship; +and if you manage the matter well, that is, sing in your best manner, we +shall perhap, make it a triple alliance, and admit you as third." + +"As every man is said to be the artificer of his own fortune, so every +one, I think, had best be the artificer of their own friendship," said +Mary, trying to smile, as she pulled her embroidery frame towards her, +and began to work. + +"Neither can be the worse of a good friend to help them on," observed +Mrs. Downe Wright. + +"But both may be materially injured by an injudicious one," said Colonel +Lennox; "and although, on this occasion, I am the greatest sufferer by +it, I must acknowledge the truth of Miss Douglas's observation. +Friendship and love, I believe, will always be found to thrive best when +left to themselves." + +"And so ends my novel, elegant, and original plan for striking up a +sudden friendship," cried Lady Emily. "Pray, Mr. Downe Wright, can you +suggest anything better for the purpose than an old song?" + +Mr. Downe Wright, who was not at all given to suggesting, looked a +little embarrassed. + +"Pull the bell, William, for the carriage," said his mother; "we must +now be moving." And with a general obeisance to the company, and a +significant pressure of the hand to Mary, she withdrew her son from his +dilemma. Although a shrewd, penetrating woman, she did not possess that +tact and delicacy necessary to comprehend the finer feelings of a mind +superior to her own; and in Mary's averted looks and constrained manner +she saw nothing but what she thought quite proper and natural in her +situation. "As for Lady Emily," she observed, "there would be news of +her and that fine dashing-looking Colonel yet, and Miss Adelaide would +perhaps come down a pin before long." + +Soon after Colonel Lennox took his leave, in spite of Lady Emily's +pressing invitation for him to spend the day there, and meet her +brother, who had been absent for some days, but was now expected home. +He promised to return again soon, and departed. + +"How prodigiously handsome Colonel Lennox looked to-day," said she, +addressing Mary; "and how perfectly unconscious, at least indifferent, +he seems about it. It is quite refreshing to see a handsome man that is +neither a fool nor a coxcomb." + +"Handsome! no, I don't think he is very handsome," said Lady Juliana. +"Rather dark, don't you think, my love?" turning to Adelaide, who sat +apart at a table writing, and had scarcely deigned to lift her head all +the time. + +"Who do you mean? The man who has just gone out? Is his name Lennox? +Yes, he is rather handsome." + +"I believe. you are right; he certainly is good-looking, but in a +peculiar style. I don't quite like the expression of his eye, and he +wants that air _distingué,_ which, indeed, belongs exclusively to +persons of birth." + +"He has perfectly the air of a man of fashion," said Adelaide, in a +decided tone, as if ashamed to agree with her mother. "Perhaps _un peu +militaire,_ but nothing at all professional." + +"Lennox!--it is a Scotch name," observed Lady Juliana contemptuously. + +"And, to cut the matter short," said Lady Emily, as she was quitting the +room, "the man who has just gone out is Colonel Lennox, and not the Duke +of AItamont." + +After a few more awkward, indefinite sort of visits, in which Mary found +it impossible to come to an explanation, she was relieved for the +present from the assiduities of her lover. Lady Juliana received a +note from Mrs. Downe Wright, apologising for what she termed her son's +unfortunate absence at such a critical time; but he had received accounts +of the alarming illness of his uncle Lord Glenallan, and had, in +consequence, set off instantly for Scotland, where she was preparing to +follow; concluding with particular regards to Miss Mary--hopes of being +soon able to resume their pleasant footing in the family, etc. etc. + +"How excessively well arranged it will be that old man's dying at this +time!" said her Ladyship, as she tossed the note to her daughter; "Lord +Glenallan will sound so much better than Mr. Downe Wright. The name I +have always considered as the only objectionable part. You are really +most prodigiously fortunate." + +Mary was now aware of the folly of talking reason to her mother, and +remained silent; thankful for the present peace this event would ensure +her, and almost tempted to wish that Lord Glenallan's doom might not +speedily be decided. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + "It seems it is as proper to our age + To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions, + As it is common for the younger sort + To lack discretion." + + _Hamlet._ + +LORD LINDORE and Colonel Lennox has been boyish acquaintances, and a +sort of superficial, intimacy was soon established between them, which +served as the ostensible cause of his frequent visits at Beech Park. But +to Mary, who was more alive to the difference of their characters and +sentiments than any other member of the family, this appeared very +improbable, and she could not help suspecting that love for the sister, +rather than friendship for the brother, was the real motive by which he +was actuated. In half jesting manner she mentioned her suspicions to +Lady Emily, who treated the idea with her usual ridicule. + +"I really could not have supposed you so extremely missy-ish, Mary," said +she, "as to imagine that because two people like each other's society, +and talk and laugh together a little more than usual, that the must +needs be in love! I believe Charles Lennox loves me much the same as he +did eleven years ago, when I was a little wretch that used to pull his +hair and spoil his watch. And as for me, you know that I consider myself +quite as an old woman--at least as a married one; and he is perfectly +_au fait_ to my engagement with Edward. I have even shown him his +picture and some of his letters." + +Mary looked incredulous. + +"You may think as you please, but I tell you it is so. In my situation +I should scorn to have Colonel Lennox, or anybody else, in love with me. +As to his liking to talk to me, pray who else can he talk to? Adelaide +would sometimes _condescend_ indeed; but he won't be condescended to, +that's clear, not even by a Duchess. With what mock humility he meets +her airs! how I adore him for it! Then you are such a pillar of ice!--so +shy and unsociable when he is present!--and, by-the-bye, if I did not +despise recrimination as the _pis aller_ of all conscious Misses, I would +say you are much more the object of his _attention,_ at least, than I +am. Several times I have caught him looking very earnestly at you, when, +by the laws of good breeding, his eyes ought to have been fixed +exclusively upon me; and--" + +"Pshaw!" interrupted Mary, colouring, "that is mere absence--nothing to +the purpose--or perhaps," forcing a smile, "he may be _trying_ to love +me!" + +Mary thought of her poor old friend, as she said this, with bitterness +of heart. It was long since she had seen her; and when she had last +inquired for her, her son had said he did not think her well, with a look +Mary could not misunderstand. She had heard him make an appointment with +Lord Lindore for the following day, and she took the opportunity of his +certain absence to visit his mother. Mrs. Lennox, indeed, looked ill, and +seemed more than usually depressed. She welcomed Mary with her usual +tenderness, but even her presence seemed to fail of inspiring her with +gladness. + +Mary found she was totally unsuspicious of the cause of her +estrangement, and imputed it to a very different one. + +"You have been a great stranger, my dear!" said she, as she +affectionately embraced her; "but at such a time I could not expect you +to think of me." + +"Indeed," answered Mary, equally unconscious of her meaning, "I have +thought much and often, very often, upon you, and wished I could have +come to you; but---" she stopped, for she could not tell the truth, and +would not utter a falsehood. + +"I understand it all," said Mrs. Lennox, with a sigh. "Well--well--God's +will be done!" Then trying to be more cheerful, "Had you come little +sooner, you would have met Charles. He is just gone out with Lord +Lindore. He was unwilling to leave me, as he always is, and when he +does, I believe it is as much to please me as himself. Ah! Mary, I once +hoped that I might have lived to see you the happy wife of the best of +sons. I may speak out now, since that is all over. God has willed +otherwise, an may you be rewarded in the choice you have made!" + +Mary was struck with consternation to find that her supposed engagement +with Mr. Downe Wright had spread even to Rose Hall; and in the greatest +confusion she attempted to deny it. But after the acknowledgment she had +just heard, she acquitted herself awkwardly; for she felt as if an open +explanation would only serve to revive hopes that never could be +realised, and subject Colonel Lennox and herself to future perplexities. +Nothing but the whole truth would have sufficed to undeceive Mrs. Lennox, +for she had had the intelligence of Mary's engagement from Mrs. Downe +Wright herself, who, for better security of what she already considered +her son's property, had taken care to spread the report of his being the +accepted lover before she left the country. Mary felt all the +unpleasantness of her situation. Although detesting deceit and artifice +of every kind, her confused and stammering denials seemed rather to +corroborate the fact; but she felt that she could not declare her +resolution of never bestowing her hand upon Mr. Downe Wright without +seeming at the same time to court the addresss of Colonel Lennox. Then +how painful--how unjust to herself, as well as cruel to him, to have it +for an instant believed that she was the betrothed of one whose wife she +was resolved she never would be! + +In short, poor Mary's mind was a complete chaos; and for the first time +in her life she found it impossible to determine which was the right +course for her to pursue. Even in the midst of her distress, however, +she could not help smiling at the _naïvete_ of the good old lady's +remarks. + +"He is a handsome young man, I hear," said she, still in allusion to Mr. +Downe Wright: "has a fine fortune, and an easy temper. All these things +help people's happiness, though they cannot make it; and his choice of +you, my dear Mary, shows that he has some sense." + +"What a eulogium!" said Mary, laughing and blushing. "Were he really to +me what you suppose, I must be highly flattered; but I must again assure +you it is not using Mr. Downe Wright well to talk of him as anything to +me. My mother, indeed--". + +"Ah! Mary, my dear, let me advise you to beware of being led, even by a +mother, in such a matter as this. God forbid that I should ever +recommend disobedience towards a parent's will; but I fear you have +yielded too much to yours. I said, indeed, when I heard it, that I +feared undue influence had been used; for that I could not think William +Downe Wright would ever have been the choice of your heart. Surely +parents have much to answer for who mislead their children in such an +awful step as marriage!" + +This was the severest censure Mary had ever heard drop from Mrs. +Lennox's lips; and she could not but marvel at the self-delusion that +led her thus to condemn in another the very error she had committed +herself, but under such different circumstances that she would not +easily have admitted it to be the same. She sought for the happiness of +her son, while Lady Juliana, she was convinced, wished only her own +aggrandisement. + +"Yes, indeed," said Mary, in answer to her friend's observation, +"parents ought, if possible, to avoid even forming wishes for their +children. Hearts are wayward things, even the best of them." Then more +seriously she added, "And, dear Mrs. Lennox, do not either blame my +mother nor pity me; for be assured, with my heart only will I give my +hand; or rather, I should say, with my hand only will I give my heart: +And now good-bye," cried she, starting up and hurrying away, as she +heard Colonel Lennox's voice in the hall. + +She met him on the stair, and would have passed on with a slight remark, +but he turned with her, and finding she had dismissed the carriage, +intending to walk home, he requested permission to attend her. Mary +declined; but snatching up his hat, and whistling his dogs, he set out +with her in spite of her remonstrances to the contrary. + +"If you persist in refusing my attendance," said he, "you will inflict an +incurable wound upon my vanity. I shall suspect you are ashamed of being +seen in such company. To be sure, myself, with my shabby jacket and my +spattered dogs, do form rather a ruffian-like escort; and I should not +have dared to have offered my services to a fine lady; but you are not a +fine lady, I know;" and he gently drew her arm within his as they began +to ascend a hill. + +This was the first time Mary had found herself alone with Colonel +Lennox since that fatal day which seemed to have divided them for ever. +At first she felt uneasy and embarrassed, but there was so much good +sense and good feeling in the tone of his conversation--it was so far +removed either from pedantry or frivolity, that all disagreeable ideas +soon gave way to the pleasure she had in conversing with one whose turn +of mind seemed so similar to her own; and it was not till she had parted +from him at the gate of Beech Park she had time to wonder how she could +possibly have walked two miles _tete-à-tete_ with a man whom she +had heard solicited to love her! + +From that day Colonel Lennox's visits insensibly increased in length +and number; but Lady Emily seemed to appropriate them entirely to +herself; and certainly all the flow of his conversation, the brilliancy +of his wit, were directed to her; but Mary could not but be conscious +that his looks were much oftener riveted on herself, and if his +attentions were not such as to attract general observation, they were +such as she could not fail of perceiving and being unconsciously +gratified by. + +"How I admire Charles Lennox's manner to you, Mary," said her cousin, +"after the awkward dilemma you were both in. It was no easy matter to +know how to proceed; a vulgar-minded man would either have oppressed you +with his attentions, or insulted you by his neglect, while he steers so +gracefully free from either extreme; and I observe you are the only +woman upon whom he designs to bestow _les petits soins._ How I despise a +man who is ever on the watch to pick up every silly Miss's fan or glove +that she thinks it pretty to drop! No--the woman he loves, whether his +mother or his wife, will always be distinguished by him, were she +amongst queens and empresses, not by his silly vanity or vulgar +fondness, but by his marked and gentlemanlike attentions towards her. +In short, the best thing you can do is to make up your quarrel with +him--take him for all in all--you won't meet with such another-- +certainly not amongst your Highland lairds, by all that I can learn; +and, by-the-bye, I do suspect he is now, as you say, trying to love you; +and let him--you will be very well repaid if he succeeds." + +Mary's heart swelled at the thoughts of submitting to such an indignity, +especially as she was beginning to feel conscious that Colonel Lennox +was not quite the object of indifference to her that he ought to be; but +her cousin's remarks only served to render her more distant and reserved +to him than ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + "What dangers ought'st thou not to dread, + When Love, that's blind, is by blind Fortune, led?" + + COWLEY. + +AT length the long-looked for day arrived. The Duke of Altamont's +proposals were made in due form, and in due form accepted. Lady Juliana +seemed now touching the pinnacle of earthly joy; for, next to being +greatly married herself, her happiness centred in seeing her daughter at +the head of a splendid establishment. Again visions of bliss hovered +around her, and "Peers and Dukes and all their sweeping train" swam +before her eyes, as she anticipated the brilliant results to herself +from so noble an alliance; for self was still, as it had ever been, her +ruling star, and her affection for her daughter was the mere result of +vanity and ambition. + +The ensuing weeks were passed in all the bustle of preparations +necessarily attendant on the nuptials of the great. Every morning +brought from Town dresses, jewels, patterns, and packages of all +descriptions. Lady Juliana was in ecstasies, even though it was but +happiness in the second person. Mary watched her sister's looks with the +most painful solicitude; for from her lips she knew she never would +learn the sentiments of her heart. But Adelaide was aware she had a part +to act, and she went through it with an ease and self-possession that +seemed to defy all scrutiny. Once or twice, indeed, her deepening colour +and darkening brow betrayed the feelings of her heart, as the Duke of +Altamont and Lord Lindore were brought into comparison; and Mary +shuddered to think that her sister was even now ashamed of the man whom +she was so soon to vow to love, honour, and obey. She had vainly tried +to lead Adelaide to the subject. Adelaide would listen to nothing which +she had reason to suppose was addressed to herself; but either with cool +contempt took up a book, or left the room, or, with insolent +affectation, would put her hands to her head, exclaiming, _"Mes oreilles +n'etoient pas faites pour les entretiens sérieux."_ All Mary's worst +fears were confirmed a few days before that fixed for the marriage. As +she entered the music-room she was startled to find Lord Lindore and +Adelaide alone. Unwilling to suppose that her presence would be +considered as an interruption, she seated herself at a little distance +from them, and was soon engrossed by her task. Adelaide, too, had the +air of being deeply intent upon some trifling employment; and Lord +Lindore, as he sat opposite to her, with his head resting upon his +hands, had the appearance of being engaged in reading. All were silent +for some time; but as Mary happened to look up, she saw Lord +Lindore'seyes fixed earnestly upon her sister, and with _voice_ of +repressed feeling he repeated,_"Ah! je le sens, ma Julie! si'l falloit +renoncer a vous, il n'y auroit plus pour moi d'autre sejour ni d'autre +saison:"_ and throwing down the book, he quitted the room. Adelaide pale +and agitated, rose as if to follow him; then, recollecting herself, she +rushed from the apartment by an opposite door. Mary followed, vainly +hoping that in this moment of excited feeling she might be induced to +open her heart to the voice of affection; but Adelaide was a stranger to +sympathy, and saw only the degradation of confessing the struggle she +endured in choosing betwixt love and ambition. That her heart was Lord +Lindore's she could not conceal from herself, though she would not +confess it to another--and that other the tenderest of sisters, whose +only wish was to serve her. Mary's tears and entreaties were therefore +in vain, and at Adelaide's repeated desire she at length quitted her and +returned to the room she had left. + +She found Lady Emily there with a paper in her hand. "Lend me your ears, +Mary," cried she, "while I read these lines to you. Don't be afraid, +there are no secrets in them, or at least none that you or I will be a +whit the wiser for, as they are truly in a most mystic strain. I found +them lying upon this table, and they are in Frederick's handwriting, for +I see he affects the _soupirant_ at present; and it seems there has been +a sort of a sentimental farce acted between Adelaide and him. He +pretends that, although distractedly in love with her, he is not so +selfish as even to wish her to marry him in preference to the Duke of +Altamont; and Adelaide, not to be outdone in heroics, has also made it +out that it is the height of virtue in her to espouse the Duke of +Altamont, and sacrifice all the tenderest affections of her heart to +duty! Duty! yes, the duty of being a Duchess, and of living in state and +splendour with the man she secretly despises, to the pleasure of +renouncing both for the man she loves; and so they have parted, and +here, I suppose, are Lindore's lucubrations upon it, intended as a +_souvenir_ for Adelaide, I presume. Now, night visions befriend me! + + "The time returns when o'er my wilder'd mind, + A thraldom came which did each sense enshroud; + Not that I bowed in willing chain confined, + But that a soften'd atmosphere of cloud + Veiled every sense--conceal'd th' impending doom. + 'Twas mystic night, and I seem'd borne along + By pleasing dread--and in a doubtful gloom, + Where fragrant incense and the sound of song, + And all fair things we dream of, floated by, + Lulling my fancy like a cradled child, + Till that the dear and guileless treachery, + Made me the wretch I am--so lost, so wild-- + A mingled feeling, neither joy or grief, + Dwelt in my heart--I knew not whence it came, + And--but that woe is me! 'twas passing brief, + Even at this hour I fain would feel the same! + I track'd a path of flowers--but flowers among + Were hissing serpents and drear birds of night, + That shot across and scared with boding cries; + And yet deep interest lurked in that affright, + Something endearing in those mysteries, + Which bade me still the desperate joy pursue, + Heedless of what might come--when from mine eyes + The cloud should pass, or what might then accrue. + The cloud _has_ passed--the blissful power is flown, + The flowers are wither'd--wither'd all the scene. + But ah! the dear delusions I have known + Are present still, with loved though altered mien: + I tread the selfsame path in heart unchanged; + But changed now is all that path to me, + For where 'mong flowers and fountains once I ranged + Are barren rocks and savage scenery!" + +Mary felt it was in vain to attempt to win her sister's confidence, and +she was too delicate to seek to wrest her secrets from her; she +therefore took no notice of this effusion of love and disappointment, +which she concluded it to be. + +Adelaide appeared at dinner as usual. All traces of agitation had +vanished; and her manner was a cool and collected as if all had been +peace and tranquillity at heart. Lord Lindore's departure was slightly +noticed. It was generally understood that he had been rejected by his +cousin; and his absence at such a time was thought perfectly natural; +the Duke merely remarking, with a vacant simper, "So Lord Lindore is +gone--Ah! poor Lord Lindore." + +Lady Juliana had, in a very early stage of the business, fixed in her +own mind that she, as a matter of course, would be invited to accompany +her daughter upon her marriage; indeed, she had always looked upon it as +a sort of triple alliance, that was to unite her as indissolubly to the +fortunes of the Duke of Altamont as though she had been his wedded wife. +But the time drew near, and in spite of all her hints and manoeuvres no +invitation had yet been extorted from Adelaide. The Duke had proposed to +her to invite her sister, and even expressed something like a wish to +that effect; for though he felt no positive pleasure in Mary's society, +he was yet conscious of a void in her absence. She was always in good +humour--always gentle and polite--and, without being able to tell why, +his Grace always felt more at ease with her than with anybody else. But +his selfish bride seemed to think that the joys of her elevation would +be diminished if shared even by her own sister, and she coldly rejected +the proposal. Lady Juliana was next suggested--for the Duke had a sort of +vague understanding that his safety lay in a multitude. With him, as +with all stupid people, company was society, words were +conversation--and all the gradations of intellect, from Sir Isaac Newton +down to Dr. Redgill, were to him unknown. But although, as with most +weak people, obstinacy was his _forte,_ he was here again compelled to +yield to the will of his bride, as she also declined the company of her +mother for the present. The disappointment was somewhat softened to Lady +Juliana by the sort of indefinite hopes that were expressed by her +daughter of seeing her in town when they were fairly established; but +until she had seen Altamont House, and knew its accommodations, she +could fix nothing; and Lady Juliana was fain to solace herself with this +dim perspective, instead of the brilliant reality her imagination had +placed within her grasp. She felt, too, without comprehending, the +imperfectness of all earthly felicity. As she witnessed the magnificent +preparations for her daughter's marriage, it recalled the bitter +remembrance of her own--and many a sigh burst from her heart as he +thought, "Such as Adelaide is, I might have been had I been blest with +such a mother, and brought up to know what was for my good!" + +The die was cast. Amidst pomp and magnificence, elate with pride, and +sparkling with jewels, Adelaide Douglas reversed the fate of her mother; +and while her affections were bestowed on another, she vowed, in the +face of heaven, to belong only to the Duke of Altamont! + +"Good-bye, my dearest love!" said her mother, as she embraced her with +transport, "and I shall be with you very soon; and, above all things, +try to secure a good opera-box for the season. I assure you it is of the +greatest consequence." + +The Duchess impatiently hurried from the congratulations of her family, +and throwing herself into the splendid equipage that awaited her was +soon lost to their view. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + "Every white will have its black, + And every sweet its sour:" + +As Lady Juliana experienced. Her daughter was Duchess of Altamont, but +Grizzy Douglas had arrived in Bath! The intelligence was communicated to +Mary in a letter. It had no date, but was as follows:-- + +My DEAR MARY--You will See from the Date of this, that we are at last +Arrived here, after a very long journey, which, you of Course Know it is +from this to our Part of the country; at the same Time, it was +uncommonly Pleasant, and we all enjoyed it very Much, only poor Sir +Sampson was so ill that we Expected him to Expire every minute, which +would have made it Extremely unpleasant for dear Lady M'Laughlan. He is +now, I am Happy to say, greatly Better, though still so Poorly that I am +much afraid you will see a very Considerable change upon him. I +sincerely hope, my dear Mary, that you will make a proper Apology to +Lady Juliana for my not going to Beech Park (where I know I would be +made most Welcome) directly--but I am Certain she will Agree with me +that it would be Highly Improper in me to leave Lady M'Laughlan when she +is not at all Sure how long Sir Sampson may Live; and it would Appear +very Odd if I was to be out of the way at such a time as That. But you +may Assure her, with my Kind love, and indeed all our Loves (as I am +sure None of us can ever forget the Pleasant time she spent with us at +Glenfern in my Poor brother's lifetime, before you was Born), that I +will Take the very first Opportunity of Spending some time at Beech Park +before leaving Bath, as we Expect the Waters will set Sir Sampson quite +on his Feet again. It will be a happy Meeting, I am certain, with Lady +Juliana and all of us, as it is Eighteen years this spring since we have +Met. You may be sure I have a great Deal to tell you and Lady Juliana +too, about all Friends at Glenfern, whom I left all quite Well. Of course, +the Report of Bella's and Betsy's marriages Must have reached Bath by +this time, as it will be three Weeks to-day since we left our part of +the country; but in case it has not reached you, Lady M'Laughlan is of +opinion that the Sooner you are made Acquainted with it the Better, +especially as there is no doubt of it. Bella's marriage, which is in a +manner fixed by this time, I daresay, though of Course it will not take +place for some time, is to Capt. M'Nab of some Regiment, but I'm sure I +Forget which, for there are so many Regiments, you know, it is +Impossible to remember them All; but he is quite a Hero, I know that, as +he has been in Several battles, and had Two of his front teeth Knocked +Out at one of them, and was Much complimented about it; and he Says, he +is quite Certain of getting Great promotion--at any Rate a pension for +it, so there is no Fear of him. + +"Betsy has, if Possible, been still More fortunate than her Sister, +although you know Bella was always reckoned the Beauty of the Family, +though some people certainly preferred Betsy's Looks too. She has made a +Complete conquest of Major M'Tavish, of the Militia, who, Independent of +his rank, which is certainly very High, has also distinguished himself +very Much, and showed the Greatest bravery once when there was a Very +serious Riot about the raising the Potatoes a penny a peck, when there +was no Occasion for it, in the town of Dunoon; and it was very much +talked of at the Time, as well as Being in all the Newspapers. This +gives us all the Greatest Pleasure, as I am certain it will also Do Lady +Juliana and you, my dear Mary. At the same time, we Feel very much for +poor Babby, and Beenie, and Becky, as they Naturally, and indeed all of +us, Expected they would, of Course, be married first; and it is +certainly a great Trial for them to See their younger sisters married +before them. At the same Time, they are Wonderfully supported, and +Behave with Astonishing firmness; and I Trust, my dear Mary, you will do +the Same, as I have no Doubt you will All be married yet, as I am sure +you Richly deserve it when it Comes. I hope I will see you Very soon, as +Lady M'Laughlan, I am certain, will Make you most Welcome to call. We +are living in Most elegant Lodgings--all the Furniture is quite New, and +perfectly Good. I do not know the Name of the street yet, as Lady +M'Laughlan, which is no wonder, is not fond of being Asked questions +when she is Upon a Journey; and, indeed, makes a Point of never +Answering any, which, I daresay, is the Best way. But, of Course, +anybody will Tell you where Sir Sampson Maclaughlan, Baronet, of +Lochmarliie Castle, Perthshire, N. B., lives; and, if You are at any +Loss, it has a Green door, and a most Elegant Balcony. I must now bid +you adieu, my dear. Mary, as I Am so soon to See yourself. Sir Sampson +and Lady M'Laughlan unite with Me in Best compliments to the Family at +Beech Park. And, in kind love to Lady Juliana and you, I remain, My dear +Mary, your most affectionate Aunt, + + GRIZZEL DOUGLAS. + +_"P.S._--I have a long letter for you from Mrs. Douglas, which is in my +Trunk, that is Coming by the Perth Carrier, and unless he is stopped by +the Snow, I Expect he will be here in ten days." + +With the idea of Grizzy was associated in Mary's mind all the dear +familiar objects of her happiest days, and her eyes sparkled with +delight at the thoughts of again beholding her. + +"Oh! when may I go to Bath to dear Aunt Grizzy?" exclaimed she, as +she finished the letter. Lady Juliana looked petrified. Then +recollecting that this was the first intimation her mother had received +of such an event being even in contemplation, she made haste to +exculpate her aunt at her own expense, by informing her of the truth. +But nothing could be more unpalatable than the truth; and poor Mary's +short-lived joy was soon turned into the bitterest sorrow at the +reproaches that were showered upon her by the incensed Lady Juliana. But +for her these people never would have thought of coming to Bath; or if +they did, she should have had no connection with them. She had been most +excessively ill-used by Mr. Douglas's family, and had long since +resolved to have no further intercourse with them--they were nothing to +her, etc. etc. The whole concluding with a positive prohibition against +Mary's taking any notice of her aunt. "From all that has been said, +Mary," said Lady Emily gravely, "there can be no doubt but that you are +the origin of Lady Juliana's unfortunate connection with the family of +Douglas." + +"Undoubtedly," said her Ladyship. + +"But for you, it appears that she would not have known--certainly never +would have acknowledged that her husband had an aunt?" + +"Certainly not," said Lady Juliana, warmly. + +"It is a most admirable plan," continued Lady Emily in the same manner, +"and I shall certainly adopt it. When I have children I am determined +they shall be answerable for my making a foolish marriage; and it shall +be their fault if my husband has a mother. _En attendant,_ I am +determined to patronise Edward's relations to the last degree; and +therefore, unless Mary is permitted to visit her aunt as often as she +pleases, I shall make a point of bringing the dear Aunt Grizzy here. Yes" +(Putting her hand to the bell), "I shall order my carriage this instant, +and set off. To-morrow, you know, we give a grand dinner in +honour of Adelaide's marriage. Aunt Grizzy shall be queen of the feast." + +Lady Juliana was almost suffocated with passion; but she knew her niece +too well to doubt her putting her threat into execution, and there was +distraction in the idea of the vulgar obscure Grizzy Douglas being +presented to a fashionable party as her aunt. After a violent +altercation, in which Mary took no part, an ungracious permission was at +length extorted, which Mary eagerly availed herself of; and, charged +with kind messages from Lady Emily, set off in quest of Aunt Grizzy and +the green door. + +After much trouble, and many unsuccessful attacks upon green doors and +balconies, she was going to give up the search in despair, when her eye +was attracted by the figure of Aunt Grizzy herself at full length, +stationed at a window, in an old-fashioned riding-habit and spectacles. +The carriage was stopped and in an instant Mary was in the arms of her +aunt, all agitation, as Lochmarlie flashed on her fancy, at again +hearing its native accents uttered by the voice familiar to her from +infancy. Yet the truth must be owned, Mary's taste was somewhat +startled, even while her heart warmed at the sight of the good old aunt. +Association and affection still retained their magical influence over +her; but absence had dispelled the blest illusions of habitual +intercourse; and for the first time she beheld her aunt freed from its +softening spell. Still her heart clung to her, as to one known and loved +from infancy; and she Soon rose superior to the weakness she felt was +besetting her in the slight sensation of shame, as she contrasted her +awkward manner and uncouth accent with the graceful refinement of those +with whom she associated. + +Far different were the sensations with which the good spinster regarded +her niece. She could not often enough declare her admiration of the +improvements that had taken place. Mary was grown taller, and stouter, +and fairer and fatter, and her back was a straight as an arrow, and her +carriage would even surprise Miss M'Gowk herself. It was quite +astonishing to see her, for she had always understood Scotland was the +place for beauty, and that nobody ever came to anything in England. Even +Sir Sampson and Lady Maclaughlan were forgot as she stood riveted in +admiration, and Mary was the first to recall her recollection to them. +Sir Sampson, indeed, might well have been overlooked by a more accurate +observer; for, as Grizzy observed, he was worn away to nothing, and the +little that remained seemed as if it might have gone too without being +any loss. He was now deaf, paralytic, and childish, and the only symptom +of life he showed was an increased restlessness and peevishness. His +lady sat by him, calmly pursuing her work, and, without relaxing from it, +merely held up her face to salute Mary as she approached her. + +"So I'm glad you are no worse than you was, dear child," surveying her +from head to foot; "that's more than _we_ can say. You see these poor +creatures," pointing to Sir Sampson and Aunt Grizzy. "They are much about +it now. Well, we know what we are, but God knows what we shall +be--humph!" + +Sir Sampson showed no signs of recognising her, but seemed pleased when +Grizzy resumed her station beside him; and began for the five hundredth +time to tell him why he was not in Lochmarlie Castle, and why he was in +Bath. + +Mary now saw that there are situations in which a weak capacity has its +uses, and that the most foolish chat may sometimes impart greater +pleasure than all the wisdom of the schools, even when proceeding from a +benevolent heart. + +Sir Sampson and Grizzy were so much upon a pair in intellect, that they +were reciprocally happy in each other. This the strong sense of Lady +Maclaughlan had long perceived, and was the principal reason of her +selecting so weak a woman as her companion; though, at the same time, in +justice to her Ladyship's heart as well as head, she had that partiality +for her friend for which no other reason can be assigned than that given +by Montaigne: "Je l'amais parceque c'étoit _elle,_ parceque c'étoit moi." + +Mary paid a long visit to her aunt, and then took leave, promising to +return the following day to take Miss Grizzy to deliver a letter of +introduction she had received, and which had not been left to the chance +of the carrier and the snow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +"This sort of person is skilled to assume the appearance of all virtues +and all good qualities; but their favourite mask is universal +benevolence. And the reason why they prefer this disguise to all others, +is, that it tends to conceal its opposite, which is, indeed, their true +character--an universal selfishness." + +--KNOX'S _Essays._ + +ALTHOUGH, on her return, Mary read her mother's displeasure in her +looks, and was grieved at again having incurred it, she yet felt it a +duty towards her father to persevere in her attentions to his aunt. She +was old, poor, and unknown, plain in her person, weak in her intellects, +vulgar in her manners; but she was related to her by ties more binding +than the laws of fashion or the rules of taste. Even these +disadvantages, which, to a worldly mind, would have served as excuses +for neglecting her, to Mary's generous nature were so many incentives to +treat her with kindness and attention. Faithful to her promise, +therefore, she repaired to Milsom Street, and found her aunt all +impatience for her arrival, with the letter so firmly grasped in both +hands, that she seemed almost afraid to trust anyone with a glance at +the direction. + +"This letter, Mary," said she, when they were seated in the carriage, +"will be a great thing for me, and especially for you. I got it from +Mrs. Menzies, through Mrs. M'Drone, whose friend, Mrs. Campbell's +half-sister, Miss Grant, is a great friend of Mrs. Fox's, and she says +she is a most charming woman. Of course she is no friend to the great +Fox; or you know it would have been very odd in me, with Sir Sampson's +principles, and my poor brother's principles, and all our own +principles, to have visited her. But she's quite of a different family +of Foxes: she's a Fox of Peckwell, it seems--a most amiable woman, very +rich, and prodigiously charitable. I am sure we have been most fortunate +in getting a letter to such a woman." And with this heartfelt +ejaculation they found themselves at Mrs. Fox's. + +Everything corresponded with the account of this lady's wealth and +consequence; the house was spacious and handsomely furnished, with its +due proportion of livery servants; and they were ushered into a +sitting-room which was filled with all the 'wonders of nature and +art,--Indian shells, inlaid cabinets, ivory boxes, stuffed birds, old +china, Chinese mandarins, stood disclosed in all their charms. The lady +of this mansion was seated at table covered with works of a different +description: it exhibited the various arts of woman, in regular +gradation, from the painted card-rack and gilded firescreen, to the +humble thread-paper and shirt-button. Mrs. Fox was a fine, +fashionable-looking woman, with a smooth skin, and still smoother +address. She received her visitors with that overstrained complaisance +which, to Mary's nicer tact, at once discovered that all was hollow; but +poor Miss Grizzy was scarcely seated before she was already transfixed +with admiration at Mrs. Fox's politeness, and felt as if her whole life +would be too short to repay such kindness. Compliments over--the +weather, etc., discussed, Mrs. Fox began: + +"You must be surprised, ladies, to see me in the midst of such a litter, +but you find me busy arranging the works of some poor _protégées_ of +mine. A most unfortunate family!--I have given them what little +instruction I could in these little female works; and you see," putting +a gaudy work-basket into Grizzy's hands, "it is astonishing what +progress they have made. My friends have been most liberal in their +purchases of these trifles, but I own I am a wretched beggar. They are +in bad hands when they are in mine, poor souls! The fact is, I can give, +but I cannot beg. I tell them they really must find somebody else to +dispose of their little labours--somebody who has more of what I call +the gift of begging than I am blest with." + +Tears of admiration stood in Grizzy's eye; her hand was in her +pocket. She looked to Mary, but Mary's hands and eyes betrayed no +corresponding emotions; she felt only disgust at the meanness and +indelicacy of the mistress of such a mansion levying contributions from +the stranger within her door. + +Mrs. Fox proceeded: "That most benevolent woman Miss Gull was here this +morning, and bought no less than seven of these sweet little +pincushions. I would fain have dissuaded her from taking so many--it +really seemed such a stretch of virtue; but she said, 'My dear Mrs. Fox, +how can one possibly spend their money better than in doing a good +action, and at the same time enriching themselves?'" + +Grizzy's purse was in her hand. "I declare that's very true. I never +thought of that before; and I'm certain Lady Maclaughlan will say the +very same; and I'm sure she will be delighted--I've no doubt of that--to +take a pincushion; and each of my sisters I'm certain, will take one, +though we have all plenty of pincushions; and I'll take one to myself, +though I have three, I'm sure, that I've never used yet." + +"My dear Miss Douglas, you really are, I could almost say, _too_ good. +Two and two's four, and one's five--five half-crowns! My poor +_protégées!_ you will really be the making of their fortune!" + +Grizzy, with trembling hands, and a face flushed with conscious virtue, +drew forth the money from her little hoard. + +But Mrs. Fox did not quit her prey so easily. "If any of your friends +are in want of shirt-buttons, Miss Douglas, I would fain recommend those +to them. They are made by a poor woman in whom I take some interest, and +are far superior to any that are to be had from the shops. They are made +from the very best materials. Indeed, I take care of that, as" (in a +modest whisper) "I furnish her with the material myself; but the +generality of those you get to purchase are made from old materials. +I've ascertained that, and it's a fact you may rely upon." + +Poor Grizzy's hair stood on end, to hear of such depravity in a sphere +where she had never even suspected it; but, for the honour of her +country, she flattered herself such practices were there unknown; and +she was entering upon a warm vindication of the integrity of Scotch +shirt-buttons, when Mrs. Fox coolly observed-- + +"Indeed, our friend Miss Grant was so conscious of the great superiority +of these buttons over any others, that she bespoke thirty-six dozen of +them to take to Scotland with her. In fact, they are the real good +old-fashioned shirt-buttons, such as I have heard my mother talk of; and +for all that, I make a point of my poor woman selling them a penny a +dozen below the shop price; so that in taking twelve dozen, which is the +common quantity, there is a shilling saved at once." + +Grizzy felt as if she would be the saving of the family by the +purchase of these incomparable shirt buttons, and, putting down her five +shillings, became the happy possessor of twelve dozen of them. + +Fresh expressions of gratitude and admiration ensued, till Grizzy's +brain began to whirl even more rapidly than usual, at the thought of the +deeds she had done. + +"And now," said Mrs. Fox, observing her eyes in a fine frenzy rolling +from her lapful of pincushions and shirt buttons, to a mandarin nearly +as large as life, "perhaps, my dear Miss Douglas, you will do me the +favour to take a look of my little collection." + +"Favour!" thought Grizzy; "what politeness!" and she protested there was +nothing she liked so much as to look at everything, and that it would be +the greatest favour to show her anything. The mandarin was made to shake +his head--a musical snuffbox played its part--and a variety of other +expensive toys were also exhibited. + +Mary's disgust increased. "And this woman," thought she, "professes to +be charitable amidst all this display of selfish extravagance. Probably +the price of one of these costly baubles would have provided for the +whole of these poor people for whom she affects so much compassion, +without subjecting her to the meanness of turning her house into a +beggar's repository." And she walked away to the other end of the room +to examine some fine scriptural paintings. + +"Here," said Mrs. Fox to her victim, as she unlocked a superb cabinet, +"is what I value more than my whole collection put together. It is my +specimens of Scotch pebbles; and I owe them solely to the generosity and +good-will of my Scotch friends. I assure you that is a proud reflection +to me. I am a perfect enthusiast in Scotch pebbles, and, I may say, in +Scotch people. In fact, I am an enthusiast in whatever I am interested +in; and at present, I must own, my heart is set upon making a complete +collection of Scotch pebbles." + +Grizzy began to feel a sort of tightness at her throat, at which was +affixed a very fine pebble brooch pertaining to Nicky, but lent to +Grizzy, to enable her to make a more distinguished figure in the gay +world. + +"Oh!" thought she, "what a pity this brooch is Nicky's, and not mine; I +would have given it to this charming Mrs. Fox. Indeed, I don't see how I +can be off giving it to her, even although it is Nicky's." + +"And, by-the-bye," exclaimed Mrs. Fox, as if suddenly struck with the +sight of the brooch, "that seems a very fine stone of yours. I wonder I +did not observe it sooner; but, indeed, pebbles are thrown away in +dress. May I beg a nearer view of it?" + +Grizzy's brain was now all on fire. On the one hand there was the glory +of presenting the brooch to such a polite, charitable, charming woman; +on the other, there was the fear of Nicky's indignation. But then it was +quite thrown away upon Nicky--she had no cabinet, and Mrs. Fox had +declared that pebbles were quite lost anywhere but in cabinets, and it +was a thousand pities that Nicky's brooch should be lost. All these +thoughts Grizzy revolved with her usual clearness, as she unclasped the +brooch, and gave it into the hand of the collector. + +"Bless me, my dear Miss Douglas, this is really a very fine stone! I had +no conception of it when I saw it sticking in your throat. It looks +quite a different thing in the hand; it is a species I am really not +acquainted with. I have nothing at all similar to it in my poor +collection. Pray, can you tell me the name of it, and where it is found, +that I may at least endeavour to procure a piece of it." + +"I'm sure I wish to goodness my sister Nicky was here--I'm certain she +would--though, to be sure, she has a great regard for it; for it was +found on the Glenfern estate the very day my grandfather won his plea +against Drimsydie; and we always called it the lucky stone from that." + +"The lucky stone! what a delightful name! I shall never think myself in +luck till I can procure a piece of your lucky stone. I protest, I could +almost go to Scotland on purpose. Oh, you dear lucky stone!" kissing it +with rapture. + +"I'm sure--I'm almost certain--indeed, I'm convinced, if my sister Nicky +was here, she would be delighted to offer-- It would certainly be +doing my sister Nicky the greatest favour, since you think it would be +seen to so much greater advantage in your cabinet, which, for my own +part, I have not the least doubt of, as certainly my sister Nicky very +seldom wears it for fear of losing it, and it would be a thousand pities +if it was lost; and, to be sure, it will be much safer locked up--nobody +can dispute that--so I am sure it's by far the best thing my sister +Nicky can do--for certainly a pebble brooch is quite lost as a brooch." + +"My dear Miss Douglas! I am really quite ashamed! This is a perfect +robbery, I protest! But I must insist upon your accepting some little +token of my regard for Miss Nicky in return." Going to her +charity-table, and returning with a set of painted thread-papers, "I +must request the favour of you to present these to Miss Nicky, with my +kind regards, and assure her I shall consider her lucky stone as the +most precious jewel in my possession." + +The whole of this scene had been performed with such rapidity that poor +Grizzy was not prepared for the sudden metamorphose of Nicky's pebble +brooch into a set of painted thread-papers, and some vague alarms began +to float through her brain. + +Mary now advanced, quite unconscious of what had been going on; and +having whispered her aunt to take leave, they departed. They returned in +silence. Grizzy was so occupied in examining her pincushions and +counting her buttons, that she never looked up till the carriage stopped +in Milsom Street. + +Mary accompanied her in. Grizzy was all impatience to display her +treasures; and as she hastily unfolded them, began to relate her +achievements. Lady Maclaughlan heard her in silence, and a deep groan +was all that she uttered; but Grizzy was too well accustomed to be +groaned at, to be at all appalled, and went on, "But all that's nothing +to the shirt-buttons, made of Mrs. Fox's own linen, and only five +shillings the twelve dozen; and considering what tricks are played with +shirt-buttons now--I assure you people require to be on their guard with +shirt-buttons now." + +"Pray, my dear, did you ever read the 'Vicar of Wakefield?'" + +"The 'Vicar of Wakefield?' I--I think always I must have read it:--at +any rate, I'm certain I've heard of it." + +"Moses and his green spectacles was as one of the acts of Solomon +compared to you and your shirtbuttons. Pray, which of you is it that +wears shirts?" + +"I declare that's very true--I wonder I did not think of that sooner--to +be sure, none us wear shirts since my poor brother died." + +"And what's become of her brooch?" turning to Mary, who for the first +time observed the departure of Nicky's crown jewel. + +"Oh, as to the brooch," cried Grizzy, "I'm certain you'll all think that +well bestowed, and certainly it has been the saving of it." Upon which +she commenced a most entangled narrative, from which the truth was at +length extracted. + +"Well," said Lady Maclaughlan, "there are two things God grant I may +never become,--an, _amateur_ in charity, and a collector of curiosities. +No Christian can be either--both are pickpockets. I wouldn't keep +company with my own mother were she either one or other--humph!" + +Mary was grieved at the loss of the brooch; but Grizzy seemed more than +ever satisfied with the exchange, as Sir Sampson had taken a fancy for +the thread-papers, and it would amuse him for the rest of the day to be +told every two minutes what they were intended for. Mary therefore left +her quite happy, and returned to Beech Park. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + "He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To gain or lose it all." + + _Marquis of Montrose._ + +TIME rolled on, but no event occurred in Grizzy's life worthy of being +commemorated. Lady Juliana began to recover from the shock of her +arrival, and at length was even prevailed upon to pay her a visit, and +actually spent five minutes in the same room with her. All her +Ladyship's plans seemed now on the point of being accomplished. Mr. +Downe Wright was now Lord Glenallan, with an additional fifteen thousand +per annum, and by wiser heads than hers would have been thought an +unexceptionable match for any young woman. Leaving his mother to settle +his affairs in Scotland, to which she was much more _au fait_ than +himself, he hastened to Beech Park to claim Mary's promised hand. + +But neither wealth nor grandeur possessed any sway over Mary's +well-regulated mind, and she turned from that species of happiness which +she felt would be insufficient to satisfy the best affections of her +heart. "No," thought she, "it is not in splendour and distinction that I +shall find happiness; it is in the cultivation of the domestic +virtues--the peaceful joys of a happy home and a loved companion, that +my felicity must consist. Without these I feel that I should still be +poor, were I mistress of millions;" and she took the first opportunity +of acquainting Lord Glenallan with the nature of her sentiments. + +He received the communication with painful surprise; but as he was one +of those who do not easily divest themselves of an idea that has once +taken possession of their brain, he seemed resolved to persevere in his +quiet, though pointed attentions. + +Lady Juliana's anger at the discovery of her daughter's refusal it +is needless to describe--it may easily be imagined; and poor Mary was +almost heartbroken by the violence and duration of it. Sometimes she +wavered in her ideas as to whether she was doing right in thus resisting +her mother's wishes; and in the utmost distress she mentioned her +scruples to Lady Emily. + +"As to Lady Juliana's wishes," said her cousin, "they are mere +soap-bubbles; but as to your own views--why, really you are somewhat of +a riddle to me. I rather think, were I such a quiet, civil, +well-disposed person as you, I could have married Lord Glenallan well +enough. He is handsome, good-natured, and rich; and though 'he is but a +Lord, and nothing but a Lord,' still there is a dash and bustle in +twenty thousand a year that takes off from the ennui of a dull +companion. With five hundred a year, I grant you, he would be +execrable." + +"Then I shall never marry a man with twenty thousand a year whom I would +not have with five hundred." + +"In short, you are to marry for love--that's the old story, which, with +all your wisdom, you wise, well-educated girls always end in. Where +shall I find a hero upon five hundred a year for you? Of course he must +be virtuous, noble, dignified, handsome, brave, witty. What would you +think of Charles Lennox?" + +Mary coloured. "After what passed, I would not marry Colonel Lennox; +no"--affecting to smile--"not if he were to ask me, which is certainly +the most unlikely of all things." + +"Ah! true, I had forgot that scrape. No, that won't do; it certainly +would be most pitiful in you, after what passed. Well, I don't know +what's to be done with you. There's nothing for it but that you should +take Lord Glenallan, with all his imperfections on his head; and, after +all, I really see nothing that he wants but a little more brain, and as +you'll have the managing of him you can easily supply that deficiency." + +"Indeed," answered Mary, "I find I have quite little enough for myself, +and I have no genius whatever for managing. I shall therefore never +marry, unless I marry a man on whose judgment I could rely for advice +and assistance, and for whom I could feel a certain deference that I +consider due from a wife to her husband." + +"I see what you would be at," said Lady Emily; "you mean to model +yourself upon the behaviour of Mrs. Tooley, who has such a deference for +the judgment of her better half, that she consults him even about the +tying of her shoes, and would not presume to give her child a few grains +of magnesia without this full and unqualified approbation. Now I flatter +myself my husband and I shall have a more equitable division; for, +though man is a reasonable being, he shall know and own that woman is so +too--sometimes. All things that men ought to know better I shall yield; +whatever may belong to either sex, I either seize upon as my +prerogative, or scrupulously divide; for which reason I should like the +profession of my husband to be something in which I could not possibly +interfere. How difficult must it be for a woman in the lower ranks of +life to avoid teaching her husband how to sew, if he is a tailor; or how +to bake, if he is a baker, etc. + +"Nature seems to have provided for this tendency of both sexes, by +making your sensible men--that is, men who think themselves sensible, +and wish everybody else to think the same--incline to foolish women. I +can detect one of these sensible husbands at a glance, by the pomp and +formality visible in every word, look, or action--men, in short, whose +'visages do cream and mantle like a standing pond;' who are perfect +Joves in their own houses--who speak their will by a nod, and lay down +the law by the motion of their eyebrow--and who attach prodigious ideas +of dignity to frightening their children, and being worshipped by their +wives, till you see one of these wiseacres looking as if he thought +himself and his obsequious helpmate were exact personifications of Adam +and Eve--' he for God only, she for God in him.' Now I am much afraid, +Mary, with all your sanctity, you are in some danger of becoming one of +these idolatresses." + +"I hope not," replied Mary, laughing; "but if I should, that seems +scarcely so bad as the sect of Independents in the marriage state; for +example, there is Mrs. Boston, who by all strangers is taken for a +widow, such emphasis does she lay upon the personal pronoun--with her, +'tis always, _I_ do this, or _I_ do that, without the slightest +reference to her husband; and she talks of _my_ house, _my_ gardens, +_my_ carriage, _my_ children, as if there were no copartnery in the +case." + +"Ah, she is very odious," cried Lady Emily; "she is both master and +mistress, and more if possible she makes her husband look like her +footman; but she is a fool, as every woman must needs be who thinks she +can raise herself by lowering her husband. Then there is the sect of the +Wranglers, whose marriage is only one continued dispute. But, in short, +I see it is reserved for me to set a perfect example to my sex in the +married state. But I'm more reasonable than you, I suspect, for I don't +insist upon having a bright genius for my mate." + +"I confess I should like that my husband's genius was at least as bright +as my own," said Mary, "and I can't think there is anything unreasonable +in that; or rather, I should say, were I a genius myself, I could better +dispense with a certain portion of intellect in my husband; as it has +been generally remarked that those who are largely endowed themselves +can easier dispense with talents in their companions than others of more +moderate endowments can do; but virtue and talents on the one side, +virtue and tenderness on the other, I look upon as the principal +ingredients in a happy union." + +"Well, I intend to be excessively happy; and yet, I don't think Edward +will ever find the longitude. And, as for my tenderness--humph!--as +Lady Maclaughlan says; but as for you--I rather think you're in some +danger of turning into an Aunt Grizzy, with a long waist and large +pockets, peppermint drops and powdered curls; but, whatever you do, for +heaven's sake let us have no more human sacrifices--if you do, I shall +certainly appear at your wedding in sackcloth." And this was all of +comfort or advice that her Ladyship could bestow. + +As Lady Emily was not a person who concealed either her own secrets or +those of others, Colonel Lennox was not long of hearing from her what +had passed, and of being made thoroughly acquainted with Mary's +sentiments on love and marriage. "Such a heart must be worth winning," +thought he; but he sighed to think that he had less chance for the prize +than another. Independent of his narrow fortune, which, he was aware, +would be an insuperable bar to obtaining Lady Juliana's consent, Mary's +coldness and reserve towards him seemed to increase rather than +diminish. Or if she sometimes gave way to the natural frankness and +gaiety of her disposition before him, a word or look expressive of +admiration on his part instantly recalled to her those painful ideas +which had been for a moment forgot, and seemed to throw him at a greater +distance than ever. + +Colonel Lennox was too noble-minded himself to suppose for an instant +that Mary actually felt dislike towards him because at the commencement +of their acquaintance he had not done justice to her merits; but he was +also aware that, until he had explained to her the nature of his +sentiments, she must naturally regard his attentions with suspicion, and +consider them rather as acts of duty towards his mother than as the +spontaneous expression of his own attachment. He therefore, in the most +simple and candid manner, laid open to her the secret of his heart, and +in all the eloquence of real passion, poured forth those feelings of +love and admiration with which she had unconsciously inspired him. + +For a moment Mary's distrust was overcome by the ardour of his +address, and the open manly manner in which he had avowed the rise and +progress of his attachment; and she yielded herself up to the delightful +conviction of loving and being beloved. + +But soon that gave way to the mortifying reflection that rushed over her +mind, "He _has_ tried to love me!" thought she; "but it is in obedience +to his mother's wish, and he thinks he has succeeded. No, no; I cannot +be the dupe of his delusion--I will not give myself to one who has been +solicited to love me!" And again wounded delicacy and woman's pride +resumed their empire over her, and she rejected the idea of _ever_ +receiving Colonel Lennox as a lover. He heard her determination with the +deepest anguish, and used every argument and entreaty to soften her +resolution; but Mary had wrought herself up to a pitch of heroism-she +had rejected the man she loved--the only man she ever _could_ love: that +done, to persist in the sacrifice seemed easy; and they parted with +increased attachment in their hearts, even though those hearts seemed +severed for ever. + +Soon after he set off to join his regiment; and it was only in saying +farewell that Mary felt how deeply her happiness was involved in the +fate of the man she had for ever renounced. To no one did she impart +what had passed; and Lady Emily was too dull herself, for some days +after the departure of her friend, to take any notice of Mary's +dejection. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + "Who taught the parrot to cry, hail? + What taught the chattering pie his tale? + Hunger; that sharpener of the wits, + Which gives e'en fools some thinking fits" + + DRUMMOND'S + _Persius._ + +MARY found herself bereft of both her lovers nearly at the same time. +Lord Glenallan, after formally renewing his suit, at length took a final +leave, and returned to Scotland. Lady Juliana's indignation could only +be equalled by Dr. Redgill's upon the occasion. He had planned a snug +retreat for himself during the game season at Glenallan Castle; where, +from the good-nature and easy temper of both master and mistress, he had +no doubt but that he should in time come to _rule the roast,_ and be +lord paramount over kitchen and larder. His disappointment was therefore +great at finding all the solid joys of red deer and moor-game, kippered +salmon and mutton hams, "vanish like the baseless fabric of a vision," +leaving not a wreck behind. + +"Refused Lord Glenallan!" exclaimed he to Lady Emily, upon first +hearing of it. "The thing's incredible--absolutely impossible--I won't +believe it!" + +"That's right, Doctor; who is it that says 'And still believe the story +false that _ought_ not to be true? I admire your candour, and wish I +could imitate it." + +"Then your Ladyship really believes it. 'Pon my soul, I--I--it's really a +very vexatious affair. I feel for Lady Juliana, poor woman! No wonder +she's hysterical-five and twenty thousand a year refused! What is it she +would have? The finest deer park in Scotland! Every sort of game upon +the estate! A salmon fishing at the very door!--I should just like to +know what _is_ the meaning of it?" + +"Cannot you guess, Doctor" asked Lady Emily. + +"Guess! No, 'pon my soul! I defy any man to guess what could tempt a +woman to refuse five and twenty thousand a year; unless, indeed, she has +something higher in view, and even then she should be pretty sure of her +mark. But I suppose, because Miss Adelaide has got a Duke, she thinks +she must have one too. I suppose that's the story; but I can tell her +Dukes are not so plenty; and she's by no means so fine a woman as her +sister, and her market's spoilt, or I'm much mistaken. What man in his +senses would ever ask a woman who had been such an idiot as to refuse +five and twenty thousand a year?" + +"I see, Doctor, you are quite a novice in the tender passion. Cannot you +make allowance for it: a young lady's not being in love?" + +"In what?" demanded the Doctor. + +"In love," repeated Lady Emily. + +"Love! Bah--nonsense--no mortal in their senses ever thinks of such +stuff now." + +"Then you think love and madness are one and the same thing, it seems?" + +"I think the man or woman who could let their love stand in the way of +five and twenty thousand a year is the next thing to being mad," said +the Doctor warmly; "and in this case I can see no difference." + +"But you'll allow there are some sorts of love that may be indulged +without casting any shade upon the understanding?" + +"I really can't tell what your Ladyship means," said the Doctor +impatiently. + +"I mean, for example, the love one may feel towards a turtle, such as we +had lately." + +"That's quite a different thing," interrupted the Doctor. + +"Pardon me, but whatever the consequence may be, the effects in both +cases were very similar, as exemplified in yourself. Pray, what +difference did it make to your friends, who were deprived of your +society, whether you spent your time in walking with 'even step, and +musing gait,' before your Dulcinea's window or the turtle's +cistern?--whether you were engrossed in composing a sonnet to your +mistress's eyebrow, or in contriving a new method of heightening the +enjoyments of _calipash?_ --whether you expatiated with greater rapture +on the charms of a white skin or green fat?--whether you were most +devoted to a languishing or a lively beauty?--whether----" + +"'Pon my honour, Lady Emily, I really--I--I can't conceive what it is you +mean. There's a time for everything; and I'm sure nobody but yourself +would ever have thought of bringing in a turtle to a conversation upon +marriage." + +"On the contrary, Doctor, I thought it had been upon love; and I was +endeavouring to convince you that even the wisest of men may be +susceptible of certain tender emotions towards a beloved object." + +"You'll never convince me that any but a fool can be in love," cried +the Doctor, his visage assuming a darker purple as the argument +advanced. + +"Then you must rank Lord Glenallan, with his five and twenty thousand a +year, amongst the number, for he is desperately in love, I assure you." + +"As to that, Lord Glenallan, or any man with his fortune, may be +whatever he chooses. He has a right to be in love. He can afford to be +in love." + +"I have heard much of the torments of love," said Lady Emily; "but I +never heard it rated as a luxury before. I hope there is no chance of +your being made Premier, otherwise I fear we should have a tax upon +love-marriages immediately." + +"It would be greatly for the advantage of the nation, as well as the +comfort of individuals, if there was," returned the Doctor. "Many a +pleasant fellow has been lost to society by what you call a +love-marriage. I speak from experience. I was obliged to drop the +oldest friend I had upon his making one of your love-marriages." + +"What! you were afraid of the effects of evil example?" asked Lady +Emily. + +"No--it was not for that; but he asked me to take a family dinner with +him one day, and I, without knowing anything of the character of the +woman he had married, was weak enough to go. I found a very so-so +tablecloth and a shoulder of mutton, which ended our acquaintance. I +never entered his door after it. In fact, no man's happiness is proof +against dirty tablecloths and bad dinners; and you may take my word for +it, Lady Emily, these are the invariable accompaniments of your +love-marriages." + +"Pshaw! that is only amongst the _bourgeois,"_ said Lady Emily +affectedly; "that is not the sort of _ménage_ I mean to have. +Here is to be the style of my domestic establishment;" and she repeated +Shenstone's beautiful pastoral-- + + "My banks they are furnished with bees," etc., + +till she came to-- + + "I have found out a gift for my fair, + I have found where the wood-pigeons breed." + +"There's some sense in that," cried the Doctor, who had been listening +with great weariness." You may have a good pigeon-pie, or _un sauté de +pigeons au sang,_ which is still better when well dressed." + +"Shocking!" exclaimed Lady Emily; "to mention pigeon-pies in the +same breath with nightingales and roses!" + +"I'll tell you what, Lady Emily, it's just these sort of nonsensical +descriptions that do all the mischief amongst you young ladies. It's +these confounded poets that turn all your heads, and make you think you +have nothing to do after you are married but sit beside fountains and +grottoes, and divert yourself with birds and flowers, instead of looking +after your servants, and paying your butcher's bills; and, after all, +what is the substance of that trash you have just been reading, but to +say that the man was a substantial farmer and grazier, and had bees; +though I never heard of any man in his senses going to sleep amongst his +beehives before. 'Pon my soul! if I had my will I would burn every line +of poetry that ever was written. A good recipe for a pudding is worth +all that your Shenstones and the whole set of them ever wrote; and +there's more good sense and useful information in this book"--rapping +his knuckles against a volume he held in his hand--"than in all your +poets, ancient and modern." + +Lady Emily took it out of his hand and opened it. + +"And some very poetical description, too, Doctor; although you affect +to despise it so much. Here is an eulogium on the partridge. I doubt +much if St. Preux ever made a finer on his adorable Julie;" and she read +as follows:-- + +"La Perdrix tient Ie premier rang apres la Bécasse, dans la cathégorie +des gibiers à plumes. C'est, lorsqu'elle est rouge, l'un des plus +honorables et desmeilleurs rôtis qui puissent être étalés sur une table +gourmande. Sa forme appétissante, sa taille élégante et svelte, quoiqu' +arrondie, son embonpoint modéré, ses jambes d'écarlate; enfin, son fumet +divin et ses qualités restaurantes, tout concourt à la faire rechercher +des vrais amateurs. D'autres gibiers sont plus rares, plus chers, mieux +accueillis par la vanité, le prejuge, et la mode; la Perdrix rouge, +belle de sa propre beauté, dont les qualités sont indépendantes de la +fantaisie, qui réunit en sa personne tout ce qui peut charmer les yeux, +delecter Ie palais, stimuler l'appétit, et ranimer les forces, plaira +dans-tous les temps, et concourra à l'honneur de tous les festins, sous +quelque forme qu'elle y paroisse." [1] + +[1] "Manuel des Amphitryons." + +The Doctor sighed: "That's nothing to what he says of the woodcock:" and +with trembling hand she turned over the leaves, till he found the +place. "Here it is," said he, "page 88, chap. xvi. Just be so good as +read that, Lady Emily, and say whether it is not infamous that Monsieur +Grillade has never even attempted to make it." + +With an air of melancholy enthusiasm she read--"Dans les pays oû les +Bécasses sont communes, on obtient, de leurs carcasses pilées dans un +mortier, une purée sur laquelle on dresse diverses entrées, telles que +de petites côtelettes de mouton, etc. Cotte purée est l'une des plus +délicieuses choses qui puisse être introduite dans Ie palais d'un +gourmand, et l'on peut assurer que quiconque n'en a point mangé n'a +point connu les joies du paradis terrestre. Une purée de Bécasse, bien +faite, est Ie _ne plus ultrâ_ des jouissances humaines. II faut mourir +après l'avoir goutée, car toutes les autres alors ne paroitront plus +qu'insipides." + +"And these _bécasses,_ these woodcocks, perfectly swarm on the +Glenallan estate in the season," cried the Doctor; "and to think that +such a man should have been refused. But Miss Mary will repent this the +longest day she lives. I had a cook in my eye for them, too--one who is +quite up to the making of this _purée. _'Pon my soul! she +deserve to live upon sheep's head and haggis for the rest of her life; +and if I was Lady Juliana I would try the effect of bread and water." + +"She certainly does not aspire to such joys as are here portrayed in +this _your_ book of life," said Lady Emily; "for I suspect she could +endure existence even upon roast mutton with the man she loves." + +"That's nothing to the purpose, unless the man she loves, as you call it, +loves to live upon roast mutton too. Take my word for it, unless she +gives her husband good dinners he'll not care twopence for her in a +week's time. I look upon bad dinners to be the source of much of the +misery we hear of in the married life. Women are much mistaken if they +think it's by dressing themselves they are to please their husbands." + +"Pardon me, Doctor, we must be the best judges there, and I have the +authority of all ages and sages in my favour: the beauty and the charms +of women have been the favourite theme, time immemorial; now no one ever +heard of a fair one being celebrated for her skill in cookery." + +"There I beg leave to differ from you," said the Doctor, with an air of +exultation, again referring to his _text-book_--"here is the great +Madame Pompadour, celebrated for a single dish: 'Les tendrons d'agneau +au soleil et à la Pompadour, sont sortis de l'imagination de +cette dame célèbre, pour entrer dans la bouche d'un roi." + +"But it was Love that inspired her--it was Love that kindled the fire in +her imagination. In short, you must acknowledge that + +"Love rules the court, the camp, the grove." + +"I'll acknowledge no such thing," cried the Doctor, with indignation. +"Love rule the camp, indeed! A very likely story! Don't I know that all +our first generals carry off the best cooks--that there's no such living +anywhere as in camp--that their aides-de-camp are quite ruined by +it--that in time of war they live at the rate of twenty thousand a year, +and when they come home they can't get a dinner they can eat? As for the +court, I don't pretend to know much about it; but I suspect there's more +cooks than Cupids to be seen about it. And for the groves, I shall only +say I never heard of any of your _fetes champétre_, or picnics, +where all the pleasure didn't seem to consist in the eating and +drinking." + +"Ah, Doctor, I perceive you have taken all your ideas on that subject +from Werter, who certainly was a sort of a sentimental _gourmand,_ he +seems to have enjoyed so much drinking his coffee under the shade of the +lime-trees, and going to the kitchen to take his own pease-soup; and +then he breaks out into such raptures at the idea of the illustrious +lovers of Penelope killing and dressing their own meat! Butchers and +cooks in one! only conceive them with their great knives and blue +aprons, or their spits and white nightcaps! Poor Penelope! no wonder she +preferred spinning to marrying one of these creatures! Faugh! I must +have an ounce of civet to sweeten my imagination." And she flew of, +leaving the Doctor to con over the "Manuel des Amphitryons," and sigh +at the mention of joys, sweet, yet mournful, to his soul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + "The ample proposition that hope makes + In all designs begun on earth below, + Fails in the promised largeness." + + SHAKESPEARE. + +THERE is no saying whether the Doctor's system might not have been +resorted to had not Lady Juliana's wrath been for the present suspended +by an invitation to Altamont House. True, nothing could be colder than +the terms in which it was couched; but to that her Ladyship was +insensible, and would have been equally indifferent had she known that, +such as it was, she owed it more to the obstinacy of her son-in-law than +the affection of her daughter. The Duke of Altamont was one of those who +attach great ideas of dignity to always carrying their point; and though +he might sometimes be obliged to suspend his plans, he never had been +known to relinquish them. Had he settled in his own mind to tie his +neckcloth in a particular way, not all the eloquence of Cicero or the +tears of O'Neil would have induced him to alter it; and Adelaide, the +haughty, self-willed Adelaide, soon found that, of all yokes, the most +insupportable is the yoke of an obstinate fool. In the thousand trifling +occurances of domestic life (for his Grace was interested in all the +minutiae of his establishment), where good sense and good humour on +either side would have gracefully yielded to the other, there was a +perpetual contest for dominion, which invariably ended in Adelaide's +defeat. The Duke, indeed, never disputed, or reasoned, or even replied; +but the thing was done; till, at the end of six weeks, the Duchess of +Altamont most heartily hated and despised the man she had so lately +vowed to love and obey. On the present occasion his Grace certainly +appeared in the most amiable light in wishing to have Lady Juliana +invited to his house; but in fact it proceeded entirely from his +besetting sin, obstinacy. He had propose her accompanying her daughter +at the time of her marriage, and been overruled; but with all the +pertinacity of a little mind he had kept fast hold of the idea, merely +because it was his own, and he was now determined to have it put in +execution. In a postscript to the letter, and in the same cordial style, +the Duchess said something of a hope, that _if_ her mother did come to +town, Mary should accompany her; but this her Ladyship, to Mary's great +relief, declared should not be, although she certainly was very much at +a loss how to dispose of her. Mary timidly expressed her wish to be +permitted to return to Lochmarlie, and mentioned that her uncle and aunt +had repeatedly offered to come to Bath for her, if she might be allowed +to accompany them home; but to this her mother also gave a decided +negative, adding that she never should see Lochmarlie again, if she +could help it. In short, she must remain where she was till something +could be fixed as to her future destination. "It was most excessively +tiresome to be clogged with a great unmarried daughter," her Ladyship +observed, as she sprang into the carriage with a train of dogs, and +drove off to dear delightful London. + +But, alas! the insecurity of even the best-laid schemes of human +foresight! Lady Juliana was in the midst of arrangements for endless +pleasures, when she received accounts of the death of her now almost +forgotten husband! He had died from the gradual effects of the climate, +and that was all that remained to be told of the unfortunate Henry +Douglas! If his heartless wife shed some natural tears, she wiped them +soon; but the wounds of disappointment and vanity were not so speedily +effaced, as she contrasted the brilliant court-dress with the unbecoming +widow's cap. Oh, she so detested black things--it was so hateful to wear +mourning--she never could feel happy or comfortable in black! and, at +such a time, how particularly unfortunate! Poor Douglas! she was very +sorry! And so ended the holiest and most indissoluble of human ties! + +The Duchess did not think it incumbent upon her to be affected by the +death of a person she had never seen; but she put on mourning; put off +her presentation at Court for a week, and stayed away one night from the +opera. + +On Mary's warm and unpolluted heart the tidings of her father's death +produced a very different effect. Though she had never known, in their +fullest extent, those feelings of filial affection, whose source begins +with our being, and over which memory loves to linger, as at the +hallowed fount of the purest of earthly joys, she had _yet_ been taught +to cherish a fond remembrance of him to whom she owed her being. She had +been brought up in the land of his birth--his image was associated in +her mind with many of the scenes most dear to her--his name and his +memory were familiar to those amongst whom she dwelt, and thus her +feelings of natural affection had been preserved in all their genuine +warmth and tenderness. Many a letter, and many a little token of her +love, she had, from her earliest years, been accustomed to send him; and +she had ever fondly cherished the hope of her father's return, and that +she would yet know the happiness of being blest in a parent's love. But +now all these hopes were extinguished; and, while she wept over them in +bitterness of heart, she yet bowed with pious resignation to the decree +of heaven. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + "Shall we grieve their hovering shades, + Which wait the revolution in our hearts? + Shall we disdain their silent, soft address; + Their posthumous advice and pious prayer?" + + YOUNG. + +FOR some months all was peaceful seclusion in Mary's life, and the only +varieties she knew were occasional visits to Aunt Grizzy's, and now and +then spending some days with Mrs. Lennox. She saw with sorrow the +declining health of her venerable friend, whose wasted form and delicate +features had now assumed an almost ethereal aspect. Yet she never +complained, and it was only from her languor and weakness that Mary +guessed she suffered. When urged to have recourse to medical advice she +only smiled and shook her head; yet, ever gentle and complying to the +wishes of others, she was at length prevailed upon to receive the visits +of a medical attendant, and her own feelings were but too faithfully +confirmed by his opinion. Being an old friend of the family, he took +upon himself to communicate the intelligence to her son, then abroad +with his regiment; and in the meantime Mary took up her residence at +Rose Hall, and devoted herself unceasingly to the beloved friend she felt +she was so soon to lose. + +"Ah! Mary," she would sometimes say, "God forgive me! but my heart is +not yet weaned from worldly wishes. Even now, when I feel all the vanity +of human happiness, I think how it would have soothed my last moments +could I have but seen you my son's before I left the world! Yet, alas! +our time here is so short that it matters little whether it be spent in +joy or grief, provided it be spent in innocence and virtue. Mine has +been a long life compared to many; but when I look back upon it, what a +span it seems! And it is not the remembrance of its brightest days that +are now a solace to my heart. Dearest Mary, if you live long, you will +live to think of the sad hours you have given me, as the fairest, of +perhaps, of many a happy day that I trust Heaven has yet in store for +you. Yes! God has made some whose powers are chiefly ordained to comfort +the afflicted, and in fulfilling His will you must surly be blest." + +Mary listened to the half-breathed wishes of her dear old friend with +painful feelings of regret and self-reproach. + +"Charles Lennox loved me," thought she, "truly, tenderly loved me; and +had I but repaid his noble frankness--had I suffered him to read my +heart when he laid his open before me, I might now have gladdened the +last days of the mother he adores. I might have proudly avowed that +affection I must now forever hide." + +But at the end of some weeks Mrs. Lennox was no longer susceptible of +emotions either of joy or sorrow. She gradually sank into a state of +almost total insensibility, from which not even the arrival of her son +had power to rouse her. His anguish was extreme at finding his mother in +a condition so perfectly hopeless; and every other idea seemed, for the +present, absorbed in his anxiety for her. As Mary witnessed his watchful +cares and tender solicitude, she could almost have envied the +unconscious object of such devoted attachment. + +A few days after his arrival his leave of absence was abruptly recalled, +and he was summoned to repair to headquarters with all possible +expedition. The army was on the move, and a battle was expected to be +fought. At such a time hesitation or delay, under any circumstances, +would have been inevitable disgrace; and, dreadful as was the +alternative, Colonel Lennox wavered not an instant in his resolution. +With a look of fixed agony, but without uttering a syllable, he put the +letter into Mary's hand as she sat by his mother's bedside, and then +left the room to order preparations to be made for his instant +departure. On his return Mary witnessed the painful conflict of his +feelings in his extreme agitation as he approached his mother, to look +for the last time on those features, already moulded into more than +mortal beauty. A bright ray of the setting sun streamed full upon that +face, now reposing in the awful but hallowed calm which is sometimes +diffused around the bed of death. The sacred stillness was only broken +by the evening song of the blackbird and the distant lowing of the +cattle--sounds which had often brought pleasure to that heart, now +insensible to all human emotion. All nature shone forth in gaiety and +splendour, but the eye and the ear were alike closed against all earthly +objects. Yet who can tell the brightness of those visions with which the +parting soul may be visited? Sounds and sights, alike unheard, unknown +to mortal sense, may then hold divine communion with the soaring spirit, +and inspire it with bliss inconceivable, ineffable! + +Colonel Lennox gazed upon the countenance of his mother. Again and again +he pressed her inanimate hands to his lips, and bedewed them with his +tears, as about to tear himself from her for ever. At that moment she +opened her eyes, and regarded him with a look of intelligence, which +spoke at once to his heart. He felt that he was seen and known. Her look +was long and fondly fixed upon his face; then turned to Mary with an +expression so deep and earnest that both felt the instantaneous appeal. +The veil seemed to drop from their hearts; one glance sufficed to tell +that both were fondly, truly loved; and as Colonel Lennox received +Mary's almost fainting form in his arms, he knelt by his mother, and +implored her blessing on her children. A smile of angelic brightness +beamed upon her face as she extended her hand towards them, and her lips +moved as in prayer, though no sound escaped them. One long and lingering +look was given to those so dear even in death. She then raised her eyes +to heaven, and the spirit sought its native skies! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + "Cette liaison n'est ni passion ni amitié pure: + elle fait une classe à part." --LA BRUYERE + +IT was long before Mary could believe in the reality of what had passed. +It appeared to her as a beautiful yet awful dream. Could it be that she +had plighted her faith by the bed of death; that the last look of her +departed friend had hallowed the vow now registered in heaven; that +Charles Lennox had claimed her as his own, even in the agony of tearing +himself from all he loved; and that she had only felt how dear she was +to him at the very moment when she had parted from him, perhaps for +ever? But Mary strove to banish these overwhelming thoughts from her +mind, as she devoted herself to the performance of the last duties to +her departed friend. These paid, she again returned to Beech Park. + +Lady Emily had been a daily visitor at Rose Hall during Mrs. Lennox's +illness, and had taken a lively interest in the situation of the family; +but, notwithstanding, it was some time before Mary could so far subdue +her feelings as to speak with composure of what had passed. She felt, +too, how impossible it was by words to convey to her any idea of that +excitement of mind, where a whole life of ordinary feeling seems +concentrated in one sudden but ineffable emotion. All that had passed +might be imagined, but could not be told; and she shrank from the task +of portraying those deep and sacred feelings which language never could +impart to the breast of another. + +Yet she felt it was using her cousin unkindly to keep her in ignorance +of what she was certain would give her pleasure to hear; and, summoning +her resolution, she at length disclosed to her all that had taken place. +Her own embarrassment was too great to allow her to remark Lady Emily's +changing colour, as she listened to her communication; and after it was +ended she remained silent for some minutes, evidently struggling with +her emotions. + +At length she exclaimed indignantly--"And so it seems Colonel Lennox +and you have all this time been playing the dying lover and the cruel +mistress to each other? How I detest such duplicity! and duplicity with +me! My heart was ever open to you, to him, to the whole world; while +yours--nay, your very faces--were masked to me!" + +Mary was too much confounded by her cousin's reproaches to be able to +reply to them for some time; and when she did attempt to vindicate +herself, she found it was in vain. Lady Emily refused to listen to +her; and in haughty displeasure quitted the room, leaving poor Mary +overwhelmed with sorrow and amazement. + +There was a simplicity of heart, a singleness of idea in herself, +that prevented her from ever attaching suspicion to others. But a sort +of vague, undefined apprehension floated through her brain as she +revolved the extraordinary behaviour of her cousin. Yet, it was that +sort of feeling to which she could not give either a local habitation or +a name; and she continued for some time in that most bewildering state +of trying, yet not daring to think. Some time elapsed, and Mary's +confusion of ideas was increasing rather than diminishing, when Lady +Emily slowly entered the room, and stood some moments before her without +speaking. + +At length, making an effort, she abruptly said--"Pray, Mary, tell +me what you think of me?" + +Mary looked at her with surprise. "I think of you, my dear cousin, as I +have always done." + +"That is no answer to my question. What do you think of my behaviour +just now?" + +"I think," said Mary gently, "that if you have misunderstood me; that, +open and candid yourself, almost to a fault, you readily resent the +remotest appearance of duplicity in others. But you are too generous not +to do me justice--" + +"Ah, Mary! how little do I appeal in my own eyes at this moment; and how +little, with all my boasting, have I known my own heart! No! It was not +because I am open and candid that I resented your engagement with +Colonel Lennox; it was because I was--because--cannot you guess?" + +Mary's colour rose, as she cast down her eyes, and exclaimed with +agitation, "No-no, indeed!" + +Lady Emily threw her arms around her:--"Dear Mary, you are perhaps the +only person upon earth I would make such a confession to--it was because +I, who had plighted my faith to another--I, who piqued myself upon my +openness and fidelity--I--how it chokes me to utter it! I was beginning +to love him myself!--only beginning, observe, for it is already over--I +needed but to be aware of my danger to overcome it. Colonel Lennox is +now no more to me than your lover, and Edward is again all that he ever +was to me; but I--what am I?--faithless and self-deceived!" and a few +tears dropped from her eyes. + +Mary, too much affected to speak, could only press her in silence to her +heart. + +"These are tears of shame, of penitence, though I must own they look +very like those of regret and mortification. What a mercy it is that +'the chemist's magic art' _cannot_ 'crystalise these sacred treasures,'" +said she with a smile, as she shook a tear-drop from her hand; "they are +gems I am really not at all fond of appearing in." + +"And yet you never appeared to greater advantage," said Mary, as she +regarded her with admiration. "Ah! so you say; but there +is, perhaps, a little womanish feeling lurking there. And now you +doubtless expect--no, _you_ don't, but another would that I should begin +a sentimental description of the rise and progress of this ill-fated +attachment, as I suppose it would be styled in the language of romance; +but in truth I can tell you nothing at all about it." + +"Perhaps Colonel Lennox," said Mary, blushing, and hesitating to name +her suspicion. + +"No, no--Colonel Lennox was not to blame. There was no false play on +either side; he is as much above the meanness of coquetry, as--I must +say it--as I am. His thoughts were all along taken up with you, even +while he talked, and laughed, and quarrelled with me. While I, so strong +in the belief that worlds could not shake my allegiance to Edward, could +have challenged all mankind to win my love; and this wicked, wayward, +faithless heart kept silent till you spoke, and then it uttered such a +fearful sound! And yet I don't think it was love neither--'l'on n'aime +bien qu'une seule fois; c'est la première;'--it was rather a sort +of an idle, childish, engrossing sentiment, that _might_ have grown to +something stronger; but 'tis past now. I have shown you all the weakness +of my heart--despise me if you will." + +"Dearest Lady Emily, had I the same skill to show the sentiments of +mine, you would there see what I cannot express--how I admire this noble +candour, this generous self-abasement--" + +"Oh, as to meanly hiding my faults, that is what I scorn to do. I +may be ignorant of them myself, and in ignorance I may cherish them; +but, once convinced of them, I give them to the winds, and all who +choose may pick them up. Violent and unjust, and self-deceived, I have +been, and may be again; but deceitful I never was, and never will +be." + +"My dear cousin, what might you not be if you chose!" + +"Ah! I know what you mean, and I begin to think you are in the right; +by-and-bye, I believe, I shall come to be of your way of thinking (if +ever I have a daughter she certainly shall), but not just at present, +the reformation would be too sudden. All that I can promise for at +present is, that 'henceforth I will chide no breather in the world but +myself, against whom I know most faults;' and now, from this day, from +this moment, I vow--" + +"No, I shall do it for you," said Mary, with a smile, as she threw her +arms around her neck; "henceforth + + 'The golden laws of love shall be + Upon this pillar hung; + A simple heart, a single eye, + A true and constant tongue. + + 'Let no man for more love pretend + Than he has hearts in store; + True love begun shall never end: + Love one, and love no more.'" [1] + +[1] "Marquis of Montrose." + +But much as Mary loved and admired her cousin, she could not be blind to +the defects of her character, and she feared they might yet be +productive of great unhappiness to herself. Her mind was open to the +reception of every image that brought pleasure along with it; while, in +the same spirit, she turned from everything that wore an air of +seriousness or self-restraint; and even the best affections of a +naturally good heart were borne away by the ardour of her feelings and +the impetuosity of her temper. Mary grieved to see the graces of a noble +mind thus running wild for want of early culture; and she sought by +every means, save those of lecture and admonition to lead her to more +fixed habits of reflection and self examination. + +But it required all her strength of mind to turn her thoughts at this +time from herself to another--she, the betrothed of one who was now in +the midst of danger, of whose existence she was even uncertain, but on +whose fate she felt her own suspended. + +"Oh!" thought she, with bitterness of heart, "how dangerous it is to +yield too much even to our best affections. I, with so many objects to +share in mine, have yet pledged my happiness on a being perishable as +myself!" And her soul sickened at the ills her fancy drew. But she +strove to repress this strength of attachment, which she felt would +otherwise become too powerful for her reason to control; and if she did +not entirely succeed, at least the efforts she made and the continual +exercise of mind enabled her in some degree to counteract the baleful +effects of morbid anxiety and overweening attachment. At length her +apprehensions were relieved for a time by a letter from Colonel Lennox. +An engagement with the enemy had taken place, but he had escaped unhurt. +He repeated his vows of unalterable affection; and Mary felt that she +was justified in receiving them. She had made Lady Juliana and Mrs. +Douglas both acquainted with her situation. The former had taken no +notice of the communication, but the latter had expressed her approval +in all the warmth and tenderness of gratified affection. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + "Preach as I please, I doubt our curious men + Will choose a pheasant still before a hen." + + HORACE. + +AMONGST the various occupations to which Mary devoted herself, there was +none which merits to be recorded as a greater act of immolation than her +unremitting attentions to Aunt Grizzy. It wa not merely the sacrifice of +time and talents that was required for carrying on this intercourse; +these, it is to be hoped, even the most selfish can occasionally +sacrifice to the _bienseances_ of society; but it was, as it were, a +total surrender of her whole being. To a mind of any reflection no +situation can ever be very irksome in which we can enjoy the privileges +of sitting still and keeping silent--but as the companion of Miss Grizzy, +quiet and reflection were alike unattainable. When not engaged in +_radotage_ with Sir Sampson, her life was spent in losing her scissors, +mislaying her spectacles, wondering what had become of her thimble, and +speculating on the disappearance of a needle--all of which losses daily +and hourly recurring, subjected Mary to an unceasing annoyance, for she +could not be five minutes in her aunt's company without out being at +least as many times disturbed, with--"Mary, my dear, will you get up?--I +think my spectacles must be about you "--or, "Mary, my dear, your eyes +are younger than mine, will you look if you can see my needle on the +carpet?"--or, "Are you sure, Mary, that's not my thimble you have got? +It's very like it; and I'm sure I can't conceive what's become of mine, +if that's not it," etc. etc. etc. But her idleness was, if possible, +still more irritating than her industry. When she betook herself to the +window, it was one incessant cry of "Who's coach is that, Mary, with the +green and orange liveries? Come and look at this lady and gentleman, +Mary; I'm sure I wonder who they are! Here's something, I declare I'm +sure I don't know what you call it--come here, Mary, and see what it is +"--and so on _ad infinitum._ Walking was still worse. Grizzy not only +stood to examine every article in the shop windows, but actually turned +round to observe every striking figure that passed. In short, Mary could +not conceal from herself that weak vulgar relations are an evil to those +whose taste and ideas are refined by superior intercourse. But even this +discovery she did not deem sufficient to authorise her casting off or +neglecting poor Miss Grizzy, and she in no degree relaxed in her patient +attentions towards her. + +Even the affection of her aunt, which she possessed in the highest +possible degree, far from being an alleviation, was only an additional +torment. Every meeting began with, "My dear Mary, how did you sleep last +night? Did you make a good breakfast this morning? I declare I think you +look a little pale. I'm sure I wish to goodness, you mayn't have got +cold--colds are going very much about just now--one of the maids in this +house has a very bad cold--I hope you will remember to bathe your feet +And take some water gruel to night, and do everything that Dr. Redgill +desires you, honest man!" If Mary absented herself for a day, her +salutation was, "My dear Mary, what became of you yesterday? I assure you +I was quite miserable about you all day, thinking, which was quite +natural, that something was the matter with you; and I declare I never +closed my eyes all night for thinking about you. I assure you if it had +not been that I couldn't leave Sir Sampson, I would have taken a hackney +coach, although I know what impositions they are, and have gone to Beech +Park to see what had come over you." + +Yet all this Mary bore with the patience of a martyr, to the admiration +of Lady Maclaughlan and the amazement of Lady Emily, who declared she +could only submit to be bored as long as she was amused. + +On going to Milsom Street one morning Mary found her aunt in high +delight at two invitations she had just received for herself and her +niece. + +"The one," said she, "is to dinner at Mrs. Pullens's. You can't remember +her mother, Mrs. Macfuss, I daresay, Mary--she was a most excellent +woman, I assure you, and got all her daughters married. And I remember +Mrs. Pullens when she was Flora Macfuss; she was always thought very +like her mother and Mr. Pullens is a most worthy man, and very rich and +it was thought at the time a great marriage for Flora Macfuss, for she +had no money of her own, but her mother was a very clever woman, and a +most excellent manager; and I daresay so is Mrs. Pullens, for the +Macfusses are all famous for their management--so it will be a great +thing for you, you know, Mary, to be acquainted with Mrs. Pullens." + +Mary was obliged to break in upon the eulogium on Mrs. Pullens by +noticing the other card. This was a subject for still greater +gratulation. + +"This," said she, "is from Mrs. Bluemits, and it is for the same day +with Mrs. Pullens, only it is to tea, not to dinner. To be sure it will +be a great pity to leave Mrs. Pullens so soon; but then it would be +a great pity not to go to Mrs. Bluemits's; for I've never seen her, and +her aunt, Miss Shaw, would think it very odd if I was to go back to the +Highlands without seeing Nancy Shaw, now Mrs. Bluemits; and at any rate +I assure you we may think much of being asked, for she is a very clever +woman, and makes it a point never to ask any but clever people to her +house; so it's a very great honour to be asked." + +It was an honour Mary would fain have dispensed with. At another time +she might have anticipated some amusement from such parties, but at +present her heart was not tuned to the ridiculous, and she attempted to +decline the invitations, and get her aunt to do the same; but she gave +up the point when she saw how deeply Grizzy's happiness for the time +being was involved in these invitations, and she even consented to +accompany her, conscious, as Lady Maclaughlan said, that the poor +creature required a leading string, and was not fit to go alone. The +appointed day arrived, and Mary found herself in company with Aunt +Grizzy at the mansion of Mr. Pullens, the fortunate husband of the +_ci-devant_ Miss Flora Macfuss; but as Grizzy is not the best of +biographers, we must take the liberty of introducing this lady to the +acquaintance of our reader. + +The domestic economy of Mrs. Pullens was her own theme, and the theme of +all her friends; and such was the zeal in promulgating her doctrines, +and her anxiety to see them carried into effect, that she had +endeavoured to pass it into a law that no preserves could be eatable but +those preserved in her method; no hams could be good but those cured +according to her receipt; no liquors drinkable but such as were made +from the results of her experience; neither was it possible that any +linens could be white, or any flannels soft, or any muslins clear, +unless after the manner practised in her laundry. By her own account she +was the slave of every servant within her door, for her life seemed to +be one unceasing labour to get everything done in her own way, to the +very blacking of Mr. Pullens's shoes, and the brushing of Mr. Pullens's +coat. But then these heroic acts of duty were more than repaid by the +noble consciousness of a life well spent. In her own estimation she was +one of the greatest characters that had ever lived; for, to use her own +words, she passed nothing over--she saw everything done herself--she +trusted nothing to servants, etc. etc. etc. + +From the contemplation of these her virtues her face had acquired an +expression of complacency foreign to her natural temper; for, after +having scolded and slaved in the kitchen, she sat down to taste the +fruits of her labours with far more elevated feelings of conscious +virtue than ever warmed the breast of a Hampden or a Howard; and when +she helped Mr. Pullens to pie, made not by the cook, but by herself, it +was with an air of self-approbation that might have vied with that of +the celebrated Jack Horner upon a similar occasion. In many cases there +might have been merit in Mrs. Pullens's doings---a narrow income, the +capricious taste of a sick or a cross husband, may exalt the meanest +offices which woman can render into acts of virtue, and even diffuse a +dignity around them; but Mr. Pullens was rich and good-natured, and +would have been happy had his cook been allowed to dress his dinner, and +his barber his wig, quietly in their own way. Mrs. Pullens, therefore, +only sought the indulgence of her own low inclinations in thus +interfering in every menial department; while, at the same time, she +expected all the gratitude and admiration that would have been due to +the sacrifice of the most refined taste and elegant pursuits. + +But "envy does merit as its shade pursue," as Mrs Pullens experienced, +for she found herself assailed by a host of housekeepers who attempted +to throw discredit on her various arts. At the head of this association +was Mrs. Jekyll, whose arrangements were on a quite contrary plan. The +great branch of science on which Mrs. Pullens mainly relied for fame was +her unrivalled art in keeping things long beyond the date assigned by +nature; and one of her master-strokes was, in the middle of summer, to +surprise a whole company with gooseberry tarts made of gooseberries of +the preceding year; and her triumph was complete when any of them were +so polite as to assert that they might have passed upon them for the +fruits of the present season. Another art in which she flattered herself +she was unrivalled was that of making things pass for what they were +not; thus, she gave pork for lamb--common fowls for turkey +poults--currant wine for champagne--whisky with peach leaves for noyau; +but all these deceptions Mrs. Jekyll piqued herself immediately +detecting, and never failed to point out the difference, and in the +politest manner to hint her preference of the real over the spurious. +Many were the wonderful morsels with which poor Mr. Pullens was regaled, +but he had now ceased to be surprised at anything that appeared on his +own table; and he had so often heard the merit of his wife's +housekeeping extolled by herself that, contrary to his natural +conviction, he now began to think it must be true; or if he had +occasionally any little private misgivings when he thought of the good +dinners he used to have in his bachelor days, he comforted himself by +thinking that his lot was the lot of all married men who are blest with +active, managing, economical wives. Such were Mr. and Mrs. Pullens; and +the appearance of the house offered no inadequate idea of the +mistress. The furniture was incongruous, and everything was +ill-matched--for Mrs. Pullens was a frequenter of sales, and, like many +other liberal-minded ladies, never allowed a bargain to pass, whether she +required the articles or not. Her dress was the same; there was always +something to wonder at; caps that had been bought for nothing, because +they were a little soiled, but by being taken down and washed, and new +trimmed, turned out to be just as good as new gowns that had been dyed, +turned, cleaned, washed, etc.; and the great triumph was when nobody +could tell the old breadth from the new. + +The dinner was of course bad, the company stupid, and the conversation +turned solely upon Mrs. Pullens's exploits, with occasional attempts of +Mrs. Jekyll to depreciate the merits of some of her discoveries. At +length the hour of departure arrived, to Mary's great relief, as she +thought any change must be for the better. Not so Grizzy, who was +charmed and confounded by all she had seen, and heard, and tasted, and +all of whose preconceived ideas on the subjects of washing, preserving, +etc., had sustained a total _bouleversement,_ upon hearing of the +superior methods practised by Mrs. Pullens. + +"Well, certainly, Mary, you must allow Mrs. Pullens is an astonishing +clever woman! Indeed, I think nobody can dispute it--only think of her +never using a bit of soap in her house--everything is washed by steam. +To be sure, as Mrs Jekyll said, the table linen was remarkably +ill-coloured--but no wonder, considering--it must be a great saving, I'm +sure--and she always stands and sees it done herself, for there's no +trusting these things to servants. Once when she trusted it to them, +they burned a dozen of Mr. Pullens's new shirts, just from carelessness, +which I'm sure was very provoking. To be sure, as Mrs. Jekyll said, if +she had used soap like other people that wouldn't have happened; and +then it is wonderful how well she contrives to keep things. I declare I +can't think enough of these green peas that we had at dinner today +having been kept since summer was a year. To be sure, as Mrs. Jekyll +said, they certainly were hard--nobody can deny that--but then, you +know, anything would be hard that had been kept since summer was a year; +and I'm sure I thought they ate wonderfully well considering--and these +red currants, too--I'm afraid you didn't taste them--I wish to +goodness you had tasted them, Mary. They were sour and dry, certainly, as +Mrs. Jekyll said; but no wonder, anything would be sour and dry that had +been kept in bottles for three years." + +Grizzy was now obliged to change the current of her ideas, for the +carriage had stopped at Mrs. Bluemits's. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +"It is certain great knowledge, if it be without vanity, is the most +severe bridle of the tongue. For so have I heard, that all the noises +and prating of the pool, the croaking of frogs and toads, is hushed and +appeased upon the instant of bringing upon them the light of a candle or +torch. Every beam of reason, and ray of knowledge, checks the +dissolutions of the tongue."-JEREMY TAYLOR. + +THEY were received by Mrs. Bluemits with that air of condescension +which great souls practise towards ordinary mortals, and which is +intended, at one and the same time, to encourage and to repel; to show +the extent of their goodness, even while they make, or try to make, +their _protege_ feel the immeasurable distance which nature or fortune +has placed between them. + +It was with this air of patronising grandeur that Mrs. Bluemits took +her guests by the hand, and introduced them to the circle of females +already assembled. + +Mrs. Bluemits was not an avowed authoress; but she was a professed +critic, a well-informed woman, a woman of great conversational powers, +etc., and, to use her own phrase, nothing but conversation was spoken in +her house. Her guests were therefore, always expected to be +distinguished, either for some literary production or for their taste in +the _belles lettres._ Two ladies from Scotland, the land of poetry and +romance, were consequently hailed as new stars in Mrs. Bluemits's +horizon. No sooner were they seated than Mrs. Bluemits began-- + +"As I am a friend to ease in literary society, we shall, without +ceremony, resume our conversation; for, as Seneca observes, the 'comfort +of life depends upon conversation.'" + +"I think," said Miss Graves, "it is Rochefoucault who says, 'The great +art of conversation is to hear patiently and answer precisely.'" + +"A very poor definition for so profound a philosopher," remarked Mrs. +Apsley. + +"The amiable author of what the gigantic Johnson styles the melancholy +and angry "Night Thoughts," gives a nobler, a more elevated, and, in my +humble opinion, a juster explication of the intercourse of mind," said +Miss Parkins; and she repeated the following lines with pompous +enthusiasm:-- + + Speech ventilates our intellectual fire, + Speech burnishes our mental magazine, + Brightens for ornament, and whets for use. + What numbers, sheath'd in erudition, lie, + Plung'd to the hilts in venerable tomes, + And rusted in, who might have borne an edge, + And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speech--- + If born blest heirs of half their mother's tongue!" + +Mrs. Bluemits proceeded: + + "'Tis thought's exchange, which, like the alternate push + Of waves conflicting, breaks the learned scum, + And defecates the student's standing pool." + +"The sensitive poet of Olney, if I mistake not," said Mrs. Dalton, +"steers a middle course, betwixt the somewhat bald maxim of the Parisian +philosopher and the mournful pruriency of the Bard of Night, when he +says, + + 'Conversation, in its better part, + May be esteem'd a gift, and not an art.'" + +Mary had been accustomed to read, and to reflect upon what she read, and +to apply it to the purpose for which it is valuable, viz. in enlarging +her mind and cultivating her taste; but she had never been accustomed to +prate, or quote, or sit down for the express purpose of displaying her +acquirements; and she began to tremble at hearing authors' names +"familiar in their mouths as household words;" but Grizzy, strong in +ignorance, was no wise daunted. True, she heard what she could not +comprehend, but she thought she would soon make things clear; and she +therefore turned to her neighbour on her righthand, and accosted her +with--"My niece and I are just come from dining at Mrs. Pullens's--I +daresay you have heard of her--she was Miss Flora Macfuss; her father, +Dr. Macfuss, was a most excellent preacher, and she is a remarkable +clever woman." + +"Pray, ma'am, has she come out, or is she simply _bel esprit?_" +inquired the lady. + +Grizzy was rather at a loss; and, indeed, to answer a question put in an +unknown language, would puzzle wiser brains than hers; but Grizzy was +accustomed to converse without being able to comprehend, and she +therefore went on. + +"Her mother, Mrs. Macfuss--but she is dead--was a very clever woman too; +I'm sure I declare I don't know whether the Doctor or her was the +cleverest; but many people, I know, think Mrs. Pullens beats them both." + +"Indeed! may I ask in what department she chiefly excels?" + +"Oh, I really think in everything. For one thing, everything in her +house is done by steam; and then she can keep everything, I can't tell +how long, just in paper bags and bottles; and she is going to publish a +book with all her receipts in it. I'm sure it will be very interesting." + +"I beg ten thousand pardons for the interruption," cried Mrs. Bluemits +from the opposite side of the room; "but my ear was smote with the +sounds of _publish,_ and _interesting,--words _which never fail to +awaken a responsive chord in my bosom. Pray," addressing Grizzy, and +bringing her into the full blaze of observation, "may I ask, was it of +_the_ Campbell these electric words were spoken? To you, Madam, I am +sure I need not apologise for my enthusiasm--you who claim the proud +distinction of being a country woman, need I ask--an acquaintance?" + +All that poor Grizzy could comprehend of this harangue was that it was +reckoned a great honour to be acquainted with a Campbell; and chuckling +with delight at the idea of her own consequence, she briskly replied-- + +"Oh, I know plenty of Campbells; there's the Campbells of Mireside, +relations of ours; and there's the Campbells of Blackbrae, married into +our family; and there's the Campbells of Windlestrae Glen, are not very +distant by my mother's side." + +Mary felt as if perforated by bullets in all directions, as she +encountered the eyes of the company, turned alternately upon her aunt +and her; but they were on opposite sides of the room; therefore to +interpose betwixt Grizzy and her assailants was impossible. + +"Possibly," suggested Mrs. Dalton, "Miss Douglas prefers the loftier +strains of the mighty Minstrel of the Mountains to the more polished +periods of the Poet of the Transatlantic Plain." + +"Without either a possibility or a perhaps," said Mrs. Apsley, "the +probability is, Miss Douglas prefers the author of the 'Giaour' to all +the rest of her poetical countrymen. Where, in either Walter Scott or +Thomas Campbell, will you find such lines as these;-- + + 'Wet with their own best blood, shall drip + Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip!'" + +"Pardon me, madam," said Miss Parkin; "but I am of opinion you have +scarcely given a fair specimen of the powers of the Noble Bard in +question. The image here presented is a familiar one; 'the gnashing +tooth' and 'haggard lip' we have all witnessed, perhaps some of us may +even have experienced. There is consequently little merit in presenting +it to the mind's eye. It is easy, comparatively speaking, to portray the +feelings and passions of our own kind. We have only, as Dryden expresses +it, to descend into ourselves to find the secret imperfections of our +mind. It is therefore in his portraiture of the canine race that the +illustrious author has so far excelled all his contemporaries--in fact, +he has given quite a dramatic cast to his dogs," and she repeated, with +an air of triumph-- + + "And he saw the lean dogs beneath the wall, + Hold o'er the dead their carnival; + Gorging and growling o'er carcase and limb, + They were too busy to bark at him! + From a Tartar's skull they had stripped the flesh, + As ye peel the fig when its fruit is fresh; + And their white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull, + As it slipped through their jaws when their edge grew dull; + As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead, + When they scarce could rise from the spot where they fed." + +"Now, to enter into the conception of a dog--to embody one's self, as it +were, in the person of a brute--to sympathise in its feelings--to make +its propensities our own--to 'lazily mumble the bones of the dead,' with +our own individual 'white tusks'! Pardon me, madam, but with all due +deference to the genius of a Scott, it is a thing he has not dare to +attempt. Only the finest mind in the universe as capable of taking so +bold a flight. Scott's dogs, madam, are tame, domestic animals--mere +human dogs, if I may say so. Byron's dogs--But let them speak for +themselves! + + 'The scalps were in the wild dog's maw, + The hair was tangled round his jaw.' + +Show me, if you can, such an image in Scott?" + +"Very fine, certainly!" was here uttered by five novices, who were only +there as probationers, consequently not privileged to go beyond a +response. + +"Is it the dancing dogs they are speaking about?" asked Grizzy. But +looks of silent contempt were the only replies she received. + +"I trust I shall not be esteemed presumptuous," said Miss Graves, "or +supposed capable of entertaining views of detracting from the merits of +the Noble Author at present under discussion, if I humbly but firmly +enter my caveat against the word 'crunch,' as constituting an innovation +in our language, the purity of which cannot be too strictly preserved or +pointedly enforced. I am aware that by some I may be deemed +unnecessarily fastidious; and possibly Christina, Queen of Sweden, might +have applied to me the celebrated observation, said to have been +elicited from her by the famed work of the laborious French +Lexicographer, viz. that he was the most troublesome person in the +world, for he required of every word to produce its passport, and to +declare whence it came and whither it was going. I confess, I too, for +the sake of my country, would wish that every word we use might be +compelled to show its passport, attested by our great lawgiver, Dr. +Samuel Johnson." + +"Unquestionably," said Mrs. Bluemits, "purity of language ought to be +preserved inviolate at any price; and it is more especially incumbent to +those who exercise a sway over our minds--those are, as it were, the +moulds in which our young imaginations are formed, to be the watchful +guardians of our language. But I lament to say that in fact it is not so; +and that the aberrations of our vernacular tongue have proceeded solely +from the licentious use made of it by those whom we are taught to +reverence as the fathers of the Sock and Lyre." + +"Yet in familiar colloquy, I do not greatly object to the use of a word +occasionally, even although unsanctioned by the authority of our mighty +Lexicographer," said a new speaker. + +"For my part," said Miss Parkins, "a genius fettered by rules always +reminds me of Gulliver in the hairy bonds of the Lilliputians; and the +sentiment of the elegant and enlightened bard of Twickenham is also +mine-- + + 'Great wits sometimes may glorious offend, + And rise to faults true critics dare not mend; + From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part, + And match a grace beyond the reach of art.' + +So it is with the subject of our argument: a tamer genius than the +illustrious Byron would not have dared to 'crunch' the bone. But where, +in the whole compass of the English language, will you find a word +capable of conveying the same idea?" + +"Pick," modestly suggested one of the novices in a low key, hoping to +gain some celebrity by this her first effort; but this dawn of intellect +passed unnoticed. + +The argument was now beginning to run high; parties were evidently +forming of crunchers and anticrunchers, and etymology was beginning to +be called for, when a thundering knock at the door caused a cessation of +hostilities. + +"That, I flatter myself, is my friend Miss Griffon," said Mrs. Bluemits, +with an air of additional importance; and the name was whispered round +the circle, coupled with "Celebrated Authoress--'Fevers of the Heart'-- +'Thoughts of the Moment,'" etc. etc. + +"Is she a _real_ authoress that is coming?" asked Miss Grizzy at the +lady next her. And her delight was great at receiving an answer in the +affirmative; for Grizzy thought to be in company with an authoress was +the next thing to being an authoress herself; and, like some other +people, she had a sort of vague mysterious reverence for everyone whose +words had been printed in a book. + +"Ten thousand thousand pardons, dearest Mrs. Bluemits!" exclaimed Miss +Griffon, as she entered. "I fear a world of intellect is lost to me by +this cruel delay." Then in an audible whisper--"But I was detained by +my publisher. He quite persecutes me to write. My 'Fevers of the Heart' +has had a prodigious run; and even my 'Thoughts,' which, in fact, cost +me no thought, are amazingly _recherché._ And I actually had to +force my way to you to-night through a legion of printer's devils, who +were lying in wait for me with each a sheet of my 'Billows of Love.'" + +"The title is most musical, most melancholy," said Mrs. Bluemits, "and +conveys a perfect idea of what Dryden terms 'the sweeping deluge of the +soul;' but I flatter myself we shall have something more than a name +from Miss Griffon's genius. The Aonian graces, 'tis well known, always +follow in her train." + +"They have made a great hole in it then," said Grizzy, officiously +displaying a fracture in the train of Miss Griffon's gown, and from +thence taking occasion to deliver her sentiments on the propriety of +people who tore gowns always being obliged to mend them. + +After suitable entreaties had been used, Miss Griflon was at last +prevailed upon to favour the company, with some specimens of the +"Billows of Love" (of which we were unable to procure copies) and the +following sonnet, the production of a friend;-- + + "Hast thou no note for joy, thou weeping lyre? + Doth yew and willow ever shade thy string + And melancholy sable banners fling, + Warring 'midst hosts of elegant desire? + How vain the strife--how vain the warlike gloom! + Love's arms are grief--his arrows sighs and tears; + And every moan thou mak'st, an altar rears, + To which his worshippers devoutly come. + Then rather, lyre, I pray thee, try thy skill, + In varied measure, on a sprightlier key: + Perchance thy gayer tones' light minstrelsy + May heal the poison that thy plaints distil. + But much I fear that joy is danger still; + And joy, like woe, love's triumph must fulfil." + +This called forth unanimous applause--"delicate imagery"--"smooth +versification" --"classical ideas"--"Petrarchian sweetness," etc. etc., +resounded from all quarters. + +But even intellectual joys have their termination, and carriages and +servants began to be announced in rapid succession. + +"Fly not yet, 'tis just the hour," said Mrs. Bluemits to the first of +her departing guests, as the clock struck ten. + +"It is gone, with its thorns and its roses," replied er friend with a +sigh, and a farewell pressure of the hand. + +Another now advanced--"Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day." + +"I have less will to go than care to stay," was the reply. + +"_Parta ti lascio adio,_" warbled Miss Parkins. + +"I vanish," said Mrs. Apsley, snatching up her tippet, reticule, etc., +"and, like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a wreck behind." + +"Fare-thee-well at once--Adieu, adieu, adieu, remember me!" cried the +last of the band, as she slowly retreated. + +Mrs. Bluemits waved her hand with a look of tender reproach, as she +repeated-- + + "An adieu should in utterance die, + Or, if written, should faintly appear-- + Should be heard in the sob of a sigh, + Or be seen in the blot of a teal." + +"I'm sure, Mary," said Grizzy, when they were in the carriage, "I +expected, when all the ladies were repeating, that you would have +repeated something too. You used to have the Hermit and all Watts's +Hymns by heart, when you was little. It's a thousand pities, I declare, +that you should have forgot them; for I declare I was quite affronted to +see you sitting like a stick, and not saying a word, when all the ladies +were speaking and turning up their eyes, and moving their hands so +prettily; but I'm sure I hope next time you go to Mrs. Bluemits's you +will take care to learn something by heart before you go. I'm sure I +haven't a very good memory, but I remember some things; and I was very +near going to repeat 'Farewell to Lochaber' myself, as we were coming +away; and I'm sure I wish to goodness I had done it; but I suppose it +wouldn't do to go back now; and at any rate all the ladies are away, and +I dare say the candles will be out by this time." + +Mary felt it a relief to have done with this surfeit of soul, and was of +opinion that learning, like religion, ought never to be forced into +conversation; and that people who only read to talk of their reading +might as well let it alone. Next morning she gave so ludicrous an +account of her entertainment that Lady Emily was quite charmed. + +"Now I begin to have hopes of you," said she, "since I see you can laugh +at your friends as well as me." + +"Not at my friends, I hope," answered Mary; "only at folly." + +"Call it what you will--I only wish I had been there. I should certainly +have started a controversy upon the respective merits of Tom Thumb and +Puss in Boots, and so have called them off Lord Byron. Their pretending +to measure the genius of a Scott or a Byron must have been something +like a fly attempting to take the altitude of Mont Blanc. How I detest +those idle disquisitions about the colour of a goat's beard, or the +blood of an oyster."' + +Mary had seen in Mrs. Douglas the effects of a highly cultivated +understanding shedding its mild radiance on the path of domestic life, +heightening its charms, and softening its asperities, with the benign +spirit of Christianity. Her charity was not like that of Mrs. Fox; she +did not indulge herself in the purchase of elegant ornaments, and then, +seated in the easy chair of her drawing-room, extort from her visitors +money to satisfy the wants of those who had claims on her own bounty. +No: she gave a large portion of her time, her thoughts, her fortune, +to the most sacred of all duties--charity, in its most comprehensive +meaning. Neither did her knowledge, like that of Mrs. Bluemits, +evaporate in pedantic discussion or idle declamation, but showed itself +in the tenor of a well-spent life, and in the graceful discharge of +those duties which belonged to her sex and station. Next to goodness +Mary most ardently admired talents. She knew there were many of her own +sex who were justly entitled to the distinction of literary fame. Her +introduction to the circle at Mrs. Bluemits's had disappointed her; but +they were mere pretenders to the name. How different from those +described by one no less amiable and enlightened herself!--"Let such +women as are disposed to be vain of their comparatively petty +attainments look up with admiration to those contemporary shining +examples, the venerable Elizabeth Carter and the blooming Elizabeth +Smith. In them let our young ladies contemplate profound and various +learning, chastised by true Christian humility. In them let them +venerate acquirements which would have been distinguished in a +university, meekly softened, and beautifully shaded by the exertion of +every domestic virtue, the unaffected exercise of every feminine +employment." [1] + +[1] "Coelebs." + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + "The gods, to curse Pamela with her pray'rs, + Gave the gilt coach and dappled Flanders mares; + The shining robes, rich jewels, beds of state, + And, to complete her bliss, a fool for mate. + She glares in balls, front boxes, and the ring-- + A vain, unquiet, glitt'ring, wretched thing! + Pride, pomp, and state, but reach her outward part; + She sighs, and is no duchess at her heart." + + POPE + +FOR many months Mary was doomed to experience all the vicissitudes of +hope and fear, as she heard of battles and sieges in which her lover had +a part. He omitted no opportunity of writing to her; but scarcely had +she received the assurance of his safety from himself when her +apprehensions were again excited by rumours of fresh dangers he would +have to encounter; and it required all her pious confidence and strength +of mind to save her from yielding to the despondency of a +naturally sensitive heart. But in administering to the happiness of +others she found the surest alleviation to the misfortune that +threatened herself; and she often forgot her own cares in her benevolent +exertions for the poor, the sick, and the desolate. It was then she felt +all the tenderness of that divine precept which enjoins love of the +Creator as the engrossing principle of the soul. For, oh! the +unutterable anguish that heart must endure which lavishes all its best +affections on a creature mutable and perishable as itself, from whom a +thousand accidents may separate or estrange it, and from whom death must +one day divide it! Yet there is something so amiable, so exalting, in +the fervour of a pure and generous attachment, that few have been able +to resist its overwhelming influence; and it is only time and suffering +that can teach us to comprehend the miseries that wait on the excess, +even of our virtuous inclinations, where these virtues aspire not beyond +this transitory scene. + +Mary seldom heard from her mother or sister. Their time was too precious +to be wasted on dull country correspondents; but she saw their names +frequently mentioned in the newspapers, and she flattered herself, from +the éclat with whioh the Duchess seemed to be attended, that she +had found happiness in those pleasures where she had been taught to +expect it. The Duchess was indeed surrounded with all that rank, wealth, +and fashion could bestow. She had the finest house, jewels, and +equipages in London, but she was not happy. She felt the draught bitter, +even though the goblet that held it was of gold. It is novelty only that +can lend charms to things in themselves valueless; and when that wears +off, the disenchanted baubles appear in all their native worthlessness. +There is even a satiety in the free indulgence of wealth, when that +indulgence centres solely in self, and brings no general self-approving +reflections along with it. So it was with the Duchess of Altamont. She +sought, in the gratification of every expensive whim, to stimulate the +languid sense of joy; and, by loading herself with jewels, she strove to +still the restless inquietude of a dissatisfied heart. But it is only +the vulgar mind which can long find enjoyment in the mere attributes of +wealth--in the contemplation of silk hangings, and gilded chairs, and +splendid dresses, and showy equipages. Amidst all these the mind of any +taste or refinement, "distrusting, asks if this be joy." And Adelaide +possessed both taste and refinement, though her ideas had been perverted +and her heart corrupted by the false maxims early instilled into her. +Yet, selfish and unfeeling as she was, she sickened at the eternal +recurrence of self-indulged caprices; and the bauble that had been +hailed with delight the one day as a charmed amulet to dispel her ennui, +was the next beheld with disgust or indifference. She believed, indeed, +that she had real sources of vexation in the self-will and obstinacy of +her husband, and that, had he been otherwise than he was, she should +then have been completely happy. She would not acknowledge, even to +herself, that she had done wrong in marrying a man whose person was +disagreeable to her, and whose understanding she despised; while her +preference was decidedly in favour of another. Even her style of life +was in some respects distasteful to her; yet she was obliged to conform +to it. The Duke retained exactly the same notions of things as had taken +possession of his brain thirty years before; consequently everything in +his establishment was conducted with a regularity and uniformity unknown +to those whose habits are formed on the more eccentric models of the +present day; or rather, who have no models save those of their own +capricious tastes and inclinations. He had an antipathy to balls, +concerts, and masquerades; for he did not dance, knew nothing of music, +and stil less of _badinage._ But he liked great dull dinners, for there +the conversation was generally adapted to his capacity; and it was a +pleasure to him to arrange the party--to look over the bill of fare--to +see all the family plate displayed--and to read an account of the grand +dinner at the Duke of Altamont's in the "Morning Post" of the following +day. All this sounds very vulgar for the pastimes of a Duke; but there +are vulgar-minded Dukes as there are gifted ploughmen, or any other +anomalies. The former Duchess, a woman of high birth, similar years, and +kindred spirit of his own in all matters of form and _etiquette,_ was +his standard of female propriety; and she would have deemed it highly +derogatory to her dignity to have patronised any other species of +entertainment than grand dinners and dull assemblies. + +Adelaide had attempted with a high hand at once to overturn the whole +system of Altamont House, and had failed. She had declared her +detestation of dinners, and been heard in silence. She had kept her room +thrice when they were given, but without success. She had insisted upon +giving a ball, but the Duke, with the most perfect composure, had +peremptorily declared it must be an assembly. Thus baffled in all her +plans of domestic happiness, the Duchess would have sought her pleasures +elsewhere. She would have lived anywhere but in her own house associated +with everybody but her own husband and done everything but what she had +vowed to do. But even in this she was thwarted. The Duke had the same +precise formal notions of a lady's conduct abroad, as well as her +appearance at home; and the very places she would have most wished to go +to were those she was expressly prohibited from ever appearing at. + +Even all that she could have easily settled to her own satisfaction by +the simple apparatus of a separate establishment carried on in the same +house; but here too she was foiled, for his Grace had stubborn notions +on that score also, and plainly hinted that any separation must be final +and decided; and Adelaide could not yet resolve upon taking so +formidable a step in the first year of her marriage. She was therefore +compelled to drag the chain by which, with her own will, she had bound +herself for life to one she already despised and detested. And bound she +was, in the strictest sense of the metaphor; for, though the Duke had +not the smallest pleasure in the society of his wife, he yet attached +great ideas of propriety to their being always seen together, side by +side. Like his sister, Lady Matilda, he had a high reverence for +appearances, though he had not her _finesse _in giving them effect. He +had merely been accustomed to do what he thought looked well, and gave +him an air of additional dignity. He had married Aidelaide because he +thought she had a fine presence, and would look well as Duchess of +Altamont; and, for the same reason, now that she was his wedded wife, he +thought it looked well to be seen always together. He therefore made a +point of having no separate engagements; and even carried his sense of +propriety so far, that as regularly as the Duchess's carriage came to +the door the Duke was prepared to hand her in, in due form, and take his +station by her side. This alone would have been sufficient to have +embittered Adelaide's existence, and she had tried every expedient, but +in vain, to rid herself of this public display of conjugal duty. She had +opened her landaulet in cold weather, and shut it, even to the glasses, +in a scorching sun; but the Duke was insensible to heat and cold. He was +most provokingly healthy; and she had not even the respite which an +attack of rheumatism or toothache would have afforded. As his Grace was +not a person of keen sensation, this continual effort to keep up +appearances cost him little or nothing; but to the Duchess's nicer tact +it was martyrdom to be compelled to submit to the semblance of affection +where there was no reality. Ah, nothing but a sense of duty, early +instilled and practically enforced, can reconcile a refined mind to the +painful task of bearing with meekness and gentleness the ill-temper, +adverse will, and opposite sentiments of those with whom we can +acknowledge no feeling in common! + +But Adelaide possessed no sense of duty, and was a stranger to +self-command; and though she boasted refinement of mind, yet it was of +that spurious sort which, far from elevating and purifying the heart, +tends only to corrupt and debase the soul, while it sheds a false and +dazzling lustre upon those perishable graces which captivate the senses. + +It may easily be imagined the good sense of the mother did not tend to +soothe the irritated feelings of the daughter. Lady Juliana was indeed +quite as much exasperated as the Duchess at these obstacles thrown in +the way of her pleasures, and the more so as she could not quite clearly +comprehend them. The good-nature of her husband and the easy indolence +of her brother even _her _folly had enabled her, on many occasions, to +get the better of; but the obstinacy of her son-in-law was invincible to +all her arts. She could therefore only wonder to the Duchess how she +could not manage to get the better of the Duke's prejudices against +balls and concerts and masquerades. It was so excessively ridiculous, so +perfectly foolish, not to do as other people did; and there was the +Duchess of Ryston gave Sunday concerts, and Lady Oakham saw masks, and +even old ugly Lady Loddon had a ball, and the Prince at it! How vastly +provoking! how unreasonable in a man of the Duke's years to expect a +girl like Adelaide to conform to all his old-fashioned notions! And then +she would wisely appeal to Lord Lindore whether it was not too absurd in +the Duke to interfere with the Duchess's arrangements. + +Lord Lindore was a frequent visitor at Altamont House; for the Duke, +satisfied with his having been once refused, was no wise jealous of him; +and Lord Lindore was too quiet and refined in his attentions to excite +the attention of anyone so stupid and obtuse. It was not the least of +the Duchess's mortifications to be constantly contrasting her former +lover--elegant, captivating, and _spirituel--_with her husband, awkward, +insipid, and dull, as the fat weed that rots on Lethe's shore. Lord +Lindore was indeed the most admired man in London, celebrated for his +conquests, his horses, his elegance, manner, dress; in short, in +everything he gave the tone. But he had too much taste to carry anything +to extreme; and in the midst of incense, and adulation, and imitation, +he still retained that simple unostentatious elegance that marks the man +of real fashion--the man who feels his own consequence, independent of +all extraneous modes or fleeting fashions. + +There is, perhaps, nothing so imposing, nothing that carries a greater +sway over a mind of any refinement, than simplicity, when we feel +assured that it springs from a genuine contempt of show and ostentation. +Lord Lindore was aware of this, and he did not attempt to vie with the +Duke of Altamont in the splendour of his equipage, the richness of his +liveries, the number of his attendants, or any of those previous +attractions attractions; on the contrary, everything belonging to him +was of the plainest description; and, except in the beauty of his +horses, he seemed to scorn every species of extravagance; but then he +rode with so much elegance, he drove his curricle with such graceful +ease, as formed a striking contrast to the formal Duke, sitting +bolt-upright in his state chariot, _chapeau bras,_ and star; and the +Duchess often quitted the Park, where Lord Lindore was the admired of +all admirers, mortified and ashamed at being seen in the same carriage +with the man she had chosen for her husband. Ambition had led her to +marry the Duke, and that same passion now heightened her attachment for +Lord Lindore; for, as some one has remarked, ambition is not always the +desire for that which is in itself excellent, but for that which is most +prized by others; and the handsome Lord Lindore was courted and caressed +in circles where the dull, precise Duke of Altamont was wholly +overlooked. Months passed in this manner, and every day added something +to Adelaide's feelings of chagrin and disappointment. But it was still +worse when she found herself settled for a long season at Norwood Abbey +a dull, magnificent residence, with a vast unvaried park, a profusion of +sombre trees, and a sheet of stillwater, decorated with leaden deities. +Within doors everything was in the same style of vapid, tasteless +grandeur, and the society was not such as to dispel the ennui these +images served to create. Lady Matilda Sufton, her satellite Mrs. Finch, +General Carver, and a few stupid elderly lords and their well-bred +ladies comprised the family circle; and the Duchess experienced, with +bitterness of spirit, that "rest of heart, and pleasure felt at home," +are blessings wealth cannot purchase nor greatness command; while she +sickened at the stupid, the almost _vulgar_ magnificence of her lot. + +At this period Lord Lindore arrived on a visit, and the daily, hourly +contrast that occurred betwixt the elegant, impassioned lover, and the +dull, phlegmatic husband, could not fail of producing the usual +effects on an unprincipled mind. Rousseau and Goethe were studied, French +and German sentiments were exchanged, till criminal passion was exalted +into the purest of all earthly emotions. It were tedious to dwell upon +the minute, the almost imperceptible occurrences that tended to heighten +the illusion of passion, and throw an air of false dignity around the +degrading spells of vice; but so it was, that in something less than a +year from the time of her marriage, this victim of self-indulgence again +sought her happiness in the gratification of her own headstrong +passions, and eloped with Lord Lindore, vainly hoping to find peace and +joy amid guilt and infamy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +"On n'est guères obligé aux gens qui ne nous viennent +voir, que pour nous quereller, qui pendant toute une visite, ne nous +disent pas une seule parole obligeante, et qui se font un plaisir malin +d'attaquer notre conduite, et de nous faire entrevoir nos +défauts." -- L' ABBE Dé BELLEGARDE. + +THE Duke, although not possessed of the most delicate feelings, it may +be supposed was not insensible to his dishonour. He immediately set +about taking the legal measures for avenging it; and damages were +awarded, which would have the effect of rendering Lord Lindore for ever +an alien to his country. Lady Juliana raved, and had hysterics, and +seemed to consider herself as the only sufferer by her daughter's +misconduct. At one time Adelaide's ingratitude was all her theme: at +another, it was Lord Lindore's treachery, and poor Adelaide was +everything that was amiable and injured: then it was the Duke's +obstinacy; for, had Adelaide got leave to do as she liked, this never +would have happened; had she only got leave to give balls, and to go to +masquerades, she would have made the best wife in the world, etc. etc. +etc. + +All this was warmly resented by Lady Matilda, supported by Mrs. Finch +and General Carver, till open hostilities were declared between the +ladies, and Lady Juliana was compelled to quit the house she had looked +upon as next to her own, and became once more a denizen of Beech Park. + +Mary's grief and horror at her sister's misconduct were proportioned to +the nature of the offence. She considered it not as how it might affect +herself, or would be viewed by the world, but as a crime committed +against the law of God; yet, while she the more deeply deplored it on +that account, no bitter words of condemnation passed her lips. She +thought with humility of the superior advantages she had enjoyed in +having principles of religion early and deeply engrafted in her soul; +and that, but for these, such as her sister's fate was, hers might have +been. + +She felt for her mother, undeserving as she was of commiseration; and +strove by every means in her power to promote her comfort and happiness. +But that was no easy task. Lady Juliana's notions of comfort and +happiness differed as widely from those of her daughter as reason and +folly could possibly do. She was indeed "than folly more a fool--a +melancholy fool without her bells." She still clung to low earth-born +vanities with as much avidity as though she had never experienced their +insecurity; still rung the same changes on the joys of wealth and +grandeur, as if she had had actual proof of their unfading felicity. +Then she recurred to the Duke's obstinacy and Lord Lindore's artifices, +till, after having exhausted herself in invective against them, she +concluded by comforting herself with the hope that Lord Lindore and +Adelaide would marry; and although it would be a prodigious degradation +to her, and she could not be received at Court, she might yet get into +very good society in town. There were many women of high rank exactly in +the same situation, who had been driven to elope from their husbands, +and who married the men they liked and made the best wives in the world. + +Mary heard all this in shame and silence; but Lady Emily, wearied and +provoked by her folly and want of principle, was often led to express +her indignation and and contempt in terms which drew tears from her +cousin's eyes. Mary was indeed the only person in the world who felt her +sister's dereliction with the keenest feelings of shame and sorrow. All +Adelaide's coldness and unkindness had not been able to eradicate from +her heart those deep-rooted sentiments of affection which seem to have +been entwined with our existence, and which, with some generous natures, +end but with their being. Yes! there are ties that bind together those +of one family, stronger than those of taste, or choice, or friendship, +or reason; for they enable us to love, even in opposition to them all. + +It was understood the fugitives had gone to Germany; and after wonder +and scandal were exhausted, and a divorce obtained, the Duchess of +Altamont, except to her own family, was as though she had never been. +Such is the transition from--from guilt to insignificance! + +Amongst the numerous visitors who flocked to Beech Park, whether from +sympathy, curiosity, or exultation, was Mrs. Downe Wright. None of these +motives, singly, had brought that lady there, for her purpose was that +of giving what she genteelly termed some _good hits_ to the Douglas's +pride--a delicate mode of warfare, in which, it must be owned, the +female sex greatly excel. + +Mrs. Downe Wright had not forgiven the indignity of her son having +been refused by Mary, which she imputed entirely to Lady Emily's +influence, and had from that moment predicted the downfall of the whole +pack, as she styled the family; at the same time always expressing her +wish that she might be mistaken, as she wished them well--God knows she +bore them no ill-will, etc. She entered the drawing-room at Beech Park +with a countenance cast to a totally different expression from that with +which she had greeted Lady Matilda Sufton's widowhood. Melancholy would +there have been appropriate, here it was insulting; and accordingly, +with downcast eyes, and silent pressures of the hand, she saluted every +member of the family, and inquired after their healths with that air of +anxious solicitude which implied that if they were all well it was what +they ought not to be. Lady Emily's quick tact was presently aware of her +design, and she prepared to take the field against her. + +"I had some difficulty in getting admittance to you," said Mrs. +Downe Wright. "The servant would fain have denied you; but at such a +time, I knew the visit of a friend could not fail of being acceptable, +so I made good my way in spite of him." + +"I had given orders to be at home to friends only," returned Lady Emily, +"as there is no end to the inroads of acquaintances." + +"And poor Lady Juliana," said Mrs. Downe Wright in a tone of affected +sympathy, "I hope she is able to see her friends?" + +"Did you not meet her?" asked Lady Emily carelessly. "She is just gone +to Bath for the purpose of securing a box during the term of Kean's +engagement; she would not trust to _l'éloquence du billet_ upon +such an occasion." + +"I'm vastly happy to hear she is able for anything of the kind," in a +tone of vehement and overstrained joy, rather unsuitable to the +occasion. + +A well-feigned look of surprise from Lady Emily made her fear she had +overshot her mark; she therefore, as if from delicacy, changed the +conversation to her own affairs. She soon contrived to let it be known +that her son was going to be married to a Scotch Earl's daughter; that +she was to reside with them; and that she had merely come to Bath for +the purpose of letting her house--breaking up her establishment--packing +up her plate--and, in short, making all those magnificent arrangements +which wealthy dowagers usually have to perform on a change of residence. +At the end of this triumphant declaration, she added-- + +"I fain would have the young people live by themselves, and let me just +go on in my own way; but neither my son nor Lady Grace would hear of +that, although her family are my son's nearest neighbours, and most +sensible, agreeable people they are. Indeed, as I said to Lord +Glenallan, a man's happiness depends fully as much upon his wife's +family as upon herself." + +Mary was too noble-minded to suspect that Mrs. Downe Wright could intend +to level innuendoes; but the allusion struck her; she felt herself +blush; and, fearful Mrs. Downe Wright would attribute it to a wrong +motive, she hastened to join in the eulogium on the Benmavis family in +general, and Lady Grace in particular. + +"Lady Benmavis is, indeed, a sensible, well-principled woman, and her +daughters have been all well brought up." + +Again Mary coloured at the emphasis which marked the sensible, +well-principled mother, and the well brought-up daughters; and in some +confusion she said something about Lady Grace's beauty. + +"She certainly is a very pretty woman," said Mrs. Downe Wright with +affected carelessness; "but what is better, she is out of a good nest. +For my own part I place little value upon beauty now; commend me to +principles. If a woman is without principles the less beauty she has the +better." + +"If a woman has no principles," said Lady Emily, "I don't think it +signifies a straw whether she has beauty or not--ugliness can never add +to one's virtue." + +"I beg your pardon, Lady Emily; a plain woman will never make herself so +conspicuous in the world as one of your beauties." + +"Then you are of opinion wickedness lies all in the eye of the world, +not in the depths of the heart? Now I think the person who cherishes--no +matter how secretly--pride, envy, hatred, malice, or any other besetting +sin, must be quite as criminal in the sight of God as those who openly +indulge their evil propensity." + +"I go very much by outward actions," said Mrs. Downe Wright; "they are +all we have to judge by." + +"But I thought we were forbidden to judge one another?" + +"There's no shutting people's mouths, Lady Emily." + +"No; all that is required, I believe, is that we should shut our own." + +Mary thought the conversation was getting rather too _piquante_ to be +pleasant, and tried to soften the tone of it by asking that most +innocent question, Whether there was any news? + +"Nothing but about battles and fightings, I suppose," answered Mrs. +Downe Wright. "I'm sure they are to be pitied who have friends or +relations either in army or navy at present. I have reason to be +thankful my son is in neither. He was very much set upon going into one +or other; but I was always averse to it; for, independent of the danger, +they are professions that spoil a man for domestic life; they lead to +such expensive, dissipated habits, as quite ruin them for family men. I +never knew a military man but what must have his bottle of port every +day. With sailors, indeed, it's still worse; grog and tobacco soon +destroy them. I'm sure if I had a daughter it would make me miserable if +she was to take fancy to a naval or military man;--but," as if suddenly +recollecting herself, "after all, perhaps it's a mere prejudice of +mine." + +"By no means," said Lady Emily "there is no prejudice in the matter; +what you say is very true. They are to be envied who can contrive to fall +in love with a stupid, idle man: _they_ never can experience any +anxiety; _their_ fate is fixed; 'the waveless calm, the slumber of the +dead,' is theirs; as long as they can contrive to slumber on, or at +least to keep their eyes shut, 'tis very well, they are in no danger of +stumbling till they come to open them; and if they are sufficiently +stupid themselves there is no danger of their doing even that. The have +only to copy the owl, and they are safe." + +"I quite agree with your Ladyship ," said Mrs. Downe Wright, with a well +_got-up,_ good-humoured laugh. "A woman has only not to be a wit or a +genius, and there is no fear of her; not that _I_ have that antipathy to +a clever woman that many people have, and especially the gentlemen. I +almost quarrelled with Mr. Headley, the great author, t'other day, for +saying that he would rather encounter a nest of wasps than a clever +woman." + +"I should most cordially have agreed with him," said Lady Emily, with +equal _naïveté._ "There is nothing more insupportable than +one of your clever women, so called. They are generally under-bred, +consequently vulgar. They pique themselves upon saying good things +_côitte qu'il coûte._ There is something, in short, quite +professional about them; and they wouldn't condescend to chat nonsense +as you and I are doing at this moment--oh! not for worlds! Now, I think +one of the great charms of life consists in talking nonsense. Good +nonsense is an exquisite thing; and 'tis an exquisite thing to be stupid +sometimes, and to say nothing at all. Now, these enjoyments the clever +woman must forego. Clever she is, and clever she must be. Her life must +be a greater drudgery than that of any actress. _She_ merely frets her +hour upon the stage; the curtain dropped, she may become as dull as she +chooses; but the clever woman must always stage it, even at her own +fireside." + +"Lady Emily Lindore is certainly the last person from whom I should have +expected to hear a panegyric on stupidity," said Mrs. Downe Wright, with +some bitterness. + +"Stupidity!--oh, heavens! my blood curdles at the thought of real, +genuine, downright stupidity! No! I should always like to have the +command of intellect, as well as of money, though my taste, or my +indolence, or my whim, perhaps, never would incline me to be always +sparkling, whether in wit or in diamonds. 'Twas only when I was in the +nursery that I envied the good girl who spoke rubies and pearls. Now it +seems to me only just better than not spitting toads and vipers." And +she warbled a sprightly French _ariette_ to a tame bullfinch that flew +upon her hand. + +There was an airy, high-bred elegance in Lady Emily's impertinence that +seemed to throw Mrs. Downe Wright's coarse sarcasms to an immeasurable +distance; and that lady was beginning to despair, but she was determined +not to give in while she could possibly stand out. She accordingly +rallied her forces, and turned to Mary. + +"So you have lost your neighbour, Mrs. Lennox, since I was here? I think +she was an acquaintance of yours. Poor woman! her death must have been a +happy release to herself and her friends. She has left no family, I +believe?" quite aware of the report of Mary's engagement with Colonel +Lennox." + +"Only one son," said Mary, with a little emotion. + +"Oh! very true. He's in the law, I think?" + +"In the army," answered Mary, faintly. + +"That's a poor trade," said Mrs. Downe Wright, "and I doubt he'll not +have much to mend it. Rose Hall's but a poor property. I've heard they +might have had a good estate in Scotland if it hadn't been for the pride +of the General, that wouldn't let him change his name for it, He thought +it grander to be a poor Lennox than a rich Macnaughton, or some such +name, It's to be hoped the son's of the same mind?" + +"I have no doubt of it," said Lady Emily. "Tis a noble name-quite a +legacy in itself." + +"It's one that, I am afraid, will not be easily turned into bank notes, +however," returned Mrs. Downe Wright, with a _real_ hearty laugh. And +then, delighted to get off with what she called flying colours, she +hastily rose with an exclamation at the lateness of the hour, and a +remark how quickly time passed in pleasant company; and, with friendly +shakes of the hand, withdrew. + +"How very insupportable is such a woman," said Lady Emily to Mary, "who, +to gratify her own malice, says the most cutting things to her +neighbours, and at the same time feels self-approbation, in the belief +that she is doing good. And yet, hateful as she is, I blush to say I +have sometimes been amused by her ill-nature when it was directed +against people I hated still more. Lady Matilda Sufton, for +example,--there she certainly shone, for hypocrisy is always fair game; +and yet the people who love to hunt it are never amiable. You smile, as +much as to say, Here is Satan preaching a sermon on holiness. But +however satirical and intolerant you may think me, you must own that I +take no delight in the discovery of other people's faults: if I want the +meekness of a Christian, at least I don't possess the malice of a Jew. +Now Mrs. Downe Wright has a real heartfelt satisfaction in saying +malicious things, and in thrusting herself into company where she must +know she is unwelcome, for the sole purpose of saying them. Yet many +people are blessed with such blunt perceptions that they are not at all +aware of her real character, and only wonder, when she has left them, +what made them feel so uncomfortable when she was present. But she has +put me in such a bad humour that I must go out of door and apostrophise +the sun, like Lucifer. Do come, Mary, you will help to dispel my +chagrin. I really feel as if my heart had been in a limekiln. All its +kingly feelings are so burnt up by the malignant influences of Mrs. +Downe Wright; while you," continued she, as they strolled into the +gardens, "are as cool, and as sweet, and as sorrowful as these violets," +gathering some still wet with an April shower. "How delicious, after +such a mental _sirocco,_ to feel the pure air and hear the birds sing, +and look upon the flowers and blossoms, and sit here, and bask in the +sun from laziness to walk into the shade. You must needs acknowledge, +Mary, that spring in England is a much more amiable season than in your +ungentle clime." + +This was the second spring Mary had seen set in, in England. But the +first had been wayward and backward as the seasons of her native +climate. The present was such a one as poets love to paint. Nature was +in all its first freshness and beauty--the ground was covered with +flowers, the luxuriant hedgerows were white with blossoms, the air was +impregnated with the odours of the gardens and orchards. Still Mary +sighed as she thought of Lochmarlie--its wild tangled woods, with here +and there a bunch of primroses peeping forth from amidst moss and +withered ferns--its gurgling rills, blue lakes, and rocks, and +mountains--all rose to view; and she felt that, even amid fairer scenes, +and beneath brighter suns, her heart would still turn with fond regret +to the land of her birth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "Wondrous it is, to see in diverse mindes + How diversly Love doth his pageants play + And shows his power in variable kinds." + + SPENSER. + +BUT even the charms of spring were overlooked by Lady Emily in the +superior delight she experienced at hearing that the ship in which +Edward Douglas was had arrived at Portsmouth; and the intelligence was +soon followed by his own arrival at Beech Park. He was received by her +with rapture, and by Mary with the tenderest emotion. Lord Courtland was +always glad of an addition to the family party; and even Lady Juliana +experienced something like emotion as she beheld her son, now the exact +image of what his father had been twenty years before. + +Edward Douglas was indeed a perfect model of youthful beauty, and +possessed of all the high spirits and happy _insouciance_ which can only +charm at that early period. He loved his profession, and had already +distinguished himself in it. He was handsome, brave, good-hearted, and +good-humoured, but he was not clever; and Mary felt some solicitude as +to the permanency of of Lady Emily's attachment to him. But Lady Emily, +quick-sighted to the defects of the whole world, seemed happily blind to +those of her lover; and when even Mary's spirits were almost exhausted +by his noisy rattle, Lady Emily, charmed and exhilarated, entered into +all his practical jokes and boyish frolics with the greatest delight. + +She soon perceived what was passing in Mary's mind. + +"I see perfectly well what you think of my _penchant_ for Edward," said +she one day; "I can tell you exactly what was passing in your thoughts +just now. You were thinking how strange, how passing strange it is, that +I, who am (false modesty avaunt!) certainly cleverer than Edward, should +yet be so partial to him, and that my lynx eyes should have failed to +discover in him faults which, with a single glance, I should have +detected in others. Now, can't you guess what renders even these very +faults so attractive to me?" + +"The old story, I suppose?" said Mary. "Love." + +"Not at all. Love might blind me to his faults altogether, and then my +case would be indeed hopeless, were I living in the belief that I was +loving a piece of perfection--a sort of Apollo Belvidere in mind as well +as in person. Now, so far from that, I could reckon you up a whole +catalogue of his faults; and nevertheless, I love him with my whole +heart, faults and all. In the first place, they are the faults with +which I have been familiar from infancy; and therefore they possess a +charm (to my shame be it said!) greater than other people's virtues +would have to me. They come over my fancy like some snatch of an old +nursery song, which one loves to hear in defiance of taste and reason, +merely because it is something that carries us back to those days which, +whatever they were in reality, always look bright and sunny in +retrospection. In the second place, his faults are real, genuine, +natural faults; and in this age of affectation how refreshing it is to +meet with even a natural fault! I grant you, Edward talks absurdly, and +asks questions _à faire dresser les cheveux_ of a Mrs. Bluemits. +But that amuses me; for his ignorance is not the ignorance of vulgarity +or stupidity, but the ignorance of a light head and a merry heart--of +one, in short, whose understanding has been at sea when other people's +were at school. His _bonmots_ certainly would not do to be printed; but +then they make me laugh a great deal more than if they were better, for +he is always _naif_ and original, and I prefer an in indifferent +original any day to a good copy. How it shocks me to hear people +recommending to their children to copy such a person's manners! A copied +manner, how insupportable! The servile imitator of a set pattern, how +despicable! No! I would rather have Edward in all the freshness of his +own faults rather than in the faded semblance of another persons's +proprieties." + +Mary agreed to the truth of her cousin's observations in some respects, +though she could not help thinking that love had as much to say in her +case as in most others; for if it did not blind her to her lover's +faults, it certainly made her much more tolerant of them. + +Edward was, in truth, at times almost provokingly boyish and unthinking, +and possessed a flow of animal spirits as inexhaustible as they were +sometimes overpowering; but she flattered herself time would subdue them +to a more rational tone; and she longed for his having the advantages of +Colonel Lennox's society--not by way of pattern, as Lady Emily expressed +it, but that he might be gradually led to something of more refinement, +from holding intercourse with a superior mind. And she obtained her wish +sooner than she had dared to hope for it. That battle was fought which +decided the fate of Europe, and turned so many swords into ploughshares; +and Mary seemed now touching the pinnacle of happiness when she saw her +lover restored to her. He had gained additional renown in the bloody +field of Waterloo; and, more fortunate than others, his military career +had terminated both gloriously and happily. + +If Mary had ever distrusted the reality of his affection, all her doubts +were now at an end. She saw she was beloved with all the truth and +ardour of a noble ingenuous mind, too upright to deceive others, too +enlightened to deceive itself. All reserve betwixt them was now at an +end; and, secure in mutual affection, nothing seemed to oppose itself to +their happiness. + +Colonel Lennox's fortune was small; but such as it was, +it seemed sufficient for all the purposes of rational enjoyment. Both +were aware that wealth is a relative thing, and that the positively rich +are not those who have the largest possessions but those who have the +fewest vain or selfish desires to gratify. From these they were happily +exempt. Both possessed too many resources in their own minds to require +the stimulus of spending money to rouse them into enjoyment, or give +them additional importance in the eyes of the world; and, above all, +both were too thoroughly Christian in their principles to murmur at any +sacrifices or privations they might have to endure in the course of +their earthly pilgrimage. + +But Lady Juliana's weak, worldly mind, saw things in a very different +light; and when Colonel Lennox, as a matter of form, applied to her for +her consent to their union, he received a positive and angry refusal. +She declared she never would consent to any daughter of hers making so +foolish, so very unsuitable a marriage. And then, sending for Mary, she +charged her, in the most peremptory manner, to break of all intercourse +with Colonel Lennox. + +Poor Mary was overwhelmed with grief and amazement at this new display +of her mother's tyranny and injustice, and used all the powers of +reasoning and entreaty to alter her sentiments; but in vain. Since +Adelaide's elopement Lady Juliana had been much in want of some subject +to occupy her mind--something to excite a sensation, and give her +something to complain of, and talk about, and put her in a bustle, and +make her angry, and alarmed, and ill-used, and, in short, all the things +which a fool is fond of being. + +Although Mary had little hopes of being able to prevail by any +efforts of reason, she yet tried to make her mother comprehend the +nature of her engagement with Colonel Lennox as of a sacred nature, and +too binding ever to be dissolved. But Lady Juliana's wrath blazed forth +with redoubled violence at the very mention of an engagement. She had +never heard of anything so improper. Colonel Lennox must be a most +unprincipled man to lead her daughter into an engagement unsanctioned by +her; and she had acted in the most improper manner in allowing herself +to form an attachment without the consent of those who had the best +title to dispose of her. The person who could act thus was not fit to be +trusted, and in future it would be necessary for her to have her +constantly under her own eye. + +Mary found her candour had therefore only reduced her to the alternative +of either openly rebelling, or of submitting to be talked at, and +watched, and guarded, as if she had been detected in carrying on some +improper clandestine intercourse. But she submitted to all the +restrictions that were imposed and the torments that were inflicted, if +not with the heroism of a martyr, at least with the meekness of one; for +no murmur escaped her lips. She was only anxious to conceal from others +the extent of her mother's folly and injustice, and took every +opportunity of entreating Colonel Lennox's silence and forbearance. It +required, indeed, all her influence to induce him to submit patiently to +the treatment he experienced. Lady Juliana had so often repeated to Mary +that it was the greatest presumption in Colonel Lennox to aspire to a +daughter of hers, that she had fairly talked herself into the belief +that he was all she asserted him to be--a man of neither birth nor +fortune certainly a Scotsman from his name--consequently having +thousands of poor cousins and vulgar relations of every description. And +she was determined that no daughter of hers should ever marry a man +whose family connections she knew nothing about. She had suffered a +great deal too much from her (Mary's) father's low relations ever to run +the risk of anything of the same kind happening again. In short, she at +length made it out clearly, to her own satisfaction, that Colonel Lennox +was scarcely a gentleman; and she therefore considered it as her duty to +treat him on every occasion with the most marked rudeness. Colonel +Lennox pitied her folly too much to be hurt by her ill-breeding and +malevolence, but he could scarcely reconcile it to his notions of duty +that Mary's superior mind should submit to the thraldom of one who +evidently knew not good from evil. + +Lady Emily was so much engrossed by her own affairs that for some time +all this went on unnoticed by her. At length she was struck with Mary's +dejection, and observed that Colonel Lennox seemed also dispirited; but, +imputing it to a lover's quarrel, she laughingly taxed them with it. +Although Mary could, suppress the cause of her uneasiness, she was too +ingenuous to deny it; and, being pressed by her cousin, she at length +disclosed to her the cause of her sorrow. + +"Colonel Lennox and you have behaved like two fools," said she, at the +end of her cousin's communication. "What could possibly instigate you to +so absurd an act as that of asking Lady Juliana's consent? You surely +might have known that the person who is never consulted about anything +will invariably start difficulties to everything; and that people who +are never accustomed to be even listened to get quite unmanageable when +appealed to. Lady Juliana gave an immediate assent to Lord Glenallan's +proposals because she was the first person consulted about them; and +besides, she had a sort of an instinctive knowledge that it would create +a sensation and make her of consequence--in short, she was to act in a +sort of triple capacity, as parent, lover, and bride. Here, on the +contrary, she was aware that her consent would stand as a mere cipher, +and, once given, would never be more heard of. Liberty of opinion is an +attitude many people quite lose themselves in. When once they attempt to +think, it makes confusion worse confounded; so it is much better to take +that labour off their hands, and settle the matter for them. It would +have been quite time enough to have asked Lady Juliana's consent after +the thing was over; or, at any rate, the minute before it was to take +place. I would not even have allowed her time for a flood of tears or a +fit of hysterics. And now that your duty has brought you to this, even +my genius is a a loss how to extricate you. Gretna Green might have been +advisable, and that would have accorded with your notions of duty; that +would have been following your mamma's own footsteps; but it is become +too vulgar an exploit. I read of a hatter's apprentice having carried +off a grocer's heiress t'other day. What do you purpose doing yourself?" + +"To try the effect of patience and submission," said Mary, "rather than +openly set at defiance one of the most sacred duties--the obedience of a +child to a parent. Besides, I could not possibly be happy were I to +marry under such circumstances." + +"You have much too nice a conscience," said Lady Emily; "and yet I could +scarcely wish you otherwise than you are. What an angel you are, to +behave as you do to such a mother; with such sweetness, and gentleness, +and even respect! Ah! they know little of human nature who think that to +perform great actions one must necessarily be a great character. So far +from that, I now see there may be much more real greatness of mind +displayed in the quiet tenor of a woman's life than in the most +brilliant exploits that ever were performed by man. Methinks I myself +could help to storm a city; but to rule my own spirit is a task beyond +me. What a pity it is you and I cannot change places. Here am I, +languishing for a little opposition to my love. My marriage will be +quite an insipid, every-day affair; I yawn already to think of it. Can +anything be more disheartening to a young couple, anxious to signalise +their attachment in the face of the whole world, than to be allowed to +take their own way? Conceive my vexation at being told by papa this +morning that he had not the least objection to Edward and me marrying +whenever we pleased, although he thought we might both have done better; +but that was our own affair, not his; that he thought Edward a fine, +good humoured fellow--excessively amusing; hoped he would get a ship some +day, although he had no interest whatever in the Admiralty; was sorry he +could not give us any money, but hoped we should remain at Beech Park as +long as we liked. I really feel quite flat with all these dull +affirmations." + +"What! you had rather have been locked up in a tower--wringing your +hands at the height of the windows, the thickness of the walls, and so +forth," said Mary. + +"No: I should never have done anything so like a washerwoman as to wring +my hands; though I might, like some heroines, have fallen to work in a +regular blacksmith-way, by examining the lock of the door, and perhaps +have succeeded in picking it; but, alas! I live in degenerate days. Oh +that I had been born the persecuted daughter of some ancient baron bold +instead of the spoiled child of a good natured modern earl! Heavens! to +think that I must tamely, abjectly submit to be married in the presence +of all my family, even in the very parish church! Oh, what detractions +from the brilliancy of my star!" + +In spite of her levity Lady Emily was seriously interested in her +cousin's affairs, and tried every means of obtaining Lady Juliana's +consent; but Lady Juliana was become more unmanageable than ever. Her +temper, always bad, was now soured by chagrin and disappointment into +something, if possible, still worse, and Lady Emily's authority had no +longer any control over her; even the threat of producing Aunt Grizzy to +a brilliant assembly had now lost its effect. Dr. Redgill was the only +auxiliary she possessed in the family, and he most cordially joined he in +condemning Miss Mary's obstinacy and infatuation. What could she see in +a man with such an insignificant bit of property, a mere nest for +blackbirds and linnets, and such sort of vermin. Not a morsel of any +sort of game on his grounds; while at Glenallan, he had been credibly +informed, such was the abundance that the deer had been seen stalking and +the black-cock flying past the very door! But the Doctor's indignation +was suddenly suspended by a fit of apoplexy; from which, however, he +rallied, and passed it off for the present as a sort of vertigo, in +consequence of the shock he had received at hearing of Miss Mary's +misconduct. + +At length even Colonel Lennox's forbearance was exhausted, and Mary's +health and spirits were sinking beneath the conflict she had to +maintain, when a sudden revolution in Lady Juliana's plans caused also a +revolution in her sentiments. This was occasioned by a letter from +Adelaide, now Lady Lindore. It was evidently written under the influence +of melancholy and discontent; and, as Lady Emily said, nothing could be +a stronger proof of poor Adelaide's wretchedness than her expressing a +wish that her mother should join her in the South of France, where she +was going on account of her health. + +Adelaide was indeed one of the many melancholy proofs of the effects of +headstrong passions and perverted principles. Lord Lindore had married +her from a point of honour; and although he possessed too much +refinement to treat her ill, yet his indifference was not the less +cutting to a spirit haughty as hers. Like many others, she had vainly +imagined that, in renouncing virtue itself for the man she loved, she +was for ever ensuring his boundless gratitude and adoration; and she +only awoke from her delusive dream to find herself friendless in a +foreign land, an outcast from society, an object of indifference even to +him for whom she had abandoned all. + +But Lady Juliana would see nothing of all this. She was charmed at what +she termed this proof of her daughter's affection, in wishing to have +her with her; and the prospect of going abroad seemed like a vision of +paradise to her. Instant preparations were made for her departure, and +in the bustle attendant on them, Mary and her affairs sank into utter +insignificance. Indeed, she seemed rather anxious to get her disposed of +in any way that might prevent her interfering with her own plans; and a +consent to her marriage, such as it was, was easily obtained. + +"Marry whom you please," said she; "only remember I am not responsible +for the consequences. I have always told you what a wretched thing a +love-marriage is, therefore you are not to blame me for your future +misery." + +Mary readily subscribed to the conditions; but, as she embraced her +mother at parting, she timidly whispered a hope that she would ever +consider her house as her home. A smile of contempt was the only reply +she received, and they parted never more to meet. Lady Juliana found +foreign manners and principles too congenial to her tastes ever to return +to Britain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +"O most gentle Jupiter! what tedious homily of love have +you wearied your parishioners withal, and never cried, +_Have patience, good people!"_ + + _As You Like it._ + +THE only obstacle to her union thus removed, Mary thought she might now +venture to let her Aunt Grizzy into the secret; and accordingly, with +some little embarrassment, she made the disclosure of the mutual +attachment subsisting between Colonel Lennox and herself. Grizzy +received the communication with all the astonishment which ladies +usually experience upon being made acquainted with a marriage which they +had not had the prescience to foresee and foretell--or even one which +they had; for, common and natural as the event seems to be, it is one +which perhaps in no instance ever took place without occasioning the +greatest amazement to some one individual or another; and it will also +be generally found that either the good or the bad fortune of one or +other of the parties is the subject of universal wonder. In short, a +marriage which excites no surprise, pity, or indignation, must be +something that has never yet been witnessed on the face of this round +world. It is greatly to be feared none of my readers will sympathise in +the feelings of the good spinster on this occasion, as she poured them +forth in the following _extempore_ or _improvisatorial_ strain:- + +"Well, Mary, I declare I'm perfectly confounded with all you have been +telling me! I'm sure I never heard the like of it! It seems but the +t'other day since you began your sampler; and it looks just +like yesterday since your father and mother were married. And such a work +as there was at your nursing! I'm sure your poor grandfather was out of +all patience about it. And now to think that you are going to be +married! not but what it's a thing we all expected, for there's no doubt +England's the place for young women to get husbands--we always said +that, you know; not but what I dare say you might have been married, +too, if you had stayed in the Highlands, and to a real Highlander, too, +which, of course, would have been still better for us all; for it will +be a sad thing if you are obliged to stay in England, Mary; but I hope +there's no chance of that: you know Colonel Lennox can easily sell his +place, and buy an estate in the Highlands. There's a charming property, +I know, to be sold just now, that _marches_ with Glenfern. To be sure +it's on the wrong side of the hill--there's no denying that; but then, +there's I can't tell you how many thousand acres of fine muir for +shooting, and I daresay Colonel Lennox is a keen sportsman; and they say +a great deal of it might be very much improved. We must really inquire +after it, Mary, and you must speak to Colonel Lennox about it, for you +know such a property as that may be snapped up in a minute." + +Mary assented to all that was said; and Grizzy proceeded-- + +"I wonder you never brought Colonel Lennox to see us, Mary. I'm sure he +must think it very odd. To be sure, Sir Sampson's situation is some +excuse; but at any rate I wonder you never spoke about him. We all found +out your Aunt Bella's attachment from the very first, just from her +constantly speaking about Major M'Tavish and the militia; and we had a +good guess of Betsy's too, from the day her face turned so red after +giving Captain M'Nab for her toast; but you have really kept yours very +close, for I declare I never once suspected such a thing. I wonder if +that was Colonel Lennox that I saw you part with at the door one +day--tall, and with brown hair, and a bluecoat. I asked Lady Maclaughlan +if she knew who it was, and she said it was Admiral Benbow; but I think +she must have been mistaken, for I daresay now it was just Colonel +Lennox. Lennox--I'm sure I should be able to remember something about +somebody of that name; but my memory's not so good as it used to be, for +I have so many things, you know, to think about, with Sir Sampson, that +I declare sometimes my head's quite confused; yet I think always there's +something about them. I wish to goodness Lady Maclaughlan was come from +the dentist's, that I might consult her about it; for of course, you'll +do nothing without consulting all your friends--I know you've too much +sense for that. An here's Sir Sampson coming; it will be a fine piece of +news to tell him." + +Sir Sampson having been now wheeled in by the still active Philistine, +and properly arranged with the assistance of Miss Grizzy, she took her +usual station by the side of his easy chair, and began to shout into his +ear. + +"Here's my niece Mary, Sir Sampson; you remember her when she was +little, I daresay--you know you used to call her the fairy of +Lochmarlie; and I'm sure we all thought for long she would have been a +perfect fairy, she was so little; but she's tall enough now, you see, +and she's going to be married to a fine young man. None of us know him +yet, but I think I must have seen him; and at any rate I'm to see him +to-morrow, and you'll see him too, Sir Sampson, for Mary is to bring him +to call here, and he'll tell you all about the battle of Waterloo, and +the Highlanders; for he's half a Highlander too, and I'm certain he'll buy +the Dhuanbog estate, and then, when my niece Mary marries Colonel +Lennox--" + +"Lennox!" repeated Sir Sampson, his little dim eyes kindling at the +name--"Who talks of Lennox I--I--I won't suffer it. Where's my Lady? +Lennox!--he's a scoundrel! You shan't marry a Lennox!" Turning to +Grizzy, "Call Philistine, and my Lady." And his agitation was so great +that even Grizzy, although accustomed for forty years to witness similar +ebullitions, became alarmed. + +"You see it's all for fear of my marrying," whispered she to Mary. +"I'm sure such a disinterested attachment, it's impossible for me +ever to repay it!" + +Then turning to Sir Sampson, she sought to soothe his perturbation by +oft-repeated assurances that it was not her but her niece Mary that was +going to be married to Colonel Lennox. But in vain; Sir Sampson +quivered, and panted, and muttered; and the louder Grizzy screamed out +the truth the more his irritation increased. Recourse was now had to +Philistine; and Mary, thoroughly ashamed of the éclat attending +the disclosure of her secret, and finding she could be of no use, stole +away in the midst of Miss Grizzy's endless _verbiage_, but as she +descended the stairs she still heard the same assurance resounding--"I +can assure you, Sir Sampson, it's not me, but my niece Mary that's going +to be married to Colonel Lennox," etc. + +On returning to Beech Park she said nothing of what had passed either to +Lady Emily or Colonel Lennox--aware of the amusement it would furnish to +both; and she felt that her aunt required all the dignity with which she +could invest her before presenting her to her future nephew. The only +delay to her marriage now rested with herself; but she was desirous it +should take place under the roof which had sheltered her infancy, and +sanctioned by the presence of those whom she had ever regarded as her +parents. Lady Emily, Colonel Lennox, and her brother had all endeavoured +to combat this resolution, but in vain; and it was therefore settled +that she should remain to witness the union of her brother and her +cousin, and then return to Lochmarlie. But all Mary's preconceived plans +were threatened with a downfall by the receipt of the following letter +from Miss Jacky:-- + +GLENFERN CASTLE, ---SHIRIE, _June_ 19, 181--. + +"It _is_ impossible for _language_ to express to _you_ the _shame,_ +grief, amazement, and _indignation,_ with _which_ we are _all_ filled at +the distressing, the _ignominious_ disclosure that has _just_ taken +_place_ concerning you, _through_ our most _excellent_ friend Miss P. +M'Pry. Oh, Mary, _how_ have you _deceived_ us all!!! What a _dagger +_have _you_ plunged into _all_ our hearts! Your _poor _Aunt _Grizzy!_ +how my _heart_ bleeds _for_ her! What a difficult part _has_ she to +act! and at her _time_ of life! with her acute _feelings!_ with her +devoted _attachment _to the _house_ of M'Laughlan! What a _blow!_ and a +_blow _from your _hand!_ Oh, Mary, I _must_ again repeat, how _have_ you +deceived us _all_!!! Yet _do_ not imagine I mean to _reproach_ you! +Much, much of the blame is _doubtless _imputable to the errors of _your_ +education! At the _same _time, even these _offer_ no justification of +your _conduct _upon the present occasion! You are now (I lament to say +it!) _come_ to that time of _life_ when _you_ ought to know _what_ is +right; or, where you entertain _any_ doubts, you ought _most_ +unquestionably to _apply_ to those _who_, you _may_ be certain, _are_ +well qualified to direct you. _But,_ instead _of_ that, you have +_pursued_ a diametrically opposite _plan:_ a plan which _might_ have +_ended_ in your destruction! Oh, Mary, _I_ cannot too _often _repeat, +how have _you_ deceived us all!!! From no _lips _but those of Miss M'Pry +_would_ I have believed _what_ I have heard, videlicet, that you (oh, +Mary!) have, for many, many months _past,_ been carrying on a +clandestine _correspondence _with a _young_ man, unknown, unsuspected by +_all_ your friends here! and that _young_ man, the very _last_ man on +the face of the _earth_ whom you, or any of _us,_ ought to have given +our countenance _to!_ The very man, in _short,_ whom we were all +_bound,_ by every _principle_ of duty, gratitude, and esteem, to have +shunned, and who you are _bound, _from this _moment,_ to renounce for +ever. How you ever _came _to be acquainted _with_ Colonel Charles Lennox +of Rose Hall is a mystery none of us can fathom; but surely the person, +_whoever _it was that _brought_ it about, has much, _much_ to answer +for! Mrs. Douglas (to whom I _thought_ it proper to _make _an immediate +_communication_ on the subject) pretends to _have_ been well informed of +all that has _been_ going on, and even insists that _your_ acquaintance +_with_ the Lennox family _took_ place through Lady M'Laughlan! _But_ +that we _all_ know to be _morally_ impossible. Lady M'Laughlan is the +_very_ last person in the _world_ who would have _introduced_ you, or +any _young_ creature for whom she had the _slightest_ regard, to a +Lennox, the _mortal enemy of the M'Laughlan race!_ I most _sincerely_ +trust she is spared the _shock_ we have all experienced at this painful +_disclosure. _With her _high_ principles, and _great_ regard for us, I +tremble to think _what_ might be the consequences! And dear Sir Sampson, +in his delicate state, how _would_ he ever be able to _stand_ such a +blow! and a blow, too, from your _hand,_ Mary! you, who he _was_ always +_like_ a father to! _Many_ a time, I am sure, _have_ you sat upon his +_knee,_ and you certainly _cannot_ have forgot the _elegant_ Shetland +pony he presented you _with_ the day you was five _years_ old! And +_what_ a return for such favours! + +"But I fondly trust it _is_ not yet too late. You have _only_ to give up +this unworthy attachment, and all _will_ be forgotten and _forgiven_; +and we will all receive you as if _nothing_ had happened. Oh, Mary! I +must, for the last _time_ repeat, how have you deceived us _all_! + +"I am your distressed aunt, + + "JOAN DOUGLAS. + +P.S.--I conclude abruptly, in _order_ to leave _room_ for your Aunt Nicky +to _state_ her sentiments also on this _most_ afflicting subject." + +Nicky's appendix was as follows:-- + +"DEAR MARY--Jacky has read her letter to us. It is most excellent. We +are all much affected by it. Not a word but deserves to be printed. I +can add nothing. You see, if you marry Colonel L. none of us can be at +your marriage. How could we? I hope you will think twice about it. +Second thoughts are best. What's done cannot be undone. Yours, + + "N. D." + +Mary felt somewhat in the situation of the sleeper awakened, as she +perused these mysterious anathemas; and rubbed her eyes more than once +in hopes of dispelling the mist that she thought must needs be upon +them. But in vain: it seemed only to increase with every effort she made +to remove it. Not a single ray of light fell on the palpable obscure of +Miss Jacky's composition, that could enable her to penetrate the dark +profound that encompassed her. She was aware, indeed, that when her aunt +meant to be pathetic or energetic she always had recourse to the longest +and the strongest words she could possibly lay her hands upon; and Mary +had been well accustomed to hear her childish faults and juvenile +indiscretions denounced in the most awful terms as crimes of the deepest +dye. Many an exordium she had listened to on the tearing of her frock, +or the losing of her glove, that might have served as a preface to the +"Newgate Calendar," "Colquhoun on the Police," or any other register of +crimes. Still she had always been able to detect some clue to her own +misdeeds; but here even conjecture was baffled, and in vain she sought +for some resting-place for her imagination, in the probable misdemeanour +of her lover. But even allowing all possible latitude for Jacky's pen, +she was forced to acknowledge there must be some ground for her aunt to +build upon. Superficial as her structures generally were, like +children's card-houses, they had always something to rest upon; though +(unlike them) her creations were invariably upon a gigantic scale. + +Mary had often reflected with surprise that, although Lady Maclauglan +had been the person to introduce her to Mrs. Lennox, no intercourse had +taken place between the families themselves; and when she had mentioned +them to each other Mrs. Lennox had only sighed, and Lady Maclaughlan had +humphed. She despaired of arriving at the knowledge of the truth from +her aunts. Grizzy's brain was a mere wisp of contradictions; and Jacky's +mind was of that violent hue that cast its own shade upon every object +that came in contact with it. To mention the matter to Colonel Lennox +was only to make the relations ridiculous; and, in short, although it +was a formidable step, the result of her deliberation was to go to +Lady Maclaughlan, and request a solution of her aunt's dark sayings. She +therefore departed for Milsom Street, and, upon entering the +drawing-room, found Grizzy alone, and evidently in even more than usual +perturbation. + +"Oh, Mary!" cried she, as her niece entered, "I'm sure I'm thankful +you're come. I was just wishing for you. You can't think how much +mischief your yesterday's visit has done. It's a thousand pities, I +declare, that ever you said a word about your marriage to Sir Sampson. +But of course I don't mean to blame you, Mary. You know you couldn't +help it; so don't vex yourself, for you know that will not make the +thing any better now. Only if Sir Sampson should die--to be sure I must +always think it was that that killed him; and I'm sure it at will soon +kill me too-such a friend--oh, Mary!" Here a burst of grief choked poor +Miss Grizzy's utterance. + +"My dear aunt," said Mary, "you certainly must be mistaken. Sir Sampson +seems to retain no recollection of me. It is therefore impossible that I +could cause him any pain or agitation." + +"Oh certainly!" said Grizzy. "There's no doubt Sir Sampson has quite +forgot you, Mary--and no wonder-with your being so long away; but I +daresay he'll come to know you yet. But I'm sure I hope to goodness +he'll never know you as Mrs. Lennox, Mary. That would break his heart +altogether; for you know the Lennoxes have always been the greatest +enemies of the Maclaughlans,--and of course Sir Sampson can't bear +anybody of the name, which is quite natural. And it was very thoughtless +in me to have forgot that till Philistine put me in mind of it, and poor +Sir Sampson has had a very bad night; so I'm sure I hope, Mary, you'll +never think any more about Colonel Lennox; and, take my word for it, +you'll get plenty of husbands yet. Now, since there's a peace, there +will be plenty of fine young officers coming home. There's young +Balquhadan, a captain, I know, in some regiment; and there's +Dhalahulish, and Lochgrunason, and--" But Miss Grizzy's ideas here shot +out into so many ramifications upon so many different branches of the +county tree, that it would be in vain for any but a true Celt to attempt +to follow her. + +Mary again tried to lead her back to the subject of the Lennoxes, in +hopes of being able to extract some spark of knowledge from the dark +chaos of her brain. + +"Oh, I'm sure, Mary, if you want to hear about that, I can tell you +plenty about the Lennoxes; or at any rate about the Maclaughlans, which +is the same thing. But I must first find my huswife." + +To save Miss Grizzy's reminiscence, a few words will suffice to clear up +the mystery. A family feud of remote origin had long subsisted between +the families of Lennox and Maclaughlan, which had been carefully +transmitted from father to son, till the hereditary brand had been +deposited in the breast of Sir Sampson. By the death of many intervening +heirs General Lennox, then a youth, was next in succession to the +Maclaughlan estate; but the power of alienating it was vested in Sir +Sampson, as the last remaining heir of the entail. By the mistaken zeal +of their friends both were, at an early period, placed in the same +regiment, in the hope that constant as association together would +quickly destroy their mutual prejudices, and produce a reconciliation. +But the inequalities were too great ever to assimilate. Sir Sampson +possessed a large fortune, a deformed person, and a weak, vain, +irritable mind. General (then Ensign) Lennox had no other patrimony than +his sword--a handsome person, high spirit, and dauntless courage. With +these tempers, it may easily be conceived that a thousand trifling +events occurred to keep alive the hereditary animosity. Sir Sampson's +mind expected from his poor kinsman a degree of deference and respect +which the other, so far from rendering, rather sought opportunities of +showing his contempt for, and of thwarting and ridiculing him upon every +occasion, till Sir Sampson was obliged to quit the regiment. From that +time it was understood that all bearing the name of Lennox were for ever +excluded from the succession to the Maclaughlan estates; and it was +deemed a sort of petty treason even to name the name of a Lennox in +presence of this dignified chieftain. + +Many years had worn away, and Sir Sampson had passed through the various +modifications of human nature, from the "mewling infant" to "mere +oblivion," without having become either wiser or better. His mind +remained the same--irascible and vindictive to the last. Lady +Maclaughlan had too much sense to attempt to reason or argue him out of +his prejudices, but she contrived to prevent him from ever executing a +new entail. She had known and esteemed both General and Mrs. Lennox +before her marriage with Sir Sampson, and she was too firm and decided +in her predilections ever to abandon them; and while she had the credit +of sharing in all her husband's animosity, she was silently protecting +the lawful rights of those who had long ceased to consider them as such. +General Lennox had always understood that he and his family were under +Sir Sampson's _ban_, and he possessed too high a spirit ever to express +a regret, or even allude to the circumstances. It had therefore made a +very faint impression on the minds of any of his family, and in the long +lapse of years had been almost forgot by Mrs. Lennox, till recalled by +Lady Maclaughlan's letter. But she had been silent on the subject to +Mary; for she could not conceal from herself that her husband had been +to blame--that the heat and violence of his temper had often led him to +provoke and exasperate where mildness and forbearance would have soothed +and conciliated, without detracting from his dignity; but her gentle +heart shrank from the task of unnecessarily disclosing the faults of +the man she had loved; and then she heard Mary talk with rapture of the +wild beauties of Lochmarlie, she had only sighed to think that the pride +and prejudice of others had alienated the inheritance of her son. + +But all this Mary was still in ignorance of, for Miss Grizzy had gone +completely astray in the attempt to trace the rise and progress of the +Lennox and Maclaughlan feud. Happily Lady Maclauglan's entrance +extricated her from her labyrinth, as it as the signal for her to repair +to Sir Sampson. Mary, in some little confusion, was beginning to express +to her Ladyship regret at hearing that Sir Sampson had been so unwell, +when she was stopped. + +"My dear child, don't learn to tell lies. You don't care two pence for +Sir Sampson. I know all. You are going to be married to Charles Lennox. +I'm glad of it. I wished you to marry him. Whether you'll thank me for +that twenty years hence, _I_ can't tell--you can't tell--he can't +tell--God knows--humph! Your aunts will tell you he is Beelzebub, +because his father said he could make a Sir Sampson out of a mouldy +lemon. Perhaps he could. I don't know but your aunts are fools. You know +what fools are, and so do I. There are plenty of fools in the world; but +if they had not been sent for some wise purpose they wouldn't have been +here; and since they are here they have as good a right to have +elbow-room in the world as the wisest. Sir Sampson hated General Lennox +because he laughed at him; and if Sir Sampson had lived a hundred years +ago, his hatred might have been a fine thing to talk about now. It is +the same passion that makes heroes of your De Montforts, and your +Manuels, and your Corsairs, and all the rest of them; but they wore +cloaks and daggers, and these are the supporters of hatred. Everybody +laughs at the hatred of a little old man in a cocked hat. You may laugh +too. So now, God bless you! Continue as you are, and marry the man you +like, though the world should set its teeth against you. 'Tis not +every woman can be trusted to do that--farewell!" And with a cordial +salute they parted. + +Mary was too well accustomed to Lady Maclaughlan's style not to +comprehend that her marriage with Colonel Lennox was an event she had +long wished for and now most warmly sanctioned; and she hastened home to +convey the glad tidings in a letter to her aunts, though doubtful if the +truth itself would be able to pierce its way through their prejudices. + +Another stroke of palsy soon rendered Sir Sampson unconscious even to +the charms of Grizzy's conversation, and as she was no longer of use to +him, and was evidently at a loss how to employ herself, Mary proposed +that she should accompany her back to Lochmarlie, to which she yielded a +joyful assent. Once convinced of Lady Maclaughlan's approbation of her +niece's marriage she could think and talk of nothing else. + +Some wise individuals have thought that most people act from the +inspiration of either a good or an evil power: to which class Miss +Grizzy belonged would have puzzled the most profound metaphysician to +determine. She was, in fact, a Maclaughlanite; but to find the _root_ of +Maclaughlan is another difficulty--thought is lost. + +Colonel Lennox, although a little startled at his first introduction to +his future aunt, soon came to understand the _naiveté_ of her +character; and his enlarged mind and good temper made such ample +allowance for her weaknesses, that she protested, with tears in her +eyes, she never knew the like of him--she never could think enough of +him. She wished to goodness Sir Sampson was himself again, and could +only see him; she was sure he would think just as she did, etc. etc. +etc. + +The day of Lady Emily's marriage arrived, and found her in a more +serious mood than she had hitherto appeared in; though it seemed +doubtful whether it was most occasioned by her own prospects or the +thoughts of parting with Mary, who with Aunt Grizzy, was to set off for +Lochmarlie immediately after witnessing the ceremony. Edward and his +bride would fain have accompanied her; but Lord Courtland was too much +accustomed to his daughter and amused by his nephew to bear their +absence, and they therefore yielded the point, though with reluctance. +"This is all for want of a little opposition to have braced my nerves," +said Lady Emily, as she dropped a few tears. "I verily believe I should +have wept outright had I not happily descried Dr. Redgill shrugging his +shoulders at me; that has given a filip to my spirits. After all, 'tis +perhaps a foolish action I've committed. The icy bonds of matrimony are +upon me already; I feel myself turning into a fond, faithful, rational, +humble, meek-spirited wife! Alas! I must now turn my head into a museum, +and hang up all my smart sayings inside my brain, there to petrify, as +warnings to all pert misses. Dear Mary! if ever I am good for anything, +it will be to you I owe it!" + +Mary could only embrace her cousin in silence, as she parted from her +brother and her with the deepest emotion, and, assisted by Colonel +Lennox (who was to follow), took her station by the side of her aunt. + +"I wish you a pleasant journey, Miss Mary," cried Dr. Redgill. "The game +season is coming on, and--" But the carriage drove off; and the rest of +the sentence was dispersed by the wind; and all that could be collected +was, "grouse always acceptable--friends at a distance--roebuck stuffed +with heather carries well at all times," etc. etc. + +To one less practised in her ways, and less gifted with patience, the +eternal babbling of Aunt Grizzy as a travelling companion would have +occasioned considerable ennui, if not spleen. There are perhaps few +greater trials of temper than that of travelling with a person who +thinks it necessary to be actively pleasant, without a moment's +intermission, from the rising till the setting sun. Grizzy was upon this +fatal plan, the rock of thousands! Silence she thought synonymous with +low spirits; and she talked, and wondered, and exclaimed incessantly, +and assured Mary she need not be uneasy, she was certain Colonel Lennox +would follow very soon; she had not the least doubt of that. She would +not be surprised if he Was to be at Lochmarlie almost as soon as +themselves; at any rate very soon after them. + +But even these little torments were forgot by Mary when she found +herself again in her native land. The hills, the air, the waters, the +people, even the _peat-stacks_, had a charm that touched her heart, +and brought tears into her eyes as they pictured home. But her feelings +arose to rapture when Lochmarlie burst upon her view in all the +grandeur, beauty, and repose of a setting sun, shedding its farewell +rays of gold and purple, and tints of such matchless hue, as no pencil +ere can imitate--no poet's pen describe. Rocks, woods, hills, and +waters, all shone with a radiance that seemed of more than earthly +beauty. "Oh, there are moments in life, keen, blissful, never to be +forgotten!" and such was the moment to Mary when the carriage stopped, +and she again heard the melody of that voice familiar from infancy--and +looked on the face known with her being--and was pressed to that heart +where glowed a parent's love! + +When Mary recovered from the first almost _agonising_ transports of joy, +she marked with delight the increased animation and cheerfulness visible +in Mrs. Douglas. All the livelier feelings of her warm heart had indeed +been excited and brought into action by the spirit and playfulness of +her little boy, and the increased happiness of her husband; while all +her uneasiness respecting her former lover was now at an end. She had +heard from himself that he had married, and was happy. Without being +guilty of inconstancy, such are the effects of time upon mutable human +nature! + +Colonel Lennox lost no time in arriving to claim his promised bride; and +Mary's happiness was complete when she found her own choice so warmly +approved of by the friends she loved. + +The three aunts and their unmarried nieces, now the sole inhabitants of +Glenfern Castle, were not quite decided in their opinions at first. Miss +Jacky looked with a suspicious eye upon the _mortal enemy of the +Maclaughlan race;_ but, upon better acquaintance, his gaiety and +good-humour contrived to charm asleep even her good sense and +prejudices, and she pronounced him to be a pleasant, well-informed young +man, who gave himself no airs, although he certainly had rather a high +look. + +Nicky doubted, from his appearance, that he would be nice, and she +had no patience with nice men; but Nicky's fears vanished when she saw, +as she expressed it, "how pleasantly he ate the sheep's head, although +he had never seen one in his life before." + +The younger ladies thought Captain M'Nab had a finer complexion, and +wondered whether Colonel Lennox (like him) would be dressed in full +regimentals at his marriage. + +But, alas! "all earthly good still blends itself with harm," for on the +day of Mary's marriage--a day consecrated to mirth, and bride-cake, and +wedding favors, and marriage presents, and good cheer, and reels, and +revelry, and bagpipes--on that very day, when the marriage ceremony was +scarcely over, arrived the accounts of the death of Sir Sampson +Maclaughlan! But on this joyous day even Grizzy's tears did not flow so +freely as they would have done at another time; and she declared that +although it was impossible anybody could feel more than she did, yet +certainly it would not be using Colonel and Mrs. Lennox well to be very +distressed upon such an occasion; and there was no doubt but she would +have plenty of time to be sorry about it yet, when they were all sitting +quietly by themselves, with nothing else in their heads; though, to be +sure, they must always think what a blessing it was that Colonel Lennox +was to succeed. + +"I wish he may ever fill Sir Sampson's shoes!" said Miss Nicky, with a +sigh. + +"Colonel Lennox cannot propose a better model to himself than Sir +Sampson Maclaughlan," said Miss Jacky. "He has left him a noble example +of propriety, frugality, hospitality, and respectability; and, above +all, of forgiveness of his mortal enemies." + +"Oh, Mary!" exclaimed Miss Grizzy, as they were about to part with their +niece, "what a lucky creature you are! Never, I am sure, did any young +person set out in life with such advantages. To think of your succeeding +to Lady Maclaughlan's laboratory, all so nicely fitted up with every +kind of thing, and especially plenty of the most charming bark, which, +I'm sure, will do Colonel Lennox the greatest good, as you know all +officers are much the better of bark. I know it was the saving of young +Ballingall's life, when he came home in an ague from some place; and I'm +certain Lady Maclaughlan will leave you everything that is there, you +was always such a favourite. Not but what I must always think that you +had a hand in dear Sir Sampson's death. Indeed, I have no doubt of it. +Yet, at the same time, I don't mean to blame you in the least; for I'm +certain, if Sir Sampson had been spared, he would have been delighted, +as we all are, at your marriage." + +Colonel and Mrs. Lennox agreed in making choice of Lochmarlie for their +future residence; and in a virtuous attachment they found as much +happiness as earth's pilgrims ever possess, whose greatest felicity must +spring from a higher source. The extensive influence which generally +attends upon virtue joined to prosperity was used by them for its best +purposes. It was not confined either to rich or poor, to caste or sect; +but all shared in their benevolence whom that benevolence could benefit. +And the poor, he sick, and the desolate, united in blessing what heaven +had already blessed--this happy Marriage. + +THE END. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Marriage, by Susan Edmonstone Ferrier + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 12669-8.txt or 12669-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/6/6/12669/ + +Produced by Carl W. Goss + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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